rni regn. no. chheng/2012/42718, postal reg. no. - ryp … no soldier was injured in the firefight...

12
I n a major operation along the Myanmar border in Nagaland, the Army on Wednesday attacked insurgents of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) and inflicted “heavy casualties” on them. No soldier was injured in the firefight which ensued after the militants opened fire on a patrol party. Some of the insurgents are believed to have escaped across the International Border (IB). The Army clarified that it was not a surgical strike and its troops did not cross the IB. Incidentally, the Army had undertaken a cross-border raid into Myanmar from Manipur in 2015 after 20 soldiers of the Dogra Regiment were killed in an ambush. Giving details of the latest operation, officials said a col- umn of the Army comprising about 10-15 soldiers came under fire from insurgents at about 4.45 am in Mon district in eastern Nagaland. The patrol was on a “seek” mission to locate militants following an Intelligence tip-off. According to a statement by the Eastern Command, “Our troops reacted swiftly and brought down heavily retaliatory fire on insurgents. The insurgents then broke con- tact and fled from the spot. As per inputs, a large number of casualties were suffered by the insurgents. Own troops suf- fered no casualties.” The Army, however, did not specify the number of casualties. The Eastern Command tweeted, “Reports of casualties to #Indian Army personnel factually incorrect. Firefight occurred along Indo-Myanmar border at 0445 hrs today @adgpi.” This clarification came after the NSCN(K) reportedly claimed in a Facebook upload at about 8.30 am that at least three to four soldiers were killed in the gun battle. Sources said the patrol did not even suffer non-fatal injuries in the firefight which lasted intermittently for about two hours in the thick forests. The Facebook post by one Isak Sumi, who is on the ‘Most Wanted List’ of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), said the encounter occurred on the outskirts of Langkhu Village located inside an Myanmar occupied Naga area, 10-15 kms away from the Indo-Myanmar border. “The encounter started around 3 am when the elite unit of the Naga Army detected a col- umn of Indian Army approach- ing their temporary makeshift camp on the outskirts of Langkhu Village located inside Myanmar occupied Naga area, 10-15 kms away from Indo-Myanmar border. The exchange was continuing till the time of filing this report,” said Sumi, who is referred to as the PRO of the NSCN by the NIA on its website updated last year. Sumi claimed that “three Indian soldiers were killed and an unconfirmed number injured but there was no casu- alty or injury on the Naga Army”. His post states that he is currently based in Yangon in Myanmar and his social media records, as also the details on the NIA website, state that he belongs to Zunheboto district in Nagaland. While denying that the Indian Army crossed the IB in “hot pursuit,” sources said real- ising that they will be captured or killed, the insurgents escaped towards Myanmar. It is always easier for militants to get away as “they are running for their lives” and are well versed with the terrain, they admitted. The insurgent group led by SS Khaplang broke off from NSCN(I-M) in 1988 and does not adhere to the ceasefire pact with India. While Khaplang died in June this year, in Myanmar at the age of 77, his group continues to carry out militant activities in North- East India including Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. The Government has banned this organization which has training camps in thick jungles of Myanmar. J olted by former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha’s wake-up call about the plight of the Indian economy, the NDA Government on Wednesday fielded senior Ministers to refute his claims, even as the Opposition latched on to Sinha’s scathing remarks to unleash a hard-hitting attack on the Modi Government’s handling of the economy. While the Government sought to downplay Sinha’s opinion in an article published in The Indian Express, and asserted that the country’s eco- nomic growth has been one of the fastest and its credibility established internationally under Modi’s rule, the Congress targeted the Modi Government over the “mess the Finance Minister has made of the economy.” Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi took a dig at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and tweeted, “Ladies and gen- tlemen, this is your co-pilot and FM speaking. Please fasten your seat belts and take brace position. The wings have fall- en off our plane.” Chidambaram lauded Sinha for talking “truth to the power” in the article on the economy and asked the “clueless” Centre how long it would hide behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rhetoric and party slo- gans. Sinha, who was Finance Minister under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA Continued on Page 4 D espite a cheerful global set-up where major indices were in green across Asia, Europe and the USA, Indian market has continued with its accelerated downward jour- ney. Spooked by sharp decline in rupee, rebound of oil prices, outflow of foreign money, and a host of negative macro eco- nomic factors, the BSE bench- mark Sensex on Wednesday tanked 440 points to end at over three-month low of 31,159. Nifty fell by 135.75 points to end at 9,735, it low- est closing since August 11 when it closed at 9,710.80. With Sensex and Nifty falling for the seventh day in a row on Thursday, investors’ wealth eroded by Rs 6.21 lakh crore during this period. Rupee closed at a fresh 6- month low of 65.71 against the US dollar, 0.4 per cent lower than its previous close. Worried about the GDP slowdown and skeptics about India’s ability to meet its fiscal deficit target, for- eign investors continued to pull their money out of secu- rities, putting enormous pres- sure on the Indian currency. Intraday, rupee touched a high and low of 65.35 and 65.75, respectively. With this, the rupee has now fallen 2.2 per cent in the last 6 sessions. The falling rupee may come handy for exporters, but it will make import costlier and adversely impact several sector of econ- omy such as capital goods. The collapse of the Indian market is alarming because Asia opened in green and even Nifty and Sensex traded high- er before the bear renewed their grip over the market. The realisation is fast sinking among market players that the slowdown in the economy could be “prolonged” and the proposed stimulus may derail fiscal deficit. With oil prices on surge, the Government now faces serious dilemma. If it allows the prices to go up, several sec- tors of economy are going to be hugely impacted. Conversely, if the Government tries to control the prices by reducing excise duty, it will lose huge revenue at a time when its post-GST tax collec- tion has remained far from impressive. Crude oil prices in the international market have shot up after Turkey said it might cut crude oil exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan through its area. This move is expected to cut off nearly 500,000-600,000 barrels of crude per day from northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. This loss com- bined with the 1.8 million bar- rel per day of supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers is likely to narrow the supply- demand gap, where demand is also building as major economies pick up. Amid reports that Niti Ayog has asked the Government to recapitalise the public sector banks to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore as part of the proposed stimulus, the well- known Japanese financial ser- vices major Nomura has raised red flag over against any such move, saying it may widen the fiscal deficit. In its research report, Nomura has said that the pre- sent macro problems are due to higher spending and hence a fiscal stimulus may be coun- terproductive. “The fiscal stress is more a result of excess spending thus far, which has not left much room for spending in the remaining months: it can rise only 1.5 per cent y-o-y in August-March versus 23.1 per cent in April-July to meet the FY18 budgetted spending tar- get. Therefore, a fiscal stimulus may not be so much to boost growth as to prevent a bigger drag,” Nomura said in its report. H undreds of thousands of people from all corners of the national Capital and its peripheral areas have thronged Puja Pandals of Chittaranjan Park in South east Delhi - considered hub of the Bengali culture and famous for cele- brating major Bengali festivals with gaiety and fervour. Of them Kalibari in CR Park is among the most colour- ful Durga Puja Pandals in the city and is organised by CR Park Kali Mandir Society. The main attraction is “Dhunuchi Nach” - a traditional and devotional dance which is per- formed holding dhunuchi (an earthen pot filled with burning coconut husk and camphor) in front of Goddess Durga on Ashtami. B-block puja being organ- ised by C R Park Durga Puja Samiti has been doing on site immersion for the past three years and the practice will continue this year too. The Pandals have been decorated according to traditions that have become popular in Kolkata in the past two decades. Fun and frolic, deli- cious food, cultural functions, prayers, Aarti, DJ, and cultur- al nights are the main attrac- tions of this Puja Pandal. Co-operative Ground Durga Puja Samiti has come up with eco friendly measures with Panchabhuta designs as its theme. The idols are made of clay of the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers and natural colours (limestone for white and turmeric for yellow) with an artificial waterfall as the backdrop. Mist sprinklers and the sound of flowing water make the visitor feel like enter- ing into cave. The five elements that come under Panchabhuta are Prithvi, Jal, Agni, Vayu and then Ether or Akasha. Utpal Dey, president of the Co-operative Ground Durga Puja Samiti, said, “The Samiti is showcasing panchabhuta or five elements following the Gond Art. We are using wood- en planks, ply boards, jute ropes, bamboo, coconut shell, clay and butter paper. The Panchabhuta designs have been created with inspiration from the Gond art style, which is an Adivasi art form, existing across Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Telengana and Odisha.” Pradip Majumdar, general secretary of C R Park Kali Mandir Society, said, “We per- form all the rites, including sac- rifice, Bhoga, Pushpanjali, Yagna and Arati. We have been organising puja for 42 years. We have designed the Pandal in the shape of a Mandir in a very conventional Bengali design.” The Puja Pandal in the central CR Park, Co-operative Ground Durga Puja Samiti is all decorated with many food stalls offering Bengali cuisine. When asked, Rama Singh one of the shop owner said, “He is getting good number of cus- tomers and sale peaks during nights as many devotees prefer to visit Pandals after 7 pm.” The Pandals at CR Park have turned into one of the most visited Durga Puja Pandals in Delhi. A relatively small puja has become popu- lar for its traditional approach to celebrate the festival. “The eco-friendly puja is effectively contributing in developing environmental awareness among people. The puja this year with adoption of environ- ment-friendly themes and practices has become different, said one of the organisers of Co-operative Ground Durga Puja Samiti. T he South West monsoon is all set for a delayed retreat by the end of this week. Indications about the delay in the retreat were observed on August 31, when strong mon- soon-friendly south-easterly winds were noted over North- West India. The Met Department has said monsoon withdrawal process will begin from October 1 from north-western Rajasthan. The delayed withdrawal is expected to aid sowing prospects next month for winter crops such as wheat and rapeseed by improving soil moisture content. Summer crops such as rice, corn, sugarcane, soybeans and cotton no longer need down- pours, though sporadic rain can aid their growth. According to Met Department, there is a five per cent deficient rainfall this year till date (September 27). The deficiency of monsoon was recorded six per cent till September 20 this month. As per reports, monsoon has recorded below average in six States that include Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Continued on Page 4 D espite a complete ban by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the crop residue burning is slowly pick- ing up across Haryana and Punjab and this has left Delhi deeply worried as the city is to host a few matches of the U-17 FIFA World Cup in October and any major episode of smog will hit the country’s image. Officials of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has said the Haryana Pollution Control Board has confirmed two reports of stub- ble burning while the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s web fire map- per is showing a few red dots scattered across the National Capital Region, including Punjab. “Haryana has recently started satellite monitoring of the region on September 22. Since then authorities have found two instances where farmers set paddy straw afire. The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) has been informed. Both the stubble burning cases were found to be in Panipat. One more case was reported from Fatehabad but officials are yet to confirm whether it was a case of stubble burning,” said CPCB officials. Continued on Page 4 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

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��� � 23���34-5

In a major operation along theMyanmar border in

Nagaland, the Army onWednesday attacked insurgentsof the National SocialistCouncil of Nagaland-Khaplang(NSCN-K) and inflicted “heavycasualties” on them. No soldierwas injured in the firefightwhich ensued after the militantsopened fire on a patrol party.Some of the insurgents arebelieved to have escaped acrossthe International Border (IB).

The Army clarified that itwas not a surgical strike and itstroops did not cross the IB.Incidentally, the Army hadundertaken a cross-border raidinto Myanmar from Manipurin 2015 after 20 soldiers of theDogra Regiment were killed inan ambush.

Giving details of the latestoperation, officials said a col-umn of the Army comprisingabout 10-15 soldiers cameunder fire from insurgents atabout 4.45 am in Mon districtin eastern Nagaland. Thepatrol was on a “seek” missionto locate militants following anIntelligence tip-off.

According to a statementby the Eastern Command,“Our troops reacted swiftlyand brought down heavily

retaliatory fire on insurgents.The insurgents then broke con-tact and fled from the spot. Asper inputs, a large number ofcasualties were suffered by theinsurgents. Own troops suf-fered no casualties.” The Army,however, did not specify thenumber of casualties.

The Eastern Commandtweeted, “Reports of casualtiesto #Indian Army personnelfactually incorrect. Firefightoccurred along Indo-Myanmarborder at 0445 hrs today@adgpi.” This clarificationcame after the NSCN(K)reportedly claimed in aFacebook upload at about 8.30am that at least three to foursoldiers were killed in the gunbattle. Sources said the patroldid not even suffer non-fatalinjuries in the firefight whichlasted intermittently for abouttwo hours in the thick forests.

The Facebook post by oneIsak Sumi, who is on the ‘MostWanted List’ of the NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA),said the encounter occurred onthe outskirts of LangkhuVillage located inside an

Myanmar occupied Nagaarea, 10-15 kms away from theIndo-Myanmar border.

“The encounter startedaround 3 am when the elite unitof the Naga Army detected a col-

umn of Indian Army approach-ing their temporary makeshiftcamp on the outskirts ofLangkhu Village located inside

Myanmar occupied Nagaarea, 10-15 kms away fromIndo-Myanmar border. Theexchange was continuing tillthe time of filing this report,”said Sumi, who is referred to asthe PRO of the NSCN by theNIA on its website updated lastyear. Sumi claimed that “threeIndian soldiers were killed andan unconfirmed numberinjured but there was no casu-alty or injury on the NagaArmy”.

His post states that he iscurrently based in Yangon inMyanmar and his social mediarecords, as also the details onthe NIA website, state that hebelongs to Zunheboto district

in Nagaland.While denying that the

Indian Army crossed the IB in“hot pursuit,” sources said real-ising that they will be capturedor killed, the insurgents escapedtowards Myanmar. It is alwayseasier for militants to get awayas “they are running for theirlives” and are well versed withthe terrain, they admitted.

The insurgent group led bySS Khaplang broke off from

NSCN(I-M) in 1988 and doesnot adhere to the ceasefire pactwith India. While Khaplangdied in June this year, inMyanmar at the age of 77, hisgroup continues to carry outmilitant activities in North-East India including Nagaland,Manipur and ArunachalPradesh. The Government hasbanned this organizationwhich has training camps inthick jungles of Myanmar.

��� � 23���34-5

Jolted by former FinanceMinister Yashwant Sinha’s

wake-up call about the plight ofthe Indian economy, the NDAGovernment on Wednesdayfielded senior Ministers torefute his claims, even as theOpposition latched on toSinha’s scathing remarks tounleash a hard-hitting attackon the Modi Government’shandling of the economy.

While the Governmentsought to downplay Sinha’sopinion in an article publishedin The Indian Express, andasserted that the country’s eco-nomic growth has been one ofthe fastest and its credibilityestablished internationallyunder Modi’s rule, theCongress targeted the ModiGovernment over the “messthe Finance Minister has madeof the economy.”

Congress vice-presidentRahul Gandhi took a dig atFinance Minister Arun Jaitleyand tweeted, “Ladies and gen-

tlemen, this is your co-pilot andFM speaking. Please fastenyour seat belts and take braceposition. The wings have fall-en off our plane.”

Chidambaram lauded Sinhafor talking “truth to the power”in the article on the economyand asked the “clueless” Centrehow long it would hide behindPrime Minister NarendraModi’s rhetoric and party slo-gans. Sinha, who was FinanceMinister under the Atal BihariVajpayee-led NDA

Continued on Page 4

��� � 23���34-5

Despite a cheerful globalset-up where major indices

were in green across Asia,Europe and the USA, Indianmarket has continued with itsaccelerated downward jour-ney. Spooked by sharp declinein rupee, rebound of oil prices,outflow of foreign money, anda host of negative macro eco-nomic factors, the BSE bench-mark Sensex on Wednesdaytanked 440 points to end atover three-month low of31,159. Nifty fell by 135.75points to end at 9,735, it low-est closing since August 11when it closed at 9,710.80.With Sensex and Nifty fallingfor the seventh day in a row onThursday, investors’ wealtheroded by Rs 6.21 lakh croreduring this period.

Rupee closed at a fresh 6-month low of 65.71 against theUS dollar, 0.4 per cent lowerthan its previous close. Worriedabout the GDP slowdown andskeptics about India’s ability tomeet its fiscal deficit target, for-eign investors continued topull their money out of secu-rities, putting enormous pres-sure on the Indian currency.

Intraday, rupee touched ahigh and low of 65.35 and65.75, respectively. With this,the rupee has now fallen 2.2 percent in the last 6 sessions. The

falling rupee may come handyfor exporters, but it will makeimport costlier and adverselyimpact several sector of econ-omy such as capital goods.

The collapse of the Indianmarket is alarming becauseAsia opened in green and evenNifty and Sensex traded high-er before the bear renewedtheir grip over the market.The realisation is fast sinkingamong market players that theslowdown in the economycould be “prolonged” and theproposed stimulus may derailfiscal deficit.

With oil prices on surge,the Government now facesserious dilemma. If it allows

the prices to go up, several sec-tors of economy are going tobe hugely impacted.Conversely, if the Governmenttries to control the prices byreducing excise duty, it willlose huge revenue at a timewhen its post-GST tax collec-tion has remained far fromimpressive.

Crude oil prices in theinternational market have shotup after Turkey said it mightcut crude oil exports fromIraq’s Kurdistan through itsarea.

This move is expected tocut off nearly 500,000-600,000barrels of crude per day fromnorthern Iraq to the Turkish

port of Ceyhan. This loss com-bined with the 1.8 million bar-rel per day of supply cuts by theOrganization of the PetroleumExporting Countries (OPEC)and non-OPEC producers islikely to narrow the supply-demand gap, where demand isalso building as majoreconomies pick up.

Amid reports that NitiAyog has asked theGovernment to recapitalise thepublic sector banks to the tuneof Rs 1 lakh crore as part of theproposed stimulus, the well-known Japanese financial ser-vices major Nomura has raisedred flag over against any suchmove, saying it may widen thefiscal deficit.

In its research report,Nomura has said that the pre-sent macro problems are due tohigher spending and hence afiscal stimulus may be coun-terproductive.

“The fiscal stress is more aresult of excess spending thusfar, which has not left muchroom for spending in theremaining months: it can riseonly 1.5 per cent y-o-y inAugust-March versus 23.1 percent in April-July to meet theFY18 budgetted spending tar-get. Therefore, a fiscal stimulusmay not be so much to boostgrowth as to prevent a biggerdrag,” Nomura said in itsreport.

����������'�����23���34-5

Hundreds of thousands ofpeople from all corners of

the national Capital and itsperipheral areas have throngedPuja Pandals of ChittaranjanPark in South east Delhi -considered hub of the Bengaliculture and famous for cele-brating major Bengali festivalswith gaiety and fervour.

Of them Kalibari in CRPark is among the most colour-ful Durga Puja Pandals in thecity and is organised by CRPark Kali Mandir Society. Themain attraction is “DhunuchiNach” - a traditional anddevotional dance which is per-formed holding dhunuchi (anearthen pot filled with burningcoconut husk and camphor) infront of Goddess Durga onAshtami.

B-block puja being organ-ised by C R Park Durga PujaSamiti has been doing on siteimmersion for the past threeyears and the practice will

continue this year too. ThePandals have been decoratedaccording to traditions thathave become popular inKolkata in the past twodecades. Fun and frolic, deli-cious food, cultural functions,prayers, Aarti, DJ, and cultur-al nights are the main attrac-tions of this Puja Pandal.

Co-operative GroundDurga Puja Samiti has come upwith eco friendly measureswith Panchabhuta designs as itstheme. The idols are made ofclay of the Ganges and theYamuna rivers and naturalcolours (limestone for whiteand turmeric for yellow) withan artificial waterfall as thebackdrop. Mist sprinklers andthe sound of flowing watermake the visitor feel like enter-ing into cave.

The five elements thatcome under Panchabhuta arePrithvi, Jal, Agni, Vayu andthen Ether or Akasha.

Utpal Dey, president of theCo-operative Ground DurgaPuja Samiti, said, “The Samiti

is showcasing panchabhuta orfive elements following theGond Art. We are using wood-en planks, ply boards, juteropes, bamboo, coconut shell,clay and butter paper. ThePanchabhuta designs have beencreated with inspiration fromthe Gond art style, which is anAdivasi art form, existingacross Madhya Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh,Maharashtra, Telengana andOdisha.”

Pradip Majumdar, generalsecretary of C R Park KaliMandir Society, said, “We per-form all the rites, including sac-rifice, Bhoga, Pushpanjali,Yagna and Arati. We have beenorganising puja for 42 years.We have designed the Pandal inthe shape of a Mandir in a veryconventional Bengali design.”

The Puja Pandal in thecentral CR Park, Co-operativeGround Durga Puja Samiti isall decorated with many foodstalls offering Bengali cuisine.When asked, Rama Singh oneof the shop owner said, “He is

getting good number of cus-tomers and sale peaks duringnights as many devotees preferto visit Pandals after 7 pm.”

The Pandals at CR Parkhave turned into one of themost visited Durga PujaPandals in Delhi. A relativelysmall puja has become popu-lar for its traditional approachto celebrate the festival. “Theeco-friendly puja is effectivelycontributing in developingenvironmental awarenessamong people. The puja thisyear with adoption of environ-ment-friendly themes andpractices has become different,said one of the organisers ofCo-operative Ground DurgaPuja Samiti.

��� � 23���34-5

The South West monsoon isall set for a delayed retreat

by the end of this week.Indications about the delay inthe retreat were observed onAugust 31, when strong mon-soon-friendly south-easterlywinds were noted over North-West India.

The Met Department hassaid monsoon withdrawalprocess will begin from October1 from north-western Rajasthan.The delayed withdrawal isexpected to aid sowing prospectsnext month for winter cropssuch as wheat and rapeseed byimproving soil moisture content.Summer crops such as rice,corn, sugarcane, soybeans andcotton no longer need down-pours, though sporadic raincan aid their growth.

According to MetDepartment, there is a five percent deficient rainfall this yeartill date (September 27). Thedeficiency of monsoon wasrecorded six per cent tillSeptember 20 this month. Asper reports, monsoon hasrecorded below average in sixStates that include UttarPradesh, Haryana, Punjab,

Continued on Page 4

�(���'����� 23���34-5

Despite a complete ban bythe National Green

Tribunal (NGT), the cropresidue burning is slowly pick-ing up across Haryana andPunjab and this has left Delhideeply worried as the city is tohost a few matches of the U-17FIFA World Cup in Octoberand any major episode of smogwill hit the country’s image.

Officials of the CentralPollution Control Board(CPCB) has said the HaryanaPollution Control Board hasconfirmed two reports of stub-ble burning while the NationalAeronautics and SpaceAdministration’s web fire map-per is showing a few red dotsscattered across the NationalCapital Region, includingPunjab.

“Haryana has recentlystarted satellite monitoring ofthe region on September 22.Since then authorities havefound two instances wherefarmers set paddy straw afire.The Environment Pollution(Prevention and Control)

Authority (EPCA) has beeninformed. Both the stubble burning cases werefound to be in Panipat. Onemore case was reported fromFatehabad but officials are yetto confirm whether it was acase of stubble burning,” saidCPCB officials.

Continued on Page 4

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����� 23���34-5

The Cabinet Committee onSecurity (CCS) on

Wednesday approved a �25,000crore mega police modernisa-tion and internal securityscheme to strengthen the forcesin the country.

Briefing media personslater, Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh said that 80percent of the cost would beborne by the Centre and out ofthe total amount, �110,132crore will be dedicated forJammu and Kashmir, NorthEastern States and States facingLeft wing extremism.

The CCS, headed by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, gaveits approval for implementationof the umbrella scheme —Modernisation of Police Forces(MPF) for three years. "This isthe biggest ever internal secu-rity scheme in the country. Thefinancial outlay for the schemeover the three years period is�25,060 crore, out of which theCentral Government share will

be �18,636 crore and the States’share will be �6,424 crore,"Singh said.

Special provisions havebeen made under the schemefor internal security, law andorder, women security, avail-ability of modern weapons,mobility of police forces, logis-tical support, hiring of heli-copters, upgradation of policewireless, national satellite net-work, crime and criminaltracking network and systems,e-prison, etc.

A scheme for special cen-tral assistance (SCA) for 35 dis-tricts worst hit by LWE hasbeen introduced with an out-lay of �3,000 crore to tackle theissue of underdevelopment.An outlay of �100 crore hasbeen earmarked for policeinfrastructure upgradation,training institutes, investigationfacilities, etc in the North-Eastern States, said HomeMinister while addressingmedia along with Law MinisterRavi Shankar Prasad andHome Secretray Rajiv Gauba.

Singh said the implemen-tation of the scheme would bol-ster the Government’s ability toaddress challenges faced indifferent theatres such as areasaffected by LWE, Jammu andKashmir and the North-Easteffectively. Besides, the schemewill help undertake develop-ment interventions which willcatalyse in improving the qual-ity of life in these areas and helpcombat these challenges effec-tively at the same time.

Police stations will be inte-grated to set up a national database of crime and criminalrecords. It will be linked withother pillars of criminal justicesystem such as prisons, foren-sic science laboratories andprosecution offices. Theumbrella scheme also providesfor setting up of a state-of-the-art forensic science laboratoryin Amravati and upgradation ofSardar Patel Global Centre forsecurity, counter terrorism andanti insurgency in Jaipur andGujarat Forensic ScienceUniversity in Gandhinagar.

����� 23���34-5

The Union Cabinet onWednesday decided to

increase the retirement age ofCentral Government doctorsincluding those working underthe AYUSH ministry and in therailways to 65 years. TheCabinet meeting chaired byPrime Minister Narendra Modialso decided to approve trans-parent mechanism for theinstallation of telecom towersin Defence lands andCantonment Boards order toimprove the mobile phoneconnectivity.

With the Cabinet decision,now parity has arrived on theretirement age of doctors in allCentral Government depart-ments and organisations. Theretirement age of doctors insome departments is 60 yearsand in some others, it is 62.Terming the decision as peo-ple-centric and pro-patient,Union Health Minister JPNadda said it will address theproblem of shortage of doctors

in the country.“The deci-

sion will helputilise the ser-vices of expe-rienced doc-tors. It will alsohelp in retain-ing the existingstrength ofexperienceddoctors, there-by providingbetter patient care. This willalso help in improving doctor-patient ratio in the country,” hesaid.

Nadda further said thatthe decision may not havemuch financial implications aslarge numbers of posts arelying vacant and the presentincumbents would continueto work in their existing capac-ity against sanctioned posts.Around 1,445 doctors of vari-ous Ministries and depart-ments of the CentralGovernment would be bene-fited, he informed.

Briefing media about the

Cabinet decisions, Law and ITMinister, Ravi Shankar Prasadsaid that transparent mecha-nism for installation of towersfor mobile phone internet oper-ators in lands owned by defenceforces and Cantonment Boardswould be helpful in increasingthe connectivity.

Telecom companies fre-quently complain about lack ofadequate space for installingtowers, which relay mobile sig-nals, around defence canton-ments which lead to increase incall drops. Now this decisionwill solve all these problem,said Prasad.

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�������(!�� �� 23���34-5

Increasing cases of infectiousbacteria-borne Scrub

Typhus-whose prevalence wasonce thought to be on thedecline---being reported fromacross the country includingthe national capital is givingsleepless nights to the healthauthorities.

But what is more worryingfor them is that the rare bacte-ria causing the disease is beingdetected in the AcuteEncephalitis Syndrome (AES)patients too-in Uttar Pradesh itwas recently found in 60 percent of such patients.

A wary Union HealthMinistry has now issued analert to States to keep a sur-veillance on the disease and

ensure timely treatment. The seasonal disease Scrub

Typhus is caused by a group ofmicroorganisms calledRickettsial and is usually trans-mitted by mites that are foundin the rodents living in theshrubs in hilly areas. It can alsobe transmitted by lice, ticks andfleas.

"These infections are usu-ally incapacitating and ifuntreated, result in high casefatality with multiple organdysfunction. In recent times,we also have reports of manyScrub Typhus cases presentingwith clinical picture similar ofAES," as per a recent circularissued by the Ministry to all theStates.

A senior official from theNational Centre for Disease

Control (NCDC) said thatRickettsial infections have beenreported in India for severaldecades.

He said, during the World

War II era, there were manydeaths due to Scrub Typhus inthis region. It was thought thatthese infections have declinedwith the passage of time.However, several reports inthe past decade indicate thepresence of disease in variousparts of India, such as theHimalayan region, the north-east, and the south. More casesare reported during rainy sea-

son.A study by scientists found

that during 2000-2011, elevenoutbreaks were registered fromRajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir,Himachal Pradesh, UttarPradesh and also from North-eastern States like Sikkim,Nagaland and Manipur, whichfour were in a community set-ting with the rest being hospi-tal based.

There were more than 900cases and forty two deathswith case fatality ratios 5%-17%.

Another study conductedby Dr George M Varghesefrom Christian MedicalCollege, Vellore, has noted thatduring 2010-14, as many as6649 cases of scrub typhushave been documented in 24states, with the majority beingfrom Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthanand Assam, which account forat least 300 cases each duringthis period.

Apart from India, ScrubTyphus cases have been report-ed from South Korea, China,Micronesia MaldivesCameroon, United ArabEmirates and Chile.

����� 23���34-5

UPSC member ChhatarSingh has resigned, over

three months after he was ques-tioned by the CBI in connectionwith alleged irregularities in theallotment of 14 industrial plotsin Haryana's Panchkula.

President Ram Nath Kovindhas accepted his resignationwith effect from September 22,an order issued by PersonnelMinistry said.

Singh took over as memberin the Union Public ServiceCommission (UPSC) onSeptember 2, 2013. His term wasdue to end on March 4, next year.

The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) had on June5 questioned former HaryanaChief Minister Bhupinder SinghHooda and Chhatar Singh inconnection with the alleged

irregularities in the allotment of14 industrial plots. Singh wasprincipal secretary to Hoodawhen the allotments took place.

The CBI has registered anFIR to probe corruption in theallotment of the industrial plotsduring Hooda’s tenure as thechief minister.

According to the FIR, indus-trial plots were given to 14 peo-ple by allegedly manipulatingcertain provisions of the allot-ment. These included allowingthem to submit their applicationseven after the last date of sub-mission had ended.

The 14 people who hadbeen alloted land had submittedtheir applications on January 24,2012, whereas the last date ofsubmission was January 6, theFIR said. Besides Hooda, who asChief Minister was chairman ofthe Haryana Urban

Development Authority(HUDA), others named in theFIR are retired IAS officer DPSNagal, then HUDA chief admin-istrator, SC Kansal, then con-troller of finance, and BB Taneja,then deputy superintendent ofHUDA.

The FIR also alleged thatineligible beneficiaries were allot-ed plots at rates lesser than theprevailing market rates, causinglosses of several crores to the stateexchequer.

It is alleged that the 14 plots,ranging from 496 square metresto 1,280 square metres, wereallotted at throwaway pricesafter changes were made midwayin the eligibility criteria.

All the allottees were alleged-ly related to politicians, bureau-crats and other influential peo-ple, including the then ChiefMinister of the State.

����� 23���34-5

The IAF has rescued a USnational from Leh after she

suffered injuries during atrekking expedition in Ladakhregion. The rescue operationfor Margaret Allen Stone waslaunched on Tuesday followinga request by the US Embassythrough the defence ministry.She was airlifted to a hospitalin Leh the same day.

Giving details of the oper-ation, officials said here onWednesday, Stone had set outfor trekking in the Ladakhregion and held up inZhingchan area at a distance of

75 Km from Leh sinceSeptember 6 due to injury.Her condition had deteriorat-ed during this prolonged peri-od of lack of care. She was ina critical condition. The USGovernment informed IAF ofthe situation in the afternoonhours on Tuesday.

IAF responded to the situ-ation with requisite alacrity.Exact location of Stone wasascertained with the help ofcivil administration and byevening two IAF helicopterswere able to locate the injuredtrekker in the valley. She wasairlifted to Leh hospital formedical care.

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����� 23���34-5

Though leading by example,Tourism Minister Alphons

Kannanthanam on Wednesdaytook Prime Minister NarendraModi's call for 'Swachhta hi Seva'(cleanliness is service) a tad tooseriously as he got down to busi-ness wiping and cleaning paanand gutkha-stained walls withbare hands without waiting forthe cleaning gear.

Taking part in the cam-paign at Janpath market inCentral Delhi, the bureaucrat-turned-politician, who wascalled the 'demolition man' in1990s for his anti-encroach-ment drives in Delhi, cleanedthe walls first with water andthen detergent using his handseven as his staff scrambled tofind him a brush.

"Ek scrubber la do (bringme a scrubber)," the ministersaid, imitating the scrubbingmovement with his hands as hepoured detergent in his hand torub it on wall.

Later, someone gave him ahand-held scrub, which he usedvigorously on the walls. "Cleanhua na?" he lobbed a poser tothe people, who applauded thezeal with which he went about

cleaning the dirty walls. Earlier,dressed in a blue T-shirt andjeans, Kannanthanam, a formerIAS officer, took to cleaning theplace soon after he arrived at the

Janpath market. Sweepers werelined up on the streets wearinggloves and masks, but the min-ister did not wait for any clean-ing gear. Collecting dry leaves,

junked packets and plastic wastefrom the street, he dumpedthem all into colourful bins hisstaff had arranged for him.

"Keep India clean. Let every

citizen get out on the streets, getout in his neighbourhood andkeep India clean. I think this isthe biggest mission of the PrimeMinister," he said.

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����� 23���34-5

The Defence AcquisitionCouncil(DAC) on

Wednesday cleared a projectworth over �200 crore toacquire Sonars for the Navy tosignificantly boost the anti-sub-marine warfare capabilities.Sonars are underwater radarsto detect enemy submarinesand incoming torpedoes.Another proposal to procuremissiles for the Navy was giventhe nod by the DAC headed bythe Defence Minister.

Incidentally, it was the firstthe DAC meeting chaired byNirmala Sitharaman after shetook charge as defence minis-ter September 3. Soon afterassuming the new responsibil-ity, the ministry announcedthat the DAC will meet everyfortnight to speed up acquisi-tion proposals to maintain thetempo of modernisation.Earlier, the DAC used to meetonce a month. The threeServices Chiefs, DefenceSecretary and DefenceResearch and DevelopmentOrganisation(DRDO) chief

participate in the meeting.Apart from clearing the

two projects, Sitharaman alsoreviewed the status of the cap-ital acquisition schemes as ondate and directed that theschemes are to be meticulous-ly monitored and brought tomaturity within stipulatedtimelines, officials said after theDAC meeting.

The upgraded sonars pro-posal for Navy destroyers andfrigates was given the nodthrough the Buy Indian routeat a cost of �200 crore. Thesesonars are designed, devel-oped and manufactured indige-nously by the DRDO and theNaval Physical andOceanographic Laboratory,Kochi.

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Agriculture MinisterBrijmohan Agrawal has

directed officials to distributefree mini kits of seeds of puls-es and oilseeds crops to thefarmers of regions affected byextreme drought in the State.

He was chairing a meetingof Chhattisgarh State FarmerWelfare Council at theMantralaya here onWednesday.

The Minister said that thehorticulture crops are taken upfor cultivation in the northernregion of the State where theofficials need to arrange dis-tribution of seeds under Stateand Central schemes.

The farmers should be pro-vided saplings of horticulturecrops through plug typeseedling pant of the StateHorticulture Directorate,Agrawal said.

Notably, the ChhattisgarhGovernment has also pre-pared a five-year master planto provide a fillip to the culti-vation of horticulture basedcrops in the State.

The master plan is for theperiod 2017-18 to 2021-22,officials informed.

Horticulture is a sunrisesector in the State. TheHorticulture crops cover anacreage of 7.41 lakh hectaresand production is about 85.95lakh metric tonnes, officialsinformed.

The acreage under horti-culture crops had increasedseveral times since 2004-05.

According to the masterplan, the target is to increaseacerage of horticulture crops byabout 4.52 lakh hectares. Theincrease in acerage will coverfruits, vegetables, masala(spices) crops and flowers.

Under the CentralGovernment's Micro-Irrigation

Mission Project about 75,000hectares land had been broughtunder micro-irrigation inChhattisgarh. The proposal isto bring in additional 2.34lakh additional land under themicro-irrigation during thenext five years.

An additional investmentof �1,405 crore is likely to beincurred on the project.Farmers will be trained in theprocessing of horticulturecrops.

Additional training centersin production of horticulturecrops will be established underthe Private Partnership Plan(PPP), officials informed.

Agriculture expert teamsalso will visit all the villages inthe State and guide the farm-ers. About 30,000 farmers and185 employees will be trainedin the coming years and 100farmers will be sent overseas ona study tour.

The HorticultureDepartment officials said thatunder the Post-HarvestManagement, a network ofcold storages and pack houseswill be established to preventthe damage of perishable com-

modities like fruits, vegetablesand flowers in the entire state.

About �90.81 crore is like-ly to be invested in the project.Green Houses, shed net hous-es, mulching will be estab-lished at a cost of �321 crore.

To encourage mechaniza-tion of Horticulture, 20 HorsePower tractors, rotavator,power spryer, light trap instru-ments will be supplied to thefarmers at a cost of �16.74crore. Honey bee industry willbe doubled in due course oftime. There is a proposal toinvest �6.40 crore in the rear-ing of honey bees .

Prime Minister CropInsurance Scheme will helpfarmers to cover up the losses.About 90 nurseries out of 122nurseries will be upgraded.The vegetables are grown on4.14 lakh hectares of land.

Ten minor and three majorPlug Type Vegetable SeedlingUnits are operating at present.An additional 20 minor and 10major units will be establishedsoon. Ten lakh saplings will beplanted every year.

There are immense possi-bilities in growing mangoes,

guavas, lemon, Amla,Pomegranate, berries, custardapple, Litchi, 'Naspati', Peech,Plumes and the acreage will beincreased by 1.37 lakh hectaresevery year.

A Mother Tree ResourceCenter will be developed atNaya Raipur for the benefit offarmers. A State-level TrainingCenter will be established tointroduce farmers to high-grade plants.

Chief Minister RamanSingh in July this year had stat-ed that a cold storage chainwould be created inChhattisgarh after identifyingall the vegetable growing pock-ets of the State.

He was speaking at theState Loan Symposium of theNational Bank for Agricultureand Rural Development(NABARD) early this year.

Singh called upon the dis-trict collectors to prepare a blueprint for the far-flung regionsof State in the next 24 monthsso that the farmers who growvegetables need not protest onthe streets for better facilitiesand remuneration.

He laid stress on better

marketing of the farmers prod-ucts vegetables and fruits sothat earn substantial profits.Chief Minister unveiled 'StateFocus Paper' of the NABARDfor the year 2017-2018.

The Chief Minister saidthat State had been making sev-eral efforts to increase theincome of farmers.

Solar pumps are beinginstalled in remote areas whereauthorities are unable to pro-vide electricity due to difficultterrain and other geographicalreasons, he said

Fifty-one thousand solarirrigation pumps will be dis-tributed to the farmers underthe Solar Sujla Yojana, Singhsaid.

The 'Backyard' farm projectof the Bank is very successfuland it should be extended to allparts of the State, he said.

Singh called upon the bankofficials to allot loans to smalland medium farmers so thatthey can increase their income.

The ChhattisgarhGovernment has sent a pro-posal to the CentralGovernment for setting up an‘Organic Farming Research

Centre’ in the State.Presently, Chhattisgarh

State Regional OrganicFarming Research Centre isworking under Jabalpur(Madhya Pradesh), but as theagro-climatic condition of theState is different, Chhattisgarhhas demanded from CentralGovernment, Chhattisgarh'sown Research Centre,Agriculture MinisterBrijmohan Agrawal informed.

This apart, during theongoing Rabi season, farmershave collected nearly 10.96lakh packets of organic fer-tilisers for various crops, hesaid.

Chhattisgarh StateAgriculture and SeedDevelopment Corporation sup-plies organic fertilisers as perthe demand of farmers,Agrawal said.

He said that organic farm-ing has become need of thehour. The farmers are alsobecoming more and moreaware about the benefits of thismethod of cultivation.

Under the leadership ofChief Minister Raman Singh,the State Government has

launched Organic FarmingMission to promote organicfarming in Chhattisgarh, hesaid.

This Mission is being con-ducted in all 27 districts of thestate, under which nearly 3,854hectares of land has been ear-marked for organic farming.State-level organic farming celland district level organic farm-ing cells have been set up forsuccess of the mission.

Farmers have been pro-vided organic seeds to developseven Government agricultur-al cells as model organic cells.

On August 31 last year,Chief Minister Raman Singhhad directed officials to drawan action plan for operating aState-level ‘Food ProcessingMission’ in the State.

Chairing a meeting of theState Industry Department atthe office at his residence inRaipur, the Chief Minister saidthat as per the recommenda-tions of the 14th FinanceCommission, the State wouldrun the ‘Food ProcessingMission’ while using its ownresources.

He said that the State

Government has made a pro-vision of �12 crore for launch-ing the State-level ‘FoodProcessing Mission’.

Singh said that the launch-ing of Mission would helpfarmers get better prices fortheir farm produce and alsoopen new job avenues foryouth in the Food Processingsector.

Officials attending themeeting said that FoodProcessing Sector inChhattisgarh is being seen as a‘focus sector’ to ensure indus-trial diversity.

The ChhattisgarhGovernment will also now pro-mote use of solar photo volta-ic power plants in cold storagesin a bid to conserve hugequantum of energy consumedby such facilities in the State,officials stated.

The project is to be imple-mented by ChhattisgarhRenewable EnergyDevelopment Agency(CREDA), officials stated.

The solar power plant hav-ing 50 Kw minimum capacitywould be installed in a coldstorage in the State meant forstoring fruits, vegetables andflowers.

The cold storage wouldalso be connected to a ‘remotemonitoring’ mechanism andthe data would be viewable ina desktop or even smartphones.

In April last year, theChhattisgarh Government hadannounced that an Agro Mallwill be developed at RaipurAgriculture Produce Market .

Notably, Chhattisgarh isamong only 13 States in thecountry which had notifiedthe rules to implement theprovisions of AgriculturalProduce Marketing Regulation(APMR) Act to facilitate con-tract farming in the State, offi-cials stated.

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The offtake of coal by CoalIndia Ltd from its flagship

subsidiary South EasternCoalfields Ltd (SECL) has seen15.8 per cent jump (provision-al) at 60.99 million tonnes(MT) during April-August2017, officials informed.

The coal offtake target dur-ing the period was 58.79 MT.

SECL achieved total pro-duction of 28.178 milliontonnes (MT) of coal from itsopen cast (OC) mines duringApril-June period of the cur-rent financial year.

SECL also excavated 125.45million tonnes (MT) of coalfrom its mines during the lastfive year period (2012-13 to2016-17) from its Open Castmines, the latest SECL data hasrevealed.

Notably, CIL had recordedofftake of coal from its largestsubsidiary SECL at 124.34 mil-lion tonnes between April 2015to February 2016.

This was against the tar-get of 123.89 million tonnes(MT) which was a growth of11.1 per cent.

Notably, SECL is targettingtotal coal production of 250 mil-lion tonnes (MT) from its un-derground and open cast minesby 2019-20, officials stated.

The company recorded coalproduction (provisional) of12.10 million tonnes (MT)against target of 11.70 MT as onFebruary 2016, Coal India Ltdhad informed the Bombay StockExchange in its filing earlier.

Notably, the Coal IndiaLtd is targetting production of1 billion tonnes of coal by 2020.Wagon availability will be a keyfactor for achieving this target,officials stated.

The Central Governmenthas also signed a Memorandumof Understanding each with thestates of Odisha, Jharkhandand Chhattisgarh for critical

coal connectivity projects toimprove transportation of coal,officials informed.

The company has recordedcoal production of 83.77 millionstonnes (MT) against a target of90.37 (MT) between April toNovember 2016, they informed.

It has also commenced theprocess for setting up the 5.0MTPA Baroud Coal Washeryin Raigarh district of the State,officials informed.

The Washery will be set upon Build-Operate-Maintain(BOM) basis. It may be recalledthat SECL will provide thecapital funding for setting up ofthe Washery and also otherinfrastructural facilities likeland, water, power etc.

Notably, the CentralGovernment decided to trans-port coal above G10 level onlyafter being washed fromOctober 1, 2017. The decisionis taken to tackle the qualityissue of the coal produced.

In order to meet the risingdemand, Coal India Ltd has beensetting up 15 new washeries witha total capacity of 112.6 milliontonnes per annum. Out of thesewasheries, six are Coking Coalwasheries with total capacity of18.6 million tonnes per annumand nine Non-Coking washeriesof 94.0 million tonnes perannum. Apart from these, 3washeries of 11.6 million tonnesper annum are under construc-tion, officials stated.

Notably, CIL has decidedto set up washeries in its vari-ous subsidiaries to reduce thequantity of ash and other notuseful component from coal soas to make it competitive incomparison to imported coalacross the country.

Mineral-rich Chhattisgarhwith sizeable number of coalmining blocks could be a nat-ural gainer in the recommen-dations made by a Study Groupconstituted by the CentralGovernment to revise the coal

royalty rates.The Study Group had sub-

mitted its report to the UnionMinistry of Coal recently forconsideration, official sourcesinformed.

It may be recalled that theChhattisgarh Government hadsent a proposal to the UnionCoal Ministry last year forincreasing the rate of coal roy-alty from existing 14 % to 30 %,officials informed.

Chhattisgarh is among sevenstates where mineral blocks havebeen auctioned resulting in totaladditional revenue of �47,551crores to the Central Gove-rnment as on November 2016.

The other States where themineral blocks were auctionedwere Andhra Pradesh, MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan, Odishaand Jharkhand, the CentralGovernment has informed.

Chhattisgarh has collected�712.04 crores under 'DistrictMineral Foundations' (DMFs)from all the 27 districts of theState where the Foundation hadbeen established, the Centralgovernment has informed.

Notably, the Mines andMineral (Development andRegulation) Act, 1957 (MMDRAct, 1957) was amended throughthe MMDR Amendment Act,2015. One of the amendmentprovisions relates to introductionof section 9B which provides forthe establishment of DistrictMineral Foundation (DMF) inany district affected by miningrelated operations.

The objective of the DMFis to work for the interest andbenefit of persons, and areasaffected by mining relatedoperations.

The Union Ministry ofMines has also commenced theprocess for pilot launch ofMining Surveillance System(MSS) for keeping vigil on ille-gal mining of even minor min-erals in Chhattisgarh besides twoother States, officials informed.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party ismisguiding the people that

I had opposed the Bill regard-ing giving constitutional statusto the Other Backward Classes(OBC) Commission inParliament, clarified All IndiaCongress Committee (AICC)general secretary DigvijaySingh on Wednesday.

Speaking to the mediaper-sons at Congress Bhavan here,Singh said he, as a member of“Select Committee”, had givenonly a few suggestions andbecause of which the NDAGovernment at the Centrewithdrew the Bill.

Commenting on the func-tioning of Central Government,he further said that all the oldschemes had been renamed bythe BJP-led NDA Governmentat the Centre whether it isAaadhar, GST or MahatmaGandhi National RuralEmployment GuaranteeScheme (MGNREGS).

Commenting on the stateof affairs in Chhattisgarh,Digvijay expressed his appre-hension on the drought con-dition in the State and towardsthe plight of the farmers.

Accepting that there were

earlier infighting among seniorCongress leaders over the orga-nizational elections, he said itwas all over now . 'All the polit-ical parties were having thisproblem', Singh said.

He, however, backed the

State Congress leaders and saidthe party leaders were trying tobring about a consensus underleadership of senior leadersand AICC Treasurer MotilalVora in Delhi for making unan-imous appointments.

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An amount of �6,953.80crore had been distributed

to 18.74 lakh applicants underthe Prime Minister MudraScheme in Chhattisgarh sinceits launch more than two yearsago, officials informed.

The amount had been dis-tributed through the mediumof banking and non-bankingfinancial institutions withoutany guarantee. About �6,669.42crore had been disbursed tillAugust last.

The main aim is to encour-age entrepreneurship and pro-vide employment to youth inthe entire country. An amountof �10 lakh is provided asloans without any bank guar-antee, officials informed.

Prime Minister NarendraModi had launched the ambi-tious project on April 8, 2015.

The State-level Bankers'Committee officers said thatunder the instructions of ChiefMinister Raman Singh a 'LoanCamp' will be conducted onOctober 3 in the capital to has-ten the process of disbursementof loans under the MudraProject.

Chief Secretary VivekDhand presided over a meetingrecently to have detailed delib-erations on the distribution ofloans.

The officials said that anamount of �2156.14 crore hadbeen distributed to 6.39 lakhapplicants in the first fiscal2015-16 in Chhattisgarh.

An amount of �3209.86crore had been given away to8.84 lakh applicants in the fis-cal 2016-2017.

In the first six months ofthe current fiscal 2017-18 about�1,303.43 crore had been dis-tributed to the beneficiaries asloans.

The officers said that thereare three categories of loans-'Shishu' category provides aprovision of �50,000. 'Kishore'category persons are givenloans up to �5 lakh.

'Tarun' group are givenloans up to �10 lakh.

Maximum number ofloans (17.76 lakh) had beendisbursed to persons underthe category 'Shishu' out of 18lakh 74 thousand applicants.

About �3,637.31 crore hadbeen distributed to the 'Shishu'category.

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Haryana Government onWednesday approved the

Integrated Industrial LicensingPolicy (IILP) for developmentof integrated industrial coloniesin industrial and agriculturezones of the State. Besides, theState Government also decid-ed to do away with the policyof ‘first come first serve’ for thegrant of group housing licences.

The decisions were takenduring the Haryana Cabinetmeeting held under ChiefMinister Manohar Lal here.

The IILP policy is mainlyfocused on providing newoptions to boost the manufac-turing in the State and to intro-duce cluster development.

“The Government hastaken a major decision to doaway with the policy of ‘firstcome first serve’ for the grantof group housing licences andgrant licences through bid-ding process,” said HaryanaMinister of State for SocialJustice and Empowerment,Krishan Kumar Bedi, whiletalking to mediapersons afterthe meeting.

He said the Departmentconcerned would examine allthe applications for eligibilityand then ask the applicants toquote bids over and above theapplicable fee and charges forgetting the licence.

Bedi also said, “The StateGovernment has made amend-ments in the AffordableHousing Policy-2013. The res-idential component of thecolony in high potential zonecan be developed in accordancewith Affordable HousingPolicy-2013 and in

medium/low potential zone, itcan be develop in accordancewith Deen Dayal Jan AwasYojna-2016. Minimum 15 percent area of the colony will beearmarked for organised openparking and minimum 5 percent area for organised openspaces.”

Under this policy ware-houses/godowns will also beconsidered as component ofindustrial use.

Under the prevailing poli-cy, only plotted development ispermitted, whereas, under thenew policy, the developer willhave option to develop thecolony in the shape of inte-grated complex comprising ofindustrial apartments/flattedindustries with a global FARequivalent to 1.0 of the indus-trial component.

The entire complex will bea gated industrial colony withno internal boundary wallsseparating different industrialestablishments. The sale/pur-

chase of the industrial proper-ties will be governed byHaryana ApartmentOwnership Act, 1983. In suchcolonies, no freehold industri-al plots will be available.

Haryana changes criteriafor social security pension

Haryana Government haschanged the criteria of disbur-sal of social security pension orallowance in case of death ofbeneficiaries. As per the newcriteria approved by the cabi-net, allowance or pension willcease to be payable on the deathof a beneficiary. However, theamount of pension orallowance will be paid for fullmonth in which death of thebeneficiary occurs (any date ofthe month) to the nominee.This new criteria would also beincorporated in the scheme“Financial Assistance toKashmiri Migrants”.

Govt approves land pur-

chase proposal A proposal of Public Works

(Building and Roads)Department was approved topurchase five kanal 12 marlaland from owners at collectorrates for the construction ofroad from Bhagwanpur toGurudwara Sahib at theboundary of Lohgarh inYamunanagar district. Theland would be purchased at col-lector rate of �16 lakh per acreapplicable for year 2016-17.Lohgarh Sahib, which is aholy ancient historical town,is the first Sikh State Capitalunder Baba Banda SinghBahadur during the early18th century, said an officialspoksman.

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After the refusal of farmersto provide their land for

acquisition for the project,Haryana Government onWednesday scrapped DadupurNalvi Irrigation Scheme anddecided to denotify 1,019.2994acres of land acquired in thepast for construction of theproject, which had been hang-ing fire since 1985.

The decision was takenduring the State Cabinet meet-ing held under the chairman-ship of Chief Minister ManoharLal.

Haryana Minister of Statefor Social Justice andEmpowerment, KrishanKumar Bedi said the Cabinethad approved a proposal ofIrrigation and Water ResourcesDepartment to denotify1,019.2994 acres of landacquired for construction ofDadupur Nalvi IrrigationScheme.

The decision was taken asfarmers were not ready to givetheir land for acquisition for theproject and it could not becompleted. Dadupur Nalvischeme was initiated in year1985 and project was approvedby Government for �13.00crore for irrigation andrecharging of ground water inthe Yamunanagar, Kurukshetraand Ambala districts, said Bedi.

Giving details of the pro-ject, the Minister said for

implementing the scheme,190.67 acre land was acquiredduring 1987-90. But, schemecould not be further taken up.Later on during October 2005,project was again approved bythe Government for �267.27crore.

As per the project, 2246.53acre land was to beacquired/used for construc-tion of this scheme. Out of it,the Department concerned hadacquired a total of 1019.2994acre land for construction ofmain channels i.e ShahbadFeeder, Shahbad Disty andNalvi Disty. Acquisition of thisland costed 75.98 crore as peraward. Additionally, �116.35crore were paid as enhance-ment as per court orders, saidthe Minister.

Thus, till date a total of�192.33 crore had been paid toland owners for 1019.2994 acreland. The Department alsoincurred expenditure of�111.167 crore on execution ofthese three channels, said Bedi.

The other channels whichwere to irrigate 92532 hectarearea of these districts could notbe taken up due to resistance of

land owners/farmers as theywere not interested to givetheir land for construction dueto the fact that water would beavailable to them only duringrainy season when they donot require water. Hence, thegovernment abandoned theexecution of these channels,added the Minister.

Bedi said the land ownerswhose land was acquired from2005 onwards were not satis-fied with the award of lowercourts and filed RFAs in Punjaband Haryana High Court. TheHC has pronounced judgmentlast year awarding compensa-tion at �116.83 lakh per acreand incidental charges. As perthe judgment, an amount of�566.49 crores has becomepayable in respect of 167.27acres of land only, said theMinister.

Since enhancement foronly 167.27 acre land has beengiven as �566.49 crores by theCourt, the State Governmenthas not found the scheme fea-sible and hence, decided toabandon the scheme and deno-tify the acquired land in thepast, added he.

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In a major decision, HaryanaGovernment on Wednesday

increased the limit of discre-tionary grant given to VidhanSabha Speaker and CabinetMinisters from �5 crore to �7crore.

The Cabinet which metunder the chairmanship ofChief Minister Manohar Lalapproved to increase the limitof discretionary grant ofCabinet Ministers, Ministersof State, Speaker and DeputySpeaker of Haryana VidhanSabha.

This decision was taken inview the rising cost and to

increase the pace of commu-nity development works in theState, said an officialspokesman.

He said the limit of dis-cretionary grant of Speaker,Haryana Vidhan Sabha andthe Cabinet Minister has beenincreased to �7 crore perannum from �5 crore perannum. Similarly, discre-tionary grant in respect ofDeputy Speaker, HaryanaVidhan Sabha and Ministers ofState has been enhanced to�5.5 crore from �5 crore.

However, the limit of dis-cretionary grant for ChiefMinister will remain same asRs 40 crore, he added.

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From Page 1Government, said in the

article that he would be failingin his national duty if he didnot speak up, criticising the BJPGovernment’s handling of theeconomy.

Claiming that the slow-down was going to be a pro-longed one that would hauntthe BJP in the next Lok Sabhaelections, Sinha said, “A revivalby the time of the next LokSabha election appears highlyunlikely. A hard landingappears inevitable. Bluff andbluster is fine for the hustings,it evaporates in the face of real-ity.”

Sinha said, “For quarterafter quarter, the growth rate ofthe economy has been declin-ing until it reached the low of5.7 per cent in the first quarterof the current fiscal, the lowestin three years. The spokesper-sons of the Government saythat demonetisation is notresponsible for this decelera-tion. They are right. The decel-eration had started much ear-lier. Demonetisation onlyadded fuel to the fire.”

“And please note that themethodology for calculation ofthe GDP was changed by thepresent Government in 2015,as a result of which the growthrate recorded earlier increasedstatistically by over 200 basispoints on an annual basis. So,according to the old method ofcalculation, the growth rate of

5.7 per cent is actually 3.7 percent or less”, Sinha contendedin his hard-hitting article.

Sinha said even the SBI, thelargest public sector bank of thecountry, has stated with“unusual frankness” that theslowdown is not transient or“technical”, it is here to stay andthe slowdown in demand hasonly aggravated the situation.It has openly contradicted whatthe BJP president said just a fewdays ago that the slowdown inthe last quarter was on accountof “technical” reasons and willbe corrected soon. Accordingto the SBI chairman, the tele-com sector is the latest entrantto the long list of stressed sec-tors.

Sinha questioned Jaitley’sinclusion in the Union Cabinetafter he lost the Lok Sabha pollsand wondered why he wasallotted four Ministries -Finance, Commerce, Defenceand Information andBroadcasting when the“Finance Ministry calls for theundivided attention of its bossif the job has to be properlydone. In challenging times itbecomes more than a 24x7 job.Naturally, even a supermanlike Jaitley could not do justiceto the task.”

Sinha said, “The ModiGovernment wasted the advan-tage that depressed globalcrude oil prices placed at its dis-posal in the form of lakhs ofcrores of rupees. The oil bonan-

za has been wasted and thelegacy problems have not onlybeen allowed to persist, theyhave become worse.”

Painting a grim picture ofthe Indian economy Sinhawrote that private investmenthas shrunk and industrial pro-duction has collapsed. Headded that sectors like agri-culture, construction, service,exports are in distress.

“Demonetisation hasproved to be an unmitigatedeconomic disaster, a badly-conceived and poorly-imple-mented GST has played havocwith businesses and sunk manyof them and countless millionshave lost their jobs with hard-ly any new opportunities com-ing the way of new entrants tothe labour market.”

The senior BJP leader con-cluded by saying, “The PrimeMinister claims that he has seenpoverty from close quarters. HisFinance Minister is workingover-time to make sure that allIndians also see it from equal-ly close quarters,” he added.

Responding to Sinha’sscathing criticism of the han-dling of the economy in the lastthree-years, Home MinisterRajnath Singh downplayed it,saying that India’s economy wasthe fastest-growing in the worldand the country’s credibility hasbeen established in the inter-national arena.

The Home Minister wasresponding to a question on

Sinha’s sharp remarks over thestate of the economy, said noone should forget these factsabout the country.

“The whole world admitsthat India is the fastest-grow-ing economy in the world. Noone should forget this fact. Inthe matter of economy, in theinternational arena, India’scredibility has been estab-lished,” Singh said talking to themedia.

Railway Minister PiyushGoel maintained the economyhas strengthened under theBJP regime. He said that it isknown to the entire world thathow, under the decisive lead-ership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, India hasbecome the fastest-growingeconomy for three years in arow, which has probably hap-pened for the first time in thecountry’s history.

“Each one is entitled to hisown understanding of the sit-uation. The reality is India’seconomy is today a strongeconomy. What we inherited in2014 was a period of neardouble digit inflation. Veryhigh fiscal deficit, very highcurrent account deficit, almosttouching 5 per cent and insome sense there was policingparalysis due to which theentire economy was not havinga clear vision where it washeaded,” Goyal said.

Rejecting Sinha’s criticismof the state of economy, he

insisted that the Indian econ-omy

was the fastest growing inthe world and some “uncer-tainty” was bound to occurwhen “transformative” mea-sures like demonetization andthe GST are taken.

To a question if theGovernment is consideringstimulus package to perk upeconomy, he said it is “too earlyto walk down that road” andthe focus right now is on theGST.

Some “good” announce-ments related to issues likeexport may be made followingthe GST Council meeting onOctober 6, he said.

Quoting Sinha’s article,Chidambaram said the truth isthat the growth rate of 5.7 percent is actually 3.7 per cent orless and that “instilling fear inthe minds of the people is thename of the new game”.“Eternal truth: No matter whatpower does, ultimately truthwill prevail,” the Congressleader said.

He said the Congress wastold to shut up when it flaggedthe weaknesses in the economy.But the party would continueto speak “loudly and boldly onthe disastrous path” theGovernment has taken, theCongress leader added.

Targeting the Governmentover high oil prices,Chidambaram accused it of“looting” the people.

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From Page 1Moreover, the development

has been reported at a timewhen both the Supreme Courtappointed EPCA and NGT aremonitoring crop residue burn-ing in Delhi, Punjab, Haryanaand Western UP on regular basis due to high pol-lution levels.

According to AgricultureMinistry, the burning of onetonne crop residue accounts forthe loss of 5.5 kg nitrogen, 2.3kg phosphorus, 25 kg potassi-um and 1.2 kg sulphur. Punjabwill start satellite monitoringon October 1.

CPCB officials said theNASA’s red dots may not actu-ally convey the right picture asit detects all forms of openburning. Stubble burning

reaches its peak aroundOctober 20.

The issue had turned polit-ical last year with Delhi blam-ing Haryana and Punjab forfailing to provide incentives tofarmers to desist from burningpaddy straw, which it claimedaggravated air pollution in thecity, especially in the first weekof November.

The EPCA headed by aretired bureaucrat Bhure Lalheld a high level meeting withofficials of four States to checksteps taken by them onTuesday. In fact, in anotherfirst, the Graded ResponseAction Plan (GRAP), whichlays down a series of anti-pol-lution measures, too will beimplemented from October 15till March 15, next year.

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From Page 1Manipur, Delhi and

Nagaland. “The final reportpertains to this year monsoonis to be finalised afterSeptember this year. The rain-fall in September has reducedthe deficiency up to one percent,” said officials.

The Met Department offi-cials said Dakshin Dinajpur,Murshidabad and South 24Pargana districts in WestBengal, Anugul, Balangir,Baragarh, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal,Jajapur, Kandhamal, Sambalpurin Odisha, RI Bhoi and WestGaro Hills in Meghalaya, Phekin Nagaland, Senapati andThoumbal in Manipur, Arwal,Nawada, Nalanda, Lakhisarai,Bhojpur, Jamui, Madhubani,Munger and Muzzaffarpur inBihar, Unnao, Deoria, Mau,Chandauli, Ballia, Amethi,Banda in UP are among thedistricts which have receivedbelow rainfall this monsoon.

Due to uneven rainfall thisyear, the Agriculture Ministry’sdata of advance estimate of pro-duction of kharif crops has esti-mated to be lower than last yearwith the only exception beingsugarcane.

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Following Pakistan’s contro-versial use of a fake picture

in support of its claim of“Indian brutality” in Kashmir atthe United Nations, GeneralAssembly President MiroslavLajcak has indicated he would“think about” setting a factualbaseline over use of such imagesduring assembly proceedings.

“I will certainly think aboutit,” Lajcak told reporters whenasked if he would like to setsome factual norm for use ofsuch photographs. At the sametime, however, he cautiouslysaid it was a matter of diplo-macy, adding: “It’s for the del-egations that are involved. I

want to use but not misuse myposition as president of theGeneral Assembly.”

The issue arose afterPakistan’s Ambassador to theUN Maleeha Lodhi had onSaturday flaunted the picture ofa Palestinian girl injured in anIsraeli air strike and sought topass it off as a Kashmiri victimwith gun pellet wounds alleged-ly inflicted by Indian securityforces. Lodhi made the claimwhile exercising the “right ofreply” after External Affairs Mi-nister Sushma Swaraj’s addressto the UNGA earlier that day.

The Pakistani envoy’saction prompted a sharprejoinder from the India’sPermanent Mission to theUnited Nations on Monday,

when First Secretary PaulomiTripathi took the floor toaccuse her of callously mis-leading the General Assemblyby using a wrong picture.

“The PermanentRepresentative of Pakistan mis-led this Assembly by displaying

this picture to spread falsehoodsabout India. A fake picture topush a completely false narra-tive,” Tripathi said, addingAmbassador Lodhi had againstsought to “divert attention fromPakistan’s role as the hub of glob-al terrorism”.

Remarking that “the trueface of Pakistan is not hiddenfrom anyone”, the Indian

diplomat, in a retaliatory move,flaunted the picture of a youngArmy officer who, she said, waskidnapped, brutally torturedand killed by Pakistan-sup-ported terrorists in May.

“This is a real and not afake picture of Lt Umar Faiyaz.A young officer from the IndianState of Jammu & Kashmir,”Tripathi said, adding: “This isa true picture. It portrays aharsh and tragic reality.”

“A picture of terrorism ema-nating from across our bordersthat the people of India, espe-cially in the state of Jammu andKashmir have to struggle with,every day. This is the realitywhich the Permanent Repre-sentative of Pakistan sought toobfuscate,” Tripathi said.

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Six rockets landed nearKabul’s international air-

port on Wednesday after USDefence Secretary Jim Mattisflew to the Afghan capital fortalks, an official said.

The volley of missilesstruck near the military sec-tion of the airport but therewere no casualties or imme-diate claim of responsibility,interior ministry spokesman

Najib Danish told AFP.Police have cordoned off

the area to find the exact loca-tion from which the rocketswere fired, he said, adding thatno flights were cancelled.

The attack came hoursafter Mattis arrived in theAfghan capital, the first mem-ber of Donald Trump’s cabi-net to visit the war-torn country since his pledge tostay the course in America’slongest war.

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America is totally prepared fora military option on North

Korea, President Donald Trumphas said as he called on all “res-ponsible nations” to join forcesand isolate Pyongyang to ensureits complete denuclearisation.

The strong reaction from theUS president came a day afterNorth Korea said that it wasready to defend itself by shoot-ing down US bombers.

North Korea’s ForeignMinister Ri Yong Ho, who wasin New York early this week, hadaccused Trump of declaring waragainst his country.

“We are totally prepared forthe second (military) option. Nota preferred option, but if we takethat option, it will be devastating— I can tell you that — devas-tating for North Korea. That’scalled the military option. If wehave to take it, we will,” Trumptold reporters on Tuesday in ajoint news conference with thevisiting Spanish Prime Minister

Mariano Rajoy. Responding to aquestion, Trump said that theNorth Korean leader (Kim JongUn) is “acting very badly”. He’ssaying things that should “never,ever” be said, alleged the USPresident.

“North Korea is a situationthat should have been handled25 years ago, 20 years ago, 15years ago, 10 years ago, and fiveyears ago, and it could have beenhandled much more easily,” hesaid. Trump said previous USadministrations had left a messfor him to clear. He said thatNorth Korea’s nuclear weaponsand missile programme threat-ened the entire world withunthinkable loss of life.

“As such all nations must actnow to ensure the regime’s com-plete denuclearisation,” he said.

“It is time for all responsiblenations to join forces, to isolatethe North Korean menace,”Trump said as he appreciated theUN Security Council votingtwice to adopt hard-hitting res-olutions against North Korea.

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The UN Security Councilmet behind closed doors

on Wednesday to discuss theviolence in Myanmar, movingto step up its response to theexodus of 4,80,000 RohingyaMuslims in what has been condemned as “ethniccleansing.”

The meeting will set thestage for a public session of thetop UN body on Thursday,during which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is setto brief on the crisis and China,along with other council mem-

bers, will deliver remarks.International alarm is

growing over the fate of theRohingya who have been flee-ing an army campaign inRakhine state that the UnitedNations says has includedkillings, rape and the torchingof villages.

The military operation fol-lowed attacks on August 25 byRohingya militants on policeposts.

British Deputy UNAmbassador Jonathan Allensaid the council must “send aclear message to the authoritiesof Myanmar that the violence

needs to stop.”Humanitarian aid must be

allowed in Rakhine state andthe status of the Rohingya, whoare stateless in Myanmar, mustbe addressed, he said.

French AmbassadorFrancois Delattre said he waspushing for a “strong and unit-ed response” from the councilto pile pressure on authoritiesin Myanmar.

China, a supporter ofMyanmar’s former junta,backed a council statementearlier this month calling for anend to the violence, but theexodus has continued.

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Close on the heels of arenewed failure to repeal and

replace Obamacare, PresidentDonald Trump and theRepublican establishment havesuffered another setback with thedefeat of their Senate nominee toa controversial hardcore con-servative rival in the Republicanprimary runoff in Alabama.

Luther Strange, the pre-ferred nominee for whomTrump and the SenateRepublican leadership activelycampaigned, lost to Roy Moore,a former Chief Justice ofAlabama Supreme Court, whowas twice suspended from his

high post. Much to the discom-fiture of Trump, who had wonAlabama by a big margin in thepresidential election, it wasMoore who won by a large mar-gin (56% to 43%) against Strangein the runoff, winning the Rep-ublican nomination for the Sen-ate contest in which he is wide-ly expected to prevail over theDemocratic rival in December.

“Congratulations to RoyMoore on his RepublicanPrimary win in Alabama. LutherStrange started way back & rana good race,” Trump tweeted lateTuesday, after the defeat ofStrange in whose support headdressed a big rally in Hun-tsville last Friday. Moore cameto be regarded as a brash con-servative who, back in 2003, wasfirst stripped of his court posi-tion for setting up a monumentto the Ten Commandments on State land.

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Nepal wants to become abridge between India and

China and contribute towardsmaintaining peace and stabilityin the entire South Asia region,Nepal’s Deputy Prime MinisterGopal Man Shrestha has saidamidst Beijing’s efforts to step upits influence in the country.

Shrestha, whose NepaliCongress party won most ofthe seats in a Madhesi-domi-nated province during the justconcluded local polls in thecountry, expressed hope thathis party would become thelargest party in the forthcom-ing Parliamentary elections.

The elections for provincesand the federal assembly orParliament will be held as per

schedule, said Shrestha, who isalso the education minister ofthe country.

“The government is mak-ing all preparations for theupcoming provincial electionon November 26 and Parlia-mentary elections on Dece-mber 5,” Shrestha told PTI.

Responding to a question,he said Nepal wanted to playthe role of a bridge betweentwo Asian giants India andChina.

“We will maintain goodneighbourly relations with boththe countries,” said Shrestha.

“Being a bridge betweenthe two neighbouring countriesNepal wants to contributetowards maintaining peace andstability in the entire South Asiaregion,” Shrestha said.

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Russia and the United Statestoday agreed to cooperate

on a NASA-led project to buildthe first lunar space station,part of a long-term project toexplore deep space and sendhumans to Mars.

“The partners intend todevelop international technicalstandards which will be usedlater, in particular to create aspace station in lunar orbit,”the Russian space agency saidin a statement after the signingof an agreement at a conference in Adelaide.

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The European Unionreleased plans on

Wednesday to allow countriesin the passport-free Schengenarea to reintroduce border con-trols for security reasons for upto three years.

“Under today’s proposals,member states will also be ableto exceptionally prolong con-

trols if the same threat persists,”the European Commission,the executive arm of the EU,said in a statement.

Countries in the 26-coun-try Schengen travel area cancurrently reintroduce frontierchecks for six months for secu-rity reasons, and two years ifthat is combined with a threatto borders such as Europe’smigration crisis.

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Singapore’s non-resident pop-ulation fell by 1.6 per cent to

1.65 million, the first drop in 14years, mainly due to a decline inwork permit holders, accordingto a new government report.

The fall in the percentage ofpopulation was attributed toweakness in the constructionand the marine and offshoreengineering sectors, the NationalPopulation and Talent Divisionsaid in its annual populationreport. Non-residents consist ofwork permit holders, mid-skilledforeign employees, students, for-

eign domestic workers and otherdependents, The Straits Timesreported. A large number ofthese economic migrants arefrom India, Bangladesh, as wellas Southeast Asia and China.

With the decrease in thenumber of non-residents, thetotal population of Singaporegrew by 0.1 per cent to 5.61 mil-lion as of June this year.

This is the slowest rate ofgrowth since 2003.

In 2016, it was 5.6 million.In contrast, the decade before2017 saw total population growby an average of 2.45 per centper year.

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Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Wednesday

demanded that this week’s voteon independence for theautonomous Kurdish region beannulled.

“The referendum must beannulled and dialogue initiatedin the framework of the consti-tution. We will never hold talkson the results of the referendum,”he told Iraqi lawmakers.

“We will impose Iraqi law inthe entire region of Kurdistanunder the constitution,” he said.

The results of Monday’sreferendum have not yet beenannounced but an overwhelm-ing “yes” vote was widelyexpected. Pressure has beenmounting on the Kurds sincethe vote, not just from Baghdadbut also from Ankara, withTurkey threatening a range ofmeasures including cutting offoil exports from the region.

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Pakistan’s Foreign Ministerhas acknowledged that

Mumbai terror attack master-mind Hafiz Saeed, the Haqqanisand the LeT are “liabilities” forthe country but it does not havethe required “assets” to get rid ofthem. Khawaja Asif said that theUS, which is putting pressure onPakistan to tackle terroristgroups operating from its soil,once used to treat them as “dar-lings” just 20 to 30 years back.

US President DonaldTrump had last month criticisedPakistan for its support to terrorgroups, saying it receives billionsin US aid but continues to har-bour militants. “Don’t blame usfor the Haqqanis (the Haqqaniterror network) and don’t blameus for the Hafiz Saeeds (chief ofJamaat-ud-Dawa terror group),”Khawaja Asif said at the AsiaSociety forum on Tuesday.

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Saudi Arabia said today itwould allow women to

drive, the last country in theworld to do so, sparkingeuphoria and disbelief amongactivists in the ultra- conser-vative kingdom, where socialrestrictions are increasinglybeing loosened.

The longstanding drivingban was seen internationallyas a symbol of repression ofwomen in the Gulf kingdomand its repeal comes afteryears of resistance fromfemale activists.

The shock announce-ment, which risks riling reli-gious conservatives, is part ofSaudi Arabia’s ambitiousreform push aimed at adapt-ing to a post-oil era andimproving a global reputationbattered by its human rights record.

“King Salman binAbdulaziz al Saud has issueda decree authorising theissuance of drivers’ licencesfor women in the kingdom,”Saudi state TV said.

“The decree will takeeffect in June 2018.” SaudiArabia will use the “prepara-tory period” until then toexpand licensing facilities anddevelop the infrastructure toaccommodate mil l ions of new drivers, the announce-ment added.

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The 19th Congress of the ChineseCommunist Party is fast approach-ing. This is the occasion for

Chinese President Xi Jinping to makedrastic changes, not only in the CentralCommittee, who will elect a newPolitburo, but also in the People’sLiberation Army (PLA).

On this side of the Himalaya, theDoklam incident is over; many rejoice thatIndia ‘won’ the battle, though some incer-titude remains and corrective measuresneed to be taken to avoid similar incidentsin the future. In this context, it is interest-ing to look at the changes which are tak-ing place in the Central MilitaryCommission (CMC).

Chen Li, one of the best PLA watch-ers wrote for Brookings: “If many analystsprove correct in their forecasts, China’s mil-itary leadership will undergo an unprece-dentedly large-scale turnover …Xi Jinping’sbold, years-long campaign against corrup-tion has already reached high into theranks of the military elite — purging ‘tigers’like Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, both for-mer vice chairmen of the CMC — whichperhaps points to the sweeping scale ofchange that is underway. A number ofhigh-ranking generals, who allegedlyobtained their positions through briberyand patron-client relationships with Guoand Xu, will surely be replaced. Xi’s tena-cious reform of the military structure —no less bold and consequential than hisanti-corruption drive-has further set thestage for massive turnover.”

Let us not forget that more than 55PLA officers of the rank of major gener-al and above have been sacked during thepast three years. Chen speaks of a bevyof ‘young guard’ waiting in the wings forpromotion “who are more professionally prepared for modern jointmilitary operations.”

But will the mindset of the new gen-erals change? Interestingly, some officersin Beijing seem to realise that aggressioncan lead China nowhere. Maj Gen QiaoLiang, one of the best known militarystrategists and the co-author of UnrestrictedWarfare, wrote in The Global Times:“Road construction in this area [Doklam]is not a matter of right and wrong, but weneed to understand that it’s not always rightto do something right at any time. Onlydoing the right thing at the right time iscorrect …resorting to war is irresponsible.”

This comes at a time when Xi, who isthe CMC Chairman overlooking the PLA,has undertaken a complete overhaul of thedefence forces. New faces have appearedon the scene; a massive reshuffle of thePLA’s senior officers, not only at theGroup Army (Corps) level, but at the topof the hierarchy too, is on going.

Analysts believe that Xi is promoting

his favorites to the PLA’s top posts to gainabsolute control over the PLA; in theprocess, two top generals got the sack hardly a month before retiring.

Gen Fang Fenghui, the equivalent ofthe US Chief of Defence Staff, wasreplaced as Chief of the PLA’s Joint StaffDepartment by Gen Li Zuocheng. Fangand Gen Zhang Yang, another CMCmember, will not even participate in theforthcoming Congress; the rumour millin Beijing says that they were being‘investigated’, a term not usually augur-ing well for the targeted person.

In China, unlike in democratic India,there is no fuss about ‘seniority’; super-seded generals have only to learn themeaning of ‘impermanence’.

In any case, Li Zuocheng has a solidground experience, having served duringthe Chinese-Vietnamese War in 1979;though one of the most promising officersin the 1980s, his career later stagnated afterhe offended Jiang Zemin, the then CMC’sChairman. His fortune took a new turntwo years ago, when he was appointedcommander of the PLA Army and hebecame chief of the crucial CMC Joint StaffDepartment earlier this year.

Gen Miao Hua, who replaces ZhangYang as director of the PoliticalDepartment, seems also to be in Xi’s goodbooks; during the last three years, hereceived three promotions: From polit-ical commissar of the Lanzhou MilitaryRegion, to political commissar of theNavy, and now director of the CMC’sPolitical Department.

By mid-October, out of 11 membersof the CMC, only two or three may remain.Some sources believe that the new CMC,to be announced during the 19th PartyCongress, may have four vice chairmeninstead of its current two.

CMC member Wei Fenghe (present-ly commander of the PLA Rocket Force)could be a strong candidate for vice chair-man; so are Li Zuocheng and Miao Hua.

Incidentally, the PLA Rocket Force(RF), China’s strategic and tactical mis-sile force, is a Xi Jinping favorite. As AsiaTimes noted: “RF brass now run severalkey PLA offices and constitute the sec-ond-most represented branch of service— after the Army — among heads of theJoint Staff Department.”

But it is not all, on September 1, GenHan Weiguo was appointed commanderof the PLA Army and Gen Ding Laihang,commander of the PLA Air Force(PLAAF). Gen Han served in Fujian in the1980s at the time Xi was Deputy Mayor ofXiamen, while Gen Ding’s career also over-lapped when the latter was Governor ofFujian Province.

The recently-released list of PLA del-egates to the 19th Congress had some sur-prises. The 253 ‘elected’ members belongto 31 different units, compared with 19 in2012. More than 90 per cent of those ‘elect-ed’ will be first time attendees, represent-ing a new generation of officers who willowe their rise to Chairman Xi.

The ethnicity factor still plays a neg-ative role in PLA promotions; though thereis a slight rise in the number of ‘ethnic’ del-

egates (six per cent of the delegates are eth-nic minority officers, from 4.6 per cent in2012), their number is relatively small andthey don't occupy important posts.

The Manchus and the Tibetans willsend three delegates each, while theUyghur, Hui and Tujia will each put for-ward two. The Zhuang, Xibe, Korean,Qiang, Bai and Naxi ethnicities will eachsend one delegate to the Congress. Manyconsider this as the PLA’s Achilles’ heel.

It is, however, worth noting that thereis a Tibetan Major General. ThuptenTrinley, alias Tidan Dan serves as a deputycommander of the Tibet Military Region.Two Tibetan ladies, Kalsang and SonamDolma made it in the list though theirqualification or designation is unknown.Their presence in the Congress will prob-ably be for ‘ethnic’ representation only.

As Chen Li put it: “The PLA’s top offi-cer corps seem to align with Xi’s pro-nounced goal of transforming China’s mil-itary operations from a Soviet-style, Army-centric system toward what analysts call a‘Western-style joint command’ …signifi-cant strides have also been made in pro-moting professionalism.”

There is no doubt that Xi is in firmcontrol of the PLA. The future of the rela-tions between India and China is undoubt-edly linked to the outcome of the seismicchanges in the PLA. India should not onlywatch carefully, but also get its acts togeth-er, particularly in the field of border infra-structure and operations jointness.

(The writer is an expert on India-Chinarelations and an author)�

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Of empowering India”(September 27). Tall promises tothe voters is a constant among allpoliticians but it is delivery onthose promises which is the biggestdifferentiator. Here, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi scoresbig. The ‘Ujjwala’ scheme, wheregas connections are given toimpoverished households, playeda crucial role for the BJP to cap-ture power in Uttar Pradesh.

Though gas connection is verybasic necessary household item, butin a country where we are stillstruggling to provide power to eachhome, it becomes a luxury for mil-lions. Now, coming to providingpower to all, as committed byPrime Minister Modi, it seems thatmore than anything else, it is thecontrol over power theft which willdecide the fate of this promise.

Bal GovindNoida

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Unnecessary violence”(September 26). It is sad that aprestigious and old centre of learn-ing, the Banaras Hindu University(BHU), is the latest victim of vio-lence that has marred severalother campuses in recent times.Our police forces have earnednotoriety for using their lathis andbatons wildly even after a minorprovocation. Their crude behav-iour reflects poorly on their train-ing in a modern, civilised society.

Having said that, one cannotspare students — male or female

— for their tendency to unruly andviolent conduct. Being educated,they ought to avoid aggressiveprotests and ‘gheraoing’ of the vicechancellor of the university and hisassociates. In the case of BHU, onemore fact seemed shocking andincredible: The main gate of theBHU announcing the entrancewas not exclusive; consideringthat, it was a residential campuswith several women students’ hos-tels but a free-for-all public thor-ough-fare. No wonder, a few goonsentered the premises in the nightand molested a girl student thattriggered the violence.

M Ratan Via email

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Sir — Successive Governmentshave failed to remove or alleviatepoverty from the country thoughpolitical parties formingGovernments have time and againpledged to do so at the hustings.Having failed to do so, theGovernments started indulging indistributing freebies to the econom-ically weaker sections of the soci-ety. The practice has become infec-tious and State after State are com-peting with one another.

But wherefrom are the Statesgetting the resources to finance thefreebie bonanza? The State is tax-ing the honest people who pay taxeson time. This is not an anti-poorpresentation but are hard factswhich make poor people lazier anddependent on State largesse.

NK Das GuptaKolkata

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The rapid pace of India’s econom-ic development has become acynosure of global attention,

resulting in financial investment flow-ing into the economy from commer-cial entities across the world. As Indiabecomes the preferred global commer-cial destination, the burgeoning Indian market has attained an enviableposition, especially in the Asian region.

This fast-tracking of economicdevelopment, though appreciable, hasput enormous strain on India’s natur-al resources. Given this, efficientresource utilisation has been recognisedas a key element of sustainable devel-opment, which is reflected in the sus-tainable development goals (SDG’s) too,which aim to ensure sustainable con-sumption and production patterns.

Efficient resource use is now a pri-ority for the Government of India aswell, and is reflected in various policiesand programme such as ‘Make in India’,‘Zero Effect-Zero Defect’ scheme,‘Smart Cities’, ‘Swachh Bharat’, and‘Ganga Rejuvenation Mission’. However,the pace of progress in ensuring sanc-tity of natural resources, besides opti-mising their use is still far away in theIndian context. This needs to change.

In order to attain a competitivevantage position amongst globaleconomies, India must evolve a broadstrategy for enhancing resource-useefficiency in the economy and indus-try. The stratospheric speed of India’sgrowth is evident in the form of anexpanding industrial and service relat-ed production, rise in average income,a thriving middle class, rapid urbani-sation and a growing population.

These changes have been under-pinned by increased scale and intensi-ty of resource use leading to manifoldrise in demand for natural resources,especially materials. This in-turn has ledto resource depletion and supply con-straints, besides price shocks and rapid

degeneration of natural resource base.As the runaway economy gallops

ahead at full throttle, the resourcereserves are struggling to keep up; thisis leading to complex economic, social,political and environmental conse-quences. For instance, intensiveresource extraction, utilisation and disposal has worsened climate change,this in-turn is having an overbearingimpact on the fringe population of thesociety that are poor and vulnerable.

These alarming conditions nowurgently warrant judicious use ofresources, through measures that hingeon conservation and efficiency, not only

seek to strengthen the foundations ofthe economy and society but also builda robust environmental sustainability.

In order to log initial successes inthis regard, it is crucial to understandthat natural resources are not unlim-ited and that it took enormous time forthese resources to get accumulated andunless they are utilised prudently, thesame can dwindle away rapidly.

In an increasingly resource con-strained world, the challenge for adeveloping country like India is to finda balance between the developmentalneeds and minimising the negativeimpacts associated with resource use.

While developed countries need toreduce their overall resource and car-bon footprint gradually, a rapidlydeveloping country like India willneed to increase its overall resourceconsumption in the short-to-mediumterm in order to meet its developmen-tal goals. Therefore, efficient use ofresources is essential for India in orderto achieve sustainable development andis unavoidable policy priority. In thecurrent scenario, India needs compe-tent efficient resource utilisation strat-egy that can achieve maximum bene-fit with least possible resource input.

Fostering resource efficiency aimsat governing and intensifying resourceutilisation in a purposeful and effectiveway. Such judicious resource use canbring about multiple benefits along thethree dimensions of sustainable devel-opment — economic, social and envi-ronmental. India must also ensure thatthrough sustainable development, thereis an equitable access to naturalresources for every strata of the soci-ety, irrespective of location in thesocio-economic-environmental matrix.This will ensure a dignified sustenance

through minimum level of income andquality of life in a healthy environment.

The strategy for efficient resourceuse must also ensure that the benefits,burdens and risks of resource use andconservation are equitably distributedin society. This will spread the risks.Additionally, resource efficient produc-tion and consumption practices mustbe designed that aim to take intoaccount the needs of future generationsby conserving access to resources.

The strategy for efficient resourceutilisation must also factor in thedamaging impact of fossil fuel extrac-tion. According to Ministry of Coal esti-mates, the area under coal mining isexpected to increase from the current22,000 hectare to 73,000 hectare by2025. This can spell doom for the envi-ronment unless an efficient strategy isin place to rescue the situation.

Natural resources have poweredIndia’s growth till now, and canscript a riveting future progress aswell only If they are used withresponsibility and accountability.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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Chief of Army Staff GeneralBipin Rawat’s recent call forthe Army’s supremacy ascompared with the AirForce and the Navy for

winning war is worrisome because itundermines modern war dynamics.Moreover, this will make bringingabout military reforms, essential forwinning the next war, difficult.

According to him, “Wars will befought on land, and, therefore, the pri-macy of the Army must be maintained.The other services, the Navy and theAir Force, will play a very major rolein support of the Army which will beoperating on the ground because nomatter what happens, we may be dom-inating the area or the air, but finallywar will be won when we ensure ter-ritorial integrity of the nation. And,therefore, the supremacy and prima-cy of the Army in a joint services envi-ronment becomes that much more rel-evant and important.”

Talking of ‘Army’s supremacyand primacy in a joint services envi-ronment’ in today’s wars is akin to theFrench fighting the Second WorldWar with the First World War tactics.The French, who had built theMaginot Line (defensive fortifica-tions) in the 1930s believed that theycould stop Hitler’s Army’s invasion.Unaware of the doctrine of fastmobility (blitzkrieg) which had beenperfected by the German Panzerdivisions, who managed to movetheir tanks through the Ardennes for-est by passing the Maginot Line, theFrench lost the war even before it wasjoined. The lesson from this episodeis that warfighting doctrines mustkeep pace with technology.

Today, technology has changed thecomplexion of warfare vertically andhorizontally. Instead of the earlierthree warfighting mediums, namelyland, air and sea, three new ones havebeen added. These are cyber, space andelectromagnetic mediums. Moreover,capabilities exist for long-range target-ing with accuracy by precision guidedmunitions, beyond visual range mis-siles, surface-to-surface cruise missiles,unmanned combat air vehicles, to beused in real time by networking withhelp from space-based assets. Amongstthe defence services’, the Air Force —given its reach and flexibility — is thebest equipped to optimally utilisethese technologies, while the Army isleast suited to exploit them fully.

Given this, the primacy for land-warfare should go to the Air Force,so that it is able to shape the battle-fields for the Army in a reasonabletimeframe. Without this, the AirForce and the Army would end upfighting their own wars with sub-optimal results. Instead of separateservice’s doctrine — as is the casenow where the Army and the Air

Force follow their own doctrines —the need is for a single doctrine forcombined services warfighting. Inaddition to this, the Army and the AirForce should hone their core compe-tencies through intra-services (with-in the service) training. This is whycomprehensive military reforms areneeded to win the next war.

General Rawat’s another con-tention that “war will be won when weensure territorial integrity of thenation” is questionable. Winning war(with offensive capabilities) and main-taining territorial integrity (with defen-sive capabilities) are two differentissues. While territorial integrityinvolves maintaining the status quo,winning war suggests a change in sta-tus quo in some fashion, be in the formof territory, prisoner of wars, attritionof opponent’s warfighting machinery,or compelling the opponent to nego-tiate on one’s terms.

Thus, while the Army has the pri-macy in upholding territorial integri-ty, this does not automatically win war.For example, the Indian Army main-tains a robust defensive managementposture on the Line of Control toensure that the Pakistan Army doesnot alter it to tactical advantage. Butthis has not deterred the PakistanArmy from continuing with its proxywar, because it believes that the Indianmilitary cannot defeat it in war.

Similarly, since the Indian Armylacks a comparable robust defensivemanagement posture on the Line ofActual Control, China’s defence forcescontinue with regular intrusions on themilitary line. For this reason, the Army,since 2007, has raised two divisions

(each with 12,000 soldiers) and is rais-ing the 17 Mountain corps, primari-ly to fill defensive gaps in peacetimeon the military line.

Yet another belief of GeneralRawat that ‘wars will be fought on land’underscores the continental mindset.It shows that the Army remains bliss-fully unconcerned about the ChineseNavy’s forays in the Indian Oceanregion, which since 2008 haveincreased steadily.

Two conclusions would not be outof place: That the Chiefs of StaffCommittee (comprising the threedefence services’ chiefs) remains inef-fectual, and the Army does not seemto have dovetailed the war scenariowhere the Indian Navy will not be ableto support the land battles from thesea. Given this, what good are the callsmade by umpteen Army chiefs thatIndia needs a Chief of Defence Staffpost and theatre commands, when theArmy leadership does not acknowl-edge that on the seas, the Navy wouldhave the primacy in war.

Unlike earlier times when theIndian Navy’s war role was to supportthe land-battle, it is no longer the case.With the arrival of the Chinese Navyin India’s backyard and its inter-oper-ability (capability to fight together forcommon mission) with the PakistanNavy, the naval war has assumed adimension of its own. In this, it wouldbe assisted by the air power. The Indiannaval war objectives would be to pro-tect our sea-lanes, military, civilian andmerchant shipping assets, hundreds ofislands, and to interdict enemy’s ship-ping, blockading his ports and attemptto destroy its naval power.

Therefore, while the Indian Armywill have the primacy to uphold theterritorial integrity on land, the sametask in the maritime domain will bedone by the Coast Guard workingunder the Indian Navy. Regardingwar, the Indian Air Force should bein the lead for land warfare, while theIndian Navy should be responsible forthe sea warfare. Moreover, capabili-ties in the new warfighting domainsshould be available to support thethree defence services.

Unless these realities are accept-ed by the military as a whole, the use-fulness of comprehensive militaryreforms are difficult to visualise.Cosmetic reforms are a different mat-ter. Two examples will help illustratethe point. One, the services are askingfor the post of the permanent chair-man, chiefs of staff committee. Whycreate this new post which will beresponsible mainly for streamlining theannual defence allocations and acqui-sitions, when the same job can be doneby the present chief of integrateddefence staff with veto power in thechiefs of staff committee? Moreover,what good is marginally reducing thetail of the Indian Army as recommend-ed by the recent Shekatkar Committee,when the need is to cut the teeth orcombat elements?

The truth is that the Indian mili-tary, especially the Army needs tochange its mindset on warfare. Ifdone, Pakistan would feel compelledto control its proxy war into India, andChina will become careful in its intru-sions on the military line.

(The writer is editor, FORCE newsmagazine)

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AICC president SoniaGandhi’s decision to remove

Bihar Congress chief AshokChaudhary left him in tears andfuming. The outgoing PCCchief, who had a few days backdared the party high commandto decide his fate, lashed out atAICC Bihar in charge PC Joshiand accused him of conspiringagainst him and misguidingSonia and Rahul Gandhi.

Feeling humiliated, a teary-eyed and emotional Chaudharysaid he would narrate his woesto Gandhis and wage a battleagainst the elements who weredestroying the Congress.“There was deep-rooted con-spiracy against me and therehad been deal to appoint a par-ticular person after myremoval. But it is a fact that Iwas the most successful BiharCongress president,” he said.

Chaudhary was axed onTuesday evening and the partyappointed PCC vice-presidentKaukab Quadri as working pres-ident till a full time president isnominated. There was mixedresponse in faction-ridden BiharCongress on Chaudhary’sremoval, with one faction hail-ing the high command’s decisionand even demanding discipli-nary action against outgoingpresident for his bid to break theparty. AICC member UmakantSingh demanded action against

Joshi too saying he was moreresponsible for the wrongdoingsin Bihar Congress. “All the mis-deeds in PCC were committedby Chaudhary in connivancewith Joshi; be it ticket distribu-tion in Lok Sabha and Assemblyelection or appointment of officebearers,” alleged Singh.

Chaudhary, a formerEducation Minister, said hedeserved an honourable exitafter serving as PCC chief forfour and a half years and serv-ing the party for a longer timebut he was removed in a humil-iating manner and was noteven intimated about the deci-sion. He said he came to knowabout his removal throughmedia.

Soon after the JD(U) sev-ered association with theMahagathbandhan resultinginto the fall of the Government,there had been reports that anumber of Congress MLAswere contemplating to switchover to JD(U) and Chaudhary

was accused as one of theleader engineering split in theparty. This report alerted thehigh command and all the 27party legislators apart fromChaudhary and legislatureparty leader Sadanand Singhwere summoned by Gandhis.

Chaudhary though said hewas still a committedCongressman and continue hisstruggle against the peopleresponsible for conspiringagainst him, indications are thathe might adopt a different path.The strong possibility is that hemight quit party and resign hisLegislative Council seat beforejoining JD(U). During the 20month MahagathbandhanGovernment he was quite closeto Chief Minister Nitish Kumarand possibility could not beruled out that he might beinducted in the NitishGovernment. On WednesdayChaudhary praised Nitish andcriticized RJD supremo LaluPrasad.

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In one of the major decisionsthe Karnataka Cabinet on

Wednesday cleared anti-super-stition Bill ahead of ensuingAssembly polls in 2018. Themuch delayed Bill “KarnatakaPrevention and Eradication ofHuman Sacrifices and otherInhuman Evil Practices andBlack Magic Bill 2017, hasbeen cleared by the Cabinet.The Bill will be tabled in thenext session of the Assembly tomake it a law. The majorOpposition BJP had opposedthis Bill tooth and nail and itmight become a major issue inthe next session and also in theensuing Assembly polls.

Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah has expressedconfidence that the Bill will bepassed in the next session of theAssembly. After theMaharashtra Governmentpassed a Bill on anti-supersti-tion, ruling CongressGovernment in Karnataka ledby Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah had promisedan anti-superstition Bill onMaharashtra model.

The Bill is intend to protectthe common people in thesociety against evil and sinisterpractices and to combat anderadicate inhuman, evil sinis-ter and practices propagatedand performed in the name ofso called supernatural power ormagical power or evil spiritcommonly known as blackmagic by conman with sinistermotive or exploiting the com-mon people in the society.

The Bill also proposes toban the controversial ritual ofMade Snana being performedat Kukke Subrahmanya templepremises in Dakshina Kannadadistrict, which allows Dalitcommunity rolling over the leftover food eaten by the uppercaste Brahmins on the plantainleaves . This ritual is believedto cure many skin diseases.

The Bill, popularly knownas the anti-superstition Bill, hasbeen drafted on the lines of theMaharashtra Prevention andEradication of HumanSacrifices and Other Inhuman,Evil and Aghori Practices andBlack Magic Act, 2013. Thescreening committee headed byLaw and Parliamentary Affairs

Minister TB Jayachandra hasapproved the draft Bill.

The Bill has provisions todeal strongly with cruel prac-tices like human sacrifice,whipping people as part ofsome rituals, witchcraft, exor-cism, parading women in thenaked, sexual exploitation byinvoking supernatural powersand killing animals by bitingtheir neck. However, therevised bill would not interferewith people’s beliefs in astrol-ogy and Vaastu as theGovernment does not want tointerfere with people’s faith .

“The practice of humansacrifice as part of the hunt forhidden treasures is still preva-lent in rural areas. We aredetermined to end such evilpractices,” Jayachandra said.

Siddaramaiah Governmenthas preferred to tread cau-tiously in dealing with the rit-ual of fire walk, common inmost of the religious fairs inrural areas. The bill seeks totake penal action only if the actis forced on a person.Performing the fire walk vol-untarily would not attract anypenal action.

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The October 11 by-election inthe Vengara Assembly con-

stituency in Kerala’sMalappuram district is unlike-ly to be a cakewalk for theMuslim League, second biggestconstituent of the Congress-ledOpposition UDF, despite itsMuslim-dominated demogra-phy and the fact the party hadwon the two elections held theresince its formation in 2001.

Muslim League’s nationalgeneral secretary and formerState Industries minister PKKunhalikutty had won both the2011 and 2016 elections in theVengara seat with margins ofover 38,000 votes but such amassive and easy win looksalmost impossible in the by-poll in the current political sit-uation, according to observers.

The Assembly by-electionin Vengara has been necessi-tated by the resignation of for-mer Industries minister PKKunhalikutty of the Muslim

League as MLA from thereafter he was elected toParliament in the April 12 by-poll in Malappuram Lok Sabhaconstituency which had fallenvacant following the death offormer Union Minister EAhamed of the same party.

The factors workingagainst the Muslim League aswell as the UDF this time are

many starting with the strongdissent in that party over theselection of the candidate andthe reported finding of the judi-cial commission which probedthe infamous solar scam thatlapses on the part of formerchief minister OommenChandy’s office had acted asencouragement to fraudsters.

The LDF is sure to use the

observations against Chandy inthe report of the solar scamjudicial commission, submittedto the Government on Tuesday,in the by-poll against the UDF.Since Chandy is the star cam-paigner of the UDF in the by-election, such a Left move cancause serious problems for theMuslim League candidate.

That the Muslim commu-nity – over 71 percent of the170,000 Vengara voters areMuslims – does not seem to beunited in favour of the MuslimLeague, unlike in the 2016polls, is another problem theUDF is facing. As per reports,the influential Sunni sect ledby Kanthapuram APAboobacker Musliar hasalready decided to supportthe Left in the by-election.

“You may considerVengara to be a Muslim Leaguebastion due to its electoral his-tory and demography. But his-tory need not repeat itselfalways. The discord in theMuslim League and the UDF

and the good things the LDFGovernment has done in thepast 16 months are going tocause a big change,” said a cam-paign manager of CPI(M) can-didate PP Basheer.

This could be seen as anover-statement but poll punditsagree that if the Muslim League’swinning margin drops by 15,000it can be seen as a big victory asfar as the Left is concerned.“Such a drop would mean amassive downslide in the pop-ularity of the UDF and MuslimLeague and an endorsementfor the Left’s governance,” saidsenior journalist PVS Warrier.

Several Muslim Leagueleaders are sore over the selec-tion of KNA Khader as its can-didate for the by-poll by reject-ing proposals favouring Statesecretary and leading lawyerUA Latheef. The ill-feelingover this decision of the lead-ership has been so intense thatit promoted a local leader KHamzah to file nomination asrebel candidate.

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Aday after meeting with 100-odd Patidar community

leaders including that of PatidarAnamat Andolan Samiti(PAAS) convener Hardik Patel,the Gujarat Government onWednesday announced to forma commission for educationaland economic upliftment of theupper castes.

The formation of commis-sion came following agitatingPatidar leaders demand. PAASand few other Patidar com-munity outfits are demandingreservation in Governmentjobs and educational institu-tions under OBC category.The Vijay Rupani Governmenthas also decided to form onemore commission in lines withOBC Commission enablingupper castes to petition it if anycaste is seeking a favourablestatus. Both the importantannouncements were madefollowing a Cabinet meeting.

Welcoming the formationof commissions, Hardik Patelremarked that it was a goodmove on the part of GujaratGovernment, but the majordemand of including Patidarsin OBC category has not yetconsidered.

In view of the PAAS lead-ers demand to take sternaction against policemenresponsible for highhanded-ness on agitating Patidars, theState Government has decid-ed to set an investigation com-mittee headed by a retiredHigh Court judge. In the pastcouple of years at least 14Patidar youth lost their livesduring pro-quota agitation,claimed PAAS.

Talking to media personsafter the cabinet meetingDeputy Chief Minister NitinPatel said that the state homedepartment was instructed toinitiate procedure to with-draw case against Patidarswhich were filed during theagitation.

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In the backdrop of improvedbilateral relations between

India and United States, thenewly appointed US ConsulateGeneral Edgard Kagan on hismaiden visit to Gujarat said thatUS companies are keen to investin Defence sector in India.

Kagan said that bilateraltrade between the two coun-tries has augmented from over$25 billion a decade ago to ashigh as $116 billion by the endof year 2016. The US diplomatexpressed hope to furtherincreased the bilateral trade forthe betterment of economies inboth the countries.

Apart from Defence sector,the US companies are looking atinvestment opportunities in theareas of capital goods, energy, ITto name a few. He said that USwould like to contribute inGovernment of India’s initiativelike Digital India, Skill India and

even in make-in-India.The most potential area

according to him is tourism sec-tor in both the countries.Tourists from both the sidesshould increase that would fur-ther enhance people to peoplerelationship. Though tourismpeople of both the countrieswould come to know the reali-ty of each country, he added.

Before taking charge asConsul General at Mumbai inthe last week of August Kaganwas at Kuala Lumpur as deputychief of mission of the USEmbassy there. He also workedas deputy director of the USMission to the UN’s WashingtonOffice. During his visit to theGujarat’s capital Gandhinagar hemet Gujarat Chief MinisterVijay Rupani, Chief Secretary JNSingh and Governor OP Kohli.The diplomat also enjoyedNavaratri revelry in Ahmedabadas he made it a point to visit thestate during the festival of dance.

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Former Samajwadi Party MLA Rampal Yadavfrom Biswan (Sitapur) joined Bahujan Samaj

Party in Lucknow on Wednesday.After being denied ticket by the SP chief

Akhilesh Yadav, he contested the 2017 Assemblypoll as a Lok Dal candidate but after the elec-tions, he returned to the SP and was closely iden-tified with Shivpal Yadav camp.

In April, last year, Rampal was expelled fromSamajwadi Party by the then State chief AkhileshYadav for maligning the party’s image and his

involvement in illegal activities. The Lucknow Development Authority

(LDA) had razed Rampal’s illegal complex inLucknow in April last year and arrested himalong with eight others, including his kina andformer SP MLA Rajendra Yadav, for attackingthe LDA team and clashing with the police dur-ing the demolition.

Rampal was sent to 14-day judicial cus-tody by a lower court after being bookedunder various sections of IPC including 307(attempt to murder) and 7, Criminal LawAmendment Act.

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Lucknow: Those who causehooch deaths in Uttar Pradeshcan now be sentenced to death,the Uttar Pradesh Governmenton Wednesday said, promul-gating an Ordinance foramending the UP Excise Act.

Under the new Act, peopledealing with illicit orspurious liquor canbe sentenced to lifeor hanged to death.

“Uttar PradeshGovernor Ram Naik has pro-mulgated the Uttar PradeshExcise (Amendment)Ordinance 2017. The Ordinanceis related to the poisonous natureof illicit liquor and the loss of lifecaused by its consumption,” anofficial statement released by the

Raj Bhavan said.Since the State legislature is

not in session, and seeing theimmediate nature of issue, theGovernor approved the pro-posal passed by the UP Cabinetafter legal examinations, it said.

The measure is seen as aneffort to stamp outthe State’s illicitliquor mafia, anExcise Departmentofficial said.

The decision to add thedeath penalty provision wastaken last week at a meeting ofthe UP Cabinet chaired byChief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The measure would act as adeterrent, UP Excise Minister JaiPratap Singh had said. PTI

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After Asaram Bapu, RamRahim and Phalari Baba,

another baba from Sitapur,Siyaram Das was arrested oncharges of sexual exploitationon Wednesday.

The police said that besidesrape charges and making anMMS of his sexual exploits, itwas also being probed that thebaba was running a schoolthrough his trust and used toexploit girls with the help of lady

principal, as alleged by a victim.As per reports, Siyaram

Das used to run a huge ashramspread across 250 bighas atSatrikh in Sitapur and hadbeen sexually exploiting a girlfor the last 11 months. The vic-tim appeared before the policeafter which a case was regis-tered on Tuesday night.

She alleged that she was astudent of a school run by thebaba in Sitapur. She claimed thatthe principal sold her for�50,000 after which she was

taken to Barabanki and later toashrams in Faizabad, Lucknow,Sitapur and lastly to Agra. At allthese places, she was repeated-ly sexually exploited by SiyaramDas and sexually explicit clip-pings were also made. Shecharged that Das held her cap-tive and threatened her with dire

consequences if she tried to runaway or tell anyone of thesequence of events. After gettingthe victim medically examinedand recording her statement, theSitapur Police raided an ashramand arrested the rapist. The babais now being subjected to sus-tained interrogation.

Meanwhile, in Ghazipur,after eloping with her boyfriend,a girl was found hanging in ahotel room under mysteriouscircumstances on Tuesday night.

As per reports, Pooja of

Kasimabad in Ramghat Colonyof Ghazipur eloped onSeptember 6 after which herfamily members lodged a casewith the police. Two days back,her elder brother traced Poojaand after counselling her,checked into a hotel on StationRoad in Sadar Kotwali area.After Pooja went inside theroom, her brother told her tofreshen up and went outside.

On his return, the brotherfound the room locked frominside. He later knocked but

when there was no reply, healerted the hotel staff, whocalled the police. On gainingaccess to the room, the copsfound the girl’s body hangingfrom the ceiling. The police fig-ured that the brother broughtPooja back from her lover butwhen she refused to go homedue to embarrassment, thebrother took her to a hotel. Butas he went to call his other kin,Pooja ended her life. The bodywas sent for autopsy and inves-tigations are on.

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The investigation into thealleged conspiracy behind

the attack on a frontline Keralamovie actress in February, forwhich Malayalam moviesuperstar Dileep was arrestedin July is at a crucial stage, theProsecution has informed theHigh Court.

Responding to queriesfrom the court amidst its argu-ments against Dileep’s bailapplication on Wednesday, theProsecution said the investi-gation was at a crucial stageand that it would be overbefore the expiry of the stipu-lated period and that thechargesheet would be submit-ted before the completion of 90days from the superstar’s arreston July 10.

Opposing Dileep’s bailapplication, the Prosecutionsaid he could influence keywitnesses if released fromdetention. Dileep is lodged atthe Sub-Jail in Aluva, hishometown near Kochi, sincehis arrest. This is Dileep’s fifthbail plea. His applications forbail had been rejected fourtimes earlier — twice by a

court in Angamaly near Kochiand twice by the High Court.

To stress this point, theProsecution claimed thatSudheer, driver of Kavya,Dileep’s wife and actress, hadtried to influence a key witness.Statements of four more wit-nesses, including actor-singerRimi Tomy, had to be record-ed under Section 164 of theCrPC, it said adding that state-ments of 21 witnesses hadalready been recorded. Thecourt deferred the bail plea fororders.

The frontline actress wasassaulted and video-graphed inthat condition by a gang led bySunil Kumar alias Pulsar Suni,a hoodlum allegedly hired byDileep, in a car on the night ofFebruary 17 when she wasgoing to Kochi from Thrissur.Suni and some of his associateswere arrested within a week ofthe incident and the firstchargesheet in the case wasfiled subsequently.

Requesting the court toconsider the fact that theactress was a human being andnot a doll, the Prosecutioninformed that Dileep had givena �1.5-crore ‘quotation’ to Suni

to rape and video-graph theactress. Dileep had alsopromised Suni to hike thecontract amount to �3 crore ifhe was caught by the police, itsaid.

The superstar would havemade financial gains to thetune of �65 crore if the attackplan had worked out exactly ashe had envisaged it, theProsecution said, adding thatSuni had planned to surrenderhimself to the police afterreceiving the reward fromDileep but this plan wasdropped due to objectionsfrom his associates in thecrime.

Accusing the Prosecutionof trying to keep Dileep in jailtill the 90-day period was overand to make him an under-

trial detainee, his counsel hadargued in the court on Tuesdaythat he deserved statutory bailas the special police team’sinvestigation was almost over.He submitted that he was pre-pared to abide by all the con-ditions the court would imposeon him for bail.

The police had not foundany new evidences against himand they were still trying tokeep him in jail by pointing outthat the mobile phone used bySuni for video-graphing theactress was yet to be found,Dileep argued. The police hadnot been able to recover themobile phone in the past sevenmonths and he could not beheld responsible for that, thesuperstar added.

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Beginning his third and finalday of poll-bound Gujarat’s

visit by climbing over 600 stepsto offer prayers at famous hill-top temple of ChamundaMataji in Chotila town ofSurendranagar district, AllIndia Congress Committee(AICC) vice-president RahulGandhi continued attack onruling BJP over multiple issuesranging from pro-quota Patidaragitation, plight of farmers,and much talked about GujaratModel of Development.

Post offering prayers togoddess Chamunda, theAICC vice-presidentaddressed a public meeting atChotila town where he trig-gered ongoing social mediaslogan ‘Vikas Gando ThayoChhe’ (Development has gonemad) which has become viral,especial in Gujarat. The slo-gan is a satire on the claims ofthe BJP over the development

in Gujarat.Mentioning former

Finance Minister and seniorBJP leader Yashwant Sinha’sarticle, Rahul said that the rul-ing party’s leader himself writ-ing about the plight of nation’seconomy. “The economy hasbeen destroyed. But due to fearof Narendra Modi no one isready to speak even a singleword,’’ he said reiterating towaive off farmers’ loan in thestate if Congress would bevoted to power.

He went on to say that hisparty had already waived ofloans in Congress ruled Statesof Punjab and Karnataka. Justlike previous couple of days, onWednesday too Gandhiroamed around by road andmade it a point to stop at dif-ferent villages. From Chotila hiscavalcade stopped atPanchavad, Kanosara, Chobari,Anandpur, Kamlapar, Jasdan,ghoghavadar, Gondal, Jetpurand Virpur.

At Leuva-Patel (a sub casteof Patidars) community’s pil-grimage Kagvad, he offeredPuja and interacted with thecommunity members, espe-cially over the ongoing pro-quota agitation of Patidar com-munity.

Rahul who had beguntour of Gujarat on Mondayfrom Dwarka by offering pujaat the famous Dwarkadheeshtemple raised varieties ofissues and didn’t leave singlestone unturned to criticisedruling BJP at centre as well asin Gujarat. For the three con-secutive days he continuous-ly tried to woo members ofPatidar community whichforms nearly 15 per cent ofGujarat’s total e lectors.Knowing the fact Patidarsare traditional voters of thesaffron party, the CongressVP apparently put in extraefforts to make dent in BJPvote bank in view of ensuingAssembly polls.

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Mafia-turned-BSP legisla-tor Mokhtar Ansari and

seven others were acquitted bya Mau court, while three oth-ers were awarded life term inthe sensational murder of con-tractor Ajay Prakash Singhalias Manna Singh.

The victim was spryaedwith bullets near Ghazipurcrossing in front of Union Bankat Mau on August 29, 2009 inwhich his driver Shabbir andfriend Ajay Rai were alsoinjured. Later Rai succumbedduring treatment.

A case was registered atMau Kotwali Police stationagainst unknown assailants onthe application of Singh’s broth-er Harendra Singh.

In the chargesheet, thepolice had indicted MLAMokhtar Ansari, Umesh Singh,Rajneesh Singh, Santosh Singh,Rakesh Kumar Pandey, AmreshKanujiya, Anuj Kanaujiya, Rajualias Jamvant Kanaujiya, VinaySingh, Upendra Singh, ArvindYadav and Kamlesh Yadav.

One of the accused,Kamlesh Yadav was later killedin a police encounter thus thecourt started trial against the 11remaining accused.

After hearing both partiesAdditional District SessionJustice (III) Asil Aftab Ahmadon Wednesday, acquitted eightaccused including Ansari andhanded out life terms to AmreshKanujiya, Jamvant alias Rajuand Arvind Yadav. MokhtarAnsari contested the Assemblyelections on a Bahujan SamajParty (BSP) ticket and emergedwinner from Mau seat.

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The Thane crime policebranch sleuths on

Wednesday indicated thatunderworld gangster ChhotaShakeel was one of the four“wanted” accused in the extor-tion racket involving IqbalKaskar and two of his aides,even as a Thane court extend-ed the police custody of Kaskarand three of this accomplicesfor four more days.

On a day when the inves-tigators in theThane extortioncase obtained thefour-day exten-sion in theremand of Kaskar and two ofhis aides Mumtaz Ejaj Shaikhand and Israr Z Saiyyad,informed sources in the Thanepolice branch said that Shakeelwas one of the four “wanted”accused in the case.

Sources said that Kaskar,younger brother of Karachi-based don Dawood Ibrahim,had allegedly “involved” Shakeelin the extortion racket alleged-ly run by him in Thane. “Kaskarhad contacted Shakeel on a fewoccasions and enlisted his helpin running the extortion racket,”a crime branch official said.

Knowing full well that theymight not be able to zero in on

Dawood’s close aide Shakeel inthe near future, the investigatorshave launched a hunt for threeother accused involved in theextortion racket. The three otheraccused comprise two sharpshooters from Bihar and a gang-ster based in north Mumbai.The three have absconded sincethe arrest of Kaskar and two ofhis aides early this month.

Kaskar and two of hisaccomplices Mumtaz Shaikhand Israr Ali Jamil Sayyedwere arrested on September 18

from the Nagpadaresidence ofDawood’s sister lateHaseena Parkar insouth Mumbai. The

charge against them was thatthey had allegedly extortedfour flats and �30 lakh cashfrom one builder Jain in 2016.The investigators suspect thatKaskar and his men allegedlyextorted money and propertyfrom at least 20 more persons.

The investigators got con-firmation about Shakeel’sinvolvement in the extortionracket run by Kaskar during thequestioning of one of old aidesMohammed Ahmed Mansurialias Ahmed Langda, whomthey detained on Monday.Langda had been arrested inthe 1993 Mumbai serial blastsbut was acquitted.

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Data, investments, intercon-nection usage charges,

Government policies and finan-cial stress in the industry are thetopics which topped the chartof the first day of India MobileCongress 2017. Industry stake-holders like Bharti Airtel andIdea Cellular voiced their con-cern about depleting industryrevenue and assymetry in com-petition. CommunicationsMinister Manoj Sinha tookcognisance of the matter andsaid the Government will againintervene if it is needed.

“There is nothing to worry.The sector has seen ups anddowns. In 2000 also, there wasa similar situation,” Sinha toldreporters. "The government isaware of the stress in the sector,earlier also we have intervened,and if needed we will do soagain,” he added.

The Minister said: “We willmake sure that the sector does notdie.” Earlier in the day, IdeaCellular CEO and MD HimanshuKapania said the recentlyannounced interconnection usagecharges (IUC) by the Indian reg-ulator will further deplete theindustry of investable funds andthere is an urgent need for the tele-com ministry's intervention in theform of reasonable package to take

the industry out of financial stress.“The announced IUC will

further deplete the industry of itsinvestable funds beside creatinginter-operator imbalances of hightraffic assymmetries. The faultlinesare already evident with the indus-try going through the stress,”Kapania said while addressing theIndia Mobile Congress. “Thiswill also impact the long-term

financial structure of the industry.The Government's revenue col-lection will be hit adversely,” headded. The Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India in its new reg-ulation has more than halved IUCor mobile termination chargesfrom 14 paise to 6 paise in a movethat is perceived to adverselyaffect incumbent players. IUC isthe charge that one telecom oper-

ator pays to another to terminateits call.

“The introduction and pro-liferation of bundled unlimitedplans... lack of regulatory inter-ventions has had deep impact onthe industry. No industry can sur-vive if tariffs have fallen by half inone year, but data tariff has fallenby one-tenth to one-fifteenthwithin a span of just one year,”

Kapania added.Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil

Mittal said India has the potentialto become the world's largest tele-com market but the industrywould require congenial govern-ment policies to do so. "India hasthe potential to become world'slargest telecom market. But noneof us can do it alone. We have tocollaborate among us. We have theeco-system... use common towers,fibres.

The industry will not be ableto do it alone. We need to com-bine with the Government.Government policies will have toeventually decide how fast this dig-ital wave in this country can pro-pel," he added. Talking about theindustry's investments, Mittal saidAirtel had invested over �10,000crore up till September in hardinfrastructure.

Reliance Industries LtdChairman Mukesh Ambani saiddata is the new oil and India hasabundance of it. “Data is the newoil. India does not need to importit. We have it in super abundance.It will be a new source of value andwill create opportunities andprosperity for India and millionsof Indians,” Ambani said whileaddressing the India MobileCongress here.

“As a nation, we missed outon the first three global industri-al revolutions -- namely mecha-

nisation, mass production andautomation. The Fourth IndustrialRevolution, fuelled by connectiv-ity, data and Artificial Intelligence,has now begun,” he added.Communications Minister saidwith exponential data consump-tion, the telecom industry isexpected to generate revenue of$38.25 billion by 2017-end, reg-istering a compounded annualgrowth rate of 5.2 per centbetween 2014 and 2017.

“Investment has increasedby approximate 220 per cent in thelast four years. Operators haverolled out more than 0.2 millionmobile tower sites in the last 15months,” Sinha said in his inau-gural address at the India MobileCongress 2017 here. India is thesecond largest telecom market inthe world with 1.2 billion telecomusers and 450 million internetusers, he added.

The telecom industry gener-ates 4 million direct and indirectemployment. IT and ElectronicsMinister Ravi Shankar Prasadstressed on mobile manufacturingin India. Speaking about datasecurity, he said: “We have to bal-ance data availability, utility,anonymity and privacy.” Thethree-day event that started onWednesday is first of its kind inIndia, following the footsteps ofWorld Mobile Congress that takesplace in Barcelona every year.

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MUMBAI: Fortunes soured for stocksfor the seventh day in a row as the Sensexon Wednesday plunged a sharp 440points to close at an over three-monthlow, triggered by a weakening rupee onconcerns that foreign capital will moveout sooner than later after Fed ChairJanet Yellen's comments. Yellen, in aspeech, said the US Federal Reserveshould stick to gradual rate hikes despitethe uncertainty about the inflation tra-jectory. This was enough for foreigninvestors to hit the exit button, lookingfor instruments that yield better returns.

The rupee took a hammering, sink-ing to over a six-month low of 65.75against the dollar during the day. The lin-gering Korean stand-off dealt a furtherblow after US President Donald Trumpdialled up his threats saying America is‘totally prepared’ for a ‘military option’on North Korea, warning that would be‘devastating’.

Updates of military action on the

eastern border hastened the mar-ket's fall, which has been on a slip-pery slope ahead of the derivativesexpiry on Thursday. Clearly, itwas downhill drive for the BSEbenchmark right in the beginning,which settled lower by 439.95points, or 1.39 per cent, at31,159.81.

This is the weakest closingsince June 30 when the gauge hadsettled at 30,921.61. It had lost 824points in the previous six sessions.Mood was downcast at the 50-share NSE Nifty too, which afterregaining the key 9,900-mark atone stage closed down 135.75points, or 1.38 per cent, at9,735.75 -- a level last seen onAugust 11 when it closed at9,710.80.

“Market extended losses whilethe rupee sank to a 6-month lowon continued outflow of foreign

funds. Additionally, slowdown inGST tax collection dented senti-ment and investors expected thatthe GST-led disruption is likelyto extend and will hurt earningsfor the next few quarters," saidVinod Nair, Head of Research,Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

Investors' wealth as mea-sured by market capitalisation ofBSE listed companies took abig knock of �1,79,524 crore,which read �1,30,55,056 crore.From the Sensex bloc, AdaniPorts barrelled down 4.85 percent, followed by SBI 2.89 percent. The overall losses swelledbecause of weakness in heavy-weight RIL, Dr Reddy's, SunPharma and ICICI Bank. TCSemerged as the big gainer, up0.62 per cent, while Coal Indiarose too. Mid-cap and small-capstocks moved in with the bench-

marks and dropped by up to 2.10 percent. Stocks of Divi's Lab crashed 11.60per cent to �850.15 after the companysaid it has received six new observationsf rom the US Food and DrugAdministration (USFDA) after inspec-tion of its Visakhapatnam unit. Sellingwas maximum in the BSE realty index,down 2.66 per cent. Healthcare, capitalgoods and power stocks also kept low.

As has been the case so far, foreignportfolio investors (FPIs) stayed reluc-tant towards Indian shares, who net soldshares worth �1,915.54 crore. Domesticinstitutional investors (DIIs) remainedtrue to their form, picking up sharesworth a net �1,537.10 crore Tuesday,according to provisional data. Overseas,most Asian indices ended mixed.Participants waited for key events,including the unveiling of Trump's taxreforms and the release of Japanese eco-nomic data later in the week. Europeanshares moved higher. PTI

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NEW DELHI: The Governmentwill set an advisory board to fixminimum wages for various sec-tors applicable across the country,a senior official of the labour min-istry said. “The Governmentwould constitute an AdvisoryBoard to fix the NationalMinimum Wages for employeesand such wages differ and varysectorally as well as regionallyacross the country as per require-ments, skills and nature of jobswith the enforcement of proposedLabour Code on Wages 2017,” RKGupta, the Joint Secretary in thelabour ministry, said.

Addressing a session onLabour Code on Wages-2017 atPHD Chamber of Commerceand Industry here on Wednesday,Gupta clarified that the Centrehas not fixed a NationalMinimum Wage for all employ-ees as yet and reports appearingon ̀ 18,000 per month minimumwage for employees are ‘incorrect’.

On fixing of national minimumwages, the official said the statesand UTs will follow the adviso-ry board's decision on minimumwages in their respective domainfor employees ‘which can be evenabove such wages but certainlynot lower than the fixed limit bythe Centre’.

Gupta also clarified that therewill be quiet a few national mini-mum wages for different sectors andeven for different regions. Followingenactment of Labour Code onWages 2017 which is currently fac-ing scrutiny from the ParliamentaryStanding Committee, four labourlaws relating to the MinimumWages Act, 1948; the Payment ofWages Act, 1936; the Payment ofBonus Act, 1965; and the EqualRemuneration Act, 1976 would besubsumed in one Labour Code onWages 2017 and that current inspec-tor raj would turn into a facilitatorregime to help industry complythe new Code. PTI

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Telecom operator Vodafoneon Wednesday said it has

partnered with VideoconWallcam to enable mobilephone based surveillanceusing 3G or 4G connection.Meanwhile, VideoconWallcam unveiled new closedcircuit television (CCTV)camera that will have slot for4G mobile sim.

“We are delighted to part-ner with Videocon Wallcam tointroduce India's first 4Genabled and bundled CCTVsolution. We have been part-

nering with enterprise for IoT(Internet of Things) solutionsbut this is also our first part-nership for an IoT product ina consumer retail segment,”Vodafone India MD and CEOSunil Sood told reporters at

India Mobile Congress.Vodafone and Videocon areworking on price and offer onthe new products under thepartnership, which will beannounced in about a week'stime. “For any IoT based solu-

tion, seamless connectivity forthe connected devices is thekey. We have partnered withVodafone which has wide net-work across the country.

Now, CCTV solutions canbe installed in mobile unitssuch as buses, trains, trucks,cars and public places andmonitored over mobile phone,”Videocon Telecom CEOArvind Bali said. The CCTVproduct announced under thepartnership include vibrationresistant, shock proof and van-dal proof CCTV cameras anddigital video recorder that canbe installed in moving vehicle.

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The Centre on Wednesdayextended the deadline for

obtaining Aadhaar for availingGovernment schemes and subsi-dies by three months to December31. The extension is, however, onlyfor those who are yet to apply ofAadhaar, an order issued by theMinistry of Electronics andInformation Technology said.

As many as 135 schemes (of35 ministries) including the freecooking gas (LPG) to poor women,kerosene and fertiliser subsidy,targeted public distribution system(PDS) and MGNREGA will becovered by the extension.TheGovernment had previously madequoting of Aadhaar necessary foravailing government benefits andsubsidies like those on cooking gasLPG. Those who did not haveAadhaar were asked to procure theunique identification number bySeptember 30.

This deadline has now beenextended till December 31, theorder said. “As a result of the reviewof welfare schemes covered and toprovide the benefits of suchschemes to all eligible beneficiariesof the scheme, it has been decid-ed to further extend the stipulat-ed date in all such notifications upto December 31, 2017,” the ordersaid. The extension would alsoapply for Employees’ PensionScheme of 1995, scholarships,housing subsidy benefit, stipend toSC/ST trainees for coaching guid-ance and vocational training,stipend to handicapped, AamAadmi Bima Yojana.

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NEW DELHI: State-run ONGCon Wednesday said it may sell itsholding in Indian OilCorporation (IOC) and GAIL tofund the �33,000 crore acquisi-tion of HPCL. The company isdebt free and has got sharehold-ers' approval to raise �25,000crore through borrowing, ONGCChairman and ManagingDirector Dinesh K Sarraf toldreporters here.

“We have several options tofund the acquisition. On stand-alone basis we are debt free so wecan borrow from the market.Also we have certain invest-ments which can be sold,” Sarrafsaid. ONGC has about 13.77 percent stake in IOC, which isworth around �26,450 crore and4.87 per cent stake in GAIL,which is worth �1,640 crore.Sarraf said no decision on sellingstake has been taken but theoption is available for the com-pany. “We don't know the exacttiming when the deal will be

closed but we certainly hope itwill happen in calender year2017,” he said.

He further said the compa-ny is buying HPCL as it is look-ing to hedge its upstream oil andgas production risks with pres-ence in downstream oil refiningand marketing business. Duringhigh oil prices, upstream com-panies make profit and down-stream companies make lossesand vice versa is also true. He saidONGC currently has �10,000crore of cash.

Sarraf, whose tenure isscheduled to end on October 1further said HPCL will remaina separate listed company evenafter the acquisition and willfunction as a subsidiary. “ONGCboard will support the merger ofHPCL with its subsidiary MRPLif a proposal so comes,” headded. Yesterday, Shashi Shankerwas appointed as Chairmanand Managing Director ofONGC, till March 2021. PTI

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NEW DELHI:Providing more lee-way, Sebi on Wednesday allowedmutual funds (MFs) to use inter-est rate futures contracts to hedgerisks from volatility in interestrates. An IRF provides for futuredelivery of an interest- bearing secu-rity such as Govt bonds and suchcontracts provide an avenue tohedge against risks arising fromfluctuations in interest rates.

“To reduce interest rate risk ina debt portfolio, MFs may hedge the

portfolio or part of the portfolio(including one or more securities)on weighted average modified dura-tion basis by using IRFs,” Sebi saidin a circular. Besides, MFs will haveto disclose about the hedging posi-tions through IRF in respective debtportfolios, details of IRFs used forhedging along with debt and moneymarket securities transacted on itswebsite, and investments made ininterest rate derivatives in the month-ly portfolio disclosure. PTI

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Atwo-goal performance by CristianoRonaldo gave Real Madrid a 3-1win at Borussia Dortmund in the

Champions League on Tuesday, keepingthe defending champions at the top ofGroup H along with Tottenham, whichdefeated APOEL 3-0 in Cyprus for its sec-ond consecutive victory.

Liverpool was held to a 1-1 draw atSpartak Moscow to remain winless aftertwo matches, while Manchester City madeit two wins in a row with a 2-0 victory overShakhtar Donetsk in England.

FC Porto picked up a stunning 3-0 vic-tory at Monaco, while Sevilla easily defeat-ed Maribor of Slovenia 3-0 in Spain.

Here is a look at Tuesday's games:

�����Sevilla took the group lead with the

comfortable home win against Maribor,while Liverpool stumbled to its secondconsecutive draw. Wissam BenYedder scored a hat trick inSevilla's victory, finding thenet twice in the first half andconverting a late penalty. Hehad also scored one of theteam's goals in the 2-2 draw atLiverpool in the first match.

Missed chances were costlyfor Liverpool as it dropped points again inRussia, where the hosts opened the scor-ing with a free kick by Fernando beforePhilippe Coutinho equalized a few min-utes later.

Sevilla has four points, two more than

both Liverpool and Spartak.Spartak is facing a disciplinary charge

after its fans displayed an anti-UEFA ban-ner and used smoke grenades during theclash. Spartak fans unfurled the bannerreading "UEFA mafia" and let off white

smoke during the 1-1 home draw. Loudbangs were also heard.

The protests came after an earlierUEFA punishment of the club for a flarewhich landed near the referee in Spartak'sprevious Champions League game away toMaribor.

UEFA has charged Spartak overTuesday's "illicit banner and chants" as wellas pyrotechnic use and fans blocking stair-ways at the Otkritie Arena.

Spartak has already been stripped ofits away ticket allocation for the Nov. 1 visitto Sevilla over the incident in Maribor.

����� Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling

scored either side of Sergio Aguero'spenalty miss as Manchester City beat

Shakhtar Donetsk to take the group's leadwith six points, three more than Shakhtarand Napoli.

By seeing his penalty saved by goal-keeper Andriy Pyatov, Aguero missed achance to join Eric Brook as City's all-timerecord scorer on 177 goals.

Napoli, which opened group playwith a 2-1 loss at Shakhtar, rebounded witha convincing 3-1 home win overFeyenoord.

Dries Mertens extended his red-hotform by scoring one goal and setting upanother, while Lorenzo Insigne and JoseCallejon also found the net.

Goalkeeper Pepe Reina saved a penal-ty.

������FC Porto earned its first group win by

stunning Monaco with a pair of goals byVincent Aboubakar and a late strike bysubstitute Miguel Layun.

Monaco, last year's semifinalist, wastaught a lesson in counterattacking foot-ball as it remained winless following itsopening 1-1 draw at Leipzig.

Besiktas took the group lead with thehome victory over Leipzig after first-halfgoals by Ryan Babel and Talisca. TheTurkish club has six points, three morethan Porto. Besiktas had opened with a 3-1 win at Porto.

������Ronaldo scored two goals for the sec-

ond straight match in the ChampionsLeague, leading Madrid to victory inGermany.

The Portugal forward had also foundthe net twice in the team's opening 3-0 winagainst APOEL.

Gareth Bale also scored for Madrid onTuesday, while Pierre-EmerickAubameyang put the hosts on the board.

Tottenham, which beat the Germanside 3-1 in their opener at WembleyStadium, defeated APOEL with a HarryKane hat trick, his sixth of the year.

Tottenham and Madrid are tied withsix points and have the same number ofgoals scored and conceded.

�� �� 23���34-5

Under the scanner on issues ofpropriety, the BCCI's General

Manager (Cricket Operations) M VSridhar on Wednesday tendered hisresignation, a decision that was accept-ed by the Committee of Administrators(COA).

It was learnt that Sridhar submit-ted his resignation during Wednesday'sCOA meeting at the Cricket CentreHeadquarters.

For the time being, CEO RahulJohri will be the head of CricketOperations supported by a three-member team comprising MayankParik (International Cricket, Logistics),KVP Rao (Domestic Cricket) andGaurav Saxena (for ICC/ACC matters,co-ordination with other internation-al boards and point person for theIndian men's cricket team).

The PTI is in possession of Johri'se-mail sent to the office-bearers where-

in he intimated them of the latest devel-opment.

"Please note that Dr MV Sridharhas decided to move on and tenderedhis resignation," Johri wrote in his mailto the office-bearers.

"His resignation has been accept-ed today by the Supreme Courtappointed Committee ofAdministrators (COA). Dr Sridharhas agreed to stay on till September 30,2017 for smooth handover of work. We

thank him for his services to BCCI."Sridhar was under the scanner for

quite some time now with allegationsof financial impropriety in his homestate association — Hyderabad CA —when he was heading the state body.

"Sridhar was time and again told torelocate to Mumbai and operate fromthere. However, he was shuttlingbetween Hyderabad and Mumbai,which was not the best way to functionfor the head of Cricket Operations," asenior BCCI official, privy to thedevelopment, told PTI on Wednesday.

The incident that proved to be thelast straw for the COA was appoint-ment of a trainer called Sohum Desaiat the NCA. Before that, he had irkeda few top people in the board by scrap-ping the Duleep Trophy. Duleep Trophywas later restored by the COA.

Desai was working at current TeamIndia strength and conditioning coachShankar Basu's Chennai-based gym'Primal Patterns' and there are allega-

tions of Conflict of Interest against Basuas well.

Sridhar had told PTI that Desai wasappointed after he came second in thetrainer's test.

"The boy stood second in the testand there is no Conflict of Interest inthis case," Sridhar had then said.

It was on September 15, that dur-ing a NCA meeting in the capital, act-ing president CK Khanna and treasurerAniruddh Chaudhry had asked Sridharabout Desai's appointment.

"Who set the question papers?"Chaudhry had asked during the meet-ing in which Sridhar had named Basu.

It was learnt that CEO Johri thenindependently verified Desai's credi-bility and found out that he didn't evenappear for the test for recruitment ofNCA trainers.

"The COA were left embarrassedafter the whole saga and it was a mat-ter of time before Sridhar had to put inhis papers."

�� �� 7B47!�!

Former India captain SouravGanguly on Wednesday

backed the new "red card" rulein cricket, saying the modifi-cation of the rules was requiredsince players' conduct wasbecoming an issue at the lowerlevel of the game.

Ganguly is one of the 11members of the world cricketcommittee, chaired by MikeBrearley of MCC, whichannounced the new Laws ofCricket, to be incorporated inthe ICC Playing Conditions.

"The changes in the lawwas necessary. It's a good thing.It may not be prevalent in Indiabut there have been many inci-dents at lower level cricket incountries like South Africa

and England. You won't knowthe importance unless you seethe video footage," Gangulysaid.

He was referring to theLevel 4 offences like threaten-ing to assault an umpire, mak-ing inappropriate and deliber-ate physical contact with anumpire, physically assaulting aplayer or any other person andcommitting any other act ofviolence which can result in aplayer being sent off for rest ofthe match.

"It's passed by our com-mittee at the MCC for suchincidents," Ganguly said.

� ��� )B�-3%,�=BB9

History and the form of South Africa'sleading batsmen are against

Bangladesh in the first Test starting onThursday at Senwes Park in northwesternuniversity town Potchefstroom.

Bangladesh have lost all four previousTests in South Africa by an innings,despite winning the toss on all four occa-sions.

In their favour, though, is improvedform since their previous tour in 2008/09and a Potchefstroom pitch less likely tohelp South Africa's formidable fast bowlersthan other surfaces in the host country.

Although it has generally favouredbatsmen, there was surprising assistancefor slow bowlers in a Twenty20 tourna-ment earlier this month, a repeat ofwhich would suit Bangladesh's spin-strong attack.

Bangladesh did not suggest themselvesas world-beaters in a low-key draw againsta largely inexperienced Invitation team inBenoni near Johannesburg last week,while South Africa's top batsmen werefeasting in four-day franchise matches.

Hashim Amla, Dean Elgar, Theunis deBruyn and new cap Aiden Markram allscored centuries, captain Faf du Plessismade 96 and Quinton de Kock hit a half-century.

In the absence of leading all-rounderShakib Al Hasan, who was granted a breakfrom Test cricket, Bangladesh will look totheir two most experienced remainingplayers, captain Mushfiqur Rahim andopener Tamim Iqbal, to provide substanceto their batting.

5���#���5���#��������:��� ��)�� ������1����������������9����� ���������@&���������'��"��O�9���������4�����������������

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Cristiano Ronaldo says criticismagainst him is getting worse, and

he doesn't think it's fair.Ronaldo made his comments after

scoring twice in Real Madrid's 3-1 winat Borussia Dortmund. "It seems thatmatch after match I have to show whoI am," Ronaldo said. "I'm surprised bythe public opinion about me. Again, thenumbers speak for themselves."

Ronaldo also scored twice inMadrid's Champions League openerthis season, a 3-0 win against APOEL.But he was criticized by many after apoor performance in a 1-0 home lossagainst Real Betis in the Spanishleague. The Portuguese missed sever-al chances in that game, including clearopportunities in front of goal.

"I'm happy because I know thatwhen everything is normal, that whenI'm well and the opportunities appear,I will score," Ronaldo said. "Sometimesthe goalkeepers will make saves, or thewoodwork will stop me, but this is partof football.

"I always work the same way,"Ronaldo said. "I'm an example as a pro-fessional. I never become desperate,although some people may think thatI do. I'm always with a healthy mind,a clear mind, prepared for great chal-lenges and for the criticism, which isgetting worse."

But Ronaldo reiterated that he ishappy playing in Madrid and that henever said he wanted to leave, aswidely reported after a tax-fraud inves-tigation in Spain earlier this year.

"You didn't hear that from me,"Ronaldo said. "People talk aboutCristiano every day, everywhere in theworld. I live for football and for myfamily, the rest is secondary.”

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There will be no let-up in intensity as a ruth-less India look to inch closer to yet anoth-er series whitewash when they take on a

beleaguered Australia in the fourth One-dayInternational here on Thursday.

Virat Kohli's team is going through adream phase and if Tuesday's training sessionat the M Chinnaswamy Stadium was any indi-cation, the winning streak is most likely to con-tinue.

The fate of the five-match series was decid-ed after India swept aside Australia in the firstthree matches, leaving the possibility of anembarrassing whitewash hanging over thetourists' heads.

While the likes of Kohli and former captainMahendra Singh Dhoni have been consistent-ly doing what they do best, Hardik Pandya'sgrowth as an all-rounder has added a newdimension to the team.

He slammed a fluent 78, a few days after anattacking 66 -ball 83, as India comfortablychased down 294 in the last game at Indore totake an unassailable 3-0 lead. Rohit Sharma andAjikya Rahane played their part to perfection,each scoring half centuries in a 131-run open-ing partnership.

If needed, India can also count on the likesof Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey to deliverthe goods with the willow, though one of themcould make the way for home boy KL Rahultomorrow.

While batting has always been their strength,India continue to impress with the ball as well.

Seam bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar andJasprit Bumrah have beentroubling Australia's top-order and cramped theothers for room in thedeath overs.

The young wrist spinduo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadavcaught the attention with their very impressiveshowings, and India never seem to have missedRavichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

Yadav had bamboozled the Australian bats-men in Kolkata, where he picked up a hat-trick,and joined Kapil Dev and Chetan Sharma.

A very good thing about this Indian battingline-up is that each batsman has managed tocontribute to the team's cause when the chipswere down. When the top-order failed in theseries opener, the middle and lower-orderguided the team to safety. Both, though, clickedin the third ODI.

Pandya has been hogging the limelight withhis all-round ability and he will again be a threatto the opponents.

Going into the Ashes, Australia will des-

perately try to regain somemomentum in the last two deadrubbers against India.

Though it looks difficult at the moment,they know that a form reversal is importantahead of the Ashes.

Australia have lost 11 ODIs in a row awayfrom home, with the exception of two washouts,albeit with eight of those defeats coming againstSouth Africa and India.

They've won five of their last 14 Tests withthree of those wins a 3-0 clean sweep of Pakistanduring the last Australian summer.

Even as Australia struggle to search foranswers to contain a rampaging Indian team,one of their biggest concerns has been the fail-ure of the big-hitting Glenn Maxwell.

The visitors could not cross even 300 aftercenturion Aaron Finch placed them at a com-manding 232 for two in 40 overs in Indore. Fromthere, all they could muster was another 59 runs

while losing four wickets.Australia will hope that skipper Stephen

Smith and opener David Warner fire in theremaining games.

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa, who was takento the cleaners by Pandya in Chennai beforebeing dropped, is likely to replace Ashton Agarwith the left-armer in Australia having his bro-ken finger assessed by a specialist.

While part-time wicketkeeper PeterHandscomb failed in Indore, he should getanother chance to prove he can replace MatthewWade who was axed after a lean trot with thebat.

Australian pacers, especially NathanCoulter-Nile, have been consistent with his nag-ging line and length. Pat Cummins has been agood foil for him.

Thunderstorms are forecast on match day,but fans would be hoping that the rain stays away.

�� �� 32'!4+=+

Yuzvendra Chahal has beenGlenn Maxwell's nemesis

in the ongoing ODI series andthe Haryana leg-spinner saidthat the flamboyant Australian'svulnerability outside the off-stump has been his undoing.

Chahal has got Maxwellout on all three days withMaxwell being stumped in back-to-back games.

"My plan to Maxwell is notto bowl at the stumps. That's awrong area. I tend to bowl out-side the off-stump and I vary mypace. I know that if I can bowl2-3 dot balls, he will step out andtry to play an aggressive shot.However, in order to beat thebatsman, the line and length hasto be perfect," Chahal said at pre-match press conference.

Apart from Maxwell, DavidWarner despite his poor run ofform will remain a threat, reck-ons Chahal.

"Warner is Australia's keyplayer. When he settles in, he canplay the big knock. AlthoughAaron Finch scored a century inIndore, Warner is the mostdangerous player," Warner said."He has the experience of play-ing in the IPL and his mindsetis to attack. If he plays 40-50balls, he can score 70-80 runs.Our main aim is to get Warnerout quickly so that in the mid-dle overs, we can maintain thepressure," he added.

Talking about the edge overAustralia, Chahal said Indianspinners made the difference.

"Our spinners have taken13 wickets as compared to theAustralian spinners. We haveused the conditions much bet-ter than them. That is our pluspoint. Adam Zampa is the onlywrist spinner in the team and heis not featuring in the team con-

sistently," he said.Chahal feels that when bats-

men put up a good score, it givesthe bowlers more confidence.

"If batsmen put up a goodtotal on the board, then it givesthe bowlers more confidence tobowl well. In the middle overs,we have bowled pretty well, beit the Sri Lanka series or in thisseries," he said.

Chahal is happy that thebowling unit could restrictAustralia to under 300. "In thelast game, they were 234 for 2after 38 overs. From that posi-tion, they were restricted to 293.It was a great exhibition bymedium pacers at the death.Whatever spell the spinners aregetting towards the end overs,we are getting wickets," he said.

On bowling in tandem withKuldeep Yadav, Chahal saidthey complement each otherwell. "I know Kuldeep Yadav fora very long time. We haveplayed with and against eachother a lot. If I bowl first, thenI tell him about kind of assis-tance the track is providing. If hebowls first, he does the same andwhat's the right area to bowl toa certain batsmen," he said.

�� �� 32'!4+=+

The ODI series is out of their grasp, butAustralia vice-captain David Warner

on Wednesday said his side will not giveup on trying to force a turnaroundagainst India and make a statementbefore the upcoming Ashes.

The reigning world champions lostthe opening three ODIs against the hoststo surrender the five-match series.

However, the Steve Smith-led side islooking at the last two ODIs and subse-quent three T20 Internationals to make animpression before the Ashes, startingNovember 23 in Brisbane.

"It is disappointing to lose the seriesalready because we play for our countryand that is what we enjoy doing and lovedoing. There is a lot of pride at stake,"Warner said at the pre-match press con-ference of the fourth ODI here onThursday.

"Obviously we have got three T20s aswell after this. (And) we are looking at it.

We have got to make the most from theremaining ODIs and T20 games and makea turnaround before going into the nextseries or tournament (Ashes)," he added.

Talking about the already lost series,Warner said the visitors found it difficultto cope up with the conditions in India thistime around.

"On a personal front, it is my first ODIseries in India. So coming here for the firsttime to play in ODIs with two new whiteballs would be different. The first twogames were different," he said.

"In Kolkata, the ball was swingingaround. It is probably the toughest con-ditions I have faced from the white ballpoint of view. It swung a lot more thanwhat it did in England.

"You adopt your game according toconditions. The last game was probably agame played in the traditional way. Therethe ball did not swing as much. The wick-et was nice to bat on and I made most ofit by getting in. So, that probably is a thingfor me to reflect," Warner said.

Warner will be playing his 100th ODIon Thursday, a milestone which his skip-per Steve Smith achieved during the sec-ond ODI of the ongoing series in Kolkataearlier this month.

"It is a significant milestone for myfamily and myself. I am extremely proudof where I am today. Coming from play-ing T20 in MCG in front of 90,000 peo-ple and a couple of games later to repre-sent Australia in the ODI format. I neverthought it will come so fast, but I learnta lot in the early stages of my career," hesaid. "To be an established player at themoment is a proud feeling for me. Also,I have got a great bunch of teammatesaround me. Obviously Smithy (Smith)brought up his 100th game recently as well.

"We have come a long way fromwhere we were in juniors. Not beingpicked, dropped etc. There has been a greatfriendship between us and playing the100th ODI together means much for us,"Warner said.

An explosive batsman up the order,

Warner is best-known for his hard-hittingabilities, especially in T20s. But thediminutive opener says playing Test crick-et has allowed him to hone his skills in the50-over format. "I am used to come outand start tonking from ball one like in T20cricket. I sort of adapted that approach, butTest match cricket actually allowed me toplay the game properly and show myselfthat there is lot more time in 50 overscricket than 20 overs cricket," he said.

"Playing Test cricket allowed me toactually nurture my game in 50 overs, takea bit more time and try and bat throughthe middle period in not such aggressivemanner. Just play the game as it is and setthe platform for the rest of the batsmento follow. I really did not think about thatwhen I came into the set up," Warneradded.

Asked about his role in this Australianside, Warner said: "From my point of viewmy role is to make sure that everyone isupbeat and energetic to go out there andplay to best of their abilities."

� ��� 4B2�B2

Ben Stokes must "grow up" or risk damaging hisinternational career, former England captain

Nasser Hussain has warned after the star all-rounderwas arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodilyharm

The Durham player was Wednesday includedin England's 16 -man squad for the Ashes tour ofAustralia despite being dropped for the fourth one-day international against West Indies at The Ovalfollowing his arrest in Bristol early on Monday.

England national selector James Whitaker toldthe BBC that Stokes, who was released withoutcharge but is under investigation, would remain inhis position of vice-captain to Test skipper Joe Root.

But ex-England skippers Hussain and MichaelVaughan say the 26-year-old needs to take respon-sibility for his actions, especially with the high-pro-file Ashes tourlooming.

"Ben Stokes hasthe world at his feetand is well on theway to becoming avery special — not tomention very well-rewarded — crick-eter," Hussain wrotein the Daily Mail."But he cannot keepflirting with the self-destruct buttonwhile getting himselfinto such damagingscrapes.

"It has reachedthe point where itcould damage thecareer of a potentially great England cricketer. Hehas to learn to walk away or not put himself intoan environment where this can happen."

"Ben Stokes has to grow up," he added."The bottom line is, for all the advice and sup-

port he will be receiving right now, it's down to him.He just has far too much going for him to throw itall away."

Stokes has found himself in trouble in the past.He was arrested and cautioned in 2011 for

obstructing police on a night out and sent homefrom an England Lions tour to Australia in 2013 forflouting a ban on late-night drinking.

Vaughan believes Stokes must learn to be street-wise off the field.

"Ben Stokes can't say he was not warned," hewrote in the Daily Telegraph. "People have said tohim, 'There is only one person who can ruin yourcareer and that is you. Nobody else.'

"In time we could be describing him as a crick-eting genius. But he has to understand that if hewants to be a superstar, and go over to India, earnhuge IPL contracts and keep them, he has to be care-ful off the field.

"On the field he is a streetwise cricketer. But heis not streetwise off the pitch and that could be hisdownfall. I am hoping this is his lesson."

� ��� 4B2�B2

Ben Stokes was included inEngland's 16-man squad for

the Ashes tour of Australiaannounced on Wednesdaydespite breaking his hand in theincident that led to his recentarrest on suspicion of causingactual bodily harm.

Durham all-rounder Stokeswas dropped for Wednesday'sfourth one-day internationalagainst West Indies at The Oval— the venue for the Ashessquad announcement — afterbeing arrested early on Mondayin Bristol.

That followed England's winin the third ODI in the south-west city on Sunday.

Stokes, 26, remains underinvestigation after being releasedwithout charge.

For the time being, he hasretained his position of vice-cap-tain to Test skipper Joe Root butEngland and Wales CricketBoard (ECB) cricket directorAndrew Strauss told an Ovalnews conference.

"Ben did have an X-ray yes-terday (Tuesday)," said Strauss.

"Early results are that he hasgot a minor fracture on his

right hand," the former Englandcaptain added.

"There are obviously moretests that need to be done, butthe early indications are that heshould be fit to play a full partin all the Ashes Test matches."

The injury to Stokes' righthand is believed to have beensustained during a confrontationthat left a man in hospital.

A police investigation isunlikely to be concluded beforeEngland leave for Australia onOctober 28, meaning the inci-dent could hang over Stokes forthe whole tour.

Moreover, Stokes is just oneon-field offence away fromincurring a potential two-Testban under the InternationalCricket Council's code of con-duct.

England ODI regular AlexHales — an Ashes long-shotwho did not make the Testsquad — was also left out ofWednesday's match after beingwith Stokes on Sunday night.

The pair could be amongseveral England players whoface ECB action, with Strausssaying: "What I am doing isspeaking to the players individ-ually to get their accounts of

what went on."They may be subject to

disciplinary proceedings includ-ing Ben," explained Strauss, thelast England captain to win theAshes in Australia in 2010/11.

England's squad contained

three uncapped players in 23-year-old Somerset fast bowlerCraig Overton, 20-year-oldHampshire leg-spinner MasonCrane, who will provide supportto Moeen Ali, and Surrey wick-et-keeper Ben Foakes, 24,

included as cover for JonnyBairstow.

Meanwhile there wererecalls for middle-order batsmenJames Vince and Gary Ballancedespite the pair's struggles dur-ing their previous Test stints.

Vince was dropped at theend of the 2016 English seasonfollowing a poor run of sevenTests that saw him post a topscore of 42 in 11 innings againstSri Lanka and Pakistan.

This season Vince is aver-aging a modest 34.82 in first-class cricket for Hampshire butEngland believe his game will besuited to Australian pitches.

Ballance only managed 85runs in two Tests against SouthAfrica at an average of 21.25before he suffered a fracturedfinger.

Overton got his chanceahead of the likes of Mark Woodand Steven Finn after taking 43Championship wickets this sea-son.

Essex batsman Tom Westley,who failed to convince at num-ber three this season, wasdropped.

This has been Root's firstseason as Test captain, with theYorkshire batsman overseeing

home series wins against SouthAfrica (3-1) and West Indies (2-1).

But England national selec-tor James Whitaker said: "Atour of Australia is the ultimatetest for our squad."

In addition to Englandcoach Trevor Bayliss's regularstaff, there will be some newfaces in the Australian's back-room set-up, with former NewZealand paceman Shane Bondappointed as a fast-bowling con-sultant.

Bond will fill the gap left byformer bowling chief OttisGibson's departure to becomethe new head coach of SouthAfrica up until the end of thesecond Test.

Former England one-daycaptain Paul Collingwood,Stokes's captain at Durham, willalso take a coaching role duringthe Test series.

England hold the Ashes aftera 3-2 win on home soil in 2015.But their last tour of Australiasaw them suffer a 5-0 Ashesdefeat in 2013/14.

The first match in theupcoming five-Test Ashes seriesis set to start in Brisbane onNovember 23.

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