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P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday raised the issue of cross-border ter- rorism emanating from Pakistan during his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping here and said India expects “concrete action” by Islamabad to create an atmosphere free of terror for the resumption of dialogue. Modi met Xi on the side- lines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit here and dis- cussed the full spectrum of bilateral relations. This is the first meeting between the two leaders after Modi’s re-election following the stunning victory of the BJP in the general elec- tions last month. The meeting also comes a month after the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the powerful UN Security Council designated Pakistan-based ter- ror group Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a glob- al terrorist after China, Pakistan’s closest ally, lifted its technical hold on the propos- al to blacklist him. After the delegation-level talks with Xi, Modi tweeted, “Had an extremely fruitful meeting with President Xi Jinping. Our talks included the full spectrum of India- China relations. We shall con- tinue working together to improve economic and cultur- al ties between our nations.” The Modi-Xi meeting began with President Xi con- gratulating the Indian Prime Minister over his election vic- tory. “After the election results in India, I got your message, and today again you wish me on the victory, I am very grate- ful to you for this,” Modi replied. Briefing the reporters after the meeting, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that there was a brief discussion on Pakistan during the talks between the two leaders. He said India has a consistent position with respect to Pakistan that it wants peaceful relations with Islamabad. Gokhale said Modi told Xi that he has made efforts to improve ties with Islamabad but these efforts have been “derailed”. “Pakistan needs to create an atmosphere free of terror, but at this stage we do not see it happening. We expect Islamabad to take concrete action” to resume talks, Gokhale quoted the PM as telling President Xi. Modi’s comments came ahead of President Xi’s meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is also here in the Kyrgyz capital to attend the SCO summit. Khan has twice written to Modi, seeking resumption of dialogue on all issues, including Kashmir. Responding to Khan’s over- tures, Modi told his Pakistani counterpart that creating trust and an environment free of vio- lence and terrorism was essen- tial for fostering peace and prosperity in the region. India has not been engaging with Pakistan since an attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016 by a Pakistan- based terror group, maintain- ing that talks and terror cannot go together. Early this year, tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e- Muhammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot in Pakistan on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured an IAF pilot, who was later handed over to India. China played a role in easing tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad. The 2018 Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi was largely credited to have turned around the bilateral relations soured by the 73-day Doklam standoff, triggered by Chinese troops attempts to build a road close to Indian border in an area also claimed by Bhutan in 2017. After the Wuhan summit, both the countries stepped up efforts to improve relations on differ- ent spheres including the mil- itary-to-military ties. The two leaders have met more than 10 times in the last five years, including thrice after their informal summit in Wuhan -- - first at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in June last in China’s Qingdao, the second time at the BRICS summit in South Africa’s Johannesburg in July and third time in December last on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina. Ahead of the meeting, China hinted that President Xi would highlight the need to forge a united front against US President Donald Trump’s poli- cies of trade protectionism and unilateralism using tariffs as a weapon. China and the US have been in an escalating conflict over trade for the past year. The scope of the battle has expanded in recent months as Washington has tightened trade restrictions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei. Modi also met Russian President Vladimir Putin here and the two leaders reviewed all aspects of bilateral rela- tions to further strengthen the strategic relationship. A ll the 13 Air Force person- nel on board the AN-32 plane that crashed in Arunachal Pradesh on June 3 are confirmed dead. The search and rescue team that landed near the crash site on Thursday found no survivors but recov- ered the flight data recorder or black box. This retrieval will help the IAF to ascertain the cause of the accident. “Eight members of the res- cue team reached the crash site today morning. IAF is sad to inform that there are no sur- vivors from the crash of AN- 32,” the IAF said in a tweet. The 13 personnel onboard were identified as Wing Commander GM Charles, Squadron Leader H Vinod, Flight Lieutenants R Thapa, A Tanwar, S Mohanty and MK Garg, Warrant Officer KK Mishra, Sgt Anoop Kumar, Cpl Sherin, Leading Aircraft Men (LAC) SK Singh, Pankaj, Non Combatant Enrolled NC(E) Putali and Rajesh Kumar. The families of the per- sonnel have also been informed, officials said. For a week, relatives of the 13 personnel were positioned at a Jorhat base camp waiting for news about their loved ones. On Wednesday, the first team of mountaineers of the IAF reached the crash site after getting airdropped but could not get close due to rain. On reaching the exact spot on Thursday, the unit did not find any survivors. Efforts are now on to secure the remains of the deceased and deliver the black box safely to the IAF authorities for examination, sources said. Meanwhile, ground troops of the Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will reach the site in day or two for sal- vaging the parts of the plane and other related activities. Continued on Page 4 T he striking junior doctors defied West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s ultimatum on Thursday and decided to continue their protest till she withdrew her statement in which she saw a communal and political agen- da behind the agitation and till their demand for adequate security in Government hos- pitals are met. Emergency wards, outdoor facilities, pathological units of many State-run medical col- leges and hospitals and a num- ber of private medical facilities in the state remained closed for the third day due to the strike by the doctors who are protest- ing after two of their col- leagues were attacked and seri- ously injured at the NRS Medical College and Hospital here by a mob following the death of a patient. While visiting the SSKM Hospital on Thursday morn- ing, Mamata directed the doc- tors to resume work within four hours or face consequence attracting protest slogans from the agitating doctors. By the evening the medics decided to carry on the agitation. The doctors’ strike has taken a pan-Indian proportion with Indian Medical Association calling for a “cease work” nationally. The doctors of All India Institute of Medical Sciences too would strike work as mark of solidarity on Friday. The large group of junior doctors who got moral support from their seniors and the pan-Indian doctors’ associa- tions as well as world forum of doctors, demanded an apology from Mamata for her state- ments. Meanwhile, Professor Saibal Kumar Mukherjee and Professor Saurabh Chattopadhyay resigned as the Principal and Medical Superintendent/vice principal, respectively, of NRS Medical College and Hospital where the junior doctors were brutally assaulted by hooligans after the death of a patient. At least 18 senior doctors working in various medical colleges, including Sagar Dutta Medical College, tendered their resignation in protest against the Government’s “insensitive handling of a delicate and sen- sitive issue.” While the Chief Minister accused some doctors of enquiring the patients’ reli- gious background before giving them treatment, the medics denied the charges saying it was “not clinically possible to ask such questions during the duty hours without being chal- lenged.” Calling upon the doctors, Mamata said “on the first day, things were not political, later on it was given political and communal colours as a politi- cian said the Muslim doctors beat up the Hindu doctors when it was just another case of hooliganism.” The Monday’s attack on the doctors was so grievous that two of them had to be shifted to ICU at Institute of Neurology with severe brain injury. “One of them sustained serious injury as his frontal skull bone had pierced the brain following an attack sup- posedly with some heavy sub- stance.” More attacks followed on Thursday both at NRS Medical College and Burdwan Medical College with alleged TMC sup- porters assaulting the striking doctors with bricks and bottles. Continued on Page 4 T he BJP is to continue with Amit Shah as party presi- dent until Assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand by the year-end. The party on Thursday appointed former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as incharge of the mammoth membership drive for the organisational elections that will culminate in electing Shah’s successor. The decision to initiate membership drive was taken at a meeting headed by the BJP president and attended by party’s national office-bearers, general secretaries and presi- dents of the State units at the party headquarters. According to sources, Shah is likely to continue as party president till the organisation- al elections get over. Shah’s extended tenure would end in January 2020. Shah may later pave the way for the new party chief to uphold the party’s stated poli- cy of one-man-one-post. Sources did not confirm whether any discussion took place on appointing a working president. The meeting also discussed changes in the party and vacan- cies created on account of a number of party leaders join- ing the Modi Government, including State unit presidents of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Party’s coordination with the Modi-2 dispensation and effective propagation and implementation of flagship Government policies was also deliberated by the meeting, the first after Shah becoming the Union Home Minister. Addressing a Press confer- ence after the meeting, BJP’s general secretary Bhupender Yadav said the party president told the organisational office bearers that “the party has still not peaked in terms of its elec- toral performance despite win- ning the highest ever 303 seats in 2019”. The party’s reach is need to be further expanded to new regions and sections of the society, Yadav said quoting Shah. Yadav said Shah credited the hard work of the crores of party supporters for the BJP getting more than 50 per cent vote share in 220 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. Shah said in the Lok Sabha poll, party succeeded in spread- ing its wings in West Bengal, Telangana, Odisha and North- East States. Continued on Page 4 I ndia is planning to launch its own space station, ISRO chief K Sivan announced on Thursday about this ambitious project which will enable the agency to send more humans to space when executed. He also said India will not join the International Space Station (ISS). After Chandrayaan Mission 2, also known as Moon Mission 2, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch another mission to the Sun by launching Aditya-L1 in the first half of 2020, Sivan said. Another interplanetary mission to Venus will be launched in the next 2-3 years, Sivan, who is also the Secretary, Department of Space, said. Elucidating on the space station project, Sivan said the mission will also be an exten- sion of the Gaganyaan project. “We have to sustain the Gaganyaan programme. So, subsequently, as a long-term plan, we are planning to have the space station in India. We are going to join the interna- tional community in manned missions to moon, asteroids. We have a clear plan for the space programme,” Sivan said. Continued on Page 4 F armers will have to con- tribute 100 per month under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana (PMKPY) that seeks to provide them a minimum fixed month- ly pension of 3,000 on attain- ment of 60 years. The Central Government will also contribute an equal amount to the pension fund to be managed by the LIC, which will be responsible for the pen- sion payout. In its first Cabinet meeting after returning to power, the Modi Government had approved a separate pension scheme for farmers with an aim to cover 5 crore beneficiaries in the first three years, which would cost the exchequer 10,774.5 crore per annum. Discussing the new scheme with State Agriculture Ministers through a video con- ference, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar urged all States and Union Territories to roll out the programme at the earliest. Tomar urged the States to start enrolling farmers in the age group of 18-40 years, besides taking measures to cre- ate awareness about the scheme, an official statement said. Under the PMKPY, the Minister said, “The beneficia- ry would be required to con- tribute 100 per month at median entry age of 29 years.” Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana, a mini- mum fixed pension of 3,000 per month will be provided to the eligible small and margin- al farmers subject to certain exclusion causes on attaining the age of 60 years. Farmers can also opt to allow contribution to be made directly from the benefits drawn from the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana . There will also be an online grievance redressal system for complete transparency. The Union Agriculture Minister also discussed the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna (PMK- SNY), and Kisan Credit Card Campaign (KCCC).

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday raised

the issue of cross-border ter-rorism emanating fromPakistan during his talks withChinese President Xi Jinpinghere and said India expects“concrete action” by Islamabadto create an atmosphere free ofterror for the resumption ofdialogue.

Modi met Xi on the side-lines of the ShanghaiCooperation Organisation(SCO) Summit here and dis-cussed the full spectrum ofbilateral relations. This is thefirst meeting between the twoleaders after Modi’s re-electionfollowing the stunning victoryof the BJP in the general elec-tions last month.

The meeting also comes amonth after the 1267 Al QaedaSanctions Committee of thepowerful UN Security Councildesignated Pakistan-based ter-ror group Jaish-e-Mohammedchief Masood Azhar as a glob-al terrorist after China,Pakistan’s closest ally, lifted itstechnical hold on the propos-al to blacklist him.

After the delegation-leveltalks with Xi, Modi tweeted,“Had an extremely fruitfulmeeting with President XiJinping. Our talks includedthe full spectrum of India-China relations. We shall con-tinue working together toimprove economic and cultur-al ties between our nations.”

The Modi-Xi meeting

began with President Xi con-gratulating the Indian PrimeMinister over his election vic-tory. “After the election resultsin India, I got your message,and today again you wish meon the victory, I am very grate-ful to you for this,” Modireplied.

Briefing the reporters afterthe meeting, Foreign SecretaryVijay Gokhale said that therewas a brief discussion onPakistan during the talksbetween the two leaders. He

said India has a consistentposition with respect toPakistan that it wants peacefulrelations with Islamabad.Gokhale said Modi told Xithat he has made efforts toimprove ties with Islamabadbut these efforts have been“derailed”.

“Pakistan needs to createan atmosphere free of terror,but at this stage we do not seeit happening. We expectIslamabad to take concreteaction” to resume talks,

Gokhale quoted the PM astelling President Xi.

Modi’s comments cameahead of President Xi’s meetingwith Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan, who is also herein the Kyrgyz capital to attendthe SCO summit. Khan hastwice written to Modi, seekingresumption of dialogue on allissues, including Kashmir.

Responding to Khan’s over-tures, Modi told his Pakistanicounterpart that creating trustand an environment free of vio-

lence and terrorism was essen-tial for fostering peace andprosperity in the region. Indiahas not been engaging withPakistan since an attack on theAir Force base at Pathankot inJanuary of 2016 by a Pakistan-based terror group, maintain-ing that talks and terror cannotgo together.

Early this year, tensionsflared up between India andPakistan after a suicide bomberof Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) killed 40CRPF personnel in Kashmir’sPulwama district.

Amid mounting outrage,the Indian Air Force (IAF)carried out a counter-terroroperation, hitting the biggestJeM training camp in Balakotin Pakistan on February 26.The next day, Pakistan AirForce retaliated and downed aMiG-21 in an aerial combatand captured an IAF pilot,who was later handed over toIndia. China played a role ineasing tensions between NewDelhi and Islamabad.

The 2018 Wuhan summitbetween Prime Minister Modiand President Xi was largelycredited to have turned around

the bilateral relations soured bythe 73-day Doklam standoff,triggered by Chinese troopsattempts to build a road closeto Indian border in an area alsoclaimed by Bhutan in 2017.After the Wuhan summit, boththe countries stepped up effortsto improve relations on differ-ent spheres including the mil-itary-to-military ties. The twoleaders have met more than 10times in the last five years,including thrice after theirinformal summit in Wuhan --- first at the ShanghaiCooperation Organisation(SCO) summit held in June lastin China’s Qingdao, the secondtime at the BRICS summit inSouth Africa’s Johannesburgin July and third time inDecember last on the sidelinesof the G-20 summit inArgentina.

Ahead of the meeting,China hinted that President Xiwould highlight the need toforge a united front against USPresident Donald Trump’s poli-cies of trade protectionism andunilateralism using tariffs as aweapon. China and the UShave been in an escalatingconflict over trade for the pastyear. The scope of the battle hasexpanded in recent months asWashington has tightenedtrade restrictions on Chinesetelecom giant Huawei.

Modi also met RussianPresident Vladimir Putin hereand the two leaders reviewedall aspects of bilateral rela-tions to further strengthen thestrategic relationship.

����� 495.9,6&

All the 13 Air Force person-nel on board the AN-32

plane that crashed inArunachal Pradesh on June 3are confirmed dead. The searchand rescue team that landednear the crash site on Thursdayfound no survivors but recov-ered the flight data recorder orblack box. This retrieval willhelp the IAF to ascertain thecause of the accident.

“Eight members of the res-cue team reached the crash sitetoday morning. IAF is sad toinform that there are no sur-vivors from the crash of AN-32,” the IAF said in a tweet.

The 13 personnel onboardwere identified as WingCommander GM Charles,Squadron Leader H Vinod,Flight Lieutenants R Thapa, ATanwar, S Mohanty and MKGarg, Warrant Officer KKMishra, Sgt Anoop Kumar,Cpl Sherin, Leading AircraftMen (LAC) SK Singh, Pankaj,Non Combatant EnrolledNC(E) Putali and RajeshKumar.

The families of the per-sonnel have also beeninformed, officials said.

For a week, relatives of the

13 personnel were positionedat a Jorhat base camp waitingfor news about their lovedones.

On Wednesday, the firstteam of mountaineers of theIAF reached the crash site aftergetting airdropped but couldnot get close due to rain. Onreaching the exact spot onThursday, the unit did notfind any survivors. Efforts arenow on to secure the remainsof the deceased and deliver theblack box safely to the IAFauthorities for examination,sources said.

Meanwhile, ground troopsof the Army and Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP) will reachthe site in day or two for sal-vaging the parts of the planeand other related activities.

Continued on Page 4

����������� ��� 8 ,8*�*

The striking junior doctorsdefied West Bengal Chief

Minister Mamata Banerjee’sultimatum on Thursday anddecided to continue theirprotest till she withdrew herstatement in which she saw acommunal and political agen-da behind the agitation and tilltheir demand for adequatesecurity in Government hos-pitals are met.

Emergency wards, outdoorfacilities, pathological units ofmany State-run medical col-leges and hospitals and a num-ber of private medical facilitiesin the state remained closed forthe third day due to the strikeby the doctors who are protest-ing after two of their col-leagues were attacked and seri-ously injured at the NRSMedical College and Hospitalhere by a mob following thedeath of a patient.

While visiting the SSKMHospital on Thursday morn-ing, Mamata directed the doc-tors to resume work within fourhours or face consequence

attracting protest slogans fromthe agitating doctors. By theevening the medics decided tocarry on the agitation.

The doctors’ strike hastaken a pan-Indian proportionwith Indian MedicalAssociation calling for a “ceasework” nationally. The doctorsof All India Institute of MedicalSciences too would strike workas mark of solidarity on Friday.

The large group of juniordoctors who got moral supportfrom their seniors and thepan-Indian doctors’ associa-tions as well as world forum ofdoctors, demanded an apologyfrom Mamata for her state-ments.

Meanwhile, ProfessorSaibal Kumar Mukherjee andProfessor SaurabhChattopadhyay resigned as thePrincipal and MedicalSuperintendent/vice principal,respectively, of NRS MedicalCollege and Hospital where thejunior doctors were brutallyassaulted by hooligans after thedeath of a patient.

At least 18 senior doctorsworking in various medical

colleges, including Sagar DuttaMedical College, tendered theirresignation in protest againstthe Government’s “insensitivehandling of a delicate and sen-

sitive issue.”While the Chief Minister

accused some doctors ofenquiring the patients’ reli-gious background before giving

them treatment, the medicsdenied the charges saying it was“not clinically possible to asksuch questions during the dutyhours without being chal-lenged.”

Calling upon the doctors,Mamata said “on the first day,things were not political, lateron it was given political andcommunal colours as a politi-cian said the Muslim doctorsbeat up the Hindu doctorswhen it was just another caseof hooliganism.”

The Monday’s attack on thedoctors was so grievous thattwo of them had to be shiftedto ICU at Institute ofNeurology with severe braininjury. “One of them sustainedserious injury as his frontalskull bone had pierced thebrain following an attack sup-posedly with some heavy sub-stance.”

More attacks followed onThursday both at NRS MedicalCollege and Burdwan MedicalCollege with alleged TMC sup-porters assaulting the strikingdoctors with bricks and bottles.

Continued on Page 4

!�������� ��� �'�!. �

The BJP is to continue withAmit Shah as party presi-

dent until Assembly polls inMaharashtra, Haryana andJharkhand by the year-end.The party on Thursdayappointed former MadhyaPradesh Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan as incharge ofthe mammoth membershipdrive for the organisationalelections that will culminate inelecting Shah’s successor.

The decision to initiatemembership drive was taken ata meeting headed by the BJPpresident and attended byparty’s national office-bearers,general secretaries and presi-dents of the State units at theparty headquarters.

According to sources, Shahis likely to continue as partypresident till the organisation-al elections get over. Shah’sextended tenure would end inJanuary 2020.

Shah may later pave theway for the new party chief touphold the party’s stated poli-cy of one-man-one-post.Sources did not confirmwhether any discussion took

place on appointing a workingpresident.

The meeting also discussedchanges in the party and vacan-cies created on account of anumber of party leaders join-ing the Modi Government,including State unit presidentsof Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Party’s coordination withthe Modi-2 dispensation andeffective propagation andimplementation of flagshipGovernment policies was alsodeliberated by the meeting,the first after Shah becomingthe Union Home Minister.

Addressing a Press confer-ence after the meeting, BJP’sgeneral secretary BhupenderYadav said the party presidenttold the organisational officebearers that “the party has stillnot peaked in terms of its elec-toral performance despite win-ning the highest ever 303 seatsin 2019”.

The party’s reach is need tobe further expanded to newregions and sections of thesociety, Yadav said quotingShah.

Yadav said Shah creditedthe hard work of the crores ofparty supporters for the BJPgetting more than 50 per centvote share in 220 seats in theLok Sabha elections.

Shah said in the Lok Sabhapoll, party succeeded in spread-ing its wings in West Bengal,Telangana, Odisha and North-East States.

Continued on Page 4

� ��� 495.9,6&

India is planning to launch itsown space station, ISRO

chief K Sivan announced onThursday about this ambitiousproject which will enable theagency to send more humansto space when executed.

He also said India will notjoin the International SpaceStation (ISS). AfterChandrayaan Mission 2, alsoknown as Moon Mission 2, theIndian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO) willlaunch another mission to theSun by launching Aditya-L1 inthe first half of 2020, Sivan said.

Another interplanetarymission to Venus will belaunched in the next 2-3 years,Sivan, who is also the Secretary,Department of Space, said.

Elucidating on the spacestation project, Sivan said themission will also be an exten-sion of the Gaganyaan project.

“We have to sustain theGaganyaan programme. So,subsequently, as a long-termplan, we are planning to havethe space station in India. Weare going to join the interna-tional community in mannedmissions to moon, asteroids.We have a clear plan for thespace programme,” Sivan said.

Continued on Page 4

����� 495.9,6&

Farmers will have to con-tribute �100 per month

under the Pradhan MantriKisan Pension Yojana(PMKPY) that seeks to providethem a minimum fixed month-ly pension of �3,000 on attain-ment of 60 years.

The Central Governmentwill also contribute an equalamount to the pension fund tobe managed by the LIC, whichwill be responsible for the pen-sion payout.

In its first Cabinet meetingafter returning to power, theModi Government hadapproved a separate pensionscheme for farmers with an aimto cover 5 crore beneficiaries inthe first three years, whichwould cost the exchequer�10,774.5 crore per annum.

Discussing the new schemewith State Agriculture

Ministers through a video con-ference, Union AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar urged all States andUnion Territories to roll out theprogramme at the earliest.

Tomar urged the States tostart enrolling farmers in theage group of 18-40 years,besides taking measures to cre-ate awareness about thescheme, an official statementsaid.

Under the PMKPY, theMinister said, “The beneficia-ry would be required to con-tribute �100 per month atmedian entry age of 29 years.”

Under the Pradhan MantriKisan Pension Yojana, a mini-mum fixed pension of �3,000per month will be provided tothe eligible small and margin-al farmers subject to certainexclusion causes on attainingthe age of 60 years.

Farmers can also opt toallow contribution to be madedirectly from the benefitsdrawn from the PradhanMantri Kisan Pension Yojana .There will also be an onlinegrievance redressal system forcomplete transparency.

The Union AgricultureMinister also discussed thePradhan Mantri KisanSamman Nidhi Yojna (PMK-SNY), and Kisan Credit CardCampaign (KCCC).

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The Delhi Police onWednesday late night

arrested the son of late liquorbaron Ponty Chadha, ManpreetSingh Chadha, from the IndiraGandhi International (IGI) air-port in national Capital. Thearrest was made afterEconomic Offense Wing(EOW) filed a FirstInformation Report (FIR) onthe charges of cheating andcriminal breach of trust. Thecase was lodged againstChadha and officials of hiscompany Uppal-Chadha Hi-tech Developers PrivateLimited, amounting to �100crores.

According to SuvashisChoudhary, AdditionalCommissioner of Police, EOW,Chadha was detained at theDelhi airport when he wasleaving for Phuket onWednesday night. “Police hadalerted the airport’s securitystaff and immigration officersand a Look Out Circular(LOC) was issued,” saidAdditional CP.

According to the FIR,filed in January last year,Chadha and associates did notdeliver a promised hi-techtownship in Ghaziabad. Thecase has been registered undersections 420 (cheating), 406(criminal breach of trust) and120B (criminal conspiracy) ofthe Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The projects which wereknown as Rosewood Enclave,Sunny Wood Enclave, LimeWood Enclave and ChestwoodEnclave and a township with

houses, villas, a golf course,helipads, an internationalschool and college as well asshopping malls were promisedat National Highway-24,Ghaziabad. The FIR stated thatthe company had never deliv-ered the project and the buyershave been “suffering at thehands of the accused for last 11years”

Earlier in 2017, a similarcomplaint was also filed inMohali by Krishan Kumar inwhich he stated that wavegroup lured him in their resi-

dential Group HousingProject’ under the name andstyle of “Wave Gardens” inSectors 85 and 99, SAS Nagar,Mohali. Krishan booked a flatin their said project but as perpromise by wave group todeliver the possession within 30months from the date of exe-cution of the agreement, no flatwas delivered. The project wasalready delayed by more than2 years. However, then thecomplainants had asked forcompensation from ManpreetSingh Chadha and his allies.

� �""��� ��495.9,6&

Delhi Police has arrested a24 year-old notorious

auto-lifter involved in severalcases of robbery and snatchingacross national Capital. Policehas also recovered two stolenbikes cars from the possessionof the accused.

The accused has beenSiraj a resident of ShokeenGarden in Meerut, UttarPradesh (UP). According toRajesh Deo, the DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), on June 11, theaccused Siraj was arrestedfrom Delhi’s Nand Nagri areaafter specific inputs regardinghim was received by the CrimeBranch.

“During interrogation, theaccused disclosed that he isfond of wearing brandedclothes and he also has a lik-ing for new smartphones. Tofulfill his expenditure andearn his livelihood, he startedstealing bikes,” said the DCP.

� �""��� �� 495.9,6&

A39-year-old Nigeriannational has been arrested

by the Cybercrime unit of theDelhi Police who used modernand professional techniques todupe people on the pretext ofdealing in Folinic B12 Oil.

The alleged mastermind ofthe scam was identified as,Gilbert Okoye Pedro (39) who

has duped dozens of people atpan India level, used to get intouch with the victim viaLinkedIn and allured them inthe business of sale and pur-chase of Folinic B12 Oil whichactually turned out to be honey.The alleged scam was firstintroduced almost a decadeago in Macau.

The incident came to lightafter two persons, who have

been collectively duped ofmore than �1.5 crore.

According to Anyesh Roy,the Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (DCP), Cyber Crime,the Nigerian has been stayingillegally in India and hasduped a number of people,mainly from the southernStates.

“The professional con-nect via LinkedIn helped him

gain trust of the victim. He evenfurther used to meet the victimpersonally to lend a degree ofauthenticity to the scam andused to weave a story to trap thevictim on the pretext of pur-chase of Folinic B12 oil for acompany in Ghana,” said theDCP.

“Pedro pretended to be amediator in the fictional saleand purchase of the productbetween the Indian victim andthe Ghanian Company. Themoney were deposited in mul-tiple bank accounts were thenwithdrawn from ATMs inMumbai and Bengaluru and thecash was used to buy differentgoods particularly human hair,which has a huge market inNigeria as they are used for hairextension and wig manufactur-ing,” said the DCP.

� ��� 495.9,6&

The Archaeological Surveyof India (ASI) has filed a

complaint with police allegingthat an “illegal construction” isbeing done in the premises ofthe centrally-protectedNizamuddin Dargah complex,officials said.

The heritage complex inSouth Delhi contains the 14thcentury shrine of HazratNizamuddin Auliya, perhapsthe most famous Sufi shrinethat also houses the tomb of itspatron saint, besides other his-toric monuments and a baoli(step well).

“We had issued a showcause notice a few days agoafter local construction workwas found in the area that fallswithin the centrally-protectedcomplex. After we did not getany response, a police com-plaint had been filed,” a seniorASI official told PTI.

In the complaint filed onWednesday, the ASI has askedpolice to “lodge an FIR” againstthe culprit. A seniorpolice official, when contacted,said, “Yes, we have received acomplaint and we will look intothe matter.”

Nizamuddin Dargah com-plex, which falls under theDelhi Circle of the ASI, is vis-ited by a large number of devo-tees, tourists and other peopleeveryday.

It is located near theHumayun’s Tomb complex, aUNESCO World Heritage Sitein Nizamuddin area. Over 100monuments fall within thejurisdiction of the Delhi Circleof the ASI.

� �""��� �� 495.9,6&

A34 year-old notorious crim-inal who was released from

prison two months ago, wasarrested with his womanaccomplice after a briefencounter which took placeon the intervening night ofWednesday-Thursday at Delhi’sNorth West Subhash Place area.Delhi Police has also recovereda country made pistol, a stolenRoyal Enfield bike and two goldchains from the possession ofthe duo.

The accused identified asShrikant Reddy alias Appu, aresident of Delhi’s RohiniSector-7, is found previouslyinvolved in 12 cases of murder,attempt to murder, robbery,

snatching and Arms Actregistered across thenational Capital. Policesaid that the woman Pooja(20) was friend withaccused and was cahootswith the accused in therecent robbery which wascommitted after theaccused was released fromprison.

According to VijayantaArya, the DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), North West dis-trict, on the interveningnight of Wednesday-Thursday, a man appr-oached police patrollingteam in Subhash Place areaand told the police that aman robbed his RoyalEnfield bike on gunpoint.

“Subsequently another per-son Rajesh also approachedpolice and stated that a manand a girl on Royal Enfield bike

robbed his two gold chains.Acting on the information, thepatrolling team, intercepted thebike and when the police teamtried to stop them, the man rid-

ing the bike fired at thepolice personnel,” said theDCP.

“Police personnel againwarned the accused to nottake law into their handsand fired one round in theair to warn the accused.After this, accused againfired another round atpolice personnel and in-retaliation the police teamfired two rounds. Theaccused Shrikant gotinjured and was appre-hended while his accom-plice managed to evade butwas arrested by police in fewhours,” said the DCP.

“The accused Shrikant is undergoing treat-ment at Bhagwan Mahavir

Hospital in Pitampura and is saidto be in stable condition. Policehas registered a First InformationReport at Subhash Place policestation,” said the DCP.

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Ateam of the cybercrimepolice station of the

Gurugram police has arrestedthree persons for their role inloan fraud. The accused cheat-ed a city-based resident of�70,627 in which the probeteam has recovered �62,000from their possession.

Those arrested were LalitYadav (25), Sanjay (36) andSandeep Kumar (34) ofCharkhi Dadri district inHaryana. According to police,a complaint had been receivedin this regard on April 4,2019 filed by Vijay Pal Singhof Gandhi Nagar, Gurugram.

In his police complaint, hestated that the accused calledhim up on January 10 for abusiness loan and as per theirconversation the victim sendssome documents viaWhatsApp to the culprits.

On January 13 theaccused informed the victimthat his documents have beenverified and will soon get �10lakh loan as the victim had

applied.“The accused send form on

behalf of Khadi & VillageIndustries Commission viaWhatsApp to the victim andtold him to revert the formwith his signature and as pertheir direction Vijay replays thesame on a WhatsApp numberprovided by the accused,” saidSuresh Kumar, SHO cybercrime police station.

Later the culprits provided

an account number to the vic-tim and told him to depositmoney in the said account fordifferent purposes like filecharge, verification, loan insur-ance, instalment and duped thevictim of �70,627.

The complainant came toknow about the fraud when theaccused switched off theirmobile.

Following a tip-off andtechnical surveillance, the

p o l i c enabbed theculprits fromDLF Phase-4on Tuesday.During theinterrogation,the accusedreveals thatthey dupedthe peoplevia phonecalls andcharged themoney in thename of loanregistrationfees, filecharge andasked them

for advance payment.“They asked their target

to deposit the amount totheir relatives or friendsaccounts. The culprits werearrested on June 11 and wereon police remand for the pasttwo days. On Thursday theywere sent to the judicial cus-tody by the court. Furtherprobe into the matter isunderway,” police spokesper-son, Subhash Boken said.

� �""��� �� 495.9,6&

An elderly brother sister duowas found dead inside their

home in North West Delhi’sBharat Nagar area. Police saidinitial investigation suggeststhat the reason behind thedeath appears to be natural.

According to VijayantaArya, The DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), North West district, thedeceased man has been iden-tified as, 95 year old Kamalkhosla, while his sister hasbeen identified as 78 year oldRajkumari.

“Both the siblings wereunmarried and were livingtogether in their house inBharat Nagar. Kamal retiredfrom LIC long back and was

paralytic after he metwith accident sometime back. He wascompletely depen-dent on his sisterRajkumari,” said theDCP adding that nofoul play has beensuspected.

“It is being sus-pected thatRajkumari could have

died first after which Kamalwould had been left alone withno one beside him to take careof him. One or both the deathscould be due to illness or heat,”said the police official privy toinvestigation.

“Prima facie it appearsthat, the decomposed conditionof the bodies suggests that thedeaths occurred over the lasttwo days. One of their relativescalled the police on Wednesdayat around 9:40 am after hefound no response from thesiblings after which a policeteam rushed to the spot,” saidthe police official.

“However exact cause of death will be ascertainedafter the postmortem reportswill come,” the police officialadded.

� �""��� �� 495.9,6&

A70-year-old man allegedlybludgeoned his 38-year-old

wife to death before allegedlyending his life by hanging him-self inside their house in Delhi’sShahdara district. Police saidthat the incident came to lighton Thursday morning.

The deceased have beenidentified as Manak Chandwho allegedly murdered hiswife Lakshmi with the help of

a brick before hanging himself.According to Meghna

Yadav, the DeputyCommissioner of Police (DCP)Shahdara district, a police con-trol room (PCR) call wasreceived on Thursday morningfrom the grandson of thedeceased Chand who informedus about the incident.

“After receiving the infor-mation, a police team reachedthe house and found no role ofan outsider in the incident.

Police did not saw evidenceof anyone breaking inside thehouse or ransacking it,” saidthe DCP.

“During investigation, itwas found that both of themwere into their second mar-riage and had not been get-ting along well.

Police have found thebrick used in the crime fromthe spot,” said the DCPadding that further investi-gation is going on.

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The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) on Thursday hit

out at the Centre for its newlylaunched scheme to providescholarship to five croreMuslim students over the nextfive years, saying that theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) iscontinuing the policy ofappeasement of the Congress.

Addressing the mediapersons, party senior leaderand Rajya Sabha memberSanjay Singh said that theBJP’s hypocrisy has beenexposed.

“The Muslim scholarshipis being publicised by theGovernment with great fan-fare. AAP welcomes the factthat the NDA Government’sattention has been drawn toMuslim students,” he said.

Singh said that the ques-tion is why students are beingdiscriminated on religious

grounds? How is this differ-ent from the same appease-ment politics that BJP used toaccuse the Congress ofindulging in, he asked?

Singh further said that theAAP demands that all stu-dents, regardless of the com-munity the belong to shouldbe given scholarships for edu-cation.

“Such schemes should notbe on religious groundsalone,” he said.

Pointing the BJP’s divisivediscourse during the electioncampaign, Singh said, “We allremember the kind of lan-guage used by the PrimeMinister and his party leadersin the run up to the electionagainst minorities in the country. The sharp distinctionbetween then and now is clearly visible to the people ofthe countr y. The BJP’shypocrisy on the issue standsexposed,” he said.

� �""��� �� 495.9,6&

The Delhi excise depart-ment on Thursday sus-

pended the licence of a nightclub in the South Extensionarea. The Excise team hadraided the club on the inter-vening night of Wednesday-Thursday and found that non-duty-paid foreign liquor ofpremium brands was beingserved to customers.

According to a govern-ment official, the raid was con-ducted in the intervening nightof Wednesday and Thursday bythe department’s sleuths, whoseized 52 bottles of foreignliquor from the night club.

“Acting on a tip-off, anexcise department teamreached the club at 1.30 am.Sensing the raid, the staff of theclub tried to obstruct the wayof the officials, due to whichthey were stuck in the lift for 30minutes,” he said.

The club also switched offthe lights on its premises for acouple of hours, the officialadded.

“We have suspended the

licence of the club and sealedits premises after we found thatnon-duty-paid foreign liquor ofpremium brands was beingserved to customers,” he said.

Liquor meant for sale inHaryana was being served atthe night club, the officialadded.

On June 9, the depart-ment had busted an illegalrave party at Chattarpur andseized various narcotic sub-stances, including cocaine.

Minors were also servedalcohol at the party and mostof those who attended it werefrom Gurugram and Faridabadin Haryana and Noida in UttarPradesh.

� �""��� �� 495.9,6&

In a monthly review meeting,Lieutenant Governor (L-G)

Anil Baijal on Thursday direct-ed Delhi Police to maximiseuse of technology and focus onseparation of investigationfrom law and order.

“A detailed presentation wasmade by Joint Commissioner ofPolice (Crime) covering variouscrime heads and it was submit-ted that there has been adecrease in the heinous crimescommitted in Delhi till June 9byabout 10 percent as compared tothe previous year. Also, the per-centage of solved cases hasincreased,” said Anil Mittal,Additional Public RelationOfficer (APRO), Delhi Police.

Delhi Police has also iden-tified areas which are more vul-nerable to robberies and snatch-ing. The LG directed that simi-lar exercise may be carried out

for other crimes and ways andmeans is devised to effectivelycontrol them.

Delhi Police officials alsoinformed the LG they have36,354 registered senior citi-zens with them and about 2.26lakhs visits have been made bythe police which has resulted indecline in heinous crimesagainst senior citizens by around22 percent till 31st May, 2019.

“Involvement of juveniles invarious types of crimes hasbeen a cause of concern andDelhi Police by means of“YUVA” programme for skilldevelopment for youth has suc-ceeded in providing training tomore than 7,000 youths andhelped about 5,000 of them ingaining employment leading toeffective prevention in crime.Yuva programme has been effec-tive in weaning juveniles awayfrom crime” Delhi Policeinformed the LG.

“To have crackdown oncriminals, a number of measuresare undertaken by Delhi Policelike identification of active crim-inals, putting them under sur-veillance, updating of theirdossiers and history sheets, trac-ing of absent Bad Characters,arrest of Proclaimed Offendersand monitoring of activities ofjail releases,” said APRO.

Delhi Police furtherinformed that their convictionrate is one of the highest amongall other States and efforts areunderway to increase it furtherby use of technology and sepa-ration of investigation.

LG appreciated Delhi Policefor smooth conduct of GeneralElections - 2019 and desired thatthe best practices be put downas a Standard OperatingProcedure both in print and dig-ital form so that it is readily avail-able for further analysis andimprovement.

� �""��� �� 495.9,6&

Accusing the Bharatiya JantaParty (BJP) and the

Congress to hide their failuresby raising irrelevant issues todivert people’s attention, theAam Aadmi Party (AAP) onThursday said both the partiesare indulging in falsehood asreality is just opposite of theirallegations on water and elec-tricity.

Reacting over the recentprotest of the BJP leaders at theDelhi Jal Board (DJB) head-quarter, national spokespersonRaghav Chadha said that theparty is trying to divert attentionfrom its failure of the munici-pal corporations ruled by it bystaging a ‘drama’ at DJB office.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)leaders on Tuesday andWednesday gheraoed the officeof the DJB Chief ExecutiveOfficer in Jhandelwalan in thenational Capital over the waterscarcity in the city.

Chadha said the BJPrevealed how shallow and out

of depth it is on the issue ofwater when its leaders andtheir supporters spent hours atthe DJB office playing antak-shari instead of raising any per-tinent issues. Chadha said,“Despite spending hours at theDJB office, the leaders of theBJP were unable to point to asingle specific problem relatedto water supply in the city,” hesaid.

Chadha attacked the BJPfor its support to the watertanker mafia in the city. He said“The real concern of the BJP isthat for the last 4.5 years, theArvind Kejriwal Governmenthas been cracking down on ille-gal private water supply and thetanker mafia, which has beenrun with the direct support ofthe BJP and the Congress overthe last decades.”

He further said that theonly reason the ‘drama com-pany’ is in action is that ManojTiwari, Vijay Goel and VijendraGupta are in a power tusslewithin the BJP to become theirchief ministerial face.

Chadha said that morethan 80-85 per cent of the cityhas access to piped water. Manyparts of the so-called “dryzones” like Dwarka, Bijwasan,Palam, Najafgarh, in the Southand South-West regions ofDelhi are now getting pipedwater for the first time sinceindependence.

The DJB is supplying 940MGD of water to Delhi, whichis higher than ever before. NoGovernment has supplied thismuch-piped water in Delhi’shistory. In fact, June 2019marks an extraordinary situa-tion where DJB is actually run-ning at 105 per cent of its owncapacity in order to cater to the

growing demand for water,” headded.

Meanwhile, Delhi Powerminister Satyendra Jain hit outat the Congress over electrici-ty uproar. Jain said that the cur-rent rates of electricity in Delhiare “cheaper” than what con-sumers used to pay during theformer Chief Minister of DelhiSheila Dikshit regime.

Comparing the prices ofelectricity during Dikshit’stenure, Power Minister of DelhiSatyendra Jain on Wednesdaysaid that in 2010, during theCongress Government, for a 1kW meter reading 50 units, thebill generated was of �153. “In2013, this escalated to �264.

Within three years, bills wentup by 73 per cent during SheilaDikshit’s tenure. Today, for thesame consumption, Delhi paysonly �128 which is approxi-mately half of the bill in 2013,”he said

Similarly, for a consump-tion of 100 units, the bill in2013 would amount to �485,but today consumers have topay just �211. Consumers inDelhi pay about half under theAAP government compare towhat they had to pay duringCongress rule,” he added.

Projecting the rate ofincrease in power tariffs duringDikshit’s rule, Jain said “IfSheila Dikshit had continued tobe in the office, the bill for 50units would have been around�760 per month, however,today it is just �128. Thismeans a saving of �632 permonth because of the KejriwalGovernment,” he said, addingthat the consumers would havebeen paying five times of whatthey are paying today if Dikshithad continued to be in power.”

Jain said, “Delhi purchas-es power from both MP andChhattisgarh but the people ofthese states pay three times ofwhat the people of Delhi arepaying. If Delhi can do sodespite being a buyer of powerfrom these states, why can’tthese states supply power totheir residents at the priceDelhi can?

He also compared the sta-tus of availability of powerbetween the current AAP gov-ernment and the CongressGovernment. He said, “Therewas a time when all shopkeep-ers owned generator sets and allhouseholds owned inverters.Since the AAP Governmenthas come to power in 2015,people have stopped purchas-ing inverters. There is a reliablesupply of 24x7 powers in Delhitoday.” “I urge the Congress torefrain from making false andbaseless allegations and focusits energies on supplying powerin Congress-ruled states forprices as low as those in Delhi,”said Jain.

� �""��� �� 495.9,6&

Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal and Deputy Chief

Minister Manish Sisodia laidthe foundation stone for a new‘District Institute of Education& Training’ (DIET) onThursday at the BaburamSchool campus in Shahdara.

After restructuring of theDelhi State Council ofEducation Research & Training(SCERT) and DIETs last year,this is the first major expansionof the DIET institutions. Thenew DIET in Shahdara wouldbe the 10th such institute in thecity for teacher education andtraining.

Addressing the gathering,Kejriwal hailed Delhi’s educa-tion reforms and applaudededucation minister Sisodia,officials of the educationdepartment, teachers and prin-cipals for putting Delhi on theworld map for its high qualitygovernment school educationsystem.

Narrating the journey ofthe education reform, Kejriwalsaid, “Four and a half years ago,Delhi gave ordinary peoplelike us the responsibility of run-ning the city. When we tookover, the city’s social infra-structure was crumbling,whether it was schools, hospi-

tals, water or power supply,” hesaid.

Kejriwal said that the edu-cation machinery was com-pletely battered; school build-ings were in dilapidated con-dition and teachers were low onmotivations. “Many privateschools were running like amafia, extorting high fees fromparents without governmentregulation. We developed theinfrastructure to ensure that allchildren - rich or poor - haveaccess to high quality educationbut we were nervous,” he said.

The Chief Minister saidthat after coming to power, thegovernment started improvingthe basic amenities. “First, weimproved and expanded schoolbuildings, enhanced security,upgraded basic infrastructurelike toilets and water supply.Our focus was on making theenvironment conducive tolearning. We doubled the edu-cation budget in our first bud-get itself. But this was the eas-ier part,” he added.

Reaffirming his belief thatthe one of the most importthing was to impart the gov-ernment school teachers withworld class training, the CMsaid, I always believed thatworld class training for ourgovernment schools teacherswas very important. So, we

started with getting themtrained at the best institutionsacross the world.

Lauding the efforts ofSisodia and his team of educa-tion officers, teachers and prin-cipals, the chief minister said,“I congratulate the entire teamwhich undertook many mea-sures to improve teachermorale and capacity. Largescale teacher trainings was

started in Delhi, with bothteachers and principals weresent abroad for advanced train-ing. Earlier, only politicians andhigh ranking officials wouldtravel abroad for such purpos-es, but this was the first timethe real stakeholders were sentabroad for training,” he said.

Commenting on theimpact of Delhi’s success,Kejriwal said, “Countries

around the world learn fromFinland in matters of educa-tion, but the entire countrylearns from Delhi and this isjust the beginning of our jour-ney,”

Laying out the govern-ment’s achievements in thehigher education sector, Sisodiasaid that the Delhi governmenthas opened 13 new under-graduate colleges in the last 4.5

years. This DIET will be collegenumber 14, and number 15 willbe another DIET which we willbe launching soon at DefenceColony, he said.

The Deputy ChiefMinister also added that withthe new DIET, we are openingtwo new centres for teacherstraining; One at Shahdara andanother at Defence Colony.“This will train 200 studentswho pass-out of 12th class forteaching. Delhi Governmentcurrently has a capacity of1040 seats for 12th pass-outswho apply for teachers trainingin the city spread across thenine centres operationalpresently. The addition willfurther add to the availabilityof number of seats for teacherstraining,” he added.

Informing about a newworld class teachers trainingUniversity in Delhi, the deputyChief Minister said that ateachers training university issoon going to come up inDelhi. “The Delhi Governmentis also coming up with a stateof the art world class teacherstraining University in the cityfor world class training ofteachers in the city. This willadd up to the strength and theoverall quality improvement inthe field of teachers training inDelhi,” Sisodia said.

� ������� ������� ��495.9,6&

Residents DoctorAssociation (RDA) at the

All India Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) on Thursdaytreated patients wearing hel-mets and bandages. The doc-tors have also decided to boy-cott work on Friday to protestagainst an attack on their col-leagues in West Bengal.

The Indian MedicalAssociation (IMA) has alsoexpressed solidarity with thedoctors and asked all the mem-bers across the country to wearblack badges on Friday. TheAIIMS Resident Doctors’Association has condemnedthe violence in West Bengaland also urged the RDAs acrossthe country to join the tokenstrike.

In a letter to all its statepresidents and secretaries, the

IMA has asked them to orga-nize demonstrations in front ofthe district collectors’ officesfrom 10 am to 12 noon onFriday and hand over a mem-orandum addressed to theprime minister to the collectorsin every district.

The Delhi MedicalAssociation has also asked itsmembers to observe a “Black

Day” on Friday. Apart from allthat, many individual membersof the IMA and the DMAhave come out to urge thePrime Minister and the HomeMinister to enact a law againstviolence on medical practi-tioners.

The move came after thekin of a patient who was beingtreated at NRS Medical College

and Hospital in Kolkataattacked the doctors after thepatient’s demise alleging negli-gence. This stirred up astatewide cease work protestacross the state with bothGovernment and private doc-tors joining the protest.

When contacted, a seniorofficial of RDA (AIIMS) told‘The Pioneer’ that the situationin Bengal is very scary. “We aregetting reports that about 200goons are still outside the hos-pital and the ground situationis really scary. Even the gov-ernment in Bengal is threaten-ing the doctors to join duty orbe thrown out,” he said.

Considering the gravity ofthe matter, we organized asilent protest on Thursday toshow solidarity. We demandstrictest action, he said. In astatement issued on Thursday,the AIIMS RDA said the ongo-ing and worsening of violence

against medical doctors inWest Bengal is worrisome anddisheartening. “There is a com-plete breakdown of law andorder, with reports of mobsattacking doctor hostels withweapons. The government hasfailed to provide protectionand justice to doctors,” thestatement read.

“AIIMS RDA condemnsthis in words and in spirit.Residents across the countryare deeply hurt by these turn ofevents. Keeping in view of ourcommitment towards safe andnon-violent working environ-ment for residents, AIIMSRDA stands in support of ourcolleagues in West Bengal andhas decided to hold protest onJune 13 which would be followed by one day strike ofwork on June 14 which includeOPD, routine and ward ser-vices except for emergencyservices,” it said.

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Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal and Deputy Chief

Minister Manish Sisodia madea surprise visit to the under-construction East Delhi cam-pus of the IP University onThursday.

The East Delhi Campus ofthe IP University is being builton 18-acre land. The campuswill have two colleges, one fordesign and one for architecture.It will cater to 2,000 students inevery batch. The state of the artbuilding would be ready in afew months and it will start itseducational operation fromthe next academic session(2020). The campus will havehostels for both boys and girls.

It is worth mentioning that

the new campus was pushed bythe AAP government during itsfirst tenure of 49-days in 2013-14. However, the land was notallotted to the governmentduring its tenure then.

Later, during theLieutenant Governor rule inDelhi, the campus was inau-gurated without the land beingtransferred by the DelhiDevelopment Authority(DDA). When the AAP gov-ernment came back to power in2015, it again started pushingfor the new campus. TheEducation Minister, ManishSisodia, again pushed for theproject and ultimately the gov-ernment bought the land fromthe DDA for the new campusand after some delay the workon the campus started.

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Citing the popular electionslogan “Modi hai to

mumkin hai”, US Secretary ofState Mike Pompeo has soughtto take the bilateral relationshipwith India to the next level andsaid the Trump and Modi Administrations have a“unique opportunity” to makeit happen.

“As Prime Minister(Narendra) Modi said in his lat-est campaign, ‘Modi hai tomumkin hai,’ or ‘Modi makesit possible’, I’m looking forwardto exploring what’s possiblebetween our people,” Pompeosaid in his major India policyspeech at the India IdeasSummit of US-India BusinessCouncil on Wednesday.

Pompeo said he knewNarendra Modi would be re-elected as India’s PrimeMinister and was not surprisedby his landslide victory in thegeneral election.

Addressing a gathering onWednesday, Pompeo said heand his team were following theelections closely and were surethat Prime Minister Modi wasa “new kind of leader” for theworld’s most populous democ-racy.

“Just a few weeks ago, atruly historic election - 600 mil-lion Indians voted in the largestexercise of the franchise in his-tory. And they gave Mr Modi

a huge mandate,” Pompeo saidat the ‘India Ideas Summit’ alsoattended by Google’s Indian-American CEO Sundar Pichaiand top corporate executivesfrom India and the US.

“Many observers were sur-prised by the result, but,frankly, I wasn’t. I’ve beenwatching closely. My team atthe State Department is watch-ing closely. And we knew thatthe prime minister was a newkind of leader for the world’smost populous democracy,” hesaid.

In the first back-to-backmajority for a single party inover three decades, the Modi-led BJP won 303 out of 542 LokSabha seats that went to polls,handing out a crushing defeatto the Congress and manyother political opponents. “Notsince 1971 has an Indian PrimeMinister been returned tooffice with a single-partymajority, and - to borrow aphrase - he enjoyed an awful lotof winning. He is the son of atea seller who worked his wayup to governing a state for 13years and now leads one of theworld’s truly emerging powers,”Pompeo said.

Prime Minister Modi hasmade economic developmentfor the poorest Indians a pri-ority and millions who oncewent without light bulbs nowhave electricity and millionswho lacked cookstoves now

have them, the Secretary ofState said.

“It’s interesting that youngIndians constituted one of thePrime Minister’s largest votingblocks, one of his biggestgroups of support in this mostrecent election. I think that tellsyou something. It tells yousomething that Indian votersthink Prime Minister Modican and will open up a new,more prosperous future foreach of them,” he said.

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Bengal Chief Minister onThursday called upon the

civil society and all the like-minded parties including theLeft to form a joint front anddefeat the BJP which had spentthousands of crores to dissem-inate fake reports in the socialmedia to win the elections.

Fake and denigrating sto-ries as dirty as the one’s “paint-ing me as a blood-suckingDracula,” the Chief Ministersaid. In this regard the ChiefMinister also said that she hadparticularly spoken to theCongress leadership to jointlyset up a fact-finding team toinquire into the allegations ofEVM manipulation thatbrought BJP home withthumping majority.

While speaking to a Banglanews channel the ChiefMinister said a large amount ofthe Rs 27,000 crore spent by theBJP during the elections wentinto managing, tamperingEVMs and “spreading canardsabout me that I am a Draculawho sucks blood of theHindus.”

By doing so the BJP is try-ing to make Bengal a Gujaratwhere the BJP was running dic-tatorship. “They torture thepoor farmers and do not allowFIRs to be lodged,” she saidadding no BJP-run State wasliving in peace. But “I will notallow Bengal to be hijacked byGujarat and I will not allow thatobscurantist ideology cripplethe Bengal society and polity,which is why I want the Left tojoin hands with us.”

Not only the Congress theChief Minister whose party hascome down from 34 seats to 22seats in the recently concludedLok Sabha elections said sherespected the political person-alities like BuddhadebBhattacharjee and “I hope theLeftists would follow his viewand back the Trinamool insteadof going to the BJP.”

Stopping short of refer-ring to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi she said “Indiahas seen a number of PrimeMinisters from Nehru to IndiraGandhi to Narsimha Rao toDeve Gowda ji to IK Gujral butnone like this regime. We wantthe good old days back.”

Referring to how in UP theYadavs were being killed by theBJP men without any admin-istrative step being takenagainst the assailants. “Theother day I was speaking toPriyanka (Gandhi) and sheinformed me how 25 Yadavswere killed in UP with no

action being taken,” Banerjeesaid adding the journalistswere also not being spared inthat State.

Referring to how for eachLok Sabha seat the BJP spent Rs45 crore the Chief Minister said“cash was transported in vehi-cles owned by religious organ-isations and even the vehiclescarrying the CRPF, CISF andother central forces,” adding allthese cash went in to influencethe voters.

In an apparent reference toformer Kolkata Commissionerof Police Rajiv Kumar she saidthe person who was catchingthe influx of that “bad money”was intentionally transferredout of Bengal. The manipula-tion was done in such a man-ner that the BJP’s almostmatched its pre-election pre-dictions. “They manipulated300 seats and they won them,they manipulated 18 seats inBengal and they won it here,”she said.

����������������� ��������� ������666From Page 1

Yadav also informed that during the meeting it was decid-ed that the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, who is alsoa vice-president of the BJP, will lead the party’s membership driveand he will be assisted by four other leaders. Yadav said BJP has11 crore members at present and is aiming to increase it by 20per cent. He said party workers and leaders would devote them-selves to the expansion of party membership in next three years.Shah, he said pointed out that last time 10 lakh workers weregiven training to take up party works and expand its ideologi-cal content.

From Page 1“We are planning to have a

separate space station. We willnot be a part of ... (ISS). Ourspace station is going to be verysmall. We will be launching asmall module and that will beused for carrying out micro-gravity experiments,” Sivan toldreporters.

The weight of the space sta-tion is likely to be 20 tonnes. Byplanning a space station, theISRO is “not thinking of spacetourism”, he said.

Sivan said the proposal willbe sent to the Government forapproval after the firstGaganyaan mission by 2022 andit is looking at 5-7 years timeframe for execution of the pro-gramme. He did not elaboratethe cost of the proposed Indianspace station.

A space station is a space-

craft capable of supporting crewmembers, designed to remain inspace for an extended period oftime and for other spacecraft todock. Currently, there is only onefully functional space station inthe Earth’s lower orbit, theInternational Space Station andastronauts conduct differentexperiments in it.

The first component of theISS was launched into orbit in1998, and first long-term resi-dents arrived in November 2000.The International Space Stationis a partnership betweenEuropean countries representedby European Space Agency, theUnited States (NASA), Japan(JAXA), Canada (CSA) andRussia (Roscosmos). It is theworld’s largest internationalcooperative programme in sci-ence and technology.

China also plans to build aspace station of its own. On theGaganyaan project, Sivan said

the Government has formed aNational Advisory Council com-prising top Indian honchos ofplayers from the space industry,former ISRO chairman KKasturirangan, Department ofScience and TechnologySecretary Ashutosh Sharma,Principal Scientific Adviser to thePrime Minister K VijayRaghvan,Defence Research DevelopmentOrganisation Chairman GSateesh Reddy.

Elaborating on Aditya L1mission, Sivan said the missionwill study the corona of the Sun,which is the outermost part of itsatmosphere. “It is 1.5 millionkilometres from the Earth. It willalways look at the Sun and giveanalysis of corona because it hasa major impact on climatechange,” he said.

On the ISRO’s mission toVenus, he said the planet is a“burning body with very hightemperature”. “Most missions

have failed. We want to succeedand study atmospheric compo-sition of the planet,” he said, plan-ning that they have set a targetof 2-3 years to launch the mis-sion.

France is also collaboratingwith India on its mission toVenus.

$����#������666From Page 1

The wreckage of the aircraftwas spotted on Tuesday 16 kmsNorth of Lipo, North East ofTato at an approximate elevationof 12,000 ft by an IAF Mi-17Helicopter undertaking searchin the expanded search zone.The IAF on Thursday air-dropped a 15-member team ofmountaineers to look for sur-vivors and retrieve the blackbox.

The ill-fated transport air-craft took off from Jorhat inAssam at 12.25 pm forMechuka advanced landingground in Arunachal Pradesh.It lost radio contact at aboutone pm and when the plane didnot land at Mecuka at thescheduled time, the IAFlaunched the search opera-tion. The flying time betweenJorhat and Mechuka located atan altitude of 6,000 feet isabout 50 minutes. The distancebetween Jorhat and Mechuka is206 km as the crow flies.

For nearly eight days theIAF searched for the plane inan approximately 1,000 sq kmof area mostly dense forests andsteep hills by deploying SU-30fighter jets, C-130J specialoperations planes, P-8I longrange reconnaissance aircraft,MI-17 and advanced light heli-copters besides satellites of theISRO.

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From Page 1“Two of them have been

hospitalised with severe eyeand head injuries,” their col-leagues said in Kolkata addingthey would not resume work“until the Chief Minister per-sonally comes and inspects theinfrastructure and gives usassurance that similar situationwill not arise in future.”

Dr SB Banerjee from Asia’soldest Medical College andHospital said, “The attack wasbrutal but the doctors willshould keep their serviceskeeping in view the lakhs ofpatients they have to handleevery day.”

Dr Purna Saha said, “TheGovernment does not give usapparatus to treat the patientsstill we do our level best. Butdespite utmost care if a patientsuccumbs to one’s injury thenwe are attacked by the hooli-gans. We have also been askingfor police protection for yearsbut in lieu we have receivedonly assurances. This cannot goon for eternity.”

Reminding the doctors ofa Supreme Court order, theChief Minister said “doctorscannot strike. In some otherStates the striking interns werepunished by extension of theirinternship period.” Incidentallysenior BJP leader Mukul Royon Wednesday had accused theGovernment and the police ofcomplacency alleging “despitethe brutal attack on the doctorsthe police have failed to takeany meaningful action becausethe attackers belong to a par-ticular community.”

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Talking tough with her partymen, Congress general sec-

retary Priyanka Gandhi Vadraon Thursday told them thatthey let down the party in theLok Sabha polls.

Accompanied by hermother and UPA chairpersonSonia Gandhi who visited herconstituency on a thanksgivingvisit on Wednesday, Priyanka Gandhi pulled upparty workers for failing towork for the Congress duringthe elections.

“I will find out the namesof the workers who did notwork for the party in the elec-tions,” she said, adding thosewho had toiled honestly and sincerely for the partyknow that from the core oftheir heart.

“But, those who did not, Iwill find out their names,” she said. A visibly annoyedPriyanka Gandhi complained,“I am saying today from thebottom of my heart that you did not fight the electionssincerely.”

“This is the time of strug-gle. Those who are nervous,those who are willing to com-promise and those who are notready to give their heart to thisstruggle... For them I will leaveno space in the RaebareliCongress and the UPCongress,” she said.

“You make up your mind,if you want to work in the rightearnest, you have to struggle,this is all I have to say,” sheadded. Priyanka Gandhi wasappointed as the general sec-retary and in-charge of easternUttar Pradesh just before theelections and had campaignedvigorously for Congress candi-dates in UP, especially inRaebareli and Amethi.

But the Congress couldmanage to win only theRaebareli seat. Even Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi lostAmethi to Union MinisterSmriti Irani.

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Aminor boy was onThursday arrested on the

charges of duping people bycreating fake social mediaaccounts in the name of politi-cians and other noted personalities in Odisha’sSambalpur district.

The Sambalpur policearrested the youth for alleged-ly trying to cheat people aftercreating fake Facebook profilesof Odisha Health and FamilyWelfare Minister Naba KishoreDas, MLAs Narasingha Mishra,Jayanarayan Mishra andSambalpur district collectorShubham Saxena.

He was arrested after a fewpoliticians alerted the policeabout fake Facebook profiles ofthem.

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Washington: Describing Indiaas a “high-tariff market”, USCommerce Secretary WilburRoss on Thursday urged theModi Government to carry outreforms that will open up theIndian economy and market.

In an unusually bluntremarks, Ross asked India toremove the overly restrictivemarket access barriers forAmerican companies. “AsPresident (Donald) Trump hassaid, we look forward to work-ing with the (Indian) PrimeMinister and his administrationto address a mutual tradingopportunities and the mutualinvestment potentials,” the com-merce secretary said in his keynote address to the India IdeasSummit of US Indian BusinessCouncil (USIBC) here. PTI

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The Congress on Thursdayraised apprehensions that

elections to the Rajya Sabhaseats falling vacant fromGujarat due to the resignationsof BJP leaders Amit Shah andSmriti Irani following theirwins in the Lok Sabha pollswill be held separately toensure the ruling dispensation’svictory on both the seats. Theparty demanded elections tothe two Rajya Sabha seats beheld together.

Congress spokespersonAbhishek Manu Singhvi saidthey came to know that therecould be a bid to hold the elec-tions for the two seats sepa-rately. “This would be a mock-ery of our constitutional ethos.It would be completely con-trary to conventions.Whenever there are two seatsof a State going vacant, you

have elections together. It isobvious to everybody that thepurpose of that is to ensurethere is a fair exercise of fran-chise of each MLA,” Singhvisaid at the AICC press briefing.

“If you have one electiontoday and one after two weeks,four weeks, six weeks then youwill enable the ruling partyMLAs (lawmakers) to simplycross 51 per cent in the assem-bly of Gujarat and elect him inthe first round and him in thesecond round which is heldafter weeks,” he said.

The BJP has 99 legislators

in the Gujarat Assembly andthe Congress 77. If the electionto each seat is held on differ-ent days, the BJP is expected towin both, while if the voting isheld on the same day, theCongress could win one of theseats.

Any such “games” shouldbe throttled at the inceptionbecause they are “unconstitu-tional games”, the Congressspokesperson said. “We willdemand from the ElectionCommission complete vigi-lance to ensure that wheneveryou want to have elec-tions...They have to be heldtogether. You cannot use atechnicality to hold them sep-arately,” Singhvi said.

He said the party willapproach the ElectionCommission with its demandof holding of the elections ofthe two Rajya Sabha seats inGujarat together.

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The CBI has booked formerSamajwadi Party MP Ateeq

Ahmed and others for alleged-ly orchestrating the abductionof a Lucknow-based business-man Mohit Jaiswal from DeoriaJail to extort money from himand take over his business.The case was initially registeredby the Uttar Pradesh Police,and the CBI took over theprobe on Wednesday followinga directive from the SupremeCourt.

The CBI has bookedAhmed on the charges of crim-inal conspiracy, extortion,cheating, forgery, robbery andcriminal intimidation amongothers.

Real estate dealer Jaiswalwas allegedly abducted fromLucknow and taken to DeoriaJail, where he was assaulted byAhmed and his aides, whowere lodged there, and forcedto transfer his business tothem, sources said.

Jaiswal, whose real estatebusiness is based at the poshGomti Nagar area in Lucknow,

had alleged in his complaintthat Ahmed was threateninghim for extortion for the lasttwo years.

Jaiswal had said he hadmade some payments toAhmed, after which thedemands for money hadstopped for a while, but Ahmedagain started asking for moneyfrom him in 2018.

He had alleged thatAhmed’s goons had taken overhis business forcibly by obtain-ing his and his sister’s digitalsignatures.

Jaiswal further alleged thaton December 26, 2018, he wastaken in his own sports utilityvehicle (SUV) by one ofAhmed’s goons to Deoria Jail,where the former MP waslodged.

Ahmed’s son Umar and 10-12 other gang members werealso present in the jail, who beathim up, causing serious injuriesto him, Jaiswal had alleged.

Four of his companies,including MJ Infra HousingPrivate Limited, were trans-ferred in the name of Farooqand Zaki Ahmad, both goons

of Ahmed who had beenthreatening him, he hadalleged.

The combined assets ofthe firms were worth �45 crore,according to the FIR.

They had also taken hissignatures on his company let-terhead in the jail, Jaiswal hadclaimed.

The businessman had alsoalleged that Ahmed threat-ened him, saying he could notbe killed inside the jail andhence, he was being allowed togo. But the politician hadforcibly kept his SUV in the jail,Jaiswal had alleged.

The matter was handedover to the CBI by the SupremeCourt, which had also orderedAhmed’s transfer to a jail inGujarat.

During the hearing in theSupreme Court, the UttarPradesh government had con-firmed the incident and saidthe CCTV cameras in the jailcomplex were tampered with atthe time of Jaiswal’s abductionand forcible visit to Deoria jail.

As many as eight casespending investigation were reg-

istered against Ahmed between2015 and 2019, of which twowere murder cases.

Ahmed was an SP MP inthe 14th Lok Sabha fromPhulpur in Uttar Pradesh from

2004 to 2009 and a five-timeMLA. He has been in jail sinceFebruary 11, 2017. In the past,he was also associated with theApna Dal (Sonelal).

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The CBI has filed a chargesheet against fugitive self-

styled ‘godman’ Virendra DevDixit for allegedly raping aminor at his ashrams in UttarPradesh and Delhi in 1999.

In its chargesheet filed inthe Rouse Avenue special courthere, the CBI has pressedstringent charges of rape andcriminal intimidation on Dixit,who is absconding. The hasannounced a reward of �5lakh for any information lead-ing to his arrest.

The agency had registeredthe case on January 3, 2018 on

a directive of the Delhi HighCourt.

The CBI has alleged thatDixit, as the head of AdhyatmikVishwa Vidyalaya, which isnow renamed AdhyatmikVidyalaya, and spiritual leader,was in a position to control anddominate over the complainant,a minor girl at that time, andraped her repeatedly in May-June 1999 at his ashrams inKampil, Uttar Pradesh, andVijay Vihar in Delhi.

The accused had alleged-ly threatened to “cause injuryto her reputation” and alsoissued “life threats” to herfamily, according to the FIR.

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In a major relief to lakhs ofpeople of Gujarat, the

cyclonic storm ‘Vayu’ did notmake its scheduled land fall onThursday as it changed itscourse and drifted towardsOman. The IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD) said that the storm hasmade a small deviation, skirt-ed the Gujarat coast.

“It is moving over north-east and adjoining east centralArabian Sea. Heavy rains whichlashed the coastal areas werelikely to continue,” the IMDsaid. According to privateforecaster Skymet Weather, thecyclone which at present isCategory 2 storm may weakeninto a Category 1 storm.However, strong winds andrough seas are expected tocontinue and may cause dam-age. The cyclone may impactthe arrival of monsoon in Goa.

For his part, DefenceMinister Rajnath Singhreviewed the Navy’s prepared-

ness along the Maharashtraand Gujarat coast in view ofVayu. “Senior Navy officialsbriefed Singh at a meeting innaval headquarters duringwhich he was apprised aboutvarious measures being takenby the force to deal with pos-sible scenarios,” officials said.The railways has cancelled 86trains and short terminated 37others as a precaution eventhough the cyclone changed itscourse and is unlikely to makelandfall in Gujarat.

“The cyclone is likely tomove north-northwestwardsfor some time and then north-westwards, skirting theSaurashtra coast (and) affect-ing Gir Somnath, Diu,Junagarh, Porbandar andDevbhoomi Dwarka with windspeed of 90-100 kmph gustingto 110 kmph during the next12 hours,” the IMD said in arelease.

Pankaj Kumar, AdditionalChief Secretary, Gujarat, saidthat although the IMD has

informed that the cyclone haschanged its course, “it may stillcause heavy winds and rains,and so we are still on stand-bymode”.

“Cyclone Vayu is 110 kilo-metres from Veraval to thesouth-west and 150 kilometresfrom Porbandar to the south.The cyclone is moving towardsthe north and was crossing overSaurashtra,” he said.

The Chief Minister’s Officein Gujarat said Prime MinisterNarendra Modi spoke to ChiefMinister Vijay Rupani imme-diately after reaching Bishkekfor the SCO Summit andinquired about the cyclonepreparedness and assured allassistance and support fromCentre to mitigate the effects ofthe storm.

Skymet Weather had earli-er stated that the ‘Very SevereCyclone’ might weaken into aCategory 1 Cyclonic Stormfrom Category 2, though thewind speed will be 135-145kms per hour gusting up to 175kms per hour.

Gujarat has, meanwhile,already evacuated over 3.1 lakhpeople and the Union Territoryof Diu that touches theSaurashtra coast has movedover 10,000 people to safety.

The Coast Guard has stat-ed that the cyclone would takeup to Saturday before it com-pletely moves over into the seaat Dwarka.

Besides taking help of thearmed forces and the CoastGuard, the state governmenthas deployed 33 teams of theNational Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF) (each having 90to 100 personnel) and nineteams of the State DisasterResponse Force (SDRF) in 10coastal districts of the state, hesaid.

In addition, 11 columns ofthe army (each having nearly70 personnel), two companiesof the Border Security Force, 14companies of the State ReservePolice and 300 commandos aredeployed at different locationsin the Kutch and Saurashtraareas.

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Bihar cadre IAS officer Kundan Kumar willbe Private Secretary to Defence Minister

Rajnath Singh. As per an order ofDepartment of Personnel and Training,Kumar, a 2004 batch officer, will have atenure up to February 3, 2020.

Navneet Mohan Kothari will be PrivateSecretary to Agriculture and FarmersWelfare, Rural Development and PanchayatiRaj Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Kothariis a 2001 batch IAS officer of MadhyaPradesh cadre.

IAS officer Sachin Shinde has beenappointed PS to Youth Affairs and SportsMinister Kiren Rijiju. Rijiju is also theMinister of State for Minority Affairs.

Manoj Kumar Singh will be PrivateSecretary to Power, and New and RenewableEnergy Minister Raj Kumar Singh. ManojKumar Singh is a 2009 batch IAS officer ofBihar cadre.

IRS officer Raj Kumar Digvijay has beenappointed PS to Animal Husbandry,Dairying and Fisheries Minister GirirajSingh.

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People in rural areas will soon beable to access Aadhaar-related

services at the common service cen-tres (CSC) following the UIDAI’sauthorisation to these centres toresume such services. The CSC hadearlier stopped providing Aadhaar-related services after the UniqueIdentification Authority of India(UIDAI) withdrew authorisationfrom them following debates arounddata security of the 12-digit uniqueidentifier.

“UIDAI has authorised CSCs tostart printing of Aadhaar cards. Userswill be charged standard fees as pre-scribed by UIDAI. This work isexpected to start in a week,” CSC e-Governance Services CEO DineshTyagi said. There are 3.9 lakh villagelevel entrepreneurs (VLE) that arerunning common service centres inrural areas across the country.

VLEs provide Government ser-vices like train ticket booking, pass-

port application, birth certificate,registration for Ayushman Bharatscheme etc. “CSCs will also be able toupdate demographic details ofAadhaar users like address, photo etc.This work is expected to start by theend of this month,” Tyagi said.

Apart from CSCs, people canaccess Aadhaar-related services atbank branches, post offices andUIDAI authorised centres located ingovernment premises. Earlier, CSCswere also allowed to process Aadhaarenrollment as well but it stopped inSeptember 2017 after privacy anddata security-related debates in thecountry.

VLEs had threatened to protestagainst the government if they are notallowed to conduct Aadhaar-relatedwork. IT Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad had assured them that theywill soon be allowed to do Aadhaarrelated processes. “We are graduallystarting Aadhaar related works. I amhopeful more projects will come toCSC,” Tyagi said.

Noida: The I&B Ministry hasissued a notice to the owners ofNation Live, the news channelthat aired content allegedlydefaming UP Chief Minister YogiAdityanath, for operating underthat name without Governmentapproval, officials said.

The Information andBroadcasting Ministry issued theshowcause notice on June 10 tothe managing director ofUttarakhand-based Bharat HydelProjects Private Limited, whichowns the TV channel.

Three senior journalists ofthe Noida-based TV channelhave been arrested in recent daysfor allegedly airing defamatoryremarks against Adityanath andalso charged with fraud andforgery.

The I&B Ministry has soughtresponse from the channel own-ers within seven days, failingwhich it said ex parte proceedingswill be initiated against them.

The company has been askedas to why action should not beinitiated against them as perrules.

Nation Live owners could notbe reached for comments.

The Ministry also informedthe Uttar Pradesh Governmentthat the company was given per-mission to operate under thename of “Network 10” in 2011,officials in the state said.

The district administrationhad last week written to the I &BMinistry to apprise it about thesituation.

“It has been ascertained thatthe said news channel is beingrun by Bharat Hydel Projects PvtLtd, which was given permissionin February 2011 touplink/downlink news and cur-rent affairs by the name ofNetwork 10,” the ministry said ina letter to UP Chief SecretaryAnup Chandra Pandey on June11.

The ministry said it had notgiven “any approval” to the com-pany for the use of the name“Nation Live”.

“The company by using thename and logo of Nation Live hascontravened the provisions of theuplinking/downlinking guidelinesof 2011,” it added in the letter.

Earlier, two separate FIRswere registered against NationLive.

One of the FIRs includedcharges like promoting enmitybetween different groups andcirculating rumours, officialssaid.

The second complaint overthe illegal operation of the chan-nel was made by the district addi-tional director, information, at theNoida Phase 3 police station fol-lowing which an FIR underSections 420 (fraud), 467 (forgeryof documents) of the IPC andrelated offences was registered,police said.

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New Delhi: A PIL was filed inthe Supreme Court onThursday seeking urgent stepsto protect forests, wildlife andbirds from wildfires inUttarakhand, saying forestblazes have increased over theyears causing huge loss to theenvironment.

The petition sought direc-tions to the Centre, theUttarakhand Government andthe principal chief conservatorof forests in the state to makepre-fire arrangements andframe policy to prevent forestfires.

The plea, filed by advocateRituparn Uniyal, also soughtinvestigation into the matter byan independent agency anddirections to declare the animalkingdom as legal entities hav-ing a distinct persona with cor-

responding rights, duties andliabilities of a living person.

“Forest fires inUttarakhand have been regularand historic feature. Every yearforest fires in Uttarakhandcauses great loss to the forestecosystem, diversity of floraand fauna and economicwealth. Forest fire is one of themajor disasters in the forests ofUttarakhand.

“Despite a consistent his-tory of forest fires the igno-rance, inactiveness, negligenceand unreadiness of the respon-dents (Centre, StateGovernment and chief conser-vator of forests) have rendereda great loss to forests, wildlifeand birds in Uttarakhand andthus caused ecological imbal-ance,” it said.

The plea claimed one of the

prominent forest research cen-tres was at Uttarakhand but theauthorities have not consultedthe institution for remedies totackle wildfires.

“Uttarakhand has one ofthe prominent forest researchcentres, that is, Forest ResearchInstitute Deemed to beUniversity, Dehradun.Surprisingly, the respondentshave never consulted the insti-tution for the reasons and solu-tions of devastating forest firesin the State. This clearly showsa lackadaisical approach of therespondents in tackling theforest fires,” it said.

The plea further said for-est and wildlife were the mostimportant natural resourcesand played significant role inthe human life and environ-ment. PTI

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New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Thursday agreed tohear on Friday a plea ofMaharashtra MLC DhananjayMunde against the BombayHigh Court order directingregistration of a case againsthim in an alleged illegal pur-chase of Government land case.

A vacation bench of justicesIndira Banerjee and AjayRastogi said it will hear the pleaon Friday in which the NCPleader has sought stay of thehigh court order which direct-ed police to file a case againsthim for allegedly purchasing aland at Pus village in Ambajogaitehsil of Beed district.

The high court’s order waspassed on Tuesday by a divisionbench on a plea filed by oneRajabhau Phad, who alleged

that the land which belonged tothe Government was purchasedand given to the BelkhandiMath in Beed as gift.

As per the law, the landcannot be transferred withoutthe Government’s permission,the initial petition had said.

Heirs of Ranit WyankaGiri, the mahant of theBelkhandi Math when the landwas given as a gift, transferredit in their names and claimedthat they were its owners andthe Government was notinformed about it.

The land was then laterbought by Munde on the basisof a general power of attorneyin 2012. Munde applied fornon-agricultural status (NA) ofthe land and got it, the petitionhad alleged. PTI

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Court agreed on Thursday tohear on Friday a plea of med-ical aspirants, who claimed thatthe answer key of five questionsasked in NEET(UG)-2019exam was wrong and the paperneeds to be quashed.

A vacation bench of JusticesIndira Banerjee and AjayRastogi agreed to hear the pleafiled by four students whoappeared for the exam.

The petition filed by fourHyderabad-based students —Kayathi Mohan Reddy andthree others through advocateMahfooz Nazki, said thatNational Testing Agency (NTA)which conducted the examissued wrong answer keys andtherefore jeopardised the careerprospects of the aspirants whosat for the exam.

The exam was conducted

on May 5 and the officialanswer key was issued on May29 to the questions asked in theexamination. “Upon perusal ofthe key, the petitioners wereshocked to note that answers toa number of questions weredemonstrably wrong,” the pleasaid.

The students said they gavethe representation about theerrors in the official answer keyon May 30 and subsequently onJune 5, a revised answer key waspublished.

“Pertinently, no option wasgiven to the candidates to fileany objections. To the shockand chagrin of the petitioners,not only did the key continueto have errors, some answersthat had been correctly notifiedearlier, stood changed to awrong answer,” the petitionsaid. PTI

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New Delhi: Mountaineers ofthe ITBP on Thursdaylaunched an over a week-longexpedition from Pithoragarh inUttarakhand to retrieve themortal remains of at least eightclimbers who were killed lastmonth in an avalanche near anunscaled peak adjoiningNanda Devi East.

“A team of 11 speciallychosen personnel of the force,many of whom have con-quered the Mount Everest andother peaks, today began theiroperation to retrieve the mor-tal remains of the climbers,”Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITPBP) spokesperson VivekKumar Pandey said.

“The personnel, led by oursecond-in-command rank offi-cer Ratan Singh Sonal, will beaided by other ground teamsand will trek over a 100 kilo-metres to finally reach the sitewhere the bodies of theclimbers were last spotted,” hesaid.

Pandey said the team ofthe ITBP, a border guardingforce tasked to guard the Chinaborder, is expected to reach thebase camp in a week and afterrequired acclimatisation, it willattempt to retrieve the bodies.

“It will be a very challeng-ing mission as the site is locat-ed at about 20,000 feet inbetween glaciers and othersnow hazard prone areas. Airsupport will also be taken forlogistics in the course of theoperation,” he said.

Eight mountaineers, includ-ing from the US, the UK andAustralia, were reported miss-ing after they left Munsiyari onMay 13 to scale the 7,434 metretall peak, but did not return tothe base camp on the scheduleddate of May 25.

The team was led byBritish mountaineer MartinMoran.

It was a 12-member groupout of which four were rescued.

Indian Air Force heli-copters had spotted five bod-ies on June 3 after multiple sor-ties to trace them.

The missing mountaineerscomprised seven from the UK,the US and Australia, and aliaison officer from Delhi’sIndian MountaineeringFoundation.

The route to the peakbegins from Munsiyari, about132 km from Pithoragarh dis-trict headquarters. The districtis about 456 km from state cap-ital Dehradun. PTI

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Afew days ago, a fight broke outin the city of Ranchi whichresulted in the stabbing of atleast six people. The brawl wasnot about an alleged theft or

some form of disagreement that escalatedquickly or any other incident commonlyassociated with a serious fight in broad day-light. Instead, it was over water.

Jharkhand, as also the rest of India, issuffering from an acute water crisis in thehigh heat of summer. This is why it was notsurprising that while residents in a partic-ular locality in Ranchi were standing in linepatiently for hours to draw water, a fightbroke out when an individual allegedly filledwater in large quantities, leaving little tospare for other residents. While fortunate-ly no one died in the incident, such waterriots will only rise unless we tackle this seri-ous problem with the sincerity and commit-ment it demands.

Benjamin Franklin had once said,“When the well is dry, we’ll know the worthof water.” While he meant to use this phraseas a metaphor, this quotation is now truerthan ever in its literal sense. Water is anessential component of our lives. Justimagine a single part of your day withoutit. From the moment we wake up and washour faces before having a cup of tea till thetime we sit down for dinner: Water makeseach of these activities possible.

However, today, we stand at a crucialcrossroad: To survive using judiciousnessor perish due to ignorance and recklessness.Villagers from all over the country havebeen forced to evacuate their homes insearch of newer water sources and habitats.The current water crisis, which has onlybeen aggravated due to this year’s unrelent-ing summer, has forced a number of peo-ple to leave their homes and abandon theircattle and sheep since they do not havewater to provide for them. It is no surprisethat food production, too, has been severe-ly hit.

In Chennai, IT companies are askingtheir employees to work from home becausethey do not have enough water to sustainoperations. In other firms, employees arebeing asked to bring their own drinkingwater since employers cannot guaranteedrinking water during work. It is, therefore,obvious that a lack of water will soonenough stop our daily lives as we current-ly know it.

Let me give some other worrying sta-tistics, which I hope, will jolt one into actionjust as it has affected me. By the end of May,it was reported that 43 per cent of India wasexperiencing drought conditions.Furthermore, the country has witnessed adrought every year since 2015 (other than2017). In many parts of the country, peo-ple are falling ill and are being admitted tohospitals, sometimes at huge expenses,because they are being forced to drinkuntreated water.

In terms of groundwater,the situation is even more grim.Ground water, which serves 40per cent of India’s needs, isbeing depleted at a frightening-ly unsustainable rate. The NITIAayog, a Government think-tank, has said in its report in2018 that 21 Indian cities,including Delhi, Bengaluru,Chennai and Hyderabad, willrun out of ground water by2020 and that 40 per cent ofIndia’s population will have noaccess to drinking water by2030. The year 2030 is less than11 years away. This means thatin a little more than a decade,more than one in three peoplein the country will not haveaccess to drinking water.

To bring this point closerhome, if you are a family of fouror five, it is likely that only twoor three of you will essentiallyhave access to drinking water by2030. I must apologise forsounding apocalyptic but thetime for sugar-coating is over.India is facing a ticking time-bomb and all of us, includingour future generations, willface a disastrous scenario unlesswe get our acts together andstart taking hard decisions.

A good start has alreadybeen made by the Government.The BJP has decided to inte-grate all Ministries dealing withwater-related issues into one

Ministry — the ‘Jal ShaktiMinistry’ — and has promisedto provide clean drinking waterto all households in the coun-try. Unlike other promises madeby the Government like ‘SmartCities’ or ‘Make in India’, thispromise cannot afford to fail.

Even though I am from anopposing party, I sincerely hopethat it does not turn out to beanother jumla, reserved only forrallies of the Prime Minister.The Government, however, hasnot started out on the right foot.Asked about water scarcity,Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, theJal Shakti Minister, respondedby saying, “Water crisis is not asbad as the hype created by themedia.” This comment was allthe more surprising becauseonly last month the BJPGovernment had issued adrought advisory to six Statessince water storage levels indams had dropped to a “critical”level.

Irrespective of whetherShekhawat thinks this is all“media hype” or not, it will nottake much to figure out that weare suffering from a water cri-sis. Just look around. Our wellsare drying up, getting drinkablewater is becoming more andmore expensive, we often endup standing in long queues forwater. Are these not obvioussigns of a crisis? Therefore, I

urge you to take charge yourself.There is no doubt that Indianeeds a comprehensive andwell-thought out policy to tack-le this issue. The Governmentneeds to adopt a multi-facetedapproach which examines thekind of crops we should grow,the kind of resources we needto set aside and invest amongother things.

However, merely ignoringthe problem because it seemstoo big can be disastrous. I urgeeveryone as a concerned citizenof India to take full responsibil-ity to help avert this water cri-sis. There is enough of animpact you can create if youcare enough about the situation.

For example, at home,where we often leave the tapsrunning or consume morewater than is necessary, wemust encourage family mem-bers and helps to use water judi-ciously. We can adopt water-saving techniques that are eas-ily available online. At theoffice, too, you can ask youremployers to use more water-efficient toilet stalls and hostawareness sessions for fellowemployees. All of these stepsmay eventually help us win cru-cial battles and ultimately winthe war against drought.

(The author is president ofJharkhand Pradesh CongressCommittee)

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Lessons from Kathua” (June 12).While the family of the Kathuarape case has got justice, over onelakh daughters still await closurein our courts. It is time to stopchild rape through strong legaldeterrent and social action. Oneonly hopes that stringent andeffective punishment would offerdeterrence for ever-increasingcrimes against children. I alsothink it’s imperative that lenien-cy is not offered to perpetratorsand more so on sociological argu-ments on the identity of the crim-inal, centered on their caste,minority status or economic back-ground, ie ‘sole bread earner’ et al.

Those who file mercy peti-tions for the perpetrators ofheinous crimes or push thehuman rights rhetoric of lesserpunishment for some of them,should take a backseat. A societythat cannot safeguard its childrenhas no right to talk about therights of the perpetrators, espe-cially under the garb of a politi-cal correctness which could verywell sent us to doom.

Padmini Raghavendra Secunderabad

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Lessons from Kathua” (June12). Rape victims deserve nomercy. They need to be severe-

ly punished and the Kathuarape case was no exception.

That justice has finally beenserved is welcome. The verdictis a triumph of the justice deliv-ery system. It was only due toeffective investigation, diligent

prosecution and judicial sensi-tivity that this case could get aspeedy closure. This case shouldinspire people’s confidence in thejustice system.

However, it is also a matterof concern that the country has

been a witness to a spate ofheinous crimes against minorgirls. One rape case is reportedevery 15 minutes. Even as theKathua verdict is being hailed,the gruesome murder of a three-year-old in Aligarh has shockedthe society. There are manycases that are pending for yearstogether awaiting a judgement.All such long-pending casesmust be fast-tracked so thatjustice is not delayed.

Sravana RamachandranChennai

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Searing hot conditions the newnormal” (June 13) by Kota Sriraj.With the country witnessingunprecedented heat wave condi-tions, the problem has been exac-erbated by an acute water crisis.Poor water management plan isat the root of urban nightmares.A comprehensive water policythat focusses on reusing wastewater is the need of the hour.

Alok SinhaVia email

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It’s great to see so many Indian and Americanbusiness people coming together to talk abouthow to draw our two nations closer together,

and to talk about big ideas. That project has beenin the forefront of my mind too, in preparation formy upcoming trip. I want to give you a sneak pre-view of my mission, and tell you why I truly believethat our two nations have an incredibly uniqueopportunity to move forward together, for the goodof both of our peoples, the Indo-Pacific region, andindeed the entire world.

The idea of a US-India partnership franklystretches back a long way. When the Indian peo-ple first courageously won their independence over70 years ago, a strong relationship between ourcountries was something people talked about. Ourtwo democracies and a close relationship seemedinevitable, a matter of “when” not “if.” But for toolong — indeed, for decades — we found ourselveson different trajectories. The US was fighting theCold War. And India was asserting itself, its new-found, cherished independence through its non-aligned movement, trying not to take sides. Wecooperated when we could, but frankly I think mostwould agree that we mostly fell short of our poten-tial.

We couldn’t trade much because India had aclosed economy. The Licence Raj kept businessesand innovators out of the black and covered in redtape. Five-year plans became the received wisdom,something like our 2 per cent growth here in thelast administration became sort of a new normal.We focussed our attention on other Asian tradingpartners, and what were once cubs grew up to betrue tigers in the region. But all that changed in1991, when India opened its doors to the world.Prime Minister Rao said that at the time his gov-ernment would “sweep the cobwebs of the past andusher in change.” India’s free-market reformsunleashed the innovation, the entrepreneurship, thesheer drive of its own people to do remarkablethings. First, we’ve had a seven per cent growth inIndia from 1997 to 2017, year-on-year. Millionsof Indians have been lifted out of poverty. Indiabecame a world leader in IT — IT services, engi-neering, pharmaceuticals, and so many more thingsthat you all know so well. The US-India bilateraltrade reached $142 billion just last year, a seven-fold increase since 2001. Additionally, more than500 American companies now successfully oper-ate in India. And of course, the US is a market forroughly 20 per cent of India’s exports in both goodsand services. Indian-Americans, too, have con-tributed mightily to things that happened here inthe US. We’ve watched Indians reach the heightsof industry, and academia, and government.People like Microsoft’s CEO and the FCC chair-man Ajit Pai, a great Kansan, have done remark-able things all around the world.

US Presidents of both parties have seized theopportunity for closer ties. President Clinton’s visitin 2000 set a real marker, he set the table for clos-er cooperation between the two countries, and thenPresident Bush inked a historic civil nuclear deal.More recently, President Obama granted India“Major Defence Partner” status and supportedIndia’s quest for a permanent seat on the UNSecurity Council — a position that the US contin-ues to support. And under President Trump, we’vetaken our defence cooperation to new heights, solid-

ified our common vision for the Indo-Pacific andtaken a far tougher stand on Pakistan’s unaccept-able support for terrorism in the region.

Just a few weeks ago, in a truly historic elec-tion, 600 million Indians voted in the largest exer-cise of the franchise in history. And they gave MrModi a huge mandate. Not since 1971 has an IndianPrime Minister been returned to office with a sin-gle-party majority, and — to borrow a phrase – heenjoyed an awful lot of winning. Many observerswere surprised by the result, but, frankly, I wasn’t.I’ve been watching closely. And we knew that thePrime Minister was a new kind of leader for theworld’s most populous democracy. He is the sonof a tea seller who worked his way up to govern-ing a state for 13 years and now leads one of theworld’s truly emerging powers. He’s made econom-ic development for the poorest Indians a priority.And indeed, millions who once went without lightbulbs now have electricity. And millions who lackedcook stoves now have them. It’s interesting thatyoung Indians constituted one of the PrimeMinister’s largest voting blocks, one of his biggestgroups of support in this most recent election. Ithink that tells you something.

For my part, as the Secretary of State, I knowI have a strong partner, a new, great counterpartin Minister Jaishankar — a former Ambassador tothe US. First, we have to build ever-stronger rela-tionships. In fact, we’ve sent some of our finestminds to New Delhi, thinkers like Daniel PatrickMoynihan and our current ambassador, Ken Juster.But forging stronger ties is more than that. It meansformalising these individual friendships, buildingout a diplomatic framework for our two countries.I think we’ve done that but there’s more to do. Lastyear we kicked off a 2+2 dialogue and I went toattend it alongside the Secretary of Defence. Wealso reinvigorated the Quad Dialogue among theUnited States, Japan, and Australia — all like-mind-ed democracies in the Indo-Pacific.

But I want to talk about a couple other thingsI believe we can do together. We must embracethat strategic framework that works for both ofour nations. We respect India as a truly sover-eign, important country, with its own unique pol-itics and its own unique strategic challenges. Weget it. We realise it’s different to deal with thelikes of China and Pakistan from across the oceanthan it is when they are on your borders. That’swhy in this room, not so many months ago, Ielaborated on President Trump’s vision for a Free

and Open Indo-Pacific. It starts from the premisethat we share a common set of values — the val-ues of democracy and freedom and a core beliefin the ingenuity of the human spirit.

We also have to make sure that we have eco-nomic openness. We have to have a central themebeing the idea that we have liberty and sovereign-ty in each of our two nations, and build on thoseideas. These need to be places in which econom-ic growth reinforces our democratic values, and notdictatorship. It needs to be a place where our part-nership is one of true equals, not of domination.Based on my conversations in New Delhi last year,and in subsequent phone calls and meetings, Ibelieve this is a deeply shared vision.

Third, we have to deliver. We have to execute.The Trump administration has already enabledAmerican companies to export more high-techitems to India. This includes cutting-edge defenceplatforms like armed UAVs and ballistic missiledefence systems. We’ve already launched theAsia-EDGE programme to help India raise privatecapital to meet its energy and security needs foryears to come. These are solid achievements butwe want to do so much more.

We clearly have overlapping interests: defence,energy, space. The list goes on. The first batch ofApache helicopters is coming off Boeing’s produc-tion line in Arizona even as we speak. LockheedMartin’s F-21 and Boeing’s F/A-18 are state-of-the-art fighters that could give India the capabilities itneeds to become a full-fledged security providerthroughout the Indo-Pacific.

On energy, we want to complete theWestinghouse civil nuclear project and delivermore LNG and crude. These steps will giveIndians reliable, affordable, diversified energyindependence. So they will no longer have to relyon difficult regimes like those in Venezuela andin Iran. On space, NASA is already working withthe Indian Space Research Organisation on theworld’s most advanced earth-observation satel-lite and India’s second lunar mission. I mean,how cool is that?

Now, I’m sure we’ll broach some tough topicstoo. But as we democracies have come to know, thatwe work out our disagreements. We bring themto the table honestly and fairly. And we’ll proba-bly discuss the recent decision on the GSP pro-gramme. I do hope, and remain open – and weremain open to dialogue, and hope that our friendsin India will drop their trade barriers and trust in

the competitiveness of their own companies,their own businesses, their own people, and pri-vate sector companies. We’ll also push for free flowof data across borders, not just to help Americancompanies, but to protect data and secure con-sumers’ privacy. And speaking of privacy, we areeager to help India establish secure communica-tions networks – including 5G networks as well.

I know that these conversations that we willcontinue with the new government in India thathas so much promise for its people, for our rela-tionship, and for the world – I hope together, wewill finally fulfill the great promise of cooperationthat was present at India’s birth and which remainsevident today.

I did business in India when I — before I lostmy mind and ran for Congress — ran a small busi-ness that made machine parts for the aerospaceindustry. And I spent a fair amount of time inBangalore and in Chennai working with HAL. I’lltell you what. It was tough. India was still open-ing up, it was still figuring its way through, but therewas a real value proposition there and we did well.When I think about that, when I think about whatbusinesses need when they go to invest in eachother’s countries, they need stability, they need aset of rules that they can understand, they need tomake sure that the efforts that we put forwardtogether from the US have sufficient bipartisanship,that they won’t be whipsawed as we have electionshere. That is, when you invest, your ROI oftenextends beyond any particular congress or any par-ticular administration.

It’s already happening in technology andengineers. I know all of the amazing, brilliantIndian students that come to study in our schoolsat Wichita State University in my hometown, lotsof amazing people doing amazing things wantto come work in places where they can go makemoney and be successful. They don’t care somuch if it’s with an Indian company or anAmerican company. They want to go out anduse their skill set. If we can, at the StateDepartment, lay the foundation for that, then I’mconfident the folks in this room will knock it outof the park. They’ll take risk, they’ll invest cap-ital, they’ll invest capital here and in India, andwe’ll grow both sides of the relationship.

(Excerpted from the remarks of the US Secretaryof State Michael R. Pompeo at the India Ideas Summitand 44th Annual Meeting of the US-India BusinessCouncil)

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India was witness to a massiveelection exercise in the pasttwo months. We had an elec-

torate of 900 million — the turnoutin this general election was thehighest ever at 67.11 per cent — andthe mandate for the winning party,the BJP, was decisive. NarendraModi has once again been electedas the country’s Prime Minister andpolitical pundits are still busy find-ing whether it was a wave, anunder-current or a “tsunami” thatled to the party’s victory.

The factors that led to the mas-sive victory of the BJP will be dis-cussed and debated for a long timeto come but everyone seems toagree that the electoral campaign

was centered around the theme of“national security.” The PrimeMinister did touch upon this issueduring his campaigns but at thesame time, he focussed on develop-mental works. After all, there can’tbe a strong economy without secureborders.

Developmental activities in theborder areas of the country, especial-ly Jammu & Kashmir and the North-East, have been a lesser talked aspectof the Modi Government. Theseregions have historically beenignored. But prioritising them hasyielded rich dividends for the NDA,with its candidates winning 25 of the32 seats in these two regions. The BJPspecifically made deep inroads withthe electorate. This was also reflect-ed in the party’s performance in theAssembly elections held simultane-ously in Arunachal Pradesh with thegeneral elections (along with threeother States).

Arunachal Pradesh shares inter-national borders with three countries— Bhutan, Myanmar and TibetAutonomous Region of China. Areawise, it is the largest State in the entire

North-East with a population ofapproximately 14 lakh. Populationdensity of the State is around 12 peo-ple per sq km. The State boasts of 26major tribes and over 100 sub-tribes. Each tribe has a unique cul-ture and a language distinct from theother. “Arunachali Hindi” is the lin-gua franca and “Jai Hind” the pop-ular slogan. The BJP has, for the firsttime, formed an elected Governmenton its own in this important borderState under the leadership of Pema

Khandu. The party won in 41 out ofthe 60 Assembly constituencies. Itincreased its vote share from 31 percent in 2014 to 51 per cent in 2019and saw three of its candidates win-ning as uncontested even before thefirst votes were cast on April 11.

For those who did not notice,Arunachal Pradesh was the first togive an indication of this huge BJPwin and rout of the Congress. Anational party like the Congresscould manage to field only 46 can-

didates in the 60 Assembly seats.Sixteen of its candidates had a voteshare of 10 per cent or less withsome getting as low as 54 votes.Such poor statistics of a nationalparty, whose vote share only fiveyears ago was 49.5 per cent, isalarming and calls for attention.Leaving the media aside, the ironyis that even the Indian NationalCongress isn’t taking note of it.

Apathy towards the North-Eastin general and Arunachal Pradesh inparticular is to be blamed for thesame. Only incidents of violence orinsurgency get noticed. Itanagar, thecapital of Arunachal Pradesh, sawviolence for over three days inFebruary. This was hardly even cov-ered. To think that an innovativeGovernment initiative will be cov-ered is, perhaps, asking too much.

Still, Arunachal Pradesh did aunique experiment. Hundred youthfrom all across the State were select-ed for a boot camp. They worked on10 most relevant sustainable devel-opment issues for the State andmade a presentation of challengesand opportunities before

Government officials, Ministers andthe Chief Minister. It was called theArunachal Transformation andAspirational Leadership (ATAL)Conclave. Delegates were in the agegroup of 18-30 and for many of them,this was their first visit outside theirhome districts. The conclave saw par-ticipation of three Union Ministersand the response from the youth wasoverwhelming. Khandu sat throughthe entire conclave, taking notes. Isit too much of a stretch to co-relatethat the State elected the youngestChief Minister of India?

The BJP in Arunachal has shat-tered all stereotypes and promised tomake the State the “happiest.” It iseasier to overlook the hard work putin by political leaders towards devel-opmental activities and convenient-ly argue that the North-East votesonly for cash. That Prime MinisterModi won on the “national securi-ty” plank is another such manifesta-tion of arm-chair journalism. Thevoter today is aspirational and notmerely voting for slogans.

(The writer is a Fellow withIndia Foundation)

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The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)Thursday adjourned the hearing on Jet Airways

insolvency case to June 20.By asking the two operational creditors — Shaman

Wheels and Gaggar Enterprises — who have taken JetAirways to NCLT, to again serve legal notices to thegrounded airline, the tribunal is yet to admit the bank-ruptcy pleas.

These two companied had on June 10 dragged theairline to the NCLT seeking bankruptcy proceedings.The airline, which was grounded on April 17, owes �8.74crore to Shaman Wheels and �53 lakh to GaggarEnterprises.

Jet Airways owes more than �8,000 crore to a con-sortium of banks led by the State Bank of India, whichnow run the airline, while it has a much larger debt pileby way of accumulated losses to the tune of �13,000crore and vendor dues of over �10,000 crore and salarydues of over �3,000 crore.

The banks have appointed SBI Capital Markets asthe investment banker to find an investor to scoutinvestors.

Bankers, after taking over the airline late March hadinvited bids on April 8 to sell up to 75 percent stake inthe crippled carrier that formally stopped operationson April 17.

Though it had received initial bids from parties-Ethihad Airways, private equity players TPG Capital andIndigo Partners, and the sovereign wealth fund NIIF,none of them chose to submit the final bids.

Currently bankers are trying to stave off bankruptcyeven as media reports said Etihad Airways, whichalready owns 24 percent in the airline, has teamed upwith the Hindujas to buy the airline.

The Jet Airways counter plunged close to 17 per-cent to �91.95 on the BSE after the exchanges put manyrestrictions on trading in the stock last evening.

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Shares of Jet Airways on Thursdaycracked nearly 18 per cent after stock

exchanges decided to impose restrictionson its stock trading from June 28.

The scrip plunged 16.71 per cent toclose at �91.95 on the BSE. During theday, it dropped 23.18 per cent to �84.80— its multi-year low.

On the NSE, shares tumbled 17.72per cent to close at �90.75.

In terms of traded volume, 35.05lakh shares were traded on the BSE andover three crore shares changed handson the NSE during the day.

Led by the sharp fall in the scrip, itsmarket valuation fell by �209.47 crore to�1,044.53 crore on the BSE.

Jet Airways shares have been falling forninth consecutive days, tumbling 39 percent on the BSE. Stock exchanges willimpose restrictions on trading in JetAirways shares from June 28 as part of pre-ventive surveillance measures to curbexcessive volatility, according to a circular.

The cash-starved company suspend-ed operations in April and lenders areworking on ways for revival of the airline.

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Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) to India grew by 6 per

cent to $42 billion in 2018, withstrong inflows in the manufac-turing, communication andfinancial services sectors, andcross-border merger and acqui-sition activities, according to aUN report that ranked Indiaamong the top 20 host economiesfor FDI inflows in 2017-18.

The World InvestmentReport 2019, released by theUN Conference on Trade andDevelopment (UNCTAD)Wednesday, said global FDIflows slid by 13 per cent in 2018to $1.3 trillion from $1.5 trillionthe previous year — the thirdconsecutive annual decline.

However, FDI inflows todeveloping countries in Asiarose by 3.9 per cent to $512 bil-lion in 2018, with growth occur-ring mainly in China, HongKong, Singapore, Indonesia andother ASEAN countries, as wellas India and Turkey. The Asianregion remained the world’slargest FDI recipient, absorbing39 per cent of global inflows in2018, up from 33 per cent in2017. FDI inflows to South Asiaincreased by 3.5 per cent to $54billion.

“Investment in India - thesubregion’s largest recipient -rose by 6 per cent to $42 billionwith strong inflows in manufac-

turing, communication, financialservices and cross-border merg-er and acquisition (M&A) activ-ities,” the report said.

The report added that Indiahas historically accounted for 70to 80 per cent of inflows to thesubregion. Further, the growthin cross-border M&As for Indiafrom $23 billion in 2017 to $33billion in 2018 was primarily dueto transactions in retail trade($16 billion), which includes e-commerce, and telecommuni-cation ($13 billion).

It said that notablemegadeals included the acqui-sition of Flipkart, India’s biggeste-commerce platform, byAmerican giant Walmart. Inaddition, telecommunicationdeals involving Vodafone (UK)and American Tower (US)amounted to $2 billion.

The report added thatIndia and the UAE, not tradi-tionally in the top 20 outwardinvestor countries, were alsoconsidered as among the top 10most important sources of FDIfor the 2019 to 2021 period.

Further, prospects for FDIinflows into South Asia arelargely determined by expecta-tions of growing investment intoIndia. Announced greenfieldinvestment in the country dou-bled to $56 billion in 2018, withprojects in a number of manu-facturing industries, includingautomotive, the report said.

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Domestic equity benchmarkBSE Sensex ended mar-

ginally lower after a see-sawsession Thursday as lack ofbuying triggers kept tradingsentiment at a low ebb.

A depreciating rupee andweak global cues also weighedon the markets, traders said.

After plunging over 300points intra-day, the BSE gaugepared most losses to settle15.45 points, or 0.04 per cent,lower at 39,741.36.

However, the broader NSENifty inched up 7.85 points, or0.07 per cent, to close at11,914.05.

Yes Bank was the biggestloser in the Sensex pack for thesecond consecutive session,plummeting 12.96 per cent,after Moody’s placed the privatesector lender’s ratings underreview for a possible down-grade.

IndusInd Bank, Infosys,Maruti, Vedanta, HeroMotoCorp, Tata Motors,ONGC and RIL too fell up to4.96 per cent.

Top gainers includedPowerGrid, M&M, KotakBank, Bajaj Finance, BhartiAirtel and HDFC twins, risingup to 1.54 per cent.

According to experts, mar-ket mood was subdued amidrising uncertainty over tradetalks between the US andChina. Oil prices soared fol-lowing conflicting reports of

attacks on two oil tankers in theGulf of Oman and the Strait ofHormuz.

However, losses werecapped as investors took posi-tive cues from factory outputnumbers, released after markethours on Wednesday.

India’s industrial outputgrew to a six-month high of 3.4per cent in April mainly onaccount of improvement inmining and power generation,while retail inflation spiked toa seven-month high of 3.05 percent in May, though remainingwithin the RBI’s comfort level.

“Benchmark indices endedon a flat note amid weak glob-al cues. After opening negative,Nifty reversed its trend andclosed positive above 11,900levels. However, investorsremained cautious on Niftyand Bank Nifty weekly expiryday.

“Post election euphoria,markets to shift focus on earn-ings visibility, onset of mon-soon and various economicreforms and policies by wayUnion Budget. On global front,US-China trade wars alongwith oil price volatility willdetermine further trend,” saidHemang Jani, Head —Advisory, Sharekhan by BNPParibas.

Sectorally, BSE teck, auto,energy and healthcare indicesended up to 0.57 per centlower. Realty, power, finance,consumer durables and utilitiesgained up to 0.62 per cent.

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Snapping its two-sessiongaining streak, the rupee

dived 16 paise to close at69.50 against the US dollarThursday amid a sharp rise incrude oil prices.

Brent crude futures, theglobal oil benchmark, soared3.84 per cent to $62.27 perbarrel after attacks on two oiltankers in the Gulf of Omantriggered fears of supply dis-ruptions.

The rupee opened at69.33 per dollar and fell fur-ther to touch a low of 69.56 atthe interbank foreignexchange market.

The local unit finally set-tled at 69.50, down by 16paise over its previous close.The rupee Wednesday closedat 69.34 against the US dollar.

Foreign investors pur-chased shares worth a net�172.35 crore Thursday, pro-visional exchange datashowed.

The 10-year Governmentbond yield was at 7.01 percent on Thursday.

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The drought situation, farm distress and secu-rity concerns of Naxal-affected districts will

be among the issues to be discussed at the fifthmeeting of Niti Aayog’s Governing Council tobe chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modihere on Saturday.

The agenda for the meeting also includesrain-water harvesting, aspirational districtsprogramme and structural reforms in the agri-culture sector, an official statement said.

The meeting, to be held at Rashtrapati

Bhavan, will be attended by chief ministers, lieu-tenant governors of union territories, severalunion ministers and senior government officials.

This will be the first governing councilmeeting under the new Modi government.

West Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee, however, has refused to attend themeeting, saying it is “fruitless” as Niti Aayog hasno financial powers to support state plans.

Headed by the Prime Minister, theGoverning Council includes ministers ofFinance, Home, Defence, Agriculture,Commerce and Rural Development, besides

state chief ministers and Niti Aayog vice chair-man, CEO and members.

According to the statement, the GoverningCouncil reviews the action taken on the agen-da items of the previous meeting and delib-erates upon the future developmental priori-ties.

So far, four meetings of the GoverningCouncil have been held under the chairman-ship of the Prime Minister.

The first meeting the Governing Councilwas held on February 8, 2015, at which thePrime Minister laid down the key mandatesof Niti Aayog such as fostering cooperative fed-eralism and addressing national issues throughactive participation of the states.

The second meeting on July 15, 2015reviewed the progress made by the three sub-groups of chief ministers and the two task forces.

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Markets watchdog Sebi onThursday came out with

a strict disclosure frameworkfor credit rating agencieswherein they will be requiredto provide the probability ofdefault for various rated instru-ments.

The regulator’s move comesagainst the backdrop of risinginstances of debt defaults andconcerns over the role of cred-it rating agencies in assessing thepossible risks. Credit ratingagencies have also come underthe scanner in the IL&FS case.

“...CRAs (credit ratingagencies), in consultation withSebi, shall prepare and disclosestandardized and uniformprobability of default (PD)benchmarks for each rating cat-egory on their website, forone-year, two-year and three-year cumulative default rates,both for short-run and long-run,” the circular said.

Issuing guidelines forenhanced disclosures by CRAs,the watchdog has called for

having a uniform StandardOperating Procedure (SOP) inrespect of tracking and timelyrecognition of default. Thesame has to be disclosed on thewebsite of each CRA.

Sebi has also mandated aspecific section on ‘rating sen-sitivity’ in the press releasesfrom the agencies to indicatepossible trigger for an upwardor downward rating change ina simple language rather thanlike a general risk factor.

Besides, the regulatorexpect the rating agencies tomake meaningful disclosuresabout liquidity conditions byusing simple terms like supe-rior or strong, adequate,stretched or poor, with properexplanations to help the endusers understand them better.

Also, the CRAs will have todevise a model to track devia-tions in bond spreads, Sebi said.

Additionally, CRAs shallnow assign the suffix ‘CE’(Credit Enhancement) to rat-ing of instruments havingexplicit credit enhancement, itadded.

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India detected at least 22 vio-lations of auditing standards

by Deloitte Haskins & Sells anda KPMG affiliate while inves-tigating a fraud at a financialcompany, leading it to seek afive-year ban on the auditors,according to government legalfilings seen by Reuters.

The failures were detectedas part of a wide-ranging probeinto alleged fraud and mis-management at InfrastructureLeasing & Financial Services(IL&FS), which defaulted on itsdebt obligations last year andsparked fears of financial con-tagion.

Both auditors have deniedwrongdoing.

After the government tookover IL&FS, government inves-tigators began looking intoone of its key financial units,IFIN, which was audited byDeloitte between 2008/09 and2017/18, and by a KPMG affil-iate, BSR & Associates, from2017/18.

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The Government on Thursdayannounced a cut in contri-

butions made by employers andemployees toward the healthinsurance scheme of Employees’State Insurance Corporation(ESIC) to 4 per cent from theexisting 6.5 per cent, a movewhich would lead to an esti-mated annual saving of around�5,000 crore for firms.

The reduced rates will beeffective from July 1, 2019, theLabour Ministry said in arelease. This would benefit 3.6crore employees and 12.85 lakhemployers.

“The government has takena historic decision to reduce therate of contribution under theEmployees’ State Insurance Actfrom 6.5 per cent to 4 per cent(employers’ contribution beingreduced from 4.75 per cent to3.25 per cent and employees’contribution being reducedfrom 1.75 per cent to 0.75 percent),” the ministry said.

As many as 12.85 lakhemployers and 3.6 croreemployees contributed �22,279crore towards the ESI scheme

in 2018-19. Back of the envelop calcu-

lations suggest that reduction inthe contribution rate foremployers would results inannual savings of over �5,000crore to these firms.

The ministry said that thereduced rate of contributionwill bring about a substantialrelief to workers and facilitatefurther enrollment of workersunder the Employees’ StateInsurance (ESIC) scheme andbring more and more work-force into the formal sector.

Similarly, reduction in theshare of contribution ofemployers will reduce the finan-cial liability of the establish-ments leading to improved via-bility of these establishments.This shall also lead to enhancedEase of Doing Business.

It is also expected thatreduction in rate of ESI con-tribution shall lead to improvedcompliance of law. TheEmployees’ State Insurance Act1948 (the ESI Act) provides formedical, cash, maternity, dis-ability and dependent benefitsto the Insured Persons underthe Act.

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Swords are out in Tamil NaduBJP following the failure of

the party to win at least one LokSabha seat in the State in therecently held Lok Sabha elec-tions. While a senior leader ofthe party has written to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi askingfor an urgent overhaul of theparty in the State, another seniorleader blamed the ineffectivenessof the leaders in countering theDMK-led Opposition’s anti-Modi campaign.

“In Tamil Nadu there was astrong anti-Modi campaignunleashed and fanned by theDMK and other Tamil outfits.They were united in harping forthe past four years that Modi ispro-corporate and anti farmer,"said Kaattumannarkoil Kannan,leader, Kisan Morchha, in a let-ter to the Prime Minister, a copyof which was accessed by ThePioneer.

The essence of Kannan’sletter us that the present lead-ership of the BJP has provedtheir incapacity and inefficien-cy in winning any election. Hestates that though the BJP-ledGovernment at the Centrebrought in a number of pro-poor programmes and pro-farmer policies, the BJP’s TamilNadu leaders failed miserably inexplaining it to the people of theState.

Kannan says in his letter thatthe BJP should not have alignedwith either of the the dravidanparties viz, the DMK andAIADMK. "Both the parties aretainted and tarnished. These twoparties have been looting TamilNadu for the past 50 years. Ifyou make raids against bothparty leaders you can unearthhuge money," says Kannan whowas recently in the news forauthoring the book “RiverCauvery , The Most Battled”.

He points out that theintegrity of the Tamil Nadu BJP

took a beating for the worse fol-lowing the seizure of three con-tainers packed with currencynotes worth Rs 570 crore duringthe 2016 assembly election.“Some connected houses wereraided but after that there was noaction,” he says.

According to Kannan, thecentral leadership of the BJPshould take into confidence thefarming community in the Stateas TN is an agricultural econo-my. “Not a single farmer hasvoted for the BJP this time,” hesaid when asked about the rea-son behind the failure of the BJP.

Kannan also wanted thecentral leadership to order athorough overhaul and revampof the party in the State andappoint a farmer as the Stateparty chief. The words ofKannan were echoed by ArjunSampath, leader of the HinduMakkal Katchi. “The presentand past leaders of Tamil NaduBJP should make way for newfaces as they had proved their

incapability. The party whihcould poll 19 per cent votes inthe 2014 parliament election hadto content with just 3.5 per cent.Tamilissai Sounderarajan, theState BJP president was trouncedby a margin of 3,47,209 votes,while former Union MinisterPon Radhakrishnan lost by2,60,000 votes. H Raja, thnational secretary , lost by 3,32,244 votes to tainted KartiChidambaram of the Congress.The BJP should introspect whythese leaders were defeated bysuch huge margins,” said ArjunSampath. He said he had spokento the national leadership aboutthe state of affairs in TamilNadu BJP.

Interestingly, the ire of theparty cadre has also been direct-ed against the high profile PMuraleedhar Rao , the secretaryin charge of the State. “Please doan audit about his contributionstowards the BJP .That will revealthe whole story,” said a second-rung leader based in Chennai.

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In a major relief to NanaPatekar, the Oshiwara police

on Thursday filed a closurereport in a local court atAndheri in north-westMumbai, stating that they hadno evidence to prosecute thesenior actor in the alleged sex-ual harassment case filedagainst him by actressTanushree Dutta.

Confirming the develop-ment, Deputy Commissionerof Police and Mumbai policespokesperson ManjunathShinge said: “Yes. We havefiled a B-summary reportbefore a MetropolitanMagistrate at Andheri (west)”.

The investigators file a B-Summary report in a courtwhen they do not find any evi-dence against the accused per-son to file a charge-sheetagainst him and seek a trial.

Reacting to the develop-ment, Tanushtree's lawyer,Nitin Satpute said that hewould challenge the B-sum-mary report in a court. “The Bor C-summary report filed bythe police is not final. We willchallenge the B-Summaryreport. After a hearing, if thecourt – if satisfied -- can againdirect the police re-investigatethe case,” Satpute said.

Demanding to know as towhat was urgency for the policeto file B-Summary report inthe case of Patekar, Tanushree

contested the “clean chIt” givento the senior actor, by alleging:“A corrupt police force andlegal system giving a clean chitto an even more corrupt per-son Nana who has beenaccused even in the past of bul-lying, intimidation and harass-ment by several women in thefilm Industry”

“Our witnesses have beensilenced by intimidation andfake witnesses have been putforth to weaken the case. Whatwas the rush to file a B-sum-mary report when all of mywitnesses have not even record-ed their statements yet?,”Tanushree asked.

“I'm neither shocked norsurprised being a woman inIndia this is something we allhave got used to. I mean if rapeaccused Alok Nath got a cleanchit and returned to moviesthen surely it was not going tobe difficult for harassmentaccused Nana Patekar to gethimself or shall we say buyhimself a clean chit to contin-ue to bully hapless youngwomen,” the actress alleged.

It may be recalled that act-

ing on a complaint filed byTanushree on October 6, 2018,the Oshiwara police had regis-tered a First InformationReport (FIR) against senioractor Nana Patekar and threeothers four days later.

After she recordedTanushree’s statement on thenight of October 10 last year,the Oshiwara police formallyregistered an FIR againstPatekar and three others undersections 354 (Assault or crim-inal force to women with intentto outrage her modesty), 354-A (Assault or use of criminalforce with intent to disrobe her)and section 509 (word, gestureor act intended to insult themodesty o a woman) of IndianPenal Code.

In her complaint lodgedwith the police on October 6,Tanushree had alleged that theincident took place on March 26,2008 during the shooting of asong in the film “Horn OkPleaseee”. The entire was to bepicturised on the actress, whilePatekar had only line in the song.She said that before the shoot,she had made it clear to the pro-ducer and director that shewould not enact or perform anylewd, vulgar or uncomfortablesteps in the particular song.

“On the 4th day of theshoot, 26th March 2008, whileshooting was going on, NanaPatekar’s behaviour was inap-propriate towards me. He wason the set despite his work in

the song being over and he wasgrabbing me by the arms andpushing me around on thepretext of teaching me how todance. When he was teachingindecently and unnecessarily,then I felt very uncomfortablebecause of his behaviour and Ifelt he has outraged my mod-esty,” Tanushree alleged.

“He (Patekar) told thechoreographer and other juniorartists to back away so that hecould teach me the dance stepsthrough he was not a choreo-grapher and he was notrequired during the choreog-raphy as per my previousrehearsals,” the actress added.

“After the incident, I wasunder tremendous shock, Isuffered psychological trauma,was unable to take up work,suffered huge monetary lossesin crores and therefore I decid-ed to take action through filmindustry by lodging a writtencomplaint with the Cine andTV Artistes Association. TheAssociation decided the matterand passed the order withoutconsidering my complaint forapology,” Tanushree stated inher police complaint.

In her complaint,Tanushreee had also namedchoreographer GaneshAcharya, producer SameeSiddiqui, director RakeshSarang and some MNS work-ers who allegedly damaged hercar and pulled her out of hercar, as co-accused.

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Muzaffarnagar: Four railwaypolicemen, including a stationhouse officer, were booked forallegedly beating up a journal-ist in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli dis-trict, an official said onThursday.

In a purported video of theincident, which went viral onsocial media late Tuesday night,the accused GovernmentRailway Police (GRP) personnel,dressed in plain clothes, can beseen repeatedly slapping andpunching television journalistAmit Sharma.

Subsequently, the scribe wasdetained by the railway police-men.

Police registered a caseagainst the four personnel,including Station HouseOfficer Rakesh Kumar, onWednesday under sections ofthe Indian Penal Code (IPC)pertaining to causing hurt,insult, robbery and wrongfulconfinement, GRPSuperintendent of Police

Subhash Chand Dubey said.Of the four GRP officers,

Kumar and Constable SanjayPawar were suspended onWednesday.

A case has been registeredunder the IPC sections 323(causing hurt), 504 (intention-al insult), 506 (criminal intimi-dation), 364 (abduction), 392(punishment for robbery) and342 (wrongful confinement),according to police.

The incident took placeafter the policemen entered intoan argument with Sharma whenhe was covering the derailmentof a goods train in Shamli

Sharma has alleged that hewas thrashed by the GRP per-sonnel and put in a lock up.

"They forced me to take myclothes off and urinated on me,"the scribe said. However, thischarge was denied by the GRP.

The policemen were bookedafter an agitation by journalistsover incident.They staged a sit-in in Shamli on Wednesday. PTI

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The Western Railway onThursday chose not to take

any chances in view of the alertover the Cyclone Vayu , as it can-celled fully the operation of 88mainline trains, while it short-terminated/ short-orginated 40other mainline trains as a pre-cautionary measure.

With Thursday’s cancella-tions and short-terminations,the total number of long-dis-tance trains affected by thecyclone Vayu-triggeredinclement weather condition-sm the total number trainsaffected since Wednesday wentup 128.

The Western Railway con-tinued to take precautionarymeasures on the second con-secutive day on Thursday, evenas Cyclone Vayu spared Gujarat.

Till Wednesday, 77 main-line trains had been cancelledwhile 33 were short terminat-

ed by Western Railway in viewof cyclone. On Thursday, 11more trains were cancelledwhile seven more trains werescheduled to be short termi-nated/short originated withpartial cancellation, as a pre-cautionary measure in thecyclone prone areas. “Varioussafety and security precautionsare also being taken by WR fortrain passengers of thesecyclone prone areas under thejurisdiction of WR i.e. Veraval,Okha, Porbandar, Bhavnagar,Bhuj and Gandhidham, etc,” theWR spokesperson said. Twospecial trains from Okha wererun to evacuate affected peoplein coastal area, while eight spe-cial coaching rakes were kept inreadiness at Ghandhidham,Bhuj, Khambalia, Adri, Botad,Ranavav, Wansjaliya &Bhavnagar stations on WesternRailway to evacuate peopleaffected with VAYU in thecoastal area.

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The National InvestigationAgency in a surprise move

on Wednesday took into cus-tody six persons fromCoimbatore who were plan-ning to stage massive suicideattacks in South India on thepattern of the Easter Sundaybombings at Colombo whichhad claimed more than 250lives.

Mohammed Azharudheen,a 32-year-old youth, who hasbeen taken into custody by theNIA team, is said to be a closeassociate of Zahran Hashim,the master brain behind theEaster Sunday blasts atColombo staged by theThowheed Jamat of Sri Lanka. “Mohammed Azharudheenwas a Facebook friend ofZahran Hashim and they wereexchanging information aboutthe setting up of Islamic State(IS) modules in Tamil Naduand Kerala,” said a senior NIAofficial who did not want hisname to be quoted. The NIA isin the process of unravellingwhether Azharudheen had per-

sonal contacts with Hashim inaddition to the exchange ofinformation through the socialmedia sites.

The six persons who havebeen taken into custody besidesAzharudheen are AkramSindhaa (26), ShiekHdayatullah (38), MAbubacker (29), SadhaamHussein (26) and Shahin Shah@Ibrahim (28). All those whohave been taken into custodyare residents of Coimbatoredistrict, a known hub ofIslamic extremism.

The NIA team has foundthat the Facebook page KHI-LAFAH GFX was being usedby Azharudheen and others topropagate the Islamic State ide-ology and to recruit youngstersfor terrorist attacks in Keralaand Tamil Nadu. The NIAaction comes immediately afterits sleuths visited Colomborecently where it held discus-sions with their counterpartsin Sri Lanka. The Indian intel-ligence agencies had warnedtheir Sri Lankan counterpartsabout possible terrorist strikesin the island nation weeksbefore the Easter Sunday blasts.

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Chennai: The PMK, an ally of the BJP inTamil Nadu, on Thursday urged GovernorBanwarilal Purohit to order the release ofseven Rajiv Gandhi assasination case con-victs without any further delay.

Pointing out that the Tamil NaduGovernment had recommended theirrelease on September 9 last year, PMKfounder leader S Ramadoss, in a letter tothe Governor, said "it is sad that no deci-sion has been taken yet on the recom-mendation till today, even after 276 days."

There were no legal restrictions torelease the convicts and the Governor has"independent powers" on the matter, the

PMK leader noted.Also, Supreme Court judgments in this

respect showed that the Governor "hascomplete authority" under the Constitutionto release convicts, he said.

While life imprisonment "in practice"was confined to 14 years, Ramadoss saidthe convicts have been in prison for 29years since 1991.

Nearly 1,500 people were released aftercompletion of 10 years of imprisonment onthe birth centenary celebrations of the lateChief Minister M G Ramachandran, he said.

"...In many cases life imprisonmentprisoners have been released much before

completion of their sentence period on thegrounds of good conduct."

A similar privilege should have beengranted to all the seven Tamils imprisonedfor life in the Rajiv case on a humanitar-ian basis, he said.

"Therefore, I kindly urge and requestyour excellency to grant an order for theimmediate release" of the seven convictsbased on the state government recom-mendation "without any further delay."

Perarivalan, Murugan, Shanthan,Nalini, Robert Payas, Ravichandran andJayakumar are the seven Rajiv case con-victs now in prison. PTI

Madurai: The Tamil Nadupolice on Thursday informedthe Madras High Court that itwould not arrest film directorPa Ranjith against whom acase has been registered inconnection with his reported"derogatory" remarks against a10th century Chola emperor.

When the anticipatory bailplea of Ranjith came up beforeJustice P Rajamanickam, theGovernment prosecutor

informed that police wouldnot arrest him.

Recording the submission,the court posted the matter forhearing to June 19.

The judge also directedthe police to file a counter tothe director's plea against thecase registered byTirupanandal police inThanjavur district.

The case was registeredunder IPC sections 153

(provocation to cause riot)and 153 (A) (1)(promotinghatred etc) following a com-plaint lodged by a HinduMakkal Katchi functionaryalleging that the director'sspeech was aimed at creatingdivisions among people of dif-ferent castes.

Ranjith had made thealleged remarks at a publicmeeting organised by a Dalitoutfit in that district. PTI

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Guwahati: Two NRC officialswere arrested here on Thursdayfor allegedly accepting bribefrom a woman to enter her namein the citizenship list, policesaid.

Field Level Officer of Dispur,National Register of CitizensSewa Kendra, Syed Shahjahanwas caught red handed by ateam of Anti-Corruption Bureauwhile accepting a bribe of�10,000 from a woman, identi-fied as Kajari Ghosh Dutta, thepolice said.

Dutta, a resident of AnandaNagar area of the city, had filedanother FIR against the AssistantLocal Registrar of CitizenRegistration (LRCR) RahulParashar of the same NRC SewaKendra who was also arrested forhis alleged complicity with theother official, they said. PTI

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We’ve known for longthat dance promotes

agility and brain develop-ment. But then we alsoknow that we are not awareof what this most cerebral oforgans is capable of. Andsometimes it takes art tofurther this understanding.

Lu Yang, who wasselected unanimously as thewinner from a shortlist ofthree artists as the nextBMW Art Journey’s“Human Machine ReverseMotion Capture Project,”has shown how the humanbody can be trained to over-come its physical limita-tions. Her research willexplore the deployment ofthe human body in histori-cal and present-day cul-tures, looking at tradition-al and contemporary dancespractised in Indonesia,India, and Japan.

Steeped in the latestdigital technologies, LuYang will employ sophisti-cated motion capturedevices to record thedancers’ gestures, includ-ing facial, finger-and eye-capture techniques that cancollect and analyse the sub-tlest body movements, andwill mimic these usingrobotic technologies. Herworks were exhibited in theDiscoveries sector at thisyear’s Art Basel show inHong Kong. Yang is repre-sented by the gallery Sociétéin Berlin.

She has demonstratedhow in Legong, a tradition-al Balinese dance, for exam-ple, movement is controlledto such a degree thatdancers are able to manip-ulate their finger joints indi-vidually. The facial and eyemovements of India’sKathakali dancers resemblethe workings of sensors andmotors in advancedhumanoid robots. A similarrobotic precision isexpressed in the Japanese

pop dances. Thus, Lu Yang’sArt Journey links tradition-al and modern culturalforms to radically transfor-mative contemporary tech-nologies. In a larger sense,it will look into how wenegotiate our evolving rela-tionship with machines thatmay ultimately surpass ourhuman limitations.

“This gives a great start-ing point for long-termresearch projects. This is notjust an art journey. It will bea wonderful start for me toopen a new chapter of mycreation,” says Lu Yang.

The international juryconsisted of Claire Hsu,

Director, Asia Art Archive,Hong Kong; MatthiasMühling, Director,Städtische Galerie imLenbachhaus undKunstbau, Munich; PatriziaSandretto Re Rebaudengo,President FondazioneSandretto Re Rebaudengo,Turin; Philip Tinari,Director Ullens Center forContemporary Art(UCCA), Beijing; andSamson Young, artist andwinner of the first BMWArt Journey.

“What we found excitingabout Lu Yang’s proposaland work,” the jury noted inits statement, “is the way she

draws connections acrosstime, space, and geography— traversing different realms— from Kathakali andLegong dance to Japanesepop with our potential futurerobotic selves. She demon-strates that humanity’s searchfor an answer to why we arehere is continuous – it justtakes different forms.” Theproposed BMW Art Journeyevokes urgent dilemmas intoday’s society, the jurynoted. “We appreciated theidea that the vocabularywithin the database used forrobotic human expressionswould be expanded toinclude the expressionsfound in multiple traditions— a much needed expansionof reference points in today’sworld.”

Art Basel and BMW willcollaborate with the artist todocument the journey andshare it with a broader pub-lic. In addition to Lu Yang,the shortlisted artists fromthe Discoveries sector foremerging artists at Art Baselin Hong Kong were: ClarissaTossin (represented byCommonwealth andCouncil, Los Angeles) andShen Xin (represented byMadeln Gallery, Shanghai).

Launched in 2015, theArt Journey is a collabora-tion between Art Basel andBMW, created to recogniseand support emerging artistsworldwide. The uniqueaward is open to artists whoare exhibiting in theDiscoveries sector duringArt Basel in Hong Kong. Ajudging panel comprised ofinternationally renownedexperts meet first to select ashortlist three artists fromthe sector, who are theninvited to submit proposalsfor a journey aimed to fur-ther develop their ideas andartistic work. The juryreconvenes to choose a win-ner from the three propos-als.

Imagine entering a school whereyou can touch and feel thenumbers and alphabets, sense

their character and simply discov-er the world around by runningyour fingers over the walls.Aradhana Agarwal, head of prod-uct development and CSR (corpo-rate social responsibility) at aresearch lab in New Delhi, who hasconceived digitally-printed tilesas a tool of learning in governmentschools, was inspired by normalchildren’s behaviour. She observedhow kids, while walking aroundthe corridors, normally rub theirhands against the walls and bul-letins which in turn damaged thepaint and the chart papers on theboards. This became the basis of EkAcha Bhavishya, where she decid-ed that, “Instead of using electron-ic boards or simple tiles around,why not fill the tiles with content?Usually, the kids at governmentschools do not find the rightatmosphere in their surroundingsor at home to learn. In some cases,even in schools, they might notfind the right exposure,” she said.

It was at a primary school at TilBegampur, Sikandrabad, UttarPradesh, that the first set of thesetiles were installed in the premis-es. These make for informative andinteractive visuals all around thewalls and floors of the school build-ing. There are also revamped class-room set-ups with educative yetaesthetically attractive digitally-printed tiles with numbers, dia-grams, alphabets and maps plas-tered across the school. If that is notenough, washrooms are coveredwith patented germ-free tiles toensure hygiene.

Recalling her own time inschool, Aradhana said that thereused to be bulletin boards acrossthe classrooms and corridors,which were decorated with chart

papers and cut-outs of differentdiagrams. However, they stayedonly for a limited time span andneeded a lot of time and new ideasto be re-decorated. “Also, childrenscrapped or tore off bits of thosecharts on the board. This is wherethe idea of creating and usinginformative tiles birthed from,” shesaid.

Aradhana, who had beenteaching in primary schools for 10years, started with Class I tounderstand the kind of content thatshould be printed. She said, “Wereferred to textbooks. We tried todig out the things students normal-ly wouldn’t want to read themselvesfrom their books but would feelattracted to when they saw themprojected on the walls. It wouldmake them want to learn that. Sowe charted out what goes forwhich class. This way it kept ongrowing to higher classes.”

There could also be audio-visual teaching aids such as videosand guest lectures or 3D modelslike abacus and shape models inmathematics, alphabets models inEnglish and interactive globes forSocial Science.

However, the advantage ofthese tiles is that they last long andcannot be easily tampered with bystudents and thus are highly con-venient teaching tools, which con-sume less time to convey informa-tion to the students. RavindraKumar, principal of the Til

Begampur school, said, “Earlier, theteacher used to enter the class,draw the diagram or the map orwrite the tables on the board andthe process would be time-con-suming. Now, they can simply takeforward the lessons. It enables aquick revision of topics and activevisual learning while on the move.”

Another observation made byhim was that during recesses, stu-dents would idle away their timein corridors. “Now, since the tilesattract them, they are much moreinvolved. I have observed themmoving around those tile charts intheir spare time. They challengeeach other to find out Rome inItaly’s map or other stuff like that.It has resulted in an increasedretention of complex conceptsand subjects,” he said.

Apart from the Til Begampurschool, the tiles have been installedat five other centres in India, withconstant efforts of making it reach-able to as many governmentschools as possible. These arePrathamik Vidyalaya, PisanhariaPratham in Varanasi; PrimarySchool, Jokhababad, Bulandshahar;Rajkiya Madhyamik Vidhyalaya,Panchayawala in Jaipur; ShankarDham Campus in Ahmedabad;and Nirmal Primary School,Connaught Place.

Looking at the data specifica-tions from these schools, after theinstallation of these scribble-prooftiles, there has been a 36 per centrise in enrollment of children intwo years. While absenteeism hasreduced by 31 per cent (from 52per cent to 12 per cent), an

improvement in results has alsobeen observed.

However, since there is adearth of proper infrastructure,competitive and committed teach-ers as well as quality education,especially in rural schools, onemight question about how canthese tiles be affordable whenbasic infrastructure is not in place?Moreover, massive installation andimplementation of such initia-tives is an uphill task in a poorcountry like India with a vast pop-ulation.

Alok Agarwal, chief marketingofficer of the project, said that it isa mammoth task to ensure thereachability of the tiles in as manyschools as possible. He added,“However, we have been givingpresentations to the government

about how we can introduce andmanufacture ‘Tiles That Educate’for low-budget schools, since theyare designed keeping their afford-ability for rural schools in focus asprivate schools already haveenough resources and budget.”

Talking about the costs, he toldus that a set of tiles with a worldmap would cost around �1,600 anda set of tiles for all the classes wouldbe around �40,000 to �50,000.“However, low-budget schools canavail them at �20,000,” he says.

While there have beennumerous discussions about howeducation can promote sustain-able development among futureleaders, how often have therebeen conversations around howeducation methods need to besustainable?

Classical music that was zesty and foot-tapping wafted through the air at the

Russian Embassy as it geared up to cele-brate Russia Day. The occasion commem-orates the adoption of the Declaration ofState Sovereignty of the Russian SovietFederative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) onJune 12, 1990. Given the long-standingrelationship that India shares with thecountry, the embassy in Chanakyapuri wasabuzz with guests from all walks of life.

Foreign Secretary V K Gokhale was thechief guest while Najma Heptulla,Governor of Manipur, was the guest ofhonour. Heptulla was also presented withthe Russian State award called the Orderof Friendship.

The food at the do was catered by theLaLit Group of Hotels. The highlight of theevening was the ensemble, STRADI-VALENKI, which comprised four virtuosoviolin, accordion, piano and double-bassplayers and played numbers that had theguests shaking their heads.

Nikolay Kudashev, Ambassador ofRussia to India, while addressing theguests, reiterated that Russia highly valuedand respected India’s rich history, cultureand traditions. “We are very proud to notethat one of the first major international ini-tiatives taken by new Russia was the sign-ing of the Treaty on Friendship andCooperation with India on January 28,1993 which reaffirmed the continuity ofour unique relationship,” he said. He fur-ther elaborated that the Declaration ofStrategic Partnership of 2000 laid thefoundation of the modern relationship,which since 2010 has enjoyed the status of

Special and Privileged Strategic Partnershipthat is immune to any changes in domes-tic affairs or vagaries.

He went on to add, “In 2018 our lead-ers, Russian President Vladimir Putin andIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi,met twice for bilateral summits bothinformal and the full-fledged one and sev-eral times on the sidelines of various inter-national fora.”

The ambassador also highlighted thatRussia and India are time-tested partnersin the military and military-technicalspheres and recent years have seen a hostof deals being signed for production of mil-itary equipment under the Make in Indiaprogramme. “Economic cooperation is alsoone of the top priorities of our relations.The 2018 October summit in New Delhiresulted in a new series of important agree-ments and MoUs, introducing a new plat-form for aspiring entrepreneurs — Russia-India Business Summit, which showedeagerness and ability of our companies toenhance trade, economic and investmentpartnership.”

He was pleased to note that the rela-tionship was not confined to the two gov-ernments as “it is gratifying and inspiringthat people-to-people contacts and mutu-al affinity are the key drivers of theRussian-Indian friendship giving newimpetus to the ever-expanding areas of ourcooperation. This is the reason why weproudly declare that the amity betweenRussia and India has become a deep-root-ed popular tradition in both countries.”

The evening ended on a high note forthe guests and the delegates.

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Of late, Sector 29 market inGurugram has developed a repu-tation of sorts among people of

two kinds — those looking to grab a quickbite and those looking to party the week-end away. The area has evolved as a one-stop shop for all your hunger needs, sim-ply because of the range of cuisines anddishes at various restaurants. While theguest is spoilt for choice, it has alsoensured that the competition amongrestaurants is tough.

Now if you were to head there on aweekend, to hang out with friends,Decode Air Bar can certainly be oneoption that will attract your attention. Thesprawling restaurant covers two floorswith an indoor seating arrangement onthe first floor and an al fresco one on theterrace. While its walls are done inshades of black and brown, an arc madeof exposed bricks in the centre of the din-ing area on the first floor offers a contrastwhile transporting you to the World WarII era. The restaurant is decorated withvintage paraphernalia like transistors,globes, hard-bound books, retro tele-phones and more with an entire wall cov-ered with a green board which has aseemingly detailed war plan. Low lightsand retro-styled furniture add to theambience. The roof, on the other hand,is built in the European style whichimparts a modern touch to the place.Events like live music and DJ perfor-mances make the restaurant a perfectplace to spend some time with friends andfamily

Coming down to what I was here for— food — I decided to begin with theThai styled chicken tikka. Served in an ovalblack tray, the presentation was appeal-ing as the bright colour of the dish wasin stark contrast with the backgroundwhich made it visually attractive. At thefirst bite it was obvious that the chickenwas cooked to perfection. The dash ofcoconut flavour added a sweetness whichwas perfectly balanced with the spices.The banana chips were like a cherry onthe cake as they imparted a crunch to thedish.

Next, I travelled all the way to SouthIndia, gastronomically of course, byordering a dish named Idli my style.

Though the description made my mouthwater, I regretted my decision as soon asthe dish made its way to the table. Thepresentation of the dish was not up to themark, nor was the taste. The idli wasbaked which made it fluffy but when Idug my fork into it, the sphere started tofall apart. The dish lacked spice as well astanginess that is characteristic of rasamand the overall plain taste was far fromwhat I expected.

On the chef ’s recommendation, Iordered Cream cheese chicken tikka next.Although served on a basic round plate,the presentation of the dish was excellentas it had various colourful elements thatwere visually delightful. The marinationof yogurt and cream imparted a tangyflavour to the chicken that was perfectlybalanced by Indian spices. The flavour ofperi peri dip served alongside the dishbound all the elements together into a

perfect bite. The fourth dish was Pav bhajicones, which was a nice twist to the muchloved street food dish. It had a soft rollcone filled with provencal style bhajitopped with onions, tomatoes and whitebutter. While the presentation was real-ly innovative, the flavours of the dishremained true to the original — a sort ofbest of both worlds.

The Chermoula marinated chickenskewers were next in line. The dishscored high on presentation. The chick-en and pita bread were threaded on to theskewers and a bowl of hummus wasplaced below. The chicken was marinat-ed in a flavourful spice mix, with a nicetouch of paprika, and was really moist andjuicy. The pita bread served alongside wasthin and nicely toasted, while the hum-

mus imparted a creamy texture to

the dish. To accompany my food, I decided to

get something to drink but I wasn’tquite sure about what I wanted to order.I vaguely instructed the bartender that Iwould prefer one with fruit punch. To mysurprise, he actually responded to myrequest and prepared something that wasnot on the menu and was customised tomy taste. The drink was a perfect blendof flavours of different fruits.

While I wasn’t done savouring it, theLamb rogan puff made its way to my plate.Served with salsa and sour mayo, the puffsarrived with a filling of lamb keema inthem. The filling was well-cooked inIndian spices that blended perfectly withsalsa and sour mayo.

Finally it was time for desserts and Iordered their speciality, the Wishing tree.

This was practically art on a plate. Theplatter looked like a garden, with a treeat one end which had a chocolate barkand instead of leaves, had orange-flavoured candy floss. At the foot of thetree was some chocolate soil along withedible flowers. The rest of the plate hadcoconut ice cream with jaggery sauce,chocolate ganache, paan chutney gel andmango micro-sponge. The entire dessertwas a melange of flavours and texturesand all the elements came together andcreated an organic whole.

While the food scores full marks hereas it is extraordinary, what needs someimprovement is its service as the journeyof a dish from the chef ’s kitchen to thetable seems quite long. The staff needs tobe better trained and professional. But thisplace certainly warrants a visit.

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Israeli warplanes bombedbunkers at a Hamas base in

Gaza early on Thursday fol-lowing the first rocket firefrom the territory since earlyMay, the military said.

Israeli aircraft targeted“underground infrastructure” atthe base in the southern GazaStrip, it said in a statement.

The strike came after Israeliair defences intercepted a rock-et launched from the territory,the first since hundreds werefired in early May in a two-dayflare-up which killed fourIsraelis and 25 Palestinians.

On Wednesday evening,Israel announced it had bannedall fishing off Gaza in retaliationfor the launch of more incen-diary balloons from the enclave.

“Due to the continuous

launching of incendiary bal-loons and kites from the GazaStrip towards Israel, it has beendecided tonight (Wednesday)not to allow access to Gaza’smaritime space until furthernotice,” the Israeli defence min-istry department responsible

for Palestinian civil affairs,COGAT, said. The move cameafter COGAT said on Tuesdayit had reduced the extent of thefishing zone to six nautical milesoffshore from 10 nautical miles,having downscaled it from 15nautical miles a week ago.

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The Israeli military says it istaking the rare step of clos-

ing the Gaza Strip’s offshorewaters to Palestinian fishermenuntil further notice in responseto incendiaries launched intoIsrael in recent days.

COGAT, the IsraeliDefense Ministry body con-trolling the crossings with thecoastal enclave, announced onWednesday that “due to thecontinuous launching of incen-diary balloons and kites from

the Gaza Strip towards Israel,”Israel would bar Gazans fromusing the territory’s coastalwaters.

Israel often restricts the off-shore fishing zone in responseto cross-border violence. Israeland Egypt have maintained ablockade of the Gaza Stripsince the Islamist militantgroup Hamas took power in2007.

A cease-fire struck by Israeland Hamas in May to end theworst round of fighting since2014 has largely held.

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Two oil tankers near thestrategic Strait of Hormuz

were reportedly attacked onThursday, an assault that leftone ablaze and adrift as sailorswere evacuated from both ves-sels and the US Navy rushed toassist amid heightened ten-sions between Washington andTehran.

Japan’s Trade Ministry saidthe two vessels had “Japan-related cargo” as PrimeMinister Shinzo Abe was wrap-ping up a high-stakes visit inTehran that sought to easetensions between Iran and theUnited States.

Benchmark Brent crudespiked at one point by as much4 per cent in trading followingthe reported attack, to overUSD 62 a barrel, highlightinghow crucial the area remains toglobal energy supplies.

A third of all oil traded bysea passes through the strait,which is the narrow mouth ofthe Persian Gulf.

The latest incident comesafter the US alleged that Iranused mines to attack four oiltankers off the nearby Emiratiport of Fujairah last month.Iran has denied being involved,but it comes as Iranian-backedrebels in Yemen also havelaunched missile and droneattacks on Saudi Arabia.

Cmdr. Joshua Frey, a 5thFleet spokesman, said the U.S.Navy was assisting the two ves-sels that he described as beinghit in a “reported attack.” Hedid not say how the ships wereattacked or who was suspected of being behindthe assault.

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Tehran: Iranian ForeignMinister Mohammad JavadZarif said on Thursday thatreported attacks on two tankersoff the Iranian coast just asJapan’s prime minister heldTehran talks was more thansuspicious.

“Reported attacks onJapan-related tankers occurredwhile PM @AbeShinzo wasmeeting with Ayatollah@khamenei_ir for extensiveand friendly talks. Suspiciousdoesn’t begin to describe whatlikely transpired this morning,”Zarif tweeted.

Japan PM Shinzo Abe metIran’s supreme leader AyatollahAli Khamenei on Thursdaymorning, seeking to ease soaring tensionsbetween Tehran andWashington. AFP

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Iran’s navy rescued 44 crewmembers from two oil

tankers which caught fire afteran “accident” in the Sea ofOman on Thursday, officialnews agency IRNA reported.

“Forty-four sailors fromthe two foreign oil tankerswhich had an accident thismorning in the Sea of Omanwere saved from the water bythe (navy) rescue unit ofHormozgan province andtransferred to the port ofBandar-e-Jask,” IRNA quoted an “informed source” assaying.

The news agency said thefirst accident occurred at 8:50(0420 GMT) 25 nautical milesoff Bandar-e-Jask in southernIran.

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Agroup of Muslims, whohave been residing in the

Kathmandu Valley for cen-turies, have joined hands withthe members of local Newarcommunity in their demandfor protection of SanatanHindu culture after the gov-ernment moved a bill aimed atnationalising public and privatetrusts.

Newar Muslim Society, alocal Muslim group, carryingplacards, took part in a rally onMonday in the heart ofKathmandu city demandingprotection of the SanatanHindu religion and culture.

“Sanatan Hindu religioncould be jeopardised if theBill, tabled by the Communist

Party government inParliament, gets endorsed,” thegroup said.

Guthis are socio-econom-ic institutions (trusts), bothpublic and private, that fundtheir obligations from incomesfrom cultivated or leased landassets. Depending on theirobligations, guthis fulfil reli-gious, public service or socialroles and could either involvemembers from a common lin-eage, or several.

The K P Sharma Oli-ledCommunist Party governmenthas tabled a Bill in Parliamentto amend the Guthi Act andnationalise both public andprivate guthis and regulate allreligious sites under a power-ful commission.

Expressing concerns over

the controversial provisions ofthe Bill, the members of theNewar community and trusteesof major guthis staged protestson Monday and Tuesday andalleged the government’s moveis designed to erase the histo-ry by wiping out the institu-tional memory of variousindigenous communities.

“By nationalising outguthis, the state intends tosuppress our fundamentalrights and exploit guthis forcommercial purposes. The billis a direct attack on all out tan-gible and intangible heritageand does not say a word aboutour religion, heritage, culture ortradition,” Satya NarayanDangol of the Nardevi ShwetKali Ajima Guthi was quoted assaying in the Kathmandu Post.

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Boris Johnson on Thursdaysecured his position as the

frontrunner in the race to suc-ceed Theresa May as BritishPrime Minister as he won thehighest number of votes in thefirst round of the leadership poll.

The former Cabinet min-ister received 114 votes in thefirst round of a secret ballot ofTory MPs held in the House ofCommons, followed by UKforeign secretary Jeremy Huntin second place with 43 andenvironment secretary MichaelGove third with 37 votes.

Three contenders — MarkHarper, Andrea Leadsom andEsther McVey — were knockedout of the race after failing tosecure the minimum require-ment of 17 votes.

It leaves seven candidatesin the fray for the secondround of voting next week,including former Brexit secre-tary Dominic Raab in fourthplace with 27 votes, home sec-

retary Sajid Javid fifth with 23,health secretary Matt Hancocksixth with 20 and internation-al development secretary RoryStewart in last place with 19.

The two most popular MPsfrom among the seven will beput to the wider Tory partymembers in a final vote laterthis month, with the winner ofthe contest to succeed May inDowning Street expected to beannounced in the week of July.

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Hong Kong protest leadersannounced plans for

another mass rally on Sunday,escalating their campaignagainst a China extraditionbill a day after police clearedthem from the streets usingvolleys of tear gas and rubberbullets.

The move sets up a freshconfrontation with the city’sleaders who have refused towithdraw the proposed lawand have the staunch backing of Beijing, whichdescribed the protests as “riots”.

The international financehub was rocked by the worstpolitical violence since its 1997handover to China onWednesday as tens of thou-sands of protesters who hadsurrounded the city’s parlia-ment were dispersed in chaot-ic scenes.

Sporadic demonstrations

broke out again on Thursday,with occasional scuffles withpolice, but crowds were muchsmaller and there was no repeatof the running battles of the daybefore.

The Government hasindefinitely postponed a par-liamentary debate on the Bill

which had been scheduled forWednesday and was the triggerfor Wednesday’s violence.

But demonstrators havevowed no let up in their cam-paign until the law is aban-doned entirely, calling for arally on Sunday and a city-widestrike on Monday.

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China said on Thursday thatthe UN human rights chief

had an open invitation to visitXinjiang, a region whereactivists say some one millionmostly Muslim minorities areheld in internment camps.

Beijing’s new ambassadorto the United Nations inGeneva, Chen Xu, reiteratedthe Government’s denial of theexistence of camps there, insist-ing the region had “vocation-al education training”, espe-cially for youth vulnerable toextremism.

Chen added that he hopedthe UN High Commissionerfor Human Rights, MichelleBachelet, would “pay a visit” tothe region.

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The India-New Zealand tieat the Trent Bridge stadi-um was abandoned late

on Thursday as the rain tookNottingham to the cleaners lit-erally and the players, alongwith a motely crowd in thestands and the media contin-gent in the Press box, waited forsunshine Godot to break out ofthe laden skies, quite unsuccess-fully.

The washed-out scenariomeans India has lost one pointand come to a tally of just 5from three games as opposed tothe Kiwis who will continue tobe on the top with seven pointsfrom four games, having won allthe three matches they playedbefore India.

This would be the fourthmatch in the tournament to beabandoned, with the ICC turn-

ing down requests for reservedays in the preliminary roundon grounds of logistics issuesand prolonging an alreadystretched tournament. Theother teams to have suffered onthe points tally because ofweather conditions are Pakistan,South Africa, Bangladesh, WestIndies and Sri Lanka. Washoutshave particularly upset theapplecart Pakistan which isnow staring an early ouster if itloses the match against India inManchester on June 16.

Incidentally, Manchester,too, is showing up on the riskyweather chart on the block-buster Sunday with intermittentshower and sunshine forecastfor match day. So, the morealarming thing now for not justthe ICC but also India andPakistan is the precipitationgathering around Manchesterwhere the humidity will be 70per cent and chances of rain

mounting to 53 per cent around2 pm, impacting the marqueeevent and giving India morethan Pakistan reason to worryabout a compromised pointstable in case rain manages toplay spoilsport, or the matchgets slashed in overs or theDuckworth-Lewis tenet comesinto play. Abandonment is astricky as a shortened or D/L hitmatch for either team. Losingyet another point to weatherwill mean India will have a nar-rower window for a bad day atwork.

However, as India fieldingcoach Sreedhar said, “the out-field at Trent Bridge resembleda skating rink so there was noquestion of risking injuries,”even though he admitted thatthe momentum gets upset withsuch breaks. “To be waiting inthe dressing room, to switchdown but not switch off, is high-ly frustrating for the players,” he

added.Not that New Zealand, who

are table toppers for now, hav-ing started early in the tourna-ment, are any less upset with thebreak in playing schedules. “Wewould have loved to have playedIndia. They're obviously goinghot and we feel as though we'replaying reasonably well as well,so it would have been a nicematch-up. Having said that,It's quite ironic that our last fourtrainings have all been indoors.It's just what we have to dealwith and we try to pride our-selves on our adaptability. Thefirst thing we're going to do ishave a couple of days off. Wedon't play again for about sixdays now, and it's importantthat we manage the break,”Kiwi coach Gary Stead said.

The rain rules of the tour-nament allow the match to becut to a minimum of 20 overs.The umpires have the discretion

of extending extra time to up to75 minutes beyond the sched-uled play time and to another 75minutes conditions permitting.

Earlier in the day, in theirbid to save the match somehow,the umpires kept on theirinspection rounds till 3 pmlocal time before announcingthat that the match had beenabandoned. There was notmuch activity in the groundother than the umpires inspect-ing the ground four times andthen anointing yet another timefor yet another inspection andthe ground staff working outtheir muscles with the heavycovers pulling them off and onwhile airing the pitch and drain-ing the outfield. Even the extrasuper-soppers ordered in onWednesday stood haplesslyacross the afternoon with thedrizzle in no mood to relent andthe sun peeping in just for a fewminutes.

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India fielding coach Sridharsaid India are on the top of their

game where fielding is con-cerned though direct throws is anarea one needs to work on.

"It is something which Ihave my eye on and we practicea lot for that. I would say convert-ing, whether it's a run-out or not,converting one in three or fourthrows is a good conversion rate.In my opinion, picking up oneout of four, you're doing a goodjob as a direct unit. But we failedto do that in the last game. Wehad over 10 strikes and hit onlyonce. On some days we hit threeout of five. It's a practice thing butthat is one area we work hard onin every session," he said.

Talking about criticismaround modern fielders throwingunnecessarily, he said if there isan opportunity, a fielder isencouraged to go for the stumps."We believe that his teammatewill be backing up. We encour-age fielders to create an opportu-nity where none exists. Weencourage them to try and con-vert an opportunity which theyhave created. So that is a rule wewould like to take as a fieldingunit, to be more on the aggres-sive side. We all know where itcomes from. It comes from thecaptain himself," he said.

That, he asserted, was thekind of cricket India want to play."There is a brand of cricket wewant to play as a fielding unit, sowe encourage that. In the bargain,we lose one here or there, it does-n't matter because on a good daywe pull off two or three brilliantrun-outs. Also, if you keep throw-ing at the stumps, it keeps yourshoulder warm in conditions

like this".Speaking about managing

players like Bumrah, Chahal andKedar in the outfield, Sridhar saidthey have been working hard onit, especially Bumrah who hasshown a marked improvement inhis fitness levels. "Bumrah is oneof the hardest workers as far asfielding goes. From when hejoined the team in 2016 to whathe is now, he's a massive improve-ment, although still a work inprogress, but a massive improve-ment," Sridhar said, adding thatwhat is needed is the right mind-set of the players combined withthe increased levels of fitness."Then we can chip in with thetechnical aspect of fielding likeawareness and anticipation."

So how does it go to practicein such cold weather wherecatches are being dropped by allteams? "Hand warmers is obvi-ously the first option to keephands warm. Also, if you're run-ning around in the groundbetween overs or between fieldpositions and throwing the ballaround to the players, that keepsyou warm between overs anddoesn't allow your body to cooldown. We also practice in thesame weather, so that also givesus a heads up," he said.

On training an injuredShikhar Dhawan, Sridhar said:"It's his bottom hand while bat-ting, if I'm not mistaken. It's not

even his dominant hand becausehe's a right-hander. Throwingwon't be a problem, but definite-ly the impact while fielding andcatching, especially as he's a slipfielder in the initial phase of theinnings. That can be an issue.We'll test him out with lighterballs first and gradually move onto the cricket ball and see how itgoes from there. But yes, it willbe a challenge," he added.

Sridhar is happy with thekind of resources he has. "Wehave a terrific slip catcher and asafe catcher in Rohit, and we havetwo guys, Virat and Jadhav, whoare very intimidating in the field.They can intimidate any bats-man, and they are prowling in the30-yard range. To complementthat, we have a player in HardikPandya, who can really helpwhen needed. We are safe catch-ers. We're not fast bowlers. Theseare all the usual suspects, but wesaw Chahal and Bumrah crack itup in the last game, diving afterbowling long spells. We were inthe penalty minute ball of theinning, diving and stopping runs.So that all goes well," the coachsaid.

The biggest thing for Sridharhas been the attitude of the field-ers, where they put the teamahead of themselves, qualitieswhich you need when you wantto go out and win champi-onships.

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Pace spearhead Mohammad Amir soaked up the adu-lation from Pakistan fans as he roared to the top of

the World Cup bowling charts with career-best figuresagainst Australia on Wednesday.

Amir was back in Taunton, in southwest England,where he made his return to first-class cricket three yearsago following a ban for spot-fixing.

The 27-year-old was a rising star in world cricketwhen his career came to a stunning halt in 2010 afterboth he and new-ball partner Mohammad Asif werecaught bowling no-balls on the orders of then Pakistancaptain Salman Butt as part of a newspaper sting.

The trio all received five-year bans from cricket andjail terms, taking a huge chunk out of the left-arm pace-man’s career.

The intervening years have not been easy for Amirand he almost missed what is his first World Cup aftertaking just five wickets in 14 matches before a recentone-day international series inEngland.

He did not bowl in the rain-ruined first match of that bilateralseries against England and missedthe last four games with chickenpox. England won the series4-0.

Now he is back with abang, taking five for 30 inhis 10 overs on Wednesdayto improve on his previousbest figures of 4-28 againstSri Lanka a decade ago.

With the crowdchanting “Amir, Amir,Shabash” (come on)from the stands inTaunton, he deliveredtwo maiden overs in hisfirst spell as Australiaopeners Aaron Finchand David Warnerplayed and missed.

Amir conceded just 11 runsoff his opening four overs andthen returned to snare Australiacaptain Finch before taking thewickets of Usman Khawaja,Shaun Marsh, Alex Carey andMitchell Starc.

His efforts helped pegAustralia back to 307 but thatultimately proved too much forPakistan, who lost wicketsconsistently during their replyto slip to a 41-run loss — theirsecond defeat of the World Cup.

Australia century-maker Warner hailed Amir,describing his second spell as ‘fantastic’.

Amir’s haul against Australia took him to 10 wick-ets for the tournament after three matches at an aver-age of 12.30 and an impressive economy rate of 4.73.

Last week Amir said how he was thankful he wasfor the backing of Pakistan’s passionate supporters

“It’s really amazing, I mean the crowd support,” Amirsaid. “We have so many Pakistani fans at all Englandgrounds and when they shout my name it pumps meup.”

He was left out of Pakistan’s preliminary squad forthe World Cup but he made it into the final 15 and hasproved his worth from the start of the tournament.

His WC debut was a rare Pak highlight after theyslumped to 105 all out against the WI, with Amir tak-ing 3-26 in a seven-wicket loss.

Australia aren’t playing attheir best but they are win-ning matches — that’s the

way I saw the win over Pakistan.They hung in there, rode out

some pressure and came out withthe victory.

The bottom line is there’s roomfor improvement from JustinLanger’s team, and that’s a goodthing that will only worry everyother side in this World Cup.

Australia were 126 withoutloss from 22 overs in Taunton, sothey will have been disappointedto only post 307. It’s a very goodscore, but they should have gotmore.

You can’t knock the inningsDavid Warner played. A few peo-ple have been saying he’s scoringtoo slowly, but the ball was doinga bit and there was a little bit ofswing and seam.

He was typically belligerentand upped the scoring rate. AaronFinch was his usual aggressiveself, hitting the ball here, there andeverywhere.

In the middle overs, Australianeed to be a bit smarter. When youget a flying start, like they did atTaunton, you’re desperate to keepthat momentum going and it’shard to do.

Someone has to be prepared tojust knock the ball around for a fewovers but Pakistan didn't really letthem do that. Mohammad Amirbowled beautifully and gave histeam a chance.

I’ve got no problem with bat-ting Glenn Maxwell at four, given

the start Australia had. He’s so dan-gerous.

He might not stick around, likeSteve Smith, Usman Khawaja orShaun Marsh, but he can take thegame away from you and I think

his team understand that a bitmore than they did in the past.

The bowlers did the job upfront. Pat Cummins bowled fantas-tically well and that's a good sign,that him and Mitchell Starc are car-

rying the fight at the top.Pakistan had their tails up at

one stage with Sarfaraz and Wahabat the crease and it was when Finchhad to bowl either himself orMaxwell that you saw a sign of

weakness.The fifth, and even the fourth,

bowling option is looking like aslight concern for them.

Nathan Coulter-Nile bowledpretty well and got the big wicketof Babar, while Kane Richardsonwas a bit expensive.

Finch’s low full-toss did the jobin the end, but I think they shouldlook at Steve Smith having a bowl,I really do.

Leg spin takes wickets andwhether it's Adam Zampa comingback in or Smith trying a bit of hisspin, that should improve theattack dramatically.

All sides are working towardsputting in that perfect, 100-overperformance.

In the early stages of the WorldCup, you want to be right amongstthe pacesetters after four roundsand Australia very much are.

They’re building nicely and all10 teams will feel the total packageis still in them.

Australia play Sri Lanka onSaturday and they won’t want torelax at all.

They’ll talk about being relent-less and consistent in their teammeetings and they can createmomentum for some of the bigteams they still have to play.

You want to be building con-fidence, not dropping your bundleagainst any team.

Sri Lanka are dangerous butAustralia will be confident they canget across the line at The Oval.

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�"��� �*14� 4

David Warner said wife Candicehad been his “rock” and the

driving force behind his return toAustralia duty after the openerscored his first international cen-tury since a ball-tampering banduring a 41-runs win overPakistan.

The opener made 107, hisfirst hundred in Australia colourssince an Ashes century againstEngland during the 2017 BoxingDay Test at Melbourne.

Both Warner and former cap-tain Steve Smith were given 12-month bans by Cricket Australiafollowing their roles in a ball-tam-pering scandal in South Africa.

“I was always coming back tointernational cricket if selected,”Warner told reporters after stumpsin his first major press conferencesince his suspension expired.

“The thing that kept me goingwas my wife and kids. My wife isjust, she’s just my rock. She’s unbe-lievable. She’s determined, disci-plined, selfless,” the 32-year-oldleft-hander added.

“She’s a strong woman. Andshe got me out of bed a lot in thosesort of first 12 weeks, and got meback running and training hard as

I could... She really nailed that intome.”

Candice Warner, who is preg-nant with the couple’s third child,is now in England.

Australia, whose next match isagainst Sri Lanka at the Oval onSaturday, now have an officialperiod of ‘family time’ today whenplayers can see their wives andfamilies.

“We’re fortunate enough tohave our families away with uswhich is great and obviously we’regoing to be here for a while in theUK,” said Warner, set for a long staygiven Australia remain in Englandfor an Ashes series after the WorldCup.

While Smith and CameronBancroft, who received a nine-month ban for applying sandpaperto the ball during a Test at CapeTown, gave interviews during theirsuspensions, Warner maintainedhis silence following an emotion-al press conference at SydneyAirport after he was sent homefrom the tour.

“I didn't need to say any-thing,” explained Warner, report-ed to be the instigator of the ball-tampering incident. What wassaid was said back in those Pressconferences. And now it’s about

looking forward.”Warner’s century was also his third fifty

in four innings this World Cup after scoresof 89 not out against Afghanistan and anuncharacteristically slow 56 off 84 balls ina defeat by India last time out.

“Personally, it’s a great thing,” saidWarner of his hundred. “It was a long timecoming. Against Afghanistan I felt like I hadno rhythm.

“And still last game they (India) bowledreally straight to me. But to come out here,play the way I know I can play was awe-some,” explained Warner, who faced just111 balls at Taunton.

Warner and Australia captain AaronFinch (82) shared an opening stand of 146— the highest partnership for any wicketof this World Cup so far.

But they had to see off a testing open-ing spell from Pakistan left-arm quickMohammad Amir, who finished withcareer-best figures of 5-30.

“He’s a world-class bowler,” said Warner.“When he's swinging it, it’s very difficult totry to get on top of him. I tried my best tosee him off but still try and rotate the strike.”

Pakistan fans in Taunton largely heed-ed a pre-match plea from captain SarfarazAhmed not to ‘boo’ Smith and Warner —indeed many of them cheered and clappedWarner after he was out.

This was in marked contrast to thecrowd taunts that had come Warner’s wayin previous World Cup games, with furtherjeers expected during the Ashes.

“The boos, we don’t really hear thatwhen we’re out there... It’s water off a duck’sback,” Warner insisted. “I’ve heard it mywhole career.

“Actually it eggs us on a lot and makesus knuckle down and try to score more runsif anything.”

� ��� �*14� 4

Emphasising on the impor-tance of dot balls in limit-

ed overs cricket, Australiapacer Pat Cummins is delight-ed that the hard work he hasput in to become accurate isstarting to pay off.

Cummins is increasinglylooking like the workhorse ofthis Australian team, plug-ging away with the wicketswhile others hog the head-lines. The 26-year-old lookedin great rhythm againstPakistan, taking 3 for 33 toderail their chase.

The right-arm pacer hasbowled the most number ofdot balls in the ongoingWorld Cup and the twobowlers that follow him arealso from Australia —Mitchell Starc and NathanCoulter-Nile.

“That’s the big improve-ment in my game in the lastcouple of years, the ability tohold a length and make it dif-ficult to get runs,” Cumminssaid after Australia’s 41-runagainst Pakistan onWednesday.

“If you give away easysingles then 300 becomesquite an achievable score.Cutting out the singles ishuge, it means if you give

away a boundary it might not be thatbig over of ten or 11, it may just bea five or a six,” Cummins added.

After they were set 308 for win,Pakistan scored steadily butAustralia held their nerve and tookwickets at regular intervals.

An eighth-wicket stand betweenSarfaraz and Wahab Riaz, whoscored 45 from just 39 balls, madeit nervy for the defending champi-ons until the last three wickets fellfor just two runs — securing a thirdvictory.

“It goes to show that everyonecan bat these days. It was a bit clos-er than we would have liked, so it wasgood to get those couple of wicketsand finish it off. We gave them a bittoo much width and suddenly theywere back in the game, it’s a good les-son to learn,” Cummins said.

Cummins and his strike partnerStarc have 18 wickets between themin the tournament while the rest ofthe team have a combined 12.

Meanwhile, Australian seamerKane Richardson is determined toseize every chance that comes his wayat the ICC Men’s World Cup.

Richardson was a late call upwhen namesake Jhye was ruled outwith a dislocated shoulder, capping adramatic change in fortunes for the28-year old South Australian.

On the eve of the tournament cap-tain Aaron Finch admitted he thoughtRichardson’s international career wasover after a run of disappointing per-

formances.But some attention-grabbing per-

formances in the Big Bash forMelbourne Renegades earned his slotfor the defending champions.

With the Taunton track favouringpace, he was picked ahead of JasonBehrendorff to replace spinner AdamZampa, as Australia claimed 41-runwin over Pakistan at Taunton.

And he took two wickets to stakehis claim for another shot whenAustralia take on Sri Lanka at the Ovalthis weekend.

“Anytime someone questions yourbottle its tough but I was pretty dis-appointed in my performances at thetime and knew something had tochange,” he said.

“I knew he (Aaron) thought thatbecause I remembered sitting downwith him and talking about it.

“I remember going on a tour toZimbabwe and not playing a game,you learn pretty quickly that you areoutside the pecking order.

“I’ve tried to stop caring aboutselection and just focussed on doingmy best and playing cricket.Throughout the summer I took somewickets and a few blokes fell down andI’m the next man in.

“There was no point crying aboutit. I just thought I’ll do everything Ican, if I do end up not playing againthen so be it.

“It’s good to know the guys thinkI’ve made progress and have confi-dence in me.”

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England and West Indies will carrytheir intense rivalry from theCaribbean into the Rose Bowl

today with Barbados-born pace sensationJofra Archer adding spice to the WorldCup contest.

Both teams ended at 2-2 in theirhigh-scoring five-match ODI series inFebruary with one game being a washout.The series, which took place in theCaribbean islands, saw sensational per-formances from Chris Gayle, whosmashed as many 39 sixes and amassed424 runs in four innings.

The ‘Universe Boss’ will be backinghimself for an encore against Englandwhose bowling attack has become morepotent with Archer’s addition. He hasbowled with fire and venom so far in thecompetition and his face-off with Gayleis the one to watch out for.

Archer, who has played his juniorcricket in the Caribbean and qualified toplay for England only in April, is a famil-iar figure for the West Indies camp andit knows what the 24-year-old is capableof.

“To be honest, we knew Jofra for along time. He is from Barbados, wherewe are from. We knew him from theU15s, U17s, U19s so he is not new to us.Yes, he’s bowling quickly, but there’s noth-ing that we are not accustomed to. We arelooking forward to the challenge. So wewill see how it goes today,” said WestIndies coach Floyd Reifer ahead of thegame.

West Indies too boast of express pacein their arsenal, adding to the excitementof what promises to be a mouthwateringbattle. The Jason Holder-led side wouldbe itching to take the field after awashout against South Africa at the samevenue on Monday. All-rounder AndreRussell, who has had chronic knee issues,was not named in the playing 11 againstthe Proteas. It remains to be seen if heregains full fitness for the England clash.

England too had their fitness issueswith key player Jos Buttler hurting hisright hip against Bangladesh but coachTrevor Bayliss said he is expected to befit for Friday's game. The fickle Englishweather has been a constant concern inthis World Cup but rain is predicted tostay away for the majority of the game.

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England: Eoin Morgan (captain),Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow,Jos Buttler (wicket keeper), TomCurran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett,Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, BenStokes,James Vince, Chris Woakes,Mark Wood. West Indies: Jason Holder (captain),Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, DarrenBravo, Sheldon Cottrell, ShannonGabriel, Chris Gayle,Shimron Hetmyer,Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse,Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, AndreRussell, Oshane Thomas.

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� Is Jos Buttler fully fit?Yes. Mark Wood is going to have a fit-

ness test. Nothing too serious. He pulledup a little bit sore — his ankle is a little bitsore — from the game in Cardiff so he isthe only concern at the moment.�Moeen Ali comes back in?

Yes, great news obviously. Mo’s wifegave birth to a baby girl, all healthy and wellso it’s great to see him back.�What is the decision you have got tomake in terms of the seamer?

Whether we feel we might go with four,like we did in Cardiff, or two spinnersmight be more effective. The decisionbehind what seamers is always a balanceto be good enough to win the gameagainst the West Indies.�Rains are a big impact on this tourna-ment. Is there any concern for you?

I don’t think the rain will be the rea-son we don’t make the semifinals. Yesterdaywas probably the last of the significant rainfor the next few days. I know the last threedays I think haven’t been great for sides try-ing to get games in. But at some stage dur-ing the tournament we will be hit by a smallbit of rain. It’s great that it’s not too muchand, hopefully, it doesn’t impact one teammore than twice.�What is your feeling on the fact thereare no reserve days? Is it fair?

Yes, I do think it is fair. The tournamentis quite a long tournament as it is. To havereserve days in the group stages is toomuch. I do think later in the tournamentthey are necessary, but for group stagegames it’s part and parcel of being anywherein the world t that it might rain at somestage.�How do you rate this West Indies side?

They are a strong outfit. We expect thesame today. They are explosive with the bat.And a different challenge with the ball. Alot of their seamers are quite tall and lookto hit the wicket and obviously the major-ity of the time they only play one spinner,so that is going to be the challenge here.� Is this the perfect opportunity forArcher to show them what they missed?

No, that sort of opportunity has beengone for some time now. Jofra’s been veryconsistent over a long period of time sincehe came to Sussex. It is great that he’s in anEngland shirt at the moment.�Has anything you have seen from theWI changed your view of how to playagainst them?

Yes, it’s still the same. Right from thefirst game that they have played in this tour-nament. Even when you go back to gamesthat we played in the winter, big games, thebig contributions all had to do with the fastbowlers.�Are you expecting a slightly differentkind of game than the ones we saw in theCaribbean?

I’d be surprised if the wicket is as good.The parameters of the ground here are alot bigger than the West Indies as well.Given the wicket has been under cover forthe last 24 hours, I don’t think it will be asgood.� Is it frustrating that WI is the only teamyou have failed to beat in recent series?

It is not frustration because we learnta huge amount about growing our game outin the West Indies. The fact that we are notgetting carried away about some of the suc-cess we have had. It’s important to have dayswhere you are beaten or can’t beat a sidebecause you then look even more into areasof improvement as opposed to beating sidesconvincingly, or even getting over the lineshowing good character and playing well. �Have you gone back over the way ChisGayle has had a great sucees?

We’ve looked at previous series wherewe have played at home and plans that haveworked and also when we’ve played on likerecently in the Caribbean on very flat wick-ets where he is hard to contain. We’ve alsoplanned for that as well.

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APakistan fanwas trolled on

social media afterthe team failed tobeat Australia, evenafter getting thechance to be on thedriver's seat, intheir World Cupclash onWednesday. Eventhe InternationalCricket Council(ICC), used theperson's dejectedlook, turning hisface away from theaction at the ground,as a GIF to depict the grim picture duringthe match. There were many other memeswhich flooded Twitter as fans brought tothe fore a familiar picture where Pakistancome so close to winning but, more oftenthan not, stumble at the final hurdle. PacerMohammed Amir returned with career-best figures of 5/30 to bowl out Australiafor 307 in 49 overs, with David Warner(107) starring with a hundred while skip-per Aaron Finch scored 82. Despite losingwickets at regular intervals, Pakistan werein the hunt till the end with captainSarfaraz Ahmed (40) and Wahab Riaz (45)sharing a 64-run eighth wicket partnership.But Mitchell Starc got Wahab out and it wasdownhill from there on as Pakistan lost by41 runs. ����

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West Indies captain Jason Holder sayshis resurgent side are using their

brains as well as brawn ahead of a WorldCup clash with hosts England on Friday.

The West Indies have already shownwhat they are capable of, bowling Pakistanout for just 105 thanks to a barrage ofbouncers on the way to a seven-wicket winin their opening game.

The two-time World Cup championslost narrowly to Australia after beingwell-placed to beat the reigning title-holders, before rain wrecked their matchagainst South Africa, with the sides takinga point each.

But they will enter their match againstEngland in Southampton with confidenceas the only team at the World Cup not tohave lost their previous one-day interna-tional series to Eoin Morgan’s men, draw-ing 2-2 in the Caribbean earlier this year.

With pace in abundance from the likesof Oshane Thomas, Andre Russell, SheldonCottrell, as well as Holder himself, the WestIndies have an attack to worry everyteam.

But Holder believes it is their ability tooutfox batsmen in the middle overs that hassparked an upturn in form since the 2015

World Cup — a four-year period in whichthey did not win an ODI series.

“We have always got wickets with thenew ball,” he said in his pre-match Pressconference on Thursday. But previously wehaven't been able to get wickets in the mid-dle overs.

“And it’s been the talking point over thelast couple of months in one-day cricketand now in this tournament we have beenable to get wickets in the middle overs,which has definitely broken the back ofmost teams.”

Following the South Africa no result,the England game has taken on evengreater importance for the West Indies.

But Holder is not worried yet and, withall-rounder Russell likely to be fit follow-ing a knee injury, he expects his side tothrow all they have at the hosts.

“I think the brand of cricket we havebeen playing so far in this World Cup, youknow what to expect of West Indies now,”he said.

“For us, we are not going to back downfrom the challenge. Most of our guys arealways up for the challenge and it is just amatter for us to be smart.

“And I don’t think there is anything elseto be said, just be smart and play the brandof cricket we want to play,” he added.

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Cancer-hit badminton starLee Chong Wei announced

his retirement on Thursday,ending a brilliant career inwhich he collected a swathe ofhonours but never won a worldor Olympic title.

Lee, who spent a total of348 weeks as world numberone but lost six world andOlympic finals, wept as hecalled it quits months after suf-fering a cancer scare.

"My decision to retire is aheavy one. I really love thissport. But it is a demandingsport. I thank all Malaysians forthe past 19 years," a tearful Lee,36, told a news conference.

Lee, a father of two, wasdiagnosed with early-stagenose cancer last year and afterintensive treatment in Taiwan,said he was keen to play again.

But he hasn't trained sinceApril and after missing a seriesof self-imposed deadlines toreturn to competition, hishopes of being eligible for nextyear's Tokyo Olympics wereremote.

The three-time OlympicSilver medallist said he nowwanted to rest and spend timewith his family, and even takehis wife on a “honeymoon”, atrip that has been delayed sincetheir marriage in 2012.

Lee’s unsuccessful attemptsto capture Malaysia's first everOlympic Gold medal, reachingthree consecutive finals, werefollowed avidly by his fans, aswas his long-running rivalrywith Chinese superstar LinDan.

His last shot at the Olympictitle at Rio 2016 ended incrushing disappointment whenthe Malaysian lost out toChina's Chen Long in a nail-biting final.

Cancer proved the career-ending blow but it wasn’t the

only low for Lee, who wasbanned after testing positive fora banned anti-inflammatory atthe 2014 world championships.

The long-time formerworld number one returned tothe sport in 2015, after author-ities accepted he took the druginadvertently.

“I have no regrets. Moreimportant is my health, thedecision to retire is verytough,” said Lee, adding thathis cancer treatment was nowover.

"My plan to retire wasoriginally after the OlympicGames. I made this decisiondue to my health.

"You know I got married in2012. But we (have) nevergone for a honeymoon. I owe

this promise (to my wife),now I have to please her."

As he began announcinghis retirement, Lee paused foralmost a minute as tears rolleddown his cheeks.

Badminton Association ofMalaysia (BAM) presidentNorza Zakaria, who was at thenews conference, describedLee as a "legend".

"It is a sad day. Lee is a leg-end and very dependable. Weaccept his decision," Norzasaid.

Lee has slipped to 191 inthe Badminton World rank-ings.

"I fought for my country allthe way," he said, at one point,his voice choking.

"It's my retirement day."

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Atricky opponent in AsianGames champion Japanis sure to test India but

home advantage gives ManpreetSingh and his men the upper-hand in the semifinal of the FIHSeries Finals hockey tourna-ment here on Friday.

Even though they regis-tered some big wins in the pre-liminary stages against lower-ranked opponents, the Indians,under new chief coach GrahamReid, are yet to showcase theirperfect game on the turf. Thefinalists will qualify for the FIHOlympic Qualifiers to be held inOctober-November this year.

India notched up 10-0 winsover Russia and Uzbekistan andscraped past Poland 3-1 in thepool stages.

The performance of theManpreet Singh-led side is farfrom impressive. While the mid-field has done well underManpreet, it is the finishingwhich is a cause of concern forthe Indians.

In all the three matches,India created innumerable scor-ing chances, but the strike forcelacked the finishing touch.

Barring Akashdeep Singh,no other striker has lookedthreatening in the tournamentso far.

While Mandeep Singh andyoung Gursahibjit Singh played

well in patches, RamandeepSingh, who returned to the sideafter nearly a one-year injury lay-off, looked a pale shadow of hispast self.

The Indian defence too has

hardly been tested in the tour-nament so far with Poland beingthe only team to cause sometrouble.

Both the goalkeepers — PRSreejesh and Krishan Bahadur

Pathak — were mostly specta-tors in the pool matches but thescenario would be different onFriday as the Japanese areexpected to trouble the hosts.

The Asian Games champi-ons gave India a tough fight eventhough they lost in the past twoencounters.

While India beat Japan 3-2in the semifinal of the AsianChampions Trophy in Dohalast year, in their last meeting inthe Azlan Shah Cup earlier thisyear, Manpreet and Co eked outa 2-0 win.

Japan, on the other hand,have nothing to lose as they arealready assured of an Olympicberth by virtue of being the hostsas well as continental champi-ons.

Japan are taking this tourna-ment as a preparation for theGames to be held in Tokyo.

Siegfried Aikman and hismen would be desperate toprove a point that their AsianGames Gold was not a fluke.

After a below-par poolround where they finished sec-ond behind lower-ranked USA,world No 18 Japan thrashedPoland 6-2 in the cross-overs onWednesday.

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When Pakistan play Indiait’s always a huge game,but their meeting on

Sunday is shaping up to be morecrucial than ever.

It’s simple — if Pakistanwant to stay in the tournament,they have to bring an ‘A plus’ per-formance and win that game.

The match has always meantso much to both countries. Therewill be billions watching thegame.

Pakistan’s track record isvery mixed, but that’s all gone.That’s all history. It’s a newgame, a new day.

Pakistan have got to takepositives out of what they did toIndia in the final of the ICCChampions Trophy a couple ofyears ago. They must think pos-itively going into this game.

I hope they have got theirbest game in the locker forIndia, who showed againstAustralia that they are a very fineside.

What I have seen in thisWorld Cup so far is that if youdon’t pick up early wickets,you’re in trouble. The new ball isso crucial and openers are beingmore careful in the first ten oversthis year.

They’re not really going fullthrottle, they are being a bit morewatchful. Once you don’t loseany wickets early on, it becomeseasier because the ball doesn’tswing and batting becomes eas-ier.

It was with the new ball, inboth batting and bowling, that Ifelt Pakistan missed a trick intheir entertaining defeat toAustralia at Taunton.

Early on, we were not reallysharp enough and SarfarazAhmed was not on his toes.Mohammad Amir didn’t get anysupport from the other end.

No-one really saw the come-back coming and for that, youhave to take your hat off to Amir.Full marks to him for the way hebowled.

Even with the new ball, Ithought he bowled quite nicely.He could have picked up morethan five wickets in the end. Hewas unfortunate with a couple ofnicks early on.

Pakistan pulled it back verynicely. They were sharp after 25overs and started picking upwickets. They found the rightlengths.

Amir bowled superbly. Heshowed us all his cutters, varia-tions and short pitched deliver-ies.

I think we all know Amir ismentally very, very strong. Heshowed once again that class ispermanent — he is no doubt amatch-winner.

Dealing with short bowlingagain proved an issue for thebatsmen. It’s been a real problemfor them on this tour.

I felt they managed it wellagainst England but not against

West Indies, only to get exposedagain by Australia. They haven’tquite figured it out yet.

The batsmen are such goodplayers, they just need to avoidplaying into the hands of theopposition with some of theshots they play.

It may be that Mickey Arthurlooks at changing the team forSunday. I spoke to Mickey inTaunton and he is thinking interms of horses for courses, andI agree with him to an extent.

The pitch there was good forpacers and he rightly went withfour of them. The issue was notthe nature of the plan, but theexecution.

Shadab is the key man in this

side and I think they will look tobring him back in against India.They might go for five bowlers,use four pacers and Shadab anddrop someone like Shoaib Malik.

It depends a lot on whatconditions are like inManchester, up to a few hoursbefore the game.

Going from a defeat to play-ing the old rivalry against Indiaisn’t going to be easy. Indiaprobably watched the Australiagame very closely and knowwhat needs to be done.

Pakistan need to lift them-selves up and I hope they bringtheir best on Sunday.������ �-'��"� ��� �����������DE

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Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq described the WorldCup match against India on Sunday as a "huge-pres-

sure game", which has also become a must-win one forhis side following the loss to Australia.

Despite some late defiance from captain SarfarazAhmed and freewheeling number nine Wahab Riaz,Pakistan succumbed to a 41-run loss to Australia onWednesday and are now in an increasingly precariousposition in eighth place in the standings.

Asked if the defeat made the high-pressure matchagainst India at Old Trafford a must-win affair, Imamadmitted: "Yes, we've had one game rained off whichwas very important for us — every game now is veryimportant for us, so yes you can say that.

"Obviously, to be part of that kind of game, it's great.It's in Manchester, lots of Pakistani fans there so I'mreally excited about it. It's a huge pressure game, obvi-ously. Pakistan and India, there's a lot of mysteriesbehind that but we want to just focus on our cricketstrengths and how we can get better."

Imam also felt "hugely disappointed" after gettingout tamely just when he thought he was in a positionto inspire his side to a famous win over defending cham-pions Australia.

He was dismissed for 53 off 75 balls in soft fash-ion by Pat Cummins. From a ball which was short downthe leg side, and would have been called a wide hadhe left it alone, Imam tried to pull but could only gloveit to the Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey.

It was a dismissal that transformed the match withthree more wickets tumbling quickly and it left Imamso crestfallen that he hung his head and could barelydrag himself back to the pavilion.

"Obviously, I'm playing well — and this teamdepends on me and Babar (Azam). When Babar gotout (for 30), it was then my responsibility and I wasgoing well but it was not a good ball that got me out,the same as I did against the West Indies.

"I knew I'd spent a hell of a lot of time on a trickywicket so I knew it wouldn't be easy for any new bats-man to come in. So it was a huge disappointmentbecause it's a World Cup stage and if you get set, youreally have to make it count if you want to stay in thetournament," he said.

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Champions ManchesterCity begin the defence of

their Premier League titleaway at West Ham, whileManchester United will hostChelsea in a blockbuster meeting tostart the campaign after next season'sfixtures were revealed on Thursday.

City will be confident of a fruitfulstart after scoring four times in each oftheir last three visits to the LondonStadium, but face a tougher clash whenChampions League finalists TottenhamHotspur visit the Etihad on the secondweekend of the season.

Runners-up and Champions

League winners Liverpool begin with ahome game to newly-promotedNorwich.

Last season's top two meet atAnfield on November 9 with the returnat the Etihad scheduled for April 4, sub-ject to TV confirmation.

Chelsea will begin life without theinfluential Eden Hazard at Old Traffordwith United in need of a fast start aftera dismal end to last season under OleGunnar Solskjaer.

On their return to the top-flightAston Villa host Spurs, whilst SheffieldUnited are away at Bournemouth.

City only edged Liverpool by apoint in last season's thrilling duel butwould appear to have the easier run-in

this time round should the title go downto the wire once more.

Pep Guardiola's men do not faceany teams who finished in the top halflast season in their final six matches, fol-lowing the visit of Liverpool.

In contrast, the European champi-ons travel to Arsenal and host Chelseabefore a visit to Newcastle in their finalthree games of the campaign.

For the first time in Premier Leaguehistory, the clubs will get a short mid-season break in February.

Over a two-week period, there willbe only five matches on one weekend,with the other five games taking placethe following weekend, ensuring thateach team gets one week off.

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