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I n the wake of abrogation of Article 370, intelligence inputs suggest that Pakistan has directed terrorist organisations to keep a low profile for now and confine themselves to inciting violence through civil unrest without taking direct part in protests. With international power and media keeping close tabs on development in Kashmir and Indian security forces on high alert, Pakistan can’t take the risk of being caught red handed while sending jehadi elements into the Valley. Apart from strategising unrest, the Pakistani establish- ment has also asked its rogue elements to go for snatching weapons from vulnerable posts and patrol teams and make local youths accountable for such incidents. The local ter- rorist cadre have been instruct- ed to use phones only after Internet is restored to avoid detection. Sharing these inputs here on Tuesday, sources in the security establishment said lat- est intelligence reports indicate Pakistan has directed terrorist organisations to incite pas- sions leading to massive protests. In the event security forces take action resulting in casualties, the law enforce- ment agencies should be held responsible for human rights violations, Pakistan handlers have told terrorists. Unlike in the past when the cadre of terrorist organisations used to take part in protests, the new directive asks them to refrain from doing so to avoid detection, capture or neutrali- sation. As regards security mea- sures, officials said while the local police and paramilitary have fanned out in sensitive urban centres in the Kashmir Valley, the Army is carrying out aggressive patrolling and area domination exercises in the hinterland to prevent terrorists space and time to move. In fact, coupled with the communication lockdown and massive presence of security personnel, the terrorists are holed up in safe houses and are unable to be in touch with their colleagues, sources said. Against this backdrop, no encounters have taken place in the last seven to eight days as the terrorists are unable to move and are directionless as the top leadership of terrorist organisations was neutralised in the last few months. There are about 250 ter- rorists present in Kashmir and officials fear they will carry out attacks once restrictions in place places like Anantnag, Pulwama, Sopore and Shopian, are eased. The security forces are not taking any chances as Pakistan may try to stoke unrest in J&K on the eve of Independence Day celebrations. Continued on Page 4 T he Supreme Court Tuesday refused to interfere with the Centre and the Jammu & Kashmir Government impos- ing restrictions, including shut- down of communication ser- vices, after the abrogation of Article 370 and said “reason- able time” should be given to authorities to ensure normal- cy as the “situation is very sen- sitive”. The apex court said it will have to wait for the “real pic- ture” to emerge and look into “all the pros and cons” before going into the issues raised in the “poorly drafted” and “very carelessly filed” plea with per- haps the petitioner also not knowing the truth of the situ- ation. It took note of the Centre’s stand that it was reviewing the situation in the region on a day-to-day basis as also the reports from district magis- trates, and relaxations are being ordered accordingly. “An individual has come to the court. The situation is very sensitive. Given the seriousness of the situation, the law and order restrictions have been imposed,” said a Bench, com- prising Justices Arun Mishra, MR Shah and Ajay Rastogi. The court also said that it is to be ensured that no life was lost there and posted the mat- ter after two weeks, saying it will wait for normalcy to return. “We are with you on the issue of right to liberty of the people. But we should have a real picture before us,” the Bench told senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy, arguing for Congress activist Tehseen Poonawala, who has chal- lenged the Centre’s decision to impose restrictions and “other regressive measures” in Jammu & Kashmir following the revo- cation of Article 370. Tehseen sought with- drawal of “curfew/restrictions”, blocking of phone lines, the Internet and news channels. His petition was opposed by Attorney General KK Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who said it has to be ensured that the transition takes place peacefully. “We have to ensure that law and order situation in Jammu & Kashmir is main- tained,” Venugopal told the Bench and referred to the July 2016 agitation in Kashmir after encounter of terrorist Burhan Wani and said it took around three months to bring normalcy at that time. Continued on Page 4 S ending out a positive mes- sage to big investors willing to invest in Jammu & Kashmir, Principal Secretary, Industry & Commerce and Tourism Department, Navin K Choudhary on Tuesday announced the State Government has decided to organise the first-ever Investors’ Summit 2019 on October 12-14 in Srinagar and Jammu. Addressing a Press con- ference at Jammu’s Convention Centre, Navin Choudhary said the J&K Investors’ Summit will try to attract investments in various sectors of the econ- omy showcasing Jammu & Kashmir as a favorable invest- ment destination. Choudhary said the inau- gural session of the summit will be held at SKICC, Srinagar, on October 12, while the valedictory ceremony will be held at Jammu University on October 14. The State Government has identified key thrust sectors such as horticulture & post- harvest technologies, tourism & hospitality, film industry, IT & ITeS, handloom & handi- craft, agro & food processing, manufacturing & MSME, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, skills and education, he said. He added that there would also be a Ambassadors’ meet and a media meet at New Delhi next month to ensure huge participation in the summit. Choudhary said about 2,000 dignitaries from indus- try and trade will be invited to attend the summit. CII has been roped in as the national partner for the summit. Continued on Page 4 C ongress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday responded to Jammu & Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik’s offer to send him an air- craft to visit the Valley, saying all he needed was the freedom to travel and meet the people. Rahul’s response came a day after Malik asked the Gandhi scion to fly down to the Valley and observe the situation himself after the latter claimed that there were instances of vio- lence in J&K following the abrogation of Article 370. While senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor too asked the Governor to invite an all-party delegation to the Valley, Congress general sec- retary Priyanka Gandhi in her first reaction on the issue said the Article 370 removal was done in an unconstitutional manner. In accepting the invita- tion, Rahul gave a terse reply to the Governor saying he did not need an aircraft. Malik had invited Rahul to visit J&K, saying he would send an air- craft for him, after the Congress leader said, “People were dying in the State and the situation was not normal as claimed by the Government.” Continued on Page 4 P akistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has asked his countrymen not to live in a “fool’s paradise” as he highlighted that it will not be easy for Islamabad to get the support of the UN Security Council as well as from the Muslim world against India’s decision to withdraw Jammu & Kashmir’s special status. Addressing the media in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir on Monday, Qureshi asked Pakistanis to “wage a new struggle” to get the support of the UNSC mem- bers. “You (people) should not in live fool’s paradise. Nobody will be standing there (in the UNSC) with garlands in hands...Nobody will be there waiting for you,” he said. After India revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, Pakistan announced that it will approach the UN Security Council against New Delhi’s decision. India has categorically told the international community that its move to scrap Article 370 of the Constitution remov- ing the special status to Jammu & Kashmir is an internal mat- ter and has also advised Pakistan to “accept the reality”. Without naming any Muslim country, Qureshi also said the “guardians of Ummah (Islamic community)” might also not back Pakistan on the Kashmir issue due to their economic interest. Continued on Page 4 I n a big jolt to former Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, 10 MLAs of Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) joined the BJP on Tuesday. The saf- fron party, which had no MLAs in Sikkim, is now the main Opposition in the State. The MLAs met BJP work- ing president JP Nadda and joined the party in the presence of its general secretary Ram Madhav, who is incharge of the party’s affairs in North-East. Madhav told reporters that the SDF had a strength of 13 MLAs and its legislature party decided to merge with the BJP. Chamling’s long rule as the head of SDF came to an end in May after over 24 years in power when his party lost the Assembly poll to Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM). Continued on Page 4 A fter controversies erupted over exorbitant prices charged by five-star hotels for cheap food items like bananas and eggs, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has decid- ed to act. Terming it as an unfair trade practice, Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday said the Ministry will seek clarification from the five- star hotels in this regard. The Minister asserted that provisions will also be made while framing rules and regu- lations under the recently enacted Consumer Protection Act to crack down on such cases. Paswan was referring to a viral video in which actor Rahul Bose was seen com- plaining about five-star hotel JW Marriott, Chandigarh, for billing two bananas for 442. Another complaint of charging 1,700 for two boiled eggs by a 5-star hotel in Mumbai has also gone viral. In the egg incident, a cus- tomer, Kartik Dhar, was charged 1,700 for two boiled eggs at the Four Seasons Hotel. The user, who is an author of All The Queen’s Men, cap- tioned the picture, “2 eggs for 1,700 at Four Seasons. Rahul Bose Bhai, Andolan Kare?” Addressing a Press confer- ence, Paswan said there are complaints and reports in social media about overcharg- ing by some five-star hotels for items like bananas and eggs. The Minister wondered how five-star hotels could charge 442 for two bananas and 1,700 for two eggs when these items were sold in the open market at very cheap rates. “How much they (hotels) will charge for services,” he asked. Speaking on the sidelines after the Minister’s Press con- ference, Consumer Affairs Secretary Avinash K Srivastava said, “Prima facie, it is an unfair trade practice. As the Minister has directed, we will seek explanations from these hotels.” He further said action would be taken against hotels if they are found indulging in such unfair practices. The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) had justified the high bills. Defending JW Marriott, FHRAI stated that the hotel did not do anything “ille- gal” and asserted it did the right thing by charging 18 per cent GST on food and beverages served on the hotel premises. Continued on Page 4 T he Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government on Tuesday announced a major relief to the auto rickshaw dri- vers by waiving the fitness test fee and reducing various charges, including penalties. The new order will come into effect on September 1. The Delhi Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, decided to waive the fitness test charge of 600 and reduced the charges for fitness penalty late fee, registration/re- registration, duplicate certifi- cate, hire purchase and permit. In its earlier decisions, the AAP Government had direct- ed manufacturers to cap soft- ware upgradation of auto fare meters at 400. “The fees in respect of grant as well as renewal of permit is contained in Rule 59(1)(a) of Delhi Motor Vehicle Rules, 1993, which is 1,000. It is proposed to reduce this fee to 500. An amendment would be required to be made in Rule 59(1) (a) to give effect to this proposal,” states the proposal approved by the Cabinet. Continued on Page 4 T he Jammu & Kashmir administration on Tuesday said it is hopeful of further relaxations in the security clampdown after the dress rehearsal for the August 15 Independence Day celebra- tions conclude in various dis- tricts. Principal Secretary Rohit Kansal told a press conference here that while prohibitory conditions were relaxed in var- ious parts of Kashmir, the Jammu region was “almost entirely” free of restrictions. A rmy Chief General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday said Pakistan deploying additional military resources along the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir over the last few days is normal and not a matter of concern, asserting that Indian troops are prepared to deal with any security challenge in the region. The Army Chief said every country takes precautionary measures and there is no rea- son to worry about the deploy- ment of additional forces by Pakistan along LoC.

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In the wake of abrogation ofArticle 370, intelligence

inputs suggest that Pakistan hasdirected terrorist organisationsto keep a low profile for nowand confine themselves toinciting violence through civilunrest without taking directpart in protests.

With international powerand media keeping close tabson development in Kashmirand Indian security forces onhigh alert, Pakistan can’t takethe risk of being caught redhanded while sending jehadielements into the Valley.

Apart from strategisingunrest, the Pakistani establish-ment has also asked its rogueelements to go for snatchingweapons from vulnerable postsand patrol teams and makelocal youths accountable forsuch incidents. The local ter-rorist cadre have been instruct-ed to use phones only afterInternet is restored to avoiddetection.

Sharing these inputs here

on Tuesday, sources in thesecurity establishment said lat-est intelligence reports indicatePakistan has directed terroristorganisations to incite pas-sions leading to massiveprotests. In the event securityforces take action resulting incasualties, the law enforce-ment agencies should be heldresponsible for human rightsviolations, Pakistan handlershave told terrorists.

Unlike in the past when thecadre of terrorist organisationsused to take part in protests, thenew directive asks them torefrain from doing so to avoiddetection, capture or neutrali-sation.

As regards security mea-sures, officials said while thelocal police and paramilitaryhave fanned out in sensitiveurban centres in the KashmirValley, the Army is carrying outaggressive patrolling and areadomination exercises in thehinterland to prevent terroristsspace and time to move.

In fact, coupled with thecommunication lockdown and

massive presence of securitypersonnel, the terrorists areholed up in safe houses and areunable to be in touch with theircolleagues, sources said.

Against this backdrop, noencounters have taken place inthe last seven to eight days asthe terrorists are unable tomove and are directionless asthe top leadership of terroristorganisations was neutralisedin the last few months.

There are about 250 ter-rorists present in Kashmir andofficials fear they will carry outattacks once restrictions inplace places like Anantnag,Pulwama, Sopore and Shopian,are eased.

The security forces are nottaking any chances as Pakistanmay try to stoke unrest in J&Kon the eve of IndependenceDay celebrations.

Continued on Page 4

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

&��� ),3�2,.4�

The Supreme Court Tuesdayrefused to interfere with

the Centre and the Jammu &Kashmir Government impos-ing restrictions, including shut-down of communication ser-vices, after the abrogation ofArticle 370 and said “reason-able time” should be given toauthorities to ensure normal-cy as the “situation is very sen-sitive”.

The apex court said it willhave to wait for the “real pic-ture” to emerge and look into“all the pros and cons” beforegoing into the issues raised inthe “poorly drafted” and “verycarelessly filed” plea with per-haps the petitioner also notknowing the truth of the situ-ation.

It took note of the Centre’sstand that it was reviewing thesituation in the region on aday-to-day basis as also thereports from district magis-

trates, and relaxations arebeing ordered accordingly. “Anindividual has come to thecourt. The situation is verysensitive. Given the seriousnessof the situation, the law andorder restrictions have beenimposed,” said a Bench, com-prising Justices Arun Mishra,MR Shah and Ajay Rastogi.

The court also said that itis to be ensured that no life waslost there and posted the mat-ter after two weeks, saying itwill wait for normalcy toreturn. “We are with you onthe issue of right to liberty ofthe people. But we shouldhave a real picture before us,”the Bench told senior advocateManeka Guruswamy, arguingfor Congress activist TehseenPoonawala, who has chal-lenged the Centre’s decision toimpose restrictions and “other

regressive measures” in Jammu& Kashmir following the revo-cation of Article 370.

Tehseen sought with-drawal of “curfew/restrictions”,blocking of phone lines, theInternet and news channels.His petition was opposed byAttorney General KKVenugopal and SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehta, whosaid it has to be ensured thatthe transition takes placepeacefully.

“We have to ensure thatlaw and order situation inJammu & Kashmir is main-tained,” Venugopal told theBench and referred to the July2016 agitation in Kashmirafter encounter of terroristBurhan Wani and said it tookaround three months to bringnormalcy at that time.

Continued on Page 4

��� ������� ��������������������������� �������������� ������������������������ �������������������� ���� ������ ���� �!��

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Sending out a positive mes-sage to big investors willing

to invest in Jammu & Kashmir,Principal Secretary, Industry &Commerce and TourismDepartment, Navin KChoudhary on Tuesdayannounced the StateGovernment has decided toorganise the first-everInvestors’ Summit 2019 onOctober 12-14 in Srinagar andJammu.

Addressing a Press con-ference at Jammu’s ConventionCentre, Navin Choudhary saidthe J&K Investors’ Summitwill try to attract investmentsin various sectors of the econ-omy showcasing Jammu &Kashmir as a favorable invest-ment destination.

Choudhary said the inau-gural session of the summitwill be held at SKICC,

Srinagar, on October 12, whilethe valedictory ceremony willbe held at Jammu Universityon October 14.

The State Government hasidentified key thrust sectorssuch as horticulture & post-harvest technologies, tourism& hospitality, film industry, IT& ITeS, handloom & handi-craft, agro & food processing,manufacturing & MSME,healthcare & pharmaceuticals,skills and education, he said.

He added that there wouldalso be a Ambassadors’ meetand a media meet at NewDelhi next month to ensurehuge participation in the summit.

Choudhary said about2,000 dignitaries from indus-try and trade will be invited toattend the summit. CII hasbeen roped in as the nationalpartner for the summit.

Continued on Page 4

&�� ),3�2,.4�

Congress leader RahulGandhi on Tuesday

responded to Jammu &Kashmir Governor Satya PalMalik’s offer to send him an air-craft to visit the Valley, sayingall he needed was the freedomto travel and meet the people.

Rahul’s response came aday after Malik asked theGandhi scion to fly down to theValley and observe the situationhimself after the latter claimedthat there were instances of vio-lence in J&K following theabrogation of Article 370.

While senior Congressleader Shashi Tharoor tooasked the Governor to invite anall-party delegation to theValley, Congress general sec-retary Priyanka Gandhi in herfirst reaction on the issue saidthe Article 370 removal was

done in an unconstitutionalmanner.

In accepting the invita-tion, Rahul gave a terse reply tothe Governor saying he did notneed an aircraft. Malik hadinvited Rahul to visit J&K,

saying he would send an air-craft for him, after the Congressleader said, “People were dyingin the State and the situationwas not normal as claimed bythe Government.”

Continued on Page 4

&��� ��.���-�2

Pakistan’s Foreign MinisterShah Mahmood Qureshi

has asked his countrymen notto live in a “fool’s paradise” ashe highlighted that it will notbe easy for Islamabad to get thesupport of the UN SecurityCouncil as well as from theMuslim world against India’sdecision to withdraw Jammu &Kashmir’s special status.

Addressing the media inMuzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Monday,Qureshi asked Pakistanis to“wage a new struggle” to get thesupport of the UNSC mem-bers. “You (people) should notin live fool’s paradise. Nobodywill be standing there (in theUNSC) with garlands inhands...Nobody will be therewaiting for you,” he said.

After India revoked Jammuand Kashmir’s special status,Pakistan announced that itwill approach the UN Security

Council against New Delhi’sdecision.

India has categorically toldthe international communitythat its move to scrap Article370 of the Constitution remov-ing the special status to Jammu& Kashmir is an internal mat-ter and has also advisedPakistan to “accept the reality”.

Without naming anyMuslim country, Qureshi alsosaid the “guardians of Ummah(Islamic community)” mightalso not back Pakistan on theKashmir issue due to theireconomic interest.

Continued on Page 4

&�� ),3�2,.4�

In a big jolt to former ChiefMinister Pawan Kumar

Chamling, 10 MLAs of SikkimDemocratic Front (SDF) joinedthe BJP on Tuesday. The saf-fron party, which had no MLAsin Sikkim, is now the mainOpposition in the State.

The MLAs met BJP work-ing president JP Nadda andjoined the party in the presenceof its general secretary RamMadhav, who is incharge of theparty’s affairs in North-East.

Madhav told reporters thatthe SDF had a strength of 13MLAs and its legislature partydecided to merge with the BJP.

Chamling’s long rule as thehead of SDF came to an end inMay after over 24 years inpower when his party lost theAssembly poll to SikkimKrantikari Morcha (SKM).

Continued on Page 4

&�� ),3�2,.4�

After controversies eruptedover exorbitant prices

charged by five-star hotels forcheap food items like bananasand eggs, the Ministry ofConsumer Affairs, Food andPublic Distribution has decid-ed to act. Terming it as anunfair trade practice, UnionFood and Consumer AffairsMinister Ram Vilas Paswan onTuesday said the Ministry willseek clarification from the five-star hotels in this regard.

The Minister asserted thatprovisions will also be madewhile framing rules and regu-lations under the recentlyenacted Consumer ProtectionAct to crack down on suchcases. Paswan was referring toa viral video in which actorRahul Bose was seen com-plaining about five-star hotelJW Marriott, Chandigarh, forbilling two bananas for �442.

Another complaint ofcharging �1,700 for two boiled

eggs by a 5-star hotel inMumbai has also gone viral.

In the egg incident, a cus-tomer, Kartik Dhar, wascharged �1,700 for two boiledeggs at the Four Seasons Hotel.The user, who is an author ofAll The Queen’s Men, cap-tioned the picture, “2 eggs for�1,700 at Four Seasons. RahulBose Bhai, Andolan Kare?”

Addressing a Press confer-ence, Paswan said there arecomplaints and reports insocial media about overcharg-ing by some five-star hotels foritems like bananas and eggs.The Minister wondered howfive-star hotels could charge�442 for two bananas and�1,700 for two eggs when theseitems were sold in the openmarket at very cheap rates.“How much they (hotels) willcharge for services,” he asked.

Speaking on the sidelinesafter the Minister’s Press con-ference, Consumer AffairsSecretary Avinash K Srivastavasaid, “Prima facie, it is an

unfair trade practice. As theMinister has directed, we willseek explanations from thesehotels.” He further said actionwould be taken against hotelsif they are found indulging insuch unfair practices.

The Federation of Hoteland Restaurant Associations of

India (FHRAI) had justified thehigh bills. Defending JWMarriott, FHRAI stated that thehotel did not do anything “ille-gal” and asserted it did the rightthing by charging 18 per centGST on food and beveragesserved on the hotel premises.

Continued on Page 4

!������������ ),3�2,.4��

The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) Government on

Tuesday announced a majorrelief to the auto rickshaw dri-vers by waiving the fitness testfee and reducing variouscharges, including penalties.

The new order will comeinto effect on September 1.

The Delhi Cabinet, chairedby Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal, decided to waive thefitness test charge of �600 andreduced the charges for fitnesspenalty late fee, registration/re-registration, duplicate certifi-cate, hire purchase and permit.

In its earlier decisions, theAAP Government had direct-ed manufacturers to cap soft-ware upgradation of auto faremeters at �400.

“The fees in respect ofgrant as well as renewal ofpermit is contained in Rule59(1)(a) of Delhi Motor Vehicle

Rules, 1993, which is �1,000. Itis proposed to reduce this feeto �500. An amendment wouldbe required to be made in Rule

59(1) (a) to give effect to thisproposal,” states the proposalapproved by the Cabinet.

Continued on Page 4

����������������������������� �����!����������

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The Jammu & Kashmiradministration on Tuesday

said it is hopeful of furtherrelaxations in the securityclampdown after the dressrehearsal for the August 15Independence Day celebra-tions conclude in various dis-tricts.

Principal Secretary RohitKansal told a press conferencehere that while prohibitoryconditions were relaxed in var-ious parts of Kashmir, theJammu region was “almostentirely” free of restrictions.

&��� ),3�2,.4�

Army Chief General BipinRawat on Tuesday said

Pakistan deploying additionalmilitary resources along theLine of Control in Jammu &Kashmir over the last few daysis normal and not a matter ofconcern, asserting that Indiantroops are prepared to dealwith any security challenge inthe region.

The Army Chief said everycountry takes precautionarymeasures and there is no rea-son to worry about the deploy-ment of additional forces byPakistan along LoC.

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The Delhi Police hasdetained several suspects in

connection with the allegedgangrape of a 31-year-old

Uzbekistan national by threemen in a moving car in VasantKunj area.

The incident had occurredon Saturday.

The Uzbekistan national

had approached the police onSaturday and filed a complaintin which she alleged that shewas gangraped and beaten upby three men inside a movingcar in South West Delhi's

Vasant Kunj area.According to a senior

police official, five police teamshave been formed to identifythe accused and bring them tojustice.

"The woman has namedthe three men in the incidentand claimed that she knewthem in person. Based on thecomplaint, a case has beenregistered and the matter is

being investigated. We have detained some

suspects in this case and arequestioning her friends," saidDevender Arya, the DeputyCommissioner of Police

(DCP), South West district. "Police teams are scanning

the CCTV footages of the areato ascertain the woman'sclaims," said the DCP.

"Woman in her complaintstated that her friend, whois also one of the accused,called her to meet onSaturday near a mall inVasant Kunj. He picked herfrom Vasant Kunj, took herto Gurugram in his Scorpiocar in which two of hisfriends were already sit-ting," said the police official.

"The men startedassaulting her and evenbeat her up when she

resisted. The three took turnsto rape her and later, she wasdumped near her flat," said thepolice official.

"When the victim narratedthe whole incident to herfriends, they took her toAIIMS. The hospital staffinformed police. Medicalreport is awaited," said thepolice official.

The woman had come toIndia two months ago and wasliving with her friends inMadangir area in South eastDelhi. One of the accused hadhad befriended her sevenmonths ago on ‘Facebook’,police said.

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A22-year-old Nepali citizenwas allegedly stabbed to

death by his compatriot afterthe scuffle broke out betweenthe two over petty issue. Theincident occurred in CentralDelhi's Desh Bandhu Gupta(DBG) road on Monday night.

Police have arrested theaccused Vishal while thedeceased has been identifiedas Virendra. Vishal used towork in a hotel in city andVirendra used to work at a carwashing station in the area.Police said that both are nativeof Nepal and used to live nearDBG road area.

According to a seniorpolice official, they receivedinformation regarding theincident around 4.30 pm onMonday following which apolice team rushed to thespot.

"Virendra was taken tonearby hospital where doctorsdeclared him brought dead.

Doctors said that he died dueto excessive bleeding," said thesenior police official.

"During initial investiga-tion it was revealed that bothVirendra and Vishal kneweach other for a quite longtime. On Monday evening, ascuffle broke out betweenVishal and Virendra. Theargument got so heated thatVishal took out a knife andstabbed Virendra on his neck,"said the police official privy toinvestigation.

"A case under appropriatesections has been registered atDBG Police Station andweapon used in crime hasbeen recovered from the possession of the accused,"said the police official addingthat further investigation isgoing on.

However, a neighbour ofboth accused and deceasedsaid that Virendra was addict-ed to alcohol and when heused to drunk, he used to fightwith Vishal. "Virendra used tobully Vishal," said a neighbour.

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Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal said that the AAP

Government will be able toprovide 24 hours water supplyto residents in the comingfour-five years. Kejriwal wasspeaking at Neeti Bagh Club onthe topic of ‘water leakage pre-vention’ on Tuesday.Addressing the gathering, hesaid that the way migration istaking place towards urbanareas and population is explod-ing, water is certainly to be amajor challenge in the comingdays.

Highlighting the findingsof Niti Aayog, he said that theplanning body has come outwith a list of 21 cities which aregoing to face a major water cri-sis and it includes Delhi also. "Ibelieve that water is going to bea major challenge in the com-ing days, but I am of the viewthat the Niti Aayog report is abit alarmist. I can say that thekind of steps the Delhi

Government is taking in regardto water conservation, thenational capital will not faceany alarming situation on waterfront," Kejriwal said.

"I would like to inform youthat in 2015, when we assumedoffice only 58 per cent ofDelhiites was getting pipedwater and rest of areas of Delhiwas being supplied waterthrough tankers but todaywithin four and a half years, thenumber of Delhiites gettingpiped water has significantlyrisen to 93 per cent," he added.

Elaborating it further, hesaid "We took it upon ourselvesas a mission to provide pipeddrinking water to entire Delhi.There are legal difficulties inthe remaining seven percentareas. Barring these, in allother areas of Delhi there willget piped water during thenext year and a half," the chiefminister said.

Stressing that theGovernment is now also focus-ing on water management, he

said that currently some areasget one hour water supply,some get half an hour, andsome areas get supply in themorning while some get in theevening. "I am aware about theareas which get water supply at3 AM and even at midnight. Allthis needs to be made system-atic and as a first step waterconservation will be the majorinitiative, water recharging andwater recycling is being takenup on priority," he said.

Talking about water con-servation to mitigate the prob-lem of water scarcity in Delhi,Kejriwal said that DelhiGovernment has made effectiveand elaborate plans on thisfront to reduce dependent onHaryana and Uttar Pradesh forwater supply.

"There is so much waterduring monsoon whichHaryana cannot store andreleases it into Yamuna. Duringrains in a single day, Haryanareleases six lakh cusecs of waterinto Yamuna and with no other

option; Delhi releases this waterto Uttar Pradesh. If we canstore this water, and if we storesingle day's water during rainfor recharging, we can solveDelhi's water shortage problem,he said. We have started apilot to recharge water on 40

acres of land on Yamuna flood-plains by creating an under-ground natural reservoir byremoving the top soil cover, hesaid, adding that the idea is thatnatural reservoirs will allow therainwater from overflowingYamuna to percolate down-

wards and this will help inincreasing the ground waterlevel to a great extent. Kejriwalalso announced that the gov-ernment will launch a mega-project on 1500 acres ofYamuna floodplains next yearif the exiting plan is successful.

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Heavy rain acrossGurugram led to several

roads being flooded and traf-fic coming to a halt on Tuesdayafternoon. Commuters on theDelhi-Gurugram Expresswayand other major stretches in thecity were stuck in traffic afterthe city received 87 mm of rain.Three hours of rain complete-ly choked traffic movements inthe entire city including theNational Highway.

Traffic was thrown out ofgear in Gurugram as com-muters got stuck in trafficsnarls, including an over four-kilometre jam between Delhi-Gurugram border to RajivChowk on the NationalHighway.

"Due to unprecedentedrainfall, few areas and roadshad got affected by water-log-ging during peak traffic hours

in the evening. Withthe support of engi-neering staff of civicbodies and trafficpolice, excess water wasdrained off and vehic-ular movement wassustained," said a dis-trict administrationofficer.

The traffic move-ment on the Delhi-Gurugram Expresswaywas severely hit due to water-logging. Not only highway andstate highways Gurugram'smajor roads like Hero HondaChowk, Signature Tower, RajivChowk, Huda City CentreRoad and more were found tobe waterlogged.

The "crucial points" wherethe vehicles were stuck areHero Honda Chowk, RajivChowk, Court Road, SignatureTower Chowk, Jharsa Chowk,Iffco Chowk, Shankar Chowk,Subhash Chowk, Sohna Road,

Golf Course Extension Road,the main Sohna Chowk,Maharana Pratap Chowk, AtulKataria Chowk, IMT ManesarChowk, HUDA City Centrestation, Sukhrali Road, oldDelhi-Gurugram Road, Sector30 underpass, Sector 22-23Road, between Jawala Mill andDundahera and service lane ofthe eastern side of the highway.

Thousands of commuterson the stretch, travellingbetween Delhi-Gurugram bor-ders to Rajiv Chowk took sev-

eral hours to cross the4 km stretch.Commuters hit thesnarl as soon as theyentered Sarhaul borderand moved bumper tobumper till the KherkiDaula Toll Plaza.

Many residentstook to Twitter andcomplained aboutwater- logging thatimpacted normal life

in several parts in Gurugram.Pictures and videos of vehiclesand people wading throughankle-deep rain waters aredoing rounds on social media.

"We have improved uponour city infrastructure in thelast three years, which kept thecity running even during theheavy downpour. We will learnfrom our experiences andensure that areas and junctionswhich experienced water-log-ging, can be improved upon forfuture," the officer said.

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In a bid to make Delhi green-er and pollution-free, the Delhi

Development Authority (DDA)has planned to convert the 64.22acres of land located in ash dis-posal area of Badarpur ThermalPower Plant to develop an ECOpark. The Park will be developedby the National Thermal PlantCorporation (NTPC) with thetitle from "Manufacturing" to"Recreational". About two lakhtrees will be planted. Besides, theAuthority has also decided tochange the land use of 19800 sq.m. of land located at Shastri Parkto boost sports activities the EastDelhi by creating a CommunitySports Centre.

The proposal has beenpassed by the Lieutenant

Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal in ameeting held on Tuesday.

The L-G has furtherapproved various other propos-als of DDA such as launching ofonline portal for commercialbuilt-up properties, allotment ofInstitutional Plots to Old AgeH o m e s / O r p h a n a g e -/Reformatory through e-Auction, Policy for disposal ofGroup Housing plots through e-Auction route. The DDA hasalso extended the time for com-pleting construction on resi-dential plots allotted by DDA inRohini Residential Scheme-1981up to Dec 31, 2020. Further, thepolicy for renewal of 90 yearsexpired term leases of Residentialas well as Mixed Land-use in 23Nazul-I Estates has also beenapproved.

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SC/ST students of DelhiGovernment schools will

continue paying �50 as CBSEboard exam fee and the rest ofthe revised amount, whichcomes to �1,150, will be paid tothe board by the cityGovernment, the CentralBoard of Secondary Educationsaid on Tuesday.

The decision for giving therelief to the Scheduled Caste andScheduled Tribe students herewas taken following a directionof the HRD Ministry, CBSE sec-retary Anurag Tripathi said.

"On directions of the HRDMinistry, the board has decid-ed to restore the practice ofcharging only �50 from schoolsfor SC and ST candidates ofDelhi Government schools for10th and 12th Board examina-tions.

For the payment of differ-ence of increased fees per can-didate, the board will take upthe reimbursement with theState Government once num-ber of candidates is finalised,"Tripathi said. The CBSE lastweek notified an increase in theexamination fees for Classes 10and 12, registration fees forClasses 9 and 11 and migrationfees.

The fees for general cate-gory students for Classes 10and 12 were doubled from�750 to �1,500 for five subjects.

For the Scheduled Caste(SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST)students, who were paying�375 earlier, the fee was raisedto �1,200. Under a specialarrangement in the nationalcapital, these students were onlypaying �50, while the DelhiGovernment was paying the restof the amount as subsidy.

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US President Donald Trumphas made it clear that his

offer of mediation on Kashmiris not on the table anymore, theIndian ambassador has said.

Ambassador HarshVardhan Shringla said onMonday that America'sdecades-old policy on Kashmirhas been no mediation but toencourage India and Pakistanto resolve their differencesbilaterally.

"President Trump hasmade it very clear that his offerto mediate on Jammu &Kashmir is dependent on bothIndia and Pakistan accepting it.Since India has not acceptedthe offer of mediation, he hasmade it clear that this is not onthe table anymore,” Shringlatold Fox News, the favouritenews channel of the US presi-dent.

On July 22, during hisjoint media appearance withPakistan Prime Minister ImranKhan at the White House,President Trump stunned Indiaby saying that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi sought hismediation/arbitration on the

Kashmir issue, a claim that wasseen by many as outlandish andcarrying little credibility.

India asserted that no suchrequest was made by PrimeMinister Modi to the US pres-ident and all issues will have tobe resolved with Islamabadbilaterally.

A week later, Trumpclimbed down from his previ-ous statement, saying it was upto India and Pakistan to resolvethe Kashmir issue but he wasready to assist if the two SouthAsian neighbours wanted himto help in resolving the issue.

He said India made it clear

to America that any discussionon the issue, if at all warrant-ed, will only be with Pakistanand only bilaterally, which haslong been India's stated posi-tion.

Shringla said thatAmerica's policy on Kashmirhas been no mediation but toencourage the two South Asianneighbours to resolve theirdifferences bilaterally includingon Kashmir, the pace and scopeof which would be chosen byNew Delhi and Islamabad.

“That has been the UnitedStates longstanding policy,” hesaid in response to a questionreferring to America's decades-old policy.

Shringla said UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres wasalso very clear on the issue.

"He says, this issue has tobe resolved bilaterally betweenIndia and Pakistan in keepingwith the agreements that thetwo countries have signed: theSimla Agreement and theLahore Declaration,” he said.

"So, this is not an issue thatis to be settled with, third par-ties. I think that was somethingthat President Trump clarifiedand made clear,” Shringla said.

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From Page 1Possibility of IED blasts

and fidayeen (suicide) attackspose a challenge and the com-manders are redrawing theirtactics to prevent any untowardincident.

The Army is also bracingfor an increase in ceasefireviolations on the Line ofControl(LoC) by the PakistanArmy to give covering fire tonearly 300 terrorists waitingacross the border to infiltrateinto the State. Officials havealso not ruled the possibility ofthe Pakistan Army targetingcivilian hamlets on the Indianside during ceasefire violationsto spread panic. Under domes-tic pressure to show solidaritywith the Kashmiris, Pakistanmay also resort to triggeringterrorist incidents not only inthe state but other parts of thecountry, sources said.

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From Page 1CII will support the State

Government by way of makinglist available of Industry &Trade to be invited, holdingroadshows both within andoutside the country and otherorganisational aspects of thesummit.

The State Government hasalready hired Ernest & Young(E&Y) as the knowledge part-ner andPricewaterhouseCoopers(PWC) as the media manage-ment partner through trans-parent bidding process. E&Ywill be responsible to do thedocumentation of various poli-cies, sectoral policies and otherincentives available in the State.

The Principal Secretaryfurther informed that Road-shows have been planned with-

in the country at various Statesincluding Ahmedabad,Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata,Bangalore and Chennai. Inaddition, the roadshows willalso be organised in countrieslike Dubai, Abu Dhabi,London, Netherlands,Singapore and Malaysia.

He said that the objectiveof holding these roadshows isto sensitise the potentialinvestors regarding the oppor-tunities available as well assupport and incentives to beprovided by the StateGovernment.

Divisional Commissioner,Jammu, Sanjeev Verma;Deputy Commissioner Jammu,Sushma Chauhan; MD Jammu& Kashmir Trade PromotionOrganisation (JKTPO),Ravinder Kumar; AdditionalSecretary, Industries, RameshKumar; Director Industries &Commerce, Jammu, AnooMalhotra; Joint Director,Information Jammu, NareshKumar, besides representativesof CII were present on theoccasion.

.����/������������������ #��,��01 From Page 1

While SKM won 17 seats,the SDF was placed a close sec-ond with 15. The effectivestrength of SDF is 13 as two ofits MLAs got elected from twoseats and since then resignedfrom one seat each.

By poll for three seats isdue in October. Total strengthof Sikkim assembly is of 32MLAs.

BJP which had not won asingle seat in the assembly pollis now in position to competefor power.

Barring Sikkim, the BJPis running the government asthe main party or in alliancewith regional parties in all thenortheastern states.

The SDF was a saffron allyearlier but now SKM hasreplaced it as a member of theBJP-headed North East

Democratic Alliance.The MLAs joining the BJP

include Dorjee TsheringLepcha, who served as a min-ister in the Chamling govern-ment for three times and is afive-term MLA, and three-term MLA UgenGyatso.

Lepcha said they wereimpressed with the “look east”of the Narendra ModiGovernment, as he highlight-ed that his state is bounded byChina, Bhutam and Nepal.This is the first time that MLAsof a regional party in Sikkimhas joined a national party “enbloc”, he said.

“We want lotus to bloom inSikkim,” he said, referring tothe BJP’s election symbol.

Madhav said the BJP willplay the role of a constructiveOpposition in the State.

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From Page 1The FHRAI had argued

that unlike a retail store wherebananas could be purchased atmarket price, a hotel offers ser-vice, quality, plate, cutlery,accompaniment, sanitised fruit,ambience and luxury, and notjust the commodity alone.

The Minister also said thatthe Government will makerules to check such practicesunder the ConsumerProtection Act that was recent-ly passed by Parliament.Paswan assured that the Centrewill within three months framerules and set up an authority toimplement the newly enactedConsumer Protection Act.

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In an unprecedented move, asenior US Congressman has

apologised to Indian Americansfor not consulting them beforeshooting off a letter to Secretaryof State Mike Pompeo toexpress his concerns on the sit-uation in Kashmir after Indiascrapped the special status ofJammu & Kashmir.

Congressman Tom Suozziin a letter to Pompeo on August9 said the action by the Indiangovernment in Kashmir "risksprovoking mass social unrest..."

"These new restrictions onthe autonomy of the state andthe rights of Kashmiris couldalso embolden extremists andterrorists to act," Suozzi said inhis letter after India scrappedArticle 370 of the Constitutionthat gave special status toJammu and Kashmir and bifur-cated the state into two UnionTerritories.

Agitated over the letter,several Indian Americans, whoconstitute a significant part ofSuozzi's Congressional Districtin New York and had played akey role in his election andfund raising, flooded the officeof the Congressman with angrymessages. Suozzi called an

emergency meeting of IndianAmericans, which was attend-ed by more than 100 Indiancommunity members, whodemanded the lawmaker towithdraw his letter.

Suozzi in a statement said,"On Sunday, I met with 100 ofmy Indian-American con-stituents regarding my recent let-ter to Secretary Pompeo express-ing my concerns about recentdevelopments in Kashmir."

"Based upon my meeting itis clear that it was a mistake tonot consult with some of myIndian-American friends andsupporters before

I sent the letter. I shouldhave. I am sorry. If I had metwith them before sending theletter, I would have framed myconcerns differently,” Suozzisaid. He said that throughouthis career in public service, hehas been an ardent supporter ofIndia, their sovereignty, andhave always stood with them intheir fight against terrorism.

The US-India relationshipwill be one of the most impor-tant over the next 50 years andbeyond, he said, adding that hehas spent his time in Congresspromoting and elevating thisrelationship and will continueto do so.

From Page 1“Different people in the

world have their own interests.India is a market of (over) bil-lion people...A lot of peoplehave invested there (India).We often talks about Ummahand Islam but the guardians ofUmmah have also madeinvestments there (India) andthey have their own interests,”he said.

Qureshi’s statement cametwo days after Russia becomesthe first UNSC member toback India’s move on Jammu &Kashmir, saying that thechanges in the status are with-in the framework of the IndianConstitution.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi said on Tuesday

Sushma Swaraj as ExternalAffairs Minister transformedher ministry from being boundto protocol to one oriented to“people’s call” and recalled shehad urged him to deliver hisfirst UN speech from a pre-pared text and not speak impromptu.

Joined by leaders from allmajor parties, Modi paid trib-utes to the BJP stalwart, whodied last week, at a condolencemeeting here.

The PM said he learnt a lotfrom her and then spoke abouthis speech at the UnitedNations General Assembly in2014, months after he had assumed the office for thefirst time.

After she received him, hesuggested that they sit together as he had to deliver his

speech the next day, Modi said.

Sushma enquired wherehis speech was and he said henever writes his speeches as hefinds it difficult.

In the meeting PM recalledher last tweet to him congrat-ulating on abrogation of Art370 in Jammu & Kashmir andsaying that she was waiting tosee this day in her life time.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated onTuesday a special dynamic system of over 800 LED lights thathave been installed on the facade of Parliament House to enhancethe building’s grandeur. According to Lok Sabha secretariat offi-cials, 875 LED lights, which will change colour every few sec-onds, have been placed on the facade of the Parliament House.These are power efficient and uses only one-fifth of the electricitycompared to other types of lights. Members of Parliament werealso invited for the inauguration, the officials said, adding thatthe lighting system would enhance the beauty and visibility ofthe Parliament building. A similar lighting system was installedon the South and North Block at Raisina Hills in 2017. PTI

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Expelled BJP MLA KuldeepSengar along with his aides

entered into a "criminal con-spiracy" to deter and silence theUnnao rape survivor's father sothat he cannot pursue with hiscomplaint, a Delhi court onTuesday said while framingmurder and other chargesagainst them.

District Judge DharmeshSharma clubbed two casesrelated to the alleged murder ofthe rape survivor's father andthe other related to allegedlyframing him in a case of pos-session of illegal arms.

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From Page 1According to the Cabinet

proposal, “The Governmenthas further decided to waivethe Global Positioning System(GPS) tracking charges andSIM card charges paid by theauto-rickshaw drivers andowners. Currently, an amountof �100 per month plus GST ischarged for GPS tracking and�495 plus GST per year for SIMrecharge and activation butnow the charges will be paid bythe transport department”.Besides, the fitness fee and fit-ness certificate which is madefor �600 will be zero, while thefitness penalty late fee has been

reduced to �300 + 20 per dayfrom �1,000 (plus 50 per day),registration and re-registra-tion have been reduced from�1,000 to �300. The duplicateregistration certificate will beissued for �150, instead �500,�150 will be charged for own-ership transfer and the penal-ty charges has been reduced toRs 100 per month from �500per month. Further, the hirepurchase charges and addi-tion charges have been reducedto �500 from �1500.

All fresh changes will intocome into effect fromSeptember 1, 2019. Only thefees in respect of grant as wellas renewal of permit is con-tained in Rule 59(1)(a) of theDelhi Motor Vehicle Rules,1993, shall come into effectfrom October 15 by when nec-essary changes in DMVR shallbe made by TransportDepartment, states the pro-posal.

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Against the backdrop ofrepealing of special status

to Jammu & Kashmir underArticle 370 and heavy securitycover in Jammu & Kashmir,Army Chief General BipinRawat said on Tuesday theArmy is committed to onceagain having cordial relationswith the people of the State justas it were in the 1970s and 80s.He also reiterated that the secu-rity forces are ready to deal withany challenge from Pakistan.

Elaborating upon the tieswith local populace, the ArmyChief observed that “the rela-tions of the armed forces withthe general public of Kashmirused to be very cordial in the1970s and 80s. We will keepgood relations with the gener-al public. It would be great ifthat kind of camaraderiebetween the Army and gener-al public begins again. Weused to meet the general pub-lic without guns at that time.”

His views come at a timewhen the entire Kashmir val-ley is under unprecedentedsecurity umbrella to preventany untoward incidents.

Stressing this point abouthaving cordial relations withthe local people, Rawat, how-ever, assured that the countryhad nothing to fear especiallyafter statements from PrimeMinister Imran Khan warningabout the likelihood of aPulwama-type incident. FortyCentral Reserve Police Force(CRPF) men had died inFebruary this year in Pulwamain a suicide attack.

On Pakistan deployingadditional military resourcesalong the Line of Control (LoC)

over the last few days, Rawatsaid it was normal and not amatter of concern even as heasserted that Indian troops areprepared to deal with any secu-rity challenge in the region.

The Army Chief said everycountry takes precautionarymeasures and there is no reasonto worry about the deploymentof additional forces by Pakistanalong LoC. “That’s normal.Everybody does precautionarydeployment and movement ofprecautionary resources. Weshould not get too concernedabout it,” Rawat said on the side-lines of an event.

This assertion came whenhe was asked about Pakistanincreasing the number oftroops along the LoC daysafter India removed specialstatus to Jammu and Kashmir.The Army chief said Indianforces are prepared to dealwith any security challengesalong the LoC.

On whether the hostilitiesalong the LoC are going to go upin the days to come, Gen Rawatsaid the choice is with Pakistan.“If the adversary wants to acti-vate the LoC, the choice is his,”the Army chief said.

The Army is on high alertalong the LoC to effectivelyrepulse any possible Pakistanimisadventure in the wake ofIndia’s decisions on J&K. Top

Army commanders in J&K areclosely monitoring the overallsecurity situation in the regionto thwart any civil disturbancesfollowing the Centre’s decisions.

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With the Jammu & KashmirReorganisation Act in

place, the Election Commission(EC) on Tuesday held internaldiscussions on different aspectsof redefining the boundaries ofAssembly constituencies in thetwo new Union Territories.The meeting was attended byChief Election CommissionerSunil Arora, election commis-sioners Ashok Lavasa andSushil Chandra, and othersenior officials of poll body.

There were indications thatAssembly elections in the state

could be held around October-November; however it seemsunlikely that it will be con-ducted before next year, sincethe delimitation exercise willtake a few months. Electionscannot he held in the State afterNovember, keeping in viewthe weather conditions.

Sources in the EC said itwas a meeting to inform thecommission members aboutthe provisions of the Act andthe process that was followedfor carrying out delimitationwhen new States such asAndhra Pradesh and Telanganawere carved out. Sources didnot comment on how soon thepoll panel will begin theprocess of delimitation as thedecision to start delimitation orsetting up delimitation com-mission will be done by theMinistry of Home Affairs.

Sources said the Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA) is yet toformally write to the poll panelon the issue of reorganisation ofthe State and the delimitationexercise as per the Jammu &Kashmir Reorganisation Act.Senior EC officials are learnt tohave briefed the Chief Election

Commissioner and fellowElection Commissioners aboutthe Act. Once the EC gets a for-mal word from the

Government, it will call officialsfrom the MHA and Jammu &Kashmir for discussions, thesources said.

As of now, Kashmir regionhas 46 seats followed by Jammuregion with 37 and Ladakhwith four. The BJP in Jammuand Kashmir has been raisingthe issue of reorganisation ofthe State so that Jammu gets alarger share of seats in the 87-member State Assembly.

Delimitation is the processof fixing limits or boundariesof territorial constituencies ina country or a province with alegislative body. According toSection 60 of the Act, “Thenumber of seats in theLegislative Assembly of Unionterritory of Jammu & Kashmirshall be increased from 107 to114”. According to the Act, theUnion Territory of Jammu &Kashmir will have an Assembly.The Union Territory of Ladakhwill not have an Assembly.

The exercise of delimita-tion will be carried out in J&Kafter over two decades, in 2002,the J&K Assembly had passeda law putting a freeze on freshdelimitation of seats till 2026.

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India is likely to meet the dead-line of October 2, 2019, for

becoming an Open DefecationFree (ODF) nation. Launchingthe Swachchh Survekshan 2020,the fifth edition of the annualcleanliness survey, Union Housingand Urban Affairs MinisterHardeep Singh Puri on Tuesdaysaid as many as 4,284 cities in 24States have been certified OpenDefecation-Free (ODF) by now.

“The remaining 150 areexpected to be certified by October2, this year. More than 98 per centof our toilet construction targetshave been met. We are on track toachieve our sanitation targets,”Puri said.

On this occasion, theSwachchh Survekshan 2020Toolkit, SBM Water PLUS Protocoland Toolkit, Swachchh Nagar - anintegrated waste management Appand Artificial Intelligence enabledmSBM App were also launched.People will be able to get theirhousehold waste picked up byurban municipal bodies. Peoplewill have to pay to civic bodies toavail the service through SwachchhNagar app. They can also track thewaste collection vehicle on the app,ensuring accountability of munic-ipal corporations.

A theme song featuringKangana Ranaut, singers KailashKher and Monali Thakur was alsolaunched. The Swachchh BharatMission (SBM) is one of the largestcleanliness drives in the world and

is also an attempt to initiate behav-ioural change.

Talking about the SwachchhNagar app, Ministry’s SecretaryDurga Shanker Mishra said peoplewill be able to use the app to placea request to have solid waste, con-struction and demolition waste andwet waste picked up by the localcivic body after making a payment.

A water plus protocol, whichaims to provide a guideline forcities and towns to ensure nountreated waste water is releasedinto the environment, enablingsustainability of the sanitationvalue chain, was also launched.

Earlier, Puri said the SwachchhSurvekshan League 2020 (SS League2020) was launched with the objec-tive of sustaining the on ground per-formance of cities along with con-tinuous monitoring of service levelperformance on cleanliness.

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It’s not just the human beings but animalsin the different zoos of the country also

battled two different life-threatening extremeweather conditions — heat and cold strokes— which took a fatal toll on at least 70 four-legged animals in captivity across the coun-try in the last three years, since 2016-17.

Andhra Pradesh which recorded maxi-mum temperatures of over 45 degree Celsiusin some of its stations topped the list with13 animal deaths due to heat stroke whilefreezing temperatures killed 18 captive ani-mals in various zoos in Haryana.

According to the data tabled inParliament recently, in last three years since2016-17 in Andhra Pradesh a total 13 ani-mals died in GVK Industries Deer Park, SriVenkateswara Zoological Park due to heatstroke while in Bihar’s Sanjay GandhiBiological Park, excessive heat took toll onfour animals during the period.

In Jharkhand, five animals died due toextreme heat in Jawaharlal Nehru BiologicalPark while in Tata Steel Zoological Park,three felines including infants couldn’t sur-vive the cold conditions. In Haryana’s Minizoo in Bhiwani, at least 18 animals couldn’tbear the cold temperature and died while inWest Bengal’s Padmaja Naidu HimalayanZoological Park, nine captive animals dieddue to Hypothermia.

In Gujarat zoos — Indroda NaturePark, Kamla Nehru Zoological Garden andSayaji Baug Zoo — four animals died due toheat conditions during the period.

A senior official from the Central ZooAuthority (CZA) which is a regulatory bodyfor all the zoos in the country said that withrespect to captive animals housed in recog-nised zoos, Schedule 4(3) of Rule 10 underthe Recognition of Zoo Rules, 2009 mandates‘the zoo shall ensure that the enclosure is safeand secure for the animals, animal keepersand the visitors and has requisite space forfree movement, exercise and expression ofnatural behaviour by the animals.’

Accordingly it is the responsibility of Zoomanagement to make necessary arrange-ments in the animal enclosures to protect theanimals from extreme climatic conditionsduring peak summer and winter seasons.

He also said States have been asked toconstitute a Health Advisory Committee toadvise zoo operators on animal healthcarerelated matters. In nine out of the last 10years (till 2017) India has suffered from heat-waves which have killed close to 8,000 peo-ple, as per reports.

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Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoion Tuesday said the CBI has

not stood up to judicial scruti-ny when it comes to politicallysensitive high profile cases.

“In a number of high-pro-file and politically sensitivecases the agency has not beenable to meet the standards ofjudicial scrutiny. Equally true itis that such lapses may not havehappened infrequently. Suchinstances reflect systemic issuesand indicate a deep mismatchbetween institutional aspira-tions, organisational design,working culture, and governingpolitics.” Justice Gogoi saidwhile delivering the 18th DPKohli Memorial Lecture.

Given the intense scrutinythat working of the CBI is beingsubjected to, public perceptionof the agency must be of thehighest degree. Any gap

between public perception andthe quality of institutional per-formance, would adverselyimpact the governance of thenation, which we can ill afford,the CJI said.

“Why is it that wheneverthere are no political overtonesto the case, the CBI does a goodjob? A reverse situation led tothe celebrated case of VineetNarain vs UOI, wherein the SCexpressing concern at the state-of-affairs, laid down explicit

guidelines for protecting theintegrity of the force. However,given that the superintendenceand control of the agency con-tinues to, in large measure, liewith the executive by virtue ofSection 4 of the Delhi SpecialPolice Establishment Act 1946,the possibility of it being usedas a political instrumentremains ever present. I have nodoubt that there is more thanenough strength within theorganisation to deal with any

such situation,” he said.Highlighting the concerns

regarding functioning of theCBI, the CJI said constitution-al and legal ambiguity sur-rounding federal institutions isnot entirely unheard of, but lackof clearly demarcated spheres offunctioning and overlappingareas of influence severely com-prises both the integrity andefficacy of the institution.Under the Delhi Special PoliceEstablishment Act 1946, forconduct or continuance ofinvestigation into offences com-mitted with the territory of astate, consent of the state is cru-cial. Given vested interests orbureaucratic lethargy, such con-sent is often either denied ordelayed, severely compromisingthe investigation.

“Additionally, a patch workof legislations governing thefunctioning of CBI adverselyaffects inter-institutional coor-

dination, both horizontally andvertically. The result of multi-plicity of institutions results isan aggressive competition forscarce resources and inter-institutional ‘turf-war’. Theseset of issues arise in large mea-sure from lack of a compre-hensive statute protecting theagency’s autonomy,” he saidwhile advocating a statutorystatus for the agency.

The gap in workforce inCBI is both qualitative andquantitative. Such gaps existnot merely on the operationalend but also on the commandside with 15 per cent posts inExecutive Ranks, 28.37 percent in Law Officers and 56.17per cent in Technical Officerlying vacant. Potential ramifi-cations may compromise boththe quality of investigations andthe policy design, formulationand implementation efforts,he added.

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Stressing that the situation inthe Valley will be normal

very soon, Union Information& Broadcasting MinisterPrakash Javadekar on Tuesdaysaid the Congress is speakingin different voices on the spe-cial status of Jammu & Kashmirbecause of its “frustration anddirectionless politics”.

“This is Congress’ frustra-tion, despair and directionlesspolitics. Karan Singh,Jyotiraditya Scindia, MilindDeora, RPN Singh and otherleaders are talking one thing andP Chidambaram, Mani ShankarAiyar saying another thing. Theparty is in perennial confusion.They never had a clear stand,”Javadekar told reporters.

He also said the people ofJammu & Kashmir celebrated

Eid happily.“Let me say that after

Article 370 people of Kashmirwill progress and will get therights that have been denied tothem in the last 70 years. Thatis why they are happy. Peopletried and even expected distur-bances in Jammu & Kashmir.

“The way the people cele-brated and how they came outshows they are happy. Kashmir

will get normal very soon. Butif some people see Palestine inKashmir then it is their nega-tive thought. Chidambaram isonly trying to communalise theissue and it is dirty politics,”Javadekar said.

He asserted that Pakistanoccupied Kashmir (PoK) is a partof India and representative seatsfor it will be left vacant, as wasdone earlier, in the Assembly.

Accusing Chidambaram ofcommunalising the issue, hesaid the people of Jammu &Kashmir are happy with thedecision to revoke the state’sspecial status under Article370. Chidambaram on Mondayalleged that the BJP scrappedthe special status of J&K as theregion is “dominated” byMuslims, a remark condemnedby the ruling party as “provoca-tive and irresponsible”.

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Srinagar: Two hours in thequeue and just about two min-utes on the phone. That's thenew equation many Kashmirisare dealing with as they line upoutside the DeputyCommissioner's office here,waiting for their turn to speakto their families and others out-side the Valley.

There is so much to tell andso many urgent messages toconvey in a conversation thathas to be carefully calibrated.And sometimes, as the wordstumble out hastily, the two,maybe three, minutes just don'tseem enough.

There has been a virtualcommunications blackout inthe Valley with no phones andno internet connections sincethe early hours of August 5,when the Centre announcedthat Jammu & Kashmir's spe-cial status was being revokedand proposed that the State be

split into two Union Territories. News channels have also

been discontinued on cablenetworks.

The restrictions imposed inJammu & Kashmir on people'smovement and communica-tion may continue for some

more days and any decision onlifting them will be taken by thelocal administration, a topGovernment official in New

Delhi said. "If the trade-off isbetween inconvenience and lossof life, what should we choose?However, the administration isaware of the difficulties beingfaced by people and trying tominimising inconvenience. Anysuch decision will be taken bythe local administration," theofficial said.

Jammu & KashmirPrincipal Secretary RohitKansal said at a press confer-ence in Srinagar that he ishopeful of further relaxationsin the security clampdown.

"We are further hopefulthat once the full dressrehearsals for IndependenceDay, being carried out in var-ious districts of Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh con-cludes, there will be furtherrelaxations," Kansal said.

Marufa Bhat, waiting out-side the Deputy Commissioner'soffice to speak on a phone line

provided by the government forthe public, is among those hop-ing for the restrictions to ease.

When she finally gets herturn after a two-hour wait, shephones her sister in Delhi.But, overcome with tears andoverwhelmed by circum-stances, she can barely manageto get the words out.

"My father recently under-went a coronary heart bypasssurgery in Delhi. We returnedrecently and now the medicinesare running out. That is why Ihad to reach out to my sister inDelhi," said Bhat, holding herone-year-old-son.

Deaths in the family, busi-ness transactions and exams...The reasons for getting hold ofthe phone are urgent and many.

The conversations usuallybegin in chaste Kashmiri withcallers ever mindful of themany others behind them wait-ing their turn.

Mohammed Ashraf col-lapses after a call to his sonHamas and relatives gatheraround him to offer water.Hamas' grandfather died fivedays ago and Tuesday was theearliest Ashraf could convey thenews to him.

Kashmir Valley, accordingto government estimates, has amobile penetration of around87 per cent.

Mobiles kept the youthbusy, said Liaquat Shah, a trad-er waiting to call his wholesalerin Ludhiana to stop the supplyof leather goods as conditionsin the state are not conduciveat the moment. They wouldsurf the internet and learnabout what's happening in theworld, he added. Security offi-cials said communication linkshad to be snapped as a pre-ventive measure.

"This became a tool forspreading all kinds of rumours

and misreporting of incidents.Recently, an international chan-nel reported that firing tookplace last Friday in outskirts ofthe city. No bullet was fired.Had mobiles been there, thiskind of misreporting wouldhave set other parts of theValley on fire," said a seniorpolice officer on condition ofanonymity.

However, there is grudgingadmission among some offi-cials that phone lines haveparalysed life and many peopleare suffering.

The state administrationon Sunday said 300 publicbooths have been started butmany people said they areunaware. "Where are they?"asked Arsalaan Wani, whowanted to tell his uncle inChandigarh to fill his NationalEligibility Test form. "I getdreams about my mobile phoneringing," he said. PTI

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Srinagar: The Jammu &Kashmir administration onTuesday said it is hopeful offurther relaxations in the secu-rity clampdown after the dressrehearsal for the August 15Independence Day celebra-tions conclude in various dis-tricts.

Principal Secretary RohitKansal told a press conferencehere that while prohibitoryconditions were relaxed in var-ious parts of Kashmir, theJammu region was "almostentirely" free of restrictions.

"Restrictions, however, docontinue in parts of Kashmir,"he said.

"We are hopeful that oncethe full dress rehearsals forIndependence Day being car-

ried out in various districts ofJammu & Kashmir and Ladakhconclude, there will be furtherrelaxations," he said.

He added that the curbswould be relaxed in parts of theValley in a phased mannerbased on the assessment oflocal authorities.

The security clampdownwas imposed after the UnionGovernment revoked the spe-cial status of Jammu & Kashmirunder Article 370 of theConstitution on August 5 andsaid the state would be bifur-cated into two Union territories— Jammu & Kashmir, andLadakh.

Restrictions were firsteased in Kashmir on August 9to allow people to offer Friday

prayers at local mosques. Curbswere also relaxed ahead of Eidal-Adha, which was celebratedon Monday.

Kansal said the adminis-tration was following the over-all policy of "relaxation and eas-ing out" in all parts of the stateand the Eid al-Adha celebra-tions and prayers were peace-ful.

He added that there is a"constant endeavour to ensurethat people are not obstructedand are facilitated in everypossible way". The principalsecretary said the administra-tion is hopeful that theIndependence Day celebra-tions will be carried out in a"grand and benefitting manner"in all parts of the State. PTI

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Chennai: Alleging that theCentre had entangled India in"quick sand" by revoking spe-cial status for Jammu &Kashmir under Article 370,MDMK general secretaryVaiko has said "Kashmir willnot be a part" of the countrywhen the centenary of its inde-pendence is celebrated.

Vaiko, known for his abra-sive remarks on several issues,made the dramatic assertionwhile reacting to a question fromreporters here on Monday onfilm star Rajinikanth laudingPrime Minister Narendra Modiand Union Home Minister AmitShah for junking the special sta-tus to Jammu & Kashmir.

"Kashmir will not be a partof India. During the centenarycelebrations of India's indepen-dence, history is going to bewritten that Kashmir will not bea part of India; they (BJP-ledCentral Government) haveentangled India in quick sand,"he said. Vaiko, who was recent-ly elected to the Rajya Sabhafrom Tamil Nadu, prefaced hisresponse saying he has attacked"30 per cent Congress and 70 percent BJP on the Kashmir issue."

He was asked for his reac-tion to Rajinikanth hailing theGovernment's move inKashmir and likening Modiand Shah duo as Lord Krishnaand Arjuna. PTI

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The MaharashtraGovernment on Tuesday

decided to seek a flood reliefpackage of �6,813 crore fromthe Centre, even as the floodtoll mounted to 49 and theauthorities evacuated andmoved another 1,75,642marooned people to temporaryrelief camps set up in Sangli,Kolhapur and three other rel-atively less-affected districts ofSatara, Pune and Solapur.

Talking to media personsafter the State Cabinetreviewed the flood situation inthe State, Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis said: “Wehave decided to seek a floodrelief of �6,813 crore from the

Centre. Of the amount, �4,708crore is meant for undertakingrelief works in Sangli,Kolhapur and Satara districts,while the remaining �2,105crore is for catering to floodrelief needs in coastal Konkanregion, Nashik and otheraffected areas in the State”.

Fadnavis said that a Cabinetsub-committee had been set upunder his chairmanship to delib-erate and decide on the various

relief works to be undertaken inthe flood-affected areas in theState. “ In the coming days, theState Government will submit aformal memorandum to theCentre seeking a flood reliefassistance of �6.813 crore,” hesaid.

The major heads for whichthe relief assistance has beensought include: assistance tothe affected families: �300 crore,compensation towards crop loss:�2,088 crore, towards repairs ofcollapsed houses: �222 crore,towards repairs of the damagedroad and bridges: �876 crore,towards water resource repairworks: �125 crore, towardshealth schemes: �75 crore andcompensation to small tradersand entrepreneurs: �300 crore.

Kolkata: A city court issued anarrest warrant against CongressMP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesdayover his alleged remark that theBJP, if voted to power again,would rewrite the Constitutionand pave the way for creationof a "Hindu Pakistan".

Tharoor's alleged statementhad sparked off a controversywith the ruling Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) demanding an apol-ogy from the Congress leader.

Chief MetropolitanMagistrate Dipanjan Sen issueda bailable warrant against theCongress MP fromThiruvananthapuram on a peti-tion filed by lawyer SumitChowdhury claiming that thestatement promoted disharmo-ny among people. The matter hasbeen scheduled for hearing againon September 24. Chowdhuryclaimed that Tharoor wasindulging in a deliberate act topromote enmity between differ-ent groups of people on religiousgrounds. PTI

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of the seven convicts in theRajiv Gandhi assassination caseand now on one month parole,has petitioned the Tamil NaduGovernment seeking exten-sion of her leave by one moremonth.

"Nalini has petitioned theHome Secretary to extend herleave by a month in connectionwith preparations for herdaughter's wedding," her legaladviser P Pugazhenthi toldPTI on Tuesday.

Early last month, theMadras High Court had grant-ed her one month leave aftershe argued her plea in personand on July 25 she was relesedfrom the Vellore Prison.

The petition was sent to thegovernment by Nalini onAugust 7 by Speed post,Pugazhenthi added.

Nalini, meanwhile, follow-ing permission from authori-ties, visited her husbandSriharan alias Murugan in theVellore Central Prison onTuesday to discuss about thewedding of their daughter

Haridhra.As per the parole condi-

tion, she is staying in Vellore.Lodged in prison for over

27 years, she had originallysought a six-month leave tomake arrangements for herdaughter's marriage.

During the hearing ofNalini's plea, Public ProsecutorA Natarajan had submitted inthe court that the Tamil NaduSuspension of Sentence Rules1982 provides for a maximumperiod of 30 days as ordinaryleave (parole) for a convict at apoint of time and hence, thecourt can consider grantingleave within the maximumlimit.

The court in its order hadnoted that Rule 22 speaksabout extension of 30 days'leave, but can be exercised onlyafter the initial grant.

It ordered Nalini not togive any interviews and not tomeet any political person ormember of any organisationwhile out on parole and record-ed her undertaking to thiseffect. PTI

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Jaipur: Twenty-four people,including nine policemen, wereinjured when members of twocommunities pelted stones ateach other believing a rumourin Jaipur, prompting authoritiesto use teargas to disperse themob, police said on Tuesday.

Following the communaltension, mobile internet ser-vices in 10 police station areashave been suspended tillWednesday night and five peo-ple have been arrested, they said.

"The accused have beenbooked for obstructing publicservants in discharge of func-tions, blocking national highwayand attacking police," saidAdditional Commissioner ofPolice(Second) Ajaypal Lamba.

The violence on Mondaynight broke out after membersof the minority communityblocked the Delhi highway infront of an Eidgah near GaltaGate and pelted stones on a

Haridwar-bound bus, leavingsome passengers injured,according to police.

Members of both the com-munities clashed and whenpolicemen reached the spot,they were also attacked. Windowpanes of at least five cars weredamaged and a two-wheelerwas torched, police said.

The tension in Galta Gatearea had been building sinceSunday after some members ofthe minority communityallegedly misbehaved with kan-wariyas (devotees of Lord Shiva)near Galta Gate, leading toanger among the majority com-munity members.

Additional PoliceCommissioner (First) SantoshChalke said they have identifiedthree people who were spread-ing rumour on social media thatpeople were being forced to say'Jai Shri Ram', but no such inci-dent happened. PTI

Bengaluru: A BJP MLA onTuesday created a stir of sortson Tuesday by threatening totopple his own partyGovernment in Karnataka ifhouses were not provided forthe flood hit people and avideo of his statement hasgone viral.

During a visit to the floodaffected areas in his Arabhaviconstituency, the legislator,Balachandra Jarkiholi is heardtelling people "Its our respon-sibility to provide you houses.

Im saying this on record..That if we fail to build hous-es then we will topple theGovernment."

Arabhavi is in Belgavi dis-trict, the worst hit by thefloods in the State.

Incidentally, BalachandraJarkiholi's was among the 16MLAs who had in 2010 with-drawn support to the first BJPGovernment in Karnataka led

by Yediyurappa threateningits existence.

Taking note of Jarkiholi'sOctober 6, 2010 letter to himwithdrawing support to thethen YediyurappaGovernment, the thenGovernor Hansraj Bhardwajhad asked Yediyurappa toprove his majority on October12, 2010.

However, Yediyurappachose to prove the majority onOctober 11, 2010 but hoursbefore the floor test, the thenspeaker KG Bopaiah disqual-ified Jarkiholi and 15 otherrebel MLAs.

The move saved the BJPGovernment.

Jarkiholi had approachedthe Supreme Court, which setaside Bopaiahs order.Balachandra Jarkiholi comesfrom Belagavis prominentJarkiholi family that holds swayin the State politics. PTI

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For the first time since thedemise of former Chief

Minister J Jayalalithaa onDecember 5, 2016, seniorCongress leader and formerUnion Finance Minister PChidambaram had to hear amouthful of harsh words fromEdappadi Palaniswamy, thepresent Chief Minister of TamilNadu.

Chidambaram whileaddressing a meeting onJammu & Kashmir held inChennai on Sunday had taunt-ed and ridiculed the AIADMKfor supporting the BJP-ledCentre in revoking and abro-gating Article 370 of theConstitution. “The AIADMKleaders are stooges of the BJPand they would not do any-thing if the CentralGovernment downgradesTamil Nadu into a municipal-ity,” the former Minister hadsaid in his speech.

Edappadi Palaniswamy,who usually does not react tocriticism and taunts targeted at

him by the DMK or theCongress chose to retaliate onTuesday while reporters methim at the sidelines of a pub-lic function in Salem.

“You need not botherabout the words ofChidambaram because he him-self does not know what hespeaks. Chidambaram hasbecome a burden for the earthand that is all. He has been aunion minister holding impor-tant portfolios for many years.But what he has done for TamilNadu?” asked Palaniswamy

The Chief Minister point-ed out that other than ridicul-ing and humiliating his polit-ical rivals, Chidambaram’s con-tribution to Tamil Nadu iszero. “Has he brought anyunion government funded orpromoted projects to TamilNadu? Has he made anyefforts in resolving the KaveriRiver water dispute betweenTamil Nadu and Karnataka?Has he done anything to pro-tect the interests of TamilNadu in the Mullaperiyar issue? No. For Chidambaram, whatmatters is his family and prop-

erties. Has he toured TamilNadu as a minister? No. Nowhe is reluctant to face the vot-ers and that’s why he went toMaharashtra to get elected asparliament member ,” chidedPalaniswamy in his character-istic style.

Chidambaram who isarticulate in ridiculing andtaunting his political rivals byarguing that they don’t knowanything about Statecraft andmanaging the nation’s economyand internal security. He hasalways claimed that he was thebest finance and HomeMinister available in the coun-try. The only person whom hewas afraid of in Tamil Naduwas Amma Jayalalithaa. Till shewas alive , the former minis-ter was cautious in his words.But Palaniswamy decided totame Chidambaram onTuesday in his own style. Thevideo clipping of the chiefminister giving back theCongress strongman a piece ofhis mind has become viral inthe social media much to theamusement of the AIADMKleadership.

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The ruling TrinamoolCongress on Tuesday

staged an eight-hour sit-inprotest against the CentralGovernment’s decision to taxKolkata Durga Puja commit-tees. Within days of ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeecondemning the Centre forgetting the I-T Department totarget Durga Puja organisers soas to browbeat them into join-ing the BJP, the TMC’s women’swing Banga Janani Brigadestarted a dharna demandingwithdrawal of tax notices sentto the Puja organisers.

The Income TaxDepartment officials howeversaid there had been no suchinitiative this year on theirbehalf. Department sourcessaid they had only “called thePuja organizers to instructthem on ways of deductingtaxes at sources while clearingthe dues of contractors andevent managers who constructpuja pandals and organize theevents.

Senior TMC MP KakoliGhoshdastidar who led thesit-in “we have been instruct-ed by our leader MamataBanerjee to protest the BJP-ledCentral Government’s move

to disturb and malign theDurga Pujas which are aninalienable part of our cultureand heritage. We will not allowthem to disturb the festivities.”

Other senior leadersincluding State MinisterChandrima Bhattacharjee andMayor Firhad Hakim were alsopresent in the dharna. TheChief Minister had earlierslammed the Centre for arm-twisting the Durga Puja orga-nizers so as to force them intoswitching sides.

“There is no political divi-sion among the Puja organis-ers. The entire locality takespart in it. But the BJP-ledCentre is trying to hijack thesePuja committees for electoralpurpose,” Banerjee whose partywas once accused by theCongress of the same sin said.She said that the BJP govern-ment should have taken a cuefrom the Bengal Governmentwhich had earlier withdrawntax from the Ganga Sagar Mela.

She appealed to all the“people who love Bangla” tojoin the protest dharna at RajaSubodh Mullick Square innorth Kolkata.

On Monday, BJP criticisedthe TMC's decision to stage thedemonstration, accusing a sec-tion of ruling TMC leaders of

laundering money allegedlylooted in chit fund scamsthrough the puja committees.

"When the elections come,they (BJP) do Hindu-Muslimfor narrow political gains. Theyforget that festivals are festivalswhich belong to all,” she won-dered why the Puja committeesshould be taxed where thepolitical parties get exemption

from taxation.Countering her charges

State BJP president Dilip Ghoshsaid the many TMC leaderswere getting nervous because“their involvement in chit fundscam will get exposed once thePuja committees place theiraccounts because most of thesePuja committees are controlledby Trinamool leaders.”

He said “they will have toaccount for their misdeeds.They may sit on roads, descendon streets or in water but theywill have to explain the inflowand outflow of funds becausethey are dealing with publicmoney. It is common knowl-edge that chit fund have oftenbeen routed through Puja com-mittees.

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Bengaluru: Questioning theKarnataka Governor VajubhaiVala's "silence" on the absenceof Council of Ministers in thestate, the Congress on Tuesdayasked him to take cognisanceof the matter and dismiss theBJP Government led by BSYediyurappa.

"Its been 18 days ever sinceYediyurappa took over. Yetthere is no Council of Ministersformed whereas theConstitution says the Governorhas to act on the aid and adviseof the Council of Ministers,"Congress spokesperson VSUgrappa told reporters.

Yediyurappa was sworn inas the Chief Minister on July 26and since then has been head-ing a "one-man" Governmentwithout Ministers. He was inthe national Capital last weekto hold consultations with theparty's central leadership on

Cabinet expansion and finalisethe names. But Yediyurappawas told by the Home MinisterAmit Shah to head back to theState and supervise flood reliefmeasures and attend to theneeds of the victims.

The Chief Minister hasalready indicated that a deci-sion on Ministry expansion islikely after August 16, follow-ing his visit to Delhi to meetparty's central leadership.

According to party sources,only 10 to 12 members are like-ly to be inducted into theMinistry in the first round.

Ugrappa said: "I want toask the Governor Is there aGovernment in the State as perthe constitution? Governor hasto take a cognisance of the mat-ter and dismiss theGovernment. A Chief Ministercannot be called as a Councilof Ministers." PTI

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Wayanad: Congress leaderRahul Gandhi on Tuesdaywrote to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, seeking hisintervention to protect both thelife and livelihood of the peo-ple in his Lok Sabha con-stituency Wayanad, ravagedby floods and landslides.

In his letter, the WayanadMP suggested that many livescan be saved if early warningsystems are installed to alertpeople living in vulnerableareas in the ecologically sensi-tive hill district.

Gandhi, who concludedhis two-day visit to his flood-hit constituency on Monday,explained to the Prime Ministerthe issues being faced by peo-ple and ecology in Wayanadand suggested measures for hisconsideration.

"Developing a long termstrategy and an action plansupported through a specialpackage of assistance to protectboth the life and livelihood of

people and environment inWayanad to be taken up on pri-ority," Gandhi wrote.

"Many lives can be saved ifearly warning systems areinstalled to alert populations invulnerable areas and speciallydesigned landslide/flood shel-ters with communication facil-ities are provided in suchplaces," he said.

He said the destruction offorests and the depletion ofinflow into the streams andrivers endanger farms and pop-ulations in three states- Kerala,Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

"Mining and quarryingcontinues in the WesternGhats. The depletion of theforests is rapidly increasingconflicts between animals andpeople living within and in theperiphery of the forest," he said.

Gandhi said Wayanad hassome of the most fragile partsof the Western Ghats and ishome to 10 per cent of the bio-diversity of the country.

"I would like to highlightthe twin crisis one that affectsthe life and livelihood of peo-ple in Wayanad and the second,the critical status of the ecolo-gy in an area that is known asa global hotspot for biodiver-sity with the potential to con-tribute to carbon sequestrationbenefiting the country as awhole."

Highlighting the crisis inthe agricultural sector inWayanad, Gandhi said a largenumber of farmers have com-mitted suicide in the last twodecades due to crisis in thefarm sector.

He said agriculture andanimal husbandry are themainstays of the people inWayanad.

However, paddy cultivationthat also sustained wetlandsand has the capacity to holdexcess rainwater and mitigateflood damage, has been steadi-ly declining since 1970s, headded. PTI

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Lucknow: BSP PresidentMayawati on Tuesday Termedthe fee hike by the CBSE forClass 10 and 12 examinationsas unfortunate and demandedits immediate withdrawal.

The BSP president saidSC/ST students will now haveto pay a higher fees.

"Similarly, the fee for gen-eral category students has alsobeen doubled. This is a veryunfortunate, racist and anti-poor decision. CBSE shouldtake it back immediately. Thisis the demand of BSP," she saidon Twitter.

Mayawati's reaction comesafter the board notified thechanges in the fees last weekand asked schools which hadalready begun the registrationprocess and charged students asper the old fee structure, to col-lect the difference in theamount. PTI

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Chennai: The Tamil NaduSchool Education departmenthas asked its officers to identifyand crackdown on schools in theState where children wereallegedly being made to wearcoloured wristbands to identifytheir caste.

The Director of SchoolEducation has directed officialsto identify schools in their dis-tricts where such discriminationis practised, besides initiatingsevere action.

"...In some schools in TN,students were made to wearcolour-coded wrist bands. Thesewhich come in shares of red, yel-low, green and saffron indicatewhether they belong to a "lower"or "upper" caste," a circularissued by Director of SchoolEducation S Kannappan said.

The officer said, rings and'Tilak' on forehead were alsoused as caste marker, addingsuch practices were supposedly

being used for sports team selec-tion, reassembling during classand lunch intervals.

"Allegedly, these practicesare enforced by students them-selves and supported by influ-ential caste persons and teach-ers," the circular read.

Urging the senior officers totake appropriate steps to iden-tify such schools, the circularsaid, "...Issue suitable instruc-tions to headmasters to preventsuch practice immediately andalso take severe action on per-sons responsible for the dis-crimination."

The director said the circu-lar is based on a representationgiven by officer trainees of IAS2018 batch. PTI

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Government agencies havereported that Friday prayersand Eid prayers were held inJammu & Kashmir withoutincident. NDTV’s Srinagar

correspondent Nazir Masoodi wished hismother and friends Eid Mubarak via hischannel as other means of communica-tion were blocked. He also reported thatEid celebrations were markedly subduedwhile Government reports indicated theywere robust.

Normalcy is being projected. NationalSecurity Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval hasdeployed himself in the Valley, boosting themorale of the police and fraternising withpeople, portraying a rosy picture. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah, Jammu &KashmirGovernor Satya Pal Malik and industrial-ists Mukesh Ambani and Uday Kotak haveall made big promises of turning Jammu& Kashmir into a land of milk and honey.Why should the Kashmiris, who have beenbetrayed, believe any of them? After all,they have heard of economic packages sev-eral times earlier. In the loud din of thelockdown, all one can see are concertinacoils of barbed wire, soldiers and pigeons.

During a debate in the Rajya Sabhaover the abrogation of Article 370, Ministerin the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO),Jitendra Singh, reported that there was jubi-lation in Srinagar whereas television chan-nels showed deserted streets. Four dayslater, at an Observer Research Foundation(ORF) conference in New Delhi, a SpecialSecretary to the Government of Indiareferred to the situation in Kashmir as a“crisis.” A young Kashmiri researcher withORF predicted that insurgency has beengiven a new 30-year lease of life. Normalcyand lockdown are a contradiction interms.

Tomorrow, the Bakshi Stadium inSrinagar will be filled with police and offi-cials when the tricolour will be unfurledand the State flag consigned to the dust-heap of history. What will resound in theValley are Shah’s misplaced words that ter-minating Article 370 will end terrorism andusher in development. This is a patentlyfalse narrative.

On terrorism, post Burhan Wani, newmilitancy acquired an indigenous andreligious colour: From Sufi to Salafi. Of the250 militants in the Valley, 60 per cent arelocal lads. The Army’s ‘Operation AllOut’ has gained an upper hand but its valu-able hearts and minds campaign is absent.Last week, the Army announced that 83 percent of the terrorists have a history of stone-throwing and advised mothers that if theirwards were throwing stones for �500, theywere “tomorrow’s terrorists.” The Army hasdramatically reduced life-cycle of terror-ists to “ten days to one year” from “sixmonths to three to five years” a decade ago.The double whammy of eradicating spe-

cial status and diminution fromState to a Union Territory willproduce a backlash — a viru-lent form of alienation.

Pakistan will not let go thisopportunity to add fuel to fire.It has upped the ante by takinga number of political, diplo-matic, people-to-people andmilitary steps. While fidayeensquads have been infiltratedand more are in readiness, theuse of IEDs and even classicsuicide bombing a la Pulwamashould be expected.

Stephen Cohen, theAmerican India-Pakistanexpert, had prophesied thatwars between the two countrieswill go on for a hundred yearsbefore there is light at the endof the tunnel. The ORFresearcher’s forecast aboutlongevity of militancy is spoton. The Indian Army in Jammu& Kashmir since 1947, whosemandate is to create conditionsfor political outcomes — whichit has many times — willremain stuck fighting limitedwars triggered by inept politics.

Development in Jammu &Kashmir is a chimera. It’s thechicken and egg story aboutviolence and development:Which comes first. As long asthe roots of militancy are notaddressed, socio-economicdevelopment plans will be hol-

low. None of the past promis-es by India Inc and PMO’s eco-nomic packages were imple-mented due to violence andpolitical instability. In 1995,when militancy was endemic,Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw,who was chairman of one ofthe companies in Jammu &Kashmir, made this tongue-in-cheek offer to a retired MajorGeneral: “Look sweetie, there’sthis sick sawmill in Srinagar. Ithas no power, no labour, nowood, no security. But I wantyou, with your contacts in theArmy, to operationalise it.”Even the Sam magic could notrevive it.

Dr Haseeb Drabu, whowas Jammu & Kashmir’sFinance Minister recently, saidin a TV interview last week thatlinking Article 370 to the lackof development was misplaced.He asserted that the lack ofpublic and private investmentwas due to militancy and vio-lence. The powers for lease ofland for 90 years and extend-able have always been there:That’s how Hotel Oberoi, ITCand others came in. There is abig opportunity. For example,India is the fifth largest produc-er of apples in the world, ofwhich 2.5 mn tonnes are fromJammu & Kashmir. Drabu saidthe situation will get worse due

to uncertainty from the State’sdemotion to a Union Territory,Finance Commission awardand Goods and Services Tax.

In the external domain,there is misplaced optimismabout having outflankedPakistan. While Russia, theUAE and Maldives have calledthe Constitutional re-adjust-ments as an internal matter,others are sitting on the fence.The US said it was not consult-ed, counselled restraint andreferred both countries toresolving outstanding issuesthrough bilateral dialogue. TheUN, while rejecting media-tion, called for maximumrestraint, affirming Jammu &Kashmir is governed by the UNCharter and applicable UNSecurity Council Resolutionsand advised guidance by theSimla Agreement, which statesthat “the final status of Jammu& Kashmir is to be settled bypeaceful means….”

UN High Commission onHuman Rights in its July 8report had painted a grimthough exaggerated picture ofviolation of civil liberties inJammu & Kashmir. UN SpecialRapporteur on freedom ofexpression has called the presentcrackdown as draconian. TheChina story is one of shiftingstance. Initially, Beijing called

“parties concerned to exerciserestraint and caution”, especial-ly actions that unilaterallychange status quo. Later, itnoted that creating Ladakh asseparate Union Territory couldalter status quo along the India-China border and damageChina’s territorial sovereignty byunilaterally modifying domes-tic law, which was unacceptable.Still later, after the visit ofPakistan Foreign Minister ShahMehmood Qureshi to Beijing,Chinese Foreign Minister WangYi referred both countries to theSimla Agreement, UN Charterand UN Security Council reso-lutions. All-weather allies agreed to work on a joint UNstrategy. This could be thebeginning of a two-front diplo-matic offensive.

The Government is in fora long haul in Jammu &Kashmir. Winning the heartsand minds of Kashmiris canalone facilitate their integrationinto India. Modi and Shah’spromises of development willnot compensate Kashmiris forwhat they have lost: Autonomyand special status.

(The writer is a retiredMajor General of the IndianArmy and founder member ofthe Defence Planning Staff, cur-rently the revamped IntegratedDefence Staff)

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Sonia back in old role”(August 13). The term of theCongress’ interim president is, ofcourse, undefined and could thusprolong forever. The oldest partyof the nation is not in a positionto survive without the Gandhifamily. The more things change,the more they remain the same.The Congress WorkingCommittee (CWC) has stub-bornly refused to sever the umbilical cord that connects it tothe Gandhi family.

Ironically, the veterans, whohad been raising the pitch for ayoung leader at the helm, arenow hailing the appointment ofthe septuagenarian SoniaGandhi. Such is the unswervingloyalty to the Gandhi family.Would Sonia Gandhi dissolveCWC and hold polls? In such ascenario, would both RahulGandhi and Priyanka Gandhicontest or find a place? There aretoo many questions begging aninstant response. We wouldn’t besurprised if the “search” startsand ends at her home.

Meghna ANew South Wales

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Congress’ dream fulfilled”(August 13) by A Surya Prakash.The writer seems to have clearlydisplayed his blind antipathytowards the Congress, which hasmade him reproduce extracts of

selected speeches of MPs from thegrand old party. I wish he wouldhave read VP Menon’s book, TheStory of the Integration of theIndian States, which consists oftwo chapters on how Jammu &Kashmir became part of India.

The BJP, which swears byJayaprakash Narayan, had said

about Kashmir in 1966: “If wecontinue to rule by force and sup-press these people and crushthem or change the racial or reli-gious character of their State bycolonisation or by other means,then I think that means political-ly a most obnoxious thing to do.”

If the Congress has failed the

nation over the last 70 years, eventhe BJP should partially take theresponsibility for failing to playa constructive role.

However, there is no pointdigging the past. If the BJP real-ly wants to work in the nation’sinterest, it should take the leadand form an all-partyGovernment in Jammu &Kashmir so that normalcy returnsin the Valley. This will send theright message to Pakistan and therest of the world that when itcomes to national integration,India stands united.

N NagarajanVia email

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Sir — It is shocking that monthsafter the results of the generalelection and a marathon meeting,the Congress has fallen back on the family rather than choos-ing a livewire president. Why so much drama when the matterwas already settled, as a proverbgoes?

Bidyut Kumar ChatterjeeFaridabad

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The latest round of the 16-member RegionalComprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP) negotiations has yet again exposed

frictions between Beijing and New Delhi, thistime over the India-China trade deficit and mar-ket access.

New Delhi’s trade deficit with the RCEPgrouping and China amounted to $105 billionand $53.6 billion in 2018, respectively. The tar-iff elimination under the RCEP may deal an addi-tional blow to India’s economy, bolstering itstrade deficit with the nations. In addition, NewDelhi argues that it needs further access to theChinese market for its key sectors, including ITproducts and services, pharma and agriculture.

Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyalbacked out of the group’s ministerial meeting inBeijing, which was largely seen as a symbolic ges-ture, according to The Hindu. As a result, Indiawas represented by Commerce Secretary AnupWadhawan, who outlined the country’s demandsat the meeting on August 2-3. Despite specula-tions of India’s possible withdrawal from the bloc,the country signalled on August 6 that it wouldcontinue the talks, according to the HinduBusiness Line.

Amid the simmering US-China trade war,Beijing is pushing ahead with the RCEP, a pro-posed free trade agreement between the 10member states of the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) as well as China,Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and NewZealand that was formally announced in 2012.

Why India snubs China’s Belt and Road ini-tiative?

The RCEP is not the only China-led econom-ic initiative prompting India’s concerns. TheBeijing-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), amulti-billion infrastructure investment endeav-our unveiled by Chinese President Xi Jinping in2013, also raises questions in New Delhi.

While neither clearly rejecting nor endors-ing the initiative per se, New Delhi boycotted thefirst Belt and Road Forum (BRF) forInternational Cooperation in 2017 over theChina-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)project. The proposed corridor passes throughthe Pakistani-administered Kashmir areas ofGilgit and Baltistan, claimed by New Delhi. Theimplementation of the Chinese-Pakistani initia-tive is tantamount to the recognition ofIslamabad’s sovereignty over Gilgit-Baltistan inthe eyes of India.

“The BRI, which seeks to alter extant polit-ical geographies and economic models, isChina’s most potent tool in this regard. India isnot part of this due to the violation of its sover-eignty in CPEC passing from Pakistani-occupiedKashmir”, explains Amrita Dhillon, the found-ing editor of a New Delhi-based magazine, TheKootneeti.

On April 26-27, 2019, India did not attendthe second BRF that took place in Beijing amidthe simmering India-Pakistani conflict follow-ing the Indian Air Force’s Balakot operation inFebruary 2019. For its part, India triggersChina’s unease with its growing involvement injoint drills with the navies of Japan, Vietnam,Singapore and the Philippines as well as the US-led freedom of navigation operations (FONOP)in the disputed South China Sea, about 90 per

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Sonia Gandhi is back again as theCongress’ chief after almost abreak of two years. She had

taken a back seat during this period,leaving the field entirely to her sonRahul Gandhi in 2017. But now, shewill be at the helm of affairs until theparty holds the next organisationalelections.

After going through the motionsof the consultation process, theCongress Working Committee(CWC) has ultimately brought backSonia Gandhi. But it is not clearwhether she will be able to restore theparty back to its health. Sonia hadmade her political debut in 1998when the grand old party was in badshape and she was able to check ero-

sion. She even brought the party topower twice (2004-2014). Now thatshe is reluctantly back as the chief,what would be her challenges in thecoming days and months?

The first daunting challenge forSonia will be to restructure a demor-alised organisation. She commandsrespect, trust and loyalty from partyleaders and workers across the gen-erational divide. After the Congress’humiliating defeat in the 2019 LokSabha polls, where it won just 52seats, as also the leadership crisis itfaced for the past 75 days after RahulGandhi stepped down as party pres-ident, the morale of party workers isdown. Many disgruntled partymenhave left the grand old party. Sheneeds to give a pep-talk to theworkers, who may have confidencein her, and boost their morale.

Second and more importantly,Assembly elections are due in theStates of Maharashtra, Jharkhandand Haryana in the next two monthsand the Congress is still not ready toface them. On the other hand, theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all setto win the three States. Sonia has to

put the right people for the right kindof job and strengthen the partyorganisationally. There is factionalismand erosion of workers and leaders.She has to appoint strong general sec-retaries who can oversee election pre-paredness. Even if the party can winjust one State, it will go a long way inboosting the morale of the cadres.

Third, Sonia has to keep herflock together. The old guard has hadits way, she must make sure that thedisappointed younger lot do not lookfor greener pastures. Already, thereare rumours that some of the

younger leaders are in talks with theBJP. She should be able to persuadethem to remain in the party and givethem importance.

Fourth, it is important to checkthe erosion. Sonia was able to do soin 1998 when she took over fromSitaram Kesri. She did so at a timewhen the party was in theOpposition and many senior leaderswere leaving the party. The scenariois the same now. MPs like SanjaySingh and Bhubaneswar Kalita havejoined the BJP. More are likely to go.In most States, including

Maharashtra, Goa and Telangana,several Congressmen are leavingthe sinking ship. The question iswhether she will be able to stop them.

Fifth, she should restore theposition of the Congress as a chal-lenger to the BJP. For this, the needis to repackage the party. She wassuccessful in doing so earlier by hold-ing conclaves in Pachmarhi andShimla with brainstorming sessionsinvolving party leaders. The samezeal is needed now, especially afterthe party’s humiliating defeat in2019 polls. The party is yet to intro-spect and come up with corrections.

Sixth, she must define the rolesfor her children, otherwise there willbe three power centres. Rahul Gandhihas said that he will continue to workfor the party. Priyanka Gandhi Vadrais already the general secretary fromUttar Pradesh but she is not justanother general secretary because ofher access to her mother.

Seventh, she must re-work hercoalition strategy and States wherethe Congress is not strong, she mustlook at alliances with smaller andregional parties. The party must

realise that this is the only way it canimprove its chances.

Last but not the least, it is imper-ative to concentrate on reorganisingthe party and re-connect with thevoters. The Congress scored zero in17 States in the 2019 polls. In the pastfive years, the BJP has considerablyexpanded its base and won eventhose States where it never won in thepast and has now emerged as theprincipal pole of national politics,replacing the Congress.

The Congress has to come upwith a new plan to revive the partyin the northern and eastern States.There are five years to do this untilthe 2024 polls although the interven-ing Assembly polls are also impor-tant. The party should work with amissionary zeal to achieve this. Forall these, Sonia Gandhi needs a goodteam. While the coterie might expectto grab all the power, she must havea mix of old and young Congressleaders in her core team. All thesehave to be taken up with utmosturgency as there is not enough timebefore the ensuing Assembly polls.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

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cent of which is claimed by the People’sRepublic.

Nevertheless, Beijing is seekingIndia’s participation in its endeav-ours: Being the world’s seventh-largesteconomy by nominal gross domesticproduct (GDP) and the third-largest bypurchasing power parity (PPP), Indiacould give a significant boost to China-led projects.

Thus, in July, Yang Yanyi, a mem-ber of the Foreign Affairs Committeeof the Chinese People’s PoliticalConsultative Conference, called uponIndia to join the BRI, arguing that“bilateral problems with Pakistanshould not be turned into an India-China issue.”

Simmering contradictions do notmean that India and China are head-ing towards a stalemate, according toAdam Garrie, director of the EurasiaFuture think-tank and Tom McGregor,a Beijing-based political analyst andsenior editor for China’s nationalbroadcaster CCTV.

AIIB is a way to soothe India-China contradictions:

Observers believe that the China-based Asian Infrastructure InvestmentBank’s (AIIB) initiatives may facilitatesoothing of India-China relations.

Being founded in 2014, the bankis largely seen as a part of the Belt andRoad project, although the two endeav-ours are not formally associated.

While the Modi Government hasmade it clear that it is not inclined toparticipate in the China-led BRI, Indiaremains the bank’s founder. New Delhienjoys the second-largest voting share

in the financial institution after China.Additionally, India is one of the largestrecipients of AIIB funds.

In February 2019, India and theAIIB inked a $455 million loan aimedat improving rural connectivity inAndhra Pradesh. According to theIndian Ministry of Finance, the pro-ject will “connect some 3,300 habita-tions with a population of more than250, and benefit around two millionpeople.”

“India’s rural regions remain large-ly impoverished and for the entirenation to succeed that requires morebalanced regional development along-side urbanisation, industrialisationand modernisation campaigns”,McGregor presumes, adding that theAIIB “can play a crucial role to helperadicate poverty in the country.”

Having mentioned anti-China sen-timent among Indian nationalist par-ties, the Beijing-based journalist opinesthat the improvement of India-Chinaties could become a win-win solutionfor both nations.

“Should [Indian Prime MinisterNarendra] Modi choose economicexpansionism, he must improve tradeand investment ties with China and theUS”, McGregor believes.

Adam Garrie echoes McGregor:“Although India has been opposed tomembership in the Belt and Road ini-tiative, India can and likely will bene-fit from closer cooperation with theAIIB”, the UK-based geopolitical ana-lyst notes.

“It makes logical sense for Indiato work with the AIIB just as it does

for countries like Turkey, Russia,Indonesia and Thailand”, Garrie says.“As such, the old expression ‘moneytalks’ is apropos when it comes toIndia’s position via-a-vis the AIIB. Asthings stand, India already participatesin some BRI related projects but forpolitical reasons will not likely eversign up to BRI on the whole. Thatbeing said, AIIB is one important areawhere India and China can minimisetensions through win-win financialarrangement.”

According to Amrita Dhillon,“India is not opposed to China.” “Infact, it has always wished to promotemutual trade and shape relationsbetween the two and join hands infocussing on innovative solutions forthe Asian problems”, she points out.

However, the Indian journalistnotes that China, for its part, needs totake India’s geostrategic interests intoaccount in order to facilitate the devel-opment of the region.

“China and India share a long his-tory of cooperation and AIIB is one ofthe important roads which connectsBeijing and New Delhi”, Dhillonemphasises. “As of now, AIIB hasapproved six projects worth $1.2 bil-lion in loans to India for infrastructure-related projects and an additional $1.9billion is under review. Similarly,India’s cooperation in the ShanghaiCooperation Organisation (SCO) withChina is growing, rapidly making it aplatform to tap the potential of the rela-tions India carries with the CentralAsian Countries.”

(Courtesy: SputnikInternational)

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The country’s biggest oilfirm Indian Oil

Corporation (IOC) will investRs 2 lakh crore in next 5-7 yearsto expand refining and petro-chemical capacities in order tomaintain leadership position,its Chairman Sanjiv Singh said.

The plan is to almost dou-ble its oil refining capacity to150 million tonnes per annum,expand fuels and LPG retailingnetwork, jack up petrochemicalproduction capacity and pro-duce more crude oil and gas.

IOC is implementing a �2lakh crore investment plan innext 5-7 years “to evolve into afuture-ready corporate thatprovides comprehensive ener-gy solutions to diverse usergroups in an exciting phase ofenergy transition and technol-ogy disruptions,” he said in thefirm’s latest annual report.

The company currently isIndia’s largest oil refiner with agroup refining capacity of 80.7

million tonnes per annum. Itwants to maintain this leader-ship position by raising therefining capacity to 150 milliontonnes through greenfield andbrownfield expansions.

Simultaneously, it wantsto raise petrochemical pro-duction capacity to 13 milliontonnes from the current 3.15million tonnes. It is expandingPanipat naphtha crackingcapacity and plans to set upnew chemical projects inGujarat, Paradip and Panipat.

Also, the company is look-ing at rapid expansion in nat-ural gas retailing by investing�10,000 crore over the nexteight years, the report said.

IOC, which now has citygas license to retail gas in 40cities, sold 3.96 million tonnesof natural gas in 2018-19. Itwants to “triple current marketshare in gas business” andexpand its presence in city gasto 60 geographical areas fromcurrent 40, it said.

It wants to expand its pres-ence in upstream oil and gasexploration and production

(E&P) by investing in oil-richcountries in the Middle Eastand Central Asia and acquiringproducing assets.

Its stakes in oil and gasfields in 10 countries such asRussia, UAE, the USA andVenezuela, currently give 4.39million tonnes and the plan isto raise this to 7 million tonnesby 2023-24 and further to 11million tonnes by 2030, theannual report said.

While continuing expan-sion of its petrol pump andLPG distribution agencies, thefirm will focus on retailing inrural markets to expand itsmarketing. It will automateand modernise fuel stations aswell as set up electric vehicles(EV) charing stations.

IOC said it also plans toincrease its overseas footprintto 8 per cent of turnover withadditional regional hubs inSouth Africa and Nigeria andagents/distributors in 20 coun-tries to scout for new business.

“Besides the focus on refin-ery expansions, new technolo-gies for clean fuels andenhanced outputs, and refin-ery-petrochemicals integra-tion, Indian Oil is aggressive-ly leveraging its R&D expertiseto move into horizon tech-nologies like 2G and 3Gethanol, bio-fuels, coal gasifi-cation, H-CNG, hydrogen fuelcells, battery technologies etc,”Singh said.

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Consumer price index-based retail inflation eased

marginally to 3.15 per cent inJuly on the back of softeningfuel and light prices, even asoverall food prices moved up,government data showed onTuesday.

Retail inflation was 3.18per cent in June 2019, while itstood at 4.17 per cent in year-ago period (July 2018).

The overall food inflation,measured on Consumer FoodPrice Index (CFPI), movedup to 2.36 per cent during Julyfrom the revised 2.25 per centprint for June 2019, as per datareleased by the CentralStatistics Office (CSO) underthe Ministry of Statistics andProgramme Implementation.

The rate of price rise invegetables softened to 2.82per cent during the latestmonth as against a rise of 4.66per cent in June, while pricesof ‘pulses and products’ wentup to 6.82 per cent from 5.68per cent.

In case of fruits, the pricetrend showed upside move-ment with an inflation print of(-) 0.86 per cent as against (-) 4.18 per cent a month earlier.

Prices of protein rich ‘meatand fish’ rose at nearly thesame level at 9.05 per cent(from 9.01 per cent in June),however, inflation in eggseased to 0.57 per cent (against

1.62 per cent).In fuel and light category,

deflation was witnessed with aprint at 0.36 per cent, as againsta rise of 2.32 per cent a month ago.

“The marginal dip in theCPI inflation in July 2019 wasled by fuel and light, whichrecorded a disinflation in thatmonth, even as food and coreinflation inched up.

“The incoming trends infood prices need to be cau-tiously watched, following therecent flooding in some states,rising vegetable prices andcontinued lag in kharif sowing.Moreover, an unfavourablebase effect is likely to con-tribute to a hardening of foodinflation in the ongoing quar-ter,” said Aditi Nayar, PrincipalEconomist, Icra.

Retail inflation remainssubdued with most of thecomponents indicating notmuch variation compared tothe earlier periods, said JosephThomas, Head Research —Emkay Wealth Management.

“But, we need to makeallowance for factors like acheaper Rupee, loss of cropsdue to heavy rains and the con-sequent effects on prices, whiletrying to judge the future infla-tion levels,” he added.

Nayar said the core-CPIinflation may not ease mean-ingfully from the current lev-els, as demand for services willremain sticky even during aneconomic slowdown.

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Reliance Industries shareszoomed nearly 10 per cent

on Tuesday, adding �71,638crore to the company’s marketvaluation after the announce-ment of a host of investor-friendly proposals at its annu-al general meeting.

The oil-to-telecom giantsaw its scrip jump 9.72 per centto close at �1,275 on the BSE.During the day, it climbed12.09 per cent to �1,302.50.

Reliance was the top gain-er among the 30-frontlinestocks on the key BSE index.

On the NSE, its sharesgained 9.74 per cent to close at�1,275.30 apiece.

Billionaire MukeshAmbani-led firm posted itsbiggest one-day gain of 9.8 percent in a decade in terms ofstock price (the previous bestwas on January 14, 2009), thecompany said in a statement.

Riding on the massive rally,the company’s market valuationadvanced by �71,637.78 croreto �8,08,233.78 crore on theBSE.

On the volume front, 20.92lakh shares traded on the BSEand over 4.79 crore units on theNSE during the day.

On market capitalisation,the company’s statement saidthis is the highest absolutemarket cap gain in a singletrading day.

“Reliance can further movetowards �1,300 soon. Going bythe track record of the man-

agement and potential of theretail and digital market ofIndia, Reliance’s announce-ments will prompt a fresh rushof buying the stock that cantake it to new highs in short-term and may pass �2,000 lev-els in next 12 months,” RomeshTiwari, head of research,CapitalAim on the AGM ofReliance Industries Ltd, said.

Equity markets were closedon Monday on account ofBakri Id. Reliance Industrieschairman Mukesh Ambani onMonday announced plans tosell stakes in the firm’s oil andchemicals business to Saudi oilgiant Aramco and in fuel retailnetwork to BP plc for �1.15lakh crore and said its telecomunit Jio will begin offeringfibre-based broadband servicesfrom next month.

Saudi Aramco will buy a 20per cent stake in the oil andchemicals business of Relianceincluding the 1.36 million bar-rels a day Jamnagar refiningcomplex in Gujarat, for anenterprise value of $75 billion.BP will buy 49 per cent stake inthe firm’s 1,400 petrol pumpsand aviation fuel selling facil-ities at 31 airports for another�7,000 crore.

The twin deals along withdeleveraging of telecom armJio’s infrastructure assets willhelp Reliance become “a zero-net debt company within thenext 18 months, that is byMarch 31, 2021”, Ambani saidat the company’s annual gen-eral meeting (AGM).

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AGovernment-constitutedhigh level panel on

Tuesday recommended makingexpenditure on CSR taxdeductible as well as treat non-compliance with CSR require-ments a civil offence under thecompanies law.

Under the Companies Act,2013, certain classes of prof-itable entities are required tospend at least two per cent oftheir three-year annual averagenet profit towards CorporateSocial Responsibility (CSR) ina particular financial year.

The panel, headed byCorporate Affairs SecretaryInjeti Srinivas, has stressedthat CSR expenditure shouldnot be treated as a means ofresource gap funding for gov-ernment schemes.

On Tuesday, Srinivas pre-sented the report to Finance andCorporate Affairs MinisterNirmala Sitharaman. Apart fromrecommending that violation ofCSR compliance might be madea civil offence and shifted to thepenalty regime, the panel hasalso pitched for “making CSRexpenditure tax deductible”,according to an official release.

Noting that the committeehas made far reaching recom-mendations, the release said themain suggestions include intro-duction of impact assessmentstudies for CSR obligation of Rs5 crore or more, and registra-tion of implementation agen-cies on the corporate affairsministry’s portal.

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The Centre will within threemonths frame rules and set

up an authority to implementthe newly enacted ConsumerProtection Act, Food andConsumer Affairs MinisterRam Vilas Paswan said onTuesday.

The minister asserted thatrepresentation of all sectionswill be ensured while nomi-nating members of the author-ity, and said rules will beframed after consultations withstates, members of parliamentand other stakeholders.

Earlier this month,Parliament approved ‘TheConsumer Protection Bill 2019’,replacing the ConsumerProtection Act, 1986. The lawseeks to revamp the process ofadministration and settlement

of consumer disputes, withstrict penalties, including jailterm for adulteration and mis-leading ads by firms.

“Before framing rules, wewill hold consultation withMPs later this month. We willalso call former consumeraffairs secretaries. We will makerules very cautiously to ensurethat consumers are safe,” hetold reporters here.

Highlighting the provi-sions of this law, Paswantermed the establishment ofCentral Consumer ProtectionAuthority (CCPA) under thislaw as “revolutionary” step,giving much needed teeth tothis legislation.

He said the authority cansuo-motto take congnisanceof any consumer issues, initiateinvestigation and take classaction suits.

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NMDC has posted its Q12019-20 PBT & PAT

which are �1,913 crore and�1,179 crore respectively. Thecompany has seen 30% and21% in comparison with theQ1 of 2018-19, i.e. �1,477 croreand �975 crore respectively.

Iron ore production in Q1 is8.43 MT against 6.98 MT in

Q1 of 2018-19, registering agrowth of 21%. Similarly, ironore sales has increased from6.78 MT in Q1 of 2018-19 to8.67 MT in Q1 of 2019-20, wit-nessing a growth of 28%. Theseare the best ever performancesince inception for Q1 (exclud-ing Donimalai which was non-operational in Q1 FY 20).

The sales turnover for theQ1 of 2019-20 is �3,264 crorewhich is 35% higher than theCPLY which was �2,422 crore.In absolute terms, this is thebest result in last 5 years and ifrevenues from Donimalai areexcluded, this is the best everturnover for Q1 since inception.

During the quarter NMDCreceived prestigious S&PGlobal PLATTS Metals Award2019 in CSR category for thesecond consecutive year.

NMDC also bagged Certificateof Merit in Challengers cate-gory of “Frost & Sullivan” —The Energy and ResourcesInstitute (TERI) Sustainability4.0 Awards. NMDC is embark-ing on a digital transformationjourney in the new FinancialYear, by adopting ERP throughproject titled ‘Kalpataru’.

N Baijendra Kumar, IAS,CMD, NMDC said it is a proudmoment for the company toexcel and create new benchmarks both in physical andfinancial performances inspiteof closure of Donimalai Minein Karnataka and challenges atBailadila Complex inChhattisgarh. He alsoexpressed that with the kind ofhard-work and commitmentdemonstrated by the employ-ees, NMDC would surely sur-pass its targets for FY 20.

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The RBI on Tuesday per-mitted startups, banks and

financial institutions to set upregulatory sandbox (RS) for livetesting of innovative productsin areas like retail payments,digital KYC and wealth man-agement.

RS usually refers to livetesting of new products or ser-vices in a controlled/test regu-

latory environment for whichregulators may (or may not)permit certain relaxations forthe limited purpose of the test-ing. The RS allows the regula-tor, innovators, financial serviceproviders and customers toconduct field tests to collectevidence on the benefits andrisks of new financial innova-tions, while carefully monitor-ing and containing their risks.

Releasing the ‘enablingframework for regulatory sand-box’, the RBI said the RS fosters‘learning by doing’ on all sidesand regulators obtain first-hand empirical evidence on thebenefits and risks of emergingtechnologies and their impli-cations.

This will enable authoritiesto take a considered view onthe regulatory changes or newregulations that may be need-ed to support useful innova-tion, while containing theattendant risks.

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The Centre has issuedguidelines on opera-

tionalising �1-lakh crore par-tial guarantee scheme underwhich public-sector banks canpurchase high-rated pooledassets of financially soundnon-banking finance compa-nies (NBFCs).

NBFCs, including housingfinance companies (HFCs),came under stress followingseries of defaults by the group

companies of IL&FS inSeptember last year.

To help the sector comeout of the stress, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanin the Budget announced sup-port for fundamentally soundNBFCs in getting continuedfunding from banks.

“For purchase of high-rated pooled assets of finan-cially sound NBFCs, amount-ing to a total of Rs 1 lakh croreduring the current financialyear, the government will pro-

vide one-time six months’partial credit guarantee topublic sector banks for firstloss of up to 10 per cent,” shehad said.

In pursuance of that thefinance ministry last weekreleased a detailed guidelinesfor this with the objective toaddress temporary asset lia-bility mismatches of otherwisesolvent NBFCs/HFCs withouthaving to resort to distress saleof their assets for meetingtheir commitments. The par-tial guarantee would helprework the Asset Liabilitystructure within three monthsto have positive Asset LiabilityManagement in each bucketfor the first three months andon cumulative basis for theremaining period.

“At no time during theperiod for exercise of theoption to buy back the assets,should the CRAR (capital torisk weighted assets ratio) gobelow the regulatory mini-mum. The promoter shallensure this by infusing equi-ty, where required,” an officialstatement said. As per theguidelines issued, the windowfor one-time partial creditguarantee will be for a periodof six months, or till such dateby which �1 lakh crore assetsget purchased by banks.

Assets originated up toMarch 31, 2019 will only beeligible under this scheme, itsaid, adding assets should bestandard in the books ofNBFCs/HFCs on the date ofsale.

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Script Open High Low LTPRCOM 1.3 1.35 1.26 1.26RELIANCE 1240 1302.5 1225.3 1275YESBANK 84 84.35 72.85 73.6IBULHSGFIN 518.05 586 505 573.65IDEA 5.4 5.44 4.83 5.02SPICEJET 138.9 139.3 127 127.95INFY* 788.35 788.35 760.5 764.1TATAMOTORS 124 126.35 121 122ITC 254.4 254.4 244.2 246.1SUNPHARMA 422 444.8 420.8 437.55TATASTEEL 362.9 367.6 345.5 348.4LT 1367 1370 1307.6 1313.75DHFL 49.45 50.9 45 46.5HDFCBANK 2282 2282 2202.65 2220.2MARUTI 6110 6110 5790 5812.95RBLBANK 389 389.4 367.4 371.15SBIN 292.1 292.1 282.6 283.4BHEL 54.15 56.4 50.35 50.55ICICIBANK 419.5 421.8 409.25 410.5DIVISLAB 1649 1649 1512.1 1520MOTHERSUMI 105.6 106.8 96.3 97.25HDFC 2166 2213.05 2090 2099.85JAICORPLTD 74.3 84.3 74.1 79.35BAJFINANCE 3420 3431.55 3207 3222.4JINDALSTEL 100.15 102.05 94 94.75IBREALEST 79.95 84.2 75.6 78.25COLPAL 1230 1237.2 1206.75 1207RELCAPITAL 49.8 51.15 44.85 46INDUSINDBK 1414 1415.65 1352 1373.35GRAPHITE 280 303.45 280 292.35RELINFRA 47.55 48.55 44.3 45.05HDFCLIFE 530 536.95 516.35 519.1JUSTDIAL 718 720 662.25 664.15RPOWER 3.74 3.83 3.57 3.61BRITANNIA 2589 2589 2490.6 2510.55BHARTIARTL 359.8 363.7 346.45 351.65GAIL 124 129.7 124 125.75IBVENTURES 205 213.55 201.5 204.2BANKBARODA 100 102.3 97.15 97.7BHARATFORG 432 432 398.55 400.7AXISBANK 666.9 668.95 645 650.15ZEEL 330 337.5 325.6 327.4TCS 2250.2 2250.2 2195 2200.2DMART 1461.8 1487 1453 1460.05MGL 778.25 814.7 778.25 785.7M&M 549.8 549.8 510 512.3ASHOKLEY 64.7 64.7 61.3 61.55HEROMOTOCO 2625 2651 2545.2 2565BEML 816.65 820.5 697 714.6NTPC 123 123 114.9 117.3VEDL 141.55 142.85 136.4 139.65SAIL 38.25 39.1 35.85 36.4SUZLON 4.51 4.56 4.15 4.23AUROPHARMA 596 617.4 592.05 601.2SUNTV 450 454.45 420.2 421.4KOTAKBANK 1534.9 1534.9 1506 1507FEDERALBNK 89 89 83 83.25UFLEX 222.5 225.75 220.65 223L&TFH 105.95 105.95 100.15 100.75HINDALCO 175 180.2 173 176.3HINDUNILVR 1841 1841 1802.8 1825.3NCC 68.9 70.75 63.45 63.8NBCC 35.35 36 34.15 34.4COALINDIA 208 211.4 202.8 204.2PVR 1420 1450 1345.8 1406.15ICICIPRULI 395 399 370 374.9HINDPETRO 251.95 251.95 239.15 240.9BEL 98.2 98.45 93.5 94.25TITAN 1060 1087.7 1056 1057.9RNAM 232.05 259.65 232 246.25MUTHOOTFIN 648 648 594 599.85HEG 959 991.5 940.55 948ADANIPOWER 61 61.25 58.2 58.4HDFCAMC 2230 2261 2200.1 2218.1ASIANPAINT 1575 1593.5 1567.6 1572.75ABCAPITAL 90 90 85.5 86.3IOC 130.75 131.9 125.1 126CIPLA 486.9 490.2 472.95 475.4TORNTPHARM 1665 1665 1592.15 1658.25INDIGO 1531.65 1539.75 1498.9 1506.95MANAPPURAM 125.9 125.9 115.55 116.3DISHTV 22.7 23.5 21.45 22.6PCJEWELLER 33 35.35 32.25 34.15UPL 534.9 542.4 498.05 503.25PEL 1793.05 1803.1 1715 1728.4IPCALAB 967.15 970.4 930 932.25ONGC 130.95 133.55 125.7 128.3DABUR 439.6 439.6 427.2 429.2CADILAHC 232.7 233 218.55 219.65BAJAJ-AUTO 2708 2740 2644.85 2666.05TATAELXSI 633.35 633.6 606.6 610.65EICHERMOT 17578.7 17614.95 16548.85 16646.05PNB 66.9 67.55 65.1 65.35FRETAIL 410.15 443.35 406.5 408.4BPCL 344 357.65 342.3 343ADANIENT 133.8 134 128.7 129.65SPARC 155.85 162.6 154.65 160.8ICICIGI 1155.15 1189 1141 1155APOLLOHOSP 1305.15 1369.15 1305.15 1338.2TATAMTRDVR 59 60.4 57.45 57.5WIPRO 265.8 265.8 258.05 258.5ADANIPORTS 377.25 395.05 359.1 360.4PIDILITIND 1349 1371.35 1338 1343.15TATACHEM 568.5 569 543.9 552.7BALKRISIND 755.05 760.4 728.85 749.9HEXAWARE 362.65 379.45 362.65 374.7BAJAJFINSV 7502 7522 7070 7089.45ESCORTS 490 490 460 461.95

GODFRYPHLP 771 850.95 761 850.95TECHM 663.65 664 636.5 639PFC 109.6 110.15 103.35 104.2DCMSHRIRAM 395 400 378 394.15GNFC 207.9 208.75 200 200.95DLF 175.6 178.9 172.1 173.05CANBK 229.15 231.85 220.1 221.6M&MFIN 321 335 295.45 298.15J&KBANK 45.5 45.5 40.4 40.85GRASIM 747 747.7 706.1 709.7TATAPOWER 58.3 58.3 55.4 55.8SBILIFE 799.9 799.9 761.55 775BATAINDIA 1421 1458.5 1420.65 1431.65CANFINHOME 387 390.45 368.2 371.6ULTRACEMCO 4283.35 4287.5 4161.7 4170INOXLEISUR 294 299 271 288.4SRTRANSFIN 1035.1 1048.9 981 987.6BANKINDIA 69 69.4 66.3 66.7JSWSTEEL 219.95 224.25 216.4 219.75GLENMARK 426.3 435 412.45 417MAHINDCIE 174.3 174.3 162.1 162.1BOMDYEING 72.1 73.3 70.4 71.1STRTECH 140.2 144.65 138.8 139NETWORK18 20.5 24.15 20.5 22.4IDFCFIRSTB 44.65 44.65 42.7 43.15LUPIN 764 764 745.55 748.25UJJIVAN 292 295.2 285.1 287.75JUBLFOOD 1185.05 1185.05 1128.3 1142.9WHIRLPOOL 1540 1549.1 1498.95 1530.65LICHSGFIN 503 503 481.6 485.15APOLLOTYRE 164.85 165 158.1 158.1INDIACEM 84.85 84.85 81.5 82.25MINDTREE 753.6 753.6 716.4 719.25DELTACORP 159.7 166.8 159.7 165.2AUBANK 689 698.1 677.6 677.6MARICO 395 395.25 390.8 392.8BIOCON 230 232.2 222.85 224.1CGPOWER 18.25 18.7 17.85 18.1ENDURANCE 852.95 868.9 821 852RECLTD 145 145.95 140.1 140.9FORCEMOT 1140 1149.95 1060 1070.5GODREJPROP 910.9 918.2 877.5 904ACC 1575.05 1585.6 1540 1548.15POWERGRID 201 205.4 196.85 202.15

TVSMOTOR 388.75 388.75 365.65 369.05HAVELLS 663.8 665.1 643.5 643.75SOBHA 532.4 532.4 493.5 498.25SWANENERGY 101.4 103.7 98.9 101PHILIPCARB 118 120.8 112.55 120LTI 1640 1640 1569 1586.35FCONSUMER 31.15 34.2 29.9 32.95HSCL 82.8 86 78 82.85WESTLIFE 269 278.95 264 278.95OIL 154 155 147.2 148.15TV18BRDCST 20.75 23.4 20.55 21.75RAIN 88.35 88.35 81.6 82.65NAUKRI 2209 2220 2145 2150.8BERGEPAINT 358.75 364.8 355.9 363.5HCLTECH 1087.5 1089.4 1067.3 1071.5ENGINERSIN 100.55 103.75 99.8 103.2PAGEIND 17650 18616.95 17534.1 18003.4STAR 422 422.6 414.7 416SRF 2903.4 2903.4 2805.1 2829.1VINATIORGA 2060.75 2130 2057 2070CHOLAFIN 272.1 274 260.25 261TATAGLOBAL 266 268 262 263.65AJANTPHARM 946.3 995 922.5 926.45IGL 303.1 314.2 300.1 309.85DRREDDY 2587 2598.6 2544 2551PETRONET 238.4 241.65 237.45 240NMDC 105 105 100.6 101.15NATIONALUM 43.7 43.7 42.55 42.9ABFRL 211 211.9 200 200.35INFRATEL 250.25 253.1 243.7 246.7WABAG 278 278 270 271.35NESTLEIND 12000 12189.9 11806.5 11871.9NIITTECH 1299 1325 1280.5 1325DBL 395.1 420 395 395DCBBANK 197.25 198.9 193.45 194.5EDELWEISS 144.75 144.9 140.8 142.4CENTURYTEX 905 905 871.5 875.65JUBILANT 437.4 447.7 425.55 435NOCIL 90 90.35 84.7 85.25

BOSCHLTD 14325.6 14669 13367.9 13517.25TORNTPOWER 288.3 295.6 282.1 285.4VOLTAS 606 610.65 579.1 585.2UNIONBANK 64.9 65.4 62.7 62.95ORIENTBANK 67.9 68 65.65 66.05EQUITAS 110.45 110.45 107 108.35IEX 147 149.55 139.7 140.6BANDHANBNK 509 509 490 494.05OMAXE 199.15 199.15 196.2 196.45EXIDEIND 181.9 182.6 176 177.55MCX 848.65 849.45 817.9 823.2KEI 488 488.55 473 480.55JISLJALEQS 20.25 22.5 20.2 21.6DCAL 206.95 210.5 193 193.25WOCKPHARMA 296.2 296.25 284.55 290CUMMINSIND 605 606.3 589 591.25VBL 629 636.5 604.5 635.95SUNTECK 435.55 446.35 424 442.85GRUH 262.5 262.65 255 257.5UBL 1380.05 1380.05 1352.6 1360.25AMBUJACEM 214.5 214.5 207.2 208.75RAMCOCEM 768 768 730 731.8GSFC 73.2 73.2 70.3 70.45REDINGTON 90.1 96.5 90.1 94.95INDIANB 196.25 196.25 184.2 184.6CAPPL 434 450.55 425.6 433.2PARAGMILK 182 182 173 175.85BLISSGVS 96 98.65 95 96.2NHPC 22.6 22.85 22.3 22.5ADANIGAS 156.3 157.7 151.35 152.55JINDALSAW 68.5 71.25 67.3 68.55IRB 95.85 95.9 91.25 92.4RADICO 318.55 319.6 310.75 315.45MAHSEAMLES 402 402.9 390 399NATCOPHARM 545 551.9 536 547.75TIMKEN 705 734.85 685.05 685.05SIEMENS 1167.85 1173 1138.25 1141.85IFCI 8 8.05 7.6 7.7KAJARIACER 472 480.25 468 468.55KTKBANK 82 82 78 78.3MFSL 398.05 405.15 393.25 399.05VENKYS 1397.65 1407 1321 1327.75SHREECEM 20194.5 20194.5 19402.75 19625GUJGAS 183 186.2 180.6 183.1DEEPAKNI 280 280.05 265 266.5RAYMOND 639.5 639.5 607.75 616.55CENTURYPLY 130 135 127.65 135SCHNEIDER 75.5 78 75 75.9GSPL 222.2 225.5 215.55 215.65JAMNAAUTO 35.6 36.6 34.1 34.6PFIZER 3028 3097.7 2950 3058.95SUPREMEIND 1085 1094.75 1071.2 1082.2CASTROLIND 119 119.4 114.9 115.65GODREJCP 654 657.75 636.35 644SUDARSCHEM 328.6 336.9 323.45 326.5SADBHAV 132.95 139 130.5 130.7VGUARD 222.05 228.9 222.05 224.9APLAPOLLO 1317.6 1323.5 1264.7 1285.1ADANITRANS 218.6 218.6 213 213WELCORP 115.65 120.7 113.1 113.1NH 232.1 238.45 227 231.3AMARAJABAT 637.8 646.4 618.2 627GESHIP* 222.65 232.8 220.6 230.9CHENNPETRO 194.85 197.3 193.5 194.05BBTC 820 821 773.6 777TRENT 451 453.35 446 446.4INDHOTEL 140 140 134.65 136.2DEEPAKFERT 91.9 91.9 85.05 86.1GUJALKALI 441.85 442 406.3 413THOMASCOOK 182.9 182.9 166.25 169.2EMAMILTD 313 314.15 296.65 301.65IFBIND 688.75 689.55 635 642ASHOKA 119 120.75 116 120.4HATHWAY 20.4 23.5 20.4 23.5ITI 74.75 75.35 71.35 71.7HINDCOPPER 32.25 32.4 31.45 31.75SOUTHBANK 11.92 11.92 11.51 11.62LTTS 1588 1605.4 1580 1594.15CHAMBLFERT 151 151 143.95 145.4HFCL 19 19.7 18.75 18.75JKTYRE 58 58 55.85 56.2HINDZINC 215 215 204.1 204.5PNCINFRA 204.7 209.2 198 202.05PIIND 1116.75 1129.9 1115 1115MINDAIND 329 329 315 318AVANTI 308.1 308.45 299.15 301.5BDL 293.4 300 286.6 291.5ASTRAL 1224 1224 1201 1201JAGRAN 65 66.5 63 66.25GMRINFRA 15.02 15.42 14.88 14.97TEJASNET 92 92 86.55 88.25TRIDENT 57.9 57.9 54.7 55.05PGHL 4688 4688 4547 4555GICRE 193.9 195 188.05 189INFIBEAM 44.2 44.5 42.35 42.35MPHASIS 952 968 932.2 958.4TIMETECHNO 68 70 64 69.15GRANULES 98.4 98.4 92.45 93.2FSL 48.1 48.25 46 46.7CARERATING 549.9 549.9 515.5 521.25ABB 1400 1405 1371.3 1373.1RAJESHEXPO 689.4 700.35 686 700CEATLTD 889 889 845.25 859.5GODREJIND 468 478.8 445.4 457.05GET&D 165.55 166.9 155.05 160REPCOHOME 307.8 314.45 304.95 306.7RCF 45.9 45.9 44.5 44.65SUVEN 235.45 236.25 228.65 233LAXMIMACH 3950 3950 3802.5 3821.05

MEGH 49.7 49.95 47.5 47.6IDBI 27.6 27.6 26.65 26.8PTC 61 61 58 58.65CUB 195.3 198 192.35 193.25INTELLECT 227 227.7 213 217.6SCI 27.7 27.7 26.45 26.6NILKAMAL 1053 1053.15 991.55 1002.1SYNGENE 314.55 314.6 300.45 308.9TTKPRESTIG 6031 6300.05 6024.35 6228.6JBCHEPHARM 374.45 378 372 374.8ASTRAZEN 1861.6 1882.05 1750 1760JMFINANCIL 71 73 68.85 71.6LALPATHLAB 1083.75 1094.05 1060 1060.4MRF 57055 57344.95 56180.55 56627.75AIAENG 1681.7 1681.7 1641.65 1645.2CONCOR 487.05 487.05 471.6 472.5TATACOMM 463 463 441.25 442.8BAJAJELEC 395 395 376.65 379.4IDFC 33.55 33.55 32 32ORIENTCEM 91.8 92.75 87.3 87.45OFSS 3166.05 3166.05 3041.55 3060QUESS 466.4 474 455.25 457.95RITES 240.05 242.05 232.5 233.8MAGMA 70.45 72.7 67.65 69.9PNBHOUSING 720 730 707 708CRISIL 1161.15 1196.1 1155.15 1187.5JETAIRWAYS 44.55 44.55 44.55 44.55MRPL 51.8 51.8 50.45 50.65FLFL 448.85 450.1 441.05 448.5CENTRALBK 20.15 20.2 19.1 19.2VIPIND 400 400 392.6 394.75BASF 1047 1047 997.45 1006.4GODREJAGRO 469.15 469.15 451.2 459.95ADANIGREEN 47 47.1 46 46.4KEC 293.05 296.7 286 286AEGISLOG 199.7 204.05 197.4 198.05NLCINDIA 55.6 55.65 54.5 54.9MOTILALOFS 535.6 536.65 522.5 527.05FORTIS 120.8 121.2 117.85 118.55JSLHISAR 72.8 72.8 65.2 65.45EIDPARRY 153.75 153.75 149.7 149.7TATACOFFEE 72.5 73.4 72 72.2KANSAINER 475 476.9 465 471HEIDELBERG 195 195 187.65 188GICHSGFIN 241.45 241.45 238 239.85COROMANDEL 353.2 360.05 346.15 352.1GLAXO 1212.2 1213.75 1199 1203.7JYOTHYLAB 155.9 156 151.9 151.9KRBL 223 224.4 220.5 220.65GREAVESCOT 117.45 119.4 116.3 117.85JSWENERGY 69.8 69.95 67.55 67.75TNPL 161.1 163.1 157.75 159.4JPASSOCIAT 2.44 2.49 2.35 2.45ABBOTINDIA 9050 9275 8905.75 9130HIMATSEIDE 138 142.5 133.65 135.5SONATSOFTW 340 340.05 326.9 331.9MAXINDIA 60 61.5 57.9 60.85BALMLAWRIE 172.9 176.45 172 172.95ALBK 36.9 37.05 36.1 36.45JKLAKSHMI 334.3 336.6 322.5 322.85BLUESTARCO 722 724.95 701 701PRESTIGE 283.45 286.35 280.75 281.85LEMONTREE 52.85 52.9 48 50.25MINDACORP 88.55 88.55 85.85 87.95MAHSCOOTER 3972 3972 3695 3718GAYAPROJ 136.25 141 130.15 130.15TATAINVEST 819 819 799.45 804.65GHCL 207.5 208.1 201.1 201.1DBCORP 157.25 158 155 156VMART 1898.75 1898.75 1759.05 1763MOIL 131.5 132.45 129.6 130.15NIACL 117.05 117.35 113.4 113.4PERSISTENT 540 540 529 530.1MAHLIFE 383 385 367.4 372.1SANOFI 6198 6389.45 6198 6245.5CARBORUNIV 285.75 287.2 274.1 274.1OBEROIRLTY 550 552.1 532 538.3FINOLEXIND 525.4 530 510.1 527GRINDWELL 547 552 531.65 539.7WELSPUNIND 49 49.15 47.8 47.95CHOLAHLDNG 471.1 473.15 454.5 469.5VTL 937.65 937.75 903.05 921EVEREADY 81.7 84.45 81.4 81.4SUNDRMFAST 422.15 422.15 412.2 415.5PRSMJOHNSN 81.7 83.4 79.2 79.55ISEC 209.65 211.1 205 209.5LAKSHVILAS 42.6 42.8 42 42.8SJVN 24.95 24.95 24.3 24.4ATUL 3650 3684.95 3607.3 3618.1THYROCARE 470 478.65 464.15 467.3GDL 99.9 101.6 96.5 98.2INOXWIND 47 49 46.5 46.95ASTERDM 120.7 123 120.05 121.25ADVENZYMES 154 154.4 150.2 150.2RALLIS 159 159.45 157.3 159.05SOMANYCERA 320.1 320.1 305.2 310LINDEINDIA 483.95 491.5 481.4 485.1LAOPALA 168 168 152 159.4RELAXO 433.15 433.2 421.6 422.45SYNDIBANK 32.3 32.35 31.65 31.75SREINFRA 11.5 11.68 11.01 11.1TAKE 101.7 102.85 101 101.7KALPATPOWR 483.05 490.4 483.05 488NESCO 529.95 530 522 527.5SHANKARA 267 270.8 256.1 259.6CORPBANK 20.5 20.5 19.9 20MMTC 19.1 19.1 18.35 18.4BIRLACORPN 597.25 597.25 570 570THERMAX 1098 1098 1059.05 1060

CYIENT 441.75 448 438 445.95SHILPAMED 347.8 348 328.05 332.05CROMPTON 228 231.45 226.6 226.65ORIENTELEC 170.5 172.8 161 161MASFIN 604 622 604 622MAHABANK 12.1 12.15 11.92 12.05HUDCO 33.9 33.9 32.9 33.1IRCON 361 361 353 353.65APARINDS 545.45 545.45 525 537.15ANDHRABANK 19.85 19.9 18.85 19HAL 646 646 635 635ECLERX 555 555 514.95 515COCHINSHIP 351 353.9 346.95 347.55SHK 121.1 124.95 118.15 118.15TVTODAY 314.15 314.15 304 311.45SUPRAJIT 147.3 152.2 146 148.8TIINDIA 351 353.45 345.5 345.5ESSELPRO 127.9 127.9 112 114ZYDUSWELL 1531.3 1549 1497.05 1515.45FINCABLES 374 374 360 360HSIL 221 222.85 217 217.65UCOBANK 16 16 15.5 15.6EIHOTEL 160 160.2 155.2 155.4JSL 29.1 30.35 28.7 30.1HONAUT 24000 24000 23200.05 23292.9ALLCARGO 96.95 97.4 94 943MINDIA 21164.1 21699.95 20600.05 21251.5MAHLOG 368.8 370 360.9 360.9ZENSARTECH 212.5 218.45 210.6 211.15CENTRUM 26.85 26.85 24.85 25.25GSKCONS 7880 7880 7762 7812.05INDOSTAR 288 289.2 285 286.5BAJAJHLDNG 3435.65 3435.65 3353.1 3380.1ALKEM 1764.25 1805 1757.75 1805LAURUSLABS 342.9 343 328.5 338.15FDC 163.65 163.7 161 161.2MHRIL 220 220 211 214.4WABCOINDIA 6116 6116 6036.1 6055BLUEDART 2299.7 2313.75 2255 2255IOB 10.57 10.57 10.2 10.34AKZOINDIA 1738.35 1738.35 1704.4 1708.05KNRCON 256.1 256.1 245.25 251.9CREDITACC 521 524 509 509.55ELGIEQUIP 245.05 248.1 240 248.1GILLETTE 7150 7183.35 6915.55 6966SOLARINDS 1111.7 1120.85 1097 1114.65BAYERCROP 3250 3250 3091.25 3091.25LUXIND 1028 1032.65 1010.35 1013.45TCNSBRANDS 685 695.3 655 693CERA 2501 2560 2450 2500GULFOILLUB 827 827 796 799.3GPPL 79.05 80.25 79 79.8BAJAJCON 264.3 264.3 257.75 261.2APLLTD 545.5 545.5 526.75 529.2JKCEMENT 994 994 962.9 970TEAMLEASE 2702.85 2702.85 2625 2632.55JCHAC 1521 1527.95 1475 1489.4ERIS 398.5 398.5 394.8 397NAVINFLUOR 665 669.3 661.15 662.65PGHH 10325 10325 10239.05 10260GEPIL 752.25 759.2 731 739.3CCL 248 248 239.8 243.1TVSSRICHAK 1604 1680 1572 1634.2SHOPERSTOP 393.1 396.1 387.35 395.3AAVAS 1522.15 1544.5 1521.2 1525MONSANTO 2010 2118.35 2010 2020TATAMETALI 500 503 495.4 499ITDC 180 180 163.55 164.8SFL 1165 1228 1127.15 1133.5GMDCLTD 65.6 66.25 65 65.25PHOENIXLTD 635.3 660.3 635.3 657.95COFFEEDAY 69.7 69.7 69.7 69.7DHANUKA 331.45 333.9 326.25 326.25HERITGFOOD 353.65 353.65 341.75 341.75UNITEDBNK 9.55 9.74 9.35 9.74ITDCEM 73.6 73.6 70.5 71.5VARROC 444 445.1 431 432IBULISL 99.7 100 98 100STARCEMENT 101.65 101.65 98.95 99.2FINEORG 1424.25 1450 1424.25 1432.65HATSUN 632 632 617.3 620SYMPHONY 1224 1242.85 1224 1231.8TRITURBINE 100 102.95 96.8 102.95SCHAEFFLER 4379.85 4379.85 4222 4250KPRMILL 567.75 586 567 586SHRIRAMCIT 1397.85 1437.4 1397.8 1398.4ASAHIINDIA 197 197 195.1 195.1JSWHL 2707.1 2765 2647 2647SKFINDIA 1847 1855.35 1847 1848.35NBVENTURES* 88.9 89 87.65 87.65SIS 812 820 812 820

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11,139.40 11,145.90 10,901.60 10,925.85 -183.8IBULHSGFIN 520 597.55 505 577.3 72.05RELIANCE 1,233.15 1,302.80 1,226.00 1,275.30 113.2SUNPHARMA 421.5 444.5 420.75 438.35 16.35GAIL 124.85 129.15 124 125.55 1.7ZEEL 328.7 337.5 325.8 329.3 1.2POWERGRID 200.45 205.4 196.75 202 0ASIANPAINT 1,573.50 1,594.00 1,568.00 1,574.45 -1.05HINDALCO 175.25 180.3 173 175.75 -0.45JSWSTEEL 217.6 224.45 216.45 220 -0.6TATAMOTORS 123.8 126.3 121 121.65 -0.4TITAN 1,070.00 1,088.50 1,056.10 1,059.55 -7.45DRREDDY 2,578.00 2,599.50 2,541.00 2,553.00 -20.45HINDUNILVR 1,838.00 1,838.00 1,802.15 1,826.45 -14.9BPCL 346 357.85 342 342.9 -3.55VEDL 138 142.9 136.45 139.8 -1.7HCLTECH 1,091.90 1,091.90 1,067.35 1,070.35 -15.95COALINDIA 207.9 211.45 202.5 204.5 -3.1BAJAJ-AUTO 2,699.95 2,742.85 2,642.60 2,664.00 -43.6CIPLA 484.5 486.9 473.05 476.5 -8KOTAKBANK 1,525.10 1,534.00 1,505.25 1,506.80 -25.3WIPRO 264.9 264.9 258 258.5 -5TCS 2,245.00 2,246.25 2,194.30 2,200.00 -46.25INFRATEL 250 253.45 243.8 246.7 -5.35AXISBANK 662.2 668.7 645 646.7 -14.1HEROMOTOCO2,615.60 2,651.05 2,546.85 2,562.30 -59.95HDFCBANK 2,273.30 2,273.30 2,202.60 2,228.00 -54ICICIBANK 417 421.7 409.15 409.85 -10.3ULTRACEMCO 4,284.80 4,285.30 4,160.55 4,169.30 -112.05INDUSINDBK 1,415.00 1,417.15 1,352.20 1,375.25 -38.15SBIN 290.9 291.55 282.5 283 -8.35BRITANNIA 2,565.00 2,565.00 2,491.00 2,512.00 -76.15INFY 784.15 786 760.15 764 -25.85IOC 130.3 131.85 125.05 126 -4.5TECHM 661.1 662.5 636 640.3 -23.05LT 1,370.00 1,370.00 1,307.00 1,316.50 -48.1ONGC 130.95 133.5 125.5 126.3 -4.65NTPC 123 123 114.75 117.05 -4.35ITC 253.8 254 244 244.65 -9.55TATASTEEL 361.7 367.6 345.35 347.8 -14.55ADANIPORTS 376.4 379.55 359.1 360.5 -16.1BHARTIARTL 361.2 365 346.15 353.55 -17.6HDFC 2,196.10 2,209.65 2,092.45 2,101.85 -109.8UPL 532 542.75 497.85 506.8 -26.65MARUTI 6,099.70 6,123.00 5,791.55 5,792.00 -307.9GRASIM 748 750 705.7 707 -39.5EICHERMOT 17,600.00 17,649.85 16,547.75 16,645.90 -941.35BAJAJFINSV 7,510.00 7,545.00 7,066.05 7,088.00 -416M&M 545 545 510.25 513.55 -32BAJFINANCE 3,419.70 3,424.00 3,208.05 3,212.00 -207.7YESBANK 84 84.2 72.85 73.2 -8.95

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 26,228.30 26,228.90 25,583.05 25,636.10 -600.5PAGEIND 18,188.80 18,629.50 17,533.00 18,099.00 417NHPC 22.75 22.9 22.3 22.45 0.4AUROPHARMA 599 617.6 591.3 602 3.15DMART 1,458.85 1,484.25 1,452.00 1,457.00 6.2PETRONET 240.7 241.7 237.25 239.25 0.65MARICO 395 395.5 390.1 392.5 0.45PIDILITIND 1,349.00 1,371.00 1,337.30 1,349.00 -2.75PGHH 10,400.00 10,400.00 10,230.00 10,295.00 -27.5ICICIGI 1,154.00 1,190.55 1,140.30 1,150.00 -3.9HDFCAMC 2,239.00 2,261.00 2,200.00 2,221.00 -7.55MRF 56,601.30 57,390.90 56,011.10 56,620.45 -414NMDC 102 104.95 100.45 100.9 -0.95UBL 1,380.00 1,381.30 1,352.00 1,360.85 -15.7DLF 175.2 179 172.3 173.3 -2.35GODREJCP 653 659.1 635.45 644.5 -8.9LUPIN 758 762 746 747.5 -11.2INDIGO 1,531.05 1,539.80 1,498.00 1,507.00 -23.95HAVELLS 655.8 665.6 644.4 646.6 -10.35ABB 1,391.80 1,407.00 1,372.00 1,374.00 -22.7BANDHANBNK 499.8 505.7 489.15 491.2 -8.25AMBUJACEM 212.95 213.75 207.2 209.4 -3.55COLPAL 1,234.95 1,239.75 1,205.00 1,208.00 -21.5GICRE 192 195.65 188.05 189.7 -3.5HDFCLIFE 529.7 537 516 516.9 -9.85ACC 1,573.40 1,586.80 1,538.35 1,542.60 -32DABUR 438 438.5 427 429.25 -9.8BANKBARODA 100 102.4 97.1 97.6 -2.25BIOCON 230.6 232.25 222.8 223.7 -5.2PEL 1,781.65 1,804.00 1,714.00 1,730.15 -40.45SIEMENS 1,172.00 1,174.45 1,136.65 1,138.80 -27.75CONCOR 488 488 470.55 474 -11.6OFSS 3,168.30 3,168.30 3,040.00 3,072.00 -80.55BAJAJHLDNG 3,453.70 3,453.70 3,350.00 3,363.05 -90.65SHREECEM 20,000.50 20,078.00 19,401.45 19,689.95 -580.05HINDPETRO 248 251.7 239.1 239.2 -7.9SBILIFE 797.25 801.7 761.7 775.15 -26.55L&TFH 104.35 105.35 100.2 100.5 -3.45HINDZINC 212 213 204.3 204.7 -7.45MCDOWELL-N 610 610 578.55 582 -23.1ASHOKLEY 64.5 64.65 61.3 61.8 -2.5NIACL 118.4 118.4 113.5 113.5 -5.5CADILAHC 233.7 233.7 218.1 219.6 -10.75ICICIPRULI 392.2 399.25 370 376 -19.5SRTRANSFIN 1,038.95 1,048.85 980.05 987.55 -54.6IDEA 5.4 5.45 4.8 5.05 -0.3BOSCHLTD 14,380.00 14,484.50 13,380.80 13,422.20 -867.75SAIL 38 39.1 35.8 36.4 -2.4DIVISLAB 1,615.00 1,620.00 1,512.20 1,521.00 -143.95MOTHERSUMI 106 107 96.2 98 -9.35BHEL 54 56.5 50.4 50.45 -6.45

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BSE benchmark Sensex onTuesday crashed about 624

points dragged by heavy loss-es in index heavyweightsHDFC twins, Infosys, ITC andICICI Bank amid sell-offs inglobal equities. Bucking theoverall downtrend, shares ofReliance Industries (RIL) ral-lied nearly 10 per cent, cappingthe Sensex loss to a large extent.

Apart from global con-cerns, investors remained jit-tery over domestic macro chal-lenges amid slowing down ofthe economy and falling con-sumer demand in various sec-tors. After diving nearly 700points in the fag-end of the ses-sion, the 30-share Sensex set-tled 623.75 points, or 1.66 percent, lower at 36,958.16. It hitan intra-day low of 36,888.49and a high of 37,755.16.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty slumped 183.80 points, or1.65 per cent, to 10,925.85.During the day, it hit a low of10,901.60 and a high of11,145.90. Top losers in theSensex pack included Yes Bank,M&M, Bajaj Finance, BhartiAirtel, HDFC, Maruti, TataSteel and L&T, cracking up to10.35 per cent.

On the other hand, RIL ral-lied 9.72 per cent to become thebiggest gainer, after MukeshAmbani on Mondayannounced plans to sell stakes

in the firm’s oil and chemicalsbusiness to Saudi oil giantAramco and in fuel retail net-work to BP plc for Rs 1.15 lakhcrore, and said its telecom unitJio will begin offering fibre-based broadband services fromnext month.

Sun Pharma andPowerGrid were other twostocks that ended in the green.Auto stocks plunged afterSIAM reported that automobilesales in India witnessed itssharpest decline in nearly 19years in July, dropping 18.71per cent, rendering almost15,000 workers jobless overthe past two-three months.

“Markets have been tag-ging-along global markets inpalpable risk-off sentiment dueto multiple challenges of inten-sification of US-China trade

war, sell-off in Argentina andHong Kong markets,” saidJagannadham Thunuguntla,senior VP and Head ofResearch (Wealth), CentrumBroking.

Asian markets ended sig-nificantly lower amid globaltrade war concerns andincreasingly violent demon-strations in Hong Kong. TheHang Seng cracked 2.10 percent, Shanghai CompositeIndex fell 0.63 per cent, Kospi0.85 per cent and Nikkei ended1.11 per cent lower. Equities inEurope were trading in the redin early deals. Meanwhile, theIndian rupee depreciated by 49paise to 71.27 against the USdollar intra-day. Brent crudefutures, the global oil bench-mark, rose 0.51 per cent toUSD 58.27 per barrel.

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Automobile sales in Indiawitnessed its sharpest

decline in nearly 19 years in July,dropping 18.71 per cent, ren-dering almost 15,000 workersjobless over the past two-threemonths as the sector reels undera prolonged slump, auto indus-try body SIAM reported onTuesday. As per data released bythe Society of IndianAutomobile Manufacturers(SIAM), vehicle sales acrosscategories, including passengervehicles (PVs) and two-wheel-ers, stood at 18,25,148 units lastmonth as against 22,45,223units in July 2018. The previousbiggest decline across overalldomestic automobile sales wasrecorded in December 2000when it fell 21.81 per cent.

Similarly, domestic PV salesalso saw the biggest fall in near-ly 19 years, slumping by 30.98per cent to 2,00,790 units ascompared with 2,90,931 units inthe same period a year ago.Previously, the worst decline wasregistered in December 2000,when wholesales had fallen35.22 per cent. The fall in PVsales in July was also the ninthconsecutive month of decline.SIAM said passenger car sales inJuly were also worst sinceDecember 2000 when the seg-ment had declined by 39.86 percent. Last month, domestic car

sales were down 35.95 per centat 1,22,956 units as against1,91,979 units in July 2018.Besides, total two-wheeler saleslast month declined 16.82 percent to 15,11,692 units com-pared to 18,17,406 units in theyear-ago month. Commercialvehicle sales were down 25.71per cent to 56,866 units in Julyas compared with 76,545 unitsin July 2018. “The data showshow urgent the need is forrevival package from the gov-ernment. There is urgent needfor some kind do action. Theindustry is doing all it can topromote sales. I think this is thetime when the industry reallyneeds the support of govern-ment coming out with a revivalpackage,” SIAM DirectorGeneral Vishnu Mathur toldreporters here. The revival pack-age is necessary to arrest fall in

sales and to bring back theindustry on growth path, headded. Mathur said that almost15,000 jobs, mostly temporaryand casual workers, have alreadybeen lost in the automobilemanufacturing companies overthe last two to three months.Besides, over a million jobs areon the line in the automotivecomponents segment, he added.

With plunging sales, near-ly 300 dealerships have beenforced to close down leading toloss of around two lakh jobs,Mathur said. Underlining thecurrent grave situation of theauto industry, he said that in theprevious downturns the sectorwitnessed in 2008-09 and 2013-14, at least some of the segmentsof the industry were growing.

“However, this time aroundall segments of the industry arewitnessing decline in sales,” he

said. Seeking urgent govern-ment help, Mathur said, “We arehoping that the governmentwould soon come out with arevival package... However, it isstill not clear what all elementswould be included in it.”

The auto industry hassought reduction in GST rate,introduction of vehicle scrap-page policy, revival of NBFCsector as sales are mostly depen-dent on availability of financeand delay in implementation ofthe proposed increase in vehi-cle registration fees, Mathursaid when asked about thedemands put forth by the indus-try to the government. He saidthere was a consensus amongthe industry players for reduc-tion in GST rate cut as it wouldhelp in bringing the cost of buy-ing vehicles down. “We are say-ing that reduction in GST rate,even for a temporary time,would help in reviving thesales... The more the industrygoes down, more difficult itwould become for it to comeup,” Mathur said.

If the industry goes down,the GDP will go down as auto-mobile industry accounts forhalf of the manufacturing GDPand employs around 3.7 crorepeople directly and indirectly, headded. In PV segment, marketleader Maruti Suzuki India post-ed 36.71 per cent decline in itsJuly sales at 96,478 units.

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New Delhi (PTI): RelianceJio’s bundled broadband ser-vices plans may leave DTHfirms “most vulnerable”, andwork out to be “neutral to slightnegative” for Bharti Airtel, as itraises competitive heat in cor-porate and home internetspace, a Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch report said onTuesday. The view comes afterReliance Industries on Mondayrevealed its plans for fixed linebroadband services ‘Jio Fiber’that will offer optical fibre-based ultra high-speed internetbundled with HD televisionviewing at less than one-tenthof global rates.

Bank of America MerrillLynch said that direct-to-home(DTH) companies could be“most vulnerable” to RelianceIndustries’ bundled broadbandand cable services as they areunlikely to offer dual services.It did not anticipate a directimpact on broadcasters butsaid that indirect impact onsubscription revenue could befelt if DTH/MSOs (multiple-system operator) revenue areaffected. “Long-term impactwould be on ad spends ifadvertisers focus more onadvertising on Over The Top(OTT) and spend more on pro-ducing quality content to com-pete with Amazon, Netflix etc,”it said.

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Pro-democracy protestersblocked passengers at Hong

Kong's airport on Tuesday, caus-ing further travel chaos a day aftertriggering an unprecedentedshutdown and defying the city'sleader who warned against head-ing down a "path of no return".

The new rally came asBeijing sent further ominoussignals that the 10 weeks ofunrest must end, with state-runmedia showing videos of securi-ty forces gathering across the bor-der.

The crisis, which has seenmillions of people take to Hong

Kong's streets, has become thebiggest challenge to Chinese ruleof the semi-autonomous citysince its 1997 handover fromBritain. Hong Kong's pro-Beijingleader, Carrie Lam, gave an at-times emotional press conferenceon Tuesday morning in whichshe warned of dangerous conse-quences if escalating violence wasnot curbed. "Violence, no matterif it's using violence or condon-ing violence, will push HongKong down a path of no return,"Lam said. "The situation in HongKong in the past week has mademe very worried that we have

reached this dangerous situation."But a few hours after her

press conference, thousands ofprotesters returned to HongKong airport with many sittingdown in front of security gates atthe departure hall.

"I want to shut down the air-port just like yesterday so mostof the departure flights will becancelled," a 21-year-old stu-dent who gave his surname asKwok told AFP at the rally.

The protesters set up a longbarricade made of luggage trol-leys at one of the main securitygates, then stood up to block pas-sengers who sought to getthrough.

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AScottish judge on Tuesdayfast-tracked a legal chal-

lenge mounted by a cross-party group of British MPs overfears that Prime Minister BorisJohnson could suspendParliament to push through theUK's exit from the EuropeanUnion by the October 31 dead-line, without any deal in place.

Lord Raymond Dohertyruled on a petition filed byaround 70 MPs and peers at theCourt of Session in Edinburghto set a September 6 date for asubstantive hearing to rule onwhether suspending the Houseof Commons to allow the UKto leave the 28-member eco-nomic bloc without a dealwould be "unlawful and uncon-stitutional".

"It's a case that requiresexpedition but there is arequirement for fairness toboth sides," noted Doherty.

Johnson, who took chargeas British Prime Minister witha "do or die" Brexit pledge bythe October 31 deadline, has repeatedly refused to ruleout the prospect of suspendinga deeply-divided Parliament, as one of the options, to meetthe deadline if no agreementcan be reached with the EU intime.

Such a process is termed asproroguing the Parliament andwould require the permissionof Queen Elizabeth II.

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The UN rights chief onTuesday voiced concern

over force used against protesters during massivedemonstrations in Hong Kongand called for an impartial probe amid increas-ingly violent unrest in the keyfinancial hub.

UN High Commissionerfor Human Rights MichelleBachelet is "concerned by theongoing events in the HongKong Special AdministrativeRegion and the escalation ofviolence that has taken place inrecent days," her spokesmanRupert Colville told reportersin Geneva.

The UN rights chief, hesaid, was calling for a "prompt,independent, impartial inves-tigation" into alleged excessiveforce by police against the pro-testers.

The comments came aspro-democracy protestersblocked passengers at HongKong's airport Tuesday, causingfurther travel chaos a day aftertriggering an unprecedentedshutdown.

The 10 weeks of unrest,which has seen millions ofpeople take to Hong Kong'sstreets, has become the biggest challenge to Chineserule of the semi-autonomouscity since its 1997 handoverfrom Britain.

The protests began inopposition to a bill that wouldhave allowed extraditions to themainland, but quickly evolved into a broader bid toreverse a slide of rights andfreedoms in the southernChinese city.

Colville said the UN rightsoffice had reviewed "credibleevidence of law enforcementofficials employing less-lethal

weapons in ways that are pro-hibited by international normsand standards."

He pointed for instance tothe firing of "tear gas cannistersinto crowded, enclosed areas and directly at individualprotesters on multiple occasions, creating a consider-able risk of death or seriousinjury."

The UN rights office, hesaid, was urging Hong Kongauthorities to investigate all such incidents "immediate-ly".

Authorities should also "ensure security personnel comply with therules of engagement, and where necessary, amend therules of engagement for lawenforcement officials inresponse to protests wherethese may not conform withinternational standards," he said.

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Chinese intervention in HongKong would be a "catastro-

phe" and British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson should be more"outspoken" in putting pressureon Beijing, former governorChris Patten said on Tuesday.

Patten told BBC Radio 4'sToday programme that HongKong was "close to the abyss",because its leader Carrie Lamrefused withdraw a controver-sial extradition bill and hold aninquiry into the reasons for theongoing demonstrations andthe way they have been policed.

"I think there is a degree offrustration and anger at the gov-ernment refusing to give anysensible ground at all, whichprobably provokes more vio-lence," said Patten, the lastBritish governor of the region.

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Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu mem-ber of the US Congress and a

Democratic presidential hopeful, hasannounced that she will leave the cam-paign trail for two weeks of training exer-cises in Indonesia that include counter-terrorism.

Gabbard, who has deployed to theMiddle East twice in her time in the ArmyNational Guard, heads to active-dutytraining during a crucial time in her 2020presidential campaign.

"I look forward to joining my fellow

soldiers for a joint-training exercise with the Indonesian military, focused on counter-terrorism and disasterresponse," the 38-year-old congress-woman from Hawaii announced onMonday.

Gabbard is the first ever Hindu law-maker in the US Congress. She is also thefirst ever Hindu to run for presidentialelections. Currently, there are nearly 20Democratic presidential aspirants in therace to challenge incumbent DonaldTrump for the 2020 elections.

A practising Hindu, Gabbard is ofAsian, Polynesian, and Caucasian descent.

"I'm stepping off of the campaign trailfor a couple of weeks and putting on myarmy uniform to go on a joint trainingexercise mission in Indonesia," she toldCBS News. Gabbard has also taken twoweeks off to report for active service in2017."I love our country. I love being ableto serve our country in so many waysincluding as a soldier," she said.

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After Class XII, students andparents look for courses whichopen up more job opportuni-

ties. Students prefer engineering,medical, science, hotel managementcourses since they feel that theemployment scope in these coursesis high. However, there are someunconventional courses where thedemand for employment is high andthe number of skilled professionalsis less. Such courses are calledunconventional courses. ManyIndian institutes offer these courses,though these courses are not verypopular amongst the students andparents due to lack of informationand clarity on them which proves tobe a deterrent when students aremaking their career choice.

�Artificial Intelligence andMachine Learning

The main objective of BTech AIcourse is to produce students with aperfect understanding of the basics/fundamentals of theory and practiceof Machine Learning and ArtificialIntelligence. The graduates of BTechAI course meet the demands in theareas of AI and Machine Learning.As Artificial Intelligence & MachineLearning are the future of India,there is a great demand for expertsin this field. AI is being used exten-sively in healthcare, education,industrial sectors, e-commerce. Theaverage starting salary is �8-�9 lakhper annum.

�Urban PlanningIt is also known as Town

Planning course, which is usuallyoffered by institutes that are affiliat-ed to the ITPI (Institute of TownPlanners of India). Institutes with theaffiliation of the AICTE can alsooffer a course in Urban Planning.The average starting salary is �4-�5lakh per annum.

�Ethical HackingHacking, in general, is termed

as the activity to gain unauthorisedaccess to data in a computer system.When this activity is carried out withthe knowledge and permission of theperson whose data is being accessedas well as within the ambit of thelegal framework, it is termed as eth-ical hacking. Despite being a lucra-tive career option for students, notmany colleges and professional insti-tutes offer courses in ethical hacking

in India. The average starting salaryis �800-�1,000 per hour.

�Sports ManagementThe sports industry in India has

flourished over the years and offersample career opportunities for aspi-rants who want to make a career inthe sports management domain.With various Indian institutes nowoffering courses in this field, you canpursue this career and enhance yourskills to get a good job in this field.

For those of you who are aspir-ing to make a career in this field willhave to develop skills like planning,budgeting, organising, controlling,directing, leading and evaluating asports activity or event. You may also

be required to manage a sportsteam or institution. Some of the pop-ular specialisations under sportsmanagement include sports mar-keting, sports finance and business,sponsorship and others. The averagestarting salary is �2.5-�3 lakh perannum.

�Food Flavourist/ ChemistFlavour is the sensory impres-

sion of food or other substance andis determined mainly by the chem-ical senses of taste and smell.Flavourists are chemists who createflavours for the food and otherproducts and make food taste good.This job involves not just mixing var-ious ingredients to create artificial

and natural flavours; but alsorequires an in-depth knowledge ofaroma chemicals, essential oils, plantextracts and others. Research anddevelopment; experimentation is animportant part of the job.

Food flavorists are employedmainly by industries, in food-pro-cessing and ingredient supply. Theyare also inducted by the tea, coffeeand wine industry. Some flavouristswork for food production compa-nies, as also in flavour houses —companies that create flavours in alab for numerous purposes. Theaverage starting salary is �35,000-�40,000 per month

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Kuldeep Singh Dhatwalia, DG, IndianInstitute of Mass Communication and

Principal DG (Training) of the Ministry ofInformation and Broadcasting inauguratedthe month-long Training Course in bookpublishing organised by National BookTrust (NBT). Forty participants from acrossthe country are participating in this course.

Dhatwalia lauded efforts of NBT intraining younger people to take up pub-lishing as a career as also promotion of bookculture. He hoped to have collaborationswith NBT in training in the field of bookpublications as Ministry of Information andBroadcasting too has various organisationslike DAVP and Publications Division

engaged in printing and publishing readingmaterials.

In his address, Professor Govind PrasadSharma, Chairman, NBT said that pre-print-ing process need minute attention of thepublishing professionals as much as whilebooks are actually being printed.

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The ICSI is celebrating CapitalMarkets Week on theme

Redefining the Indian CapitalMarket-Vision 2022. The pro-gramme at the CommercialCapital of India was hosted byICSI-WIRC at BSE InternationalConvention Hall, Mumbai withover 350 delegates in attendance.

Chief guest G Mahalingam,Whole Time Member, SEBI,mentioned that company secre-taries are conscious keepers andhe advised them to perform theirduties truthfully. The guest of

honor, Ashish kumar Chauhan,MD & CEO of BSE Ltd said thatto keep pace with technology,

trading should be with trust andtransparency.

CS Ranjeet Pandey, President,ICSI shared his thoughts onemergence of new capital marketsand role of professionals. He stat-ed various initiatives and recog-nition taken by ICSI for membersand students to accomplish Vision2022 of ICSI. He also appraisedthe delegates about recent recog-nition granted to the companysecretaries under Arbitration andConciliation (Amendment) Act,2019 and re-structuring of stu-dents training emphasising moretowards skill based training.

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The SIP Academy India,has announced its SIP

Abacus and Mental ArithmeticRegional Prodigy 2019Mumbai — A Battle ofIntelligence — which was heldon August 11, 2019, followedby an awards ceremony.

Over 500 children of SIPAbacus aged six to 12 yearsparticipated in the competi-tion. The students were given11 minutes to solve a total of280 arithmetic problems.Children showcased their skills

and were faster than a calcu-lator in solving the problems.

Dinesh Victor, MD of SIPAbacus Academy said: “Thesecompetitions develop theircompetitive spirit among eachand every student of SIPAbacus and they improve theiressential learning skills whichalso show up when the chil-dren grow older and go to col-lege. We are gratified of ourstudents' accomplishmentsand the way they exemplify thespirit of SIP Abacus andinspiring the generation toexcel and to be successful.”

���& ���������!The University of

Sheffield, UK invites applica-tions for admissions to it’sBEng (Hons) ComputerSystems Engineering pro-gramme.

Students will design, cre-ate, integrate and managecomputer systems for complexengineering applications. Thiscourse will help studentsunderstand how computersystems are used in safety-crit-ical applications like infra-structure, medicine and avia-tion.

Duration: Three yearsEligibility: Candidates

should have acquired 80 per-cent marks in Maths and aScience subject in Class XII,International Baccalaureate34, 6 in higher level Maths anda Science subject. Physics ispreferred as the Science sub-ject but other range of sciencerelated subjects includingComputer Science, Chemistry,Biology, Human Biology,Electronics, Engineering,Technology is also acceptable.

How to apply: Log on toadacse@sheff ield.ac.uk ;www.sheffield.ac.uk/acse/undergraduates.

��&��!�����The University of

Strathclyde, Glasgow invitesapplications for admissionsto it’s MSc SatelliteApplications course starting inSeptember 2019.

MSc Satellite Applicationsis a globally unique Mastersdegree which addresses theUN Sustainable DevelopmentGoals through satellite appli-cations, entrepreneurship anddata science. The programmeoffers training in satellite dataacquisition, processing, inter-pretation, and application.

Eligibility: First or sec-ond-class Honours degree, orequivalent, in engineering orphysical sciences or any otherrelevant discipline such asgeography, geoscience, envi-ronmental science, and com-puter science, is essential.Good knowledge of program-

ming is desirable and basicknowledge in programming ishighly-desirable.

How to apply: Log on toadacse@sheff ield.ac.uk ;www.sheffield.ac.uk/acse/undergraduates.

*����������� ��Pearl Academy (Pearl

Edge) invites applications foradmissions to it’s variousweekend courses.

Programmes offered:Wedding planning, fashionand lifestyle blogging, con-temporary photography,styling for home, fashion pho-tography and fashion styling.

Duration: Eleven monthsEligibility: Candidates

should have passed Class XII.How to apply: Log on to

https://pearledge.co.in/.L ast date to apply :

September 14, 2019.

*� �����World University of

Design, Sonipat invites appli-cations for admissions to it’sVisual Arts programme.

How to apply: Log on tohttps://worlduniversityofde-sign.nopaperforms.com/.

Last date to apply: August19, 2019.

*� �����Luxury Connect Business

School, Gurgaon invites appli-cations for admissions to it’sMasters programmes includ-ing PG diploma in LuxuryManagement, ExecutiveMasters: Executive Diploma inLuxury Management, LuxuryBrand Management (Online)and Luxury Retail ServicesSkills (Online).

How to apply: Log on toh t t p s : / / l c b s . e d u . i n / ,https://lcbs.nopaperforms.com/.

In today’s world there is a pletho-ra of career fields to choose from,

and an abundance of well-educatedpeople to compete with for thosecareers! With so many choices,finding the right course to enroll isnot a cake walk — but if it’s in thearea of business you got to figure outthe management degree which is theperfect choice. Despite the fact thatan MBA can be an expensive choiceit is a richly rewarding undertakingwith great career potential. We deepdive into the real reason to choosea management degree.

Be your own bossWith a Master in Business

Administration, many graduatesbecome young entrepreneurs. Byenrolling in an MBA programme,you can acquire the requisite knowl-edge and practices needed to poten-tially develop and operate yourown businesses. You will be adeptwith business management, plan-ning and even financial handling.These skills will put you in the per-fect position to manage your ownbusiness effectively, while con-tributing to the economic develop-ment of the country.

Better career opportunitiesAn MBA programme provides

a more diverse and wider field forgraduates to dabble in and hence thechoice of career prospectus is wideas compared to any other pro-gramme. The programme will sup-

port develop T shaped managers,who are well equipped to fit intowider category of roles with highspecialised knowledge in theirrespective fields. There are severalcore areas covered within the pro-gramme, including human resource,statistics, technology and informa-tion systems, economics, andfinance. All these areas qualify anMBA graduate to pursue a career inmultiple areas and business sectorsas well as the public sector. With thedifferent core areas penetrated,MBA graduates are provided withmore and better opportunities toexpend themselves and develop

their minds.Ideal for networkingNetworking is the key to success

of any business venture. Businessschool provides a great base forMBA graduates to meet people. Thesort of people you can meet whilestudying your MBA programmeinclude recruiters, key note speak-ers, old-school businessmen, newentrepreneurs, the list is almostendless. And then you have your fel-low students that are also ambitiousin the business world. It paves theway for you to interact with futurebusiness managers and executives.When the course is finished, these

people could be ideal business part-ners or even provide exceptional rec-ommendations on your behalf.Customarily, those enrolled in anthis programme are often sent outas interns. This provides MBA stu-dents with yet another way to meetpotential employers. The consoli-dated network of people you willmeet while studying is sure to provebeneficial in the future.

Worldwide recognitionAfter completing an MBA

degree, a graduate is certified in allknown core areas or at least somemajor managerial roles within anestablishment. This degree is onethat is highly recognisable through-out the world. It can be used to pur-sue other career fields since it ishighly compatible with other degreeprogrammes.

Enhances communicationskills

As part of the programme, par-ticipants are taught how to speakclearly and distinctively. They aretaught the art of language, how toadd meaning to their words, how todevelop effective and exceptionalpresentations, and overall, how tointeract with others in and out of theclassroom setting. These commu-nication skills are invaluable in thebusiness world and for continuouscareer enhancement.

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������� � �������� ���-�With an upward trend in the

field of tourism, it has beenrealised that employees are thebiggest assets in keeping the guestsdelighted and the business prof-itable.

The increased recognition of theeconomic importance of tourismhas made it necessary for tourismeducation to be more dynamic andunderstand the industry’s demandbetter. A primary concern is the lackof suitable and trained manpowerwhich will create a crisis in theindustry and also impact the cus-tomer experience thereby nega-tively impacting the image createdthrough promotions and advertis-ing.

Going by the present marketscenario, there is a major shortfallof appropriate manpower for theindustry even though there areeducational institutions in bothpublic and private sector operatingat national and international levels.This industry is very dynamic andtherefore the education in this fieldalso has to match the requirements.

One of the major issues whichthe industry is facing is the employ-ability of students who aspire tomake their career in this field.There are a lot of students who maypossess the required skills to do thejob but suffer in the area of softskills.

The hospitality industry isessentially a blend of skills, attitudeand communication. Educationalinstitutions therefore need to focuson all these areas in order to havethe right balance. Along with know-ing the job, one also needs to havea basic level of communicationand ability to work with others in ateam.

Institutions must review thecurriculum along with the industryexperts and include all areas whichare important in the operationsincluding soft skills. The curriculum

should focus on holistic develop-ment and the experiential aspect ofthe industry. While the institutes ofrepute do take care of this aspect butoff late there have been a lot of smallinstitutes mushrooming in differentparts of the country so there shouldbe a strict control by the regulato-ry bodies to check their delivery asit hampers the image and standardof this profession.

The colleges and institutes maywant to collaborate with industryand have hotel partner with them intheir training. This is extremelyhelpful as the professionals from thehotel help the students in fixing theright expectations and also make thehotel available as a live learningground to the students. This willalso streamline the way internshipsare undertaken and give studentsthe freedom to discover careeropportunities first-hand within thecomfort of their education.

Last but not the least, a rightbalance of the faculty is importantas they are the ones who are actu-ally the role models and deliver thelearnings to the students. So keep-ing the above views in mind,Hospitality education can be mademore meaningful and would hit theright chord with the industry. -,��!�����������(&�������#��/����&�#��)��,�������������������������)������,��'

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Kids today are growing up with wordprocessors as basic writing tools, socialmedia as the major communicative and

networking platform, and graphic content cre-ation software to give wings to their creativefire. Every child becomes a digital pro far morequickly than the older generations can everhope to be at a single digital application.

Yet, the 2017-18 NCERT report on edu-cation in India says that less than 50 per centof teacher trainees are comfortable withusing word processor, graphic software, blogs,Twitter, LinkedIn, podcast and mobile learn-ing applications; majority of the trainees havenot done any online course and attendedonline seminar; 34 per cent of trainees neveruse PPT for teaching and the majority of thetrainees never communicated with studentsregarding lesson during internship.

If the situation is such with presentteacher trainees, what of the existing teach-ers? They are trained to prepare students forcollege and careers using a one-size-fits-alllearning model that is tailored to the past.Moreover, owing to their meagre IT skills, theycan’t upskill themselves continuously viareadily available e-learning platforms. As aresult, students are leaving schools with thecompetency necessary for 21st-century work-place requirements, and consequently, are ill-prepared for the future.

While some educators believe that to bringeducation to the digital age, teachers have toupgrade their skills to adapt to the tech-inte-grated learning techniques that attract younglearners now. However, this is difficult withabout 70 per cent of our population in therural areas which lack basic technical equip-ment to facilitate this. But the Government andthe private edtech sector have joined hands tobring this vision to fruition.

The primary course of action is, ofcourse, to make sure that the necessary digi-tal infrastructure is available everywhere. TheDigital India scheme, with more than 3 lakhcommon service centres, is aimed at bringingdigital infrastructure to every nook and cor-ner of the country. The Government intendsto build a lakh digital villages with internetconnection and digital devices in the next fewyears so that the education sector is especial-ly benefited from this.

According to the New Education Policydrafted this year, the Government intends tobring teacher training to the foremost of thedevelopmental concerns in the education sec-

tor. Apart from increasing the time-period ofthe teacher-training programmes on a nation-al level, the Government has put a lot ofemphasis on the upskilling of teachers via tech-integrated training programmes, regularrefresher courses, workshops and fellowshipprogrammes. A huge repository of e-learningmaterial for professional development, withsubject-level pedagogical instruction and isavailable on SWAYAM, a free, online platforminitiated by the Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment.

The premier institutes like IIT-Bombayand IIT-Kanpur have conducted MOOCs tohelp teachers brush up their IT skills and inte-grate technology into day-to-day pedagogy.

Starting from April 2019, Next Educationstarted its own MOOCs for various sectors andsubjects for K-12 educators like early child-hood education, and subjects like ComputerScience, EVS, Maths and English. The cours-es not only ensure greater knowledge on for-mulating effective learning objectives, instruc-tional strategies and methods of assessmentin their respective subjects, but also open doorsto collaboration in various aspects of teach-ing and learning.

Teachers are pivotal in delivering qualityeducation and upskilling them in meaningfultechnology integration for better instructionis the best way to ensure better learning out-comes. A looming problem is the — one solu-tion for all strategies in teacher-training pro-grammes. Better strategies need to be in placeto develop professional skills in the technol-ogy integration in classes, with differentapproaches.

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Students who are in needof accommodation grantcan apply for the UNE

Residential FinancialAssistance Scholarships pro-grammes presenting by theUniversity of New England.These educational bursariesare available for bothAustralian and Internationalstudents.

The bursary will providethe 50% discount on residen-tial fees (up to a maximumvalue of $5,000).

Eligibility: Available for abachelor’s or master’s degreeprogramme offered by theuniversity. An applicant mustdemonstrate the financialneed. A student is living orintending to live in a UNEResidential College (excludesSt Alberts College).

Candidates have to sub-mit a copy of the centrelinkstatement or their income taxreturn along with their par-ent’s income tax return. A let-ter from an authorised personthat comments on the partici-pant’s financial condition.

Statement of case outlin-ing — What impact willNOT be receiving the pro-gram have on your studies?And what special conditionsor obstacles have you over-come in your path to study?Language requirement:

Candidate must have excel-lent proficiency in theEnglish language.

How to apply: Onlineapplication portal.

Application deadline:December 31, 2019.

University of Windsor isproviding the GraduateEntrance Scholarships pro-grammes in Canada to pur-sue a masters or a PhDdegree.

The educational awardwill provide masters in a the-sis or major stream anamount of $7,500 for oneyear and in a non-thesis ornon-major paper streamgrant of $3,750 for one year.It will also provide a grant of$7,500 for PhD participants.

Eligibility: You must be afull-time participant and notapply for MAC, MActSc,MAEP, MEd (Internationalcohort), MEng, MMB, MM,and MSW for working pro-fessionals programme. napplicant must have anadmission average of at least80% or equivalent. Submityour academic transcripts,language ability proof, cur-riculum vitae, and copy ofyour passport’s name page.Candidates should have goodproficiency in the Englishlanguage. But their countrylanguage is not English, thenthey need to satisfy Englishlanguage requirements.

Application deadline:The last date to apply isSeptember 1, 2019.

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International Trade (IT) istypically an interdiscipli-nary field of study leading to

a variety of potential career forgraduate students. The profes-sional with this course is knownas an international trade spe-cialist. The profession is a multi-disciplinary field blending reg-ulatory knowledge, processesand soft skills. Professionalsusually enjoy working withother cultures and have anassertive nature to get thingsdone.

International trade encom-passes a variety of jobs that playan integral role in the importand export of goods and ser-vices. This field has immensejob opportunities in differentindustries, from theGovernment to private the sec-tor, financial organisations tomanufacturing companies.Specialists are usually respon-sible for analysing foreign tradeinformation, evaluating themarket and economic factorsthat may impact trade and par-ticipating in developmentalprograms.

International trade special-ists, similar to world econo-mists, work full-time, althoughirregular hours may be requiredbecause of time changes aroundthe globe. They usually work bythemselves in an office setting.Depending on the project, somecollaboration with other spe-cialists in related fields may benecessary.

JOB DESCRIPTIONThe international trade offi-

cer studies the developmentand distribution of a wide arrayof goods and services for whichtransactions take place betweencountries. The person in seek-ing opportunity in this field willhave to spend their bulk of timeanalysing the impact of global-isation. The job requiresanalysing the financial marketvery closely and also has towork with the different taxpolicies of the countries theorganisation is working in.

Ultimately, with the knowl-

edge that the specialist has, heis expected to make presenta-tions, provide interpretations ofthe data and make recommen-dations and work efficientlyand effectively with the availableresources for the growth andprofitability of the organisation.

REQUIREMENTSThe student needs to gain

at least a bachelor’s degree. Abachelor’s degree in a fieldrelated to international trade,such as international business,global public policy, politicalscience, international trade,business administration, eco-nomics or marketing is addedbenefit to working as an inter-national trade specialist.

A master’s degree or doc-torate may be required for moreprominent positions in the field.Employers often desire candi-dates with extensive training for

the in-depth type of researchand the analysis they’ll need todo regularly.

As part of the education,the student should focus on acurriculum highlightingadvanced mathematics and sta-tistics, as well as general prin-ciples of business and finance.You’ll likely want to engage ininternships and related entry-level business positions whileyou prepare for a career as atrade specialist.

ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIESThe officer has major

responsibilities for coordinatingcredit and financial activities.The professional has to obtainpayments for import/exportoperations. The employee actsas an advisor on matters of tar-iffs markets, federal and foreignregulations.

He ensures that paperwork

and letters of credit are accord-ing to trade laws. The special-ist gets the opportunity to workon the variety of field’s concept,practices and procedures givinggreat professional exposure tothem. The officer closely workswith managers or the head of aunit/department. He is expect-ed to have a wide degree of cre-ativity and latitude of work.

SKILLS REQUIREDTo pursue a professional

career in this field, a studentshould have some basic skills. Aperson must have excellentwritten and verbal communi-cation skills. Some other skillsrequired for an excellent careerin this field are like strongproblem-solving skills, ability toprioritise and multitasking,organisational skills.

These skills along with thefamiliarity in the foreign trade

programmes and regulations,knowledge of internationaltrade issues and tariff structures,and familiarity with foreignmarket research andimport/export laws are some ofthe added advantages for thestudents seeking a career in thisfield.

REMUNERATIONBanking and Trading is a

highly lucrative field. Aftercompletion, of course, the can-didate earn around �50,000per month and after taking theexperience in this field the can-didate also earn over �8 lakhper annum also the salary levelyou could earn as an interna-tional trade manager can vary,typically depending on profes-sional qualifications and thescope of your job duties.-,��!���������(�������&�-�2�������������5�7�/��'������&�+�!�(��,�

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Jurgen Klopp wantsLiverpool to make winningtrophies a habit as they head

back to Istanbul — the scene ofone of the club’s greatest tri-umphs — to take on PremierLeague rivals Chelsea in theUEFA Super Cup onWednesday.

The Anfield club memo-rably defeated AC Milan onpenalties to win the ChampionsLeague by the Bosphorus backin 2005, and now they faceChelsea in the Turkish city afterbecoming European championsfor the sixth time in June.

The traditional curtain-raiser to the European seasonmay not be taken entirely seri-ously by everyone, but neitherclub will turn their noses up atthe chance of lifting more silver-ware, with Liverpool havingjust ended a seven-year trophydrought and Frank Lampardeager to kickstart his Chelseamanagerial career.

The clubs have already wonthe competition four timesbetween them, but nine of thelast 10 winners of the Super Cuphave come from Spain. Amongthe other protagonists onWednesday will be Stephanie

Frappart, with the French offi-cial becoming the first womanto referee a major men’s matchin European competition.

Frappart will neverthelessbe happy to stay out of the lime-light once the match at theVodafone Park, home ofBesiktas, kicks off, withLiverpool favourites against a

Chelsea side reeling from their4-0 defeat at Manchester Unitedin their Premier League open-er.

ALISSON BLOWAfter losing on penalties to

Manchester City in theCommunity Shield, Liverpoolbegan their league campaign

with a comfortable 4-1 winover Norwich City withMohamed Salah, Virgil vanDijk and Divock Origi all scor-ing.

However, that result wassomewhat overshadowed bythe loss of Alisson Becker, withKlopp confirming the formida-ble Brazil goalkeeper will be out

for a while with a calf injury.Spaniard Adrian will

deputise in Alisson’s absence,and Klopp is hopeful his teamcan build on their win overTottenham Hotspur in theChampions League final inMadrid.

“Stay greedy. That’s veryimportant — I have no doubt

about that, but it’s clear that wehave to do that,” Klopp toldUEFA.com when asked how

his side could build onthat success.

Reds fans will also betempted by the possibili-ty of a third successiveChampions League finalappearance, back inIstanbul at the end of the

campaign.Equally, they will hope the

Super Cup can be the prelude totheir side finally going all theway in the Premier League.

“We don’t want to just stopat the Champions League, that’sall we’ve won as a group of play-ers,” Andy Robertson told theclub’s website.

“We want more but weknow how hard that’s going tobe. This is our next opportuni-ty to do so and it’d be great if wecan take it.”

CHELSEA REELINGChelsea secured their place

in this fixture thanks to theircomprehensive victory overArsenal in the Europa League

final, but much has changedsince then.

Coach Maurizio Sarri andstar player Eden Hazard haveleft, and club legend Lampard isnow in charge, handed the reinsat Stamford Bridge despite justone season’s managerial experi-ence in the second tier withDerby County.

The prospect of winning atrophy in just his second com-

petitive match with the Londonclub will be an enticing one,although they could be forgiv-en for coming into this matchwith a sense of trepidation aftertheir hammering at OldTrafford.

It will be interesting to seeif Lampard keeps faith with thelikes of youngsters MasonMount and Tammy Abrahamhere.

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Three-time Grand Slamchampion Andy Murray

said he “did OK” in his first sin-gles match in seven months —a 6-4, 6-4 loss to RichardGasquet at the CincinnatiMasters here.

“I don’t really know what Iwas expecting, to be honest,” saidMurray on Monday, sidelinedsince January by a career-threat-ening hip injury. “I did Ok.

“There were a lot of thingsI would like to have done bet-ter in the match, but you alsohave to be somewhat realistic interms of what you can expect, interms of how you actually playand hit the ball.”

Murray said he “felt fine,physically,” during the match.

Murray hadn’t played a sin-gles match since a five-set first-round exit at the AustralianOpen, where he tearfullyacknowledged he feared hiscareer was over.

Gasquet, however, was toostrong for the 32-year-old, who

won the title in the US Openwarm-up in Cincinnati in 2008and 2011.

Gasquet, who had groinsurgery in January, ended afive-match skid against theBriton, now ranked 324th.

�� �&����!��He was optimistic he can

improve further.“I think with a few more

weeks of practice and hopeful-ly some more matches, then I

could do better,” said Murray,who nevertheless said after thematch that he did not intend toplay singles at the US Open.

“I’m not going to play theUS Open singles,” he confirmed,adding that US Open organiz-ers had wanted to knowby Monday if he wasinterested in a wild cardinvitation.

“I felt like I wantedto maybe try and get acouple of matches inbefore making a deci-sion like that,” added Murray,who knows the best-of-five setformat at Grand Slams will beeven more of a challenge.

The return of former worldnumber one Murray dominat-ed an opening day that sawanother former US Open cham-pion, Marin Cilic, join Murrayon the sidelines with a 6-4, 7-6(8/6) loss to Radu Albot.

US wild card Sam Querreybooked a second-round datewith top seed Novak Djokovic,defeating France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6 (7/2), 7-6

(7/1).Seven-time champion

Roger Federer will start hiscampaign in the second roundagainst Argentine Juan IgnacioLondero, who defeated Italy’sMatteo Berrettini 7-6 (7/3), 6-

3.Australian Nick

Kyrgios slammed a ballskyward in a moment ofdistracted anger to earn awarning but buckled downto post a 7-5, 6-4 win overItalian Lorenzo Sonego.

In the women’s draw at theATP-WTA event, 2011 winnerMaria Sharapova, who lastplayed here five years ago, cameback from a pair of first-rounddefeats at Wimbledon andToronto, defeating Alison Riske6-3, 7-6 (7/4).

Venus Williams defeatedfellow American Lauren Davis7-5, 6-2 to snap a four-matchlosing streak.

Sweden’s Rebecca Petersondefeated Britain’s Jo Konta, a2017 quarter-finalist, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.

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Robert Lewandowski was on the score-sheet and Lucas Hernandez made his

club debut as Bayern Munich eased intothe second round of the German Cupwith a 3-1 win over fourth-tier sideEnergie Cottbus on Monday.

Amid pre-match fears of a double-figure scoreline, Cottbus proved theirdoubters wrong by holding Bayern off forhalf an hour before Lewandowski openedthe scoring from close range.

Lewandowski and Kingsley Comanboth hit the bar before half-time, but itwasn’t until the 65th minute that Comandoubled the lead with a fizzing long-range effort.

Lewandowski then deflected in LeonGoretzka’s shot six minutes from time tocomplete a comfortable win for Bayern,who have not lost in the first-round ofthe competition since 1994.

There was just time for club recordsigning Hernandez to come off thebench to make his competitive debut andfor Berkan Taz to score a consolationpenalty for the hosts.

“My team played well today. I wouldhave liked to bring Hernandez on earli-er than the 89th minute, but he has a longinjury behind him,” coach Niko Kovactold Sky.

Elsewhere on Monday, Wolfsburgneeded two goals in extra time to win aneight-goal thriller against third divisionside Halle.

The underdogs twice came frombehind, scoring an injury-time equalis-er to make it 3-3 before Robin Knocheand Josip Brekalo sealed a 5-3 victory forWolfsburg in extra time.

Second division clubs Karlsruhe andStuttgart also reached the second roundwith wins over Hanover and HansaRostock.

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Opener Shikhar Dhawanwould be desperate fora big knock after four

consecutive failures as Indiaeye another series victorywhen they clash with the WestIndies in the third and finalODI here today.

With scores of 1, 23, 3 inthe T20 series and single-digitscore of 2 in the second ODI,Dhawan’s comeback postinjury has been far from ideal.

Troubled by in-comingdeliveries, Dhawan twice losthis wicket to pacer SheldonCottrell.

Since Dhawan is not part

of the Test squad, theDelhi left-hander wouldlike to f inish theCaribbean assignment ona high. There is anothermini-battle brewing in theIndian batting line up forthe number four slot withShreyas Iyer puttingtremendous pressure onRishabh Pant.

Pant has enjoyed thebacking of the team man-agement, especially skip-per Virat Kohli but hisrepeated failures and Iyer’s68-ball 71-run knock inthe second ODI has madethings different.

Pant’s temperament is

cause of concern as he threwaway his wicket on numerousoccasions. Any team wouldprefer a level-headed batsmanfor that crucial position and byhis knock on Sunday, Iyer hasmade a strong case for himself.

Elsewhere on the battingfront, Kohli would look tocarry on with his good battingform after hitting a brilliant120 off 125 balls in the secondODI.

Kohli anchored India’sinnings in Iyer’s company afteropeners Dhawan and RohitSharma were dismissed cheap-ly.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar wasthe star for India with the ballin the last match with impres-sive figures of 4 for 31 fromeight overs and the pacerwould look to carry on his fineform in the coming matches of

the tour.Bhuvneshwar’s pace col-

league Mohammed Shami(2/39) and Kuldeep Yadav(2/59) also chipped in wicketsbut the left-arm spinner wentfor some runs and he would behoping for better display interms of economy rate.

Although teams don’t pre-fer changing their winningcombinations, Kohli mightgive Navdeep Saini a run in thelast ODI by resting Shami.

West Indies, on the otherhand, would be desperate tosave the series with a win.

But for that to happen,West Indies’ batting unit willhave to take more responsibil-ity. It’s time talents like ShaiHope, Shimron Hetmyer andNicholas Pooran rise up to theoccasion for West Indies crick-et to thrive.

After the final ODI, thetwo teams will battle in a two-match Test series, startingAugust 22 at North Sound,Antigua.

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New Zealand have a chance ofsecuring the top spot in Test

cricket when they take on Sri Lankain a two-match series starting fromtoday, exactly a month after their cruelWorld Cup defeat to England.

New Zealand, with 109 points inTest cricket, are ranked behind Indiaon 113 points, but a 2-0 series win inSri Lanka will see the Kiwis leapfrogthe Asian heavyweights.

Test rankings have added rele-vance with the new, two-year ICCWorld Test Championship now underway, culminating in a 2021 final atLord’s between the top two teams.

Sri Lanka will be wary of provid-ing a rank turning wicket in the firstTest here after being outsmarted byEngland in the most recent encounterat the venue.

England overcame the battlewith a variety of off-, leg- and left-armspin as the trio of Moeen Ali, AdilRashid and Jack Leach played a keyrole in a 3-0 series sweep.

The Kiwis too are carrying plen-ty of spin options and are likely to playtwo of them. Bombay-born left-armspinner Ajaz Patel is likely to be thesecond spinner to leggie Todd Astle.

Although seam is New Zealand’sstrength, they are likely to stick to twoseamers with all-rounder Colin deGrandhomme coming in as the thirdoption.

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Quinton de Kock onTuesday was named

South Africa’s new Twenty20skipper for the three-matchseries against India inSeptember, which will not fea-ture former captain Faf DuPlessis in the squad.

However, du Plessis willcontinue to lead South Africain the three-Test series that fol-lows the T20s, with TembaBavuma named his vice-cap-tain, Cricket South Africaannounced.

“I would like to stress thatFaf du Plessis remains animportant part of our plans forwhite-ball cricket,” said CSAActing Director, Corrie vanZyl. Rassie van Der Dussenwill play deputy to de Kock inthe T20 squad.

“The T20 Series gives usthe last chance to have a lookat our leadership and battingoptions as the next edition ofthe T20 World Cup is now lit-tle more than a year awaywhich is why we have gonewith an inexperienced leader-ship group. This is our lastchance to do this before we set-tle on an established squad,” headded. Veteran fast bowlerDale Steyn, who recentlyretired from Test cricket, wasoverlooked from the T20 seriesby the CSA.

Steyn expressed his sur-prise at not being picked. In acritic Twitter conversationwith a local journalist, the 36-

year-old informed that he hadmade himself available to theCSA.

“I did... Obviously lostmy number in the reshufflingof coaching staff. Apologies toVirat and a billion people forthinking they not,” Steyntweeted.

Meanwhile, both T20 andTest squads will feature threeuncapped players.

Pacer Anrich Nortje fea-tures in both the squads, bats-man Bavuma, spin bowlingall-rounder Bjorn Fortuin willfeature in the T20 squad.Wicketkeeper Rudi Secondand spin-bowling all-rounderSenuran Muthusamy werehanded Test caps.

CSA also said AidenMarkram, Theunis de Bruynand Lungi Ngidi were notconsidered for the T20s as theywill be preparing for the Testseries by playing in SouthAfrica A’s four-day matchesagainst India A.

“We feel we have coveredall the options for the condi-tions we are likely to encounteron the sub-continent withMuthusamy and Dane Piedt,who was far and away the lead-ing wicket-taker in our Four-Day competition, providingthe back-up to KeshavMaharaj.”

South Africa will travel toIndia for a three-match T20series starting from September15. The two sides will thencompete in a three-match Testseries.

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Trent Boult will be the numberone pick while they will have to makea call between Tim Southee and NeilWagner, possibly the later, whopicked up nine wickets in NewZealand’s last Test match.

But the hosts will be nopushover, as they showed by winningtheir recent 2-0 series in SouthAfrica — becoming the first Asiannation to do so. And they have sometough choices, and in all depart-ments.

Fernando, one of the brightestprospects to emerge in recent times,is set to miss both Tests with thereturn of Angelo Mathews, who wasinjured for South Africa.

Former captain DineshChandimal, who also missed out ontouring South Africa, is back in thesquad and the wicketkeeper’s slot willbe a toss up between him andNiroshan Dickwella.

Lahiru Kumara, another playerwho didn’t go to South Africa, willbe Sri Lanka’s lead fast bowler andit remains to be seen with whom hewill share the new ball.

Both Suranga Lakmal andVishwa Fernando were main archi-tects during the win in South Africa.

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