rni regn. no. mpeng/2004/13703, regd. no. l … levy charged on cinema ser- ... while those with...

16
N ow, long wait for the most sought-after tax reform since the Independence was over as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council finalised tax slabs for all services on Friday. The services have been fitted in four separate slabs of 5, 12, 18 and luxury rate of 28 per cent. However, the educa- tion and health sectors were completely exempt under the new tax regime. The GST council will meet again on June 3 in New Delhi to finalise residual issues before rolling out the uniform tax reg- ime across the country on July 1. The Council has already finalised the tax rates for 1,211 items. Concluding the two-day GST council meeting, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the Council finalised the tax rates for all services, including insurance, hotels and restaurants as well, under different tax categories. Around 150 dignitaries, including Finance Ministers and Finance Secretaries of 29 States and three UTs, attended the meeting to finalise the roll out of the GST. Addressing a Press confer- ence, Jaitley said the 5 per cent slab will mostly cater to trans- port services, including econ- omy class air travel. “This rate will apply to cab aggregators like Ola and Uber as well as those who currently pay 6 per cent tax,” he added. While non-AC train trav- el will continue to be grandfa- thered, the 5 per cent tax would be levied on AC travel tickets. “Travelling on metro, local train and religious travel, including Haj yatra will con- tinue to be exempt from GST,” he said, adding “Economy class air travel will attract 5 per cent GST while business class will be charged 12 per cent.” Jaitley also said telecom and financial services will be taxed at a standard rate of 18 per cent. Service tax on telecom like phone bill payment totals to 15 per cent at present. However, Revenue Secretary Hashmukh Adhia insisted that the tax incidence on telecom services will be unchanged at 15 per cent after the input credit is taken on equipment. Jaitley said the luxury cat- egory of 28 per cent, include five star hotels, gambling, race clubs, betting and cinemas. He said the entertainment tax has been merged with service tax and a composite 28 per cent levy charged on cinema ser- vices as well as gambling and betting at race course. Jaitley said that non-AC restaurants would be taxed 12 per cent GST on food bill. “Tax rate for AC restaurants and those with liquor licence will be 18 per cent. Restaurants with 50 lakh or below turnover will go under the 5 per cent com- position,” he added. Also, hotels and lodges with room rate below 1,000 a day will be exempt from GST, while those with room rate of between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,500 will be taxed at 12 per cent and five-star and luxury hotels will be taxed at 28 per cent. Continued on Page 4 I ntensifying his Government’s ambitious ‘Look Northeast’ Policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now made one-night stays mandatory for Union Ministers, who visit the Northeastern States, a move aimed at sending out a message that the insurgency-hit region is safe for all. Union Tourism and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, who visited Guwahati in the first week of April to be part of the Namami Brahmaputra Festival, said he will visit to Manipur on Saturday to attend the Shirui Festival, which began on May 16. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju was also present during the Namami Brahmaputra Festival, which is the biggest river fes- tival in Guwahati. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh also visited the region in the sec- ond week of this month to par- ticipate in a tourism event. The directive comes two years after the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) planned fort- nightly visits of Union Ministers to the region. Sharma said linking tourism and development in the Northeast and making it a tourist destination for people from all over the world is the “Prime Minister’s dream”. “To ensure that, he has asked all the Union Ministers to not only take trips to the Northeast States, but also to stay the night there,” he said. Sources in the Tourism Ministry say the Government is keen to change the popular perception about the Northeast as a “security nightmare” plagued with insurgency. “And what better way to showcase its safety than to have senior Union Ministers stay there overnight,” a source said. The BJP’s MODI (Making of Developed India) Festival, scheduled to begin on May 26 to mark the third anniversary of its Government, is likely to be kickstarted from the Northeast by the Prime Minister. Continued on Page 4 F ormer Coal Secretary HC Gupta along with two serv- ing bureaucrats was convicted by a special CBI court in New Delhi on Friday. HC Gupta, who was the Coal Secretary from December 31, 2005 to November 2008 dur- ing the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government led by then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, then Joint Secretary KS Kropha and then Director KC Samaria in the Ministry of Coal, were held guilty in a case relating to irreg- ularities in the allocation of Thesgora-B Rudrapuri coal block in Madhya Pradesh to Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd (KSSPL). Gupta was accused in 11 cases while Kropha and Samaria were allegedly involved in eight and six cases of coal scam respectively. A total of 28 cases had arisen from the coal block allocation scam, the investiga- tion of which was monitored by the Supreme Court. At first, the CBI was probing the allocation from 2004 to 2010 and later its ambit was expanded to cover them since 1993. Till now, three cases have been decided with the first con- viction order passed on March 28, 2016 in a case pertaining to irregularities in allotment of a coal block in Jharkhand to a firm Jharkhand Ispat Pvt Ltd (JIPL) whose two directors RS Rungta and RC Rungta were awarded a four-year jail term. The second conviction fol- lowed four months later on July 26 in which Rathi Steel and Power Ltd (RSPL) and three of its officials -- managing direc- tor Pradeep Rathi, chief exec- utive officer Udit Rathi Continued on Page 4 New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday (ED) registered a money laundering case against Karti Chidambaram, son of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, two days after the CBI’s raided his premises in connection with a graft case relating to FIPB clearance granted to INX media in 2007 when Chidambaram was Finance Minister. See P5 O pen defecation and dump- ing of waste on the Yamuna floodplains will now attract a fine of 5,000 for each incident, the National Green Tribunal (NG) ruled on Friday. “We issue prohibitory orders in furtherance to the judgment dated January 13, 2015 that no waste of any kind and open defe- cation will be permitted around the water bodies and the flood- plains of river Yamuna. “Authorities, including the police, shall take stringent action against defaulting per- sons and every defaulter would be liable to pay an environment compensation of 5,000 per incident,” a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said. The NGT, which passed a slew of directions, constituted a committee headed by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) CEO to oversee the execution of work pertain- ing to the cleaning of Yamuna and construction of sewage treatment plant to treat liquid waste flowing into the river. Continued on Page 4 A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team on Friday reached Srinagar to question Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, for alleged money laundering and receiv- ing funds from Lashkar-e- Tayyeba (LeT) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed to create chaos in the Valley. The NIA named the two separatist lead- ers in its Preliminary Enquiry (PE), which precedes the filing of a regular case. It also named Naeem Khan, seen in a sting operation carried out by a TV channel purportedly confess- ing to receiving money from Pakistan-based terror groups. The others named in the PE were Farooq Ahmed Dar alias ‘Bitta Karate’ and Gazi Javed Baba of the Tehreek-e- Hurriyat. The NIA team will be reviewing evidence collected in connection with the burning of schools last year after the ter- ror group Hizbul Mujahideen’s poster boy, Burhan Wani, was killed in an encounter with security forces on July 8. In its PE, the NIA alleged that the separatists were receiv- ing funds from the LeT chief to carry out subversive activities in Kashmir Valley, including pelting security forces with stones, damaging public prop- erty and burning schools and other Government establish- ments. The anti-terror agency has also taken cognizance of a news item related to a record- ing of conversations between a TV reporter and leaders of sep- aratist groups operating in the Kashmir Valley in this regard, said the NIA spokesperson. Meanwhile, in the morning, separatist leader Yasin Malik assaulted an India Today TV journalist Kamaljit Sandhu and cameraman Vinod Kumar. The journalist alleged Malik pushed the channel’s cameraman down a flight of stairs. She said he also smashed their mobile phones. Malik said he registered a police complaint against the news team for barging into his bed- room in his house in Maisuma to ask questions. Malik, who denied that he had assaulted Sandhu, said the reporter did not seek permission to enter his bedroom. The chair- man of the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) said he had taken away her mobile phone because he thought she was using it as a recorder. “She lied to my sister that she had an appointment with me. The fact is, she never called for an appointment,” he told repo- rters at a Press conference here. Continued on Page 4 Srinagar: In a stern warning to Pakistan, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the Indian forces will give “adequate response” to any form of ceasefire violation on the border which has been witnessing repeated shelling from across. Jaitley, who undertook a visit to a Rampur sector of the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, said the Indian Army is fully pre- pared to foil any form of infiltration bid. He also asserted that there will be no differentiation between local and foreign terrorists and anybody indulging in violence will be dealt with accordingly. Detailed story on P7 A district court in Bhind on Friday issued an arrest warrant against State Minister Lal Singh Arya for his alleged involvement in the murder of an MLA, Makhan Singh Jatav, in 2009, ANI reported. Arya is Madhya Pradesh's Minister of State for General Administration. Jatav, then the MLA from Bhind, was shot dead on April 13, 2009, in Gohad while cam- paigning for Congress candi- date Bhagirath Prasad in the Lok Sabha election. An eye- witness, Banwarilal Jatav, informed the local court in Bhind that he had seen and heard Arya give instructions to kill the legislator, News18 reported. Eight people had been named as accused in the mur- der case, but Arya was not among them. Judge Yogesh Gupta of the Bhind court ordered that the Minister's name be included among the accused and an arrest warrant issued against him. Banwarilal Jatav, an eye- witness, had deposed before the court and said Arya exhorted someone to shoot Jatav on that day. Jatav's wife, Shila Jatav, had also told the court that her hus- band was apprehensive of the Minister. As many as eight people were named as accused in the Jatav murder case and Arya did not figure in the list. The Congress was quick to pounce on the issue. Party spokesperson JP Dhanopia said they would approach the Governor seeking Arya's ouster from the Cabinet if he doesn't resign. Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Ajay Singh has demanded immediate removal of General Administration Minister Lal Singh Arya from the Cabinet after he was found accused in the murder of MLA Makhanlal Jatav and issuance of arrest warrant against him by district court on Friday. Singh has urged CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan to respect the verdict of court and remove Arya from the Cabinet. Singh in a statement said that Arya is now a murder accused and should not hold the responsibility of Minister and he should immediately resign. D ifferent departments were allotted land for Government use at the inter- departmental committee meet- ing held at the Mantralaya presided over by Revenue, Science and Technology Minister Umashankar Gupta. Government land was allotted on conditions for construction of residence-cum-office of Intelligence Bureau Home Ministry. Gupta instructed to make proposal for allotment of Government land only after verification. Madhya Pradesh Housing Construction and Infrastructure Development Board, Bhopal has been allotted Government land in E-6, Arera Colony and Siddiquepur village. Land has been allotted to Nagar Palika Parishad Mandsaur for drinking water scheme and for the Navin Mandi Premises of Krishi Upaj Mandi Samiti Neemuch at Changera and Dungalawada village. Continued on page 4 RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008

Upload: lelien

Post on 09-Jun-2018

218 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

���������������� ��������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������� ������ ����� �������������� ����������������������� ������������������������ ��������� ������ ��������������!"�� ������������� ��� ������� ��� ���#

��������������������� ������� ���� ���� $������ ��� �� ��� �%���������������������� �����������������������&���'���������������������������������������������� ����� ��������������������������()"����" ����������#

������������������������������������������� ��!"���������� �������������������������������������������� ������������*�������������+����� ����'����� ���������,� � ������-�� ���".��������/�� ��������#

�����#���$#�������#�������� ���������������0���1���� �� ���� �� ��%������ ����2������������� ���������������� ����, ������� ������,�����3 �������������4���� �����5����������� ����� ��� ������������������� ������������#

�������

���������%��& �����-&/$3$-6/17�819&

Now, long wait for the mostsought-after tax reform

since the Independence wasover as the Goods and ServicesTax (GST) Council finalisedtax slabs for all services onFriday. The services have beenfitted in four separate slabs of5, 12, 18 and luxury rate of 28per cent. However, the educa-tion and health sectors werecompletely exempt under thenew tax regime.

The GST council will meetagain on June 3 in New Delhi tofinalise residual issues beforerolling out the uniform tax reg-ime across the country on July 1.The Council has already finalisedthe tax rates for 1,211 items.

Concluding the two-dayGST council meeting, UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitleysaid that the Council finalisedthe tax rates for all services,including insurance, hotelsand restaurants as well, underdifferent tax categories.Around 150 dignitaries,including Finance Ministersand Finance Secretaries of 29States and three UTs, attendedthe meeting to finalise the rollout of the GST.

Addressing a Press confer-ence, Jaitley said the 5 per cent

slab will mostly cater to trans-port services, including econ-omy class air travel. “This ratewill apply to cab aggregatorslike Ola and Uber as well asthose who currently pay 6 percent tax,” he added.

While non-AC train trav-el will continue to be grandfa-thered, the 5 per cent taxwould be levied on AC traveltickets. “Travelling on metro,local train and religious travel,including Haj yatra will con-tinue to be exempt from GST,”he said, adding “Economy classair travel will attract 5 per centGST while business class will becharged 12 per cent.”

Jaitley also said telecomand financial services will betaxed at a standard rate of 18per cent.

Service tax on telecom likephone bill payment totals to 15per cent at present.

However, RevenueSecretary Hashmukh Adhiainsisted that the tax incidenceon telecom services will beunchanged at 15 per cent afterthe input credit is taken onequipment.

Jaitley said the luxury cat-egory of 28 per cent, includefive star hotels, gambling, raceclubs, betting and cinemas. Hesaid the entertainment tax has

been merged with service taxand a composite 28 per centlevy charged on cinema ser-vices as well as gambling andbetting at race course.

Jaitley said that non-ACrestaurants would be taxed 12per cent GST on food bill. “Taxrate for AC restaurants andthose with liquor licence will be18 per cent. Restaurants with�50 lakh or below turnover willgo under the 5 per cent com-position,” he added.

Also, hotels and lodgeswith room rate below �1,000 aday will be exempt from GST,while those with room rate ofbetween Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,500

will be taxed at 12 per cent andfive-star and luxury hotels willbe taxed at 28 per cent.

Continued on Page 4

1���������������!������:�);<���!� ������� �����������������

�� � /17�819&

Intensifying his Government’sambitious ‘Look Northeast’

Policy, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has now madeone-night stays mandatory forUnion Ministers, who visit theNortheastern States, a moveaimed at sending out a messagethat the insurgency-hit regionis safe for all.

Union Tourism and CultureMinister Mahesh Sharma, whovisited Guwahati in the firstweek of April to be part of theNamami Brahmaputra Festival,said he will visit to Manipur onSaturday to attend the ShiruiFestival, which began on May 16.

Union Minister of State forHome Affairs Kiren Rijiju wasalso present during theNamami Brahmaputra Festival,which is the biggest river fes-tival in Guwahati.

Union Minister of State(Independent Charge) forDevelopment of North Eastern

Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singhalso visited the region in the sec-ond week of this month to par-ticipate in a tourism event.

The directive comes twoyears after the Prime Minister’sOffice (PMO) planned fort-nightly visits of UnionMinisters to the region.

Sharma said linkingtourism and development in

the Northeast and making it atourist destination for peoplefrom all over the world is the“Prime Minister’s dream”.

“To ensure that, he hasasked all the Union Ministersto not only take trips to theNortheast States, but also tostay the night there,” he said.

Sources in the TourismMinistry say the Government

is keen to change the popularperception about the Northeastas a “security nightmare”plagued with insurgency. “Andwhat better way to showcase itssafety than to have seniorUnion Ministers stay thereovernight,” a source said.

The BJP’s MODI (Makingof Developed India) Festival,scheduled to begin on May 26to mark the third anniversary ofits Government, is likely to bekickstarted from the Northeastby the Prime Minister.

Continued on Page 4

��''��� #������ /17�819&

Former Coal Secretary HCGupta along with two serv-

ing bureaucrats was convictedby a special CBI court in NewDelhi on Friday.

HC Gupta, who was theCoal Secretary from December31, 2005 to November 2008 dur-ing the United ProgressiveAlliance (UPA) Governmentled by then Prime Minister DrManmohan Singh, then JointSecretary KS Kropha and thenDirector KC Samaria in theMinistry of Coal, were heldguilty in a case relating to irreg-ularities in the allocation ofThesgora-B Rudrapuri coalblock in Madhya Pradesh toKamal Sponge Steel and PowerLtd (KSSPL). Gupta was accusedin 11 cases while Kropha andSamaria were allegedly involvedin eight and six cases of coalscam respectively.

A total of 28 cases hadarisen from the coal blockallocation scam, the investiga-tion of which was monitored bythe Supreme Court. At first, theCBI was probing the allocationfrom 2004 to 2010 and later itsambit was expanded to coverthem since 1993.

Till now, three cases havebeen decided with the first con-

viction order passed on March28, 2016 in a case pertaining toirregularities in allotment of acoal block in Jharkhand to afirm Jharkhand Ispat Pvt Ltd(JIPL) whose two directors RSRungta and RC Rungta wereawarded a four-year jail term.

The second conviction fol-lowed four months later on July26 in which Rathi Steel andPower Ltd (RSPL) and three ofits officials -- managing direc-tor Pradeep Rathi, chief exec-utive officer Udit Rathi

Continued on Page 4

New Delhi: The EnforcementDirectorate on Friday (ED)registered a money launderingcase against KartiChidambaram, son of formerFinance Minister PChidambaram, two days afterthe CBI’s raided his premises inconnection with a graft caserelating to FIPB clearancegranted to INX media in 2007when Chidambaram wasFinance Minister. See P5

��''���� #������/17�819&

Open defecation and dump-ing of waste on the

Yamuna floodplains will nowattract a fine of �5,000 for eachincident, the National GreenTribunal (NG) ruled on Friday.

“We issue prohibitory ordersin furtherance to the judgmentdated January 13, 2015 that nowaste of any kind and open defe-cation will be permitted aroundthe water bodies and the flood-plains of river Yamuna.

“Authorities, including thepolice, shall take stringentaction against defaulting per-sons and every defaulter wouldbe liable to pay an environmentcompensation of �5,000 perincident,” a bench headed byNGT Chairperson JusticeSwatanter Kumar said.

The NGT, which passed aslew of directions, constituted acommittee headed by the DelhiJal Board (DJB) CEO to overseethe execution of work pertain-ing to the cleaning of Yamunaand construction of sewagetreatment plant to treat liquidwaste flowing into the river.

Continued on Page 4

�#�������%�����(�����/17�819&�6��-&/$3$-

ANational InvestigationAgency (NIA) team on

Friday reached Srinagar toquestion Kashmiri Hurriyatleaders, including Syed AliShah Geelani, for allegedmoney laundering and receiv-ing funds from Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) chief HafizMuhammad Saeed to createchaos in the Valley. The NIAnamed the two separatist lead-ers in its Preliminary Enquiry(PE), which precedes the filingof a regular case. It also namedNaeem Khan, seen in a stingoperation carried out by a TVchannel purportedly confess-ing to receiving money fromPakistan-based terror groups.

The others named in thePE were Farooq Ahmed Daralias ‘Bitta Karate’ and GaziJaved Baba of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat. The NIA team will bereviewing evidence collected inconnection with the burning ofschools last year after the ter-ror group Hizbul Mujahideen’sposter boy, Burhan Wani, waskilled in an encounter withsecurity forces on July 8.

In its PE, the NIA allegedthat the separatists were receiv-ing funds from the LeT chief tocarry out subversive activitiesin Kashmir Valley, includingpelting security forces withstones, damaging public prop-erty and burning schools andother Government establish-ments. The anti-terror agencyhas also taken cognizance of anews item related to a record-ing of conversations between aTV reporter and leaders of sep-aratist groups operating in the

Kashmir Valley in this regard,said the NIA spokesperson.

Meanwhile, in the morning,separatist leader Yasin Malikassaulted an India Today TVjournalist Kamaljit Sandhu andcameraman Vinod Kumar. Thejournalist alleged Malik pushedthe channel’s cameraman downa flight of stairs. She said he alsosmashed their mobile phones.Malik said he registered a policecomplaint against the newsteam for barging into his bed-room in his house in Maisumato ask questions.

Malik, who denied that hehad assaulted Sandhu, said thereporter did not seek permissionto enter his bedroom. The chair-man of the Jammu & KashmirLiberation Front (JKLF) said hehad taken away her mobilephone because he thought shewas using it as a recorder.

“She lied to my sister that shehad an appointment with me.The fact is, she never called foran appointment,” he told repo-rters at a Press conference here.

Continued on Page 4

�� ������������� ���� ��������� ����� �������� ��������� �����

�������� �� ����������������������

��������������� ����������������������������������������

����������� ���������������������������

���������� ����� ���������� ����Srinagar: In a stern warning to Pakistan, Defence Minister ArunJaitley on Friday said the Indian forces will give “adequateresponse” to any form of ceasefire violation on the border whichhas been witnessing repeated shelling from across.

Jaitley, who undertook a visit to a Rampur sector of the Lineof Control (LoC) in Kashmir, said the Indian Army is fully pre-pared to foil any form of infiltration bid.

He also asserted that there will be no differentiation betweenlocal and foreign terrorists and anybody indulging in violencewill be dealt with accordingly.

Detailed story on P7

!�����"����#��$������ �% ������������ �&��������� ������� ����#���� ��#���������#��#��������������'(����)������#����������) ����� ����" ���� ��*�

0 ��� ���������� ����������2��� �������������

������ ���� ���������������/"1

����� ����! "#� �� ��� ��������

� �"!� ��")� �"*�+� ������,�)!-�.�!)�/���"�+��)���!.��0)��!� 1!���."������)���+���12�+�! �!�"�)"!*�����+��+�""��)�2�!))"!+) �3��"�+��)� �"*�+��)!-

� '�*����"�+��)�"!)�������!� �!���2����"�.� �4"�1�+!,!00"�0!)�" ���5��#�!�!�.�,�"6����+��+�""��)�2��!2�3��"�+��)�)!-

� ���7��)"!���)"!*��6��+��.��0������+!��)"!�� �!�.1�)"�6�! ������! �"���0��� )"!*��6���+��.��0��!8�2!)"!6�����"�1!����-�1�)�.�4"�1���

�%�����)����+���12�+�! �!�")"!*��������!))"!+)�/���"�+��)���6�)���,� ��� �+�! �����,��+�!"0�.�!)��9���"�+��)

� ��)�� �!�.���.0� �+�!"0��0��"�.!2�)!"�44��4�� ��6:::�����,���-�1�)�4"�1�)������;����"!)� �4�"���)�� ���)�)!"�44��4���6:::�)���96:::���".!2�����.�,���9���"�+��)6������)�� ����)��� �96/::�)��/6:::�����.�,���<���"+��);���������4�"���)�� ���)�)!"�44�!,�*���/6:::������,�9<���"�+��)

������ ����

"���������

��''��� #������ .=2$9

Adistrict court in Bhind onFriday issued an arrest

warrant against State MinisterLal Singh Arya for his allegedinvolvement in the murder ofan MLA, Makhan Singh Jatav,in 2009, ANI reported. Arya isMadhya Pradesh's Minister ofState for GeneralAdministration.

Jatav, then the MLA fromBhind, was shot dead on April13, 2009, in Gohad while cam-paigning for Congress candi-date Bhagirath Prasad in theLok Sabha election. An eye-witness, Banwarilal Jatav,informed the local court inBhind that he had seen andheard Arya give instructions tokill the legislator, News18reported.

Eight people had beennamed as accused in the mur-der case, but Arya was notamong them. Judge YogeshGupta of the Bhind courtordered that the Minister'sname be included among theaccused and an arrest warrantissued against him.

Banwarilal Jatav, an eye-witness, had deposed before thecourt and said Arya exhortedsomeone to shoot Jatav onthat day.

Jatav's wife, Shila Jatav, hadalso told the court that her hus-band was apprehensive of theMinister.

As many as eight people

were named as accused in theJatav murder case and Arya didnot figure in the list.

The Congress was quick topounce on the issue. Partyspokesperson JP Dhanopia saidthey would approach theGovernor seeking Arya's ousterfrom the Cabinet if he doesn'tresign.

Leader of Opposition inthe State Assembly Ajay Singhhas demanded immediateremoval of GeneralAdministration Minister LalSingh Arya from the Cabinetafter he was found accused inthe murder of MLA MakhanlalJatav and issuance of arrestwarrant against him by districtcourt on Friday.

Singh has urged CMShivraj Singh Chouhan torespect the verdict of court andremove Arya from the Cabinet.

Singh in a statement saidthat Arya is now a murderaccused and should not holdthe responsibility of Ministerand he should immediatelyresign.

%+����,�&�������%����$����&�,�&�-�������� �+ ���� �������������� ���������+�� ������� ��������.��� �+�������/�������+������" ���� ������ ������

������������ �

8� ��$������ ����,���>�9������ ��=���� ���

���������������� �����������������

��''��� #������ .=2$9

Different departments wereallotted land for

Government use at the inter-departmental committee meet-ing held at the Mantralayapresided over by Revenue,Science and TechnologyMinister Umashankar Gupta.Government land was allottedon conditions for constructionof residence-cum-office ofIntelligence Bureau HomeMinistry. Gupta instructed tomake proposal for allotment ofGovernment land only afterverification.

Madhya Pradesh HousingConstruction and InfrastructureDevelopment Board, Bhopalhas been allotted Governmentland in E-6, Arera Colony andSiddiquepur village. Land hasbeen allotted to Nagar PalikaParishad Mandsaur for drinkingwater scheme and for the NavinMandi Premises of Krishi UpajMandi Samiti Neemuch atChangera and Dungalawadavillage.

Continued on page 4

����������������������������������������������������

���������� ���������������

��$�# �6������=��=�9:6 9:�>?� �����9@A��)#?@

��� (��;�A � �� )A;B$������������1!������$�����,��

� )!,�� ��.��<3A�� ���!���"�����

�#�$��#%�&'() *�(�+#*�%*+' )+,�,+'��$�,+$�%,

��+'�$�+,�����,+�%'

RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008

�������� $/&9�8$*1>�31/091�$/���=9$-��2=9&0&�&$/

�����������������������������������������

---.������������.���

���� ��!"��#$%��&�� ���

!�!"#�$%�&'��$-0��$/31��.&331-�-17$-8

(��)��&&-$21�2-=.1�$3$&/�0$��$/31�8-=2218

*+������,$���-�������.��� ���������������������������� ���

������� $%*�(�+# /� +0%,�+1 /��+1 234�2356

����������� ������ ����� ���������� ��������������������������������������������������� ���!���"����#�$%"���!&��#�$%"'����()*+,,%-�$�$.���� ��������!�!��������/"����0����"����#�$+"�����������������"�$�$#��"'����()*+,11"2��������3,455(+55,644"�� $3,676%1%,%*)$8�����3���������"&#�&���$#�$��8#9:+,,):1%4,%"&���$#�$�(+:'��;#:)1:+,,*(+,,7"��&<=&�>�&98��&�$1$,,8��3������"&����"'�� ���?�"#�������@���3��� �A����� �<����3'������A������$������3�� ����"B���� 2���������38��'C3),45)1,,"0/3+%455+45"��� �;�����3B����������!���� ���#�$3,67*45456%%",676+7+6+56" ���!��?;�����3)��0����"<��<�������������"0�D �&��"���!��?++*,1*$2���������3,5++(+%)*))%"+%)*)))"+%)*))5$

���������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ��������������� �� ���������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ����� ��������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������� �!����������������"���������� ���������������������������� �������������������� ���� ��������������������������������� �����������������������������#��������������������������� ���� ����$����%����&�������������������������� ��������������� �����������������������'����������������������������������� ���������������"��������������������(�����������������������������

��''��� #������ .=2$9

Regional Museum ofNatural History (RMNH),

Bhopal inaugurated theSummer Nature StudyProgramme (May 18 to 31,2017) on the occasion ofInternational Museum Dayon May 18, 2017.

In continuation ofSummer Nature StudyProgramme, Bird Watchingprogramme was organized onFriday at Bishankhedi villagenear Bhopal. Sangeeta Rajgirand Mohd Khalique fromBhopal Birds were theresource person of the pro-gramme.

During the programme,Sangeeta Rajgir and MohdKhalique explained habitat,food and role of birds inecosystem. During the birdswatching, Rose RingedParakeet, Weaver Bird,Rufoors Tailed Lark, RedVented Bulbul, Blue RockPigeon, Crested Lark, IndianRobin, Laughing Dove, SarusCrane, Indian Roller, WhiteBreasted Kingfisher, PiedBuschat, Brahamani Myna,Black Drongo, Cattle Egrets,Common Wood Shrike,Paradise Flycatcher, BlackWinged Stilt, Purple Heron,Pied Myna, Pheasant TailedJacana, Whistling Teal, RiverTern, Little Grieve, Spot BilledDuck, Pied Kingfisher, Bay

Back Shrike, White BroadFantail Flycatcher, BlackShouldered Kite, WhistlingDuck, Magpie Robin, Grey

Hornbill were identified andgot the information regardingthese birds by the partici-pants.

The participants also gotinformation about Sarus dur-ing the visit at SarusBiodiversity Education

Centre, BishanKhedi, Bhopal.Manik Lal Gupta, Scientist-Bwas the Coordinator of theprogramme.

���������� ������������ �������������

�����=B�� .=2$9

There are a few incidents inyour life that give you

strength to do something dif-ferent,” says a young CA stu-dent and social worker RiddhiPaliwal.

While all the others ofRiddhi’s age are busy makinga grand life for themselves,Riddhi and her friend RohitJain came up with a differentidea to work for the streetanimals. Both being the ani-mal lovers have started ayouth organisation ‘Kartavya’in city and take care of thestreet animals.

Kartavya came into beingaround three years back ie inyear 2015. Initially it was anidea that struck to Riddhi’smind and then she shared itwith her friends. Slowly andgradually the idea became a bigpart of their life and soKartavya was formed.

Around five CA studentsare a part of Kartavya. Theytake care of animals of theirrespective areas. Till now themembers have taken care ofmore than 500 street animals.

Riddhi shared her journeywith The Pioneer. She sharedabout the support from herfamily and friends and howthey all are able to help thestreet dogs and cats.

“It all began with a sadincident that actually madeKartavya happen. Once I sawa female dog with her kids ina garbage bin in a drasticallyterrible condition. They wereweak and thin. I was sotouched that I started taking

care of them. Each day I use tofeed them until they got fit andfine and luckily the familynow stays with me,” sharedRiddhi.

Elaborating further, shesaid, “I always thought thateven street animals need thelove and care as much as the

pets do. This incident gave methe idea for Kartavya. Being ananimal lover I wanted to dosomething for the street ani-mals too and now they havebecome a part of my world, mypals.”

The members of Kartavyanot only feed the street ani-

mals, but also as required takethem to the Vet for healthexamination. “Currently thereare 20 animals who are under-going a health treatment,”informed Riddhi.

The young students alsohelp the animals to get adopt-ed. Besides, there is also a fos-

ter home where the animalsstay.

Talking about future plansfor Kartavya, Riddhi shared,“We do this work in our freetime and avoid harming ourstudies. So we are not planningto make it a big venture, but wewill continue doing this way.”

��''��� #���� � .=2$9

Cyber crime cell Bhopal hasbusted a gang of miscreants

involved in flesh trade througha website and a local BJP leaderwas among the nabbed accused;nine people have been arrestedwhile four girls have been res-cued on Thursday.

Young women fromMeghalya and Maharashtra whowere trapped by alluring themof jobs were rescued in the raidconducted at a house in E-7 areaof Arera Colony where it wasfound that the accused wereoperating the trade through awebsite.

The nine nabbed accusedwere identified as Dinesh aliasDavid Mewada (23) of Sehore,Suresh Gehlot (33) of Karond,Ravi Prajapati (26) of SemraKalan, Harjeet Dhanwani (26)of Ayodhya Bypass, ManojKumar Gupta (39) of Panna,

Krishna Kumar Jaiswal (21) of1100 quarters, Suresh Belani(30) of Bairagarh, Miswauddin(22) of Kamla Park and NeerajShakya (33).

Providing the modusoperandi AIG (Cyber Cell)Shailendra Singh Chouhan saidthat resumes from the websitesinvolvement in placements werecollected and the victims werethen lured of jobs in the city andlater they were forced into pros-titution.

Harjeet, Suresh andMiswauddin were customerwhile the six others nabbedworked for operating the rack-et. The rescued girls have con-fessed that they were lured ofjobs and were introduced to theaccused involved in operating inthe racket as company officialsand interview was conductedand later the girls were forcedinto prostitution after trappingthem, said Chouhan.

���!�"!������#��$�������������$�����$�����$�""�

��''��� #���� � .=2$9

Habibganj police havebooked four persons

including two women for dup-ing their business partner to thetune of � 1.10 crore; a case wasregistered on Thursday afterthe victim lodged complaintregarding the fraud.

According to the police, thevictim Deepesh Asnani wasduped by Dhruvraj Sharma, hiswife Kiran Sharma, SatyavarthSatpathy and his wife RajshreeSatpathy by transferring �1.10crore of Deepesh deposited byhim after creating two firms SSMinerals and SS Mining inpartnership with the accused.

After the agreement wassigned the victim transferred�1.10 crore in the firm’saccount which was transferredto different bank accounts bythe accused.

CSP Habibganj CMDwivedi said that the accord-ing to the agreement the victimwas 50 percent partner in thefirm SS Minerals and SSMining but later the accusedissued notice of his removalfrom the company and refusedto refund the money.

At the time of the agree-ment it was agree that the vic-tim and any one of the accusedwould be the authorized sig-natory for any transactionsfrom the bank account butmoney was withdrawn withoutinforming the victim.

The victim has alsoclaimed that the accused havemisled him as they were bur-dened with four times of thedebt provided earlier, headded.

The victim has provideddocuments regarding his claimof fraud. The documents wouldbe checked and the accusedwould be questioned. Afterthe preliminary investigationthe police have registered a caseunder section 420, 467 and 468of the IPC and have started fur-ther investigation.

% �����������(� ����, ��� ��)#)@"��������,��'������ ����''��� #������ .=2$9

Two Hindi plays ‘Yeh IshqIshq’ and ‘Ka Se Kahun’

were staged at Shaheed Bhavanauditorium here on Friday.Both the plays were stagedmarking the National TheatreFestival ‘Rang Milaap’.

The plays dealt with dif-ferent genres leaving the audi-ence enthralled. The Hindiplay ‘Yeh Ishq Ishq’ was basedon sagacious yet tragic lovestory of Laila Majnu. Anotherplay ‘Ka Se Kahun’ was allabout a journey into a woman’sheart.

While Yeh Ishq Ishqbrought a colourful crowd onstage, Ka se Kahun was a soloact.

Directed by NitishUpadhyay, Yeh Ishq Ishq madethe theatre buffs witness thetale of love, happiness and sor-rows. Based on the legendrylove story of Laila Majnu, theplay showcased the mesmeriz-ing act before the audience. Theaudience could feel the sorrow

and pain of the lovers whenthey were departed.

The play was presented ina traditional style comprisingdance and music. The artistsperformed the traditional styleleaving the theatre goersenthralled at the hall for oneand a half hour.

The play began with char-acters dressed in colourfulattire introducing the storylineby singing a song in chorus andthen enters the lead charactersLaila Majnu expressing theirundying love for each other.

The lead characters enter thestage by singing a song.

The family members cameto know about their love andthey tried to break their rela-tionship. Both were departedand were forced to live withouteach other till death.

The artists depicted thestory, the mood variations andemotions with perfect easedespite they had to deliver thedialogues poetically.

Play ‘Ka se Kahun’ was asolo act directed and acted byRicha Tiwari.

01�*&�0&�$��$9�=�9$&�18�0$001�$��+�18$*1��&�918&��$��01C71-1.+-81/187&0�%=+-0&�1��=%�0181.02-=*&8181$-9&1-

��''��� #������ .=2$9

Late Anil Madhav Davewill always be remem-

bered for the work he hasdone for environment con-servation. Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan wasspeaking during a condo-lence meeting organised atthe Narmada-Tawa Sangambank after the funeral ofUnion Minister of State(Independent Charge) forForest and Environment LateAnil Madhav Dave. He hadimmense faith in MaaNarmada. The NadiMahotsav started by him willcontinue to be organized onNarmada-Tawa Sangam likebefore.

Chouhan said that wewill move the mission leftincomplete by Late Dave.Crores of people will plantsaplings on the banks ofNarmada river on July 2 fromAmarkantak to Badwani andtake up the responsibility ofprotecting them.

Intensive tree plantationwill be a perfect tribute toLate Dave in the true sense ofthe word. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s condolence

message was read out byUnion Minister for Scienceand Technolog yHarshvardhan. Paying trib-utes to Late Dave in his mes-sage, Modi said Late Davewas an ideal environmental-ist, able administrator andideal Swayam Sevak.

Union Water ResourcesMinister Uma Bharti saidthat just like diamond issmall in size but big in value,Late Anil Madhav Dave’s life,though short but was a fruit-ful one. He said that maxi-mum number of saplingswould be planted on July 6 inthe state and the country, theLate Anil Madhav Dave’sbirthday.

He said constructivework towards river and envi-ronment conservation will bethe perfect tribute to LateDave. Paying tributes to LateDave, Union ParliamentaryAffairs Minister AnanthKumar said that he hadimmense will power. In thearea of election management,Late Dave was the best strate-gist and cal led himselfNarmada Putra (son ofNarmada) and trees as hiswaris (heirs).

Sah Kar yavahak ofRashtriya Swayam SevakSangh Suresh Soni said thatLate Dave’s life was not onlya success but also very sig-nificant. He termed LateDave a nature lover and envi-ronmentalist.

RSS Sarkar yavahakBhaiya Ji Joshi, in his tributesaid that Late Dave spent hisentire life in the service of thecountry.

There was transparencyin his work style. He lived avery simple life. BJP NationalOrganising Secretary andMadhya Pradesh in chargeRamlal, in his tribute said,the party organisation couldtrust him with responsibili-ty as Late Dave fulfilled theresponsibilities with full ded-ication.

Earl ier VinaySahasrabudhdhe read out themessage of RashtriyaSwayam Sevak SanghSarsanghchalak MohanBhagwat.

After paying tributes,Chief Minister Chouhanplanted a sapling in memo-ry of Late Dave at DivasBasera Parisar inBandrabhan.

��.�����-�����-��������/�����������0��#1

����� ����� ����+� �����#�����#�������� �)���� ����� ��)������ �� ������ ��������+��0��������$������������� ���/���� �����.����� �����&���������� �.��������" ���� ������ ������

$������ ��� ������ ���&���1*�����������#�� ��2�3�������)� ������&��������#� ����#������������#� �����0�����.������% �������0�����% ������ ������� �#����������������� � ����������.���������" ���� ������ ������

����#��#�+� �# ����#����+����������4� �# ��������������+� ����#�������.���)�$� #���)�������������5#�� ������ �6�)�� ������.���������" ���� ������ ������

'(��)�*�+�)�!�,�� �)��)�*��������������,)���)�� �#�,

$���������2�� ���������,/�/����3/�.��

%��#����� ���7����*��8�*��8-����������������)�������.���������.���������" ���������� ������

������� $&*�(�+# /� +0%,�+1 /��+1 234�2356

'"()'�*

C�##�����D��#������#%���������#���.�"�� 0������������������ �������������� ������ ��������D/ ������E������������ ������$������������������������2����������� ���� ������� ���������� ������� ������ ���,������������ ��� ��#�0���������� ��������,�� ������ �$�������������� �������������������������� ����$������������������ ����(?@� ����� ������#F0������������������� ��� ���� ������� ��������E/ �������E����� �� �����������������������#�0���/ ��������������� ����� ���� ����� ����������� ��� �������������������������������F�&���G����� ������!������� ��#�0���E/ �������E���������� ������������� ���������,������� ������#�9���������� ������� � ��������������������� ����A#(� ��,����������������!�������� �������� ������ � ����������#����� ����������� �������������� ������� ������� �����,�������A#?"H� ��,��������������� ���� �������� ������ �����������#�F/ ��� ���������������� ��E/ �������E����� �������������������������� ��#�0����� �������� ������������������� �� ���� ���F��������#�8������������ �������������� ��� �� ���E/ �������E����� ����� ����� �-��?@@����������#

/7=�7#��������'����'���������#�# ���$#��%�������"�� $����"����" ���, ��������������������� ���� ����, ������������������������������#�0����������������������� ������,��� ����, ���������-�������������������������������� ������ ������������ ���� ����(?����#�$����������� ������������������������������������G������������������� ����� �����������������������#�$�(?"����"������������������ ����, ���������������������������� ��,�� � �������������� ���������� ����� �����������������#�$�� ������������������� �������� !������� �����, �������� ����,������������� �,��������������#�0��/�� ����8�������-��� ����% ����I/8-%J�������� ��.� ����������� ���������� ������������ ����� �#�0��������������������� ������ ������, ������� ����?#A@����� ������������)A"� ��"� ��� ����� �����������#�0�������������������� ������ ����������������� �� ��������������������������#

������������������'������#'������(�$���!���2�,���-���� ����������/�� ���������� ��%�������������������������� �+� ��������� ��������$����������8������.�����,������ ������,���������#�1������ ��%�����2�,���-���� ������������������� ����+� ���������� �����������%�������������2������������$������$��������������������� ��#�2�,���-���� ������������������� ������+� ���������$��������������������.�����,��������#���������� �������� ������� ������������ ������� �������������������#

����'����=������������#����#�#''�����$���!���=��$��"���� ����8��� ��%���������������������.�����2�������������������������� ����� � ������"���� ��������������*����,��.���2�����2�� ���������������������������� ���� ����� �� ������ ��������� ����������������������� ���������������������������������#�2�����������������3�������$�������� ���������������2�����������������-�������$����2�����������������������-�� ��������� ����8�,����������������� ��1����� ��8�����3 ���� ���������������������*����������.������ �������������� ����#

(������������#��#�����(��������$���!�� -���������������������*����������-�����!������������ �������������� ��+� ��������� ��������� ��% ���������1��� �����9����$����������8���#-����������������������������� �� ����������������������9����8���������������� � ������� ���������#��������������� ������� ����� ������������������ ������� ��������� ���� ��,���� � �� ������� ������� �� ��������#�9����8���� �����������,�������,������������,���� �������������������� ���������#�*����������-������������ �3 ��� ��������� �������������� ����������������� �����,��������������� �,��������� ��#

��''��� #������ .=2$9

The mortal remains ofEnvironment Minister Anil

Madhav Dave were consignedto flames on the banks of theriver Narmada at Bandrabhanin Madhya Pradesh'sHoshangabad district on Friday,with full state honours.

Dave, who died in NewDelhi on Thursday at the age of60, had expressed the desire tobe cremated on the banks of theNarmada, a river that was closeto his heart and ran through hishome State of Madhya Pradesh.

The funeral pyre was lit byhis brother and nephew amid a

tearful adieu by those present onthe occasion at Bandrabhan,where Dave used to organiseinternational river festivals to cre-ate awareness among people onthe issue of conserving rivers,BJP spokesman Rajnish Agrawaltold.

Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shivraj Singh Chouhan,Union ministers Harsh Vardhan,Uma Bharti, Anant Kumar,Narendra Singh Tomar andThawar Chand Gehlot, seniorRSS leaders Bhaiyyaji Joshi,Dattatraya Hosbole and SureshSoni, BJP general secretaryKailash Vijaywargiya amongothers were present on the occa-

sion.The mortal remains of Dave

were brought early this morningto Bandrabhan from his home,'Nadi Ka Ghar', in the state cap-ital. Chouhan and other BJPleaders lent their shoulders to thedeparted leader. A guard ofhonour was also given as a markof respect him.

The Madhya Pradesh gov-ernment yesterday declared atwo-day state mourning follow-ing Dave's death. Leaders cuttingacross party lines expressed pro-found grief over his demise.

A pall of gloom yesterdaydescended on 'Nadi Ka Ghar'with Dave's supporters flocking

to the three-storey building setup by him which was also usedto run Narmada Samagra, anNGO for conserving the riverregarded as the lifeline of MP.

Born on July 6, 1956 atBarnagar in Madhya Pradesh'sUjjain district, Dave, a bachelor,used to live in this house when-ever he was in Bhopal.

The house was his nervecentre for running the riverconservation campaign as well asto formulate strategies for con-testing elections.

Dave, in his will dated July23, 2012, said, "If you want tocherish my memories, planttrees and save them.

1�����������������.������������������

��''��� #������ .=2$9

Chief Secretary BasantPratap Singh instructed all

collectors to make appeals inrevenue cases within time limit.Chief Secretary said that in casethe appeal is not made withintime limit disciplinary actionbe taken against concernedofficers after deciding theresponsibility. Chief Secretaryalso instructed commissionersand collectors to conduct reg-ular inspections of the revenuecourts. He also told them toensure redressal of maximumcases of demarcation beforemonsoon.

Chief Secretary instructedthe district collectors to com-ply with the provisions of theExplosives Act and for its phys-ical verification. Instructions tomake work plan for disastermanagement and to mark spotsfrom where help can be soughtof the Army and Air Force intimes of need were also givenat the Parakh video conference.

Giving information on thecomputerisation of revenuecourts, Principal SecretaryRevenue Shri Arun Pandeyissued instructions to pace upland acquisition cases for rail-way line, energy, defence estab-lishments of national impor-tance. Reviewing aadhar seed-ing of PDS data, Principal

Secretary Food KC Gupta toldthe collectors that foodgrainwill be distributed only afterbiometric verification fromJuly onwards.

Principal Secretary SNMishra instructed collectorsto notify the roads for ChiefMinister’s Rural TransportScheme. Home Secretary DPGupta gave information aboutthe instruction of September13, 2015 regarding ExplosivesAct 1984 and Explosives Act1908 and Explosives Rules2008.

Reviewing irrigationschemes Chief Secretaryinstructed that taking the needof 6000 hectare revenue land inthe state into account markedland should be reserved.

A joint team of the Forestand Revenue Departmentshould inspect the land so thatland is allotted for compen-satory tree plantation for underconstruction and proposedprojects of the ForestDepartment.

Among other schemesreviewed during the meetingare drinking water transport,handpump maintenance andNal-Jal Yojana, Tendu Pattacollection payments, updatedinformation of NationalPopulation Register, ChiefMinister’s Solar Pump Scheme,Aadhar registration status in

schools and pension schemes.Stern action should be

taken on illegal sand miningChief Secretary Basant

Pratap Singh instructed districtcollectors to take stern actionto stop illegal mining of sandon the banks of the Narmada.He also instructed to seizemachines and vehicles beingused for the illegal mining.

The Chief Secretary saidthat massive tree plantation hasto be undertaken on July 2.Preparations to make workplans should begin in all dis-tricts and support from allquarters should be taken forthis work. Construction ofwater infrastructure andrestoration work should also bestarted in every district.

All districts should sendreport of the redressal ofapplications obtained inGramoday Abhiyan to theGovernment.

Among those present dur-ing the video conference wereAdditional Chief SecretaryPanchayat and RuralDevelopment RadheshyamJulaniya, Principal SecretaryAgriculture Rajesh Rajoura,Principal Secretary GeneralAdministration Seema Sharma,Secretary School EducationSmt. Deepti Goud Mukherjiand Secretary MineralResources Manohar Dubey.

�%���� �$�����$�""�$����&�������"������!����$����������

��''��� #������ .=2$9

After normal weather con-ditions for the past one

week warning of hailstorm infew areas have been issued byMet on Friday; day tempera-tures have been recorded athigher level after recordingdecrease for around a week.

Few places in the Statehave recorded light showers inthe past 24 hours in Gwaliorand Chambal divisions. In thepast 24 hours Bhander in Datiadistrict recorded 2 cm of rain-fall in the past 24 hours.

According to the warningissued by Met departmentMorena, Bhind, Gwalior, Datia,Tikamgarh and Sheopur dis-trict are likely to witness hailstorms for brief period at fewplaces.

City continued to wit-ness night temperature at 29degree Celsius. The nighttemperatures would decreasein the next 3-4 days and in thelast week of the month tem-peratures would increasewhich would increase in thenight temperatures in the cityand across the state.

The weather conditionschanged in the afternoon on

Friday after clouding andlight showers which providedrelief from the harsh weath-er conditions.

On Friday city recordedday temperature at 42.5degree Celsius and night tem-perature at 28.8 degreeCelsius.

Met official said that thechange in the weather condi-tions is due to trough lineover Rajasthan extending tillSouth East Madhya Pradeshpassing over Gwalior andChambal. Strong winds wouldbe witnessed during morninghours in the next 2-3 days.

Weather conditions wouldremain at normal level as themovement of the monsoon isnormal without any disrup-tions and state is likely toreceive monsoon on time.

Day temperatures werewitnessed around 43 degreeCelsius on Friday.

Among the major citiesIndore recorded day temper-ature at 41 degree Celsius,Jabalpur recorded day tem-perature at 42.4 degreeCelsius. Gwalior recorded thehighest day temperatureamong the major cities at40.8 degree Celsius.

-��,)��#�.�� � /� ���.�����,��,,0�% �1�)�%�&��)#� )

��''��� #������ .=2$9

The Taekwondo players ofMadhya Pradesh Martial

Art Taekwondo Academy willshowcase their talent inTaekwondo WorldChampionship and Asian CadetChampionship.

The taekwondo players ofMadhya Pradesh will representteam India in both the cham-pionships. Three players includ-ing Nakul Malhotra, LatikaBhandari and Rudali Barua willbe representing India atTaekwondo WorldChampionship.

Notably, the world cham-pionship will be played in Koreafrom June 24 till 30. The play-ers will be representing teamIndia in senior category.

Similarly, taekwondo play-

er of Madhya Pradesh MartialArt Taekwondo AcademyAnshu Dandotia has beenselected for Asian CadetChampionship. He will also bea part of team India represent-ing the country. The AsianCadet Championship will beplayed in Vietnam from June 6to 8.

On the selection of theState players on internationalplatform Minister of Sports andYouth Welfare DepartmentYashodhara Raje Scindiaexpressed her deep content-ment. She congratulated theplayers for the achievementand wished them luck for theirfuture. She also encouragedthem to play well and not getdistracted from their focus.Scindia also told the players togive their best at the champi-

onships.Director of Sports and

Youth Welfare DepartmentUpendra Jain also congratulat-ed the players and asked themto play well at the championship.

Notably, the players arebeing trained by coach BLNMurthy at Madhya PradeshMartial Art TaekwondoAcademy.

Meanwhile, four hockeyplayers of Madhya PradeshHockey Academy have beenselected for National HockeyCoaching Camp. The campwill be held at Bangalore’s SaiStadium from May 24 till June30.

Players MohammadAlishan, Dinachandra Singh,Akshay Awasthi and VivekSagar Prasad will be a part of thecamp.

1��2�� ��������2��������������$��0������(�����#/�2���/�2

��''��� #������ .=2$9

AModel Rocketry workshopis being organised at

Regional Science Centre, Bhopalhere from Friday. The ModelRocketry is being organised as apart of summer vacation work-shop for the middle school chil-dren to enjoy the science facts ina fun learning way.

As many as 20 studentsfrom different schools of Bhopalparticipated in the workshop.Students from classes 6 to 8 area part of the workshop. Theworkshop was initiated with aPower Point Presentation onPrinciples of Model Rocketry fol-lowed with a live demonstration.

The workshop will contin-ue till Monday.

During the first session ofthe workshop, the students werebriefed the basic principles ofrocketry, its history, parts of arocket and its significance inmodern days.

They were made awareabout the beginning of rocketryand various innovations aswell.In the second session thestudents were given hands onexperience of rockets.

They have prepared variousparts of rockets using givendimensions and assembled themto a complete rocket using pas-tel sheets.

They have prepared all the

parts of the rocket and assembledthem successfully.

Interestingly, each studentindividually prepared one rock-et on the first day of the work-shop and also named their rock-ets according to their choice.

While informing about theworkshop, Education Officer ofRegional Science Centre MMRout said, “Through variouspresentations the students wereexposed to different parts of arocket such as Engine, Bodytube, Coupling tube, Nose cone,Fins, Thrusting and Launchinglug and their functions it was fol-lowed by a live demo on how toprepare these parts and connectthem properly.”

����"���$�����������%����������"� $��$�������

��''��� #������ .=2$9

A40-year-old man died afterhis motorbike rammed

into a road divider in Barkhedaunder Govindpura police sta-tion area on Thursday.

According to the police, theinjured man was rushed toHamidia hospital where he wasdeclared dead. The deceasedwas identified as Manoj Verma.The police were not able toascertain that the motorbike ofthe deceased was hit by speed-ing vehicle or the motorbikerammed into a road divider.

Police said that thedeceased met the accidenton his way to home. Details ofthe accident could be investi-gated in the further investi-gation.

After the preliminary inves-tigation the body was sent forthe post mortem. The policehave registered a case under sec-tion 174 of the CrPC and havestarted further investigation.

Meanwhile, a 65-year-oldman was found dead undersuspicious circumstances nearJhinsi square underJehangirabad police stationarea on Thursday.

Police said that a man inthe age group of 60-65 yearswas found in an unconsciousstate and was rushed to a near-by hospital where he wasdeclared dead. During theinvestigation police were notable to establish the identity ofthe deceased.

Body was sent for the postmortem after the preliminaryinvestigation. The police haveregistered a case under section174 of the CrPC and havestarted further investigation.

Reason of the death couldnot be ascertained and wouldbe revealed after receiving theautopsy report. No visiblemarks have been found overthe body and further investi-gations have been started.

H@"����" ������������, �������� �� ��������

��''��� #�������.=2$9

House of SBI kiosk operatorwas targeted at Nichi Laloi

village by miscreants and escapedwith valuables worth Rs 1 lakhon Thursday; Berasia policehave registered a case on Friday.

According to the police thevictim Jagmohan Gujar foundthat gold and silver jewelryworth � 1 lakh were burgledwhen he woke up in the morn-ing on Friday.

The victim lodged a com-plaint with the police and in hiscomplaint he stated that he wasasleep when the burglary tookplace and when he woke up threegold chains, one gold pendant,one wrist watch and ten sareeswere burgled. The total loss inthe burglary was around �1lakh.Police said that the acquain-tances of the victim would bequestioned. It is possible that themiscreants were aware of thewhereabouts of the valuables.

The valuables were kept in thenext room but the victimremained asleep which would beinvestigated as it is possible thatthe miscreants might have usedsleep inducing chemicals.

The police have registered acase under section 457 and 380of the IPC and have started fur-ther investigation.

Meanwhile, valuables were�50000 were burgled fromAshiyana Colony underNishatpura police station area onThursday.

Police said that the victimTalib Ali had gone to Pathera vil-lage in Sironj Tehsil

In the evening and when hereturned at around 1 in the nightthe valuables were found bur-gled.Victim in his complaintclaimed that �20000 cash andjewelry worth �30000 were bur-gled. The police have registereda case under section 457 and 380of the IPC and have started fur-ther investigation.

3����+������ ����'9�������� ���).*� ��� ��� ��� -�������

��''��� #������ .=2$9

To spread mass awarenessabout the Freedom Struggle

and the freedom fighters, a the-atre festival ‘Azad BansuriChildren’s Theatre Festival 2017(Bal Natya Samaroh)’ wouldbegin from Monday at ShaheedBhavan Auditorium.

Being organized byDirectorate of Swaraj Sansthan,Madhya Pradesh the festivalwould continue till Thursday.

It is to be noted that this isthe sixth year of Azad Bansuriand this time the fest is basedon freedom fighters. To preparethe students, the Directorate ofSwaraj Sansthan organized amonth long workshop for thechildren of the city to spreadawareness about the freedomfighters and martyrs of thecountry. The workshop com-menced in the last monthwhere children from variousschools participated.

Noticeably, as many as 200children from various schoolsof the city have participated inthe theatre festival.Interestingly, out of these 200children, many participantsnever faced the world of theatreand it will be an enthrallingexperience for them to be a part

of the theatre fest. Besides,two plays would be stagedeach day of the Azad BansuriChildren Theatre Festival 2015.

The fest will have a kickstart on Monday with the plays‘Jung-e-Azadi’ directed by KGTrivedi and on the same dayplay ‘Mantra’ directed byRachna Mishra will be staged.On Tuesday Agast Kranti byPrem Gupta will be staged. OnWednesday Rabia Begum willbe performed. The festival willhave a closure with Balak Birbaldirected by ShobhaChhatterjee.

'"����� ���%������������������� %%����'%!

01�%1�0�7&99$*1�$��&���0$-0�=/�=/8$C�7&0�0129$C��D�+/3"1"$K$8&'�8&-1�018.C��3�0-&*18&$/8�=/�01��$�18$C�29$CD�$/0-$'8&-1�018�.C-$�/$��&�-$7&99�.1��0$318�

��''��� #������ .=2$9

An association of retiredKendriya Vidyalaya teachers

has written to the Centre over thedelay in payment of dearnessallowance (DA) to them.TheRetired Teachers Welfare Society,which shot off a letter to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, saidthe DA dues are pending sinceJuly 2016.

"We wrote to the primeminister in March and again inApril drawing his attention to theissue of non-payment of 7 percent DA to retired teachers ofKVS. The PMO forwarded theletter to the Ministry of Human

Resources Development in mid-April, but no action has beentaken yet," the society's generalsecretary, CM Dubey, said.

The letter was sent by theBhopal chapter of the society. Onrecommendations of the UnionCabinet, 7 per cent DA waspayable from July 2016 and sub-sequently 4 per cent fromJanuary 2017 to the regular aswell as retired employees of theCentral government, includingKVS teachers, Dubey said.

"The DA is being paid toregular employees, but not toretired ones. This is causinghardship to a large number ofretired personnel," he said.

8�������8$��������>�-�������������'�, ���������� �2�

��''��� #������ .=2$9

A22-year-old girl who triedto commit suicide by set-

ting herself ablaze on May 16died on Friday. She had takenthe extreme step at her resi-dence in GovindpuraIndustrial area under AshokaGarden police station.

Investigating Officer SIBhojraj Singh said the deceasedPooja Solanki died while under-going treatment at Hamidia hos-pital. The reason behind her sui-cide would be investigated. Shewas a student of B.Com.

In another incident an 80-year-old man was found deadat her residence in PunjabiBagh on Friday.

Neighbours of thedeceased informed police afterfoul smell was found emanat-ing from the house and on thereceipt of the information apolice team reached and foundthat deceased dead who wasidentified as Surendra Lamba.

Deceased used to remainalone and police suspects thatthe deceased died around 4-5days ago.

(("����" ������������,��� �,����������

(��� +�� ������� ����#����������� ��������������������������

����� ����� ��#�������������$�����0�# �� ���� �����+������ �����������0��������)#���#������ �����.���������" ���������� ������

������$������ �)��& �6�)������������������������!�����$������ ��� �:��� �0���� #���0�&� �,�&�������������������0�6�&��������!���.�� ���.���������������� ����# ��� ��;�������3�6���� ���������0))������ �)� ����)�������������� ����#������� ���� ����������!�����$������ ��� �"� ����<�&� ������������������#��������%���$����&�,�&�=�10����2�0))������ �.���������������!�����$������ ��/� ���3� ����������� ��� ��)��������� ��������� ������ ������������� ����������+�� ������� ��������.��� �+�������/�������+������� �#�����" ���� ������ ������

������ $,*�(�+# /� +0%,�+1 /��+1 234�2356

��''��� #���� � -$&2+-

The 'Chhattisgarh State RoadDevelopment Project'

funded by the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB) isdesigned to rehabilitate Stateroads which have been identi-fied from important State roadcorridors which include Stateroads linking to the nationalhighway corridors, officialsinformed.

The Project is closelyaligned with the developmentobjectives of ADB,Government of India andChhattisgarh that promoteequitable growth through sus-tainable agriculture and ruraldevelopment, they informed.

Notably, PWD MinisterRajesh Munat in January thisyear had stated that 856 kms ofroad construction work fund-ed by Asian Development Bank(ADB) is currently underwayin Chhattisgarh.

The Government has alsodeveloped 936 kms of roadsworth Rs 700 crore with theamount provided by ADBbetween the year 2008 to 2011,he said.

Munat was speaking at theinaugural function of the five-day training programme con-ducted under the aegis of AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB) inRaipur.

During the programme,the Minister said that selectingChhattisgarh for ADB trainingsession is a matter of pride andhonour for the State.

Munat had stated thatChhattisgarh is leaping towardsnew direction and making his-tory for overall infrastructural

development of the State whichincludes constructing nationalhighways and execution of sev-eral development projects whilekeeping attention towardssocial security and environ-mental conservation.

As Chhattisgarh region iscovered with 44 percent offorest areas, it is our top prior-ity to implement every projectbalanced with environmentalconservation,

Munat said, adding thatState government has alsomade arrangements for plan-tation after cutting of trees dur-ing execution of infrastruc-tural development projects.Also, the Government has beenproviding livelihood and shel-ter to the project affected, hesaid.

The expansion and widen-ing of 15 road projects is beingcarried on at a brisk pace withthe financial assistance of AsianDevelopment Bank(ADB).This was revealed byPublic Works Minister RajeshMunat even in April lastyear.He had called upon thedepartment officers to com-plete the roads being laid withthe financial aid of ADB in atime-bound manner and main-

tain high-quality standards.The financial outlay is

about Rs 1887.82 crore for the916.40 km of 15 roads / routes.The Chhattisgarh Road SectorProject sponsored by ADB willbe completed by March 2017,he said.

Munat had urged the con-cerned officers to post all therelevant details on status ofroad projects online. The pro-ject details should be trans-parent and mentioned at thesite: when was project sanc-tioned, completion date, costdetails, contractors names, howmany engineers are on dutyand other details.

The roads being laid are:Raipur-Balodabazar route,Nandghat-Balodabazar route,Simga-Tilda-Aarang-Kurudroute, Raipur-Urla-Pataridih-Kodwa route, Rajnandgaon-Kachche route, Chilfi-Rengakhar-Salhewara route,Chandkhuri-Sambalpur-Nawagarh route, Dhamda-Rohra- Jorhatra i -At ar ia-Khairagarh route, Khairagarh-Dongargarh-Tumdib o dhroute,Balod-Dhamtari , Anda-Funda route, Bodla-Tarengaon-Daldali route, Shivrinarayan-Birra-Champa route, Ratanpur-Kota-Lormi-Pandaria-Mungeliroute.

While taking it as a chal-lenge, the Chhattisgarh gov-ernment has completed con-struction of 1052 kms of roadsin insurgency infested pocketsof the State with co-operationof the Central government,State PWD Minister RajeshMunat said.

Chhattisgarh governmenthas set 2018 deadline to com-plete construction of an addi-tional 3,000 kms of road net-work with an investment ofUSD 2.34 billion.

This is based on the basisof an Annuity/BOT/Loan fromthe Asian Development Bank(ADB), official sources

informed.ADB had also been help-

ing Chhattisgarh governmentupgrade about 916 kilometersof roads in the State.

The works include devel-opment of new road sections,two-laning work, construct-ing and strengthening culvertsand bridges, officials stated.

Notably, new stretches ofrural roads are rapidly comingup in Chhattisgarh with mas-sive funding support fromADB. The ADB has providedlending support toChhattisgarh for projectsundertaken under PrimeMinister’s Gram Sadak Yojana

(PMGSY).The international funding

agency had been helping toeither construct or upgrade31,000 kms of rural roads in thestates of Chhattisgarh, MadhyaPradsh, Odisha, West Bengaland Assam nationally, officialsadded.

Notably, the Chhattisgarhgovernment has already start-ed taking steps to even settlethe forest land disputes underthe Forest Protection Act 1980as early as possible for acceler-ating the process of laying ofroads under the PradhanMantri Gram Sadak Yojana(PMGSY) (Prime Minister'sRural Roads Project).

A time-bound action planhas been chalked out for vari-ous departments to settle theissues relating to forest landexpeditiously.

Chief Secretary VivekDhand in a circular issued lastyear had directed that all theroad works should be com-pleted in a time-bound man-ner.

The Chief Secretary saidthat the land area should beinspected by the ForestDepartment officer on the nextday itself. The District Collectorshould be informed if there isany delay. The concernedCollector should settle the issuein within 10 days.

The time-frame has beenfixed as per the hectares of for-est land.

The officers of Panchayatand Rural DevelopmentDepartment in a State-levelStanding Committee ofPanchayat and RuralDevelopment Department

chaired by the Chief Secretaryin December last year hadtaken stock of the status ofroads and structures being con-structed under PMGSY.

It was informed in themeeting that 5124 permanentroads have been constructed inPhase 1 to 8 of the scheme. Thetotal length of these roads is22750 km. These include roadsconstructed in Phase 1 to 8 ofthe scheme besides roads con-structed in different phases ofRural Road ConnectivityProgramme of the AsianDevelopment Bank.

The construction of theseroads has facilitated people of7610 rural settlements for com-muting in these all weatherroads, it was informed.

In the meeting it was alsoinformed that construction of337 roads was completed at acost of Rs 715 crore underPMGSY in the financial year2013-14. The length of theseroads is 1292 km and their con-struction has linked 969 settle-ments.

As many as 37 roads havebeen sanctioned under theadvance technology of PMGSY.Among these, construction offour roads has been completedwhile construction of 10 roadsis under progress. The processof tender agreement is com-pleted for five roads while ten-ders for 18 roads are underprocess. In the meeting, theofficers informed that propos-als for construction of 294roads worth Rs 1023.51 croreand construction of 103 bridgesworth Rs 1318 crore was beensent to the Central governmentfor financial year 2014-15.

"�3+��������������.�����������������0������������������

���� �$/8&3$-

To check the menace ofstubble-burning in

Haryana, the Hisar-basedHaryana Space ApplicationsCentre (HARSAC) has begunexamining satellite data andobserved about 4,300 majorcrop fire points in the entireState.

“The satellite data is exam-ined to provide crop fire pointson day-to-day basis to facilitateprompt action at the groundlevel in the State. Crop fire alertsystem has been made opera-tional during the current sea-son in the State,” said AshokKhemka, Principal Secretary,Department of Science andTechnology, Haryana.

So far, the satellite data hasrecorded more than 600 cropburning points in Karnal dis-trict followed by 534 inSonepat, 501 in Jind, 335 inSirsa, 324 in Fatehabad, 319 in

Panipat, 267 in Kaithal, 256 inRohtak, 240 in Hisar and 211in Jhajjar during the currentharvesting season.

In Ambala, Bhiwani andKurukshetra districts, cropburning has been reported atabout 100-200 locations each,whereas in rest of the districts,the burning took place at lessthan 100 locations each duringthe current season.

Major crop burning, on anaverage at more than 100 loca-tions in the State, was observedbetween March 24 to April 14this year. In a single day, thecrop was set ablaze at maxi-mum 658 and 602 locations inthe State on May 2 and 5, saidKhemka.

Khemka said the HARSACscientists started observingactive fire locations in all dis-tricts from the beginning of theharvesting season in the secondweek of April. During the cur-rent harvesting season, the

HARSAC has observed about4,300 major crop fire points inthe entire State.

It is much less than about13,000 active fire points record-ed during the paddy harvestingseason using the same tech-nology, he said.

The menace is much severeduring the Kharif season com-

pared to Rabi season as con-trary to wheat straw, paddystraw is not palatable to the cat-tle and hence is set ablaze. Cropstubble burning in both Rabiand Kharif seasons hasemerged as a menace in thisregion, causing server envi-ronmental problems.

About the crop fire alert

system, he said that the cropfire locations being receivedthrough the satellite on dailybasis are being sent directly tovarious officers at the state anddistrict level through SMS alertto initiate immediate action.

The crop fire map indicatesthe fire location and by click-ing at the location, it will indi-

cate the latitude and longitudesof the point to enable theenforcement agencies to reachthe exact location, Khemkasaid.

He said the HARSAC wasusing data available fromMODIS and Suomi satellites ofUSA through NRSC, ISRO,Hyderabad to identify activefire points on daily basis.Though the State Governmenthad made stubble-burning apunishable offence, yet, forwant of timely information, theconviction rate was very poor,he said.

Though it is a course res-olution data, yet because of itsdaily repeat cycle, it can indi-cate major fire points on dailybasis. As spatial resolution ofthese satellite sensors in about250x250 m, it can’t capture cropburning site less than 6.25 ha.Therefore, the actual cropburning sites could be muchmore than observed as the firein smaller fields is not dis-cernible with these sensors,said he added.

()*++��,���$���������������������������������

���� .$9$/3&-�

Even as the rising tempera-ture is making the lives of

people unbearable in urbanareas of Balangir district, thepeople living in the rural areasare no better. For, they are nowreeling under bear menacewith little respite, coupled withthe scorching heat and waterscarcity.

According to reports, twopersons, indentified as TaraniBag, Gram Rakhi of BandanaKata village and Nitu Pradhan,a minor girl of Raksimunda vil-lage, were injured due to attackby two bears which are on arampage these days.

Bag was going to attendnature's call in the morning onFriday when the bears attackedhim. He sustained injuries onface and head and was soonadmitted at the DistrictHeadquarters Hospital andthen shifted to the VIMSAR,Burla, as his condition deteri-

orated.As the villagers chased the

bears, one fled to a nearby for-est and the other entered intoRaksimunda village andinjured Nitu before hiding itselfin a bamboo bush.

According to sources, thebears most likely have strayedfrom Menda village whereinsugarcane has been grown. Toeat sugar cane, the bears andother wild animals might bestraying to the areas. To get ridof the animals, the villagerschase them but of little avail.

It would be pertinent tomention here that the Mendavillage lies on one side of theSuktel river in Sonepur districtand these villages now underbear attack scare are located onthe opposite bank in Balangirdistrict. Meanwhile, a team ofBalangir forest officials led byACF Goutam Naik and rangeofficer NK Jaysingh is campingat Raksimunda village to nabthe bears.

.�� ����� ���������

.������ >�?���6� ��

�(������$������$��182+-

After four persons - SheikhNaim (35), Sheikh Sajju

(25), Sheikh Siraj (26) andSheikh Halim (28) - werelynched by villagers at Rajnagarin Seraikela-Kharsawan on May18, the DSP (City) AnimeshNathani conducted a flag marchat Nagadih, where five sectionsof armed police were deployedin order to prevent any unto-ward incident.

The body of Sheikh Halimwas recovered today.

Significantly, the policetraced the body of Sheikh Halim(28) from Dangodungri, ahillock behind Shobhapur thismorning. SP, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Rakesh Bansal, whois camping at Rajnagar said thatfrom the condition of the bodyit seemed that Halim, a residentof Haldipokhar, who went miss-ing during a mob assault, atRajnagar had been lynched atthe Dangodungri.

Notably, on Thursday theRajnagar villagers had lynchedthree persons, Sheikh Naim,Sheikh Sajju and Sheikh Siraj, allcattle traders, on suspectingthem to be child-lifters.

SP Seraikela-Kharsawanalso said that 21 villagers havebeen identified as culprits in theRajnagar lynching. Police are

searching for more.ADP (operations), R. K

Mallick, who visited city todayand held meeting with seniorpolice officials today, said that amass awareness drive would belaunched at all the rural policestations in East Singhbhum andSeraikela-Kharsawan district.

“We have studied the situ-ation. We will be spreading thepublic messages not onlythrough mass media but alsothrough public amplifiers. Allthe police station officials havebeen asked to hold meetingwith panchayati raj institutionmembers and village chowkidarsand start an awareness campaignat each village against gettinginfluenced by such rumours ofchild-lifters and on suspicionabout any one, immediatelyinform the police or toll freehelpline number ‘100’.

The villagers will be askednot to take law into their handsas there has been no singleincident of child lifting,” saidMallick.

Meanwhile, traffic on thebusy Jugsalai-Station road wasparalysed for over three hoursfrom 9.30 am on Friday as res-idents from Jugsalai and Bagberablocked the road to protestlynching of three innocentyouths of these localities by vil-lagers in Bagbera last night onsuspicion of being child-lifters.

�=�������#(������#��

-"����$%������%)���"�$���������$�"�����

From Page 1Similarly, land has also been

allotted for a Central SchoolBuilding at Narsinghgarh,Western Railway Indore has

been allotted land betweenKhandwa-Sanawad for gaugeconversion and for other worksat Tahvadia, Attar, Chichgohanand Anjati village. PrincipalSecretary Revenue ArunPandey, Commissioner MandiBoard Rakesh Shrivastava,Madhya Pradesh HousingConstruction and InfrastructureDevelopment Board MD NiteshVyas and other officers werealso present at the meeting.

���������������������... From Page 1

“Is this journalism? TheIndian media has raped jour-nalistic ethics,” Malik said.

The police have registereda case against the journalist andthe cameraman under Section448 of the Ranbir Penal Code

(illegal trespassing), which car-ries a punishment of up to oneyear in prison and a fine of Rs1,000.

The journalist later said sheand the cameraman had madea “legal and ethical entry” intohis house.

“Malik could have asked usto leave the location. Instead, hesmashed our mobile phones.He assaulted the cameraperson,and pushed him from the

stairs.” She said he had accusedthem of trying to do a “stingoperation” on him. “We askedquestions. If you don’t want toanswer, at least say you don’twant to speak,” the journalistsaid.

Malik was also asked at theconference about the NIA reg-istering a case on the fundingof separatist leaders. “I am notconcerned with what NIA hasto do,” he said.

From Page 1BJP president Amit Shah

too had recently made a tripto Tripura.

“The focus of all these vis-its is to draw attention to theNortheast, build connectivityand attract tourists. In thenext two years, the idea is tobuild on the victories inAssam Arunachal andManipur and repeat it in2019.

From Page 1Jaitley also said that there

would be no tax on lotteryfrom July 1, while e-com-merce players like Flipkart,Snapdeal will have to deduct1 per cent TCS (tax collectedat source) while making pay-ments to suppliers.”

Work contracts like whitewashing will be liable for a 12per cent GST.

“Tax on gold and pre-cious metals would be takenup at the next meeting of theCouncil on June 3.

From Page 1Manoj Misra, on whose

petition NGT has passed sev-eral directions, welcomed theorder saying, “we are happythat NGT is continuously mon-itoring the Yamuna issue. Theorder issued by the benchshows its seriousness. But theimplementing agencies haveto show their will in executionof the directions”.

The panel, which also com-prises chief engineer fromDelhi Development Authority(DDA) and a representativefrom National Mission forClean Ganga, has been asked tosubmit reports on regular inter-vals to the tribunal.

The tribunal took note ofthe industries running in res-idential areas in different partsof the city and directed theDelhi government and themunicipal corporations to takeimmediate action against suchunits.

In a detailed order, the

green panel said almost 67 percent of the pollution reachingthe Yamuna would be treatedby the two sewage treatmentplants (STPs) located at DelhiGate and Najafgarh underPhase 1 of the ‘Maili se NirmalYamuna Revitalisation Project2017’.

With regard to the Phase-II of the project which dealswith drains which bring 33 percent remnant pollution in theriver, the NGT directed DJB tosubmit a complete projectreport within four weeks beforethe principal committee,formed under the judgement ofthe tribunal.

“The principal committeewhich in turn would submit thereport in four weeks thereafterand the matter will be listed forhearing on July 24,” the benchsaid.

Delhi Jal Board informedthe tribunal that a total of 14STPs and three sewage linesrehabilitation stands have been

approved under the Yamunarejuvenation scheme whichwould be completed by 2019.

The apex environmentwatchdog also directed Delhigovernment and other author-ities to restore and revive thewater bodies in different partsof the national capital and turnthem into places of touristattraction.

It directed that Delhi gov-ernment and all the municipalcorporations to start removal ofmunicipal solid waste anddredging of drains underPhase-I of the judgement.

“The authorities are direct-ed to submit methodology andformulate scheme to help inselective dredging of Yamunato ensure that its deep rootedpollutants are removed beforecompletion of the Phase-I pro-ject,” the bench said.

“We direct that Delhi gov-ernment and all the corpora-tions concerned to startremoval of municipal solidwaste and dredging of drainsunder

Phase-I of the judgement.The authorities are also direct-ed to submit methodology andformulate scheme to help inselective dredging of Yamunato ensure that its deep rootedpollutants are removed beforecompletion of the Phase-I pro-ject.

From Page 1and AGM Kushal

Aggarwal -- were held guiltyby the court for “deceiving”the Government by makingfalse representation evenbefore then Prime MinisterManmohan Singh.

Fr iday’s decision bySpecial CBI Judge BharatParashar, who was appointedexclusively to deal with thecoal scam cases, was the third.

Besides the three publicservants, others convicted arethe firm KSSPL and its man-aging director Pawan KumarAhluwalia.

Among the other impor-tant cases arising out of thecoal scam related to the allo-cation of Talabira II coalblock in Odisha to M/sHindalco in 2005 in which thename of Manmohan Singhwas dragged as one of theaccused.

Singh was then also hold-ing the charge of the CoalMinistry.

/&$�, �������###

#���/��2��45666������2�����������%����777

�����������/"1���� ���������

� ������>1!"������3����� ������

(.���� ��"�����///

���� .+.$/1�7$-�

Based on a petition filed bycivil society organisation

Human Rights Watch secre-tary Sangita Swain allegingthat the police did not reg-ister a case in the killing ofone Shyam Kadraka of vil-lage Nirgundi in Rayagadaon February 4, 2016, theNational Human RightsCommission (NHRC) hadsought a report from theRayagada SP.

The SP in reply statedthat a case was filed in the KSinghpur police station onFebr uar y 5 , 2016 and investigated.

During investigation itwas found that the Kadrakawas killed by Maoists on thesuspicion of being a policeinformer.

An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakhwas paid to the next of kin ofthe victim and an accusedwas arrested and producedin court on February 24,2016.

-�� ���� ���� �� ����� �-'������������

������ $-*�(�+# /� +0%,�+1 /��+1 234�2356

���# ����'������#��=����E�����#����������� 8�������-�����������8���� �����=������� �I8-8=J������������ �������� ������ ����������� ������������������ ��"������!���� ����������#�0������ ��� ����������������� ���,������$�� �������� ������� ����,����I$��J����� ��%����#

�����#������ �����������$=������9:�<�����������0����������&�� ���� ��� ���� ���� ���� �������,����������!�����������������������������������(@)L�������&�� ���� �� ���� ����-������������ ��%����#�0���� ���� �����(L�M)��-0&�$����������������������#�.�����������&�����������������&�� ���� �� ���� �����N��� ��� ��� ����������������N��� ���������� ���������������� ����-0&�$������������ ���������� ���� ��������� �� ������� ���� ���������������� �� ���������,���� ������� ������#$������������������ ��������������� �� ������-0&�$������������������� ���� ������� ������������������ �������������������� �������#

'"�./)

�#�������%�����(�����/17�819&

The Supreme Court Registryhas refused to accept the

application filed by CalcuttaHigh Court judge Justice CSKarnan for recalling the orderby which he was sentenced tosix months imprisonment forcommitting contempt ofSupreme Court.

The order passed on May 9by a seven-judge bench head-ed by Chief Justice JS Khehardirected the Director General ofPolice, Kolkata to arrest thejudge and execute the punish-ment on the judge. AlthoughJustice Karnan is yet to bearrested, he filed a recall appli-cation along with a writ petitionthrough his lawyer Mathews JNedumpara challenging theContempt of Courts Act andthe order pronouncing himguilty under the said Act. OnMay 12, both the applicationand petition were rejected bythe Registry which said that his

relief was elsewhere and notbefore the Supreme Court.

The SC Registrar in a shortorder said, "…after due con-sideration, it was held thatJustice CS Karnan had com-mitted contempt of the gravestnature resulting in finding ofguilt. As a sequel the petition-er also stands convicted andsentenced to an imprisonmentof six months. The said find-ings have since attained final-ity." The Registry further stat-ed that a petition is not main-

tainable against a judicial pro-ceeding and "relief if any liessome where else."

Justice Karnan had soughtrecall of the May 9 order on theground that his allegations ofcorruption against 20 HighCourt judges would at themost amount to defamation.Further, he complained of notbeing heard or presented withthe charges of contempt, beforebeing punished for contempt.

Earlier, Nedumpara hadmentioned the applicationbefore CJI when the hearing ontriple talaq was on. The CJI hadthen advised the lawyer toapproach the Registry. The nextmove by Justice Karnan will bekeenly awaited. He has claimedto have sent a representation tothe President of India forreprieve. IN addition, his lawyershave advised him to approachthe Delhi High Court with a writpetition as powers under Article226 are wider than the writ juris-diction of the Supreme Courtunder Article 32.

�#�������%�����(�����/17�819&

The issue of mandatory link-age of Aadhaar with a host

of Government schemes andbenefits — the last date forwhich is June 30 — will facejudicial scrutiny on June 27, theSupreme Court on Friday said.

A slew of notificationsissued by Centre had requiredcitizens to link their Aadhaarwith all major schemes, bene-fits and policies under CentralGovernment without whichthey would be disentitled toreceive benefits after July 1.

A petition filed by childrights expert Shanta Sinha andgender rights activist KalyanMenon Sen that questionedthese notifications was takenup for hearing by a VacationBench of Justices AMKhanwilkar and Navin Sinha.

The Bench deferred thehearing to June 27 after itcame to know that other appli-cations seeking similar reliefagainst similar decisions of theGovernment in the past werepending in Court. The Benchdirected the Supreme CourtRegistry to list all the applica-

tions on June 27 to avoid "mul-tiplicity" of decisions on thesame issue.

Attorney General MukulRohatgi, however, objected

to hearing of the case as in hisopinion any order to stay thenotifications had to go beforea Constitution Bench sincethe challenge to the Aadhaar

Act 2016 and the Aadhaarprogramme in general ispending consideration beforea five-judge ConstitutionBench. Even in the past, hepointed out, when the Centresought a modification toextend linkage of Aadhaarwith a slew of schemes, aConstitution Bench heard theapplication and passed orderson October 15, 2015.

Senior advocate ShyamDivan, who appeared for thepetitioner said the Governmentwas shying away from theproblem as the matter neededurgent hearing due to the dead-line of June 30 fast approach-ing. The notifications, headded, were a blatant violationof Court's repeated orders notto make Aadhaar mandatoryfor any service, benefits orservice under the CentralGovernment.

Although the benchremarked, "You (Centre) arebreaching the earlier orderspassed by three-judge and five-judge bench," A-G defendedthe notifications claiming it wasissued after the Act came inwhile the undertaking given toCourt were prior to the Act.

�����������0������������ ���� ��%�����������������3������3 ���������� �����?@������������������ ��� ������"����������������� ������� ��� �� ��������������������� ���� ����������������������� ��� �������������� ����� ��&���#�0������!�� ���������������������3 ���������� ������������������� ��� ������������������������� ���� ���� ��� ���������������������������� ������� �����23� �����#�0����"�������������� ������������� ����� �� � �� �����3 ��������� ����,������� ��������� ��������������������������# ���

���� /17�819&

Amid Opposition's allega-tions that Electronic Voting

Machines (EVMs) are vulner-able to hacking, the ElectionCommission will demonstratethe use of EVMs and voter ver-ified paper audit trail (VVPAT)machines on Saturday, whenthe date of the electoral watch-dog's open challenge to tech-nocrats and political parties isalso likely to be decided.

It is expected that ECcould by May end or firstweek of June throw the chal-lenge to political parties totamper its EVMs. In a relat-ed development, the EC hastold the Parl iamentar yStanding Committee on‘Electoral Reforms’ that itsEVMs are secured and it can-not be tampered.

"Prof Rajat Moona of C-DAC led a team of technicalexperts who gave a final touchto the modalities of hackathon.The Commission will briefrepresentatives of political par-ties about what procedureswould be adopted for thehackathon," said the sources.

As per the modalitiesfinalised by the EC, sourcessaid the leaders of theOpposition parties would beinvited separately to random-ly select any EVM used in anybooth in the Assembly polls.They could also send theirrepresentatives to see the livedemonstration of the func-tioning of the votingmachines.

Then, the leader, alongwith, the representatives of thepoll panel will be sent to theparticular State to get the EVMof their choice. It will be for theparticular leader to decidewhether he would like to trav-el by his own vehicle or in theone provided by the poll panel.

Once EVM is selected, itwill be sealed and broughtback to Delhi in the vehicle inwhich the opposition leaderwill be traveling. Then, in thepresence of one and all, the dataof the machine will be deleted.Once the polling data is delet-ed, polling will be conductedin presence of those who hadraised fingers over the func-tioning of the EVMs.

According to sources, thatthe Commission has taken intoaccount that the VVPAT slipsof electronic voting machines,up to a definite percentagewhich will be determined bythe Commission, will also besubjected to counting and theECI will evolve an appropriateframework in this regard.

At the all-party meetrecently, most parties saidEVMs could be used for futureelections if they came with apaper trail machine, whichwould enable the electorate tocheck if their vote had beenregistered against the person oftheir choice.

Some parties, however, saidthe EVMs could not be trust-ed and the EC should revert tothe old ballot paper system,where people inked their choic-es on a sheet of paper.

$���� �+����� �)�#���������� � �������� ����$������ ��� ��� ��$�������" ������������,�����������#����������#������+��� ����#��������7)�#�����%�.�������, ����@=A. �������� �/��@+����$�B�� ��� �������+�������������C)�#���%.������, ��������� �#��&�������+������������� ������� ���� ������ ������������B�� ��� ������7�� �����:���� ����D@�������������&���� ������ �=�C)�#���%.������, ����E������������������� �����#�� �����������������������$���=�/�������##���������+����������%�6��� ���

�#�������%�����(�����/17�819&

The EnforcementDirectorate on Friday (ED)

has registered a money laun-dering case against KartiChidambaram, son of formerFinance Minister PChidambaram, two days afterthe CBI's raided his premises inconnection with a graft caserelating to FIPB clearancegranted to INX media in 2007when Chidambaram wasFinance Minister.

The agency is expected toattach the properties of theaccused under Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA)

Chidambaram has reject-ed the reports that his son Kartihad “escaped” to London onThursday after the CBI raid.According to the formerFinance Minister, son has goneto London as part of pre-planned assignments.

The ED officials said thecentral probe agency regis-tered an Enforcement CaseInformation Report (ECIR),ED's equivalent of a policeFIR, against the accused namedin the CBI complaint includingKarti, INX media and its direc-tors, Peter and IndraniMukerjea, and others. Theysaid the ED will probe thealleged “proceeds of crime”generated in this case and mayalso attach assets of the variousaccused.

The ED had providedinformation about the allegedillegal payments made by INXmedia, based on which the CBIhad filed its FIR. The CBI, onTuesday, had carried outsearches at the homes andoffices of Karti across fourcities for allegedly receivingmoney from the media firmowned by the Mukerjeas toscuttle a tax probe.

As per the CBI FIR, INXMedia had got approval fromthe FIPB for inviting foreigninvestment for �4.6 crore in

2007. But Income Tax in 2008found that the TV channelcompany brought in as muchas �305 crore through theFIPV route. After getting theIT notice, Peter and Indraniallegedly approached Karti andpaid him around �5 crore to geta post-facto approval fromFIPB illegally.

The CBI FIR was filed outagainst Karti, his companyChess Management Services,and Advantage StrategicConsulting, the Mukerjeas(currently in jail on charges ofmurder their daughter SheenaBora), INX Media, AdvantageStrategic Consulting Servicesand its director PadmaVishwanathan.

���� /17�819&

The Indian Government hassaid the discussions on the

units five and six of theKudankulam nuclear plant areat the stage of internal approvaland that the project is verymuch on track.

The External AffairsMinistry spokesperson onFriday rejected media reportsthat India might link the sign-ing of the on hold the signingof the General FrameworkAgreement (GFA) of thesenuclear power plants withIndia's membership in NuclearSuppliers Group.

"The report is completelybaseless, incorrect and mis-chievous. Discussions havebeen held on Kudankulamdocument. The process is at thestage of internal approval,"

Baglay said on Friday.According to sources the

GFA for Units 5 and 6 of theplant in Tamil Nadu hasalready been cleared by aninter-ministerial group and isawaiting a nod from the Prime

Minister's Office, governmentsources had said. The issue ofKudankulam reactors wasrecently discussed during theIndia Russia InterGovernmental Commissionmeeting.

According to an October2015 joint statement after ameeting between Modi andPutin, the two sides "reaf-firmed" their intention to con-clude the GFA and the CreditProtocol for KudankulamNuclear Power Plant (KKNPP)units 5 and 6 by the end of2016. However, due to differ-ences over credit protocolamong other reasons, the pactis still pending, sources said.Russia will be constructingtotal 16 reactors for India.

In August 2016, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andRussian President VladimirPutin jointly dedicated the Unit2 of the plant to "India-RussiaFriendship and Cooperation"and witnessed the laying of thefoundation concrete for theKudankulam Units 3 and 4through video-link.

�#�������%�����(����� /17�819&

In view of the October 2018 deadline setfor cleaning Ganga, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi has reviewed the execu-tion of the ambitious ‘Namami Gange’ pro-ject and is understood to have instructedofficials to execute it in Government-pub-lic model rather than only as aGovernment programme.

This was the first meeting, held onThursday, after the BJP came to power inUttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the river'stwo key basin states whose previousGovernments were accused by the Centreof not cooperating fully.

Modi is learnt to have instructed theofficials to ensure involvement of the peo-ple so that it doesn't remain only aGovernment programme and also prop-er dissemination of information related tothe project.

Modi's instructions came amid reportsthat the implementation of the pro-gramme was lagging behind schedule.

The sewage treatment capacity intowns along the Ganga is being enhancedsubstantially and considerable focus is

being placed on large cities like Haridwar,Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna,Bhagalpur, Howrah and Kolkata, officialsinformed the Prime Minister. Modi wasalso informed that intensive monitoringand inspection of the grossly-pollutingindustries has been taken up, which has ledto "considerable improvement" in thewater quality of some of the tributaries ofthe river.

Senior officials from various govern-ment departments made presentations onthe programme and apprised the prime

minister of action taken and the progressmade on it, it said.

According to a PMO statement, "Theofficials said that this has led to consider-able improvement in the water quality ofsome of the tributaries of the river Ganga."

Parameters such as "dissolved oxygen"and "biochemical oxygen demand" havebeen studied as part of this assessment. ThePM was also apprised of the considerableprogress made in rural sanitation in vil-lages along the banks of the river Ganga,the statement said.

���� /17�819&

Taking cue from dual pric-ing of electricity supply in

some States, the NationalFederation of CooperativeSugar Factories Ltd (NFCSFL),an apex body that represents262 cooperative sugar mills, hassuggested dual pricing of sugarfor industrial users and retailconsumers in line with elec-tricity and kerosene saying thiswill be a win-win for majorstakeholders — farmers, millersand consumers. The NFCSFLhas suggested that sugar rate tobe kept at �50-60 per kg forindustrial consumer and �30per kg for retailers. Presently,sugar rate in retail market is�45-47 per kg.

This novel and "out-of-thebox strategy" is need of thehour because "there is a newanti-sugar wave across theworld which blames sugar to bethe main cause of obesity, dia-betes and heart-related ail-ments," NFCSF ManagingDirector Prakash P Naiknavare

said in a statement. "Thus, in the light of tough

days ahead for sugar sales, it isperhaps the right time for allthe major stakeholders ofIndia's sugar sector to cometogether to push for dual pric-ing policy for domestic sugar,"he said.

Besides, many developedcountries have already imposed'sugar tax' to artificially jack upsugar prices to discourage itsconsumption, he said. About 70per cent of the total sugar isconsumed by industries whichare involved in manufacturingvarious products like beveragesand biscuits, while merely 30

per cent is used by retail con-sumers.

"The dual pricing hasalready been implemented suc-cessfully in electricity supplyfor industrial and householdconsumers with separate rates.Even kerosene supplied underthe Public Distribution Systemhas dual rate for many years,"it said. Naiknavare further saidthat the industrial bulk con-sumers have not reduced pricesof their products when sugarrates remained lower for last 2-3 three years and thus "earnedhundred per cent profit. ...Thisprofiteering sailed throughsmoothly because nobody

questioned this.""The Federation will take

up these issues with the gov-ernment at an appropriatelevel," he noted. "The out ofbox" strategy is required tocheck the anti- sugar cam-paign. The dual pricing willensure cane farmers get aremunerative price, sugar millswill have a bankable robust bal-ance sheet and the commonhousehold consumer will getthe sweetener at a reducedrate, he added.

Country's per capital con-sumption is about 28-30 kg,while the monthly sugarrequirement of an average fam-ily of four members is only 10kgs. sugar production in 2016-17 is likely to fall to 22 milliontonnes, down 4.3 percent froman earlier estimate, as mills inits key producing state areclosing early due to a caneshortage. Maharashtra had pro-duced 8.41 million tonnes ofsugar in the 2015-16 season,while country's total output was25.1 million tonnes.

,#���8����������.��8����2��������������8�������

0�������%$��%�����12����������$���������

�23�1+,�,� �(��)� ��!�%�� �#� ��0 %��� /���,��

;���� ������������$��� �6�#��������� ��� ��

�2��0)��'��#�#��4� /�+�&��5��)�� 4�*)3�0 ���#�%�6��1�)���������,

0�"����$���������������������

%����� ���� �����.��#������ ����� ������������?F

��(��/:F�G�#����� �������'#���$$��%�#���(��������#������������#��������#(�

�&8$�.$-$��$�-1�1�018�01

-12=-0��0$0�&��=/��$-0&�$8F1��$218F�0=9=/8=/��=/

0+-�8$C�$%01-�01�.&�-$&8#�$��=-8&/3

0=�01�%=-�1-%&/$/�1��&/&�01-��=/�$��3=/1�0=

9=/8=/�$��2$-0�=%2-1"29$//18$��&3/�1/0�

0� ���� ������� �� ������� ��������������� ������������ ��

����������� ������ ��� ���������� ���������� ��������� +�� �������������1 ���� �������� �������� ������� ������ 2����������� ������ ��

���� ���� ��� ���� �����3

�����#���)�;� ���

In the summer of 2009, a journal-ist friend phoned and asked for rec-ommendations. His newspaper hadtold him to profile a “new-ageSwayamsevak”. “Could you intro-

duce me to an RSS whole-timer who isalso a modern person, preferably fromoutside Delhi?” I smiled because the jux-taposition of ‘modern’ and ‘RSS’ (or ‘BJP’for that matter) was and remains a mys-tery for significant sections of theEnglish-speaking media.

Nevertheless it was not the time tohave that debate. My friend’s editors hadgiven him a task and he had a feature arti-cle to write. I knew exactly what he want-ed and whom he needed to meet. “Areyou okay with travelling to Bhopal?” Iasked, thinking immediately of the per-son I had in mind. That person was AnilMadhav Dave, then an emerging BJPpolitician in Madhya Pradesh, havingmoved to the party a few years earlierfrom a full-time role in the RSS.

A few days later, on his return fromBhopal, I met my friend. He had beenimpressed by Anil Dave. I wasn’t sur-prised. Very few people who met AnilDave, who so unfortunately passed awayon May 18, two months short of his 61stbirthday, were left unimpressed oruntouched. He was a remarkable man.Polite to a fault, genial and smiling, butwith strong views — on river conserva-tion, on politics, on history and culture— expressed with utmost civility.

There are some politicians who canoffer you an engaging conversation onpolitics and elections, but no topicbeyond that. With Anil Dave you couldspend hours discussing a variety ofissues, not mentioning politics at all, andcome away the wiser. It is a rare gift intoday’s politics, across parties, wherepoliticians find themselves so engrossedin day-to-day ‘breaking news’ that theyforget to pursue other interests or just sat-isfy the hunger for ideas and sense ofcuriosity that is so natural for any thinking person.

When telling my journalist friendabout Anil Dave, I called him “perhapsthe only RSS pracharak with a pilot’slicence”. It had begun as a fascinationwhile watching fighter aircraft in the skyin Junagadh, where he spent some of hisearly years. The child of a Gujarati-ori-gin family settled in Madhya Pradesh, hewas at home in the sky and on the ground— but most so while exploring the river.The Narmada was his passion and riverconservation his mission. He once flewa small plane across the length of the Narmada.

More than that, he worked hard forreviving and cleaning the river, which hedescribed as a living being and not just

a resource to be exploited. It is not oftenrealised that the issue of the NarmadaDam was not just a debate between theso-called ‘Right’ and ‘Left’ but saw a fer-vent argument within the Sangh parivaritself, and was a testimony to the diver-sity of opinion and under-recognised plu-rality of thought within the RSS family.Yet, that is another story for another day.

In the case of people like Anil Dave,it would suffice to say that river-systemconservation and restoration efforts ofgrassroots activists often get crowded outby the noise generated by better-resourced and media-savvy NGOs in thebig cities. Even so, in terms of efforts andoutcomes, it is quite obvious whoachieves more. One hopes the RiverFestivals that Anil Dave organised andthe civil society institutions he incubat-ed and ran with such loving care to com-memorate the Narmada continue. Thatwould be his biggest monument.

Environmental activist, history buff,amateur pilot, writer — he had writtenbooks on the Narmada river, of course,as well as an assessment of Shivaji’sadministration — there was enoughAnil Dave did to fill a full day. From theearly 2000s at least, he was also an activeand busy politician.

In Madhya Pradesh, he was the one-man electoral think-tank of the party. Hedidn’t need to refer to his laptop to rat-tle off facts and figures and give you clin-ical analyses of electoral prospects in far-

flung constituencies. He had a built a net-work of associates and workers who gavehim honest feedback.

This writer was privileged to see himat work during elections in MadhyaPradesh and Gujarat. He could puttogether a team of intelligent and com-mitted volunteers and guide them intothe various regions of the State to getqualitative and sometimes even quanti-tative feedback. It was astonishing toexperience this, because it wasn’t a for-mal market research agency in the cor-porate sense of the term — but it was very effective.

This combination of sensitivity toriver systems and their broader ecology,and experience of managing teams andprojects made him a natural choice forministerial office. Some of his friendswere disappointed that he didn’t make itto Narendra Modi’s team in May 2014,but Anil Dave himself never complained.Eventually justice was done and AnilDave was the very appropriate choice asEnvironment Minister in July 2016. Alas,he was to have too short a tenure.

Anil Dave has been called manythings: A hard-working and non-contro-versial Minister, a dedicated MP, a friend-ly colleague, an agile political mind, adevotee of the Narmada in more ways thanone, a proud son of India. Like many ofus, he wore several identities. Nevertheless,to him his primary label was that of an RSSpracharak. As he often said, he had devel-

oped his ideas not in spite of the RSS butbecause of the fostering by the Sangh,which he considered a much misunder-stood organisation and certainly not onewith a unifocal obsession.

What does a pracharak do? At thesimplest, he builds institutions. He trav-els to a new location — geographical gen-erally, but sometimes a notional locationthat actually means a hitherto untappedsegment of society — and builds a localunit or a local shakha. Have instilledenough institutional strength and vital-ity and having ensured members he hasintroduced will take the mission forward,the pracharakmoves to a new challenge,a new geography and new frontier.

When a talented and politically inter-ested and knowledgeable pracharak takesthese skills and these learnings into for-mal politics, into the BJP for instance —though there have been pracharaks inother parties — the results can beastounding. The BJP is much more thana party of RSS people, and has a strongquotient from outside the formal Sanghparivar. Yet, a diligent, meticulous andpolitically alive pracharak can provide theparty a backbone that it cannot do with-out, especially in individual constituen-cies and states. In that sense, Anil Davewas a role model. We are all poorer without him.

(The writer is distinguished fellow,Observer Research Foundation. He can bereached at [email protected])&

��)��L��&������������������"�����������������E���� ,���� �,������� �����������������H���� �� �������#�&��������� ������ ,���� ���� ���������� ���E��� ���� ������������� ����,�����������������������������������!����"

��� ��&������ �,���#�$����������� �,����������������� ��������������� ���E���� ��"� ���� ��� ������ ������������������������.�������3 ��������������� ������������������������ ������/ ���"1���#�% �,����������������� ���� �"������������� ������������� ��� ������� �����#�C���������� �� ������������� ������ ��� ��� �,������&���#�1������ ����,� ����������� ������������ ,��������������������� ������� ��� �,������������������� �����&������ �,����� �"������#�.��������(@)?��&������� ���)MH����������� ,���� �,������� ������������,�������� ����� �������, ����%��#�0��������������,� ������������� ����������,����� ����������������� ����1������������������� ��������������� ��� ��������� �����E��� �,�����������&���#�$�� �����������������,�������� ����� �������� �����������������������&�����������9������I&�9J�� �����������������,� ������� ���� ��������������������� ������������������������������

� �������������� ������ ������������� �������&��������������������� ��������� ���#�$�� ����������������� �,������ � � ������7�3� �������������������� �� .��������� %��� ��� &����� �,���������������&"9��������������� ��������������,������$��:������������������������� ������(@)L�$���% �,���� � �������� �� ����� ��9������ N� ���� ������� ���"$������,� � �,���� � ���������� �������������� �� �� ���� ��� ����� �������� �� ��������$����� ����������#�

0����������� ��$O����%�����������'�� &"9������� ������ ���� �������������� ���O ����,��������� ������&����� � �,���E�� � �� �������� ����� ��������������������� ��#�7���&����, ���� �� ���%&%$E��+")M�7 �������

��=�� ,���������������� ����������������&������ �,��������� �������������������� ��� �������,����,����� ���������� ������������������#�

C����������������������� ������������ ���������������������������&�9�����&"9������������������������ ����� ����������� ����#�0������������������������"����� �,�������� ������ �����$��"&����% �,����%������ ��I$&%%J������� ��������������������� ������&�9��,�������� �������, �����&�9���������,���� �������������������,�� ��������������������������� �E�������� �����,�������������#�.����������� �� ��� ����� ��&��������,�� �,������������� �� ������������������ ��,����������� �����#�0����� ����� �������������������������� �����������������������$&%%� ����������,���� ��������������� ��� �$O�������������� ����� ��N������������������� ��#�C��������� �������������� ������� ��&����� �,������������������������� ��������&��������,���������������������� ��� ��������� ��#�$����&������ �,��������������� ��,���������� ���������� �"������������� ����#�

0���&������� ����� ���� ��������E��I&��J�������� ��0����������������&������� �������,�������������E���!���� �� �������,����2� ������������� ���������!� ����2� ����E�������������������������������#�&����������� ��"

���� �����, ������,��� ������ ����������&���������2� ������� ����)L� ������G������� ��� ��������������� ������������������������������������� ������������������,�� ���������� �� ����� �� ����������#�0�������������� �����&��������� ��� �������� �2� �����,����������,���������� �,�����������,�������� �� �� ��� �����������������������,������������,��� ���� �������������� ����������E,�������E�������/���8�������� ����������� ���� �2� ����� ����� ���������� ��������� �� �������������������#�.�������&������� ��������������&���E�������������� ������������������������������������� �3 ���������������,����� ��������� ����������������N��� ��������������,������������� ���������������������� �������������#�������� ���� �2����������/��������� ����������� ��1!�������$������������������������&������ ��"���������������N����� ���� ��� � ���������������� ���� ������������ ����� ����������� �����&������� ���������� ��#�0���� ���� ������&�������������

,�� �������&�������������������������"��� ����� ����������� ������� ��� ��������������2� ��������"����������� ����� ������"������#�7����2� ����� ��� ��!�� � � ���������� ���� �������������� �,��������,��������� ��������������� ��������������!���� �#�0�������������� ���G���������� ���������2� ������������������&��� ���������� ������ ��!����������������������"����#�&������,���� �������������� �� �� � ��� � �� ,������� ���� +����/�� ��� �� ������� � � � ��� � ��������� �� &�����,���� ���� ������� �������������������������� � �"�� ���� ����� ����� ��� �� 2� �������������������������������������"������ ��#�.�������2� ����E���������������������������������� ��� ���� �

����� ����� �������N�����������������������,�� ����������������#�&������������������������ ����������� ��������� �������������������+�����/�� ����������� ���������������� � ����,������������������ ������������� ���� �� ������������������ ������������������������#7�������������3 �������� ��/���O�������,������������ ������ ��������� ����� ������P�

0������!� ��&���E�����������,���� ��2� ����E�������� ��� �������������#0���&�����������2� ����E��� ����� ������������ ���������� �������� �� ������ &�����,��� ������� ��� �� ,��������������:� ����� ����*������ ����� �� �� �������-������� ��I*��-J����� ��������� ����������������:�������������������� ��������������&����������������, ��������������������� ��� �,����������������#�2������������������������ ����������� �������������������&���.���������� ������!����� ���������42� ������������� ������������������������ ����� ���������������������� ���!��������������������������� ������������ ����"���������������� �������� ���� ����������������� ��������������� �� ������������� ����#5�/ ���&��������� �����������������������������&��������� ����� �������� ����������#�%����������������� ������������������������ �����������#

�#9���2�������0��������%����������3���%��,����$���������#�����)�������3�����$�"���������������

������� $4*�(�+# /� +0%,�+1 /��+1 234�2356

��"��)��$%�"�)��$%�������

�����:�����-��������;�%��$������%������������������"������������"/���������%��������������$�!���

���������

Sir — The International Court ofJustice in the Hague has put onhold the execution of Indiannational Kulbhushan Jadhav, whohad been sentenced to death bya military court in Pakistan.Jadhav, was denied consularaccess. He was denied a lawyertoo, to fight his case. It is a sheerviolation of the internationalconventions. We provided allthe facilities including assistanceof lawyer to Ajmal Kasab, thelone terrorist survivor in theMumbai attacks in 2008.Pakistan should not executeJadhav till the court delivers itsfinal verdict.

It is a victory for our concert-ed efforts to get him released.Since he was held in Iran, weshould fight the case with vigourand see that he is released.Pakistan should learn a lesson ortwo from this judgement. Itshould not act unilaterally indealing with such cases. It shouldrevamp the military courts too.

N R RamachandranChennai

�����������������

Sir— This refers to the UnionCabinet giving the nod to mater-nity benefit programme, thatentails extending freebie of�6,000 to ever y womanemployed in Government andpublic sector enterprise on herfirst pregnancy in 53 select dis-tricts of the country. It is signif-icant that the costly gift of�12,661 crore in the first threeyears from the public exchequer

was never demanded by anyone. Otherwise also, employeesin Government and public sec-tor are considered to be betterpaid than those in the privatesector. Withdrawal of suchschemes can attract criticism.Union and State Governmentsshould avoid making peopleaddicted to freebies at the cost ofthe public exchequer, funded byhard-earned money of taxpaying citizens.

Madhu AgrawalDelhi

�������� !"���

Sir — This refers to the article,“Intellectuals, yes, but with closedminds” (May 17) by AnirbanGanguly. It’s a brilliant piece ofwriting, reasoned and tightlyargued. There’s not a word in thearticle that can be refuted. Thesepseud-seculars had flourishedduring the previous regimes andare now floundering.

Hemendra VermaVia email

�#����$�%���#����

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Rajinikanth the politician?”(May 17). Rajinikanth is truly astupendous film-star whose fanfollowing is unparalleled. It ispossible that he can bring thecharisma he has gained, into pol-itics, if he devotes himself com-pletely to the call of public life.

Raju ChandraVia email

..."%��&�� ���"��#

2 � 2 � � � � � � / � 2 � � � �

)�������� ������+�# ��������))�" )�������"H01!��;+�1�

�/�"2('�

$�=�1")��

:����%����,�&������#�������������� �����#���������&� �����������������������������������#�������������#����������������� =�/������+����� ���������������������������

7��#�� �#�,8��,#� � �#�,��,��0

.� )"�90)�� ��0��%�,3&���)�� �)��,��!��))� 3

)�� 8�%� +)����#�#���#"

��#3##�!��:-� ,��1��)�

9��/�.:����������<������������������&

������������� ��������������,���� ����� ����������������,�����������������,������������ ������� ��#�&������������,���� ����� ���� ��� �,�� ����� ,������� ���� ����� ������� �� ���� � � � ��#� &�� �� � ���� ����� ���

&������� ����� ���� ���������I&��J����������������� ����� �������2� ������������ ���'���������� ��!����������&�������� ���#���� ���������������������� ����������� ��&������������� ��1!�������$����������������������������2����������� ��� �����������,��� ������������� ��� � ���� ������������������� �������� ����������,������&����� ������ �������O����� �������� ,����� ��� ������� ��2� ����#�2� ����E������������������� ������&�����������������#�&������������� ����� ������&����������� ��,�������#�&���� �� �� � ������������������� �������� ����� ������������ ������������ ������������� ������� �� �����#

0������������������������������� ����� ��������������� �������� ���� �������,������ ���#�7��������� ���������� ���������������� ������� �"���� ���� �������� ��������������G������ ��� ��� ��������������&�����,��������� ���� ��2� ����������������������!����������� ����� ���� ��������������������#�&����������� ��&�����2� ��������������������� ��������� �������������� ����� ����� ����#�7�������������� �����,��������������� � ��#

(����)�!"!1!�!���� �

���)� 0=�01�18&0=-;����*��#�%����&� )��� )��%0���,���3�0 ,&� � /�.���,�� (<�7�,��)��)��)��� �&��3*�%���#&�#� )�)��*�����*��������&��&�"

� �� �11� �,)��:4�����5��� /�

;��#�)�)������,�%� )� %�� ���#�%���#�� �0)��.�%�#��������, �� �)��#&�%� ��� �#�����/�#��� ;�,)�9� /�"

9� /��99=��������:���&�4��,�

;��)��,���&&� � /�� <� �>0����,�������%�,3/�����)���0#� �)"�;�.��%��.��)�*����,� ��3

�,,���)����&�� ���2� /��)"?�0�,��)����.� %��6�;�

�,�)��,���&&� � /@

�������,�%� )�� �%���0#&

*�(�+# /� +0%,�+1 /��+1 234�2356 &����� 7����������������8 $5

��)����'6�

�������&� ��������������� �����������������������������������##�&������ &�#�����4���� �#�� ��������������� ���������������� �#������������� ����������������� ��������� ��� ��� ��� ���������� �8�� ��������##������������� ��������+6�#��&�������� ���#�����������+� ������������

3*0<�,0%���!��%

“The sadness is, that everyleaf has fallen before…”

Allen Ginsberg in his bookKADDISH AND OTHERPOEMS

Writing this piece, I amaware that societies

struggling to come to propershape thrive on assumptionsregulating these societies. Andwith the job in hand, I will gowith the assumptions evennaïve one of the place I belongto, for realties divorced fromsuch assumptions when reflect-ed upon, irrespective of timeand period of reflection, por-tray distortions in experiencedrealties. The cards have to belaid on the table. Ingenuously.On my recent visit last month,after many years, to Gorakhpur,a city in eastern Uttar Pradesh,where I was born in 1960 andwhere I spent first twenty-three years of my life — themost important formative yearsin any individual’s life — whatwelcomed me there amid manythings, usual and unusual, werememories that had been qui-escent, with sporadic remis-sions, but this confrontationwith the place: the streets, theshops, the colleges, the schools,the university, the vendors,the hospitals, the libraries andabove all the individuals peo-pling the city brought a some-what cumulatively animatedrevival and reminder of thepast. A visit to the past makesone judge how far societieshave moved, how matured,well-behaved these havebecome. It was in 1980 that Idid my masters in Economicsfrom the Gorakhpur Universityand like many other students,I was also sieged with theapprehension and hopeless-ness likely to be embedded inthe days to come. To overcomethat, I went to meet Dr BKSingh, then Head of theDepartment of Economics,entreating him to accept me ashis research scholar for PhD.His stern looks matched hisequally firm and icy voice,“What will you do after that?Go back and prepare for com-petitive examinations.” Theend was nearly complete. Thetime to stay with languid feel-ings of being an unemployedyouth, in a lower middle classfamily, losing preciousmoments of life had come.However, unfortunately afterthat I could never meet late DrSingh.

Then times were different.Strange considerations causedbizarre decisions. So was thecase with the opening of adegree college about whichthis was what was in the air. Adegree college was opened bya rich and liberal person inorder to offer job to a youngman who was reportedly goingto be his very close relativeprospectively. Unaware of thisimmutable relationship in theoffing, I applied for the post oflecturer in that college. A fewof my “well-wishers”approached me with a saga-cious advice asking me not toappear for the interview asthere was only one post. Ideclined. The day of reckoningwas unlike other days and the

interview board was headed bynone other than the same lateDr BK Singh. It transpiredthat he was determined tooffer the job based on merit butthe relationship betweenprospective relatives duo wastoo much for him. Refusing tosuccumb to pressure, hedeclined to conduct the inter-view. Later on, a new board wasformed; this time headed byanother gentleman, flexibleenough, from some other uni-versity. I felt the atmospherewas relaxed and the ease outthere was really piquant.

The gentleman headingthe board asked me about thedifference between economicgrowth and economic devel-opment. Realising that the diewas already cast, I decided togive my best and tried toexplain the difference by citingthe concept of “instrumentalvalue premises” enunciated byeconomist Gunnar Myrdal andfurther amplifying it by citingten indices of economic devel-opment again as suggested byMyrdal and relevance of theseto Adelman and Morris’s forty-eight qualitative indicatorsapplicable to developing coun-tries. I could sense the disqui-eted demon of “holier thanthou” syndrome raising itshead in the room as the learnedmembers seemed to be the leastinterested in what I wasmouthing. Obviously theymight have found it miffing.Then one more member askedwhat should be the aim of eco-nomic development in the con-text of Gorakhpur, the city.Another economist of emi-nence, Paul Streeten, came tomy rescue. “Transformationof human beings is the ultimateobjective of economic devel-opment. Gorakhpur requirestransformation of humanbeings.” By that time the levelof discomfort was at its summitand Chairman of the boardtold me very curtly that inter-view was over and I mustleave. I left with late Dr BKSingh’s icy words ringing in myears, “What will you do afterthat? Go back and prepare forcompetitive examinations.” Irealised the pivotal messagegiven to me by the Professor:he placed his belief in com-petitive examinations as a rel-atively fairer means to haveone’s talent scrutinised. So didI. My deepest regards to sucha rare and uncompromisinglyforthright breed of teachers asthat of Professor Singh.

Thirty-five years later, dur-ing this visit, what impacted methe most was the relevance ofthe question learned membersof the interview board askedme and the reply I gave. Societygrows only when humanbeings realise the need fortransformation, yearn, by allmeans feasible, for achievingthat transformation and beprudent enough to see logic inthe steps taken towards suchtransformation and to acceptthese. A society which lacks thepower to question itself, to con-front itself with the questionsso bare as not to escape eventhe blindest eyes and to seekanswers to such questions andwhich feels incapacitated

enough to assess itself is a soci-ety where such a transforma-tion, which economists likePaul Streeten cogitate, is metwith maximum resistance.Individuals need no safety-valve; they are comfortablyensconced in their daily routineshunning any disturbance.They want their world reflect-ed in others but never others intheir own. The idea of not look-ing beyond oneself is the mostlucrative idea as it bars the pos-sibility of interpretation; thepossibility of having a renewedor fresh look at one’s interpre-tations of oneself or the wayone looks at things around.

In my conversation with aseasoned poet and senior jour-nalist of a national Hindi news-paper who had spent a fewyears in Gorakhpur roughly thesame time I had, my ideas gotpepped up: the place had been,not to speak of stagnating,actually going downhill. Wetried to remember Gorakhpuras it existed almost thirty-fiveyears back and we wereapproaching the discussionfrom students’ point of view asat least some of them mightprove to be marvels of the cityin future. He fondly recollect-ed about the book stall, a mid-dle-sized shop in the heart ofthe town, the only shop sellingimportant magazines like TheSunday, Illustrated Weekly ofIndia, Caravan and many oth-ers and further recollected howthe big-moustached owner ofthe stall, had equally largeheart who was all agog to helpcurious students by arrangingbooks and magazines for them.What was abstruse startedclearing up; I too was constantvisitor to that bookstall, thejovial-all helping visage of theowner reappeared before me.“Where is he?” I asked. “Youshould visit the bookstall in theevening,” the journalist’s voice:a dimmed voice, I heard. Nextday I had to board the flight toDelhi. “So I ought to meet himthis evening itself.” I thought.

Then Golghar was consid-ered the poshest area ofGorakhpur with a relativelywide road: two cinema theatreslocated side by side with huge

rush every show; the bookstallwas in the front corner of onetheatre. Books and magazinesgot throne there and theseilluminated the mind of anystudent capable of fathomingthe value of books. It was 7 inthe evening. Traffic was verydense; almost impenetrable. Ireached up to the point; every-thing seemed hazed. The book-stall was nowhere in sight;large concrete structures said tobe the future hub of businessactivities were rising. There wasno way I could access the stall.Roads were worse thandetours. I really felt guilty.Later I came to know thebookstall was very much therebut it had a highly skewed exis-tence; it was almost unnotice-able. Someone else informedthe bookstall had ceased toexist. An example of concretestructures replacing places ofknowledge and learning.Development entails costs.

Virtually a decade back —the same place — Gorakhpur,a professor of mine was talkingabout the status of libraries incolleges: there had been no orvery meagre funds for thebooks; there were booksbought years back but notissued to any student orteacher; very few studentsentered library; for them therewere attractions galore insidethe campus excepting thelibrary; nonchalant nature ofteachers added further insult toinjury; contentment was with“kunji or key-books” with no orlimited desire for main textbooks, everything was in com-plete disarray. “But why theman in charge of the library, thelibrarian not ask for funds orraise other issues you justspoke about?” I asked him. “Hewouldn’t do that. His seniorsand colleagues would warnhim of possible consequences.He might be asked to explainhis utility to the college: how heis useful to the college whenbooks bought are not indemand. You are in bureau-cracy. I suppose you knowhow systems work; how mir-rors are diverted.” I found theProfessor very candid andfacile. But he was successful in

making a point. He continuedfurther, “People have no trou-ble with the form; they knowthe art of fitting into particu-lar forms as these suit them.But they have complaints aboutthe way systems work. Why toblame the librarian? Or eventhe system.” The professor con-cluded and he implied aneffortless conclusion.

Empty spaces: possibleplaces of public rendezvous,where children used to playand old people used to spendmornings and evenings sharingtime together are no longerempty: these are completelyand mechanically filled: thereis a definite pattern: there aredoctors’ clinics, adjacent towhich are privately-run hospi-tals; adjacent to which aremedical stores and then coach-ing centres for MBBS and IIT-JEE. The number of patientswaiting outside for their turn tocome was simply choking.Their patience harrowing;many times their turn mightnot come the same day. Thevicious circle continues; stu-dents getting trained to passMBBS examinations; they willopen more clinics; more hos-pitals; more medical shops:the chain — robust one isalready in place. In the Mohallacalled Sumer-Sagar, where Ispent my childhood and earlyadulthood and where walking,running or even playing onnarrow roads were easy andcomfortable, this time I foundnarrow roads had become nar-rower beyond imagination; noteven two square feet spacewas available on either side ofthe road; everything was per-fectly occupied. What was themost horrendous was move-ment of people. Fabulous carsfabulous families dream of;rickshaws, auto-rickshaws,scooters; motor-cycles, bicycles,umpteen number of pedestri-ans, all vying with each otherto make a movement forward.Every movement seemedlocked. There was no sense ofdispersal nor of relief. Theirpatience was really distressing.It took me forty minutes by carto cover a distance of thousandmetres. “Har sham yeh numayis

dekh sakten hain yehan” (Everyevening this exhibition can beseen here,) my co-passengersaid it and then laughed bois-terously. None seemed to takenote of either what he said orhis boisterous laughter.

Enamoured with newmodels, modern developmen-tal economists now fascinat-ingly talk of “human thriving”and “functionings” as indices ofdevelopment. Economist GACohen explains these conceptsby saying that the life a personleads can be seen as a combi-nation of “doings” and “beings”which can be generically called“functionings”. These “func-tionings” accrue from elemen-tary matters such as beingwell-nourished and free fromdisease and also accrue fromcomplex matters such as hav-ing self-respect, human digni-ty, participating in communi-ty life, etc. In brief, these mod-ern concepts, heavily influ-enced by Rawls’ and Dworkin’sphilosophical outpourings,connote how people conducttheir lives; how and what qual-ity of health and medical ser-vices they enjoy; the nature andquality of education available tothem; how labour is rated:whether it is rewarding ormonotonous; how citizens con-duct their social and personalrelations; how family relationsand sexual relations are struc-tured; how societies permittheir inhabitants to imagine, tohave feelings of emotions likelove, appreciation and grati-tude. All these modern indicesof development were what per-haps Paul Streeten had in viewthough not in as articulatedform as available in economicliterature today, when he equat-ed economic development with“transformation of humanbeings”.

When one looks back atpast, about assumptions talkedof in the beginning, one looksat it with a hope that thingsmust have travelled forwardand a bigger, clearer worldwill be in sight. As I initiatedmyself into services, a seniorbureaucrat, with a mischie-vous smile, buttonholed me,“So you are from Gorakhpur,the place known for mafiagangs and encephalitis.” “Yes, ofcourse, Sir, but also for the GitaPress, the famous Gorakhnathtemple, literary legends likeMunshi Premchand, FiraqGorakhpuri, Professors like DrRaghuvir Singh of PoliticalScience and many more.”“Yeah, I see but that is not thepoint,” his meek voice accom-panied a smile the nature ofwhich, I must admit, I have notbeen able to unravel thus farjust like “what” of “that is notthe point”. But his questionintroduced me to another ques-tion: the question of visitingand revisiting the concept ofself-definition. Should onestand where one stood decadesback? Should one not seekmore exquisite self-definition?Should one not strive for a big-ger world — an altered world?Incidentally this time, one veryremarkable thing was observedat Gorakhpur Airport, a tinyone, the behaviour of policepersonnel on duty: they were

very courteous, well-behavedand helpful to the passengers.A good augury. And this will beseen in many other areas soon.So people hope.

Something akin to whatwas experienced in Gorakhpureach time I visited there, I cameacross in a recently publishednovel which seeks to tacklehumdrum life of a Man, aWoman and a Child with theirpseudo-civilised characteris-tics. It is SHE WILL BUILDHIM A CITY by author RajKamal Jha. In this intellectual-ly engrossing work, Jha makesa threadbare and true pas-teurisation of typical modernday society with all kinds ofdiversities: life in the slums tothe lavishness of the affluent,day-to-day miseries of the low-est strata of the society, frus-trations of middle and upper-middle class working men andwomen, boisterous life styles ofchildren and teenagers of theupper and most affluent insociety, perversions of themeanest kind, all these andmore find display in the nar-ration and these are a few of thedifferent forms of fuel thathelps to kindle the emberslying dormant within the soulof the author. It is a tale of asociety determined to developwhere, to quote Jha, “She can-not understand what he saysbecause he speaks a languageshe has never heard.” Jha actu-ally sets a puzzle of humanexistence amid steely develop-ment in cities. So true of citieslike Gorakhpur.

Economic developmentdoes not lie in figures set forthin tabular forms alone nor it isachieved in terms of haphazardgrowth of roads, schools andcolleges, clinics, hospitals, med-ical shops, coaching centres,schools and old-age homes. Allthese are required but in aplanned manner. Commercialrelations don’t explain and endeconomic development.Statistical tables cannot narrateall stories. They sometimescontain facades, commercialfacades, conceptual facades.To me, Gorakhpur seems likea box-diagram of internation-al economic theory: one boxwith one equal size box super-imposed over it. People, crowd,events, happenings, stories alltightly packed inside. Thegroup dynamics at its nadir: itsvision considerably obscured.Movement should be in termsof creation of physical assetswhich no doubt is a Herculeantask with long “frution-effects”given meagre developmentalefforts during last decades.What is really more Herculeanis how not to allow concretestructures define and deter-mine the nature and characterof the city; how to make stu-dents visit libraries very oftenand at least have a look at thebooks; how to make ordinarycitizens — the most marginalman — enjoy “human func-tionings”; making them capa-ble to feel life, to love it, to drawpleasure out of it. The seniorjournalist, the Professor, thelibrarian, the co-passenger inthe car whose wont was tolaugh boisterously for no rea-son or rhyme, the bureaucrat

who had evolved himself tojudge people in terms of ugli-er facets of the place they wereborn and raised, the membersof interview board getting per-plexed at mere mention ofnames of Myrdal, Streeten,Adelman and Morris andmany, many more from thegeneral populace like themcan hardly be said to haveenjoyed much of “humanthriving” or “functionings”.

The way to cope withGinsbergian pessimistic out-look that might also emanatefrom realities as obtained incities like Gorakhpur is toremember Henry DavidThoreau’s words recorded inhis celebrated book: WALDENAND OTHER WRITINGS,“The light which puts out oureyes is darkness to us. Only thatday dawns to which we areawake. There is more day todawn.”

It is high time Gorakhpurshould swallow uglier facets ofits past. Gorakhpur with its vastspiritual, religious, historicaland literary past can factor inelements from its marvellous-ly gargantuan heritage intooverall developmental model ofthe city and make headwaytowards a new dawn. Andthen let history judge it — thecity — for history is the bestjudge when it judges dispas-sionately. Recent past, in manyparts of the world includingIndia, is privy to it.

(The writer hails fromGorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.Currently he is working asDirector General in the Office ofComptroller & Auditor Generalof India, New Delhi. He is anacclaimed poet, literary review-er and columnist. In this articlehe shares his experiences aboutthe place he belongs to. Viewsexpressed here are his personalviews.)

The current civil services examinations needto be thoroughly overhauled if it were to

serve as an effective instrument for selectingsuitable candidates for the country’s premiercivil services. Nearly one-year long process,comprising preliminary screening test followedby mains and interview for shortlisted candi-dates, leaves unsuccessful candidates little timeto devote to anything else or to take any breakand they find themselves immersed again intoanother year devoted solely to preparations forthe exam. This cycle is repeated year after yearand some candidates spend as much as 5-6years exclusively in preparations for the civilservices entrance examination. Some of themdo succeed but surely that is not the best wayfor a bright youth to be spending his/her mostproductive years. And look at the colossalwaste of human capital in the case of those whounfortunately are not able to crack the exams.

Average age of the candidates has beensteadily going up over the years. As against24.20 in 1960, it had gone up to 27.50 in 2005largely due to relaxation in the upper agelimit from 24 in 1960 to 32 currently. Ofsome five lakh candidates who took theexams in 2015, nearly 10 per cent were wellpast 30. The upper age limit was raised toprovide a level-playing field to candidatesfrom rural areas and to increase the pro-portion of those from economically back-ward and underprivileged classes to makeour premier civil services more representa-tive of the Indian society, instead of being elit-

ist. But this has resulted in candidates tak-ing multiple attempts without doing anythingelse and wasting prime years of their youth.Instead of contributing to the financialwellbeing and upkeep of their families by tak-ing up jobs which would have been availableto them, they end up becoming an unman-ageable financial burden on their families.Should we encourage this kind of start forour young people?

Administrative Reforms Commission inits report in 2008 expressed doubts over thesuitability of the candidates being current-ly recruited in terms of temperament andmotivation and commented that “entrantsinto civil service at a late age bring with thema baggage of entrenched mindset.” It evenrecommended recruitment after school andlonger training in public administration onthe pattern of recruitment of commissionedofficers in our defence forces.

A large number of engineering andmedical graduates passing out from country’sprestigious institutions, including IITs, aretaking the civil services exams these days. Onecannot normally find fault with this sincecareer choice is a matter of individual free-dom and aptitude except that the professionaldegree acquired with so much of effort is ren-dered useless since that degree can hardly beof much use in the administrative jobs.Considering that most of these institutionsare funded or subsidised by the Government,such non-utilisation of the technical degree

for the intended professional purposesamounts to tremendous wastage ofGovernment funds. It is also a loss of oppor-tunity for someone else who might haveutilised the professional education anddegree better by contributing to the much-needed growth of manufacturing sector andeconomic development of the country.

A big problem with the present structureof the civil services exam is that it requiresextensive preparations leaving someonepursuing a regular or even part-time jobseverely disadvantaged, which explains whycandidates either give up their jobs ordecide not to take up any jobs while attempt-ing the civil services exams.

Long descriptive answers required to begiven in the answer-sheets encourage rotelearning of selected questions and not in-depth understanding and comprehension ofthe subject matter. This problem has per-sisted from the early days and regrettably nosolution has been found even though severalother exams based on objective type testssuch as GMAT, GRE and CAT have beenaround which manage to assess a candidate’sintelligence, capability and potential farmore accurately. The civil services examscurrently depend a great deal on the luck fac-tor since if a candidate finds his anticipatedquestions, which are well prepared by him,in the actual question paper he tends to dowell. Subjectivity in evaluating descriptiveanswers further aggravates the luck factor.

Strangely, performance of the same candi-date could swing from one extreme to anoth-er within the space of one year.

The provision of an optional subject to bechosen by the candidate in addition to gen-eral studies and current affairs is perhaps thebiggest culprit in disturbing the level-playingfield among candidates taking the exams sincedifferent subjects have vastly different scoringpatterns. Good Science and Maths students,for instance, can score very high marks in theiroptional papers but the same would not holdtrue for those who may be equally excellingin their chosen humanities field. In fact, engi-neering graduates often do not find it viableto choose one of their technical subjects as theoptional subject and are forced to select total-ly new subjects like anthropology, sociology,geography, public administration or evenregional languages literature.

The ARC report observed that most ofthe optional subjects had no relevance to “theproblems that a civil servant may need toaddress.” Commenting on this issue, theAlagh Committee on Civil Services ExamReview in 2001 noted that “re-examining thecandidates in their own subjects appears tobe of doubtful utility.”

As a young man of 21 in 1976, I took anumber of service entrance exams andfound the test conducted by SBI for selec-tion of Probationary Officers decidedly thebest — in fact, far better than the civil ser-vices exams. To this date, PO exams remain

worthy of emulation. It starts with one hourobjective type preliminary test comprising3 sections on English language, quantitativeaptitude and reasoning. It is followed bymains exam comprising an objective type testin four relevant sections, including reason-ing, computer aptitude, data analysis, gen-eral economics and English language for 200marks and a small 50 marks descriptive testto assess the candidate’s skill in essay and let-ter writing which has considerable relevancein actual job condition. Qualifying candidateshave to also appear in a “Group Discussion”apart from personal interview.

The Government must take immediatesteps to simplify the civil services exam struc-ture and to shorten the whole process toensure that unduly strenuous preparatorywork is not required to succeed and degreeof subjectivity is reduced to the barest min-imum. That would bring much neededrelief to the candidates and they would alsobe able to continue with their jobs whileappearing in the exam. If this were done, onewould be justified in reducing maximum agelimit and the number of attempts. UPSCshould look at the SBI recruitment exam todraw some inspiration.

(The writer retired from the IndianForeign Service recently and has been asso-ciated with ‘Samkalp’, an NGO, which helpspoor and underprivileged children in prepar-ing for the civil services exams)

4�������������������$�!�"����!�$����#��

�)�� ���0��)�1����"!5���"� ����. �!������0���"�4!+�) ��4��) ��! );��"!5���"���)���) �*! )� ��"�)�!�6"���0��� 6��� )�"�+!��!�.���)�"!"2�! )�+!��4!+)�"�������1��) �4"�1�) �1!"*����� �2�0!"0!�)�!���"�)!0����)���*�"!��.�*����1��)!��1�.����4�)���+�)2!�.�1!5����!.�!2�)��!". �!����.!��

;;�))0*3%)�%3%

!��� �� ������������$������ �����%������������������#��&�������� � ������������������ � ��� ����$���'G� ��*

���"���=��("�$��������"���(��"(�

*�(�+# /� +0%,�+1 /��+1 234�2356

��������� � ��1//$&

On the last and concludingday of his meetings with

fans from various districts inTamil Nadu held at Chennai,Rajinikanth, the reigningsuperstar of Tamil tinsel townmade it clear that he was readyto wage a battle to make therotten system pure. But he leftunanswered when, what andhow about his future plans.

“Tamil Nadu has some ofthe best political leaders whocould be described as vision-aries. MK Stalin, working pres-ident of the DMK, DrAnbumani Ramadoss, youthwing chief of the PMK, TholThirumavalavan, president ofthe VCK and Seeman are lead-ers with vision, ideas and lead-ership qualities. But the systemis rotten. Democracy is rotten.The way people think ofdemocracy has changed dras-tically. People’s notion aboutdemocracy needs to bechanged,” said Rajinikanthwhile addressing his fans onFriday after being pho-tographed with all who hadcome to meet him.

Hinting that he intends toclean the rotten system bywaging a war, the superstar saidthat he was not sure when thebattle would begin. “We have towage a war. Now all I could tellyou is to go home and do yourwork. The day we will have towage a war, we will take care ofit,” said the Thalaivar (asRajinikanth is addressed by thefans).

He gave a befitting reply tothose who make fun of himthrough social media about hisnon-Tamil background. “I was

in Karnataka till I turned 22. Forthe last 44 years, I am in TamilNadu. It was people in TamilNadu who made me what I amtoday. You made me a Tamilwith your unflinching support.I am a Tamil. If you ask me toget out of Tamil Nadu, all I havegot to go is the Himalayas,”thundered Rajinikanth.

As Rajinikanth tweetedthat he was extremely happyafter his meeting with the fans,Tamil Nadu’s political class gotinto a huddle and started dis-cussing the cascading effects ofhis decision.

But TS Sankara Narayanan,a BJP leader, who is an ardentRajinikanth fan said the actorwould not join politics. “I havebeen following him since 1992.Rajini sir knows that he wouldbe safe if he is away from pol-itics. The speeches he deliveredare only meant for journalists.He knows he would get goodmedia coverage,” he said.

Political commentators,who are well known for theiropposition to the BJP said thatthe BJP at the Centre is dealingwith Rajinikanth through aChennai-based RSS ideologue.“The BJP’s central leadershipwould sponsor Rajinikanth toform an outfit with which theHindutva party would forgeelectoral alliance. This isbecause the BJP’s style of pol-itics would not be accepted inTamil Nadu,” said Sam Rajappa,veteran commentator.

Late Cho Ramaswamy,described as the cultural czar ofTamil Nadu, had alwaysopined that Rajinikanth hasthe potential to emerge as a ral-lying point in Tamil Nadu pol-itics.

There is a vacuum in TamilNadu caused by the exit ofJayalalithaa and Karunan-idhi. The question being askedis whether Rajinikanth couldfill that space.

���� 2$0/$

Stepping up its attack on theMaha Gathbandhan Governm-

ent in Bihar, the BJP has plannedrallies by prominent leaders of theparty, including party chief AmitShah and UP Chief Minister YogiAdiyanath, by the end of thismonth.

To commemorate completionof three years of Narendra Modi-ledGovernment, the BJP has decidedto send its Chief Ministers to non-BJP ruled States to promote theworks of the Centre. Shah is expect-ed to address two rallies in Patna onMay 27 and in Nalanda on May 30.

State BJP president NityanandRai said UP CM Yogi and DeputyCM Keshav Prasad Maurya willaddress rallies in Bihar. He said thevenue and dates have not beenfinalised, but most likely Mauryawill address rally at Nalanda andYogi’s rally would be held either inPatna or any other town.

Reacting to Yogi’s rally, RJDspokesman Manoj Jha said hewould only vitiate the social atmos-phere by enacting Saharanpur typeviolence in Bihar, but would notsucceed in his gameplan.

'�B������� 2$0/$

RJD boss Lalu Prasad, on whose 22 allegedpremises had been raided by the Income Tax

department on Tuesday last in Delhi and NCR,asked the authorities and the media to revealwhich were the premises linked to him and whatthe sleuths recovered from there. “Which arethese places? Why have I not received anynotice?” he asked while talking to a section ofelectronic media on Friday.

Lalu in his irrepressible manner thunderedthat he has vowed to oust Narendra Modi-ledNDA Government. “I have put down my feet likeAngad and this Government will not survive itsfive-year term. I will not rest till this regime isousted,” he said sitting on a single cane sofa withhis legs crossed. “Gayi jawani phir na laute, BJPjitna bhi ghee malida khaye,” he chuckled inBhojpuri accent.

However, Lalu got a setback on Friday whenthe Union Ministry of Forest and Environmentordered a stay on work on construction of Bihar’sbiggest mall which is allegedly owned by Lalufamily. Recently, senior BJP functionary SushilKumar Modi submitted a memorandum to theMinistry alleging irregularities and a soil scaminvolving Lalu and his elder son Tej Pratap whois Bihar’s Forest and Environment Minister.

Saying that the BJP was trying to sully hisimage by hurling allegations on him and his fam-ily, Lalu said he could have filed defamation caseagainst them, but he did not. “BJP is worried overmy call of rally of non-BJP parties for BJP hatao,Desh bachao (remove BJP, save country) onAugust 27 and want to gag my voice. But I willfrustrate their conspiracies,” he said.

The RJD supremo has already spoken andinvited leaders of different parties includingAICC president Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal CMMamata Banerjee, BSP head Mayawati andOdisha CM Navin Patnaik among others. Manyof them have accepted his invitation. Bihar CMand JD(U) president Nitish Kumar on Mondaylast said he would attend if invited.

Taking on the Centre, Lalu alleged that theGovernment failed on all fronts and could donothing in three years. In bid to divert the pub-lic attention, he said, it was raking up issues likeGau Raksha and triple talaq. “Some media hous-es are blindly supporting the Government andhave also ganged up against me,” he alleged.

�#�����������G����C81-$.$8��

Even as Telangana was sizzlingdue to the severe heat wave con-

dition, the political climate of theState was also set to hot up with twomajor Opposition parties gearingup for the visit of their top leader-ship.

While the BJP president AmitShah’s three-day hectic tour willbegin on Monday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi willaddress a mammoth public meet-ing at Sangareddy on June 1.

During his three-day visit toNalgonda, Munogode, NagarjunaSagar, Bhongir and Hyderabad,Amit Shah will focus on mobilisingthe party’s workers and alsostrengthen the organisation rightfrom the booth-level committees.

In a clear indication that thesaffron party was ready to go to anyextent to strengthen itself, AmitShah will also dip into the past his-tory of Hyderabad and rekindle thebitter memories of Nizam’s rule. Hewill visit Gundrampally village inNalgonda district and have lunchwith the kin of 160 people who werebelieved to have died while fight-

ing against the rule of Nizam ofHyderabad. This was likely to givea communal tinge to the BJP’s cam-paign in the State

This will be a new addition tothe BJP’s strategy of targeting theruling Telangana Rashtra Samitiover the alleged appeasement ofminorities. The party has alreadydecided to make the 12 per centquota for backward Muslims anissue and Amit Shah was also like-ly to raise it during the visit.

Interestingly, Amit Shah willalso address the party workersmeeting in Hyderabad Lok SabhaConstituency which the party couldnever win in the past and whichremains a fortress of BJP’s bitterrival Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.

It was perhaps part of the strat-egy to further stir the pot based onBJP’s floor leader in the StateAssembly G Kishan Reddy’s alleg-tions that 10,000 illegal migrantsfrom Pakistan and Bangladesh werehiding in Hyderabad. Alleging thatHyderabad was gradually turninginto safe haven for terrorists, KishanReddy told the media that theMIM was backing such anti-nation-al elements and the ruling TRS wasdancing to its tunes.

Meanwhile, the Congress, themain Opposition in the State hasstarted gearing up for the visit ofparty vice-president Rahul Gandhion June 1.

As Rahul Gandhi will beaddressing his first public meetingin the State since the formation ofTelangana in June 2014, Congresswas going all out to mobilise thepeople to Sangareddy town, about50 kms from Hyderabad.

State Congress Committeepresident Uttam Kumar Reddy saidthat Rahul Gandhi will kickstartparty’s campaign for the next elec-tions. “He will release a chargesheetagainst the TRS Government high-lighting its failures during the lastthree years,” Reddy said.

Congress leaders were hopefulthat Rahul’s visit and the publicmeeting named ‘Telangana PrajaGarjana’ will put a new life in therank and file and set the party onthe road to victory in the next elec-tions.

Congress will also target theTRS with the charge of nexus withthe BJP on the ground that the rul-ing party has decided to support theBJP candidate in the Presidentialelections.

�� ������� 3+7$$0&

The steam locomotives that usedto be the sheen of the heritage

status Darjeeling HimalayanRailways (DHR) are all set to back ontrack.

The Northeast Frontier Railway(NFR) on Friday signed a Memor-andum of Understanding (MoU)with the Ranchi-based HeavyEngineering Corporation (HEC)Limited, a Government of Indiaenterprise design, to manufactureand supply the 41 critical spares formaking the steam locomotives oper-ational on the tracks which was givena World heritage site status by theUNESCO in 1999.

If everything goes as planned, thesteam locomotives will run on thenarrow gauge of the DHR soon, saidgeneral manager of the NFRChahatey Ram after taking part inthe MoU signing ceremony at theNFR headquarters in Guwahati.“Both the NFR and the HEC hasdecided to join hands together tokeep alive the pride and glory of theDHR,” he said.

The small steam locomotivesknown as B Class engines andreferred to as Iron Sherpas are morethan 100-years-old and it is themainstay of the DHR. It is also themajor tourist attraction.

“Keeping them operational andwith the original features of the locosintact pose a big challenge for theDHR as most of original manufac-turers no more produce such locosor spares. The mission of the NFR isto conserve the DHR heritage bykeeping the steam traction alive forpeople to get a feel of the gloriouspast,” said the senior NFR official.

“The NFR is trying to locate gen-eral drawings for 11 items so that itcan be developed. The signing of theMoU will ensure steady supply ofspares for the steam locomotivefleets, which inturn will ensure opti-mum and efficient utilisation of thelocomotives for sustainability ofDHR and it will go a long way in

turning DHR towards making itcommercially viable,” he added.

It may be mentioned here thattimely availability of the spares forsteam locomotives has been one ofthe major problems for the DHR,which often resulted in suspension ofoperation and loss for it.

“The HECL had already collect-ed a list of 41 critical spares to studyfrom the Tindharia workshop ofNFR. Out of the 41 critical spareparts, 13 items and manufacturingdrawings for these were developed bythe HECL,” he said adding that theHECL has requested NFR for supplyof components as samples to HECLfor generating drawings from reverseengineering.

���� ������������������������� ������8���0���/.������� ��� �������������+�����������+����

���������� ��� �0�6��� ������������������������������������ ����� ��*�

:��#��� ��������#���*5�� �����H9������������

<�,�)����)�&���%��,��!��)����)�0&���� /� ��&��)��,

$���������C ��� �����������������.���

.������� ����� ����������� ����� ����� �� 2.) ������ ����

������������ �+�.$&

Turning up the heat onceagain on Chief Minister

Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Senapresident Uddhav Thackeraysaid on Friday that his partywould walk out of the BJP-ledGovernment if the ruling BJPdid not announce the loanwaiver for the farmers in theState.

Joining the Oppositionparties in the clamour for farmloan waiver, Uddhav said, “Theruling BJP is busy making cal-culations as to how many seatsit will win if the mid-term pollsare to be held now. The peoplehave given everything to theBJP. They still want more.Done, people will give that aswell, but before the people doit, you (the BJP-led govern-ment) should announce farmloan waiver”. “If you announcefarm loan waiver, all ourMinisters will resign and sup-port the Fadnavis Governmentfrom outside. We will not let thisGovernment fall,” the Sena pres-ident said at one stage, assuringhis party’s outside support to theFadnavis Government.

D$�� ���������� ����������������������G���.�2"����3 ��'

������ $7

������ $8*�(�+# /� +0%,�+1 /��+1 234�2356

������(����� .1/3$9+-+

The death of an youngKarnataka cadre IAS officer

Anurag Tiwari, who was founddead suspiciously near a guesthouse at Lucknow on May 17,has become a major politicalcontroversy in Karnataka. Themajor Opposition BJP has onFriday demanded a CBI probeinto the death amid suspicionof foul play. However, ChiefMinister Siddaramaiah onFriday said his governmentwill cooperate in any inquiryinto it.

Siddaramiah’s reactioncomes in the wake of BJP Statepresident BS Yeddyurappa andLok Sabha member ShobhaKharandlaje of the BJPdemanding a CBI inquiry intothe death, alleging that it wasa murder as the officer waspreparing to expose a majorscandal involving political lead-ers and officers in the Food andCivil Supplies Department.

Kharandlaje had also spoken toUttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath urging him toseek CBI inquiry andYeddyurappa, who is on JanaSampark Abhiyan at Chitrad-urga at north Karnataka alsomade a similar demand.

Siddaramaiah said, accord-ing to reports, the death wasdue to cardiac arrest and

Karnataka Government willextend all cooperation if theUttar Pradesh Governmentwants it to handover the caseto CBI for investigation. “Idon’t know on what basis theallegations were made. But weare ready for inquiry by anyagency,” he added.

Meanwhile, a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) team

from UP, who arrived in thecity on Friday, had discussionwith Home Minister GParameshwara.

Tiwari, a 2007-batch IASofficer serving as commis-sioner of the Food, CivilSupplies and Consumer AffairsDepartment was found deadunder mysterious circum-stances on a roadside inLucknow’s Hazratganj area onMay 17 morning.

Asked about the suspi-cions that Tiwari may havebeen murdered because he wasprobing into a scam involvingthe food department,Siddaramaiah said, “Don’t sayall these things just becausesomeone is saying it. Let theminvestigate, everything will beknown.”

Tiwari’s father BN Tiwarihas alleged his son was elimi-nated, while his brotherMayank has demanded a CBIprobe into the matter.

Speaking to reporters in

Chitradurga, Yeddyurappademanded a CBI probe into thecase. “His (Tiwari’s) brother hassaid he was murdered as he wasunearthing about �2,000 crorescam in the food department.The Chief Minister has to takedirect responsibility for this,” hesaid.

“As this is a matter that isof concern to Uttar Pradeshand Karnataka, I urge that thecase be immediately handedover to the CBI for the truth tocome out. If the Chief Ministeris honest, he has to order a CBIinquiry or else the UttarPradesh Chief Minister will doit,” he added.

Tiwari, who had alsoserved as deputy commission-er in Bidar and Kodagu dis-tricts in the past was staying atMeera Bai guest house with abatchmate after attending amid-career training pro-gramme at Lal Bahadur ShastriNational Academy of Admin-istration in Mussoorie.

#����'�##G�� C81-$.$8

Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao on

Friday saluted the State policefor its huge success in ensuringpeace in the State, curbing theMaoist menace and bringingthe crime rate down.

Addressing first of its kindconference of policemen fromthe level of Sub Inspectors to

the Director General of PoliceKCR said that whenever he vis-ited New Delhi every body,including the Prime Ministerand Home Minister, praised theperformance of State policeand said there was no match toTelangana police in the coun-try.

The day long conference atthe Hyderabad InternationalConvention Center was attend-

ed by nearly 2,000 cops from allover the State and had a directinteraction with the ChiefMinister.

“For women, Hyderabadwill be made as safe as Singaporewhere women fearlessly movearound even at midnight. Withthis spirit we have formed ‘SheTeams’ to curb eveteasing andit has earned laurels from all,”KCR said.

������(����� .1/3$9+-+

The post closure of mines and its consequences takes its tollon the people who live there. The story of Kolar Gold Fields

(KGF) in Karnataka is no exception and the population is fac-ing all sorts of problem, including health, which has taken amajor beating with cyanide dumps all around. The KGF, whichwas closed in 2001, is a clear example of trauma of a popula-tion in modern India who has been victims of its glitter. Theclosure led to losing of jobs for over one lakh people and theirfamilies who are living in this town amidst cyanide dumps,which is now a favorite spot for the film shooting. KGF knownas the golden dust bowl now stands mute witness to the trau-ma of a population.

But a doctor in KGF is a ray of hope for the displaced pop-ulation. His mission is to provide free healthcare to the dis-placed population, who need medical care the most. For thepast two decades, Dr B Rajendra Kumar, who was a medicalofficer in the Bharat Goldmines Hospital, has changed thehealthcare concept of the population with his most modernapproach to find answer to all illness faced by the people whowere working in the gold fields.

Dr Rajendra Kumar opens his hospital at 5 in the morn-ing with hundreds of patients queuing up for treatment. Hishospital run by charity has qualified medical and paramed-ical staff to take care of the need of the patients. From MRIscanning, all pathological tests are available under one roof.Dr Kumar feels that it was his mission to provide healthcareto the displaced population.

He said “I have been treating the displaced population herein KGF for over 25 years. I have seen them facing lot of prob-lems and health is a major issue with them. The hospital isrun by a trust and we don’t charge anything from the work-ers of the gold mines. Everyday hundreds of them come hereto take medicine.”

Dr Rajendra Kumar has evolved many unique methods totake healthcare to them. He runs free clinics around the townnear a temple, mosque and a church to reach out to the dis-placed families. His mission for over twenty five years has beenreaching the have-nots. Dr Rajendra Kumar, a cardiologist, usesmost modern gadgets to treat his patients. He is one of the veryfew doctors in the country to implant a chip to anlayse the bloodsugar with the help of internet and GPRS. He records the sugarlevel online and advice the patients about what has to be done.He strongly advocates using technology to reach the people whoare in need of healthcare. He wants Government Hospitals alsotoo use internet and other technology to reach out to the pop-ulation who are in need of health care.

For 70-year-old Selva a patient regularly takes treatmentfor his heart ailment Dr. Rajendra Kumar was a living God.He adores him and says he has saved thousands of poor fam-ilies who do not afford treatment at all.

“I have been coming here for years. He is God to me. Hehas saved people like me who has got nothing. I am alive todaybecause of him,” said Selva.

���������� ��� �=9�$0$

Fresh from Delhi where sheheld talks with Congress

president Sonia Gandhi onPresidential elections, BengalChief Minister and TrinamoolCongress chief Mamata Banerjeeon Friday instructed her partyleaders to hold fire against theCongress and target the Left andthe BJP instead.

Issuing directives to apacked house of TMC leaders,who were present and listeningwithout questioning the reason

behind the abrupt U-turn orhow the leaders would explainthe sudden shift to the grass-roots, Mamata bluntly told theparty core committee meetingnot to issue any adverse state-ment against the Congress.

“From now on no one willmake adverse commentsagainst the Congress.” she said.“If needed I will handle a situ-ation but it is a clear cutinstruction to all the leaders torefrain from using any hos-tilecomment against theCongress or its leaders."

The CM, however, afford-ed the TMC leaders potentalternatives to exhaust theirammunition even as she toldthem to raise their decibel levelagainst the CPI(M) and the BJP.

“Concetrate on the CPI(M)and the BJP and expose theirdirty politics of joining handson the sly while attacking eachother in public,” she said addinghow the BJP-led Governmentwas harassing a pro-peopleparty like hers.

Referring to the bail givenby Orissa High Court to Sudip

Banerjee the Chief Ministersaid, “Sudip da’s bail is a causeof relief. We are happy. He hassuffered so much for no fault ofhis. He is unwell and we willask him to take rest when hecomes to Kolkata.”

Banerjee’s sudden changeof track vis a vis the Congressagainst which the Trinamoolhad gone all guns blazing in therecent past was the result of a‘fruitful meeting’ between herand Sonia Gandhi in Delhiwhere the duo discussed‘among other issues’ a consen-

sus Opposition candidate forPresidential elections, insid-ers said.

Moments later she wasseen exchanging pleasantrieswith senior Pradesh Congressleader Abdul Mannan one ofthe whistle blowers and a peti-tioner for CBI investigation inthe Sharada chit fund case —that tended to pull the veneeroff her senior colleagues’ vir-tuous countenance — insidethe Assembly House whereshe enquired after his healthafter quite a few years.

�",��������:�����/��39����0�#3��2��-�$��0!��"�� $������������ ��$������0��������&$�� �������� �������� ������,�� �������� ��������������� ��������������������������������������������� �+�����2������������������C ��$���������� � ��������� � ������ ,���� ������������������������� ����������� �����D������'������"������&$�� �����#�&�������������������.������������������������������� ��������� ,�,����D� ������������'� ���������� ��#�&����������������������4&���������� ����������������� ������������������������������������������� ��������������� ������������ � ������������������,���� ������������� ���������� ��������� ���� ����#5�����G������C ��� ��������������� ������ ��������� �� ������������#8����,���0�����������������&$�� ����������������������4���������������� ��������������������������������������� ���#5�

�'�� ������������ �C ��� ����G���

5�������)���$�������6����%�)�0������""��$���

%��������������������� �&����� ���������#� ����������#��������������

�������$�����765� �!��� �����"�����������������%�����-&/$3$-

As India gears up to roll outbiggest tax reform since

the Independence on July 1,the main Opposition inJammu & Kashmir NationalConference (NC) on Fridayasked the State Governmentto come clear on the imple-mentation of GST regimewithout comprising itsautonomous fiscal status vis-à-vis tax structure.

Alleging that the StateGovernment did not discussone tax regime with the stake-holders, the business com-munity of Kashmir has cau-tioned the State Governmentagainst implementation ofGST stating that they won’tallow infringement of theState’s special status.

The J&K Government isintroducing its own GST Billin a special session of the leg-islature in view of its specialconstitutional position toenact GST law.

Meanwhile, UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitleyassured the State Government

that the Centre would extendall possible help in restruc-turing the GST implementa-tion for Jammu & Kashmirwhile respecting the specialstatus of the State.

“Jammu & KashmirAssembly has the completeright to implement GST in theState. Those who are oppos-ing implementation of GSTare actually against the peo-ple because consumers of theState have to give double tax.First, they have to give tax oninputs and then on finalproducts because if GST is notimplemented here then theywon’t get the input credit,”Jaitley said.

Jaitley, who is alsoDefence Minister, refused tomake distinction between ter-rorists of local and foreign ori-gin and said the people whoresort to violence will betaken into account for theiractivities.

“Terrorism and militancyare aimed against the IndianState and its sovereignty, andalso against the people ofJammu and Kashmir. Theeffect of their actions is that

besides security personal,local citizens are also losingtheir lives. And those whotake to violence of this mag-nitude will certainly beaccountable for their actions.”

He said that during hisvisit to the Line of Control hefound the enthusiasm andpreparedness of troops laud-able. “The troops are fullyconfident to deal with any sit-uation effectively,” he said.

He reiterated that theGovernment of India wouldnot engage in dialogue (withseparatists) until the situationin Kashmir returns to nor-malcy.

On alleged involvementof a separatist leader inhawala transactions, asreported by a TV channelclaiming a sting operation,Jaitley said that the operationhas only confirmed that theseparatists are being fundedby Pakistan and they instigateviolence, target schools andhospitals and back violence.He said the agencies con-cerned would take cognizanceof the issue and initiate rele-vant action.

��-���������� ���� ����������������

*�(�+# /� +0%,�+1 /��+1 234��2356 ����� 9$

'� �� ���� ����! ������� +��� ������� �������� ��� �� �������������� ���� ��� �� �� ������1 ���� ���� ���� �� �������� ���� ��������� ����� +��� �� ��#������ +�� +��� ��� � ���������������(' �.�'):�" �)�"2.�' (.���.�);�

*�<��� ����� ����� +��� ��� ������ ������ �� ��� ���� ���������1

��� �� ���� �� ��< �������������������� ��� �� ���� ��� ��

�<���� �������� �� �� ������ �����=����� �� �� ���������

)(' 2���; >/6�)"/) 6')�� ��.�);�

4�<����19�AA

���� /17�819&

Aetna International hasannounced the first phase

of the global launch of ’vHealthby Aetna’.

India is the first market inthe world to see the launchof‘vHealth by Aetna’ and is set tobecome the centre of excellencefor global expansion of this ser-vice, with subsequent launchesplanned in other key globalmarkets later this year. TheIndian Health Organisation,Aetna International’s fullyowned subsidiary in India, plansto have 4 million members inIndia by 2020, with revenue of�300 cr.

‘vHealth by Aetna’ is set totransform health care across theworld. The service is set to givepatients a very different expe-rience when they see a doctor,designed so that doctors haveextended time with patients, tolisten to their concerns, andtreat them with courtesy andprofessionalism. Consultationsare delivered virtually, througha new mobile app, where theycan communicate with in-houseprimary doctors by video call,or by telephone call. The doc-tors can prescribe, refer to spe-cialists, and advise on medicalconcerns. Not only does thisinnovative service provide com-prehensive, accessible primaryhealth care, it also paves the wayfor a fully connected care pack-age, reducing the need for hos-pital visits, and allowing mem-bers to manage their own healthand keep all their health carerecords in one place.

��%��������High GST rates on hos-pitality will be the “final nail” in thecoffin for the sector which is alreadyreeling under demonetisation andliquor ban along the highways,according to industry players.

The high incidences of taxes willmake India uncompetitive when itcomes to tourism as internationaltourists will skip the country as a des-tination, they said.

Under the GST rates announcedon Friday, 5-star hotels will becharged 28 per cent while AC restau-rants and those with liquor licence willbe taxed at 18 per cent.

“The initial reaction is of greatdespair...28 per cent would be the endof the industry,” Federation of Hotelsand Restaurants Associations ofIndia (FHRAI) Vice President GarishOberoi said in a statement.

He further said India’s hospital-ity has already been suffering a lot dueto various developments in therecent past.

“(After) demonetisation, liquorban on highways, this will be the final

nail in the hospitality (sector) coffin,”Oberoi said.

Expressing similar sentiment,Hotel and Restaurant Association ofWestern India (HRAWI) past-President Bharat Malkani said: “Oneof the biggest hurdles for Indian hos-pitality and tourism, in terms ofattracting international tourists is itsuncompetitive tax structure”.

The Government should realisecountries like Myanmar, Thailand,Singapore, Indonesia and otherslevy taxes ranging from 5 to 10 percent. India cannot afford to have these

kind of complex and high GST,HRAWI President Dilip Datwanisaid.

“This is simply not viable.Tourists will simply skip India,” headded.

As per rates fixed by the GSTCouncil in its meeting held onFriday at Srinagar, non-AC restau-rants will charge 12 per cent GST onfood bill. Restaurants with �50 lakhor below turnover will go under the5 per cent composition.

Tax rate for AC restaurants andthose with liquor licence will be 18

per cent.Hotels and lodges charging per

day tariff of �1,000 will be exemptfrom GST. Rate for hotels with tariffof �1,000 to 2,000 per day would be12 per cent while those with tariff of�2,500 to �5,000 would be 18 per cent.

GST for hotels with tariff above�5,000 will be 28 per cent.

“While we applaud the govern-ment’s effort to keep GST at 5 per centfor restaurants below 50 lacs and 12per cent for restaurants without AC.We are disappointed with the highGST slab of 18 per cent for organisedrestaurants and 28 per cent for 5 starrestaurants. This will not go a long wayto promote tourism and tourism relat-ed jobs”, National RestaurantAssociation of India (NRAI)President Riyaaz Amlani said.

Striking a contrarian note, OYOFounder & CEO Ritesh Agarwal said:“A lower tax rate for budget hotels sec-tor will ensure that the industry’s qual-ity upgrade continues while deliver-ing standardised accommodation tomillions of middle- class travellers. ��”

�,$�8�����������/������/0��������������5������2�� ��

��%� ������� Auto industry onFriday termed clubbing of hybridvehicles along with luxury cars inGST rates as environmentunfriendly and regressive step, say-ing it went against plans to pro-mote green vehicles.

Under the GST ratesannounced yesterday, large carswith engine greater than 1,500 ccand SUVs with length more than4 metres and engine greater than1,500 cc are slated to attract 15 percent cess over and above peak rateof 28 per cent.

Hybrid vehicles will also fallin the category under GST. Incomparison, tax on electric vehi-cles has been kept at 12 per cent.

At present hybrid vehiclesattract excise duty of 12.5 per cent,similar to the ones on entry levelsmall cars such as Tata Nano orMaruti Alto.

Some of the popular hybridvehicles sold in India are CamryHybrid and Prius from Toyota andHonda Accord. These are pricedbetween �31.98 lakh to �38.96lakh.

“This is a very environmentunfriendly, regressive tax rate as faras hybrid vehicles are concerned.It goes against the government’s

drive to promote eco-friendlyvehicles,” Toyota Kirloskar MotorVice Chairman and Whole TimeDirector Shekar Viswanathan toldthe news agency.

He said this was not expect-ed from this government, whichhas been very forward lookingotherwise.

“Hybrids and electric vehiclesfeed from the same ecosystem andthe least that they could have donewas to keep the rate on hybridvehicles at peak rate of 28 per centwithout the cess,” Viswanathansaid.

Expressing similar sentiments,Maruti Suzuki India Chairman RCBhargava said: “Putting hybrid carsat par with luxury cars is againstthe stated Government policy topromote use of such vehicles. Weare going to seek clarity on thematter”.

He further said: “We believeit as an inadvertent error on thepart of the government, unless theyhave decided to change the poli-cy on promoting such cars in thecountry”.

Society of Indian AutomobileManufacturers secretary generalVishnu Mathur said: “We don’tunderstand at this moment why

the Government has not contin-ued with the promotion of hybridvehicles when it is trying to pro-mote green vehicles.”

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL)Senior Vice-President (Marketingand Sales) Jnaneswar Sen said: “Wewill have to wait and watch till

there is clarity on second phase ofFAME scheme. As things standnow, there will be an impact onAccord Hybrid”.

Overall, the industry playerswere unanimous that the GSTrates will not impact prices of nor-mal cars and passenger vehicles in

a big way.“As far as all cars are con-

cerned, there would be minimalimpact. It is only hybrid cars whichwill have an impact as they havebeen placed at the highest taxbracket along with luxury cars,”Bhargava said.

Viswanathan also said theGST rates will not push up carprices much and from that pointit is consumer friendly.

Society of Indian AutomobileManufacturers (SIAM) presidentVinod Dasari pointed out that dif-ferential GST for electric vehicleswould help electric mobility to gainmomentum in the country.

“We would have liked to seea similar differential duty onhybrid vehicles to continue,” headded.

The Government has alwaysencouraged environment-friend-ly technologies and with the cur-rent focus on reducing emissionsof greenhouse gases and carbonfootprint, one would have expect-ed the lower taxation to continueon such vehicles in a technologyagnostic manner, Dasari said.

Besides, the inclusion of 10-13seater vehicles used mainly for pub-lic transport in the same tax brack-

et as luxury cars with a 15 per centcess is also unexpected and maymerit a review, Dasari said.

Hyundai Motor IndiaDirector, sales and marketing,Rakesh Srivastava said the newGST structure seems to be a “zerosum game” for auto industry.

“The placement of green vehi-cles in highest slabs of GST is con-trary to the spirit of promotinggreen mobility in India,” he added.

The move will adverselyimpact the hybrid vehicles’ accep-tance in future, Srivastava said.

Under the GST rates, cars willattract the top rate of 28 per centwith a cess in the range of 1 to 15per cent on top of it.

While small petrol cars withengine less than 1,200 cc willattract 1 per cent cess, that witha diesel engine of less than1,500 cc will attract 3 per centcess.

Large cars with enginegreater than 1,500 cc and SUVswith length more than 4 metresand engine greater than 1,500 ccwill attract cess of 15 per cent.

Earlier this year, govern-ment withdrew incentives givento mild hybrid vehicles underFAME India scheme. ��

3�0������ ����,������������������������� ,���>�$�� �&��

���� /17�819&

Umbrella organisation of automakers SIAM on Friday wel-comed the GST rates for automobiles saying the new tax

rates would help in stimulating demand.“The rates are as per the expectations of the industry and

almost all segments have benefited by way of a reduced over-all tax burden in varying degree,” Society of Indian AutomobileManufacturers (SIAM) president Vinod Dasari said in a state-ment.

It will stimulate demand and strengthen the automotivemarket in the country, paving the way for meeting the visionlaid down in the Automotive Mission Plan 2016-26, he added.

The Government has done well to ensure stability in tax-ation while at the same time moderating the taxes, wherev-er they were too high, Dasari said. He, however pointed outthat differential GST for electric vehicles would also help elec-tric mobility to gain momentum in the country.

“We would have liked to see a similar differential duty onhybrid vehicles to continue,” he added.

���������""�%�"�������"���������������$���&� ���

���� /17�819&

Traders body CAIT on Fridaysuggested the first nine

months of GST, from its rolloutdate of July 1, should be treatedas a ‘trial period’ and no punitiveaction taken against businessesfor ‘procedural mistakes’ to allowthem to get familiarised with thenew regime.

Commenting on the out-come of the GST Council meet-ing that concluded today, CAITSecretary General PraveenKhandelwal said that classifica-tion of goods under different taxslabs of GST are ‘by and large’ fit-ted in the correct basket and itis expected that goods willbecome cheaper under the newindirect tax regime.

“However, on the other side,several items which have beenplaced under higher category oftax rate will disturb the pricingstructure and pinch the commonman,” said B C Bhartia, presidentof the Confederation of All IndiaTraders (CAIT).

He pointed out that itemslike pickles, sauces, and instant

mixer pertaining to food pro-cessing which are consumed bylarge number of people, havebeen placed under the higher taxrate of 18 per cent.

The CAIT further said thatwhile the GST should be imple-mented from the scheduled dateof July 1, the remaining ninemonths of the current fiscal“may be declared as trial period”and except habitual offenders,no action should be takenagainst traders for proceduralmistakes.

“Let this period be a learn-ing period and a process of rec-tification may be carried out inorder to ensure greater compli-ance under GST,” the traders’body said.

It also suggested that itemslike cement, paint, marble, ply-wood, and other hardware relat-ed to construction should beplaced under lower tax slab.

The CAIT also said thatauto spare parts used for repairsof vehicles and maintenancehave been placed under the taxslab of 28 per cent which needsre-consideration.

���� �-&/$3$-

With companies indicat-ing a possible rise in

prices on the Goods andServices Tax rollout fromJuly 1, the finance ministryon Friday warned India Incagainst raising rates arbi-trarily in anticipation of theGST.

The tax department mayinvoke the anti-profiteer-ing clause after the mecha-nism is put in place and maylook into balance sheet ofcompanies i f they havegained from the GST andwhether the benefits havebeen passed on to con-sumers.

“The machinery for theanti-profiteering authoritymay not be ready at presentbut any change in prices willbe called into questioned,”R e ve nu e S e c re t ar yHas mu k h Ad h i a s a i d ,adding that any fluctuationsin prices will be closelymonitored.

The GST Council in itstwo-day meet finalised therates for goods and ser-vices, giving companies ade-quate time to work out theirpricing policies.

Adhia said the govern-ment will soon begin workon setting up an anti-profi-teering agency, as proposedin the GST law and the taxdepartment may even initi-ate suo motu action againstfirms.

“We expect companiesto cooperate. We hope wedon’t have to use the weapon(of anti-profiteering author-ity),” he said.

The GST Act includesthe provision of setting upan anti-profiteering author-ity to ensure that companiespass on the benefit of taxreduction to customers.

The GST Council hasfitted the goods and servicesin tax brackets of 5, 12, 18and 28 per cent.

Adhia said that despitethe higher standard rate of1 8 p e r c e nt , s e r v i c eproviders will get input taxcredit that will lower theeffective incidence of the

GST to around the currentincidence of 15 per cent.

The tax department feelstax cut benefits should bepassed on to consumersthrough more transparentbilling.

Several analysts haveopined that consumers mayhave to bear the brunt of thehigher tax.

�&�-���������������������%��������$����������"�

�����������8����%������ �������"�������&�����

��%��������Tax rates on fastmoving consumer goods(FMCG) items under GSTwill drive consumption,although a few home careproducts and shampooscould become pricier,according to industry play-ers.

The country’s largestFMCG firm HindustanUnilver (HUL) said laundrydetergents and dish washingbars, which have been taxedat 28 per cent, must be giventhe same treatment as otherdaily necessity products inthe interest of consumers tomaintain basic hygiene.

Welcoming the overallclassification, Marico LtdMD and CEO Saugata Guptasaid: “We understand thatthe GST rate structure isextremely positive, encour-aging and augurs well for theindustry. It is anti-inflation-ary in nature and will helpdrive consumption as well aslong-term economicgrowth.”

Expressing similar views,Dabur India Chief FinancialOfficer Lalit Malik said:“Overall, the new rates aremarginally favourable.”

He further said thatexcept for home care prod-ucts and shampoos, whichwill attract 28 per cent GST,most FMCG products havebeen placed at 18 per cent orbelow levels and this is on theexpected lines. ��

>�,$����������+����������� 5��������.�����2����:

#��&��%��������State Bankof India (SBI), the country’slargest lender, on Friday report-ed more than doubling of itsfourth quarter net profit on theback of increased lending andreduction in provisioning forbad loans.

Net profit of the bank onstandalone basis rose to�2,814.82 crore for the Marchquarter as against �1,263.81crore in the same period of pre-vious fiscal, 2015-16.

Operating profit of thebank during the quarterincreased 13 per cent at �16,026crore as against �14,192 crore inthe same period of previousyear.

Total income increased to�57,720 crore for the quarterended March 31, 2017 from�53,526.97 crore for the samequarter year ago.

During the quarter, theNet Interest Income increasedby 17.33 per cent to �18,071crore as against �15,401 crore inthe same quarter a year ago.

The gross NPAs rose to 6.9per cent from 6.5 per cent forthe quarter ended March 2016while net NPAs declined to 3.71per cent from 3.81 per cent dur-ing the same period.

SBI chairman ArundhutiBhattacharya said ‘loan lossprovisions’ were lowered to�10,993 crore during the fourthquarter of last fiscal as against�12,139 crore in the year-agoperiod.

In absolute terms, gross

NPAs increased to �1,12,343crore on March 2017 from�98,173 crore in the same peri-od last year.

She said that this was its lastsolo financial result as all theassociate banks and BharatiyaMahila Bank had been mergedwith it.

The fourth quarter resultdoes not take into accountacquisition of its five associatesState Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur,State Bank of Mysore, StateBank of Travancore, State Bankof Patiala, and State Bank ofHyderabad and BharatiyaMahila Bank (BMB) as themerger came into effect fromApril 1.

Commenting upon thequarter, she said it had beendifficult but satisfying quarterand the biggest thing whichhad happened was the merger.

“This was a seven-waymerger and the first time in thehistory of the world,”Bhattacharya told reportershere on Friday.

The board of SBI declared

a dividend of �2.60 per share or260 per cent for the financialyear ended March 31, 2017.

Bhattacharya said SBI haddone well on a solo basis andthe bank had decided to absorbthe maximum pain arising outof the merger as a result ofwhich the current quarterwould be stressful.

“In the near term, marginswill be under pressure due toelevated credit cost due to themerger. At the same time thedeposits of the associate bankswill be re-priced which willhave a positive impact,” she said.

Owing to this two-way pres-sure, the outlook of the marginsis stable, she said.

For the entire fiscal endedMarch 2017, the net profit ofthe bank improved by 5.36 percent to �10,484 crore asagainst �9,951 crore in the pre-vious fiscal. Net InterestMargin (Domestic) declined by0.16 per cent to 3.11 per centas on March 2017 from 3.27per cent at the end of previousfiscal. ��

'��9(������������"�������:);<=�$���������������������

!��"�%�������"�$%��������

*�(�+# /� +0%,�+1 /��+1 234�2356

)/'">)/'">>�/(�

��7����%� ����������=���'#����$��"�)� +�"�������������������� "������� �� ��������������� ������������� ������� �������2��������8 �����0����'���������� ����������$�����'���������� ���������8��������� ��������������"� ��� �����#

#(����6:::���� ����������=#���(���$��8��0� =�������� �������� ���� ����������� ������������������������ ����������������� ����������&������� ����8��� �C �������,��� ���� �,���������!�� ���#

��������C��������������#�������������������=���.����2��������� ��$������������ ���������������� ������������������ ������ ������������������ ����������������"������, � ������������ ������ ������������������?@������#

������# ����'���#�� #������������������1,���$������������������� ���� ���������� �� ���������9�� �'��� �����9001��� ��� ��� ����� �����������������0����� ,��������������������������� ���������� ����������"�������� ����������#

+���� 99

' �� �0=��=9��

Swedish prosecutors onFriday dropped a seven-year

rape investigation into JulianAssange, a legal victory for theWikiLeaks founder who hasbeen holed up in the EcuadoranEmbassy in London since 2012.

But British police said theywould still arrest Assange if hetried to leave the Embassy,saying he had breached theterms of his bail by refusing toturn himself in when an arrestwarrant was issued in 2012.

Friday was the deadline forthe public prosecutor’s office toeither renew the pan-Europeanarrest warrant or lift it.

“Director of Public Prose-cution, Marianne Ny, has onFriday decided to discontinuethe investigation regarding sus-pected rape by Julian Assange,”the prosecutor’s office said in astatement. Shortly after theannouncement, Assange post-ed on Twitter a picture ofhimself smiling broadly, with-out comment.

�� 7$�&/30=/

President Donald Trumpsays he is “very close” to

naming a new FBI director. Anannouncement could come onFriday, the soft deadline Trumpset for himself. The Presidentdeparts Friday on his inaugur-al overseas trip, a four-country,five-stop journey tour of theWest Asia and Europe thatwill keep him out of the coun-try for more than a week.

“We’re very close to an FBIdirector,” Trump said Thursdaywhen asked about the searchduring an Oval Office appear-ance with Colombian PresidentJuan Manuel Santos. He said anannouncement could come“soon” and that former Sen. JoeLieberman was among his top

candidates. Lieberman wasamong four candidates Trumpinterviewed at the White Housethis week. The former Connec-ticut senator flashed a thumbs-up as he left the White House onWednesday after meeting withTrump and said they had a “go-od meeting.” Trump also met wi-th former Oklahoma Gov FrankKeating; Richard McFeely, a for-mer top FBI official; and actingFBI director Andrew McCabe.

Trump needs a new FBIdirector because he fired JamesComey last week, an unexpect-ed move that drew bipartisancriticism. Comey was overseeingthe FBI’s investigation intoRussia’s role in the presidentialelection, including ties betweenRussian Government officialsand Trump associates.

���� &�9$�$.$8

The Pakistan Governmenton Friday faced flak over its

handling of Indian nationalKulbhushan Jadhav’s case at theInternational Court of Justice(ICJ), with several legal expertsquestioning the strategy adopt-ed and asking why it acceptedthe global court’s jurisdiction.

The Hague-based court,the UN’s highest judicial body,had on Thursday stayed theexecution of Jadhav, 46, con-sidered to be a spy by Pakistan.

The ruling triggered criti-cism of the the PakistanForeign Office (FO) for its“poor handling” and also for itschoice of Khawar Qureshi,who represented Pakistan’s casebefore the ICJ.

The Attorney General forPakistan (AGP) had recom-mended some other counsel,The Express Tribune reported.

According to formerPakistan Bar Council ViceChairman Farogh Naseem,Pakistan should have immedi-ately withdrawn its March 29,

2017 declaration accepting thecompulsory jurisdiction of theICJ. Instead of contesting thematter, Pakistan should havewithdrawn the declarationimmediately after India tookJadhav’s case to the ICJ, he said.“Why did Pakistan not take theglaring and brutal humanrights violations in Kashmirbefore the court, despite thefact that Islamabad had a strongcase in this regard?”

' �� 0=�C=

The Japanese Governmenton Friday approved a one-

off Bill allowing ageingEmperor Akihito to step downfrom the ChrysanthemumThrone, in the first such abdi-cation in two centuries.

The Bill will now be sent toparliament for debate and like-ly receive swift final approval,Chief Cabinet SecretaryYoshihide Suga said after PrimeMinister Shinzo Abe’s cabinetsigned off on the legislation.

Abdication must take placewithin three years of the billbecoming law. Earlier this yearreports suggested that 83-year-old Akihito could step down atthe end of December 2018 andbe replaced by Crown PrinceNaruhito on January 1, 2019.

Reports of his desire to

retire surprised Japan whenthey emerged last July.

In August he publicly citedage and declining health, whichwas interpreted as his wish tohand the crown to his eldest son.

But current Japanese law hasno provision for abdication, thusrequiring politicians to craft leg-islation to make it possible. Thestatus of the emperor is highlysensitive in Japan given its 20thcentury history of war waged inthe name of Akihito’s fatherHirohito, who died in 1989.

Revered as a demigodbefore and during the conflict,Hirohito was reduced to amere figurehead as part ofpostwar reforms. Akihito haswon plaudits for seizing uponthe constitutionally-prescribedrole of national symbol andthere is wide sympathy for hiswish to retire.

' �� 01-$/

Iranians poured into pollingstations on Friday to deliver

their verdict on President HassanRouhani and his troubled effortsto rebuild ties with the world andkickstart the struggling economy.

There was a festive atmos-phere in Tehran where Rouhani,a 68-year-old moderate clericwho spearheaded a 2015 nucleardeal with world powers, wasmobbed by cheering supportersas he cast his ballot in a mosque

in the city centre. “The enthusi-astic participation of Iranians inthe election reinforces ournational power and security,” hesaid, as polling stations report-ed morning queues were far big-ger than usual. Rouhani, who hasframed the vote as a choicebetween greater civil liberties and“extremism”, faces stiff competi-tion from hardline cleric Eb-rahim Raisi, 56, who has posi-tioned himself as a defender ofthe poor and called for a muchtougher line with the West.

$��8��0� -����������� ����� �������� ����������!������,��������,��&������������� ����������������� ������������������ ��%����������������������� ����� �����������4��������� � ������ ������5#�4&�������!������������� ����� ������� �����,������ ����� ������������������������������������ �� �� ��5��������% �������"������� ������ ��������������������������,����������#� ���

� �!1!,!.��2� ����'��� �������"�����������2����O����������������� �������������� �����������������"������� ��������� ��� �������.��"�O��.���� ������������������������������#���������������,�������"����������� ����������������"����� ������� ������� "����2���(@@M#����������'��� �������$�� "�����$ ����������������������� ��"������ ��������������������������������� ������������������"�������� ����������� ��� #� ���

���� 9$=-1

Aspecial Pakistani court look-ing into the 2008 Mumbai

terror attack case has just seenanother judge being appointed— its ninth change in eight years.

The anti-terrorism court(ATC) conducting the trial ofseven Pakistani suspectscharged with involvement inthe attack has recently beenchanged again, a court officialsaid on Friday.

“ATC Judge Sohail Akramwho had been conducting the26/11 case for the last two yearsor so is transferred to thePunjab judicial services,” theofficial said.

“It is a routine transfer ofthe judge in question,” he said.

The Mumbai case has nowbeen transferred to the court ofJudge Kausar Abbas Zaidi, whowas the judge in the case beforeAkram, the official said.

Besides Akram, the otherjudges who have been associ-ated with the case that began in2009 are Attiquer Rehman,Shahid Rafique, MalikMuhammad Akram Awan andPervez Ali Shah.

�� .1-9&/

Germany’s Parliament haspassed new measures

making it easier to deportmigrants whose asylum appli-cations have been denied, andmonitor and control thosedeemed dangerous.

In a law passed late lastnight, Germany’s migrationagency will be allowed to eval-uate cellphone data of migrantswho arrive without proper doc-uments, and permitted to sharedata with other authorities in sit-uations considered dangerous.

Deportations will also besped up under the new law, andauthorities will be allowed todetain individuals who areawaiting deportation for up to10 days, from an original four,if they’re deemed dangerous.

��2��2��-��������"��������22��

�� ���&������ ��� ���� ���������������������&-��#���

�%=����=����# ���������C����#'����������

���.����$��������� ��7 9�� �� ������������$����������� ����������� �� ���������� ����� ���� ����� ��� ���������"������������������ ����������������������������4���� ������������5#�47�������,������������ �������� ��������� ��5������ ������������������,��� ��$������'��.�������",������������������ ������#

��������� ������ ,��,���+�������������������7 9�� ��� ����������

�������1�,����

��0#&�,�,���+,�'*�����,�+)�� �#� /�� ��9��%����)��

�#�������������'#�����'$������'��#��# �'�=��� �#$�%! ���0)��� 8 �����0�������������������������������,����������� ����������������� ����� ���%.&�8���� ��������� ���� �G���������������'���������� ��� �����,����������� ������� �������������������� �%���������-����#�4/ �5��������������������� ����, ��������� �����������7���� ��������� ��������� ��0�������#$�� ������ ������ �����,������������������������� ��0�������0������� ���� ����� ���������������� ���������%����#�4&�� ��� ��������������� �5�����+�2������������G� �������������� ������������� ��#� ���

�� ������ �������������������� ��� ��������� ��

9�2���#�-������0� �3�������������2���������-������

'��� ���� �� ������� ���� ���������

�B$�����,�6�� ��50%/�,� �C����,

� �!1!,!.��2� ���������� ������������������ ����������� �4�� � "����5�����������������������&�������� �������,��������������������&��������2����������'����� �� ��� ���������������� �����������3 ����������������� � ���������������� ����������#0������ ���������,���������$OO����������������,���!��������� �� �� ���������� �������� ��������'���������� �����������������&������� ����� ���� �������#� ���

��#�������%��%=����#���'�����������������

�� � /17�C=-�

A58-year-old Indian man,who was in the US cus-

toms’ custody for enteringthe country illegally, has diedafter being hospitalised forshortness of breath.

Atul Kumar BabubhaiPatel was taken in custody byUS Immigration and CustomsEnforcement at the AtlantaCity Detention Centre fortwo days.

He died on Tuesday after-noon at Atlanta’s GradyMemorial Hospital with theofficials stating the prelimi-nary cause of his demise ascomplications from congestiveheart failure.

Patel arrived at the Atlantaairport on May 10 on a flightfrom Ecuador.

The US Customs andBorder Protection subse-quently denied him entry intothe country as he did not pos-sess the necessary immigra-tion documents, the USImmigration and CustomsEnforcement (ICE) said in astatement.

Patel was transferred intothe ICE custody last week atthe Atlanta City DetentionCentre where he received aninitial medical screening andwas found to have high bloodpressure and diabetes.

On Saturday, two daysafter being in the ICE cus-tody, a nurse checking Patel’sblood sugar noticed he hada breathing problem following which he was shift-ed to a hospital where hepassed away.

ICE said it is firmly com-mitted to the health and wel-fare of all those in its custodyand is “undertaking a com-prehensive agency-widereview of the incident, as itdoes in all such cases”.

*������������������%��������� �� ���������#������

7$���� ���������������� ������ ������.���I� ��� �� �#���-

*����5)������ ���&���� �����������-��� ������ ��������

*�(�+# /� +0%,�+1 /��+1 234��2356 ����� 9%

�� -=�1

Rafael Nadal's winning streak ended at 17matches as he lost in straight sets to DominicThiem in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open

on Friday.The 6-4, 6-3 victory was a sort of revenge for

Thiem, who was beaten by the Spaniard in theMadrid Open final last week.

The 30-year-old Nadal, who was seeded fourth,had won consecutive clay-court tournaments inMonte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid and was aim-ing for an eighth title at the Foro Italico as he pre-pares for the French Open in less than two weeks.

Thiem could be considered third time lucky ashe lost back to back clay court finals – Barcelonaopen and Madrid Open – to NAdal, finally defeat-ing the clay court king in Rome.

The Canadian will now face Novak Djokovicor Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals.

Earlier on Thursday, Fourth-seeded Nadalbroke Sock's serve twice in the second set and servedout the match to set up a last-eight meeting withThiem.

"I am here to try my best. I know (it) is a toughtournament. I don't have an easy draw here, a toughone," Nadal said. "Dominic is the player that is hav-ing probably more success now on clay, no? So willbe another tough battle tomorrow."

The 30-year-old Nadal has won consecutive clay-court tournaments in Monte Carlo, Barcelona andMadrid. The Spaniard is aiming for an eighth titleat the Foro Italico as he prepares for the French Openin less than two weeks.

"I think I can play a little bit more aggressive thanwhat I did tonight. I think I have to do it," Nadalsaid. "But in general terms I am happy with the waythat I played, obviously."

Thiem also beat an American but had to savetwo match points in a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory overSam Querrey.

Four-time champion Novak Djokovic is alsosafely through to the quarterfinals after beatingRoberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4. Second-seededDjokovic next plays Juan Martin del Potro after theArgentine ousted seventh-seeded Kei Nishikori 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Djokovic seemed in full control when he went3-1 up in the second set but allowed the Spaniardto fight back to 4-4 before going on to seal the match.

Bautista Agut could have gone 5-4 up in the sec-ond set after Djokovic appeared to send the ball longbut the umpire said it was in. Television replaysshowed the ball was out.

Instead it was Djokovic who broke to take a 5-4 lead and won the match when he had a forehandruled in.

Third-seeded Stan Wawrinka went out of thetournament after losing 7-6 (1), 6-4 to AmericanJohn Isner, who served up 19 aces in their match.

"It's a situation for me where I'm going out thereagainst the No. 3 player in the world. Maybe I havea little bit less to lose than he does," Isner said. "Iwent out there with the belief that, if I played well

and executed my game plan, that I could walk offthat court with a win. That's what happenedtoday."

ome favorite Fabio Fognini, who saw off top-seeded Andy Murray on Tuesday, lost 6-3, 6-3 toAlexander Zverev, who will play fifth-seeded MilosRaonic in the quarterfinals after the Canadian beat

Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-2.In the women's draw, Venus Williams defeated

Johanna Konta 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.Konta had won her previous three meetings

against Williams but the American dominated thefirst set. Although Konta rallied in the second, anoth-er double break in the third handed Williams vic-

tory. Williams will take on Garbine Muguruza afterthe 2016 French Open champion beat Julia Gorges7-5, 6-4.

"I love this tournament, and I love Rome,"Williams said. "It's one of my favorite places on earth,so that's one of the reasons why I have always comehere.

"You know, I have had a good amount of suc-cess here."

Second-seeded Karolina Pliskova is also safelythrough after easing past experienced clay-courtplayer Timea Bacsinszky 6-1, 7-5. The Czech nextfaces eighth-seeded Elina Svitolina, who recoveredto beat Mona Barthel 3-6, 6-0, 6-0.

Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit, who beattop-ranked Angelique Kerber in the second round,continued her dream debut. Kontaveit beat 16th-seeded Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-1, 6-1 to set up aquarterfinal against Madrid Open champion SimonaHalep.

"I'm just really trying to take it match by matchand setting these really small goals," the 21-year-oldKontaveit said.

Sixth-seeded Halep beat AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova 6-1, 4-6, 6-0.

Qualifier Daria Gavrilova beat seventh-seededSvetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 and Kiki Bertenswon 7-6 (3), 6-1 over Russia's Ekaterina Makarova.

��� #(�# ���������%������Paris: Maria Sharapova said Friday she will not

request a wildcard for Wimbledon, instead optingto play in qualifying for the Grand Slam she wonin 2004, as she returns from a doping ban.

"Because of my improved ranking after the firstthree tournaments of my return, I will also be play-ing the qualifying of Wimbledon, and will not berequesting a wildcard into the main draw," saidSharapova on her website.

"A few months ago I received a wildcard offerfrom Birmingham, one of my most memorable tour-naments as a young player. I am so grateful and excit-ed to be playing this event again!" she said.

$# ��6���(�����G������Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas came from

behind to knock out seventh seeds FelicianoLopez and Marc Lopez, sealing a quarterfinals berthat the ATP Rome Masters, here.

Bopanna and Cuevas rallied to beat theSpaniards 4-6, 7-6 (7), 10-8 in a gruelling secondround match of the �4,507,375 clay court tourna-ment.They next face fourth seeded pair of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.

Meanwhile, in the WTA event, India's SaniaMirza and Shvedova, seeded third, will face SaraErrani and Martina Trevisan in the quarters.

�� 9=/8=/�

If Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger istroubled about his future, he's not

showing it.Approaching Sunday's Premier

League season finale against Everton,which could determine whether Arsenalwill play in the Champions League nextseason, Wenger again gave little away.

Wenger's contract is up at the end ofthe season, so this weekend's match couldbe his last at Emirates Stadium.

"This season, yes," Wenger said,adding that his future will be discussedat a board meeting after Arsenal playsChelsea in the FA Cup final on May 27.

Arsenal is in real danger of missingout on a top-four finish for the first timein 20 seasons under the Frenchman.

In a three-way race for the final twoChampions League qualification spots,Arsenal is the outsider.

Manchester City has 75 points,Liverpool has 73, and Arsenal has 72.

City, which has the best goal differ-ence, plays at Watford and Liverpoolhosts already-relegated Middlesbrough.

Arsenal has been playing well lately,winning four straight league games, butits rebound may have come too late.

"It doesn't matter about chances. Weare professional and we have to do ourjob," Wenger said.

"We do not need to look at any othergame. That's all we can do, win ourgame."

Much speculation has also sur-rounded the future of Alexis Sanchez andMesut Ozil, but Wenger claimed theywould both stay, even if Arsenal missesout on the Champions League.

"First of all, they are under contract.And they behave like they want to be atthe club," Wenger said.

"I don't question their focus and their

determination because in every gamethey turn up with strong performances."

Like Wenger, Liverpool managerJurgen Klopp was also in a philosophi-cal mood on Friday.

"If we have enough points, we deserveChampions League. If we don't, wedon't," the German said.

"The best thing would be 4-0 aftertwo minutes but that is not possible."

�#�����$##�England striker Harry Kane's four

goals in Tottenham's 6-1 win overLeicester put him two ahead of Evertonfoward Romelu Lukaku in the race to fin-ish at the top of the Premier League scor-ing chart.

Kane, last year's Golden Boot winner,has 26 league goals while Lukaku has 24and Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez has23.

Despite missing three months of the

season because of injury, Kane is the firstTottenham player to score four hat tricksin a season since Jimmy Greaves in 1968-69.

Tottenham, guaranteed to finish insecond place behind champion Chelsea,ends its season at relegated Hull.

����������#�Sunday's game at Arsenal could be

Lukaku's last match for Everton.The Belgium forward has refused to

commit to a new long-term contract andhas made clear his desire to play in theChampions League, something Evertoncannot offer.

Chelsea can, however, and if DiegoCosta leaves Stamford Bridge, the Bluescould be interested in bringing Lukakuback to west London.

Despite going the last four gameswithout a goal, the Belgian has enjoyedthe best season of his career.

�� �������BB��Watford said this week that manager

Walter Mazzari would step down after thefinal game of the season againstManchester City.

Hull manager Marco Silva is thefavorite to replace him, while formerRussia coach Leonid Slutsky and formerLeicester manager Claudio Ranieri havealso been mentioned as possible candi-dates.

�#����� �����#��Son Heung-min became the highest-

scoring South Korean player in a Europeanseason on Thursday, scoring twice forTottenham at Leicester to break a 31-year-old record.

Son enters Tottenham's final game ofthe season on Sunday with 21 goals, hav-ing surpassed Cha Bum-kun's 19-goal haulat German club Bayer Leverkusen in the1985-86 season.

' �� 91&�1�01-

Harry Kane's first ever four-goal haul pro-pelled him to the top of the Premier

League scoring charts with the Tottenhamstriker in the "driving seat" to finish top scor-er when the final league games are played onSunday.

The 23-year-old, whose goals along witha double from Korean star Son Heung-min sawthis season's runners-up hammer last year'schampions Leicester 6-1, added he hopedHugo Lloris could also win the Golden Glovefor the least goals conceded when they roundoff their league season at relegated Hull.

Kane tops the Golden Boot charts with 26goals, two ahead of Everton's Romelu Lukakuwith Arsenal's Chilean marksman AlexisSanchez third, a further goal adrift.

"I wanted to get one or two goals at leastand take it to the final game," Kane told SkySports.

"I am in the driving seat but there's still onemore game. I am not resting on my laurels butI hope to get four more.

"Hopefully I can get the Golden Boot andhopefully Hugo Lloris can get the GoldenGlove.

"It is disappointing to concede but hope-fully we can keep a clean sheet against Hull,"added Kane, who has scored five hat-tricks forhis club in just over two years.

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino saidhe was proud how Kane had shown he is oneof the best strikers in the world in again con-testing to be leading scorer despite two spellsout injured.

"It is fantastic for him," he told SkySports.

"It is a season again where he fights to bethe top scorer in the Premier League.

“He is great, he is one of the best strikersin the world.

"He will try to keep going in the next gameand try to finish in the best way."

The 45-year-old Argentinian said he wasnot worried Kane would leave in the close sea-son as Spurs were in a position to keep theplayers they wanted to keep.

"It is very clear we will keep the players wewant to keep and we will maybe sell the play-ers we want to sell," said Pochettino.

"We are so, so calm about our key players.They are happy here, we have an exciting pro-ject,” said the Spurs manager.

���� �$/3$&

The India U-17 World Cup Squadstunned their fancied Italian

counterparts 2-0 in Arizo, Italy onFriday.

The win epitomises the grit anddetermination of the Indian Coltswho have been grinding togethersince February 2013.

Strikes by Abhijit Sarkar (31')and Rahul Praveen (80') led theirteam to a massive win over the'Azzuri' in a match largely domi-nated by the Indian Colts in termsof possession and chances created.

India got off the blocks and gavethe opposition a tough time.

Komal Thatal's 8th minutestrike went whiskers past the Italiancustodian as India hunted in packsfor an early lead.

In the 13th minute, Aniketcame close to opening the goal scor-ing charts for India but his effortwent straight down the keeper'sthroat resulting in an easy save.

In the 31st minute, however, thegoal for the India came whenSarkar's cross took a wicked deflec-tion off the Italian defence line andended up in the back of the oppo-sition net.

After India led 1-0 at half-time, the Colts searched to extendthe their lead and safeguard theresult.

In the 59th minute, Aniketmissed a one versus one chanceagainst the Italian goalkeeper afterhe rounded the opposition custo-dian up but failed to convert.

Rahul in the 75th minute cameclose to scoring when he failed totap the ball home from handshak-ing distance after Aniket's shothad earned an uncanny save by theItalian custodian.

Goal scoring chances everynow and then had to bear fruits andit did for the India in the 80thminute when Rahul scored frominside the box to double India's lead.

With India all set to host theFIFA Under-17 Footbal World Cuplater this year, this victory over aEuropean team could prove veryuseful in generating greater inter-est among fans as well as less-inter-ested viewers for the tournamentand making it successful.

�"�"):,�(��������=���")$���3%�$���10��������� ���� ������� ��������������������,��������������:������� ��������� �� ��������������

>�������!���"���"�����������"��$�����.(��1����#$"�����

(� ��#�*�,�� )��)�&�/���)�� ����%� /�,�����

*������#����������*������������?5�

�0-&�1��.C�$.&�&0�$-�$-�$/8�-$+92-$*11/�918�01&-01$��0=�$��$��&*1

7&/�=*1-�01D$KK+-&E�&/�$��$0�9$-319C�8=�&/$018.C�01�&/8&$/��=90�

&/�01-���=%2=��1��&=/�$/8�$/�1���-1$018

���� /17�819&

Indian boys and girls qualified for the AsianJuniors, after attaining top-of-the-table posi-

tion in group league on the first day of theSouth Asian Junior Table TennisChampionships at Mount Lavinia, nearColombo, on Friday.

In Junior Boys, India beat Maldives andBangladesh with an identical margin of 3-0 andwill take on both hosts Sri Lanka and Pakistanto complete the group events.

With two wins already in their pocket,Indian boys have made the cut for Asian JuniorChampionships, to be held in Ansan (Korea)from June 29 to July 4. At the end of the groupmatches the second team that joins India willbe known tomorrow. As for the Junior Girls,both India and Sri Lanka qualified. In the groupmatches today, India thumped Sri Lanka,Pakistan and Maldives for 3-0 score-lines to keepa clean slate and lead the table with six points.

Lanka, who beat the other two teams with-out a hiccup, finished as the second best teamto qualify. Meanwhile, India's Cadet Girls team,comprising Anusha Kutumbale, VanshikaBhargave and Swastika Ghosh, defeated SriLanka 3-0 in their last group league match to fin-ish on top and claim the gold medal.

Earlier, they beat Pakistan and Maldives andthe wins were as sweet as the one against hosts,the margin being 3-0 in both cases. The boys'team consists of Manav Vikas Thakkar, H Jeho,Jeet Chandra, Manush Shah, Parth Virmani,Payas Jain and Chinmaya Somaiya while the girlssquad has Archana Kamath, Anusha Kutumbale,Moumita Datta, Priyanka Pareek, Selena DeepthiSelvakumar, Swastika Ghosh and VanshikaBhargava.

� %���50 ���,D0��������,�� �=0 ���,

� �����7�������E��F9�����3�;������<�F

:���G

9��&��H�1���I8��I�J

The daily life can be busy, hectic and sometimesoverwhelming. It may sometimes feel likebringing just a little more inner peace and

calmness into your life is a hopeless wish. But it does-n’t have to be that way. Small and smart changes canbring in both small and over time bigger rewards.

Life is overfilled with stuff you may need to setsome limits. You may need to stop doing some ofthe least important things, the things that if you arehonest really don’t matter that much. Don’t holdyourself to “perfect” standards. And set a limit forhow many times you will check inboxes, Facebook,Twitter etc. per day. Checking on stuff all the timecreates a lot of stress. And say no if you really don’thave the time.

A decluttered, simplified and ordered spacearound you brings clarity and order to the mind.So don’t stop at the workspace or the room you arein. Declutter, simplify and organise your home andlife too to live in a more relaxing environment.

Now is now. But if something negative from thepast – something someone said, something some-one did – is still in your mind then accepts and letthat feeling and thought in instead of trying to pushit away. When it is there, when you accept that it isthen it starts to lose power. And while the facts maystill be there in your head the negative feelings aremuch less powerful or gone. At this point, let thatthing go like you are throwing out a bag of oldclothes. And direct your focus to the presentmoment and something better instead.

Don’t make mountains out of molehills. Thiscan create a lot of unnecessary stress. When facingwhat looks like a mountain then ask yourself ques-tions like: Does someone on the planet have it worsethan me? Will this matter in 5 years? These ques-tions help you zoom out and realise that in mostcases things aren’t really that bad and you can han-dle them.

Your emotions work backwards too. Slowingdown to decrease stress goes for many other thingsyou do in everyday life too like riding your bicy-cle, driving the car, working at your desk and eat-ing.

Don’t procrastinate anymore. Solve your prob-

lem and release it and all the underlying stress andtension that it is creating in your life. You proba-bly already know what to do, you are just not doingit yet. But the longer you wait the worse the ten-sion inside becomes. So get up from your chair andget started on doing it now.

When stressed, lost in a problem or the past orfuture in your mind breathe with your belly for twominutes and just focus on the air going in and out.This will calm your body down and bring your mindback into the present moment again.

Peace is always available, and like any desirablestate of mind, it requires effort, even if that effortentails consciously choosing to be still. Sure, our cir-cumstances affect our mental state, but they don’thave to control them, not if we make tiny choicesfor our well-being.

Admittedly, it’s not easy to choose peace whenwe’re going through tough times.

Peace of mind is a state of mental and emotion-al calmness, with no worries, fears or stress. In thisstate, the mind is quiet, and you experience a senseof happiness and freedom.

Such peaceful moments are not so rare. Youhave experienced them in the past, at times whenyou were engaged in some kind of an absorbing orinteresting activity.

Stay away from negative conversations and fromnegative people. You don't want their thoughts andwords to sink into your subconscious mind andaffect your moods and state of mind.

Don't hold grudges. Learn to forget and forgive.Nurturing ill feelings and grievances hurts you andcauses lack of sleep.

Don't be jealous of others. Jealousy means thatyou have low self-esteem, and therefore, consideryourself inferior to others. Jealousy and low selfesteem, often, lead to lack of peace of mind.

Accept what cannot be changed. This saves alot of time, energy and worries. Every day, we facenumerous inconveniences, irritations and situationsthat are beyond our control. If we can change them,that's fine, but this is not always possible. We mustlearn to put up with such things and accept themcheerfully.

The moments immediately after awakening areimportant, as they often influence the mood of theday. These moments have to be used correctly.

After waking up in the morning, instead ofthinking about the difficulties or tasks that are await-ing you, smile, and tell yourself what a wonderfulday you are going to have. Think about the pleas-ant things you are going to do or experience, notthe about the difficulties. Repeat to yourself sever-al times that today you are going to maintain innerbalance, common sense and peace of mind.

When you confront a problem or meet failure,this could sometimes be devastating. At these times,always remember that if you descend into a valley,but keep walking on, sooner or later, you will arriveto a point, where you will start climbing up again.

No matter what happens, remember that thereis always a way out. After every fall, there is rising

up again. This understanding will help you restoreyour inner peace and balance in these situations.

Surround yourself in positive people. Ignorenegative comments and stay away from negativesouls. When someone is negative, he spreads neg-ativity and you get affected. Permanently stayingwith such people will have long term impact on yourcharacter so think about your company.

Don't think about others too much. Rememberthe great quote small minds discuss people;Average minds discuss events but higher minds dis-cuss ideas and Great minds act in silence. Don'tallow your brain to compare yourself to others asthis is an insult to yourself. Don't be Jealous; it's aheart killing disease, get rid of it as soon as possi-ble. When you are jealous you focus on finding faultsin others even if they don't have. This poisons yoursoul and steals the mental peace.

2����� ��������������� ������������

�� � ������������������ � ������������ �

������#�&����������������������G����

����� ���!��������������� �

����������������� �������

����(�(

�#��)���� /�,8 �//�����.��%,

8=/'0�=983-+831�#91$-/�0=

%=-310�$/8%=-3&*1#

/+-0+-&/3�&99%119&/3��$/83-&1*$/�1�+-0��C=+$/8��$+�1�

9$���=%��9112

&�� ����� ���� ������������������E��� ����� ������ ��,����������������� ����������������������� ��������������%�������,������� �������� ���������� ������#

&����������,����������,�������������������������������� ����������� �����������,�����������#�&�� ���� ��� �,������� ��������#

� . / ) � ' ) � � ' �

0������ ������������������� ��������������E��� ������ ��!���������� ���������� �������� ����#�&��������������� �,��������������������,������� �����������#

&E����� ��������&������������������������ �����������&E���#�&E����������������� ������ ���#�� ��'��������#

0�������������������������#�&E��� � ����������� �,������ ������,��� ����"������ ���#��� �������� ����������,� ������#��!� �����,�� ������&�����������A@�������� �����������"� ���������� ���� ����� ����� �� ��� ��, ���#/ ��������� ���������������������������������������#

,��=$���"","� ?���,")�"�"&����E��� � � ������������� �&�� ���������,���������� ����������������&����� �������#

=����� ��������������"�������������������,���� ���� � �������,�� �������������� ��� ������ ������� ������������", ��� ����������������� ���������������������#

"���"�1"�0��� ��� ��,�������&������������������������������������� ���G����� ����������������� �� ��� ���#�0����� ���� �, ��"�����������,���"���������"������� ������ �������� #�&����������� ���� ��,���������������������� �������"����,������������ ����#�

�������� 79:�!����8 9,*�(�+# /� +0%,�+1 /��+1 234�2356

$�����,�����

���#����=�I:��������

�There are rumors that the Bugheadromance may not last, since there could bea twist to the love triangle appearingtowards the end of the season. What canyou reveal about that?

It’s like a love square, pentagon, octa-gon… But that’s all I’ll say. One of the greatthings about Betty and Jughead’s dynamicis that it’s pushed the murder/mystery sto-ryline forward.

�Are these two characters the detectiveagency of the show?

Ha! I agree.

�What’s the next step they take in theirinvestigation into Jason’s murder? Andwhat can fans expect in the lead-up to therevelation of the murderer?

They use their classmates as a resource.Archie gets close and wrapped up with theBlossoms, so Betty and Jughead are like,“Okay, do some sleuthing for us. Get in thereand get information.” They start to use someoutside resources.

�In a recent episode, there was a scene thatfeatured the iconic costumes of old-school

Archie – and the fans went wild! Howmuch fun was it to shoot the retro scene?

We filmed that scene at the end of a verylong day and we had very limited time tofilm it. We filmed it separately but to see our-selves as the Stepford Wives was fun. We’dlove to do that again. We’d love to do moreflashbacks. Let’s hope more of that happensin season two.

�What has it been like filming withCamila Mendes, who plays Betty’s newfriend Veronica?

We are so happy that weget to tackle these characterstogether. There’s no Bettywithout Veronica and there’sno Lili without Cami. Wereally care about each otherand are good friends in reallife. So I think that helps translate to ourB&V duo and the chemistry that we have.We can’t play our characters well withouthaving each other.

�The two female characters shared a kissin the pilot. Will we ever see a day whereBetty and Veronica are more than friends?

As far as it goes romantically, we don’twrite the show — but we understand thepassion that the ‘Beronica’ shippers have.Who knows? Anything can happen inRiverdale.

� Let’s talk about your on-screen mother.What was it like when you first metMädchen Amick, the actress who playsAlice Cooper?

When I first met Mädchen, we discov-ered that we have matching tattoos by the

same artist in the same spot on ourbodies. I guess it was in the stars!I’ve learned so much from her, andfrom everyone on set. Mädchen isa big role model for me and I’mhappy that she’s my on-screenmama.

�Riverdale is watched by a very broadaudience, including many teens and youngadults. How does it feel to influence theyounger generation and what message doyou hope they take from the show?

My big thing with Betty, which I thinkis very important, is showing the pressurethat we’re under as young people of the

world. The message I’d like people to takeaway from the show is that it’s okay to crackand to break, and that people will still loveyou and accept you. We need to accept ourmental health and acknowledge it. Weshould not be ashamed of it. We need totackle that problem.

�Would you like to see Betty’s issues cov-ered in Season 2 of the show?

Well, it looks like we are going to diveinto Betty’s mental health issues, which I’mexcited about. That’s going to be explored alot more in the next season. That’s what we’replanning on, which will be cool.

�What other information have the show’swriters revealed to you about season two?What else can fans expect from Betty andthe rest of the Riverdale characters? Spillsome beans for us!

We have just started talking about it, soI can’t say much. What I can say is that thereis going to be a new mystery involved. Youcan see it emerging from the finale of sea-son one itself.

1������� �� 0�&� ��������������������������������2

�What is Half Girlfriend from Mohit’s perspec-tive?

Half Girlfriend is a very Indian love story. Ialways have a problem with the way love stories aredealt with in India, probably because they areinspired by the West. But I think the way an Indianman loves is a lot different from his Western coun-terpart. People have interpreted Half Girlfriend tobe of the Friends with Benefits kind but the fact isthis isn’t what the film is about. There’s no sexualconnotation at all. It’s about unconditionally lov-ing someone, even if you are the only one doing it.It’s not that mad love where you write letters withblood or stalk someone. Unlike RJ from Aashiqui2, who went off the bridge for a girl, Madhav Jhawould let the girl move on if it was best for her.

That’s why I am afraid about the returns.Because when you put in so much heart and hardwork and it is decided over one weekend, it’s kindof unfair. I am not complaining though, it’s a busi-ness that I have chosen and loved. I have put in alot of myself in the film and have tried not to betoo jazzy or larger than life. I have tried to be hon-est. And I hope India likes this honesty.

�What made you take up Chetan Bhagat’s bookinstead of trying out an all-new storyline?

Love as a genre is stereotypical. It’s always boymeets girl, falls in love, loses her and tries to gether back. How many variants can you have? Butwhat I liked about Chetan’s book is that it has com-pletely got a new angle to it. It’s not only about thetitle; he has projected social differences through thewhole language barrier. And it’s so relevant. I knowso many people who are intelligent in their headbut they don’t speak the language as fluently as otherpeople and, therefore, are considered inferior. Howwould a person like this feel about being in love withthe girl who speaks it fluently and how would shetake it?

The second half of the film raises another socialissue of how women are treated. They could be edu-cated, could have studied abroad but it doesn’t meanthey are forward. And that’s what Shraddha’sbackground essentially is in the film. It has a newtwist to the love angle rather than just being aboutsomebody making you realise that, “Oh God, youhave fallen for her.” Normally there are “friendly”characters in the film who will tell the hero that hehas fallen in love while in this film, Shraddha tellsArjun not to fall in love as she is going to mess withhim. I just liked this newer take on love.

�What was the biggest challenge as a producer-director?

I have never produced a film where so muchmaterial was already out there with people lovingit. Usually when I am developing a character, I doimpromptu things on the sets. Like I did with RJ’scharacter in Aashiqui 2. When he meets Aarohi forthe first time, I suddenly thought he would not carrymoney in his wallet. Since he was stinking rich, hedidn’t have to care about money. But here all of thematerial was already laid out, people had interpret-ed Madhav Jha in their minds and knew what theywanted out of him. So I was very worried aboutbringing that character to life onscreen, factoring

in a common thread among varied perceptions.That was the most difficult thing to do. I am nottalking about the fact that we shot in three conti-nents, over six states, all over the country and alwaysoutdoors but that’s not the heart of the film. Theheart of the film is how you connect to Madhav Jha’scharacter and since the content was already outthere, I hope I have lived up to it.

�Few know that Bhagat ran the proof of HalfGirlfriend with you before the book was pub-lished. Tell us something of that encounter?

So Chetan came to me before the book wasreleased and asked me to read the proof with hisnotes and corrections. I thought the book was fluffand I am not good at that. But when I read it, I foundit had the angst, pathos, the journey of the arch ofan Indian love story and was not, as I said, inspiredby the Western belief system.

�How did you end up casting Arjun andShraddha together?

I have done two films with Shraddha in the pastand I have a great rapport with her. She comes likea clean slate and then I just write my scene on her.Now she’s popular as well but she still comes andapproaches me the same way as she used to inAashiqui 2. What more would a director want? Nowshe’s become more crafted and she’s learnt her skill.She has the innocence of a debutante as well as theskill of an experienced actor. The fact is I can’t keepgiving her the same roles. In Aashiqui 2 she playedthe girl-next-door. This time she plays a south Delhigirl who travels in big cars. So there’s a new body lan-guage. I felt that people who belong to this strata don’treally show their emotions when they feel something.They don’t cry openly. They feel that showing theiremotions makes them weak. And she executed thatto perfection.

As for Arjun, to be honest, I didn’t think muchabout him. I pre-judged him actually, just like I didHalf Girlfriend, the book. I pre-judged him to be aproducer’s son who’s got a break in Yash Raj and wouldnever work hard as he had never gone to college.

We just caught up once at Mehboob Studio inBandra and when I spoke to him I realised that hehad grown up with a single mother. I have workedwith Monaji in the past and she made a name for her-self in the male-dominated industry, that too in thesphere of technology, which included setting up herown studio. That’s why Arjun respects women.Someone who has been brought up by a single moth-er will always appreciate the contribution thatwomen have had in his life.

Fact is he didn’t get launched by his father. Heauditioned at Yash Raj and rose from there. He wasa fat kid, so he had to struggle hard and lose theweight. Whatever he has today, he has achieved onhis own terms. That’s what Madhav Jha’s characteris all about. He has been brought up by a singlemother. Sure he belongs to the royal family but it’snot as if he enjoys the associated money and theprivileges. He’s not good at studies. Instead, he takesup basketball, gets good at it and then gets throughto St. Stephens college via a sports quota. All theemotional impulses were in place. I felt Arjun wouldunderstand the emotional graph of Madhav Jha bet-

ter than anyone else.

�Didn’t you get into films in similar circum-stances, by chance?

I was not a film student as such. I just happenedto find myself when I joined films. This was becauseI needed to earn money, which I didn’t have muchof when I was a kid.

I was a science student who wanted to pursueaerospace engineering at Virginia Tech. University.Unfortunately, we were going through a financialcrisis and so my father couldn’t send me. That leftme with two choices, either be upset about this forthe rest of my life or do something about it. I decid-ed to work in an office and the only place that wouldgive me a job at the age of 17 was my uncle’s pro-duction house called Vishesh Films. In fact, I wentto work there in the back-end. But then MukeshBhatt saw something in me and encouraged me togo into film-making. I couldn’t figure myself outbut Mukesh and Mahesh Bhatt did.

Before that, I didn’t even know what a set was.I went to one and saw how a shot was taken. I did-n’t know what a trolley was. Gradually, I was drawnin. I remember once Emraan Hashmi, who is mycousin, and I were travelling back from Goregaonstation to Bandra by train. It was late at night. Iremember him telling me, “It’s too tough yaar, Idon’t think I can become a director, instead I willbecome an actor.” I laughed and told him in thatcase I would become a director. That was themoment of truth. I don’t believe a person is a genius.I always believe that an idea is the real genius. WhenI watch a great a film, I never say wish I was its direc-tor, I say I wish I had thought it up.

�What is your film-making philosophy?Essentially, my philosophy is reminding myself

that a film is something with which I will have to

live for the next 12 months, maybe more. So I bet-ter have a connect with it. I choose my scripts thesame way that a woman might choose her lover. Itdoesn’t have to be the best, richest or educated. It hasto touch your heart and have substance. There havealways been flaws and problems but something hasto work in the heart. You will have bad days whilemaking the film when you feel as though it is worth-less or you are not pushing yourself hard enough butif you don’t love it, then you shouldn’t be in it.

�How would you summarise the concurrentmovements in contemporary mainstream cinema?

This can be compared to the kind of pictures thatone chooses to see on Instagram, for example. Thereare only two kinds of pictures that you will want tosee, either something so large and spectacular suchas a person or place whom you admire, or a pictureof yourself. That’s what I think films are going to belike in the future. Either they are going to be large orthey are going to be personal.

�Future plans?Nothing yet. As Chetan says, I suffer from one-

nighters. I can’t deal with more than one love at a timeand I need to get Half Girlfriend out of my systembefore I can jump into something else.

�Are you keyed up about box office numbers?To be honest, there are many people playing that

game, especially when we have Baahubali going strongin its third week and creating a worldwide phenom-enon. But you know, Aashiqui 2 wasn’t a 100-crorefilm. It was 82 odd but even after four years, peopleask me about it. Half Girlfriend, too, isn’t a big filmbut it’s one with a big heart. If it can move you ortouch you in places or can make you cry, I wouldbe very happy. I would want people to experiencethe bitter-sweet joy of love.

2� �����"����� � �=&0��+-&���� ���� ����� ��� ����� ������������������� ����������� ������������ ������������������������ ���� �����,���#����������� ��,�� "������ ���� ��������������������� ���������������� ���������������.�����'�������������� ������7�������,��������������� ������������+//$0& �=�&

9&9&�-1&/$-0���� �� ����������������D.�� ���'������������ ������������������ �������� ����������� ��)� ������ ������0*������� ���� �������

���%���$�%��������������

��,�"�

D&�7$��$���&1/�1�0+81/0�7=7$/018�0=�2+-�+1$1-=�2$�11/3&/11-&/3�$0*&-3&/&$�01�#+/&*1-�&0C#+/%=-0+/$019C��7171-1�3=&/30-=+3�$�%&/$/�&$9�-&�&��$/8��=�&�=&/18��C�+/�91'�2-=8+�0&=/�=+�1'

3�����+�������.�

*�(�+# /� +0%,�+1 /��+1 234�2356�������� 79:�!����8 9-

����#��A@��&/+01�

She isn’t a regular actress. She’s fun, she’s fear-less and she’s got a rare brand of attitude,that cool girl vibe. And not just that, there

are many reasons to have a crush on her.Dancing on the stage with her hair and the dressflying, she says, “Well that was my MarilynMonroe moment. I hope you enjoyed it.”

She is sitting in a red sofa at Taj Palace wear-ing a purple dress when we meet her. With a nat-ural glow and smile, she asks, “Do you wantsomething? I will have green tea.” Is green teaher beauty secret, we ask. “I know it’s a clichébut I think beauty is an attitude. You can haveten people dressing you up and doing yourmake-up but if you are scowling and sulking, youare going to look bad. It is really about the atti-tude, being present in the room and being incontact with human beings in front of you. Itdoes reflect who you are as a person,” she tellsus.

Predictably the beauty talk leads us to eggher on about the diva appearances on the red car-pet at Cannes and if that is trivialising the filmswe end up showcasing there. With a clever flickof her hair, she says, “I have no idea about it. Ihave not been following. But I think Cannes hasalways been famous for its red carpets and fash-ion. And there is nothing wrong with the cos-metic appearances as long as the films are greatand get equal accolades.” Having launched awoman’s razor brand a day ago, we wonder whatshe was doing endorsing a beauty product of allthings. But Kalki says she has been careful tofocus on its convenience. “I have always usedrazors as a teenager in my hostel. Look at myhands, I shave them even today. It’s a quick andeasy option,”

Kalki, who made her Bollywood debutwith Dev D, is all set to intrigue us with A Deathin the Gunj. Directed by Konkona Sen Sharma,the film will release on June 2. “Did you watchthe film,” she asks us. “Will you watch it withyour friends, family and your dogs,” she ques-tions. “Will take our neighbours too,” weanswer. “That’s really sweet,” she says with a babyface.

Well, looks like Kalki isn’t very happy withher perceived innocence. “I had to audition twicefor the film because of this baby face,” she shares.“This is Koko’s first film as a director. I reallywanted to do it even before I knew the script. Iwas like, ‘Konkona is directing a film, I want tobe a part of it.’ I auditioned twice for it becauseshe wasn’t convinced. She wanted an olderwoman to play this particular role. Thankfullyshe liked it later and took me on board,” shesmiles.

“One of the big things of course was to getthis older woman vibe and naturally my tenden-cy is very much like Aditi from Yeh Jawaani HaiDeewani, very la di dah and tomboyish. Thischaracter is very poised and calculated.Mimi(her character) is a woman who uses herbeauty to get want she wants. But she is also apart of the system of patriarchy where people useher to get what they want. It’s a classic case ofthose who get bullied, bully. The film is reallyabout that. We worked a little on the voice, mak-ing it deeper. Mimi is a chain smoker and I don’tsmoke. I would feel dizzy on the sets, my handswould shake. She had to speak a little bit Bengali,Koko taught me a little bit of that. We did a fewworkshops also to get into the skin of a charac-ter,” she adds.

How does she manage to reinvent herselfbetween role switches? “You should take eachrole like the first one you got. That excitementshould be there. It’s hard to do that sometimeswhen you are doing two to three projects. But

you have to be an acting virgin. Every time youstart a role, you have to start afresh and makeit your own.”

Of course, being a thinking actor, she alsohas good things to say about her industry col-leagues, who she believes have re-oriented themedia image of women actors. “I think some-one like Alia Bhatt has a good sense of humour,she knows how to make fun of herself. I thinkDeepika is also very grace-ful, she knows how totalk to the media. Wedo have substance andthings which are out-side our relationshipsand I think theminute you stickby that, peopletake you serious-ly. Keep talkingmore about your workand less about your per-sonal lives, then it will beprojected in that way.”

Kalki is happy with hertrajectory so far. “I think I havebeen very lucky to work with some ofthe best directors of the country. DibakarBanerjee is one of my favourite directors,Zoya, Anurag, Ayaan, Shonali and now Koko.It has been a very vast array of talent which isnot specific to commercial or to independentcinema. Now I have done my web-series whichis very different too. I am constantly learning.”

Quiz her about gender equality in the filmindustry and she gets animated: “Gender equal-ity doesn’t exist. Not just in our industry but inevery industry. It is global. But I think there isdefinitely more awareness. I have personallyworked with four women directors in the last fewyears. I feel there is a change. More and morecrew members, technicians are women now. Thechange is happening but it always takes sometime. Maybe my grandchildren will witness thischange. There are films which are very gender-sensitive and others which are crass. We still havea very hero-based society when it comes to com-mercial cinema. Usually, the hero is the mainstory and the heroine is the side kick. This has-n’t changed. But there are exceptions like Pikuand Queen, where a female lead is the hero ofthe film. I was the hero of Margarita with aStraw. The answer isn’t to make a female-orient-

ed film. What we need are more female per-spectives. A woman can write differentperspectives than a man. So we need that.”she says.

Any change that she would like to seein the film industry? “Better writing. Ithink we have the talent, we have greatactors, directors, DoPs and crew. Butwriting is the most ignored. First, wedon’t pay our writers well and second,we don’t actually have more than two

drafts. Many times they just writeand don’t develop the script. So Ifeel writing is probably the mostimportant change I would like tosee. I am positive about ourfilms finding world markets out-side the festival circuit. Platformslike Netflix have opened up pos-sibilities. And I think there’s somuch solid regional cinema that isbeing appreciated all over theworld.”

Avidly followed on social media,Kalki has her own battles there but

has learnt to take the good and thebad in equal measure. “We live in a

very exposed world today with socialmedia. Anyone can take a picture of youanytime. Even if you are not a celebri-

ty, you get people randomly taking yourpicture or commenting on your pictureon social media. So you have to be awareof that and be confident enough that youcan take their comments which will notnecessarily always be positive. In a wayI think it’s very important that you beresponsible for what you put up. Whatyou put up is who you really are. Youare what you post, I guess.”

How does she deal with thetrolls? “You deal with it by notobsessing over it. Of course I needto be in social media. I am a publicfigure, I need to be there for myendorsements, my movies or evenmy personal work, the subjects thatconcern me or things that I careabout. I find it a very beautifulmedium for directly reachingout to my audience withoutgoing through a messengerin between. But at the

same time, I knowwhen to switch off.There are timeswhen there’s toomuch trolling, I

just stay away from it.And then at the end of

the day your work speaksfor yourself. The more you

put your work out there, the more peo-ple will respect it. I do read the com-ments sometimes but I don’t spend a lotof time doing that. And I have stoppedresponding to comments as there areso many. But I sometimes put a gen-eral comment for my fans appreci-ating their love for me,” sheremarks.

What’s next for the actress?“After A Death in the Gunj, I haveSmoke, a web series for Eros.Then I have an internationalproject which is on a feministwriter. I am working on theaccent right now, the NYCaccent,” she says signing off.

�(����� ���(@��&/+01�

Two days after Apurva Asrani called out Bollywoodactress Kangana Ranaut and filmmaker Hansal

Mehta over the Simran credit row, the Nationalaward-winning filmmaker clarified that he doesn’t oweanybody an explanation.

Mehta took to social media and wrote, “My spineis whatever it is, weak or strong; it is only for my filmand nothing else. If I chose to not speak it is for myfilm. And when I do speak it will only be in serviceof my film.”

Mehta said when he speaks, “It will not be drivenby any blackmail or any noise on social media wheredignity is perceived as weakness and conversation isreplaced by allegation. I don’t owe anybody an expla-nation except to those colleagues who work with love,respect and are genuine stakeholders in our efforts tomake films.”

The Aligarh filmmaker added he is “guilty” of “cred-iting individuals who contribute to making my filmsvery special to many of us. And yes I will be guilty. Notonce more. But a thousand times over. Call me names,as many names as you want. But in your desperationto seek attention and gain sympathy, do not try to harmmy film,” he said.

Kangana reacted to the spat in an interview witha portal, “I don’t want to steal someone’s work. But atthe same time, I also don’t want to feel short-changedfor the additional work I have put in. Since co-writerwas not an option, I settled for additional story andadditional dialogue. The basic blueprint of the film wasstill Apurva’s and he has been duly credited for that.What else does he want, I fail to understand.”

Kangana added, “When we (Hansal and Asrani)had the conversation about sharing credits, he lost itcompletely and drove everyone insane. This was whenthe nepotism controversy had broken and this man tellsme, ‘Do you really need another controversy?’ It wasa threat. Basically he was saying if I don’t shut up, he’llgo ahead and tarnish my image as a ‘trouble-maker’which is exactly what he has done despite getting thecredit!”

Asrani was credited as the co-writer of Shahid.However, on Thursday, the original writer SameerGautam claimed he had been shortchanged. In aFacebook post on Friday, Sameer wrote: “I was sup-posed to have a ‘Written By’ credit. Then one day, notmuch later, I got to know from a team member thatApurva is insisting on a screenwriting credit for thefilm. Sir (Mehta) was happy with this cut and he thenspoke to me about this.”

At first, Sameer did not know what to say and thenhe said, “No” because he had given the film four yearsof his life with nothing but that to show for it.

“Apurva kept at it and refused to work any further

unless he was given a screenplay credit for editing this‘fresh approach/ narrative’ to the film. Hansal sir wasin a Catch 22 situation and I could see it. It was diffi-cult for him. He did not want to lose either of us. Asmuch as he fought for me, he finally gave in to Apurva’sdemands and agreed to give him the credit,” he added.

With urbanisation on the rise, there are mul-tiple challenges that the government faces,

including spatial distribution of people andresources, along with the use and consumptionof land. Heritage preservation, therefore, getscompromised in the tussle for survival. But OlgaChepelianskaia, consultant to the United Nationsand INTACH about climate resilient, has a solu-tion. She suggests the concept of a “living her-itage” where remnants of the past are cooptedinto modern aspirations and carried forward.

Olga has worked on sustainable and climateresilience for the urban development in Asianand European cities for about 10 years. After afull time engagement with the French govern-ment and the United Nations, she became anindependent consultant and now advises inter-national institutions and governments on urbanpolicies and urban finance. Her passion forancient architecture inspired her to launch theIndian Built Heritage: Socio-Economic Asset ofSustainable Urban Development programmewithin INTACH.

She said, “The vision behind talking abouthow heritage contributes to sustainable urbandevelopment in India is to shift the perceptionof heritage. Planners and decision makers oftenlook at heritage monuments as an object for con-servation and not as an asset for socio-econom-ic and environmentally sustainable development.I emphasised on the value heritage monumentsbrings to the table when it comes to meetingIndia’s urban development priorities such aspoverty reduction, climate resilience or access tobasic services.”

She is taken back at the condition of India’sliving heritage area as they are not covered evenby the basic provisions. She stated, “In India lessthan one per cent of heritage buildings are pro-tected and it is hardly considered by the munic-ipal governments when developing various cityplans. Protection is required; however thenature of this protection is the key point.Quality of life in a city can be enhancedthrough a combination of adaptive reuse, bet-ter access and uplift of heritage areas which willresult in the enlargement of economic oppor-tunities.”

In her perspective, “We can’t draw parallelsbetween India and European countries in termsof sustainable urban development but Europeanheritage and sustainable urban development walkhand in hand and jointly offer a unique qualityof life. The historic core in European countries

constitutes the identi-ty of the city and pro-vides enhanced quali-ty of life throughspaces full of life: beau-tified river fronts,pedestrian or semi-pedestrian streets host-ing recreational spaces,squares based onancient city planning,multiple use areas andso on. In India we donot have such a holis-tic approach except inPondicherry where themunicipality has coop-erated with the

European commission, INTACH and twoEuropean cities with the objective of achievingurban and economic development throughheritage preservation. As a result, property valueincreased significantly within the heritageprecinct, tourism nearly doubled within the sevenyears of intervention and a large number of jobswere generated.”

She asserted, “A number of industries in Agrawere shut down following the 1997 SupremeCourt Decision to prevent Taj Mahal from pol-lution related damages. However, this step

needed to be accompanied by a well thoughtstrategy of requalification of local people. A num-ber of people who live in Tajganj — an area adja-cent to Taj Mahal, hosting a number of non- pro-tected heritage buildings — could well beexplored and can be made more attractive fortourists by offering them an integrated heritageexperience of homestays, home restaurants, her-itage walks. Of course, such a strategy can onlygo hand-in-hand with the provision of basic ser-vices, which in any case are a responsibility ofthe municipal government.”

She mentioned that for tourists, heritageexperience means holistic experience which notonly includes seeing a monument, but alsoobserving life around it, admiring the connec-tion between the past as well as the present andwandering through the city. She added, “We areplanning to give an experience of a unique har-mony between the heritage monuments andmodern architecture; between tangible andintangible aspects of our history.”

She felt that “individual contribution canmake a huge difference in sustainable planningand design of heritage buildings. At present, itis common to hear from residents of lesserknown heritage areas that heritage does not haveany value in their daily life but I am trying to findout a way to reconnect people with the presentmanifestation of their past.”

)"%��������#)",,

5��5��5?1�����)��������������������� ����� �������������%��%�����$��"����%����"��������"�"��������������%��$%����%���$%�$����/'��4����� 7? ��

<��4����7���

?:����������� ������� ��������� ��������������������!���� �� ���� �����������@

�����������$����������������!���$�.�$�������$����!��������������������5��

�������� ���� �������

Kangana Ranaut, meanwhile,has fresh trouble brewing at

hand. Filmmaker Ketan Mehta hassent her a legal notice for “hijack-ing” his dream project on RaniLakshmi Bai.

Ketan and Kangana were sup-posed to team up for Rani of Jhansi:The Warrior Queen . But theNational Award-winning starrecently announced another filmtitled Manikarnika - the Queen ofJhansi with director Krish. “We sentthe legal notice earlier this week, butthere is no response to it. After welearnt that they are making the filmon the same subject, we decided to gothe legal way. This is complete breachof trust. I believe hijacking a fullydeveloped project is a brazen attack

and this is not acceptable,” said he.

'���� ��#�$���

)����� ������������������������ �����7������������� ������������ ����������,��������� ���������&�����=93$���1219&$/��$&$���������� ��������� ��������� � ���������������#�.��*$&.$* -$0-$

:��6����#��@��������������%����� ���0��.�#�#����������" ��#��0�&�� �=<� ��� ��� ����������������������&��� �����&����������� ���� ������ ���������� �#����=%���� ������ ���������� �������������������&� 5���5���=�.���������#����

��&��� ��� ������� ����������� ������ ����� ��������� &���������+���������+�$�#�������#�=

������ ���� ��� ���� �������

)����������!����!���� �������-���������-���

�!����!�����!������������.0!��;���!���������-�����

����!����!�����������������!����������

� �������������� !

* @&

��������meter

&4 A

.��*':�

/ � � ' 2 � ' � ��������'�� �������'����������$������� &"����������,������������%��������������� ������������������%��������,���������������������� ��� �������� ��������������������� �����������������1�� ��#0�����"���������� ����������� ��0�������,�������������%�� �����- ���-����������������������������� �2�����#�0������������,���������������������������������"�� ��������&"9���������������%��������"������������ �������������� �� ����� ��"������ ���, ��� ��#�$���������������� ���������������������"�� ���-����1����/���� ���������.�����"������������� �=�����%������� ������������������������������ ������� �� �� ���� ���#�F0�����"�������� ������� �� �������� �� ������������ �������1�� ���������� ����������� ������������������� ��� ���,���� �������������������������#�$�� ���������� �������� ��,���� �������� ��� �������I�������J���������� ���������� ����� ��������������� ���������5�-���������#

##�� ��'#������$=��������(����J��K��$��,���9������������������� ��������� ��� ������� ���������������������������� ������������������ ���� ����� ������� �����������$0Q0�.�� ��/��� �3 �������� ����������#�9������ ���� �� �������� ����������� ������� ������������ ������ ��,���������, ������,�� ����,���� ��)A���,� �����������������#�0��������������� ������������������ �,���, ��� ��)H����, ����� ��)?�������)L������������ ������ �,��� ��);��#�0���������!" ���� ������������ ��������������" ����M?������������ �����0��")((��������#�9������� ���������������������� ����2����������� ����� ��M?"M?������,���������������������� ���� ������#

����6��� ���#� �=�'������=��%������� 0���&������ �,������������������������/����������������� ����������� �������L������,������������� ����$�������, ������������ ���������9�,�� ��� ���������#�9�,�� ������������� ��� ������������������������������������ ����������������,�����������������#�F&����������� ������� �������������������I� ��9�,�� �J������� �������������������������������������������#�.������� ��� ����� ��������������$���&����% �,����%������ ��������������� � �������0���������������� ���� �����������E��������� ������,���F���������#�F&������ ����� �����/�����%$�� ����������� ����G����#�2��� �������&�������������������� �/���������� ������������ �� ������� ��������������F�� ������������#

�#�����#��������������������#����=������� 0 �������/�9 ��������3��� ��"� �����-������������� ��.�/9�������� �������� ��� ��()������������������������A� �������������������� ���� �����2����E���� ��)���$���&����=����%&81������������� ������������ �� ������ ���#�9 ���� ���������� ����*�����������������������������2�.���������#�=�������������������&������� �����������-.�����,�����������������$��������O������ ������ ���������� �������#�

0��+��

� ' " > � � �

����� .1/3$9+-+

Mumbai Indians' leg-spinner KarnSharma took four wickets tobowl Kolkata Knight Riders out

for a paltry 107 in 18.5 overs in theirIndian Premier League (IPL) secondqualifier clash at the M ChinnaswamyStadium here on Friday.

Karn (4/16) was brilliant on the nighttaking the wickets of Sunil Narine (10),Gautam Gambhir (12), Colin deGrandhomme (0) and Ishank Jaggi (28)to derail KKR's innings.

Suryakumar Yadav (31) and Jaggi puta semblance of a fight with a 56-run asso-ciation for the sixth wicket but could notscript a turnaround as the former fell inthe 18th over looking to accelerate.

Umesh Yadav (2) was not out asAnkit Rajpoot (4) was the last man to bedismissed.

Morning showed the day as openerChris Lynn (4) was sent back early bymedium pacer Jasprit Bumrah (3/7)with a fullish delivery which the explo-sive Australian tried to loft over mid-onbut was picked up by Keiron Pollard.

The men in purple, who usually scoreat a brisk pace in the Powerplay overs,struggled to get going with the ball notcoming on to the bat even as Gambhircontinued his good form hitting the firstfour of the innings in the third over offMitchell Johnson, playing in place ofMitchell McClenaghan.

Narine, kept quiet by Bumrah,Mitchell Johnson (2/28) and LasithMalinga (1/24), cut loose with an uppishshot over deep midwicket for the first sixof the innings before Karn outfoxed theWest Indian spinner with a googly thatsaw Parthiv Patel effect an easy stump-ing.

Robin Uthappa (1) did not last long,

being trapped plumb by Bumrah, whiletrying to flick across the line.

After six overs, KKR could musterjust 25/3, and skipper Gambhir lost hiswicket five balls into the seventh over.The southpaw was looked good beforeplaying against the turn off Karn forHardik Pandya to pouch the ball at deepmidwicket.

Keeping veteran tweaker HarbhajanSingh on the bench, Karn vindicated hiscaptain Rohit Sharma's faith in him bytaking the wicket of Colin deGrandhomme in the next delivery, ping-ing the New Zealander on his backfootfor an easy leg before decision.

After 10 overs, KKR were totteringat 43/5. In the next four overs,Suryakumar and Jaggi sought to stem therout, scoring 40 runs before their standwas broken by the excellent Karn, takingthe prized scalp of Jaggi.

Piyush Chawla departed adding justtwo to the total and Nathan Coulter-Niletonked Johnson for a six to bring upKKR's 100 in the 17th over before get-ting out.

���� /17�819&

Indian Senior Women's hockey team putup a resilient performance in their 0-3

loss to New Zealand in the Fourth of theFive-Match Series here on Friday.

India made a strong start with animprovised attack, attempting shot on goalbut the Black Sticks defence continued tobe too strong to be beaten. Meanwhile thehosts found an opportunity in the 14thminute with a quick-thinking RachaelMcCann who pumped the ball into thegoal clinching an early 1-0 lead in the firstquarter and put India under pressure.

Following three successive 4-1, 8-2and 3-2 wins in the first three matches,New Zealand looked to dominate today'sgame too. Tessa Jopp fetched the host-team their second goal in the 17thminute. New Zealand earned a penaltycorner which was successfully convertedby Jopp. Down by two goals, Indian strik-ers made strong amends trying differentvariations at converting a goal but couldnot break the Black Sticks defence. In-form Rachael McCann struck her secondgoal of the match in the 26th minute totake New Zealand's lead to a comfortable3-0 at the end of half-time.

The final two quarters saw Indiankeeper Rajani Etimarpu stay busy at thepost, defending the attempts on goal madeby New Zealand. She made some impres-sive saves to keep the Black Sticks fromtaking further lead. The Indian defencetoo stitched together a well-structuredstrategy to ensure a goalless third andfourth quarter. While India had domi-nated with the ball possession (57 per cent

as opposed to New Zealand's 43 per cent)in their previous game where they lost 2-3, New Zealand came up with new tac-tics to deny India any such advantage onFriday.

The final quarter too saw India makestrong attempts on goal and comebackinto the game but New Zealand stayed incontrol to win the match 3-0.

�(�#�����������::�� ��The Indian women's team mid-

fielder Navjot Kaur completed the mile-stone of playing 100 internationalmatches for the country today.

She achieved this distinction inIndia's fourth match at the Five-MatchSeries against New Zealand here onFriday.

Kaur made her international debutin 2012 in a Series against New Zealandin Napier after showcasing talent inJunior Tournaments such as the JuniorAsia Cup and International U-21 tour-nament in the Netherlands where Indiahad finished third.

���� �$/3$&

India's compound men's archery teamtoday advanced to the final of the season's

first World Cup here.The team comprising Abhishek Verma,

Chinna Raju Srither and Amanjeet Singhmade the final after getting the better ofUSA's Reo Wilde, Steve Anderson andBraden Gellenthien 232-230 in a closely-fought semifinal.

Verma then coupled with JyothiSurekha Vennam to enter the bronze medalplay-off in mixed pair event.

However, Indian recurve archers,including Olympians Atanu Das andDeepika Kumari, cut a sorry figure as theybowed out of their respective events early.

Trailing by one point (116-117) after thesecond set, Indian compound men's teambounced back to clinch the third 60-57 with

all perfect 10s including one X (closest tocentre). They then held on to their nervesin the decider to clinch the issue.

The fourth seeded India will take on10th seeds Colombia in tomorrow's sum-mit clash.

In the mixed pair bronze medal match,Verma and Jyothi with take on the USA. Theduo lost to second seeded Korea 152 -158in the semis. In the first major competitionafter last year's Rio Olympics, Atanu andDeepika came up with poor performancesin the recurve section. Atanu made a quar-terfinal exit after going down to Dutch debu-tant Steve Wijler, who later made a dreamfinal by beating three-time Olympic medal-list Im Dong Hyun in the semifinals.

Deepika also made an exit in the last-eight round after losing to Hayakawa Renof Japan 1-7. Recurve mixed combinationof Atanu and Deepika made a quarterfinalexit after a 3-5 defeat to Russia.

Men's recurve team lost to Japan 0-3 inthe quarterfinals while women's recurveteam, seeded sixth, made a first round exitafter being beaten 2-6 by USA.

USA later advanced to the final.

���� /17�819&

But I am not going to act," wasSachin Tendulkar's response

when he was approached for abiopic and the cricket legendconcedes that it took him a whileto accept the idea of a film on hislife.

Fiercely protective of his pri-vacy despite becoming a publicfigure in his teenage, it was noteasy for Tendulkar to open upfor the biopic which is nowready for release.

In the making for almostfive years, 'Sachin: A BillionDreams' by British filmmakerJames Erskine is all set for aworldwide release on May 26.

"When Ravi (Bhagchandka,producer) met me in 2012, hisidea was that the life of othersports personalities have beencovered so there should be a filmon my life. My first reply was:'But I am not going to act'. It tookme a while to say yes," Tendulkartold PTI in an interview here.

Sports biopics are in voguein Bollywood thanks to thesuccess of 'Mary Kom', 'BhaagMilkha Bhaag' and 'M S Dhoni:The Untold Story' but Tendulkarbelieves fictionalising his lifewould not have worked.

"In my case it (fiction) can-not be possible because every-thing is real life. Everyone knows

what has happened to me. If Ihave scored 55 runs, peopleknow that. I cannot turn aroundand make it 155. Ravi saideverything would be capturedfrom real life. So, I was con-vinced that there would be noretakes here."

The cricketer, also called the'Master Blaster' by fans for hisexquisite batting, says he findsthe idea of talking about himself"uncomfortable" but the filmhelped him relive some of themost crucial moments in Indiancricket.

"I continue to be slightlyuncomfortable (to talk aboutmyself). That's why I have gotother guys to talk about me. Ialways wanted to play cricket forIndia. Rest of the things hap-pened around it. And when I gotthere, it was about winning theWorld Cup for India.

"This film is about that. It isabout chasing my dreams. Mydream was not only my dream,it was a dream shared by a bil-lion plus people."

The 2000 match-fixingscandal that rocked Indian crick-et and shook its foundation ishardly ever been discussed byTendulkar. But the trailers of thebiopic suggest that fans canfinally see him addressing thecontroversial topic.

Asked what prompted himto finally open up, Tendulkarsaid, "The ups and downs havebeen there in my life and that'spart and parcel of any sports-man's career. This was notsomething that every sportsmanexperienced. Whatever I havesaid, whatever I know, it isthere for everyone to see in thefilm."

Tendulkar says the film will

also provide an insight into hismind as he dealt with the crestsand troughs of internationalcricket and life.

"The runs that I scored, thehighs and lows, nobody knownwhat is going on in mind inthose moments. I have spokenabout those moments. My fam-ily is talking about myself. Mymother, sister, my brothers andAnjali (wife) have spoken aboutme.

"My relationship with mychildren has been explored andthere are family videos that noone had access to, which arenow a part of the film," herevealed.

Sachin: A billion dreams iswritten and directed by JamesErskine and produced by RaviBhagchandka and CarnivalMotion Pictures under 200NotOut Productions.

94

��0�)��%����)�� ����.������ %�� ��*�,

55���1 �����10��?������@�<+A=����������,������������� � ���'��,������������������ ������������Q�, ����������������&

����������������$%����>��-�"��

7"�#����������������������������&���� ��-%=99=7&/3�0-11�+��1��&*1�H")��;"($/8�A"(�7&/��&/�01

%&-�0�0-11�$0�1���/17

K1$9$/8�9==�18�0=8=�&/$01�%-&8$C'�

3$�1�0==

�+-C$�+�$-�C$8$*$/8��$33&�2+0�$

�1�.9$/�1�=%�$�%&307&0�$�?L"-+/

$��=�&$0&=/�%=-�01�&R0�7&��10�.+0

�=+98�/=0���-&20�$0+-/$-=+/8�$��01%=-�1-�%199�&/�01

);0�=*1-�