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Begging for their lives, thePakistan Rangers on

Sunday made frantic calls tolocal BSF formations in Jammuto stop use of ‘lethal’ fire poweras it was causing huge damageson their side.

In response, the BSF putretaliatory fire on hold buttension prevailed along theentire border belt. Majority ofborder residents living in thedirect line of fire are stayingaway from their houses fearing fresh skirmishes in thecoming days.

The BSF jawans are alsomaintaining tight vigil to pre-vent any fresh infiltration bidfrom the Pakistani side.

According to field reports,a Pakistan Ranger was killed inone of these ‘punitive strikes’

on Saturday.The BSF released a 9-sec-

ond thermal-imagery footageshowing the destruction of aPakistani picket across the bor-der in retaliation to the unpro-voked firing and shelling alongthe International Border.

According to a BSF

spokesperson in Jammu, onWestern borders, the befittingreply by BSF units to unpro-voked shelling and firing acrossinternational boundary byPakistan forces has forced themto plead for ceasefire.

“Today (on May 20),Pakistan Rangers called up the

Jammu BSF formation andbeseeched to stop firing,” hesaid. The officer said for the lastthree days, the precision fire ofthe BSF on Pakistani firinglocations inflicted heavy loss-es on them.

“Yesterday, the firing fromBSF troopers hit a soldier of

Pakistan Rangers,” he said.The Pakistan Rangers had

first shattered peace by resort-ing to ‘unprovoked’ firing onBSF border outposts, possiblywith a clear objective to pusha group of infiltrators inside theIndian territory, he said.

Continued on Page 4

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Despite Met Departmentforecast ‘normal’ monsoon

this year, the country hasrecorded the lowest pre-mon-soon rain in five years. Indiahas recorded 11 per cent defi-cient rain till May 16.

As many as 13 sub-divi-sions in the country, includingMaharashtra, Punjab, Haryana,Madhya Pradesh, Bihar andHimachal Pradesh, haverecorded deficient pre-mon-soon rain so far. The situationis particularly grim in Gujarat.

The Met Department data

shows that Arunachal Pradesh,Assam and Meghalaya haverecorded 38 per cent, 25 percent and 27 per cent less rainrespectively between March 1and May 16, 2018. Similarly,Bihar has recorded 26 per cent,Punjab 47 per cent, HimachalPradesh 36 per cent, Rajasthan51 per cent, Haryana 23 percent, Maharashtra 51 per centand Madhya Pradesh 41 percent less rain during the sameperiod. Gujarat has recorded 91per cent deficient rain duringthis season so far.

However, some States likeUttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka,Goa, Lakshadweep and Tripurahave received excess pre-mon-soon rains, too. UP has record-ed 22 per cent excess rain whileAndhra Pradesh recorded 36per cent excess rain.

Continued on Page 4

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Janata Dal (S) leader HDKumaraswamy will fly to

Delhi on Monday to meetCongress president RahulGandhi and UPA chairpersonSonia Gandhi to discuss con-tours of the Congress-JD(S)alliance Government inKarantaka.

The JD(S) leader hasdenied report of the power-sharing formula of 30 monthseach between both the partiesand asserted that within 24hours of taking oath, he wouldprove the majority on the floorof the House.

Amid report that theCongress will get 20 minister-ial berths and JD (S) 14,Kumaraswamy clarified thatno discussion has taken placeso far on the allocation ofministerial berths. He request-

ed the media not to create con-fusion among public and MLAswith such “speculative” reports.

“I’m visiting New Delhitomorrow...I will meetCongress president RahulGandhi and the party’s seniorleader Sonia Gandhi. Based onthe outcome of discussionswith them, a decision will betaken on the number ofCongress and JD(S) MLAswho will become Ministers,”Kumaraswamy told reporters.

Continued on Page 4

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The country’s first tribal bat-talion is all set to join the

anti-Naxal operation. ThisCRPF battalion recruited fromthe worst Maoist-affectedregion of Bastar is going to takepart in the Passing out Paradeon Monday.

Though the sanctionedstrength of this innovative bat-talion named “BastariyaBattalion” is 743, yet in the firstphase as many as 739 candi-dates were selected in a special

recruitment drive from mid-October 2016 to late January2017, conducted by the CRPFin the Bastar region. The sol-diers were recruited from thefour highly naxal infestedBijapur, Dantewada,Narayanpur and Sukma dis-tricts of Chhattisgarh.

Passing out Parade of thisbattalion exclusively meant fortackling Maoist menace will beheld at Ambikapur inChhattisgarh. The “Bastariya”jawans will be deployed incore area to add teeth to theanti-naxal operations of CRPFin the naxal-infested Bastardivision of Chhattisgarh.

“Another remarkable fea-

ture of the battalion is its ade-quate female representationwhich is in sync with theGovernment’s policy of 33 percent reservation for women,”said a statement issued byUnion Home Ministry onSunday.

A total of 534 candidates,including 189 female recruitsunderwent a specialised train-ing at ATC Bilaspur and ATCAmbikapur spanning over 44-long-week.

The training includedguerilla warfare, camouflage,living off the land and all thosetricks of the trade that involvejungle operations.

Continued on Page 4

New Delhi: Petrol price onSunday touched a record highof �76.24 per litre and dieselclimbed to its highest everlevel of �67.57 as the oil PSUspassed on four weeks of relent-less rise in international oilprices to consumers.

Petrol price increased by 33paisa a litre in Delhi — thehighest since the daily pricerevision came into force inmid-June 2017, and diesel by26 paisa, according to pricenotification issued by state-owned oil firms.

Rates vary from State-to-State depending on the inci-dence of local sales tax or VAT.Prices in Delhi are the cheap-est. Petrol has touched an alltime-high, breaching the pre-vious high of �76.06 touched inDelhi on September 14, 2013.

Detailed report on P10

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Acting on complaints of cit-izens on noise pollution by

restro-bars, the DelhiGovernment has instructed allof them to stop playing recorded songs or music ontheir premises.

And violation by restro-barmanagement would attractstrict action from the authori-ties. “Playing of recorded songsand music at such places is vio-lation of laid down rules”, aGovernment official said.

The Government hasdirected that as per the ExciseRules of 2010, restaurants serv-

ing alcohol are allowed to holdonly “live singing or playing ofinstruments” by professionals.

The move comes after theDelhi Excise department

received a surfeit of complaintsfrom local residents regarding“nuisance” created by severalrestro-bars in the city.

Continued on Page 4

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Raipur: Seven police person-nel were killed after Naxalsblew up their vehicle inChhattisgarh’s Dantewada dis-trict on Sunday, police said.The attack took place on a daywhen Union Home MinisterRajanth Singh is scheduled toarrive in the State.

Naxals carried out a land-mine blast around 12 noonwhen a joint team of theChhattisgarh Armed Forceand the District Force waspatrolling Cholnar-Kirandulroad to provide security totrucks carrying constructionmaterial for road works, asenior police official said.

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President Ram Nath Kovindon Sunday exhorted scien-

tists and students to worktowards finding solutions tochallenges such as climatechange and water scarcity.

Kovind, who was address-ing the 7th convocation ofIndian Institute of ScienceEducation and Research(IISER) at Mohali said that sci-entific research has three majorobjectives which should serveas a guiding light.

“First, science and tech-nology must continue to playa role in nation building. As ournation evolves and our societychanges, are needs too aretransformed. Yet, science andtechnology will always berequired to find answers todevelopmental questions,” saidthe President even as he notedthat Mohali has become a hubfor knowledge economy,information technology,biotechnology and bioinfor-matics, and that IISER shouldbe the fulcrum of the entireecosystem.

The President said thattoday, the questions before usrange from battling climatechange to providing low-cost,but effective, healthcare solu-tions. And, from helping ourfarmers overcome productivi-ty and water-scarcity chal-lenges to building sustainablecities and houses that aresocially inclusive and provide

a life of dignity to everyone,said he.

“Secondly, science andtechnology have a symbioticrelationship with business andindustry. Product inventionand process innovation, con-verting the learning of the labinto commercially viable prod-ucts, using technology to pro-mote efficiency, enterprise andemployment … there is somuch science and commercecan do together,” he said.

Citing examples of SiliconValley in California andBengaluru, he said IISER muststrive to play a similar role inMohali. Punjab has a long his-tory of technocrats who ven-tured into successful business-es, he added.

“Thirdly, institutions ofscientific education andresearch are important inthemselves for blue-sky inno-vation and for expanding thefrontiers of knowledge. This isthe fundamental and to mymind most critical value of sci-entific research,” he said.

Kovind said, “I urge thosegraduating today, as well asothers studying at IISER, tokeep these three motivations inmind as they climb higher. Intheir own way, these threemotivations of science andresearch will help you to servefellow citizens, to serve societyand country, and to serve thelarger cause of humanity.”

“Going through the list ofthe 152 students, who are grad-

uating today by getting under-graduate and master’s degreesor PhDs, I find that 66 are girl

students. That is a little over 40per cent, said he.

“However, both the gold

medals for academic perfor-mance have gone to girl stu-dents. Three of the four awards

for academic excellence havebeen won by girl students,”Kovind said.

Noting that IISER is one ofIndia’s foremost destinationsfor students interested in sci-ence, Kovind said, “The insti-tute is well on its way to fulfill-ing its mandate of promotingand providing facilities for basicscience research and integratingthese with the needs of India.”

“This is one of the mostexciting and promising urbanagglomerations in our country.In parallel, IISER Mohali is alsodrawing inspiration from therich tradition of basic andapplied scientific research inPunjab. This legacy goes backto the period beforeIndependence, when Punjabwas one of India’s earliest cen-tres of scientific knowledgeproduction and training,” hesaid.

This legacy also providesus some excellent examples ofhow collaboration between sci-entific researchers and tech-nologists on one side, and thelarger developmental processon the other, contributed tonation building, Kovind said.

He added, “We can’t forgetthe technologists who did thegroundwork for large projectssuch as the Bhakra Nangalproject.

It was agricultural scientistsand universities in Punjab thatprovided the basis forenhanced food productivityand the Green Revolution.”

On the occasion, theGovernors of Punjab andHaryana were also present.

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Like every time, the last bonechilling violation and killing

of a young girl eventually gotmired in political controversies.While for the world commu-nity, it is hard to metabolise thebrutishness of the perpetratorsof the crime, those in the busi-ness of power continue to passthe buck onto one another.Then there is the community ofpseudo activists across themedia, who provide a fulcrumto these endless and bootlesscontroversies. Anyone who issomeone assumes the moral

authority to blame everyone,when such offences come tolight. However it remains noone's mantle to chalk out a con-structive redressal.

We may stratify societiesinto various groups and devel-opment models but the physi-cal violation of women,con-tinues to be one factor whichruns at parallel ratios in all ofthem .The reason behind sucha widespread and increasingabuse of women , remainsrather obstruse at a time whenwe claim to be living in a worldof women empowerment andgender equality .

More than anything else,the problem here is a twosided paradox. On the onehand there is a set of laws toprotect women, but these aredefinitively not cogent enoughto curb the potential violators.On the other hand, there is aflimsy sense of awareness onwomen's rights and entitle-ments, but this is masked byarchaic patriarchial norms andthe resulting lack of assertive-

ness in a majority of women. 'Justice delayed is justice

denied ' is far more than anoverused cliche in this context.The lumbering legal processeswhich follow the reporting ofsuch crimes not only keep thevictims from coming forwardfor legal help but is also a shotin the arm for those, who havethe inclination for commit-ting such crimes. Subsequentto repeated interrogations ofthe victim and her family, trau-matic face identifications andmedical confirmations,attempts are made to bring theaccused to book.

Then of course, there arejudicial rounds to grapple with.Finally even when the con-victed perpetrators have beensent behind the bars, it was sel-dom for life time imprisonmentor the death penalty. That is,until recently when the mile-stone law was ammended,which accords death penalty tothose guilty of sexual assault ona minor. Those convicted ofviolating adult women still get

way with barely a seven or 10year imprisonment however.

Hence they end up payingjust a fraction of the price,whereas the victim is left withharrowing physical and emo-tional scars, psychological chal-lenges and even threat of seri-ous sexual infections. Add to allthis the social stigma that hasbeen tagged to sexual offences,which makes resuming a nor-mal life extremely daunting forsuch victims of sexual assault.The feebleness of these lawsdesigned to protect womenfrom sexual offences, has in factenabled the perverts, to commitsuch acts several times.

On the other end of thespectrum is an inherited socialstructure which has alwayspropagated the 'weaker sex ' ide-ology. The entire notion thatfemales are inferior to malesbecause they have been tradi-tionally envisaged as being eco-nomically dependent on theirmale counterparts, has granteda rather sublime status to malesin our society. This docile,

domesticated and enduring ver-sion of women is a symbol offemininity which the society hasalways idolised. In fact most actsof sexual violation of women,the crime stems from this verynotion of women being inferi-or to men. These are acts of sub-jugation by the use of force.These are symbols of assertionof a shallow masculinity, whichrenders women helpless andhurt. Acts which not just phys-ically mutilate them but erodethe very fabric of their selfrespect and dignity. There is awave of awareness for empow-ering women across all sectionsof the society, by equippingthem with police and womenrights organisation's helplinenumbers, sensitising young girlsand tightening general securitystandards everywhere. Howeverthese are never sufficient unlessthe entire equation of genderpower is challenged in the soci-ety. The real equality can not betaught out of the blue but has tobe perceived in all the institu-tions of socialisation from the

childhood itself. Be it family orschool, workplace or marriage,we need an overhauling ofmindsets alongside the over-hauling of laws. Equalitybetween sexes has to be imbibedright from early years evenwithin the family. It has toreflect in both the work distri-bution pattern in the family andworkforce. An engendering ofroles in households and largersociety has to be put an end to.The idea that women are unfitfor certain professions and suit-ed for the more domestic roles,is highly suggestive of social biasand inequality.

When for a ten year oldboy, a female is an equal powerto contend with in all domainsof life, he then grows up withthe same ideology. Years laterhe might not ever get inclinedto dominate or subjugate anywoman with an unjustified useof force.

(The writer is a formerGovernment official. Viewsexpressed are personal)

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The portals of one of the PanchKedar shrines- Rudranath

temple in Chamoli district werereopened to the public early in themorning on the weekend. Earlyon Saturday morning, devoteesalong with the residents fromGopeshwar village, Gangol andSagar Gwad trekked many kilo-metres to reach Rudranath at thetime of its portals being reopenedfor the public.

The Rudranath temple is sit-uated at an altitude of 2290metres amidst the bugyals (highaltitude alpine meadows) inChamoli district. It should bementioned here that lord Shiva isworshipped in the form of his faceat Rudranath shrine whereas theentire body is worshipped inPashupatinath temple atKathmandu in Nepal. TheRudranath shrine will nowremain open for devotees till thewinter season.

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The structure of the Goodsand Services Tax (GST)

implemented in a hurry inIndia still has various loop-holes, opined former CabinetMinister and Congress leaderDinesh Agarwal. He was speak-ing at a discussion on the sub-ject of single-point GST organ-

ised by the Federation of AllIndia Vyapar Mandal (FAIVM)here on Sunday.

Addressing the gatheringon the occasion, Agarwalexpressed his support to thedemand for single-point GST.He said, “The structure of GSTwhich was implemented in ahurry in our country has manyloopholes. This needs to get

resolved so that people runninga business can do their workwith ease.” Local BharatiyaJanata Party leader Anil Goyalalso expressed his views on theoccasion.

Speaking on the occasion,the FAIVM national generalsecretary VK Bansal said thatthe business fraternity whichprovides employment to about

44 crore persons is today itselfstaring at unemployment.Though the contribution ofbusiness to the national econ-omy has increased considerably,the businessmen continue toface problems caused byimpractical regulations ofwhich the GST system is arecent example.

The federation’s coordina-

tor and Uttarakhand in chargeRajeshwar Painyuli said that theFAIVM, Delhi is undertaking anation-wide campaign as partof which the government ofIndia has been requested thatGST should be collected fromthe producer on the maximumretail price while the retail andwholesellers should be freedfrom this. He said, “Our cam-

paign received a boost with theprime minister Narendra Modialso took cognisance of the fed-eration’s memorandum anddelegated the Union Financeminister Arun Jaitley to reeivethe presentation from us. Dueto the ill-health of the financeminister, we made the presen-tation in front of the financesecretary Hasmukh Adhiya at

the Finance ministry on April17. The finance secretary didappreciate the concept of singleGST but stated that since allarticles are presently not atMRP, single-point GST doesn’tseem applicable at present assought. More work will have tobe done on the subject so thatsingle point GST can becomeapplicable for all.”

Referring to single-pointGST concept, he said, “It refersto the system of charging GSTat the manufacturing level (incase of goods) or at the time ofproviding services. This is willreduce the task of checkingevery taxpayer while also sav-ing the time of the seller help-ing him or her do better in busi-ness.”

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Five out of six members ofthe first Uttarakhand police

expedition team successfullyscaled Mount Everest (29,028feet) at 8 am on Sunday. StateAdditional Director General of

police (law and order) AshokKumar said that it was a mat-ter of pride that Uttarakhandpolice expedition became the

first police force team in thecountry to scale MountEverest. The members of the

Uttarakhand police expedi-tion team who successfullyscaled Mount Everest onSunday were Manoj Joshi,Vijender Kuriyal, SuryakantUniyal, Praveen Chauhan andYogesh Rawat. Due to sometechnical reasons the sixthmember of the first policeteam member Roshan Kotharicould not scale the MountEverest.

The second team of theUttarakhand police expedi-tion would reach MountEverest on Sunday or Mondaydepending on the weatherconditions.

The second team membersinclude Navneet Bhullar, SanjayUpreti, Ravi and Bijender.

Due to lack of oxygen, teammember Sushil had returnedfrom the expedition. Inspectorgeneral Sanjay Kumar Gunjyal,who is leading the team is guid-ing the expedition from SDRFbase camp.

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Burglary cases are on the risein various parts of the State.

As per the statistics, during thelast year, the number of bur-glary cases reported in Garhwaldivision was more than casesreported in the Kumaon divi-sion. Maximum cases of bur-glary were reported in fourplain districts- Haridwar,Udham Singh Nagar, Nainitaland Dehradun. Very few suchcases have been reported inmountainous districts likeBageshwar, Chamoli,Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag,Champawat and other dis-tricts. Statistics revealed thatunidentified criminals prefer toburglarise locked homes dur-ing the night after checking thescenario during the daytime.During 2017, a total of 155cases of burglary were report-ed in Kumaon division. Ofthese, 46 cases were registeredin Nainital district while eightwere reported in Almora, twoin Pithoragarh, four inBageshwar, 14 in Champawatand 81 in Udham Singh Nagar.

In Garhwal district, 255such cases were reported. Ofthese, 121 cases of burglarywere reported in Haridwarwhile 95 were reported in

Dehradun, eight in Pauri, six inRudraprayag, 10 in Chamoli, 11in Tehri and four in Uttarkashi.

In the first four months ofthe current year, about 40 casesof burglary were reported inKumaon division. Of thesecases, five cases were registeredin Nainital district while threewere registered in Almora, oneeach in Pithoragarh,Bageshwar, Champawat and28 in Udham Singh Nagar.

In the Garhwal region,about 50 such cases werereported during the first fourmonths of 2018. Of these, 20cases of burglary were report-ed in Haridwar while 19 werereported in Dehradun, four inPauri, none in Rudraprayag,one each in Chamoli and Tehriand three in Uttarkashi.

Senior police officers saidthat district police chiefs havebeen directed to intensifypatrolling during night hoursespecially at isolated areas in allthe police stations in theirjurisdiction.

Most of the cases of bur-glary have been solved and theaccused were arrested. Thedistrict police chiefs have beendirected to take effective mea-sures to check burglary in theirareas, added senior police offi-cers.

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Garhwal CommissionerDilip Javalkar expressed

concern over the consistent risein forest fire incidents in thePauri district. He said that theefforts made to tackle the prob-lem so far have not been suffi-cient. Javalkar stressed that theforest department has to ensureadditional efforts in the case offorest fires and prepare a con-crete plan for tackling theproblem. To mitigate the forestfires, apart from the districtadministration staff, the localpublic should be motivated tocooperate voluntary, saidJavalkar while chairing a meet-ing to review works done totackle forest fires on weekend.The meeting was attended byPauri District Magistrate,Senior Superintendent ofpolice, divisional forest officerand other officials fo the forestand irrigation departments.

Addressing the officials,the Garhwal commissioner saidthat the region is covered withthe forests which makes is allthe more serious an issue that

forest fires have been risingconsistently. The efforts beingundertaken to tackle the forestfires are evidently not enough.Javalkar directed the depart-mental officials to ensure effec-tive action in case of forest fire.The forest department andKalagarh tiger reserve officialsspoke of insufficient resourcesand man power and said thatthe department has limitedvehicles and equipment neces-sary to tackle the forest fires. Itwas stated in the meeting thatmore than 207 crew stationshad been established in the dif-ferent forest ranges of the dis-trict.

The Garhwal commission-er instructed forest depart-ment to ensure quick action onthe public complaints addingthat the department shouldestablish coordination withother government departments

and local people so that the for-est fires can be brought undercontrol without delay. The tele-phone number of complaintcentre should be provided toGram Pradhan, NyayPanchayat, Yuva Mangal Dal,police department, revenueand the other governmentdepartments, he said. Javalkaralso directed the district mag-istrate to ensure that a meetingon fire safety is held with theofficials of linear departmentsand the local public. The for-est fire incident data should beupdated in the district disastercontrol room. Javalkar askedthe district level departments tobe prepared twenty four hoursfor assistance during forest fireand strictly directed to gophysically to the spot instead ofcompleting the formality onpaper. Additional commis-sioner Harak Singh Rawat,District Magistrate SushilKumar, SSP Jagat Ram Joshi,DFO Garhwal division LaxmanSingh Rawat, DFO Kalagarhtiger reserve AK Tripathi, DFOLansdowne Sant Ram and oth-ers were present in the meeting.

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Following the latest suicideby a farmer burdened by

loan in the State, the Congresshas alleged that both theCentral and State Governmentsare doing little more than mak-ing hollow statements when itcomes to addressing the prob-lems being faced by farmers.

A Congress delegation islikely to approach the RajBhawan on Monday and sub-mit a memorandum to the

Governor on the issue offarmer suicides.

Addressing the media atthe Congress Bhawan, theUttarakhand Pradesh CongressCommittee president PritamSingh said that so far ninefarmers had committed suicidein Uttarakhand.

However, both the centraland State Governments had notyet done anything concrete toimprove the lot of farmerswho are being pushed by des-peration to take such extreme

steps. A PCC delegation isslated to visit the Raj Bhawanand submit a memorandum onMonday regarding the farmersuicides in the state. Referringto the Tharali Vidhan Sabhabypolls, the PCC chief said thatthe Congress candidate wouldwin the by-election consideringthe support of the people beingreceived by the party and itscandidate.

He further opined that thepeople had lost faith in theBharatiya Janata Party.

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The police caught personswith �20 lakh in Indian

currency at the border areaBanbasa- Sharada barragechowki here on Sunday. Thepolice were conducting routinevehicle checking in the areawhen they came across a carwith Haryana license registra-tion number.

There were five persons inthe car and on checking, thepolice found �20 lakh in�2,000 notes from the car.The Banbasa police stationhouse officer MeenakshiNautiyal said that on ques-tioning, the five men were notable to provide a satisfactoryanswer.

They said that an Indianhad been caught by Nepalcustoms officials in a caseregarding gold smuggling.

They claimed that they hadbeen taking the money toNepal to secure his bail.

However, they were unableto provide any valid docu-ments or explanation as towhere they had secured thecash from.

The five men had beenbrought to the police stationalong with the money, whilethe Income Tax departmenthad also been informed aboutthe same, added the SHO.

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Aspecial match amongwomen was played on the

final day of the UttarakhandCorporate Cricket League hereon Sunday organised by WTITSolutions. The State Forest andWildlife Minister Harak SinghRawat was the chief guest onthe occasion. Appreciating theeffort and enthusiasm of theparticipating sportspersons,the Cabinet Minister expressedhis willingness to support theyouth in sports. He also appre-ciated the message of saying noto drugs, corruption eradica-tion and ‘Beti Bachao BetiPadhao’ as proactive conceptswhich will also help the state

achieve the desired level ofdevelopment. The UCCL chiefcommissioner Rajneesh Kumarand the co-league commis-sioners Akash Sharma andAnkit Sharma were also presenton the occasion.

The event organisers alsostaged a street play on the occa-sion. The play was focused onthe messages of saying no tosubstance abuse, corruptioneradication and ‘Beti Bachao,Beti Padhao’. UCCL organisersalso thanked sponsors includ-ing SIIDCUL, BRIDCUL,Uttarakhand Bar Associationand others with a specialthanks to the Government ofUttarakhand for supportingthis league.

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Sumitranandan Pant, therenowned Hindi poet, a pil-

lar of the Chhayavadi poetry,was born on May 20, 1900.Pant, the “Bard of Almora” whosang of the beauty of nature inhis poetry and was one of theshining names of the“Chhayavaadi” Hindi poets,will always be the pride ofUttarakhand besides being oneof the most famous names inHindi literature.

Kausani and Almora inKumaon in Uttarakhand areinvariably associated with hisname.Tourists to the pic-turesque Himalayan regionlove to visit the museum raised

in his memory at Kausani.Students and researchersworking in the field of Hindiliterature are fascinated by theplace.

Pant was born one hun-dred and eighteen years agoat Kausani. Pant was one of themajor romantic Hindi poetsand Uttarakhand can neverfeeling proud for having beenthe birthplace of such a giftedpoet.Pant was born on May 20,1900. His mother died withina few hours of his birth. He wasgiven the name Gosain Dutt.His initial schooling took placein Almora. After completinghigh school, he moved toPrayag. He did not like hisname so he gave himself a newname —”Sumitranandan Pant”.

He is considered one of theshining names of theChhayavaadi School of Hindiliterature, the others beingSuryakant Tripathi Nirala,Jaishanker Prasad, MahadeviVerma, Harivansh RaiBachchan and Ram DhariSingh Dinkar.

Chhayavaad (Shadowism)refers to the era of Neo–Romanticism in HindiLiterature, particularly Hindipoetry (1917–1938) and wasmarked by an upsurge ofromantic and humanist con-tent. Chhayavaad was markedby a renewed sense of the selfand personal expression, visi-ble in the writings of that time.It is known for its leaningtowards themes of love and

nature. Sumitranandan Panttook to poetry when he was justseven, and happened to bestudying in the 4th grade.Having spent his childhoodsurrounded by natural beautyof the mountains and flora and

fauna; it was only natural thatit was from here that he got hisinspiration; for his earlier worksreflected a sublime touch of thescenic serenity. The periodfrom 1907-1918 has even beenadmitted by Sumitranandanhimself as the first phase of hisnotable writing career. Thepoems that he wrote in thisphase have been compiledtogether and published in"Veena" (1927).

Pant authored twenty eightpublished works includingpoetry, verse plays and essays.The Sumitranandan PantGallery is a museum inKasauni, set in the house wherethe poet was born. The beau-ty of the hills where he wasborn echoes in Pant’s poetic

works. After his early educationin Almora, he went to Queen’sCollege in Kashi (Varanasi)and then to Prayag University.On hearing MahatamaGandhi’s call for Satyagraha, heleft college. However, he con-tinued his education by read-ing English, Sanskrit andBengali Literature.

The museum at Kausaniencloses manuscripts of hispoems, draft copies of his lit-erary works, articles of hisday-to-day use, the awardsreceived and also the letterswritten by him and received byhim. The compact library inthis museum is worth visiting.

Pant was honoured withthe prestigious Padma Bhushan(1961), Jnanpith (1968), Sahitya

Akademi and Soviet Land-Nehru Awards for his immensecontribution to the Hindi lit-erary scene. His poetry epito-mised the Indian thought ofSatyam, Shivam, Sundaram(the true, the auspicious, thebeautiful). Pant was the poetwho effortlessly made the tran-sition from aesthetic mysticismto the temporal.

In his later writings, Pantthe aesthete emerged as athinker, philosopher andhumanist. His finest work, byfar, is “Pallav”, a collection of 32poems written between 1918and 1925.

It was SumitranandanPant, a close friend ofHarivansh Rai Bachchan whohappened to suggest the name

for the two Bachchan brothers— Amitabh and Ajitabh. Hewas like a godfather figure forthe two.

The poet passed away inDecember 1977. Just a fewdays before his death anniver-sary in 2015, a memorial stampon the great poet was wasreleased by UttarakhandGovernor Krishan Kant Paulon December 23.

It was indeed a significantinitiative to remember andhonour the venerable traditionof literature that Uttarakhandis fortunate to possess.

It was for the first time thata memorial stamp was issuedin memory of any of the vari-ous eminent writers of thisregion.

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Two newly born babies werefound abandoned at the IT

Park in Dehradun on Sundayevening. They were taken to thehospital by the emergencyambulance service. Accordingto the officials of the 08 emer-gency ambulance service, acall was received at 5:30 in theevening at their call centre. Thecaller from IT Park onSahastradhara Road, BeerSingh Chauhan informed thattwo new born babies werelying in the bushes near theback gate of the IT Park. Thecall was handed over to anambulance with emergencymedical technician Om Kapoorwith Dinesh Nautiyal as thedriver. They reached the site in16 minutes of receiving the call.After Reaching the location,they found that two newlyborns- one female and onemale had been abandoned inthe bushes. They took thebabies in the ambulance to theDoon women’s hospital wherethe two were admitted.

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Following the directions ofthe Dehradun municipal

commissioner, the weekly hol-idays of sanitation workerswere cancelled to enable themto work towards clearing thebacklog of garbage collecting inthe town on the second dayafter the end of their 12-daystrike. According to municipalofficials, the cleaning workswere undertaken in all the 60wards on Sunday with fourJCBs, one loader, 14 trolleysand six dumpers. About 240tonnes of garbage was clearedin a total of about 80 trips madeby the garbage transport vehi-cles on Sunday. On the direc-tions of the municipal com-missioner Vijay KumarJogdange, the cleaning workswill continue during the nighttoo.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that after work boycott byprotesting ward sanitationcommittee workers for about12 days, the strike of the san-itation workers had endedlate on Thursday night. SinceFriday, the workers have beenworking in the daytime andnight to clear the many hun-dred tonnes of garbage piledup across the city which wasnot collected during the strikeof the workers.

In addition to clearingthe garbage piles, the workersare also cleaning localities,sprinkling bleaching powderand undertaking fumigationin various areas of the provi-sional state capital.

Speaking on the matterthe additional municipalcommissioner Neeraj Joshisaid, “The cleaning workswere conducted by sanitationworkers on Sunday in 60major municipal wards of thecity. A total of about 240tonnes of garbage was cleared

from different parts of the cityon Sunday. Apart from theclearing the garbage, bleach-ing powder was sprinkled,drains cleared and fumigation

was undertaken in variouslocalities.”

The additional municipalcommissioner further saidthat cleaning work will con-

tinue in the same mannerand the city will be clear of thecollected garbage and cleanerwith in the next couple ofdays.

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Increasing industrialisationand rise in other human

activities is threatening thewealth of medicinal herbs oncecommonly found in Haridwarand other parts of the State.

The Haridwar region isrich in plant diversity.

The commonly foundplants in the Rajaji nationalpark which covers a majorpart of the district are fastbecoming endangered species.The forest was full ofDesmodium commonly calledas telegraph plant or dancinggrass, Neel plant and Jal Brahmibut these are rarely seen now.Not only are the medicinalherbs of the region facingextinction, the adverse effectsare marked with repeated land-slides causing threat to theresidential colonies in theregion.

Talking to this correspon-dent, environment activistVinod Upadhyay said, “Whilewandering in the Mansadevihills, large number of speciesof Pueraria, Tinospora (Giloy), Randia (Madan phal used asemetic), Centella (Manduk),Boswellia (Salai Guggal),Solanum indicum (Badi kan-takari) were easily spotted. In1972 I had spotted Neel plantand telegraph plant with myteacher IS Jaitley but there isnot a single plant visible now.They are almost waning fromour bio-diversity.”

Big chunks of precioussoil are getting eroded year byyear due to heavy rains andloss of green cover. Everyrainy season, the municipalcorporation task force isengaged in removing the siltand mud which accumulatesnear Kangra temple ghat, Motibazaar and Bilkeshwarcolonies costing a considerable

amount of money. This prob-lem needs to be addressedurgently before it becomes a

hazard as in the case ofVarunavat mountain inUttarkashi, say the experts.Factors like global warmingand increased human activityare stated to be some of thereasons responsible for thedepleting floral diversity. “VanGujjars are a major threat tothe ecosystem. They are pun-

ishing rather than protectingthe forest,” opined Upadhyay.They must be taught to use the

forest resources more wiselyand scientifically, he added.

Increasing population,trampling in Mansa andChandi Devi hills, extractionand uprooting of thousands ofplants for fuel, furniture,herbal products and othercommercial uses has put thebiodiversity of the district in

danger.Experts opine that various

measures should be taken toreplenish the depleting greencover and diversity. The nativeplants which have been grow-ing here for centuries shouldbe replanted. Trees l ikeBoswellia for aromatic gumand Buchanania (Chirongi)need to be planted to boostgreen cover and business sell-ing their parts. One shouldavoild plantation os plantsused for their roots likeAsparagus, Amorphophallus.Further, responsible tourismpractices should be encour-aged while the banon poly-thene and disposables shouldbe enforced stringently.Mining must be carried outonly in scientific manner with-out disturbing the environ-ment. Plantation of herbs mustbe done in the same ratio astheir extraction.

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As compared to the moun-tains in places like Norway

and Australia, the Himalayanranges are quite fragile.Constituted mainly of mudand soft rocks, the majority ofthe region is sensitive to land-slides. The unplanned con-struction going on unabated inthe Himalayan region is aggra-vating the problem say the soilengineers. Without appropriatedrainage system the coloniesare being developed in themountain state. No one seemsto be concerned about wherethe waste water from domesticsources should be drainedresulting in seepage of thewater in the slopes which makethem vulnerable to landslides.

In the year 2009, team ofIndian Institute of Technology(IIT) Roorkee scientists head-ed by Satyendra Mittal tookover the task as an experimen-tal technique to treat the land-slide prone areas in Mussoorie,Dakra area of Dehradun andHanumangarhi region ofNainital.

The soil nailing techniqueused by the team was quitesuccessful in the region.Nailing was done after occur-rence of major landslide in theyear 2006.

About 450 metre length ofhill slope was successfully sta-bilised by soil nailing tech-nique.

In this process, soil nailsare usually grouted to increasethe bond and to enhance cor-

rosion protection.The nails used in soil nail-

ing retaining structures, aregenerally steel bars or othermetallic elements that canresist tensile stresses and bend-ing movements. Four inchsized holes are made in theaffected area. The depth ofthese holes is nearly 70 percentof the affected area whichmeans if the treatment area isof 10 metres height, the holedug is seven metres deep. Aftermaking holes these are filledwith cement and concrete. Anet is laid on top of these steelbars and tightened with platenet.

Soil nailing is an emergingtechnology for reinforcing thesoil with steel bars or othermaterials.

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The Disaster Mitigation andManagement Centre team

has made a number of visits toanalyse the persisting problemof landslides in Mansa Devihills. A specialised investigationteam from Delhi had also vis-ited Haridwar way back inApril 2011 but no treatmenthas been started in the past fewyears. As per the scientists, amajor part of the mountainrange has become hollow fromwithin which is posing a majorthreat to the population resid-ing nearby. It demands imme-diate permanent treatment saythe environmentalists.

Notably, a population ofnearly 50,000 residing in NaiBasti, Bhimgoda, railway tun-nel, Mansa Devi hill slideJogiamandi is under threat

from the land slide prone areain Bilwaparvat range ofShivalik hills housing temple ofMansa Devi. The investigativereports submitted earlier bymining department, WadiaInstitute of HimalayanGeology and IIT Roorkee havealso reviewed and presented tothe chief secretary ofUttarakhand.

Every year the districtadministration assures thatsome substantial steps shall betaken before the advent ofmonsoon season lest the resi-dents have to risk their lives.Analysing the type of soil inthe Mansa Devi hill region,District Magistrate ofHaridwar, Deepak Rawat said,“We surveyed the seven kilo-metre stretch of Mansa devihill region recently. The moun-tain range is quite vulnerable

to landslides. The soil is varied type and

would definitely require specialmode of treatment.”

The seven kilometrestretch of hill by pass road isnot open to traffic even afterspending of�4crore on themaintenance of the road dur-ing Kumbh Mela. During fairs,traffic is generally diverted onthis alternate route.

The district officials saythat they are serious about thelandslide problem in the mon-soon season and the threat tothe residents on the hill slopes.

The survey has been con-ducted as it is very much in thepolicy of the district adminis-tration to solve the problem.The PWD officials can tell theexact situation when the con-struction will start said theDistrict Magistrate.

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After being under treatmentfor about 40 days, army

man Naik Deepak KumarNainwal attained martyrdomon Sunday. His cremation isslated to take place here inHaridwar on Monday.

The martyr had sustainedtwo bullet injuries during a 17

hour long encounter with ter-rorists in Jammu and Kashmirduring April. He was admittedto Rashtriya Rifles hospitalfrom where he was referred toPune army hospital. Followingthe injury, he had lost move-ment in his body from the waistdown.

The Uttarakhand chiefminister Trivendra SinghRawat has expressed condo-lence over the martyrdom ofNainwal who was a resident ofHarrawala area in Dehradun.

Saluting the sacrifice ofthe martyr, the CM said thatstate government would extendfull assistance to the familymembers of the martyr.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that Naik Deepak Nainwalhailed from the Chamoli dis-trict.

He was grievously injuredin fierce gun battle with ter-rorists in Kulgam, Kashmir onApril 10 and was undergoingtreatment in Pune since then.

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Various programmes willbe held in Uttarakhand as

in other parts of the country tomark four years of theBharatiya Janata Party ledNational Democratic AllianceGovernment at the Centre,said the BJP State presidentAjay Bhatt. After commence-ment of the programme at thecentral level on May 26, thesame will be started in thestates from May 27 onward.This campaign will continue tillJune 11.

The BJP State presidentinformed that the BJP-ledNDA Government underprime minister NarendraModi will be completing four

years in office on May 26. TheBJP is organising various pro-grammes across the nation tomark this occasion.

The achievements andschemes of the CentralGovernment will be taken toall the people through theseprogrammes. A special contactcampaign, direct dialogue withprominent members of society,intellectuals’ seminar, benefi-ciary’s seminar, event at GramSabha, booth contact cam-paign, connecting with seniorcitizens, bike rally, Press meetand other programmes will beheld to mark the occasion.Bhatt said though the pro-grammes will begin inUttarakhand on May 27, theyhave been scheduled keeping

in mind the Tharali Assemblybypolls to be held on May 28.Ministers from the centre andstate, MPs, MLAs, party’snational executive members,elected representatives of var-ious units and district headswill be among those who willparticipate in the contact cam-paign.

On May 26, PM NarendraModi will be addressing apublic gathering in Odishawhile the BJP national presi-dent Amit Shah will address aPress conference at the BJPcentral office on the sameday.

The nation-wide cam-paign will begin on May 27and continue till June 11,added Bhatt.

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From Page 1“These jawans, after the

Passing out Parade, will bedeployed in the core areas ofChhattisgarh to fight the nax-als alongside the normal GDBattalions and CoBRABattaiolns of CRPF,” said theHome Ministry in a state-ment.

The “Bastariya Battalion”that came into existence April1, 2017, has been created toenhance local representation inCRPF’s combat lay-out in theBastar area besides providingthe ‘Bastriya’ youths a full-proof platform for employ-ment. Accordingly, its recruit-ment process too carried someunique features.

For giving chance to trib-al population in the force,CRPF had waived off manyeducational and physical stan-dards to recruit members tothis exclusive battalion.

“While the physical stan-dards of height and weightwere relaxed to give a fairchance to the local aspirants,CRPF also walked yet anoth-er extra mile to provide pre-educational and physical train-ing to the local youths throughCivic Action Programmes so asto maximise their ability andeligibility for induction into thespecial formation,” said HomeMinistry.

Armed with about a year’srigorous training and so manyyears of geo-spatial experi-ence of their own soil, thesecombat-ready jawans of CRPFare all poised to switch fromtheir training ground to thebattle ground in Bastar.

From Page 1At least four back-to-back

infiltration bids were detectedby the alert BSF jawans on theborder in the last one week. Inthe exchange of firing, two BSFjawans attained martyrdom.Pakistan side too had sufferedheavy damages in relentless‘punitive’ strikes.

Before the arrival of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, aBSF jawan constable Sita RamUpadhayay and four civilianswere killed and over a dozenothers were injured in Pakistanfiring on the border in RS Puraand Arnia sectors of Jammudistrict.

Referring to the ongoingexercise launched acrossJammu frontier to detect pres-ence of any cross border tunnel,BSF officials claimed no trans-border tunnel was found inHiranagar sector of Kathuadistrict after five suspected ter-rorists were said to have infil-trated into the Indian territory.

The suspected movementof five infiltrators was detectedlate on Sunday night by a BSFsentry following which massivesearch and cordon operationswere launched to track theirfoot prints.

“We were working on prob-ability. Otherwise, tunnelchecking is now part of BSF’sdaily operational duty,” saidthe officer.

From Page 1Kumaraswamy also may

call on other senior Oppositionleaders in Delhi. BothCongress and JD(S) are tryingto ensure the presence of all bigguns of the Opposition partiesto showcase the success ofKarnataka as roadmap forfuture unity of the Opposition.

After BJP legislature partyleader BS Yeddyurappa steppeddown as the Chief Minister onSaturday without facing thefloor test in the State Assemblyas the BJP fell short of numbers,Governor Vajubhai Vala invit-ed Kumaraswamy to form theGovernment.

After meeting theGovernor on Saturday,Kumaraswamy had said theswearing-in ceremony wouldtake place tentatively between12 noon and 1.50 pm atKanteerava stadium on May 21.But, later he announced thatthe event would be held onMay 23 as May 21 happens tobe the death anniversary of for-mer Prime Minister RajivGandhi.

The venue of the swearing-in is also likely to be changed,with party sources now sayingit is likely to take place at

Vidhana Soudha (the seat ofthe State legislature).However, Kumaraswamy saidhe had spoken to the ChiefSecretary and other senior offi-cials about it and they wouldtake a call on the venue.

Kumaraswamy on Sundaymet his father and formerPrime Minister HD DeveGowda at his residence andlater visited the hotel whereJD(S) MLAs are camping andheld a meeting with them. TheCongress is also taking nochance and keeping its MLAstogether at a post hotel.

On reports about parleyswith Congress leaders regardingelections in RajarajeshwariNagar and Jayanagar Assemblyconstituencies, Kumarasamydescribed it as “bogus”.

“It is a bogus news...Nosuch discussions have takenplace. Wining RajarajeshwariNagar and Jayanagara is a neces-sity. Till now, no such discus-sions have happened,” he said.

While polling was deferredin Rajarajeshwari Nagar con-stituency over allegations ofelectoral malpractice, election toJayanagar seat was counter-manded following the death ofthe BJP candidate.

From Page 1Many of the complainants

lamented that loud music beingplayed by the restro-bars wasdisturbing peace of their areasand impacting studies of theirwards, the official said.

In the national Capital,there are thousands of restro-bars and most of them usuallyplay recorded songs or musicon their premises to entertaintheir customers and attractpeople.

Some of the restro-barsare being run in the residentialareas. Residents have lodgedtheir concerns with the topbrass of the Delhi Excidedepartment about it. Action hasbeen initiated to put an end toit, said an official.

“L-17 (restaurants whichserve food and alcohol) areonly permitted for live singingand playing of instruments byprofessionals in their premises,”Delhi Excise CommissionerAmjad Tak told PTI.

According to the direc-tions by the department, Rule53 (4) of the Delhi ExciseRules, 2010 states that the L-17licensee is allowed only for live

singing/playing of instrumentsby professionals.

In Delhi, there is no provi-sion of separate licence forpubs. The Licence-17 is issuedby the Excise Department tothose restaurants wanting toserve alcohol to their cus-tomers.

Another seniorGovernment official said teamsof the Excise Department visitrestaurants serving alcohol andtake action against those violat-ing rules.

“During inspection, weensure that all laid down rulesare followed and if there is vio-lation of any rule, the depart-ment takes strict action,” theofficial, who did not wish to benamed, said.

According to the depart-ment, it received Rs 305.85-crore excise revenue in Aprilthis year while in the samemonth last year, the revenuewas Rs 291.01 crore.

The department has set atarget of Rs 5,200 crore fromexcise revenue in the currentfinancial year. In the last finan-cial year, it collected Rs 4,551.57crore as excise revenue.

From Page 1Telangana has received 40

per cent and Karnataka 54 percent excess rain during thesame period. Lakshadweep hasrecorded 150 per cent excessrain while Kerala recorded 35per cent extra rain so far.

Manipur, Sikkim, WestBengal, Uttarakhand,Chandigarh, Delhi, Odisha andChhattisgarh are among those

States which have received nor-mal pre-monsoon rain so far.

Dadar, Nagar Haveli, Diuand Daman have not receivedany pre-monsoon rain so far.

The pre-monsoon rainaffects almost all the States ofIndia, but its effect can beseen in two ways such as insome States of northern India

reduces the intensity of heatwaves, but it came with theblessing of showers in theEastern and Southern India forthe farmers.

“The country’s agricultureand the livelihood of farmersdepend on the monsoon rainand the pre-monsoon rainwhich brings blessing to thefruit producing farmers espe-cially mango .

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Intensifying their attack at theruling BJP, former Union

Ministers Yashwant Sinha andShatrughan Sinha on Sundaysaid that the saffron party was nomore what it was with internaldemocracy taking a direct hit.

Eulogising the former PrimeMinister AB Vajpayee and for-mer Deputy Prime Minister LKAdvani, they said that BJP hasnow become a “Modi sarkar”.

Loyalists-turned-bitter crit-ics of the BJP, especially ofPrime Minister Narendra Modiand BJP chief Amit Shah, alsomade it clear that victory in 2019election would be an “uphilltask” for the BJP withOpposition gradually presentinga united front.

A month after severing tieswith the BJP, the former ExternalAffairs and Finance MinisterYashwant Sinha also criticisedthe Government for its strategyregarding neighboring Pakistanand the economic policies.

Pointing that theConstitution was “repeatedlyviolated” in past four-five daysin Karnataka, Yashwant Sinhasaid that the “doctrine in today’sBJP is that elections must be wonat any cost” while ignoring theethics, or democracy.

Referring HimachalPradesh’s former Chief MinisterShanta Kumar’s recent state-ment, Yashwant Sinha said thatone of the senior-most leaders inBJP had recalled an incident of1982, when BJP had won 29seats in Himachal Assembly

polls and the Congress secured31, with six independent MLAsready to support the BJP to formthe Government.

“Atal Bihari Vajpayee hadthen announced that the BJPwould sit in Opposition ratherthan resort to horse-trading…And exactly oppositehappened in Karnataka, whichdid not succeed fortunately,” hesaid adding that the two persons,who controlled the party today,are nowhere close to the statureor the moral standing of Ataland Advani.

“Today’s BJP is not the BJPof Atal-Advani, which I hadjoined in 1993. It has beentaken over by the people towhom nothing matters morethan power. I am glad I am outof it,” he said.

However, at the same time,he made it clear that Modi is notthe issue, but “issues are

issues…be it farmers, economy,youth or foreign policy…Weare witnessing certain trends inour country and society whichare not healthy for our country.Issues will prevail and not thepersons. We would concentrateon issues”.

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Cautioning the saffronbrigade, the former BJP veteranunderlined that winning 2019elections would be an uphill taskfor BJP considering that allOpposition parties are comingtogether ignoring their egosand resolving differences.

Yashwant Sinha pointed thatdespite 282 seats in 2014 polls,BJP’s vote share was 31 percent,while all other parties got 69 per-cent. “And if this 69 percent gottogether, BJP would suffer…It issimple arithmetic,” he said

underlining that main ego prob-lem was in Uttar Pradeshbetween the SP and BSP, and “ifthey can resolve it, it can happenanywhere”.

He made it clear that thepeople, in 2019 polls, wouldjudge on the basis of govern-ment’s performance in past fiveyears and not “what happenedwhen Pandit (Jawaharlal) Nehru,or Indira Gandhi or RajivGandhi was there”.

He lashed out at the BJPGovernment saying that a senseof disappointment was prevail-ing across the nation as allpromises the BJP had madebefore polls were just “chunavijumle” to come to power.

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Picking holes in ModiGovernment’s Pakistan policy,the former External Affairs

Minister dubbed it as a “com-plete failure”.

“It would not be exaggera-tion to say this,” he said whilepointing that Modi invited thethen Pak Prime Minister NawazSharif on his swearing in, andsuddenly went to Lahore tomeet him, but “Pakistanbefooled Modi who keep on giv-ing them concession and theytook advantage…I would saythat Pakistan is cleverer than usin their foreign policy”.!��A��B

Mincing no words andmaking it clear that he was say-ing with “full responsibility”,the former Finance Ministersaid that he did not “trust” fig-ures government is providingregarding fiscal indicators or jobgeneration.

“GDP figures are comingfrom the corporates while thereare no figures by unorganizedsector which has witnessedmarked decline due to demon-etization and GST,” he said.

He pointed that after com-ing to power, governmentchanged the base year and alsoformula to evaluate GDP whichchanged the figures. “We haveno comparative figures. Onlyyear is 2013-14, which was UPAgovernment’s last year. Estimatedgrowth rate was 4.7 percent,which after changes in baseyear and formula, became 6.8percent witnessing a majorjump,” he pointed.

On employment, Sinhalashed out at the Governmentfor doing away with Labour

Bureau of India’s figures regard-ing jobs, and consideringEmployees' Provident Fund’sfigures for job creation.

“This is completely wrongway to evaluate employmentgeneration as any establishmentcould register with EPF only if ithas 20 employees. An organiza-tion of 19 employees, when reg-isters after it get one moreemployee, EPF would say 20 newjobs, but otherwise there’s onlyone,” he elaborated while describ-ing it as “distortion of truth”.

He quipped, “By the end oftheir tenure, India will be grow-ing 10 percent annually, employ-ment generation will be twocrore, and every jumla wouldbecome a reality.”

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Two Sinhas, who have lot incommon — being former unionministers, representing sameparty, top critics of present BJPleadership, outspoken and fear-

less — have come togetherunder Rashtra Manch (NationalForum).

Yashwant Sinha, father of theUnion Minister of State for CivilAviation Jayant Sinha, had leftthe BJP on April 21 andannounced a non-political plat-form on January 30 along withShatrughan, former MinisterHarmohan Dhawan, formerambassador KC Singh, amongothers.

“It’s not an organisation buta movement for country’s better-ment,” he said adding that theirmost important concern at themoment is saving democracy asit would be difficult if any of itspillars were compromised.

Shatrughan added that theyhave come together “not with apolitical motive, but to put pol-itics on the right math, it’s a con-structive movement, anandolan…anyone, from anyparty, can come for country’sbetterment and people’s interest”.

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Chandigarh: Actor-turnedpolitician Shatrughan Sinha onSunday dared the ruling partyto take action against him if itwanted to while making it clearthat he would not resign on hisown. “I joined BJP when it wastwo-seat party not to leave it, butto be in it…But today, it’s not

BJP party, but Modi Sarkaar,” hesaid while maintaining that ifthe party wanted to expel me, Iwould respect their wisdom.

Maintaining that he neverviolated party’s maryaada, theShotgun Sinha said: “If callinga spade a spade if revolt, then Iam a rebel.” PNS

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Chief Minister Raman Singhon Sunday stated that trib-

al stronghold Surajpur districtwas shining bright like sun andit is marching ahead on thepath of development.

Singh was addressing apublic rally at Uchdih villageduring his ongoing Vikas Yatrain Surajpur district which wasconstituted in 2012. The districtis located in extreme northerntip of the state borderingJharkhand state. ``Formationof this district (Surajpur) hasbrought positive changes in thelives of farmers, labourers andtribal people of this region,’’Singh claimed.

Chief Minister said-farm-ing of flowers and fruits hasbecome an additional source ofincome for farmers of Surajpurdistrict, other than regularagricultural activities. Surajpurdistrict is the largest producerof fruits and flowers in the state.

Singh commemorated theveteran tribal leader, formerminister Late Shivpratap Singhand announced that the gov-ernment college in Odgi area ofSurajpur district will be namedafter him.

He also announced that thegovernment college in Silfiliwill be named after veterantribal leader of the area Ex-MPMurari Lal Singh.

He performed bhumi-pujan of various works worthRs 226 crore for development

of Surajpur district. He distrib-uted cheques of financial aidsof Rs. 7.78 crore to beneficia-ries of various welfare schemesof the government.

Chief Minister creditedpaddy bonus amount worth Rs40 crore directly to theaccounts of farmers of the dis-

trict at one click. He opined that in upcom-

ing four months, every house-hold of the state includingthose of Surajpur district will beprovided electricity supply andeach and every majra-tola willbe completely electrified.

On the occasion, Home

Minister Ramsevak Paikra,Labour, Sports and YouthWelfare Minister BhaiyalalRajwade, Rajya Sabha memberRamvichar Netam, formerminister Renuka Singh werepresent in the programme asspecial guest.

In Surajpur, Chief Minister

inaugurated constructionworks worth nearly Rs 113crore and did bhumipujan-foundation laying of construc-tion works worth nearly Rs 114crore this includes inaugurationof MCH Centre building worthRs 8 crore 24 lakh for tehsilheadquarters Bhaiyathan,

newly-built district transportoffice building worth Rs 70lakh for Surajpur, hostel build-ing and superintendent resi-dential quarter built at the costof Rs one crore 92 lakh in gov-ernment polytechnic and med-ical mobile unit of Rs 32 lakhfor Premnagar block.

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Ayouth was stabbed to deathwhen he tried to save and

rescue his cousin who wasbeing badly beaten by attack-ers in a long running dispute.

The incident took place inBhawani Nagar, Jora, underTelibandha Police Station juris-diction on intervening night ofSaturday and Sunday.

According to informationfrom Station House OfficerTelibandha, Rajesh Bagde, onan old rivalry Gunal Sonaniwas badly being beaten nearGaura Gauri Chowk byaccused Ashok, 30, S/O Fakira

Ram Yadav, Ranjan, 32, S/ODagmal Yadav, Ramesh, 21S/O Fakira Yadav and Ravi, 21S/O Fakira Yadav on lateSunday night. Looking at it hiscousin Sagar Pal S/O BanarasiPal intervened into the matterand tried to save his brother.

Sagar was brutally stabbedby knife and other sharpweapons. Sagar was rushed toa hospital in a serious conditionwhere doctors declared himbrought dead.

On report of applicantGunal, police had filed a case.Police had arrested all the fouraccused and further investiga-tion was on into the matter.

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While the IndiaM e t e o r o l o g i c a l

Department (IMD) has pre-dicted a normal southwestmonsoon for entire Odisha thisyear, weather experts havequestioned the present systemof prediction as the wholeState has been taken as onezone.

“Taking the entire State asone zone has proved wrong inpast and farmers have sufferedas different places experiencedvaried rainfall during the mon-soon,” pointed out experts.

The IMD on Monday pre-dicted that the monsoon wouldbe normal this year with rain-

fall of 97 per cent of the longperiod average (LPA) with anerror of plus or five per cent.

While the IMD is takingentire State as ‘one zone’ andpredicting monsoon, expertsfeel that Odisha is distinctlydivided into at least threezones, coastal, western andsouthern and, thus, the IMDprediction goes wrong.

It was all discussed at areview meeting Chief SecretaryAP Padhi held with the IMDofficials at the Secretariatrecently.

“Instead of an overall pre-diction, there should be zone-specific information madeavailable to the farmers as it isavailable in Karnataka,” he

said.Special Relief

Commissioner (SRC)Bishnupada Sethi was present.He had raised this issue in themeeting of the SRCs andDisaster ManagementSecretaries held in New Delhion 18 May.

He urged the IMD tochange its present system ofinformation dissemination andpredict monsoon for variouszones of the State separately.

While he pressed for use ofmodern method, Secretariesand SRCs of other StateSecretaries and SRCs support-ed him, said sources.

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Close to former PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif ’s

disclosures about the hand ofPakistan establishment andnon-state actors in the 26/11terror attacks in India, a freshdocument has emerged thatproves that Pakistani agenciesnot only arm, train and protectterrorists but also facilitatethem to carry out attacks inneighbouring countries likeIndia and Afghanistan.

In a latest, a certificateissued by Pakistan’s BannuCantonment incharge has sur-faced that clearly reveals thatfour Taliban terrorists weretrained and released byPakistan Army to carry outattacks in Afghanistan andthey had full patronage of thePakistan Army.

The certificate issued byLieutenant ColonelMuhammad Aamir, sub sectorcommander of BannuCantonment, names fourTaliban members and the listof weapons with them. Thecertificate says these four menhaving Computerised NationalIdentity Cards (CNIC) men-tioned against their names areworking with “this setup”

(Pakistan military). “They areallowed to carry weaponsalong vehicle BS-347 of this setup for self protection in Bannu,FR Bannu and Lakki Marwat(all southern KhyberPakhtunkhwa areas inPakistan),” the certificate said.

The certificate lists GulZaman (son of Qalandar Khan)carrying Kalashnikov rifle withfour magazines having 120rounds and a 9 mm pistolwith two magazine with 50rounds; Muhammad Ishaq

(son of Abdul Aziz) with aKalashnikov rifle and fourmagazines with 120 rounds;Salamat Khan (son of MalikKhan) carrying Kalashnikovrifle and four magazines with120 rounds, and ShabibRehman (son of Gul Sardar)carrying Kalashnikov rifle andfour magazines with 120rounds, along with their CNICnumbers. It adds that any com-plaint with regard these menshould be communicated/clar-ified from Lt Col Aamir on his

mobile number given on thecertificate. The certificate isvalid up to June 30, 2018.

According to Afghanistan’sformer intelligence chiefRahmatullah Nabil, theseTaliban terrorists under thecommand of Bahaval Khanalias Salahuddin of MullahNazir group, Hafiz GulBahadar factions and HaqqaniNetwork were brought backfrom training camps ofMuzaffarabad, Manshera,Naushera and Jhelum to North

and South Waziristan and theywill be send as fighters toPaktika, Khost, Paktia , Ghazni-Wardak and Logar inAfghanistan to destablise theregion and fight the Americanand Afghanistan securityforces. Pakistan considers thesemen as “good Taliban”.

“Pak is just like superstoreof terrorism. You can find anysort of terrorist there! Terroristin uniform, without uniform,retired, long beard, short beard,shaved, foreigner, young, old!Any type of terrorists, justname it!” Nabil said on Twitter.

In an interview toPakistan’s Dawn newspaper,former PM Nawaz Sharif con-fessed to the involvement ofPak based terrorists in theMumbai terror attacks in 2008saying militant organisationswere still active in Pakistan.

“Militant organisations areactive. Call them non-stateactors, should we allow them tocross the border and kill 150people in Mumbai? Explain itto me. Why can’t we completethe trial?...It’s absolutely unac-ceptable. This is exactly whatwe are struggling for. PresidentPutin has said it. President Xihas said it,” Sharif told Dawnnewspaper.

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The CBI is likely to approachInterpol for a Red Corner

Notice against absconding bil-lionaire jewellers Nirav Modiand Mehul Choksi who areallegedly the brains behind theover $2 billion scam in PunjabNational Bank. Modi alongwith his wife Ami, a US citizen,brother Nishal a Belgian, anduncle Choksi, Gitanjali group’spromoter, had fled the countrybefore the bank approached theCBI with a complaint againsthis companies for allegedlycheating through fraudulentissuance of Letters ofUndertakings (LoUs) andForeign Letters of Credit(FLCs).

The agency recentlychargesheeted both Modi andChoksi separately in the scamand will now approach theInterpol for a Red CornerNotice aimed at bringing themback for facing trial in the casesagainst them, the sources said.

The PNB had approachedthe CBI with a complaint onthe basis of which the agency

had registered an FIR againstModi.

The agency had immedi-ately issued a diffusion noticewith the Interpol to track Modiand Choksi but their where-abouts remain unknown, thesources said.

They said the Red CornerNotice will allow enforcementagencies of the member coun-tries of Interpol to try to findand arrest them in their respec-tive countries.

The CBI, in itschargesheets filed last week,alleged that Modi, through hiscompanies, siphoned off fundsto the tune of �6,498.20 croreusing fraudulent LoUs issuedfrom PNB’s Brady Housebranch in Mumbai. Choksiswindled �7080.86 crore, mak-

ing it possibly the biggest bank-ing scam in the country, italleged.

An additional loan defaultof over �5,000 crore to Choksi'scompanies is also a matter ofprobe under the CBI. It isalleged that Modi and Choksithrough their companiesavailed credit from overseasbranches of Indian banks usingthe fraudulent guarantees of thePNB given through LoUs andletters of credit which were notrepaid bringing the liabilityon the state-run bank, the offi-cials said.

An LoU is a guaranteegiven by an issuing bank toIndian banks having branchesabroad to grant short-termcredit to the applicant.

The instructions for trans-ferring the funds were alleged-ly issued by a bank employee,Gokulnath Shetty, using aninternational messaging systemfor banking called SWIFT plat-form and without making theirsubsequent entries in the PNB’sinternal banking software, thusbypassing scrutiny in the bank,they said.

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The Housing and UrbanAffairs Ministry has

claimed that at least 1,333 pro-jects worth �50,626 crores havebeen completed or underimplementation/tenderingunder the Smart City Mission.Overall projects worth�2,03,979 crores have beenidentified for all 99 smart citiesacross the country. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi isexpected to review all flagshipschemes including smart citiesproject by next month.

As per HUA Ministry’sdata, smart road projects havebeen completed in four citiesworth �228 crores. Variousprojects in 40 cities worth�5,123 crores are under imple-mentation or tendering stage.Smart Solar projects in sixcities have been completed,while projects in 49 cities areunder implementation/ten-dering.

“Smart Water projects havebeen completed in 6 citieswhile projects are under imple-mentation/tendering in 43cities. Similarly, Smart WasteWater projects in 46 cities havebeen completed/under imple-mentation/ tendering. Theprojects under Public PrivatePartnership worth �734 croreshave been completed in 13cities while projects worth�7,753 crores are under imple-mentation/tendering in 52cities. Apart from this, otherimpactful projects like her-itage conservation, water frontdevelopment, public spacedevelopment etc. have beencompleted in 13 cities worth�107 crores and projects worth

�5,865 crores are under imple-mentation/tendering,” theMinistry said.

“Out of 99 Smart citieswhich have been selected so far,91 of them have already incor-porated SPVs (Special PurposeVehicles). At least nine SmartCities viz. Ahmedabad, Rajkot,Vadodara, Visakhapatnam,Bhopal, Pune, Kakinada, Suratand Nagpur have already estab-lished Integrated CityCommand and ControlCentres (ICCC). Work is underprogress on 14 more and 32 areunder tendering stage,” theministry said in its statement.

Under Atal Mission forRejuvenation and UrbanTransformation (AMRUT)scheme, out of State AnnualAction Plan(SAAP) size of�77,640 crores, projects worth�65,075 crores (84 per cent) areunder various stages of imple-mentation including projects

tendered and where detailedproject reports have beenapproved.

Close to 400 projects worth�325 crores have already beencompleted and for 2,188 pro-jects worth �40,074 crores,contracts have been awardedand are at various stages ofimplementation. Further, 895projects costing �13,586 croresare under tendering and for 729projects costing �10,824 croresDPRs have been approved.Further, 8.58 lakh water tapconnections have been pro-vided so far under the Missionand by convergence of otherschemes. By the end of theMission, i.e. June 2020, nearly1.4 crore water taps will be pro-vided across the country. 37lakh street lights have beenreplaced with energy efficientLED lights. Around 322 greenspaces and parks projects havebeen completed under the

Mission. As far as Prime Minister

Awas Yojna (Urban) is con-cerned, a total of �24,475 croreshas been released to the Statesunder the scheme. So far, 45.86lakh houses have been sanc-tioned under the scheme; outof these 23.43 lakh houseshave been grounded and 7.02lakh houses have been com-pleted so far (including incom-plete houses of earlier scheme).Under the PMAY (U), theGovernment aims to constructaround 1.2 crore houses forurban poor by 2022.

The central assistanceapproved by the UPAGovernment was to the tune of�20,303 crore for constructionof 13.45 lakh houses for thepoor, while the NDAGovernment has approved�70,716 crore for constructionof sanctioned 45.86 lakh hous-es so far, according to the data.

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The Election Commissionhas brushed aside argu-

ments that the model code ofconduct brings governance toa halt during polls, saying itonly bars Governments fromannouncing fresh projects andschemes during the period.The EC has also told the LawCommission that as and whenGovernment Departmentsapproach it with ‘references’ toclear proposals and schemesduring poll time, it takes a fastdecision understanding theurgency involved.

The issue of model code ofconduct came up for elaboratediscussion at a meetingbetween the top brass of ECand law panel on May 16 whenthey met to discuss the possi-bility of holding simultaneouselections to Lok Sabha andState Assemblies.

The Law Commission hadreceived quite a few complaintsregarding issues faced when thecode of conduct is in force,hence the extra focus.

The Law panel wanted toascertain how many such

instances were reported duringthe last four elections byCentral or State Governmentsand the number of times it wassettled.

In a meeting that lastedover one-and-a-half hours,when members of the lawpanel asked the EC about the“argument” that the modelcode brings governance to ahalt, the poll panel rejected thesuggestion outrightly, sourcesaware of the deliberationssaid. The ElectionCommission of India was rep-

resented by the Chief ElectionCommissioner OP Rawat andtwo other election commis-sioners, whereas the LawCommission was headed byformer Supreme Court judgeJustice BS Chauhan and threeother members of theCommission.

Though both bodies had alist of 20 questions to deliber-ate upon, the Justice Chauhan-led panel primarily focussed onissues that arise and affect (if atall) the functioning ofGovernments when the EC’s

model code of conduct is inforce.

The EC was of the viewthat the code does not bringgovernance to a halt. It said thecode only bars announcementand launch of new schemes andprojects so that voters are notinfluenced by the party inpower.

It also told the law panelthat “it works with alacrity”when government departmentsseek its permission to go aheadwith certain decisions duringmodel code period.

It said several 'references'are received by it and it triesto dispose most on them in atime-bound manner. The lawpanel has now asked EC togive it a list of referencesreceived from governmentsduring recent elections,including those held in Goa,Gujarat, Himachal Pradeshand Karnataka.

The Model Code ofConduct is a set of normswhich has been evolved withthe consensus of political par-ties who have consented toabide by it and also bindsthem to respect and observe itin its letter and spirit.

The Election Commissionensures that it is followed byparties and candidates. It is alsoensured that official machineryis not misused to help the rul-ing party.

The model code isenforced from the date ofannouncement of electionschedule by the ElectionCommission and is opera-tional till the process of elec-tions are completed, which isusually a couple of days afterthe verdict is announced.

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The Government has earned�1,400 crore as revenue

from the highly successful e-Visa scheme, offered to citizensof 163 countries visiting Indiaas tourists, since its launch in2014. Union Home Ministryofficials said the popular e-Visascheme was availed by 19 lakhtourists in 2017 and it is expect-ed that more than 25 lakhtourists will avail the facility in2018. Since its launch in 2014,the e-Visa scheme has earnedrevenue of more than �1,400crore, a Home Ministry officialsaid.

The e-Visa fees are divid-ed into four slabs of zero, $25,$50 and $75 which were fixedon reciprocity and dependingon nationality. The e-Visascheme has been implementedby the foreigners division of theHome Ministry with a view toimprove the efficiency andtransparency of various ser-vices being provided to foreignnationals. The facility is nowavailable for nationals of 163countries for entry into Indiathrough 25 international air-ports and five sea ports.

Under the e-visa scheme,an applicant, when an onlineapplication is submitted,receives an e-mail authorisinghim or her to travel to Indiaafter it has been approved.The tourist can travel with aprint-out of this authorisation,another official said.

On arrival, the visitor has

to present the authorisation tothe immigration authoritieswho would then allow theentry into the country. The e-Visa scheme also covers busi-ness and medical categories,apart from tourism. Visitors one-Visa could stay in India fortwo months.

The window for applica-tion under e-Visa scheme hasbeen increased from 30 days to120 days and duration of stayon e-Visa has been increasedfrom 30 days to 60 days withdouble entry on e-tourist ande-business visa and triple entryon e-medical visa.

With a view to promotecruise tourism, cruise touristswith e-Visas has been exempt-ed from the requirement of bio-metric enrolment tillDecember 31, 2020 as many ofthe cruise ships coming toIndia are mega ships with 2,000-4,000 passengers on board.

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Tourism Minister KJAlphons has favoured lift-

ing restrictions on foreignerstravelling to ArunanchalPradesh and parts of Sikkim,border areas in Rajasthan,Jammu and Kashmir andHimachal Pradesh.

Alphons said that present-ly foreigners need special per-mits such as a Protected AreasPermit (PAP) and RestrictedAreas Permit (RAP) to be ableto travel in these areas.

“The Ministry has pro-posed opening up theNortheast for tourists. In thelast six months theGovernment has opened upmany restricted areas and if theplan in the Northeast works,then many more border areascan be opened up,” he said.

In a meeting with seniorHome Affairs and DefenceMinistry officials last week,the Minister sought such relax-ation. Any change would besubject to the approval of theministries because the issuerelated to India’s security, hesaid.

“The States too need to beconsulted and as of now wecannot give a deadline for this.However, over the past sixmonths we have been workingvery fast on this,” Alphonssaid. The Tourism Ministry, headded, was also planning to

propose that travel restrictionsbe removed from border areasin Rajasthan, Uttarakhand,Jammu and Kashmir andHimachal Pradesh.

In another meeting withMinister for Civil AviationSuresh Prabhu and Minister ofState for Civil Aviation, JayantSinha, Alphons called for pro-viding better air connectivityfor tourist destinations.

“In the meeting, it wasdecided that the Ministry ofCivil Aviation shall under-write any loss making route, ifit is not already covered underUdan scheme. It was alsodecided that Udan schemecould be extended to all theunder-served destinations atthe earliest,” said an officialfrom the Tourism Ministry.

He said during the meet-ing, Alphons also requested fordaily Air India flights toKhajuraho, better connectivityto Aurangabad for accessingAjanta-Ellora, Triangular flighton Kochi-Goa-Jaipur sector,more international flights fromKozhikode.

“Similarly, internationalflights to South East Asiancountries from GuwahatiAirport, commissioning ofKannur Airport, direct flightsfrom Delhi to Kozhikode, dailyflights from Kolkata to Shillongand more flights to Varanasiwere also suggested,” the offi-cial added.

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Astudy published in aninternational journal has

noted that ayurvedic drug,BGR-34, a composition ofIndian herbs has been found tobe effective in cutting downheart attack risk by fifty percent in the diabetes patients.

The study found that in atleast half of the total patientswho participated in the clinicaltrial for the drug, glycosylatedhaemoglobin level (tested tomonitor the long-term controlof diabetes mellitus) was undercontrol.

The results hold impor-tance given that achieving nearnormal glycated hemoglobin(HbA1c) significantly decreas-es risk of microvascular andmacrovascular complicationscausing organ and tissue dam-age.

Glycosylated hemoglobinis the hemoglobin in the RedBlood Cell (RBC) to which glu-cose is bound.

It is an indicator of theaverage blood glucose concen-trations over the preceding 2-3 months and is used as a con-venient and well-known bio-

marker in clinical practice.As per the study, published

in international publicationslike the Journal of Traditionaland Complementary Medicine,the clinical trial of the anti-dia-betic potential of BGR-34 wasconducted as per the IndianCouncil of Medical Research(ICMR) guidelines on con-ducting trials of ayurvedic sub-stances.

It noted that though thereare many allopathic drugswhich too have been foundeffective in controlling bloodglucose level, these were notpreventive enough to preventall the complications of dia-betes.

In contrast, BGR-3, pre-pared from six medicinal plantsviz. Daruharidra, Giloy ,Vijaysar, Gudmar, Manjeesthaand Methi, is an appropriateoption to consider for additionto a managed care drug for-mulary, said the study con-ducted on around 56 patientsin a Delhi hospital.

Sold by Delhi-basedAIMIL Pharma, the intake ofBGR-34 collectively releases34 active phytoconstituents inthe recipient body that helps

manage the sugar level in theblood, said the study. The drughas been jointly developed bytwo CSIR laboratories —National Botanical ResearchInstitute (NBRI) and CentralInstitute for Medicinal andAromatic Plant (CIMAP).

Keeping in view of thepossibility of side effects of allo-pathic drugs, the WHO ExpertCommittee on diabetes hasencouraged that traditionalmedicinal herbs should beinvestigated on large scale fordiscovering safe and effectiveoral anti-diabetic agents.

Doctors say that adultswith diabetes are two to fourtimes more likely to die fromheart disease than adults with-out diabetes.

According to the officialWHO data, India tops the listof countries with the highestnumber of diabetics followedby China, America, Indonesia,Japan, Pakistan, Russia, Brazil,Italy and Bangladesh.

From 31.7 million in2000, diabetes cases areexpected to rise by more than100 per cent in 2030 toaccount to a whopping 79.4million in India.

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Enthused by overwhelmingresponse of ongoing water

conservation campaign —Sujalam Sufalam Jal SanchayAbhiyan-2018 (SSJA) — theVijay Rupani Government inGujarat decided to approve anadditional �900 crore project tomake the State’s second biggestriver Tapi pollution free.

Speaking at Surat whichhas been developed on thebanks of Tapi River, ChiefMinister Vijay Rupaniannounced the commence-ment of the ambitious projectto make the river pollution free.Rupani also initiated work onthis direction to remove 18000Metric Tonne of algae from theriver.

Interestingly the waterconservation campaign hasbegun with 517 JCB machinesin collaboration with 450organisations that includeNGO’s, municipalities, munic-

ipal corporations as well as dif-ferent social and religiousorganisations on the Gujarat’sFoundation Day on 1st May.Now according to the ChiefMinister 4000 JCP machineshave been deployed on differ-ent sites and more than 2800organisations joined handswith the State Government.

“The campaign is cur-rently providing employmentto 3.25 lakh labourers. Thecampaign was started withnearly 2800 labourers 19 days

ago. Perspiration of those whoare working hard in scorchingheat to enhance storage capac-ity of water would makeGujarat free from water scarci-ty in future,” said Rupani.

Through SSJA the StateGovernment is aiming toscoop out 11000 cubic feet ofearth from 13000 villageponds and lakes as well as 32rivers during the month ofMay to enhance storage capac-ity of rainwater to perma-nently solved drinking water

problem of the people inGujarat.

With the statewide SSJApoised to become India’sbiggest water conservationcampaign, CM Rupani has alsoinvited USA based GujaratiNRIs to contribute in deepen-ing of lakes in their native vil-

lages. On Sunday he addresseda gathering of NRIs throughVideo Conference. He alsoinvited US based Gujarati busi-nessmen to participate in theninth edition of VibrantGujarat Global Summit to beheld during 18th to 20thJanuary 2019.

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Gandhinagar : StateGovernment’s Science &Technology Department’sGujarat Centre of Excellence,NASSCOM and IIT-Gandhinagar (IIT-Gn) signeda MoU to set up a Centre ofExcellence for Internet ofThings (IoT) at IIT-Gn at afunction at Gandhinagar inpresence of Chief MinisterVijay Rupani. Speaking onthe occasion Rupani said thatsuch centers of excellence forinternet of things are there indeveloped countries which

would be available in Gujaratas well. This is one of the fivesuch centres being set up byGovernment of India in thecountry. The objective is to encourageinnovation in startups beingset up by young entrepre-neurs in the field of agricul-ture, health, production, etcunder the guidance of expertsfrom NASSCOM and IIT-Gnin the midst of highlyadvanced infrastructure facilities available at the twoinstitutions. PNS

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The Bombay LawyersAssociation has filed a

review petition in the SupremeCourt over the dismissal of itsplea seeking an independentprobe into the death of specialCBI Judge Brijgopal HarkishanLoya.

Nearly a month after athree-member SC bench dis-missed pleas seeking an inde-pendent probe into Judge Loya’sdeath, the Bombay LawyersAssociation moved the apexcourt against its order of April19, 2018 which “which hasresulted in miscarriage of justiceif not complete negation of jus-tice on the facts of the case”.

The Association also con-tended that the dismissal of itspetition was “manifestly wrong”and the subsistence of the judge-ment in so doing “is injurious tothe public interests and largergood”.

“We filed the review petitionin the Supreme Court in theLoya death case within stipu-lated 30 days of the judgementin the case. We expect the apexcourt to take up our petitionafter the summer vacation,”Bombay Lawyers Association’spresident Ahmad Abdi told ThePioneer here on Sunday.

Justice Loya (48) had died ofa “heart attack” on December 1,2014 when he had gone toattend the wedding of a col-league’s daughter. At that time,Justice Loya was hearing thealleged Sohrabuddin Sheikhencounter case – in which BJP‘scurrent national president AmitShah was one of the accused.Justice Loya’s family had earlierraised several questions aboutthe circumstances leading toLoya’s sudden death.

Dismissing a bunch peti-tions, including that of theBombay Lawyers Association,seeking an independent probe

into Judge Loya’s death, theapex court had in verdict deliv-ered on April 19 dubbed thepetitions as ‘frivolous’ and saidthey were 'bereft of any truth'and an attempt to malign thejudiciary. The court said it wasclear that Judge Loya had dieda natural death and there was'not a shred of doubt' about it.

A SC bench of CJI DipakMisra, Justices A M Khanwilkarand D Y Chandrachud had alsodisapproved a frontal attack bythe petitioners’ advocatesDushyant Dave, Indira Jaisingand Prashant Bhushan who hadsought to egg the apex court dis-believe the three judicial officerswho accompanied Loya toNagpur and stayed with him ata guest house and said the judgehad died of a heart attack.Though it said that the conductby the petitioners’ advocateswarranted contempt proceed-ings, the SC bench chose not toproceed further in the matter.

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Two persons on Sunday werekilled in landslides trig-

gered by incessant rains inTripura with flash floods inun-dating several areas in four dis-tricts, officials said.

On Friday, four personswere killed in landslides inWest Tripura district.

The police said an 18-year-old woman was killed at Palkuvillage in Gomati district anda 60-year-old man died atBelbari block in West Tripura,25 km from state capitalAgartala, owing to landslides.

Nearly 14,000 have takenshelter in 59 relief camps in thefour flood-affected districts,officials said. Gomati, Khowai,

Sipahijala and West Tripuradistricts were hit by the flashfloods, State DisasterManagement Authority(SDMA) officer Sarat Das said.Jirania and Mohanpur in West

Tripura district were the worstaffected, he said.

Haora river, which flowsthrough Agartala, is close to thedanger mark, the officials said.

A red alert has been sound-

ed in Gomati district and adja-cent Sonamura sub-divisionof Sipahijala district. TheGovernment has announced aninterim relief of �1 lakh for thenext of kin of the deceased.

Rescue operations werebeing carried out by theTripura State Rif les, theNational Disaster ResponseForce and civil defence per-sonnel, they said.

District Magistrate of WestTripura district MilindRamteke told reporters 14boats were pressed into serviceand over 700 families rescued.

Fourteen relief camps havebeen set up where food, med-icines and other essential sup-plies have been made available,he added.

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Muzaffarnagar: The Shamlidistrict police on Sundayclaimed to have seized 915 car-tons of liquor believed to bemeant for distribution for theMay 28 Kairana Lok Sabhabypoll in Uttar Pradesh.

The liquor was being smug-gled from Haryana in a truckthat was intercepted by a policeteam, Circle Officer (CO) RajeshTiwari said. One person hasbeen arrested and during hisinterrogation, it was learnt thatthe liquor was meant for distri-bution for the bypoll, the officersaid.The seized liquor is worth`50 lakhs. The matter is beinginvestigated, police said. PTI

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Dogra Swabhimaan Rallyconvened by the former

Minister and sitting BJP MLAfrom Basohli, Lal Singh,Sunday created ripples in thecorridors of power as itreceived massive response fromthe majority Dogra populationin the region.

The attendance at the rallyleft many rival BJP leadersand Opposition parties redfaced as they were not expect-ing such a huge response dur-ing the rally.

Chants of CBI inquiry insupport of victim of Kathua rapeand murder case echoed allalong the 38 km long route cov-ered by Lal Singh, braving swel-tering heat conditions, on foot.

Rough estimates suggestedover 20,000 people convergedat the venue of the rally whilethousand others arrived in a

procession headed by LalSingh.

Those who attended therally also wore black ribbons asa mark of protest against theState Government as it failed torecommend CBI probe in thematter.

None from the State BJPunit or sitting legislator/min-ister attended the rally. Majorityof them were seen attendingfelicitation ceremonies organ-ised to honour newly appoint-ed state party Chief RavinderRaina and Deputy ChiefMinister Kavinder Gupta inJammu.

Addressing the massivegathering Lal Singh reiteratedhis demand for holding CBIprobe in the rape and murdercase of 8 year old girl belong-ing to a nomadic community.

He also renamed HinduEkta Manch as Dogra EktaManch sending a clear signal to

his political adversaries andthose sitting at the helm ofaffairs that in the coming dayshe would be leading the cam-paign with a clear focus onrestoring lost pride of the braveDogra community. He thankedall participants with foldedhands claiming their full sup-port has resurrected a move-ment to restore Dogra pride inthe region.

Even social media plat-forms were abuzz with manyoutstation followers closelytracking the developments inthe state.

An enthusiast wrote on histwitter time line, “ Following#DograSwabhimaanRally from#London. So happy to see thefellow #Dogras be it in #India#Jammu & Kashmir or foreign#NRIs standing united andfighting for one cause. Our ownself respect, our values, our cul-ture, our land, our history. We

won’t tolerate polarisation any-more”.

Even after the interventionof the highest court in the sen-sitive case, beleaguered LalSingh has refused to step backand is spearheading a move-ment to restore lost pride ofDogra community.

He claims selective mediacoverage and wrong presenta-tion of facts created piquant sit-uation for the Dogra commu-nity and also dented its imagein the eyes of outsiders.

Before launching themovement he had taken a vowto set right the record booksand not to tolerate desperatemoves aimed at tarnishingimage of the entire communi-ty to serve political agenda ofcertain vested interests.

Ever since Lal Singh wasasked to resign by the partyhigh command to save theirown image in the second week

of April 2018 he was conduct-ing road shows in support ofthe popular demand to holdCBI inquiry in the rape andmurder case of 8 year old girlfrom Rasana village in Kathua.

Both Lal Singh andChandra Prakash Ganga, BJPministers in the council ofministers of Mehbooba Muftigovernment, were asked toresign by the party high com-mand to save their own image.The duo had attended a rallyconvened by members ofHindu Ekta Manch, spear-heading a campaign, in supportof accused arrested in the caseon March 1. Both these seniorparty ministers were rushed bythe state party Chief to meetagitating local population aftersome of them were forced tomigrate from their villages toescape alleged torture by themembers of the Crime Branchteam.

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West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on

Sunday expressed deep concernover the sharp rise in petrol anddiesel prices, saying it will affectcommon people.

“We are very concernedabout the rising prices of petroland diesel. This will certainlyaffect prices all around.Common people, farmers andmany will suffer,” Banerjee saidon her official Twitter handle.

Petrol price today increasedby 33 paisa a litre in Delhi —the highest since the daily pricerevision came into force inmid-June 2017, and diesel by 26paisa, according to price noti-fication issued by state-ownedoil firms.

Petrol costs �78.91 per litreand diesel �70.12 in Kolkata,the notification said.

Rates vary from state tostate depending on the inci-dence of local sales tax or VAT.Prices in Delhi are the cheap-est among all metros and moststate capitals.

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The bodies of six minorchildren, including four

girls, have been fished outfrom water-filled ditches inseparate incidents inSamastipur and Katihar dis-tricts of Bihar, police said onSunday.

In the first incident, threechildren including a girldrowned in a water-filled ditchat Koluara village inSamastipur district on Sunday,police said.

Kalyanpur police stationSHO Madhurendra Kishoresaid that the deceased havebeen identified as MuskanKumari (10), Rakesh Kumar(9) and Amit Kumar (7).

The bodies have been sentto Sadar hospital for post-mortem, the SHO said.

In another incident, thebodies of three minor girlswere fished out of a ditch thismorning in Kutubpur village ofKatihar district, a police offi-cer said.

It seems the three girls, twosiblings and their cousin, fellinto the ditch, which was filledto the brim with rainwater, ontheir way to home from school,the sub-inspector of Maniharipolice station, Sunil Kumar,said.

“As there was no humanhabitation in the area, no onenoticed the girls. Their parentshad been looking for themsince last evening. This morn-ing, the bodies were foundfloating on the river,” he said.

The deceased have beenidentified as Simran Khatoon(7), Rukhsana Khatoon (9)and their cousin Nargis (8), hesaid, adding that bodies havebeen sent to Katihar SadarHospital for post-mortem.

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From conferring new identi-ties that includes new name,

profession, parentage to relo-cation to a safer place withinthe State and Union Territories,the Bureau of Police Researchand Development (BPR&D)and National Legal ServicesAuthority (NLSA) have comeup with a draft WitnessProtection Scheme 2018 andsought suggestions from allthe stake holders to incorporatetheir views to make it a watertight programme.

Like the US and Europeancountries wherein witnessesare protected by State and aregiven a total different identity,programme will also ensure togive all support to the witnessso that no more witnesses arekilled in India and fair probe isensured.

The draft of scheme wascompleted on May 16 afterSupreme Court lashed out atCentre for not protecting wit-nesses in criminal cases. As perthe draft, the conviction rate inmurder and rape is around 10-12 per cent only as witness turnhostile. This fact has led tocome up with the witness pro-tection programme.

The scheme provides var-ious types of protection mea-sures but it shall be propor-tional to the threat and for a

specific duration. As per thedraft, there is provision tochange the identity and relocatethe witness. “In appropriatecases, where there is a requestfrom the witness for change ofidentity and based on the threatperception by the commis-sioner of police in commis-sionerates and SSP in districtpolice investigating the case, adecision can be taken for con-ferring a new identity to thewitness,” the draft stated.

Conferring new identitiesincludes new name, profes-sion, parentage and providingsupporting documents accept-able by the government agen-cies. Also the new identitieswould not deprive the witnessfrom existing educational, pro-fessional, property rights.

In appropriate cases, wherethere is a request from the wit-ness for relocation and basedon the threat perception, adecision can be taken for relo-cation of the witness by theCompetent Authority in viewthe safety, welfare and wellbe-ing of the witness.

There is also provision forawarding periodical financialaids and grants to the witnessfrom Witness Protection Fundfor the purpose of relocation,sustenance or starting newvocation and profession. Therewould be arrangement with thetelephone company to change

the witness's telephone numberor assign him or her an unlist-ed telephone number and alsosecurity devices would be in thewitness's home such as securi-ty doors, CCTV, alarms andfencing.

The scheme would alsoprovide concealment of theidentity of the witness by refer-ring to him or her with thechanged name or alphabet,close protection, regularpatrolling around the witness'shouse and also temporarychange of residence to a rela-tive's house or a nearby town.

Further, there would alsobe proper monitoring andreview of the witness protect-ed by the secretary and chair-person of District legal ServiceAuthority.

The scheme puts the wit-ness in three categories as perthreat analysis. Under catego-ry A, those witness comeswhere the threat extends to lifeof his or her and the familymembers and their normalway of living is affected .

In category B, those wit-ness falls where threat extendsto safety, reputation or propertyof the witness or his familymembers only during theinvestigation process or trialand in category B, those witnessfalls where the threat is mod-erate and extends to harass-ment or intimidation.

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Eighteen people stranded ona stretch between Anantnag

and Kishtwar districts ofJammu and Kashmir due tounseasonal snowfall were res-cued by the police in a swiftoperation, an official said onSunday.

The police launched theoperation after receiving infor-mation that six vehicles com-ing from Anantnag got strand-ed due to the inclement weath-er on Saturday, the officialsaid.

He said Sinthan topreceived heavy rain and inter-mittent snowfall last night andearly morning on Saturday.

“Due to the fresh snowfalland incessant rains, six vehiclescarrying 18 people, includingwomen and children, got stuckon the second road curve onthe Kishtwar side of the road,”he said.

The official said the policegot the track cleared and res-cued all the 18 people.

Meanwhile, the official saidthe police were taking actionagainst different mobile com-

panies for badly damaging theroad during the process ofcable laying.

“These companies haveviolated all the rules and have virtually ploughed theroad, turning it into a heap ofdebris. The police are going totake stern action against thesecompanies for damaging pub-lic property,” the official said.

He said the road was closedfor vehicular traffic as a precautionary measureand no vehicle was allowed toply on either side of it since yes-terday.

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Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister Chandra Babu

Naidu has decided to attendswearing-in ceremony ofKumaraswamy as Chief Ministerof Karnataka scheduled on 23rdof this month. Kumaraswamyhas invited Naidu personally. Onhis invitation, Naidu held teleconference with his Cabinet col-leagues on Sunday.

Ministers reminded Naiduabout the cordial relations withHD Deve Gowda as he played akey role in making Gowda asPrime Minister in the capacity ofConvenor of National Front.Ministers also suggested futurecordial relations with JD(S) asnational political scenario turn-ing against BJP. Naidu hasaccepted the suggestion of hisministers to attend swearing inceremony of Kumaraswamywherein other Chief MinistersMamata Banerjee and KChandrasekhar Rao also takingpart.

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Eying the next year’s LokSabha polls, BJP president

Amit Shah on Sunday said thatall the eight States of the regionwill be completely ‘Congress-mukt’ after the elections inMizoram, which is due later thisyear.

Shah said this whileaddressing the third conclave ofthe BJP led North EastDemocratic Alliance (NEDA)at Srimanta SankardevaKalakshetra here on Sundayand added that all the eightChief Ministers of northeasternStates will be sitting in the nextNEDA conclave after theMizoram elections.

Shah’s visit to Assam wit-nessed protests by KrishakMukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS)whose members waived blackflags to Shah in protest againstCentre’s move to pass theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill,

2016 on the stretch from airportnear Guwahati to SrimantaSankardeva Kalakshetra, wherethe conclave was organised.Police also arrested KMSS chiefAkhil Gogoi and some of hiscolleagues from near the meet-ing venue to be release later.

“This is only the third con-clave of NEDA and I can seerepresentation from sevennorthastern State here includ-

ing the Chief Ministers, DeputyChief Ministers, MLAs andMPs from our constituent par-ties,” said Shah while addingthat all the eight ChiefMinisters of northeastern Stateswill be sitting here togetherafter the Mizoram elections.

“NEDA wad formed afterwe won the elections in Assamin 2016. Followng Assam, weformed Governments in

Manipur and Tripura. InNagaland and Meghalaya,NEDA constituents NDPP andNPP respectively has formed theGovernments with supportfrom the BJP,” Shah said.

The BJP president alsolaunched an attack on theCongress and said that all theCongress Chief Ministers ofnortheastern States haveamassed bunglows and hugeproperties outside the State andin many Indian cities includingDelhi, Mumbai, Bangalore etc.“The BJP Government hasensured that every paisa sanc-tioned by the Centre reaches tothe people in the grassroots inall the States,” he said.

Shah said that the NEDA isnot only a political platform butgeo-cultural platform whichhave brought together all thenortheastern states to discussand implement ways to ensuredevelopment.

“Earlier northeastern

states are used to be known forcorruptions. Now due to thepresence of NEDA govern-ments, the northeastern stateshave gone beyond ‘briefcasepolitics’ and new milestones ofdvelopments are beingachieved in different states,” hesaid adding that the youths ofthe northeastern states arenow looking up to NEDAwith a hope.

It may be mentioned herethat the conclave on Sundaywas participated by AssamChief Minister SarbanandaSonowal, Meghalaya ChiefMinister Conrad Sangma,Arunachal Pradesh ChiefMinister Pema Khandu,Manipur Chief Minister NBiren Singh, Nagaland ChiefMinister Neiphu Rio, TripuraChief Minister Biplab KumarDeb and others. Sikkim ChiefMinister Pawan KumarChamling could not attenddue to other engagement.

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Kumaraswamy of JD(S),with less seats, becoming

Chief Minister of Karnataka iswhat make sense in AndhraPradesh politics. Contrary toTDP happiness, the JD(S)experiment has doubled thehopes of Kapu community ofthe State to acquire the ChiefMinister post in 2019 by hookor by crook.

Kapu is one of the promi-nent politically aspirant castesin Andhra Pradesh along withKamma and Reddy. Cine Actorturned politician, PawanKalyan, who belongs to Kapucaste, is trying hard to improvehis challenge to the post ofChief Minister only. “Afterlearning every aspect, I willbecome Chief Minister”, heannounced publicly in hisrecent meeting inVisakhapatnam District amidstcheers of followers.

Though he started hispolitical career by launching“Jana Sena” in 2014, fromSunday, finally Pawan Kalyanstarted his first 45 days of“Porata Yatra” fromUttarandhra Districts

Srikakulam, Vizayanagaramand Visakhapatnam. He wouldlike to tour all AssemblyConstituencies of these threedistricts. Though Jana Sena iscontesting 175 seats, PawanKalyan mainly focused on 40-50 seats to win as JD(S) did.Pawan Kalyan wants to play aKing Maker role in post 2019elections.

Pawan Kalyan and Kapucaste’s strong desire of becom-ing Chief Minister of AndhraPradesh in 2019 has started cre-ating internal differences inunseen alliance of BJP, YSRCPand Jana Sena. YSRCP Chief,Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is astrong contender for ChiefMinister post, has alreadycrossed his 2000 KMs of footwalk (Pada Yatra).

Jagan, who is in WestGodavari district, has plannedto complete his Yatra inSrikakulam district from wherePawan Kalyan started his Yatraopposite to YSRCP pro-gramme. Both Jagan andPawan are planned and start-ed Yatra for Chief Minister postby dethroning the presentChief Minister Chandra Babu.

Both young leaders are ingreat belief in defeating Telugu

Desam on their own frompower and the same claims arealready started by their politi-cal marketing managers.

The claim of Pawan teamsand Kapu groups escalatedsince two days afterYeddyurappa resignation andJD(S) gaining CM Chair. SocialMedia groups of Pawan Kalyanand Kapu Caste are in advancestage than YSRCP wings insilent publicity.

Pawan Kalyan teams arealmost following the foot stepsand strategies of Modi whosuccessfully utilised socialmedia platforms to improve hiscandidature for PrimeMinister’s post than Advani,Murali Manohar Joshi, RajnathSingh, Nitin Gadkari, SushmaSwaraj and others.

The increased activism ofPawan Kalyan for ChiefMinister post is irking Jaganand his team internally. Jaganand Pawan were critical oneach other until YSRCP MPsresignation. After Parliament’ssine die, both are silent on eachother and both are targetingChief Minister Chandra BabuNaidu and his son Nara Lokeshand trying hard to stamp themas corrupt.

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Even before the dust settleddown in Karnataka, now the

time has come to prove itsimpartiality of the Chair of theLok Sabha. The latest contro-versial decision of the Speakerof the Lower House, SumitraMahajan, accepting resigna-tions of two BJP MPs electedfrom Karnataka i.e. BSYeddyurappa and B Sri Ramulu,on the back drop of their elec-tion to Karnataka Assembly,keep pending YSRCP MPs res-ignation. Lok Sabha Secretary

General, Snehlata Shrivastava,on 19th of this month, hasissued a bulletin by acceptingresignations of Yeddyurappaand Sri Ramulu to facilitatethem to take oath in KarnatakaAssembly. Yeddyurappa wasrepresenting ShimogaParliamentary Constituencywhereas Sri Ramulu was rep-resenting Bellary.

Protesting the NDAGovernment failure in grantingSpecial Status to AndhraPradesh, five YSRCP MPs, onApril 5th, submitted their resig-nations to the Lok SabhaSpeaker, Sumitra Mahajan. Tilldate, neither the Speaker has notaccepted their resignations northe YSRCP are insisting foraccepting resignations. Contraryto the rules of the House, theSpeaker has accepted the lateralresignations of Yeddyurappa and

Sri Ramulu. As per rules, theSpeaker has to accept YSRCPMPs resignation and has to issueLok Sabha Bulletin accordinglybefore accepting Yeddyurappaand Sri Ramulu resignations.

YSRCP MPs also createdruckus continuously demandingSCS to Andhra Pradesh andafter sine die of Lok Sabha, theysubmitted resignations to theSpeaker. At the time of submis-sion of resignations, she evenenquired with them whetherthey resigned wilfully or not.YSRCP MPs told her theyresigned wilfully. Till date noaction is initiated. Recently,YSRCP MPs met the Presidentof India in Delhi on State issues,but, they didn’t either met theSpeaker or seek the appointmentof the Speaker or even they did-n’t demand publicly for accep-tance of their resignations.

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With Congress-JDSalliance all set to form

the Government in Karnataka,there were confusing signals onwhether Telangana ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao will attend HDKumaraswamy’s swearing inceremony in Bengaluru or not.

Kumaraswamy personallyspoke to KCR as well asAndhra Pradesh ChiefMinister N ChandrababuNaidu over phone and invitedthem to the ceremony to beheld on May 23.

Though KCR had publiclyappealed to the Telugu peoplein Karnataka to support JanataDal Secular in the elections hehas maintained stoic silenceover the hung mandate as it ledto formation of JDS-Congress

alliance.According to the sources

in TRS when Kumaraswamycalled KCR to invite he con-gratulated Karnataka leaderand promised to attend thefunction. But many party lead-ers believe that he may not visitBengaluru as the swearing inwas of the JDS-Congressalliance and the Congress washis main and bitter opponentin the State.

TRS leaders recalled that

KCR had met the JDS patri-arch HD Deve Gowda inBengaluru just before the elec-tions to discuss his regionalfront idea and extended his fullsupport to the JDS in the elec-tions, he was not happy withthe later turn of events leadingto the formation of JDSCongress alliance.

Though many otherregional satraps including WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBannerji, former Uttar PradeshChief Minister Akhilesh Yadav,BSP President Mayawati werealso likely to attendKumarswamy’s swearing in,TRS leaders say that KCRattending the function willsend a wrong signals. They saythat KCR was pursuing theidea of a front of non BJP andnon Congress front andattending the program in

Bengaluru will not be helpfulfor his idea.

In contrast to the silence ofthe TRS, Telangana Congresswas ebullient over the defeat ofthe BJP and victory ofCongress-JDS alliance in thepower struggle in neighboringKarnataka. State Congresspresident N Uttam KumarReddy described it “the begin-ning of Congress victory in2019 elections”. He expressedconfidence that what hap-pened in Karnataka will helpCongress in Telangana too.The failure of the BJP to formthe government in Karnatakawill boost the morale ofCongress in Telangana, hesaid. “I salute the MLAs ofCongress and JDS for savingdemocracy by not getting luredby the sops offered by the BJP”,he said.

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The BJP in Tamil Nadu hadthe shock of their life on the

hot and humid Sunday as mati-nee idol Rajinikant saluted theSupreme Court for its verdictcurtailing the 15 days given byGovernor Vajubhai Vala to B SYeddiyurappa for proving hismajority to one day which saveddemocracy in Karnataka.

Speaking to reporters atChennai after presiding over ameeting of the women officebearers of the Rajini MakkalManram, the super star of Tamilfilms who had made it clear thathe would launch a political out-fit, said that the development inKarnataka including the moveby the JD(S)-Congress alliance toform a Government was the vic-

tory for democracy.“According to the

Constitution, majority should beproved in the Assembly, theCongress-JD(S) is going to do it,and I see this as a victory fordemocracy,” said Rajinikanthwhen asked about the develop-

ments in neighbouringKarnataka. The super star com-plimented the apex court for theverdict asking Yeddiyurapa to getthe vote of confidence in the leg-islative Assembly within oneday. “The 15 days time given bythe Governor to Yeddiyurappa

was farcical. But the SupremeCourt deserves congratulationsto save democracy,” saidRajinikanth.

Rajinikanth also said that hewelcomed the Supreme Courtverdict in the Cauvery Water dis-pute and hoped that the newGovernment in Karnataka to beled by JD(S) and the Congresswould abide by the court orderand release water t Tamil Nadu.He said the decision to pass onthe control of dams in the coun-try to an authority too was a wel-come move. There was noannouncement about when hewould launch his political outfit.But he disclosed that he wasencouraged by the keen interestshown by women in joining hisproposed party and also said thatthey would get priority in partyappointments.

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Just three days ago, the post-poll developments in

Karnataka had given a newenergy to the BJP in its cam-paign for the May 28 bypoll inKerala’s Chengannur Assemblyconstituency, but the politicaldrama that unfolded inBangalore on Friday andSaturday have caused a suddenchange in the nature of elec-tioneering with the CPI(M)-ledruling LDF and Congress-ledOpposition LDF getting a boostto their spirits.

Though the BJP is puttingup a bold face despite the fias-co, observers say that a sense ofdisappointment is perceptiblein the NDA camp as the adver-saries are focusing their cam-paign on what they call the“myth of Modi-Shah invinci-bility” and BJP’s alleged disre-gard for political andConstitutional morality in thewake of BS Yeddyurappa’sascent to and descent.

The State BJP trying toturn the setback in Karnatakainto an advantage in the bypollby describing the resignation ofYeddyurappa as Chief Ministerwithin 55 hours of enthrone-ment as a symbol of the party’scommitment to upholdingpolitical morality but observersfeel that it has raised the con-

fidence level of the Congressand the LDF, of which theJD(S) is a constituent.

“The failure of BJP’s strat-egy happened in Karnatakajust when the Left was strug-gling in Chengannur to resistthe charges over the failures ofthe LDF Government andwhen the Congress and UDFwere facing allegations of beingan ineffective Opposition. Boththe camps have regained theirvitality with the Karnatakadevelopments,” said a seniorjournalist.

The first phase of lastweek’s Bangalore drama was tothe advantage of the BJP inChengannur as the party’s bril-liant performance in theKarnataka Assembly electionand advent of Yeddyurappa tothe top post had given a newenergy to the leaders and cam-paigners and this had even pro-moted them to claim that thealliance’s victory in the bypollwas certain.

However, the second andfinal parts of the drama whichincluded the Supreme Court’sintervention, the Congress-JD(S) combine’s ‘resort politics’and Yeddyurappa’s inevitable‘fall’ have come as an embar-rassment for State BJP. “Itseems they will have to devisenew strategies. It’s a relief thatthe bypoll is still eight days

away”, the journalist said.But close aides of NDA

candidate PS Sreedharan Pillaiexuded confidence saying thatYeddyurappa’s decision to stepdown actually showed the BJP’sadherence to democratic prin-ciples and political moralityand it would only help theNDA in Chengannur. “Thepeople are intelligent enough tounderstand the hypocrisy andopportunism of Congress,” saida Pillai aide.

Pillai had proved his pop-ularity in the constituency asNDA candidate in the 2016Assembly election by increas-ing the alliance’s votes to 42,682from a mere 6,062 it had polledin the previous election of2011. “This popularity and the

many good things theNarendra Modi Governmenthas been doing will work in ourfavour,” he said.

It seems that the BJP’sclaims do not worry theCPI(M) or the Congress much.They have already madeKarnataka a vital item in theircampaign issues. Both the LDFand the UDF have suddenlybeen emboldened to arguingthat the BJP is not even a fac-tor in this bypoll but the battleis between the Left and theOpposition UDF.

LDF candidate SajiCherian and his campaigners,who have from the very begin-ning been attacking the Centreas part of their election strate-gy, have intensified that in thecontext of the developments inKarnataka. The Chengannurby-election was necessitatedby the death of sitting CPI(M)member KK RamachandranNair on January 14. Sundayevening and the entire Mondaysaw the Congress claiming thewhole credit for what has hap-pened in Karnataka in its elec-tion meetings in Chengannur.The UDF is also banking onthe fact that Chengannur basi-cally shows a leaning to theUDF as it had won the seat fivetimes in a row from 1991 andthe popularity of its Congresscandidate D Vijayakumar in

the constituency.Meanwhile, campaigning

for the bypoll has reached afeverish pitch in Chengannurwith top State leaders fre-quenting the constituencywithout interval. SeveralMinisters of the LDFGovernment are camping inChengannur to lead SajiCherian’s campaigning andChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanwill spend three days in theconstituency this week.

Former Chief MinisterOommen Chandy, former StateCongress chief VM Sudheeran,former Union MinisterMullappally Ramachandranand other senior leaders of theUDF are leading the cam-paigning for Vijayakumar.“Vijayakumar is going to winthe seat. Anybody who hasgone around Chengannur atleast once would be convincedabout it,” said Chandy.

Top State BJP leadersincluding Kummanam, gener-al secretaries K Surendran andSobha Surendran and SureshGopi and Adivasi leader CKJanu, chairperson of NDA con-stituent JanadhipathyaRashtreeya Sabha have beencampaigning for Pillai. TheBJP expects national leaders tocampaign for Pillai inChengannur in the comingdays.

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Tamil Nadu is a land of cel-ebration. Whether it is

birth, engagement, marriageor the 60th or 75th birthanniversaries, Tamils cele-brate all these evets with jubi-lation and gaiety. What standsout in the Dravida land is theway they celebrate death. Thedeparted souls are given aroyal send off with song,dance and merry making.Next time, when you are inChennai or anywhere in theState, do not be shocked if thetraffic is held back to facilitatethe passage of a funeral pro-cession. The funeral proces-sion is not a sombre occasionfor the Tamils. It is uniquebecause of the dance, musicand bursting of crackers. Onewill not see the usual sceneslike tears or sobbing or wail-ing in the funeral proces-sions. In some of the proces-sions, the dead body is deco-rated and dark goggles coverthe eyes! You will feel that thedead body is staring at you

with that message “See yousoon”.

Tamils also celebrate theattaining of puberty by theirdaughters. While in the rest ofthe country, the girl coming ofage is a purely internal affairwhich is dicussed in hush-hush volume by the motherand other female members ofthe family, Tamil Nadu is anexception. It is an occasion forcelebration and that too inexuberant style. One will come

across larger than life bill-boards and posters of the girl,her parents and siblings all overthe cities.

“It is a time of celebrationfor us because we love ourdaughters more than any-body. She is our Amman(Goddess) and the one whosustains the family lineage. Soisn’t this an occasion torejoice,” asked GK Nagaraj,educationist and communityleader from Coimbatore. He

said the celebrations werethere for centuries. “In oldendays we used to send mes-sengers to relations andfriends to inform the newsthat out daughter has come ofage and is of marriageable age.Preparations for marriagebegin with the girl coming ofage” said Nagaraj.

Indumathi, eminentdanseuse, turned nostalgicwhen asked about her mem-ories. “Oh, it was the mostmemorable days in my life.We had celebrations for tenfull days. I became the cyno-sure of all eyes and wasaccorded the status of a VIP.My grandparents showeredme with gifts and gold, lot ofgold,” said Indumathi. Shesaid billboards and posterswere new entrants to the fes-tivity.

Tamil Nadu was in thenews for high rate of femaleinfanticide as well as foeticide.“But that was long back. Withthe introduction of schemeslike Amma Cradle byJayalalithaa, these things arefast disappearing from the

society . It was because of thefear of dowry and the costsassociated with bringing up afemale child that forced manyparents to opt for such dastardactions. But not any more,”said Nagaraj.

T Nathamuni, generalmanager of Neyveli basedpublic sector giant who is wellfamiliar with the rural life ofTamil Nadu says that such cel-ebrations also underscore thesignificance of family bonds.“The girl’s maternal uncle andhis wife are given prominentplace from the day the formercomes of age. Her marriage iserformed under the auspices ofthe maternal uncle,” saidNathamuni.

“We don’t have any dilem-ma or inhibition associatedwith these celebrations. Thisis an occasion to tell theworld that girls occupyimportant status in our fam-ilies,” said Annadurai, basedin Neyveli.

Annadrai was busy mak-ing the arrangements for thecelebrations of his daughterattaining puberty.

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Rewind to 2014. Unseen in the lastthree decades, the BJP secured athumping majority. NarendraModi’s charisma culminated as heassumed the office of the Prime

Minister. Pre-2014, farmers were bulldozedonly to breed (produce more) while theirwelfare gone with the wind. Realising theneed to pay undivided and unboundedattention to the farmers’ decades of distress,the Modi Government changed the nameof the Ministry of Agriculture to Ministryof Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. But didthe welfare confine itself to name changingop? Let’s sail to see.

Assistance through disaster responsefund: Fast forward to 2015. As suggested bythe 14th Finance Commission, the ModiGovernment amended the National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF) and State DisasterResponse Force (SDRF) norms and, hence,the threshold of crop loss has been reducedfrom 50 per cent to 33 per cent. Just a num-ber shake-up? A big no. The Centre’s �3,049crore drought relief package to Maharashtrain 2015 helped 25 per cent of the farmers. Isn’tthis an expression of deep concern towardsthe farmers? As an extension of compassion,compensation under input subsidy for agri-culture, horticulture and annual plantationcrops was raised by 50 per cent.

Similar is the case with animal hus-bandry and fishery. This is especially a greatsigh of relief to farmers practising integrat-ed farming system in rainfed areas.Remember, 55 per cent of the net-sown areaand two-third of livestock are in rainfedareas. To make sure that the fund doesn’texhaust soon in times of erratic climatic con-ditions, the size of the SDRF has approxi-mately been doubled from �33,580 crore in2010-15 to �61,219 crore for 2015-20. Andthis isn’t all. Insurance plans for the farm-ers in adverse situations too is in action.

Bancassurance through PradhanMantri Fasal Bima Yojana: Remember thedrought periods of 2014-15 and 2015-16 andhow it tore apart the farming community?The devil is in the detail. The pangs of pre-vious insurance schemes like the NationalAgricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) andmodified NAIS have not percolated to thepracticalities of farming. The ModiGovernment mulled over it.

Replacing the aforesaid schemes, theGovernment introduced the Pradhan MantriFasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) with effect fromKharif 2016, incorporating a host of farmer-friendly features. In comparison, premiumsbecame a function of permeability and youguessed it right, they have become simple,uniform and heavily subsidised. This is thehallmark feature. PMFBY mandates that thesum insured must be equal to the scale offinance and, thus, cap on premium isremoved, unlike in earlier schemes.

Further tilting the scale towards the farm-

ers, service tax on premium has beenexempted. Also, PMFBY promotes the usageof smart technology like phones, drones andremote sensing for quick estimation and earlysettlement of claims; the absence of these hadbeen a greater concern. The Government,realising the urgency, had set a target to grad-ually increase the gross cropped area underinsurance to 50 per cent by 2019 from a lowof 23 per cent in 2016.

While meeting the 30 per cent target forKharif 2016 and Rabi 2016-17 combined,PMFBY recorded impressive metrics. Mostnotable: Sum insured increased by 78.14 percent to �2,04,779 crore and non-loanee cov-erage increased by 123.5 per cent to 1.35 crorefarmers over the previous season. bringingprotection to peasants and indemnity to India.

Confidence in commercial agricul-ture through free markets: Marketingreforms were miles away until Modi took thereins. Globalisation gutted sovereign bound-aries across frontiers like trade and peoplemovement. Ironically, the sovereign nationof India is split across States and notified areasfor agriculture trade thus, imposing manybarriers for the farmers to transact. If mar-keting act of States induced regulation fromde-regulation, exploitation took the shape ofcartelisation. Old wine in a new bottle.

Model Agricultural Produce MarketCommittee Act, 2003, was good in intent butthe corresponding rules in 2007 did no good.History is replete with instances of farmersdumping or destroying their crop being dis-gruntled at deep dive in prices while in a dif-ferent part of India, drought-like situationprevailed for the same commodity. As a partof the broader strategy of free markets, e-NAM was introduced in 2016 to bring trans-parency, direct transaction between parties

and most importantly, higher realisationfrom the consumer rupee. Due to e-NAM’sguiding principle, ‘One Nation One Market’,produce will move from farm gates to fed-eral gates. Slightly ahead of the schedule, 585APMC’s interfaced with national electron-ic trading platform by March 2018, incor-porating single point of levy, unified trad-ing licence and modification of respectiveState APMC Acts.

In a bid to rationalise marketing and,thus, replace the APMC Act, the UnionGovernment is nudging States to adoptmodel Agricultural Produce and LivestockMarketing Act, 2017 (APLM). Some Statesdon’t have livestock as a notified commod-ity in their APMC Act. APLM Act facili-tates selling the agricultural produce andlivestock in the same premises. This is par-ticularly a boon for farmers taking up inte-grated farming system. This Act permitstreating rural warehouses as market sub-yards. How does it help? This will reducetransportation to nearest APMC and, thus,transaction cost for small and marginalfarmers whose consumption expenditure ismore than total income from all sources asper NSSO 2012-13 report.

If current market prices are not lucrative,farmers with Kisan Credit Cards have theoption to store in warehouse until sixmonths with interest subvention of two percent. This facilitates selling when markets arebuoyant. Government mulled over the pos-sibility of crashing market prices and, thus,an assurance asserted in 2019 Budget to pro-cure 25 notified crops at MSP (150 per centof the cost) beginning Kharif MarketingSeason 2018 if market prices trade below MSP.An estimate of 100-150 billion rupee isrequired for this income assurance.

If e-NAM, warehouse storage and MSPwere addressing depressed farm prices, theUnion Government floated a Model ContractFarming Act, 2017, which addresses multi-ple dimensions — lack of fair price, transferof technological knowhow and quality inputs.Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO) whichreceived tax exemption in 2018-19 Budget forfive years upto �100 crore turnover isaddressing overlooked and neglected dimen-sions of economies of scale, value addition,processing and export promotion apartfrom the previous ones. Fair prices, lucrativeprices and higher prices is the central themeof Modi government’s marketing initiativesas depressed farm incomes have been one ofthe principal reasons for farmers treading theextreme path.

Diligence on credit diffusion throughinterest subvention and PSL guidelines: Afertile soil alone does not carry agricultureto perfection and there comes the credit. Afterassuming office, the Modi Government hasapproved interest subvention scheme and thusGround level credit (GLC) flow to agricul-ture increased from �8.45 lakh crore to �10.65lakh crore between 2015 and 2017 surpass-ing the targets in each of the financial years.This year is no exception. All good. But whatabout during natural calamities? From 2014-15, interest subvention of two per cent is pro-vided on the restructured loan for the firstyear and normal rate of interest thereafter.

Share of investment credit to total agri-culture credit declined to 19 per cent from42 per cent between 2006-14. With renewedemphasis on agricultural term loans by theUnion Government, it gradually increased to35.3 per cent by 2017. Interestingly, total agri-cultural credit offtake and share of investmentcredit gradually increased between 2015 and2017 notwithstanding the drought years of2014-15 and 2015-16. Agriculture was madetrivial calls for a rethink.

Any deliberation on credit diffusionwithout delving into small and marginalfarmers is dampening. The share of smalland marginal farmers by value in GLC toagriculture has increased from 44.1 to 50.14per cent between 2014 and 2017. This hasbeen aided primarily by interest subventionand RBI PSL guidelines in 2015 to smalland marginal farmers.

Interest subvention scheme and conse-quential increased credit diffusion will bemuch appreciated in the context of ModiGovernment acquiring — in 2014 — a lega-cy of dilapidated economy and banking sec-tor burdened by huge non-performingassets. Nevertheless, farmers took centre stagein the decision making.

Lastly, Agriculture Budget was not leftout either — allocation for 2014-19increased by 74.5 per cent over 2009-14 to�2.12 lakh crore. The ultimate goal of farm-ing is not growing crops, but the cultiva-tion and perfection of human beings.Farmers welfare — what seemed as a bigchallenge and daunting task in 2014 is slow-ly but steadily translating into a big cheerdwelling on farmer’s face. Aren’t we allhappy if peasants are happy?

(The writer is State Co-Convener, ElectionCommission cell, BJP Telangana and Mastersin Finance from Cass Business School, London)�

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “No surrender” (May 18).Conditional ceasefire declared bythe Union Government duringthe month of Ramzan does notappear to be appropriate. Asreported, Pakistan has alreadyviolated the ceasefire.

Undoubtedly, a ceasefire willprovide ample opportunity andtime to the militants and terror-ist organisations to unleashunrest and violence in the Valley.

Terrorists have no religion,they are indoctrinated and influ-enced by their fanatic ideologyand, therefore, can never complywith the Union Government’sdecision of a ceasefire.

The success and implemen-tation of ceasefire depends on thereciprocal response of Pakistaniforces who frequently violatethe ceasefire. It is true thatPakistan will never approve of it.The Government must not jeop-ardise and compromise ournational interest.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “No surrender” (May 18). TheUnion Government’s order for aunilateral ceasefire in the embat-tled Valley has been widely wel-comed. It is but the outcome ofChief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’sendeavours to give peace achance at least in the holy monthof Ramzan.

This has also been endorsedby National Conference chief

Omar Abdullah and his fatherFarooq Abdullah along withother leaders.

But the peace-making deci-sion must be reciprocated whole-heartedly to maintain peaceacross the Valley and successwhereof may find an extensionand the people of the Valley maylive in peace without any blood-shed. Gun and bullet can neverbe a solution to any problem.Dialogue in an amicable andrelaxed atmosphere can helpbring peace.

Azhar A KhanRampur

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Sir — Karnataka BJP chief BSYeddyurappa’s resignation beforethe trust vote was on expectedlines. To be true, the BJP actedin haste to form the Government.in Karnataka. Now, the Governoris left with no choice but to invitethe Congress-JD(S) alliance toform the Government, which isan unholy alliance, formed afterthe election.

Such all iances are notuncommon in a democracticcountry like India. Nevertheless,people have not reposed faitheither in the JD(S) or its leaderM Kumarasamy, who is now setto become the Chief Ministerwith only 38 seats. This is againstthe people’s mandate. Specificlaws should be put in place andthe representation of the peoplesact needs to be revisited.

Sarvana RamachandranChennai

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There is an eerie silence ata palatial bungalow inUttar Pradesh’s Nirala

Nagar whose gate had a nameplate that read: “SN Shukla,Retired IAS, Advocate”. Thesilence in that bungalow was baf-fling as its occupant brought aturmoil in Uttar Pradesh, lacedwith political cacophony as sixformer Chief Ministers of theState are set to lose their officialbungalows after a recentSupreme Court order.

On May 17, the EstateDepartment, which comesunder the Chief Minister ofUttar Pradesh, issued notice tosix former Chief Ministers,asking them to vacate their

bungalows within 15 days. Thenotices were issued a day afterformer Chief Minister andSamajwadi Party patriarchMulayam Singh Yadav metChief Minister Yogi Adityanathand suggested some formula tocircumvent the court order.

Suave and soft-spoken sep-tuagenarian Shukla, on whosepetition the Supreme Courtissued the order on May 7, wasnot amused at the attemptsmade by different Governmentsto circumvent the court order.The six former Chief Ministersincluded Bahujan Samaj Partychief Mayawati, Mulayam SinghYadav, Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav and BJP leaderKalyan Singh.

“These six former ChiefMinisters might ascribe to dif-ferent political ideologies buttheir interest remains the same.So, they are bound to sticktogether as far as the case goes,”said Shukla with a smile, throw-ing a glance at the voluminous

court order lying on the sidetable in his drawing room.

The petition was filed in2004, exactly a year after Shuklaretired from the Civil Services.During the course of his illustri-ous career, he had firmly andpolitely let his political bossesknow that he is not pliable.

“In 1982, when I wasSecretary, Estate Departmentand Public Works Department

(PWD), the then Chief Ministerof Uttar Pradesh, ND Tiwari,who had succeeded VP Singh,asked me to allot a Bungalow toformer Chief Minister Singh inMall Avenue which was allottedto him when he was the ChiefMinister besides 5 Kalidas Marg,the official residence of ChiefMinister. I argued that as perGovernment rule, you cannotgive a big bungalow to Singh.

Later, a smaller house in RajBhawan colony was allotted toSingh,” said Shukla.

He wiped his face with hisleft hand and said, “I had anoth-er polite confrontation with thepolitical leadership sometime in1984-85 when as Secretary,PWD, I got a call from the ChiefMinister’s office that the thenChief Minister Sripati Mishra hasasked me to come to his officialresidence immediately. It wasalmost 10 pm. I went there. TheChief Minister said that myMinister (PWD Minister) AmaarRizvi was not happy with me. Itold CM sahib that Amaar sahibwas more important for him thanme and I can be transferred. Itnever happened and I continuedworking as Secretary, PWD forthe next six months and was latertransferred in a routine way dur-ing the summer.”

Retirement did not mellowhim down. Instead, according tohim, the second innings of hislife were more pleasant and

enjoyable. He is playing it on thefront foot as there is no extrane-ous pressure on him and is freeto do what he likes the best —to bring the issues of politicalcorruption on the public fora. “Iam enjoying this life more asnow, I am not answerable to any-one. Through Lok Prahari, weare raising national issues, par-ticularly corruption at the high-er level”, he said.

When asked if he wasn’tintimidated or threatenedbecause he has crossed swordswith the people who wieldimmense political clout, with asmile on his face he said, “In 2004,when I filed the petition in theSupreme Court against the allot-ment of bungalows to formerChief Ministers and Trusts run bypolitical parties after theAllahabad High Court gavereprieve to the Government, theSupreme Court Judges askedme to personally handover noticeto the Trusts. When I went tohandover the notice in the Lohia

Trust, I was denied entry and wasassaulted. This, I narrated to thecourt and said that I will notdeliver notices personally any-more. This is the only incidentwhich can be called an act ofintimidation. The oppositionparty also knows that Lok Prahariis not SN Shukla. It is a group ofpeople having impeccable integri-ty. So, they never tried to harassus,” he said.

Shukla is now a hero for themultitude who are subjugated bypolitical and administrative sys-tem. “People ask me to contesttheir cases as I have contested thiscase myself in the SupremeCourt. As we cannot affordheavy fees of Supreme Courtlawyers, my law degree fromAgra university has come handy,”he said. “I have only one sugges-tion to people: Fight your caseyourself. If you are not satisfiedwith the Government’s decision,move to the court,” he added.

(Writer is Executive Director(News) The Pioneer, Lucknow)

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Unlike England, India has awritten Constitution. But still,in the UK, the legislature, the

executive or the judiciary wouldnever trespass. On the one hand, inIndia, the judiciary very often breach-es this fundamental line. TheSupreme Court transgresses into theParliament’s turf and usurps power ofthe legislative to enact laws.

This encroachment by the judicial legislation is in sharp contrastto any democratic form ofGovernment where ‘Separation ofPowers’ reigns supreme.

This judicial overreach also runscontrary to the basic structure doc-trine of the Indian Constitution. For,the founding Fathers of the Nationhad earmarked in the Constitutionthat the legislature, executive and thejudiciary would operate and be themasters in their own spheres.

Judiciary was meant to interpretlaws made by the Parliament. Itcould declare a law — made by thelegislature or even an Amendment tothe Constitution — a nullity or per-fectly valid.

But with the advent of PublicInterest Litigation, the beliefs of theFounding Fathers of the Constitutionbecame a mirage. Earlier, the judicia-

ry was adjudicating on the Englishmodel, as enunciated in ourConstitution where laws were onlyinterpreted by the courts.

However, of late, the SupremeCourt has been taking suo motonotice of issues where it feels laws inthat particular field have not beenmade by the Parliament; and that itsjudgement would be the law. This perse is judicial overreach and such judi-cial activism shakes the very foun-dation of the doctrine of ‘Separationof Powers’ upon which theConstitution’s edifice stands.

In Aruna Shanbaug’s case(2011[4] SCC 354), former SupremeCourt judge Markandey Katju’s opin-ion to the Bench, which is the law ofthe land on euthanasia, is a strikingexample of judicial activism.

Even in the UK and France, Billson eutharansia could not be passedas there was stiff opposition. InHolland and Belgium, Parliamentshave enacted laws but India is notready as the then Attorney Generalinformed the Bench.

Nonetheless, the Supreme Court,speaking through Justice Katju, tookover the legislative function of theParliament and the judge-made lawon legalised killing came into effect.

Such a judgement overreachesinto the legislative domain and exfacie has to be deprecated for enter-ing into Parliament’s arena. Suchjudicial legislation is dehors of ourConstitution.

The case mentioned above alsoshows that the apex court’s anxious-

ness to venture into taboo areaswhere it should rightly have shownjudicial restraint. However, therehave been several cases where thislakshman rekha has been breached,yet, the Supreme Court has reiterat-ed explicitly many a time that itshould not cross over.

The larger issue is: Why shouldthe Supreme Court legislate or issuesuch legislative-like and unheard ofdirections that Parliament is direct-ed to enact a particular law?

By doing so, it shocks democ-ratic countries overseas who too aregoverned by the rule of law asusurpation is unheard of where therule of law thrives. Democracy survives only when all the threeorgans remain in their lanes and donot swim across.

Very often, as English judge-ments say, emotional facts make badlaw. Adjudication by courts must bestrictly in accordance with the lawand not in derogation of the estab-lished principles of the law.

The proposition of the Doctrineof Seperation of Powers wasexpounded by the same judge.

In Hiramony’s case (2008[1]SCC 630), Justice Katju had opinedthat the Supreme Court should notencroach on the legislative field.Further, the top Court again, speak-ing though Justice Katju, held inShradhanand’s case (2007[12] SCC288) that it had no power to amendthe Constitution by a judicial verdictand that it could not arrogate to itselfthe power of the Parliament under

the Constitution and must maintainself-restraint.

Again, Justice Katju, speaking forthe Supreme Court in the AravaliGolf Club case (2008[1]SCC 683),held that in several cases which havecome up in the Supreme Court, theBench has observed that the judgesof High Courts were unjustifiablytrying to perform executive/legisla-tive functions. This was clearlyunconstitutional. In the name ofjudicial activism, judges cannot crosstheir limits and try to take on thefunctions that belong to anotherorgan of the state.

He reiterated that the threeorgans of the state should notimpinge on one another, as otherwisethe delicate balance of theConstitution would be upset. Judgesmust know their limits and notbehave like emperors.

Interestingly, Justice Katju said ina judgement that judges could not cre-ate law and then enforce it. Judges can-not direct the legislature to make a par-ticular law. All the above judgementstoo were delivered by Justice Katju butwhen the euthanasia case came beforehis Lordships four years later, hechose to gloss over it and the maximof judicial restraint was ignored.

Such aberrations in our judicia-ry must not shake up the basicDoctrine of Separation of Powers inIndia. An effective vigil is a must toensure that such personal thoughtsdo not become the law of the land.

(The writer is a practisingSupreme Court lawyer)

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Petrol price on Sundaytouched a record high of Rs

76.24 per litre and dieselclimbed to its highest everlevel of �67.57 as the oil PSUspassed on four weeks of relent-less rise in international oilprices to consumers.

Petrol price on Sundayincreased by 33 paisa a litre inDelhi — the highest since thedaily price revision came intoforce in mid-June 2017, anddiesel by 26 paisa, according toprice notification issued bystate-owned oil firms.

Rates vary from state tostate depending on the inci-dence of local sales tax or VAT.Prices in Delhi are the cheap-est in all metros and most statecapitals.

With this increase, petrolhas touched an all time-high,breaching the previous high of�76.06 touched in Delhi onSeptember 14, 2013. Dieselrates are also at the all-timehigh level.

This is the seventh straightday of price increase since oilPSUs on May 14 resumed dailyprice revision after a 19-daypre-Karnataka poll hiatus. Inall, petrol price has been raisedby �1.61 a litre and diesel by1.64 in last one week.

In India, petrol is the costli-est in Mumbai where highlocal taxes has led a price of Rs84.07 per litre. Petrol hasbreached �80 mark in Bhopal(�81.83 a litre), Patna (� 81.73),Hyderabad (�80.76) andSrinagar (�80.35), according tothe price notification.

Petrol in Kolkatta costs�78.91 per litre while it ispriced at �79.13 in Chennai.The cheapest petrol is availablein Panjim where a litre comesfor �70.26. Diesel is the costli-est in Hyderabad were it ispriced at �73.45 a litre due tohigh local taxes. It is priced at�73.34 in Trivandrum. Othercities where diesel rates havecrossed Rs 70 mark are Raipur(�72.96 a litre), Gandhinagar(�72.63), Bhubhaneswar

(�72.43), Patna (�72.24), Jaipur(�71.97), Ranchi (�71.35),Bhopal (�71.12) and Srinagar(�70.96) A litre of diesel costs�71.94 in Mumbai, �70.12 inKolkatta and �71.32 inChennai, the notification said.Diesel is the cheapest in PortBlair where it is priced at�63.35.

On Friday, EconomicAffairs Secretary SubhashChandra Garg refused to say if

the government will cut exciseduty on auto fuel to ease theburden on consumers.The gov-ernment is watching the situ-ation developing from oil priceshitting $80 a barrel -- the high-est since November 2014, andadequate steps will be taken, isall he said said without elabo-rating.

Asked if the governmentwould cut excise duty on petroland diesel, he had stated that he

has nothing to say on that front.“Just watch.”

The BJP-led Governmenthad raised excise duty ninetimes — totalling �11.77 perlitre on petrol and �13.47 ondiesel — between November2014 and January 2016 to shoreup finances as global oil pricesfell, but then cut the tax justonce in October last year by �2a litre.

No sooner had Karnatakapolled to elect a new state gov-ernment, state-owned IndianOil Corp (IOC), Hindustan

Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL)and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd(BPCL) on Monday ended ahiatus in revising petrol anddiesel prices that began onApril 25 and reverted to the 11-month old practices of chang-ing rates on a daily basis.

Oil PSUs are estimated tohave lost about �500 crore onabsorbing higher cost resultingfrom the spike in internation-al oil rates and fall in rupeeagainst the US dollar during thenearly three week hiatus.

The benchmark interna-tional rate for petrol, used forrevising rate on April 24, hadgone up from $78.84 per barrelto $84.97 on May 14. It has fur-ther risen to $84.97, indicatingmore daily hikes would be need-ed to level retail price with cost.

Similarly, benchmark inter-national diesel rates duringthis period have climbed from$84.68 per barrel to $90.28 prbarrel. Also, the rupee hasweakened to �67.27 per USdollar from �66.62, makingimports costlier.

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The revenue department hasmade unique identity num-

ber Aadhaar and PAN manda-tory for persons seeking a cus-toms broker licence, accordingto a notification.

‘Customs broker’ is a per-son licensed to act as an agenton behalf of importer/exporterfor transaction of businessrelating to entry or departureof conveyances or goods at anycustoms station, includingaudit.

According to the CustomsBrokers Licensing Regulations,2018, notified by the CentralBoard of Excise and Customs(CBEC) recently, an applicantseeking to get a licence for cus-toms broker should holdAadhaar as well as PANcard.The Directorate Generalof Performance Management,as per the regulations, in themonth of April of every yearinvites applications for con-ducting examination and sub-sequent grant of licence to actas customs broker.

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Markets regulator Sebi willconsider penal action

against Punjab National Bankand Gitanjali Gems after com-pletion of its probe into sus-pected trading and disclosurerelated issues in the matter ofover �14,000 crore bankingfraud, senior officials said.

The markets watchdog lastweek issued a warning letter toPNB for delaying disclosures tostock exchanges about thefraudulent transactions alleged-ly carried out by abscondingNirav Modi and GitanjaliGroup of companies. However,the probe is continuing and thepenal action would depend onthe final outcome of the inves-tigation, the officials added.

PNB was defrauded alleged-ly by the diamond trader and hisassociates by fraudulent use ofLetters of Undertakings (LoUs)and Foreign Letters of Credit(LoC) in connivance with cer-tain bank officials.

The Securities andExchange Board of India (Sebi)and stock exchanges have been

analysing the stock markettrade details of all entities asso-ciated with Modi and GitanjaliGems' main promoter MehulChoksi, who has already beenunder scanner for various casesincluding a brokerage defaultincident, senior officials said.

Incidentally, in July 2013,NSE in consultation with Sebihad debarred Gitanjali Gemsand Choksi, among othersfrom trading, for securitiesmarket violations relating totrading in his company.

Further, they are also beinginvestigated by theEnforcement Directorate (ED)and Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI).

As per Sebi's warning let-ter, there were delays of 1-6days by PNB in making dis-closures to the stock exchangespertaining to the filing of com-plaints with the Reserve Bankof India (RBI) and CBI. Thisdelay in informing the stockexchanges is a violation of thelisting regulations.

Under these norms, com-panies need to inform stockexchanges about any price sen-sitive information in a timelymanner.

The Sebi's communicationrefers to various disclosures madeby PNB to stock exchanges dur-ing February and March this yearregarding certain fraudulenttransactions with respect to Modigroup, Gitanjali group and oth-ers and referring of the same tolaw enforcement agencies.

In a disclosure to bourseslast week, PNB announcedthat the amount involved in thealleged fraud is now pegged at�14,357 crore. The bank dur-ing February and Marchannounced that it had comeacross fraudulent transactionsworth �11,400 crore.

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Cash-strapped telecom firmMTNL is investing �190

crore to upgrade its servicesand may also be allocated 4Gspectrum to help stay relevantin the highly competitive mar-ket, telecom minister ManojSinha has said.

The department of telecom(DoT) is “seriously consider-ing” to allot 4G spectrum tostate-run MahanagarTelephone Nigam (MTNL),which serves New Delhi andMumbai, and Bharat SancharNigam (BSNL), which servesthe rest of the country, he said.

“Now we are attempting tomake its (MTNL) services bet-ter and after a long time MTNLis investing money in improv-ing its network and services,both in New Delhi andMumbai. I feel they will rolloutsomething in the next three tofour months and their ser-vices will be better,” Sinha toldPTI over the weekend.

Conceding that MTNL'sfinancial situation is difficult,he said the state-run firm isinvesting �190 crore in the pro-ject that will see it install newbase transceiver stations,

among other initiatives.Sinha said the allotment of

3G spectrum and the loanstaken for the same weakenedthe financial position of thecompany in such a way that itis unable to pay interest on theloans. Reports pegged the list-ed company's debt at �16,870crore as of December 2017.

The telecom firm nar-rowed its losses to �639.01crore in the quarter endedDecember 2017, against�819.96 crore in the samequarter of 2016. Its total incomestood at �852.64 crore in thequarter, against �836.43 crore.

The company is yet toreport March quarter and full

year numbers.The ministersaid an asset monetisation pro-gramme is being thoughtabout, wherein excess assetscan be monetised. He, howev-er, said that the assets areowned by multiple entities - thecompany, the DoT and the gov-ernment of India.

He said the DoT is fine sell-ing off the assets it holds andalso promised to take other saleproposals involving govern-ment of India-owned assets tothe Cabinet.

The minister, however,declined to give an estimate ofhow much could the companyraise through such an exerciseor timelines on the same,

adding that the process will becarried out as per the report ofa consultant.

On the 4G spectrum alloca-tion, Sinha said, “There's a spec-trum handicap to both BSNL andMTNL. So, we are seriously con-sidering how to provide them 4Gspectrum so that they canbecome a viable and a majorplayer in telecom sector.”

It can be noted that theParliamentary standing com-mittee on information tech-nology in March had asked thegovernment to allocate 4Gspectrum to the two companiesat the earliest to help themcompete and survive in themarket.

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Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali,which has recorded multi-

fold growth in recent years, isexpecting a marginal growthfor 2017-18, on account ofGoods and Services Taxregime, said a company official.

Haridwar-based firm saidit was impacted as it had a win-dow of 10 months only in thelast fiscal, as the company tooktwo months to adopt theframework of the GST system,develop infrastructure and sup-ply chain.

However, the company,which has lined up severallaunches — from packageddrinking water to dairy prod-ucts, expect to resume its highgrowth trajectory from thisfiscal.

“We are shortly going toannounce our revenue, thiswould be higher than the lastyear. We have achieved a mar-ginal growth (last fiscal) butwe are in growth mode,”Patanjali spokesperson S K

Tijarawala told.“Because we were

focussing more on systematicdevelopment for requirementof GST. This gave us less oper-ational time, it was not a 12months year for us,” he furtheradded.

In financial year 2016-17Patanjali had clocked aturnover of �10,561 crore, reg-istering a 111 per cent growth.The firm had announced lastyear to double it by crossing�20,000-crore mark.

Despite hiccups, Patanjaliis confident to resume itsgrowth path in the ongoing fis-cal.

“We have lined up severallaunches this year and soonresume the same growth pathas we have done in previousyear,” Tijarawala said.

The company has lined upproduct launches such asDivya Jal in packaged drinkingwater and baby diapers underits Shishu Care brand.Besides,the company is planning toforay into diary products.

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Reliance Industries (RIL)has received environment

clearance for the expansionand optimisation of its petro-chemical complex atNagothane in Raigad districtof Maharashtra at an estimat-ed cost of �2,338 crore.

“The environment clear-ance has been given to theRIL's expansion and debottle-necking of petrochemical pro-ject at Nagothane,” a seniorEnvironment Ministry offi-cial said.

The approval, givenbased on the recommenda-tions of an expert panel, is sub-ject to compliance of certainconditions, the official said.

The proposal is to expandthe gas cracker and down-stream plants located atNagothane village in Raigaddistrict by way of debottle-necking, expansion andchange of fuel in captive powerplant (CPP) along with expan-sion and rebuilding of resi-dential township. The cost ofthe proposed project, expect-ed to be commissioned instages, is estimated to be�2,338 crore, the officialadded.

As per the proposal, noadditional land and manpow-er is required for the proposed

project. It has 744 hectareland and 1,794 manpower atpresent.

The company manufac-tures wide range of productssuch as Ethylene Oxide,Ethylene Glycol, Linear LowDensity High DensityPolyethylene (LLHDPE),Hexene-1 and others alongwith a gas-based CPP.

Presently, RIL Nagothaneuses a mixture of ethane andpropane to produce down-stream products and by-prod-ucts. The proposal is to mod-ify its feedstock ratio in its gascracker plant owing to avail-ability of imported shale gasethane.

With the proposed changein feedstock mixture resultingin higher production of ethyl-ene, the company wants toexpand the capacities of down-stream products/by-productsto accommodate the increasedethyelene production.Thatapart, the company has pro-posed to enhance CPP capac-ity from 85 mw to 100 mw byway of refurbishing and alsouse ethane as a fuel owing toits economic viability andavailability. Further, the pro-posed project also includesexpansion of the existingtownship with additional res-idential apartments within thetownship area.

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��+��E��!�� )�� /C�;New Delhi: Kerala is targetingup to 15% growth in number oftourist arrivals in 2018 as itundertakes a slew of initiativesto hard sell the state as a pre-ferred tourist destination, asenior government official said.

Kerala witnessed overallgrowth of 10.94 per cent innumber of tourist arrivals tothe state in 2017. Domestictourists rose by 11.39%, whilethe number of foreign touristsrose by 5.1% for the year.

“We are looking at an over-all growth of up to 15% in totalnumber of tourist arrivals tothe state in 2018. We are look-ing at a growth of 15% rise indomestic tourists and 10% risein foreign tourist arrivals,”Kerala Tourism Director PBalakiran told.

The state has framed anaction plan under the TourismPolicy, which was published lastyear to project Kerala as a 365days destination, he added.

“Earlier we were predomi-nantly a winter destination,now we want to make it a yearlong destination. Secondly nowmost tourists come to SouthKerala circuit... We want to starta new tourism circuit in NorthKerala,” Balakiran said. Anotherstrategy that the Kerala Tourismis planning to undertake is topromote the state as an adven-ture and activity destination asnow it is mainly seen as a leisuredestination, he added. PTI

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The Indian economy is in thebeginning of an economic

recovery, but there are thickheadwinds for domestic equi-ty markets going ahead andanother phase of correction islikely, says a report.

According to the report byEdelweiss Investment Research,approaching elections, elevat-ed bond yields, emerging mar-ket currency weakness anddeteriorating current account islikely to keep Indian marketsunder check.

“Nifty is likely to tradenear the 10,000 level in theshort term and as we approachFY19 end,” the report said.

It further noted that “weak-ness in breadth throws outcautious signal for the trend.This indicates that marketsmay see another phase of cor-rection.”

“We expect Nifty to faceanother round of sellingtowards the March 2018 lows”.

In March this year, the 30-share sensitive index fell10.16% to 32,596.54 points onMarch 23, from a high of36,283.25 on January 29.

The report further notedthat domestic liquidity is hold-ing up the market.

Domestic mutual fund SIPflows have now reached $ 1 bil-lion a month. This is a sizeableand supportive number andhas been instrumental in keepstock volatility under check.

“Domestic flows may not

be able to dictate the directionof the market but would con-tinue to keep volatile undercheck,” the report noted.

Regarding the earningsgrowth of Nifty companies,the report said though it was inline with projections but waslargely supported by heavy-weights.

Among the 26 Nifty com-panies with reported results,Nifty has reported a PATgrowth of 15 per cent. Theearnings growth was largelysupported by heavyweights likeTCS, Reliance, HDFC Bankand HDFC. Excluding thesecompanies, Nifty earnings hasmissed estimates by 6%, thereport noted.

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Showing a growing inclina-tion for mutual funds

among investors, the numberof folios has grown by over 8lakh in just one month toreach an all time high of 7.22crore at the end of April 2018.

This follows an addition of1.6 crore investors account inentire 2017-18, over 67 lakhfolios in 2016-17 and 59 lakhin 2015-16.

Folios are numbers desig-nated to individual investoraccounts, though an investorcan have multiple accounts.

According to the data fromAssociation of Mutual Funds inIndia on total investor accountswith 42 fund houses, the num-ber of folios rose to a record7,21,85,970 at the end of Aprilthis year, from 7,13,47,301 atthe end of March 2018, a gainof 8.38 lakh.

Over the last few years,investor accounts haveincreased following robust con-tribution from retail investors,especially from smaller towns,and huge inflows in equityschemes.

Folios in equity, equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS)grew by 7.35 lakh to 5.43 crore,besides, folios in balanced cat-egory surged by 1 lakh to 60lakh during the period underreview.

However, folios declined inincome funds and other ETF'scategory.

“After almost 2 months of

volatility, the markets showedconsistent recovery in April.The new financial year beganwith a positive sentiment thatreflected in the increased con-fidence of new investors andsecondly, February and Marchsaw a slow down because of thelong-term capital gain (LTCG)introduced,” said Harsh Jain,COO at Groww, an invest-ment platform.

“The increase in new foliosin April suggests that newinvestors have overcome theirfears and realised that mutual

funds still remain one of themost promising and flexibleinvestment products for thelong term,” he added.

Essel Mutual Fund CIOEchoing Viral Berawala said,”Historically April used to be aseasonally weak month forfinancial savings. In the recentyears both Fund houses andadvisors have worked towardsreducing the seasonality.”

Overall, mutual funds haveseen an infusion of �1.4 lakhcrore, while equity and ELSSalone attracted an impressiveinflow of around �12,400 crore.

This inflow has helped inincreasing the total assets undermanagement to to �23.25 lakhcrore in April-end from �21.36lakh crore at the end of March.Mutual funds are investmentvehicles made up of a pool offunds collected from a largenumber of investors. The fundsare invested in stocks, bondsand money market instru-ments, among others.

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Aditya Birla Group firm UltraTechsaid it would acquire the cement

business of BK Birla Group companyCentury Textiles and Industries througha share swap deal, a move which wouldfurther consolidate its position as mar-ket leader in the segment.

The Board of Directors of UltraTechCement, at its meeting held on Sunday,approved a scheme of arrangementamongst Century Textiles andIndustries and its respective share-holders and creditors, the Aditya BirlaGroup firm said in a statement.

According to the scheme, the share-holders of Century would get oneequity share of UltraTech, having a face�10/- each for every eight equity sharesof Century of face value �10 each.

“UltraTech will issue 1.4crore newequity shares to the shareholders ofCentury, which will increase its equitycapital to � 288.58crore, divided into

�28.86 crores equity shares of �10/-each,” said UltraTech.

“The acquisition will contributepositively to the company’s earnings,” itsaid further.

The transaction would provideUltraTech, opportunity to furtherstrengthen its presence in the east andcentral markets and extending its foot-print in the Western and Southern mar-kets in the country.

“The operations will be bolstered byeconomies of scale arising out of syn-ergies in procurement and logisticscosts; creation of efficiencies by reduc-ing time to market, enhancing com-petitiveness as well as customer service,”said UltraTech

It further said that the transactionis expected to be “consummated with-in 6-9 months”.

Other advantages stem from readyto use assets with a strong distributionnetwork, availability of land, railway andother infrastructure. The acquisition is

expected to lead to greater sharehold-er value creation, the company said.

“The transaction is subject to theapproval of shareholders and creditors,stock exchanges, NCLT, CCI and allother regulatory approvals as may berequired,” the company said.

Century Textiles has three inte-grated cement units situated in MadhyaPradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtrawith a total capacity of 11.4 mtpa (mil-lion tonnes per annum) and a grindingunit in West Bengal of 2.0 mtpa.

For the financial year ended March31, 2018, it had reported revenue of�4,306 crore.

In June last year, UltraTech Cementcompleted the �16,189 crore acquisitionof Jaiprakash Associates’ six integratedcement plants and five grindingunits, having a capacity of 21.2 milliontonnes.

Besides, the company is also intorace to acquire debt-ridden BinaniCement and has put its revised offer

competing with Dalmia Bharat Group.UltraTech, which is a leader in the

segment, has an installed capacity of96.5 MTPA of grey cement.

It has 19 integrated plants, 1 clink-erisation plant, 25 grinding units and 7bulk terminals.

“Upon consummation, theCompany’s cement capacity will standaugmented to 109.9 mtpa including itsoverseas operations,” the company saidadding “This will position UltraTech asthe 3rd largest Cement player globally(excluding China).”

Its operations span across India,UAE, Bahrain, Bangladesh and SriLanka.

Besides UltraTech Cement is alsoIndia’s largest exporter of cement to thecountries around the Indian Ocean andthe Middle East.

For the financial year 2017-18ended on March 31, 2018 UltraTechCement’s net sales were at Rs 32,304.63crore.

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In a retaliatory move, Indiahas told the WTO that it pro-

poses to raise duties by up to100 per cent on 20 productssuch as almonds, apple andspecific motorcycles importedfrom the US from next month,if Washington does not rollback high tariffs on certain steeland aluminium items.

The additional duty pro-posed to be hiked on theseitems ranges from 5 per cent to100 per cent.

“India hereby notifies theCouncil for Trade in Goods ofits decision to suspend con-cessions or other obligations ...that are substantially equivalentto the amount of trade affect-ed by the measures imposed bythe United States,” according toa communication by India toWTO.

It said that the proposedsuspension of concessionswould be in the form of “anincrease in tariffs on selected

products originating in theUS”.

It also said that Indiareserves its right to further sus-pend substantially equivalentconcessions and other obliga-tions based on the measures ofthe US.

India has earlier urged theUS to exempt it from the deci-sion to raise import duties oncertain steel and aluminiumproducts.

The country has proposedthis move under the WTO’sAgreement on Safeguards.

On March 9, US PresidentDonald Trump imposed heavytariffs on imported steel andaluminium items, a move thathas sparked fears of a globaltrade war.

Trump signed two procla-mations that levied a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminiumimported from all countriesexcept Canada and Mexico.

“The suspension will comeinto effect earlier than 21 June,

2018, in case the US decides tocontinue the period of appli-

cation of the measures...Thesuspension of concessions willcontinue to apply until theUnited States’ safeguard mea-sures are lifted,” it added.

India has also statedthat America imposed defini-tive safeguard measures with-out giving affected membersany opportunity for consulta-tions.

“India wishes to clarifythat suspension of concessionsshall be equivalent to theamount of trade affected by theUS’s measures. To this end,India reserves the right toadjust the specific productsfor which suspension of con-cessions is effectuated, and itsright to adjust the additionalrate of duty imposed on suchproducts,” it said.

The country has said thatthe duty imposed by Americahas affected steel exports byUSD 134.4 million, while thesame on aluminium was USD31.16 million.

The 20 items include peas,

chickpeas, fresh apple, walnut,soybean oil, refined palmolein,coco powder, chocolate prod-ucts, golf car, Motor cycle withengine capacity over 800 cc andother goods vehicles, withspark-ignition internal com-bustion piston engine. The UShas however stated that theduty hike by Trump adminis-tration is not a safeguard mea-sure.

India has also dragged theUS to the World TradeOrganisation’s dispute settle-ment mechanism over theimposition of import duties onsteel and aluminium.

India has stated that thedecision will impact exports ofthese products to the US and itis not in compliance with glob-al trade norms. India’s exportsof steel and aluminium prod-ucts to America stood at aboutUSD 1.5 billion every year.India’s exports to the US in2016-17 stood at USD 42.21billion, while imports wereUSD 22.3 billion.

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Sportswear major Adidas India said it will open upto 5 stadium inspired outlets in the country this year

for its performance wear products.The company, which opened its first stadium for-

mat store in India (Delhi) on Friday, said that fromyear 2019 onwards, all new stores opened by the com-pany for performance wear products will be in this newformat.

This format is available globally in countries suchas US, UK, France, Japan and South Korea.

“Stadium format store is a global concept. Thereare limited stadium format stores available in a fewcountries around the world. Inspired from and deriv-ing elements from world-class stadiums, the stadiumformat store will have interactive zones for customersand showcases product benefits.

“We plan to open 4-5 stadium format stores inIndia this year. From next year we will open stadiumformat stores in a big way,” Manish Sapra, Senior DTCDirector – Global Sales - Retail, Adidas India told PTI.

“In the next two to three years, depending uponthe life cycle of each store, we will convert all existingperformance wear stores to stadium format,” headded.

At present 80 per cent of Adidas India stores areperformance wear stores.

“In stadium format stores we will focus on cate-gories such as running, training and football. Therealso be a big focus on women’s category,” Sean VanWyk, Senior Marketing Director, Adidas India said.

Adidas India had clocked a 22 per cent growth inrevenue at �1,100 crore for 2016-17.

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Godrej Properties has emergedamongst the top three devel-

opers in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai,Bengaluru and Pune with salesbookings of over �800 crore in eachof the four markets, its executivechairman Pirojsha Godrej said.

Godrej Properties Ltd (GPL)achieved a total sales bookings of�5,083 crore during last fiscal.

“We have just completed thebest ever year in GPL’s history interms of the value and volume ofreal estate we have been able to sell,”Godrej told investors as per thetranscript posted on the companywebsite. For the first time in thecompany’s history, he said GPLdelivered sales of more than �1,000crore in each of the four quarters oflast fiscal.

“Also, for the first time, we haveemerged as amongst the top threedevelopers by value of real estatesold in each of our four focus mar-kets of Mumbai, NCR, Bengalure,and Pune,” Godrej said.

The company sold more than1.25 million sq ft with a bookingvalue of over �800 crore in each ofits four focus markets, he added.

“This has largely been possibleby combining our traditionalstrength in new launches with astrong improvement in sales fromexisting inventory, which stood at�2,780 crore in FY18,” Godrej said.

The total value of bookings inFY18 stood at �5,083 crore, whichrepresents a 152 per cent year-on-year increase, he added.

“As a result, we are likely toemerge as the largest publicly list-ed developer in India by sales valuein FY18,” he said.

In contrast, he said the sales forthe industry as a whole havedeclined during the financial year.

Replying to a query whethercompany would be able to achieve�5,000 core sales bookings in thisfiscal, Godrej said: “...clearly the goalof the company is not to degrow inany years, at the same time it canhappen if things do not go accord-ing to plan and things get delayedor we are not as successful as wehope to be”. Godrej Properties, a realestate arm of the Godrej group,clocked over two-fold jump in itsconsolidated net profit to �141.51crore for the January-March quar-ter (Q4) of last fiscal as against�62.59 crore in the year-ago period.

�� &'&-�!

Companies are offering 10-25 percent increase in variable pay as

incentive to retain and attract talents,especially in the IT, FMCG, e-com-merce, BFSI and telecom sectors,according to experts.

“We see an increase rangingfrom 10-25 per cent during the last2-3 years. Today for some companies,the variable component is nearly 25per cent of the fixed salary foremployees at junior-mid level,”TeamLease Services Head of NorthBusiness Mayur Saraswat told PTIhere.

This growth in variable compo-nent reflects 10-20 per cent on thegross salary, he added.

Companies in sectors like IT,Information Technology EnabledServices (ITeS), FMCG, e-commerce,Banking, Financial Services andInsurance (BFSI) and Telecom areincreasing variable pay componentas a proportion of employee salary toincentivise performance.

“Historically, companies wereused to the concept of having fixedpay. But now, with markets gettingmatured and complex with compe-tition, companies believe talent is oneof the key factor for success. Toattract and retain talent, one wouldneed to have a culture of high per-

formance as well as incentivising per-formance,” Saraswat said.

Echoing a similar view, MichaelPage India MD Nicolas Dumoulinsaid domestic companies are nowincreasingly including the variablepay component in employee’s salarypackages.

“Therefore, the size of the vari-able pay is larger when it comes tolocal companies, with an approxi-mate of 20-30 per cent bonusesbeing offered,” he added.

He said, MNCs have alwaysoffered this element to their employ-ees across the globe, therefore, theycontinue to offer this but the extentof compensations have not drasticallyincreased. Dumoulin said, well-established companies in FMCGand banking, healthcare and life sci-ences, chemicals, building materialsand sales driven roles have startedintroducing this aspect.

However, Dumoulin said, thevariable pay component is not themost effective method to retain orattract talent as it is a one-off amountthat employees get, especially forthose in a support function role.

Whereas, for results-driven andexecutive roles, this benefit is a con-structive retention tool as employeesrecognise that their variable paycomponent can be influenced bytheir performance, he added.

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Coal imports by power util-ities fell by 22.23 per cent

to 3.73 million tonnes in Aprilmainly due to decline in ship-ments by imported coal basedpower projects in the country.

According to latest datacompiled by the CentralElectricity Authority (CEA),coal imports by the powerutilities came down to 3.731million tonnes (MT) in Aprilthis year from 4.798 MT inApril 2017 mainly due to lowerdeliveries at imported coalbased plants.

In April 2018, however,the total coal imports by powerutilities for blending withdomestic coal rose to 1.427 MTfrom 1.078 MT in April lastyear.

The scope of reducing coalimport is always more at powerplants using domestic coal asthey use high gross calorificvalue imported fuel for blend-ing.

The data shows that thecoal imports came down byimported coal based powerplants in April this year. Theseplants imported 2.304 MT ofcoal in April 2018 down from3.720 MT in the same montha year ago.

Experts think that higherinternational coal prices mayhave been affecting imports bythe power plants based onimported coal.

During April, amongimported coal based plants,Tata Power’s Mundra UltraMega Power Project received0.509 MT compared to 0.689MT in the same month a yearago. Similarly, Adani’s 4620MW Mundra Plant received0.091 MT imported coal downfrom 1.322 MT a year ago.

Essar’s 1200 MW Salayaplant and Simhapuri Energy600 MW plant did not get any

imported coal during Aprilthis year. However, the twoplants had received 0.109 MTand 0.004 MT imported coalduring April last year.

Coal imports by powerutilities in January, Februaryand March this year stood at4.339 MT, 4.060 MT, 4.396 MTrespectively, which indicates agood start in April this year.

However, the power sectorexperts said that there may beincrease in coal imports by notonly power utilities but byother sectors as well mainly dueto transportation issues.

They say that the avail-ability of rakes for supplyingcoal has been an issue forsometime and private sectorpower plants do not get prior-ity in this.

The government, however,is doing everything needed toreduce dependence on coalimports particularly bypower sector in view of short-age of the dry fuel faced bythose.

As per the official estimateson the basis of power con-sumption growth, the require-ment of domestic coal in 2018-19 would be about 615 milliontonnes, which means that 288rakes of coal per day would berequired from Coal India Ltd

(CIL).During January 3 to 22,

2018, as against a loading planof 274 rakes, the average sup-ply of rake by CIL was about259 rakes per day.

In a recent report on coal,CARE Ratings said that totalcoal production may stagnateduring the year given no visi-ble improvement in availabili-ty of rakes or increase in evac-uation infrastructure for minedcoal.

It expects the total domes-tic coal production to grow inthe range of 2.5 per cent to 3.5per cent (705 to 712) MT forfinancial year 2018-19.

It stressed that there is animmediate requirement to auc-tion private coal blocks of cok-ing and steam coal for 50 MTper annum, in order to controlimport of steam and cokingcoal. Power plants importsteam coal.

Total import of coal includ-ing coking coal and steam coalcould touch 235 to 245 MT ifthe government approves anorder to ban use of pet cokewhich is a feedstock in cementindustry. Additional 35 to 40MT of imported steam coalwould be required to compen-sate for the pet coke ban, it hadsaid.

�� ()*��)+,!

An international arbitrationtribunal will in February

next year begin hearing inBritish telecom giantVodafone’s challenge to Indiausing a retrospective legislationto seek �22,100 crore in taxes.

The tribunal, headed bySir Franklin Berman, will hearthe government’s objection totax matters being coveredunder the Netherlands-IndiaBilateral Investment Treaty,which was used by Vodafone totrigger an arbitration over thetax demand, a senior officialwith direct knowledge of thedevelopment said.

India has also challengedtribunal’s jurisdiction to decideon such matters, he said.

While Vodafone is sup-posed to file its response to thegovernment objection by July,India will respond to this byDecember, he said, adding thatthereafter the tribunal willbegin hearing in February2019.

Vodafone has challengedIndia using a 2012 legislationthat gave it powers to retro-spective tax deals likeVodafone’s USD 11-billion

acquisition of 67 per cent stakein the mobile phone businessowned by HutchisonWhampoa in 2007.

It has challenged thedemand of �7,990 crore incapital gains taxes (�22,100crore after including interestand penalty) under the treaty.

Tax authorities had inSeptember 2007 served noticeto Vodafone InternationalHoldings BV for its alleged fail-ure to deduct withholding taxfrom consideration paid to theH u t c h i s o nT e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n sInternational Ltd.

Vodafone challenged thisin the Supreme Court, which inJanuary 2012 set it aside sayingthe transaction was not taxable

in India and so the companyhad no obligation to withholdtax. In May that year,Parliament passed the FinanceAct 2012 that amended variousprovisions of the Income TaxAct 1961 with retrospectiveeffect to tax any gain on trans-fer of shares in a non-Indiancompany, which derives sub-stantial value from underlyingIndian assets.

The company was inJanuary 2013 served a taxnotice of �14,200 crore afterincluding interest on the prin-cipal amount. A year later,Vodafone challenged the taxdemand under the Dutch BIT.

The official said the com-pany in April 2014 served thenotice of arbitration after out-

of-the-court dispute resolu-tion talks failed.

The Tax department inFebruary 2016 served ademand notice of Rs 22,100crore, including interest accru-ing since the date of the origi-nal demand.

Vodafone has maintainedthat there is no liability and thatit will “continue to defend vig-orously any allegation thatVIHBV or Vodafone India Ltdis liable to pay tax in connec-tion with the transaction withHutchison and will continue toexercise all rights to seekredress”.

�� ()*��)+,!

State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB)saw wilful defaults by big borrowers

growing further to �15,199.57 crore inApril this year over the previous month,soon after suffering a record loss of morethan �13,400 crore for January-March dueto frauds and bad loans.

The bank which posted a record lossof more than �13,400 crore for the lastquarter of 2017-18 closed the fiscal withbig wilful defaults of �15,171.91 crore,according to the PNB data.

Big wilful defaulters are categorised byPNB as those borrowers with loan out-standing of �25 lakh and over.

The country’s second largest publicsector lender is already in troubled watersdue to the �14,357 crore fraud allegedlycarried out by celebrity jewellery design-er Nirav Modi and his associates.

Major defaulters in big borrowers cat-egory include Kudos Chemie �1,301.82crore; Kingfisher Airlines �597.44 crore;BBF Industries �100.99 crore; ICSA(India) Ltd �134.76 crore; ArvindRemedies �158.16 crore and Indu ProjectsLtd �102.83 crore.

Jas Infrastructure and Power Limited�410.96 crore; VMC Systems Ltd �296.08crore; MBS Jewellers Pvt Ltd �266.17 crorealso figured in the list. These borrowerswere part of the consortium lending byPNB.

Those among key borrowers whoborrowed money solely from the bank

included Winsome Diamonds andJewellery Ltd �899.70 crore; ZoomDevelopers �410.18 crore; ForeverPrecious Jewellery & Diamonds Ltd�747.98 crore.

Of the others are Surya VinayakIndustries �133.96 crore; Nafed �224.24crore; and Mahuaa Media �104.86 crore.

The scam-hit bank earlier last weekposted a standalone net loss of �13,416.91crore for the January-March period of2017-18, the biggest ever by any domes-tic lender, as bad loans surged.

As a result, provisions for the bad loansjumped four-fold to �16,202.82 crore forthe quarter under review compared to�4,910.39 crore parked aside in the sameperiod a year ago.

For the full fiscal 2017-18, bank post-ed standalone loss of �12,282.82 croreagainst a profit of �1,324.80 crore in 2016-17. Bank’s asset quality has witnessed sharpdeterioration as gross net performingassets (NPAs) or bad loans, hit 18.38 percent of gross advances at the end of Marchthis year, as against 12.53 per cent a yearago.

Net NPAs were also soared to 11.24per cent against 7.81 per cent year ago.

In absolute term, the gross NPA of thebank surged to �86,620 crore in thefourth quarter as compared to �55,370crore in same quarter a year ago. Similarly,the net NPA also rose to �48,684.29 crorefrom �32,702 crore at the end of March2017.

�� ()*��)+,!

The GST Council has askedthe Centre and states to

expedite setting up of appellateauthorities for aggrieved enti-ties to appeal against orders ofthe Authority for AdvanceRulings (AAR).

With AARs in differentstates started giving rulingssince March, it has becomeimperative for the Centre aswell as states to set up theAppellate Authority forAdvance Ruling (AAAR), anofficial said.

“The Secretariat of theGST Council has shot off let-ters to the states as well as theCentral Board of IndirectTaxes and Customs (CBIC) tonominate members to theAAAR on an urgent basis sothat they can start function-ing,” the official told PTI.

So far only 12 states,including West Bengal,Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu andUttar Pradesh, have issuednotifications for setting upAAARs. However, these havenot become operational as themembers have not yet beenappointed.

As per the State GST law,the appellate authority willhave two members— theChief Commissioner ofCentral tax as designated byCBIC and the Commissionerof State tax.

The appellate authorityhas been mandated to passorder within 90 days of the fil-ing of appeal.

Under the GST (Goodsand Services Tax) law, anaggrieved party can file anappeal against the order of theAAR within a period of 30days, which may be furtherextended by a month.

As per the law, all states arerequired to set up at least oneAAR for seeking advance rul-ing over GST levy and oneappellate authority to hearappeals against the AAR order.

According to experts, thebusiness entities, which areaggrieved by the decision ofAAR, currently do not haveany remedy in the absence ofan appellate authority.

Deloitte Haskins & SellsLLP Partner (Indirect Tax) MS Mani said businesses will notbe able to file appeals againstadvance rulings unless theappellate authority is set up in

every state.“The recent increase in

AAR decisions needs to bematched by a quick constitu-tion of the appellate authorityin all states. The constitutionof the AAAR should also be onthe lines of the CESTAT(Customs, Excise and ServiceTax Appellate Tribunal) andother appellate bodies andshould not comprise only oftax officials, in order to achievethe objectives laid out for theAAAR,” Mani said.

AMRG & AssociatesPartner Rajat Mohan said aninimitable feature of GSTAAAR is that it is headed bya Chief Commissioner ofCentral tax and aCommissioner of State tax,such inequality in positionscould imbalance the decisionmaking authority towards thesenior member.

“AAAR also faces the sameimpediments as AARs do, asdecision-making body con-sists of two revenue officersonly and no representationfound on the bench from anyofficer from legal backgroundthereby posing a severe disad-vantage to taxpayers,” Mohansaid.

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Bangladesh has planned toissue floating rate bonds,

the first of its kind in thecountry.

The objective behind issu-ing the bonds is to meet thegovernment's own rising finan-cial need and develop debt pro-file, Xinhua news agencyreported.

Md Ekhlasur Rahman, aFinance Ministry official, saidthe government has alreadyissued a notification in thisregard.

According to the officials,maturity period of the bondstyled “Floating Rate TreasuryBonds” (FRTB) will be morethan one year.

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Authorities say an explosionand fire at a chemical plant

near Houston injured 20 peo-ple and left one missing.

Television station KHOUreports that the blast happenedon Sunday morning at theKuraray America Eval factoryin Pasadena.

The local fire marshal says20 people were hurt and one ismissing. The extent of theinjuries isn't known. The firehas gone out.

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US President DonaldTrump and South Korean

President Moon Jae-in onSunday discussed NorthKorea's recent threats to can-cel its unprecedented summitwith Washington, Seoul'sPresidential office said.

After weeks of warmwords and diplomatic back-slapping, Pyongyang abruptlythreatened to pull out of theplanned summit next month

because of US demands for“unilateral nuclear abandon-ment”, according to the North's

official KCNA news agency.North Korea also can-

celled at the last minute a

high-level meeting with theSouth, protesting joint militarydrills between Seoul andWashington.

In a phone conversationon Sunday, Trump and Moon“exchanged views on variousactions taken by North Korearecently”, Moon's office said ina statement.

The two leaders agreed to“work closely” for the successof the landmark summit inSingapore on June 12, whichwould be the first meeting

between a sitting US Presidentand a North Korean leader.

They are due to meet inWashington on Tuesday.

North Korea's sudden shiftin attitude followed a weeks-long charm offensive that hasseen leader Kim Jong Un holda historic summit with Moonand meet twice with ChinesePresident Xi Jinping.

At a dramatic summit lastmonth in the DemilitarisedZone dividing their two coun-tries, Kim and Moon pledged

to pursue nuclear disarma-ment and a peace treaty.

Pyongyang also raisedhopes ahead of the US summitby announcing it will destroy itsnuclear testing site next week.

But the promise is open tointerpretation on both sidesand the North has spentdecades developing its atom-ic arsenal, culminating lastyear in its sixth nuclear test —by far its biggest to date — andthe launch of missiles capableof reaching the US.

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Myanmar security forceshave resumed loud-

speaker broadcasts near itsborder with Bangladesh order-ing Rohingya Muslims toimmediately leave a strip of no-man's land between the twocountries, refugees saidSunday.

Around 6,000 refugeesfrom the persecuted minorityhave been camping on thenarrow stretch of land sincefleeing a brutal military crack-down in Myanmar's west lastAugust.

The majority of the nearly700,000 Rohingya who escapedthe violence settled in hugecamps in Bangladesh but a

smaller number insisted onstaying put in the buffer zonebetween the borders.

Myanmar had agreed inFebruary to stop using loud-speakers to order the strandedMuslims to leave the areaimmediately and cross intoBangladesh.

The army also withdrewsome of its heavy forces fromthe edge of no-man's land,where refugees camped on theother side of a barbed wirefence had complained of intim-idation.

But the loudspeaker mes-sages resumed this weekendwithout warning, Rohingyacommunity leaders said, exac-erbating tension along therestive border zone.

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Yemen’s Houthi rebels fireda ballistic missile towards

a military radar camp in SaudiArabia's southern border cityof Khamis Mushait, the mediareported.

The Houthis said the mis-sile hit the military targetaccurately on Saturday,Xinhua cited Houthi-con-trolled Saba news agency.

Saudi Arabia has beenleading an Arab military coali-tion against the Houthis insupport of the Yemeni exiledGovernment over the last

three years.Border cities in Saudi

Arabia have been the mosttargeted in such missileattacks, with the majority saidto have been intercepted.

On Tuesday, the Houthirebels fired a ballistic missileat the King Faisal MilitaryBase in the southern Saudicity of Jazan, but the Saudi-ledcoalition forces said the mis-sile was intercepted.

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Pakistan will raise the issueof India's alleged violation

of the Indus Waters Treatywith the World Bank, a mediareport said on Sunday, a dayafter Prime Minister NarendraModi inaugurated the 330 MWKishanganga hydroelectric pro-ject in Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan's Ambassador tothe US Aizaz AhmedChaudhry told media that a

four-member delegation ledby Attorney General ofPakistan (AGP) Ashtar AusafAli is in Washington to holdtalks with the president ofWorld Bank, Radio Pakistanreported.He said that the issueof construction of theKishanganga Dam will be dis-cussed in the meeting.

Prime Minister Modi yes-terday inaugurated theKishanganga hydroelectricpower plant, amid protests

from Pakistan which claimsthat the project on a riverflowing into Pakistan will dis-rupt water supplies.

Pakistan's Foreign Officeon Friday voiced concern overthe inauguration of the hydro-electric project, saying inau-guration without resolution ofdispute between the two coun-tries will tantamount to viola-tion of the Indus Waters 1960that regulates the use of watersin the shared rivers.

� � �� Abdul Aziz learnedabout the US school shootingin which his 17-year-olddaughter was killed on CNN,with the story airing live as hebroke his Ramadan fast thou-sands of miles away inPakistan.

In those chaotic firstmoments of confusion and ter-ror he called his daughter SabikaSheikh's phone over and over.She did not answer.”I kept call-ing her and sent her messageson WhatsApp. Never beforehad my daughter failed to reply,”Aziz told AFP, fighting backtears at his home in the south-ern port city Karachi today, justhours after he and his wife hadtheir worst fears confirmed.

“We are still in a state ofdenial. It is like a nightmare,”said Aziz. His wife sat nearby,visibly still shocked and seem-ingly unable to speak as friendsand relatives tried to comforther.Sheikh, an exchange studentat the Santa Fe High School inTexas, was killed along withnine others after a heavilyarmed student opened fire onhis classmates Friday. ��

Kabul: At least four Talibaninsurgents were killed follow-ing an Afghan SpecialOperations Forces-related airstrikes in the southern provinceof Zabul, officials said onSunday.

“The strikes were con-ducted against militants ofTaliban terrorist outfit inShahjoy and Shinkay districtsand two insurgents' motorcy-cles were also destroyed,”Xinhua quoted OperationalCoordination GroupAfghanistan as saying.Afghanforces and the NATO and US-led coalition troops continuedin mopping-up operations asspring and summer, known asfighting season, is drawingnear in country. ��

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Three Palestinians have diedfrom their wounds days

after being shot by Israelitroops during protests in theGaza Strip, the territory's healthministry said on Sunday.

Their deaths bring to 62the total number of Palestinianskilled by Israeli gunfire onMonday, when thousands ofPalestinians protested as the USofficially moved its embassyfrom Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The three men were 20-year-old Mohammed MazenAlyan, 58-year-old MoeinAbdel-Hamid Al-Saai, and 21-year-old Ahmed Samara, theHamas-run ministry said in astatement.The ministry saidAlyan was wounded east of the

Al-Bureij refugee camp, whileother medical sources report-ed Al-Saai was wounded to theeast of Gaza City. Samara waswounded east of Jabalia, in thenorth of the enclave.

Since March 30, Palestinianshave been marching to demandthe right to return to theirhomes in territory seized byIsrael in the 1948 war sur-rounding the creation of theJewish state.A total of 119Palestinians have since beenkilled by Israeli gunfire on theborder between the Gaza Stripand the Jewish State, accordingto authorities in Gaza, which isrun by the Islamist movementHamas.Israel says it has doneeverything it can to limit civiliancasualties and has used livedammunition only as a last resort.

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Tourism to security-relatedsights near the border

between North and SouthKorea has boomed since theleaders of the two countriesmet last month, media reportssaid on Sunday.

The number of visitors totourist sights near the borderhas gone up 30 per cent, from1,200-2,300 per day in thesame period last year to 1,500-3,000 per day, Yonhap Newsagency reported.

The sights include a tunnelconstructed by North Korea forinvading the South and the

Dora Observatory from whichthe North Korean village ofKaesong is visible.

The local government alsoascribed the rise in the numberof tourists to the lifting of restric-tions on package tours imposedby Chinese cities following adiplomatic spat last year.

South Korean PresidentMoon Jae-in and North Koreanleader Kim Jong-un held ahistoric meeting in the JointSecurity Area of theDemilitarized Zone on April27. At the summit, the pairagreed to agreed to pursue“complete denuclearisation” ofthe peninsula.

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Newly-wed MeghanMarkle, Duchess of

Sussex, has promised to givemore time to the Indian char-ity handpicked for donationsin lieu of gifts for her royalwedding to Prince Harry,Duke of Sussex.

As the 36-year-old formeractress mingled with the 600guests invited to St George'sChapel in Windsor Castle yes-terday, she told Mumbai-basedMyna Mahila Foundationfounder that she was lookingforward to giving more time tothe women's empowermentcharity.

“It was the highlight of theday, to meet the bride. She wasas down to earth and asapproachable as ever. She saidthat now she would be able togive more time to Myna andother humanitarian work,”said Suhani Jalota, who found-ed the charity nearly threeyears ago.As a guest in thechapel and the lunchtimereception hosted by QueenElizabeth II soon after at StGeorge's Hall in the Castle,Jalota received lot of compli-ments for her pastel sari withIndian motifs.

Bollywood star PriyankaChopra, who was among theguests as one of the bride'sclose friends from the actingworld, also bonded with herover her “very pretty” outfit

and their mutual admirationfor their mothers' support intheir lives.

“It was just such a heart-warming experience...Goingto the chapel and receptionafterwards made the wholething a lot more grounded.When you perceive this fromthe outside, it is all about thisreally glamorous royal wed-ding but when you are actual-ly there, you see that it's justabout love and marriage andfriendship and family,” saidJalota, who then joined hercolleagues on the grounds ofthe castle.

Deborah Das andArchana Ambre, who hadmade their first ever planejourney for the royal wedding,described their day as a “oncein a lifetime” opportunity asthey shared ice-creams alongwith over 2,600 guests invitedinto the castle on the day.The group is now set for a spe-cial fundraising event titled“Chaat for Change” at CalcuttaCanteen in London onMonday evening, when Dasand Ambre will be cooking upsome Mumbai street foodsuch as bhel puri and paubhaaji to raise funds for thecharity.

“It promises to be a greatIndian evening. The paus haveflown in all the way from abakery in Thane and we willhave some Myna merchandiseon sale as well as some

Bollywood dancing,” saidImogen Mansfield, who com-pletes the foursome repre-senting Myna MahilaFoundation from India forthe royal event.

The charity, founded in2015, works on getting womentalking about taboo issues suchas menstrual hygiene. It pro-vides employment to womenfrom the urban slums ofMumbai, many of whom thenalso go door-to-door selling thelow-cost sanitary napkins theyproduce.

Markle was impressed bytheir work during a visit toIndia last year and hadpledged her support, apromise that she kept whenshe and Prince Harry wereshortlisting charities thatwould become beneficiaries ofdonations from people whowanted to celebrate their royalwedding.

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London: At street parties andpubs around the kingdom,Britons celebrated Saturday'sroyal wedding with bunting,booze and bonhomie in a wel-come respite from the divi-sions and uncertainties ofBrexit.

Families, friends andneighbours converged towatch Prince Harry andMeghan Markle exchangevows in the last major royalwedding for a generation.

With clear blue skiesreplacing Britain's often drea-ry weather, the mood wasjoyous. “It's just nice to havesome good news for a change-- something happy,” saidPamela Daniels, a creativedirector, enjoying a street partyoutside the east London bak-ery of Claire Ptak, the royalwedding cake maker.

Scores of urbaneLondoners filled the block,toasting the newlyweds withsparkling wine.

“Today we are royalists forsure, tomorrow not anymore,”said Gitta Gschwendtner, 46,a longtime German transplantto London. AFP

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An American Bishop stolethe show at the royal wed-

ding of Prince Harry andMeghan Markle with a power-ful and passionate sermonemphasising the power of lovethat transfixed the guests,British media reported onSunday.

The Chicago-born

Michael Curry spoke passion-ately for over 10 minutes beforeQueen Elizabeth II and 600guests at St George's Chapel,Windsor Castle about thepower of love, quoting DrMartin Luther King Jr.

“There's power in love,don't underestimate it,” he saidin a speech seen as a significantbreak from tradition.

Bishop Curry became the

first black presiding bishop ofthe Episcopal Church - like theChurch of England, part of theAnglican Communion - whenhe was appointed in 2015.

The address, replete withhistorical references, hadchurchgoers, including DavidBeckham and the Duchess ofCornwall smiling. Othersappeared transfixed, the BBCreported.

The bride and groom, whoinvited Bishop Curry to speak,sat near the preacher and heldhands as they watched himspeak.

“When love is the way, wewill let justice roll down like amighty stream and righteous-ness like an ever-flowingbrook,” the 65-year-old bishopsaid, quoting the Bible and rais-ing his arms.

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Afirst batch of Islamic Stategroup fighters left their

final stronghold in Syria's cap-ital early on Sunday under adeal struck after weeks of fiercecombat, a monitor said.

“At dawn, six buses of ISfighters and their relatives leftthe Yarmuk Palestinian refugeecamp and adjacent district ofTadamun,” said Rami AbdelRahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights. Abdel Rahmansaid the buses headed east forSyria's vast desert, where IS still

controls some territory.He had no details on how

many people were aboard thevehicles, but said a majority ofthem were relatives of jihadistsand not armed.

The evacuations came a dayafter an apparent deal wasreached to put an end to a fero-cious month-long offensive tooust IS from its last positions insouthern Damascus.Pro-regimeforces, specifically Palestinianmilitias, had been fighting

since April 19 to recaptureYarmuk, Tadamun, and thenearby districts of Qadam andHajar al-Aswad from IS.

The assault had killed morethan 250 pro-regime forcesand another 233 IS fighters,according to the Observatory.Fighting died down aroundmidday on Saturday amidreports that an evacuation dealcould be reached.

Syrian state media onSunday denied evacuationswere taking place in Hajar al-Aswad, but did not mentiondepartures from Yarmuk orTadamun. Once a thriving dis-trict home to some 160,000Palestinians and Syrians,Yarmuk's population has fallento just a few hundred people.

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Pakistan's Punjab provincegovernment has released

�20 million to renovate aKrishna temple in Rawalpindicity and expand it to accom-modate more Hindu worship-pers on festivals and religiousoccasions, a media report saidtoday.

Krishna temple is the onlyfunctioning Hindu temple inthe twin cities of Rawalpindiand Islamabad. There are twoprayers held at the templeevery day - one in the morningand one in the evening - whichare attended by six or sevenpeople.

Mohammad Asif, theEvacuee Trust Property Board(ETPB) Deputy Administrator,said the government hasreleased Rs 20 million to recon-struct the temple at the requestof a Member of ProvincialAssembly, Dawn reported.

He said reconstructionwork would begin soon. Ateam has visited the site andpointed out a plan to startwork. The main room whereidols are kept will be sealeduntil reconstruction ends, thepaper said.

“Once reconstructed, thetemple will be able to accom-modate more people,” Asif wasquoted as saying by the paper.

The official said the templecould accommodate the localHindu community from thetwin cities and nearby areas.

The small temple was builtby Kanji Mal and Ujagar MalRam Rachpal in 1897 to servepeople in nearby areas.However, after partition thestreet temple in Saddar becamethe only place of worship forRawalpindi's Hindus.

The temple was reopenedafter partition in 1949; it wasoperated by local Hindusbefore being handed over to theETPB in 1970. Until the 1980s,even diplomats living inIslamabad visited the temple topray.

Local Hindus have saidthe temple's area should beexpanded.

Jag Mohan Arora said thetemple courtyard, which canonly accommodate 100 or sopeople, should be expanded,and shops next to the templethat the ETPB has leased tolocal traders should beretrieved to expand the front ofthe building.

“At present the front of thetemple is very small. The ETPBshould vacate nearby shopsthat have been rented,” Arorasaid.

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Today’s hard-pressed pro-fessionals often feel that

they’re losing that difficultwork-life balance. A subwayride to or from the office canturn the day into a marathonshift if you don’t turn off theinternet on your smartphone.Sending emails, messaging withcolleagues, making to-do listsfor the day while on the gocommuting or otherwise —everybody’s been there.

The tendency to blur work-life boundaries has also influ-enced how large companiesoperate. Today’s managementcrop has a different outlook onwork flow than their predeces-sors – working at a company isnot about work, it’s also aboutleisure. Employees enjoyupscale workplaces, confer-ence and dining rooms, gyms,lounges, game rooms, movietheatres and patios. And,because of all the perks, theyprobably won’t mind staying acouple hours longer if needed.

It is not surprising then thatpeople often combine businessand leisure when travelling forwork. The chances they do soare even bigger if they take afew business trips per year,work overtime, or are not sureabout having a decent vacation.It is, of course, a great idea tohead to a beach or wander inan unknown city’s streets afterseveral days of negotiations.Bleisure is the travel trend ofcombining work commitmentswith entertainment. Havingemerged nearly eight years ago,it continues to grow.Increasingly more people con-sider exploring new placeswhile travelling for business asa doable sideshow.

Shiivani Aggarwal, ChiefExecutive Officer, FormulaGroup, “In today’s businessscenario and ours being a ser-vice industry, it’s extremelyessential to combine businesswith leisure in order to ensurehigher productivity, stress man-agement and team motivation.Our recent off-site had a com-bination of acknowledgementof performance with an awardceremony, knowledge sharingsessions along with some funactivities and celebrations on

the beach.” As an emergingtravel trend, “bleisure hasgained popularity in India overthe last few years. This amalga-mation of business and leisureactivities while visiting anydestination serves as a conve-nient option for all age groupsand helps to maintain animportant work/life balanceequation. People have beenadding a day or two before orafter their conference or meet-ings to spend some timeexploring the sights,” saysSharat Dhall, COO(B2C),Yatra.com.

The trend is bringing newopportunities to the travel andhospitality industry. Such tripsrequire thorough planning asone will have to find a suiteavailable for both weekdaysand weekends, read about thearea to schedule leisure activi-ties and book tickets to gethome. In this situation, trav-ellers could use help fromOTAs, hotels, and other travelproviders.

Aditya Loomba, JointManaging Director, Eco Rent aCar, says, “The trend of mixingbusiness and leisure has alwaysbeen there, though it has gaineda sudden momentum in the last

few years. We can take exam-ples from our surroundings, beit our politicians, celebrities orbusiness tycoons who alwaysallocate some dedicated time toexplore the place and enjoyamenities around. Most of thepartners we have across citiesand countries prefer to extendtheir trip for some relaxingtime. Out of our total booking,approximately 20-30 per centare Bleisure booking.”

A trip lasting for three ormore days is 30 per cent morelikely to turn into a leisure one.Those who arrive at the desti-nation on Monday-Tuesday orThursday-Friday usually extendtheir stay. The closer the trip isto the weekend, the higher theprobability of making it ableisure trip. These customersfirst book airline tickets andthen look for accommoda-tions.

Most travellers agree thatdestination is important. If abusiness meeting takes place ina city included in a traveller’spersonal must-see list, he or shewould likely extend a trip for acouple of days. When travellinginternationally and for longdistances, people expect toimmerse in a different culture.

Dhall says, “The top preferreddestinations are San Francisco,Singapore, Beijing, Australiaand Canada.” A higher bleisurerate for international (52 percent) over domestic (46 percent) trips proves the attractive-ness depends on a trip itiner-ary and an origin city. The rela-tionship between longer dis-tances and higher bleisure ratesapplies to domestic trips as well.Keep in mind, some destina-tions are better for business,and the others are great forvacation. More men take work-related trips than women andyounger employees who havejust started building careers aremore adventurous than theirexperienced colleagues. Thegeneration, which mostly fol-lows the digital lifestyle andlikely has no family-relatedresponsibilities, is more flexible.Some researches say that hav-ing family and children isn’t areason to reject taking ableisure trip. Report stats on thecorrelation between leisurerates and trip frequency are dif-ferent. Most travellers stay atthe same hotel or apartment forthe bleisure part of their trip,which is a matter of conve-nience. The need to a researchnew area and book accommo-dation again, packing, unpack-ing and moving to anotherplace doesn’t seem like rest andrelaxation for people who justhave fulfilled important workcommitments. The most dri-ving factors for accommoda-tion change are high roomrates, an option to stay withfamily or friends who live in thearea and a hotel’s significantdistance from leisure activities(54 per cent). Those travellerswho have family or a significantother make a bleisure trip if ahotel offered the option tobring those people along at adiscounted rate. According toa new research, 30 per cent ofemployees admit they wouldeven take a lower paying posi-tion if it guarantees they couldtravel more for business. Thenew breed of employee whoaims to maintain a balancebetween work and leisure willkeep this trend alive and flour-ishing.

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The Season 5 premiereanswered many of the questionswe had, but raised many more, butthat bodes well for the future ofthe series. The premiere episode,Eden, was just how I knew the restof the show to be: bold, emotion-al, and exciting.

The 100 allowed itself to jumpahead in time and truly shakethings up. Clarke was given hermoment of heroism, one that felttrue to the character, and then“Praimfaya” ended on a mysteri-ous cliffhanger. Six years laterClarke and a young Nightbloodnamed Madi watch as a shiplands on Earth. Clarke presumesit’s her friends finally returningfrom the Ark a year later thanplanned but quickly sees it’s atransport ship for prisoners.Questions lingered: Who’s in theship? What had happened toBellamy, Monty, and the others onthe Ark? What about Octavia,Abby, and those in the bunker?How did Clarke survive all thoseyears in a world made barren byPraimfaya?

The pacing and structure ofthis season is so much better andmore solid than season 3 and 4.The story lines and episodes feel

tighter, more focussed and lessunwieldy than in the past.

Each of the first five episodesfocusses tightly on just a few sto-rylines. There’s a whole Castawayvibe to how the episode is struc-tured and Eliza Taylor reallyknocks it out of the park, dare Isay this was Emmy-level actingand writing? It really was one ofthe best single hours of TV I’veseen all year.

In all, the first five episodes ofSeason 5 of The 100 had an awfullot to like. It’s got all it needs tobuild a fantastic season and theessentially blank canvas alongwith four previous seasons ofexperience mean that the creativeteam have more possibilities opento them than ever before.

They’re doing a wonderful job

and I hope they keep it up. It isone of the best shows on TV rightnow, and one of my all timefavorite post apocalyptic tv shows!and it will not stop any time soonbecause The 100 has beenrenewed for Season 6.

�� Since web is where feelings

are given equivalent weight toeach and everyone, a currentsound clasp on Twitter, in whichan automated voice articulates anoise leaving some people hear-ing “Yanny”, while others hearing

“Laurel” created polling trend allaround the world. Here’s thebackstory of where the audiooriginated from and how it turnedinto a web sensation, down theindividual who recorded it.

A YouTube personality CloeFeldman shared the audio (asound-related image) first onTwitter and with over 14,000votes “Laurel” pushed out “Yanny”61 per cent to 39 per cent in aTwitter poll conducted by KFCRadio but the debate continuedover the issue and created a newserious note for scientists that how

people are hearing two differentwords in a same audio clip. Therewere numerous intriguing sourcesclarifying that how individualswere hearing two unique words inone audio. The New York Timesfound the first source of thesound-related image to RolandSzabo, a 18-year-old understudyfrom Georgia, who found the whorecorded the clip and posted it onweb gathering Reddit.com and itbegin spreading online from thatpoint. However, as far as anyonegets to know, the real reasonbehind it was circulated aroundthe web and was crafted as atrending MEME.

The American magazineWired tracked down the realsource of audio where it all start-ed. “Laurel” was one of thevocabulary words for KatieHetzel, a fresher from the worldliterature class. She tried to learnit from Vocabulary.com instead ofthe word in front of her andplayed the sound and she heard“yanny.” She then posted theaudio clip to her social mediaaccount. Then her friendFernando Castro re-published

the audio to his Instagram storyas a survey. The audio was post-ed on a web content rating anddiscussion website — Reddit —which is an American social newsaggregation. That clarifies how“Laurel” and “Yanny” circulatedaround the web. While manyhave speculated that audio clipwas computer-generated but TheWired explained the reading wasactually recorded by an operasinger, member of the Cats onBroadway in New York inDecember of 2007.

The science behind the soundwas first described by a neurosci-entist Lars Riecke an assistant pro-fessor of audition and cognitiveneuroscience at MaastrichtUniversity. He described the audiowasn’t an illusion, but it’s anuncertain figure.

The mystery he reveals aboutthe audio is its frequency. Theacoustic data that influences us tohear “Yanny” is higher recurrencethan the acoustic data that influ-ences us to hear “Laurel”.Somehow it also depends onwhat sound system the audio isplayed, Reicke says. In any case,some of it is likewise the mechan-ics of your ears, and what you’rehoping to hear. So what do youhear? Is the audio saying “Yanny”or “Laurel?”

Perched on the Black Sea coastand hailed as the Switzerland of

Russia, Sochi has emerged as one ofthe prominent cities on the worldmap for key international summitsand meeting place of world leaders.The resort city is already Russia’sbiggest tourism hotspot and hasgained hugely in its destination pro-file internationally since it playedhost to the 2014 Winter Olympics.That further transformed it into oneof the most modern cities with ahighly developed tourism infra-structure.

And with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi visit to Russia’slargest resort city, located in theKrasnodar Krai region, on May 21for an informal summit level meet-ing with the Russian PresidentVladimir Putin, the event has addedanother destination to the Indiantravellers’ map.

Sochi is particularly popular forits wonderful climatic conditionsand availability of therapeutic mudand mineral rich springs in the city.Besides its various historical andtourist places of interests, it offersactivities ranging from water sports,adventure sports, family hotspots,children’s parks, river rafting,longest skywalk in the world, someof the world’s finest ski slopes,cycling excursions in the city andsurrounding, gaming and casinos,world-class hotels, resorts andrecreational centres, great shoppingand culinary experiences, amongothers.

So where do Indians fit in?Laying claim to being the northern-most tea plantation anywhere in theworld, the Dagomys Tea Plantationowes its standing to the region’sunique micro-climate that makes itfertile ground for the growth of tealeaves. The plantation is also a fully-fledged tourist attraction as it offersa wide range of events and activi-ties. Visitors can explore the farm,listen to talks on the history of teain Russia, participate in 19th-cen-tury style tea-parties in an authen-tic Russian wooden country loghome situated at the top of amountain, and listen to perfor-mances by folklore groups singingtraditional Russian songs. There isplenty of tea sampling opportuni-ties too as well as the chance to pickup tea-themed gifts and souvenirsat the on-site shop.

A visit to Mount Akhun givesyou expansive views of the region.

Located 15 km from Sochi’s citycentre, the mountain’s summit ismarked by an imposing 100-footRomanesque tower from whichvisitors can enjoy panoramic views.If you are lucky with the weather,can stretch as far as the remoteTurkish coastline. There are ruinsof a medieval Christian church andaround 20 caves.

To gain a deep insight intoSochi’s rich natural and cultural his-tory under one roof, the museumis the place to go to. It features a vastcollection of artefacts, many ofwhich were discovered by localmountaineers in the early 20thcentury. The museum is a veritablegold mine of information andintrigue. The pieces on displaydate back from antiquity all the waythrough to the current day, provid-ing a potted history of the region.

With 105 km of Black Seacoastline, most visitors to Sochi dur-ing the summer months can enjoya swim in its warm, calm waters, anarray of pristine shingle beaches anda vibrant nightlife.

Joseph Stalin might have beena brutal dictator but he did have aneye for a nice home. Known as a“dacha”, the Russian word for “hol-iday home”, the charming woodenproperty has remained largelyuntouched since its former owner’sdeath in 1953, with many of his pos-sessions, including clothes, photosand even a pool table, still present.Another pleasing legacy is the out-standing mountain and ocean viewsthat can be enjoyed here. Onenotable addition since the homewas occupied has been a visitors’restaurant on the ground floor,where you can enjoy classicCaucasian dishes while mullingover the notorious history of thisfascinating site.

One of the longest cave com-plexes anywhere in Russia, theVorontsovka Caves contain evi-dence of human habitation datingback an incredible 20,000 years. Itis this fact, along with the caves’remarkable visual appearance, thatdraws visitors here from far andwide. Located in the Khosta andAdler districts of Sochi, the cavescan be navigated by foot via a seriesof entrances dotting the slopes ofthe Kudepsta River Valley at heightsof up to 720 meters above sea level.

The legacy of the 2014 SochiOlympics continues to burn strong-ly, and nowhere more so than atOlimpiyskiy Park, which was builtespecially for the prestigious sport-ing carnival and captured theworld’s attention. Even if you’re notan athletics fan, you’ll find plentyto enjoy here — you can rent abuggy, bicycle, quad bike or juststroll around and admire the park’sstriking landmarks, including the40,000 capacity Fisht OlympicStadium, an open-air venue. It istime to follow Mr Modi’s itinerary.

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Nowadays, everyone seems to wantto know how to meditate. From

Baby Boomers to Generation-Xers,anxious teens to aging retirees, harriedhousewives to hurried executives,heart-attack sufferers to weekend ath-letes, more and more people are seek-ing solutions for the stressful, time-urgent, overstimulated lives we lead.Because the mainstream medicine hasfailed to provide satisfying answers,people are turning in increasing num-bers to time-honoured practices likemeditation for proven remedies tocure life’s ills. To begin with, anyonewho aspires to learn and practise med-itation, acts upon the conviction thatthere is beyond all the transitory, mun-dane and phenomenal world, a sub-tle realm of reality which can be expe-rienced only by means or methodsother than employed in the physicalworld.

Of late, meditation has been stud-ied extensively in psychology labs andreduced to formula like the relaxationresponse. Yet it has never entirely lostits spiritual roots. In fact, the reasonmeditation works so effectively isthat it connects you with a spiritualdimension, which different commen-tators give different names. However,in simple words it can be described asa union of being i.e the soul withsupreme being i.e Supreme Soul.

There is always a deep curiositywithin people to know how long doesit take for someone to learn and startpractising meditation? Practicallyspeaking, one can learn the basics ofmeditation in just five minutes. Just sitdown, be quiet, turn your attentioninward and focus your mind. That’s it.It’s as simple as that. However to geta deep experience, one needs to fol-low certain steps which are easy aswell. So, the first step before one starts

meditation is to have a clear knowl-edge of who am I ? Who is Supreme?Where have I come from? Once weunderstand that we are Soul, which isan infinitesimal point of conscienceand immortal light and that mind,intellect and predispositions or san-skars are its three inherent and ever-lasting faculties, which are threeaspects of manifestations of con-sciousness, we start to lose our phys-ical identity and begin our journeytowards enlightenment. Thereafterwe need to realise that Supreme Soul,who in a metaphysical and metaphor-ical sense is every soul’s mother-father, friend and philosopher orspiritual guide and master, who is fullof knowledge and bliss, is always thereto help and guide those who seek him.He too is a self-luminous, infinitesi-mal point of conscient and non-physical light who constantly radiatesvibrations of love, peace, divine light,spiritual might, bliss, and so on which

a soul can clearly experience when ithas established its metaphysical ormental link with Him. He, the world’smost beloved mother- father, abides insoul world or incorporeal world whichis far beyond this phenomenal andephemeral world of matter. It isbeyond the sun and stars and the uni-verse of elements and is a realm filledwith divine light, called Brahm. So,when you begin your first meditationsession or practice, let your thoughtswell up naturally in the form ofwords as: “I am a soul, I am eternal,immortal, conscient, radiant and self-luminous infinitesimal, tiny little staror point, a nuclear-like unit of eternalspiritual energy, with qualities ofpeace and so on. I came into this phe-nomenal world from a spiritual realm,from beyond, from what is known asthe Soul World, which is filled withdivine light and serenity and calm.”Thus recapitulating the summaryknowledge, let your mind enter intoits meaning, penetrating behind thewords and idea into the transcenden-tal reality they signify. This will enableyou to be free of all thoughts of yourbody and the environment and theworldly affairs and gradually yourmind will be engaged totally with theawareness of Supreme and His grace,His attributes His divine and salubri-ous acts, His spiritual relationship andso on. Getting immersed in thesethoughts to the exclusion of all others,feel unity with the Divine. By meansof this steady flow of thought on Him,you will reach a mental state or stagewhich transcends thought. In thatstate, one’s mind is seeing no otherforms, images or goals but only thesplendour of Supreme Almighty. Inthis state, you will experience blisswhich cannot be described in words.Try it once.

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Try once more! That just aboutsums up my life. A series of fail-ures leading up to a modicum of

success.Today we hear of smart young writ-

ers turning out instant bestsellers,their books selling in hundreds of thou-sands. For many years I consideredmyself lucky if my books were beingpublished at all.

Now writers become celebrities.Their books are marketed like Magginoodles. They pour from the presseslike popcorn from a vending machine.Literary festivals take place in hundredsof towns and cities, and the politiciansgleefully attend them. Although I haveyet to read everything by Camus,Orwell and Agatha Christie, my sparetable is overflowing with new bookssent to me by authors, publishers andwell-wishers who wish to improve mymind. Some even solicit my comments— and give me a deadline for doing so!

I will never read all these books.

What will I do with them?The pile grows higher every day.Gautam, who has just finished

school, has come up with asolution.”Whenever I go out,” he says,“I’ll take one or two books with me, andleave them in cafés or dhabas or onpark benches. That way someone maypick them up — and even read them.Literature will spread like wildfire!”

So, I fell in with his idea, gave hima little pocket money (to spend in thecafés) and off he went with his quotaof books. This quota of procedure wasfollowed for several days, and the pileof unsolicited books was rapidly dimin-ishing. So, I thought I’d take a look formyself and see how things were going.

Gautam had left a book on abench just down the road from our flat.

I stood behind a tree, and presently twoladies came along and pushing thebook aside, sat down and exchangedthe day’s gossip for about 15 minutesbefore getting up and leaving. They didnot even glance at the book.

Five minutes passed. Then a mon-key arrived on the bench, picked up thebook, bit into it to see if it was edible,spat some of it out, and then tore it intwo.

After the monkey had gone, alongcame two small boys. They seized thescattered pages, turned them intopaper airplanes, and gleefully sentthem flying over the valley. Finally Iwandered down to the bench to exam-ine the remains of the book. Thecover was still intact. I picked it up. Andto my horror I saw that it was by RuskinBond! Where’s that boy, Gautam? Nomore pocket money for a week.

(Extracted from the Introduction of“Stumbling Through Life,” with permis-sion from Rupa Publications by IANS)

India is among the world’s majorhotspots which has seen a seri-

ous decline in the availability offreshwater due to overuse of waterresources, reveals a new studythat combined an array of NASAsatellite observations of Earth withdata on human activities.

The study, published in thejournal Nature, found that Earth’swetland areas are getting wetterand dry areas are getting drier dueto a variety of factors, includinghuman water management, climatechange and natural cycles.

Areas in northern and easternIndia, the Middle East, Australiaand the US state of California areamong the major areas whereoveruse of water resources has ledto a serious decline in the availabil-ity of freshwater, The Guardianreported this week citing the study.

Without corrective actions bythe governments to preserve water,the situation is likely to worsen inthese areas, it added.

The first-of-its-kind study used14 years of observations from theUS/German-led Gravity Recoveryand Climate Experiment (GRACE)spacecraft mission to track globaltrends in freshwater in 34 regionsaround the world.

“This is the first time that we’veused observations from multiplesatellites in a thorough assess-ment of how freshwater availabil-ity is changing everywhere onEarth,” said Matt Rodell of NASA’sGoddard Space Flight Center inGreenbelt, Maryland.

“A key goal was to distinguishshifts in terrestrial water storagecaused by natural variability - wetperiods and dry periods associat-ed with El Nino and La Nina, forexample - from trends related toclimate change or human impacts,like pumping groundwater out ofan aquifer faster than it is replen-ished,” Rodell added.

Freshwater is found in lakes,rivers, soil, snow, groundwaterand ice. Freshwater loss from theice sheets at the poles - attributedto climate change — has implica-tions for sea level rise.

On land, freshwater is one ofthe most essential of Earth’sresources, for drinking water andagriculture. The researchers foundthat while some regions’ water sup-plies are relatively stable, othersexperienced increases or decreas-

es. “What we are witnessing ismajor hydrologic change,” saidco-author Jay Famiglietti of NASA’sJet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) inPasadena, California.

“We see a distinctive pattern ofthe wet land areas of the world get-ting wetter — those are the highlatitudes and the tropics — and thedry areas in between getting dryer.Embedded within the dry areas wesee multiple hotspots resultingfrom groundwater depletion,”Famiglietti warned.

One of the biggest causes ofgroundwater depletion across theboard was agriculture, which canbe complicated by natural cycles asseen in California, Famiglietti said.

Decreases in freshwater causedby the severe drought from 2007 to2015 were compounded bygroundwater withdrawals to sup-port the farms in the state’s CentralValley.

Southwestern California lostfour gigatons of freshwater per yearduring the same period. A gigatonof water is the equivalent of themass of water in 400,000 Olympicswimming pools.

Downward trends in freshwater seen in Saudi Arabia alsoreflect agricultural pressures, thestudy said. From 2002 to 2016, theregion lost 6.1 gigatons per year ofstored groundwater. The studyalso showed that previously undoc-umented water declines occurredin northwestern China’s Xin Jiangprovince.

Famiglietti noted that whilewater loss in some regions, like themelting ice sheets and alpine glac-iers, is clearly driven by warmingclimate, it will require more timeand data to determine the drivingforces behind other patterns offreshwater change.

The GRACE satellite observa-tions alone could not tell theresearchers what was causing theapparent trends. “We examinedinformation on precipitation, agri-culture and groundwater pumpingto find a possible explanation forthe trends estimated fromGRACE,” said co-author HirokoBeaudoing of Goddard and theUniversity of Maryland in CollegePark.

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Chelsea's players saved their seasonbut maybe not their manager.Collecting the FA Cup, after beat-

ing Manchester United 1-0 on Saturday,is looking like Antonio Conte's final actwith Chelsea.

"After two years, the club knows mevery well," Conte said. "And if they con-tinue to want to work with me they knowI can't change. My way is always thesame."

Having won three Serie A titles atJuventus before capturing the EnglishPremier League trophy for Chelsea,Conte reminded the Chelsea hierarchy:"I'm a serial winner."

It was a bullish sign-off to a lacklus-ter season that saw the Italian's rela-tionship with Chelsea's leadershipbecome increasingly strained as theteam went from champions to fifth in thePremier League.

"Our job is not simple," Conte said."I understand that the club can make adecision."

Wembley match-winner EdenHazard also has a decision to make:Whether to pursue a transfer.

After raising doubts about hisChelsea future ahead of the final -demanding "good players" are signed inthe offseason - Hazard produced the onlygoal from the penalty spot in the 22ndminute.

On the pitch, amid the celebrations,Hazard said nothing to demonstrate hiscommitment to the club.

"I'm just happy," Hazard said. "Yousee the fans celebrating with the trophy.We didn't play a great season but at leastwe finished well."

Although not in the style craved byHazard.

"If we want to win a lot of games wehave to play better," Hazard said, "becausetoday we played defensively."

Such was the focus on the gloomyPremier League campaign and loomingoffseason of uncertainty in the post-match interviews, it was easy to forgetChelsea had just picked up a trophy.

"This was to save our season,"Chelsea captain Gary Cahill said. "I'm notsaying we've had a magnificent season byany stretch. But we are used to winning,not in an arrogant way, but we have to

try to win things."Conte's first cup final victory in

coaching meant former Chelsea manag-er Jose Mourinho finished his second sea-son at United empty-handed, paying theprice for an insipid first-half display andcoming to life only after the break.

United took until the 56th minute toregister a shot on target when MarcusRashford struck at goalkeeper ThibautCourtois, who later rushed off his line toblock the forward.

United's deficiencies were encapsu-lated by another patchy performancefrom midfielder Paul Pogba, who squan-dered a late chance to equalize by head-ing wide.

Mourinho, though, couldn't find

any faults."I don't think (Chelsea) deserved to

win," said Mourinho, who won theLeague Cup and Europa League last year."I am quite curious because if my teamplayed like Chelsea did I can imaginewhat everyone would be saying."

��F�� FConte seemed unfamiliar with the

2016 change to the "triple punishment"law, reducing the type of incidents thatresult in a penalty kick, a red card andsuspension.

Conte remonstrated to the officialsafter Phil Jones was only booked, not sentoff for bringing down Hazard for thepenalty. Referee Michael Oliver was right

because a "genuine attempt has been madeto play the ball," as football laws state.

� ��F� ��I�JThis was only Mourinho's third loss

in 15 career cup finals and the first defeatin regulation time.

Despite Mourinho being able to spendaround 300 million pounds ($404 million)on players, the only progress he can pointto is finishing second in the league for theclub's highest finish since Alex Fergusonretired as a champion in 2013.

More investment is required in theoffseason, particularly to acquire full-backs. Wingers Ashley Young andAntonio Valencia have been deployedthere.

�� F� ��I�JThe rapid turnover of managers

hasn't prevented Chelsea from collectingtrophies. It's now 15 in 15 years underRoman Abramovich's ownership.

The Russian billionaire could well besearching for his 11th permanent man-ager if he decides to fire Conte with a yearremaining on his contract.

Chelsea's priority is finding a newstriker, particularly if Hazard leaves,despite lacking the appeal of appearingin the Champions League after failing tofinish in the Top-4.

Chelsea failed to adequately replaceDiego Costa last year, scoring 62 goals inthe league compared to 85 in the previ-ous title-winning campaign.

�� -�/0)+3(�

Real Madrid showedLiverpool its strengths

and weaknesses a weekbefore their ChampionsLeague final.

Madrid squanderedfirst-half goals by CristianoRonaldo and Gareth Balein drawing at Villarreal 2-2 on Saturday in its lastmatch before attempting towin Europe's most covetedtrophy for a third year in arow.

Madrid coachZinedine Zidane alignedwhat could be his starting11 for the final againstLiverpool, except for giving20-year-old son LucaZidane his competitivedebut in goal.

Zidane left strikerKarim Benzema on hisbench in favor of startingRonaldo and Bale alone upfront and playing Francisco"Isco" Alarcon along withLuka Modric and ToniKroos as playmakers infront of holding midfield-er Casemiro.

Madrid showed thesame dominant form thathas taken it to anotherChampions League final inthe first half at Villarreal.

But after Ronaldo andModric were replaced byBenzema and LucasVazquez with half an hourremaining, Zidane's bunchdisplayed the same com-placency and faultydefending that scuttled itsLiga title defense monthsago.

The draw in the final

round meant Madrid fin-ished the Spanish league inthird place behind AtleticoMadrid and championBarcelona.

Bale opened the scor-ing with a solo effort in the11th minute, and Ronaldoheaded in a superb cross byMarcelo just after the half-hour mark.

Fifth-place Villarrealoutplayed the visitors in thesecond half and leveledthrough goals by substi-tutes Roger Martinez in the70th and Samuel Castillejoin the 85th.

"We played a very, verygood first half, with deter-mination, scoring goals,but the second half was theexact opposite," Zidanesaid. "The important thingis that we didn't have anyinjuries and can now restwell for next weekend. Weare only thinking aboutwinning the final."

Bale, who struggledfor most of the season tomake Zidane's first-choice11, has finished the seasonstrong and appears to haveearned a spot in theChampions League final.

His opener againstVillarreal, created whenhe let Modric's pass runthrough as he spun aroundhis marker, was his 14thgoal in the last 10 rounds.

"Gareth has nevergiven up," Zidane said. "Hehas trained well. Nothinghas changed. The only dif-ference is that now he isscoring."

Ronaldo's goal was his26th in the league.

Barcelona's Lionel Messileads the competition with34.

Castillejo snatched thedraw after he raced behindMarcelo to receive a lobbedpass from RodrigoHernandez. Luca Zidane,who normally plays forMadrid's reserve team inthe third divison, stoppedhis initial chipped shot butCastillejo slotted therebound into the open net.

Saudi Arabia mid-fielder Salem Al Dawsarimade his Liga debut as asecond-half substitute forVillarreal.

�� KK��Iago Aspas made the

most of his last chance toshow Spain coach JulenLopetegui that he deservesa spot on his World Cupsquad.

The striker scoredtwice to lead Celta Vigo's 4-2 win over Levante, takinghis season tally for theleague to 22, the most by aSpanish player.

Aspas was regularlychosen by Lopetegui dur-ing World Cup qualifying.

Celta announced afterthe match that coach JuanCarlos Unzue will leave theclub and break his contractby mutual agreement.

Elsewher, Uruguaystriker Christian Stuaniscored his 20th and 21stgoals of the season to leadGirona's 2-1 win at LasPalmas. Leganes foughtback while playing with 10men for over an hour tobeat Real Betis 3-2.

�� -)/+!(

Niko Kovac stunned his future employ-er by leading Eintracht Frankfurt to

a 3-1 win over Bayern Munich in theGerman Cup final on Saturday.

The Frankfurt coach, who has agreedto take over from the retiring JuppHeynckes in Munich next season, oversawa committed performance from his sidecrowned by two goals from the impressiveAnte Rebic.

The Croatian striker scored early andlate to cancel out Robert Lewandowski'sequalizer for Bayern.

Bayern might have had a penalty ininjury time, but referee Felix Zwayerdecided otherwise after consulting videoreplays, and Mijat Gacinovic then sealedit on a counterattack for Frankfurt.

"It's unbelievable," said Frankfurt'sKevin-Prince Boateng, back in his Berlinhometown. "Everyone said we'd be beat-en out of the stadium and we beat BayernMunich out of the stadium."

It was Frankfurt's first title for 30 years,and its fifth German Cup also provided aticket to the Europa League next season.

"We fought and whoever fights andbelieves in themselves will be rewarded.I'm so proud," Boateng said.

Kovac went one better after his side

lost to Borussia Dortmund in last year'sGerman season-ending showpiece.

"This year we have the positive feel-ings, the nice feelings," said Kovac, whostruggled to hold back his tears.

"I'm sad to be leaving. I know whereI'm going, but I've experienced two and ahalf wonderful years and what we deliv-ered here was huge. I'm leaving a team

with great character, great guys."Heynckes was hoping to sign off

with another domestic double, but therewas to be no repeat for the 73-year-oldcoach who revitalized Bayern after com-ing out of retirement to replace the firedCarlo Ancelotti.

Lewandowski hit the crossbar early onbut Rebic took Frankfurt's first chance min-

utes later when he forced James Rodriguezto lose the ball and received it back fromBoateng before firing inside the post.

Lewandowski equalized minutes intothe second half when Joshua Kimmichpulled the ball back for the Poland strik-er to score with a deflected shot.

Rebic grabbed his second in the 82ndminute after a long punt from Danny daCosta. The Croat headed the ball on despitea defender on either side and clipped it overthe outrushing Sven Ulreich.

Frankfurt fans were infuriated whenthe video referee told Felix Zwayer to checkit again as the ball came off Boateng's hand,but the goal stood.

Zwayer was again the center of atten-tion in a furious finale when Boatengappeared to foul Javi Martinez, but the ref-eree was not feeling generous on his 37thbirthday and he declined to award Bayernwhat looked a clear penalty despite sev-eral replay viewings.

"We were lucky," Kovac acknowl-edged. "I think it's a penalty."

Instead Zwayer gave Bayern a corner,but Gacinovic ran the length of the pitchand scored at the other end.

"For me it's a clear penalty," saidBayern sporting director HasanSalihamidzic, who clashed with his friendKovac as emotions took hold.

�� /3&)

Elina Svitolina faced little resis-tance from Simona Halep in a

6-0, 6-4 win Sunday to defend herItalian Open title.

Just like in last year's final,Halep appearedbothered by aninjury.

The top-rankedRomanian called atrainer onto thecourt for an apparentback problem whiletrailing 2-3 in thesecond set then exit-ed the court for treat-ment under a med-ical timeout.

"I was a little bittoo stiff with mybody and I couldn'tstay in the rallies,"Halep said. "Themuscles were stiff. Icouldn't run."

Last year, Halep rolled herankle in the final and lost a set leadto Svitolina.

This time, Svitolina didn't facea single break point in a match thatlasted just 67 minutes.

"It's amazing that I could come

and defend my title here," Svitolinasaid. "It's really something very,very special for me."

Halep said her physical prob-lems were the result of a longthree-set win over MariaSharapova in the semifinals a day

earlier"Every time I play

against Sharapova theball is coming veryflat and I bend downa lot," Halep said.

The fourth-ranked Svitolinabecame the firstwoman to defend hertitle at the Foro Italicosince Serena Williamsaccomplished the featin 2013 and 2014.The Ukrainianpicked up a winner'scheck of 507,000euros (nearly$600,000) for her

12th career title. Svitolina improved to 4-2 in

her career against Halep, who hadalready secured the No 1 rankingfor another week by reaching thesemifinals. "She deserved to win forsure," Halep said. "She didn't miss.I missed."

�� "�/!2

Memphis Depay scored ahat-trick as Lyon came

from behind to beat Nice 3-2and qualify for the ChampionsLeague at the expense ofMarseille in the French leagueon Saturday.

Lyon, which had a one-point lead over Marseille aheadof the last round, kept its leadintact and finished in thirdplace behind Paris Saint-Germain and deposed champi-on Monaco. The first threeteams in the French leaguequalified for the ChampionsLeague.

"Lots of joy tonight, every-body was very focused andmotivated," said Lyon forwardNabil Fekir, who is widelyexpected to leave the club thissummer. "It caps an exception-al season."

Alassane Plea scored Nice'sgoals.

Depay scored all three goalsin the second half.

Nice coach Lucien Favreconfirmed he will leave the clubin the offseason.

After losing the EuropaLeague final to Atletico Madridon Wednesday, Marseille missed

out on the Champions Leaguefor the second time despite beat-ing Amiens 2-1.

"We had a superb season butour efforts did not pay off,"Marseille top striker FlorianThauvin said.

Marseille ended fourth andwill play the Europa Leaguenext season alongside Rennesand Bordeaux.

��F��Monaco won at Troyes 3-0

and finished runner-up, 13points behind PSG, which drewat Caen 0-0. The goalless draw

guaranteed Caen stayed in thetopflight while Troyes wasdemoted to the second division.

Monaco needed just onepoint to qualify for theChampions League but madesure it finished runner-up witha win. The Principality side wasin complete control as RonyLopes scored twice and JordiMboula sealed Troyes' fate inadded time.

Troyes finished 19th andjoined last-place Metz in the sec-ond division.

Toulouse, which beatGuingamp 2-1, will have to wina playoff against a second-divi-sion club to remain in thetopflight.

Elsewhere, Italian coachClaudio Ranieri won his lastgame in charge of mid-tableNantes, 1-0 over Strasbourg.

F� �� In the absence of Neymar,

Edinson Cavani and KylianMbappe, PSG coach Unai Emerygave Timothy Weah - GeorgeWeah's 18-year-old son - hisfirst start in Caen.

Caen finished the seasonwith only 27 goals, the worsttotal since Arles-Avignon wasdemoted with 21 in 2011.

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Delhi Daredevils broke MumbaiIndians' hearts at the Feroz ShahKotla stadium on Sunday as the

Amit Mishra, Harhsal Patel and SandeepLamichhane combined to restrict the vis-itors' 175-run chase at 163 run out to handDelhi a 11-wicket win. As a result of it,Mumbai are out of the play-off race.

Delhi Daredevils won the toss andopted to bat first. Both sides announcedtheir team sheets with one change each,with Delhi bringing in Liam Plunkett forAvesh Khan and the visitors pickingMustafizur Rahman for MitchellMcClenaghan who had picked up a shoul-der problem.

Delhi's miserable opening partnershipof late once again continued. In the veryfourth over Prithvi Shaw (12 runs off 8 balls)was dismissed through a dubious run-out.The young opener appeared to be taking aSunday afternoon stroll at the Kotla at aboutfour-five yards outside the crease. WithMaxwell defending on the other end, Shawseemed too indolent to even make anattempt to get within the safety zone asHardik Pandya's direct throw caught thewicket as well as Shaw with surprise.

Maxwell (22 runs off 18 balls) followedhis fellow-opener back to the pavilionshortly in the fifth over as Bumrah joltedthe leg stump off a skilful delivery.

With their two openers nullified early,it made way for their skipper Shreyas Iyerand Rishabh Pant to come into the mid-dle as Delhi stood at 46/2 at the end of thepowerplay.

Iyer did not quite make his presencefelt and was shown the exit in the ninthover as he connected poorly with aMayank Markande googly to launch theball straight down the deep midwicket andinto the hands of Krunal Pandya, whoremained aware of the ropes a mere cou-ple of inches behind him.

However, Pant's presence on the fieldwas eventually getting stronger and both-ersome for the Mumbai bowlers.

The Delhi-youngster hit the 50-runmark (off 34 deliveries) in the fifteenthover, which included four fours and twosixes -- one of those a single-handed sweepoff a Hardik Pandya delivery. Pant'sadvance was however cut short in the sev-enteenth over as he attempted a lofted shot

off a Krunal Pandya delivery, which --devoid of the required elevation -- sailedright into the hands of Kieron Pollard. Withthat, Pant's innings came to an end at 64 runsoff 44 balls with the team total standing at139 runs for the loss of four wickets.

Pant's was to be the last Daredevils

wicket to be dismissed as Vijay Shankar'scontribution of 43 runs from 30 deliver-ies and Abhishek Sharma's 15 off 10 ballstook the score to 174 runs for the homeside as the Delhi innings came to an end.

Mumbai's 175-run target chase beganwith opener Suryakumar Yadav greeting

Delhi's Nepali spinner SandeepLamichhane with a six and a four, but onlyto walk back (at 12 off 4 balls ) after mis-cuing a googly towards Vijay Shankar, whohad to cover a lot of ground to collect thecatch at long-on.

Despite the early dismissal, Evin Lewis

remained unperturbed for the away sideas he took Mumbai to 57 runs by the endof the powerplay.

The seventh over began with the dis-missal of first down Ishan Kishan (5 off 13)after the left-hander gifted an easy catchto Shankar, once again at long-on, fromAmi Mishra's bowling.

Delhi's fielding unit slipped a coupleof times to gift a twofold life to KieronPollard as first, Prithvi Shaw and then LiamPlunkett dropped a catch each to allowPollard to prolong his stay on the pitch.

Meanwhile, Lewis approached hishalf-century, but failed to reach that markas Mishra struck for the second time in theevening to restrict the West Indies inter-national to 48 runs (off 31 balls).

Following Lewis' departure, Mumbai'smiddle order appeared to have entered intoa state of collapse.

In the tenth over, Lamichhane stunnedthe visitors by nullifying both Pollard (7off 7) and Krunal Pandya (4 off 3) in thespace of four balls. The former's dismissalin particular was executed in spectacularfashion as Daredevils' Maxwell took areverse-cupped catch as he approached theboundary ropes only to throw the balltowards Boult (running from long-off) justas he was about to cross the boundary.

Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma (13 off11) was dismissed by Harshal Patel afterBoult took the catch.

Ben Cutting (37 off 20) appeared toprovide stability to Mumbai's chase withsome help from Hardik Pandya (27 off 17),but in the fifteenth over, Pandya fell off anAmit Mishra delivery as substitute RahulTewatia collected a lofted shot to send theall-rounder back to the pavilion.

Harshal Patel then checked Cutting'sadvance in the final over as Patel's deliv-ery led the way for Maxwell to collect acatch. Glenn Maxwell and Jasprit Bumrahsank without trace as Delhi Daredevils wonthe match by 11 runs, pulling the curtainover Mumbai Indians' shaky run in theIndian Premier League as the visitors wereslammed down at 163 all out.

�� "'()

Young paceman Lungi Ngidi tookfour wickets for just 10 runs but

Karun Nair hit a timely half-century tohelp Kings XI Punjab recover from atop-order collapse and post 153 againstChennai Super Kings in an IPL mach,which they need to win by at least 53runs to qualify for the Play-offs.

Delhi Daredevils had done a favourto Punjab by knocking out MumbaiIndians with an 11-run win in the firstmatch of the day as it kept Punjab in thehunt.

Punjab now need to restrict CSK to100 runs to seal the last-available spotin the Play-offs and if they fail to winbig, Rajasthan Royals will qualify.

When Punjab batsmen needed tofire in unison, only Nair showed stom-ach for fight with his 26-ball knock,which was laced with three fours andfive sixes.

It was South African pacemanNgidi (4/10) who triggered a top-ordercollapse as he swung the ball both waysto confound the Punjab batsmen.

He first had dangerous Chris Gayle(0) caught behind and then bowledother opener KL Rahul with a peach ofdelivery that swung in and sent thestump kart-wheeling.

Deepak Chahar had Aaron Finch

(4) caught by Raina as Punjab managedonly 29 runs in the Powerplay overs.

In his sensational three-over spell,Ngidi conceded just seven runs andscalped both the openers.

David Miller (24) and ManishTiwary (35) repaired the innings witha 60-run partnership before left-armspinner Ravindra Jadeja broke thestand by dismissing the latter.

Miller too did not last long afterdeparture of Tiwary as he was undoneby a well-executed yorker by WestIndian Dwayne Bravo.

The David Miller wicket meant thatPunjab were reeling at 80 for five in 12.1overs.

A small partnership developedbetween Axar Patel (14) and Nair butSam Billings pulled off a stunning div-ing catch to get rid of the left-hander.Still, Punjab got 18 runs from thatShardul Thakur over with Nair findinga six and two fours.

Ngidi returned to the attack and sawthe back of rival captain R Ashwin, whocould not even open his account, nick-ing the ball to his counterpart MSDhoni behind the wickets.

Punjab could not even bat for full20 overs and were bowled out in 19.4overs. Had it not been a fighting knockfrom Nair, they would not have crossedeven 150-run mark.

�� ,=�)/�-��

Through to the play-offs after registeringa five-wicket win over Sunrisers

Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders youngbatsman Shubman Gill said brilliant deathbowling led by Prasidh Krishna turned thematch in their favour.

KKR defeated Sunrisers by five wicketson Saturday night to seal their berth in theplay-offs. After restricting Sunrisers to 172for nine, KKR chased down the target withtwo balls to spare and become the third teamto make it to the next stage of the ongoingIPL.

"I think the way we bowled at the deathovers that was the turning point of thematch. Prasidh (4-0-30-4) bowled reallywell. All the bowlers bowled really well atthe death," Gill said at the post-match pressconference.

KKR will now play their eliminator athome ground at the Eden Gardens on May23 and Gill said it will work in their advan-tage.

"It's always an advantage to play athome. It's beneficial to play match at home.The crowd is very supportive. We will alsohave a better idea of the wicket comparedto other teams," he said.

Meanwhile, Sunrisers wicket-keeperbatsman Shreevats Goswami, who scored 35runs off 26 balls, said the loss won't hurt

their momentum in the qualifier."I think momentum does not come in

when any team goes for qualifier. Everybodywill come well prepared. We have lost threegames and we will be more aware of the sit-uation.

"I think we will come back stronger andwe will assess our weaknesses and strengthsahead of the qualifiers," he said.

�� ()*��)+,!

Following an 11-wicket winover Mumbai Indians at

the Feroz Shah Kotla stadiumhere on Sunday, DelhiDaredevils coach RickyPonting lauded 20-year-oldRishabh Pant for an 'outstand-ing season' before expressinghis disappointment over a lackof consistency displayed bysome of the other batsmenthroughout the ongoing editionof the Indian Premier League.

"It's been an outstandingseason for him (Pant)," Pontingnoted. "Obviously he is wear-ing the orange cap right nowand it would be great if he canmanage to retain the orangecap by the end of season.

"It is a great personal recog-nition for his season but if wehad an even contribution froma few more of the top order wecould have been a threat," theformer Australian internation-

al added.Rishabh Pant, the current

holder of the Orange Cup forthe present edition of the IPLshas tallied a total of 684 runsin 14 matches, including fivehalf-centuries and a hundred.

Ponting then went on toacknowledge the efforts put bythe Indian batsmen in his line-up, and remained hopefultowards the prospect of theseplayers having a long and

remarkable career with theDelhi franchise.

"We can't blame the Indianplayers," the Daredevils coachsaid. "They have been out-standing, we can't complain."

"Prithvi Shaw, Sandeep aresome of the talented players wehave and I hope they will havea long and successful IPL careerhere with us," Ponting added.

Talking about the team'scaptain Shreyas Iyer, the

Australian coach said, "He hada very good season but therewas not enough consistency forour batting group to be upthere with the leading teams.

Iyer had found himselfshouldering the captain'sresponsibility earlier in the tour-nament after Gautam Gambhirhad stepped down from the des-ignation on account of theteam's poor form.

When quizzed about howGambhir's decision affectedthe team, Ponting answered,"Gautam's stepping down did-n't have any negative impact onour team. It probably came asa shock to the players and me.It was a courageous decision,you don't see such a decisioneveryday. It gave opportunity toPrithvi Shaw to play andShreyas stepping up for thecaptaincy. It was a dauntingthing to do to captain and Ithink he handled the chal-lenge well."

�� ,��

Bangladesh today recalled batsmanMosaddek Hossain in their 15-man

squad for the three-match Twenty20matches against Afghanistan in Indianext month.

Mosaddek, who has not played T20international cricket for more than ayear, replaces batsman ImrulKayes for Bangladesh's first-ever bilateral series againstAfghanistan in the short-est format.

"Mosaddek is a verytalented player. He had abad patch in the middlebut we included him afterconsulting with the coachabout his fitness," said chiefselector Minhajul Abedin.

Selectors also had "injury con-cerns" about Mehedi Hasan and feltMosaddek's spin bowling could prove use-

ful.Pace bowler Taskin Ahmed and wick-

etkeeper Nurul Hasan, both part of anextended Bangladesh squad in their lastT20 engagement in Sri Lanka, have beendropped.

Afghanistan will host Bangladesh forthe inaugural series in the Indian city ofDehradun from June 3 to 7.

It is something of a warm-up forAfghanistan as they prepare for their first-ever Test against India in Bangalore fromJune 14 to 18.

Afghanistan are ranked eighth inTwenty20 internationals, two places aheadof Bangladesh.BANGLADESH SQUAD: Shakib AlHasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad (vice-capt), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, LitonDas, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman,Mosaddek Hossain, Ariful Haque, MehediHasan, Nazmul Islam, MustafizurRahman, Abu Hider, Rubel Hossain andAbu Jayed.

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