---6&˘ˆ!ˇ$ˆ ˙ 6’ ˚ - the pioneer joining the solar alliance and welcomed the passage of...

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In a move that may see fur-ther deterioration in relations

between Pakistan and India,the Pakistan Army on Mondayannounced that ex-IndianNavy officer KulbhushanJadhav has been awarded deathsentence following a courtmartial in Rawalpindi foralleged ‘espionage and sabotage’activities.

The Pakistan Army chief,General Qamar Javed Bajwa, onMonday approved the executionof Jadhav, triggering outrage inIndia as India sees Pakistan’sdeath sentence to Jadhav as afresh provocation, indicative ofthe fact that Islamabad and thePakistan Army are not inter-ested in improving relationswith New Delhi.

In an immediate retaliationto the Pakistani action, there isa strong possibility that Indiamay not release about a dozenPakistani prisoners who wereto be repatriated onWednesday. There is a feelingin the Government that it is notthe right time for the release ofthe prisoners. These prisonerswere to be released as part ofthe practice by India andPakistan to repatriate nationalslodged in each other’s jail afterthey complete their sentence.

Reacting strongly to thedeath penalty and the clandes-tine trial, Foreign Secretary SJaishankar summoned Pakistan

High Commissioner AbdulBasit to his office in South Blockand handed him a demarchesaying such a sentence againstan Indian citizen was a case ofpremeditated murder, as it wasawarded without observingbasic norms of law.

Jaishankar added that theproceedings leading to the sen-tence against Jadhav were “far-cical in the absence of any cred-ible evidence against him.”

The Foreign Secretary reiterated that Jadhav was nota spy, and he was kidnappedfrom Iran and brought

to Pakistan. “Jadhav was kidnapped last

year from Iran and his subse-quent presence in Pakistan hasnever been explained credibly.The Government of India,through its High Commissionin Islamabad, has repeatedlysought consular access to him,as provided for by internationallaw. Requests to that effectwere formally made 13 timesbetween March 25, 2016 andMarch 31, 2017. This was notpermitted by the Pakistaniauthorities,” he said.

He also expressed anguish

over the secrecy of the trial,given the fact that India wasconstantly seeking consularaccess to Jadhav.

“It is significant that theIndian High Commission wasnot even informed that Jadhavwas being brought to trial.Senior Pakistani figures havethemselves cast doubt aboutthe adequacy of evidence. Theclaim in the Pakistan Army’sInter-Services Public Relations(ISPR) release that Jadhav wasprovided with a defending offi-cer during the so-called trial isclearly absurd in the circum-

stances. If this sentence againstan Indian citizen, awarded with-out observing basic norms of lawand justice, is carried out, theGovernment and people of Indiawill regard it as a case of pre-meditated murder,” the ForeignSecretary said in the demarche.

The ISPR on Monday in astatement made fromRawalpindi said, “Indian RAWAgent/Naval officer 41558ZCommander Kulbushan SudhirJadhav alias Hussein MubarakPatel was arrested on March 3,2016 through a CounterIntelligence Operation from Mashkel, Balochistan, forhis involvement in espionageand sabotage activities against Pakistan.

Continued on Page 4

�� '�� 213�/14),

In a bid to keep their territo-ries safe, India and Australia

on Monday signed an agree-ment to boost cooperation incounter-terrorism andtransnational organised crimeand called for strong actionagainst those financing andproviding sanctuary to terrorgroups. Pacts to strengthencooperation in space, health,and sports were also among thesix agreements signed betweenthe two countries followingtalks between Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and Australianpremier Malcolm Turnbull.

Modi thanked Australiafor joining the solar allianceand welcomed the passage ofthe Civil Nuclear Transfers toIndia Act through theAustralian Parliament whichpaves way for commercialexports of Australian uraniumto India. Turnbull said he waslooking forward to startingthe supply at the earliest.

The two PMs jointly inau-gurated TERI-DEAKINResearch Centre on Nano and

Continued on Page 4

��"�� 213�/14),

Tausif-Ul-Haque, a 22-year-old second year law stu-

dent, had a habit of imperson-ating top Government offi-cials to obtain undue favours.But this time, he ran out of luckwhen he called Uttar PradeshPrincipal Secretary (Law) RNPandey after portraying himselfas sitting Supreme Court JudgeJustice Kurian Joseph andasked him to appoint his col-lege lecturer as a Governmentlaw officer in the AllahabadHigh Court.

When the matter got sus-picious, Pandey apprisedRegistrar of Supreme Court RNNijhhawan of the case. TheRegistrar got in touch withJustice Kurian Joseph. Shockedto hear, Justice Joseph raisedthe matter the Chief Justice ofIndia, who directed the DelhiPolice Commissioner AmulyaPatnaik to probe the case.

Sensing the gravity of thecharge, Patnaik

Continued on Page 4

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Mohandas KaramchandGandhi, Bar-at-law,

arrived at Patna railway stationon the morning of April 10,1917 on way to Champaran.Accompanied by Champaranfarmer Rajkumar Shukla,Gandhi wearing a long kurta,dhoti and turban made ofhome spun fabric got downHowrah-Delhi train wonderingwhere to go since it is his firstvisit to Patna and he hardlyknew anybody.

Finding no way out, Shuklaoffered him to take to a famouswakil saheb (advocate). Theyhired a tonga, which droppedthem at the entrance of a big

house. It was the house ofRajendra Prasad but he was notthere and the servant told themthat sahib was out of station.

Prasad’s munshi told themthat wakil sahib was away toPuri. “I squatted on the veran-da outside but the servant didnot allow me to fetch waterfrom the well. Shukla persistedthat he kindly allowed me to usethe toilet but directed me to usethe toilet outside. It did not hurtor anger me. The servant wasfollowing own dharma and ful-filling his duty towards hismaster,” said Gandhi.

Shukla was highly embar-rassed over the treatment toGandhi but had no other option.Gandhi suddenly remembered

one of his classmates in Londonwho had told him he lived inPatna. “It was Mazharul Haq andI last met him in 1915 inBombay. Then he was presidentof Muslim League. He had invit-ed me to his house whenever Ivisited Patna.”

Remembering MazharulHaq, Gandhi scribbled a fewlines on a piece of paper andasked Shukla to deliver it. Assoon as Haq received the letterhe hurriedly asked his driver tostart the car and reachedRajendra Prasad’s house andbrought his friend to his pala-tial house on Fraser Road.

Gandhi told him that hewas on way to Champaran tostudy the plight of the farmers

who were coerced toplant indigo. Haq, how-ever, was not wellversed about thelegal position butknew that thefarmers were sub-jected to greattyranny. He toldGandhi that theindigo planters hadtheir headquarters atMuzaffarpur and thathe should first gothere. Gandhi decidedto go to Muzaffarpur andrecalled that one of hisacquaintances ProfessorJB Kripalani was teachingin a college there.

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London: By sentencingIndian national KulbushanJadhav to death, Pakistan’smilitary court system hasonce again showed how it“rides roughshod over inter-national standards”, AmnestyInternational said onMonday, questioning thesecretive court’s ability todispense justice.

“The death sentencegiven to Kulbushan Jadhavshows yet again howPakistan’s military court sys-tem rides roughshod overinternational standards,” BirajPatnaik, South Asia Director,Amnesty International, saidin response to Pakistan mil-itary court sentencing Jadhavto death for alleged spying.

Continued on Page 4

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At least five persons diedafter a fire broke out at a

lodge here on Monday, policesaid.

The blaze erupted at TulsiLodge located at RahmaniaChowk under Golebazar policestation limits early todaymorning, according to Raipur(Urban) Additional

Superintendent of Police VijayAgrawal.

Fire tenders and policepersonnel rushed to the site ongetting information about theincident. They managed todouse the flames after about sixhours of hectic efforts, he said.

"So far, bodies of four per-sons have been spotted in thelodge and efforts are beingmade to retrieve them," the

ASP said. Due to the intense heat

and smoke, the firemen werefinding it difficult to take outthe bodies, Agrawal said.

The fire brigade and policepersonnel were trying to findout if anyone was stuck insidethe building, he said.

The cause of the blazewas yet to be ascertained, headded.

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�� 213�/14),

Absence of Minister ofEnvironment and Forest

Anil Dave during the QuestionHour in the Rajya Sabha onMonday drew the ire ofChairman Hamid Ansari whoremarked he had not seen such"an extraordinary situation in"the last 10 years" and termedit was "most unusual." SeveralCongress MPs also said theGovernment was taking theRajya Sabha for granted.

HRD Minister PrakashJavadekar, who was present tofield the questions on behalf ofDave, and his colleague UmaBharti, apologised. Incidentally,this is the second time in this ses-sion that Ministers were not pre-sent to answer questions. Ansarihad last time also expressed hisunhappiness over it.

The latest situation arosewhen Congress memberMahendra Singh Mahra raised

the listed question on air andnoise pollution in Delhi andNCR. His party colleagueJairam Ramesh objected to theMinister's absence and said "ithas happened for the secondtime."

Ansari said it is the respon-sibility of the concernedMinister to be present in theHouse when a question relat-ing to his or her Ministry istaken up. "This is an extraor-dinary situation and I am surethe Minister of ParliamentaryAffairs will look into this andrespond," he said.

Among other issues raisedin the house, ruling NDA allyAkali Dal demanded that theExternal Affairs Ministry with-draw its statement rejecting amotion adopted by theLegislative Assembly of Ontarioin Canada last week termingthe 1984 riots "genocide."

Raising the issue, Akali DalMP Naresh Gujral said, "There

was a state-condoned massacreof innocent Sikhs." Congressmember Anand Sharma object-ed to the statement and demand-ed that it should be expunged. Inthe Lok Sabha, Akali Dal mem-ber Prem Singh Chandumajraraised the issue and criticised theExternal Affairs Ministry forrejecting the motion.

Narendra Budania(Congress) expressed concernover an Indian jawan, whohad raised the issue of qualityof food served to the forces,being shown as dead in socialmedia in Pakistan and otherforeign countries and said "thisis a serious issue. Our countryis being defamed."

Tapan Kumar Sen(CPM)claimed theGovernment was trying to pri-vatise public sector steel plantsand drew the attention of theHouse to strike call by theemployees of these factories onTuesday as a mark of protest.

�� 213�/14),

Claiming that theGovernment had

"unleashed" the CBI and EDagainst non-BJP ChiefMinisters, the Congress-ledOpposition raised a din in theRajya Sabha on Monday forc-ing two adjournments in thepre-lunch session. TheOpposition also charged theGovernment with ignoring"nepotism, corruption andmoney laundering" by someBJP-ruled States.

The House witnessed pan-demonium after DeputyChairman PJ Kurien refused tosuspend business for the day todiscuss the issue as demandedby Anand Sharma (Congress)who raised the issue soon afterday's proceedings commenced.Unwilling to accept the ruling,the Congress members rushedinto the well raising slogans.Kurien had to adjourn thehouse for ten minutes the firsttime and then for five minuteswhen the house reassembled.

Raising the issue, Sharmasaid bonafide decisions aretaken by elected ChiefMinisters and the StateGovernments for allotment ofland and there is no Statewhich is exception to this rule.Without naming anyone, hesaid the Central Government,in "blatant" abuse of authority,was using ED to target formerChief Ministers belonging tothe Opposition parties.Sharma was obviously referringto the attachment of propertiesbelonging to Himachal Pradesh

Chief Minister VirbhadraSingh and ED summoninghim in connection with analleged money-laundering case.

Charging the Governmentwith protecting the BJP ruledStates, he claimed land wasallotted for newspaper but theland use was converted tocommercial purpose in MadhyaPradesh while in Haryana acommercial organisation wasallotted land. "Government isprotecting the wrong-doings ofits own Chief Ministers" whoface accusations of "moneylaundering, nepotism and cor-ruption," Sharma said.

As Kurien said the notice onthe issue was not permitted,Leader of Opposition GhulamNabi Azad also alleged that theCBI and the ED were"unleashed" against non-BJPChief Ministers. Maintainingthat the "wrong-doings" of BJPChief Ministers were ignored,he said enforcement agencieswere "let loose againstOpposition Chief Ministers."The Chair, however, said thewrong doings of Chief Ministerscan only be discussed in therespective State Assemblies andnot in the Parliament.

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�� 213�/14),

Avociferous Opposition onMonday demanded in the

Lok Sabha an FIR against BJPMP Tarun Vijay for his pur-ported racial remarks, even asthe Government asserted thatthere was no discrimination inthe country on the basis ofcolour, creed and religion.

The house was repeatedlyadjourned on the issue withCongress leader MallikarjunKharge demanding strict actionagainst Vijay as UnionParliamentary Affairs MinisterAnanth Kumar asked the former"not to create a divide". Kumarsaid the BJP leader has alreadyapologised for his mistake.

In his response, UnionHome Minister Rajnath Singhsaid India is a secular countryand there is no discriminationallowed on the basis of colour,creed and religion. "The indi-vidual has already said that hisremarks are indefensible," theHome Minister said quoting

Vijay. He (Tarun Vijay) hasalready apologised, there is noneed to raise any more ques-tions about it, said Rajnath.

This, however, did notsooth frayed tempers in theOpposition bench with theHouse proceedings adjournedthrice — once during theQuestion Hour and twice dur-ing the Zero Hour. Not satisfiedwith the Government response,Congress staged a walk outfrom the house.

Kharge wondered whetherthe people from South Indiawere not Indian citizens. "Iwant to know whether we areIndians or not... Are we not cit-

izens (of India)," Kharge saidduring Zero Hour.

Wanting to know whataction would be taken againstVijay who is "not an ordinaryperson", Kharge said he was aformer Rajya Sabha memberand has also written manybooks on BJP philosophy. Hesaid the BJP leader's remarkcould "divide" the country withStates asserting for their inde-pendence.

"FIR should be lodgedagainst him (Tarun Vijay). Hehas talked about breaking thenation. It is anti-national,"Kharge said.

Kumar said BJP is of theview that "we all are Indians.There is no difference on thebasis of colour. We all are one.Congress should not createdifferences. We are all togeth-er". Kumar went on quotingVijay saying he is an adoptedson of a Tamil woman and in2015 was seen holding a plac-ard showing great Tamil poetThiruvalluvar.

�� 213�/14),

The Opposition in the RajyaSabha on Monday attacked

the Government on theAadhaar scheme, saying it wasbased on unverified data andviolated the Supreme Courtorder that it should not be mademandatory for schemes whichare not linked to subsidies.

The members also raisedconcern over data integrityand privacy issues while attack-ing the Government for usingthe Aadhaar system to"exclude" the beneficiaries fordelivery of subsidies and claim-ing to have made hugeGovernment savings.

Congress leader JairamRamesh attacked theGovernment for violatingSupreme Court orders whichclearly outlined where to useAadhaar. Making it mandato-ry beyond subsidies is in grossviolation of the SC orders, hesaid.

Just before a short durationdebate on Aadhaar started in

the House, IT and Law MinisterRavi Shankar Prasad said theGovernment saved about�50,000 crore LPG subsidy dueto the linking of Aadhaar cardwith Jhan Dhan accounts.

Initiating the debate,Rajeev Chandrashekar (Ind)expressed concern over fakeaadhaar cards, data integrityand privacy issues and alsoexclusion of subsidies by mak-ing it mandatory. He said hewas not against the Aadhaarsystem but the risks and prob-lems need to be addressed bythe Government. TheGovernment should not take a"rigid position".

��213�/14),

Tasked to ensure that the135-kilometre Eastern

Peripheral Expressway is put inplace by the scheduled deadlineof July 2018, the NationalHighway Authority of India(NHAI) is facing a severe cashcrunch as the DelhiGovernment is not respondingto “several reminders” todeposit its share of �2,159crore in the Central pool.

The information aboutNHAI's repeated pleas fallingon deaf ears came as part of thelatest status report submitted bythe Monitoring Committeeheaded by Secretary, Ministryof Road Transport andHighways to the Special Benchof the apex court hearingDelhi's pollution matters.

Work on this project, esti-mated at a cost of �7,558 crore,is being given to five contrac-tors, who are simultaneouslyworking on six segments alongthe entire 135-km stretchbetween Kundli-Ghaziabad-Noida-Palwal. But on themoney part, the cost-sharingratio for the project worked outbetween Governments ofDelhi, Haryana and UttarPradesh in the ratio of 50:25:25has yielded in payment of only

�937.92 crore to the NHAI, theproject proponent.

The MonitoringCommittee's status report said,"NHAI has an additional fundrequirement of �2,892 crorefrom the Central Pool."Government of Delhi hasdeposited �653.50 crore only inthe Central Pool as against theirlatest share of �2812.62 crore.Accordingly, �2159.12 croreare pending since long on thepart of Delhi Government fordeposit in the Central Pool.The Government of Delhi hasbeen requested numeroustimes to deposit their pendingshare in the Central Pool."

As regards the other twoStates, Uttar Pradesh has todeposit �508.92 crore against itsshare of �1406.31 crore whileHaryana Government needs toutilise the amount from their

own resources to the tune of�1798.38 crore towards landacquisition. Haryana can claiman amount over and abovethis amount from the CentralPool on furnishing utilisationcertificate, the report by theCommittee said.

The other parallel project,the Western PeripheralExpressway, looks promisingand ready for completion byFebruary 2019, the Committeeinformed. The project manag-er - Haryana State Industrialand InfrastructureDevelopment Corporation(HSIIDC) informed the Courtthat the work on the Kundli-Manesar stretch is expected tocomplete by February 2019while work on the remainingManesar-Palwal section is com-plete and was thrown open forpublic use from July 15, 2016.

�� 213�/14),

The average level of noisepollution generally exceeds

the permissible limits in sevencities of the country, includingMumbai, Delhi, Kolkata,Chennai, EnvironmentMinister Anil Madhav Davesaid on Monday in a writtenreply in Rajya Sabha.

He said the Central PollutionControl Board (CPCB) in asso-ciation with its counterparts inevery State carries out monitor-ing of noise pollution in seven

metropolitan cities — Mumbai,Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai,Bangalore, Lucknow andHyderabad — through a net-work of 70 noise-monitoring sta-tions under National AmbientNoise Monitoring Programme(NANMP).

"The data from these mon-itoring stations indicate thataverage noise pollution levelsgenerally exceed the permissi-ble limits. The data includesnoise due to horns of vehicles,"Dave said.

Replying to another ques-

tion, he said while in fiscal2014-15, 6,161 trees were cut inDelhi, in 2015-16, 4,689 treeswere felled. The number oftrees cut in 2016-17 was 4,759.

The total number of treescut in these three financialyears was 15,609, he said,adding that Section 10 of DelhiPreservation of Trees Act, 1994(DPTA), prescribes that everyperson, who is granted per-mission under this Act to fellor dispose of any tree, will bebound to plant such numberand kind of trees in the area.

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��'�� 213�/14),

Activists fighting for dis-ability rights have pointed

out “gaping loopholes” in thedraft Rules of the Rights ofPersons with Disabilities Act,2016 alleging that the two con-travene each other andexpressed apprehension thatthe sector will continue toremain neglected despite tallpromises by the Governmentfor its empowerment.

For instance, said disabili-ty rights advocate SC Vasistha,while many sections of theAct that are applicable to estab-lishments (both Governmentand private), the Rules renderthem inapplicable to private

establishments. "Why privatesector has been left out," hequestioned.

Vasistha also alleged thatthe draft Rules are silent on

protection from 'misuse' ofSection 3(3) which states that"no person with disability shallbe discriminated on the groundof disability, unless it is shownthat the impugned act or omis-sion is a proportionate meansof achieving a legitimate aim."

Agreeing with Vasistha, DrSatendra Singh, AssociateProfessor of Physiology at GTBHospital, said that this clausegives unfettered power to theimplementing agencies to dis-criminate against persons withdisabilities, on the pretext ofserving a "legitimate aim".

Singh, who is afflicted withpolio knows better. He had toface discrimination on thesame interpretation and it was

only after four-year struggle,the government had to unlock1700 posts for doctors with dis-abilities in the CGHS.

The 3.3 clause leaves "legit-imate aim" open to the subjec-tive interpretation of thebureaucracy, pitched inVasistha adding that it is likeproviding escape route to jus-tify the subjective action of abureaucrat against a different-ly-abled person.

The activists have alsoexpressed unhappiness at theway the power of the ChiefCommissioner of Persons withDisability has been reduced toa recommendatory body, leav-ing the persons of disabilitycompletely unprotected.

Vasistha also felt that theRules if approved in the presentform would lead to inter-sec-toral fight among the disabledpeople given that while num-ber of category of disabled hasincreased from seven to 21, thepercentage of post for reserva-tion has not increased corre-spondingly.

The Civilian WelfareFoundation, an NGO workingfor rights of disabled sportsper-son has rued that there is nomention in the Rules to ensureparticipation of the personswith disabilities in sportingactivities. The activists havesought immediate correction inthe Rules before they arefinalised and notified.

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�� 213�/14),

Lok Sabha on Monday passedthe Bill on amendments to

Motor Vehicle Act with stringentprovisions to ensure safety andtraffic besides a legislation toaccord constitutional status tothe National Commission forBackward Classes. HRDMinister Prakash Javdekar intro-duced Bill to permit 15 IIITsaward degrees and another Billseeking to amend the Right toEducation Act to allow elemen-tary teachers time till 2019 to get

acquire minimum qualificationsas mandated under the 2010 law.

The bill to amend MotorVehicles Act introduced byTransport Minister NitinGadkari received support fromopposition parties and passed byvoice vote. All efforts would bemade to eliminate corruption inthe sector, Gadkari said whilereplying to a discussion on theMotor Vehicle (Amendment)Bill 2016, claiming that "nobogus driving lincenses wouldbe made and there would be notheft of the vehicles once there

is e-governance.""Once we (BJP) complete

five years, we would be able tosave 50 per cent lives lost dueto road accidents. We are work-ing towards it," Gadkari said.

The bill to accord constitu-tional status to the NationalCommission for BackwardClasses was approved by the LokSabha even as the Oppositionexpressed apprehensions that itwould impair the power ofstates. The ConstitutionAmendment bill, which requirestwo-thirds majority for passage,

was approved by the Housewith 360 members voting infavour and two against. Termingit as "historic" bill, Social Justiceand Empowerment MinisterThawar Chand Gehlot said itwould promote the welfare ofthe OBCs. The Minister assuredthe House that the bill, whichhas similar provisions as in caseof SC and ST commissions, willnot curtail the powers of statesin any way.

Javadekar introduced theIIIT (Public-PrivatePartnership) Bill, 2017, which

seeks to declare 15 functionalIIITs, set up under public-pri-vate partnership mode, as insti-tutions of national importance.He also introduced the billseeking to amend the Right toEducation Act to allow ele-mentary teachers time till 2019to get acquire minimum qual-ifications as mandated underthe 2010 law. As per the exist-ing Act which came into effectfrom April 1, 2010, these teach-ers were to acquire minimumqualifications within five yearsby March 31, 2015.

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The Election Commissionwill soon convene an all-

party meet to discuss the issueof reliability of electronic vot-ing machines (EVM). Theassurance came after a delega-tion of 16 opposition parties onMonday urged the EC to revertto the paper ballot system,claiming the faith of the peo-ple in the EVMs has “eroded”.

Earlier, the Commissionalso discussed the unprece-dented election-day violenceand poor voter turnout in thebypoll to the Srinagar LokSabha seat. It is learnt that theCommission had ignored theadvice of the Home Ministrywhich had said atmospherewas not conducive to hold thepolls. Immediately after theannouncement of schedule forthe byelections on March 10,the Home Ministry had sent astrongly-worded letter to theCommission saying there was

no prior consultation with itregarding the bypolls inSrinagar and Anantnag con-stituencies. While polling inSrinagar was held on Sunday,byelection in Anantnag will beheld on Wednesday.

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New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Monday said it willhear on April 13 the pleas chal-lenging the use of EVMs inelections without equippingthe machines with voter veri-fied paper audit trail (VVPAT).A bench headed by ChiefJustice JS Khehar refused togive separate hearing to a pleafiled by former SP lawmakerAtaur Rehman who soughtelections with EVMs equippedwith VVPAT.

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�� "�"�� 213�/14),

Ameeting of expandedNational Democratic

Alliance (NDA) that included33 allies of the BJP, on Mondaypassed a resolution to worktogether to succeed in 2019under the leadership of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

Leaders of 33 BJP allies,including the new friends it haswon over in Goa and North-EastStates, attended the meeting atPravasi Bharatiya Kendra aheadof election to the top constitu-tional posts of the President andVice-President due this year. Themeeting was held under theChairmanship of Modi, saidSenior BJP leader and FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley.

Shiv Sena chief UddhavThackeray (with whom BJPhas not been in the best ofterms), Jammu & KashmirChief Minister MehboobaMufti, Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister Chandrababu Naiduand Former Punjab ChiefMinister and Shrimoni AkaliDal head Prakash Singh Badalattended the meeting.

Seen as a show of strengthafter BJP's major victories in fourStates — Uttar Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur— where it installed itsGovernments, the dinner was anexercise to consolidate backingof all its allies in the Presidentialpoll. While President PranabMukherjee would demit hisoffice in July, Vice-PresidentHamid Ansari, elected twice,would retire in August, this year.

The NDA gathering, thesecond such comprehensivemeeting since 2014 electionwin of the BJP-led-alliance,also assessed political scenarioin the country ahead of 2019polls. BJP President Amit Shah

and several Cabinet Ministersattended the meet.

The allies who attended themeet also included UnionMinisters Ramvilas Paswan andUpendra Kushwaha besidesJitan Ram Manjhi from Bihar,Union Minister Anupriya Pateland Om Rajbhar from UP,besides a host of allies fromKerala, Tamil Nadu and otherStates attended the meeting.

These apart, Sajjad Lonefrom Kashmir, RamdasAthavale, Raju Shetty andMahadev Jankar fromMaharashtra, Vijai Sardesai andSudhir Dhavalikar from Goa,PC Thomas and Vellappallyfrom Kerala and Sikkim ChiefMinister Pawan Chamling alsomade their presence in the meet.

Total number of votes inelectoral college for President'selection stand at 10.98 lakh withthe majority mark to be around5.49 lakh votes. (The total valueof MLA votes is 5,49,474 and thetotal MP votes is 5,49,408.) TheNDA is estimated to be runningshort of around 17,000 votes.

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The Union Ministry ofTelecommunications has

approved a plan to connect10,000 village panchayats ofChhattisgarh with internet con-nectivity.

Incidentally, Chief MinisterRaman Singh on Monday hadcalled on UnionTelecommunications MinisterManoj Sinha in the NationalCapital in which the approvalwas granted for the project.Present on the occasion wasPrincipal Secretary to ChiefMinister Aman Kumar Singh.

The Chief Ministerinformed Sinha that a target ofproviding internet connectivi-ty to 4,000 village panchayatshad been fixed under NOFN byMay 2017 in the first phase.

Thereafter, in the secondphase, another 5,987 villageswill be connected, he informed.

Notably, the Chhattisgarhgovernment has already com-menced work for laying a com-prehensive OFC backbone linkunder 'BastarNet Project', offi-cials informed.

The work comprises layingOFC in two ‘rings’, the firstbeing--Jagdalpur-Geedam-Kondagaon-Narayanpur-Bhanupratappur and Kanker.

The project would involvelaying OFC in Link 1 :Jagdalpur-Geedam (Approx.71 Km), Link 2 : Jagdalpur-Kondagaon (Approx. 74 Km),Link 3 : Kondagaon-Narayanpur (Approx. 48 Km),Link 4 : Narayanpur-Bhanupratapur (Approx. 76Km), Link 5 : Bhanupratapur-Kanker (Approx. 51 Km) and

Link 6: Kanker- Kondagaon-(Approx. 85 Km) comprising atotal of 405 Kms.

The work for undergroundOFC laying under Ring 2would involve- Jagdalpur-Sukma-Dornapal-Konta-Dantewara-Geedam-Bijapur-Bhopalpattnam in which OFCwould be laid in Link 6:Jagdalpur-Sukma- Approx. 106Km, Link 7: Sukma-Dornapal-Approx. 36 Km, Link 8:Dornapal- Konta- Approx. 44Km, Link 9: Sukma-Dantewara- Approx. 84 Km,Link 10: Dantewara –Geedam-Approx. 18 Km, Link 11:Geedam –Bijapur- Approx. 88Km , Link 12: Bijapur

–Bhopalpattanam- Approx. 55Km totalling 431 kms.

It may be recalled thatChief Minister Raman Singh inAugust last year had statedthat Bastar will be included inChhattisgarh Government's‘Digital Highway’ which will be

a catalyst in bringing about anew revolution of developmentof a knowledge-based society,opportunity and economy.

It will also enhance thetransparency, accuracy andaccountability of governmentservices, said while disclosing

details on implementation ofthe ‘BastarNet’ project in hisIndependence Day speechdelivered at the Police Paradeground here on August 15 lastyear.

He said that owing to itsgeographical conditions, it isnecessary to ensure mobileand internet connectivity inBastar.

Under this project, 832kms long optical fibre cable willbe laid at the cost of �40 crore.This network will be built with'ring network' so that it mayprovide uninterrupted mobileand internet connectivitythrough alternative routes, theChief Minister said.

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There is a reasonable surge ofinterest among NRIs glob-

ally in buying houses and evencommercial properties inChhattisgarh’s high-tech greenfield Capital city - Naya Raipur,officials inform.

With realtors globally mar-keting their properties for SmartCities in various countries, NayaRaipur which is emerging as oneof the strong contenders in thegreen field city segment inIndia has evinced great interestamong expatriate Indians inbuying home and even com-mercial properties here, theyinformed.

Interestingly, many of theexpatriate Indians also don’teven belong to Chhattisgarh butwant to settle down in a greenfield smart city environmentwhich suits their comforts andlifestyles which they experi-ence abroad.

The Unique SellingProposition (USP) for a greenfield city is that its infrastructureis built following global engi-neering parameters to makethe quality of life of citizensmuch above the average livingin any other conventional city,officials stated.

Incidentally, Naya Raipur-Chhattisgarh’s hi-tech State cap-

ital is also gearing up for thethird round of 'Smart CityChallenge' contest of the UnionMinistry of UrbanDevelopment.

The Naya RaipurDevelopment Authority(NRDA) had been collectingfeedback from citizens on howthey dream of seeingChhattisgarh's new State capitalas a "Smart City".

Notably, Naya Raipur beingfirst planned city of 21st centu-ry already has state-of-the-artinfrastructure at its disposal.The city has well planned eco-nomic and social infrastructure,officials informed.

The Village DevelopmentPlan is also taking care of socialequity and cohesion. The richculture and heritage all adds tothe strength of the city, theyinformed.

It may be recalled that a‘Master System Integrator’ willmanage the extraordinarilyhigh-technology oriented ‘NayaRaipur Smart City System’.

The Naya Raipur SmartCity System will comprise SmartGovernance, City Surveillance,Intelligent Transport manage-ment System, Electricity andWater supply and CityCommand and Control Centreamong others, officialsinformed.

Notably, the Naya Raipur as

a Smart City will leverage thecollective intelligence created byconnecting physical, institu-tional, social and economicinfrastructure to deliver a quan-tum improvement in the qual-ity of life of local population,they informed.

Notably, the new capitalcity of Chhattisgarh is a ‘greenfield’ city and is planned todevelop its infrastructure grad-ually in order to provide worldclass amenities and facilities toits residents and visitors.

NRDA has taken the nextstep in “Smart City’ develop-ment with plans now for‘Information & CommunicationTechnology” (ICT) enablementof infrastructure and citizenservices, officials informed

Naya Raipur is already

among five other cities in thecountry chosen as‘Demonstration Cities’ for theCentre’s ambitious SustainableUrban Transport Project(SUTP).

The final five cities partic-ipating as 'Demonstration Cities'under Sustainable UrbanTransport Project (SUTP) are -Indore (Madhya Pradesh),Mysore (Karnataka), NayaRaipur (Chhattisgarh), Puneand Pimpri Chinchwad(Maharashtra).

Detailed project profileswere prepared by all cities withthe assistance of the SUTPConsultants and then endorsedby the SUTP SteeringCommittee to be included toSUTP as ‘City DemonstrationProjects’, officials stated.

It plans of developing aproject comprising IT-enabledsystems to manage a host of util-ities using state-of-art technol-ogy.

The design would com-prise IT enabled land manage-ment system, city surveillancebesides a host of other systemstill now popular and being usedonly in the developed countries.

The other city manage-ment systems include intelligentlighting systems, pay and useparking systems, city guide mapavailable through web browser,intelligent transport system,city level wi-fi touch screensacross the city, display boardsacross the city for providingreal-time information, emer-gency alert and crisis responsesystems, traffic re-routing appli-

cations based on real time traf-fic data.

The city would also have anCentral Control Center formonitoring all the servicesincluding central traffic controland management system.

It may be recalled that NayaRaipur has emerged in thecountry with the largest landbank of a mammoth 237 squarekilometres ( 23,700 hectares).

The NRDA has plans ofdeveloping a ‘Transport Hub’spread over an area of 161.9hectares in the new capital city.

The hub would include set-ting up Light Rail TransportSystem (LRTS) stations. Thearea being earmarked for the'Transport Hub' would be 12.55per cent of the total area of thenew capital city, officials stated.

Five residential sectors hav-ing more than 8000 dwellingunits had already been com-pleted in Chhattisgarh’s newhigh tech capital Naya Raipurlast year, officials informed.

The habitation in the resi-dential sectors has also com-menced, they informed.

It may be recalled that theNaya Raipur DevelopmentAuthority (NRDA) will alsodevelop a ‘Land ManagementSystem’ for managing disposal

of land for infrastructure devel-opment, officials informed.

Naya Raipur is not just fastemerging as the hi-tech Statecapital of Chhattisgarh but alsoan adventure sports destination.

The four kms cycling track,Kayaking, Burma bridge and a2 kms skating track are some ofthe facilities already functionalin the new capital city, officialsinformed.

Boating facility had beenmade available to visitors at theJungle Safari from January 1 thisyear in the new capital.

The Jungle Safari compris-es of four separate Safarisincluding Herbivore Safari, BearSafari, Tiger and Lion Safari.

Around 166 personnelincluding officials, doctors, zoo-keeper, guard and other staff aredeployed for taking care of ani-mals in the Safari.

Notably the Chhattisgarhgovernment has also earmarked258.48 hectares of land in thecapital for setting up a ‘NatureResort’ and a ‘Theme Park’ infuture, officials stated.

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The ChhattisgarhGovernment has so far

spent around �20.19 crore indeveloping the Tribal TourismCircuit in the State.

The work for the projecthas also been underway inBastar, Bilaspur, Dhamtari andKabirdham districts, officialsinformed.

The Central Governmenthas put up the anticipated time-line for completion of the TribalTourism Circuit inChhattisgarh to be 2019-20.

The Tribal Tourism Circuitwill provide an opportunity tothe tourists to witness andexperience tribal culture andtraditions in Chhattisgarh, offi-cials informed.

The key components fordevelopment under the projectare ‘Ethnic Tourist Village’ and‘Ethnic Tourist Development’,Destination Development andWayside amenities.The projectwould be developed by CTB.

The Tribal Tourism Circuit

comprises Jashpur-Kunkuri-Mainpat- Ambikapur-Maheshpur -Ratanpur-Kurdar-Sarodadadar Gangrel-Kondagaon –Nathyanawagaon-Jagdalpur Chitrakoot -Tirthgarh in Chhattisgarhunder Swadesh DarshanScheme.

The ChhattisgarhGovernment had been makingstrenuous efforts to improvethe quality of infrastructureand provide basic amenities inthe tourism circuits, officialsinformed.

Notably, the UnionTourism Ministry had alsoallocated �99.94 crore todevelop Tribal Tourism Circuitto highlight tribal culture tothe domestic and foreigntourists in the year 2015-16.

The districts to be devel-oped are- Jashpur, Kunkuri,Maipaat, Ambikapur,Maheshpur, Ratanpur Kurdur,Sarodha Dadar, Gangrel,Kondagaon, Nathiyanwagaon,Jagdalpur, Chitrakoot andThirthgad. The Tribal Theme is

being implemented in these dis-tricts and the project will becompleted in a phased manner.

Similarly, other tourist cir-cuits are also being developed.

Notably, Chhattisgarhexchanged MoUs worth �12crores for development ofworld-class tourist facilitiesduring ‘Incredible IndiaTourism Investors’ Summit(IITIS)- 2016’ organised by theMinistry of Tourism in part-nership with Confederation ofIndian Industry and theTourism Finance Corporationof India from September 21 to23, 2016 in New Delhi to pro-mote investments in Tourismsector in India.

Several key announce-ments were made at the vale-dictory session of the Summit.

The states like Gujarat,Rajasthan, Karnataka,Uttarakhand and Chattisgarhexchanged 86 MoUs duringthe session and many more arein the pipeline, aggregatingclose to �15,000 crores, officialsinformed.

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The Health and FamilyWelfare Department has

directed all the Chief Medicaland Health Officers to take pre-ventive and effective steps tocheck spread of seasonal diseasesparticularly during the summerseason, officials informed.

The field health workershave been directed to stay putin district headquarters andmonitor the situation.

The State authorities hadalso directed CommunityHealth Centres, Primary

Health centres, sub-health cen-tres, health workers andMitanins to keep adequate

stock of medicines.Awarenesscamps should be held to edu-cate people. Director ofMedical Services had in a cir-cular instructed the DistrictMedical and Health Officers tomonitor the situation closely,officials informed.

There are chances of citi-zens suffering from heat strokesdue to scorching conditionsprevailing in the entire Stateduring summer months. Theheat strokes are at times life-threatening. Citizens can takepreventive steps, officials stat-ed.The symptoms are high fever,lack of perspiration, severe head-ache, severe pain in hands andlegs, redness of skin, giddinessand becoming unconscious.

People should avoid mov-ing around in the mid-after-noon, cover the entire bodyand wear light cotton clothes.

Avoid physical labourunder the scorching sun. Takerest after every 30 minutes ofwork under the sun and takeplenty of liquids. Avoid intox-icating drinks such as tea andcoffee, the officials advised.

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The Central Governmenthas accorded approval for

establishing polytechnic insti-tutes in 11 districts of theState, including Koriya, Jashpur,Kanker, Kondagaon,Narayanpur, Bijapur,Ramanujganj, Bilaspur, Raipur,Bastar and Surajpur, officialsinformed.

Presently, there are 51 poly-technic colleges inChhattisgarh, which includes31 government and 20 non-government polytechnic insti-tutes.

With the establishment ofthese newly-approved 11 poly-technic institutes, the totalnumber of polytechnic collegewill reach 62.

Notably, the CentralGovernment has Sub-MissionOn ‘Polytechnic Under TheCoordinated Action ForDevelopment’ to open poly-technic colleges in the

areas/districts of the countrywhere there are no polytechnicinstitutes.

Under the scheme, poly-technic colleges are beingopened in 11 districts ofChhattisgarh.

The Central Governmenthas sanctioned �12.30 crore forestablishing each polytechnicinstitute.

The construction of build-ings for 7 out of 11 newly-approved polytechnic collegeshave been started in Bijapur,Narayanpur, Kanker, Bilaspur,Koriya, Jashpur andRamanujganj districts fromDecember 2016, which will becompleted by year 2018.Construction of remainingbuildings will begin soon.

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The much-hyped Bankatirairrigation project in Remuna

block in Baleswar district maysee light of the day as the workhas been initiated by the WaterResources Department.

The department at the ini-tial stage has begun soil testingof the project site at Bankatira vil-lage under Nizampur GP inRemuna block. The ground levelwork has brought cheer amongthe locals.

Water ResourcesDepartment Executive EngineerRajkishor Ghadai said theground level work has begun andfollowing which the projectwould be sent for approval of theState Government. The project

envisages irrigation facility forabout 6,300 hectares of agricul-ture land including Basta, Sadarand Remuna blocks.

The project would be con-structed in the downstream ofthe river Budhabalanga. Thebarrage length would around 114metre while the width would bearound 70 metres.

“A canal of 15 km would beconstructed in the left side of thebarrage. The barrage would holdthe excess water flowing downthe river during the floods,which would be utilised for irri-gation purposes round the year.A separate sub-division underthe name of Bankatira projecthas been opened to look afterconstruction and subsequentactivities,” said Ghadai.

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Demanding stringent actionagainst all fanatic forces

and Government officialsresponsible for the Bhadrakcommunal violence and againstspreading of rumour throughsocial media and to stop com-munal tactics for politicalpolarisation by the SanghParivar in the name of religionand cow protection and alsoappropriate compensation forall victims, a mass protest washeld here on Monday by dif-ferent Left, democratic andprogressive forces.

The protest was organisedby the forces like INSAF, GASS,

All India Secular Forum,Mulanivasi Samata Parishad,PUCL, AISF, Odisha DalitAdhikar Manch, All IndiaPeople’s Forum(AIPF),Lokshakti Abhijan, CDS,Kandhamal Peace & JusticeForum and Unorganised

Labour Union.Parties like CPI, CPI(M),

CPI(M-L)-Liberation andSamajwadi Party also joinedthe protest.

Eminent persons likeAbhiram Mallik, Tapan Mishara,Manas Jena, Suresh Panigrahi,

Radhakanta Sethi, SudarshanPradhan, Ashok Sahu, Prof.Birendra Nayak, PrafullaSamantara, Satish Mishra,Dhirendra Panda, BiswapriyaKanungo, Pramodini Pradhan,Debaranjan, Prof BirendraNayak, Amiya Pandav, RumitaKundu, Alok Mohanty,Debasmita Panda, Dr SricharanBehera, Pradeep Sahu, BasantMajhi, Bikram Swain,Mahammed Amin, BrajenduMohanty,Bijay Parida, SukadevBehera, Rajnarayan Dalua,Mahamed Ammin, Anil KumarMallick, Gohigobind Besra,Chittaranjan Barik andNarendra Mohanty took theleadership of the protest.

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Himachal Chief MinisterVirbhadra Singh on

Monday inaugurated themuch awaited Jakhoo aerialropeway project to connect itwith an extension of theRidge, which is expected tobring in more tourists andhelp local tourism.

The project has beencompleted with an outlay ofapproximately Rs. 40 crore.The foundation stone waslaid way back in July 2007, butdue to certain environmentalreasons and forest clearancesthe project got delayed.

Constructed by JagsonInternational Ltd. it wouldfacilitate the visitors to reachthe Hanuman Temple at

Jakhoo in f ive minutes.Constructed on Public PrivatePartnership (PPP) mode, theCompany would give Rs. 57lakh as dividend throughTourism Department to theGovernment in its first yearand thereafter 15 per cent ofthe collection money everyyear.

Chief Minister said that itwas his dream project and justone of its kind in the State.This would further add to andgive boost to tourism indus-try.

Vice Chairman HPTDCHarish Janartha, Mayor M.C.Shimla Sanjay Chauhan, ViceChairman H.P ForestDevelopment CorporationKewal Singh Pathania,Commissioner Tourism

Dinesh Malhotra and CMDJagson International Ltd. J.P.Gupta were also present onthe occasion among others.

The government, actingon the directions of the dis-trict courts, asked the com-pany in 2008 to stop the con-struction till preventive mea-sures are taken to protect thetrees and the houses that fellin the vicinity of the ropewayconstruction.

The company was alsodirected to remove the heavyearth-moving machines fromthe site as these were trigger-ing landslides.

The State Governmenthad approved the ropewayproject despite the fact thatthe area fell in the no-con-struction green zone.

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Facing flak for dragging itsfeet on monkey culling,

Himachal PradeshGovernment has now decidedto constitute Eco Task Forcesfor the purpose. Getting sup-port from the forest depart-ment, Eco Task forces wouldcull monkeys scientifically.

The decision came in ameeting of High PoweredCommittee for Wild Animaland Monkey Menace, chairedby Chief Minister VirbhadraSingh on Monday.

It is worth mentioningthat despite being successful inbringing the monkey popula-tion down by almost a lac inthe hill state, the HimachalGovernment had not been

able to curb the monkey men-ace and the farming commu-nity had taken the maximumtoll of monkey menace.

The efforts of sterlisationin the state had paid well andthe monkey population, whichwas 3.17 lac in 2004 census hadcome down to 2.07 lac in thelast census conducted in 2015in the State.

Chief Minister said thatmonkey menace had proved tobe a bane for the people of theState and it was needed tofocus on areas where concen-tration of monkeys was more.He said since they have beencausing much damage to cropsand fruits, besides attackingwomen and children in par-ticular, the Government hasdecided to open ‘Rescue

Centre for Life Care’ nearShimla.

Virbhadra also desired thatanother Task Forces shouldalso be constituted to dealwith monkeys on Nationalhighways, villages and cities.Oral contraceptives shouldalso be tried as a measure tocontrol reproduction in femalemonkeys.

In the meeting, AdditionalChief Secretary Tarun Kapoorsaid that to identify the steril-ized monkeys, permanent tat-tooing was being done in mid-dle of the forehead, adding thatthe mobile monkey steriliza-tion units (Van) would also bequite useful when made oper-ational. He said that ‘RescueCentre for Life Care’ wouldcome up near Shimla having

capacity to house around 1000rogue and sterilized monkeys.

Kapoor said that a list of 53tehsils and sub-tehsils hadbeen sent to Ministry ofEnvironment (MoEF)Government of India wheremonkeys could be declared asvermin to provide much need-ed relief to the farmers andhorticulturists. He said thatsoon a survey would be con-ducted jointly with Wild LifeInstitute of India, (WII)Dehradun to declare WildBoar, Sambar and Nilgai asvermin animals. As of now adecision was taken for cullingmonkeys in as many as 38tehsils and sub tehsils in whichmonkeys have been declaredvermin by MOEF. He said themonkey watchers have been

deployed near schools inShimla to keep an eye on themonkeys and prevent anyattack on children.

Principal ChiefConservator Forest, Wild LifeS.K. Sharma revealed that asmany as 1,25, 266 monkeyshave been sterilized till marchthis year out of total estimat-ed population of 2,07,614 asper survey conducted in 2015.He said that Rapid ResponseTeams (RRT) at each circlelevel headed by DivisionalForest Officer would be pro-vided tranquilizing guns tosterilize monkeys, besides cap-turing in transport cages. Hesaid that a feeding station formonkeys was being set up atJakhoo Temple. He said thatit was for the first time that the

rates of compensation had alsobeen enhanced.

Secretary, All IndiaCongress Committee (AICC),Asha Kumari suggested legalsteps to be taken for feedingmonkeys on National high-ways. She said apart from thelaw being enacted, no actionwas taken by law agencies atpermanent points along-withNational highways wheregroups of monkeys were fedwhich could lead to any majormishap. She said that a per-manent solution was requiredto deal with the menace ofmonkeys and other wild lifecreating havoc. The teamsneed to focus on particularareas and then find out thedrop rate if any in monkeypopulation.

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To develop the interest ofyouth in science and tech-

nology, Haryana Governmenthas decided to increase thenumber of Science Clubs beingoperated in Sanskriti Schoolsfrom 20 to 200 in the State.

Besides financial assistancebeing given to these clubs willbe enhanced from �15,000 to�50,000, said Science andTechnology Minister, Anil Vij,while presiding over a reviewmeeting of the Department onMonday.

Vij also directed toenhance the amounts ofHaryana Vigyan Ratna andHaryana Yuva Vigyan RatnaAwards to bring them at parwith Central Government.Apart from this, new projector

would be installed at theDepartment-run KalpanaChawla MemorialPlanetarium, Kurukshetra at acost of about �1.5 crore to Rstwo crore.

With a view to develop sci-entific intellect among theyouth, financial assistance of�50,000 is provided to scien-tists of the state who participatein conference, seminars andworkshops organised at inter-national level. Similarly, finan-cial assistance of up to �10 lakhwould be provided for researchand development projects, saidhe.

The Minister said, “Apartfrom this, gold, silver andbronze medal winners ofsenior category in interna-tional-level Science Olympiadwould be given Rs five lakh, Rs

three lakh and Rs two lakh,respectively. Participants inthis category would be givenRs one lakh. Similarly, gold, sil-ver and bronze medal winnersof junior category would begiven �2.5 lakh, �1.5 lakh andRs one lakh, whereas partici-pants would be given �50,000.The facility of tissue culturelaboratory was being providedby the Department in Hisar forconvenience of farmers. Lakhsof plants would be prepared inthis laboratory and supplied tothe farmers, said Vij.

He also directed the offi-cers to prepare new schemesto present science and tech-nology as an attractive field tothe students, and to organiseseminars at school, collegeand university levels for thispurpose.

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From Page 1“Stripping defendants of

their rights and operating innotorious secrecy, militarycourts do not dispense justicebut travesty it. They are an

inherently abusive system thatis best left to deal with issuesof military discipline, not anyother crimes,” Patnaik said ina statement.

Amnesty opposes thedeath penalty at all times andin all circumstances, regard-less of who is accused, thecrime, guilt or innocence, orthe method of execution, hesaid.

A Pakistan military courtsentenced Jadhav to deathafter he was convicted of“espionage and sabotage activ-ities”.

The prominent rightsgroup also noted that over 87executions were recorded inPakistan in 2016 and over 360death sentences were record-ed in the country last year.

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From Page 1Bio-Technology that will

see collaboration between 100researchers of both countries indeveloping biofuels, and earlydetection of crop diseases toimprove productivity. Followingtheir talks, Modi took Turnbullfor a ride in Delhi Metro andshowed him the AkshardhamTemple, after some talk aboutcricket.

“Just last month, we wit-nessed a thrilling conclusion tothe Border-Gavaskar trophy. Inmy speech at the AustralianParliament in 2014 I had spo-ken of legendary Bradman andTendulkar. Today, Virat Kohli inIndia and Steven Smith inAustralia are shaping the youngbrigades of cricket. I hope yourvisit to India is as productive asit has been for Steven Smith’sbatting, the other AustralianCaptain,” Modi said during themedia statement.

Later, Modi again used thecricket analogy and said, “Wetook a number of forward-looking decisions to furtherstrengthen our partnership,including the decision to soonhold the next round of negoti-ations on our ComprehensiveEconomic CooperationAgreement (CECA). In a lightervein I am, of course, glad thatour decisions are not subject tothe DRS review system.”

In cricketing terms DRS(Decision Review System) is atechnology-based mechanismto review controversial umpir-ing decisions.The agreementon cooperation in counter-ter-rorism and transnational organ-ised crime is an overarchingsecurity understanding whichwill allow links betweenAustralian and Indian lawenforcement, border and intel-ligence agencies and allowimproving both countries’ abil-ity to address global and region-al security threats.

“I hope that our new MoUon Combatting TransnationalOrganised Crime, includingInternational Terrorism, willcontinue to strengthen thisstrategic partnership. It willfacilitate closer collaborationon counter-terrorism, cyber-security, people smuggling andhuman trafficking, money laun-dering and a tax on criticalinfrastructure,” Turnbullsaid.The two PMs in their jointstatement reiterated commit-ment to combat terrorism while

stressing that there can be nojustification for acts of terror onany grounds whatsoever.

“They asserted that thefight against terrorists, terrororganisations and networksshould also identify, holdaccountable and take strongmeasures again stall those whoencourage, support and financeterrorism, provide sanctuary toterrorists and terror groups,and falsely extol their virtues.They emphasised the need forurgent measures to counter andprevent the spread of terrorismand violent extremism and rad-icalisation and expressed theirdetermination to take concretemeasures to step up cooperationand coordination among thelaw enforcement, intelligenceand security organizations,” thejoint statement said.

Modi and Turnbull wel-comed the significant progressachieved through the bilateralFramework for SecurityCooperation agreed in 2014and agreed that the bilateralmaritime exercise first held inthe Bay of Bengal in 2015(AUSINDEX) will be repeatedoff Western Australia in the firsthalf of 2018.

Modi and Turnbull alsounderscored India andAustralia’s joint commitment toenhancing regional coopera-tion in promoting maritimesafety and security and wel-comed the important role of thebilateral White ShippingAgreement. Referring to mar-itime issues, both leaders recog-nised the importance of free-dom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful com-merce, as well as resolving mar-itime disputes by peacefulmeans, in accordance with theinternational law.

During the talks on econo-my and trade no breakthroughwas achieved on theComprehensive EconomicCooperation Agreement(CECA) but it was decided thatthe officials of the two sides willhold an early round of negoti-ations for the free trade deal.

Turnbull noted Australia’sstrong support for India’s mem-bership of the Nuclear SuppliersGroup, welcomed India’s join-ing of the Missile TechnologyControl Regime (MTCR) andexpressed its support for India’smembership of the AustraliaGroup and the WassenaarArrangement.

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From Page 1Gandhi with Shukla board-

ed a steamer to reach Sonepurand caught a train toMuzaffarpur. Kripalani saw thecable at 9 in the night when hereturned from the club and hadlittle time to make arrange-ments for his welcome.“How thisdistinguished guest should bereceived and where should I puthim up,” wonders Kripalani,warden of a hostel attached to thecollege and living in a couple ofrooms. He spoke to his colleagueProfessor Malkani to make somearrangement for Gandhi’s stay.When Kripalani told some of hisstudents that he was going toreceive Gandhi and informedwho he was they persisted toaccompany him and gave thedistinguished guest a fittingreception by performing an aarti.

The train arrived after mid-night. Kripalani and his studentsran towards the first class com-partment. But he was nowhere

to be found. Gandhi who gotdown from third class compart-ment was also looking forKripalani. He asked Shukla toenquire from the young boyswho they were looking for andthey said Mr Gandhi was com-ing. When they met studentsperformed aarti much to hisembarrassment. Now the ques-tion was how to take Gandhi tohis place of stay.

A zamindar friend ofKripalani was travelling in thesame train. He asked him tospare his private carriage towhich he agreed. “The studentspersisted they would pull the car-riage. An unhappy Gandhi saidhe would not use carriage ifpulled by students. I asked themnot to persist and went inside theclosed carriage with very Gandhiwho told me about his experi-ence in Patna at the house ofRajendra Prasad. When wereached hostel and came outGandhi was angry and said stu-dents deceived him by pulling hecarriage.”

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From Page 1The spy has been tried

through Field General CourtMartial (FGCM) underPakistan Army Act (PAA) andawarded death sentence. TodayGeneral Qamar Javed Bajwahas confirmed the death sen-tence awarded by FGCM.”

The statement added thatJadhav was tried by FGCMunder Section 59 of PAA 1952and Section 3 of Official SecretsAct of 1923. “FGCM foundKulbushan Sudhir Jadhav guiltyof all the charges. He confessedbefore a Magistrate and thecourt that he was tasked byRAW to plan, coordinate andorganize espionage/sabotageactivities aiming to destabiliseand wage war against Pakistanby impeding the efforts of LawEnforcement Agencies forrestoring peace in Balochistanand Karachi.

The accused was providedwith defending officer as perlegal provisions,” the statementadded.

The Indian Governmenthad intensified its efforts toseek consular access to Jadhavin the last four months and senteight requests betweenDecember 2016 to March 2017after Adviser to Pakistan PrimeMinister Sartaj Aziz said beforethe Pakistani Senate that therewas not enough evidenceagainst Jadhav. Aziz later did aU-turn and said that Jadhavhad been booked for espi-onage.

India sent 13 Notes Verbaleto Pakistan Foreign Officeseeking consular access toJadhav. While one Demarcheand nine Notes Verbale weresent by the Political Wing ofIndian High Commission inIslamabad between 25 March2016 to March 31, 2017, threeNotes Verbale were sent by theConsular Wing of the IndianHigh Commission inIslamabad during the sameperiod.

�� 888

From Page 1transferred the case to the

Special Cell of Delhi Police forinvestigation.

Tausif was picked up fromLucknow after Special Cellsleuths tracked him down onSunday. Police did not rule outother persons’ involvement inthe case.

Police said the accusedchanged the true caller name ofa mobile number to ‘KurianJoseph Supreme Court of India’ before making the call toRN Pandey.

“Tausif had impersonatedseveral higher Governmentofficials by using the samemodus operandi and got unduefavours,” said a senior policeofficial, adding, “The SIM cardused in making call to Pandeywas not registered in Tausifname. The person, in whose

name the mobile number wasregistered, has been summonedfor interrogation.”

“Tausif is a second yearstudent of City Law Academyin Lucknow and his fatherFarhad-Ul-Haque is a judge.Tausif became a close friend ofRavi Shrivastav, a lecturer in hiscollege. Shrivastav asked Tausifto get him appointed as a lawofficer with the Uttar PradeshGovernment through his fatheras he is a judge and has contactswith top Government offi-cials,” said the police official.

The official added Tausifposing as Justice Kurian Josephcalled RN Pandey and recom-mended Shrivastava’s name forpost of Government law officerin the Allahabad High Court.

“Investigations are on tofind out involvements of otherpersons,” said the official

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The Centre is working on asecret “weapon” to disperse

violent crowds in Jammu &Kashmir as an alternative to pel-let guns used by security per-sonnel in the State at present.

There is no word yet onwhat that crowd-dispersingtechnique will be. However, theCentre informed the SupremeCourt on Monday that the“weapon” is undergoing trial ina Government laboratory atChandigarh.

The disclosure came as partof the Centre’s submissiondefending the use of pellet guns,which has been challenged in aPIL filed by the Jammu &Kashmir High Court BarAssociation. The Bench of ChiefJustice JS Khehar, Justices DYChandrachud and Sanjay KishanKaul asked the association lead-ers present in the court to thinkwith an open, unbiased mindand make suggestions within twoweeks for remedying the situa-tion in the Valley. The matter willbe heard next on April 28.

The lawyer body hadcharged the Army with com-mitting excesses and sought an

end to use of pellet guns by list-ing the number of lives lost andthe number of those grievouslyinjured. The Bench even gave theoption of using lazer dazer, anon-lethal weapon that shines disorienting, nauseatingbursts of intense green laserlight into a target’s eyes, and foulsmelling water as a non-lethalapproach to dispensing thecrowd.

Attorney-General Rohatgipresented a report of theMinistry of Home Affairsinforming how the situation inJ&K is different from any otherpart of the country. He said thatthe options of chilli spray, lazerdazer, and foul smelling waterwere unlikely to succeed as pro-testors cover their face withcloth and sport sunglasses.

He presented photographsof recent protests to show howprotestors arm themselves withstones, grenades, acid bottles,Molotov Cocktails and petrolbombs to attack the security per-sonnel and damage thearmoured cars.

“If a crowd is upon you, apellet gun is used as a last resortwhich is fired below the knee,”the A-G said.

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G7 Foreign Ministers willsend a “clear and coordi-

nated message” to Russia onMonday over its stance onSyria as Washington ratchetedup the pressure following asuspected chemical attack inthe war-torn country.

Britain’s Foreign SecretaryBoris Johnson set the tone forthe meeting, describing SyrianPresident Bashar al-Assad as“toxic” and saying it was “timefor (Russian President)Vladimir Putin to face thetruth about the tyrant he ispropping up”.

Top diplomats from theseven major advancedeconomies are in Italy for theirannual two-day meeting whichhad initially been expected tofocus on talks with new USSecretary of State Rex Tillersonabout hotspots like Libya, Iranand Ukraine.

But the agenda is nowlikely to be dominated bylast week’s suspected chemi-cal weapons attack on a rebel-held Syrian town that killed atleast 87 civilians, and the US

cruise missiles fired at aSyrian air base in retaliation.

It was the first timeWashington has interveneddirectly against the regime ofAssad, who is fighting a civil warwith the backing of Russia andIran, and the G7 ministers willdeliberate the West’s next steps.

The gathering in theTuscan city of Lucca, whichbegins at 1430 GMT, groupsforeign ministers from the

United States and Britain,Canada, France, Germany,Italy and Japan.

Washington’s retaliationwas slammed by Iran andNorth Korea and put it on adirect diplomatic collisioncourse with Moscow, whereTillerson heads on Tuesdayfor talks with his Russiancounterpart Sergei Lavrov.

The US stepped up thepressure on Sunday on Russia torein in the Syrian regime, warn-ing that any further chemicalattacks would be “very damag-ing” to their relationship andsuggesting any peace deal wouldbe difficult with Assad in power.

Ti l lerson enragedMoscow by asking if it waspossible Russia did not knowabout Syria’s chemical arms,and called on the country tofulfil the obligation it made tothe international communityto guarantee the eliminationof the weapons.

“We need to make it clearto Putin that the time to backAssad has gone,” Johnson saidMonday, warning that Putinwas “damaging Russia” by sup-porting Assad.

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China has agreed to “strong”new measures to punish

North Korea if it carries out anuclear test, Seoul said onMonday after the US signalledit may act to shut downPyongyang’s weapons pro-gramme.

South Korea’s top nuclearenvoy made the comment aftertalks with his Chinese coun-terpart Wu Dawei, as the USsent a naval strike group to theregion in a show of force.

“We agreed that thereshould be strong additionalmeasures based on UNSecurity Council resolutions ifthe North pushes ahead with aNuclear test or an ICBMlaunch despite warnings fromthe international communi-ty,” Kim Hong-Kyun toldreporters.

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Influential British DJ PaulOakenfold has reached

Mount Everest’sbase camp wherehe plans to host the“highest party onearth”, performing aset at 5,380 metres.

As climbing season inNepal kicks into gear, few of themountaineers heading to theworld’s highest peak were like-ly expecting to be joined by thethree-time Grammy nominat-ed artist and his dance beats.

Oakenfold — whosethree-decade long career has

included collaborations withMadonna and U2 — is due toperform a set at base camp onTuesday morning.

“We are here nowdoing sound checks. Weare really looking for-ward to the show tomor-row. Everyone is reallyexcited here,” Oakenfold

told AFP by phone from basecamp on Monday.

The 53-year-old artist saidhe had no trekking experiencebefore he set out on the 10-daywalk to Everest with a team of yaks and porters haul-ing the audio equipmentneeded for the event.

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Pakistan Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif has barred his

party leaders from making “anycontroversial statements” aboutformer Army chief Gen RaheelSharif over his appointment asthe head of a Saudi-led 41-nation military alliance ofMuslim countries.

The former Army chief ’sappointment had been criti-cised by some Pakistani politi-cians, retired Army officers,journalists, intellectuals, whohad questioned the decision ofthe retired general to join a for-eign military alliance. The PrimeMinister found contradictorystatements being made by seniorleaders of his Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

“Nawaz Sharif has prohibit-ed PML-N leaders from givingany controversial statementsabout General (retired) RaheelSharif,” Radio Pakistan quotedthe Prime Minister as saying.

He said the entire nationhailed the former Army chief forhis “meritorious services”.

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Ankara: A Turkish official says thecountry’s Foreign Minister has helda telephone conversation with US Sec-retary of State Rex Tillerson, duringwhich the future of Syrian PresidentBashar Assad was discussed.

The Turkish Foreign Ministryofficial said Mevlut Cavusoglu andTillerson on Monday also talkedabout the fight against the IslamicState group. The official, who cannotbe named under Government regu-

lations, did not provide further details.Their discussion comes days after USPresident Donald Trump’s decision topunish Assad for his alleged use ofchemical weapons by launching cruisemissiles at a Syrian air base. AP

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Organisation of IslamicCooperation (OIC) has

said it backs Pakistan on the issueof Kashmir and believes thatthere is a need to put “pressure”on India on the issue of allegedhuman rights violations there,according to a media report.

The OIC Secretary-General,Yousaf Ahmad Al-Othaimeen,who arrived in Islamabad onSunday, held talks with Advisoron Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.

Radio Pakistan reported thatthe two leaders said there washundred per cent unanimity ofviews on all issues facing theMuslim Ummah (community)and the way forward.

The OIC Secretary-Generalsaid his organisation has sameposition as that of Pakistan onthe issues of Kashmir, Palestine,Islamophobia and plight ofMuslim communities in non-Muslim nations.

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Aman shot and killed his 22-year-old son in the US

after an argument between thetwo over who would walk thefamily dog escalated into ashootout.

Police responded to a callof a person shot at a home inChicago’s Burnside neighbor-hood on Sunday.

There they found two men,aged 43 and 22, who had shoteach other after a “verbal alter-cation,” authorities were quot-ed as saying by the ChicagoSun-Times.

Chicago Police spokesmanAnthony Guglielmi tweetedthat the fight between thefather and son was over “whowas going to walk the dog” andboth men opened fire.

They sustained multiplegunshot wounds and were takento Advocate Christ MedicalCenter, where the 22-year-oldman was pronounced dead.The father was listed in criticalcondition, authorities said.

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The controversy raisedby Bahujan SamajParty leader Mayawatiand Delhi ChiefMinister Ar vind

Kejriwal about the credibility ofelectronic voting machines(EVMs) following the massivevictory of the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) in the recently heldUttar Pradesh Assembly electionhas once again raised the ques-tion as to whether thesemachines are tamper-proof.These doubts and accusationsare not new. They had beenraised over the last decade bymany political parties includingthe BJP, but some significantdevelopments in recent yearshave weakened the argumentsagainst the deployment of thesevoting machines.

Among them are: Successfuldeployment of these machines inseveral national elections duringthis period without any seriouschallenge to their efficacy andcredibility; the remarkable end tobooth-capturing after thesemachines were introduced; judi-cial pronouncements that do notsupport a return to paper ballots,but encourage introduction ofVoter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail(VVPAT) to put an end to all con-troversies; and the ElectionCommission of India’s (ECI)determined efforts to introducethe paper trail in national elec-tions at the earliest.

But, before we address thesubstantive issues vis-à-vis votingmachines, we also need to askwhy there was no ruckus aboutdeployment of voting machinesafter the election to the DelhiAssembly in February 2015. Inthat election, Kejriwal’s AamAadmi Party won a mind-bog-gling 67 of the 70 seats in theAssembly. The BJP bagged theremaining three. Kejriwal’s partysecured 54.34 per cent of thevotes, but 95.71 per cent of theseats, whereas the BJP secured32.19 per cent of the votes but justfour per cent of the seats. Theseresults showed a complete dis-junction between vote-share andseat-share and would surely havemerited a protest, because onerarely sees such a one-sided elec-tion. But, strangely, there were noDoubting Thomases at that time!Therefore, those who feel noth-ing was amiss in Delhi in 2015have a rather weak case vis-à-visUttar Pradesh 2017.

The ECI thought of a moreefficient method of voting viaEVMs way back in the 1980sbecause of rampant booth-cap-

turing, violence and destructionof ballot papers etc in elections.The commission first thought ofthis revolutionary idea when SLShakdhar was the Chief ElectionCommissioner and KGanesan,the Secretary of the ECI. Theydecided to take the risk of intro-ducing the machines on anexperimental basis, even thoughthe election law did not providefor the use of machines to recordvotes. Some polling booths inParur Assembly constituencyin Kerala were chosen for theexperiment in 1982.

This legal infirmity was cor-rected with an amendment tothe Representation of the PeopleAct, 1951, in March 1989. Priorto this amendment, the electionlaw only spoke of ballot papers.Consequent to this amendment,Section 61A incorporated theidea of a voting machine andexplained that “voting machine”means any machine or appara-tus, whether operated electron-ically or otherwise, used forgiving or recording of votes; andany reference to a ballot box orballot paper in this Act or therules made there under shall,

save as otherwise provided, beconstrued as including a refer-ence to such voting machinewherever such voting machine isused at any election.

Following controversies andaccusations that EVMs could bemanipulated, the electionCommission agreed in principlein 2010 to introduce the VoterVerifiable Paper Audit Trail(VVPAT). This results in thegeneration of a paper slip bearingthe name and symbol of the can-didate for whom the vote is cast,apart from the recording of thevote in the control unit in themachine. This system ensuresgreater transparency in that itenables the voter to see that hisor her vote has gone to the can-didate of his or her choice.

It also provides an alternatesystem to count the votes polled,in case of a dispute. In otherwords, one need not rely whollyon the numbers dished out by thecontrol unit in the machine. Aprinter is attached to the ballot-ing unit and kept in the votingcompartment. It is visible to thevoter for seven seconds througha transparent window. The

Election Commission usedVVPAT for the first time in a by-election in Nagaland in 2013.

The use of EVMs has beenchallenged before many HighCourts and even before theSupreme Court in recent years.But the judiciary is not con-vinced that the machines can bemanipulated. On the other hand,many High Courts have giventhe EVMs the thumbs-up. TheECI has summed up some of thejudiciary observations on itswebsite. For example, theKarnataka High Court has saidthis invention was undoubted-ly “a great achievement... and anational pride”. The MadrasHigh Court ruled out any pos-sibility of tampering of themachines. It said the EVMscannot be compared to person-al computers. The program-ming of computers had no bear-ing with the EVMs. The DelhiHigh Court asked the ECI toconsult all parties and developa VVPAT system that would puta final end to all doubt.

The Supreme Court has alsodirected ECI to introduceVVPAT in phases and asked theGovernment to provide fundsfor the purpose. The commis-sion is keen to introduce thepaper trail in all constituenciesduring the next Lok Sabha elec-tion in 2019. It has asked theGovernment to allocate �3,174crore for the purpose. The com-mission told the Supreme Courtrecently that it could get therequired number of VVPATunits manufactured in 30months from the date of sanc-tion of funds.

While the ECI has reaf-firmed its complete faith in the“infallibility” of the EVMs, it hasalso initiated steps to introducethe paper trail as directed by theapex court. In the last round ofelections to five State Assembliesin February-March 2017, theECI deployed 52,000 VVPATs.In Goa, for instance, it deployedthe paper trail in all the 40 StateAssembly constituencies.

Given these firm judicial pro-nouncements and the movetowards full deployment of VVPAT— which will ensure that themachine is credible — the argu-ments against EVMs must end. Thepaper trail will bring in much need-ed transparency and also offer afall-back in case of disputes. Let usnot go back to the era of paper bal-lots and booth-capturing!

(The writer is Chairman,Prasar Bharati. Views expressedhere are personal)$

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Court judgment that’s whimsi-cal, impractical” (April 10) byBalbir Punj. We must welcomethe Supreme Court’s decision toban the sale of spirits from allvends, bars and hotels situatedwithin 500 metres of a NationalHighway. The argument thatthe Government will lose a goodsum of tax revenues does nothold water as Governmentexpenditure, to deal with alco-hol-infused accidents and high-way centric crimes, far out-weighs the excise on liquorduties. Judicial over-reach isone thing. And to criticise ajudgement as “whimsical” and“impractical” is quite the other.We must not mix it up.

Sujit DeKolkata

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Sir — This refers to the report,“CPM justifies assault on griev-ing mom” (April 8). Though anumber of heinous crimes andmassive agitations took place inKerala ever since theCommunist Party of India(Marxist), led by Chief Minister

Pinarayi Vijayan came to powerlast year, the Government couldnot solve even the sensationalcases or appease the affectedpeople by adopting a justifiedrole. The ruthless act of thepolice against Mahija, the moth-er of the deceased engineeringstudent, has drawn flak fromevery quarter.

Moreover, confrontationbetween the supporters of theCPI(M) and BJP/UnitedDemocratic Front has become aregular feature in the State andthe police are either lethargic ordiscriminatory in their action.The main cause for the turmoilis the unfair and arrogant atti-tude of the Vijayan, despite a dif-fering stance of many seniorleaders in his own party. It seemsthat Vijayan is just concernedabout his position and authori-ty. The BJP is right is asking himto give up the Home portfolio.

TT Sakaria Delhi

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Sir — Chief Justice of India JSKehar’s opinion about makingpolitical parties accountable forpoll promises is welcome. Sincepolitical parties make gimmickassurances for votes, their elec-

tion manifestoes must be givena legal status. The ElectionCommission of India must beempowered with the power tode-recognise parties who goagainst the aspects as men-tioned in their manifestoes.Also, there must be a total banon freebies promised at publicexpense in poll manifestoes.

SC Agrawal Delhi

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Sir — VIP culture in our coun-try has reached an alarming posi-tion. It is a bane for our country.The lifting of ban on Shiv SenaMP, Ravindra Gaikwad, will set awrong precedent. Already, wehave lost faith in our laws as theybend heavily on the rich andbecome more strict for the poorand the marginalised. The liftingof flight ban in Gaikwad is a clearexpression of the VIP arroganceat its peak. At the very least, theSupreme Court should have takencognizance of the incident whereGaikwad turned violent on an AirIndia staff.

NR RamachandranChennai

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Healthy competition’ isthe magic word that allof us look for in all

walks of life — be it in publicservice or private production.No doubt, devoid of healthycompetition, we cannot beassured of quality and trans-parency in any enterprise.

That clearly calls for bench-marking ‘quality’ and ‘trans-parency’ along with ‘competi-tion’. Of late, it has been a trend,that whenever the issue of qual-ity education comes up for dis-cussion, one tends to drive thedialogue towards Governmentversus private schools. In fact,this has become the norm.

This is nothing but dodgingthe issue. The question is not, andneither should it be, Governmentversus private schools. It is a ques-tion about quality of educationand ensuring its continuous eval-uation which, of course, must betransparent. Interaction must befocused on the policy of evalua-

tion and as a rule it should applyon all schools, uniformly.

Yardstick must be the samefor all Government schools, pri-vate budget schools and high-endpublic schools. But it is sheer fail-ure of an interaction that conve-niently shifts the focus on the‘Government vs private schools’debate. In fact, even the subjectof ‘transparent uniform evalua-tion’ doesn’t make up for theminutes of the meetings.

Now, the question is: Do wehave any rationale for this fixa-tion? What does it mean whenwe say that we want betterGovernment school education,without having a thought forquality and competition? Whycan’t we, for a change, try and getGovernment schools on equalfooting in this fight with those ofprivate schools? Why can’t wemake the Government schoolspull up their socks?

Ensuring that every child,below the age of 14, gets free

and compulsory education, is anobligation for the Governmentunder the Right to EducationAct. However, the term ‘free’ ispractically an eyewash. After all,someone (the taxpayers) is pay-ing for the same.

But despite being free forothers, the option (or compul-sion) to enroll children inGovernment schools, for pri-mary education, is on thewane. And, if at all, enrollmentshave increased, attendance isabysmally low.

On the contrary, privateschools (without giving any free-bies) attract parents in drove.Now, there are people, whoblame private schools for the fail-ure of Government schools. Butthere is no running away fromthe fact that migration towardsprivate schools is due to the lackof quality education inGovernment schools.

For Government schools,to perform better, it is imperative

to evaluate them on the samebenchmark, and by the sameyardstick as private schools.

This calls for an independentbody which capable of evaluat-ing Government as well as pri-vate schools, by applying sameuniform policy for each of theschool so that performance,quality and learning outcomesare evaluated equally.

But scenario, as existstoday, show a tilt towards theGovernment schools. Rather,Government schools workbeyond scrutiny. If at all thereis some evaluation, it is theGovernment itself that controlsthe schools. It acts as the reg-ulator, financier and providerof education.

Given the facts, how can oneexpect impartiality in an other-wise heavily competitive sectorlike education? Say, for instance,if we talk about the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India(Trai), one knows that it is not a

market player in itself. It is just amonitoring body. So, you canexpect transparency from Trai.

However, in the educationsector, it is the Government allthe way. The schools, teachers,buildings, power to make leg-islations, funding and thepower to investigate irregular-ities; everything is governed bythe Government. In this case,can we expect any fairnessand impartiality when there iscompetition between publicand private schools?

The Government, at anycost, would be lenient towards itsown baby — Governmentschools. Any strictness it wantsto be implemented, will be on theprivate schools. And that explainsthe existence of a number of per-missions and licenses to openand run a private school.

My question is whether theGovernment itself goes by thesame rules? The answer is no. Tostart with, it opens schools, takes

licenses and performs the formal-ity of registration itself. But, fora private school, one has to meetseveral conditions like the prereq-uisite number of teachers, build-ing area stipulations, etc.

In this scenario, the onlyway to improve the standard ofGovernment schools is a par-adigm shift to open competi-tion that will do well even forprivate schools. What is need-ed today is a level-playing Acton part of the Government.

Transparency in the systemand equal rights to be in thebusiness will make small bud-get schools shoulder more bur-den of education and that tooquite efficiently. But it alldepends on an independentuniform evaluation policy thatwe need so earnestly.

(The writer is a research fel-low at Dr Syama PrasadMookerjee ResearchFoundation, and editor of TheNationalist Online)

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Indian farmers are in distress.Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath’s �36,359 crorefarm loan-waiver is the beginningof a new thought process. It can

neither be dismissed as a mere scoringof political brownie point nor bad eco-nomics, as many bankers and critics aresaying. It is the beginning of a newdebate to put the farm sector at the cen-tre of the new Indian economy. Theloan-waiver is likely to cause a rethinkon the World Bank-InternationalMonetary Fund slur on farm subsidy.

The so-called 1991 economicreform and the 1995 World TradeOrganisation’s (WTO) rules of theagreement on agriculture, targetedending farm subsidies. It caused enor-mous misery for the farm sector andabated innumerable suicides. TheNational Crime Records Bureau says256,913 farmers committee suicidebetween 1995 and 2011.

The BJP’s Uttar Pradesh election‘sankalp patra’ (manifesto) can possi-bly re-orient the economy and the badword ‘subsidy’ has to be integrated intothe economic theory for the growth ofthe farm sector, rural sector, elimina-tion of poverty and what is often tout-ed as “inclusive growth”.

However, the distress of the ruraland farm sector is not restricted to UttarPradesh. It is obvious from MaharashtraChief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’sstatement that he is studying the UttarPradesh model to waive off �30,000crore loans for Maharashtra farmers.

Even the newly installed CongressGovernment in Punjab is trying toemulate the Uttar Pradesh model.Congress vice president Rahul Gandhimade a remarkable statement. He twit-ted, “A partial relief for Uttar Pradesh

farmers, but a step in the right direc-tion. Congress has always supportedloan-waivers for farmers in distress”.Does that show a political consensus?Is it a repentance for 1991Manmohanomics?

The recent agitation by Tamil Nadufarmers only stress the fact that distressis widespread. In an order on April 4, theday Adityanath announced his waiver,the Madras High Court directed theTamil Nadu Government to expand itsfarm loan-waiver scheme to includefarmers who own more than five acresof land. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana andother States may follow the suit.

At the human level, non-sustain-ability of the current agricultural sys-tem was symbolised in the suicide byLee Kyung-hae, a Korean farmer,who took his life at the barricades ofthe peoples protest against the fifthministerial meeting at WTO head-quarters in Geneva on September 10,2003. As he stabbed himself, he car-ried a banner stating, “WTO killsfarmers.” Lee’s suicide was symbolic ofthe suicides of thousands of farmers.

The decision of the Uttar PradeshGovernment will give relief to 94 lakhfarmers owing upto one lakh rupeeseach to banks. It would also benefitseven lakh farmers who had defaultedin repaying. This amounts to �5,630crore. Many of these farmers were beingharassed by the banks. There are about2.15 crore small farmers with holdingsof less than two hectares in the State,according to Uttar Pradesh MinisterSiddharth Nath Singh.

As much as 67 per cent of India’sfarmland is held by marginal farmers,with holdings below one hectare, againstless than one per cent in large holdingsof 10 hectares and above, the latest agri-

culture census shows. The average sizeof the holding has been estimated as 1.15hectare. There is a steady declining trendas the size of these holdings denotes var-ious agriculture censuses since 1970-71.

There is a financial fall-out too. Thewaiver is to be funded by the StateGovernment, without a direct central aid.The loan waiver will increase the debt togross domestic product (GDP) ratio forUttar Pradesh by nearly three percent-age points, taking it to about six percentof the State GDP. Officially, Uttar Pradeshis stated to be bankrupt, though its rev-enue is around �3.40 lakh crore. Wouldthat lead to undesirable higher taxation?

This is likely to happen to manyStates, which are reeling from succes-sive droughts and similar loan-waiverswill lead to State fiscal deficits going outof whack. The overall fiscal deficit ofthe Centre plus the States may increaseto about three lakh crore rupees.

The Uttar Pradesh Governmentsays that it might launch a farm waiv-er bond for such re-financing. Thebonds need guarantee. The Centre ulti-mately may have to be the guarantor.

The banks apprehend that suchwaivers might see a spurt in their non-performing assets as even those, whohave been making regular repayments,would stop paying their dues, hopingfor another waiver. In Uttar Pradesh,banks have an exposure of �86,241crore to small farmers with average loanof �1.34 lakh each. It also entails enor-mous clerical job and add to the costof the banks.

So, despite previous history ofloan-waivers, by many Governments inthe past, even at the Centre, thisshould not become the pattern.

The nation has to start rethinking.From the point of view of farmers, they

are the worst sufferer. Farm input costshave gone up, but not the prices. It is adouble-edged political sword. If prices ofcrops are increased, it has cascading effecton the economy. As costs rise, credit driesup. Farm debts goes out of control.Finally, it leads to political upheaval.

The Narendra Modi Governmentwants a farm-centric economy. TheNITI Ayog says till 2022, the promisedrise in income of farmers may not hap-pen. But it cannot be delayed too.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasto initiate a discussion on looking at thefarm economy in a new manner.Should loans be replaced by some othermechanism? Should that be calledsubsidy or subsistence? The directbenefit transfer has an administrativecost. Subsidies, despite problems, ben-efit many others. It is a complex issueand needs thorough discussion.

Indian farmers, particularly thosewho are into cash crops, have complicat-ed problems. The corporate and multi-national corporation’s ingress into thefarm sector has aggravated it.

A long-term solution to the farmers’financing and marketing is needed.Across political spectrum, this is the con-sensus. Modi has this advantage. If he caninitiate a process of discussion inParliament and in the society, a possiblepath may be found out.

The farmers need support and thesociety has to evolve a sustainablemethod. It should keep prices and wagesin check and also spur economic growth.Benevolent farm policy is accepted as thebest way to spur demand and industri-al growth. Uttar Pradesh has made abeginning. India has to make the moveto turn the golden leaf, make or breakpolicies, churn the world and yes, WTO.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

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Political and administrativeuncertainty stares at Tamil

Nadu following the late Sundaynight decision by the ElectionCommission of India to coun-termand the by-election to theRK Nagar Assembly seatscheduled for April 12.

The commission’s decisionto countermand the bypoll wasbased on reports submitted bythe special observers deputedby the commission and detailsfurnished by the Income TaxDepartment on the raids andseizure of money and docu-ments pointing to large scaledistribution of cash to bribe thevoters.

The local media is full ofreports about a documentallegedly leaked from theIncome Tax officials whichstates that an amount of �89crore meant for distribution inthe constituency was routedthrough Chief MinisterEdappadi Palaniswamy andmembers of his Council ofMinisters.

“Though AIADMK(Amma) presidium chairmanKA Sengottaiyan has issued astatement refuting the charges,it is not convincing,” said NKalyanasundaram, politicalcommentator.

The ECI decision to cancelthe by-election has come as amajor setback for the AIADMK(Amma) Government rulingthe State. In a 29-page order itissued on late Sunday night, thecommission stated that thesearch and seizure by theIncome Tax authorities at theresidences of Health Minister

C Vijayabhaskar and others hadresulted in unravelling a hugeand systematic design to dis-tribute money to voters inorder to bribe them to influ-ence their voting behaviour.

The commission has saidin its order that the decision torescind the bypoll was neces-sitated after the findings of var-ious observers deputed by thecommission and the detailsfurnished by the Income TaxDepartment about the kind ofmoney and documents seizedduring the raids.

“The Income Tax authori-ties have also informed thatrecently several complaintswere received indicating thatDr C Vijaya Baskar is the mainperson involved in bribing thevoters in RK Nagar Assemblyconstituency. Some loose sheetswere found with his accountantSrinivasan indicating distribu-tion of �89 crore to a numberof politicians for further dis-tribution among the voters.The premises of Rajendranwere also searched after receiv-ing information from a Centralagency that a huge amount ofcash was brought there in aparticular vehicle for distribu-tion in RK Nagar Constit-uency,” said the ECI order.

Kalyanasundaram said thecurrent situation remindedhim about the chaotic daysimmediately after the death ofAIADMK founder MGRamachandran which ulti-mately led to the imposition ofPresident’s rule in Tamil Nadu.“The Election Commission’sstatement that it could notprevent the flow of moneydespite deploying 61 surveil-lance teams instead of the rou-tine six teams is proof that thelaw and order in Tamil Naduhas broken completely,” hesaid.

While the ECI report is asgood as a chargesheet againstthe AIADMK(Amma), it is byand large silent aboutAIADMK (PTA) and theDMK.

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Amid a complete shutdownin Kashmir valley against

the killing of eight anti-electionprotesters during bypoll for theSrinagar-Budgam Lok Sabhaconstituency, the uncertaintylooms large over the conduct ofpolls in Anantnag scheduled onApril 12 besides possibility ofre-poll for violence-hit pollingstations of Srinagar. OnMonday, the ruling PeoplesDemocratic Party candidateand Chief Minister MehboobaMufti’s brother Tasaduq Muftiappealed to the ElectionCommission of India (ECI) topostpone the elections in thebackdrop of the large scaleviolence.

The Chief Electoral Officer(CEO) Shantmanu held adetailed meeting with the rep-resentatives of political partiesfor their feedback on holdingor deferment of Anantnagbypoll. He said that the opin-ion was divided amongst thepolitical parties with rulingPDP seeking postponementwhile the opposition NationalConference-Congress combineadamant to hold the election asper the schedule.

Shatmanu said that he hassubmitted a report to the ECIand final call would be taken inNew Delhi.

Sources said that ChiefSecretary Bhir Raj Sharma hasseparately sent the Govern-ment’s feedback on the groundsituation to the ECI. The Stateadministration, sources said, isnot in favour of holding theelections in the backdrop ofhappenings on April 9.

Earlier, in the day, rulingPDP candidate for AnantnagTasaduq Mufti appealed to the

ECI to defer the polls. “I appealECI to postpone the elections.There is no favourable atmos-phere for the elections,” hesaid at a press conference.“The situation is continuouslychanging and we must makeamendments accordingly,” hesaid.

He however said that hewould contest the polls if theECI decides on continuingwith the poll schedule. Muftisaid the State Government hasalso communicated to the ECIto postpone the elections.

On the unprecedentedboycott in Srinagar Consti-tuency, Mufti conceded thatdemocracy has not functionedproperly in Jammu andKashmir. “You cannot forcepeople to vote or not to vote,”he said.

The NC Working Presidentand former Chief MinisterOmar Abdullah describedMufti’s statement as indict-ment of Chief MinisterMehbooba Mufti.“@MehboobaMufti Tassaduq’sstatement is an indictment ofhis sister @MehboobaMufti'’sGovernment & its abject fail-ure. How can the BJP not seethis?” Omar tweeted shortlyafter Tasaduq’s press confer-ence.

He said in case the polls aredeferred, Mehbooba Muftimust resign and Governor’s

rule must be imposed inJammu and Kashmir.

“EC is well within its pow-ers to postpone or counter-mand Anantnag election but ifso @MehboobaMufti mustresign & Governor should takecharge,” Omar said.

Sources said that the CEOdiscussed postponement of elec-tions and re-poll in SrinagarConstituency at various pollingstations. Dozens of EVMsremained unaccounted as theyhave been looted by the anti-election mob, who ruled theroost in most of the poll-boundareas in Budgam district.

Eight youngsters werekilled and scores of otherswere injured in a campaign bythe security forces against theanti-election protesters.

Meanwhile, the Valleyobserved complete shutdownagainst the killings as shops,business establishments,schools and offices remainedclosed while the public trans-port was off the roads.

Following the killings, theJoint Resistance Forum led byseparatist leaders Syed AliGeelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooqand Yasin Malik called for twoday shutdown.

Sources said clashes erupt-ed between youth and securi-ty forces in Natipora area ofSrinagar, south Kashmir’sKulgam and Ganderbal.

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Kerala’s Malappuram LokSabha Constituency, where

former Union Minister late EAhamed won in both the elec-tions held since its formationafter delimitation in 2009, isknown as Kerala’s MuslimLeague country and not manyexpect Wednesday’s by-electionto produce any big change.However, the CPI(M)-led LDFand the BJP were confident that'Malappuram has changed' withthe campaigning came to anend on Monday evening.

For the Muslim League,second biggest constituent ofthe Congress-led UDF, the

bypoll is a battle of prestige. Forthe Left, it is an opportunity toprove that its popularity has notwaned due to the failures of itsten-month-old Government.The BJP, which had scoredmerely 5.61 per cent of the totalvotes polled in 2014, wants to‘surprise’ everyone.

“You will see the BJP work-ing wonder this time. TheLeague fortress will crumble.Our vote-share will soar,”claims BJP candidate N Sreepr-akash. “Everybody says theMuslim League is unbeatable inMalappuram. But the truth isthat Malappuram is changing,”Sreeprakash, who was the BJPcandidate here in 2014 also, says.

Not less confident is youngLDF candidate MB Faisal of theCPI(M). He is also banking onthe theory that Malappuram ischanging and the MuslimLeague is ‘no more the bigchoice’ of the voters in theConstituency. He goes furtherto claim that the choice inMalappuram is ‘between secu-larism and communalism,between corrupt UDF andLDF’s good governance.’

But such claims do notworry Muslim League candi-date and former State MinisterPK Kunhalikutty at all. Theconcern of Kunhalikutty, cur-rently MLA from the VengaraAssembly segment falling with-

in Malappuram Constituency isnot victory - he does not haveany doubt about it - but it isabout how immensely he couldincrease the winning margincompared to the 2014 election.

Ahamed, whose deathnecessitated the bypoll, hadwon the seat in 2014 by beat-ing CPI(M)’s PK Sainaba by amargin of 1,94,739 votes and bybagging 51.29 per cent of thetotal polled votes. He himselfhad won the 2009 election bybeating CPI(M)’s TK Hamzaand his winning margin thenwas 1,15,597. In 2009, the BJP’svote-share was a mere 4.61 per-cent but this climbed to 64,705in 2014. But Hamza, who had

scored a surprise win in theManjeri LS seat, which laterbecame Malappuram, in 2004for the Left, believes that sur-prises does happen — like inhis own case — in elections.“Malappuram is set to see arepeat of 2004. Cracks havealready appeared in the MuslimLeague fortress,” he says.

The outcome of the bypolldoes not have any crucial polit-ical significance in the nation-al or State level though State CPI(M) secretary KodiyeriBalakrishnan had at the verybeginning of the campaign saidit would effectively be a reviewof the performance of the LDFGovernment.

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After fixing a record 80 lakhtonnes target for wheat

purchase from farmers andannouncing farm loan waiver,the Yogi Government has nowdecided to purchase potatoesdirectly from the farmers toprevent distress selling. Anorder in this regard was issuedon Monday.

In the first phase, Agricu-lture department will purchaseone lakh tonnes of potatoes ata price of �487 per quintal.Potatoes would be purchasedthrough State agencies likePCF, UP Agro and NAFED.

State BJP general secretary

Vijay Bahadur Pathak said thatthe party had promised topotato farmers that it wouldprovide relief to them.

“This decision is an exten-sion of that announcement.This time there is bumperpotato crop forcing farmers tosell their produce for peanuts.To ensure that farmers got agood remunerative price fortheir produce, the Governmenthas decided to purchase pota-toes directly from them. TheBJP Government is a pro-farmer Government and willdo whatever is required forthem,” Pathak stressed.

The BJP leader alleged thatthe previous Samajwadi Party

Government did nothing forpotato growers leading to dis-tress sale by them.

The State Government hasalready announced purchase of80 lakh tonnes of wheat fromfarmers this season with 40lakh tonnes to be procured inthe first phase.

Similarly, in the Farm LoanWaiver Scheme, around 83lakh farmers would be bene-fited who had taken loans up to�1 lakh. The Government willspend over �36,000 crore forthe waiver.

Pathak said that the UPGovernment is strengtheningthe mandis and ensuring aquick transparent system.

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Prominent Gandhians haveexpressed concern over the

present overall situation in Indiaand said only the Gandhian ide-ology and philosophy couldeffectively counter the hatred,intolerance and violence. Theywere huddled here on Mondayto mark the beginning of thecentenary of Gandhi’sChamparan Satyagraha.

Setting the tone of thethree-hour long discussion atthe newly constructed GyanBhavan in Patna, ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar saidthe Gandhians should work outan agenda for strengthening thesecular and social fabric of thenation and to remove the fearand hatred created in the soci-ety. “In such a vitiated atmos-phere only the Gandhian val-ues and thoughts can bring

positive change,” he said andadded that those having nofaith in Gandhi and his ide-ologies were chanting name ofGandhi because his name sells.The CM also vowed to beginmovement against social evilslike child marriage and dowryafter a successful campaignagainst liquor. F

Former West BengalGovernor and Mahtma’s grand-son Gopal Krishna Gandhisaid Bihar had been showinglight in the darkness but nowthere was darkness in the lightand hoped that once againBihar would show the light. Hewas highly critical of theforcible compulsion of Aadhaarnumber and warned that itmight turn a dangerousweapon and could be mis-used. He was equally critical ofthe acquisition of land forindustrial houses by bringing

ordinances. “A real Gandhianis one who follows his ideaswithout taking his name,” hesaid.

Retired judge Chandrash-ekhar Dharmidhikari in ascathing attack on the CentralGovernment said a broomcould clean the garbage on thestreets but what about the filthin the hearts. “Today those peo-ple enjoy more respect whobreak law,” he said and askedthe people not to make Gandhia God and let him remain ahuman being.

Others who also spokeincluded Medha Patekar,Sachchidanand Sinha, PrernaDesai and Subba Rao. BiharDeputy CM Tejashwi PrasadYadav and Education MinistryAshok Chaudhary, GandhiShanti Pratishthan, New Delhipresident Kumar Prashant con-ducted the session.

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Enthused with the landslide victory in Uttar PradeshAssembly elections, the BJP has drawn up an elaborate pro-

gramme to celebrate the centenary birth anniversary of party’sideologue Deen Dayal Upadhaya in a big way.

The first programme would span over a fortnight fromMay 10 to 25 in which around 20,000 dedicated workers wouldcamp in 13,000 sectors in the State to highlight the ideologyof the party. They will also popularise the programmes of theCentral and State Governments.The party has also constitut-ed an eleven-member Deen Dayal Upadhaya Janam ShatabdiCommittee which includes Deputy CM Keshav PrasadMaurya and Ministers Rampati Shastri and Sunil Bansal.

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No. A-42018/30/2016-Estt-I

Government of IndiaMinistry of Social Justice & Empowerment(Department of Social Justice & Empowerment)

Shastri Bawan, New Delhi- 110001

e-Procurement Tender NoticeOnline e-Tender is invited under Two-Bid system

from eligible bidders for the selection of suitable agencyfor outsourcing of services of Multi Tasking Staff inthe Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.The tender document along with terms and conditionsetc. is available on the web-site www.socialjustice.nic.inand http://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app. However, itis mandatory to apply the tender through e-tender-ing portal http://eporcure.gov.in/eprocure/app for bid-ding prospective.

The last date for submission of bid through theaforesaid website is on 03.04.2017 (15.00 Hrs.).Theundersigned reserves the right to accept or reject thetenders without assigning any reason.

-Sd/-davy 38101/11/0004/1718 Under Secretary(Admn)

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Four unidentified infiltra-tors were killed in north

Kashmir’s Keran sector as theArmy foiled first infiltration bidfrom across the Line of Control(LoC) after a prolonged winterpause. The slain infiltrators aresuspected to be Pakistaninationals who carried auto-matic weapons to augmentmilitants operating in theValley.

Defence sources said theinfiltrators were killed inTilapathra forest in Dudniyalarea of Keran sector in northKashmir’s Kupwara district,around 150 kilometres fromSrinagar. They said the groupof Ultras was sneaking into thisside of LoC during the nighthours when their movementwas noticed by the troops

guarding the fence that dividestwo parts of Kashmir Kashmir.

“The group was challengedby the soldiers triggering a gun-fight that continued through-out the night. The gun-battleended Monday morning withthe killing of four infiltrators,”an army officer said.

The security forceslaunched a massive combingoperation in the area to find outif there were some survivinginfiltrators in the area.

The infiltration bid hadminimised in the northKashmir region, home to a vaststretch along the LoC inBandipora, Kupwara andBaramulla districts during theharsh winter season. The LoCarea is mostly forested and thetraditional passes remainblocked in winter due to accu-mulation of snow.

The militants operating inKashmir are desperately look-ing for replenishment of theirarsenal as they face dearth ofweapons and logistics. Themilitants have increased attackson security forces with an aimto snatch rifles.

However, the Army saysthat the counter-infiltrationgrind has been robust to thwartthe infiltration bids. ArmyCommander Lt Gen D Anbuand commander of Srinagarbased XV corps have frequentlyvisited the forward areas to takestock of the situation.

Estimates say that around112 infiltrators managed tosneak into Kashmir duringlast year during the bids dou-ble in number. Though most ofthe bids were foiled, the yearrecorded the highest number ofinfiltrations since 2012.

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Congress legislator fromAhmedabad Gyasuddin

Shaikh on Monday sought dec-laration of cow a national ani-mal and a national law banningcow slaughter.

“A law banning cow slaugh-ter was brought in by Chiman-bhai Patel-led Congress Govern-ment in the State and imple-mented strictly. However, theBJP in last 22 years of its rule hasfailed to bring in an effective lawbanning cow slaughter. It hasonly brought about two amend-ments and failed to effectivelyimplement the law,” Shaikh saidin his Press statement.

The statement by Shaikhcomes soon after the ruling BJPGovernment in Gujarat

amended the Gujarat AnimalPreservation Act on March 31,that makes cow slaughter pun-ishable with life imprisonment.The Bill, passed in theAssembly without the pres-ence of Opposition, also makescow slaughter, transportation ofcow a non-bailable offence.

He hit out at the BJP, stat-ing that it was merely trying topolarise the electorate in viewof forthcoming Assembly pollsin the State. “I support the banon cow slaughter and mydemand is that the ban shouldbe extended nationally… Withthe BJP Government at theCentre and many States, who isstopping the BJP from declar-ing cow as national animal andbringing in a stricter law againstcow slaughter?” Shaikh said.

He also called for initiatingstrict action against what he calls‘anti-social’ elements involvedwith smuggling of cows. “Thishas caused tremendous eco-nomic loss to several poor com-munities as cowherds… Thepolice too need to be careful asat times it announces of havingcaught cow meat without wait-ing for FSL report. This alsohurts sentiments of majoritycommunity,” he added.

Shaikh claimed that he hadalready issued a public appealto Muslim community to desistfrom getting involved withcow slaughter or its consump-tion. “I have been rearing fourcows and serving them for lasteight years. Cow is a pious ani-mal and should be above pol-itics,” he added.

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Satyam Babu, who spenteight years in prison, met

the Krishna District Collectoron Monday and sought succourfor his poor family. SatyamBabu was acquitted by theHyderabad High Court inAyesha Meera rape and murdercase. He met the official alongwith the representatives ofDalit organisation to seekGovernment assistance. Hedetailed how his family had tosuffer immensely while he wasimprisoned.

District Collector AhmadBabu directed the officials toallot a house to the family andprovide a job on contract basisto Satyam’s brother. “We willprovide all the possible assis-tance under the Government

rules,” he assured Satyam Babu.Meanwhile, the State

Government is consideringreopening of the Ayesha Meeracase in which the High Courthas passed stringent remarksagainst the State police forfalsely implicating a Dalit youthwhile the real culprits remainedat large. A decision in thisregard is expected soon afterState police chief K SambasivaRao returns from Israel. Afterhis return, the Chief MinisterN Chandrababu Naidu wasexpected to take a decision inconsultation with the AdvocateGeneral.

Already the Dalit organi-sations along with otheractivists are holding protestdemonstrations demanding

action in the matter and arrestof the real culprits. The studentcommunity has also taken tothe street on the issue.

Meanwhile, State MinisterD Umamaheshwar Rao, whohails from Vijayawada, saidthat his party always held theview that Satyam Babu wasinnocent. “The then CongressGovernment had tried to shieldthe politically connected cul-prits and our party had foughtagainst it,” said UmamaheshwarRao, assuring that theGovernment will take all thepossible measures to bring theculprits to the book.

“Now that the High Courthas given its verdict, it is theresponsibility of the Govern-ment to take action,” he said.

This was in sharp contrastto the stand taken by theVijaywada Police Commissi-oner Gutam Sawang that thepolice might file an appealagainst the High Court verdictacquitting Satyam Babu.

Other police officials said that they are still studyingthe judgment and will take a decision on the basis of legal advice.

�� G!�),

The Kerala Police havearrested two more opera-

tives of Base Movement, con-sidered as an Al Qaeda-inspired outfit, in connectionwith the low-intensity explo-sion that took place at the dis-trict collectorate complex inMalappuram on November 1last.

N Abu Backer, said to bethe chief of the BaseMovement, and his aide AAbdu Rahman were taken intocustody from their rentedhouse in Madurai, Tamil Naduon Sunday evening and werebrought to Malappuram earlyMonday morning, according tothe police. They were arrestedon the basis of informationextracted by the NIA duringthe interrogation of five mem-bers of the outfit it haddetained earlier in connectionwith the blasts at Malappuramand Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh.It is said that it was Abu Backerand Rahman who had formed

the Base Movement in associ-ation with Abbas Ali, who wasnabbed earlier by the NIA.

A low-intensity improvisedexplosive device fitted to therear of a car parked at the dis-trict collectorate compound inMalappuram had exploded onNovember 1 last. Nobody wasinjured in the explosion.

The agencies had learnedthat the same group was behindthe blasts that had occurred in2016 at Malappuram onNovember 1, Chittoor on April7 and Mysore on August 1.

According to the police,Abu Backer had been involvedin several disruptive opera-tions in Madurai and Theni inTN. A pamphlet, titled ‘In theName of Allah / The BaseMovement,’ recovered fromthe Malappuram blast site hadreferences to alleged humanrights violations including thekilling of Mohammad Akhlaqover the beef controversy inDadri. The pamphlet also con-tained harsh criticisms againstthe Indian State and courts.

�� "��"�

Questioning the contents oftalks between Narendra

Modi and Mamata Banerjee theLeft Front and Congress onMonday wondered whetherTeesta would be used to waterdown investigation into theNarada and Sharada scams.

While the Trinamool lead-ers said during her talks withthe Prime Minister, the Chief

Minister put forth a number ofissues including her demand of�10,000 crore for the State.

CPI(M)’s Md Salim saidthere was an attempt to useTeesta water to dilute theNarada probe.

“The meeting gives rise toquestions whether attempt ismade to barter away Teestawater with Narada probe,”Salim an MP from Raiganj said.

Congress MP and its

Bengal unit president AdhirChowdhury echoed his viewssaying “It is TrinamoolCongress’ ploy to delay theTeesta treaty” so that the Centrecan be pressurised to dilute theinvestigation process intoNarada and chit fund scams.

However TrinamoolCongress MP Sukhendush-ekhar Roy wondered, whetherthese leaders were presentwhen Mamata spoke to the

Prime Minister, or else howcould they come to know aboutthe contents of the meeting.

Mamata Banerjee had beenconstantly resisting the signingof Teesta-water-sharing pactwith Bangladesh, a key diplo-matic issue between the twofriendly nations and an inter-nal political issue for visitingBangla Prime Minister SheikhHasina.

A senior BJP leader in

Bengal said the people of theState should rest assured of thePrime Minister’s strong intentto fight out corruption.

“Once he has taken it up,he will take it to its logical con-clusion,” he said adding Modi-Mamata talks will have nobearing in CBI action inNarada or Sharada cases.

Echoing party MP KailashVijaybargiya he said, “Soonhalf of Mamata Banerjee’s

Cabinet will be in jail for theirinvolvement in the variousscams.”

After its landslide victoryin Uttar Pradesh elections, theBJP in Bengal has seen atremendous surge which isseen by the swelling numbersin the saffron rallies includingthe ones being organised by theRSS and the Hindu JagaranManch during RamnavamiDay.

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The failure of monsoon andsevere drought for three

consecutive years has resultedin Karnataka rationing waterfor drinking and irrigationpurposes. Having just 4 tmc ofwater left in the Cauvery basinreservoirs, the Governmenthas taken a very harsh measureof water rationing which willcreate hardship to the peoplehere. The IT city of Bengaluruhas to bear the brunt of thewater rationing.

Speaking to media inBengaluru on Monday,Karnataka Water ResourcesMinister MB Patil said thatwith optimum utilisation andjudicious use of water, alongwith proper planning and coor-dination, the Department willensure that water is supplied toall. He also said that if wateris rationed, it will be availabiletill June.

The Minister said “Wehave severe drought inKarnataka and this is for the third consecutive year. Ourpriority is that the cities or the multi village schemes ortowns where we are supplyingwater from our dam is notaffected.”

Appealing to farmers tostop using pumpsets, headvised them to use water

judiciously as the water levelsin almost all the reservoirs isjust enough to meet the drink-ing needs.

However, he said that withoptimum utilisation of wateralong with proper planning andcoordination, the departmentwill ensure that water is sup-plied to all.

According to the data,there is a total of 7.748 tmc inCauvery reservoirs - KrishnaRaja Sagar, Kabini, Harangiand Hemavathi.

The Minister said com-bining Krishna Raja Sagar andKabini, water availability is 4.7tmc, and the water requirementof Bengaluru city is 800 cusecsper day.

“For the next 60 days, wehave to give 800 cusecs per day.BWSSB requires 6,000 cusecs,but we have calculated trans-mission losses and in betweenmulti village schemes. Hencefor giving 800 cusecs for 60days upto June 15, we require4.1 to 4.5 tmc and what we haveis 4.7 tmc. So we can manageuntil then,” he said.

On rationing of water, hesaid the Water ResourcesDepartment would coordinatewith all the departments anddistrict administration and asa team effort they will try toensure that there is efficient useof water.

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Mumbai has a potential ofgenerating of 1,720 MW

of solar energy across rooftopson residences, educational insti-tutions, commercial buildings,Government buildings andindustry, according to a studyreport prepared by the NationalCentre for PhotovoltaicResearch and Education(NCPRE) at IIT Bombay andfour other organisations.

The five organisations —NCPRE, the Centre for UrbanScience and Engineering (C-USE) at IIT Bombay, theObserver Research Foundation(ORF), Bridge to India andInstitute of Electric andElectronic Engineers (IEEE)Bombay section — have comeup with this assessment intheir report on “Estimatingthe Rooftop Solar Potential ofGreater Mumbai".

Secretary of the Ministry ofNew and Renewable Energy

(MNRE) Rajeev Kapoorreleased the report at the IIT-Bombay on Monday.

In an effort to assess thesolar rooftop potential of GreaterMumbai, and to simultaneous-ly develop a methodology thatcould be used anywhere in thecountry, the five organisationshad come together.

The team employed a vari-ety of inputs and techniques,including GIS mapping of allstructures in Mumbai, ward-by-ward division, existing landuse (ELU) maps of BMC and3D mapping to discount areascovered by shadowing. Thecomputer-based analysis wassupported and verified by sitevisits to some locations (con-ducted by student volunteers),and discounting of 'weak' struc-tures which would not supportsolar panels.

During its study, the teamused only open-source soft-ware. The methodology adopt-ed by the study team is applic-

able to all urban places in Indianand can provide a framework forassessing the locations requiredfor the proposed 40 GW rooftoptarget. "Given the detailedmethodology presented in thereport, a similar study could bereplicated in urban and semi-urban areas across the country,an IIT spokesperson said.

The 40 GW solar powergeneration forms a part of theNational Solar Mission of theGovernment of India envisagesan ambitious target of 100 GWof solar energy to be installedin the country by 2022. Thiswould not only provide a greenand clean source of energy forthe country and provide accessto electricity in remote areas butalso enable India to meet itscommitments made at COP-21in Paris.

In this study, the entire workwas done by 120 students from12 engineering colleges underthe mentorship of research schol-ars from IIT-Bombay.

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Lucknow: The Bahujan SamajParty (BSP) would stagenationwide protest on Tuesday,to observe first `Black Day'alleging tampering ofElectronic Voting Machines(EVM) during the recent con-cluded Assembly elections both

in Uttar Pradesh andUttarakhand. The protest willbe organised at every districthead-quarter on Tuesday butParty is concentration to cele-brate Bhim Rao Ambedkarbirth anniversary on comingFriday in a big way. PNS

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�� 213�/14),

Country’s largest e-com-merce company Flipkart

on Monday announced it hasraised $1.4 billion fromTencent Holdings, MicrosoftCorp and eBay Inc amid spec-ulation that the online mar-ketplace is in talks to take oversmaller rival Snapdeal.

The biggest-ever fund rais-ing by an Indian Internet firmvalues Flipkart at $11.6 billion,the company said in a state-ment on Monday. The valua-tion was a decline fromFlipkart’s $15 billion reportedworth in 2015.

Prior to the latest round offunding, it had raised morethan $3 billion, mostly frominternational investors.

EBay will invest $500 mil-lion in Flipkart as the twofirms will merge their opera-tions in the country. As part ofthe deal, Flipkart will own andoperate eBay’s business inIndia when the deal closeslater this year.

Besides giving Flipkartcapital to fight competitionfrom US Internet giantAmazon, the fund raisingcomes amid speculation thatthe homegrown e-commercefirm is in talks to buy outSnapdeal, which is backed byJapan’s Softbank Group.

Launched by two formerAmazon employees in 2007,

Flipkart’s biggest investor is UShedge fund Tiger Global. Itsother investors include AccelPartners, DST Global andBaillie Gifford.

Earlier this year, TigerGlobal appointed KalyanKrishnamurthy as the chiefexecutive of the 10-year oldonline marketplace to replacethe position held by one of thecompany’s founders.

As per industry watchers,the fresh funding may havecome at a lower valuation butit is giving an indication of aturnaround underKrishnamurthy.

“This is a landmark dealfor Flipkart and for India as itendorses our tech prowess, ourinnovative mindset and the

potential we have to disrupttraditional markets,” Flipkartfounders Sachin Bansal andBinny Bansal said.

The latest funding roundis the largest in Flipkart’s 10-year history as well as in thecountry’s Internet sector,Flipkart said in a statement.

China’s Tencent -- whichhas also participated in thisround -- owns social messag-ing app WeChat and hasinvestment in various Indianonline companies like Practoand Ibibo.

For eBay, the deal wouldsee Flipkart acquiring its buy-ers in India after the close ofthe transaction. Flipkart willcontinue to operate eBay.In asan independent entity.

“eBay and Flipkart havealso entered into an exclusiveagreement in which they willjointly pursue cross-bordertrade opportunities to makeeBay’s global inventory acces-sible to more India con-sumers,” eBay said in a state-ment.

With over 100 millioncustomers, Flipkart owns fash-ion retailers Myntra andJabong, logistics firm Ekartand payments app PhonePe.

The announcement comesat a time when Indian Internetcompanies have seen fundingdry-up over the last fewmonths as investors focusextensively on profitabilityand rationalisation of expens-es.

Coupled with intensecompetition from deep-pock-eted global rivals such asAmazon, companies likeFlipkart and Snapdeal couldface more heat in the comingdays.

Flipkart and Snapdeal, likemany other players, continueto report substantial losses asthey pump in funds for build-ing logistics infrastructure andmarketing blitz.

Flipkart is also believed tobe in talks to buy out Snapdealthat has SoftBank as a promi-nent shareholder.

The deal, if materialises,would mark the biggest acqui-sition in the Indian e-com-merce space.

Gartner Research DirectorSandy Shen said althoughIndia’s e-commerce market isstill at an early stage, the mar-ket is seeing signs of consoli-dation as scale is a key successfactor in the business.

Flipkart has been and willcontinue to make acquisitionsto increase scale and the nextchallenge is to strategise thepath to a sustainable businessmodel within a set timeframe,Shen said.

“Hopefully with the fund-ing and expertise it is gettingfrom the investors, it will beable to establish itself as a truemarket leader from both thetechnology and operationalperspectives,” Shen added.

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��!��China’s SAIC MotorCorporation on Monday said ithasn’t entered into any formalagreement with General Motors totake over the latter’s Indian plantat Halol in Gujarat.

The company had earliersigned a term sheet few monthsback to evaluate buying the Halolplant but a final takeover would besubject to government approvals,settlement of labour and all otherpending issues by the Americanauto major.

General Motors hadannounced last month that itwould stop production at theHalol plant from April 28 as partof consolidation of its manufac-turing operations in India.

“SAIC has not signed any for-mal agreement with GM for theHalol plant. Few months back,SAIC signed a term sheet to eval-uate the Halol plant...,” SAIC

Motor Corporation Chief IndiaRepresentative P Balendran said ina statement.

He further said SAIC’s Halolplant deal is subject to GM’s sub-mission of all Government

approvals, settlement of labour andall other pending issues by GM.

GM is yet to reach an agree-ment with workers of Halol plantover its closure with many of themreportedly not accepting the com-pany’s voluntary separationscheme.

When contacted, a GM Indiaspokesperson said, “As has beenwidely reported many times, wecontinue to progress towards thesale of the Halol plant as we con-solidate manufacturing at ourTalegaon plant.”

In 2015, the US auto majorhad announced that it wouldcease production at the plant, amove that would affect 1,100employees. The company statedthat it planned to consolidatemanufacturing operations at itsTalegaon plant in Maharashtra.

The Halol unit, which had atotal annual manufacturing capac-

ity of 1.1 lakh units annually, wasoriginally planned to be shut bymid-2016.

GM had announced plans toinvest $1 billion to enhance man-ufacturing operations and rollout 10 locally produced models inIndia.

However, struggling to makea turnaround in India, GM has puton hold its investments on newmodels for the country as the USauto major undertakes a fullreview of its future product port-folio here.

It hasn’t put any timeline forlifting freeze on investments on thenew products.

Balendran, however, saidSAIC’s decision to enter into theIndian market remains unchangedand the company continues toevaluate various options to set upa car manufacturing plant inIndia as early as possible. ��

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Tesla Motors overtook topUS automaker General

Motors in market capitalisa-tion on Monday following anupbeat report by an invest-ment analyst citing the elec-tric carmaker’s “captivating”ability to stir investor andconsumer enthusiasm.

Near 1430 GMT, Teslashares were up 3.1 per cent at$311.93 for a market capital-isation of $51.53 billion, morethan $1 billion above GM.

“More so than any stockwe’ve covered, Tesla engen-ders optimism, freedom, defi-

ance, and a host of other emo-tions that, in our view, othercompanies cannot replicate,”Piper Jaffray said in a reportmoving Tesla to “overweight”in their recommendation.

“As they scramble to catchup, we think Tesla’s competi-tors only make themselvesappear more desperate,” thereport said.

Tesla’s share price surgecame on the heels of that pos-itive analyst comment, but thelandmark crossed on Mondayonly concerns stock valuation.

The story for revenueand real-world auto footprintis very different.

,�� "*��

�� Gulf carrier QatarAirways’ proposed full serviceairline in India is likely to setup its base in Bengaluru andprovide connectivity fromthere to other parts of thecountry.

At present, budget carri-er AirAsia India, which is ajoint venture betweenMalaysia’s AirAsia group andIndia’s Tata Sons, is the onlylocal carrier which has itsoperational base inBengaluru.

Akbar Al Baker, ChiefExecutive Officer of theDoha-based full service car-rier, had last monthannounced in Berlin thatQatar Airways was going tojoin hands with the invest-ment arm of State of Qatar tostart a domestic airline inIndia with a 100 per centinvestment.

“Qatar Airways proposedIndian subsidiary is likely tomake Bengaluru as its baseinstead of Delhi or Mumbai,”an industry source said.

Qatar Airways, which isamong the top three Gulfcarriers, has been exploringinvestment opportunities inIndia.

The source also said thatthe new airline is expectedprovide connectivity firstfrom the southern India citiesto other parts of the countryand then expand to otherregions.

Significantly, six cities ofthe total 13 that QatarAirways flies to in India are inthe South.

A Qatar Airwaysspokesperson, in an e-mailresponse to PTI queries,declined to comment on theissue.

“We cannot commentanything at this stage,” thespokesperson said.

Though Qatar Airways isyet to apply for government’spermission for setting up adomestic airline here, it hasalready started giving shape toits plans with the appointmentof a local headhunter to hirefresh talent as well as profes-sionals from the existingdomestic carriers.

Significantly, the PersianGulf carrier has been eyeingthe fast growing domestic airpassenger market, whichbecame the third largest, beat-ing Japan, after the US andChina in 2016.

“We are doing this (setting upa domestic airline in India)because Indian government hasopened up the foreign directinvestment in (setting up) an air-line in India,” Al-baker had said onMarch 8.

On several occasions earlier,the Qatar Airways -- which oper-ates a significant number of flightsfrom India to Qatar’s capital cityDoha -- had explored the possi-bility of buying stake in Indianbudget carrier IndiGo. ��

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��213�/14),

BMW Motorrad, the two-wheeler arm of luxury

German carmaker, has officiallystarted its operations as a part ofthe Indian subsidiary of BMWGroup. Earlier, the entity wasoperating in India with importerswho had sales outlets in Mumbaiand New Delhi.

“We see a tremendouspotential in this country and weare pleased to introduce BMWMotorrad as a part of the Indiansubsidiary of BMW Group,”BMW Motorrad Head of RegionAsia, China, Pacific, South AfricaDimitris Raptis said in a statement.

Currently, BMW Motorradis in the process of setting-up theteam and dealer network inIndia with Shivapada Ray havingbeen appointed already as headof the organisation. In the initialphase, it will set up dealerships inAhmedabad, Bengaluru,Mumbai and Pune.

“BMW Motorrad is aninherent and highly emotionalpart of the BMW brand. Ourproducts stand for passion, inno-vation and safety on two wheels.We want our existing and prospec-tive customers to forge new pathsand make BMW Motorrad a partof their aspirational lifestyle andpursue joy through riding,” BMWGroup India President VikramPawah said.

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�� 213�/14),

Reliance Power on Mondaysaid it has signed agree-

ments with Bangladesh PowerDevelopment Board (BPDP)for phase I of 750 MW LNGpower project at Meghnaghatnear Dhaka entailing an invest-ment of around $1 billion.

“Reliance Power today exe-cuted project agreements withBangladesh PowerDevelopment Board (BPDB)for phase I of 750 MW LNGpower project at Meghnaghat,near Dhaka in Bangladesh,”Reliance Power said in state-ment.

According to statement,these agreements include PowerPurchase Agreement (PPA) andImplementation Agreement(IA) for the proposed integrat-ed combined cycle power pro-ject.

These agreements wereexchanged in the presence ofPrime Minister of Bangladesh,Sheikh Hasina at a businesssummit organised by the CIIhere on Monday, it said.

Reliance Power has alsosigned an MoU withPetroBangla to set up 500mmscfd LNG terminal atKutubdia Island nearChittagong in Bangladesh, itadded.

The company said that thedefinitive agreements for setting

up the LNG terminal will beexecuted with PetroBanglashortly.

The full LNG terminalcapacity will be used byPetroBangla to meet hugedemand for power and otherindustries and replace costly andhighly polluting fuels.

It said, “Reliance Powerwill install world-class equip-ment procured from interna-tionally reputed original equip-ment manufacturers previous-ly for its 2,250 MW combinedcycle power project at Samalkotin Andhra Pradesh, India,which will be relocated toBangladesh in a phased man-ner.”

Reliance Power had signedan MoU on June 6, 2015 with thethe BPDB to set up the integratedproject, during Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka.

The phase-I will have aninvestment outlay of nearly $1 bil-lion which is the largest foreigndirect investment in Bangladesh,the company claimed.

Financing of the project isunder consideration of AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB) anda consortium of lenders, it said.

Reliance project will give atremendous boost to the eco-nomic and industrial growth ofBangladesh and help toenhance the energy securitywith clean, green and reliableLNG based power.

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AB de Villiers smashed anunbeaten half-century asRoyal Challengers Bangalore

recovered from a disappointing startto post a challenging 148-4 againstKings XI Punjab in an Indian PremierLeague encounter, here on Monday.

Playing his first match of the sea-son after regaining his fitness, deVilliers slammed a 46-ball 89-rununconquered innings laced with asmany as nine sixes and three fours tosingle-handedly take RCB close to the150-mark.

With de Villiers going hammerand tongs, RCB amassed 68 runs offthe last four overs to post a goodscore after being precariously placedat 22-3 in 5 overs.

Electing to bat, RCB found them-selves in a spot of bother early in theinnings but de Villiers shared 46 runsoff 49 balls with Mandeep Singh (28)for the 4th wicket to steady theinnings.

For Punjab, Varun Aaron (2/21)picked up two wickets, while SandeepSharma (1/26) and Axar Patel (1/12)picked one wicket each.

Earlier, left-arm spinner Patelstarted the bowling attack for Punjaband he struck the first blow, dis-missing opener Shane Watson (1) inthe last ball of the first over itself.

Looking to play a cut shot,Watson ended up dragging the ballon to his stumps.

De Villiers, who replaced WestIndies' destructive batsman ChrisGayle in the team, produced the firstsix of the match in the third overwhen he blasted Mohit Sharma overextra cover.

However, other opener VishnuVinod (7) also tried to get into the actin the next over off Sandeep Sharmabut he was cramped for room andended up giving a simple catch toMaxwell at the long-on boundary.

In the next over, Aaron trappedKedar Jadhav (1) infront of wicket asBangalore were reduced to 22-3 infive overs.

After a few quiet overs, de Villiersplundered a six and a four to accu-

mulate 13 runs off young left-armseamer T Natarajan in the ninth overto help RCB reach 47 for 3.

De Villiers and Mandeep keptdealing in ones and twos to keep thescoreboard ticking before Aaron dis-missed the Jalandhar batsman in the14th over with wicket-keeperWriddhiman Saha taking a brilliantcatch.

In the 16th over, de Villiersslammed Aaron over mid-off to pickup his second six off the innings.

The South African then smashedMarcus Stoinis over deep midwick-et twice in the next over to bring uphis fifty.

Stuart Binny then got into the actand clobbered a six and a four offMohit before de Villiers blasted

another six between the long-onand deep midwicket area.

De Villiers then smashed a fourand successive sixes off Sandeep toamass 19 runs.

Mohit then bowled four goodballs in the last over before theSouth African ended the innings withtwo lusty blows which allowed histeam to post a competitive total.

�� -�A�,

Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene said he hasseen enough T20 cricket not to be surprised by the

manner in which his side pulled off a sensational four-wick-et victory in an IPL game against Kolkata Knight Riders here.

"It's a funny game. I have seen enough T20 cricket, ithappens. A bit of pressure and a few good shots created thisopportunity for us," Jayawardene said.

MI snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, overhaul-ing KKR's challenging score of 178 with one ball to spareat the Wankhede Stadium Sunday night.

"You always need to have that belief, happy that play-ers had that belief. It was brilliant," said the stylish formerSri Lanka batsman and captain.

He also praised the display of the side's two young Indianplayers — Nitish Rana of Delhi and Hardik Pandya of Baroda— who pulled off the memorable win.

"I am pretty pleased and I am glad two young playerscarried us through. Nitish anchored the innings and tookthe game deep and Hardik came in and finished the job,"said Jayawardene.

Rana made 50 in 29 balls to put MI well in sight of vic-tory before departing in the penultimate over. Pandya fin-ished the job with a four to long leg off the fifth ball of thelast over to remain unbeaten on a 11-ball 29.

"It was important to get points on board. Boys playedwell. After losing the first game, to come back that wayshowed character and quality. Even in the last game we didnot give up and took it deep. I am happy, it was brilliant,"said Jayawardene, referring to his side's opening game lossto Rising Pune Supergiant on April 6.

Meanwhile, Rohit remonstrated with the umpire and hasbeen reprimanded by the match referee for the Level 1offence, under the IPL's Code of Conduct.

�� -�A�,

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma on Sunday heapedpraise on the young Nitish Rana and Hardik Pandya

for securing the team's first win of the Indian Premier League.Rana smashed 50 off 29 balls before Pandya came up

with a 29-run cameo off 11 balls to seal a thrilling four wick-et win over Kolkata Knight Riders.

"Winning the game was important. We're known for this— we keep people on their toes. Very happy with

this win," said Rohit. "Here at Wankhede, weback our players to get the runs with the dewcoming in and the flat pitch. We were hop-

ing Rana and Hardik would finish it off andthey did. It's important for any teamto have young players come in like

that and finish the job. I hope theyrepeat it. "There's still room for

improvement. We don't wantto be in the back seat. Weknow the things we didn't dowell today and we'll go back to

the drawing board before ournext game," he added.

KKR captain GautamGambhir was frank in his assess-

ment, saying his players could nothandle the pressure. "We backour bowlers to do the job. It's justa matter of keeping our nervescalm. We panicked a little in theend with the misfield and the

dropped catch (cost us). It's a goodchasing ground — you could

chase anything," said Gambhir.

�� -21

Abatting-heavy Rising Pune Supergiant wouldlook to return to winning ways when they take

on Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier Leaguematch here on Tuesday.

It is still early days in the 10th edition of IPLand Rising Pune Supergiant had a mixed outing sofar with a win and loss from two games they haveplayed so far. While Pune got off their campaignon a rousing note by defeating Mumbai Indians byseven wickets at home, they slumped to a 6-wick-et defeat against Kings XI Punjab in their next out-ing in Indore.

With the likes of in-form Steven Smith,Ajinkya Rahane, costliest player of IPL Ben Stokes,Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Manoj Tiwary in its rank,batting is considered the strongest aspect for thePune side. Rahane, Smith and Stokes have been

among runs but Pune would beworried about the form of open-er Mayank Agarwal and Dhoni inparticular.

While Rahane made 66 and 19in the first two games, Smith wastthe architect of Pune's win in theirt o u r n a m e n t

opener with an 86-run knock. The Australia cap-tain, however, failed to sizzle in the next game scor-ing just 26.

Stokes, who made 21 in the first game, rescuedthe Pune side against Kings XI in th company ofManoj Tiwary. While Stokes made a valuable 50,Tiwary scored a quickfire unbeaten 40.

But it is Pune's bowling attack which lacks bite.Ashok Dinda, Daniel Christian and Stokes lookedordinary with the new ball and if they are to makea mark in the tournament, the trio need to fire in

unison with the ball.The stand-out performer for Pune with the ball

has been South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir,who picked up three and two wickets respective-ly in the first two games.

But Tahir desperately need support from theother end. The Daredevils, on the other hand, lostby 15 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore inthe only game they had played in the tourna-ment so far.

Despite restricting RCB to 157 for eight,Daredevils batting line-up failed to chase downth target, managing 142 for nine wickets in theiralloted 20 overs. Led by experienced ZaheerKhan, Daredevils bowlers were right on theirmoney against RCB. Both Zaheer (2/31), ChrisMorris (3/21) and Pat Cummins (1/29) wereimpressive with the new ball, while domestic sea-son's highest wicket taker, left-arm spinnerShahbaz Nadeem (1/13) shone in the middle overs.

The 158-run target should have been an easychase for Daredevils but their top-order — AdityaTare, Sam Billings, Karun Nair and SanjuSamson — fumbled. Young Risabh Pant, whoshowed nerves of steel, top-scored forDaredevils with a 36-ball 57 days after los-ing his father.

�� -21

England wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings

says working with greatslike Rahul Dravid in the

IPL has made him amuch improved play-er of spin bowling.

Billings, who isinto his secondseason at Delhi

Daredevils, went tothe extent of saying thatpast year has seen himimprove like never before.

"There is no doubt thatin the last one year, theimprovement (I have felt in

my game) has been the biggestof my career. Getting to know

your game in different condi-tions is always a learning expe-rience.

"Playing quality spin for sixweeks (in the IPL), you learna lot out of that. Anyway youare always looking to try toimprove and perform. Ofcourse, the schedule is hectic,"said Billings, referring tonational duty and time hespends playing leagues acrossthe globe.

Asked how much he haslearnt from the likes of teammentor Dravid and head coachPaddy Upton, Bil l ingsreplied:"He (Dravid) is one ofthe best to have played thegame. So their is lots to learnfrom him and even from

Paddy. It is always a greatexperience to pick their brains.It is a huge honour actually.You are always learning from

people of that stature," he said.Talking about the team

composition, he saidDaredevils have a well-bal-

anced squad and it was disap-pointing to lose the tourna-ment opener against RoyalChallengers Bangalore.

"Yeah, very disappointedwith the result. Real shame tonot get over the line. We arefocused on the next game now.There are lots of positives totake from the previous game.

"Every team is strong inthis competition, all havepower hitters and quality spin-ners. But if we turn up to playto our potential, we can beatany team."

Billings added that teamnot only has a good paceattack, it also has quality spin-ners in Jayant Yadav andShahbaz Nadeem.

��-�A�,

Mumbai Indians batsman KieronPollard has slammed Sanjay

Manjrekar for his on-air comments abouthis batting during an IPL match againstKolkata Knight Riders here, saying that theformer India player suffers from "verbaldiarrhoea".

Pollard was dismissed for a run-a-ball17, leaving MI at a precarious 119/5 withless than four overs to go in his team's chaseof 179. In the commentary box, Manjrekarhad criticised Pollard, saying that he wasonly good enough to bat for the last six orseven overs of an innings.

Manjrekar was responding to a fellowcommentator's query about what Pollard'sideal position in the batting order should

be.Pollard responded

angrily to Manjrekar'scriticism in a series oftweets.

"@sanjaymanjrekaru feel any positive cancome out of your mouthbcuz u get pay to talk ucan continue with yourverbal diarrhea (diar-rhoea)..," Pollard said in hisfirst tweet.

"Do you know how I get bigso.. About BRAINLESS.. Wordsare very powerful .. Once itleaves u can't take it back.. sins ofparents fall on...," he said inanother tweet.

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One month after leading themost improbable of comebacks,Neymar earned himself the

scorn of Barcelona's fans with a pair ofsenseless bookings.

He'll get a chance to redeem him-self on Tuesday when his team facesJuventus in the first leg of theChampions League quarterfinals.

Neymar picked up a pair of sense-less yellow cards on Saturday and gotsent off with 25 minutes left and histeam trailing by a goal at Malaga.Without him, the undermanned sidelost 2-0 and squandered an opportunityto close in on Spanish league leader RealMadrid, which was held to a 1-1 drawby Atletico Madrid.

Neymar's infractions bordered onthe absurd. Or tragicomic.

The Brazilian got his first yellowcard for bending over to tie his bootlaces and not giving space for a Malagaplayer to cleanly take a free kick. Then,knowing he was one false step fromleaving his team with 10 men,Neymar charged into a Malagaplayer with no real chance to winback the ball.

As if he hadn't hurt his teamenough already, Neymarmay have made mattersworse by sarcasticallyapplauding the assistantreferee as he exited the field.

The sending-off meant Neymarwill be suspended for the next matchagainst Real Sociedad, but his addeddose of bad attitude could earn him anextended suspension, putting in dan-ger his availability for the match atMadrid on April 23 that will go a long

way to deciding the domestic title.Referee Gil Manzano included

Neymar's sarcastic applause in hisreport to the Spanish federation's

competition committee, whichwill meet on Wednesday todecide the length of his sus-pension.

The front page ofBarcelona-based sports daily

Sport on Sunday summedup the incredulity ofBarcelona's supportersby splashing the headline

"UNFORGIVABLE" over aphoto of Manzano showing Neymar hiswell-deserved red card.

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique triedto deflect criticism of Neymar bypointing at Manzano's decisions.

"There were nasty tackles frombehind that didn't earn bookings,

while other fouls committed by uswere," Luis Enrique said. "The rules areto be interpreted, but they should be thesame for all."

Excuses aside, what a month is hasbeen for the Brazil striker.

His two goals and last-gasp pass forthe winner in the dying minutes ofBarcelona's historic 6-1 win over ParisSaint-Germain on March 8 earned himpraise. The result sent Barcelonathrough 6-5 on aggregate, making it thefirst team to overturn a 4-0 first-leg lossin the competition.

Neymar's performance, which herightly called the "best of my career,"appeared to mark a watershed momentfor the 25-year-old Brazilian.

Suddenly, he wasn't just LionelMessi's flashy sidekick; he had willedBarcelona to victory as only a trueleader can.

�6��!��'�� There's Paulo Dybala, andthere's Lionel Messi. Both play forArgentina and both are crucial for theirclub teams, but that's where Dybalawants the comparisons to stop.

"People should know that I amDybala and I want to continue to be so,"the Juventus forward told Italian dailyLa Repubblica. "I understand the com-parisons and expectations on me fromthe Argentines, but I don't want to bethe new Messi or the Messi of thefuture.

“There is only one Messi, like(Diego) Maradona. No one has evertold me that I am his heir."

"I really admire him. I respecthim," Dybala said.

"He has won many ChampionsLeagues. I haven't won any and I'mdreaming about the first."

�� A1"4,2

Marco Reus can't returnsoon enough for Borussia

Dortmund.The speedy forward's

absence was painfully evident inSaturday's 4-1 loss at BayernMunich and his presence wouldsignificantly boost Dortmund'schances of getting past Monacoin the Champions League quar-terfinals.

Dortmund hosts the Frenchleague leaders in the first leg onTuesday, with Reus again unlike-ly to play as he struggles to makehis way back from a hamstringinjury.

Reus' importance toDortmund has been highlight-ed by the team's patchy form inthe Bundesliga in the five weekssince he injured his right thighagainst Bayer Leverkusen.

Two losses, a draw againstSchalke in the Ruhr derby andonly two wins over relegation-threatened clubs have seen theside slip from third place with atwo-point lead over Hoffenheimto fourth, one point behind.Third guarantees ChampionsLeague participation, fourthonly a playoff.

"No one can imagine whatit means for us to do withouthim for so long," Dortmundcoach Thomas Tuchel said ofReus last week. "He makes allthe players around him better.We miss his influence and hisintensity. But we're worriedabout how we get him back.We're optimistic but we're alsoconcerned about follow-upinjuries."

Reus, who returned toDortmund from league rivalBorussia Moenchengladbachin 2012, has been plagued byinjury in his time at the club. Hehas only played in 11 of theteam's 28 Bundesliga gamesthis season, alongside threeChampions League appearances

and one in the German Cup.Reus' frequent ailments

have seen him being dubbed a"Pechvogel" among Germanmedia — literally a bad luck bird— as one setback has followedanother.

An ankle injury just beforethe 2014 World Cup ruled Reusout of Germany's triumph inBrazil, while a groin injuryruled him out of the EuropeanChampionship in France.

But Dortmund's problemshave been exacerbated byinjuries to others. Mario Goetzeis out indefinitely with meta-bolic disturbances causing hisrecurring muscular problems,while Andre Schuerrle, SvenBender, Julian Weigl, ShinjiKagawa, Erik Durm and LukaszPiszczek all missed Saturday'sgame against Bayern. GonzaloCastro went off with a knock.

"We have hopes for JulianWeigl and Shinji Kagawa. AndI think that Lukasz Piszczek,who we rested today, can play.There's little point in countingon any of the others," Tuchelsaid Saturday.

�� 213�/14),

Davis Cup captain MaheshBhupathi should have

shown "respect" to Leander Paesby clearly telling him that he wasnot going to be a part of theplaying squad before his arrivalfor the tie against Uzbekistan,the AITA said on Monday.

In the midst of an ugly pub-lic spat over team selection,Paes said that Bhupathi wasbeing disrespectful to him by notcategorically telling him thathe would not be in the playingsquad, while the new captainasserted that he had neverpromised a certain spot to Paes.

AITA Secretary GeneralHironmoy Chatterjee told PTIthat the non-playing captainshould have kept in mind Paes'stature in Indian tennis.

"We would have appreciatedif Mahesh had told Leander

before he arrived that he is notgoing to be in the final four. Ithink he (Paes) deserves thatrespect after serving the coun-try for 27 years," Chatterjeesaid.

The senior AITA officialalso said that they expect theveteran players to behave in amature manner.

Bhupathi made public his

chat with Paes to counter accu-sations that he used his positionto exclude the Olympic medal-list from the playing squad.

"We expect these senior prosto be more mature. The way theyare going about it, we are notappreciating it. We have to talkto them and make sure theybehave in a much more maturemanner," Chetterjee said.

The Bengal TennisAssociation President also saidthat Paes should have avoidedmaking comments on his exclu-sion during the tie.

"Leander should not havespoken when the tie was on.Mahesh did the right thing byspeaking after the tie was over,"Chatterjee felt.

The AITA official said hehas seen the whatsapp chatbetween Paes and Bhupathi andits aim now is to bring themtogether and sort out the issues.

"I have also seen it and dis-cussed it with Leander. I amgoing to sit and talk to both ofthem when I get time since theyare both travelling.

"I do intend to bring themtogether. They will settle it out.They are mature people but thereactions they have given couldhave been much better," he said.

Bhupathi, in his Facebook

Post, had mentioned that he thethe backing of the establishmentin implementing his ideas as hestrives to get the team back toWorld Group. Chatter jeeendorsed the non-playing cap-tain's view.

"Well whatever he wants todo and whatever he has said,definitely he has been interact-ing with the federation andthere is no doubt about that. Hehas discussed everything withus. There are no issues withthat," he said.

After Bhupathi claimed thatpersonal agenda was not behindPaes' exclusion, the latter issued astatement that he was never cate-gorically told that he would not bein the playing four, which hefound disrespectful.

The Lee-Hesh saga goes backto the late 1990s and their acri-monious relationship has been atalking point in Indian tennis.

�� ,2%��!"1

London Olympic bronzemedallist Saina Nehwal

on Monday pulled out of the$350,000 Singapore SuperSeries to spend more time intraining to improve her gameahead of the hectic interna-tional circuit.

Olympic silver medallistPV Sindhu, meanwhile, willlook to put behind her dis-appointing first-round exit atMalaysia when she leads theIndian challenge here.

The 27-year-old Sainasaid she will next play at theAsian BadmintonChampionship to be held atWuhan, China later thismonth.

"Yes, I withdrew fromthe tournament as I feel Ineed some more time train-ing to get better. There is

improvement in the knee butI think some more trainingwill help at this point," Sainatold PTI.

"I will play AsiaBadminton Championshipnext. I will also play theIndonesia Super Series andthe Sudirman Cup," said the2010 Commonwealth Gameschampion.

Saina, who had won theMalaysia Masters Grand PrixGold in January after recov-ering from a career-threat-ening knee injury, had bowedout of the opening round atMalaysia Open last week afterlosing narrowly to Japan'sAkane Yamaguchi.

While Saina will be miss-

ing in action, Sindhu, whoclinched her maiden IndiaOpen at New Delhi to achievea career-best World No. 2ranking, will have to get overthe heart-break at Kuching,where she was stunned byupcoming Chinese shuttlerChen Yufei.

However, a tough drawawaits Sindhu as she is slatedto face Japan's NozomiOkuhara, 2016 All EnglandOpen champion and RioOlympic bronze medallist.

Meanwhile, Nationalchampion Rituparna Dasmade into the main draw ofwomen's singles and she willtake on Chinese Taipei's HsuYa Ching.

�� -%-�$�

Sergio Garcia tugged the lapelof his green jacket with both

hands, proud of his prize andhow he earned it.

His hopes were fadingSunday in the Masters — twoshots behind with six holes toplay — when his tee shotbounced off a tree and into anazalea bush, the kind of bad luckhe had come to expect in themajors. Instead of pouting, he fig-ured out how to make par.

Five feet away from winning,his birdie putt peeled off to theright. Usually resigned to fail,Garcia proved to be moreresilient than ever.

He was a new man with anew title: Masters champion.

Major champion.

After nearly two decades ofheartache in the tournamentsthat define careers, Garcia final-ly showed the mettle to win amajor.

He overcame a two-shotdeficit against Justin Rose andwon on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.

No one ever played moremajors as a pro (70) before win-ning one for the first time.

Garcia had two big momentson the par 5s — one a par, theother an eagle — in closing witha 3-under 69. Rose sent his driveinto the trees on the 18th hole inthe playoff, punched out andfailed to save par from 15 feet.

That gave the Spaniard twoputts from 12 feet for the victo-ry, and his putt swirled into thecup for a birdie.

�� 213�/14),

It was a super Sunday for the Indiansenior women's team as they tri-

umphed over Chile in the Final of theWomen's Hockey World League Round2 in West Vancouver. The teams werelocked in a 1-1 stalemate at the end ofregulation time, but in the shootout, theexperienced Savita came up with a stun-ning display of goalkeeping to ensureIndia emerged victorious.

Savita, who was adjudged theGoalkeeper of The Tournament, wasoutstanding under the bar as shedenied scoring chances to Kim Jacoband Josefa Villalabeitia which gave Indiaa head start in the shootout. SkipperRani and Monika took India's score to2-0 with two successive goals inshootout. Though Carolina Garciascored in Chile's third attempt, India'sDeepika converted India's third goal towin the match.

Despite conceding an early goal inthe 5th minute to Maria Maldonado,the Indian women stayed upbeat intheir pursuit. They came up with gooddefensive structure to keep Chile fromscoring again. Though India earned

their first PC in the 22nd minute, theeffort was saved by keeper ClaudiaSchuler. Chile continued to stay in leaduntil the third quarter when AnupaBarla successfully converted a penaltycorner in the 41st minute to equalise.The fourth quarter saw both teamspush for a goal and Rani came close toscoring but her strong backhand shotwas saved by Claudia to end the regu-lation time with the score 1-1.

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