· ly true for shibaji mandal and his son ujaas. after losing his son to leukemia in june 2014,...

12
E ven as the striking junior doctors defied Mamata Banerjee for the second time on Saturday turning down her offer for talks, the Bengal Chief Minister swore by her “patience” saying like the other State Governments she had all the legal means to invoke the coercive Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) but had thus far desisted from tak- ing the extreme step on humanitarian grounds. “The Government is show- ing patience, sympathy for the doctors but now it is time for them to act and resume duty. We have conceded to all the demands that the doctors had made,” she said, wondering why the doctors refused to meet her at the State Secretariat. In Kolkata, a representative of the striking doctors said, “This is an issue relating to thousands of doctors who are being attacked every day. The Government is calling a few of them to hold closed-door meeting. We are not ready to accept that. We want the CM to come here at the NRS Hospital and see for herself the condi- tion we work in and give assur- ances in public to rectify them.” “We are eagerly waiting to start our duty, but from the Chief Minister’s side there is no such honest initiative to find a solution (of the ongoing prob- lem),” a spokesperson of the joint forum of junior doctors told reporters. C hief Minister Raghubar Das on Saturday said that the efforts of government in aspirational districts are bear- ing fruits in Jharkhand with use of special grants to the State. The CM, while participating in the fifth Governing Council meeting of Niti Ayog in New Delhi on Saturday said that lives of people are being changed by spending Rs 150 crore in the aspirational dis- tricts of the State. “19 out of 24 districts of the State have been selected as aspi- rational districts, out of which 16 districts are naxal affected. The Central government is giving special aid to these districts in terms of providing basic ameni- ties such as drinking water, edu- cation, heath, roads among oth- ers. The State government is running various schemes in trib- al dominated districts including Khunti, Sahebganj, Pakur, West Singhbhum, Simdega and Gumla. The government has spent Rs 150 crore in these districts to change lives of people there,” said the CM at the meeting. Das said that Jharkhand has an average annual rainfall of 1300 millimeters, but for the last few years many districts have faced the problem of drought. “This year even less than 50 per cent of normal rainfall has been recorded. Given the prob- lem of drought, the government is encouraging the farmers to grow crops that consume less water. Rainwater Harvesting Act was enacted in the year 2017 for water harvesting in urban areas,” he said. The CM said in the Niti Ayog meeting that 21 districts of Jharkhand were affected with Left Wing Extremism, out of which 13 districts were severely affected by LWE. “Today this number has decreased considerably. In order to deal with this problem, the government has increased the number of police forces as well as the number of police stations. The number of police stations was 408, which has now increased to 547. The Special Task Force (Jharkhand Jaguar) has been formed to fight the Naxalites. In addition Turn to Page 2 T he Maoist attack on Friday that killed five policemen in Saraikela Kharsawan has left the police pondering over the new ways adopted by insur- gents to make their presence felt. While three encounters between the security forces and rebels have occurred in the state in less than a month, Friday’s incident was the first coldblooded attack by the rebels on police personnel while they were not on a comb- ing operation, police said on Saturday. “This is the first attack on policemen this month. The other incidents were all encounters between rebels and central forces during combing operations,” said Additional Director General of Police, ML Meena. The incidents of encounter between security forces and the CPI (Maoist) witnessed a rise since the completion of the 17th Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand. Police have attrib- uted this rise in the number of encounters to the intensifica- tion of anti-insurgency opera- tions in different parts of the state. Saraikela Kharsawan, how- ever, has witnessed the maxi- mum number of such encoun- ters recently. On May 28, at least 11 security personnel sus- tained injuries during an encounter with the rebels in the district. A day after the election results were declared, an encounter between the rebels and security forces in Saraikela Kharsawan caused injuries to at least five jawans of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). “We cannot deny that there is a strong presence of CPI (Maoist) in the district. These incidents have occurred despite intense combing operations conducted in the Maoist pock- ets of the district,” Meena said. Saraikela Kharsawan is one of the 18 Left Wing Extremism –hit districts in Jharkhand and is prone to attacks by the rebels. However, Friday’s incident appeared to be a retaliatory move by the rebels against the combing operations conducted in the area, police sources said. The objective, they added, was not only to snatch arms and ammunitions from the police- men but also to send a message to the Government and the local people. “Anti-insurgency opera- tions will be intensified in the area. We cannot disclose details of the operations to the media at this stage,” said an Inspector General rank official request- ing anonymity. Eyewitnesses said that around 15 rebels on Friday overpowered the five police- men, stabbed them with knives and used the cops’ guns to eventually kill them. The attack was executed in a crowded market and the policemen were killed in presence of common- ers. The motive could only be looting the guns, but the way the attack was executed indi- cates that the rebels wanted to instill fear among the com- moners, police sources said. Senior police officials of state paid homage to the martyrs in Saraikela Kharsawan on Saturday. During the election cam- paigning in Jharkhand, then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said that left wing extremism will be wiped out of Jharkhand by 2023. On the other hand, the Jharkhand Government has claimed on a number of occasions that the CPI (Maoist) was on the back foot in the state. N o love is greater than that of a Father for his Son’- Dan Brown. The saying holds absolute- ly true for Shibaji Mandal and his son Ujaas. After losing his son to leukemia In June 2014, Mandal started a foundation- Ujaas Foundation, in his mem- ory aimed to provide support to parents and care- givers with children fighting the same disease. Born in September 2008, Ujaas was diagnosed with leukemia at the age two and half years. During the final stages of chemotherapy, his cancer relapsed leaving a bone marrow transplant as the only option for treatment. On receiving an estimate of approximately 51 Lakh for his son’s surgery, Mandal, who was working with a private firm in Ranchi, decided to launch a fund raiser and Ujaas’ medical documents and family details were set up on a crowd fund- ing platform -- Milaap. The appeal brought together a glob- al community of more than 300 donors but unfortunately before the transplant, Ujaas succumbed to the disease in June 2014 after a prolonged battle of over three years. “We tried getting him treated at the best hospitals in the country but he picked up an infection which could not be cured since he had low immu- nity. Once the crowd funding campaign was launched, in a short span, a lot of people from all over the world came forward to help us,” remarked a nostal- gic Mandal. On losing his son to leukemia, Mandal decided to start a foundation- Ujaas Foundation (UJF) with the surplus funds aiming to save the lives of many children and ensuring that the line of treat- ment is well understood and executed by the parents in that order. In just a little over years, UJF has helped over hundred children and their families. “Being a healthcare pro- fessional, I was involved in counseling many other parents and mobilizing relevant infor- mation regarding leukemia. In leukemia a small mistake can cause the life of the child. My role is to ensure that people should not make any mistake because they are already so stressed with the child’s health,” said Mandal. UJF apart from helping parents, manage their fears, also gives them access to read-

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Page 1:  · ly true for Shibaji Mandal and his son Ujaas. After losing his son to leukemia In June 2014, Mandal started a foundation-Ujaas Foundation, in his mem-ory aimed to provide support

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Even as the striking juniordoctors defied Mamata

Banerjee for the second time onSaturday turning down heroffer for talks, the Bengal ChiefMinister swore by her“patience” saying like the otherState Governments she had allthe legal means to invoke thecoercive Essential ServicesMaintenance Act (ESMA) buthad thus far desisted from tak-ing the extreme step onhumanitarian grounds.

“The Government is show-ing patience, sympathy for thedoctors but now it is time forthem to act and resume duty.We have conceded to all thedemands that the doctors hadmade,” she said, wonderingwhy the doctors refused tomeet her at the StateSecretariat.

In Kolkata, a representativeof the striking doctors said,“This is an issue relating tothousands of doctors who arebeing attacked every day. TheGovernment is calling a few ofthem to hold closed-doormeeting. We are not ready to

accept that. We want the CM tocome here at the NRS Hospital

and see for herself the condi-tion we work in and give assur-

ances in public to rectify them.”“We are eagerly waiting to

start our duty, but from the

Chief Minister’s side there is nosuch honest initiative to find asolution (of the ongoing prob-

lem),” a spokesperson of thejoint forum of junior doctorstold reporters.

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Chief Minister RaghubarDas on Saturday said that

the efforts of government inaspirational districts are bear-ing fruits in Jharkhand with useof special grants to the State.The CM, while participating inthe fifth Governing Councilmeeting of Niti Ayog in NewDelhi on Saturday said thatlives of people are beingchanged by spending Rs 150crore in the aspirational dis-tricts of the State.

“19 out of 24 districts of theState have been selected as aspi-rational districts, out of which 16districts are naxal affected. TheCentral government is givingspecial aid to these districts interms of providing basic ameni-ties such as drinking water, edu-cation, heath, roads among oth-ers. The State government isrunning various schemes in trib-al dominated districts includingKhunti, Sahebganj, Pakur, WestSinghbhum, Simdega and Gumla.The government has spent Rs 150crore in these districts to changelives of people there,” said the CMat the meeting.

Das said that Jharkhand hasan average annual rainfall of1300 millimeters, but for the lastfew years many districts havefaced the problem of drought.“This year even less than 50 percent of normal rainfall hasbeen recorded. Given the prob-lem of drought, the governmentis encouraging the farmers togrow crops that consume lesswater. Rainwater HarvestingAct was enacted in the year2017 for water harvesting inurban areas,” he said.

The CM said in the NitiAyog meeting that 21 districtsof Jharkhand were affectedwith Left Wing Extremism,out of which 13 districts wereseverely affected by LWE.“Today this number hasdecreased considerably. Inorder to deal with this problem,the government has increasedthe number of police forces aswell as the number of policestations. The number of policestations was 408, which hasnow increased to 547. TheSpecial Task Force (JharkhandJaguar) has been formed tofight the Naxalites. In addition

Turn to Page 2

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�������� ��� 3�2��

The Maoist attack on Fridaythat killed five policemen in

Saraikela Kharsawan has leftthe police pondering over thenew ways adopted by insur-gents to make their presencefelt. While three encountersbetween the security forcesand rebels have occurred in thestate in less than a month,Friday’s incident was the firstcoldblooded attack by therebels on police personnelwhile they were not on a comb-ing operation, police said onSaturday.

“This is the first attack onpolicemen this month. Theother incidents were allencounters between rebels andcentral forces during combingoperations,” said AdditionalDirector General of Police, MLMeena.

The incidents of encounterbetween security forces and theCPI (Maoist) witnessed a risesince the completion of the17th Lok Sabha elections inJharkhand. Police have attrib-uted this rise in the number ofencounters to the intensifica-tion of anti-insurgency opera-tions in different parts of thestate.

Saraikela Kharsawan, how-ever, has witnessed the maxi-mum number of such encoun-ters recently. On May 28, at

least 11 security personnel sus-tained injuries during anencounter with the rebels in thedistrict. A day after the electionresults were declared, anencounter between the rebelsand security forces in SaraikelaKharsawan caused injuries to atleast five jawans of CentralReserve Police Force (CRPF).

“We cannot deny that thereis a strong presence of CPI(Maoist) in the district. Theseincidents have occurred despiteintense combing operationsconducted in the Maoist pock-ets of the district,” Meena said.

Saraikela Kharsawan is oneof the 18 Left Wing Extremism–hit districts in Jharkhand andis prone to attacks by the rebels.However, Friday’s incidentappeared to be a retaliatory

move by the rebels against thecombing operations conductedin the area, police sources said.The objective, they added, wasnot only to snatch arms andammunitions from the police-men but also to send a messageto the Government and thelocal people.

“Anti-insurgency opera-tions will be intensified in thearea. We cannot disclose detailsof the operations to the mediaat this stage,” said an InspectorGeneral rank official request-ing anonymity.

Eyewitnesses said thataround 15 rebels on Fridayoverpowered the five police-men, stabbed them with knivesand used the cops’ guns toeventually kill them. The attackwas executed in a crowded

market and the policemen werekilled in presence of common-ers. The motive could only belooting the guns, but the waythe attack was executed indi-cates that the rebels wanted toinstill fear among the com-moners, police sources said.Senior police officials of statepaid homage to the martyrs inSaraikela Kharsawan onSaturday.

During the election cam-paigning in Jharkhand, thenUnion Home Minister RajnathSingh had said that left wingextremism will be wiped out ofJharkhand by 2023. On theother hand, the JharkhandGovernment has claimed on anumber of occasions that theCPI (Maoist) was on the backfoot in the state.

������� ���� 3�2��

No love is greater than thatof a Father for his Son’-

Dan Brown.The saying holds absolute-

ly true for Shibaji Mandal andhis son Ujaas. After losing hisson to leukemia In June 2014,Mandal started a foundation-Ujaas Foundation, in his mem-ory aimed to provide supportto parents and care- giverswith children fighting the samedisease.

Born in September 2008,Ujaas was diagnosed withleukemia at the age two andhalf years. During the finalstages of chemotherapy, hiscancer relapsed leaving a bonemarrow transplant as the onlyoption for treatment.

On receiving an estimate ofapproximately 51 Lakh for his

son’s surgery, Mandal, whowas working with a private firmin Ranchi, decided to launch afund raiser and Ujaas’ medicaldocuments and family detailswere set up on a crowd fund-ing platform -- Milaap. Theappeal brought together a glob-

al community of more than 300donors but unfortunatelybefore the transplant, Ujaassuccumbed to the disease inJune 2014 after a prolongedbattle of over three years.

“We tried getting himtreated at the best hospitals in

the country but he picked up aninfection which could not becured since he had low immu-nity. Once the crowd fundingcampaign was launched, in ashort span, a lot of people fromall over the world came forwardto help us,” remarked a nostal-

gic Mandal.On losing his son to

leukemia, Mandal decided tostart a foundation- UjaasFoundation (UJF) with thesurplus funds aiming to savethe lives of many children andensuring that the line of treat-

ment is well understood andexecuted by the parents in thatorder. In just a little over years,UJF has helped over hundredchildren and their families.

“Being a healthcare pro-fessional, I was involved incounseling many other parentsand mobilizing relevant infor-mation regarding leukemia. Inleukemia a small mistake cancause the life of the child. Myrole is to ensure that peopleshould not make any mistakebecause they are already sostressed with the child’s health,”said Mandal.

UJF apart from helpingparents, manage their fears,also gives them access to read-

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Parvinder Bhatia n Jamshedpur

Ultras belonging to the banned outfitCPI (Maoist) are trying to regain their gripat Seraikela Kharasawan and other partsof Kolhan where they have almost beeneliminated in the anti-insurgencyoperations carried out during the pastcouple of years.

Concerned over recent attack on theforces, the security officials has asked para-military forces for conducting regular Longrange patrolling (LRP) in those areas so thatthe rebels may not set their foot once again.

"We cannot comment much on ourstrategy but one thing is confirmed that theMaoists are now trying to make theirpresence felt. After series of operation theyhave gone panic, said Chandan KumarSinha, SP Seraikela Kharswan. He said thatsearch operation has been launched to nabrebels involved in killing of five policemen.

A CRPF-s VII battalion officer alsoshared the same opinion about the rise ofrebels in the locations where they had theirdomination. "We have intelligence inputthat the rebels from the bordering area ofBengal that rebels in sizeable number enterinto Jharkhand and trying to hold meetingin the villages like Koira, Chamta andJhunjhka," said the officer.

The intelligence sources maintainthat most of the Maoists who were inSaranda forest have shifted to the adjoining

Odisha and Bengal borders and severalothers hid themselves at the villages inSeraikela in the guise of cultivators. Thepolice had resumed the anti-insurgencyoperation after getting an input that thearmed squad of Maoists has startedmoving in the Porhat forest once again.

Sources informed that apart fromensuring deployment of addition policeand paramilitary forces, the operations andpatrolling had been intensified to check thepossibility of entry of Maoists fromneighbouring states.

“We have asked security forces toconduct long-range patrolling in the areasof Kuchai, Kharsawan and also places likeGhurabandha, Ghatshila and Patamda,”said an official.

Meanwhile, the police andparamilitary forces have started frisking

commuters in the bordering areas. At someplaces common people are also beinginterrogated by police and paramilitaryforce on suspicion. Forces have beendeployed in strategic locations.

Police said that the security has beenbeefed up in the area and they werekeeping strict vigil on movement of theNaxlites. “There has been a substantialincrease in Maoist activities in this. We arenot much concerned about small acts ofviolence because these activities can becontrolled by us, but the bigger attacks areworrisome,” said a security official. Theadministration has increased policepatrolling on the bordering areasconnecting to West Bengal and has alsodeployed adequate number of paramilitarypersonnel on areas potential to rebelsattack.

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The ChinmayaMission Ashram in

the city conducted asummer camp for theurban poor childrenon Saturday. Thesummer camp wassponsored by theRanchi branch of theAll India Marwari MahilaSangh.

The summer camp wasinaugurated by SwamiMadhvandan of ChinmayaMission Ashram.The campstarted from 9 am and went ontill 5 pm. A total of 100children studying from classthree to class six were made apart of this summer camp.

Chinmaya Seva Trust runs84 Baal Sanskar Kendra centresin the city. They aim at upliftingthe urban poor children and tobring them at par with thepresent urban

population.While the MarwadiMahila Sang took care of theexpenses of the entire program,Chinmaya Seva Trust lookedafter bringing the childrenfrom the respective BaalSanskar Kendra centres viabuses.

Several child centricprogrammes were made a partof this summer camp. Themembers of the MarwariMahila Sanginteracted withthe kids. They made them feelat ease and also enjoy thevarious activities that were apart of this summer camp.

Ranchi: Frequent power cutsduring the summer season hasnot only been affecting daily lifein the State but also making itdifficult for industries to runproperly. At a time whentemperature has crossed 45degrees Celsius in many parts ofthe State, the power crisis isresulting in protests in manyareas. Although, according tothe government, heavy demandand old supply system is reasonof this problem, political partiesand industrial bodies are of theopinion that the government isunable to solve it.

Recently the industrial bodyof the State, Federation ofJharkhand Chamber ofCommerce and Industries(FJCCI) said that the StateGovernment is doing nothing toimprove electricity supplysystem, which is affectingbusiness and industries.

Speaking on what step theState governments has taken tostreamline the power cutsDirector, Personnel, JharkhandUrja Vikas Nigam Limited(JUVNL) MP Yadav said thedemand of electricity in theState Capital is 300 Mega Watt(MW) in summer season, whileit needs only 200 MW to 230MW in rest of the year. “Mostof the time power cuts take placedue to disturbance in weatherconditions just as heavy rains,storm and others. The Stateelectricity transmissioncompany Jharkhand Urja Vitran

Nigam Limited (JUVNL) isgetting enough quantity ofpower as much as required.Many a times electricity cuts aredue to technical fault,” he added.

While giving details of themain problem of the supplysystem Yadav said that as supplysystem is 20 to 25 years old. “Atthat the time of formation of theState, Ranchi used to need 80MW to 90 MW at that time butnow it needs 300 MW in peakhours. The State Government ischanging the old system intonew system as capacity of oldelectricity supply system wasvery low now the company ischanging it into high loadcapacity system,” he added.

“We get Rs 7 per unit ofelectricity from the StateGovernment and when we tryto run our plants or industriesby diesel generator sets then itcost Rs 27 per unit and it alsoaffects our production. Thebusinessmen are highlydistressed due to poor supply ofpower. Most of the industrialunits in Tupudana and Kokarare getting closed due to thishigh cost of production,” saidFJCCI president Deepak Maroo.

Congress Spokesperson, LalKishorenath Shahdeo said thatthe Government hadannounced that it wouldstreamline electric supply atthe end of 2017 but it had takenone more year and said that thesituation will be improved at theend of 2018. PNS

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Over a dozen peopleincluding women were

injured in a clash between twovillagers over measurement ofa piece of land at villageKaramdih under Manjhiaonpolice station, on Friday. Thoseinjured in the clash includedThe name of seven peopleincluding Arvid Thakur, hiswife, son Prasad Thakur, ArunThakur, Nitish Thakur,Satyendra Thakur, his wifePoonam Devi, daughter AartiKumari and son Alok Thakur

and Makuni Thakur areincluded. All the injured weredischarged after primarytreatment at MajhiyaonReferral Hospital. Seriouslyinjured Arvind Thakur andSatyendra Thakur werereferred to Garhwa SadarHospital for better treatment.Both the parties have beengiven written application in thepolice station for filing FIRagainst each other. Duringmeasurement of a piece ofland, a hot spat turned violent.Both the group attacked eachother stick, and brick stone.

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Chandigarh Universityannounced academic

scholarships worth Rs 10 croresfor the students. Thisscholarship will be offeredthrough an All IndiaScholarship based EntranceTest, CU-SAT (ChandigarhUniversity Scholarship andAdmission Test) that is beingconducted online in the monthof June at different centers inJharkhand, informed ProfessorPrabhdeep Singh, Head Media,Chandigarh University

Interacting with the mediapersons at Dhanbad Singh said,

the All India Entrance Testwould offer scholarships toover 800 students in more than50 Under-Graduate and MBAprograms offered at CU. “Inaddition, CU will offer 10 percent academic scholarship tothe wards of school teachersand university or collegeprofessors of Jharkhand state asa mark of respect for theircontribution towards buildinga strong future for the nation,”he added.

University will continue 5per cent seat reservation inevery course offered atuniversity for the wards ofserving or martyred defense

personals besides an academicscholarship up to 25 per centfor the wards of the security,military and para-militaryforces who will be seekingadmission in the variouscourses offered by theUniversity, he said.

Professor Singh was intown to inaugurate ProfessionalCareer Counselling facility forthe students of Jharkhandwhich would be available free-of-cost at University RegionalCentre in Dhanbad throughoutthe year.

He said, CU has taken anation-wide initiative ‘Lakshya’that is aimed to impart free of cost professional career

counseling facility for thestudents.

“The career guidancewould be available free of costto the students of Jharkhandthroughout the year atuniversity regional office atShree Ram Plaza in Dhanbad,he said.

“Under the facility anymatriculation, 10+2 or graduatestudents from the Jharkhandstate could walk-in at theuniversity regional office atRanchi or Dhanbad for gettingthis professional guidance andwould have to undergo apsychometric test based on

which a comprehensive careeradvisory report would be giventhat would help them in taking

the most crucial decision oftheir life which is choosing acareer,” he added.

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Giridih: Fusion Microfinance in association with SHARP, a Non-Governmental Organisation helped women earn a ‘livelihood’through a skill development programme in Jaruwadih Village’sPanchayat Centre. During the programme, 10 women were givenhigh-level sewing machines as a means to empower them.

The month long programme will teach women how to workon the sewing machines with the intention of helping them starttheir own tailoring business. The programme was attended byguests that included Kameshwar Paswan (Chairman), SushmaDevi (Headwoman) and Jayprakash Mandal (Member ofPanchayat). The guests appreciated the efforts made by FusionMicrofinance, while also encouraging the women to better theirskills and always move forward in life. PNS

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The district administrationon Saturday prevented

initial unrest over vandalizedstatue of Birsa Munda fromsnowballing into aconflagration. The statue atthe tribal hero’s mausoleumwas repaired by Friday latenight, while the bandh calledby tribal outfits on Saturdayhad minimal impact on life.

At least 168 persons weredetained on Saturday during thecourse of the bandh and kept ata camp jail in Morhabadi. Amajority of the detained persons,police said, were members oftribal rights outfits and none ofthem had association with anypolitical party.

“The bandh was peacefulacross the city. Transportfacilities remained unaffectedand no violence was reportedfrom any part of Ranchi,” saidRanchi Superintendent ofPolice, Sujata K Veenapani.

The matter came to light onThursday night when localsfound that the left arm of thestatue was broken and thrown ata few meter’s distance from thestructure in Kokar. The brokenarm of the statue also had the

bow and arrow, a symbol oftribal valour and revolution.The incident hogged theattention of political parties andtribal rights bodies on Fridayand they called a Ranchi bandhon Saturday as a mark of protest.

State ministers and leadersfrom the ruling Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP) were heckledon Friday during their visit tothe mausoleum. The uproargained momentum asopposition parties extendedtheir moral support to thebandh supporters. However,prompt action by the districtadministration on Saturday

foiled all efforts by theprotestors to disrupt daily life.

Birsa Munda was one ofthe most revered freedomfighters of State referred to asBhagwan (God) by the tribalcommunity here. He was aspearhead behind theMillenarian movement that

arose in the Bihar andJharkhand belt in the early 19thcentury under the Britishcolonisation. He encouragedthe tribal community to protecttheir land from the Britishand take the army on throughguerrilla warfare.

Opposition leaders havedemanded that the mausoleumshould be kept under CCTVsurveillance to catch hold ofany miscreant involved incausing damage to the statue orlittering the area. RanchiDeputy Mayor SanjivVijaywargiya on Saturday saidthat the administration willsoon install CCTV cameras inthe mausoleum and also passinstructions to the police tokeep a special watch in the areaduring patrolling.

“CCTV cameras will beinstalled in the area. Also, wewill erect a fresh metal statueof Bhagwan Birsa Munda at themausoleum by November 15,”he said.

Meanwhile, Chief MinisterRaghubar Das has ordered aspecial probe in the matter anddirected the police to nab theculprits responsible for thedamage caused to the statue atthe earliest.

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In yet another step towardscreating a Skilled India,

Chairman cum ManagingDirector (CMD) CentralCoalfield Limited (CCL) GopalSingh along with JointSecretary, Rashtriya SewaBharti, Gurusharan Prasad laidfoundation of Residential SkillDevelopment Centre at SewaDham, Jonha, Ranchi onSaturday.

The Residential SkillDevelopment Centre is beingbuilt as part of the MoU signedwith Jharkhand Government’sJharkhand State SkillDevelopment Mission (JSDM)at Sewa Bharti’s campus “SewaDham” at Jonha, Ranchi. Thecentre will focus on to impartingtechnical training and skillingthe youths from Scheduled Castand Scheduled Tribecommunity and Below PovertyLine families from the villagesin and around Sewa Dham.

Chief Guest of the functionSingh while appreciating theselfless service of “Sewa Bharti”said that it is an historic

moment for everyoneincluding that we are able tocontribute towards this noblecause. He said that this instituteunder “Sewa Bharti” willdefinitely come up as modelcentre for others to follow.Highlighting the persistenteffort of CCL to achieve holisticgrowth apart from coalproduction, Singh, said that wehave been striving to deliver thefruits of development to the lastmember of our society and thiscentre will further this cause.Singh assured that CCL willextend every possible supportto “Sewa Bharti” in their greatmission.

Speaking on the occasionDirector (Personnel) RSMahapatro said that CCL iscommitted to arrange technicaleducation to its meritorious

children of Jharkhand and thiscentre will definitely changedemography of youths stayingin around upcoming skilldevelopment centre.

Gurusharan Prasad in hisaddress expressed gratitude toCCL particularly CMD Singhfor extending support for amission initiated by the PrimeMinister.

CCL under its “KayakalpScheme” has been runningvarious institutes such as ITI,Barkakana, MSDC, Bhurkundaapart from regular vocationaltraining programs like MobileRepairing, Food Processing,Sewing and others for the skilldevelopmental and financialsustenance for the people.

On this occasion CCL’sIndependent Director SubhauKashyap, President, SewaBharti Ranchi Chapter, OmPrakash Kejriwal, GM (CSR) JTiwari, Chief Manager (Civil)Ratnesh Srivastava, SeniorManager (Civil) SS Lal, AshishKumar, CCL employees andother dignitaries were alsopresent during the foundationlaying ceremony.

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Ranchi: Deputy Commissionersof all the districts of the State havebeen directed to organize yogatraining programmes for threedays before World Yoga Day onJune 21. The direction was givenby Principal secretary to ChiefMinister, Sunil Kumar Barnwal,during a video conferencingwith DCs on Saturday.

“World Yoga Day is theprimary activity of the weekand there should be no lacunasin the preparations. Use variousmediums to link the commonpublic with the programme,” hesaid during the review meetingfor preparations of the event.

While the mainprogramme for Yoga Day is tobe organized at Prabhat Taraground where people will get achance to perform Yoga withPrime Minister NarendraModi, many programmes are tobe organized at district, blockand panchayat level.

Barnawal directed the DCsto ensure installation ofhoardings and banners at blockand panchayat level along with

organizing variousprogrammes including run foryoga, seminars and workshopsto increase public participation.

“Take help from socialorganizations, chamber ofcommerce, National ServiceScheme (NSS) and otherorganizations to spreadawareness for participation inYoga Day. Use social mediaplatforms like Facebook, Twitter,Instagram and Whatsapp toadvertise about the programme,”

Barnwal directed the DCs.The principal secretary to

CM also directed the DCs andDPROs to displayadvertisement related toMukhyamantri Sukanya Yojnain all schools, colleges andanganwadi centres and ensurethat the principals of schoolshave complete knowledge aboutthe scheme so that they can passon the information to parents.

Barnawal also directed toorganize programmes on

Pradhanmantri Kisan SammanNidhi Yojana on June 24 whereinfirst and second installmentswill be transferred to the accountthrough direct benefit transfer(DBT). The DCs were alsodirected to organize Seedhi Baatprogramme with BDOs, circleofficers and other officers of thedistrict to ensure easycommunication from remoteareas. A time of one week hasbeen given to the DCs to arrangefor video conferencing facilitiesfor the same.

The DCs were directed toidentify PVTG, SC and ST tolasin their district for immediateinstallment of drinking waterfacilities. “Providing drinkingwater facilities to PVTG, SC andST population of the State is apriority of the government forwhich financial aid has beenallotted under the 14th FinanceCommission. Also, funds fromSCR, DMF and MLA funds alsohave to be used for installationof solar based drinking watersupply system in these areas,”Barnwal said. PNS

��� 3�2��

Dozens of students ofJharkhand cleared the

Joint Entrance Examination(JEE) advance examinations,the result for which wasdeclared on Friday evening.Gudipati Aniket of Narwaregion of East Singhbhumscored the 29th rank in theexamination, thus becomingthe State topper.

Ankit Kumar Jain of DelhiPublic School Ranchi baggedthe second position in theState by scoring 30th rank inJEE Advance. Rayyan Shahid,also from DPS Ranchi becamethe third topper with 69thrank.

More than 50 students ofDPS Ranchi qualified theexamination, four of whomincluding Ankit Kumar Jain,Rayyan Shahid, Ayush Kumarand Adarsh Raj scored rankswithin AIR 500. Ram Singh,Principal of the schoolcongratulated the students andappreciated the efforts of

parents and teachers for thisgreat achievement.” It is indeeda matter of immense pride forthe school that such a hugenumber of students havequalified,” he said.

Similarly, 30 students fromJawahar Vidya Mandir,Shyamali (Ranchi) alsoqualified the prestigeousexamination and are set totake admission in various IITsacross the country.

Meanwhile, six studentsfrom Oxford Public School

cleared the examination. SBPMehta, the Chairman of theschool and Suraj Sharma,Principal, congratulated all thesuccessful students and wishedthem bright future and asuccessful career.

Also, two students of SaralaBirla Public School cleared theexamination. Rupesh Raj andGaurav Oraon of the schoolbagged 1125 and 987(category) ranks, respectively.Principal Paramjit Kaur saidthat it is because of the hard

work of the students, parentsand the teachers that the schoolcontinues to script such successstories. "Once again, thestudents have proved theirmettle by performing well inJEE Advanced 2019," she said.

A total of 21 students fromFIITJEE Dhanbad qualified theexamination with the best rankbeing 608 and three studentsbagging ranks within 1000.

As many as 73 students ofRanchi based coaching instituteChamp Square cleared the JEEadvance examination. AdarshRaj of institute scored 344thrank and got place amongst thetop five best performingstudents in Ranchi.

Attributing his success tothe institute, Raj said, "Theteachers of the institute can geteven the average studentsperform exceptionally well.They always motivate us andclear our doubts. More than150 tests were conducted at theinstitute before the advanceexamination which proved tobe quite fruitful."\

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Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) today began its two-

day working committeemeeting on Saturday tointrospect humiliating defeat inLok Sabha elections and at thesame time chalk out futurestrategy for upcoming generalelection for the State Assemblyelections which scheduled toheld in end of the year.

JMM was part of fourparties’ Mahagathbandhan(Grand Alliance) set up againstBJP led NDA. But, when theresults were out, it wasshocking and humiliating forentire Mahagathbandhanespecially for the JMM. Theparty had contested fourseats—Dumka, Rajmahal,

Jamshedpur and Giridih, butthe party won only Rajmahalseat, the JMM was not evenable to save its bastion inSanthal as JMM patriarchShibu Soren lost to BJP’s SunilSoren from Dumka.

JMM candidate fromGiridih parliamentary seat,Jaggarnath Mahto said thatthe party has demanded reportfrom all district presidents andblock presidents about presentcondition of the party in theirrespective areas.

The parry will contest theState assembly election inalliance with other parties ornot it is also discussed duringthe meeting. JMM has 19members in the State Assemblyout of total strength 81 and itis main Opposition party in theState.

“What will be the futurestrategy of the party and theparty will raise which issuesprominently is discussedduring the meeting. It is tooearly to say that the party willcontest the lection alone orwith partner,” said Mahto.

JMM had contested fourseats—Dumka, Rajmahal,Jamshedpur and Giridih, butthe party won only Rajmahalseat, the JMM was not evenable to save its bastion inSanthal as JMM patriarchShibu Soren lost to BJP SunilSoren from Dumka.

JMM is first party of GrandAlliance, which has startedpreparation for the StateAssembly election as otherpartners like Congress, JVMand RJD is facing problem ofinfighting in its state unit.

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Agame is a medium thatgives one the opportunity

to get out of absence, inequalityand insecurity and through agame one can brighten thename of the nation, society andone’s family, said Chairmancum Managing DirectorCentral Coalfield Limited(CCL), Gopal Singh, onSaturday, during a discussionorganized with the captains ofthe CCL’s rural football team.

Singh said that everyoneshould get opportunity in life.“It is necessary that we utilizeit and whatever you do, youshould do it with your mind,and it is the key to success. CCLwill be constructing a footballteam from all the areas, whichwill have 30 players. Regulartournaments will be organizedamong these teams, which willalso participate in the SportsAcademy, Government’sfootball team, and by selectingchildren, they will be groomedfor national and internationallevel,” he added.

In his welcome addressDirector (Personnel) RSMohapatra welcoming thecaptains of the football teamfrom all the fields said that ouraim is to make progress with allof you in Jharkhand and this isthe main theme of thisdiscussion.

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India vs Pakistan matcheshave been the demonstration

of one of the most extreme andintensified sports rivalries inthe history of cricket. Sunday’smatch, at the Old TraffordCricket ground, GreaterManchester is estimated tohave over one billion fans gluedto their television sets. Thecricket fans of Ranchi have alsofastened their belts to supportthe ‘Men in Blue’.

Local lad and star in theeyes of millions of cricket fansacross the world MahendraSingh Dhoni’ former coachKR Banarjee said, ““Eventhough Team India is in form,they should not take this matchlightly. At the moment,Pakistan team is like awounded tiger, ready to strikeat the next chance. If our teamplays sincerely, we will surelywin.”

Recalling the antics ofyoung Dhoni, Banarjee said, “I discovered Mahi when he was

in Std 5. For 2 years he only didwicket-keeping after which hewas selected for the schoolteam in class 8. In his 12thgrade, he scored a double-century in the interschooltournament which has beenregistered in the Limca Book ofRecords. After all his hardwork, he was recruited in TeamIndia in 2004 and has neverlooked back since.”

Deemed to be one of themost anticipated matches of theongoing ICC World Cup, it isgrabbing the attention ofIndians from all around theglobe. PK Nanda, a cricketaddict from Ranchi presently

living in Nigeria said, “I amvery excited to watch the twoarch-rivals meeting at thebattleground after 4 years. Iplan to watch the all-too-rareevent with my family at myresidence in Ghana. To cheerthe country, we all men havedecided to cook together andwatch the match on the bigscreen. I, especially, would liketo see the batting lineup ofIndia. We are sure to win.”

India has a 6-0 head tohead record against Pakistan inprevious World Cups. Anshul,a financial analyst and cricketenthusiast, expressing hisopinions about the teams, said,

“India has a fairly balancedside. Players are in their bestform. I think Hardik Pandyaand Chahal could prove to bethe trump cards for the Indianteam. On the other hand, theopposition is struggling withfielding and batsmen are yet tocome in form. However,Sarfaraz Ahmed andMohammad Amir could createa little problem for India.”

Expressing his curiosity,Abhinav, a B-Tech student atIIT-Bombay from Ranchi said,“Excitement is quite high, sinceit is an India-Pak match. I planto sit in front of my TV all daylong. I’ll watch the match alongwith my friends, all the whilepraying that every ball bowledbrings about a positiveoutcome for the Indian team.”

‘The Hangover’, a group offive friends, have rented somespace at the ‘Celebration’banquet hall in KaramtoliChowk, Ranchi and areplanning to watch the match onbig screen with food anddrinks. They will also have anafter-party.

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Former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh on

Saturday held a meeting withthe Chief Ministers of Statesruled by the Congress andallied parties ahead of the cru-cial Niti Aayog meeting. Theydiscussed the proposed agen-da of the Niti Aayog and issuesof the Congress and its alliesgoverned States.

Congress leaders —Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Kamal Nath,Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot, Karnataka ChiefMinister HD Kumaraswamyand Puducherry Chief MinisterV Narayansamy andChhattisgarh CM BhupeshBaghel — attended the meetingat the All India CongressCommittee (AICC) headquar-ters. Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh skipped themeeting due to his health rea-sons.

Among the issues dis-cussed were injecting life backin water bodies, fresh effortsneeded from the Centre in theagricultural sector and amend-ment in the Forest Act to bringabout change and prosperity inthe lives of the tribals.

Kamal Nath said at theAICC that all the ChiefMinisters were briefed byManmohan Singh. He said thatthe Gross Domestic Product(GDP) figures are out and theGovernment should suggest

measures in view of the graveeconomic situation. KamalNath also said that the severedrought conditions are pre-vailing in large parts of thecountry, rivers have dried upand so contingency measuresare needed. The CM said agri-cultural distress also needs tobe addressed urgently, addingthat all these issues will betaken up during the GoverningCouncil meeting.

The fifth meeting of theNiti Aayog's GoverningCouncil focused on issues likethe drought situation, farmdistress, rain water harvestingand preparedness for kharifcrops. It was the first meetingof the governing council of NitiAayog since the formation ofthe Modi 2.0 Government.

Earlier in the day, Baghel,Kumaraswamy andNarayansamy also separatelycalled on the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. On Friday,Madhya Pradesh Chief MinisterNath had hosted a dinner at hisresidence where Gehlot, Bagheland Narayansamy were present.Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh could notmake it for the dinner andskipped the Niti Aayog meet-ing.

The five-point agenda forthe meeting also includes aspi-rational districts programme,transforming agriculture,drought and security relatedissues with special focus on leftwing extremism (LWE) dis-tricts, an official statementsaid.

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Gujarat Chief Minister VijayRupani on Saturday called

on Union Agriculture MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar to dis-cuss issues relating to farmers'welfare such as the KisanKalyan Nidhi Yojana andPradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojana.

A delegation led byRupani, Gujarat AgricultureMinister R C Faldu, ChiefSecretary JN Singh, ChiefPrincipal Secretary to CM KKailashnathan, AdditionalChief Secretary (Agri) SanjayPrasad and officers of the agri-culture department met Tomar.

Union Minister of State forAgriculture ParshottambhaiRupala was also present at themeeting. According to a state-ment, the issues on pendingclaims of interest subvention ofcrop loan advance by banks ofthe state and extension of dateto purchase of mustard in thePrice Support Scheme werealso discussed in the meeting.

It was decided in the meet-ing that the last date for pur-

chase of mustard under thePrice Support Scheme shall beextended up to June 30. TheGovernment also decided toexpedite payment of interestsubvention to the cooperativebanks and nationalised banksso that farmers do not face anyinconvenience, according tothe statement.

The discussion alsofocused on measures beingjointly undertaken by theUnion and State Governmentsto increase agriculture pro-ductivity to improve farmerincome as well as on strength-ening measures for farmerwelfare.

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Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan on

Saturday called on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andcited the State’s reservation onthe privatisation ofThiruvananthapuram interna-tional airport. Vijayan wasmeeting Modi for the first timeafter the latter assumed thePrime Minister’s office for thesecond time following the BJP-led NDA’s victory in the LokSabha polls. Vijayan is here toattend the Niti Aayog meeting.

During the brief meet,attended by State PWDMinister G Sudhakaran andChief Secretary Tom Jose,Vijayan submitted a memo-randum citing variousdemands including further aidfor rebuilding the flood-hitState.

Official sources said theChief Minister requested theCentre to retain the airport inthe public sector and not tohand over its management toany private company.

Kerala's concern over itsreported exclusion from the pri-ority list of the national high-way development and the needto get more central assistance

for various projects also figuredin the discussion, which lastedfor around 15 minutes, theyadded.

The Adani group had, inFebruary, won the bid to oper-ate five out of six airports,including the one atThiruvananthapuram, pro-posed for privatisation by theCentral Government.

The State Government hadearlier appealed to the Centreto reconsider its decision tolease out Thiruvananthapuramaerodrome for operation, man-agement and developmentunder the public-private part-nership (PPP).

"Without the co-operationof the State Government, noprivate company can develop

the airport properly," Vijayantold the state Assembly earlierthis week.

In a letter to the prime min-ister in March, Vijayan haddemanded that the airport'soperation be handed over to theT h i r u v a n a n t h a p u r a mInternational Airport Ltd(TIAL) floated by the govern-ment-run Kerala

State IndustrialDevelopment Corporation(KSIDC).

The airport was establishedin 1932 on 258.06 acres ofland owned by the princely stateof Travancore, of which thestate is the successor. The258.06 acres of land had beenentered into the revenuerecords as Government land.

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The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) on

Saturday said that cyclonicstorm “Vayu”, which has weak-ened, is likely to reach coastalSaurashtra and Kutch in Gujaratas a depression by Mondayevening. In its latest update, theIMD said that “Vayu” was spot-ted at 355 kms west-southwestof Porbandar coast, 380 kmswest Veraval and 470 kms westof Diu.

The Met said that thecyclone is likely to be accom-panied by strong winds speed ofthe order of 40-50 kmph gust-ing to 60 kmph off Gujaratcoast. “The system is very like-ly to move westwards duringnext 24 to 36 hours with grad-ual weakening and recurvenortheastwards thereafter andreach coastal Saurashtra andKutch as a depression by the

evening of June 17,” it furthersaid. The sea conditions are like-ly to remain rough till June 17.

In a fresh warning, theIMD said that a fresh warningto fishermen not to venture intothe Arabian sea and along thecoast of Gujarat as CycloneVayu storms over the northeastand adjoining east-centralArabian Sea. The IMD said thatthe impact of Vayu had led toheavy to very heavy rainfall inisolated places in Saurashtra,

while the entire state receivedscattered rainfall Saturday.

In a tweet, GujaratAdditional Chief SecretaryPankaj Kumar said,"#CycloneVayu is still main-taining its intensity. Rainfallactivity is set to decrease alongthe coast and the interior partsof #Gujarat, while the westernparts of the state will continueto receive light to moderaterains."

Cyclone Vayu, which was to

make landfall on Thursday nearthe Gujarat coast, changedcourse on the intervening nightof Wednesday and Thursday. Itskirted the Gujarat coast affect-ing Gir, Somnath, Diu, Junagarhand Porbandar. On Friday, theMinistry of Earth Sciences hasstated that Vayu is likely torecurve and come close toGujarat coast.

Earlier, the cyclone, whilenot making landfall in Gujarat,brought moderate-to-heavyrains to 114 tehsils, the highestrainfall of 6.5 inches (160mm)being recorded in Talala tehsilof Gir-Somnath district sinceThursday, a Met departmentrelease said.

The development comes aday after Gujarat Chief MinisterVijay Rupani declared that the"danger over the state hasended." However, the cyclonerecurved coming close to theIndian coast.

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The deadlock over the resig-nation of Rahul Gandhi as

the Congress president follow-ing the Lok Sabha debacle isaffecting the day-to-day func-tioning of the grand old party.

In the last few days, all theimportant notifications, whichwere earlier issued by theapproval of the Congress pres-ident, are being released stating"by the approval of AICC".

On Friday, the notificationregarding the appointment ofMLAs and MLCs to theMaharashtra Biennial Assemblywas approved by the AICCand marked to party GeneralSecretary in-charge of StateMallikarjun Kharge and StateUnit chief Ashok Chavan.

"All the orders which wereissued within the jurisdiction ofthe party chief are now being

done at AICC office bearerlevel. This is for the first timethe organisation is functioningon such a mode," said an AICCsource.

On the other hand, crisis isdeepening within the organi-sation with AK Antony turningdown an offer to be the party'sinterim president. Antony, atrusted man for the Gandhifamily, has cited health issues asa reason for not taking up thejob.

Senior party leadersAhmed Patel and Ghulam NabiAzad, who have been tasked tolook for a face outside theGandhi family to lead the party,had asked Antony to take upthe job. Antony informed Pateland Azad that he has fullrespect for the Gandhi familybut could not accept the post.

AICC sources said that inthe given circumstances, AICCGeneral Secretary K CVenugopal too has declined to

accept the post of WorkingPresident offered to him citinghis other role of strengtheningthe party.

Senior leaders are in tizzyas UPA Chairperson SoniaGandhi and daughter andGeneral Secretary AICCPriyanka Gandhi have spokentheir minds at a rally in RaeBareilly recently against theparty's system which led to thedrubbing in the last twoGeneral Elections.

The search for the newleader was initiated after RahulGandhi decided to resign fromthe party's top post, followingthe dismal performance in therecently-held general elections.Although the CongressWorking Committee, theparty's highest decision-makingbody, had rejected Rahul's res-ignation, he has remainedsteadfast on giving up the post.

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The Congress on Saturdaysought the Government to

draft a new Naxal policy todeal with left-wing-extrem-ism (LWE) in the backdrop ofthe recent attack on a policeteam in Jharkhand.

Dr Manmohan Singh asPrime Minister of theCongress-led-government atthe Centre had time andagain described the LWE asone of the biggest threats to theNational Security even thoughincidents linked to Maoist vio-lence did not see a let-up in 10years of UPA regime.

Condemning the attack inthe Seraikela-Kharsawan areanear the Jharkhand-Bengalborder on Friday in which fivepolice personnel were killed inan ambush by Maoists,Congress spokesperson

Randeep Surjewala Surjewalasaid the act was highly con-demnable.

"The cowardly face ofNaxalism has been spreadingin Jharkhand. The govern-ment of this country needs todraft afresh its policy to dealwith naxalism," he tweeted.

Two assistant sub-inspec-tors and three constables cameunder attack while patrollingthe Tiruldih police station areaof the district.

The LWE in several statesincluding Chhattisgarh,Telangana, Andhra Pradesh,Odisha and Maharashtra hadkept the police and para-mil-itary forces on their toes andeven though many top Naxalleaders have been eliminated inthe past and several others sur-rendered themselves beforethe authorities, the strikesfrom the underground groups

have continued to take many alives of police and para-mili-tary personnel.

From 2005 to 2011,Congress had experimentedwith 'Salwa Judum' (peacemarch or purification hunt)which involved counteringMaoists by providing armedtraining to tribals. The so-called experiment carried outby Congress leader MahendraKarma later turned highlycontroversial with allegedforcible evacuation of tribalsfrom the land and their shift toarmed camps.

Human rights' group crit-icized the move saying the‘Salwa Judum’ has turned poortribals more vulnerable toMaoist attacks rather securingthem. Subsequently, the 'SalwaJudum' was declared illegal bythe Supreme Court. Karmahimself got killed in a Maoist

attack in 2013. There has not been a

marked change in Modi-gov-ernment's policy towards LWEwith the former also seeingLWE as one of the biggest chal-lenges to the National Securityand insisting on 'zero tolerance'against it.

Development work acrossthe LWE infested lands has notmade speedy progress asMaoist repeatedly thwart it byperpetuating violence and tryfoiling the governmentattempts to bring tribals intothe 'mainstream' . The cor-ruption in developmental pro-jects initiated by the centraland state governments andalleged 'extortion racket' byLWE groups have further com-plicated the scenario whichgets time and again alive withthe burst of gun from bothsides.

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The by-elections to six vacant RajyaSabha seats from Bihar, Odisha

and Gujarat will be held on July 5, theElection Commission said onSaturday.

Six senior leaders from the RajyaSabha, including Amit Shah, RaviShankar Prasad and Smriti Iranihave moved to the Lok Sabha withtheir recent election to the lowerhouse, thus necessitating election forthe said seats for the Upper house.

Irani's seat is the second fromGujarat apart from Amit Shah'swhich needs to be filled. Irani haddefeated Congress president RahulGandhi from Amethi.

Of the six seats, two are fromGujarat, one from Bihar (Prasad) andthree from Odisha- AchyutanandaSamanta, Pratap Keshari Deb andSoumya Ranjan Patnaik (all from BijuJanta Dal). Congress had demanded

that election to the two seats of RSfrom Gujarat be conducted on thesame time as resignations of the twoBJP leaders from the Upper House ondifferent dates sought to create con-ditions that election to the two seatsare conducted on different datesthereby giving an advantage to the rul-ing BJP there.

Congress spokesperson AbhishekManu Singhvi, at a press conferenceon June 13, said they came to knowthat there could be a bid to hold elec-tions for the two seats separately. Theparty will approach the ElectionCommission EC with its demand ofholding elections for the two RajyaSabha seats in Gujarat together, hesaid. Singhvi pointed out that simul-taneous voting can bring one of thetwo Rajya Sabha seats to Congress. Healluded without naming the partythat election to the two seats on dif-ferent dates could help BJP pocketboth the seats.

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Srinagar: The Jammu &Kashmir Bank will now comeunder the purview of Right toInformation Act and CentralVigilance Commission (CVC)guidelines, an officialspokesman said on Saturday.

He said the decision wastaken by the Board ofDirectors of the Jammu & Kashmir Bank.

The move will ensure greater transparency andaccountability, the spokesman said here.

"J&K Bank Board of Directors today (Saturday)decided to bring the bank under the purview of CVCguidelines & J&K RTI Act-2009 to ensure greater trans-parency & accountability," he said.

On June 11, Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyamhad said the bank has no choice but to be under RTIas it is a government-owned bank.

"It is registered under the companies act as a gov-ernment company. By the end of June, the bank willbe brought under the RTI and CVC guidelines," he said.

The decision comes days after Parvez Ahmed wasremoved as the Chairman of the J&K Bank for allegedcorruption, nepotism and favouritism. PTI

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New Delhi/Mumbai: Mumbai-headquartered WesternRailway on Saturday said it hadwithdrawn a proposal to pro-vide foot and head massages topassengers on board 39 trainsoriginating from Indore inMadhya Pradesh.

Indore is part of Ratlamdivision of Western Railway.

In a press release issuedhere, WR Chief SpokespersonRavinder Bhakar said, "Theproposal for introduction ofhead and/or foot massage ser-vices to be provided in thetrains originating from Indorestation was initiated by RatlamDivision of Western Railway."

"As soon as this proposal

came to the notice of higherauthorities of Western Railway,it had been decided to with-draw this proposal of startingmassage services in trains,"the statement said.

The proposal had beenopposed by newly-electedIndore Lok Sabha MP ShankarLalwani and outgoing LokSabha Speaker SumitraMahajan, both of whom ques-tioned the appropriateness of

the proposal."What arrangements will

be made to provide this facili-ty given that the service wouldthrow up some questionsregarding the safety and com-fort of passengers, especiallythat of women passengers,"Mahajan had asked.

On June 10, Lalwani hadwritten a letter to the RailwayMinistry on the issue, saying itwould not be appropriate toprovide massage to passen-gers on board, especially in thepresence of women.

"Is providing these kind ofservices in front of women inaccordance with the principlesof Indian culture? Providing

passengers medical aid, doctorsare important for the railwaysnot these standardless servicesin my opinion," Lalwani hadwritten.

After Lalwani's letter,Ratlam Railway DivisionalManager R N Sunkar had clar-ified that the service would notinclude a "full body massage"but only head and foot mas-sages.

The railways will ensurethat the facility will not makepassengers feel uncomfortable,he had claimed.

According to railway offi-cials, the proposal was part ofan initiative to garner revenuefrom non-fare segments. PTI

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Cracking its whip Anti-CorruptionBureau (ACB) on Saturday reg-

istered a case against deputy MayorSrinagar Municipal Corporation,senior officers of J&K Bank and fewGovernment officials for illegalappropriation of subsidy with inflat-ed project cost for establishment ofCA storage at Lassipora, Pulwama.

According to the statementissued by the spokesman of AntiCorruption Bureau, “a case FIR No.3/2019 under section 5(1) (d) PC ActSamvat 2006, punishable u/S 5(2) ofthe Act r/w 420 & 120-B RPC hasbeen registered in Police StationAnti Corruption Bureau, SouthKashmir (Anantnag) against ShiekhImran Director M/S Kehwa SquarePvt. Ltd. BohriKadal Srinagar, offi-cers of J&K Bank and other govt offi-cials, for illegal appropriation ofsubsidy with inflated project cost for establishment of CA storage atLassipora, Pulwama”.

Earlier, IT raids were conducted on the premises ofSheikh Imran on June 11 and sever-al files pertaining to investments were seized.

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Ahead of the MonsoonSession of the Maharashtra

Legislature beginning onMonday, Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis will expandhis Ministry on Sunday byinducting “eight to ten” newMinisters, including mostprobably the erstwhile seniorCongress leader and leader ofthe Opposition RadhkrishnaVikhe-Patil and erstwhile NCPleader and now a Shiv Senaleader Jaydutta Kshirsagar, intohis Cabinet.

Among other things,Fadnavis may drop from hisCabinet State Housing MinisterPrakash Mehta of the BJP, whois facing allegations of irregu-larities in the permissions givenby a slum rehabilitation author-ity (SRA) project at MP Millscompound at Tardeo in southMumbai. Lokayukta M L

Tahaliyani, who looked into theallegations against the minister,has reportedly passed stricturesagainst Mehta.

Sunday’s expansion, whichhas been scheduled at 11 am atRaj Bhavan on Sunday, will bethe last Cabinet restructuringthat Fadnavis will undertakeahead of the State Assembly pollsto be held in October this year.

Following the exit of StateFood, Civil Supplies andLegislative affairs minister whoresigned last week from the StateCabinet in the wake of his elec-tion to the Lok Sabha, the num-ber of vacancies in the StateCabinet has gone up to seven.

The current strength ofthe Maharashtra Cabinet is 36,seven short of the stipulated 43Ministers — a number thataccounts for 15 per cent of 288members in the State Assembly.Fadnavis may drop from hisCabinet at least three ministers,

including Mehta, taking thenumber of vacancies to befilled to 10.

Fadnavis, who is expand-ing the State Cabinet after a gapof three years, may accommo-date in his Cabinet “two orthree” MLAs from the ShivSena, which is a constituent ofthe BJP-led saffron allianceGovernment.

Informed sources in theBJP said that RadhakrishnaVikhe-Patil, whose son Sujayquit the Congress in March thisyear and won the Lok Sabhapolls by a margin of 2.81 lakhvotes from Ahmednagar con-stituency on a BJP ticket, wouldjoin the Devendra FadnavisCabinet in Sunday’s Cabinetexpansion.

Similarly, influential leaderfrom Marathwada regionJaydutta Kshirsagar who quitthe NCP and joined the rulingShiv Sena on May 22, will be

inducted into the State Cabinet.Three other names that

are making round as con-tenders for ministerial berthsare BJP’s Mumbai unit presi-dent Ashish Shelar, Atul Saveand Anil Bonde, both from theBJP, and Avinash Mahatekar ofthe RPI (Athavale).

Fadnavis had met BJP’snational president and UnionHome Minister Amit Shah onThursday to seek clearance forhis Cabinet expansion sched-uled for Sunday.

Fadnavis had earlierexpanded his Cabinet on July8, 2016, by inducting 10 moreministers and promoting oneexisting Minister to Cabinetrank.

The current strength ofthe Maharashtra Cabinet is 39,six short of the stipulated 43ministers — a number thataccounts for 15 per cent of 288members in the State Assembly.

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Narayan Lawand, a 45-year-old farmer in Pune district,

died of electrocution whileusing a submersible waterpump to irrigate his fields lastmonth. His death has broughtinto focus the plight of peopleliving in the area around Ujanidam in western Maharashtrawhich was overflowing last monsoon.

Rui, Lawand’s village inPune’s Indapur tehsil, falls in thebackwater region of Ujani damacross the Bhima river. As thebackwater spreads through hun-dreds of small inlets and streamsin the area, it is common forfarmers to draw water fromthem using submersible pumps.

But the water level in thereservoir has depleted to such aprecariously low level this yearthat small rivers and streamswhich flow off the main water-body have gone dry.

Submersible pumps andpipes which draw water fromthem, thus, lie exposed.

In many places, farmers,who mainly grow sugarcane,have pooled money to dig

trenches or shallow wells along-side the parched streams. Thewater that percolates into thesetrenches is then pumped out.

“Rivers and streams havedried up. Our crops are wither-ing,” said Lawand’s brotherTukaram. It forced his brother tolift water from a trench dug neara river. “He suffered electricshock while using a submersiblepump and died,” he said.

“The water level in thedam has gone down to anunprecedented level. But lastmonsoon the dam was full,”said Sharad Kale, a farmerfrom nearby Palasdeo village.

“Mismanagement” of thereservoir is responsible for thesituation, he claimed. Water fordrinking purposes was releasedto Solapur and parts of

Marathwada through riversinstead of pipelines, and a lotof water was wasted in theprocess, he said.

The wall of Ujani dam is inSolapur district. The backwa-ter is spread across Daund andIndapur tehsils of Pune district,Karmala and Madha of Solapurand Karjat in Ahmednagardistrict.

“Water level is going downday by day. Electric pumps offarmers are out of action for lastthree months,” Kale said. Anirrigation department officialdenied that flawed distributionof water of mismanagementwas the reason.

The total capacity of thedam is 123.28 TMCft (thou-sand million cubic feet) and lastyear the dam received 119

TMCft water, he said.“There are many reasons

why the water level went downso much. Water was releasedfor drinking purpose toSolapur and parts ofMarathwada. Water was alsoreleased for crops. Evaporationis another factor. But an impor-tant reason is uncontrolledwater lifting in the backwaterregion,” he said.

The dam was built to pro-vide irrigation only for eightmonths, but unauthorised lift-ing, mainly for sugarcane fields,goes on all-year-round, he said.

With the water level falling,the thousand-year-oldPalasnath Shiva temple nearPalasdeo village is now clearlyvisible. Built in the‘Hemadpanthi’ architecturalstyle, most of it was submergedwhen the dam was built. “Nowthe entire temple is visible.Tourists are flocking here to seeit,” said a local farmer.

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Facing the prospect of payinga sum of Rs 287 crore to a

private contractor and gettingquashed its crucial resolution ofterminating the Balganga con-struction contract, theMaharashtra Government willbelatedly file an appeal beforeRaigad district court onMonday, challenging the rulinggiven by a Bombay High court-appointed Arbitration Tribunalin favour of a private firm.

The BJP-led Maharashtragovernment, which has comeunder severe flak for its failureto appear before the high court-appointed Arbitration Tribunalhearing a payment-related dis-pute, has delayed inordinatelyin moving the Tribal in appealagainst the tribunal’s orderpassed in April awarding Rs287 crore for the State WaterResources department’s “delib-erate” failure to appear at thehearing before the tribunal.

The tribunal had set a 90-day deadline for the state gov-ernment to file an appealagainst its order. “It is shock-ing that the Maharashtra gov-ernment has not bothered tomove the Arbitration tribunaleven 70 days after the tribunalpassed an order against it. It isonly after I obtained the tri-bunal’s order through an RTIquery and shot off a letter toState Chief Secretary AjoyMehta that the State WaterResources department haswoken up and is moving thetribunal in appeal on Monday,”RTI activist PravinWategaonkar said.

“My information is that theState Principal Secretary, WaterResources Department, delib-erately absented himself from

the tribunal’s hearing in thepayment related mater. Thisprompted the tribunal to passan order against the State gov-ernment,” Wategaonkar said.

While awarding Rs 287crore to private firm M/s F AConstruction for the state waterdepartment’s failure before itduring the hearing, theArbitration Tribunal – headedby retired high court judge VG Palshikar -- had on April 6quashed the State governmentresolution dated September23, 2016 terminating the con-tract awarded to M/S FAConstruction for the con-struction of Balganga dam inRaigad district.

“Despite service of notice,the State government has cho-sen not to appear in the presentproceedings. In the circum-stances, we have no hesitationin holding that both, the GR dt.23.06.2016, and the Notice dt.28.10.2016 (by KIDC), sufferfrom the vice of non-applica-

tion of mind, failure to considerrelevant facts, considerationof irrelevant facts and failure tocomply with the elementaryprinciples of natural justice,which amounts to malafides inlaw,” the tribunal order stated

“Hence, we hold that both,the GR dt. 23.09.2016 and(KIDC) notice dt. 28.10.2016,are not only invalid but aretotally null and void in law,” thetribunal noted.

Following a payment dis-pute between the state-runKonkan IrrigationDevelopment Corporation(KIDC) and M/s FAConstruction, the contractorhad moved the Bombay HighCourt in 2015. In turn, the highcourt had ordered the settingup of a five-member panel tolook into the dispute.

Incidentally, the Balgangaproject was one of the 12 irri-gation projects that the StateGovernment had scrapped onAugust 30, 2016, after the

large-scale irregularities sur-faced in them.

On August 24, 2016, theState Anti Corruption Bureauhad registered the first FIR inthe irrigation scam, booking 11people in connection withalleged irregularities in award-ing the contract for Balgangadam to FA Enterprises.

The names of formerdeputy chief minister and NCPleader Ajit Pawar and formerWater Resources Minister SunilTatkare — also of the NCP arebeing investigated for allegedirregularities in 12 major irri-gation projects undertakenduring the previous Congress-NCP regime.

The multi-thousand irri-gation scam, it may be recalled,had come to light in September2012. Ajitdada had resignedfrom the deputy chief minister’spost on September 25, 2012,attributing his decision to themedia reports on the allegedirregularities in the awarding of38irrigation contracts worth Rs20,000 crore in Vidarbha regionduring 2009, without seekingthe mandatory clearance from the governing council ofthe Vidarbha IrrigationDevelopment Corporation(VIDC).

Ajitdada was the StateIrrigation Minister between1999 and 2010, before he waselevated as the deputy chiefminister and handed the port-folios of Finance and Energy.The irrigation scam hadallegedly taken place during histenure as the State irrigationscam. After Ajitdada took overas the deputy chief minister,Tatkare assumed charge as theIrrigation (Water Resources)Minister.

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After the success of UP Investors’ Summit in February2018 that fetched investment proposals worth Rs 4.68

lakh crore, the Yogi Adityanath Government is now con-templating organising its maiden ‘Global Investors’Summit’ early next year.

The 2018 summit resulted in big investment as a fairshare of MoUs matured into actual investment in the state.

The proposed ‘Global Investors’ Summit’ would be heldon a grand scale and position Uttar Pradesh as an idealinvestment destination not only in India but globally.

While reviewing the progress of IndustrialDevelopment department this week, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath asked officials to start preparing for the ‘GlobalInvestors’ Summit’, proposed to be held in February 2020.

He also directed the officials to hold the second ground-breaking ceremony for the pending industrial and infra-structure projects next month. During the two-day UPInvestors’ Summit in Lucknow on 21-22 February, 2018,the UP government had signed 1,047 memoranda of under-standing (MoUs) worth Rs 4.68 lakh crore with private andpublic sector companies. The summit was inaugurated byPrime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of honchosof corporate world, including Mukesh Ambani, GautamAdani, Kumar Mangalam Birla, N Chandrasekaran,Subhash Chandra, GM Rao, Shiv Nadar and many others.

The State also hosted delegates from Mauritius, Japan,the Netherlands, Finland, Czech Republic, Thailand andSlovakia to explore investment opportunities in UP.

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Inclement weather on Saturdayhampered rescue efforts to

retrieve the mortal remains of13 air-warriors who were onboard the Indian Air Force air-craft that crashed in the moun-tains of Arunachal Pradesh, anIAF spokesman said.

Shillong-based IAFspokesman Ratnakar Singh saidthe rescue operation, whichcommenced early Saturdaymorning, could not progressfurther due to inclement weath-er at the crash site.

Cheetah and ALH heli-copters are on standby and arewaiting to commence opera-tions once the weatherimproves. At present there arelow clouds accompanied withrain in the area, the spokesmansaid in a statement.

The IAF is making allefforts to retrieve the mortalremains of the deceased air-warriors. IAF personnel are inconstant contact with the fam-ilies of these air-warriors andthey are being updated regu-larly about the ongoing rescueoperations. They are alsobeing explained the challengesbeing faced by the rescue team,he added.

The rescue team on Fridayrecovered the cockpit voicerecorder (CVR) and flight datarecorder (FDR) of the Russian-origin AN-32 aircraft.

The aircraft was goingfrom Jorhat in Assam toMechuka advanced landingground in Shi-Yomi district inArunachal Pradesh, near theborder with China, on June 3when it lost contact aroundhalf-an-hour after taking off.

The wreckage of the planewas spotted by an IAF chopperon Tuesday at a height of12,000 ft near Gatte village onthe border of Siang and Shi-Yomi districts, after eight daysof a massive search operationinvolving a fleet of aircraft andchoppers as well as ground

forces. A 15-member team ofrescuers were sent to look forsurvivors in the accident site onWednesday and eight of them

reached the place on Thursdaymorning.

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Hyderabad: The Indian AirForce would ascertain the causeof the recent crash of an AN-32 aircraft in ArunachalPradesh and take steps toensure that such incidents donot recur, IAF chief BS Dhanoasaid on Saturday.

His comments came daysafter the wreckage of the aircraftwas found in a remote area inArunachal Pradesh, more thana week after it went missing with13 people on board.

“We have recovered theflight data recorder and thecockpit voice recorder...We willgo into the detail (to ascertain)as to what happened and howdo we make sure that it doesnot happen again,” he toldreporters on the sidelines of theCombined Graduation Paradeat the Air Force Academy inDundigal near here.

“In Arunachal Pradesh,the way we fly, the terrain isvery treacherous and most of

the time, it is cloudy...Whenyou are flying in that terrain, inthat cloudy weather, there havebeen many, many, not only AirForce, even otherwise, PawanHans and all, lot of accidents,because of controlled flightinto terrain,” he claimed.

Noting that there were pro-cedures to make sure suchaccidents do not recur, he said,“.. Need to review what hap-pened and we don’t have suchan accident again.” PTI

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Alleging that “jungle raj”was prevailing in Uttar

Pradesh, Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav met GovernorRam Naik on Saturday to dis-cuss the poor law and order sit-uation in the state and sub-mitted a memorandum.

Akhilesh Yadav along withsenior SP leader AhmadHassan submitted a memo-randum to the Governor andurged him to intervene and“wake up” the state governmentas he did during the SP regime.

Yadav said, “During SPregime, it was said that therewere only Yadav officers. Nowthere is hardly any districtpolice chief or district magis-trate from the Yadav commu-nity. We have requested theGovernor to wake up the stategovernment and direct it to con-trol the prevailing jungle-raj.”

The SO chief further said,“Criminals are having a freehand and they are doing what-ever they want in this regime.UP Bar Council presidentDarvesh Singh Yadav was shotdead inside the chamber of alawyer in Agra court whilecriminals were shot dead insidejail. How can people takefirearms inside the lawyer’s

chamber or inside the jail?” Holding the present Yogi

Adityanath governmentresponsible for the deteriorat-ing law and order in the state,the SP president said that thestate government had failed toinstil confidence among peopleof the state.

Akhilesh also tweeted:“Incidents of rape, killings andpolitical attacks have beenincreasing in the state. The CMis busy in meetings but the lawand order is getting worse.The firing at chairperson of BarCouncil in Agra has provedthat the situation is now out ofcontrol.”

Akhilesh Yadav also raisedthe issue of alleged harass-ment of senior SP leaderMohammad Azam Khan byRampur district administrationand said, “The Governorshould look into the matterimmediately as fake criminalcases are being registeredagainst the SP leader by officialsto harass him.”

Recently, a couple of seniorRampur district officials hadsought protection from AzamKhan while cases were lodgedagainst the leader for illegallygrabbing government land forAli Jauhar University owned byKhan.

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Srinagar: Four youths, whowanted to cross the Line ofControl (LoC) to join militantranks, were taken into custodyin Uri sector of Jammu &Kashmir and later handed overto their families, the Armysaid on Saturday.

Addressing a Press confer-ence in north Kashmir’sBaramulla district,Commander 79 Mount Brigade

Girish Kalia said the youthswere taken into custody by theArmy near the LoC on Fridayand were handed over to theirrespective families on Saturday.

He said the Army hadreceived information that theywere going to join the path ofviolence after being “misguid-ed” by local militants and theiraccomplices.

“We acted swiftly to pre-

vent them from choosing thewrong path and apprehendedthem along the LoC in Limber area of Boniyar onFriday,” he said.

The Army officer said theyouths were handed over totheir respective families afterproper counselling. Heappealed to the youths to notget misguided by the propa-ganda of militants. PTI

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Google’s Indian-American CEOSundar Pichai has said that it is

“perfectly fine” for big companies tobe scrutinised but cautioned againstdoing it just “for the sake regulating”them amid reports that the US is ini-tiating an anti-trust violations probeagainst the internet giant.

Pichai made the comments forthe first time after reports emergedearlier this month that Google’ssearch business and advertising prac-tices may come under scrutiny dur-ing the potential anti-trust violationsprobe by the US Department ofJustice (DOJ).

The DOJ and Federal TradeCommission are said to be dividingup responsibility for oversight ofGoogle, Facebook, Apple andAmazon to probe their market dom-inance.

Pichai told CNN Business onFriday that it’s “perfectly fine” forcompanies like Google to be scruti-nised when they get big enough.

“Scrutiny is right, and we willparticipate constructively in thesediscussions,” he said.

“I worry that if you regulate forthe sake of regulating it, it has a lotof unintended consequences,” he

said, focusing on the issue of artifi-cial intelligence in particular.

Pichai said, “it will have impli-cations for our national security and... For other important areas of soci-ety. Having leadership ends up beingreally critical.”

This is not the first time Googlehas come under scrutiny. The com-pany was under investigation by theFederal Trade Commission in 2013,but emerged relatively unscathedafter the firm pledged to change cer-tain aspects of its business, such ashow it handles content from third-

party travel or shopping sites.“We have gone through similar

situations in Europe, so it’s not a sur-prise to us,” Pichai said, adding “forsome of the other companies, maybethe scrutiny is newer.”

He said that there are countriesthat aspire to be the next SiliconValley, and they are supporting theircompanies too.

“This doesn’t mean you don’tscrutinize large companies, but youhave to balance it with the fact thatyou want big, successful companiesas well,” Pichai added.

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Representatives of tradeunions on Saturday pressed

the government to raise theminimum wage to �20,000,provide 200 days of assuredwork under the rural employ-ment guarantee scheme andensure minimum monthlypension of �6,000.

The unions during a pre-budget meeting also demand-ed hiking slabs for exemptionof income tax for salaried per-sons and pensioners to �10lakh per year. They asked for �8lakh income tax slab for seniorcitizens and exemption of allperks and fringe benefits likehousing, medical and educa-tion facilities and running allowances fromincome tax.

Besides, the representa-tives of around a dozen centraltrade unions expressed theirreservation against the privati-sation and divestment in prof-it-making public sector under-takings and stressed on increas-ing investment for job creationin the pre-budget meeting withMinister of State for Finance &

Corporate Affairs AnuragThakur.

After the meeting, some oftrade union leaders alsoexpressed their unhappinessover the absence of FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanin the meeting. Thakur chairedthe meeting as Sitharaman hadto attend the NITI Aayog’sGoverning Council meeting held around the sametime.

All India Trade UnionCongress (AITUC) GeneralSecretary Amarjeet Kaur said,“Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman had invited us forpre-budget consultations. Butwe had a discussion withMinister of State. They tried tolimit the discussion on fourbroad points protection oflabour, skill development, jobsand wages.”

However, she said, “We, the10 central trade unions group,put up all of our points. Wehave demanded for �20,000minimum wage, �6,000 mini-mum monthly pension andguaranteed employment of 200days under MNREGA (100days at present).”

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India along with the US are among the coun-tries with the highest number of visa appli-

cations for the UK’s technology sector, accord-ing to the latest data from Britain’s leading net-work for digital tech entrepreneurs.

Tech Nation, a UK Home Office designat-ed body for tech visas, found that applicationsfrom India covered a wide range of sectors, asthe Tech Nation Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visafor Digital Technology experienced a 45 per centincrease in applications in 2018-19, up to 650from 450 the previous year.

“The countries with the highest amount ofvisa applications continue to be India and theUS, from Software Engineers and BusinessDevelopers in Software Development, AI &Machine Learning, FinTech andEnterprise/Cloud sectors,” a Tech Nation reportsaid this week.

“Nigeria, Russia, Canada, Australia, Chinaand South Africa also top the list for numberof applications,” it added.

Tech Nation is one of just five designatedcompetent bodies (DCB) appointed by the UKHome Office for the Tier 1 Exceptional TalentVisa, in the fields of digital technology, engi-neering, medicine, science, the arts and media.

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India’s fuel demand in Maywas unchanged from a year

earlier, preliminaryGovernment data showed onSaturday, indicating a continuedslowdown in various sectorsincluding industrial output.

Fuel consumption, a proxyfor oil demand, was 18.61 mil-lion tonnes in May, data fromthe Petroleum Planning andAnalysis Cell (PPAC) of the oilministry showed on Saturday.

India’s economy grew 5.8%in March quarter, its slowestpace in more than four year,falling behind China’s pace forthe first time in nearly twoyears.

Several indicators — auto-mobile sales, rail freight anddomestic air traffic — indicatea slowdown in domestic con-sumption. India has not yetreleased industrial output datafor May.

Sales of gasoline, or petrol,

rose by a robust 11.32% to 2.73million tonnes in May as thenarrowing price gap with dieselis pushing motorists to opt forpetrol-driven vehicles. Dieselsales rose 2.84% to 7.78 milliontonnes.

Cooking gas, or liquefiedpetroleum gas (LPG), rosemarginally to 2.06 milliontonnes.

Naphtha sales increasedby 7.73% to 1.09 million tonnesand sales of bitumen, used formaking roads, were down by8.4%.

India revised down its fuelconsumption for April to 17.67million tonnes, a decline of0.6% from a year earlier, thedata showed.

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Ahead of the Budget, repre-sentatives of tech sector

and industry bodies likeNasscom, IAMAI and MAITmet Minister of State forFinance Anurag ThakurSaturday to discuss variousissues, including tax structure,and share their views onstrengthening digital economy.

The pre-Budget consulta-tion meeting also focussed ondata issues such as use of BigData technology in improvingthe forecasting of economic,financial, climatic etc phe-nomena by analysing largedata sets.

Seoul: The blasts detonated farfrom the bustling megacities ofAsia, but the attack this weekon two tankers in the strategicStrait of Hormuz hits at theheart of the region’s oil import-dependent economies.

While the violence onlydirectly jolted two countries inthe region — one of the tar-geted ships was operated by aTokyo-based company, a near-by South Korean-operated ves-sel helped rescue sailors — itwill unnerve major economiesthroughout Asia.

Officials, analysts andmedia commentators on Fridayhammered home the impor-tance of the Strait of Hormuzfor Asia. AP

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By his own admission,England captain Eoin

Morgan is doubtful for thenext World Cup game havingsuffered a back spasm whileJason Roy undergoes a scanfor hamstring strain but theskipper insisted it is not a‘panic station’ yet.

During their World Cupmatch against the West Indieshere on Friday, Morgan leftthe field in the 41st over ofWest Indian innings, joiningRoy on the treatment table,who had earlier hobbled offwith a hamstring strain.

“It is sore. I have had backspasms before and it normal-ly takes a few days to settledown. It is unclear, we willknow more in the next 24hours. You normally get agood indication the followingday. If it settles down then theimprovement is there straightaway.

“Jason had a tight ham-string and will go for a scan,it will be 48 hours until weknow more. I think when anytwo players go down it is a bitof a worry but it is not panicstations yet,” Morgan saidwhile addressing the post-match media interactionstanding because of discom-fort due to back spasm.

Chasing 213 for victoryagainst the West Indies,England did not require theservices of either Morgan orRoy as Joe Root stepped into

Roy's shoes at the top of theorder, scoring an unbeaten 100of 94 balls to help the hostspost a comfortable eight-wick-et win.

"Like everybody, we haveto see how it pulls up. We willsee how risky it is and do a riskassessment going into thatgame, baring in mind we willhave two games in a few days,"said Morgan.

Despite injuries, Englandstill head to Old Trafford nextTuesday for their matchagainst Afghanistan brimmingwith confidence having sweptaside the West Indies withminimal fuss.

Page 8:  · ly true for Shibaji Mandal and his son Ujaas. After losing his son to leukemia In June 2014, Mandal started a foundation-Ujaas Foundation, in his mem-ory aimed to provide support

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�How tough is it for India toprepare and plan for an unpre-dictable side like Pakistan?

We know they have talent,but we play well as a team. In thefirst two games we gave clinicalperformances and focused onwhat we need to do. We're notfocusing too much on what theopposition has to do or what itwill bring to the table. We needto believe in our strengths.If weplay well as a team we can beatany side in the world. That's thetype of confidence we have car-ried in the first two games andwe want to continue in the samemanner in the next whatevercoming games we have.

�Considering Pakistan's profi-ciency against spinners andthe wicket, any strategicchanges needed?

The conditions and thelength of the game will make usthink about a few combina-tions. The kind of spinners andthe kind of bowlers we have, it'sdifficult for any team to justcome out and attack these guys.There's a certain level of riskinvolved when you have worldclass bowlers bowling at you.

We need to focus on thecombination we're comfortablewith because we bat all the play-ers in our team and expectthem to put in performances andexecute what they are bestknown for. The length of thegame and looking at the condi-tions, we will definitely think ofa few combinations.

�Do you have to plan some-thing different for Pakistan?

We have to be flexible. Wecan't be rigid in our approachbecause if the conditions are dif-ferent from what we played inthe last game then we'll have tothink of different combinations,areas to strengthen in the bowl-

ing attack. If pace becomes amore important option, we'lllook to explore that.If not, if thelength of the game is going to befull and we expect the game tobe 50 overs both sides, then we'llprobably think of another com-bination. We'll have to see howtoday pans out, how tomorrowthe conditions are. All players arein a zone to be ready to play, sothat helps in selecting the com-bination you need, depending onthe conditions.

�Who's the real threat in thePakistan team for you consid-ering the weather?

We're not focusing on theopposition, so for us no one's athreat. No one player mattersmore than the other. It's aboutgoing into the park as the Indiancricket team and taking onwhichever team is in front ofyou. If we play well, we can beatany side in the world. If youdon't, teams are going beat you.That's how simple the game ofcricket is, and should be.

In our minds, nothingchanges according to the oppo-sition. We're only focused onplaying the type of cricket we'reknown for, not singling out anyplayer from the opposition.

�Any message for the fans?For us, a professional

approach is most important. Wecan't get too emotional or excit-ed. But for the fans, looking atthe atmosphere and frenzyaround the game, I wouldn't sayit's easy to think like a player.The fans' should enjoy theatmosphere, the occasion theway they want to and the way it'sbeen enjoyed for years, but theplayers obviously have to main-tain the mindset which we havefor years approaching any game,whether it's against Pakistan,Australia, England or SouthAfrica. We need to go out, beprofessional and execute whatwe're expected to.

�We have not played this teamvery often. How much of achallenge that is?

I don't see it as a massivechallenge because even theteams that you know well, youhave to play good cricket against.If you play good cricket, if youdo the basics better than theopponent, then invariably youwin, unless someone creates amatch-winning magical perfor-mance all by himself. Familiaroppositions, unfamiliar opposi-tions don't matter because youunderstand that if you don't playwell, you don't win, and if youplay well, you win against any-one. If we do our strengths wellit will be good enough for any-one in the world. We need tohave that belief.

�When it is a game againstPakistan what do you tell youryoung camp?

We have discussed nothingdifferent from the time we cameto England. The mood in thedressing room hasn't changed.We understand that any gameyou play for your country can beemotional, adrenaline filled, sono one game is more importantor more special for us than theother.We are a top side in theworld because of the cricket weplay and we always need toremember that.

�You have had outstandingsuccess under pressure. Buthow difficult is it as a captainto keep the youngsters awayfrom the hustle-bustle of anIndo-Pak meet?

The best way to approachsomething like this is to under-stand that the game startstomorrow at a certain time andit finishes at a certain time, it'snot going to last a lifetime,whether you do well or don't.The tournament goes on.As aunit, 11 guys share responsibil-ity. That's been our messagefrom day one.

�If it rains, then what?It's in no one's hands. We've

been in these situations manytimes. We'll just have to wait andsee how the weather pans out.Whatever amount of game weget - a full game would be out-standing - we have to be men-tally ready to go in there and dowhat we need to do.Fast bowlers haven't had anideal preparation for this biggame….

They are in a good headspace and have bowled well inthe first two games. If physical-ly they can stay fresh and theirbodies are feeling good, mental-ly they're just fine. They shouldtake care of their bodies, recov-ery and energy levels.Bumrahand Bhuvi are bowling well. It isimportant for them to stay inprime condition and the mentalside of things will take care ofitself, more so where condi-tions are like this, they'll get a lotmore help than the first twogames.

�Can you take us throughsome tense and funny momentsagainst Pakistan on field?

Tense was ChampionsTrophy 2009 where Yuvi frac-tured a finger and I was literal-ly flown in and in two days' timeI was playing against Pakistan atCenturion. I hadn't experiencedanything like that before and Iplayed a very bad shot. I could-n't sleep until 6 am. I was look-ing at the ceiling and thinking,that's it, I've flown in and nowI'm finished.

There have been manyfunny moments over the yearsThe incident happened duringthe World Cup in Mohali I can'treally elaborate here. That wasquite funny.It was involvingShahid Afridi and Wahab. I wasstanding with the strikers, and Iheard a conversation, which asI say, I can't elaborate here, butin a high-pressure game, thatmade me laugh.

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Yeah… no pressure at all, only 1.5 bil-lion people waiting for you to win,"said Hardik Pandya the other day in

his usual laconic manner. But that quite wellsummarises the traditional frenzy aroundany high voltage India-Pakistan clash,more so in the World Cup, even if emerg-ing statesman Virat Kohli refuses to rise tothe bait and add some of his own banter tothe occasion.

With the match rated as big asFootball World Cup Final with a 1.5billion viewership count, it is quiteunusual - and unfortunate - that all themid-field contest, combination, chirping,strategizing and what not kind of excitingtalk has taken a backseat to the moremundane and entirely unrequired chanceof rain cutting short the proceedingstoday when a well sorted India high onself-belief, performance and wins, meet arelatively new, cornered and edgyPakistan facing near ouster from thetournament.

Kohli says that a 50-over both sidesmatch would be outstanding forcombination and strategy, but flexibilitywould be required if the rain cuts it short,of which chances are high. As per thelatest on the weather chart - which hasbeen changing stance since morning -there is now a 20 per cent rain chance at10 am and 80 per cent in the afternoon

around 2, for at least an hour-and-a-half.The match is slated to begin at 10.30 amlocal time.

How much of a truncated contest itwill become remains to be discussed inemergent morning huddles in both thedressing rooms, but with the kind ofconditions in the air, a three-man pace

battery with the inclusion of MohammedSami is a distinct possibility. "Bumrah andBhuvi are bowling well. It is important forthem to stay in prime condition and themental side of things will take care ofitself, more so where conditions are likethis, they'll get a lot more help than thefirst two games," skipper Virat Kohli said

at his pre-match Press conference.Statistics tell you, and the entire world

quotes them with joy and concerndepending on which side of the borderthe chirp is coming from, Pakistan is yetto record a victory against India in aWorld Cup. They broke this traditionalICC event barrier in the Champions

Trophy Final which they won, but as theircoach Mickey Arthur says, "that was along time ago."

More than anything in a game of thisproportion, where emotions get overlystoked, especially in young dressingrooms on either side, the need is to drawfrom focus more than precedent, calmmore than passion and self-belief over allelse.

Kohli knows that Aamir is in top gearhaving torn through the Australians withhis fifer and Wahab comes with his ownbrand of pace and risk. But he, like Arthur,has also seen that the three disciplines ofbatting, bowling and fielding are yet tocome together for the green brigade.While Arthur is looking at creating havocupfront to unsettle the famed Indianbatting order, Kohli is confident that theshock of a seasoned Shikhar Dhawanbeing unavailable would be duly dealt withby KL Rahul who is in keen nick.

The regimen is the same as always:See through the first 10 overs, build up ascore that the bowlers can defend andthen wait for the excellence of the armdepartment to play through theopponents. On a brown top, there arebrownie points for the likes of RohitSharma and Kohli himself who scored ascintillating ton the last time the two metin the World Cup at Adelaide. Neither has

picked up niggle or rust in thecontravening four years. Add to that thefast and furious Hardik Pandya, who firedaway in the nets on match eve, and masterfinisher in M S Dhoni, and all one needs isa plan that works, a belief that propels itand conditions that give India the wingsto fly to another two points.

Hype or not, in the end, it is just abouttwo points, like from any other game, isn'tit? The tournament will go on andtomorrow will be yet another day forKohli. For Pakistan skipper SarfarazAhmed though, a defeat would mean,well, Gone With The Wind, without theScarlet O Hara kind of optimism in defeatand misery.

�4����India: Virat Kohli (captain), KL Rahul,Rohit Sharma, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni(wk), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav,Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal,Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah,Mohmmed Shami, Dinesh Karthik,Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan.Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain), FakharZaman, Imam ul Haq, Babar Azam, HarisSohail, Hasan Ali, Shahdab Khan,Mohammed Hafeez, Mohammed Hasnain,Shaheen Shah Afridi, Wahab Riaz,Mohammed Aamir, Shoaib Malik, ImadWasim, Asif Ali.

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This is it. We’ve come full circle. We’reback to where our journey as a cricketcrazy nation began: England. Lord’s.Here we go again. From completeunderdogs then to absolute world dom-

inators and financial powerhouses now. We’vecome a long way since that fine day in 1983 whenKapil Dev — an all-rounder from Punjab with an

erstwhile ordinary individualrecord — lifted that trophyand ushered in an era of fran-tic following to the point ofraising the status of the sportto that of a religion and itsmost revered son, SachinTendulkar, to that of a God.

A lot has happenedbetween that iconic momentin the balcony of Lord’s tothe iconic six hit byMahendra Singh Dhoni towin India’s second World

Cup in 2011. But all of thatlater. First, let’s celebrate the fact that ourSharma ji ka ladka, Rohit Sharma, is living up toexpectations, and that Koffee With Karan cameway before the World Cup and IPL and is athing of the past. If only it will serve to ignitethe fuel to perform better for Hardik Pandyaand KL Rahul. And we still have our maverickex-captain, Dhoni, albeit for most likely the lasttournament of his stellar trophy-laden career.

So let’s get down to business and examinewith utmost scrutiny our beloved Team India’schances in the 12th edition of the ICC CricketWorld Cup 2019. Starting with our very own cap-tain furious, Virat Kohli. He has come a long waysince leading India to the U19 Cricket World Cupin 2008, and being a part, but not a key man, ofthe 2011 World Cup winning squad. He washanded over the ODI captaincy in 2017 and hasonly taken India to newer heights since. His per-sonal accolades are a statistician’s dream. In ODIs,he holds the world record for the fastest batsmanto 10,000 runs in 205 innings. He has the highestnumber of centuries in run chases in the worldand is only nine centuries away from breakingTendulkar’s record (49) in style, which I’m sure allus thought would never be broken.

But as the adage and some commentator’sfavourite line goes: “Records are made to bebroken.” We should, in fact, consider ourselvesfortunate that we are seeing the cricket versionof Messi and Ronaldo — albeit not in the sameera — and both of them are Indians. And theyare broken and keep getting broken in everydepartment, which makes you wonder what thereason for that could be. The reasons are aplen-ty, namely smaller cricket boundaries, newimproved thicker bats, different balls (Dukes v

Kookaburra), changed power play rules, andpitches generally favouring batsmen etc.

So it’s only natural that India would featureheavily amongst those records being a battingheavy team predominantly. But recently, trendshave changed and for the better. India has becomea force to reckon with when it comes to the ball.The destroyer-in-chief being Jasprit Bumrah, whois atop the ICC world rankings for bowlers. He issupported by Kuldeep Yadav (7), YuzvendraChahal (8), Bhuvnesh Kumar (17) — who are allamongst the top 20. While amongst the top 20batsmen, only three Indians feature, namely Kohli(1), Rohit Sharma (2), and Shikhar Dhawan (14).The next best batsman is Dhoni at number 24.

Talking of the all-rounders, they are whatmany believe to be the X factor in India’s chancesfor progressing to the last four. Pandya is fresh offa Koffee controversy and fresher off an IPL show-ing he should be proud of — he ended the tour-nament with 402 runs at a strike rate of over 190,smashing 38 boundaries and 29 sixes in 15matches. He also claimed 14 wickets in 16 games.He has so far played 45 ODIs and has taken 44wickets with an economy of 5.53 and battinglower down the order, he has scored 731 runs in29 innings. He can field well too and can bowl sixto seven crucial overs, picking up wickets. Hisrole is akin to that of Yuvraj Singh in the 2011World Cup. And if he can channelise that embar-rassing, unnecessary media scrutiny and a won-derful IPL showing, he can very much be themost important player of the team and a potentialMan of the Tournament just like Yuvraj Singh.

The other player who could be as effective isKedar Jadhav. He might not be as exuberant andcontroversial but he has proved himself many atime not just with the bat but also with the ball. Asolid middle order batsman and good finisher, heis also the man with the “golden arm”. His sidearm action and the angle at which he deliversmakes it difficult for batsmen to pick the ball.

KL Rahul has also shown his mettle and notlet controversies affect him. It’s good to see thatboth Pandya and Rahul took the negative mediaattention in a positive way and came out of itstronger and more determined. Rahul looks con-fident and reliable to call upon in any situation.He has made the crucial number 4 position hisown. And being an opener originally, it’s anadvantage when the ball is moving around andcausing problems. Talking of how the controver-sy affected him, he said: “In life, in cricket, youmake mistakes. You have bad days, you learnfrom them and try to be a better person. I neverdoubted myself, my personality, never doubtedwho I am. I was strong in my head, I gotthrough it and am happy to be back and enjoy-ing my cricket.” I think we all have something tolearn from him in the sense that it’s not the blow

that gets you down, it’s the mettle to get back upand fight for what you believe in.

This is the fifth time that cricket’s most pres-tigious tournament is being held in England andWales. The previous winners of those editionshave been West Indies (1975, 1979), India (1983),and Australia (1999). The format for the tourna-ment is quite different from the previous editionswe are used to seeing. It’s played in a round-robinmanner in a single group of 10 teams, with eachteam playing the other nine once, and the topfour at the end of the group phase progressing tothe semi-finals. The 1992 World Cup in Australiaand New Zealand was also played in a round-robin format, with nine teams participating. The10-team tournament this time has gained criti-cism due to the lack of Associate teams in thetournament. Given the increase of the Test-play-ing nations from 10 to 12, with the admission ofIreland and Afghanistan in June 2017, it is thefirst World Cup to be contested without all of theTest playing nations being present. After theelimination of all Associate teams at the qualify-ing tournament, this is also the first World Cupto feature no Associate members.

There’s no tournament without a bit of con-troversy. A few days ago, Dhoni was asked bythe ICC to remove the dagger insignia from hiswicket-keeping gloves despite the Indian cricketboard’s assertion that it was not a military sym-bol. The BCCI had sought permission for thestar wicketkeeper batsman from the world gov-erning body (ICC), but it was denied citing reg-ulations that no individual message or logo canbe displayed on any item of clothing or equip-ment. In addition, the logo also breaches therule that allows only one sponsor’s logo on thewicket-keeping gloves. In Dhoni’s case, healready sports an SG logo on his gloves.

Another talking point is the big match for allIndians — cricket fans or not — at Old Trafford,Manchester, on June 16. It’s the one game thatbrings every Indian together (if cricket didn’t doa good enough job of it already). It’s India vPakistan. With the same old rivalry and passion,but with renewed verve and political context.Following the 2019 Pulwama attack, several for-mer Indian players and the BCCI called for theboycott of this group match fixture, wanting toban the Pakistan team from playing in the tour-nament. However, after conducting a boardmeeting in Dubai, the ICC rejected the BCCI’sproposal and confirmed that the scheduledmatch would go ahead as planned, despite theongoing stand-off between the two nations. Thematch being held today will most likely beviewed the world over by a record audience as isusually expected for an India-Pakistanencounter, but made extra tense by the recentpolitical relationship of the two nations.

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Talking of India, Pakistan and the many reasons thiscannot be viewed as just a sport. It’s an extension of every-thing we stand for and believe in — personally, politically,morally. Ever wondered why Team India’s jersey colour isblue and not the usual suspected patriotic colours, saffronor green? It had to be taken from the Indian Flag as a sym-bolic gesture for patriotism. While saffron stands forcourage and selflessness, green signifies faith, fertility, andprosperity. The blue in the Ashoka Chakra stands for thecolour of the sky and ocean. The selection of saffron orgreen colours for the jerseys would have created controver-sies of religious or political favoritism as saffron is heavilyassociated with Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism as wellas the political parties we all know by now, while green isaffiliated with Islam. Thus, it wouldn’t have been a wisedecision to choose those to represent a nation which pridesitself to be secular. The blue colour then automaticallybecame the first choice to represent the nation and its war-riors on the field with its symbolic meaning of the “mosttruth of the universe”. And “Bleed Blue” has recentlybecome an anthem of the youth, again symbolically signify-ing the passion and dedication of battling till you bleed andstaying true to your talents and virtues. And nobodyembodies that never-say-die attitude and fighter mentalitythan our current and former captains, Kohli and Dhoni.

In the 2011 World Cup hosted by India, we were oneof the favourites and definitely one with the most pressureto perform on our home ground with the final being inMumbai. This time, that mantle is taken by England withthe final being at the Mecca of cricket — Lord’s. Andunlike India, they’re not that adept at handling the unduepressure of expectations, with the 2013 Champions Trophyfinal being a case in point. India sure has good memoriesof playing finals at the Mecca of cricket (cue SouravGanguly’s shirt waving at Lord’s balcony), the NatWestSeries Final in 2002, and, of course, the 1983 World Cupwin. But for that to happen again, India will have to beatthe best of the best to first come in the top four and thenit’s all down to the semi-finals and the finale at Lord’s.

England, meanwhile, will be looking to win their firstever World Cup, which is ironic since they’re the inventorsof the game. They have been losing finalists in 1979, 1987,and 1992. In the 2015 World Cup, Bangladesh knockedout England from the group stage, which raised questionson the latter’s relevance as an ODI team. Since then, theyhave completely turned over a new leaf and have becomethe number 1 ranked team in the world in ODIs. Theyhave defeated several top teams, including India andAustralia, this year and their batsmen also broke therecord for the highest total in an ODI innings. With aplethora of match winners in their squad, they are certain-ly not the team they were in the previous World Cups andare viewed by most as ‘the’ team to watch out for. Butwhether or not they have shed their choker status andweak mentality remains to be seen. Lord’s save the Queen!

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The James Bond movies of the1960s genre were our first expo-sure to science fiction. At a time

when television or satellite televisionchannels were unheard of and even tele-phones and cars were rare items (at leastin Kanjirakkadu in Ernakulam districtwhere I grew up), the scenes which por-trayed Sean Connery — who immor-talised Bond — speaking to his sourcesat far away places through the contrap-tion attached to his wrist watch and dri-ving around in that Aston Martin stilllinger in the mind. Sridhar, a theatre atErnakulam, was the window to thisworld of sci-fi for my generation.Sridhar theatre has given way to a shop-ping mall and the interest in James Bondmovies, too, came to an end withConnery leaving the field and makingway for the new generation actors.

But interest in science fiction con-tinued because of television series likeCosmos: A Personal Voyage anchored byCarl Sagan and the works penned byArthur C Clarke whose 2001: A SpaceOdyssey remains fresh in the mind.Through his science writings, Clarketold us that the world would use spacescience and satellites from the geosta-tionary orbit for communication ser-vices. He had written in one of his sci-ence papers in 1945 about the “extra-ter-restrial relays” that would revolutionisethe world of communication.Conventional science teachers hadscoffed at such ideas and told us not tobe carried away by such prophecies! Seewhat has happened to the telecommu-nication sector, which has transformedthe world into a global village.

In Ramayana, the great Indian epicwhich is portrayed by progressive ele-ments as a work of fiction, the warbetween Lord Rama and the demon kingRavana is described by author SageValmiki as a spot report from the theatreof war. Valmiki gave an account of themyriad arrows deployed by the Lord andhis enemy. Aagneyam, Varuna, Kaubera,Indrastram, Nairyathaastram,Yaamyaastram, Gandharvaastram,Gauhyakamastram, Aasuramastram,Vaishnavastram are some of the arrowsused by the Lord and his rival in the war,which lasted many days. It wasBrahmastra, provided by Lord Indrathrough Matali, the charioteer, whichcame to the rescue of Lord Rama in fin-ishing off Ravana once and forever.

Rationalists may laugh at the namesof arrows deployed in the greatRamayana war. But the truth is that mod-ern missiles developed by Indian scien-tists and which could be categorisedbased on their properties (surface to airor SAM, Agni, Prithvi, Aakash etc)were all inspired by the arrows men-tioned in the great epic. This underlinesthe role played by science-fiction in

developing the technological know how.Science fiction is what strengthens

the foundation for strong and robust sci-ence and technology sector. Scientifictemper should not be used to demeanand ridicule the facts mentioned in Indiaspecific epics and great literary works.The dreams espoused by the great sci-ence fiction authors are slowly butsteadily becoming a reality. Recent newscoming out of China is that scientists inthat country have succeeded in develop-ing the Invisible Coat, a subject that hasinspired many books and films.

Numbercaste, authored by SriLanka-born Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, is anexciting piece of work. We are mute wit-nesses to the role played by ArtificialIntell igence and InformationTechnology in moulding the new world.These technological marvels are likedouble-edged swords, similar to the

internet as well as mobile phones. Howthe internet and cellphones cause dis-asters and development in human livesis a part of modern folklore.

We live in an era where humanbeings have lost their relevance and iden-tity and have been compressed into 10or 12 digit numbers. The Aadhaar num-ber controversy is raging all over India,with people debating heatedly about per-sonal privacy being violated with the helpof Aadhaar numbers, making thehumans “niraadhaar”.

What Wijeratne portrays in thiswork of fiction is how a technologydeveloped by Numbercaste, a digitalstartup launched in Silicon Valley byJulius Common, an entrepreneur withstrange habits, takes on IT giants likeFacebook, Google, and other socialmedia outlets and emerges as the glob-al monopoly. The events unfold in our

immediate future, say in 2030 or so.The Twitter is dead and gone.

Numbercaste starts from where Twitterends. “People used hashtags, 140 char-acters, and you send a message out andthe people who follow you could readit. We are building something like that.The plan is you are in the area and peo-ple are talking about it, then you knowit. It could be anything from a revolu-tion to armed robbery to a party hap-pening two lanes away. It doesn’t mat-ter. If it’s something you can benefitfrom, we’ l l point you that way.Numbercaste’s got you covered,”Common, owner of Numbercaste, tellsPatrick Udo, the main protagonist whohas been hired by Common for the job.

Common explains to Patrick hisidea of the perfect world. “A world whereyou can name a man and I can tell youexactly how much he means to us… Not

just the money in his bank, but his actu-al worth, as a member of this species. Youcan drive your expensive cars and roll outyour stupid make-up, but in 10 years’ time,none of that will matter. I am going to takethis world and I am going to goddamngrind it into something more real,”declares Common. He lives up to hisword. It is a thrilling mission. If thereviewer reveals more, the suspense asso-ciated with the book would vanish. Sincethis book is a must-read for all who areinterested in the future of the world, it isnot advisable to disclose more than this.

The Numbercaste brought backmemories of 1984, the dystopian novelauthored by George Orwell in 1949.Though 1984 has come and gone, pos-sibilities of the chances of the scenarioportrayed by Orwell continue to hauntus. If there are some similarities between1984 and Numbercaste, it could be coin-cidental. Time to go for a re-read of1984 too. Sir Arthur Clarke spent a bigpart of his life in Sri Lanka and craftedsome of the best sci-fi works while stay-ing in the island. Who knows, Wijeratnemay have a lot to offer the readers in thecoming days. The climate and ambienceof the island nation could be ideal forsuch literary pursuits.

For India to truly change,there needs to be a changein our society and culture.The internet is playing abig part in it. The rise of

internet penetration also means thatthings are now more equal, sincepeople who didn’t have a voicebefore now do. ‘The Great OpinionWars’ talks about how social mediahas allowed aspirational Indians tovoice their opinions on topics thathave always been the domain of theprivileged class.

However, social media has alsobirthed a strange new phenomenonin India — the bhakts, and there isadvice for both the bhakts andthose at the receiving end of theirabuse in ‘Anatomy of an InternetTroll’. Another phenomenon thatsocial media has caused is ‘virtuesignallers’ — those people whohave to show that they are so vir-tuous, so noble and so good thatthey sense communal intolerancein a statement even when othersdon’t. ‘Look, I’m so Secular!’: TheRise of Virtue Signallers on SocialMedia’ talks about this and how itdistorts national public debate ona range of important issues.

But do these phenomena indi-cate that India is getting moreintolerant? There are endless debatesabout this, but I think that we are amixed society, tolerant and intoler-ant at the same time, as explainedin ‘Fifty Shades of Intolerance’. Idon’t believe that intolerance hasanything to do with the requestfrom Hindus that a temple be builtin Ayodhya, and ‘Why We Need aRam Temple in Ayodhya’ talksabout why restoring the temple onits original site and building an evengrander mosque nearby will be agreat act of religious cooperation.

A crucial aspect of what makesIndia the country it is, is the factthat we are a democracy, and anyattempt to undermine that is dan-gerous. The essay on blind bhaktstalks about how unquestioningsupport of a leader, rather than thecountry, can actually harm thatleader. The essay on the SupremeCourt’s order regarding the playing

of the National Anthem before amovie screening (‘Anthem Order:The Intention’s Good butImposition Isn’t’) argues thatauthoritarianism can never createpatriotism. The Government banon pornography is a similar curtail-ment of basic freedoms, asexplained in ‘Hypocritical andImpractical: With the Porn Ban, theGovernment Has Flaunted ItsControl Freak Instincts’. I think thatthe key to becoming an awesomenation is to defend individual lib-

erties. Related to this is the need tostop mixing religion and law, and‘Too Many Holy Cows’ talks abouthow it is time to discuss what itmeans to be a secular republic, andrevise the Constitution to reflect it.

Social change means that weneed to look at the infrastructuresin our cities, and the essay onMumbai rains talks about this andwhat needs to be done so that thecountry’s financial capital doesnot come to a grinding halt everymonsoon. This overriding indiffer-

ence that seems to inflict Indiansis also reflected in our views oncorruption, and our don’t-careattitude to corruption is addressedin the essay on the 2G ‘non-scam’.

It’s important for one to beproud of the country we live in, and‘Will You Spend �80 to See IndiaWin a Dozen Olympic Golds?’ sug-gests ways that we can improve ourgold medal tally at the Olympics atthe micro and macro level. Finally,‘Creaming the People’ suggests amove from caste-based reserva-

tions to economic-based ones inorder to create a truly fair society.

# 5�-/���� ����"���"���//��#�������?����� "��"�If you are a true nationalist, put thenation before individuals, even ifthat individual happens to be yourfavourite leader.

I recently conducted a Twitterpoll to test the hypothesis thatNarendra Modi enjoys an insaneamount of support among hisfans. The poll asked this question:If Modi wanted to declare anational emergency to eliminatecorruption, would you support it?Out of nearly 10,000 participants,57 per cent said they would sup-port such a decision.

The usual Twitter poll dis-claimers apply: It’s a highly skewedsample, polls aren’t scientific, etc.Also, the poll does not indicate myown views in any way, nor does itclaim that such a proposal is on theGovernment’s anvil. However, theresults do give us a sense of whatsome of Modi’s hardcore fans (thebhakts) feel. It is worth noting thatthe participants were almost allyoung, educated, digitally savvy

people who understand English.Yes, a significant number of pro-gressive young Indians are appar-ently happy to give up democracy,and vote themselves voteless.

Stunned? Well, I admit that thequestion was a tad unfair. After all,there is nothing in the air that sug-gests an emergency is in the offing.Nor does one need to make suchharsh choices in order to proclaimtheir support, or lack of it, for aleader. Still, the numbers do show(a)the enormous popularity ofModi in his core fan base and/or(b)a possible ignorance of what anational emergency and giving updemocracy could mean. They alsoindicate a huge lack of confidencein the current political system andthe kind of leaders it generates.

The reason for Modi’s appeal isobvious. After all, he is a leaderwho has created some hope. Hespeaks a language that connects us.Modi takes steps — big, bold ones— to fix India. Whether or not theysolve problems is a separate story.Making the effort and having goodintentions counts for a lot.Demonetisation is a case in point.Many experts have questioned thebenefits of the move. They diligent-ly quote numbers and facts toshow that the actual advantages ofdemonetisation could be margin-al. Of course, these are wastedefforts. All this economic mumbo-jumbo is irrelevant to the Modi fan.If fans are ready to support anemergency in their leader’s name,do you really think they give adamn about falling GDP or actualdata about black money beingback in circulation?

No, we are talking about lovehere. Love doesn’t, and is not meantto, see reason. And speaking ofdemonetisation, the experts, thoughnot wrong, miss a key point. A hugeintangible benefit of the note banhas been its unifying effect on anotherwise divided country. Imaginea bickering joint family.

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Higher education in gener-al and Delhi University in

particular have witnessed a lotof changes in undergraduatestudy pattern during the lasteight years. Starting with a shiftfrom annual mode to semestermode in 2010, semester modeto four-year undergraduateprogramme (better known asFYUP) in 2013, FYUP to againsemester mode in 2014, andsemester mode to “choicebased credit system” (CBCS) in2015. Latest in the loop isongoing revision of all under-graduate courses in DelhiUniversity based on UGC’slearning outcome-based cur-riculum framework (LOCF)for the 2019-20 academic ses-sion. All the departments con-cerned have been given threemonths to complete thisprocess. Interestingly, all these“reforms” have beenannounced all of a suddenand implemented in the verynext year of the announcement.

However, the purpose ofthis article is to draw the atten-tion of Delhi University’sundergraduate curriculumrevision committee (2019)towards some issues related toongoing CBCS pattern thatrequires immediate attention.

As per the UniversityGrants Commission (UGC),CBCS provides “a ‘cafeteria’type approach in which thestudents can take courses oftheir choice, learn at their own

pace, undertake additionalcourses and acquire more thanthe required credits and adoptan interdisciplinary approachto learning”.

As CBCS enters its fourthyear, a critical evaluation of theprogramme is in order, espe-cially when the first batch of theCBCS passed out last year.Delhi University can be the bestinstitution for the purpose ofevaluation since it has beentreated as guinea pig for allexperiments related to“reforms” in higher education.

CBCS and implications ofinterdisciplinary approach

Unlike all previous patternof the undergraduate pro-gramme, CBCS is differentdue to its infusion of compul-sory interdisciplinary approachin papers apart from compul-sory language courses. Thegeneric elective (GE, hereafter)is a course that needs to becompulsorily chosen from anunrelated discipline/subject.Every discipline is entitled tooffer some papers as genericelective for honours studentsfor the first four semestersand for non-honours studentsin the last two semesters.

CBCS necessitates all hon-ours students to choose onegeneric paper from disciplineother than their own in each offirst four (1 to 4) semesters.Similarly students of non-hon-ours courses are supposed to

choose one generic paper fromdiscipline other than their ownin each of last two semesters i.e.5th semester and 6th semester.For instance every student ofB.Com (Hons.) is required toopt a generic paper each forfirst four semesters out of apool of disciplines other thancommerce i.e. maths, eco-nomics, business economics,history, political science, psy-chology, Hindi, English, etc.

In order to understand theproblem, let us take an exam-ple of generic paper offered bydepartment of commerce atundergraduate level in DelhiUniversity. According to CBCSsyllabus, department of com-merce of Delhi Universityoffered following papers forgeneric elective: microeco-nomics in the first semester,macroeconomics in the secondsemester, business statistics inthe third semester and Indianeconomy in the fourth semes-ter. These papers can be takenby students enrolled in anyhonours course other thanB.Com (honours).

The experience of last threeyears of CBCS indicates thatcommerce generic was mostlyopted by the students ofBachelor in Business Economics(BBE. There is an astonishingco-incidence that all those BBEstudents who opted for com-merce discipline as genericpaper were studying samepapers as their core papers in

same semester for first threesemesters, and one in the fifthsemester. Similarly, the stu-dents of BA(Hons.) Economics,BBA(FIA) and BMS were study-ing almost similar compulsorycore paper(s) as they werestudying (or studied) in theircommerce generic.

In this way opting com-merce as generic paper by thestudents of BBE and manyother courses will not add any-thing to their knowledge butthe repetition of same papers inthe same semesters.Interestingly, students of BBEopt commerce generic mainlyto lessen their burden. Whilepreparing for one paper, otherautomatically gets prepared.However the question stillremains: Will lessening burdenat the cost of the other paper behelpful in long run?

Teaching a group of heterogeneous students

Other significant problemlies in the fact that when stu-dents of different disciplinesopt generic elective of a par-ticular discipline, it bringstogether students of highlyheterogeneous nature in termsof attitude, knowledge, aptitudeand exposure. This makesteaching and learning evenmore challenging. For instanceteaching generic of commercediscipline to the students ofeconomics and BBE requiresdifferent skills than teaching

the same to the students ofHindi journalism, English,History, Sanskrit, etc.Unfortunately, these students ofdifferent disciplines are taughtcommerce generic together inthe same class, where it is eas-ier for some to grasp and verydifficult for others.

It is not the case that con-cerns raised here are beingfaced only by commerce disci-pline, while offering its gener-ic paper to the students of dif-ferent disciplines or when stu-dents of commerce disciplineare opting generic electiveoffered by other disciplines. Butmore or less similar problemsare being faced by many disci-plines since inception of CBCSpattern in 2015-16.

CBCS and synchronisationof papers

The provision of introduc-tion of a generic paper mayhave been with a noble causebut the lack of synchronizationbetween various disciplinesduring syllabus formulation isgoing to have a far-reachingimpact on teaching learningprocess. For instance, prior tothe introduction of CBCS, fourcompulsory papers of eco-nomics were being taught tothe students pursuingBCom(Hons), but post CBCS,there is no compulsory paperof economics to be studied bythem. However, students canopt economics as their gener-

ic paper if they wish so, andthey can also drop it anytimein the upcoming semester ifthey wish so.

Problem might arise whena student doesn’t opt for eco-nomics as his generic elective,as in that particular case he willbe graduating without gainingany knowledge in the field ofeconomics. In the absence ofbasic knowledge of economics,how fruitful that degree incommerce would be for thestudent is all together anothermatter of concern.

However, problems do notget over by avoiding econom-ics by commerce students asthey are required to study acompulsory core paper,Business Mathematics in theirfourth semester. Interestinglythis paper covers various math-ematical tools related to max-imisation and minimisationi.e. differentiation, integration,linear programming, simplex,input-output, etc. The applica-tion of differential calculus isused to find out maxima of rev-enue, output and profit func-tions, utility maximisation,minimisation of costs, marginalpropensity to consume (MPC),marginal propensity to save(MPS), etc. Similarly integralcalculus is used to obtain con-sumer’s surplus, producer’s sur-plus, etc. All these concepts arerelated to either microeco-nomics or macroeconomics,which were earlier compulso-

rily being taught to students ofcommerce before they wereintroduced the paper ofBusiness Mathematics andStatistics. Since studying eco-nomics has been left on thechoice of student in CBCS, theyare being exposed to mathe-matical applications on variousconcepts related to economicswithout being acquainted withrelated basic concepts of eco-nomics. This has resulted inmechanical way studying busi-ness mathematics withoutknowing the reason for usinga particular application.

However, irrespective ofthe people responsible for poorformulation of syllabus whileignoring harmonisation of thesyllabus offered by variousdepartments, the ultimate loserare the students who lost theopportunity to study one addi-tional paper by studying twosame papers for four semestersor study some papers mechan-ically or the teachers who arerequired to teach a paper whichis simultaneously being taughtin other classroom to the samestudents.

This is the high time anynew change in the CBCS for-mat carried out homeworkwith due consultation with allstakeholders rather than doinganother exercise in haste.

(The writer is AssistantProfessor of economics in DelhiUniversity)

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Just before the 30th anniver-sary of the Tiananmen

Square protests on June 4 thisyear, the Chinese State — con-sidered by many as world’sbiggest censorship authority— removed all references ofthe historic event from the webpages in the country.

The moot point is whetherthe Communist leadership iswary of the revival of suchdemocratic uprisings in themainland. Many politicalexperts opine that deep insideCommunist China, the fear ofthe explosion of the myth of theSocialist State remains high.

What led to the bloodyTiananmen Square crack-down? How the Communistbosses in Beijing responded?And how the internationalcommunity wanted them todeal with this democraticawakening? The immediatecause of this uprising was noother than the demise of iso-lated Communist Party leaderHu Yaobang in April 1989. Themain reason for his isolationwas his strong views about eco-nomic and political liberalisa-tion in China.

In fact, Yaobang was theone who helped navigate Chinaaway from orthodox Marxismand led the world’s largestCommunist Party for six years.His death triggered a sponta-neous outpouring of publicgrief, with millions of youthcoming out in protests seekingto restore his reputation andlegacy for wide ranging reformsin areas such as free press, free-dom of assembly and an end toofficial corruption acrossChina.

However in a remarkabletwist, this simple demand ofthe youngsters and ordinarypeople gradually transformedinto a massive protest move-ment not only in the heart ofcapital city Beijing but acrossChina. As many as one millionpeople occupied theTiananmen Square on June 4,1989, making it one of the

largest protests in the history ofmodern China. The demon-strators refused to leave theSquare for nearly seven weeks,until their demands for demo-cratic reform were met by theauthority. Throughout the dayi.e. on June 3, the Governmentwarned the protesters that itwould do whatever is requiredto quell, what it described, the“social chaos”.

The Communist bossesreacted by rolling Army tanksover these unarmed youngprotesters in the TiananmenSquare. According to a secretdiplomatic cable, as many as10,000 were killed on that fate-ful day. Many of the leadingyoung leaders of the movementare now living in the US,according to information com-piled by human rights inChina, an NGO, based in HongKong and New York that pro-motes fundamental rights andfreedoms in China.

No event like theTiananmen Square protestshas stirred such emotional out-pouring from all walks of lifearound China and no event likeit has brought so vehementcondemnation upon Chinafrom the international com-munity then and even now.

The Tiananmen Squareprotests remain a permanenttaint on China. Then USPresident George Bush hadsaid he deplored the use offorce. And then UK PrimeMinister Margaret Thatchersaid she was shocked andappalled by the shootings.

While the entire worldcommemorated the 30thanniversary of this horribleclampdown on non-violenthuman rights activists inBeijing, China keeps onlinemention of the historic incidentwithin the country virtuallynon-existent.

The US President, DonaldTrump, has described the vio-lence in Beijing 30 years ago asa “strong powerful movement”,quelling a “riot”, albeit with

“horrible force”. KevinMcCarthy, the current HouseMinority leader in the USHouse of Representatives,expressed his deep concernwhich truly symbolises whattook place in China on June 4,1989: “Thirty years later, thehorrors of the TiananmenSquare Massacre continue tosymbolise the ChineseCommunist Party’s inhumanegrip on power. Today, the cit-izens of China have less free-dom and their leadershipremains opposed to the mostbasic of human rights. Chinasuppresses the truth byattempting to sanitise its darkhistory. It runs concentrationcamps for religious minorities

and political dissidents. And itboasts of its imperial designsfor global trade and disputedterritory. That is what the gen-erations of Chinese leadershipis continuously doing to makethe party precisely the onlyaffair in every citizen’s life.

However, unfortunately, itis not happening and many arenot responding to its machi-nations today.

The secrecy and grandcensorship machine of theCommunist State makes it dif-ficult to know even how manyactually died in the TiananmenSquare movement. The partyhas used both algorithm andhuman editors to erase everysign of the massacre from

China’s history. Commemorating the

anniversary, even by repostinga photo can land a person indetention across China. One ofthose memorable photos isthat of “Tank Man” who playeda game of chicken with anArmy tank on June 5, just oneday after the dreaded massacrein Tiananmen Square. But hisfate is unknown as of today.The most recent imprison-ment related to the Tiananmenmovement occurred on April 4this year. A court in the SouthWestern city of Chengdu sen-tenced activist Chen Bing tothree and half years in prisonfor picking quarrels and pro-voking trouble. His main

offence was that he labeled bot-tles of “baijiu” alcohol with theiconic image of the lone pro-tester who stared down tanksnear the Tiananmen Square.

Much more than this, whatthe Chinese State does to therelatives and families ofactivists of this movement isreally surprising and terrible.Each year, when theTiananmen anniversaryapproaches, these families andtheir dear ones are placedunder strict surveillance ortaken on enforced tours outsidethe town.

Besides killing thousandsin the Tiananmen Squareprotests, many thousands wereput behind bars across China.

However, the authorities neveracknowledged that the arrestswere part of the “counter rev-olutionary” drive.

Ironically, this month also,China defended the crack-down on the 1989 Tiananmenprotesters in a rare publicacknowledgement of events.Defence Minister Wei Fenghetold in a regional forum inSingapore that the “incidentwas a political turbulence andthe Central Government tookmeasures to stop the turbu-lence, which is a correct poli-cy”. He further said, “The pastthirty years have proved thatChina has undergone majorchanges because of theGovernment’s action at that

time. China has enjoyed sta-bility and development.”

The statement from theGovernment functionary epit-omises the brutal face of Chinathat can do any anything in thename of maintaining “stability”and “development”. How farthis madness of urbanisationand inhuman developmentwould take China to is nobodyguess. Development bereft ofbasic freedoms may not boostthe Communist regime. Eveniron curtains fall when its timecomes.

The historic TiananmenSquare protests tarnished theimage of the Communist Partylike never before. Equally itundermined the legitimacy ofits rule both within and outsideChina. Beijing needs to under-take democratic reform at theearliest. And it should embracea new system based purely on“rule of law”.

After decades of econom-ic reform, Chinese peoplecould realise their dream ofnational rejuvenation onlywhen basic political freedomsare guaranteed to them.

The problem with Chinatoday is that they do not wantto change as the liberal Westwanted it to be. The successiveChinese leaders want the Westto believe that they rule Chinawith willful acceptance by themajority of people.

The nationalist Chineseautocracy, currently consoli-dated under Xi Jinping, wouldbe a real terror both for itspopulace and for the rest of theworld. When their reveredleaders boast about Chinapreaching and practicing“peaceful rise”, why they are notallowing its own people tospeak up against the party innon-violent manner? Crushinginnocent and unarmed civil-ians do not qualify China to adignified seat in the comity ofglobal leadership.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

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Life in its usual run is subject totwists and turns — sometimespleasant and at other times full of

pains. It is ever on its run, continuouslyundergoing change, as the conditionswithin and beyond keep varying. Thereis no scope for having a perfect situationin life. There comes a time when thegross body loses its dynamism andturns into a dead matter. It is true aboutevery finite existence. The duration ofstay may, though, vary from person toperson. There is no standard of measureworth the name to account for one’s lifespan in finite terms. We all are aware ofthis existential truth. Yet, it is difficult tobear with when a near and dear onedeparts from the world. It is still moreshocking if it comes about at a youngage. Life, therefore, is paradoxical. Theother day, a grieving father sent a hearttouching message: “Big brother, my dearson left us today. Feeling totally lifeless.Prayer and everything failed to keephim alive.” The message left me shiver-ing for a few moments. If this newscould knock me down so badly, one canonly imagine the plight of the grievingfather who lost his only son at theyoung age of 23. I knew that no pep talk

could assuage the feelings of someonefaced with such a devastating happen-ing. So, I thought of trying to refreshhim with existential truth. Even thatmay not so easily calm down his emo-tional volatility. It may, however, offerhim grounds that may help him comeout of this sooner than later.

Remember my friend, going byancient India’s philosophic perception,the run of life doesn’t end with grossbody becoming a dead matter. In fact,death is an opportunity to shed theincapacitated body and reincarnate witha fresh encasement in all strength. Yourson had to bear with excruciating painduring the last one year of his chronicailment. You need to appreciate thatwith his death, having discharged hisKarmic debt of being faced with such aharrowing ordeal, he has movedbeyond, and so stands relieved.

Bear in mind: A jeevatma (a livebeing) with form and name is struc-tured in three layers — gross, subtle,and causal bodies, the three driven bysoul (the element of consciousness).On death, it is just the gross body,which is nothing but agglomeration ofmatter, disintegrates. Its five con-

stituents — space, air, fire, water, andearthly matter — merge with their pri-mal source. The subtle and causal bod-ies that are pure energy platforms donot wither away, as would the laws ofconservation of energy mean. The soulcarries along the causal and subtle bod-ies, having in store all the memoryimprints picked up during live exis-tence, to reincarnate with a fresh grossbody encasement. So, life needs to beseen in succession. Should you grieve,the jeevatma’s attention is drawn,which may disturb its onward journey.Better pray for his smooth transition.

“I appreciate your point and shalltry to follow your advisory. But don’tyou think that this unforeseen happen-ing puts a question mark on the veryrelevance of Astrology? For, with what-ever knowledge of Astrology I have,Jupiter being the 6th lord was justindicative of health issues but notdeath as it doesn’t happen to be amaraka. I am just curious to know, notquestioning you, could you see in hischart the possibility of departure fromthe world so early?” the man asked.

Well, going by the traditional normsof Astrology, his death didn’t seem like-ly. But the death-inflicting 8th cusp’ssub-lord Saturn (as per Krishnamurty

system) did indicate the possibility ofdeath during Jupiter’s period. For,Jupiter occupying the nakshatra ownedby Saturn, would act as latter’s agent,potent enough to make it happen. Eventhe progressed Sun having becomesquare (adverse 90 degrees placement)to natal Moon, carries the probability oflosing life. Even transit Saturn conjunctunpredictable Neptune, and also squareto its dire enemy Mars did not augurwell for his survival either.

Here again, Jupiter simultaneouslysignified recovery from ailment instrong terms. For, Jupiter’s nakshatralord Saturn happens to be the 5th lord,which being 12th from the 6th, willserve as latter’s antidote. With suchcontrasting indicators in place, whatwould one be tempted to lay impor-tance to — raise the hope of survivalso that one tries to combat the situa-tion in all strength, or indicate deathand make the person lose the battlemuch before it even happens?

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