c m y k - the pioneer the morning of april 10, 1917 on way to champaran. accompanied by champaran...

16
I n a move that may see fur- ther deterioration in relations between Pakistan and India, the Pakistan Army on Monday announced that ex-Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav has been awarded death sentence following a court martial in Rawalpindi for alleged ‘espionage and sabotage’ activities. The Pakistan Army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, on Monday approved the execution of Jadhav, triggering outrage in India as India sees Pakistan’s death sentence to Jadhav as a fresh provocation, indicative of the fact that Islamabad and the Pakistan Army are not inter- ested in improving relations with New Delhi. In an immediate retaliation to the Pakistani action, there is a strong possibility that India may not release about a dozen Pakistani prisoners who were to be repatriated on Wednesday. There is a feeling in the Government that it is not the right time for the release of the prisoners. These prisoners were to be released as part of the practice by India and Pakistan to repatriate nationals lodged in each other’s jail after they complete their sentence. Reacting strongly to the death penalty and the clandes- tine trial, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit to his office in South Block and handed him a demarche saying such a sentence against an Indian citizen was a case of premeditated murder, as it was awarded without observing basic norms of law. Jaishankar added that the proceedings leading to the sen- tence against Jadhav were “far- cical in the absence of any cred- ible evidence against him.” The Foreign Secretary reiterated that Jadhav was not a spy, and he was kidnapped from Iran and brought to Pakistan. “Jadhav was kidnapped last year from Iran and his subse- quent presence in Pakistan has never been explained credibly. The Government of India, through its High Commission in Islamabad, has repeatedly sought consular access to him, as provided for by international law. Requests to that effect were formally made 13 times between March 25, 2016 and March 31, 2017. This was not permitted by the Pakistani authorities,” he said. He also expressed anguish over the secrecy of the trial, given the fact that India was constantly seeking consular access to Jadhav. “It is significant that the Indian High Commission was not even informed that Jadhav was being brought to trial. Senior Pakistani figures have themselves cast doubt about the adequacy of evidence. The claim in the Pakistan Army’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) release that Jadhav was provided with a defending offi- cer during the so-called trial is clearly absurd in the circum- stances. If this sentence against an Indian citizen, awarded with- out observing basic norms of law and justice, is carried out, the Government and people of India will regard it as a case of pre- meditated murder,” the Foreign Secretary said in the demarche. The ISPR on Monday in a statement made from Rawalpindi said, “Indian RAW Agent/Naval officer 41558Z Commander Kulbushan Sudhir Jadhav alias Hussein Mubarak Patel was arrested on March 3, 2016 through a Counter Intelligence Operation from Mashkel, Balochistan, for his involvement in espionage and sabotage activities against Pakistan. Continued on Page 4 T he Centre is working on a secret “weapon” to disperse violent crowds in Jammu & Kashmir as an alternative to pellet guns used by security per- sonnel in the State at present. There is no word yet on what that crowd-dispersing technique will be. However, the Centre informed the Supreme Court on Monday that the “weapon” is undergoing trial in a Government laboratory at Chandigarh. The disclosure came as part of the Centre’s submission defending the use of pellet guns, which has been chal- lenged in a PIL filed by the Jammu & Kashmir High Court Bar Association. The Bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar, Justices DY Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked the associ- ation leaders present in the court to think with an open, unbiased mind and make sug- gestions within two weeks for remedying the situation in the Valley. The matter will be heard next on April 28. The lawyer body had charged the Army with com- mitting excesses and sought an end to use of pellet guns by list- ing the number of lives lost and the number of those grievous- ly injured. The Bench even gave the option of using lazer dazer, a non-lethal weapon that shines disorienting, nauseating bursts of intense green laser light into a target’s eyes, and foul smelling water as a non- lethal approach to dispensing the crowd. Attorney-General Rohatgi presented a report of the Ministry of Home Affairs informing how the situation in J&K is different from any other part of the country. He said that the options of chilli spray, lazer dazer, and foul smelling water were unlikely to succeed as pro- testors cover their face with cloth and sport sunglasses. He presented photographs of recent protests to show how protestors arm themselves with stones, grenades, acid bottles, Molotov Cocktails and petrol bombs to attack the security personnel and damage the armoured cars. Continued on Page 4 EC defers Anantnag Lok Sabha bypoll to May 25. I n a bid to keep their territo- ries safe, India and Australia on Monday signed an agree- ment to boost cooperation in counter-terrorism and transnational organised crime and called for strong action against those financing and providing sanctuary to terror groups. Pacts to strengthen cooperation in space, health, and sports were also among the six agreements signed between the two countries following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian premier Malcolm Turnbull. Modi thanked Australia for joining the solar alliance and welcomed the passage of the Civil Nuclear Transfers to India Act through the Australian Parliament which paves way for commercial exports of Australian uranium to India. Turnbull said he was looking forward to starting the supply at the earliest. The two PMs jointly inau- gurated TERI-DEAKIN Research Centre on Nano and Continued on Page 4 M ohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Bar-at-law, arrived at Patna railway station on the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home spun fabric got down Howrah-Delhi train wondering where to go since it is his first visit to Patna and he hardly knew anybody. Finding no way out, Shukla offered him to take to a famous wakil saheb (advocate). They hired a tonga, which dropped them at the entrance of a big house. It was the house of Rajendra Prasad but he was not there and the servant told them that sahib was out of station. Prasad’s munshi told them that wakil sahib was away to Puri. “I squatted on the veran- da outside but the servant did not allow me to fetch water from the well. Shukla persisted that he kindly allowed me to use the toilet but directed me to use the toilet outside. It did not hurt or anger me. The servant was following own dharma and ful- filling his duty towards his master,” said Gandhi. Shukla was highly embar- rassed over the treatment to Gandhi but had no other option. Gandhi suddenly remembered one of his classmates in London who had told him he lived in Patna. “It was Mazharul Haq and I last met him in 1915 in Bombay. Then he was president of Muslim League. He had invit- ed me to his house whenever I visited Patna.” Remembering Mazharul Haq, Gandhi scribbled a few lines on a piece of paper and asked Shukla to deliver it. As soon as Haq received the letter he hurriedly asked his driver to start the car and reached Rajendra Prasad’s house and brought his friend to his pala- tial house on Fraser Road. Gandhi told him that he was on way to Champaran to study the plight of the farmers who were coerced to plant indigo. Haq, how- ever, was not well versed about the legal position but knew that the farmers were sub- jected to great tyranny. He told Gandhi that the indigo planters had their headquarters at Muzaffarpur and that he should first go there. Gandhi decided to go to Muzaffarpur and recalled that one of his acquain- tances Professor JB Kripalani was teaching in a college there. Srinagar: Four terrorists were on Monday killed as Army foiled an infiltration bid in Keran sector in Kupwara dis- trict of north Kashmir. A Defence spokesman said that a group of terrorists tried to infiltrate from across the Line of Control in Keran sec- tor but troops foiled their bid. “The group was challenged by the soldiers triggering a gun- fight that continued through- out the night. The gun-battle ended on Monday,” an Army officer said. Detailed report on P9 London: By sentencing Indian national Kulbushan Jadhav to death, Pakistan’s military court system has once again showed how it “rides roughshod over inter- national standards”, Amnesty International said on Monday, questioning the secretive court’s ability to dispense justice. “The death sentence given to Kulbushan Jadhav shows yet again how Pakistan’s military court sys- tem rides roughshod over international standards,” Biraj Patnaik, South Asia Director, Amnesty International, said in response to Pakistan mil- itary court sentencing Jadhav to death for alleged spying. Continued on Page 4 Smelling T he State-level Tiger Strike Force of the Forest depart- ment achieved a remarkable success on Monday by arresting three notorious hunters, name- ly, Rokin, Tiliya and Tayohari , involved in tiger hunting from Uchhera of Satna district. Foot soldiers of an interna- tional poaching syndicate, the trio are alleged to be involved in killing no less than 20 tigers in MP and Maharashtra, said sources. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was search- ing for them since last three years. Information was sent to the CBI by the STF in this regard. All the three accused were taken in the custody for interrogation by the CBI arrived from Mumbai after the court’s permission. The CBI team left for Nagpur on Monday taking along the accused in its custody. It may be mentioned that these three poachers along with their other accomplices had killed several tiger and panthers in Mel Ghat Tiger Reserve and other forest ranges in the year 2012-13. Most of their accom- plices were arrested by the Mahrashtra Forest department but these three accused were able to escape the arrest. Case was transferred to the CBI by the Maharashtra Forest depart- ment in the year 2014, since then the CBI was searching for them. A campaign is being con- ducted by the Madhya Pradesh State-level Tiger Strike Force since last few days to search tigers’ poachers in Katni, Jabalpur, Satna and nearby areas on the alert of Wildlife Control Bureau and NTCA. The accused have been arrested under the same campaign. The accused belong to Katni district of the state and belong to the nomadic com- munity 'Pardhi.' They were on most wanted list of the CBI's Mumbai unit investigating poaching of several tigers from the Vidarbha region, said sources. STF (Wildlife) led by senior IFS officer RP Singh and SDO Ritesh Sirothia got hold of these accused based on a specific intelligence while they were working on poaching case of a tiger from Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR). All three were produced before the spe- cial court of CBI cases in Jabalpur and handed over to CBI on transit remand. C M Y K RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008 C M Y K

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Page 1: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

����������������� �� ��������������� ����������� ������������ ������������ ������������������������� ������� �� ������������������������������������� ������������� ���������������������� ����� �������������!��� �� ���� "#����� ��� ����������������������������������� �� ����������!������$����������� ������������� � ����%�&�����'��������������� ����������� �� ���� ������������������������$�������� ����� "(���������$��������� ��������������� ������������������� �� ���������� ����!���������������������������������������������� ��������������"

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���������������203.04(+

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

to Pakistan. “Jadhav was kidnapped last

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

He also expressed anguish

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

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

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

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

Continued on Page 4

���� 203.04(+

The Centre is working on asecret “weapon” to disperse

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

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

The disclosure came aspart of the Centre’s submissiondefending the use of pelletguns, which has been chal-lenged in a PIL filed by theJammu & Kashmir High Court

Bar Association. The Bench ofChief Justice JS Khehar, JusticesDY Chandrachud and SanjayKishan Kaul asked the associ-ation leaders present in thecourt to think with an open,unbiased mind and make sug-gestions within two weeks forremedying the situation in theValley. The matter will be heardnext on April 28.

The lawyer body hadcharged the Army with com-mitting excesses and sought anend to use of pellet guns by list-ing the number of lives lost andthe number of those grievous-ly injured. The Bench even gavethe option of using lazer dazer,a non-lethal weapon that shines disorienting, nauseatingbursts of intense green laserlight into a target’s eyes, andfoul smelling water as a non-

lethal approach to dispensingthe crowd.

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

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

Continued on Page 4EC defers Anantnag LokSabha bypoll to May 25.

���� �� ��#�� 203.04(+

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

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

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

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

Continued on Page 4

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Mohandas KaramchandGandhi, Bar-at-law,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

who were coerced toplant indigo. Haq, how-ever, was not wellversed about thelegal position butknew that thefarmers were sub-jected to greattyranny.

He told Gandhithat the indigoplanters had theirheadquarters atMuzaffarpur and thathe should first go there.Gandhi decided to go toMuzaffarpur and recalledthat one of his acquain-tances Professor JBKripalani was teachingin a college there.

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Srinagar: Four terrorists wereon Monday killed as Armyfoiled an infiltration bid inKeran sector in Kupwara dis-trict of north Kashmir.

A Defence spokesman saidthat a group of terrorists triedto infiltrate from across theLine of Control in Keran sec-tor but troops foiled their bid.“The group was challenged bythe soldiers triggering a gun-fight that continued through-out the night. The gun-battleended on Monday,” an Armyofficer said.

Detailed report on P9

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

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

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The State-level Tiger StrikeForce of the Forest depart-

ment achieved a remarkablesuccess on Monday by arrestingthree notorious hunters, name-ly, Rokin, Tiliya and Tayohari ,involved in tiger hunting fromUchhera of Satna district.

Foot soldiers of an interna-tional poaching syndicate, thetrio are alleged to be involved inkilling no less than 20 tigers inMP and Maharashtra, saidsources.

The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) was search-ing for them since last threeyears. Information was sent tothe CBI by the STF in thisregard. All the three accusedwere taken in the custody forinterrogation by the CBI arrivedfrom Mumbai after the court’spermission. The CBI team leftfor Nagpur on Monday takingalong the accused in its custody.

It may be mentioned thatthese three poachers along withtheir other accomplices hadkilled several tiger and panthersin Mel Ghat Tiger Reserve andother forest ranges in the year2012-13. Most of their accom-plices were arrested by theMahrashtra Forest department

but these three accused wereable to escape the arrest. Casewas transferred to the CBI bythe Maharashtra Forest depart-ment in the year 2014, sincethen the CBI was searching forthem.

A campaign is being con-ducted by the Madhya PradeshState-level Tiger Strike Forcesince last few days to searchtigers’ poachers in Katni,Jabalpur, Satna and nearby areason the alert of Wildlife ControlBureau and NTCA. Theaccused have been arrestedunder the same campaign.

The accused belong toKatni district of the state andbelong to the nomadic com-munity 'Pardhi.' They were onmost wanted list of the CBI'sMumbai unit investigatingpoaching of several tigers fromthe Vidarbha region, saidsources. STF (Wildlife) led bysenior IFS officer RP Singhand SDO Ritesh Sirothia gothold of these accused based ona specific intelligence whilethey were working on poachingcase of a tiger from SatpuraTiger Reserve (STR). All threewere produced before the spe-cial court of CBI cases inJabalpur and handed over toCBI on transit remand.

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Page 2: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

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A20-year-old youth and an18-year-old girl commit-

ted suicide by consuming poi-sonous substance atKhejadaghat village underBerasia police station area onMonday.

According to the policethe deceased Leeladhar Kewat(20) and Rati Kewat werefound in an unconscious stateand were rushed to a nearbyhospital where they weredeclared dead.

Investigating Officer ASINandram Choudhary saidthat in the initial investigationit was found that the twoconsumed poisonous sub-stance which caused theirdeath. The two were cousins.

At around 8 am policewere informed regarding thedeath of the two. A suicidenote was recovered but no rea-son was mentioned behind thesuicide, he added.

The bodies were sent forthe post mortem and thepolice have registered a caseunder section 174 of the CrPCand have started further inves-tigation.

During the investigation itwas found that the two werein relationship but it could notbe ascertained at the momentand further details could berevealed later.

Meanwhile, a 12-year-oldboy was electrocuted atPanchveer Nagar underGovindopura police stationarea on Sunday.

According to the police,

the deceased Raj was electro-cuted while playing outsidehis house and was rushed toa nearby hospital where hewas declared dead. Police wereinformed and on the receipt ofthe information a police teamreached the spot and startedinvestigation.

After the preliminaryinvestigation the body wassent for the post mortem.The police have registered acase under section 174 of theCrPC and have started furtherinvestigation. The injured boywas rushed to fracture hospi-tal where he was declareddead.

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The photography fanatics ofthe city had a great start of

the day, as they explored thefun facts about photography. Adaylong photograph work-shop ‘Nikon IndiaPhotography Workshop’ wasorganized in the city onMonday for the photographyenthusiasts.

The workshop was orga-nized by LNCT PhotographyClub. Conducted by ChitranshSaxena, Technical Officer atNikon India, the workshopaimed to give an opportunityto the photography lovers toradiate their photographyskills a level higher.

The workshop began at11:30 am at LNCT campusand as many as 300 photogra-phy fanatics were a part of it.Interestingly, the workshopdid not bind the participantsto DSLRs only. The partici-pants were allowed to bringtheir SLRs, mobile camerasand other devices they had.Also, amazingly there was noage bar in the workshop and soit was a sight to watch theyoungsters and the elderlytogether experiencing thecharm of photography.

The participants wereimparted training in visualaesthetics, basics of photogra-phy, shot composition, out-door photography and in-door photography. They werealso informed about the nightphotography through mobilecameras. Chitransh whileinteracting with the partici-pants informed them about

the basics of photography, theright angles and the commonmistakes while clicking thepictures.

He also detailed themabout the colour composi-tions and technicalities of pho-tography. After the theoreticalpresentations, the participantswere asked to click the pho-tographs in the most artisticway they can. The workshopcontinued till the evening.

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The Darshan of Narmada isitself equal to a one-day

dip in Ganga or a three-daydip in Yamuna. This is abelief rampant among thevillagers residing along thebanks of the Narmada and the‘Namami Devi Narmade’-Seva Yatris.

Narmada Seva YatrisSamnalal Sahu andKunjbihari Sahu of Koma vil-lage in Seoni district andChampalal of Sherda Kesarivillage of Khandwa districtsaid that this Yatra wouldgenerate awareness amongthe future generation towardsthe conservation of MaaNarmade. Sahu joined theyatra on December 11 lastyear. He said that it is essen-tial to create this feeling in thefuture generation that thewaves of Maa Narmada mustcontinue to move only thencan they be happy in their

lives. The Yatris believe thatChief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan has made the Yatramore relevant by linkingsocial concerns like de -addic-tion, cleanliness and BetiBachao –Beti Padhao with it.

x. On being asked about

this glow on their faces, theysaid the lifeline Narmada hasblessed every single personresiding on its banks besidesthe adjacent fields. It is hightime we rectify the wrongs wehave committed for our self-ish interests.

He said that the state hasrealized this on time andthrough the Yatra it isattempting to get its messageacross to us. The Yatris believethat the yatra which was ini-tiated with a very pious objec-tive will definitely fulfill it.

On its 114th day onMonday, the ‘Namami DeviNarmade’ – Seva Yatra leftHeerapur vi l lage inNarsinghpur district to enterMeregaon in Jabalpur dis-trict. Minister of State (inde-pendent charge) for MedicalEducation Sharad Jain, MLAPratibha Singh, people’s rep-resentatives besides villagersaccorded a warm welcome tothe Yatra.

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Mi Chin, a little girl wasplaying around her

home, giggling and laughingwith her parents. But, soonher laughter turned into crieswhen she saw her pretty hometurning to ashes. The story oflittle girl Mo Chin who sur-vived the Hiroshima attackswas brilliantly told on stagethrough a ballet performance.

An event ‘Swam Siddha’was organised on Monday atShaheed Bhavan Auditoriumwherein an Oddissi danceperformance and a ballet per-formance were held. Theevent was organized byChaitnya Socio CulturalWelfare Society, Bhopal.

The ballet ‘Yudh Ab AurNahi’ was performed on stage

narrating the dreadful inci-dent of Hiroshima attacks.Directed by Shruti Kirti andchoreographed by ChandraMadhav Barik the ballet wasperformed by the artists ofChaitnya Socio WelfareSociety, Bhopal.

The artists of the groupimpressively tried to expressthe pain and grief of thosewho lost their families in theHiroshima and Nagasakibombing attacks. The storyrevolves around a young girlMi Chin who survived thebombing attacks. She liveswith her parents now and herfamily is struggling to survive.

The seven year old girl MiChin saw her city destroyedjust in few minutes.

The girl and her familyhave seen their friends and

relatives and neighbours deadand now this is their time tostart a new life, which was noteasy. With the heavy soundsand vibrant light design thescenes of war were presented.Use of Thang-Ta and Taichiadded life in the war scenesand in the scenes where thesurvivors were struggling.

The artists with maturedacting skills added much zestin the performance.

Prior to ballet , anenchanting Oddisi dance‘Parampara Prawah’ by BinduJuneja and team was also per-formed. The flawless perfor-mance by the dancers capti-vated the interest of the audi-ence.

Each performance wasenjoyed by the theatre buffs ofthe city.

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Under the aegis of SCOPE,‘Public Sector Day’ was

observed like every year onApril 10 to showcase the con-tribution extended by thePublic Sector Organisations innation-building and socialprogress.

Similarly, ‘Public SectorDay’ was observed on Mondayat BHEL, Bhopal by Flag hoist-ing and Tree plantation atJawahar Udyan near HRDC,BHEL Bhopal. On this occa-sion TG Chouragade, GM(MOD, WE & CS) was presentas the Chief Guest. MK Varma,GM (HR, CMG, PMG & EC),all general managers, AmitabhDubey, AGM (HRDC), BrajeshAgrawal, AGM (HRDC),DRO’s, Trade Union represen-tatives and other senior officialswere also present in the pro-gramme.

Chouragade in his addresssaid that public sector organi-zations were started by theGovernment of India to pro-mote economic progress allacross the nation. He furthersaid that BHEL today is one ofthe important heavy engineer-

ing equipment manufacturingorganisation of the country,amidst private and public man-ufacturer. “The need of thehour is to manufacture equip-ment of highest quality in min-imum time cycle, providingimproved after sales services,”added Chouragade.

Swagata S Saxena, DGM

(HRDC) briefed the gatheringabove the competitions to beheld during the week on thetheme ‘Skill India, Digital India,Swachh Bharat, Make in India

and CSR’. Smriti Sharma, SrExecutive (HR) coordinatedthe entire program whileSaxena proposed the vote ofthanks.

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Atwo-day ISO-14001 andOHSAS-18001 surveil-

lance audit began today atBHEL Bhopal. The auditwill be carried-out by M/sBureau Veritas (India)Private Limited, Mumbai.On this occasion TGChouragade, GM (MOD,WE & CS) was present as theChief Guest.

Speaking on the occa-sion Chouragade said that atwo-way communication isnecessary for carrying outany audit successfully. Heurged the officials to learnfrom the experiences of the

auditors and help the audi-tors in successfully carryingout the audit.

Shashank Kalambkar,Auditor, Bureau Veritasmade a presentation on ISO-14001 and OHSAS-18001audit guidelines. He saidthat stress will be given oninternal communication,shop round and documentverification during the audit.

Earlier AK Kiyawat,AGM (HSE) welcoming allthe guest said that it is veryimportant for carrying outthe audit at frequent inter-vals. Mukesh Shrivastava,Sr DGM (HSE) coordinatedthe programme.

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Giving an enchanting andcharismatic look to the

clay, these potters have pre-sented the best of their cre-ations at Alliance FrancaiseArt Gallery. The gallery is alsoadorned with the captivatingpaintings by two artists.

A painting and potteryexhibition ‘Des Voyageurs –Travellers’ is being organised atAAlliance Francaise de Bhopal.From beautiful ceramic cre-ations to easels painted withvibrant colours all art pieces areput up at the Alliance Francaisede Bhopal Art gallery.

The exhibition features thelatest works by travelling artists.Des Voyageurs - Travellersconstitutes works of seven pot-ters, Nirmala Sharma, SuchitaRai, Girija Waingankar,Dipankar Deka, Jhumak Das,Sanjay Samant and JahangirAsgar Jani. Further, twopainters Yogendra Tripathi andDeepak Sonar will also displaytheir works at the gallery.

Their passion for travellingtakes them to different desti-

nations and difficult terrainsand this inspires them to cre-ate another unusual art piece.

“Our travelling adds to ourexperience and maturity toour art pieces,” says one of theceramist Jhumak DasManipuri. While talking to

The Pioneer, JD talks about hisworks and experiences.

He says, “I have created aceramic piece which indicatesabout the human nature as wellas his urge for travelling.”

His works include an

enchanting ceramic art piece ofa frog, to which he added apinch of old culture and tradi-tion showcasing an auto.

Each art piece is differentfrom another and tells a dif-ferent story which gave anopportunity to the art appreci-

ators to have a look at some-thing new and different. Thegrand imagery of the pottersand the painters narrates theirtravelling stories inspiring theBhopalites to the fullest.

The exhibition will be onview till April 19.

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The film buffs of the cityenjoyed three short movies at

a daylong short film screeningfest. The fest was held onMonday for the film lovers toenjoy the movies of different gen-res.

Three short movies ‘A Letterto Allah’, ‘Zeenat-A monologueof a tawaif ’ and ‘Unshackled-When freedom is what youcrave for’ were screened back-to-back at the festival. The festivalwas organised by Sea Anchorflims.

Notably, all three movieswere shot in Bhopal and the cityartists have worked in thesemovies. Besides, the films wereshot with a motive to take theBhopal filmmakers atInternational Film Festivals andsuch movies could be screenedacross the world.

It is to be noted that all threeshort movies dealt with thethought provoking issues. Allthree of them have drama, emo-tions and all those elementswhich are required for a movieof such genre.

The movie ‘Zeenat-A mono-logue of a tawaif ’ unfolds the lifeof a courtsean named Zeenat. Itshowcases her journey, the painsshe goes through.

Another movie‘Unshackled-When freedom iswhat you crave for’ dealt with thesame issue. It tells the story ofprostitutes.

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C M Y K

C M Y K

Page 3: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

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The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) here on Monday

raised questions over theenquiry report on EVM in theAter by-election and allegedthat the report is mere eye-wash and demanded that tosave the democracy electionsshould be held with the bal-lot paper.

AAP Madhya Pradeshconvener Alok Agar waladdressing media personshere on Monday said, “TheElection Commission of India(ECI) in its report over theissue of Bhind said that noanomaly was found in theEVM – VVPAT. We haveserious doubts over the reportand we are of the view that thereport was released whilecovering up the rigging in thevoting device.”

Agarwal said that wedoubt over the ECI reportbecause the enquiry commit-tee does not questioned thejournalists who were wit-nessed to the issue besides thereport does not have anymention of the threat given tothe journalists present on the

occasion by the Madhya Pradesh ChiefElectoral Officer SaleenaSingh.

Exhibiting a video in thatthe persons standing withthe MP CEO are saying ‘pressany button 1, 2, 3, or 4’ andthe sentence is completed bySaleena Singh by saying ‘slipof only Satyadev comes out,’Agarwal said that when theCEO herself is admitting thatwhatever button is pressed theslip of only BJP is coming outthan how come the ECI’senquiry team denied of any

anomaly in the EVM –VVPAT.

He said that the sequenceof events and the facts createa big question mark over thecredibility of enquiry report.It appears that this report hasbeen presented to deceive thepeople and the ECI is tryingto hide the abnormalities ofthe EVM.

The weird thing is thatwherever the anomaly isfound in the EVM it votesonly to BJP why an EVMvoting to other than BJP has

been found, he questioned.

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Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan said that

de-addiction drive will belaunched in Madhya Pradesh.Liquor shops have been closeddown in five km distancefrom Narmada river both thesides in the first phase fromApril 1. He said that liquorshops would not be allowed toopen in residential localities,near educational institutesand religious places. The ChiefMinister said that alcoholprohibition will be imple-mented in entire state in aphased manner by closing allliquor shops. He said thathuman civilisation and culturewill be saved only when riversexist. Chief Minister Chouhanwas addressing Jan Samvad invillage Neemkhera (Heerapur)of Narsinghpur district on113th day of Narmada SevaYatra.

The Chief Minister saidthat we have seen break inflow of river Tapti, Betwa andKshipra. If flow of Narmadabreaks, the life won't be saved.He said that the best agricul-ture practice is in Narsinghpurdistrict in Asia because of

Narmada river. Water ofNarmada basin is going toGanga basin.

Chief Minister Chouhansaid that lakhs of people willplant crores saplings on boththe shores of Narmada on July2 from Amarkantak toBadwani. The river is base ofprosperity of MadhyaPradesh. It provides drinkingwater to two dozen cities.Madhya Pradesh receivedKrishi Karman Awards fourtimes due to blessing of theriver. It provides water for irri-gation and power produc-tion. Narmada Seva Yatra hasbeen launched to repay itsdebt and conserve it. He saidthat treatment plants will beset up in cities located bothsides of Narmada. Treatedwater will be given to farms.He administered resolutionfor plantation of Narmadashores, construct toilets inhouses located its shores anddispose of pujan material inkund. Changing rooms andMuktidhams will be con-structed on the banks of theNarmada. The Chief Ministersaid that daughters must savedand every child must be sentto school.

The Chief Minister saidthat bill will be brought toaward capital punishment toaccused in rape cases theforthcoming monsoon sea-son. He announced that GauVansh Vanya Vihar will beestablished in Narsinghpur.

Jagatguru ShankaracharyaSwaroopanand Maharaj saidthat there are many rivers inthe country and the world butparikrama is done onlyaround Maa Narmada. Hesaid that Adi Shankaracharyatook the principle ofAdwaitvad in which it is toldthat the bodies are differentbut the soul is one. Adwaitashould not have any discrim-ination. Shankaracharya jisaid that children should begiven lessons of Gita andRamayana also. World famousSarod player Amjad Ali Khansaid that the Narmada andenvironment conservationyatra initiated by ChiefMinister is laudable and anexemplar y. Other ChiefMinisters must also followthe example. He sang the song“Bharat hai Desh Pyara-Bharat hai desh Nyara, IskiSabhyata hai Mahan- IskiSanskriti hai Mahan”.

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Only result oriented legisla-tions ensures success of

democracy while the firstnecessity for ideal democraticsystem is impartial and clearconduct of legislative work inthat various assembly com-mittees play crucial role, saidMadhya Pradesh assemblyspeaker Sitasaran Sharmawhile addressing the jointmeeting of various assemblycommittees constituted for theyear 2017-18.

Sharma said, “The fact isthat the assembly committeesare supplementary of the housein legislation and the procedureto implement it and that theimportance of these commit-tees is no less than the house.”

Sharma further said thatthe comprehensive and eco-logical working system of thecommittees increases mutualtrust between legislature andthe executive and the result ofthis that the people welfareworks get shape.

Extending best wishes tothe chairmen and members ofthe newly constituted com-mittees the assembly Speakerhoped that all the able mem-

bers would successfully executeyour responsibilities in theimportant committees.

Parliamentary affairs min-ister Narottam Mishra in hisaddress on the occasion said,“Legislative innovations arecarried out by thoughtful peo-ple and thoughts come fromwithin the inner self. Thecommittee system is the shad-ow of the house.”

Earlier at the onset of themeeting held in the assemblyauditorium the principal sec-retary of the assembly AwdeshPratap Singh threw light overthe rationale and concept of thecommittee system.

Chairman of the publicservice committee MahendraSingh Kalukheda, Estimationcommittee chairman GirishGotam and Government enter-prises committee chairmanYashpal Singh Sisodia alsoexpressed their views in themeeting.

The joint meeting wasattended by chairmen andmembers of various commit-tees, assembly additional sec-retaries Virendra Kumar andSudhir Sharma and other offi-cers and employees of theassembly.

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A45-year-old man was killedwhile his friend escaped

with severe injuries after theyrefused providing liquor to theaccused near liquor shop atPanchsheel Nagar under TTNagar police station area saidSP Bhopal (South) SidharthaBahuguna while speaking withthe media persons on Monday.

SP Bahuguna said that thedeceased Ashok Patil aliasJhanda was killed and hisfriend Mukesh Thakur wasinjured critically after theyrefused to provide liquor to thetwo accused who were identi-fied as Santosh alias KalluLodhi (19) and Sumit Lodhi(24).

The accused after con-suming liquor near the liquorasked deceased to provideliquor with him which thedeceased refused and later hewas attacked with a woodenstick in his head.

In the initial investigationpolice found that the accusedhave been booked by TT Nagarpolice for burglary, attempt tomurder, extortion and severalother serious offences.

After the preliminary inves-tigation the body was sent forthe post mortem and the policehave registered a case undersection 302 of the IPC andstarted further investigation.

The accused hit thedeceased with wooden stick in

his head and face which provedfatal for him. In the initialinvestigation the deceased wasidentified as Ashok Patil aliasJhanda of Pampa Nagar area.He used to work as labour.

The condition of injuredMukesh Thakur remained isreportedly critical and is under-going treatment at Hamidiahospital. The deceased used todrink liquor frequently andused to return home late in thenight.

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The three-day VindhyaMahotsav witnessed a

grand beginning amidst cul-tural programmes at Rewa onSunday night. Commerce andIndustries Minister RajendraShukla inaugurated theMahotsav by lighting the lamp.Shukla said that Vindhya isreplete from cultural, spiritualand religious point of view. Hesaid that we can acquire glob-al level status for Vindhya bykeeping our culture, folk artand delicacies secure. Alongwith development organizingsuch programmes can help thearea acquire an identity.

Shukla said that newachievements get added to theMahotsav every year. This timethe newly constructedCollectorate Bhavan will giverecognition to Rewa. He saidthat this would provide solu-tions to problems of lakhs ofpeople. The Industry Ministersaid that next year many

achievements including RajKapoor Trust Memorial andSolar Energy Plant etc. will beadded. He congratulated theVindhya Tourism Committeefor organising the Mahotsav.The Industry Minister saidthat local talents apart fromartistes from outside wouldget an opportunity to showtheir talents through theMahotsav. Minister Shuklahoped for the success of theMahotsav.

Mayor Mamta Gupta saidthat the folk art, culture, foodand dialect of Vindhya regionis famous all over the country.Vindhya Pradesh has its rootsfrom Chitrakoot toAmarkantak. Collector RahulJain presented the profile ofVindhya Mahotsav. He saidthat people should visitShilpgram to see the artworks.He said that all these activitiesare a part of the HappinessDepartment.

Local artistes and tribalartistes from Dindori present-

ed the famous Gudumb danceand national level dancerArupa Lahari gave aBharatnatyam performancebased on Namami DeviNarmade. Playback singerShaan’s songs added luster tothe Vindhya Mahotsav.

MLA Sheela Tyagi, DistrictPanchayat Vice-PresidentVibha Patel, Shahdol DistrictPanchayat Vice-PresidentPurnima Tiwari, BJP PresidentVidya Prakash Shrivastava,Rewa Janpad President KPTripathi, Chancellor AvdheshPratap Singh, UniversityProfessor KN Singh Yadav,people’s representatives andelite citizens were present onthe occasion.

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Accusing Civil Supplies andConsumer Protection

Minister Om Prakash Dhurveof giving wrong statement overviolation of model code ofconduct, the OppositionCongress demanded strictaction against him by theElection Commission of India(ECI) and to dismiss him fromthe Cabinet by the ChiefMinister.

Leader of opposition inthe state assembly Ajay Singhalleging that Dhurve who is anculprit of violation of ModelCode of Conduct during theBandhavgarh assembly con-stituency’s by-poll has givenwrong statement demandedfrom the Chief ElectoralOfficer (CEO) of the state totake strict action against himand re-told the chief ministerto immediately dismiss himfrom the cabinet.

Singh in a statement hereon Monday said, “MinisterDhurve has wrongly stated thathe went to the hotel in Umariato collect his baggage and hastried to mislead the ECI and theDistrict Electoral Officer whohappens to be Collectorthrough his wrong statement.His statement while holding anresponsible office of a ministeris serious misconduct and forthat the state CEO should takestrict action against him.”

Singh further said thatMinister Dhurve’s official pro-gram was released on April 7 inthat he was supposed to leaveUmaria for Maihar on April 8at 4 pm and then viaChitrakoot he was supposed toreach Satna for night halt.Hence, his statement that hewent to hotel for collecting hisbaggage is total lie.

He alleged that it is surethat minister Dhurve’s intentwas to affect the impartial andindependent election throughillegal means. That is why heopenly flouted Model Code ofConduct and also tried to mis-use his ministerial position.

He said, “I have written aletter in this regard to MP CEOand copy of that has also beensent to Chief ElectoralCommissioner – New Delhi.”

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Agrand programme wouldbe organised at Ambedkar

Nagar Mhow on the 126thbirth anniversary ofConstitution maker Baba SahebAmbedkar on coming April 14.Like every year, this year alsothe State Government would beorganising AmbedkarMahakumbh at Baba SahebAmbedkar’s birthplace Mhow.

The ‘Gramoday se BharatUday Abhiyan’ would also beinaugurated in this programme.Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan today took a reviewmeeting for the preparations.Chief Secretary BP Singh wasalso present at the meeting.

Chief Minister Chouhan

said that all the preparations forthe programme should be com-pleted well in time. Specialattention should be paid to thefacilities to be provided devo-tees who are expected to reachMhow on Baba Saheb’s birthanniversary celebrations. Foodand housing arrangementsshould be made for the devo-tees. Arrangement for addi-

tional buses for devotees fromKhandwa to Mhow should bemade. Swagat Kendra should bemade for the assistance of devo-tees at Khandwa railway station.All essential arrangementsincluding adequate securityshould be made at AmbedkarMemorial. Assistance of vol-untary organisations and citi-zens should be sought for the

arrangements.The main programme

would be followed by theHarmony Lunch. Devotees in alarge number from the state andoutside will take part in thegrand programme.

Additional Chief SecretaryPrabhanshu Kamal, PrincipalSecretary to the Chief MinisterAshok Vernawal, PrincipalSecretary Scheduled CasteDevelopment Deepali Rastogi,Ambedkar Memorial SocietyChairman Bhante Sanghasheel,Divisional CommissionerIndore Sanjay Dubey, Secretaryto Chief Minister VivekAgrawal, Collector Indore PNarhari and local committeeoffice-bearers were present onthe occasion.

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Maa Narmada’s streamoriginates from water

accumulated in the roots oftrees not from glacier.Mahamandaleshwar SwamiAkhileshwaranand Giri saidthis in Jan-Samvad held on114th day of “Namami DeviNarmade”-Seva yatra at villageBelkheda of Jabalpur district.Yatra entered Jabalpur dis-trict from Narsinghpur districttoday. A warm welcome withband was accorded to theyatra at village Meregaon,Pawla, Belkhedi andSunderadehi. Women wel-comed the yatra showeringflowers at the arrival. The

entire village was decoratedwith toran gates and kanyapoojan was performed.

Swami AkhileshwaranandGiri mentioned that the yatrais transformed into a largepublic movement. Sourcescausing pollution in rivershould be identified with pub-

lic awareness and participationto prevent river from pollu-tion.

A month old baby girl wasnamed ‘Pratikalpa’ inSwagatam Laxmi yojana.Pratikalpana is one of thename of Narmada river.

MLA Pratibha Singh said

that we all are responsible tofulfil the objectives of yatrastarted by the Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan. Shementioned that we must fol-low the resolution being takenhere.

Coordinator JitendraJamdar stated that MaaNarmada takes care of us sincebirth to death. He alsoexplained 14 objectives of yatra.

Pledge towards conserva-tion of environment and river,de-addiction, plantation, bio-farming and Beti Bachao-BetiPadhao administered to thevillagers during the Jan-Samvad. Also cultural pro-grammes were organised onthe occasion.

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Page 4: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

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Daughters of Khatora villageof Kolaras area have made

their family proud after achiev-ing success in career.Bharoseram Goliya, father offour daughters and one son andteacher by profession faced a lotof criticism from villagers butcontinued to educate hisdaughters and proved the vil-lagers wrong after three of herfour daughters have gotGovernment jobs.

Bharoseram Goliya andhis wife Sangeeta were firm intheir decision to make theirdaughters professionally skilledand never as burden.

The elder sisters Kamleshand Pushplata are teacherswhile Asha has been selected asSub Inspector. The youngestsister Priyanka is preparingfor competitive examinations.

The family faced opposi-tions and was criticized afterBharoseram’s fourth daughterAsha started preparing forpolice recruitment examina-tions. She was criticized for her

aspiration to became a policeofficer and to enter policedepartment been a girl fromrural area but she continued toprepare with dedication andgot selected as Sub Inspectormaking her parents proud. Sheis posted in Sheopur district.

Along with the brilliantand talented girls Bharoseramis also blessed with a sonHemant who is good at stud-ies and is preparing for com-petitive examinations.

Attitude of the society haschanged after the feat achievedby the four daughters ofBharoseram. The villagers whoused to criticize the girls forpursuing studies and preparingfor competitive examinationshave started praising the girlsand are seen congratulatingBharoseram and his familyafter Pushpalata and Kamlesh’ssuccess and recently selectedAsha as Sub Inspector.

Villagers admire and praisethe talented girls who haveachieved success despite oftheir rural background andcriticism.

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With city recording daytemperature at 36.7

degree Celsius, day tempera-tures were witnessed around 36degree Celsius among the majorcities on Monday.

Normal weather conditionswere witnessed in the city withday and night temperaturesaround normal temperatures.

After abrupt change wit-nessed in the past 5-6 days thatwas pleasant would prevail for2-3 days after which the tem-peratures would increase.

Met department officialsaid that the day temperaturesare likely to be witnessed around41 degree Celsius by the end ofthe week.

After two days the day tem-peratures are likely to increasegradually and hot and humidweather conditions are likely tobe witnessed with the increase.

The northerly componentin the wind has maintained thetemperature at lower level whichwas decreased by the patternand after the change in thedirection to north westerly tem-peratures would increase in thenext 2-3 days.

The normal weather con-ditions would be witnessed asthe changes which were induceddue to passing of western dis-turbance.

Warning of heat wave con-ditions has been issued by Metdepartment and Mandla regionis likely to witness hot wave con-ditions in the next 24 hours.

Mandla recorded the high-est day temperature at 42 degreeCelsius.

The day and night temper-ature would be recorded around39 and 16 degree Celsius respec-tively.

Hoshangabad recordedhigher levels of temperatureand recorded day temperatureat 39.5 degree Celsius. Thenight temperature was record-ed at 21 degree Celsius.

Ratlam recorded day tem-perature at 39.2 degree Celsiusand night temperature at 19degree Celsius.

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State Advisory Committeeformed under the Pre-

Conception and Pre-NatalDiagnostic Techniques Act(PC-PNDT) has recommend-ed to honour Bhupat SinghJadon, a social activists forinforming about the illegalabortion centre with a rewardof Rs 1 lakh.

Joint team formed by thedistrict Collector andSuperintendent of Police afterthe sting operation have arrest-ed the culprits doctors andother persons found involvedin foetal sex determinationtest. This information wasgiven in a State AdvisoryCommittee meeting held underthe Chairmanship of StateAppropriate Authority andDirector National HealthMission Dr BN Chouhan onMonday.

Director Child LineArchana Sahay, GynaecologistDr Minakshi Patel,Paediatrician Dr JyotsanaShrivastva, State Nodal Officer

Dr Vandana Sharma, SwatiSingh, Social Activist PrarthanaMishra and Public RelationsOfficer were present in themeeting.

The committee has decid-ed to include radiologist,gynaecologists - FOGSI(Federation of Obstetric andGynaecologists Societies ofIndia) members and socialactivists in the district inspec-tion and survey teams for qual-itative inspections. The DistrictAdvisory Committee willensure inspection of sonogra-phy centres at least once inthree months.

The committee also tookdecision to honour the districtsfor holding regular meetingsand to take action against thedistricts for not holding themeetings regularly. Moreover,‘Hamari Bitiya’ campaign and‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ cam-paign being implemented in 6districts were reviewed in themeeting.

It was informed in themeeting that regular and con-tractual doctors cannot open

sonography centres at theirhomes. The committee hasdecided to cancel the repre-sentations of such Governmentdoctors. Also deliberations oninspections of 5 registered cen-tres in Bhopal and 3 registeredcentres of Dewas carried out bythe National Inspection andSurvey Team on March 23 and24, to speed up publicityregarding public awareness andto empower ad-hoc commit-tees of villages etc. took placein the meeting.

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The Union Ministry ofTelecommunications has

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

–Bhopalpattanam- Approx. 55Km totalling 431 kms.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The ChhattisgarhGovernment has so far

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

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

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

The Tribal Tourism Circuit

will provide an opportunity tothe tourists to witness andexperience tribal culture andtraditions in Chhattisgarh, offi-cials informed.

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

The Tribal Tourism Circuitcomprises Jashpur-Kunkuri-Mainpat- Ambikapur-Maheshpur -Ratanpur-Kurdar-Sarodadadar Gangrel-Kondagaon –Nathyanawagaon

-Jagdalpur Chitrakoot -Tirthgarh in Chhattisgarhunder Swadesh DarshanScheme.

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

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

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Tightening the noose aroundpower thieves in the State,

power utilities in Haryana onMonday announced stricteraction against Governmentemployees found involved inpower theft.

The Uttar Haryana BijliVitran Nigam (UHBVN) andDakshin Haryana Bijli VitranNigam (DHBVN) have orderedstrict action against governmentemployees found involved inpower theft, said a spokesmanof the power utilities.

"The employee of anydepartment found involved inthe theft of electricity wouldinvite action against him underElectricity Act as well asHaryana Civil Service Rules,2016. Besides imposing a heavypenalty, departmental actionwould be initiated againstthem," the spokesman said.

There are about 2.5 lakhemployees working in differentdepartments of the StateGovernment. Besides, over 1.5lakh employees are engaged indifferent boards and corpora-tions under the state govern-ment.

Haryana has been grap-pling with the problem ofpower theft and unpaid elec-tricity bills for the past many

years.The spokesman said,

"During raids conducted bythe electricity department indifferent districts, various casesof power theft in the premisesof government employees havecome to fore. Till now, thoughaction was being taken againstthe erring employees underthe Electricity Act, their con-cerned departments were notbeing informed about theiroffence.”

In future, while taking seri-ous note of such incidents, thepower utilities have decided tonot only take action againstsuch employees but also informtheir departments so that, apartfrom imposing a heavy penal-ty, departmental action could beinitiated against them, headded.

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From Page 1The spy has been tried

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

The statement added thatJadhav was tried by FGCMunder Section 59 of PAA 1952and Section 3 of OfficialSecrets Act of 1923. “FGCMfound Kulbushan SudhirJadhav guilty of all the charges.

He confessed before aMagistrate and the court thathe was tasked by RAW toplan, coordinate and organizeespionage/sabotage activitiesaiming to destabilise and wagewar against Pakistan by imped-ing the efforts of LawEnforcement Agencies forrestoring peace in Balochistanand Karachi.

The accused was providedwith defending officer as perlegal provisions,” the state-ment added.

The Indian Governmenthad intensified its efforts toseek consular access to Jadhavin the last four months andsent eight requests betweenDecember 2016 to March 2017after Adviser to Pakistan Prime

Minister Sartaj Aziz said beforethe Pakistani Senate that therewas not enough evidenceagainst Jadhav. Aziz later did aU-turn and said that Jadhavhad been booked for espi-onage.

India sent 13 NotesVerbale to Pakistan ForeignOffice seeking consular accessto Jadhav. While oneDemarche and nine NotesVerbale were sent by thePolitical Wing of Indian HighCommission in Islamabadbetween 25 March 2016 toMarch 31, 2017, three NotesVerbale were sent by theConsular Wing of the IndianHigh Commission inIslamabad during the sameperiod.

From Page 1Bio-Technology that will

see collaboration between 100researchers of both countries indeveloping biofuels, and earlydetection of crop diseases toimprove productivity.Following their talks, Moditook Turnbull for a ride inDelhi Metro and showed himthe Akshardham Temple, aftersome talk about cricket.

“Just last month, we wit-nessed a thrilling conclusion tothe Border-Gavaskar trophy. Inmy speech at the AustralianParliament in 2014 I had spo-ken of legendary Bradman andTendulkar. Today, Virat Kohli

in India and Steven Smith inAustralia are shaping the youngbrigades of cricket. I hope yourvisit to India is as productive asit has been for Steven Smith’sbatting, the other AustralianCaptain,” Modi said duringthe media statement.

Later, Modi again used thecricket analogy and said, “Wetook a number of forward-looking decisions to furtherstrengthen our partnership,including the decision to soonhold the next round of negoti-ations on our ComprehensiveEconomic CooperationAgreement (CECA). In alighter vein I am, of course,glad that our decisions are notsubject to the DRS review sys-tem.”

In cricketing terms DRS(Decision Review System) is atechnology-based mechanismto review controversial umpir-ing decisions.

The agreement on cooper-ation in counter-terrorism andtransnational organised crimeis an overarching securityunderstanding which will allowlinks between Australian andIndian law enforcement, borderand intelligence agencies andallow improving both coun-tries’ ability to address globaland regional security threats.

“I hope that our new MoUon Combatting TransnationalOrganised Crime, includingInternational Terrorism, willcontinue to strengthen thisstrategic partnership.

From Page 1“If a crowd is upon you, a

pellet gun is used as a last resortwhich is fired below the knee,”the A-G said.

As per the StandardOperating Procedure the pelletgun is the sixth tier of defenceand least lethal. However, theA-G pointed out that a newweapon was being devised, buthe withheld details.

Going through the mater-ial placed before it, the Benchtold the petitioner, “You can’ttake sides, as being a lawyerbody you are in the middle,neither being part of the

administration nor the mob. Ifyou are sincere, you can help usas we feel we can play a veryimportant role. The question is,will you scuttle it or use thishistoric opportunity for thebenefit of the people and theState. Pool your thoughts andgive suggestions to us on anaffidavit in two weeks.”

The bar leaders had a dif-ferent take on the photographsof protestors shown by the A-G and claimed it was the secu-rity forces who charge first onthe protestors. The Benchpointed out that the protestorsare mostly children or youthsaged up to 28 years while thereis nobody in the 40s, 50s, or60s. “Why should children ofsuch tender age be there,” theBench remarked, adding it wasfor the bar leaders to proposea solution in the interest of law,instead of taking sides on sucha sensitive issue.

From Page 1“Stripping defendants of

their rights and operating innotorious secrecy, militarycourts do not dispense justicebut travesty it. They are aninherently abusive system thatis best left to deal with issuesof military discipline, not anyother crimes,” Patnaik said ina statement.

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

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

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A21-year-old youth commit-ted suicide by hanging at his

residence in Ashoka ViharColony under Piplani policestation area on Monday.

According to police thedeceased Rajesh was foundhanging and was rushed to anearby hospital where he wasdeclared dead.

In the initial investigationpolice found that the deceasedwas heavily addicted to liquorand used to spend on liquor.

The deceased used to livewith his mother at a rented housein Ashoka Vihar Colony.

Police have not found anysuicide note which could help inrevealing the reason behind thesuicide while the family mem-bers were not aware of the rea-son behind the suicide.

After the preliminary inves-tigation the body was sent for thepost mortem and the policehave registered a case under sec-tion 174 of the CrPC and havestarted further investigation.

Meanwhile, after wife’srefusal to return home a 24-year-old married man committedsuicide by consuming poiso-nous substance at Berkhedi vil-lage under Ratibad police stationarea on Sunday.

The deceased Raj Kushwahalives at Berkhedi area in Ratibadlocality and was an electrician,said police.

On Sunday deceased alongwith his family had gone to bringback his wife who went to herparents house few months agoand refused to return and main-tained her decision to stay whichannoyed the deceased and afterreturning home he committedsuicide.

The deceased consumedpoisonous substance and hangedwith the ceiling to commit sui-cide. A case under section 174 ofCrPC was registered and furtherinvestigation has been started.

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Page 5: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

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Absence of Minister ofEnvironment and Forest

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

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

The latest situation arosewhen Congress memberMahendra Singh Mahra raised

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

���� 203.04(+

Claiming that theGovernment had

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Avociferous Opposition onMonday demanded in the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

���� 203.04(+

The Opposition in the RajyaSabha on Monday attacked

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

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

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

Just before a short durationdebate on Aadhaar started in

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

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

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Tasked to ensure that the135-kilometre Eastern

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

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

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

�937.92 crore to the NHAI, theproject proponent.

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

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

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

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

���� 203.04(+

The average level of noisepollution generally exceeds

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

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

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

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

Replying to another ques-

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

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

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Activists fighting for dis-ability rights have pointed

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

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

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

Vasistha also alleged thatthe draft Rules are silent on

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Lok Sabha on Monday passedthe Bill on amendments to

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

acquire minimum qualificationsas mandated under the 2010 law.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Election Commissionwill soon convene an all-

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

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

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

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

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Ameeting of expandedNational Democratic

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

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

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

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

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

and several Cabinet Ministersattended the meet.

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

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

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

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Page 6: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

The controversy raisedby Bahujan SamajParty leader Mayawatiand Delhi ChiefMinister Ar vind

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sujit DeKolkata

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

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

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

TT Sakaria Delhi

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

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

SC Agrawal Delhi

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

NR RamachandranChennai

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Page 7: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For Government schools,to perform better, it is imperative

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(The writer is a senior journalist)

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Page 8: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

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Political and administrativeuncertainty stares at Tamil

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Amid a complete shutdownin Kashmir valley against

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

rule must be imposed inJammu and Kashmir.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Kerala’s Malappuram LokSabha Constituency, where

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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After fixing a record 80 lakhtonnes target for wheat

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

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

State BJP general secretary

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

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

The BJP leader alleged thatthe previous Samajwadi Party

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

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

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

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

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Prominent Gandhians haveexpressed concern over the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shastri Bawan, New Delhi- 110001

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

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

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

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

Page 9: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

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Four unidentified infiltra-tors were killed in north

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

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

guarding the fence that dividestwo parts of Kashmir Kashmir.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Congress legislator fromAhmedabad Gyasuddin

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

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

The statement by Shaikhcomes soon after the ruling BJPGovernment in Gujarat

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

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

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

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

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Satyam Babu, who spenteight years in prison, met

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Kerala Police havearrested two more opera-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Questioning the contents oftalks between Narendra

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

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

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

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

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

Congress MP and its

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

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

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

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

A senior BJP leader in

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

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

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

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

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

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The failure of monsoon andsevere drought for three

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Mumbai has a potential ofgenerating of 1,720 MW

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

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

Secretary of the Ministry ofNew and Renewable Energy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Page 10: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

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Country’s largest e-com-merce company Flipkart

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

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

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

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

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

Launched by two formerAmazon employees in 2007,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Motor Corporation Chief IndiaRepresentative P Balendran said ina statement.

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

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

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

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

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

The Halol unit, which had atotal annual manufacturing capac-

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

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

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

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

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

���&������������� �"0������ �������6�������(�5.�# ���� 203>��A

Tesla Motors overtook topUS automaker General

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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����203.04(+

BMW Motorrad, the two-wheeler arm of luxury

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

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

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

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

:1)�1���������������������� �� �� ���������������������

���� 203.04(+

Reliance Power on Mondaysaid it has signed agree-

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

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

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

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

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

The company said that thedefinitive agreements for setting

up the LNG terminal will beexecuted with PetroBanglashortly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Page 11: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

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G7 Foreign Ministers willsend a “clear and coordi-

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

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

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

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

cruise missiles fired at aSyrian air base in retaliation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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China has agreed to “strong”new measures to punish

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

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

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

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Influential British DJ PaulOakenfold has reached

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

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

Oakenfold — whosethree-decade long career has

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

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

told AFP by phone from basecamp on Monday.

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

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Pakistan Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif has barred his

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

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

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

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

6�>�� �� �� ������ ���!� �� ����� �>��������!������������B* ����� ������ ��������-��� �������� �8B��� �������� �������� ���������"3������� �����������-������������������������(���������� ���� �� ����������������!������������� �#��<������� ��������������������������� ���" �� �� �������������������� �����5������-2�������� ���-!�������������������������(������>����J ������������������������ ���"����� �7;����� ����!������������� ���!� �������� ���� �������-����(����� ���" ���

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

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

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

��� � +�4���=�.

Organisation of IslamicCooperation (OIC) has

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Page 12: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

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AB de Villiers smashed anunbeaten half-century asRoyal Challengers Bangalore

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

another six between the long-onand deep midwicket area.

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

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

����� �,�=�+

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

����� �,�=�+

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the drawing board before ournext game," he added.

KKR captain GautamGambhir was frank in his assess-

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

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

chase anything," said Gambhir.

����� �,20

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

����� �,20

England wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings

says working with greatslike Rahul Dravid in the

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

Billings, who isinto his secondseason at Delhi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

composition, he saidDaredevils have a well-bal-

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

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

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

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

������,�=�+

Mumbai Indians batsman KieronPollard has slammed Sanjay

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

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

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

be.Pollard responded

angrily to Manjrekar'scriticism in a series oftweets.

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

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

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Page 13: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

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In general, society considers the elder-ly as persons above the ages of 60 or65. This is usually the beginning of old

age as a person becomes less active inpolitical, social and economic affairs.Though there are elderly persons who arein good health and active members oftheir communities, majority are the oneswhose physical and mental functions areon the decline.

Since they are not able to get alongon their own, a majority of the elderlypersons require attention and care fromtheir loved ones as well as friends.Consequently, psychologists use the termelderly care to refer to the personal as wellas medical attention that this group of thepopulation receives.

It is evident that elderly care takes avariety of forms, ranging from personalcare such as feeding and dressing, to med-ical attention. In addition, the care thata family chooses for its elderly personswill depend on their needs. This isbecause some of the elderly personsmay still be in good health while othersmay be frail. Consequently, some ofthem may require home-based care whileothers may need specialized attention ina nursing home or in a hospital. Whateverthe case, the elderly do need some formof care.

Caring for the elderly is multi-facetedand often emotionally difficult for thecaregiver. It requires that forgiveness befreely given and old hurts be dealt with.The caregiver must be the one who is ableto "get over" emotional hurdles andmove on with providing quality care forthe aging parent. Issues unresolved dur-ing their vital and productive years areunlikely to be confronted now by parentsfacing a myriad of issues related to grow-ing older.

Another important aspect of care-giv-ing is to take a few days' break, when pos-sible. Taking care of a loved one is a hugeresponsibility and you need a breakfrom the demands.

Elderly care emphasizes the social andpersonal requirements of senior citizenswho need some assistance with dailyactivities and health care, but who desireto age with dignity. It is an important dis-tinction, in that the design of housing,services, activities, employee trainingand such should be truly customer-cen-tred. It is also noteworthy that a largeamount of global elderly care falls underthe unpaid market sector.

Let's take a closer look at the needsof elderly people in order to understandthem better. Before we come to any sortof decision, it is important to find outwhat the main aspects of taking care ofthe elderly person are, no matter if it's arelative or just a friend.

It is important to remember thatelderly people are precious. They aresomebody's parents and grandparents.Surely, caring for them can be hard andtiresome and very often people startthinking about nursing and retirementhomes but it's not the way out. Take amoment to find out if you could careabout them on your own.

Old people are in strong need ofattention and affection. They have a lotof interesting stories to tell, as they havegone through so many life events.Remember, you may be the only one per-son who can help your elderly relativesenjoy the last years of their lives.

A good deed is never lost. He whosows courtesy reaps friendship and hewho plants kindness gathers love. Life isoften about being taken care of. Thelessons are often about nurturing, careand compassion. Many people do notwant to take care of the elderly especial-ly when they are ill as they generally havelots of emotional and physical problemsrequiring a lot of care. Giving the bestpossible care and understanding theirchanging needs should be the goal of car-ing for the elderly.

Of course, it is not easy to take carebut it is definitely hard to let someone welove slip away. Most people take care ofthe elderly, maybe knowing that theyhave to or that there just is no one elseto do it. Caring for the elderly requiresa lot of patience, empathy and under-standing. It is kindness that makes us takecare of the elderly.

We learn a lot from taking care andspending time with them. We gain expe-rience as older people have a wealth ofexperience. We gain wisdom and knowl-edge as they have a lot more than any ofus. Their experience that life takes themthrough yields a lot of wisdom. We expe-rience gratitude. It brings a smile on ourface and most likely on theirs as well. Weget to learn about morals, principles andvalue that we can develop on as we liveon.

We learn as they teach how to love,

to care, to give, to forgive, to accept, tosupport and face life. We get an insightinto a set of rules and regulations whichwe can outline for ourselves as we live.

Care giving often leads us into a worldof love we possibly didn't know. We allneed love no matter how old we are, whowe've become, who we are with, what wedo. Taking care of the elderly gives us aninsight to unconditional love and helpsus love them in the same manner. It showsus that this kind of love does not exist

anywhere else. It help us develop morecompassion, empathy, courtesy and helpsus build stronger and a more meaning-ful relationship and friendship.

The additional time that we care givesus a wonderful opportunity to createlaughter and conversation with the elder-ly people who are lonely.

We learn that elderly people can begrouchy because of worries and unwant-ed tension. Talking to the elderly givesthem peace of mind and sense of securi-

ty. It helps them by taking away theirdespair, depression, loneliness and so on.We can never understand how much itmeans to them to have someone by theirside and care for them, however their eyesspeaks of gratitude, love and happinessand it lifts their spirit.

Caring should not only be due tohumanity. It should come from ourheart. After all, we are all bound to com-plete the cycle of life and face the old age,we'd all want someone to care for us.

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�What did you think about the position of womenin terms of acting and what the industry was likefor them at that time?

Alison Wright: I read a lot of books aboutHollywood. I read biographies of Davis along withGarbo and all the other actresses of the time, so I wascertainly familiar enough through other movies andtelevision to know that it’s definitely a world I wouldenjoy living in. The richness of it alone, the glam-our, it’s phenomenal to spend time in that world.

�Do you feel that age-wise things have gotten bet-ter for women?

Alison Wright: I don’t know about that. But SusanSarandon said that when she started, forty was thehard cutoff, and that’s certainly been pushed and peo-ple like Ryan are pushing that line literally themselves.Ryan’s created so much work for Jessica and so muchwork for older actresses. So that’s part of the fun storyof looking at Bette and Joan is what a tragedy thoselast fifteen, twenty years of their lives were when theydeserved so much more and they were massive leg-ends. Yet they were chewed up and spit out by the menin suits running the show; and Jack Warner, the waythey portray him in the show, you know, Tucci justgets better and better, as you can imagine, just whatpeople had to put up with.

�In terms of preparing for Pauline, what sort ofpreparation did you do? Did you talk to womenon that side of the industry?

Alison Wright: I read as much as I could aboutwomen who worked in the Hollywood era in the stu-dio system in every capacity. Lot of them movedaround different departments and that’s what I hadbuilt for Pauline and I also built a story of her pastfrom there because we got a bit of freedom. I watchedall of the Joan and Bette movies. And just the factsthat I learned staggered me, you know, that it wasn’tuntil 1974 in this country (California) that a womancould get a credit card on her own without her hus-band.

�Were there things that you connected with or thatyou felt you could really associate with?

Alison Wright: Yes, I think we all can, being awoman in a man’s world. And, it was more height-ened because we’re talking about what it was in thesixties, the casual sexism, the casual misogynist remarkthat you just have to let slide. We’ve all had to do thatstill sixty years later. So there’s lots of ways to be ableto relate and, of course, there’s Pauline, she's very com-petent and holds her own with Joan Crawford andBette Davis. I can only hope that maybe I do the samewith Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon.

�Was Pauline a real person or was she created?Alison Wright: No, she’s a composite character,

perhaps the only one actually in the show and she isa mix of uber competent young girls that went outto Hollywood dreaming of their future in the busi-ness. All the challenges that they faced are honestlynot that dissimilar from sixty years later where we aretoday. Still the challenges are same so it’s even moreheightened to see these women trying to pave a wayfor a future that was something more than being a wifeor a mother. These girls had much more ambitionthan that and wanted to have a career at a time whenno institutions in the country were encouraging

women to get out of the home and have a career forthemselves. Some of these girls just managed to forgetheir own way and do it as best as they could.

�So about working with holding your own withSusan Sarandon and Jessica Lange, what was it likeworking with them? They’re such titans of theindustry.

Alison Wright: Yes I am aware of that. I didn’treally know what to expect. I’d like to say wholeheart-edly it was a wonderful, marvelous and perfect expe-rience. It’s great to sit and to watch them work soclosely. So, Pauline gets to just be with Bob a lotbehind the camera while watching their performances.What a great way to spend my day just watching theseladies, live in all these different characters. It’s fan-tastic. They were wonderful.

�And what do you think it was about your perfor-mance in The Americans?

Alison Wright: Well, something that Ryan said wasthat they weren’t really sure as they were developingthis character because she is a composite characterand they weren’t sure what it might turn out to be.They knew they wanted her to be important but she’snot a front and center role. So I know that they boththought that I would make her a fully realised char-acter even if she was just a smaller part.

�But do you think television does offer better rolesthan films or at least more complex roles forwomen?

Alison Wright: Yes, at the moment it is.

�In terms of Feud, do you think Hollywood’s a bittoo safe these days; that people aren’t outspokenenough, because everyone’s so worried about theirreputation and jobs...

Alison Wright: Yes. It’s really dull. Fred Molinawas telling the story that some famous actor had toldhim about how amazing the Oscars used to be.Everyone used to get really drunk and would danceon tables. You don’t see an ounce of that joy or funanymore because everyone is so concerned becauseyou’re crucified and vilified so easily these days. Youdo the tiniest of things and all of these people arejumping down your throat about it. It’s certainly dif-ferent in the studio system.

Watch the legendary rivalry between Bette Davinand Joan Crawford exclusively on Star World PremiereHD every Sunday 9 PM

No Indian city features inthe top ten destinations ofthe world, according to a

travel survey. In fact, Siem Reapfrom neighbouring Cambodiahas broken through the eliteclub.With the summer seasonapproaching, tourists are facingthe age old dilemma of decidingtheir vacation destination. It isplaces like Goa and Mumbai thatmake their mark to attract the

travellers. With the new senseof exploration that the

young tourists are filledwith, there are many offbeat destinations like,Tiruchirappalli thathave made their mark

on the most frequent des-tinations. Although on the

world forum, there are not muchchanges as people still prefer tospend their vacation at the reg-ular places such as Bali orLondon but there are many newdestinations such as Cambodiaor Crete that have caught thetourists attention.

A travel based portal recog-nised Indian and world’s topdestinations with Travellers’Choice Awards.

“The Travellers’ ChoiceDestinations awards this yearincludes a great mix of populardestinations as well as lesserknown cities which I am sure willstimulate the Indian traveller toexperience fabulous places with-in our country” said NikhilGanju, Countr y Manager,TripAdvisor India.

� ���� �#FGoa is popular across the

world for its stunning beaches,natural beauty, abundant green-

ery and beautiful churches.Travellers looking for the oldworld Portuguese charm can optfor a heritage tour covering Se

Cathedral, Basilica of Bom Jesusas well as Dona Paula Beach.Those looking for a homelyretreat to stay can go for the fam-

ily owned and managed resorts.

����#�����New Delhi, the capital city

of India delicately balances itsrich past along with the moder-nity. The city offers a wide vari-ety of options to fill up your timefrom shopping to savouring localdishes to experiencing the cul-ture and heritage. Those lookingto make the most of their timecan take a guided day tour.

� �����������‘The Pink City’ is a travellers’

delight. From the stunning fortsand palaces to old charmingmarkets that offer not just lip-smacking food but intricate jew-ellery, Jaipur has everything thatone would want from a great hol-iday destination. Travellers canlearn all about the royal lifewith a guided tour.

�������������While Agra is known pri-

marily for the monument of‘love’, The Taj Mahal, there is a lotmore that it offers to the holidaygoers. From visiting a number ofhistorical monuments to shop-ping for the marble showpiecesand savouring local food, it’s anabsolute must visit on a traveller’sitinerary. One can indulge in pri-vate tours to see some of thearchitectural marvels during thestay.

�� ��� �Mumbai is what the Indians

affectionately call - the city ofdreams. The financial capital ofIndia, Mumbai, is also known asthe city that never sleeps. It isalso the centre of the Indian FilmIndustry and sees millions settingtheir foot on its soil to try theirluck in ‘Bollywood’. Travellerscan savour the local food by tak-ing a street food tour.

Couturier, Tarun Tahiliani has long champi-oned the concept of India Modern. His quest

for the modern Indian has found an elegantutterance with his new store at Qutab Gardenin historic Mehrauli area.

The space marries essentially Indian ele-ments with a contemporary feel that doesn’t feelcontrived or oppressively ethnic. “When youwalk into my space, I want you to know you’reentering my mind,” he says. And it’s true. Here,rare blood-red carnelian from Chennai has beenfashioned into tabletops, and the floor is a sym-phony of earthy-ochre sandstone fromRajasthan, strewn with Tarun Tahilianicarpets.

Custom-designed Zoffany wallpapersfor the backdrops of display vitrines,and all these are reflected in vin-tage, hand-etched mirrors. Inshort, the space is pure TarunTahiliani: luxurious without beingostentatious, and rich withoutbeing offensive.

It took Tahiliani over sevenmonths-from design to execu-tion-to design the space to hisexacting specifications. As youenter, the foyer opens onto ashort, bifurcated stairway thatleads up to the ready-to-wearsections featuring displays ofhis women’s and men’s collec-tions. Behind them, an 18th-century, hand-carved woodfacade from Gujarat domi-nates the stairwell that leadsdown to the haute couturesection replete with well-appointed privaterooms for trialsand lengthyshoppingsessions,all illumi-nated with

antique chande-liers. The centerpiece is a fili-

greed lamp that throws soft,dappled shadows on the

ceiling punctuated withhand-carved rosettesthat could haveadorned a palace a cen-

tury ago. Even the stairsare studded with flowers

hand-crafted out of cabo-chon mother-of-pearl.

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Page 15: C M Y K - The Pioneer the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home

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In the search for interesting cinematiccontent, it’s easy to lose faith, especiallyif you’ve grown up on a steady diet of

Bollywood movies. No wonder the presentgeneration of movie goers, especiallythose who grew up in the 90s, understandthe practice of ignoring logic or realism,all in the name of entertainment. However,with change in times comes change in per-spective. And it’s this change that’s broughtin a new wave in cinema. Popularlyknown as independent cinema, moviesfalling under this category are producedoutside of big banners and are indepen-dently distributed to entertainment agen-cies, focusing on specific groups of cine-ma-goers. They receive national andinternational acclaim in Film Festivals, butseldom made much news in mainstreamIndia. One of them is Mount of Excellence.

Regarded as one of the best docu-mentaries to have been produced inIndia, Mount of Excellence was showcasedat the Cannes Film Festival and receivedphenomenal acclaim there. Produced byDipankar Khanna and directed byShivajee Chandrabhushan, this film focus-es on more than 1000-year-old sacred lin-eage of the Tai Situpa’s and the PalpungSherabling Monastic (PSM) seat locatedin Bhattu village in Himachal Pradesh. A70-minute long documentary, narrated inthe powerful voice of Kabir Bedi, exploresand documents the day-to-day activitiesof the monks and their life at the Palpung-Sherabling Monastic Seat in India today.It also features HH the Dalai Lama, HH17th Karmapa, HE Jamgon KhyentseRinpoche and over high Tibetan Lamasin it explaining aspects about the brillianceof the Palpung lineage rising from LordMaitreya.

“Age-old traditions and practiceswhich are seeped in history make theminteresting and doubly so if they transcendman-made boundaries. This is possiblywhat one feels after viewing Mount OfExcellence,” says Shivajee.

About the challenges, he states, “I ama storyteller and to direct a documentarybased on a living person, who is a globalicon, was immensely difficult. I had to becareful with each and every step.”

The film’s genesis can be traced toDipnkar’s 25-year-long association withTai Situpa ever since he became a monkof the Tibetan order in 1990 and practised

for five years. “Dipankar wanted to sharethis legacy with everyone and also con-tribute towards it in his own way,” he says.

The Tai Situpa title came into beingwhen the Ming Emperor in 1407 bestowedit upon a spiritual leader after becominghis disciple and donating half of DergeKingdom in Eastern Tibet to him. ThePalpung Monastic Seat was established in1727 by the 8th Tai SitupaChokyi Jungneyin Kham, Derge. Literally meaning“mounds of excellence”, it became the seatof the Tai Situpas and besides spirituali-ty developed a unique scholarly andartistic tradition and is one of the 25 mostsacred places in Tibet. Describing the film-making process a search, journey and spir-itual adventure, he shares, “I alwaysviewed monastery from a tourist point butduring the making of this documentary,I realised that there is so much more to

it. The disciplined lives of monks, medi-tation and the most important lessons ofall, living in the present.”

The 12th Tai Situpa born in 1954 inPalyul province, Derge was identified inaccordance with the prediction and indi-cation left by the 11th Tai Situpa and

search instruction letter of the 16thGyalwang Karmapa. He reached India viaBhutan following the political upheavals.After basic education, he received all ordi-nations from the 16th Karmapa from 1966to 1975, becoming a bhikshu after com-pleting extensive study of Buddhist phi-

losophy, literature, art, science and histo-ry as well as ritual, meditation, sacreddance, Mandala, Tibetan astrology andmedicine etc.

The film highlights the close collab-oration between Karmapa and Tai Situpasand states, “Situs have been a caretaker,

spiritual father, mentor to Karmapaswhile different Karmapas have mentoredand tutored the Situs as gurus.” Heexplains, “They are spiritual equals. Bothare enlightened masters of the same level.The bestowing of red crown by the 9thKarmpa on the 5th Tai Situ symbolisestheir inseparability. It signifies equality ofspiritual status enabling them to give eachother diksha.” Thus the 11th Situ was theroot guru to the 16th Karmapa whobecame the same for the 12th Tai Situ whosubsequently assumed the role for the 17thKarmapa.

He further adds, “PSM was establishedin 1976 in Himachal Pradesh by the 12thTai Situpa who designed the monasteryfollowing the ancient science of geoman-cy. The place was envisioned to propagatethe sacred teaching of the Lord Buddhaand preserve the ancient and living her-itage, tradition, practices, arts and sciencesand the spirit of Tibetan heritage.”

Besides spiritual training the studentsare taught Hindi, English, Tibetan, SocialScience and Mathematics among othersubjects to enable them to pursue otherprofessions in case they wish to. Emphasisis laid on sports and extra-curricular activ-ities too like cricket, football, martial arts,Bharatanatyam, rudra veena and sitarsince according to Shivajee, the Tai Situpaviews “them as essential for the growth ofchildren making them aware of all aspectsof life and enjoy them.”

The film brings to fore Tai Situpa’saccomplishments as an artist besides hispassion for stamp and porcelain collection,bonsai and photography. “Painting is themanifestation of the mind on the canvasand it always shows the person, theartist...his or her state of mind and body-mind coordination. You really can’t hide.Art is a very good way to express oneself,”he says.

Two observations by the Tai Situpa inthe film stand out in the present day con-text. On gender equality he says, “InBuddhahood there is no differencebetween man and woman because dif-ference between the two is only physical.It is the mind which is the most impor-tant and there is no difference between awoman’s mind and a man’s mind.”����C9(�������������"������������ ����������������� ���������������������"������ ��

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Age old techniques lookstriking when somebody

plays with them in an imagi-native and innovative way. Andthis is Renuka Reddy’s way ofmaking a point as an artistthrough hand painted chintz. Atechnique which involves layerafter layer of perfection that ispainstakingly painted usingnatural materials such as buffalomilk, natural dyes, mordants,wax and dung.

Textiles have a long and dis-tinguished history in the Indiansub-continent. The technique ofmordant dyeing, which givesintense colours that do notfade, has been used by Indiantextile artisans since the secondmillennium BC. “Chintz orig-inated as a hand painted, mor-dant and resist-dyed patternedcotton cloth from India. Aprized trade cloth for centuries,it had a profound impact onmany textile practices aroundthe world, from calico printingin the West to Javanese Batiksin the East in the 17th and 18thcenturies. It was so popular atone time that Western countriesbanned its import in fear of eco-nomic instability in their localtextile trades. Besides causing arevolutionary change in tasteand fashion, it is the epitome ofartistic and design exchangeacross cultures and continents.That from an era of such basicexistence came a sophisticationand technical excellenceunmatched to date is astonish-ing,” says Renuka Reddy.

Renuka was hugely inspiredby the illustrations in the bookChintz: Indian textiles for theWest and decided to experi-ment. “The complexity involved

in making chintz and the lostart of fine resist are some of thereasons that led me to workwith chintz; to fulfill my needto work with my hands, and mydesire to learn, to experiment,to discover.”

What set Renuka’s piecesapart is not only her fine draw-ing and use of traditional mor-dants and dyes but even moresignificantly, her revival of thetechnique of fine white resist.“This may seem like a minortechnical detail, but these sin-uous, hand-drawn lines of wax-resist had enabled the earlychintz-makers to produce the

spiralling and scrolling pat-terns in white against a colouredground that made their chintzesunique,” she informs.

Elaborating further on theprocedure, she explains,“Hundred per cent handspunand handwoven cotton cloth iswashed and bleached in a series

of steps involving sheep dungand drying in sunlight. It issoaked and rubbed withmyrobalan, a source of tannin,buffalo milk and dried in sun-light which allows the mordantsand dyes to be painted on clothwithout spreading.

Black outlines are drawn

with fermented iron calledKasimi, red outlines are drawnwith alum mordant. Cloth iswashed and dyed in a bath ofmadder to develop the reds anddeepen the black. To bleach thereddish background, cloth issoaked in sheep dung andexposed to sunlight for seven toten days after which it is treat-ed again with myrobalan andbuffalo milk to prepare it for thenext round of painting.

Wax resist lines are paint-ed on the cloth to get the finewhite lines, which is a quintes-sential characteristic of his-toric chintz. Alum and Kasimimordants are painted over thewax lines to develop pinks,purples, browns and manyother colors. Cloth is washedagain and dyed in a bath ofmadder. It undergoes sheepdung and sunlight treatmentagain to bleach the backgroundto pristine white.

Cloth is treated with buffalomilk to prepare it for paintingblues and yellows. Wax lines areagain painted to retain thewhite background color in blueand green areas. Indigo is paint-ed in areas to be blue.Historically, cloth was dipped inan indigo vat for the blue areas.Cloth is washed and boiled toremove wax after which pome-granate dye is painted in areasto be yellow and over paintedon blue areas to get green.

Cloth is finally washedagain and treated with sheepdung and sunlight for the lasttime. It is starched and polishedto give a shiny surface.”

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If you love theatre, but can’t decide if you wantto watch tragedy, comedy, tragi-comedy,romance, suspense or horror, there’s a solu-

tion. Watch them all, and in the span of an hour.That’s what Once Upon a Time, a repertoire offive short stories based on human emotions andrelationships, is all about. These entertainingpieces from everyday life are magnificent in theirsimplicity. An amalgamation of human psycheand sentiments, there is a tale for every occa-sion set in reality whether depicting love, long-ing, anxiety or fear. So why the division intoshort stories? “I usually used to ask people aboutwhat they want in a play. And I realised that dif-ferent people enjoy different genre altogether andI wanted to cater the masses,” says the directorof the play, Sujata Soni Bali. Sujata has producedseveral features and documentaries, as well asthe theatrical production like Revisiting the Epics,Komedy & Kavis that have been successfully run-ning in theatres across India for more than threeyears.

She further adds, “The play is a completepackage that will make the audience laugh, cry,feel and think, all in a roller-coaster journey.Carefully curated from different genres and var-ied in their narration and style, the stories arerelated in their richness and intensity.”

Brevity is the soul of wit. Anything deliv-ered with punch and precision makes a definiteimpact while keeping the attention intact. Sopithy mails have replaced long letters, 50 overscricket is giving way to T20, feature films are

competing with shorts and instead of lengthycomments people simply tweet their reactions.

This holds true for theatre too where theaudience want to see something new from thepoint of view of content, format and presenta-tion. With audience game to try and experiencenew experiments, it is time for the micro playsspanning 10 minutes or less to move to the cen-trestage. “Micro plays, I believe is a trend andwill not last for more than a couple of years. Itis a version for today’s generation. For the peo-

ple who live in the insta world. Also for the oneswho get bored with a long version. The longestplay I have directed is one hour and seven min-utes,” she explains.

Performances were staged by well-knownartists- Tom Alter, Charu Shankar and SunitTandon. Occasionally referred to as the “Blue-eyed saheb with the impeccable Hindi”, TomAlter, as a thespian and television actor, is mostprominently known for his work in Bollywood.All five stories, got the audience— old and youngalike — hooked on to the play with their inter-esting story line.

The five stories were Sharifan — Apoignant story set at the time of partition; TheClassroom — A depiction of a teacher’s first class;Last Letter — A story about a father’s last let-ter to his daughter; Twenty Questions — Anamusing story about an arranged marriage set-up, Ek Lamha — An ethereal depiction of a poetfinding his muse as he passes by the tenth floorof a building.

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

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

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

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

Neymar's infractions bordered onthe absurd. Or tragicomic.

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

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

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

way to deciding the domestic title.Referee Gil Manzano included

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

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

The front page ofBarcelona-based sports daily

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Marco Reus can't returnsoon enough for Borussia

Dortmund.The speedy forward's

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

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

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

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

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

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

and one in the German Cup.Reus' frequent ailments

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

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

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

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

����� 203.04(+

Davis Cup captain MaheshBhupathi should have

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

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

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

"We would have appreciatedif Mahesh had told Leander

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

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

Bhupathi made public his

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bhupathi, in his Facebook

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

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

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

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

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London Olympic bronzemedallist Saina Nehwal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While Saina will be miss-

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

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

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

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Sergio Garcia tugged the lapelof his green jacket with both

hands, proud of his prize andhow he earned it.

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

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

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

Major champion.

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

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

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

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

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

���� 203.04(+

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

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

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

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

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

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