c m y k highway that encircles washington, dc. the raisina hill is the seat of the gove-rnment of...

16
A few hours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal that Defence is a mutually benefi- cial sphere of the Indo-US partnership, he held talks with US Defence Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Monday. The parleys came ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump. Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was also present at the meetings. “First engagement of the day. Jim Mattis, Secretary of Defence,” MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. “Preparing the ground for the meeting between the lead- ers. Mr. Rex W Tillerson, Secretary of State calls on PM,” said another tweet. Defence and counter ter- rorism issues are likely to be among the major topics to be discussed during the Modi- Trump meeting. Mattis called on Modi amid reports that America will sell 22 Guardian drones to India to bolster its surveillance and Intelligence gathering capabilities. While the deal on the 22 Guardian worth between $2 to 3 billion has not been formal- ly announced, it is considered to be a “game changer” for the US-India relations as it opera- tionalises the status of “major Defence partner”. The designation of India being a “major Defence part- ner” was decided by the previ- ous Obama Administration, and formally approved by the Congress. On Sunday, in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, Modi said that Defence is a mutually beneficial sphere of the Indo-US partnership. “We are already working together to address the existing and emerging strategic and security challenges that affect both our nations — in Afghanistan, West Asia, the large maritime space of the Indo-Pacific, the new and unanticipated threats in cyber- space,” he said in the article. He also said the logic of the Indo-US strategic ties is “incon- trovertible” and the two coun- tries have an overriding interest in securing the world from ter- rorism, radical ideologies and non-traditional security threats. Modi, wrote that the US and India are forging a deeper and stronger partnership that extends far beyond the Beltway and the Raisina Hill. The Beltway refers to Interstate 495, a circumferen- tial highway that encircles Washington, DC. The Raisina Hill is the seat of the Gove- rnment of India in New Delhi. In an uncertain global eco- nomic landscape, India and the US stand as mutually reinforc- ing engines of growth and innovation, he said ahead of his maiden meeting with US President Donald Trump. W hile China has said it was in talks with India over the denial of entry to 47 Indian pilgrims who were scheduled to travel to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim, tension has gripped the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Chinese troops have intruded into Sikkim leading to a face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers there for the past ten days. A scuffle between the sol- diers of the sides are reported as Indian troops jostled with their Chinese counterparts to prevent them from advancing further. However, both the sides were not carrying arms and senior officers of two armies held flag meeting to resolve the issue. The incident took place in Doka La region, tri-junction of Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet when the Chinese troops transgressed the LAC. They also destroyed two bunkers in Lalten area of that sector claim- ing that they were construct- ed on the Chinese territory. India, however, objected and said the bunkers to guard the sensitive border were built on Indian land. As Indian and Chinese troops are now in a standoff sit- uation there, senior officers from both the armies held a flag meeting on June 20 but of no avail, sources said here on Monday. The development comes amid tensions in bilateral ties between the two countries over a host of issues including the CPEC and India’s NSG bid. Chinese troops had stopped a batch of Indian pil- grims proceeding for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra from the Nathu La route of Sikkim last week. Though the 90-odd yatris were holding valid visas, the Chinese did not open the gate on their side at Nathu La. This route for the pilgrim was opened in 2015 and nearly 350 pilgrims are scheduled to enter China from here. India and China have a dis- puted boundary (LAC) of more than 4,000 km stretching from Ladakh, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. While recognising Sikkim a part of India, Chinese troops resort to incursions in that region and had destroyed some Indian Army bunkers in 2008 too after coming in about a km in Doka La region. A PTI report from Beijing said that China was talking with India over a Mansarovar pilgrimage issue. Continued on Page 4 T alk about Bundelkhand and the images that flash in mind are about hot-baked earth, drought, and unending spell of disasters over the years, badly impacting its economy and resulting in large scale farmers’ suicides. Bundelkhand has 13 districts — seven in Uttar Pradesh and six in Madhya Pradesh. However, a group of women, called Jal Sahelis (water friends), in some hamlets in the region are silently weaving the water magic to change the sce- nario by conserving water ponds, helping build network of check dams, and undertak- ing rainwater harvesting to recharge wells. These Jal Sahelis also force the authorities to install water pumps where needed. Pushpa Vishwakarma (35), a Jal Saheli from Chandrapur village, an hour’s drive from Jhansi city, says, “All our demand for water fell on deaf ears of the State Government and Centre. As trekking long distance to fetch drinking water was taking toll on our health and family life, we decided in 2011 to take the matter in our own hands.” They joined hands under the umbrella of Jalaun-based local organisation, the Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan and Jal-Jan Jodo Abhiyan to form Paani Panchayat. Jal Sahelis were selected from among the women villagers. Today, with the efforts of Jal Sahelis, once a dying pond spread over two acres in Chandrapur village, has been revived to the extent that even animals from nearby villages come to drink water. “During rains, the pond overflows with water which recharges the nearby wells also,” said 40- year-old Tulsa, adding rainwa- ter is being diverted to drains. Success in Chandrapur vil- lage soon inspired villagers in the nearby hamlets, too. At pre- sent network of Jal Sahelis is spread over 150 villages — including Talbhet, Chandrapur, Budhawani and Bamorisar to name a few successfully pre- serving ponds, other natural sources of water and con- structing checkdams in the region. “These Jal Sahelis meet with women every month, dis- cuss water distribution, poten- tial water resources and prob- lems and then take them to the logical conclusion,” Anil Tiwari, Parmarth’s project coordinator said. These women have also pressurised the State officials to release funds for the renovation of water-bodies that needed repair. No wonder that at a time when many villages in the country are reeling under severe water crisis, these Jal Sahelis with their grit and determination have succeeded in beating adverse weather, said Sanjay Singh, founder of the Parmarth. Continued on Page 4 New Delhi: Come 2018 and the financial year in India could commence from January instead of April as the Centre appears set to make the historic transition to end the 150-year- old tradition. Accordingly, the next Budget could be presented by the Centre in November this year, high level Government sources told PTI here on Monday. The sources said the Government is working on aligning the financial year with the calendar year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for a change. This would be another his- toric change after advancement of the Budget presentation to February 1 this year, ending the Continued on Page 4 U S First Lady Melania Trump would join President Donald Trump to welcome the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on Monday. Modi, who arrived in Washington DC on Saturday night at the invitation of the US President, is scheduled to spend more than four hours at the White House. After being received by Trump and the First Lady in the South Portico of the White House, the two leaders are expected to have a one-on-one meeting in the Oval Office. This would-be Modi’s third meeting with a US President inside the Oval Office, the first two being with Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama in September of 2014 and June 2016. Thereafter the two leaders would be joined by their respective delegations in the adjoining Cabinet Room. The US side is likely to be represented by Vice-President Mike Pence, Defence Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Advisor Lt Gen HR McMaster. Continued on Page 4 Washington: Five American Senators have asked US President Donald Trump to use his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an opportunity to discuss India’s “discriminatory” policies against foreign religious and humanitarian organisations. “Discriminating against foreign organisations that help the citizens of India is coun- terproductive, and it needs to change. I ask that President address this serious issue with PM Modi during his upcoming trip to Washington,” Senator John Kennedy said in a state- ment on Monday. W ith the advent of the monsoon, the State cap- ital received heavy rainfall on Monday and more rainfall in likely to occur in the next 24 hours in Bhopal and several parts of the State. Met official said that the Northern limit of South West monsoon is passing over Naliya, Shajapur, Sagar, Sidhi and Patna. In the state mon- soon has arrived in Jabalpur, Shahdol, Hoshangabad, Indore and Bhopal except Vidisha and Rajgarh districts and Ratlam, Ujjain, Shajapur, Sagar, few regions of Damoh, Sidhi and Singrauli districts. Nainpur recorded 6 cm of rainfall in the past 24 hours which was the maximum in the State, Amarwada and Gandhwani recorded 5 cm of rainfall each, Dewas recorded 4 cm of rainfall, Tenukheda and Bhanpura recorded 3 cm of rainfall. In the next 48 hours, monsoon is likely to cover the whole state. According to the forecast, Indore, Hoshnagabad and Jabalpur divisions except Katni, Dindori, Anooppur, Raisen, Sehore, Damoh, Bhopal, Ratlam, Ujjain and Dewas dis- tricts are likely to receive good rainfall. Warning of heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours has been issued in Chhindwara, Seoni, Balaghat, Mandla, Narsingh- pur, Hoshangabad, Betul and Raisen districts. Heavy rainfall in the state is induced due to a system over Bay of Bengal. The delay is not significant as the weather conditions and pattern has changed in the past decades which have impacted the weather pattern and conditions. City recorded day temper- ature at 35.6 degrees Celsius which was 3 degrees Celsius above the normal temperature and night temperature at 25.5 degree Celsius. Among the major cities Indore recorded day tempera- ture at 29.4 degree Celsius and night temperature was record- ed at 24.2 degree Celsius, Gwalior recorded day temper- ature at 41 degree Celsius and night temperature at 28.5 degree Celsius and Jabalpur recorded day temperature at 35.1 degree Celsius and night temperature at 26 degree Celsius. T he Special Police Establishment (SPE) of the Lokayukta nabbed Satna Municipal Corporation Commissioner Surendra Kumar Kathuria accepting 12 lakh cash and gold worth 10 lakh to facilitate removal of encroachment. According to the Lokayukta officials, Kathuria was nabbed while accepting bribe from director of City hos- pital Dr Suchitra Agrawal. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Rewa Lokayukta, Devesh Pandey said, action was taken on the complaint of Nursing Home Operator Dr Agarwal who complained that Kathuria had demanded cash worth 40 lakh and gold worth 10 lakh for not demolishing the encroachment from his nursing home. Kathuria red-handed while taking 12 lakh in cash and gold worth 10 lakh as the first installment of the bribe. A 20-member team caught red handed Kathuria in the afternoon on Monday. An FIR has been registered in this matter. Further investigation is underway. Earlier the Satna Municipal Corporation had earlier sent a demolition notice to the nurs- ing home and when the com- plainant contacted the accused who demanded 50 lakh which Continued on Page 4 RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008 C M Y K C M Y K

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Afew hours after IndianPrime Minister Narendra

Modi said in an op-ed piece inthe Wall Street Journal thatDefence is a mutually benefi-cial sphere of the Indo-USpartnership, he held talks withUS Defence Secretary JamesMattis and Secretary of StateRex Tillerson on Monday.

The parleys came ahead ofhis meeting with PresidentDonald Trump. Indian NationalSecurity Advisor Ajit Dovalwas also present at the meetings.

“First engagement of theday. Jim Mattis, Secretary ofDefence,” MEA spokespersonGopal Baglay tweeted.

“Preparing the ground forthe meeting between the lead-ers. Mr. Rex W Tillerson,Secretary of State calls on PM,”said another tweet.

Defence and counter ter-rorism issues are likely to beamong the major topics to bediscussed during the Modi-Trump meeting. Mattis calledon Modi amid reports thatAmerica will sell 22 Guardiandrones to India to bolster itssurveillance and Intelligencegathering capabilities.

While the deal on the 22Guardian worth between $2 to3 billion has not been formal-ly announced, it is consideredto be a “game changer” for theUS-India relations as it opera-

tionalises the status of “majorDefence partner”.

The designation of Indiabeing a “major Defence part-ner” was decided by the previ-ous Obama Administration,and formally approved by theCongress.

On Sunday, in an op-edpiece in the Wall Street Journal,Modi said that Defence is amutually beneficial sphere ofthe Indo-US partnership.

“We are already workingtogether to address the existingand emerging strategic andsecurity challenges that affectboth our nations — inAfghanistan, West Asia, thelarge maritime space of theIndo-Pacific, the new andunanticipated threats in cyber-space,” he said in the article.

He also said the logic of the

Indo-US strategic ties is “incon-trovertible” and the two coun-tries have an overriding interestin securing the world from ter-rorism, radical ideologies andnon-traditional security threats.

Modi, wrote that the USand India are forging a deeperand stronger partnership thatextends far beyond the Beltwayand the Raisina Hill.

The Beltway refers toInterstate 495, a circumferen-tial highway that encirclesWashington, DC. The RaisinaHill is the seat of the Gove-rnment of India in New Delhi.

In an uncertain global eco-nomic landscape, India and theUS stand as mutually reinforc-ing engines of growth andinnovation, he said ahead of hismaiden meeting with USPresident Donald Trump.

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While China has said it wasin talks with India over

the denial of entry to 47 Indianpilgrims who were scheduled totravel to Kailash Mansarovar inTibet through the Nathu Lapass in Sikkim, tension hasgripped the Line of ActualControl (LAC). Chinese troopshave intruded into Sikkimleading to a face-off betweenIndian and Chinese soldiersthere for the past ten days.

A scuffle between the sol-diers of the sides are reported asIndian troops jostled with theirChinese counterparts to preventthem from advancing further.However, both the sides werenot carrying arms and seniorofficers of two armies held flagmeeting to resolve the issue.

The incident took place inDoka La region, tri-junction ofSikkim, Bhutan, and Tibetwhen the Chinese troopstransgressed the LAC. Theyalso destroyed two bunkers inLalten area of that sector claim-ing that they were construct-ed on the Chinese territory.India, however, objected andsaid the bunkers to guard thesensitive border were built onIndian land.

As Indian and Chinesetroops are now in a standoff sit-uation there, senior officersfrom both the armies held aflag meeting on June 20 but ofno avail, sources said here on

Monday. The development comes

amid tensions in bilateral tiesbetween the two countries overa host of issues including theCPEC and India’s NSG bid.

Chinese troops hadstopped a batch of Indian pil-grims proceeding for KailashMansarovar Yatra from theNathu La route of Sikkim lastweek. Though the 90-oddyatris were holding valid visas,the Chinese did not open thegate on their side at Nathu La.This route for the pilgrim wasopened in 2015 and nearly350 pilgrims are scheduled toenter China from here.

India and China have a dis-puted boundary (LAC) of morethan 4,000 km stretching fromLadakh, Uttrakhand, HimachalPradesh, Sikkim andArunachal Pradesh. Whilerecognising Sikkim a part ofIndia, Chinese troops resort toincursions in that region andhad destroyed some IndianArmy bunkers in 2008 tooafter coming in about a km inDoka La region.

A PTI report from Beijingsaid that China was talkingwith India over a Mansarovarpilgrimage issue.

Continued on Page 4

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Talk about Bundelkhand andthe images that flash in

mind are about hot-bakedearth, drought, and unendingspell of disasters over the years,badly impacting its economyand resulting in large scalefarmers’ suicides. Bundelkhandhas 13 districts — seven inUttar Pradesh and six inMadhya Pradesh.

However, a group ofwomen, called Jal Sahelis (waterfriends), in some hamlets in theregion are silently weaving thewater magic to change the sce-nario by conserving waterponds, helping build networkof check dams, and undertak-ing rainwater harvesting torecharge wells. These Jal Sahelisalso force the authorities to

install water pumps whereneeded.

Pushpa Vishwakarma (35),a Jal Saheli from Chandrapurvillage, an hour’s drive fromJhansi city, says, “All ourdemand for water fell on deafears of the State Governmentand Centre. As trekking longdistance to fetch drinking waterwas taking toll on our healthand family life, we decided in2011 to take the matter in ourown hands.”

They joined hands underthe umbrella of Jalaun-basedlocal organisation, theParmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthanand Jal-Jan Jodo Abhiyan toform Paani Panchayat. JalSahelis were selected fromamong the women villagers.

Today, with the efforts ofJal Sahelis, once a dying pondspread over two acres in

Chandrapur village, has beenrevived to the extent that evenanimals from nearby villagescome to drink water. “Duringrains, the pond overflows withwater which recharges thenearby wells also,” said 40-year-old Tulsa, adding rainwa-ter is being diverted to drains.

Success in Chandrapur vil-lage soon inspired villagers inthe nearby hamlets, too. At pre-sent network of Jal Sahelis isspread over 150 villages —including Talbhet, Chandrapur,Budhawani and Bamorisar toname a few successfully pre-

serving ponds, other naturalsources of water and con-structing checkdams in theregion.

“These Jal Sahelis meetwith women every month, dis-cuss water distribution, poten-tial water resources and prob-lems and then take them to thelogical conclusion,” Anil Tiwari,Parmarth’s project coordinatorsaid.

These women have alsopressurised the State officials torelease funds for the renovationof water-bodies that neededrepair. No wonder that at a time

when many villages in thecountry are reeling undersevere water crisis, these Jal

Sahelis with their grit anddetermination have succeededin beating adverse weather,

said Sanjay Singh, founder ofthe Parmarth.

Continued on Page 4

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New Delhi: Come 2018 andthe financial year in Indiacould commence from Januaryinstead of April as the Centreappears set to make the historictransition to end the 150-year-old tradition.

Accordingly, the nextBudget could be presented bythe Centre in November thisyear, high level Governmentsources told PTI here onMonday.

The sources said theGovernment is working onaligning the financial year withthe calendar year after PrimeMinister Narendra Modipitched for a change.

This would be another his-toric change after advancementof the Budget presentation toFebruary 1 this year, ending the

Continued on Page 4

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US First Lady MelaniaTrump would join

President Donald Trump towelcome the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi at the WhiteHouse on Monday.

Modi, who arrived inWashington DC on Saturdaynight at the invitation of theUS President, is scheduled tospend more than four hours atthe White House.

After being received byTrump and the First Lady in theSouth Portico of the WhiteHouse, the two leaders areexpected to have a one-on-one

meeting in the Oval Office. Thiswould-be Modi’s third meetingwith a US President inside theOval Office, the first two beingwith Trump’s predecessorBarack Obama in September of2014 and June 2016.

Thereafter the two leaderswould be joined by theirrespective delegations in theadjoining Cabinet Room.

The US side is likely to berepresented by Vice-PresidentMike Pence, Defence SecretaryJames Mattis, Secretary ofState Rex Tillerson andNational Security Advisor LtGen HR McMaster.

Continued on Page 4

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Washington: Five AmericanSenators have asked USPresident Donald Trump touse his meeting with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi as anopportunity to discuss India’s“discriminatory” policiesagainst foreign religious andhumanitarian organisations.

“Discriminating againstforeign organisations that helpthe citizens of India is coun-terproductive, and it needs tochange. I ask that Presidentaddress this serious issue withPM Modi during his upcomingtrip to Washington,” SenatorJohn Kennedy said in a state-ment on Monday.

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With the advent of themonsoon, the State cap-

ital received heavy rainfall onMonday and more rainfall inlikely to occur in the next 24hours in Bhopal and severalparts of the State.

Met official said that theNorthern limit of South Westmonsoon is passing overNaliya, Shajapur, Sagar, Sidhiand Patna. In the state mon-soon has arrived in Jabalpur,Shahdol, Hoshangabad, Indoreand Bhopal except Vidisha andRajgarh districts and Ratlam,Ujjain, Shajapur, Sagar, fewregions of Damoh, Sidhi andSingrauli districts.

Nainpur recorded 6 cm ofrainfall in the past 24 hourswhich was the maximum in theState, Amarwada andGandhwani recorded 5 cm ofrainfall each, Dewas recorded4 cm of rainfall, Tenukheda andBhanpura recorded 3 cm ofrainfall. In the next 48 hours,monsoon is likely to cover thewhole state.

According to the forecast,Indore, Hoshnagabad andJabalpur divisions except Katni,Dindori, Anooppur, Raisen,Sehore, Damoh, Bhopal,Ratlam, Ujjain and Dewas dis-tricts are likely to receive goodrainfall.

Warning of heavy rainfall

in the next 24 hours has beenissued in Chhindwara, Seoni,Balaghat, Mandla, Narsingh-pur, Hoshangabad, Betul andRaisen districts. Heavy rainfallin the state is induced due to asystem over Bay of Bengal.

The delay is not significantas the weather conditions andpattern has changed in thepast decades which haveimpacted the weather patternand conditions.

City recorded day temper-ature at 35.6 degrees Celsiuswhich was 3 degrees Celsius

above the normal temperatureand night temperature at 25.5degree Celsius.

Among the major citiesIndore recorded day tempera-ture at 29.4 degree Celsius andnight temperature was record-ed at 24.2 degree Celsius,Gwalior recorded day temper-ature at 41 degree Celsius andnight temperature at 28.5degree Celsius and Jabalpurrecorded day temperature at35.1 degree Celsius and nighttemperature at 26 degreeCelsius.

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The Special PoliceEstablishment (SPE) of the

Lokayukta nabbed SatnaMunicipal CorporationCommissioner SurendraKumar Kathuria accepting �12lakh cash and gold worth �10lakh to facilitate removal ofencroachment.

According to theLokayukta officials, Kathuriawas nabbed while acceptingbribe from director of City hos-pital Dr Suchitra Agrawal.

Deputy Superintendent ofPolice (DSP) of RewaLokayukta, Devesh Pandeysaid, action was taken on thecomplaint of Nursing HomeOperator Dr Agarwal who

complained that Kathuria haddemanded cash worth �40 lakhand gold worth �10 lakh for notdemolishing the encroachmentfrom his nursing home.Kathuria red-handed whiletaking �12 lakh in cash andgold worth �10 lakh as the firstinstallment of the bribe.

A 20-member team caughtred handed Kathuria in the

afternoon on Monday. An FIRhas been registered in thismatter. Further investigation isunderway.

Earlier the Satna MunicipalCorporation had earlier sent ademolition notice to the nurs-ing home and when the com-plainant contacted the accusedwho demanded �50 lakh which

Continued on Page 4

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The potters of the city learned about the var-

ious different techniques andforms used in pottery acrossthe globe.

Renowned ceramic artistNirmala Sharma is making thebudding artists learn aboutdifferent forms. An eight daylong ceramic workshop is beingorganised by Sarjana Academyof Design and Fine Arts where-in the aspiring ceramists arelearning the aspects of ceram-ic art.

Nirmala Sharma is one ofthe renowned ceramic artists ofthe city. For her it’s just not ahobby, but a way to keep calmand relax. Under her guidancethe students are exploring dif-ferent forms of ceramic or pot-tery making.

They learned about thebaking technique, wheel work,clay making and firing tech-niques too. The participantsare also taught about thecolouring and polishing effectsgiven after the work is com-plete.

As the potters of the cityare exploring their talentsusing their best skills, they alsolearned about a pottery mak-ing in a unique and tradition-al way during the discussionwith Nirmala Sharma.

While talking about theworkshop a Sunil Shukla ofSrajana Academy said, “It is aspell binding experience for alllearning and learned city pot-ters as they are exploring thedifferent forms in pottery. Weall got to learn a lot.” On com-menting over the technique hesaid, “The presentation andother necessary proceduresare very important andNirmala Sharma are teachingthem all.”

On organizing similarevents, he said, “In future if weget an opportunity we willsurely organize another eventlike this.”

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When somebody died in afamily, it was a moment

for them to rejoice and enjoy.Their children become happyas they would now get some-thing to eat and drink. Thesepeople are those who work atthe crematorium.

A Hindi play ‘Raakh Se UdaPanchi’ showcasing the dark

side of the society was stagedat Shaheed Bhavan auditoriumon Monday. It was performedas a part of the two day theatrefestival Punaravlokan.

Directed by a young play-wright of the city SiddharthDabhade, the play was beauti-fully performed by the artists of

Trikarshi theatre troupe,Bhopal.

The play focused on thepain, grief and struggle ofthose who do not even get asingle bread of the day. Thesocial evils like hunger, unem-ployment and poverty werehighlighted in this play.

The play tells the story ofa very poor family. The head ofthe family works as a cremato-rium employee. Dreamingblissful future for his children,he works hard. But, what hisdestiny store for him is beyondhis dreams. For days they havenothing to eat. The family suf-fers poverty and then there ishappy news for them; someonedies.

The interactive dialoguesmade the play even more inter-esting to watch. The heartmelting concept of the playmade the theatre buffs emo-tional. The little artists gavescintillating performance onstage and the entire dramawork was much appreciated bythe audience.

Director of the playSiddharth Dabhade said, “Thisis the irony of the world and atthe same time makes us sadthat when a person dies, thereare people who become happy.Someone’s death helps thesepeople to earn bread; they getto eat and to wear cloths. Theplight of these people wasshown in the play.”

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Burglars struck at a house inBalaji Parisar under Kolar

police station area Sunday anddecamped with valuables worthRs 1 lakh.

According to the police, thevictim, Sachin Balke had goneto Dhar on Saturday and whenhe returned on Sunday thevaluables were found burgled.

A complaint was lodged bythe victim with the Kolar policeand in his complaint he statedthat he along with his family hehad gone to Dhar on Saturdayand when he returned onSunday the doors of the housewas found burgled.

A gold chain, one pairgold bangles and on pair goldear rings were found burgled.The total loss in the burglarywas around Rs 1 lakh .The vic-tim was not able to providedetails of the cash burgled.

Gold jewellery was target-ed by the miscreants that raisedsuspicion that the miscreantswere aware of the gold jewelryat the house, said police.

The police have registereda case under section 457 and380 of the IPC and have start-ed further investigation. Thesecurity guards of the societyand domestic help would bequestioned in the investigation.

Police have not providedthe total loss in the burglary asthe victim is yet to produce thereceipt of the valuables burgled.The victim had provided the listof valuables burgled but the losswas not provided. Footages ofinstalled CCTV cameras wouldbe searched during the furtherinvestigation to establish theidentity of the miscreants.

The neighbors haveexpressed ignorance over theburglary. The victim workswith a private company.

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The Latino culture holds adifferent charisma which

attracts people. The Latinoculture is rich and reallycolourful which defines thebeauty of Latin people and thetraditions they follow.

A photograph exhibitiondisplaying all of the stuff isbeing put up at AllianceFrancaise de Bhopal. The pho-tograph exhibition is beingput up as a part of the LatinoWeek event organised by theFrench Institute. The eventwas concluded, but the pho-tograph exhibition will be onview till July 2.

The photographs fromcountries such as Spain,Portugal, Mexico featuringand the rich diversity ofLatino communities in theworld is showcased in thepaintings.As many as 20 pho-tographs have been put up atthe art gallery of the Alliance

Francaise de Bhopal, whichgives glimpse inside thelifestyle of the Latin peopleand culture. One of the beau-tiful pictures at the exhibitionshowcases the grand Braziliancarnival. The carnival is cele-brated in Brazil before Easterand is one of the major affairs.Another picture displaysabout the rich art and cultureof Argentina.

A unique painting shop,which is located betweencolourful houses is displayedthrough the photograph.Other than these, the exhibi-tion presents a picture of anevolving national culture, ageneral landscape of theLatino countries, portraitureand scenes of everyday life.

The spectators are aston-ished to see the photographs.Each work leaves a powerfulimpact over the spectator.The visitors are enthralledwith the work of creativity atthe exhibition.

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The theatre buffs of the citylaughed their hearts out

while watching the play‘Khubsurat Bahu’. Romantic butfrustrated groom, simpletonyet possessive aunt, the flirta-tious and flattering village youthand the caricature of an Oxtogether created a whirl oflaughter on stage.

The play was performed onMonday at Antarang Hall,Bharat Bhavan observing theMadhya Pradesh Rangotsav2017.

Directed by SanjayTenguriya it was wonderfullyperformed by Intellectual PublicWelfare and training for art soci-ety, Harda. ‘Khubsurat Bahu’features the status of a daugh-ter-in-law in a family which wasportrayed by showcasing therelationship between a hus-band and a wife and relatives.

Notably, the play is an adap-tation of a story with the samename, written by a renownedwriter Nag Bodas. It is a satiri-cal comedy on the common

superstitious beliefs and overexaggeration of little knowledge.

Based on the overestima-tion and submission of thebeauty of a bride the play

revolves around a family.Chachi is the head of the fam-ily. She is widowed in heryoung days and so loves hernephew a lot.

She wishes for a beautifulbride for her nephew Hari andfinds a perfect match for himin Suman. Suman on the otherhand is intelligent youngbeauty who lives in Dhaulpur.

Finally, Chachi gets Hariand Suman married. AsSuman enters her in-lawshouse Chachi tries to makefriendly relationship betweenher and Suman which on theother hand disturbed Sumanand Hari’s relationship.

This was not all, but a flirtLakhan starts stocking Suman.To revenge Lakahn’s act Haristocks Lakahan’s wife Basanti.On the other hand Basantiwant to take revenge fromSuman and everything falls asa mess. There was a strong roleof an Ox in the play.

The light-heart comedyand brilliant performance bythe artists made the audienceenjoy the play a lot.

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Eid was celebrated with fer-vour and enthusiasm across

Madhya Pradesh on Monday aspeople thronged Idgahs andmosques to offer prayers.

People hugged andexchanged greetings withfriends and family and wishedfor peace in the country andstate.

Filled with enthusiasm andexcitement, Muslims startedgathering at the Taj-ul-Masajidin the state capital since earlymorning for prayers. Membersof the Hindu community greet-ed Muslims on Eid.

Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan and GovernorOm Prakash Kohli greeted thepeople on the occasion of Eidand wished for everyone'sprogress.

Thousands offered Eidprayers at a mosque in ChhotiGwaltoli in Indore and prayedfor peace and prosperity in thecountry. They embraced eachother on the occasion. Childrenin particular were full of enthu-siasm.

The festival was celebrated

in other parts of the state,including Gwalior, Jabalpur,Sagar, Burhanpur, and Ujjain.

Strong security arrange-ments have been made acrossthe state on the occasion.

Governor OP Kohli, ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChouhan and other state min-isters greeted people on theoccasion. Chouhan reachedout and met Muslim brethrenin Sheopur District this morn-ing.

Festival of Eid was cele-brated with happiness in otherparts of the state Gwalior,Jabalpur, Sagar, Buhanpur,Ujjain and others.

Adequate security arrange-ments were made for celebrat-ing festival with safety andsecurity.

Children await the festivalwith eagerness as apart fromdelicious sweets they providechildren with Eidi (gift in theform of money) from elders.

People from Sikh commu-nity were witnessed showeringflowers at Muslim brethrenwho offered prayers at Taj-ul-Masajid.

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Indira Gandhi RashtriyaManav Sangrahalaya

(IGRMS) is working for salvageand revitalization of vanishingcultural traditions.

In this series, theHorticulture Section andCuratorial Wing of IGRMSwith support from traditionalartisans of Hajong Tribe ofAssam are working towardsdeveloping similar surround-ings at IGRMS. The space isbeing developed around theunder-renovation Hajong tra-ditional house by planting Teaand Beetlenut trees.

Considering the different

climatic conditions of Bhopaland Assam and strict require-ments for growth of these trees,the experts from Hajong tribeis selecting the land, its mea-surements and manure needs.The ground breaking ceremo-ny and plantation will be heldon Tuesday.

Notably, the traditionalartisans from hajong tribe arerenovating the traditional habi-tat of the tribe present inIGRMS. The house was built byartists from the same village inyear 2010.

It is to be noted that theHajong Tribes are a small trib-al group spread across thenorth east India. The Hajong

villages are located on elevatedgrounds close to wet paddylands. They build their housesin clusters in the courtyard of

the village headman called'Adhikari'. The house of theAdhikari is the only importanthouse in the village.

Moreover, the traditionalhouses comprise separatebuildings with the walls madeof split bamboo and plasteredwith cow dung. The floors aremade of mud. The importantsections of a Hajong house areDeo ghor, a room for dailyprayer, Akhli ghor i.e. a kitchen,Bhat ghor, a dining hall,Khopra ghor, a bedroom madefor married daughter or son,Chang ghor, a granary, Kasrighor, a dormitory made forguests, Guli ghor, a cattle shed,Dheki ghor, a husking house.

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Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan said that cent per

cent redressal of problemsreceived by him through appli-cations from villagers duringthe roadshow from Dhodhar inSheopur district to Sheopurdistrict headquarters shouldbe ensured. All basic facilitiesshould be made available inrural areas.

Chouhan was addressing ameeting of officials at Sheopurdistrict headquarters. Ministerof State for Women and ChildDevelopment and district incharge Lalita Yadav, MP AnupMishra, MLA Durgalal Vijay,Divisional Commissioner,Collector, District PanchayatCEO and other officials werepresent during the meeting.

Chouhan said that hereceived total 909 applicationsincluding community and per-sonal applications. He said thatthe report after cent per centredressal of the problemsshould be presented to theCM Secretariat. He said that

the pure drinking water prob-lem still persists. Basic short-comings like installing hand-pumps, tank construction etc,have been found and theirimmediate redressal has beenensured. He said that powershould be available in bothurban and rural areas apartfrom arrangement of lines andtransformers. He gave instruc-tions to the DivisionalCommissioner to get physicalverification of Rajiv GandhiElectrification Scheme. He alsosaid that all surveys ofDeendayal Upadhyay RuralElectrification Scheme shouldbe conducted within a month.

The Chief Minister saidthat the benefits of govern-ment schemes should reach tothe ground level. He said that

marking of land for Expresswayshould be done. TheExpressway will pave the wayfor development and move-ment of people of the region willbe facilitated. The ongoing sur-vey work of Mujri dam shouldbe completed soon. Consumersshould get food grain regularlyfrom ration shops.

He said that the benefits ofschemes of toilet construction,linking name in BPL, Disabledand Housing Schemes to ben-eficiaries should continue. Hesaid that if encroachmant ofinfluential people are foundupon land belonging to personsfrom the SC/ST category,encrochment should beremoved promptly and actionshould be taken against them.The CM said that all possibleefforts should be made toremove corruption at the low-est level. Still if a complaint isreceived it will be meant that theofficers on top are also involved.He said that action should becontinued so that benefits of allrural development schemesreach the common man.

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The purchase of Moong,Urad and Tuar on support

price continues in the State. Sofar 608685.16 quintal moong,85738.13 quintal urad and70905 quintal tuar has beenpurchased till Sunday evening.

So far, 47,66,840.29 quintalonions have been purchasedfrom onion purchase centres inState till on Sunday evening. Itmay be noted that State is pur-chasing onions at the rate of Rs8 per kg to ensure that the farm-ers of the state get a fair price fortheir produce.

The purchase of Moong andUrad on support price has beenmaximum today evening eversince the process of purchasestarted on June 10. Today 19thousand 452 metric ton moonghas been purchased. This is 33per cent of the purchase made sofar. Similarly, today 2363 metricton urad has been purchasedwhich is 33 per cent of the totalurad purchased on support priceso far.

As per information so far107391 metric ton pulses havebeen purchased on support priceso far. These crops includeMoong, Urad, Tuar and Masoor.

Notably, few days ago, CMShivraj Singh Chouhan hadmet Union Minister forConsumer Affairs and Foodand Public DistributionRamvilas Paswan urging himabout the purchase of pulsesparticularly moong, urad andarhar on support price.

He urged that along withNAFED, FCI should also be

made procurement agency andthe procurement of cereals likewheat and paddy should becontinued.

Chouhan had said that thepractical problems that have tobe faced before making aadharverification mandatory underNational Food Security Actshould also be taken intoaccount.

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A24-year-old girl committedsuicide by hanging with the

ceiling at her residence inAmrai under Baghsewaniapolice station area in theevening on Sunday.

According to the police,the deceased Kavita was foundhanging and was rushed to anearby hospital where she wasdeclared dead.

Police were informed andbased on the information apolice team reached the spotand started investigation.

The deceased committedsuicide late in the afternoon. Thedeceased accompanied with herfriend to a religious processionand returned at round 5 pmafter which she committed sui-cide by hanging with the ceiling.

Police have not found anysuicide note and in the prelim-inary investigation police havefound that the deceased used toremain depressed after hermother’s death who died a yearago and which is seen as a pos-sible reason behind the suicide

but at the moment nothingcould be ascertained and reasonwhich forced the deceased totake the extreme step would beinvestigated.

The body was sent for thepost mortem after the prelimi-nary investigation. The policehave registered a case under sec-tion 174 of the CrPC and havestarted further investigation.

After the death of her moth-er , victim used to live with herfather who was not present atthe time of the incident andwhen he reached at home ataround 6 pm and knocked thedoor to enter the house butfailed to get any response andlater broke the door to enter thehouse only to find his daugh-ter hanging.

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Acase of dowry harassmentwas lodged with Talaiya

police by a 35-year-old marriedwoman on Sunday against herhusband and in-laws. Theaccused used to harass herphysically and mentally andwould demand Rs 1 lakh.

According to the police, thevictim Anita Sarathe washarassed by her husband and inlaws demanding money. Thevictim alleged that she was bru-tally beaten by her husband.

The victim who is a resi-dent of Choubdarpura lodgeda complaint against her hus-band Rahul Sarathe, mother-in-law Susheela Sarathe andfather-in–law Kailash Sarathe.

In her complaint she stat-ed that she got married toRahul in the year 2007 andaround a year ago the threestarted to pressurize her tobring Rs 1 lakh from her par-ents house and when she

denied to fulfill the demand thethree used to harass the victimand based on the complaint acase was registered againstthem. The investigation hasbeen started in the case and theaccused would be questionedin the further investigation.

The victim had claimedthat good amount of moneyhas been provided in the pastto her husband and his familybut still her husband and in-laws used to harass herdemanding more money andshe was assaulted frequently byher husband and in-laws.Frustrated over the frequentharassment she lodged a com-plaint on Sunday with Talaiyapolice.

Based on the complaintafter the preliminary investi-gation the police registered acase under section 498 A of theIPC and have started furtherinvestigation. Till the filing ofthe report no arrest has beenmade in the case.

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In connection with the newsrelated to implementation of

National Security Act (NSA) inState from July 1, the StateGovernment has clarified thatimplementing NSA is an ongo-ing process.

According to AdditionalChief Secretary Home KKSingh, under the powers pro-vided in National Security Act1980 Sub Section – 3 of Section-3 by State Home Departmentdelegated the powers everythree months to the District

Magistrates to take legal actionunder their jurisdiction againstany anti-social elements whodisrupt communal harmony orpublic arrangement or are activein activities that can adverselyaffect the state’s security.

In this order, the powershave been delegated to them forthe coming three months fromJuly 1, 2017 to September 30,2017. This is an ongoing andgeneral process which is adopt-ed in every three months everyyear.

The news related to theNSA directives to prevent the

strike by the traders was doingrounds in social media for pasttwo days. It was being publi-cized that the State govern-ment wants to suppress theopposition by empowering dis-trict Collectors to provide pow-ers under NSA.

After farmers’ agitation,there were inputs that thetraders might go on strike as theGST is being implemented fromJuly 1. However, in a statementissued by the State governmentit was clarified that the letterregarding empower Collectorswas a routine process.

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To apprise the farmersabout the achievements of

the government in the interestof farmers and the schemesbeing run for their welfare, theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) inMadhya Pradesh would takeout Kisan Sandesh yatra(farmers message yatra) fromJun 27.

BJP Madhya Pradesh pres-ident and parliamentarianNandkumar Singh Chouhan

would launch this yatra in Rewa.These yatras commencing

in every assembly constituen-cy from June 27 would contin-ue till July 6, the birth anniver-sary of Shyama PrasadMookerjee at Mandal head-quarters. The yatras that wouldreach out upto the booth-level,would be led by BJP MLAs andother people’s representatives.

These yatras would reachevery corner of the assemblysegment and address the peo-ple informing about the step-

motherly treatment ofCongress towards the farmersand the speakers would alsoapprise the farmers about theachievements of the State gov-ernment.

The yatras would visit allthe 833 Mandals of 56 organi-zational districts of the party.Duringt he yatra, the BJP lead-ers would inform the peopleabout decisions taken in favourof farmers by the Centre inpast three years and Shivrajgovernment’s 12 years in MP.

State general secretary ofthe BJP Ajay Pratap Singh in astatement said that both theCentral and State governmentshave made several schemes infavour of farmers to make thefamring, a profitable business..If it happens, more employ-ment opportunities will comeout.The BJP government inMadhya Pradesh has taken aninnovative step by purchasingwheat, paddy, tuar, moong,urad and onion on supportprice.

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The theatre artists are learn-ing about the aspect of

theatre that actually createsmagic on stage i.e. ‘the script’.A script writing workshop isbeing organised by Karmayogitheatre troupe, Bhopal for thecity theatre aspirants.

The two day long work-shop began here on Monday.An expert and renowned play-wright Sudeep Sohni is con-ducting the workshop.Notably, Sudeep is an alumnusof Film and Television Instituteof India (FTII) and has beenin theatre from a long time.

The expert while con-ducting the script writingworkshop emphasized overvarious aspects of theatre andfilm. On the first day of theworkshop, Sudeep talkedabout the screenplay writing.He unfolded the facts of thescreenplay and how it is writ-ten.

To begin with, he createdan impact over the basics ofthe screenplay writing. Heasked the students to read anarticle on film, to read a scriptof a play and watch the movie

‘Anand’. Anand is one of theclassics of Hindi cinema, keep-ing it as a base Sudeep talkedabout the screenplay writing.then he moved to detailedtechniques of writing.

Notably, the workshop isbeing organised under thetheatre workshop ‘Rangshala’.The workshop is being orga-nized for the youngsters tolearn the basics and necessarytips of theatre art. It is alsourgent fr youngsters to learnthe tricks of the trade. Thetheatre experts are giving aproper training to the partic-ipants. They are being taughtthe make-up techniques, howto use the props and proper-ties, speech therapy, improvi-sation of stories, body move-ments, facial expression withdialogue, footwork on musicalong with other experimentalexercises are being taught bynoted theatre personalities ofthe city.

Notably, in this workshopparticipants are learning thebasic of all art forms fromwell-known experts who havebeen invited for this workshop.From this, they can easilyenhance their talent.

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Archdiocese of Bhopalextended Id-ul -Fitr greet-

ings to religious leaders ofMuslim Community.Archbishop Leo Cornelio alongwith Christian representativesvisited important leaders andextended the greetings ofbrotherhood. He said in greet-ings that ‘let us unite Ourselvesin the Power of the Spirit withour Muslim brothers and praythat their obedience and selfdenial be a source of divine ful-fillment for themselves and

for the whole world.For the Muslims, the feast

days are days of concentratedreligious feelings focussed onAllah and on the fellowMuslims. Ramadan is the nameof month in the MuslimCalendar during which theobligatory fast is kept by allMuslims who are able to fast.‘Id-ul-Fitr’ is the feast of break-ing the fast at the end of themonth. The fast rise with thesunrise till sunset, When 30days of fast are over, betweenone new moon and the next,the fast is broken. The first day

on which food is taken is called‘Id-ul-Fitr’, the feast of thebreaking of the fast.

Fr Maria Stephen, the PROsaid in his address, from thebeginning of history sacrificesand penances were symbols ofman’s loving self offerings andobedience to God. While ourMuslim brothers celebrate thefeast of their month- long fastand its successful completionwe believe that every fast, everyact of self denial and obedienceto God is assumed by and con-tained in the life and supremeself sacrifice of the lord.

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Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan will lay founda-

tion of the country's biggestGlobal Skill Park to be devel-oped in Bhopal on July 3.Union Minister of State for SkillDevelopment (IndependentCharge) Rajiv Pratap Rudi,former Indian cricket teamcaptain K Shrikant, formercricketer and Minister of Statefor Skill Development(Independent Charge) of UttarPradesh Chetan Chouhan toowill participate in the pro-gramme. State's Minister ofState for Technical Education(Independent Charge) DeepakJoshi today reviewed prepara-tions for the programme.

Park will be developed in37 acres by spending Rs 645crore. One thousand studentswill be imparted training everyyear in the park. The trainerswill be world-class. Trainedstudents will be given place-ment in India and outsideIndia at international level.The park will function withhaving the theme 'WithIndustry, For Industry'.Provision of international jointcertification will also be there.

Principal SecretaryTechnical Education KalpanaShrivastava, Director SkillDevelopment Sanjeev Singhand other officers were presentthere.

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With India littering itswaste without sufficient

treatment, it needs to set asideabout 88 sq km of preciousland — equivalent to the size ofarea under administration ofNew Delhi Municipal Council(NDMC) for landfills by 2050.As per a previous estimate, by2050 about 50 per cent ofIndia's population will be liv-ing in urban areas, and the vol-ume of waste generation willgrow by 5 per cent per year. Nowonder, garbage dumpinggrounds are filling fast. Adecade or two later — besideswater and electricity crises —our country is going to face acrisis of garbage. India has 18per cent of the world's popu-lation, but only 1.9 per cent ofland area.

The report titled 'WasteManagement in India: ShiftingGears,' jointly conducted byASSOCHAM and global con-sulting firm PwC suggested thatas such it is imperative to relookinto present systems of wastemanagement in the country.

"Urban waste managementis one such burning issue whichhas emerged out of the said fac-tors and has led cities andtowns to crumble under pilesof garbage left in the open (torot) as we fail to manage ourwaste due to a mismatch in therequirement and availabilityof services to deal with thesame," the report said.

"Accordingly, the expectedwaste quantity we are looking atfor the year 2021, 2031, and2050 are 101 million metrictonnes (MMT) per year, 164MMT, and 436 MMT per yearrespectively. India is no excep-tion in its concern about the percapita waste generation rate,

though the present per capitageneration of waste is only 300-400 gm/capita for medium citiesand between 400-600 gm/capi-ta for large cities. However, thisis going to increase with the pre-sent trend of urbanisation andconsumption patterns," thereport said. Alongside, the con-sumption of plastic is increasing.Per-capita consumption was4kg in 2006, 8kg in 2010 and11kg currently.

The report noted thatwaste generation of Class Icities (with population between0.1 million and five million) inIndia has been estimated to bearound 80 per cent of country'stotal waste generation.

In Mumbai, only 10 percent of solid waste material istreated in bioreactors. In Delhi,50 per cent is treated. Of the 1.4lakh tonnes of solid waste gen-erated in our country per day,only 24 per cent is treated.Compare that to Sweden,where less than 1 per cent ofsolid waste generated by homesgoes to landfills, and the bal-ance 99 per cent is either con-verted to power or is recycledor composted.

As per the estimates ofCPCB, annually around 7.46mn metric tonnes (MT) ofhazardous waste is generatedfrom 43,936 industries in thecountry, of which land fillablewaste is 3.41 mn MT (46%),incinerable 0.69 mn MT (9%)and recyclable hazardous wasteis 3.35 mn MT (45%). It is pre-sumed that about 10 to 15% ofwastes produced by industries

are hazardous and the genera-tion of hazardous wastes isincreasing at the rate of 2 to 5per cent per year.

As per the CentralPollution Control Board(CPCB) 2014-15 AnnualReport on implementation ofPlastic Waste ManagementRules, 2011, 7,88,999 MT ofplastic waste is generated in thecountry (excluding the States/UTs of Assam, Chhattisgarh,Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala,Maharashtra, Nagaland,Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu,Uttarakhand, West Bengal,Chandigarh, Dadra and NagarHaveli, Daman and Diu,Lakshadweep, and Delhi NCR).

According to the report ofthe subgroup on plastic wastemanagement, 10,000 tonnes ofplastic waste is generated per daywith an average of 5.6 kg/capi-ta being generated in Indiawhich is estimated to grow by 8-10% per year. This clearly showsthe potential of the plastic wasteor recyclables market.

The report said that last twoyears witnessed a wave of clean-liness drives and some changein the Indian mindset withrespect to waste management.The momentum should beutilised for the benefit of the sec-tor and implementation of therules and regulations shouldnow be started on a serious note.

According to the report,this will eventually render theland unfit for any other use foras long as a half century beforeit can be stabilised for otheruses.

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Northern part of the coun-try may get respite from

the sweltering heat with the Metoffice forecasting the possibil-ity of light rain or thunder-showers in the region onTuesday owing to western dis-turbance over north Jammu &Kashmir. Rain activity willcommence over northern plainsof Delhi, Uttar Pradesh andadjoining part of Haryana onTuesday. Weatherman has pre-dicted that monsoon will arrivein the region on Wednesday.

Regional WeatherForecasting Centre (RWFC),New Delhi of the IndianMeteorological Department(IMD) said that due to westerndisturbances, cyclonic circula-tion is over Central Pakistan andNorth Rajasthan and Punjabarea. "A trough is also extend-ing from this system NorthwestPlains," it further stated.

IMD in its weather forecastsaid that conditions arefavourable for further advanceof southwest-monsoon intoremaining parts of easternUttar Pradesh during the next48 hours.

"Rapid advancement ofsouthwest monsoon is verylikely into most parts of north-west India, including entireUttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana,Chandigarh, Punjab,Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradeshand Jammu & Kashmir during

the next 4-5 days." "This is dueto northwest-movement of lowpressure, which is currentlylocated over northwest Bay ofBengal and neighbourhood andits likely interaction withapproaching western distur-bance," Met stated further.

Under the influence ofabove system, weather is expect-ed over northwest India andthere will be widespread rainfallactivity likely to occur overJammu & Kashmir on June 28and June 29. "Scattered to fair-ly wide spread rainfall activitylikely to occur over HimachalPradesh and East-Rajasthan onJune 26. Fairly wide spread towidespread rainfall rainfallactivity likely to occur overUttarakhand from June 26 toJune 29 and similar activity like-ly to occur over Himachal

Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana,Chandigarh, Delhi, UttarPradesh from June 27 to June29and Fairly widespread to wide-spread rainfall activity overRajasthan from June 26to June29," Met said.

Meanwhile, the nationalCapital on Monday witnessedpartly cloudy skies in themorning with the minimumtemperature settling at 30.4degrees Celsius -- two degreesabove normal. The humiditywas on the higher side at 75 percent at 8.30 am. The maximumtemperature was recorded at 38degrees Celsius, a weather offi-cial.

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The terrorists in Jammu &Kashmir have been direct-

ed to eliminate 100-150Amarnath pilgrims and over100 policemen to trigger com-munal tension in different partsof India, a fresh intelligenceinput assessed by the J&KPolice has revealed.

The 40 day long annual pil-grimage is starting from June29. To prevent any terror attackon pilgrims the StateGovernment has made elabo-rate security arrangements.

At least 30,000 security per-sonnel have been deployed alongthe entire yatra route and at dif-ferent base camps of pilgrims inJammu & Kashmir division.

According to the intelli-gence input, "the terroristshave been directed to target theconvoy of Amarnath pilgrimsalong the yatra route as theirhandlers believed it will resultin flaring of communal ten-sions throughout the nation".

A senior most police offi-cer of Kashmir zone immedi-ately alerted the entire securi-ty grid on June 25, 2017 soonafter he received latest intelli-gence report based on theinput received from seniorpolice officer in Anantnag.

According to the officialsources privy to the latest intel-ligence input, "the inputassessed is believed to be aHuman Intelligence".

Official sources claimed,"though nature of input needsfurther corroboration, at thisstage the possibility of somesensational attack by terroristoutfit cannot be ruled".

Official sources claimed,"All the officer/officialsdeployed on ground have beendirected to remain alert andmaintain utmost vigil and takeall precautionary measures todefeat the nefarious designs ofthese anti-national elements.

"All out efforts needs to betaken to nab the terrorists whoare planning such attempts ofviolence", senior police officersclaimed.

Deputy Chief Minister DrNirmal Singh told reporters inJammu on Monday, "J&KGovernment and police doingtheir best to ensure security ofpilgrims. He said, "30,000 secu-rity personnel have beendeployed along Amarnath yatraroute to ensure their security.

"We are fully prepared forAmarnath yatra, importantaspects like security and basic

arrangements for yatra takencare of ", he added.

Meanwhile, CentralReserve Police Force, entrust-ed with the job of securingyatra route and base camps inJammu & Kashmir divisionhave taken charge of securityduties in advance. The CRPFis relying heavily on electron-ic surveillance this year to pre-vent any miscreant from tar-geting the pilgrims.

"We are using 'Trinetra --an Unmanned aerial vehicle'flown at a height of 400 metresto track down the suspectedmovement in and around basecamps. We have also equippedour Quick reaction teams(QRT) with latest communi-cation equipment and weapons.Dog squads have beendeployed on ground zero andX-ray scanners are also inplace to detect presence ofexplosives, senior CRPF officertold reporters in Jammu. Armyand state police force are alsodeployed in multi tier securityring along the border routes toprevent any infiltrator fromcoming closer to the nationalhighway through which yatraconvoy passes to prevent anyterror attack on pilgrims.

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Haryana’s main Oppositionparty, Indian National Lok

Dal, which is yet to open itscards about which candidateto back during the presidentialpolls, has decided that its chiefOm Prakash Chautala willtake the final call in this regard.

A resolution to this effectwas passed during INLD’s Stateexecutive meeting held here onMonday. The polls to elect thenext President of India will beheld on July 17.

While the UPA hasannounced former Lok Sabha'sSpeaker Meira Kumar as itscandidate for the presidentialelections, NDA’s pick for thetop post is former BiharGovernor Ram Nath Kovind.

Leader of Opposition inHar yana Assembly andINLD’s senior leader AbhayChautala while talking to themediapersons said that party’schief OP Chautala will takefinal decision on which can-didate to back during thepresidential polls. A resolu-tion in this regard has beenpassed in the party meeting,he said.

When asked whether theparty has been approached

by UPA or NDA for support,the INLD leader said UnionMinister M Venkaiah Naiduhas sought support from OPChautala for Presidentialpolls.

Chautala said that bothUPA and NDA are doing votebank politics and thus, havechosen Dalit leaders as theirPresident nominee.

The INLD leader, howev-er, added that both leadershave clean image.

“The party will announceits decision on Presidentialpolls after holding discussionwith its chief OP Chautala,” headded. On the other hand,former Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hoodaalongwith his loyalists MLAsand son, MP DeependerSingh Hooda reached NewDelhi to extend support toUPA’s Presidential nomineeMeira Kumar.

Hooda, along with MLAsKuldeep Sharma, RaghubirKadiyan, Anand Singh Dangi,Geeta Bhukkal, Karan Dalal,Uday Bhan, Lalit Nagar, JaiTirath Dahiya, ShakuntalaGhatak, Jaivir Balmiki, JagbirMalik and senior party leaderShadi Lal Batra supportedMeira Kumar’s candidature.

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Anew era is all set to dawn onthe historic Golden Temple

with the solar power adding theingredient of modernisation andtechnology to the traditionalcooking methods at its langarhall (community kitchen).

Conceived over five yearsback, the specially-designed solarproject would help in reducingair pollution, in and around theGolden Temple — which isaffecting the historical build-ing—at least to some extent.

The new system would usesteam, generated by the solarenergy, to cook the food, insteadof LPG and firewood — whichwill help in cutting down thepollution. Besides, the systemmay also reduce the cookingtime, and the cost. Every day, noless than 50,000 people savourfood at this internationally-accalimed langar hall, with thecount touching one-lakh figureon holidays.

The solar energy system,amounting more than �1 crore,would be set up and subsidisedby the Punjab Energy Devel-

opment Authority (PEDA). Toidentify the site for installation,a three-member team headed byPEDA director Balaour Singhvisited Amritsar on Monday.

It was decided that the new

system will be installed in thenewly-constructed portion ofthe langar hall. “Once setup, thenew system is expected to savehalf of the LPG fuel presentlyused to prepare food. On anaverage, over 100 LPG cylindersare used daily to cook food forthe langar,” a senior PEDA offi-cial told The Pioneer.

The PEDA official said thatthe new system will be the thirdsolar energy powered project atthe Golden Temple after 25-kilo-watt solar power project and asolar water heating system. TheShiromani Gurudwara Parban-dhak Committee has already int-

roduced similar system at Gurd-wara Shaheed Ganj, a shrine sit-uated near the Golden Temple,under which food is preparedwith the use of steam, but it is notgenerated by solar energy.Similar projects are already inplace at Shirdi Sai Baba Ashramand Brahma Kumari Ashram.

The then Union Minister forNew and Renewable EnergyFarooq Abdullah, way back in2012, had suggested installingsolar energy system to preparefood in Golden Temple’s com-munity kitchen, and had askedthe officials to carry out a feasi-bility study for the project.PEDA had also sent �1.40 croreproposal to the Centre in thisregard after conducting surveys,which later hit a roadblock.One of the devotee, RavindraLaund — the chairman of theMumbai-based Ampar Group ofIndustries — had in 2012 agreedto bear the entire expenses of the�1.5 crore solar energy poweredcooking project during his visitto the Golden Temple. PEDAhad claimed that the projectwould be completed and madefunctional in the next three-fourmonths.

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Large numbers of peoplepulled chariot on the occa-

sion of the annual Rath Yatraat Chhatia on Sunday. It is thelongest journey of chariotcovering 11 km from Chatiato Badaghumari in Jajpur dis-trict, which takes for fivedays.

Flagged off by chief priestof the temple Upendra Ojhaon Sunday afternoon amidstchanting of hymns, the Rathembarked on an 11-km-longroute through the NH 5 andcongested village roads.

The chariot halted atmany places and large num-bers of devotees worshippedthe Lord Jaganath, Balabhadraand Subhadra.

“Earlier, the authority haddenied us the permission forthe chariot to cover 14 km dueto bad condition of road. Butin 1999, the authority for thefirst time allowed the templemanagement committee topull the chariot covering 14km after the authority con-structed and widened the vil-lage road,” said Ojha, who is

also the president of the man-aging committee of the tem-ple.

A huge crowd throngedthe temple and then joined theprocession as it started underthe watchful gaze of the policepersonnel who had beendeployed throughout the jour-ney routes, including the NH.

“The villagers and the

managing committee mem-bers of the temple cleaned thevillage roads for the smoothjourney of the chariot. In thepast, chariot struck at someplaces due to poor condition ofthe road. But thanks to thePrime Minister village roadproject, all the village roads arenow concrete for which chari-ot was pulled by devoteessmoothly,” said Sarapanch ofChatia Gram Panchayat NayanaBehera.

The pedestal of theJagannath temple at Chatia isempty and each day, the priestsof the temple worship theempty pedestal in the sanctumsanctorum of the temple witha hope that Lord Jagannath willarrive someday from Puri toChatia

“Since time immemorialthe priests of the temple and alarge number of devotees havebeen waiting for the arrival ofthe deities. As per the traditionof the temple, every day thepriests and devotees do sometypes of construction works forthe imminent arrival of thedeities,” said noted social work-er Dr Suresh Chandra Dalai.

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From Page 1decades-old practice of

presenting the annual exercisein the last week of February.

According to the proposalunder discussion, the BudgetSession of Parliament wouldhave to be held well beforeDecember so that the bud-getary exercise can be con-cluded by the year-end.

Since it takes nearly twomonths for the conclusion ofthe budgetary exercise, thepossible dates for holding theBudget Session could be thefirst week of November, thesources said.

The financial year fromApril 1 to March 31, currentlyin vogue nationally, was adopt-ed in 1867 principally to alignthe Indian financial year withthat of the British Government.

Till then, the financial yearin India used to commence onMay 1 and end on April 30 of

the following calendar year.After Modi expressed his

desire to align the financial yearwith the calendar year, theGovernment had last yearappointed a high-level com-mittee to study the feasibility ofshifting the financial year toJanuary 1. The panel submittedits report to the FinanceMinister in December.

Among the various factors,a NITI Aayog note had saidthat a change in the financialyear was required as the currentsystem leads to sub-optimalutilisation of working season.

It had also noted that thecurrent financial year cyclewas chosen without any refer-ence to national culture andtraditions or convenience oflegislators.

Also, the financial year isnot aligned with internationalpractices and it impacted datacollection and dissemination

from the perspective of nation-al accounts, according to thenote prepared by NITI Aayogmember Bibek Debroy andOSD Kishore Desai, citingexperts.

A few months back, theParliamentary StandingCommittee on Finance alsorecommended shifting thefinancial year to the January-December. Modi while advo-cating a change in the financialyear had said that there is aneed to develop robust arrange-ments that could functionamidst diversity.

"Because of poor timemanagement, many good ini-tiatives and schemes had failedto deliver the anticipatedresults," the Prime Minister hadsaid. Madhya Pradesh becamethe first state to announceshifting of its financial year for-mat to January-December from2018. PTI

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From Page 1

The Prime Minister isexpected to be joined amongothers by National SecurityAdvisor Ajit Doval, ForeignSecretary S Jaishankar and theIndian Ambassador to theUS, Navtej Sarna.

Thereafter Modi andTrump would head to theRose Garden to make jointremarks to a large battery offrom the mainstreamAmerican media, a group offoreign journalists and thetravelling Indian media.

In their remarks, the twoleaders are expected to laytheir visions for the India-US

relationship.According to a senior

White House official, the twoleaders are not expected totake any questions. But thismight change. A joint India-US statement is also likely tobe issued.

After their media inter-action, Trump joined by theFirst Lady would host thePrime Minister and the visit-ing Indian delegation for adinner in the historic BlueRoom of the White House.Modi would leave

the White House later inthe night with both the FirstLady and Trump participatingin the departure ceremony.

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The organisation is todayactive in several villages inJalaun, Hamirpur, Jhansi,Lalitpur districts in UttarPradesh and Teekamgarh andChatarpur distr icts inMadhya Pradesh. Its initia-tives were initially being sup-ported by European Unionand now Nabard.

In Nadia village, of 40wel ls , seven have beenrecharged while hand pumpshave been repaired at the ini-tiation of these water war-riors, while in Motho villagein Lalitpur three rain waterharvesting check dams havebeen constructed and half adozen hand pumps installed.

"Water availability hasencouraged us to grow cere-als and vegetables, which werejust dream for us earlier,"said Amarchand fromTeekamgarh village wherewater t anks have beenrecharged.

Next on their agenda isconstruction of toilets andhealthcare centres. Good newsis that 108 ambulance underthe National Health Missionwere available, they said.Primary schools are there butnot in every village, becauseof which students have towalk down one to two kilo-metres, said Sunita, anotherJal Saheli.

From Page 1"According to my infor-

mation, the two Governmentsare in touch over this issue,"Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesman Geng Suhang toldreporters, declining to elabo-rate whether it was due to anyweather-related issues likelandslides and rains the pil-grims were stopped by theChinese officials at the Sino-India border. He said theissue was being discussed bythe two Foreign Ministries.

The pilgrims were sched-uled to cross over to theChinese side on June 19 buthad failed to do so due toinclement weather. They hadwaited at the base camp andtried to cross again on June 23but were denied permissionby the Chinese officials.

In New Delhi, ExternalAffairs Ministr ySpokesperson Gopal Baglayhad said that some difficultieswere being experienced inthe movement of pilgrimsthrough Nathu La and thatIndia is taking up the matterwith China.

The Nathu La routeenabled pilgrims to travel1,500 km long route fromNathu La to Kailash by buses.The route through Nathu La

reduced the hardship andjourney time enabling manymore pilgrims, in particularaged pilgrims, to undertakethe Yatra.

The development has casta shadow of uncertainty onthe annual yatra as Chineseofficials maintained that itwould take some time torepair the roads and theIndians would not be able tomake the pilgrimage any timesoon.

The Chinese officials saidthey were concerned aboutthe safety of the Indian pil-grims which is why they werestopped from proceeding fur-ther. The pilgrims, who werestopped by the Chinese offi-cials at the border from pro-ceeding further, have nowreturned to their respectivestates.

The denial of permissionto the first batch of 47 Indianpilgrims was a surprise as theKailash Mansarovar Yatrathrough the new route viaNathula Pass in Sikkim waslaunched with a fanfare by thetwo

countries in 2015. Thiswas the second route agreedby the two counties for theKailash Yatra.

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From Page 1the complainant refused

to pay but later agreed to paya part of the bribe. The com-plainant lodged a complaintwith the Lokayukta and basedon the complaint accused wasnabbed.

The commissioner, a stateadministrative service officer,demanded the bribe from thenursing home owner for notrazing the unauthorized parts

of the medical facility. A case was registered

under Prevention ofCorruption Act. Further inves-tigation into the matter hasbeen started.

Notably, Surendra KumarKathuria was recently awardedby Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan for his excellent per-formance during Simhasthaarrangements, in a programmein Bhopal.

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The Government's disasterrelief force is set to tackle an

emergency faster than everbefore, taking three times lesstime to respond to a phone callthan it did earlier.

The response time taken bythe control room of theNational Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF) for answering acall for help has been broughtdown to 5-6 seconds from theearlier 15-20 seconds, a newblueprint for the force states.

The document, accessed byPTI, seeks to enable a team toreach a spot or deploy equip-ment during a calamity orother emergencies within the"golden hour" -- the one-hourcrucial period when relief isconsidered most effective.

Keeping in view the impor-tance of a quick response in theevent of an earthquake, land-slide or other such disasters, thecentral force recently re-worked its old operationalblueprint and set new timelinesfor different tasks, training itsrescuers accordingly.

The new blueprint, whichhas been put into effect, states

that the first rescue team willboard a four-wheeler within15-20 minutes after being inti-mated, as against the earlier 30-40 minutes.

"There is a special vigilanceteam that is mandated to checkif the new timelines are beingfollowed and achieved. TheNDRF response begins withthe first call to the controlroom. All activities with theiraccurate time taken are loggedinto a check book," a seniorofficial said.The time takenfor a few other operational pro-cedures has also been min-imised, the official said.

A boat in a marooned areashould now be inflated in 60seconds as compared to 5-6minutes earlier. A tower light isto be erected in 45 seconds ascompared to the earlier twominutes and a chemical, bio-logical, radiological and nuclear

(CBRN) suit has to be donnedby every person trained for thisspecial combat task in 2:40minutes as compared to eightminutes earlier.

"These new timelines havebeen prepared and imple-mented keeping in mind thebest practices in the disasterresponse domain, the worldover. The sanctity of the gold-en hour, the first hour duringan emergency, not only holdsgood for medical situationsbut also for a disaster response,"the official said.NDRF respon-ders are being trained to meetthese "tough but doable timeparameters" every day, the offi-cial said.

Other operational proce-dures that have been acceler-ated include assembling andoperating a chainsaw in oneminute as compared to 2:30minutes, assembling quickdeployable antennae in oneminute as compared to threeminutes in the past, assemblingan air lifting bag in 60 secondsas against three minutes andmaking a chipping hammeroperational in a minute ascompared to three minutesearlier.

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Aparliamentary panel exam-ining a bill, which seeks to

accord constitutional status tothe National Commission forBackward Classes, has reacheda consenus, paving the way forits likely passage in Rajya Sabhain the monsoon session.

With the passage of the bill,the NCBC, a statutory bodyunder the Ministry of SocialJustice and Empowerment, willget a constitutional status.

The bill was referred to theRajya Sabha's select committeeafter the opposition prevailedon the government to do so.

It was passed by the LokSabha in April this year, but theopposition blocked its consid-eration in the upper house.

Consensus has beenreached in the committee withMPs of all parties in the panelagreeing for the constitutionalstatus to the commission, amember in the panel said.

The member added thatthe panel, led by BJP MPBhupender Yadav, will submitits report in the first week of themonsoon session, which will

commence on July 17.The 25-member Rajya

Sabha select committeeincludes senior members likeSharad Yadav, Ram GopalYadav, Satish Misra and PrafulPatel.

Yadav has in the past alsosuccessfully managed all partiesinto agreeing for many con-troversial legislations, includingthe GST bill, the Mines andMinerals bill and the EnemyProperty bill.The BJP generalsecretary was also chairman ofthe Joint Committee onInsolvency and BankruptcyCode, 2015.

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The Supreme Court hasstayed an order of the

Punjab and Haryana HighCourt permitting the police totake the voice sample of its offi-cial, accused in a corruptioncase for allegedly demandingbribe.

A vacation bench of

Justices D Y Chandrachud andS K Kaul issued notice toHaryana asking it to file with-in three weeks its reply on aplea by the police official chal-lenging the June 2 verdict of theHigh Court which had dis-missed his petition against atrial court order.

"In the meantime, opera-tion of the impugned order

dated June 2, 2017 passed bythe High Court of Punjab andHaryana... shall remain stayed,"the apex court said.

An assistant sub-inspectorof the Haryana Police,Dharambir Singh, had movedthe apex court against the highcourt order which had held thatthere was no basis for interfer-ing with the trial court order.

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The Swadeshi Jagran Manch(SJM) has announced to

launch a massive drive againstthe sale of Chinese productsacross the country. To beginwith, the SJM will start a three-month drive in all the districtsof eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP)where it will burn all kinds ofChinese products at selectplaces being sold and availablein the region.

Tagged as SwadeshiSankalp Ratha Yatra, it willbegin on Wednesday fromVaranasi which is also the con-stituency of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and end onSeptember 25 by marking thebirth anniversary of BJP ideo-logue Deen Dayal Upadhaya athis birth place Ballia.

"We will burn Chineseproducts which is affectingour traders. And by this wewant to give message beyondthe idea of Make in India. Wewant to promote Made byIndia," said Ajay Kumar,Organiser, Swadeshi JagranManch of Eastern UP.

Kumar, who has alsopenned a book titled ̀ ChunautiAur Vikalp', is the chief orga-nizer of the three-month-longevent and has roped in peoplefrom across the party lines."This programme is certainly

beyond party politics. Today,Chinese products are hamper-ing not only our business butalso affecting our day to daylives since their products arenot so good when compared toour own manufacturers,"Kumar, an expert in Swadeshieconomy, said while briefingabout his event.

In his book, Kumar hascited the importance ofSwadeshi by quoting the leg-endary JRD Tata who hadsaid "if India does not devel-op then Asia will be van-

ished". "After months ofresearch and thought, I decid-ed to go ahead with the idea ofSwadeshi which the best ideafor economic development ofIndia which still lives in ruralareas as conveyed to us byMahatma Gandhi," Kumarsaid.

For the event, a Chariothas been developed whichwill tour across Allahabad,Chitrakoot, Amethi, RaeBareily, Kusinagar, Ghazipurand culminate at Ballia, bor-dering Bihar.

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The Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP) has demanded the

immediate scrapping of both theMinority Commission and theMinority Affairs Ministry "as thesetwo institutions give credence to aseparatist mindset". In a long state-ment issued here on Mondayabout the two-day-long CentralGoverning Council meeting details,the VHP said it also passed reso-lutions for bringing laws for cowprotection and construction ofRam Mandir in Ayodhya.

The Central GoverningCouncil of VHP was convenedat Vadtal in Gujarat on June 24and 25. "VHP resolution stat-ed that the working of theMinority Commission createsa false feeling that the Muslimand Christian community isbeing persecuted. However,the reality is that it is they whoare responsible for the perse-cution of not only Hindus buto the other minority commu-nities like the Sikhs and theBuddhists too. The Jehadis andMissionaries are not the per-secuted but the persecutors.With the help of the MinorityCommission, they gather sym-pathy and carry out their anti-Hindu and anti-national activ-ities," said the statement issuedby Surendra Kumar Jain, VHPJoint General Secretary.

"The resolutions passed byKendriya Margdarshak Mandalof the sadhu-sants in Haridwarwere endorsed by the CentralCommittee of the VHP in itsmeeting held at the birth-placeof Sardar Patel asking the gov-ernment to enact a law for theconstruction of the Ram templein Ayodhya without any furtherdelay. The Iron-Man SardarPatel has already shown us, bythe example of SomnathTemple, how this can be done.The best tribute to the Iron-Manwould be if the Ram templecould be built on the lines of theSomnath Temple," it added.

The VHP also sought clar-ification from Finance Ministeron the GST implications ontemples and other Hindu reli-gious organizations. Raisingapprehensions of a possibletax burden after GST imple-mentation, the VHP demand-ed the continuation of existingexemption from all taxes in theactivities of temple boards andother Hindu religious bodies.

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The Congress on Mondaysaid that criticising the

Opposition has become theDNA of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

Addressing a press confer-ence, AICC Chief SpokesmanRandeep Singh Surjewala said,"Unfortunately, criticising theopposition has become theDNA of Prime Minister Modi."

Surjewala alleged that "abus-ing opposition party has become

the foreign policy for him,ignoring core subjects hasbecome strategy, and claimingCongress-UPA works as theirown on foreign platforms hasbecome the politics". He said

that Prime Minister has contin-ued crtiticising the Oppositionin his 64th foreign trip.

Raising the question onPrime Minister Modi's visit toU.S., Congress wanted to knowwhether the Prime ministerwill discuss HIB visa and otherissues with US PresidentDonald Trump. "Will theCentre and the Prime Ministerlet the people of nation knowthat whether he will discuss theH1B topic with his U.S. presi-dent Trump," Surjewala asked.

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Union HRD MinisterPrakash Javadekar on

Monday did way with the com-mittee on National andEducation Policy (NEP) thathis predecessor Smriti Irani hadformed and which had alreadysubmitted its report. Javadekarfollowed the scrapping by set-ting up a new NEP panel. Ineffect, it means, the policy isn'tcoming any time soon.

While Irani as HRDMinister had appointed formerCabinet Secretary TSRSubramanium, Javadekarappointed a new nine-memberpanel headed by space scientistKrishnaswamy Kasturirangan.

A senior HRD Ministryofficial said that while the firstone took almost three years tosubmit its report, the new onemay also take time. He con-ceded that the NEP could bedelayed further but maintained

that inputs from theSubramanian panel reportwould also be utilized once thenew panel places its report.

The HRD ministry haschosen experts and education-ists from wide-ranging back-grounds to be part of the panelthat is expected to recast themuch-talked about India's edu-cation policy tagged as NEP.

"The panel has beenappointed keeping in mindthat the members bring exper-tise related to the diverse areasof education. Significantly, thepanel also reflects the diversi-ty of the country as the mem-bers belong to different sec-tions as well as regions," theofficial said. The Ministryhopes the new committeedrawn from various fields willunderstand the varied issuesthat have to be kept in mind forthe formulation of such a keypolicy document.

"The panelists belong todifferent age groups whichshould be helpful as they wouldbe able to bring experience,innovation and also globalexposure which are so vital forsuch an important policy for-

mulation," said the official. Former IAS officer K J

Alphonse, Ram Shanker Kureel,vice chancellor of the BabaSaheb Ambedkar University ofSocial Sciences, Mhow, Dr M KShridhar, former member sec-retary of the Karnataka StateInnovation Council, Dr T VKattimani, an expert on lan-guage communication, DrMazhar Asif, professor ofPersian at Guwahati University,and former director of educa-tion, Uttar Pradesh, KrishanMohan Tripathi are among themembers of the Javadekar-formed panel.

Besides Kasturirangan, whoheaded India's space agencyISRO, Alphonse had played akey role in helping Kerala'sKottayam and Ernakulam dis-tricts achieve 100 percent liter-acy. Kureel has wide experiencein the field of agriculture sci-ences and management.

Besides, the committee alsocomprises mathematicianManjul Bhargava fromPrinceton University andVasudha Kamat, former vicechancellor of Mumbai's SNDTUniversity.

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Former Lok Sabha Speakerand Opposition's

Presidential candidate MeiraKumar joined Twitter onMonday, amid a spat betweenUnion Minister SushmaSwaraj and the Congress overher nomination.

In response to Swaraj'sattack on Kumar a day earli-er, the Congress' officialTwitter handle on Mondayposted a video of Swaraj prais-

ing the Congress veteran andsaying, "I am a fan of you".

At Kumar's farewell in2013, Swaraj told the House:"I want that we all fight theelections with integrity… AndI am a fan of you. WhatVasudev ji said in public, Ihave told you multiple timesin person; your nature and thequality of not being angry/agi-tated contributes the most tothe proper functioning of thisHouse."

The External Affairs

Minister had on Sunday post-ed an old video of Kumar - itwas captioned "This is howLok Sabha Speaker MeiraKumar treated the Leader ofOpposition" - interruptingher speech to Parliament in2013. Swaraj, who was target-ing the UPA II government forbeing "the most corrupt sinceIndependence", was inter-rupted by Kumar, thenSpeaker, 60 times during herher six minute, 23 secondspeech.

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With a section of theOpposition indicating it

would skip the special sessionon June 30 in the Central Hallof Parliament to roll-out theGoods and Services Tax (GST),Union Urban DevelopmentMinister M Venkaiah Naidu onMonday asked the politicalparties to rise above politicsand extend their full support tothe legislation.

"The GST is a very impor-

tant tax reform. Undoubtedly,there will be teething troublesinitially. But, I assure you thatthe council will take them upand overcome any obstaclesthey are faced with. I would like

to appeal to all those concernedto rise above parties and poli-tics, and extend their full sup-port," he said.

Earlier, a speculation aboutOpposition boycotting the spe-cial session gathered momen-tum with CPI (M) leaderSitaram Yechury saying hisparty has not issued any whipfor the special meeting, mean-ing it is not mandatory for itsMPs to attend the session. He,however, maintained the CPI(M) will not boycott.

Yechury later tweeted ask-ing, ""Why this unseemly hurrywith GST before putting sys-tems in place? After all, BJPopposed it for several years,especially then CM, Gujarat(sic)," Yechury tweeted.

Samajwadi Party's RajyaSabha MP Naresh Agarwaltermed the GST Bill 'anti-traders'. "What does the gov-ernment want to prove by rollingout GST on June 30 midnight?Nehruji announced our freedomat stroke of midnight, this gov-

ernment is announcing thatsmall traders will be made slavesthrough GST," said Agarwal.

Congress said it is deliber-ating on all aspects. "All we cansay at the moment is that delib-erations are on in the party.Congress President SoniaGandhi, former PM DrManmohan Singh and othersenior leaders will decide whatwill be party's stand," saidCongress party's communica-tion department chief RandeepSurjewala.

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NDA presidential candidateRam Nath Kovind will

meet Jammu and KashmirChief Minister MehboobaMufti in Srinagar onWednesday to seek the supportof law-makers from the statefor the July 17 election.

Mehbooba, who was notpresent when Kovind filed hisnomination papers, will con-vene a meeting of MPs andMLAs from the state at her res-idence, which will be addressedby the former Bihar governorand Dalit activist, BJP sourcessaid.Her party, the PDP, hasassured the BJP, with which itshares power in the state, of itssupport.Kovind will be accom-panied by Union minister MVenkaiah Naidu and the party'sgeneral secretary, RamMadhav.

The ex-Rajya Sabha mem-ber will meet NDA MPs and

MLAs from Haryana andPunjab in Panchkula, Haryana,on Thursday.

External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj and BJP's gen-eral secretary Anil Jain will beamong the leaders who will bewith Kovind in the Haryanatown, the sources added.

The BJP hopes that theINLD, led by former Haryanachief minister O P Chautala,will extend its support to him,the sources said.Later thisweek, Kovind will visit TamilNadu, Kerala and Puducherryin the south.d their support tothe NDA's presidential can-didate."We are expecting that

in next few days, two or threemore parties will come for-ward to support him," a BJPleader said.Though he willmeet only MPs and MLAsfrom supporting parties, theNDA's presidential pick willurge other members of theelectoral college to back him,the sources said.With over 62per cent of the votes firmlybehind him, Kovind's electionas the next president is almostcertain. Besides the BJP andits NDA allies, the TRS,YSRCP, AIADMK, BJD andthe JD(U) have alsoannounced their support tohim.

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ADebts Recovery Tribunal(DRT) officer's audacious

attempt to allegedly demand abribe of Rs 7 lakh in chequewas stymied by the CBI, whichtook him and his associateinto custody, an official saidtoday.

B S Sane, a recovery offi-cer with DRT, Mumbai, and hisassociate Vijay were allegedlydemanding the bribe to releasethe payment of a complainant.

The agency has registereda case on allegations that therecovery officer instructedthe complainant to hand overthe bribe in the form of acheque to a private person(middleman) for releasingthe payment in favour of hisclient, CBI spokesperson R KGaur said.

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With a sovereign wealthfund of $335 billion anda miniscule citizenry (12per cent of 2.5 millionresidents), Qatar has long

enjoyed the luxury of engaging in region-al politics without fear of domestic unrest,unlike its neighbours. But on June 5, SaudiArabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egyptand Bahrain injected high voltage insta-bility in the region by severing ties withDoha over its allegedly “hostile and divi-sive foreign policy”.

Riyadh, which led the crackdown,demanded that Qatar give up its region-al adventurism (read independence) andalign its policy with that of the GulfCooperation Council (GCC). The Saudiboycott was quickly followed by Yemen,the Maldives, Mauritius, Mauritania,and Haftar-controlled eastern Libya.Like Qatar, Jordan also has strong tieswith Israel; it quietly lowered diplomat-ic representation in Doha. Without arapid de-escalation of the crisis, Qatarcould leave the GCC.

Widely seen as a nudge to SheikhHamad bin Khalifa Al Thani to stepdown, the Saudi action has been closelyfollowed by King Salman bin AbdulazizAl Saud’s abrupt decision to end theHouse of Saud’s system of rotating king-ship within the clan and establish his owndynasty by appointing his son, PrinceMohammed bin Salman, 31, as crownprince (June 21).

The downsizing of PrinceMohammed bin Nayef, who had excel-lent ties with Qatar and had successful-ly dismantled the Al Qaeda’s network inSaudi Arabia, has been accompanied bywhispers of Salman abdicating in favourof his son. With many royal family stal-warts sure to be unhappy at the suddendevelopments in Riyadh, the desert king-dom could itself face more instabilitythan bargained for. In April 2015, Salmanhad deposed his half-brother, PrinceMuqrin, in favour of the now axedPrince Mohammed bin Nayef.

The genesis of the conflict goes backto the late 1990s and early 2000s, whenQatar engaged with Israel, Hezbollah, andIran, and established itself as a linkbetween international powers and pariahgroups. During the US invasion ofAfghanistan, Washington reputedly urgedQatar to liaise with the Taliban. After theArab Spring, Qatar enhanced support tothe Muslim Brotherhood, expecting it toemerge victorious (it ruled Egypt for a yeartill the Army takeover in 2013), which agi-tated Saudi Arabia and the UAE, whichsaw the Muslim Brotherhood as a threatto their rule.

Qatar is also accused of ties withHamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Its

Gulf neighbours insist that Doha expelall Hamas and Muslim Brotherhoodmembers from its soil, freeze the bankaccounts of Hamas members, stop sup-porting “terrorist organisations”, andstop giving Qatari nationality to citizensof the four countries.

Shiite-majority Bahrain, ruled by aSunni minority, blames Iran for the2011 uprising that Saudi troops helpedto quell. The angry Arab states demandthat Qatar degrade diplomatic and eco-nomic ties with Iran and expel membersof Iran’s Revolutionary Guards from itsterritory. Doha denies they are even pre-sent on its soil; most internationalobservers agree. More pertinently, Qatarand Iran share South Pars, the world’slargest gas field, in the Persian Gulf, soruining relations is not an option. In fact,Qatar congratulated Hassan Rouhanion his re-election as President of Iran. ButRiyadh and Tehran back opposing sidesin Bahrain, Syria and Yemen, and seek tocurtail each other’s influence in Africa,Asia and the Middle East in general.Doha is caught in the middle.

The current crisis was allegedly trig-gered by Qatar’s move to quietly pay a ran-som of around one billion dollars to theAl-Qaeda and Iran-backed militias inSyria to release Qatari hostages. IraqiPrime Minister Haider al-Abadi claims hisGovernment has custody of the money(around $500 million). But Riyadh feelsa covert deal undermines its counter-ter-rorism efforts and encourages militias totake hostages for ransom and political

leverage. Yet Qatar helped release USArmy Sgt Bowe Bergdahl from the Taliban(May 2014) and US journalist Peter TheoCurtis from Jabhat al-Nusra, then Al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate (August 2014).

As of now, American policy seemsconfused. President Donald Trump initial-ly expressed support for Riyadh, where herecently made a whopping $110 billionsale of arms, but was soon informed thatthe US Central Command’s largest over-seas base, which manages all militaryoperations in Afghanistan and the MiddleEast, and the air war against the IslamicState, is at Al Udeid, in Qatar. He later soldQatar warplanes worth $12 billion.

The four Arab states have since pre-sented Qatar with a list of 13 demands,including shutting down Al Jazeera tele-vision, closing a Turkish military base inQatar, downgrading ties with Iran, andpaying reparations, as the price of remov-ing the blockade of food and trade itemsacross its only land border (with Saudi Arabia).

Worried at dwindling supplies offood items, Qatar turned to Iran andTurkey, both of which sent shiploads ofsupplies. Ankara said the demand to shutits military base was interference inAnkara-Doha ties and moved fast to aug-ment Turkish presence there.

Qatar has been asked to sever ties withthe Muslim Brotherhood, the IslamicState, the Al Qaeda, the Hezbollah, and theJabhat Fateh al Sham, Al Qaeda’s formerbranch in Syria, and surrender all desig-nated terrorists on its territory. Qatar

asserts there will be no negotiations untilthe four nations restore economic, diplo-matic and travel ties with Doha. Most for-eign observers view the demands as tooextreme to be acceptable. Moscow feels thedispute will thwart efforts to find a Syriasettlement or fight terrorism.

Al Jazeera, Qatar’s state-funded satel-lite broadcaster that articulates a range ofopinions and is immensely popular acrossthe Middle East, has irritated ArabGovernments that exercise firm controlover their own media. Tensions rosesharply in May after it published an arti-cle which quoted Sheikh Hamad binKhalifa Al Thani as praising Israel andIran, Riyadh’s regional rivals. Qatarclaimed the article was planted by hack-ers, but few believed it.

A solution is still possible as Riyadhand Doha have previously resolved dis-putes through dialogue. Tehran, howev-er, hopes the rift will weaken the GCC andUS-Arab alliance to its strategic advantage,as it has been anxious over the possibleemergence of an ‘Arab-Nato’ ever sincePresident Trump sought to unite Muslimcountries against Iran.

Beijing has refrained from takingsides in the conflict, but fears that theunexpected flare-up could threaten itsBelt and Road Initiative (BRI) as theSaudi-Iran proxy war could spill over intoBalochistan, a critical section of itsambitious project. Currently, all roads toand from the Gulf are in turmoil.

(The writer is a political analyst andan independent researcher)�

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“The dance of hatred” (June 26).The killing of DeputySuperintendent of Police,Mohammad Ayub Pandith, justoutside a mosque in Kashmir waspathetic. It was barbaric, to say theleast. For how long are we goingto tolerate this kind of violence?The killing of innocent jawans andpolice officers is the new trend inthe region. We seem to be softerin dealing with terror and terror-ists. It seems political will lacks intackling the stone-throwing mob.The National Democratic AllianceGovernment should stop suchkillings and stamp out terror withan iron hand, making sure that ter-rorism is eradicated.

N R RamachandranChennai

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Sir— This refers to the editorial,“Now, a symbolic contest” (June24). The Congress, leading theOpposition brigade in this exer-cise, has mentioned ‘ideologicalreasons’, ‘Scheduled Caste candi-date’ etc to justify its choice on whois now the United ProgressiveAlliance’s official nominee.

Until only the other day, beforethe National Democratic Alliancenamed Ram Nath Kovind, theCongress, the Left parties andMamata Banerjee of TrinamoolCongress were considering thename of Gopal Krishna Gandhi.The Left apparently pushed hiscandidature till the last hour. Thissudden concern for a ScheduledCaste to be selected is, thus, obvi-

ously an afterthought in the beliefthat at least, there will be somedent in the votes for Kovind. It wasby no means a natural selection ofthe best that the Opposition couldhave come up with. Is the presi-dential election a mere game forthe Congress to joust with the rul-ing party as part of its repugnancefor the Narendra Modi regime?

NS RajanBengaluru

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “No stopping GST now” (June22). The various taxes are com-bined into one, which is a goodmeasure but its compliance is notan easy task. It is too complex asit will require much more time,even more than presentlyrequired, for various taxes whichare to be merged into one Goodsand Services Tax (GST). Theworst part is high tax rates formost important commodities.Minimal and simple forms mustbe provided for the compliance.It could even lead to inspector rajotherwise. In fact, this is a fearbeing often expressed.

M KumarVia email

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The article titled, “Sickle cell cri-sis, formidable issue” (ThePioneer, June 25) was wronglyattributed to Anil Handoo as thewriter. The author of the articleis Dharma Choudhary.

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About seven months ago, Ram letgo of this dream to pursue pol-itics and returned to New York

from Bhopal. Ram was a partner at aprivate equity firm in New York.

He was every employer’s dream. Hewas hard-working, focussed and goodat execution. But after spending tenyears in the private sector he could nolonger ignore his calling toward pub-lic service. It was this sentiment that ledhim to leave his six-figure salary andhead back to his home State of MadhyaPradesh to pursue a life, tough by allmeans, in electoral politics.

Ram joined a national politicalparty. He led the development of thesocial media team and helped the partyre-think on its online communicationstrategy, given the modern context.

But he only made it through threeyears of grassroots politics before real-ising that politics had little to do withbenefitting the community and moreabout the sentiments of individual lead-ers. He lost hope about ever getting aticket to contest in elections and decid-ed to head back to his old life in NewYork. India lost an incredible leader

who could have made a real positive difference.

Unfortunately, our political systemis fraught with issues that drive awaytalent like Ram on a regular basis. Mostof us question the dearth of talent andconviction in the current crop of lead-ers without analysing the system thatleads to the rise of less than optimal political leadership.

From an opaque political systemthat does not allow, for good, talent torise up within the party system, to a lackof financial support extended topromising candidates, politics is cloud-ed in processes that hinder and stuntthe rise of promising talent.

Political parties, perhaps inten-tionally, do not provide concretedirections on how an individual cangrow within the party. Knowledge isimplicit and held by very few.Consider, for example, how none ofthe political parties lays out ways inwhich an entry-level volunteer canwork to attain a party position.

Other than key decision makers inparty leadership, few within any partysystem are aware of criteria required to

fulfill various positions. For example,when a party spokesperson is selected,how exactly, is their ability to commu-nicate evaluated? Do party treasurershave to have a background in financeor fundraising? Without these criteriabeing laid out, it is hard to even aspireto go to these positions. This is verymuch unlike in the private sector.

‘Continue working for the cause’ —is a standard line delivered by partyleaders when young entrants ask foradvise on rising within the partyrungs. However, very few leaders can

define the activities and actions oneneeds to pursue in order to succeed.

Party workers often deduce, inorder to get the attention of senior lead-erships, they might need to organisemore rallies or mobilise party workersor get the word out about the party’sideal. However, without defining thekey areas of participation one often riskstheir efforts as being futile. With suchopaqueness surrounding the partysystem it is unsurprising that politicsno longer remains about the calibre ofa person to deliver on a programme

and has denigrated to a culture of syco-phancy toward those in leadership.

The problem is further aggravat-ed when we consider the controversialrole of money in politics. Working witha political party is a full time job formost aspiring politicians.This meansthat most aspiring politicians can’t domuch else.

In a survey amongst national lead-ers, the author found that an aspiringpolitician has to invest anywherebetween one to nine years of workingwith a party before they get a ticket andare able to get a salary as a Legislator.This is a significant amount of time tostay without any proper income.

While the Bharatiya Janata Partyand the Communist Party of India(Marxist) provide a minimal stipend ofa few thousand rupees for full timeworkers, the amount is far from suffi-cient. Having no source of income dur-ing their time in working with a polit-ical party keeps even the most talent-ed professionals away from the field.

This means that those who enterpolitics must come from wealth and areable to dip in to their existing resources

to support themselves when in politics. Moreover, they are willing to

employ corrupt means of makingmoney so they don’t need to look forother means of employment. While thisis well recognised there is very little dis-cussion about how aspiring politiciansfinancially support themselves for sev-eral years as they pursue their politicalambitions. Money is the black hole ofbringing talent in to politics. Over theyears, we are seeing a shift in whatthe electorate expects.

Politicians are expected to be well-speaking and educated. As the expec-tations of electorate are changing,political parties need to prepare them-selves. They need to bring in talent.

However, if parties want to attractpeople of calibre, they need to begin byincreasing transparency in the partysystem and providing financial supportto aspiring politicians. Without thepresence of such basic systems theRams of India will leave politics.

(The writer is the author of a bookon how the youth can enter into politics,to be released by Harper Collins inSeptember 2017)

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One has heard it all before,that Congress leader andeminent lawyer Kapil Sibaljust wrote in a newspapercolumn. The familiar rant-

ings against all initiatives of the NarendraModi Government have such an emptysound to it — the hollow rings, if youplease — that it makes only a journey-man’s effort borne out of party dutyrather than conviction. One expects thevenerable leaders will also sense a tingeof conscience not to ignore the contextand the perspective of what Modiinherited when he assumed office.

Let us first see how the UnitedProgressive Alliance (UPA)-IGovernment rode on the surge gener-ated by National Democratic Alliance-I. While the former’s economic managerscelebrate the unprecedented growthbetween 2004 and 2008, they choose notto recount how gross domestic product(GDP), at 2004-05 prices, deceleratedfrom 9.5 per cent in 2010-11, to 6.2 percent in 2011-12, to five per cent in 2012-13 — a decadal low. The growth of grossfixed capital formation plunged from 15per cent in 2010-11 to 4.4 per cent in2011-12, further to 1.7 per cent in 2012-13. Entrepreneurs got increasinglymiffed by pervasive environments ofsleaze, policy instability and lack of will.

Wouldn’t senior, erudite leaderssuch as Sibal like to recall how the UPAindulged in fiscal profligacy, evident inits widening current account deficit,heavy public borrowing, persistent infla-tion, and weak currency? On the evev-ing of Modi’s coronation in May 2014,direct tax accruals were tepid, theSensex and Nifty bearish — the biggeststocks eight per cent off their 6 monthpeak and mid-caps down over seven percent. When India needed to create about100 million net new jobs in the decade,The National Sample SurveyOrganisation (NSSO) reported, thenumber of jobs created during theeight year period from 2004-05 to2011-12 aggregated to just 23 millioncompared to the 50 million during thesix year period 1999-2000 to 2004-05.To this was added the 2G Spectrum,Commonwealth Games and Coalgate.

A large number in India and out-side lamented how the country shot itselfin the foot. In 2004, the US CentralIntelligence Agency agreed with TheWall Street Journal that, by 2020, Indiawould be an economic superpower. TheEconomist admitted that India, the ele-phant had learnt to fly. Time magazineproclaimed that, “the world’s biggestdemocracy is the next great economicsuperpower.” Alas, all this promise wassquandered away. As Professor DaniRodrik of Harvard put it, India hasindeed missed the bus.

Weary of the regressive 10-year UPAregime characterised by extra-constitu-tional authorities, calling the shots sansany accountability, the country yearned

for strong and decisive leadership.Nation’s sullen mood was aptly capturedby The Economist: When ‘a caged tiger’,in fact, the elephant had learnt to fly fol-lowing there years of drugged and fit-ful sleep; blight descends, with angstagainst effete — the dysfunctional UPAGovernment, its lackadaisical gover-nance becomes corrupt and venal. Thenation needed strong, creative leadershipin South Block. For running a complexand cacophonous country, there is a longrunning desire among middle classIndians for a strong hand at the tiller.Modi won hearts of young India acrossthe country, changed their mood, liftedtheir morale.

The economy, bruised and battered,in Intensive Care Unit, ModiGovernment’s determination and dex-terity helped it gain strength. Recovery,though fast and robust, would take timefor it to sprint, in terms of its potential.Within few months, world communitystarted viewing India again as an eco-nomic opportunity. With his uniquecommunication and marketing skills,infinite energy and ubiquity, capacity totake risks and walk on the edge of thebridge, Modi, unburdened by any dynas-tic or filial baggage, unscathed by sleazeor scandal among his colleagues, unde-terred by media storms or liberal arm-chair naysayers, infused hope and con-fidence in people’s hearts and minds.

A rank outsider in Lutyens’ Delhi,he rendered the entrenched lobbyingindustry redundant; the PlanningCommission yielded place to Niti Aayog;plan and non-plan distinction in bud-get disappeared; 92 year old separate rail-way budget merged in the Union bud-get; Budget presentation advanced to

facilitate timely disbursement of funds;two decade old Foreign InvestmentPromotion Board (FIPB) disbanded;some 1,159 redundant laws repealed.Among several legislative initiatives, theInsolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016and Aadhaar Act, 2016 are expected tofurther Government’s social and eco-nomic agenda as the much delayedGoods and Services Tax, as the motherof reforms, has been steered so diligent-ly to fruition. Accusing Minister forFinance Arun Jaitley, making ‘short-sighted compromises’ for GST to havebecome ‘one nation, eight tax’, seniorCongress stalwarts, in fact, seem to regretwhy couldn’t they move with suchexemplary deftness and flexibility.

Let the perspective be duly under-stood. In terms of new GDP series,India’s growth declined to 5.6 per centin 2012-13, 6.6 per cent in 2013-14 ver-sus 8.3 per cent during the precedingnine years commencing in 2003-04.Under Modi’s watch, economy rose 7.2per cent in 2014-15, 7.9 per cent in 2015-16, 7.1 per cent during 2016-17. Inflationhas fallen from eight per cent duringJanuary-April 2014 to well below fourper cent now; fiscal deficit dropped from4.5 per cent in 2013-14 to 3.5 per centin 2016-17; rupee has steadily strength-ened; about nine million new income taxpayers have been added; country’s mar-ket capitalisation currently aggregatestwo trillion dollars; Foreign DirectInvestment flow, during last three yearsamounted to $156 billion, a record$56billion in 2016-17 alone. As Make inIndia gains traction, local manufactureof high-tech electronics moves apace.Indigenous manufacture of myriaddefence equipments is now poised to

gather steam. Strangely, blinkeredCongress spokespersons see only ‘signsof deep economic distress’.

With no high level corruption alle-gations, Modi Government has beenauctioning/e-tendering spectrum, coaland mineral mines, and lendingunprecedented impetus to infrastruc-ture projects — especially those whichhas been stuck for long. What has beenachieved in the power sector, thatlooked intractable until the other day,is indeed incredible. A flurry ofschemes and projects such as SwachhBharat Abhiyan, Smart Cities, DigitalIndia, Skill India, Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana have been unfolded withbewildering alacrity. The PradhanMantri Jan-Dhan Yojana launched inAugust 2014 has helped open 280 mil-lion new bank accounts, mostly for thedeprived. By Aadhaar seeding, welfareentitlements are provided by banktransfer. Under the Pradhan MantriUjjwala Yojana, around 20 mllionbelow-poverty-line rural householdsreceive liquefied petroleum gas.

Modi is not unaware that what wasdubbed as the ‘Modi tsunami’ in 2014was young, aspiring and impatientIndia voting for a rupture with the past,to sweep away the cobwebs of bureau-cratic and political lethargy and unleashcountry’s creative energies. He has,indeed, moved fast, and as some maybelieve, extended the canvas too wide.Yet, he has proverbial miles to traverse.A plethora of social, economic and polit-ical ills perpetrated over last 70 yearswould not easily go.

(The writer is senior fellow, AsianInstitute of Transport Development, anda commentator on social issues)

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Even as Muslims in TamilNadu celebrated Eid with

fervour and gusto, the Sasikalafaction of the AIADMK,known as AIADMK (Amma)saw intra-factional feud reach-ing a crescendo with leadersowing allegiance to the jailedgeneral secretary VK Sasikalaand Chief Minister EdappadyPalaniswamy fighting it out inthe open. On his part

Palaniswamy started assertinghimself after his recent visit tothe national Capital to informthe BJP leadership about hisparty’s support to Ram NathKovind, the presidential can-didate.

By Sunday, posters or pic-tures of Sasikala were not to beseen anywhere in Chennai cityas Chief Minister Palaniswaytravelled from his GreenwaysRoad residence to Poroor, a citysuburb to inaugurate a flyover.

The larger than life postersprinted in connection with theinauguration of the flyoverhad featured only the picturesof Jayalalithaa andPalaniswamy. Not a singleposter featuring Sasikala orDinakaran was to be seen any-where in the Chief Minister’sroute, something hitherto

unheard in the AIADMK. Thisis a clear signal that the aunt-nephew duo and their familymembers are persona non gratain the party.

Sasikala and her nephewTTV Dinakaran retaliated onMonday with the help of theirdie-hard loyalists who askedPalaniswamy to tame some ofthe Ministers and party leaderswho question the authority ofthe aunt-nephew duo.

“Thambi Durai, deputyspeaker of the Lok Sabha calledon Sasikala to pass on a mes-sage from Prime MinisterNarendra Modi seeking theAIADMK’s support for RamNath Kovind in the Presidentialelection. The Delhi leadersknow who is in charge of theAIADMK,” said P Vetrivel,MLA, who is a trusted loyalist

of Dinakaran. Speaking to reporters at

Chennai on Monday, Vetrivelsaid he would spill all beans ifPalaniswamy failed to restrainsome of the Ministers in hisCabinet from questioning theauthority of Sasikala.

Meanwhile Rajendra Balaji,Minister for DairyDevelopment, lambasted VaigaiSelvan, party spokesman whois also close to the Sasikala fam-ily, for acting as a front man forprivate dairy company owners.

Speaking to reporters atVirudhunagar on Monday,Balaji alleged that Selvan wasacting as an aide to privatedairy companies indulged inmilk adulteration. “People likeVaigai Selvan are helping pri-vate milk manufacturing com-panies in adulteration. Most of

the milk samples collectedfrom private dairy companieswere found to be adulterated,”charged the minister. He alsoalleged that Selvan, who hadcontested the 2011 assemblyelection won by paying voterstokens worth �3,000/.

A political commentatorsaid the photo gallery featuringJayalalithaa in the StateSecretariat would soon bereplaced with that ofPalaniswamy. Orders have beenplaced with printers for print-ing nearly a lakh posters ofPalaniswamy to be displayed allover Tamil Nadu in the com-ing days. The fight between OPanneerselvam and Sasikalafor the control of the AIADMKhas been eclipsed by the shad-ow boxing between EPS andSasikala camps.

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Karnataka BJP chief BSYeddyurappa on Monday

said a survey would be con-ducted by an external agencyfor ticket distribution for the2018 Assembly polls and addedthat the party was preparing forearly elections.

As he predicted earlyAssembly polls by December,the former Chief Minister alsoclaimed that several sitting leg-islators from rival parties arewilling to join the BJP. The elec-tions are due early next year.

"We are planning things...Asurvey needs to be conductedto find out who the best avail-able candidate is," Yeddyurappasaid in response to a questionabout the process for selectionof candidates.

In an interaction, he said,"Our workers are on a VistarakYojna (Pandit DeendayalUpadhyay Vistarak Yojana).

Once they come back we willget the feedback; then we mayconduct a survey so that it willbenefit the party."

Yeddyurappa said the sur-vey would be conducted by anexternal agency and it may startin about two months.

"The survey will be heldthroughout the State to get acorrect picture and find out ourprobable candidate," he added.

In May, there were reportsthat a "secret survey" was beingconducted through a privateagency at the behest of BJPchief Amit Shah in the 224Assembly constituencies in theState, based on which the saf-fron party's election plan,including selection of candi-dates, was likely to be finalised.

Following this, ChiefMinister Siddaramaiah hadalso announced that theCongress would carry out asurvey about the performanceof its Government and legisla-

tors to formalise its strategy inthe run up to the Assemblyelection.

Yeddyurappa also claimedthat several sitting legislatorsfrom the rival party were keenon switching over to the BJP sixmonths before the Assemblypolls. "Many are approachingus, the only problem they haveis if they join the party now thedevelopment in their con-stituency would stop and elec-tions are approaching, and by-polls will have to be held. "Theywant to join when six monthsare left for Assembly electionsto avoid any by-polls," he saidin response to a question.

He said there are alsoMLAs from ruling Congresswho wanted to join the BJP, butdeclined to specify any num-bers. "Many have expressedinterest.. We are looking toencourage them wherever wedon't have a good candidate.We don't want to promise

everyone and bring them in,"he added.

Yeddyurappa said by look-ing at the sudden spurt ofactivities in the ruling party, itwas clear that the State mightgo in for Assembly polls inDecember. "Looking at theactivities of Congress' new in-charge of the State — MLAsbeing directed to focus onrespective constituencies, sud-den increase in pressure onofficials to look into develop-mental activities — the suddenspurt indicates to me that earlyelections may be called byDecember. We are preparingfor it," he said.

Questioned about the rea-sons for the Congress possiblycalling for early polls,Yeddyurappa said there wasfear among them that thedrought situation may worsen.

Also, he claimed, the partyfelt that by holding electionsalong with Gujarat they would

benefit, thinking that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andShah's focus would be on win-ning their home State.

Claiming that the croploan waiver of �8,165 crore wasannounced by the CongressGovernment in the State underthe BJP's pressure, he said themove would in no way impactthe party.

"Other State Governmentshave announced waiver ofloans by upto �1 lakh perfarmer, here it is just �50,000.They should have done it muchearlier as the state is facingsevere drought," he added.

Yeddyurappa claimed thatthe BJP would contest all 224Assembly seats independentlyand secure a clear majority.

He maintained that thereare no differences within theBJP and everyone was workingtogether for the party's successin the 2018 Assembly polls.

Recently, Yeddyurappa had

faced a factional feud fromwithin, led by senior partyleader K S Eshwarappa, over his"unilateral style" of functioningas party's State unit chief.

The former Chief Minister,who expressed his intentions tocontest from ShikaripurAssembly constituency, hasbeen projected as the BJP'schief ministerial face by theparty high command.

He also said the BJP, ifvoted to power, would shift cer-tain Government departmentsto Suvarna Vidhana Soudha inBelagavi in northern part ofKarnataka to reduce the dis-parity between the north andthe south. "That will be our firstpreference", he said.

Currently Yeddyurappa ison a State-wide tour as part ofBJP's 'Jana Samparka Abhiyana'where he has been addressinga series of public meetings andvisiting Dalit colonies andhouses.

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Deviating from the usualpractice, Uttar Pradesh

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathdid not visit the eidgah inLucknow on Monday on theoccasion of Eid, prompting hispredecessor Akhilesh Yadav totake a swipe at him.

However, Deputy ChiefMinister Dinesh Sharma visit-ed the eidgah. Reacting toAdityanath's absence,Samajwadi Party presidentYadav told reporters, "I am aformer Chief Minister... I amhere. He (Adityanath) shouldtell why he did not come."

It has been customary forUttar Pradesh Chief Ministersto visit an eidgah on the occa-

sion of Eid, which marks theculmination of the holy month

of Ramazan.Aditya Nath, however,

greeted the people on Eid andnoted that the festival is a spe-

cial occasion where the mes-sage of joy and peace is spreadto the world. "This festival ofhappiness enhances the spirit ofmutual brotherhood as well asstrengthening social unity. Itgives everyone a message ofpeace and harmony in society,"he said.

Governor Ram Naik alsovisited the eidgah and extend-ed greetings to the Muslimcommunity on the occasion ofEid.

The deputy Chief Ministersaid, "On one side there iseidgah and on the otherRamlila is played (inAishbagh). This is an area ofAli and Bajrangbali and whenboth unite it gives strength todemocracy."

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Yogi Aditya Nath on Mondaycompleted 100 days in office

as Uttar Pradesh Chief Ministerbut it was a low-key anniversarywith no big event to showcase theachievements of theGovernment.

The BJP Government,which assumed office on March19 after bagging 325 of the 403Assembly seats along with itsallies, faces major challenges,some of the biggest being raisingfunds for the farm loan-waiverand law and order issues, includ-ing communal clashes.

The loan-waiver, a pre-poll promise of the BJP, has thefinance department burningthe proverbial midnight oil asit tries to offload the sudden fis-cal burden of nearly �36,369crore. This, coupled with�34,000 crore for the imple-mentation of the seventh paycommission recommendations,has put an additional burden of�70,000 crore on the State’s cof-fers, an official said.

There are other challengestoo. Like arranging funds formega projects like thePurvanchal e-way. TheGovernment has also admittedit could manage to make just 63per cent of the State’s roads pot-hole free by the June 15 deadlineset by the Chief Minister.

Distribution of free laptopsamong students, mentioned inthe BJP manifesto, is anotherunfinished promise. The schemewas inaugurated on March 19but there is no launch date yet.

The 45-year-old saffronclad Chief Minister and hisCabinet colleagues have alreadysought more time saying theyinherited a "jungle raj" from the

SP Government and it wouldtake them some time to setthings in order.

As the State Governmentwas busy preparing a 100-dayachievement document, theOpposition parties stepped uptheir attack.

State Congress spokespersonDwijendra Tripathi ridiculedthe ruling party for makingpromises that it could not meet."Two months of the AdityanathGovernment have not sent outany strong message on any of theissues which were part of BJP'scampaign — improved law-and-order situation and better admin-istration," he said.

BSP chief Mayawati allegedthat the Dalits, the OBCs aswell as forward castes, includ-ing Brahmins, have been facing"atrocities" in the state in anapparent attempt to associateAditya Nath and his govern-ment with Kshatriyas only.

As head of the GorakhnathPeeth, Aditya Nath has oftenassociated himself withKshatriya symbols.

He is often seen surround-ed by mostly Kshatriyas and hassupported Thakur leaders ofother parties too. In 2013, hecame out in support of Kunda

MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh,alias Raja Bhaiya who wasaccused of conspiring to kill adeputy superintendent of police.

Not known to take the fre-quent barbs directed at himlying down, former ChiefMinister and SP leader AkhileshYadav recently took on the YogiGovernment, saying, "I neverknew officers wielded brooms sowell. Now the question is howmuch filth have they cleared sofar?" He said the deadline tomake state roads pothole-free byJune 15 remained a "pipe dream".

Asked about the YogiGovernment's decision to probethe Expressway and river frontprojects launched during the SPrule, Akhilesh said, "Will thisGovernment do any work...Orwill it only conduct probes?This Government should try todo better work than us."

Refuting criticism on lawand order, State Cabinet MinisterShrikant Sharma said, "A specialcell will be constituted in theCM's office for crime-monitor-ing, which will be done person-ally by the CM."

"SP leaders, who have car-ried criminals and rapists withthem in their cars, should intro-spect," he added.

Since taking office on March19, the Aditya Nath Governmenthas recommended CBI probesinto several projects of the pre-vious regime led by AkhileshYadav, leaving the SP fuming.

"The Government hasbecome an inquiry committee. Itis resorting to such tactics tosmokescreen its failures...Itsmacks of politics of vendetta,"SP chief spokesperson RajendraChowdhury told PTI. He saidthe State was under "an unde-clared Emergency" since the saf-fron party came to power.

For almost a month afterAdityanath took over the reins ofthe State, some 80 presentationswere made by as many depart-ments before him.

Counting the Government'sachievements, PrincipalSecretary (Information)Avaneesh Awasthi said it has halfa dozen significant measures,starting with the �36,500 croreloan waiver and the power-for-all agreement.

The power-for-all agree-ment with the Centre promiseselectricity around the clock todistrict headquarters and 18hours a day to all villages. A panelof Group of Ministers constitut-ed by the Chief Minister has sub-mitted a report on a new min-ing policy and on clampingdown on illegal mining, a majorproblem in UP.

A portal being launchedunder the CMO's supervision toallow people to file complain onillegal land-grab could be agame-changer too, officials said.

Another key decision wasmaking transfers and postings ofbureaucrats "merit-based" andfree from extraneous pressures asreflected in wide-scale transfersdone by the Government.

Bengaluru: A bid to save hisdogs that had strayed into a lakein neighbouring Ramanagardistrict cost a city-based entre-preneur his arm, as a crocodileripped off his left forearm whenhe entered the waters.

The incident happenedwhen 26-year-old MuditDandwate, co-founder of ahealthcare startup, along withhis friend and two dogs was ona leisure trip to a temple nearThatekere in a forest area onSunday.

According to police,Dandwate, hailing fromNagpur and a graduate fromIIT Bombay, had taken thedogs for a walk near the lakewhen they strayed into thewaters. In his rush to pull thedogs out of the lake, the manis said to have not seen awarning board about presenceof crocodiles, and was attackedby one which bit off his left

forearm, police officials said onMonday. Dandwate was rushedto a private hospital in the city,where he is undergoing treat-ment.

Doctors treating Dandwatesaid a procedure calleddebridement has been per-formed on him to clean thedead tissues and avoid infec-tion as crocodile bite can betoxic. After required medicalprocedures, he will be provid-ed with a prosthetic arm in afew months time, they said.

Officials said forest officialshave take up the case for inves-tigation. PTI

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Even as Bengal administra-tion stepped up police

activities in Darjeeling hills,Gorkha Janmukti Morcha onMonday threatened to launchbigger stir if the Centre and theState Government did not payheed to “our demand of a sep-arate Gorkhaland.”

Threatening to take themovement to “its logical end”GJM youth wing chief PrakashGurung said the party waskeeping options open on stepslike “self-immolation” and fast-until-death “to make the statesee reasons.”

The Morcha would burn inpublic the copies of GTA agree-ment signed in 2011 afterMamata Banerjee came topower. “The party will burn thecopies of the agreement” as asymbolic expression of its rejec-tion of the projected instru-ment of peace in the Hillsafter a crucial meeting on June29 where all the Hill outfitswould converge to chalk outfuture plans: particularly inthe face of growing food crisisand “apparent apathy of boththe Centre and the State tosolve the issue.”

The Centre, State and theGJM had signed the GTAaccord to grant considerableautonomy to the Hill councilwhereby about 54 departmentswere to be transferred to theelected body.

However, GJM complainedof continuous neglect on thepart of the Chief Minister toimplement the conditions

mentioned in the Accord. “Instead she in the name of

development not only tried todivide the Hill population bycreating multiple councils ofdifferent ethnic minorities butalso implicated the Morchaleaders in false cases whenthey tried to raise their voicesagainst her misrule. So there isno question of looking back toGTA once again. It is a closedchapter and we will not takepart in the GTA elections. Thepeople of Darjeeling will takenothing short of a separateState,” Gurung said addingpeople were preparing to makethe “ultimate sacrifice.”

His statements came whensenior IPS officers includingIGP, SN Gupta on Monday leda route march in Darjeelinganticipating fresh trouble.

The people of Darjeelingwere planning to “make theultimate sacrifice through self-immolation and fast-until-death if our demand was notconsidered at the earliest” theMorcha leadership said even asa large posse of retired Gorkhasoldiers took part in a silent

procession in Darjeeling. Though they would not

utter a word, their family mensaid “the Centre has to lookinto the matter with full sym-pathy. We have nothing towith the Bengal Government orMamata Banerjee who has per-petrated a reign of terror inDarjeeling.”

While the Morcha gave a12-hour relaxation to the indef-inite bandh that reached its 12thday on Monday on the occasionof Eid, large numbers of peoplewere seen on the roads franti-cally looking for food. “Yesour stocks have exhausted andwe have almost nothing to eat.But still we want Gorkhaland,”an old man said matter of fact-ly while trying to run after amini-truck laden with vegeta-bles sent by the Morcha to dis-tribute food items.

Meanwhile, in an unrelat-ed development MamataBanerjee came down heavily onthe Narendra ModiGovernment for “unleashingbands of tormentors on thestreets who are killing innocentpeople in the name of religion.

Rajamahendravaram: Fifteenpeople from a tribal village inEast Godavari district of AndhraPradesh have died in the last twoweeks, with food poisoning sus-pected to be a possible reason.

Another 24 people fromthe same village, Chavaraee in YRamavaram mandal of EastGodavari district, have beenadmitted to hospitals inRajamahendravaram andKakinada since last night astheir condition deteriorated.

Integrated tribal develop-ment agency (ITDA) projectofficer AN Dinesh Kumar saidthat several people from the vil-lage suffered suspected foodpoisoning after partaking a mar-riage feast at Maradumily villageon May 29.

A couple of days after thefeast, many got ill. The village,located in a forested area, record-ed 15 deaths in the course of lasttwo weeks, and food poisoningwas suspected to be one of thepossible reasons, he said.

District collector KartikeyaMishra, who rushed to the areaafter the reports of deathsreached the headquarters, saidfamily members of the deceasedwill be given a financial aid of �2lakh each.

Andhra Pradesh deputyChief Minister N Chinarajappavisited the area last night, whileChief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu spoke to officials overphone and directed them to takeall necessary steps to providerelief, official sources said.Medical teams have been sent tothe area, they added. PTI

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Prohibitory orders has beenimposed here after clashes

between CPI(M) and BJP partyworkers left twenty-six peopleinjured, police said on Monday.

The Tripura State Rifles(TSR) and CRPF jawans havebeen deployed in the area as aprecautionary measure, a

senior police official said.The clash took place at

around 10 pm in Mirja subdi-vision on Saturday when theBJP activists were putting uptheir party flags, which wasresisted by the CPI(M) sup-porters.

The incident left twenty-three party workers of BJPand three CPI(M) activistsinjured, Superintendent ofPolice (SP) Monchak Ippersaid, adding that the injuredwere hospitalised and theircondition is stable.

“The prohibitory ordersunder Section 144 CrPC hasbeen clamped in Belonia sinceyesterday. The situation is com-pletely under control now,” theSP said.

The state BJP vice presi-dent Subal Bhowmick, whovisited the area yesterday,alleged that “an unprecedentedviolence has been unleashed bythe ruling CPI(M) throughoutthe state” and demanded“imposition of Disturbed AreasAct in the state to ensure safe-ty and security of people.”

CPI(M) state secretaryBijan Dhar said, “the demandfor Disturbed Areas Act was apre-planned conspiracy of BJPto disturb peace and tranquil-lity in the State.” “It is wrongthat the CPI(M) unleashedviolence on the BJP workersrather the BJP activists havebeen attacking the CPI(M)cadres in the State,” Dhar said.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Partypatron Mulayam Singh Yadavtoday said the Army should begiven full freedom to deal withthe situation prevailing inKashmir.

Mulayam, who visited theAishbagh Eidgah only after hisson and former Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav had left theplace, was speaking to reporters.“The Army should be givenpermission to deal with the sit-uation there and maintainpeace and at the same time dealwith separatists strictly,” the for-mer Defence Minister said.

Kashmir Valley has wit-

nessed a spurt in attacks by mil-itants and protests by civiliansagainst security forces.

On the Presidential polls,Mulayam said, “I do not want tosay anything about it right now.”Relations between Mulayamand Akhilesh have been strainedafter the latter took over reignsof the party. PTI

Sabarimala: The gold-platedflag mast at the famed LordAyyappa Temple here, which wasfound damaged soon after it wasinstalled on Sunday, has beenrepaired and restored to its oldglory. In view of the incident, theTravancore Devaswom Board,which manages the hill shrine,has decided to strengthen thesecurity from the downhillNilackal to the 'sannidhanam',the temple premises, a top offi-cial said.

“We are planning to installa new security system that willenable us to scan and monitorpilgrims as well as vehicles fromNilackal onwards,” TDBPresident PrayarGopalakrishnan said.

The 'panchavargathara', thesquare base, of the flag mast atthe Lord Ayyappa temple wasfound damaged by using somechemical, suspected to be mer-cury, on Sunday afternoon.

According to police, as manyas five people, hailing fromVijayawada in neighbouringAndhra Pradesh, were takeninto custody in connection withthe incident. Gopalakrishnansaid the damage was rectified inthe night itself. “We could recti-fy the damage of the mast in thenight itself,” he said. PTI

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The Tamil NaduGovernment on Monday

expressed concern over the“alarming increase” in numberof “attacks” on Indian fishermenby the Sri Lankan Navy andsought the Centre’s interventionfor release of 42 of them.

Referring to a spate of “dis-tressing” arrests of Indian fish-ermen from his State in the lastfew days, Chief Minister KPalaniswami said such appre-hensions have a “demoralisingimpact” on fishermen as well asthe people of the state.

In a letter to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, heraised the issue of arrest of 14fishermen in two separateinstances by the Lankan navyon Saturday. “In spite of theInternational Maritime

Boundary Line (IMBL)between India and Sri Lankabeing sub-judice due to theceding of Katchatheevu islet,the Sri Lankan Navy is contin-uing its marauding attacks onand abductions of our fisher-men,” he said.

He recalled the state urgingthe Centre to use diplomaticmeasures to “prevail” uponColombo “and reverse thistrend”. “These instances, occur-ring on an everyday basis, inwhich our boats with innocentfishermen are being appre-hended with impunity by theSri Lankan Navy has a demor-alising impact not just on thefishermen, but also on peopleof Tamil Nadu,” he said in theletter.

The people of the state“strongly believe” that the fish-ermen have a genuine claim tothe Palk Bay fishing grounds

from where they “are beingapprehended,” he added.

The chief minister alsopointed out that Sri Lanka hasnot released any of the fishingboats apprehended sinceJanuary 2015, adding, that this“inhumane strategy” was caus-ing great loss of livelihood tothe fishermen.

“There was wide expecta-tion among the people of TamilNadu that the boats appre-hended since 2015 would bereleased as an outcome of yourmeeting with the Sri Lankanprime minister in April,”Palaniswami said, referring toModi's meeting with RanilWickremesinghe in Delhi.

“The alarming increase inthe frequency of abductions bythe Sri Lankan Navy is a mat-ter of utmost concern for the(State) Government and thepeople of Tamil Nadu. An

immediate intervention at thehighest level is sought to resolvethis long standing livelihoodissue of our fishermen,” hesaid.

The Tamil NaduGovernment was taking “mul-tifarious” steps to convert trawl-ing boats to long liners and gillnetters in the shortest possibleperiod, Palaniswami said,adding all transitions take time.

“The Sri Lankan policy ofabduction of boats in this tran-sition period without respiteonly indicates its increasingintolerant attitude and the scantrespect for the Indian diplo-matic efforts,” he said.

The Chief Minister urgedModi to take the matter upwith the highest authorities inthe Sri Lankan Governmentand ensure the immediaterelease of a total of 42 fisher-men and 141 boats.

Kolkata: Former Calcutta High Courtjudge CS Karnan, jailed on an order ofthe Supreme Court, has moved a peti-tion before the Governor of WestBengal seeking bail or parole. Karnan,62, who was lodged at the PresidencyCorrectional Home here on June 21 fol-lowing his arrest in Tamil Nadu a dayearlier, is at present undergoing treat-ment at the state-run SSKM Hospital.

He was sentenced to six months'imprisonment for contempt of court bya seven-judge bench of the SupremeCourt, headed by Chief Justice of IndiaJ S Khehar, on May 9.

Questioning the constitutionality ofthe order of imprisonment of Karnanby the apex court, the petition said, “Itis requested that the applicant may

please be enlarged on bail/parole till thesaid lacunae are remedied and consti-tutional supremacy restored.”

Making the appeal through hislawyers, Karnan said, “The applicant isready and willing to abide by any

terms and conditions that may beimposed for granting bail/parole tohim.”

He appealed to Governor KesriNath Tripathi that he should “exercisethe jurisdiction invested in your excel-lency and enlarge the prisoner ShriJustice CS Karnan on bail/parole in theinterest of justice and equity”. “Theappeal has been sent by speed post to thegovernor,” Karnan's counsel Mathew JNedumpara said on Monday.

“Copies of the representation havealso been sent to the West Bengal ChiefMinister, the home Minister and theLaw Minister of the State,” Nedumparasaid.

Karnan, who retired as a judge ofthe Calcutta High Court on June 12 as

a fugitive, was arrested on June 20 fromCoimbatore in Tamil Nadu after evad-ing the police for more than a month.

Karnan, who was on a warpath withthe Supreme Court for the last severalmonths, has the dubious distinction ofbeing the first sitting high court judgeto be awarded a jail term by the apexcourt.

Despite several attempts, Karnanhas failed to get any relief from the apexcourt's vacation benches which refusedto hear his plea seeking a stay of its jailterm order.

His lawyers have also claimed tohave approached President PranabMukherjee for exercising his power tostay the apex court's order, but no reliefhas come to the ex-judge so far. . PTI

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An internal probe by KochiMetro Rail Limited has

found violation of the MetroAct by former Kerala ChiefMinister Oommen Chandyand other Congress leadersduring their “protest journey”against Chandy's non-invita-tion to the recent inaugurationof metro services here.

The Kochi Metro RailLimited (KMRL) today saidthose who had breached cer-tain substantive provisions ofthe Metro Railways(Operations and Maintenance)Act, 2002 during the 'JanakeeyaYatra' would face legal action.

“The report of the Director(Finance), KMRL regarding

the Janakeeya Yatra that tookplace in the Kochi Metro Railsystem on June 20, was sub-mitted to MD, KMRL onMonday. “It was found by theEnquiry Officer that there hadbeen breaches of certain sub-stantive provisions of the MetroRailways (Operations andMaintenance) Act, 2002,” aKMRL spokesperson said.

In the light of the enquiryreport, further legal action wouldbe taken by KMRL following thestipulated procedures prescribedin this Act, she said.

The ruling CPI(M) hadsought action against Chandyand several other Congress lead-ers for allegedly disrupting KochiMetro train services by under-taking the protest journey.

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Lakhs of pilgrims on Mondayoffered prayers to Goddess

Kamakhya after the doors ofthe Kamakhya temple atop theNilachal Hill here reopenedafter remaining closed for fourdays .

The doors which wereclosed from the 22nd of thismonth reopened after routinerituals and prayers at 6.15 amthis morning with devoteeseagerly waiting to get a darshanof the Devi.

The faithfuls said theyqueued up from 2 am to enterKamakhya temple, consideredmost sacred and oldest of the51 Shakti Peeths of the coun-try, so that they could offertheir prayers and obeisance toMaa Kamakhya at the culmi-nation of Ambubachi Mela.

Assam GovernorBanwarilal Purohit and ChiefMinister Sarbananda Sonowalalso offered offered prayers toGoddess Kamakhya on theoccasion of the Ambubachimela. The temple this yearwitnessed an unprecedentedrush of an estimated eight lakhpilgrims from all over thecountry and abroad convergingat Kamakhya temple on banksof the mighty Brahmaputra

for Ambubachi Mela, accord-ing to Kamakhya Temple man-agement sources.

The mela, also known asAmoti or Tantric fertility festi-val during the monsoon seasonfalling in the Assamese monthof Ahaar, is the celebration ofthe yearly menstruation courseof goddess Kamakhya.

Believing the temple's pre-siding goddess Devi Kamakhyaor Mother Shakti or MotherEarth goes through her annu-al cycle of menstruation duringthis time the doors of the tem-ple are closed to visitors for fourdays.

According to Hindu tradi-tion Ambubachi symbolisesancient agricultural concept

that Mother Earth is a fertilewoman whose womb germi-nates seeds.

The temple has no idol ofthe presiding deity but GoddessKamakhya is instead wor-shipped in the form of a yoni-like (private part/womb) stoneover which a natural springflows in the sanctum sancto-rum of the temple.

According to the KalikaPurana, Kamakhya Templedenotes the spot where LordShiva's wife Sati's yoni fell afterShiva danced with her corpse,while a later work Yogini Tantraignores this and associatesKamakhya with the goddessKali and emphasises the cre-ative symbolism of the yoni.

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Goa Chief MinisterManohar Parrikar on

Monday indicated, that the�35,000 crore illegal miningscam, in which a formerCongress Chief Minister, topbureaucrats and mining com-panies are linked, could behanded over to the CBI forinvestigation.

Parrikaralso said,that the finaldecision onh a n d i n gover the caseto the CBIwould betaken by theGoa Government, after thestate police, whose SpecialInvestigation Team is probingthe case, submits a report tohome ministry.

“So we are going to do it.Let the police give their report,”Parrikar told reporters onMonday, when asked if thestates government was con-templating handing over themining scam case to theCentral Bureau ofInvestigation.

The Chief Minister alsoindicated that the CBI may bethe appropriate authority to theprobe the mammoth scam, asthe case was complicated innature. “Government has nottaken a decision. There aremany issues which are verycomplex in the mining (scamcase),” the former DefenceMinister said.

Mining in Goa wasstopped both by the StateGovernment, as well as theUnion Ministry forEnvironment and Forests in2012, following a �35,000 croreillegal mining scam which wasunearthed by the Justice MBShah commission of inquiryappointed by the Union Minesministry.

All top mining companieswere indicted in the illegalmining scam exposed by theCommission, which has alsopointed out to a politician-bureaucrat-mining companiesnexus. For Congress ChiefMinister Digambar Kamat hasbeen questioned by the SIT onseveral occasions in connectionwith the scam.

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Two women have beenbooked in Goa on Monday

for insulting the national flag,assaulting a police constableand heckling Goa's HealthMinister Vishwajit Rane, whilethe latter was on an officialinspection at a Governmenthospital on Sunday.

Superintendent of Police(South Goa) ChandanChoudhury confirmed to ThePioneer that a First InformationReport had been registered atthe Margao police station inSouth Goa under Sections 352(assault), 353 (preventingGovernment servant from dis-charge of duty), 504 (breach ofpeace), read along with relevantsections of the Prevention ofInsults to National HonourAct 1971.

“An FIR has been regis-tered and we are in the processof probing the matter,”Choudhury said.

On Sunday, a video of twowomen, believed to be a moth-er-daughter duo, heckling Raneat the Hospicio hospital in

Margao, had gone viral. Thevideo showed the two womenshouting bad-words at Raneand accusing him of betrayingpeople's trust by quitting theCongress and joining the BJPsoon after Assembly results weredeclared in March this year.

Rane, however said, thatthe FIR was registered by hispersonal security officer SharadChopdekar, because the duohad misbehaved with him andhad also insulted the nationalflag, affixed to his car.

“It looks like they wereplanted by the Congress. Theyabused me, hit my PSO andeven tried to damage the flagon my car,” Rane told ThePioneer.

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Incarcerated former high-profile media executive

Indrani Mukerjea, who is beingtried for murdering her daugh-ter Sheena Bora, is amongnearly 200 women jail inmateswho have been booked forhatching a conspiracy andindulging in a riot inside theByculla prison, after the deathof a woman prisoner on Fridaynight.

Two days after six womenjail officials were booked for thealleged murder of 40-year-oldManjula Shetye who suc-cumbed to severe injuries thatshe had suffered in her head,lungs and liver, the Nagpadapolice registered a case against200 inmates, including Indrani,in connection with a riot thatbroke out within the prisonpremises after Manjula’s death.

Trouble broke out in theByculla women jail afterManjula, a resident of Bhandupin north-east Mumbai whohad been serving life sentencein Pune’s Yerwada for the mur-der of her sister-in-law and was

recently shifted to Byculla jail,was declared dead upon heradmission to the state-run JJHospital on Friday night. Apost-mortem conducted onMahjula’s body revealed thatshe had died of “multiple con-tusions and pulmonary edema”.

After registering a case ofaccidental death initially, theNagpada police booked sixwomen jail staffers — ManishaPokharkar, jailer, BinduNaikode, Waseema Shaikh,Sheetal Shegaokar, SurekhaGudve and Aarti Shingane, allguards on Saturday night formurder — for allegedly beatingManjula to death, after thepost-mortem report arrived.Pending a full-fledged enquiry,all the six jail staffers were sus-pended for alleged derelictionof duty.

After the news of Manjulaspread within the Bycullawomen jail which houses morethan 350 women inmates andat least 25 children who staywith their jail inmate-mothersinside the prison, nearly 200women prisoners — includingIndrani — climbed up the

two-storey terrace of the jailbuilding and staged a protest.

The protesters set books,newspapers and clothes on fireand shouted slogans against theprison officials. They alsoreportedly clashed with thejail staffers who tried to quellthe rioters.

Having registered two sep-arate cases — one against sixwomen jail staffers and anoth-er against nearly 200 jailinmates including Indrani, theNagpada police officials arerecording the statements ofaccused in both the cases.

While a magisterialenquiry has been ordered intothe death of Manjula, InspectorGeneral of Police — PrisonsRajvardhan Sinha is investi-gating the two incidents insidethe Byculla prison.

Manjula’s family membershave told the police that shewas extremely popular inYerwada jail and used to teachknitting for women jail inmatesin the prison. “Consideringher good behaviour, Manjulahad been designated an adhoc warden and asked to dis-cipline and control the unrulywomen prisoners insideYerwada jail. She looked haleand hearty when I visited herat the Byculla jail a month ago,”Manjula’s brother Anand said.

Notwithstanding thealleged involvement in six jailstaffers in the murder ofManjula, the spotlight in thecase has turned to Indraniwho along with her media-baron husband PeterMukherjea and her formerhusband Sanjeev Khanna.

Indrani, who was arrestedon August 25, 2015 for heralleged role in the murder ofher daughter Sheena, is the keyaccused in the Sheena Boramurder case. Indrani’s formerhusband Sanjeev Khanna andher second husband PeterMukherjea are two otheraccused in the case.

Sheena was daughter ofIndrani from her first live-inpartner Siddhartha Das.Incidentally, Sheena was in alive-in relationship with RahulMukerjea, the son of PeterMukherjea — a relationshipwhich the CBI has stated in itsaffidavit both Indrani and Peterhad disapproved.

The CBI – which tookover the investigations intothe Sheena Bora murder casefrom the Mumbai police onSeptember 29, 2015 – had onNovember 19, 2015 filed acomprehensive charge-sheet,running into 1,000-odd pages,against Indrani, her formerhusband Khanna and driverShyamvar Rai.

Initially, there were fouraccused in the Sheena Boramurder case – Indrani, her for-mer husband Sanjeev Khanna,her driver Shyamvar Rai andPeter Mukherjea. Of them, Raiwas granted pardon and madean approver in the case on June20, 2016.

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The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) has

arrested a recovery officer fromthe Debts Recovery Tribunal(DRT) here and a middlemanin connection with an allegedbribery case.

Having arrested the DRTofficial, the CBI carried outsearches in his residentialpremises and recovered FDcertificates worth �65 lakh,Kisan Vikas Patras (KVPs) val-ued at �9 lakh and some prop-erty documents.

The CBI’s case is that theDRT officer had demanded abribe of �7 lakh from the com-plainant and instructed him tohand over the money in theform of a cheque to a middle-man for releasing payment infavour of complainant's client.

According to the CBI, theDRT officer introduced themiddleman to the complainantand on his instructions.Afterwards, a cheque of �7 lakhwas issued and delivered to themiddleman.

After their arrest, the DRTofficer and the middlemanwere on Monday producedbefore the competent court,which remanded them inpolice custody till June 28.

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Easing some pressure fore-commerce f i rms

Government on Mondaydeferred implementation ofTDS and TCS provisions aswell as exempted from reg-istration small businessesselling on ecommerce plat-form.

E-commerce companieswill not be required to collect1 per cent TCS (TaxCollection at Source) whilemaking payment to suppliersunder the Goods andServices Tax (GST) whichwill be rolled out from July1.

As per the Central GST(CGST) Act, the notifiedentities are required to col-lect TDS (Tax Deducted atSource) at 1 per cent onpayments to suppliers togoods or services in excess of�2.5 lakh.

This provision has beenkept in abeyance.

Based on the feedbackreceived from trade andindustry, the government has

decided to postpone provi-sion relating to TDS (Section51) and TCS (Section 52) ofthe CGST/State GST Act2017, with the objective ofensuring smooth rollout of

GST, the finance ministrysaid in a statement.

Small businesses, withturnover less than �20 lakh,will also not be required toregister themselves under

the GST for selling goods orservices through ecommerceportal.

In other words, personssupplying goods or servicesthrough electronic com-

merce operator liable to col-lect tax at source would notbe required to obtain regis-tration immediately.

"This step has been takento provide more time for per-sons liable to deduct tax atsource/ecommerce compa-nies and their suppliers toprepare for the historic taxreform," the s tatementadded.

The GST Network portalhas started accepting regis-tration of TDS, TCS deduc-tors and e-commerce opera-tors only yesterday. Given thehuge rush, it is unlikely thatall registrations would bedone before the July 1 rolloutdate.

Biggest indirec t taxreform since Independence,GST will subsume host oflevies, including excise, ser-vice tax, VAT and other locallevies. It will create a uni-form market for seamlesstransfer of goods and ser-vices. GST is expected towiden the tax base, check taxevasion and add about 1-2per cent to GDP.

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Indraprastha Gas Limited(IGL)on Monday talked

about inauguration of ‘SwasthSaarthi Abhiyan and FuelConservation Workshop-Initiative by IGL andPetroleum ConservationResearch Association (PCRA)for public vehicle drivers onMonday in New Delhi, whichwill be launched on 28th June2017 at Siri Fort Auditorium at11 am jointly by them.

"We all must have noticedthat whoever comes to Delhior any other new city, the firstcontact is always with the dri-ver. Be it a bus, taxi or auto dri-ver. Being active ingredients inour business, it is our respon-sibility to take good care ofthem", said Praveen KumarPandey, Vice President, Headof Marketing, IGL.

Having collaborated withPCRA, this is an initiativewhich aims at providing bet-ter healthcare facilities to dri-

vers of commercial vehicles allover Delhi and NCR whichincludes vision and eye checkup, blood group testing, coun-seling, diabetes check up, sleepapnea- which is the majorconcern for drivers as they fallasleep while driving duringnight, etc.

" We are fortunate to havethe support of Delhi police inthis event, which is a uniqueinitiative to address the majorissues of public transport dri-vers of the region, with almostall being users of CNG", saidAmandeep, CGM-Corp, IGL.

There will also be anannouncement for the IGL'Swasth Saarthi' Web Portalwhich will have all the detailsof health check up of the dri-vers. All they will have to dois enter their Aadhar Cardnumber and the password(available to them duringcheck up) to view their checkup history on the website forthe future reference of thedoctor.

The health check up

which will be conducted incollaboration with St.Stephens Hospital will be con-tinued for the next twomonths till 31st august 2017 invarious stations across DelhiNCR. To motivate more andmore drivers to come and bea part of the inauguration aswell as the camps, IGL willprovide them �100 CNGcoupon as an incentive fortheir work loss for the day. Allthose drivers who will be anactive member of this initia-tive till 31st August, they willget CNG coupon worth �50.

Creating awareness aboutthe event via radio, newspa-pers, banners at CNG sta-tions, 'Swasth SaarthiAbhiyan' expects a footfall ofover 2000 drivers from acrossDelhi NCR. Also, the campsat various stations all over forthe next two months till 31stAugust, aims to be noticedand visited by commercialvehicle drivers so that theirgood healthcare is main-tained.

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��� ���� � � TheGovernment ' s move todefer implementation ofTDS and TCS provisionsunder the upcoming GSTregime will ease pressure ofcash flow for small busi-nesses on e-commerce plat-forms, leading e- tai lerAmazon said today.

E-commerce playerslike Flipkart, Amazon andSnapdeal were to deduct 1per cent TCS (tax collectedat source) while makingpayments to suppl iersunder the GST that rolls outfrom July 1.

"This will benefit smallbusinesses since they don't

have to deal with pressuresof cash flow at a time whenthey are transitioning intoa ne w t ax reg ime, "Amazon.In said in a state-ment.

Flipkart did not com-ment on the development.

The finance ministrysaid it has decided to post-pone provision relating toTDS (Section 51) and TCS(S e c t ion 52) of t heCGST/State GST Act 2017based on the feedbackreceived from trade andindustry.

This was being donewith the objective of ensur-ing smooth roll out of the

GST.Also, small businesses

with turnover less than �20lak h wi l l a l so not b erequired to register them-selves under the GST forselling goods or servicesthrough e-commerce por-tals.

In Februar y, onl ineretail heavyweights hadcome together to voice con-cern over TCS. They hadclaimed that if TCS wasimplemented, i t wouldresult in a capital lock-down of about �400 croreper annum and discouragemerchants from sell ingonline. #�

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India's implementation of the"complex" Goods and Services

Tax (GST) could be studied byUS business schools, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hassaid, as he invited top Americancompanies to invest in the coun-try which has initiated majorreforms.

"The implementation of thelandmark initiative of GST couldbe a subject of studies in USbusiness schools," Modi said yes-terday while interacting with 20top American CEOs at a round-table here ahead of his first meet-ing with US President DonaldTrump.

On GST, the Prime Ministersaid that this is becoming a real-ity after years of effort, ahead ofthe roll out of the landmark taxreform measure from July 1.

He added that its imple-mentation is a "complex" taskand went on to suggest that thiscould be the subject of futurecase-studies.

Implementation of the GSTshows India can take big deci-sions and implement themswiftly, the prime minister saidat the interaction with the groupof CEOs that included TimCook of Apple, Sunder Pichaifrom Google, John Chambers

from Cisco and Jeff Bezos ofAmazon.

Modi told them that hisgovernment was working onprinciples such as MinimumGovernment, MaximumGovernance.

The Prime Minister spoke ofthe recent reforms, and notedthat the Union Governmentalone has initiated 7000 reforms.He said this indicates India'squest for global benchmarks. Hementioned the Government'semphasis on efficiency, trans-parency, growth and benefit forall.

Pichai told reporters after themeeting that American busi-nesses were excited about invest-ing in India.

Praising the steps beingtaken by the Indian government

in the last three years, he said theUS companies are looking for-ward to the roll out of the GST.

"Good," said Cook as heemerged out of the meeting.

The US-India BusinessCouncil (USIBC) presidentMukesh Aghi said the CEOspraised the reforms being under-taken by the Prime Minister andunderscore his efforts to makeIndia a business-friendly desti-nation.

Prime Minister Modi alsosaid that if America becomesstronger, India will be a naturalbeneficiary. He also added thatIndia believes that a strongAmerica is good for the world.

He sought enhanced atten-tion from the CEOs in areassuch as women empowerment,renewable energy, startups andinnovation. He suggested link-ing sanitary practices, productsand technologies with therequirements of school goinggirls.

He reiterated that his pri-mary interest is improving thequality of life in India.

Touted as the biggest taxa-tion reform since Independence,GST will unify 16 different taxesincluding excise, service tax andVAT, and transform India into asingle market for seamless move-ment of goods and services.

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���������The finance min-istry has made a case for push-ing back the Reserve Bank'sdeadline for implementingBasel III banking norms inview of higher capital require-ment to deal with bad loanswhich have reached unaccept-able levels.

In a recent meeting withRBI, senior officials from theministry pitched for deferringthe implementation beyondMarch 2019, saying it will helpbanks meet the capital needsand increase credit flow toproductive sectors along withbalance sheet clean-up.

These global capital to risknorms, called Basel III capitalregulation, are being imple-mented in phased manner byReserve Bank of India sinceApril 1, 2013. They are to befully implemented as on March31, 2019.

As per the norms, bankshave to maintain a minimumcommon equity ratio of 8 percent and total capital ratio of11.5 per cent by March 2019.

Most of the 21 state-ownedbanks are already above theaverage prescribed by RBI butthere are 6 PSU banks includ-ing IDBI Bank, Bank ofMaharashtra and Central Bankof India, which have been putunder prompt corrective action(PCA) requiring course cor-rection and higher capital tocome out of poor financialhealth.

However, provisioning lev-els for the Indian banking sec-tor have risen sharply over thelast few quarters in response torising bad loans, with the RBI'sasset quality review initiated inDecember 2015 pushing thebottomline of several publicsector banks (PSBs) into thered.

Their toxic loans rose byover �1 lakh crore to �6.06 lakhcrore during April-Decemberof 2016-17, the bulk of whichcame from power, steel, roadinfrastructure and textile sec-tors.

Gross NPAs of PSBs near-ly doubled to �5.02 lakh croreat the end of March 2016,from �2.67 lakh crore at theend of March 2015.

Finance Minister ArunJaitley has announced capitalinfusion of �10,000 crore for

PSBs in the current fiscal in linewith the Indradhanush scheme.

This will be over the�70,000 crore that banks willget as capital support from theGovernment. Of this, the gov-ernment has already infused�50,000 crore in the past twofiscals and the remaining willbe pumped in by the end of2018-19.

As per the scheme, PSBsneed to raise �1.10 lakh crorefrom markets, including fol-low-on public offer, to meetBasel III requirements, whichkick in from March 2019.

Discussions are ongoingwith RBI and the ministrymade the point of deferringBasel III norms given the cir-cumstances, sources said.

The question is what worksthe best for Indian banks tak-ing into consideration financial

stability, NPA resolution andprovisioning requirement,sources said.

"The RBI team is veryreceptive and there is profes-sional respect. We may notagree. Where RBI has power totake a call they will decide," anofficial said.

RBI had already extendedthe deadline from March 2018to March 2019 in 2014 aftergetting representation fromvarious quarters.

This (implementation ofBasel III capital regulations)may necessitate some lead timefor banks to raise capital with-in the internationally agreedtimeline for full implementationof the Basel III capital regula-tions, RBI had said.

According to sources, RBIbelieves that there is a setframework and it should not bedisturbed and any divergencefrom Basel III norms by the RBIcan impact the perception onIndian banks and the centralbank globally.

The US Treasury in itsrecent report has also suggestedsome flexibility in the imple-mentation of norms, sourcessaid.

Banking industry officialssaid that the central bank hasbeen approached for relaxing thenorms for adherence to Basel IIInorms and some relief on pro-visioning by banks on accountof implementation of the newIndian Accounting Standards, or

Ind-AS, from Apr 1, 2018.Banks' provision levels may

significantly go up after thenew accounting standards areimplemented.

Under the new accountingstandards, banks will need tomake provisions based onexpectations of future lossesafter it was felt that the currentmodel of 'incurred losses' result-ed in inadequate provision lev-els.

Basel III reforms are theresponse of Basel Committee onBanking Supervision (BCBS)to improve the banking sector'sability to absorb shocks arisingfrom financial and economicstress, whatever the source, thusreducing the risk of spill overfrom the financial sector to thereal economy.

Following the global finan-cial crisis 2007-08, duringPittsburgh summit in September2009, the G20 leaders commit-ted to strengthening the regula-tory system for banks and otherfinancial firms.

They aimed at implement-ing strong international com-pensation standards aimed atending practices that lead toexcessive risk-taking, to improvethe over-the-counter derivativesmarket and to create more pow-erful tools to hold large globalfirms to account for the risksthey take.

As a result of this Basel IIreplaced Basel III reforms oncapital regulation. #�

?�����������=������@)4�������������)�����444���������%��� The record low bankcredit growth of 5.1 per cent inFY17 was led by the top 1,000 list-ed corporates which saw their netloan outstanding decline by awhopping �1 trillion in thereporting year, said a report.

One-third of this massivecontraction was led by just 10companies, which cumulativelyavailed of �33,571 crore less in theyear over the previous year,according to the report by SBIResearch.

According to SBI chief eco-nomic adviser Soumya KantiGhosh, who penned the report,this could either be perceived aslower debt utilisation levels or pre-payment through internal accru-als or through asset sale. Otherreasons could be QIP or privateequity participation.

The RBI data showed thatbank credit inched up by a tad 5.1per cent in the year to March2017, which was the lowest since1951 when it had grown by a pal-try 1.8 per cent which could beattributed rise in bond issuanceand cheaper non-bank fundsources coupled with overallcredit aversion in the economy aswell as non-investment by the pri-vate sector in capacity expansion.

However, taken as a whole, asper cent annual results of about3,000 listed entities for FY17, therewas an 8 per cent increase on aCAGR basis in loan funds out-standing over FY15.

The outstanding loan fundsas of FY15 stood at �22.8 trillion,which increased to �26.5 trillionin FY17. This was �24.2 trillionin FY16.

However, many top notchcorporates reported contractionin loan funds outstanding inFY17 over FY16.

"About 1,000 entities inaggregate (excluding banks &finance companies) reporteddecline in loan funds to theextent of �1 trillion crore," saidGhosh.

Debt contraction can eitherbe through repayments, equityconversion or restructuring hesays adding "top ten entities sawa decline of about �33,000 crore."

Some of the best knowncompanies that have loweredloan funds include Gail India (-

48 per cent), Piramal Enterprises(-37 per cent), National Fertilizers(-37 per cent), L&T (-24 per cent)Hindalco (-20 per cent) and JetAirways (-22 per cent).Cumulatively, these companiesalone borrowed �20,000 croreless, said the report.

From a sectoral point ofview, this came in amidst a dou-ble digit annual growth in EBID-TA by most of the top 10 sectorsdepicting all round growth in top-line, midline and bottom-line.

About 1,000 entities (exclud-ing banks & finance) saw a steep�1,00,710 crore decline in loanfunds, while the top ten entities'loan funds decline by �33,571crore which is 33 percent of theaggregate reduction in loan fundsfor all.

Hinting at a continuation ofthe same deleveraging trend inthe times to come, the reportpoints to the Tata Group identi-fying non-core businesses fordivestment.

The group is in the processof selling drug discovery servicescompany Advinus Therapeutics.Its fertiliser business may also beup for sale along with TataCeramics, Tata Business SupportServices, Tata Asset Managementand Tata AutoComp Systems.

Other reasons for lower lonndemand may come from opera-tional and financial restructuring,repayments, equity conversion bylenders etc, said the report. #�

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���������Eminent economistRaghuram Rajan was initiallyoffered the job of deputy gover-nor in the Reserve Bank of Indiawhich he did not accept, and adecade later he joined the centralbank as a governor.

In his autobiography 'Adviceand Dissent: My Life in PublicService', former RBI Governor YV Reddy said he had offeredRajan deputy governor's post inthe apex bank.

"When Rakesh Mohan wentas Economic Affairs Secretary (inOctober 2004), we had to look fora successor. I requestedRaghuram Rajan to join me asdeputy governor when he hap-pened to call on me inMumbai...He agreed to give athought of it. However, aftergoing back to the US, heexpressed his regret," Reddywrote.

Reddy further wrote heexplained to Rajan that "we wouldrequire somebody like him so thatthe country could avail of the

valuable services over the longrun, virtually hinting that hecould one day be the governor".

Rajan at that time was theChief Economist and Director ofResearch at the InternationalMonetary Fund.

Rajan, who is the KatherineDusak Miller DistinguishedService Professor of Finance atChicago Booth currently, joinedRBI as the 23rd Governor of theReserve Bank of India inSeptember 2013.

Reddy was the Governor ofRBI from 2003 to 2008. He wasalso Chairman of the FourteenthFinance Commission in 2013-14.

Rakesh Mohan held theposition of deputy governor ofthe RBI from September 9, 2002to October 31, 2004 and alsofrom July 2, 2005 to June 10,2009.

During the period October31, 2004 to July 2, 2005 he wasSecretary Department ofEconomic Affairs in the Ministryof Finance. #�

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���������The Departm-entof Telecom is working onrules to make tampering ofIMEI number -- a unique 15-digit serial number of mobiledevices -- a punishableoffence with up to three yearsof imprisonment.

The move will help curbissues pertaining to fake IMEInumbers and also ease track-ing of lost mobile phones.

"It is difficult to trackmobile phones because ofduplicate IMEI numbers.The DoT is working onrules to make tampering ofIMEI numbers a punishableoffence under IndianTelegraph Act," aGovernment official said.

IMEI helps securityagencies in tracking mobilephones as well as calls madefrom them. #�

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The EU's powerful anti-trustregulator will slap Google

with a record fine as early astomorrow in another Europeanblow against a US tech giant,sources said.

Led by hard-chargingEuropean Commission com-petition chief MargretheVestager, the EU will impose amassive penalty against Googlethat would break the previousrecord of 1.06 billion euros setin 2009 against Intel, the USchipmaker.

More importantly forGoogle, Brussels will demandthat the US tech giant changeits business practices to meetthe EU's concerns.

The decision, expectedtomorrow or on Wednesday,comes a year after Vestagershocked the world and angeredthe Obama administration withan order that Apple repay 13billion euros in back taxes in

Ireland.Sources close to the matter

said Google's fine would range1.1-2.0 billion euros. While anEU record, this is well belowthe maximum possible of about8.0 billion euros or 10 percentof Google's total revenue lastyear.

Brussels accuses Googleof giving its own online shop-ping services top priority insearch results to the detrimentof other price comparison ser-vices.

The case is one of threeagainst Google and of severalagainst blockbuster US compa-nies including Starbucks, Apple,Amazon and McDonalds.

In the other Google cases,the EU is examining Google'sAdSense advertising serviceand its Android mobile phonesoftware.

If confirmed, the fine wouldcome after a long period inwhich the two sides tried to set-tle the case amicably.

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British Prime MinisterTheresa May on Monday

reached a supply and confi-dence deal with NorthernIreland’s Democratic UnionistParty (DUP), enabling her toform a functioning minorityGovernment in London.

The deal comes after twoweeks of talks between theDUP and May’s Conservativessince the June 8 general elec-tion resulted in a hungParliament, reports the BBC.

The DUP’s 10 members ofParliament will back theConservatives in keyCommons votes, starting withthe Queen’s Speech later thisweek, but there will be no for-mal coalition.

The DUP has claimed theUK government has agreed toimprove the treatment of mil-itary veterans in NorthernIreland as part of the agree-ment, but played down reportsthat it had sought 2 billionpounds in extra funding forNorthern Ireland in return for

its support.May shook hands with

DUP leader Arlene Foster asshe and other senior party fig-ures arrived at Downing Streetearlier on Monday to finalisethe accord.

Foster said she was“delighted” with the arrange-ment and that May believed thedeal was a “very good one” and

the parties “share many values”,the BBC reported.

May fell nine seats short ofan overall majority after thesnap election, meaning she isreliant on other parties to passlegislation, including Brexitterms.

The support of the DUPwill give her an effective work-ing majority of 13.

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Eid celebrations in Pakistanwere on Monday overshad-

owed by the grisly oil tankerexplosion as the death toll in thecatastrophic fire rose to 160with families rushing to hospi-tals to claim the bodies of theirloved ones most of whom werecharred beyond recognition.

The harrowing tragedystruck Pakistan’s Punjabprovince yesterday just a daybefore Eid celebrations when atanker carrying 40,000 litres ofpetrol overturned and burst

into flames as hundreds of vil-lagers had gathered to collect thefuel spilled over on the highwayat the Ahmedpur Sharqia areaof the Bahawalpur district, some400 km from Lahore.

Rather than celebratingEid, a large number of relativesof the victims were waiting out-side hospitals in the district toclaim the bodies most of whichhave been burnt beyond recog-nition and will be identifiedonly by DNA tests.

Prime Minister NawazSharif, who was in London tocelebrate Eid along with his

family members, cut short histrip and visited the victims atVictoria Hospital. The primeminister said it has been decid-ed to hold an in- depth inquiryinto the oil-tanker fire tragedy.

“We have to look into whatwas the condition of that tanker.We will not let this incident goignored (without reaching anyconclusion),” he said.

Sharif said, “Illiteracy andpoverty lead to such accidents”.

“Yesterday, some peopledid politics on television. It isinappropriate. There shouldbe no politics on such tragicoccasions, when we shouldconsole the injured and affect-ed,” he said.

The tanker was travellingfrom Karachi to Lahore whenits tyre burst and the driver lostcontrol crashing the truck onthe highway.

Hundreds of people from anearby village ignored warn-ings to stay away from the

tanker which had overturnedand rushed to the scene to col-lect the spilled petrol.

Minutes later the tankerexploded, engulfing the crowdas well as dozens of other vehi-cles in a massive fireball.

It is believed that a sparkfrom the many cars and motor-cycles that raced to the sceneignited the fuel.

The death toll in the mas-sive inferno today reached 160as nine critically injured patientsincluding four children todaydied in Multan, Faisalabad andLahore hospitals.

Doctors are struggling tosave the lives of around 40patients who have received 60per cent burn injuries, a seniorRescue 1122 official told PTI.

Most of the bodies kept inthe cold storage of the Quaid-i-Azam Medical College(QAMC) Bahawalpur couldnot be identified.

“The bodies will be hand-

ed over to the families afterDNA tests. The assistance ofthe National Database andRegistration Authority (Nadra)has been sought in this regard,”the official said, adding thetests may take several daysand the families will have towait for the burial.

The charred wreckage ofthe motorcycles and cars couldbe seen scattered on the high-way, along with kitchen utensils,pots, water coolers, jerrycansand buckets which victims hadbrought to collect the petrol.

Video images of the peoplegathered to collect petrol fromthe overturned oil tankeremerged, showing people fill-ing their bikes with the spilledoil and collecting it in bottlesand cans.

The leaking fuel was evenflowing along the highway in thefields. A number of people wereseen sitting near the fields col-lecting fuel in cans and bottles.

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Toronto set a record of hold-ing the biggest-ever yoga

event in North America asyoga guru Baba Ramdev ledthousands of people throughyoga asanas at the InternationalCentre here on Sunday.

The day-long mega eventwas organised by the non-profit International Day ofYoga Canada (IYDC) in col-laboration with the Indian con-sulate here.

Top leaders, includingCanada’s Science MinisterKirsty Duncan, Ontario state’sIndo-Canadian Minister DipikaDamerla, Ontario OppositionLeader Patrick Brown, mayors,and members of Parliamentjoined the event as BabaRamdev put them through overtwo hours of yogic asanas in themorning session.

Brahma Kumari SisterShivani led the evening medi-tation session.

It was all fun and laughter asRamdev guided people, includ-ing the VIPs, through toughyogic exercises, highlighting thebenefits of each asana.

Administering an oath to thecrowd to do yoga everyday, hesaid: “People look for solutionsoutside, but everything is insideus. My mission is to take yoga toevery corner of the world.”

“Even if one percent peo-ple of the world practise yoga,it will usher in prosperity andworld peace and there won’t beany wars. Yoga has nothing todo with any religion.”

Referring to his PatanjaliAyurved business empire as acharity and non-profit organ-isation “for the benefit ofmankind”, Ramdev said hismission is to build the world’sbiggest university which teach-es modern education andIndia’s ancient wisdom andknowledge.

Amid applause, the yogaguru said he had never attend-ed any bigger yoga event thanthis one anywhere outside India.

Terming the yoga celebra-tions an “exciting and impor-tant event”, Duncan greeted thehuge gathering in Punjabi, say-ing: “Namaskar, Sat Sri Akal,Assalam Aleikum. Mera naamKirsty Duncan hai. Mainubahut khushi hai....”

London: Grenfell Tower firevictims were “murdered bypolitical decisions”, LabourParty’s Shadow ChancellorJohn McDonnell has said.

Speaking at GlastonburyFestival on Sunday, McDonnellblamed the Grenfell blaze on thegovernment decision to “viewhousing as only for financialspeculation”. He said that finan-cial cuts to firefighters and sta-tions “contributed to deathsinevitably” in the West Londoninferno, the Telegraph reported.

Seventy-nine persons werekilled in the 24-storey towerblock fire, which began in theearly hours of June 14.

McDonnell said: “Is democ-racy working? It didn’t work ifyou were a family living on the20th floor of Grenfell Tower.Those families, those individu-als... were murdered by politicaldecisions that were taken overrecent decades.” “The decisionnot to build homes and to viewhousing as only for financialspeculation rather than for meet-ing a basic human need made bypoliticians over decades mur-dered those families.” ����

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Oxford University studentsare demanding scrapping

of “elitist” scholars’ gown wornby under-graduate studentswith scholarships or betterscores, saying the garmentsmake some students feel “inferior”.

Under university rules,most under-graduates at one ofthe world’s leading universities,must wear a sleeveless gownduring exams but a small pro-portion who have a scholarshipor gained a distinction in first-year exams can wear a long-sleeve version.

A motion passed by theuniversity’s students’ uniondemands that these specialrobes be banned because it is“stressful” for other students tobe reminded that some peopledid better in previous exams.

“The hierarchical gown

structure is fundamentally inconflict with ideals of com-munity and equality that theuniversity espouses, all themore so because the divisionbetween those wearing schol-ars’ gowns and those wearingcommoners gowns is visuallystriking,” Isobel Cockburn, oneof the students behind themotion, writes in the universi-ty’s student newspaper‘Cherwell’.

“Anecdotally, we found thata lot of people felt much lessconfident and more anxiousgoing into exams seeing biggroups of people wearingscholars’ gowns, particularlywomen in STEM (science, tech,engineering and math] sub-jects,” she claims.

The motion was offered toan open consultation of allstudents at Oxford University,the results of which will beadvisory rather than binding.

Other arguments listed onthe Oxford University Students’Union website in favour of themotion include the impact ofthe extra confidence given toscholars, and that the prelimi-nary results are more of areflection of a student’s educa-tional background than theirgrade in the Finals.

It has proven to be a divi-sive issue amongst students.

One student, Tom Ash,told ‘Cherwell’: “I think byfocusing on the gowns you arescapegoating something whichis not the most pressing issuein the system of inequality inOxford, and getting rid of animportant incentive for work-ing in first year.”

A motion was alreadypassed in 2016 to ban the useof scholars’ gown in viva voceoral examinations in order toreduce bias if examiners noticethe gown.

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China’s Nobel peace prizelaureate Liu Xiaobo has

been transferred on parolefrom prison to a hospital forterminal cancer treatment, hislawyer said on Monday, butconcerned supporters calledfor his unconditional release.

Liu, who has about threeyears of his 11-year sentence toserve, was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer on May 23and granted medical paroledays later, lawyer Mo Shaopingtold AFP. The 61-year-olddemocracy campaigner wasbeing treated at a hospital in thenortheastern city of Shenyang,capital of Liaoning province,where he was imprisoned.

The Liaoning PrisonAdministrative Bureau con-firmed Liu’s parole, saying ina statement he was being treat-ed by “eight renowned Chineseoncologists” at China MedicalUniversity No 1 Hospital.

While it confirmed he wasbeing treated for liver cancer,it did not say whether it wasterminal. “He has no special

plans. He is just receivingmedical treatment for his ill-ness,” Mo said.

The writer was sentencedin 2009 for “subversion” afterspearheading a bold petitionfor democratic reforms. Hewas awarded the Nobel prizewhile in jail a year later andwas represented by an emptychair at the ceremony in Oslo.

Supporters demanded thatLiu be granted the best med-ical care and criticised histreatment so far. While theNobel Committee said it was“delighted” to learn that Liuwas finally freed, it “stronglyregrets that it took serious ill-ness before Chinese authoritieswere willing to release himfrom jail”.

“Chinese authorities carrya heavy responsibility if LiuXiaobo, because of his impris-onment, has been denied nec-essary medical treatment,” itsaid in a statement.

The committee called forhis unconditional release andsaid he should be offered thebest possible treatment inChina or abroad.

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Government websites, manyof them in Ohio, were

hacked with a message thatpurports to be supportive of theISIS terrorist group.

A message posted on thewebsite of Republican OhioGov John Kasich said, “You willbe held accountable Trump,you and all your people forevery drop of blood flowing inMuslim countries.”

The message, left by “TeamSystem Dz,” also ended, “I lovethe Islamic state.”

The same message alsoinfiltrated Government web-sites in the town of Brookhaven,New York, as well as the websitefor Howard County, Maryland.In the past, the group alsoclaimed responsibility for sim-ilar hacks in the past in RichlandCounty, Wisconsin, and inplaces such as Aberdeen,Scotland, and Sweden.

Several other Governmentwebsites were hacked in Ohio,including that of first ladyKaren Kasich, Medicaid, theOhio Department ofRehabilitation and Correction

and the Casino ControlCommission.

Tom Hoyt, chief commu-nications officer for Ohio’sDepartment of AdministrativeServices, was among Ohio offi-cials who confirmed the hack.

“All affected servers havebeen taken offline and we areinvestigating how these hack-ers were able to deface thesewebsites,” he said. “We also areworking with law enforce-ment to better understandwhat happened.”

He said the hacking inOhio happened at about 11 amEDT. He hoped the websiteswould be up and runningsometime on Monday. Thewebsites in Brookhaven andHoward County also remaineddown on Sunday.

The hack is part of ongo-

ing cyberterrorism that hasimpacted Governments andcorporations across the globe.

Some see these types ofhacks — sometimes called“defacement” — as simply anuisance, though in someinstances, they have been dis-ruptive to work andGovernment life.

But others see cause foralarm. “Wake up freedom-lov-ing Americans. Radical Islaminfiltrating the heartland,” JoshMandel, the Ohio treasurerand a Republican candidate forUS Senate, said in a tweet onSunday.

Authors of the website“Cryptosphere,” which trackshackers worldwide, havedetailed dozens, if not hun-dreds, of similar hacks in recentyears by the so-called TeamSystem DZ, which they calleda “pro-ISIS hacker crew” andclaim are based in Algeria.

Impacted websites, theysaid, have included those for asynagogue in Florida, the stu-dent union at the University ofNew Brunswick in Canada,for UK Rugby and a number ofwebsites on Wordpress.

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Mongolians cast ballots onMonday to choose

between a horse breeder, ajudoka and a feng shui masterin a presidential election rifewith corruption scandals andnationalist rhetoric.

From its sprawling steppesto its Capital and even in yurtsserving as polling stations,people began to vote in thelandlocked country sand-wiched between Russia andChina that was once viewed asan oasis of democracy full ofeconomic promise.

Nomadic herders filed intoa yurt in the city of ErdeneSum, 100 km east of the capi-tal Ulan Bator to cast their bal-lots, wearing the traditionaldeel coat, fedoras and boots.

“As a voter I believe justiceis the most important thing forMongolia,” said Dendev Boris,63, who unlike others showedup in a business suit.

“There must be justice inevery industry,” he said. “Ihaven’t taken the corruption

allegations too seriouslybecause they have not beenproven.”

The resource-rich nationof just three million has strug-gled in recent years withmounting debt and low voterturnout.

The next president willinherit a $5.5 billionInternational Monetary Fund-led bailout designed to stabiliseits economy and lessen itsdependence on China, whichpurchases 80 per cent ofMongolian exports.

But voters have heard lit-tle from the three candidatesabout unemployment and jobs— their top concerns in opin-ion polls — as campaigns haveinstead focused on their oppo-nents’ allegedly shady pasts.

Among the accusationsare a 60 billion tugrik ($25 mil-lion) scheme to sell govern-ment posts, hefty offshoreaccounts and a clandestinedonation from a member of aSouth Korean church — all ofwhich the candidates havedenied.

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Colombia’s President JuanManuel Santos revised

downwards to six an earlierdeath toll given by regional offi-cials for the number of peopleconfirmed killed on Mondaywhen a tourist boat sank.

Santos said there are “sixpeople deceased so far and 31reported missing,” after theregional Government earliergave a death toll of at least nine.

He was speaking toreporters at the scene of thesinking in a reservoir in thenorthwestern city of Guatape.

An official in the NationalRisk Management Unit, Carlos

Ivan Marquez, confirmed thetoll of six separately to AFP. Hesaid they were “all Colombians,and no minors.”

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Johannesburg: A week of pub-lic yoga events to mark theInternational Day of Yoga haveended at Tolstoy Farm, thecommune established byMahatma Gandhi during hisstay in this South African city.

More than 30 events overthe past week in all majorcities of South Africa saw tensof thousands of people from allcommunities participate inyoga activities arranged by theIndian missions in the countryin collaboration with commu-nity organisations and localyoga schools.

“It is a privilege for us tohave the closing ceremony ofthe third annual InternationalDay of Yoga at such a placewhere we are paying homage toGandhiji at this iconic TolstoyFarm,” said Indian ConsulGeneral Dr K J Srinivasa.

Srinivasa explained to scoresof mainly Black African childrenand adults as well as members ofthe local Gayathri Parivar organ-isation how the UN had accept-ed a proposal by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi that June 21 bedeclared the Internationa Day ofYoga. PTI

Beijing: China on Mondayannounced that it will launch“shuttle diplomacy” betweenPakistan and Afghanistan toease tensions between the twoneighbours and promote thepeace process in war-tornAfghanistan amidst a spurt in ter-ror attacks in both the countries.

China will conduct the shut-tle diplomacy betweenAfghanistan and Pakistan,Chinese Foreign Minister WangYi said during his visit to both thecountries, according to ChineseForeign Ministry spokesmanGeng Shuang. Wang visitedIslamabad and Kabul on June 24and 25. During the visit, the twocountries agreed to establish thebilateral Crisis ManagementMechanism, Geng said.

The main targets for thevisit is to implement the con-sensus between the state lead-ers and in addition the require-ment of Afghanistan andPakistan as directed by Chineseleaders, he said.

“We will conduct shuttlediplomacy to help improve rela-tions between the two countrieswithin our capacity and also topromote the peace process inAfghanistan,” Geng said. ���

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Ajinkya Rahane struck a brilliantcentury before the bowlersdished out a disciplined show

as India thrashed a hapless WestIndies by 105 runs in a lopsided con-test in the second cricket one-dayerhere.

Put into bat, India rode onRahane's 103 off 104 balls and a blis-tering 66-ball 97 from captain ViratKohli to pile on 310 for 5 after raindelayed the start of the match by twohours and reduced it to a 43-over-a-side affair.

The Indian bowlers then tookover as they restricted West Indies to205 for 6 to put the visitors 1-0 upin the five- match ODI series.

"It was a complete performanceagain. The partnership betweenAjinkya and Shikhar was outstand-ing, and myself at the back end, withYuvi, MS and Kedar chipping in,"Kohli said after the match.

"Early wickets for Bhuvi, and real-ly happy for Kuldeep as well, bowl-ing for the first time and taking threewickets.

"The bench strength has alwaysbeen right up there for us. Jinkscouldn't get a game in theChampions Trophy unfortunately,but shows his mental strength, stepsin and scores runs."

Surprisingly, the West Indians didnot show any intent of chasing downthe big target of 311 once theyfound the asking rate to be too highin the final 10 overs.

For India, the bowlers bowled animpeccable line and length withKuldeep Yadav (3/50) being themost successful among them. Thechinaman bowler got the first wick-et of his ODI career. He did not getto bowl in his debut match in the firstODI which was abandoned due torain.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/9)rocked the West Indies run chase bygrabbing the first two wickets by thethird over. He removed KieranPowell (0) in the third delivery (0)and then had Jason Mohammed (0)in his next over.

Wicketkeeper batsman Shai Hope(81) and Evin Lewis (21) had a 89-

run stand for the 3rd wicket to keepthem in the hunt but once thatpartnership was snapped, the WestIndians threw in the towel and theywere happy to bat out their innings.

When Hope was out in the 26thover, the asking rate had gone above12 an over and West Indies hadalready given up by then though theyhad six wickets in hand.

Captain Jason Holder (29) triedto get the big shots without any suc-cess as Kuldeep and RavichandranAshwin (1/47) gave him very few ofthem. When Holder was out in the37th over, West Indies needed 136runs from 11 overs.

"We didn't really bowl that well.We didn't close out the innings well,

and we didn't have momentum goingat the start of our chase," Holder said.

Earlier, Rahane smashed his thirdODI hundred to set up India's biggestwin against the West Indies in theCaribbeans in terms of runs.

Put into bat, India dashed WestIndies hopes of any early break-through on a damp pitch as theynegotiated the initial overs withoutlosing any wicket.

Rahane and his opener partnerDhawan (63) laid a strong foundationwith a 114-run stand and despite abit of a wobble in the middle overs,India went past 300 with Kohlistamping his class with a 66-ball 87later in the innings.

After today's total, India became

the side who have hit maximumnumber of 300-plus scores in aninnings, as they reached the mark forthe 96th time, overtaking Australiawho had made over 300 runs 95times.

Rahane, who also had hit 62 inthe abandoned first match, had 10fours and two sixes in his 104-ballknock before he was out in the 34thover. He also shared 97 runs for thesecond wicket with Kohli, who hitfour boundaries and four sixes in hisaggressive innings.

Kohli was out at the fag end of theinnings after playing some exquisitestrokes to the delight of the crowd atthe Queen's Park Oval.

Senior batsman Yuvraj Singh,

however, continued with his strug-gle as he fell for just 14 from 10 ballswhile Hardik Pandya was the otherIndian to fall cheaply for just 4.

The West Indies bowlers lackeddiscipline and bowled too manyloose and short deliveries. The Indianbatsmen were never troubled in anyway during their innings.

West Indies captain Holder putIndia to bat after winning the toss buthis hopes of getting an early wicketson a pitch which looked damp wenthaywire as Dhawan and Rahane giv-ing scant respect of the home bowlersjust like they did in the abandonedfirst match at the same venue.

Dhawan, who continued withhis red-hot form from theChampions Trophy itself, andRahane stitched 114 runs from 18.2runs to set the match nicely for India.

The duo raced to the 50-runmark in the eighth over with the helpof seven fours and a six. Rahane hitpacer Alzarri Joseph for a huge six inthe third over before Dhawan sentHolder for two boundaries in thenext over.

Holder himself and his new ballpartner Joseph struggled to get theright line and the West Indies cap-tain was again punished by Dhawanfor three boundaries in the eighthover as India reached to the 50-runmark.

Dhawan gave the same treatmentto Joseph the same treatment as hehit three boundaries in the 12th overand then raised his 21st ODI fifty twoovers later. Dhawan had hit a 92-ball87 in the abandoned first match.

Dhawan, however, could not cap-italise on his fine touch for a three-figure score as he got out in the 19thover. He was beaten by a flighteddelivery of off-spinner Ashley Nurseand wicketkeeper Shai Hope effect-ed an easy stumping.

Dhawan had 10 fours from 59deleiveries in his innings.

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Conflict is a part of life but ongo-ing conflict can be stressful anddamaging to relationships. Some

people find it difficult to manage theirfeelings and become intentionally hurt-ful, aggressive or even violent. Conflictcan happen when family members havedifferent views or beliefs that clash.Sometimes conflict can occur whenpeople misunderstand each other andjump to the wrong conclusion. Issuesof conflict that are not resolved peace-fully can lead to arguments and resent-ment.

To reduce conflict, one of the pos-itive way is to communicate in a pos-itive way so that family members canreach a peaceful resolution. This usu-ally means that everyone agrees to acompromise or agrees to disagree.

From time to time, strong emo-tions or the power imbalances that canbe present in relationships are difficultto resolve and can only be addressedin a counseling situation.

It is natural that conflicts occur inall walks of daily life – both at work-place and home. Thus, conflict is everpresent and both charming and mad-dening. But conflict is a complex andbig subject. There are many sources ofconflict. Conflict occurs when individ-uals or groups are not obtaining whatthey need or want and are seeking theirown self-interest.

Occasionally the individual is notaware of the need and unconsciouslystarts to act out. Other times, an indi-vidual is very aware of what s/he wantsand actively works at achieving thegoal. It would be better to identify con-flict at an early stage and come to an

understanding. As conflict escalates,any tangible issues may becomeembedded within a larger set of values,beliefs, identities, and cultures.Disputes about land, money, or otherresources may take on increased sym-bolic significance. Over the course ofconflict, the original issues can evenbecome irrelevant as new causes forconflict are generated by actions with-in the conflict itself. Those on oppos-ing sides come to view each other asenemies and may resort to highlydestructive means. Eventually, theparties become unable to separatedifferent issues and may see no way outof the conflict other than through totalvictory or defeat.

Many describe intractability interms of the destructive relationshipdynamics that govern the adversaries'interaction. For example, if one partyresorts to inhumane treatment in wag-ing conflict, this deepens antagonismand may lead the opposing side to seekrevenge. Likewise, when extremistpolitical leaders appeal to ethno-nationalist ideology to arouse fear, thismay increase support for the use of vio-lence and contribute to intractability.Other factors that make some conflictsextremely difficult to resolve includethe vast numbers of people involved,the large number of complex issues tobe resolved, and a previous history ofviolent confrontation. But, what are theunderlying causes of these destructiveconflict dynamics?

What is common to all inflexibleconflicts is that they involve interestsor values that the disputants regard ascritical to their survival. These under-

lying causes include parties' moral val-ues, identities, and fundamentalhuman needs. Because conflictsgrounded in these issues involve thebasic molds for thought and actionwithin given communities and culture,they are usually not resolvable bynegotiation or compromise. This isbecause the problem in question is onethat cannot be resolved in a win-winway. If one value system is followed,another is threatened. If one nationcontrols a piece of land, another doesnot. If one group is dominant, anoth-er is subordinate.

It is seen that conflicts arise whenpeople are unhappy with how they aregoverned. The most common conflictsoccur when a particular group wants tobe independent from a CentralGovernment, or when their viewpointisn't represented in the Government, orwhen the Government oppresses themand doesn't respect or meet theirbasic needs. Religious and politicalviews are particularly sensitive, becausepeople often depend on these for asense of identity and belonging.Sometimes the conflict is caused by areligious/polit ical group beingattacked; sometimes it is because thegroup is eager to spread a particularbelief and even enforce it on others.Some leaders may aggravate religiousand political differences as part of theirtactics for keeping or gaining power.

The concept of conflict is contro-versial. Psychologists and sociologistshave given different meanings. It isbeing defined as a process by few, anobstructive behavior, and goal incom-patibility by others.

No two persons are the same.Hence they may have individual differ-ences. And the differences may bebecause of values or otherwise, lead toconflict. Although inevitable, conflictcan be minimized, diverted or resolved.Conflict develops because we are deal-ing with people’s lives, jobs, children,pride, self-concept, ego and sense ofmission. Conflict is inevitable andoften good, for example, good teamsalways go through a “form, storm,norm and perform” period.

Over identity conflicts arise whengroup members feel that their sense of

self is threatened or denied legitima-cy and respect. Because identity is inte-gral to one's self-esteem and how oneinterprets the rest of the world, anythreat to identity is likely to producea strong response.

Typically, this response is bothaggressive and defensive, and canescalate quickly into an intractable con-flict. Because threats to identity are noteasily put aside, such conflicts tend topersist.

Disagreement can be Constructiveor Destructive, creative or restricting,and positive or negative. Destructiveconflicts are also known as dysfunc-tional conflicts, because such conflictsprevent a group from attaining itsgoals. Conflict is destructive when ittakes attention away from other impor-tant activities, undermines morale orself-concept, polarises people andgroups, reduces cooperation, increas-es or sharpens difference, and leads toirresponsible and harmful behaviour,such as fighting, name-calling.

On the other hand, constructiveconflicts are also known as function-al conflicts, because they support thegroup goals and help in improving per-formance. Conflict is constructivewhen it results in clarification ofimportant problems and issues, resultsin solutions to problems, involvespeople in resolving issues important tothem, causes authentic communica-tion, helps release emotion, anxiety,and stress, builds cooperation amongpeople through learning more abouteach other; joining in resolving theconflict, and helps individuals devel-op understanding and skills.

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The highly stylised chase film,Baby Driver, is among the

most awaited mid-year releases.The film delivers not only theheist-genre staples of high octanecar chases and killer gunplay butan aesthetic all its own. Much ofthe action is synchronised to amusical beat from a pre-selected30-song playlist, handpicked bydirector Edgar Wright himself.

Ansel Elgort stars as “Baby”,the eponymous getaway driverwho, unbeknownst to his girlfriend(Downton Abbey’s Lily James), isconscripted by Kevin Spacey’s“Doc” to chauffer his crew of bal-listic bank robbers as they set aboutaccepting a series of cash donationsfrom the financial institutions ofAtlanta, Georgia. Directed byWright, the film features an all-starcast including Jamie Foxx (as“Bats”), Michael Peter Balzary(aka, Flea, from the Red HotChilli Peppers) and the gun-totinghusband and wife team of JonHamm and Eiza Gonzalez (as“Buddy” and “Darling”). Best

known for his breakthrough inThe Fault in Our Stars, actor-musician and native NewYorker, Ansel Elgort has also

enjoyed prominent roles inCarrie and the Divergent filmseries.

�What initially attracted you toBaby Driver?

AE: The script was awesome.Baby is a guy who was in a car acci-dent when he was a kid. When hewas seven, he lost both his parentsand developed tinnitus, which is aringing in your ears. Ever sincethen, he’s become obsessed withcars — stealing and driving them.He also has to play music all thetime to drown out the ringing inhis ears — the music which drivesthe movie. The story picks upwhen Baby is working for thiscrime boss, Doc (Kevin Spacey),who he’s indebted to. He has to pulloff heists as his driver to pay off

that debt.

�Why is he called Baby?AE: Everyone has code names

in this crew like Doc, Bats, Buddy,Darling and so on. The protago-nist loves music and since there areso many songs with “Baby” in thelyrics… You know, “Baby I loveyou, Baby be mine… Baby, baby”.....he’s decided his codename shouldbe Baby. �You’re a musician as well as anactor. How do you combine thetwo? Do you ever find it hard toknow which one to prioritise?

AE: In this case, I have to sayit was combined perfectly. I prob-ably got this part because of mymusical background. You know,Edgar Wright and I hit it off fromthe beginning. But once he realisedI also had a musical and a dancebackground, the scale tipped in myfavour. Much of this film is chore-ographed — the action, the gun-play, the cars, or even just subtlemovements… In terms of my twocareers, though, I don’t see a rea-son why I’d ever have to choose. Ido both acting and music becauseI love them both.

�How did you go about prepar-ing for this film?

AE: I actually did a lot of prepfor this film. I had to learn how todo American sign language forstarters. Baby’s foster dad is deaf.So that’s how he speaks with him,through sign language. The actorI’m working with, CJ Jones, who’sjust incredible, is actually deaf. Ialso learnt how to really drive, howto do all the drifting, tricks. Thenthere was the choreography.

�What was the biggest challengemaking the film?

AE: There was a lot of weighton my shoulders but in a good way.I’ve been the main guy in a filmbefore, where I’m in every scene,but this is a big action film. Thescenes take a long time to film and

it was a long shoot. The other chal-lenge, the fun challenge, the actingchallenge, was being able to bringto life all of the character’s differ-ent shades. When he’s around thecrime group, he keeps very muchto himself, quiet and stoic. Whenhe’s around Doc, he tries to acta little tougher. And when he’saround Deborah (Lily James), yousee his vulnerable side and who he really is underneath it all.

�What was your screen test withLily James like?

AE: Edgar knows what hewants; he doesn’t need that kind ofstuff. I’ve never worked with some-body who had such a clear visionof what he wanted. He met bothof us and I guess he thought, “Okayyou guys are going to look goodtogether.” There was no screen test(laughs)… Lily is extremely sweetto work with. Very open and veryprofessional too — just a great per-

son to be with, really. I hope we getto do a sequel because I’d like towork with her again.

�Will there be a sequel to BabyDriver?

AE: I don’t think it’s in thepipeline but I wouldn’t count it out.You never know, right?

�What kind of cars do you drivein the film?

AE: All kinds. There’s a SubaruSTI, which is like a rally car. It’s all-wheel drive, so that’s fun. There’salso a Yukon. Baby wants a big-ger car at one point because heknows that he wants to be able toram the cops off the road. So hedrives that one too. But really,they’re all kind of just randomcars because that’s the way bankrobbers do these things. Youknow, they don’t driveLamborghinis; they don’t want tobe overly flashy. They want toblend in.

�Did you get to meet any realgetaway drivers before film-ing?

AE: No but we did meetsomeone who had robbed 15 sep-arate banks. Amazing right? Butwhat’s really amazing is what hetold us: If you’re a bank robberand you get caught and you go toprison, you’re the man. Everyonethinks: “You rob banks? That’sawesome.” It’s a really cool crime.

�Did you get to do any of thedriving stunts in the film?

AE: I got to do a couplethough I wanted to do more. Idid do a lot of the parkour stuntsthough — jumping over fences,over cars, sliding down escala-tors… I did all of it. But the carstuff was too dangerous. So theybuilt this pod car; there’s some-one on the top who’s really dri-ving. They then put the camerainside the car and had a shot ofme. That said, I did ten five-hour

sessions with a stunt driver,learning how to drift, how toslide the car around, how to doJ-turns… Basically every majorstunt in the movie, he taught mehow to do. So that way, when wefilm the inside of the car, I knewwhat I was doing, whether or notI was actually doing the stunt. Itnever looks fake because themoves that I make behind thewheel are the right ones.

�Do you do better in LosAngeles traffic now as a resultof Baby Driver?

AE: Oh man, I can’t stand LAtraffic. I like New York traffic. InNew York traffic, you really haveto weave and move. In LA, youjust sit and get sunburnt in a con-vertible (laughs)…

�What was the weirdestmoment on set?

AE: We actually shot in a realmaximum-security prison, whichwas weird and scary. At one pointwe were locked in the kitchen,there were prisoners walking byand there were guards… It wascrazy. You’d walk by places whereyou’d see prisoners inside andthey’d start banging on the glassand stuff…. I’m glad we only hadto do two days of filming there.

�What was your biggest take-away from the experience?

There are so many things.But mostly, all the actors I got towork with. I learnt a lot fromKevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx.When it comes to makingmovies, the most important thingfor me personally is having agood time with the people youget to work with and enjoying themoments — really taking themin. You might have a great movieto show for it. You might not. Soyour experience on the set is themost important thing. And Imade some really great friendsthis time.

Bollywood superstar SalmanKhan, who is known for

lighting up the box office duringthe festival of Eid, got a flicker-ing start with his new filmTubelight. The Kabir Khan direc-torial only managed to rake in�64.77 crore, making it theactor’s lowest opening weekendrelease in the past few years, saytrade experts. All now dependson Monday’s Eid holiday to pushup the returns and pass the lit-mus test.

However, the superstar ishopeful and says the reviews arebetter than what he expected.“The critics were really good. Iwas expecting minus three andminus four but they have givenone-and-half rating apparently.I am very pleased with that.Reports are that people can’t seeme crying (on screen). So Iasked, ‘Are they (audience)laughing and the answer was no,they are crying. So I said, ‘don’tworry about it’,” Salman toldreporters last evening.

The actor, however, saysTubelight, an emotional drama

set against the backdrop of the1962 India-China War, subvertsthe expectations of the audienceas it is not a “masala” entertain-er.

“As it is an Eid release peo-ple have pre-c o n c e i v e dnotions (aboutthe f i lm) asthey throwcoins, dance,sing in the cine-ma halls. Theyhave gone towatch a certainfilm but get towatch anotherfilm. It is a veryemotional film.Even an emotion-less, stone-heart-ed person willhave tears in his eyes. So this isan emotional film to be seenwith parents, grand parents andentire family,” he added.

When asked if there was a

sense of failure, Salman reacted,“What! Does it look bothered(pointing towards his face). I amnot bothered. I am sure it isgoing to do ok. It is going to getus a lot of respect.” The superstar

was talking on thesidelines of an eventto announce an asso-ciation between hisfoundation BeingHuman and the PVRgroup.

The film, whichreleased on June 23and collected �21.15crore on its openingday, didn’t registerany major hike inthe subsequent twodays and remainedsteady over the

weekend by collecting �21.17crore and �22.45 crore onSaturday and Sunday respec-tively. Trade analyst TaranAdarsh, who describes the filmas a “disappointment,” shared the

opening weekend collections ofSalman’s last few releases duringEid on Twitter. “Salman andEid – opening weekend... 2011:

Bodyguard – �88.75 crore(Wednesday-Sunday), 2012: EkTha Tiger – �100.16 crore(Wednesday-Sunday), 2014:

Kick �83.83 crore (Friday-Sunday), 2015: Bajrangi Bhaijaan– �102.60 crore (Friday-Sunday),2016: Sultan – �105.53 crore(Wednesday-Sunday) –2017: andTubelight – �64.77 crore (Friday-Sunday),” Adarsh tweeted onMonday.

“Tubelight rests on a thinplot... Screenplay lacks the powerto enthrall and mesmerise...Emotions plenty but fewmoments stand out,” Adarshwrote. Trade expert KomalNahta said that the film has per-formed “below expectations.”

“This Tubelight has a faultychoke (script). And this is nojoke. Uninteresting and notentertaining,” he tweeted. Inthree days, it couldn’t even beatthe opening weekend collectionsof Raees and Kaabil which hadreleased together. Raees earned�93.24 crore while Kaabil hadmade �67.46 crore on their open-ing weekend. However, it didleave behind Akshay Kumar,whose Jolly LLB 2 had made�50.46 crore in first three days.

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Popular celebrity couple DivyankaTripathi and Vivek Dahiya, who

have won the popular dance realityshow Nach Baliye 8, credit their fans forhelping their dream come true.

The finale was aired on June 25 night.“We are grateful to our audience whohelped us bring home the trophy. Thereis a lot of responsibility as well — as theaudience follows what you do andexpects perfection out of you. But for us,they are our family and it is this familythat made this dream come true for us,”Divyanka told news agencies

Vivek, who married the Ye HaiMohabbatein fame actress in January2016, said: “We have just got married andthere was so much to discover about eachother. Both of us wanted to spend moretime with each other, understand eachother better and get to know each other

even more and we feel that this freshnessand this willingness to discover each otherwas the ‘X-Factor’ which we had, whichthe audience was able to genuinely seeand connect with.”

“Nach Baliye has promoted our rela-tionship by three years as we have got toknow each other so much better inthese last three months,” Divyanka said.“I have learnt that Vivek is such a pos-itive person and he feels nothing isimpossible. No matter how difficult thechoreography was, he would say ‘It’seasy and we can do this’,” she added.

Vivek said, “I have learnt thatDivyanka is extremely strong andwon’t let anything deter her. In thiscase, even though she had her ailments(ligament tear and back problem), shecontinued and kept saying, ‘We can doit’.”

Acclaimed Buddhist leader andhead of the Drukpa Lineage, the

12th Gyalwang Drukpa, has beenbestowed with an honorary gellow-ship by the Wolfson College of Oxfordfor preservation of culture in theHimalayas, his office said on Saturday.

“It has been a privilege to workwith the college over the past fiveyears as it has led the way in promot-ing all the diverse cultures of theHimalayas and its history,” an officialstatement quoted the leader as saying.

His Holiness first visited theTibetan and Himalayan StudiesCentre at Wolfson in 2012. The cen-tre is a unique Himalayan studiesenvironment within the UK and oneof the leading ones in the world, cre-ating opportunities for inter-discipli-nary research and a new platform forpresenting Himalayan culture to awider audience. It is dedicated to pre-serving and promoting Himalayancultural heritage, to maintaining linksbetween Oxford and Tibetan andHimalayan Buddhist communitiesin Asia and to providing the best pos-sible training for a young generationof scholars.

In 2015, Wolfson College creat-ed “The Gyalwang DrukpaScholarship” in honour of HisHoliness and the award further recog-nises his importance in helping edu-cate and protect Himalayan culturalhistory.

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Italian journalist and novelist CarloPizzati paused a little in these fre-netically digital times, where an

information overload seems to causemore of a brain fuzz, jotted downmajor events and movements in apost-globalised world and thenprocessed them to understand whatthey meant to each of us.

Launching his new non-fictionbook, The Edge of an Era, last week,the author talked about the return ofbarbarism, the threat to cosmopolitanidentity, the rise of nationalism, themany failures of globalisation, theincreasing challenges of technologyand the crisis of the neo-liberal eliteand its relevance in today’s world.

Carlo marshalled his considerableexperience and literary wit to placeour present from a known perspective.To do so, he sought out three impor-tant thinkers — the public intellectu-al essayist and novelist, Pankaj Mishra,the Harvard critical theorist, HomiBhabha, and the political theorist JohnGrey. This book is a collection of hisconversations with them which trig-gers a better sense and understandingof our times.

“I first thought of interviewingthree different intellectuals and spon-taneously discuss different topics.Then I realised that they actually com-posed a whole group that looked atsimilar topics with different points of

view. These topics were globalisation,failure of the elite, new barbarism,racism and how we are changing oursociety with interruption of technol-ogy. So, then I saw that the differentaspects created a common disperse,”said Carlo.

He also shared his relation withthe three people whose conversa-tions have been mentioned in thebook. “Out of the three people I inter-viewed in the book, I knew PankajMishra from before. We have dis-cussed about a lot of issues in the pastwhich made it easier for both of us toopen up a bit more. I met HomiBhabha in Venice last year. With him,I discussed about cosmopolitan con-cerns that were perfect topics for theissue I wanted to magnify in my book.We met in a bar and he was very affa-ble and intelligent. We were both feel-ing the excitement of the conversationand we just couldn’t stop as it’s thepleasure of the sarcastic dialogues thatpours in a lot of knowledge which bothof us absolutely love. And the thirdperson is John Grey. I have read a lotof his books and find them very stim-ulating. He is both an enthusiastic

reader and writer.”Over a career that has spanned 30

years as a journalist, a documentaryfilm maker, novelist and writer, Carlohas also dabbled in screenplays andlectured in universities across theworld on communication theory.

Having reported from New York,Madrid and various other places, henow lives near a fishing village in TamilNadu from where he writes features fornewspapers and portals. Whether alove story or an essay on politics ofKashmir, Carlo engages with thepressing questions of our time. Theseinclude the promise and failure oftrans-nationalism, the past bearing onthe present, the relationship betweenidentity and nationality and betweentechnological advances and spiritual-ity. He observed that there was an airof presumptuous optimism and apretence of objectivity.

The author said, “The globaltrends interest India a lot. Theyounger generation here is moreinterested in foreign news, like ifTrump stops visa, how will it impactthe youths in India who want to workand study there. We learn that mid-

dle class families seem to be holdingup the rolldown effects of GST in thenext six months. The Western marketsseem ‘okay’ after Trump has come up.The other global trends that interestIndians are issues related to the seasof China ad Pakistan. Youngsters aregoing beyond their micro concernsand looking at the big picture. So mykind of book is relevant because it’sabout international trends affectingIndian markets and life.”

Talking about the loss of identi-ty among those migrating to metrocities, Carlo believes in making it acentral debate and not just a morbidissue of suicide. “I empathise with itbecause I myself live in a fishing vil-lage in Tamil Nadu. How can youconvince someone to stay in a placethat’s entirely alien to his being andvalues? The dreams of transformativeimpact sold by the media and TVshowing winners from small townsare definitely tempting but I believethere is a lot of strength in rural areas.There should be investment in therural economy, not the wrong kindlike for coal plants which are damag-ing the environment but sustainable

farming. Both politicians and intel-lectuals must come forward and talkabout it”, he added.

Talking about the relationbetween triple talaq and barbarism,Carlo said, “Most of the discussion isabout the process of divorce. Aftertriple talaq, there is also another rulewhich says if you want to re-marrythe man, the wife has to marry some-one else and get talaq before she cancome back. Basically all this means isif you want to divorce someone, youought to be very serious. Discussingissues and then finding a solution ishow one should go about instead ofsaying triple talaq is barbaric. Ofcourse, there are various sides to thiswhich I might not agree with butbefore judging, it’s important for a per-son to go in depth. I don’t know muchabout the Quran and Islamic cultureto judge whether it’s barbaric or hassome meaning within cultures whereIslam developed.”

In Venice, Bhabha skillfully analy-ses the common threats to rationalthinking given the recent destructiveevents in the Western world. In ahouse facing the Bay of Bengal,Mishra traces the role every sentimentagainst the status war has played inEuropean and Asian politics. JohnGrey in Mumbai wonders whether lib-eral civilisation really learns from con-temporary events, observing that his-tory doesn’t have an arc or directionbut is instead driven mostly by humand folly.

The author begins by movingbetween the night of November 8,2016 when Prime Minister NarendraModi announced demonetisation,Donald Trump’s election as USPresident and the fall of the BerlinWall in 1989.

“Readers can expect a heavy,academic, intense, very rich bookwhich will force them to slow down,turn off the wifi, take out the pen andmake a note which will provide a lotof ideas which will be much morethan one can think would be resentin those 80 pages in the book. In theconversation, there are stimulatingareas that make you look at worldin a different way”, said Carlo.Also, this book is launcheddigitally and not in physicalform. People will have tovisit the Juggernaut websiteand download the book ontheir gadgets.

�����E������� �7

Apacked auditorium with a fair sprinkling of every genera-tion and constant clapping set the scene. The spotlight, how-

ever, was firmly fixed on the stage. For it was here that folk singerRunki Goswami sang compositions from different states of thecountry and left everyone spellbound with her melodious voice.With this, she also proved how the grain of the earth powersup your vocals and wells up your emotions.

In order to retrieve the cultural connectivity, Rustic Folk ofIndia - A Humble Tribute, was organised at IIC’s CD DeshmukhAuditorium. Goswami sang songs ranging from Rajasthani toBengali and from Pahadi to Telugu. Familiar songs likeMadhaniya, Morni, Bumro, Laung Gawacha and Kesariya, manyof which have made their way into popular culture thanks to

Bollywood, made the audience to groove on thebeats. Goswami was accompanied by VirenderSingh on rhythms, Saif Ali Khan and HemanthJuyal on guitar.

Runki Goswami is a learned Hindustaniclassical music singer and composer. She

started her career by producing Bengalialbums. Her tryst with Indian cinemastarted in 2013. Her music was noticed

due to the genre of melody she revis-ited which is now obsolete in major-ity films. “I have been listening to

folk musicsince child-hood. Mygrandmother

loved folkmusic and she started teaching it tome when I was a child. She made melisten to the verses of folk songs andinterpreted their meaning so that Icould feel the centrality of emotion.I grew up with music, which is andwill always be my first love,” saysGoswami.

She learnt music from differentgharanas. But despite years of train-ing, one needs to be made of sternerstuff to pursue classical music. Saysshe, “Folk music will always be there.It will never go out of fashion becauseit comprises customs, faith and beliefs.So, if any music person today wants

any reference, he has to go back to folk. The base is folk, onecan remix it in many versions but folk as a form will never dis-appear.”

Goswami feels that there is an urgent need to promoteregional folk music to bridge the gap between youth and cul-ture. And in pursuit of this, she has made sure that the entry toher shows is often free so that every class of person can comeand experience her kind of music. Believes she, “Even the newgeneration music directors like Amit Trivedi use a lot of folk.Singers at Coke Studio are remixing folk. So, it is getting revivedon its own and it is a form that will never go out of fashion. Itwill remain in some form or the other.”

The talented singer sang in 17 different languages at the eventand also explained the meaning of some of the songs. “I loveall kinds of regional forms. I am a Bengali, so I am closer toBengali folk. But every folk song has its own beauty” saysGoswami.

The singer of the hit Bengali devotional album Debobeen andHindi albums like Manmarzian and Odhi Chunar Dhaani hasa word of advice for raw talent. “Listen and understand the cul-ture and then start picking it up. Don’t sing just for the heck ofsinging. You will be able to do justice to folk only when youunderstand what it is trying to say. Only then can you com-municate the emotion.” She considers it a blessing to be bornin a musical family but says discipline is the key of any pursuit.

Recently, Goswami debuted as a music director with theTelugu film, Writer, directed by M Balu and her super com-position Teen Maar Beatulakki is still a favorite with the mass-es in Telangana. Her shift to commercial Telugu films was noth-ing but chance as she was spotted by a film director. But didn’tGoswami have a problem with the language issues while com-posing Telugu songs? She says, “Language was never a problemfor me. The team I’ve worked with was very supportive. Theyuse to tell me the meaning word-by-word and I also did my ownresearch. Even I asked my maid to talk to me only in Telugu.These little exercises really helped me.” She prefers private albumsover movies songs as she can use her creativity to the fullest.

Death, they say, reveals our true selves andshows up earthly reality for what it is. What

we perceive as an accomplished life is but an illu-sion that is ironically revealed in our dyingmoments when we are seeking solace. Writtenby Mahesh Elkunchwar, Vasani Jirnani, direct-ed by Lucknow-based Surya MohanKulashreshtha, spins around a terminal patientwho watches the world change around him ashe degenerates and begs for his soul to bereleased earlier than it should.

This story is of a learned man who consid-ered Tagore his literary idol and spent a goodlife with his wife. Having come from a middleclass family, the protagonist, called “Baba”, sac-rificed himself at every point in his life so thathis children could live better. He even sacrificedhis love for domestic peace. The lady he fell inlove was widowed the next day of her marriage.Having nowhere to go, Baba gave her shelter inhis house but never did he express his feelingsand stayed loyal to his wife. She became thekaaki (aunt) of his kids and took care of them.Just like a typical Indian father, his daughter wasthe apple of his eye much to the chagrin of hissons. But Baba tried to protect and nurture hisfamily regardless of inner dissension and wasthe cynosure of all neighbours. Only in the end,when he was bed-ridden and needed his fam-ily the most, their real faces unfolded. Unknownto them, for he was in a stupor, they called himthe reason for their failure and cursed him fornot doing enough for them. This shattered himand the soul of the same man whose family washis pride, in the end, urges God (“Raghu”) totake him.

Originally written in Marathi, the director,Surya Mohan Kulashreshtha, explains themeaning of the title. “The name is VasansiJirnani, which is inspired by a verse from the Gitawhere vasansi means vastra (cloth) and jirnmeans phate purane (old and torn). Manchanges his clothes when they get old. Similarly,when the body dies, the soul enters a new body.Baba feels suffocated after knowing the truthsof his life and pleads God to take him away andgive him a new body and life.”

Each character in this play is layered andundergoes a significant change from positive tonegative by the end. For an ensemble size andeffect, each actor has to be powerful. “This isone of the least played shows because of the

complexities of situationsand roles. When you watchthe play, it might seem con-versational and slice-of-lifebut the emotions emerge inthe end in all their extrem-ity and subtlety. Baba isshattered when he finds theworld he nurtured as a cre-ator lying in pieces beforehim. The betrayal and dis-trust are bigger than hisphysical affliction,” says thedirector.

The stage set-up was ametaphor in itself.

Kulashreshtha says, “Bluesignifies the ocean in whichhumans are taking leaps tofind out the purpose of life.There are no realistic propsused. For example, there isno medicine box near the illman, no proper room or hallbecause this is a play whichdeals with one’s mind keep-ing all physical factors aside.Even the exit door is madein such a manner that it lookabstract.” Tagore’s songs andreferences to friendship wereliberally interspersed in the

play, making the audience wonder who was thereal friend indeed, God or man?

The message was clear: We must live our lifewithout any expectations. Linking the play withhis inspiration, the director says, “The playOedipus, ends on a note saying, ‘No man can becalled lucky until he carries his happiness andluck till his funeral.’ Until the end, we live in thefalse thought that we have done good deeds andhelped people. Little do we know that we havecome into this world with empty hands and leavewith empty hands. We are nobody to judge orgrade our deeds and are unaware of the out-comes. Life is an illusion”.

Another important subject of the play is theway we treat mothers as faceless conveniences.A mother is asked to take care of the householdand kids. She loses her own identity. No oneknows her by her name. Even if she wants to dosomething on her own in life, she is laughed atby her family and neighbours. The husband isalways the hero. A man does not have to provehis loyalty ever. It is always the woman who isquestioned.

In the play, even the principled Baba short-changes his wife and the other woman butnobody realises it. This sub-plot of complexitiesin a male-female relationship gives the main sto-ryline a bit of a counter-balancing bounce.

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Germany's Joachim Loew said he is looking for-ward to facing Mexico on Thursday in theConfederations Cup semi-finals after the

world champions pipped Chile to top spot in GroupB.

The Germans play Mexico in Sochi for a placein next Sunday's Final in Saint Petersburg while Chilemeet Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in the other last-four clash on Wednesday in Kazan.

"Mexico is going to be a tough game, they area very flexible team with very good players," saidLoew, who became the first head coach to achieve100 international wins. “We don't often play centralAmerican sides, so that will be interesting for us, butwe need to be on our guard."

Germany's Timo Werner, 21, netted twice inSunday's win over 10-man Cameroon which sawthem finish two points clear of Chile, who ralliedfor a 1-1 draw with Australia in Moscow.

After Kerem Demirbay opened the scoring inSochi, Werner struck either side of VincentAboubakar's consolation effort on 78 minutes.

Cameroon had Ernest Mabouka sent off in con-troversial fashion on 64 minutes for a dangerous tack-le on Liverpool's Emre Can.

Referee Wilmar Roldan initially dismissedSebastien Siani before the video assistant referee rec-tified his error.

Loew, in his 150th match in charge of Germany,maintained his impressive record of reaching thesemi-finals of every tournament over the lastdecade.

Loew praised his inexperienced side for over-coming Cameroon, but the Africans' coach HugoBroos lashed out at tournament organisers inRussia with just a year to go before they stage theWorld Cup.

The Belgian praised the "excellent" standard ofthe stadiums, but said heavy traffic hampered train-ing sessions when they played in Moscow and SaintPetersburg.

����������%����"On three different occasions we had to start our

session an hour late, because we were stuck in traf-fic, even though we had a police escort from thehotel," said Broos. "That must be reviewed and sort-ed out, because in one year's time, when the WorldCup is here, teams should not be stuck in traffic. It'snot that you start an hour late, everything gets pushedback and on one occasion we ate at 10pm at night,which is far too late."

Meanwhile, Chile had to come from behind tosalvage a point against Australia in Moscow.

After James Troisi put the Asian championsahead on 42 minutes at Spartak Stadium, Chilereplied through half-time substitute MartinRodriguez on 67 minutes to advance as Group B run-ners-up.

Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi insisted theyhadn't underestimated Australia, who are headinghome after their bid to edge the Copa America hold-ers to second place fizzled out.

"That could have been a quarter-final in theWorld Cup, such was the level of this game," saidPizzi. "We are happy to reach the semi-finals andreach that aim. Now we must refocus on our nextambition."

Australia boss Ange Postecoglou regretted hisside's missed opportunities. "We wanted to get outof the group and we haven't, so we are disappoint-ed," said Postecoglou.

"They (Chile) are a world class team, a fantas-tic team, and have played some of the best teams inthe world off the park.

"We needed energy to face that and the guys whocame in did a great job. From my perspective, it wasa great performance."

� ���$����������Postecoglou praised veteran forward Tim Cahill

as Australia's captain made his 100th internationalappearance.

He joined long-serving former goalkeeperMark Schwarzer (109) as the only other Australiaplayer to reach the landmark.

Cahill originally played youth international foot-ball for Samoa and was only cleared to feature forAustralia after FIFA changed its eligibility rules in2004.

"It's an unbelievable achievement to have played100 games as he didn't play for Australia until he was24, because he wasn't allowed to," said Postecoglou."He could have been sat here with 120, 130 games,very easily. Every time he has played at the highestlevel, at World Cups, he has scored goals. He is a fan-tastic influence."

���%������������#������� ����Former Netherlands defender Frank de Boer was

hired as manager of Crystal Palace on Monday, tak-ing his first coaching job in English soccer sevenmonths after getting fired by Inter Milan.

De Boer signed a three-year deal, saying his pri-ority was to make Palace a "solid Premier Leagueclub" after its recent battles to avoid relegation fromEngland's lucrative top division.

De Boer led Ajax to four straight league titlesduring his time at the Dutch club from 2010-16before joining Inter, where his reputation was dam-aged by lasting only 14 matches and 84 days incharge.

When asked what went wrong at Inter, De Boersaid at his presentation as Palace manager: "A lot,especially at the start of preseason. I learned a lot.Hopefully I can bring that experience here to CrystalPalace."

De Boer, who is Palace's fifth manager in the lastfour years, said he was close to taking over at Evertonlast year only for compatriot Ronald Koeman to getthe job. Palace, whose owners are American, has beenwithout a manager since Sam Allardyce quit lastmonth after keeping the team in the Premier Leaguefollowing a flurry of late-season wins.

Palace played a direct, counter-attacking styleunder Allardyce, whereas De Boer favors a posses-sion-based approach that got results in Dutch soc-cer.

De Boer takes over a squad that is widely regard-ed to be too strong to be languishing near the bot-tom of the Premier League. The expensively assem-bled front three of Andros Townsend, ChristianBenteke and Wilfried Zaha was particularly impres-sive at the end of last season.

De Boer said he would work with the existingsquad while adding "one or two signings that I thinkis necessary."

#����7�)$4

In a move expected to further delay the imple-mentation of the Lodha panel reforms, the

BCCI on Monday decided to form a committee foranalysing how "best and quickly" the principal orderof the Supreme Court can be executed.

The two hour and 45-minute long SpecialGeneral Meeting, attended by controversial formerBCCI president N Srinivasan, did not take any deci-sive call as requested by the Committee ofAdministrators during a meeting with state unitson Sunday.

"Today, we had the SGM with an eight-pointagenda, the most important of which was imple-mentation of the principal Supreme Court orderdated July 18 (2016). The house deliberated in greatdetail and with a view to completing the imple-mentation process constituted a committee, whichwill examine how best and quickly it can be imple-mented," BCCI's acting secretary AmitabhChaudhary told media persons after the meeting.

"It will be constituted tomorrow and should haveits first recommendations in a fortnight's time. It'sleft to the office bearers and 5-6 members of the gen-eral body," said the acting Board secretary.

Chaudhary said that the committee will startworking in the next two days. The principal issuesare 'one state one vote', age cap of 70 years, cool-ing off period after every three years and rein-statement of a five-member selection panel insteadof current three, although Choudhary did not elab-orate.

"Committee will go into each and every actionpoint necessitated by the principal judgement andonly those exceptional and limited areas of difficultywill be brought to notice of COA which will there-after decide course of action," said Choudhary.

"The Court's order has to be implemented. Ifmeeting went on for two and a half hours, item no1 (on agenda) consumed in excess of an hour. Therewas no voting and it (panel) was unanimously con-stituted," he declared.

"I should think so — that it (report) will go togeneral body. Committee will start its work in twodays and the rest will follow," he added.

Choudhary said it was up to the affiliated unitsof the BCCI to decide who will represent them atthe SGM when asked how Srinivasan, because ofwho the Board got into trouble in the past with theSupreme Court, could attend the meeting.

On some of the other issues like bilateral engage-ment with Pakistan, Chaudhary reiterated theBCCI's stance that it can only play the arch-rivalsif permitted by the government.

"On the 29th of last month we had a meeting(with PCB officials) which had become necessaryas a result of a letter written by us, the BCCI, in April,2014. They had invoked a provision of that letterand a dialogue was necessitated. Thereafer we hadto meet them again in presence of ICC. On bothoccasions our position was simple that tours of thesenatures can take place only after we have govern-ment permission," said the acting BCCI secretary.

#��� &9(�"9*-4

Indian football head coach StephenConstantine has rued the lack of

"pathways" among various age groupsides in the country, which he said hasoften led to assembling of a team justa few days before a major tournament.

Constantine said the U-23 team,which he is looking after at a nationalcamp at the Ambedkar Stadium here,assembled just a few days prior to thecontinental qualifiers in Qatar mid nextmonth.

The senior national team has beenon a break after beating Kyrgyzstan 1-0 in the Asian Cup Qualifiers on June13, giving Constantine time to takecharge of the Under-23 side.

India are clubbed alongside Syria,Turkmenistan and hosts Qatar.Constantine said the boys under hischarge could find it difficult in the tour-nament as they have been together forjust 10 days or so.

"I will tell you the difference ofQatar, Syria and Turkmenistan fromthis Indian team. They (Qatar, Syria andTurkmenistan) must have been togeth-er for the last four-five years. We aretogether for just around 10 days. Thatis the difference," Constantine told PTI.

"We do not have that continuedpathway from Under-17 to Under-19and from Under-19 to Under-23. Someof these boys have been with each otherin Under-19 teams but most of them arenot. So, it is difficult to make it a teamin one week or 10 days. We will try to

win matches, we do not go there to losebut it is difficult as these players are notlong enough together," he said.

"Getting together 28-30 boys fromall over India and pulling them togeth-er in a team is a stress. We are tryingto make it a team now," said the 54-year-old, who began his second stint assenior team coach in March last year.

Constantine was senior Indiancoach in 2002-05.

He also said the Under-17 boysunder Luis Norton de Matos need a lotof work ahead of the FIFA Under-17World Cup. "They need a lot of work.They had quite a lot of time togethernow. Luis has been with them for thelast three-four months. Let us see andI hope they give a good account ofthemselves. But it will be difficult forthem, very difficult."

Constantine was with the Under-17 boys for a brief period between thesacking of Nicolai Adam and appoint-ment of Luis de Norton.

��#�� )$�7

Lewis Hamilton branded world champi-onship leader Sebastian Vettel as a "dis-

grace" and challenged the German to"prove you're a man" after he deliberatelycrashed into him in Sunday's tempestuousAzerbaijan Grand Prix.

Four-time world champion Vettel wasgiven a 10-second stop-go penalty for dri-ving his Ferrari into the back of Hamilton'sMercedes while they were following the safe-ty car after 19 laps on the Baku street cir-cuit. Hamilton, who was leading aftermaking a clean start from the 66th pole posi-tion of his career, had initially slowed toavoid the slow-moving safety car ahead ofhim, an action that may have caused Vettelto drive into the rear of his Mercedes.

This damaged both cars — looseningfurther the head-rest in Hamilton's car soseverely that he was ordered to pit on safe-ty grounds for repairs — and caused Vettelto lose his temper by pulling alongsideHamilton and then turning into him.

"I think it's just not the correct driverconduct," said Hamilton, picking his wordsas he spoke to reporters. "It's dangerous dri-ving and to get a 10-seconds penalty forthat... I don't need to say anything else."

Vettel, who had accused the Briton ofbrake-checking him, had served his penal-ty during the race after the stewards decid-ed his actions added up to "dangerous dri-ving". Hamilton was not reprimanded orpunished.

The three-time champion Briton added

later: "I didn't brake-check him at all. Forhim to pretty much get away with drivinginto another driver is a disgrace. I think hedisgraced himself today.

"If he wants to prove he is a man weshould do it out of the car, face-to-face.Imagine all the young kids watching today- seeing that kind of behaviour from a worldchampion. I know my boys will be devas-tated [about the head-rest issue] but I thinkit's important to take away the great per-formance throughout the weekend."

F���%����<��������FVettel, who had attempted to demand

an explanation for the penalty during a terseradio exchange with his Ferrari team, saidthat nothing had happened.

"Nothing happened, did it? He brake-

checked me as well so what do you expect?"I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose, but

for sure it was not the right move. If I'mstruggling, people at the back are strugglingeven more so I don't think it was necessary.

"I got damage. He risked damage. He'sdone something similar in China at therestart a couple of years ago so it's not theway to do it, I think," said the German racer.

Vettel continued to protest his inno-cence after the race.

"I didn't run into the back of him onpurpose. There is then a chain reaction. Ithink it was very clear. In the end, we areracing with men. If one of us gets a penal-ty, we both do. We are both grown-up men.We want to race wheel to wheel. The cham-pionship battle is still respectful. I don't havea problem with him, but I think today'saction was wrong. Every week in thePremier League you have refs blowing thewhistle — and some players agree, some dis-agree. It's the same here," said the F1 dri-ver.

Vettel went on to finish fourth andHamilton fifth and they are now separatedby 14 points in the title race.

In a post-race statement, the stewardsmade clear that Vettel's penalty had beengiven for the incident in which he drove intoHamilton. It was described as "potentiallydangerous" driving and in addition to thetime penalty in the race he was also giventhree penalty points on his racing license,taking him to a total of nine.

If he reaches 10, he faces a possible fur-ther sanction.

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Tennis legend John McEnroe sayswhile he has great respect for

Serena Williams as the best of hergender, the 23-time Grand Slamwinner would be the 700th rankedplayer in the men's game.

Speaking as part of a tour to pro-mote his new book "But Seriously",McEnroe said he would placeWilliams "like 700 in the world" onthe men's circuit.

"Best female player ever — noquestion.

"If she had to just play the circuit— the men's circuit — that would bean entirely different story," McEnroetold American broadcaster NationalPublic Radio.

The seven-time major winnersaid the best thing Williams wouldhave going for her on the men's tourwould be her mental toughness.

"The reality of what would hap-pen on a given day is Serena couldbeat some players, I believe, becauseshe is so incredibly strong mentally."

He said her rivals would crackunder pressure.

"She could overcome some situ-ations where players would chokebecause she's been in it so manytimes, so many situations at

Wimbledon, The US Open, etc," hesaid.

Williams became the oldestwoman to win a Grand Slam title-when she claimed the 2015Wimbledon title at age 33.

The Los Angeles native has 23Grand Slam singles crowns and 14doubles titles in majors.

The ATP Tour rankings only goto the top 500 and Andy Murray isthe current top ranked ATP Tourplayer while Temur Ismailov ofUzbekistan holds down the 500th spot.

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