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Now, long wait for the mostsought-after tax reform

since the Independence wasover as the Goods and ServicesTax (GST) Council finalisedtax slabs for all services onFriday. The services have beenfitted in four separate slabs of5, 12, 18 and luxury rate of 28per cent. However, the educa-tion and health sectors werecompletely exempt under thenew tax regime.

The GST council will meetagain on June 3 in New Delhi tofinalise residual issues beforerolling out the uniform tax reg-ime across the country on July 1.The Council has already finalisedthe tax rates for 1,211 items.

Concluding the two-dayGST council meeting, UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitleysaid that the Council finalisedthe tax rates for all services,including insurance, hotelsand restaurants as well, underdifferent tax categories.Around 150 dignitaries,including Finance Ministersand Finance Secretaries of 29States and three UTs, attendedthe meeting to finalise the rollout of the GST.

Addressing a Press confer-ence, Jaitley said the 5 per cent

slab will mostly cater to trans-port services, including econ-omy class air travel. “This ratewill apply to cab aggregatorslike Ola and Uber as well asthose who currently pay 6 percent tax,” he added.

While non-AC train trav-el will continue to be grandfa-thered, the 5 per cent taxwould be levied on AC traveltickets. “Travelling on metro,local train and religious travel,including Haj yatra will con-tinue to be exempt from GST,”he said, adding “Economy classair travel will attract 5 per centGST while business class will becharged 12 per cent.”

Jaitley also said telecomand financial services will betaxed at a standard rate of 18per cent.

Service tax on telecom likephone bill payment totals to 15per cent at present.

However, RevenueSecretary Hashmukh Adhiainsisted that the tax incidenceon telecom services will beunchanged at 15 per cent afterthe input credit is taken onequipment.

Jaitley said the luxury cat-egory of 28 per cent, includefive star hotels, gambling, raceclubs, betting and cinemas. Hesaid the entertainment tax has

been merged with service taxand a composite 28 per centlevy charged on cinema ser-vices as well as gambling andbetting at race course.

Jaitley said that non-ACrestaurants would be taxed 12per cent GST on food bill. “Taxrate for AC restaurants andthose with liquor licence will be18 per cent. Restaurants with�50 lakh or below turnover willgo under the 5 per cent com-position,” he added.

Also, hotels and lodgeswith room rate below �1,000 aday will be exempt from GST,while those with room rate ofbetween Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,500

will be taxed at 12 per cent andfive-star and luxury hotels willbe taxed at 28 per cent.

Continued on Page 4

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Intensifying his Government’sambitious ‘Look Northeast’

Policy, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has now madeone-night stays mandatory forUnion Ministers, who visit theNortheastern States, a moveaimed at sending out a messagethat the insurgency-hit regionis safe for all.

Union Tourism and CultureMinister Mahesh Sharma, whovisited Guwahati in the firstweek of April to be part of theNamami Brahmaputra Festival,said he will visit to Manipur onSaturday to attend the ShiruiFestival, which began on May 16.

Union Minister of State forHome Affairs Kiren Rijiju wasalso present during theNamami Brahmaputra Festival,which is the biggest river fes-tival in Guwahati.

Union Minister of State(Independent Charge) forDevelopment of North Eastern

Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singhalso visited the region in the sec-ond week of this month to par-ticipate in a tourism event.

The directive comes twoyears after the Prime Minister’sOffice (PMO) planned fort-nightly visits of UnionMinisters to the region.

Sharma said linkingtourism and development in

the Northeast and making it atourist destination for peoplefrom all over the world is the“Prime Minister’s dream”.

“To ensure that, he hasasked all the Union Ministersto not only take trips to theNortheast States, but also tostay the night there,” he said.

Sources in the TourismMinistry say the Government

is keen to change the popularperception about the Northeastas a “security nightmare”plagued with insurgency. “Andwhat better way to showcase itssafety than to have seniorUnion Ministers stay thereovernight,” a source said.

The BJP’s MODI (Makingof Developed India) Festival,scheduled to begin on May 26to mark the third anniversary ofits Government, is likely to bekickstarted from the Northeastby the Prime Minister.

Continued on Page 4

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Former Coal Secretary HCGupta along with two serv-

ing bureaucrats was convictedby a special CBI court in NewDelhi on Friday.

HC Gupta, who was theCoal Secretary from December31, 2005 to November 2008 dur-ing the United ProgressiveAlliance (UPA) Governmentled by then Prime Minister DrManmohan Singh, then JointSecretary KS Kropha and thenDirector KC Samaria in theMinistry of Coal, were heldguilty in a case relating to irreg-ularities in the allocation ofThesgora-B Rudrapuri coalblock in Madhya Pradesh toKamal Sponge Steel and PowerLtd (KSSPL). Gupta was accusedin 11 cases while Kropha andSamaria were allegedly involvedin eight and six cases of coalscam respectively.

A total of 28 cases hadarisen from the coal blockallocation scam, the investiga-tion of which was monitored bythe Supreme Court. At first, theCBI was probing the allocationfrom 2004 to 2010 and later itsambit was expanded to coverthem since 1993.

Till now, three cases havebeen decided with the first con-

viction order passed on March28, 2016 in a case pertaining toirregularities in allotment of acoal block in Jharkhand to afirm Jharkhand Ispat Pvt Ltd(JIPL) whose two directors RSRungta and RC Rungta wereawarded a four-year jail term.

The second conviction fol-lowed four months later on July26 in which Rathi Steel andPower Ltd (RSPL) and three ofits officials -- managing direc-tor Pradeep Rathi, chief exec-utive officer Udit Rathi

Continued on Page 4

New Delhi: The EnforcementDirectorate on Friday (ED)registered a money launderingcase against KartiChidambaram, son of formerFinance Minister PChidambaram, two days afterthe CBI’s raided his premises inconnection with a graft caserelating to FIPB clearancegranted to INX media in 2007when Chidambaram wasFinance Minister. See P5

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Open defecation and dump-ing of waste on the Yamuna

floodplains will now attract afine of �5,000 for each incident,the National Green Tribunal(NGT) ruled on Friday.

“We issue prohibitory ordersin furtherance to the judgmentdated January 13, 2015 that nowaste of any kind and open defe-cation will be permitted aroundthe water bodies and the flood-plains of river Yamuna.

“Authorities, including thepolice, shall take stringentaction against defaulting per-sons and every defaulter wouldbe liable to pay an environmentcompensation of �5,000 perincident,” a bench headed byNGT Chairperson JusticeSwatanter Kumar said.

The NGT, which passed aslew of directions, constituted acommittee headed by the DelhiJal Board (DJB) CEO to oversee

the execution of work pertain-ing to the cleaning of Yamunaand construction of sewagetreatment plant to treat liquidwaste flowing into the river.

Manoj Misra, on whosepetition NGT has passed sev-eral directions, welcomed theorder saying, “we are happy

that NGT is continuously mon-itoring the Yamuna issue. Theorder issued by the benchshows its seriousness. But theimplementing agencies haveto show their will in executionof the directions”.

The panel, which alsocomprises chief engineer from

Delhi Development Authority(DDA) and a representativefrom National Mission forClean Ganga, has been asked tosubmit reports on regular inter-vals to the tribunal.

The tribunal took note ofthe industries running in resi-dential areas in different parts of

the city and directed the Delhigovernment and the municipalcorporations to take immediateaction against such units.

In a detailed order, thegreen panel said almost 67 percent of the pollution reachingthe Yamuna would be treatedby the two sewage treatment

plants (STPs) located at DelhiGate and Najafgarh underPhase 1 of the ‘Maili se NirmalYamuna Revitalisation Project2017’.

With regard to the Phase-II of the project which dealswith drains which bring 33 percent remnant pollution in theriver, the NGT directed DJB tosubmit a complete projectreport within four weeks beforethe principal committee,formed under the judgement ofthe tribunal.

“The principal committeewhich in turn would submit thereport in four weeks thereafterand the matter will be listed forhearing on July 24,” the benchsaid.

Delhi Jal Board informedthe tribunal that a total of 14STPs and three sewage linesrehabilitation stands have beenapproved under the Yamunarejuvenation scheme whichwould be completed by 2019.

Continued on Page 4

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ANational InvestigationAgency (NIA) team on

Friday reached Srinagar toquestion Kashmiri Hurriyatleaders, including Syed AliShah Geelani, for allegedmoney laundering and receiv-ing funds from Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) chief HafizMuhammad Saeed to createchaos in the Valley. The NIAnamed the two separatist lead-ers in its Preliminary Enquiry(PE), which precedes the filingof a regular case. It also namedNaeem Khan, seen in a stingoperation carried out by a TVchannel purportedly confess-ing to receiving money fromPakistan-based terror groups.

The others named in thePE were Farooq Ahmed Daralias ‘Bitta Karate’ and GaziJaved Baba of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat. The NIA team will bereviewing evidence collected inconnection with the burning ofschools last year after the ter-ror group Hizbul Mujahideen’sposter boy, Burhan Wani, waskilled in an encounter withsecurity forces on July 8.

In its PE, the NIA allegedthat the separatists were receiv-ing funds from the LeT chief tocarry out subversive activitiesin Kashmir Valley, includingpelting security forces withstones, damaging public prop-erty and burning schools andother Government establish-ments. The anti-terror agencyhas also taken cognizance of anews item related to a record-ing of conversations between aTV reporter and leaders of sep-aratist groups operating in the

Kashmir Valley in this regard,said the NIA spokesperson.

Meanwhile, in the morning,separatist leader Yasin Malikassaulted an India Today TVjournalist Kamaljit Sandhu andcameraman Vinod Kumar. Thejournalist alleged Malik pushedthe channel’s cameraman downa flight of stairs. She said he alsosmashed their mobile phones.Malik said he registered a policecomplaint against the newsteam for barging into his bed-room in his house in Maisumato ask questions.

Malik, who denied that hehad assaulted Sandhu, said thereporter did not seek permissionto enter his bedroom. The chair-man of the Jammu & KashmirLiberation Front (JKLF) said hehad taken away her mobilephone because he thought shewas using it as a recorder.

“She lied to my sister that shehad an appointment with me.The fact is, she never called foran appointment,” he told repo-rters at a Press conference here.

Continued on Page 4

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Jaitley, who undertook a visit to a Rampur sector of the Lineof Control (LoC) in Kashmir, said the Indian Army is fully pre-pared to foil any form of infiltration bid.

He also asserted that there will be no differentiation betweenlocal and foreign terrorists and anybody indulging in violencewill be dealt with accordingly.

Detailed story on P7

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Four people were killed andtwo others injured in

shooting allegedly by accom-plices of a sand contractor andretaliatory attack by a mob inJatpura vil lage underBishunpura police station ofGarhwa district on Fridaymorning.

The shooting ensued aftervillagers protested against thecontractor lifting sand from theghat, killing three persons — aman and his two sons. A mobof villagers, thereafter, alsolynched one munshi (employ-ee) of the contractor andinjured two others in retalia-tion, Garhwa SP Alok said.

Irate villagers set ablaze 12trucks, two JCB machines,one Bolero jeep and two bikesat Pipari Jatpura Balu Ghat.

The incident occurredwhen the villagers preventedthe contractor from liftingsand from near 'Samshan'Ghat at the in the village,police said.

Henchmen of the con-tractor, Dhramveer Singh,who lives in Chhattisgarh,opened fire killing Uday Yadav(55) and his two sons -Niranjan (35) and Vimlesh(30), all residents of Pipari vil-lage under Bishunpura policestation. A relative of the vic-tims, Arun Yadav, was seri-

ously injured in the incident,police said.

Following the incident,the villagers assembled at thespot in large numbers andwent to one Nanak Yadav'shouse, and dragged out one ofthe 'Munshis' of the accusedcontractor, Styendra Singh,who was a tenant in Nanak'shouse, beating him to death.Villagers also beat up anoth-er staff Surendra Pal who isbeing treated at Governmenthospital.

The SP said that policehave taken Surendra Pal into

custody for interrogation.Police had to face resis-

tance of villagers when theywanted to recover the bodies.They were demanding �5 lakhcompensation and jobs to thefamilies of each of thedeceased. They also demand-ed immediate arrest ofaccused Sanjit Singh.

Thereafter, theSuperintendent of Police alongwith adequate forces reachedthe spot to maintain law andorder and recovered the bod-ies and sent them for autopsyat Garhwa hospital.

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The Supreme Court Registryhas refused to accept the

application filed by CalcuttaHigh Court judge Justice CSKarnan for recalling the orderby which he was sentenced tosix months imprisonment forcommitting contempt ofSupreme Court.

The order passed on May 9by a seven-judge bench head-ed by Chief Justice JS Khehardirected the Director General ofPolice, Kolkata to arrest thejudge and execute the punish-ment on the judge. AlthoughJustice Karnan is yet to bearrested, he filed a recall appli-cation along with a writ petitionthrough his lawyer Mathews JNedumpara challenging theContempt of Courts Act andthe order pronouncing himguilty under the said Act. OnMay 12, both the applicationand petition were rejected bythe Registry which said that his

relief was elsewhere and notbefore the Supreme Court.

The SC Registrar in a shortorder said, "…after due con-sideration, it was held thatJustice CS Karnan had com-mitted contempt of the gravestnature resulting in finding ofguilt. As a sequel the petition-er also stands convicted andsentenced to an imprisonmentof six months. The said find-ings have since attained final-ity." The Registry further stat-ed that a petition is not main-

tainable against a judicial pro-ceeding and "relief if any liessome where else."

Justice Karnan had soughtrecall of the May 9 order on theground that his allegations ofcorruption against 20 HighCourt judges would at themost amount to defamation.Further, he complained of notbeing heard or presented withthe charges of contempt, beforebeing punished for contempt.

Earlier, Nedumpara hadmentioned the applicationbefore CJI when the hearing ontriple talaq was on. The CJI hadthen advised the lawyer toapproach the Registry. The nextmove by Justice Karnan will bekeenly awaited. He has claimedto have sent a representation tothe President of India forreprieve. IN addition, his lawyershave advised him to approachthe Delhi High Court with a writpetition as powers under Article226 are wider than the writ juris-diction of the Supreme Courtunder Article 32.

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The issue of mandatory link-age of Aadhaar with a host

of Government schemes andbenefits — the last date forwhich is June 30 — will facejudicial scrutiny on June 27, theSupreme Court on Friday said.

A slew of notificationsissued by Centre had requiredcitizens to link their Aadhaarwith all major schemes, bene-fits and policies under CentralGovernment without whichthey would be disentitled toreceive benefits after July 1.

A petition filed by childrights expert Shanta Sinha andgender rights activist KalyanMenon Sen that questionedthese notifications was takenup for hearing by a VacationBench of Justices AMKhanwilkar and Navin Sinha.

The Bench deferred thehearing to June 27 after itcame to know that other appli-cations seeking similar reliefagainst similar decisions of theGovernment in the past werepending in Court. The Benchdirected the Supreme CourtRegistry to list all the applica-

tions on June 27 to avoid "mul-tiplicity" of decisions on thesame issue.

Attorney General MukulRohatgi, however, objected

to hearing of the case as in hisopinion any order to stay thenotifications had to go beforea Constitution Bench sincethe challenge to the Aadhaar

Act 2016 and the Aadhaarprogramme in general ispending consideration beforea five-judge ConstitutionBench. Even in the past, hepointed out, when the Centresought a modification toextend linkage of Aadhaarwith a slew of schemes, aConstitution Bench heard theapplication and passed orderson October 15, 2015.

Senior advocate ShyamDivan, who appeared for thepetitioner said the Governmentwas shying away from theproblem as the matter neededurgent hearing due to the dead-line of June 30 fast approach-ing. The notifications, headded, were a blatant violationof Court's repeated orders notto make Aadhaar mandatoryfor any service, benefits orservice under the CentralGovernment.

Although the benchremarked, "You (Centre) arebreaching the earlier orderspassed by three-judge and five-judge bench," A-G defendedthe notifications claiming it wasissued after the Act came inwhile the undertaking given toCourt were prior to the Act.

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Amid Opposition's allega-tions that Electronic Voting

Machines (EVMs) are vulner-able to hacking, the ElectionCommission will demonstratethe use of EVMs and voter ver-ified paper audit trail (VVPAT)machines on Saturday, whenthe date of the electoral watch-dog's open challenge to tech-nocrats and political parties isalso likely to be decided.

It is expected that ECcould by May end or firstweek of June throw the chal-lenge to political parties totamper its EVMs. In a relat-ed development, the EC hastold the Parl iamentar yStanding Committee on‘Electoral Reforms’ that itsEVMs are secured and it can-not be tampered.

"Prof Rajat Moona of C-DAC led a team of technicalexperts who gave a final touchto the modalities of hackathon.The Commission will briefrepresentatives of political par-ties about what procedureswould be adopted for thehackathon," said the sources.

As per the modalitiesfinalised by the EC, sourcessaid the leaders of theOpposition parties would beinvited separately to random-ly select any EVM used in anybooth in the Assembly polls.They could also send theirrepresentatives to see the livedemonstration of the func-tioning of the votingmachines.

Then, the leader, alongwith, the representatives of thepoll panel will be sent to theparticular State to get the EVMof their choice. It will be for theparticular leader to decidewhether he would like to trav-el by his own vehicle or in theone provided by the poll panel.

Once EVM is selected, itwill be sealed and broughtback to Delhi in the vehicle inwhich the opposition leaderwill be traveling. Then, in thepresence of one and all, the dataof the machine will be deleted.Once the polling data is delet-ed, polling will be conductedin presence of those who hadraised fingers over the func-tioning of the EVMs.

According to sources, thatthe Commission has taken intoaccount that the VVPAT slipsof electronic voting machines,up to a definite percentagewhich will be determined bythe Commission, will also besubjected to counting and theECI will evolve an appropriateframework in this regard.

At the all-party meetrecently, most parties saidEVMs could be used for futureelections if they came with apaper trail machine, whichwould enable the electorate tocheck if their vote had beenregistered against the person oftheir choice.

Some parties, however, saidthe EVMs could not be trust-ed and the EC should revert tothe old ballot paper system,where people inked their choic-es on a sheet of paper.

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The EnforcementDirectorate on Friday (ED)

has registered a money laun-dering case against KartiChidambaram, son of formerFinance Minister PChidambaram, two days afterthe CBI's raided his premises inconnection with a graft caserelating to FIPB clearancegranted to INX media in 2007when Chidambaram wasFinance Minister.

The agency is expected toattach the properties of theaccused under Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA)

Chidambaram has reject-ed the reports that his son Kartihad “escaped” to London onThursday after the CBI raid.According to the formerFinance Minister, son has goneto London as part of pre-planned assignments.

The ED officials said thecentral probe agency regis-tered an Enforcement CaseInformation Report (ECIR),ED's equivalent of a policeFIR, against the accused namedin the CBI complaint includingKarti, INX media and its direc-tors, Peter and IndraniMukerjea, and others. Theysaid the ED will probe thealleged “proceeds of crime”generated in this case and mayalso attach assets of the variousaccused.

The ED had providedinformation about the allegedillegal payments made by INXmedia, based on which the CBIhad filed its FIR. The CBI, onTuesday, had carried outsearches at the homes andoffices of Karti across fourcities for allegedly receivingmoney from the media firmowned by the Mukerjeas toscuttle a tax probe.

As per the CBI FIR, INXMedia had got approval fromthe FIPB for inviting foreigninvestment for �4.6 crore in

2007. But Income Tax in 2008found that the TV channelcompany brought in as muchas �305 crore through theFIPV route. After getting theIT notice, Peter and Indraniallegedly approached Karti andpaid him around �5 crore to geta post-facto approval fromFIPB illegally.

The CBI FIR was filed outagainst Karti, his companyChess Management Services,and Advantage StrategicConsulting, the Mukerjeas(currently in jail on charges ofmurder their daughter SheenaBora), INX Media, AdvantageStrategic Consulting Servicesand its director PadmaVishwanathan.

�� /17�819&

The Indian Government hassaid the discussions on the

units five and six of theKudankulam nuclear plant areat the stage of internal approvaland that the project is verymuch on track.

The External AffairsMinistry spokesperson onFriday rejected media reportsthat India might link the sign-ing of the on hold the signingof the General FrameworkAgreement (GFA) of thesenuclear power plants withIndia's membership in NuclearSuppliers Group.

"The report is completelybaseless, incorrect and mis-chievous. Discussions havebeen held on Kudankulamdocument. The process is at thestage of internal approval,"

Baglay said on Friday.According to sources the

GFA for Units 5 and 6 of theplant in Tamil Nadu hasalready been cleared by aninter-ministerial group and isawaiting a nod from the Prime

Minister's Office, governmentsources had said. The issue ofKudankulam reactors wasrecently discussed during theIndia Russia InterGovernmental Commissionmeeting.

According to an October2015 joint statement after ameeting between Modi andPutin, the two sides "reaf-firmed" their intention to con-clude the GFA and the CreditProtocol for KudankulamNuclear Power Plant (KKNPP)units 5 and 6 by the end of2016. However, due to differ-ences over credit protocolamong other reasons, the pactis still pending, sources said.Russia will be constructingtotal 16 reactors for India.

In August 2016, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andRussian President VladimirPutin jointly dedicated the Unit2 of the plant to "India-RussiaFriendship and Cooperation"and witnessed the laying of thefoundation concrete for theKudankulam Units 3 and 4through video-link.

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In view of the October 2018 deadline setfor cleaning Ganga, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi has reviewed the execu-tion of the ambitious ‘Namami Gange’ pro-ject and is understood to have instructedofficials to execute it in Government-pub-lic model rather than only as aGovernment programme.

This was the first meeting, held onThursday, after the BJP came to power inUttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the river'stwo key basin states whose previousGovernments were accused by the Centreof not cooperating fully.

Modi is learnt to have instructed theofficials to ensure involvement of the peo-ple so that it doesn't remain only aGovernment programme and also prop-er dissemination of information related tothe project.

Modi's instructions came amid reportsthat the implementation of the pro-gramme was lagging behind schedule.

The sewage treatment capacity intowns along the Ganga is being enhancedsubstantially and considerable focus is

being placed on large cities like Haridwar,Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna,Bhagalpur, Howrah and Kolkata, officialsinformed the Prime Minister. Modi wasalso informed that intensive monitoringand inspection of the grossly-pollutingindustries has been taken up, which has ledto "considerable improvement" in thewater quality of some of the tributaries ofthe river.

Senior officials from various govern-ment departments made presentations onthe programme and apprised the prime

minister of action taken and the progressmade on it, it said.

According to a PMO statement, "Theofficials said that this has led to consider-able improvement in the water quality ofsome of the tributaries of the river Ganga."

Parameters such as "dissolved oxygen"and "biochemical oxygen demand" havebeen studied as part of this assessment. ThePM was also apprised of the considerableprogress made in rural sanitation in vil-lages along the banks of the river Ganga,the statement said.

�� /17�819&

Taking cue from dual pric-ing of electricity supply in

some States, the NationalFederation of CooperativeSugar Factories Ltd (NFCSFL),an apex body that represents262 cooperative sugar mills, hassuggested dual pricing of sugarfor industrial users and retailconsumers in line with elec-tricity and kerosene saying thiswill be a win-win for majorstakeholders — farmers, millersand consumers. The NFCSFLhas suggested that sugar rate tobe kept at �50-60 per kg forindustrial consumer and �30per kg for retailers. Presently,sugar rate in retail market is�45-47 per kg.

This novel and "out-of-thebox strategy" is need of thehour because "there is a newanti-sugar wave across theworld which blames sugar to bethe main cause of obesity, dia-betes and heart-related ail-ments," NFCSF ManagingDirector Prakash P Naiknavare

said in a statement. "Thus, in the light of tough

days ahead for sugar sales, it isperhaps the right time for allthe major stakeholders ofIndia's sugar sector to cometogether to push for dual pric-ing policy for domestic sugar,"he said.

Besides, many developedcountries have already imposed'sugar tax' to artificially jack upsugar prices to discourage itsconsumption, he said. About 70per cent of the total sugar isconsumed by industries whichare involved in manufacturingvarious products like beveragesand biscuits, while merely 30

per cent is used by retail con-sumers.

"The dual pricing hasalready been implemented suc-cessfully in electricity supplyfor industrial and householdconsumers with separate rates.Even kerosene supplied underthe Public Distribution Systemhas dual rate for many years,"it said. Naiknavare further saidthat the industrial bulk con-sumers have not reduced pricesof their products when sugarrates remained lower for last 2-3 three years and thus "earnedhundred per cent profit. ...Thisprofiteering sailed throughsmoothly because nobody

questioned this.""The Federation will take

up these issues with the gov-ernment at an appropriatelevel," he noted. "The out ofbox" strategy is required tocheck the anti- sugar cam-paign. The dual pricing willensure cane farmers get aremunerative price, sugar millswill have a bankable robust bal-ance sheet and the commonhousehold consumer will getthe sweetener at a reducedrate, he added.

Country's per capital con-sumption is about 28-30 kg,while the monthly sugarrequirement of an average fam-ily of four members is only 10kgs. sugar production in 2016-17 is likely to fall to 22 milliontonnes, down 4.3 percent froman earlier estimate, as mills inits key producing state areclosing early due to a caneshortage. Maharashtra had pro-duced 8.41 million tonnes ofsugar in the 2015-16 season,while country's total output was25.1 million tonnes.

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The Raipur Smart City Ltd(RSCL) will be setting up

an ‘Integrated Command andControl Centre' as part of the‘Smart City’ Mission project ofthe Union Ministry of UrbanDevelopment, officialsinformed.

Notably, Smart cityMission was launched by theCentral Government on June25, 2015. Subsequently, Raipurwas selected among 100 citiesto be developed as Smart Cityin India due to various achieve-ments, initiatives and all-inclu-sive approach, they informed.

Accordingly Raipur cityhad submitted “Smart CityProposal” (SCP) to UnionMinistry of UrbanDevelopment with requiredconsent of Government ofChhattisgarh and statutoryauthority of Raipur MunicipalCorporation (RMC).

The city of Raipur hasbeen selected to be developedinto a smart city under the fasttrack mode of first phase of theSmart Cities Mission.

The Smart City Proposalof Raipur includes the smartcitysolutions which involve theuse of technology, informationand data to improve infra-structure and services within

the city of Raipur .On the other hand, the

Naya Raipur DevelopmentAuthority (NRDA) is also con-structing a state-of-art‘Command and Control CenterBuilding’ at Phase-1, NorthBlock at Sector 19 of the newcapital city, officials informed.

It may be recalled that a‘Master System Integrator’ will

manage the extraordinarilyhigh-technology oriented ‘NayaRaipur Smart City System’ .

The Naya Raipur SmartCity System will compriseSmart Governance, CitySurveillance, IntelligentTransport managementSystem, Electricity and Watersupply and City Commandand Control Centre among

others.Notably, the Naya Raipur

as a Smart City will leverage thecollective intelligence createdby connecting physical, insti-tutional, social and economicinfrastructure to deliver aquantum improvement in thequality of life of local popula-tion, they informed.

Notably, the new capital

city of Chhattisgarh is a ‘greenfield’ city and is planned todevelop its infrastructure grad-ually in order to provide worldclass amenities and facilities toits residents and visitors.

NRDA has taken the nextstep in “Smart City’ develop-ment with plans now for‘Information &Communication Technology”(ICT) enablement of infra-structure and citizen services,officials informed

Notably, Naya Raipur isalready among five other citiesin the country chosen as‘Demonstration Cities’ for theCentre’s ambitious SustainableUrban Transport Project(SUTP).

The final five cities par-ticipating as 'DemonstrationCities' under Sustainable UrbanTransport Project (SUTP) are- Indore (Madhya Pradesh),Mysore (Karnataka), NayaRaipur (Chhattisgarh), Puneand Pimpri Chinchwad

(Maharashtra).Detailed project profiles

were prepared by all cities withthe assistance of the SUTPConsultants and then endorsedby the SUTP SteeringCommittee to be included toSUTP as ‘City DemonstrationProjects’, officials stated.

It plans of developing aproject comprising IT-enabledsystems to manage a host ofutilities using state-of-art tech-nology. The design would com-prise IT enabled land manage-ment system, city surveillancebesides a host of other systemstill now popular and beingused only in the developedcountries.

The other city manage-ment systems include intelli-gent lighting systems, pay anduse parking systems, city guidemap available through webbrowser, intelligent transportsystem, city level wi-fi touchscreens across the city, displayboards across the city for pro-

viding real-time information,emergency alert and crisisresponse systems, traffic re-routing applications based onreal time traffic data.

It may be recalled thatNaya Raipur has emerged inthe country with the largestland bank of a mammoth 237square kilometres ( 23,700hectares).

The NRDA has plans ofdeveloping a ‘Transport Hub’spread over an area of 161.9hectares in the new capitalcity. The hub would includesetting up Light Rail TransportSystem (LRTS) stations. Thearea being earmarked for the'Transport Hub' would be 12.55per cent of the total area of thenew capital city, officials stat-ed. On the other hand, notably, the Chhattisgarh governmentwill also be utilizing‘Centralized ProjectManagement Software System’(CPMS) for automation ofProject Monitoring,Controlling and Reporting taskfor key projects undertaken inthe entire State.

The Government is invest-ing significantly in the State tobuild physical Infrastructure -Highways, Bridges, Water &Electrical distribution systemetc. In order to closely moni-tor and control these major

Infrastructure Projects frominception to closure,Government of Chhattisgarhwants to implementCentralized ProjectManagement System.

Chhattisgarh Infotech andbiotech Promotion Society(CHiPS), is the nodal agency ofDepartment of InformationTechnology and Biotechnology,Government of Chhattisgarh inthe state of Chhattisgarh toimplement the software basedmonitoring project.

The Centralised projectmanagement software systemwould be used for monitoringwork of major departmentsand agencies such asChhattisgarh RoadDevelopment Corporation(CGRDC), Chhattisgarh StatePower DevelopmentCorporation Ltd (CSPDCL),Naya Raipur DevelopmentAuthority (NRDA), PublicWorks Department (PWD)and Water ResourcesDepartment (WRD). Thisapart, a Centralized ProjectManagement Unit (CPMU) –Team of consultants wouldwork as an interface betweenSecretariat and GovernmentImplementing Departmentsand system integrators toensure proper monitoring ofthe project works.

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The 'Chhattisgarh State RoadDevelopment Project'

funded by the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB) isdesigned to rehabilitate Stateroads which have been identi-fied from important State roadcorridors which include Stateroads linking to the nationalhighway corridors, officialsinformed.

The Project is closelyaligned with the developmentobjectives of ADB,Government of India andChhattisgarh that promoteequitable growth through sus-tainable agriculture and ruraldevelopment, they informed.

Notably, PWD MinisterRajesh Munat in January thisyear had stated that 856 kms ofroad construction work fund-ed by Asian Development Bank(ADB) is currently underwayin Chhattisgarh.

The Government has alsodeveloped 936 kms of roadsworth Rs 700 crore with theamount provided by ADBbetween the year 2008 to 2011,he said.

Munat was speaking at theinaugural function of the five-day training programme con-ducted under the aegis of AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB) inRaipur.

During the programme,the Minister said that selectingChhattisgarh for ADB trainingsession is a matter of pride andhonour for the State.

Munat had stated thatChhattisgarh is leaping towardsnew direction and making his-tory for overall infrastructural

development of the State whichincludes constructing nationalhighways and execution of sev-eral development projects whilekeeping attention towardssocial security and environ-mental conservation.

As Chhattisgarh region iscovered with 44 percent offorest areas, it is our top prior-ity to implement every projectbalanced with environmentalconservation,

Munat said, adding thatState government has alsomade arrangements for plan-tation after cutting of trees dur-ing execution of infrastruc-tural development projects.Also, the Government has beenproviding livelihood and shel-ter to the project affected, hesaid.

The expansion and widen-ing of 15 road projects is beingcarried on at a brisk pace withthe financial assistance of AsianDevelopment Bank(ADB).This was revealed byPublic Works Minister RajeshMunat even in April lastyear.He had called upon thedepartment officers to com-plete the roads being laid withthe financial aid of ADB in atime-bound manner and main-

tain high-quality standards.The financial outlay is

about Rs 1887.82 crore for the916.40 km of 15 roads / routes.The Chhattisgarh Road SectorProject sponsored by ADB willbe completed by March 2017,he said.

Munat had urged the con-cerned officers to post all therelevant details on status ofroad projects online. The pro-ject details should be trans-parent and mentioned at thesite: when was project sanc-tioned, completion date, costdetails, contractors names, howmany engineers are on dutyand other details.

The roads being laid are:Raipur-Balodabazar route,Nandghat-Balodabazar route,Simga-Tilda-Aarang-Kurudroute, Raipur-Urla-Pataridih-Kodwa route, Rajnandgaon-Kachche route, Chilfi-Rengakhar-Salhewara route,Chandkhuri-Sambalpur-Nawagarh route, Dhamda-Rohra- Jorhatra i -At ar ia-Khairagarh route, Khairagarh-Dongargarh-Tumdib o dhroute,Balod-Dhamtari , Anda-Funda route, Bodla-Tarengaon-Daldali route, Shivrinarayan-Birra-Champa route, Ratanpur-Kota-Lormi-Pandaria-Mungeliroute.

While taking it as a chal-lenge, the Chhattisgarh gov-ernment has completed con-struction of 1052 kms of roadsin insurgency infested pocketsof the State with co-operationof the Central government,State PWD Minister RajeshMunat said.

Chhattisgarh governmenthas set 2018 deadline to com-plete construction of an addi-tional 3,000 kms of road net-work with an investment ofUSD 2.34 billion.

This is based on the basisof an Annuity/BOT/Loan fromthe Asian Development Bank(ADB), official sources

informed.ADB had also been help-

ing Chhattisgarh governmentupgrade about 916 kilometersof roads in the State.

The works include devel-opment of new road sections,two-laning work, construct-ing and strengthening culvertsand bridges, officials stated.

Notably, new stretches ofrural roads are rapidly comingup in Chhattisgarh with mas-sive funding support fromADB. The ADB has providedlending support toChhattisgarh for projectsundertaken under PrimeMinister’s Gram Sadak Yojana

(PMGSY).The international funding

agency had been helping toeither construct or upgrade31,000 kms of rural roads in thestates of Chhattisgarh, MadhyaPradsh, Odisha, West Bengaland Assam nationally, officialsadded.

Notably, the Chhattisgarhgovernment has already start-ed taking steps to even settlethe forest land disputes underthe Forest Protection Act 1980as early as possible for acceler-ating the process of laying ofroads under the PradhanMantri Gram Sadak Yojana(PMGSY) (Prime Minister'sRural Roads Project).

A time-bound action planhas been chalked out for vari-ous departments to settle theissues relating to forest landexpeditiously.

Chief Secretary VivekDhand in a circular issued lastyear had directed that all theroad works should be com-pleted in a time-bound man-ner.

The Chief Secretary saidthat the land area should beinspected by the ForestDepartment officer on the nextday itself. The District Collectorshould be informed if there isany delay. The concernedCollector should settle the issuein within 10 days.

The time-frame has beenfixed as per the hectares of for-est land.

The officers of Panchayatand Rural DevelopmentDepartment in a State-levelStanding Committee ofPanchayat and RuralDevelopment Department

chaired by the Chief Secretaryin December last year hadtaken stock of the status ofroads and structures being con-structed under PMGSY.

It was informed in themeeting that 5124 permanentroads have been constructed inPhase 1 to 8 of the scheme. Thetotal length of these roads is22750 km. These include roadsconstructed in Phase 1 to 8 ofthe scheme besides roads con-structed in different phases ofRural Road ConnectivityProgramme of the AsianDevelopment Bank.

The construction of theseroads has facilitated people of7610 rural settlements forcommuting in these all weath-er roads, it was informed.

In the meeting it was alsoinformed that construction of337 roads was completed at acost of Rs 715 crore underPMGSY in the financial year2013-14. The length of theseroads is 1292 km and their con-struction has linked 969 settle-ments.

As many as 37 roads havebeen sanctioned under theadvance technology of PMGSY.Among these, construction offour roads has been completedwhile construction of 10 roadsis under progress. The processof tender agreement is com-pleted for five roads while ten-ders for 18 roads are underprocess. In the meeting, the offi-cers informed that proposals forconstruction of 294 roads worthRs 1023.51 crore and con-struction of 103 bridges worthRs 1318 crore was been sent tothe Central government forfinancial year 2014-15.

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Acourt here has awardedlife imprisonment to a

man for killing his minorson in a case of “human sac-rifice”.

Judge of Special CourtManish Kumar Naidu, con-victed Ranvijay Bharti, formurder and sentenced him tolife in prison on Thursday,according to PublicProsecutor Anil Shrivastav.

The court has a lsoimposed a fine of Rs 5,000 onthe 38-year-old convict, a res-ident of Bhagwanpur villageunder Kotraroad police sta-tion limits, he added.

On January 6, 2016 night,Bharti beheaded his 14-year–old son – Chandan – ina “human sacrifice” ritual forthe “well-being” of his fami-ly, he said.

He said the teenager’sdecapitated body was foundclose to a burial ground onthe village’s outskirts on

January 7.Based on clues received

from CCTV footage andother evidences, Bharti wasarrested from his native placeAzamgarh district, UttarPradesh, the prosecutor said.

During questioning,Bharti confessed to killinghis son to overcome financialand family problems, he said.

The convict, who wasworking as a contractor at alocal steel industry in Raigarh,had suffered huge financiallosses in his business,Shrivastav said.

He came across a book onblack magic while visitingthe house of one of his rela-tives. After reading it, heplanned the killing of his sonto overcome his troubles, theprosecution lawyer added.

Bharti was booked underIPC sections 302 (murder)and 201 (causing disappear-ance of evidence of offence, orgiving false information toscreen offender, he said.

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Two CRPF personnel wereon Friday injured in an

IED blast triggered by Maoistsin a forest patch of Sukma dis-trict of Bastar, police said.

The incident took placethis morning when a team ofCRPF’s 2nd battalion was outon an anti-Naxal operation ina forest area coing underunder Kerlapal police stationlimits, Deputy InspectorGeneral (DIG) (Dantewadarange) Sundarraj P. informed.

While they (security per-

sonnel) were cordoning-off aforested patch near Pariyavillage, the Maoists triggeredan improvised explosivedevice (IED) in which twoCRPF jawans suf feredinjuries, he said.

Reinforcements wererushed to the spot soon after,he said.The injured jawanswere admitted in a local hos-pital in Sukma. They werestated to be out of danger, theDIG said.

Meanwhile, a combingoperation was underway inthe region, he said.

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Ranjit Kumar Mandal hasassumed charge as new

regional head of Bank ofBaroda (BoB), Raipur region.

He assumed charge onMay 18.

Mandal was earlier postedin Jamshedpur.

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Punjab Health Departmenton Friday issued strict

instructions to the districthealth authorities to ensurethe implementation of theFood Safety and StandardsAct with an iron hand.

The Department hasasked the district level officersto act against big food andbeverages operators besidessmall food shops and streetvendors in case of complaintsof adulteration.

The instructions wereissued by Punjab Health andFamily Welfare MinisterBrahm Mohindra while chair-ing a State-level review meet-ing of the Food and Drugadministration officers.

“It is the duty of theHealth Department to ensurethat health and hygiene ofpeople are maintained by thesupply of nutritious and

unadulterated food articles,”he said adding that zero tol-erance would be maintainedagainst adulteration of foodarticles and all complaints ofpeople must be addressedwithin the stipulated time.

Mohindra exhorted thefood safety officers not toconfine their activities toraiding food shops only,“instead, they should con-centrate on bringing positiveresults by acting against themiscreants who are playingwith lives of people”.

He instructed the officersto ensure the sampling ofbasic eatables consumed bythe citizens such as milk anddair y products paneer,khowa, ghee, seasonal fruitslike mango, banana andchikoo.

“Adulteration is a seriousissue,” he noted while askingthe officers to also screenfood or canteens in theGovernment sector.

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Three Maoists laid downarms in front of security

personnel during an anti-insur-gency operation in Bastar dis-trict on Friday, police said.

The three Maoists whosurrendered were present inSukma district where 25 CRPFwere ambushed on April 24,Bastar Range Inspector Generalof Police Vivekananda Sinhainformed.

Notably, a total of 21Maoists, including a member of26th number PLGA Platoonand Janmilitia Commandercarrying cash reward worthlakhs of rupees each on theirhead, had surrendered inBastar district headquartersJagdalpur on May 17 this year.

Bastar District Collector

Amit Kataria had handed over�10,000 on behalf of theChhattisgarh Government toeach of the surrendered rebelsas a goodwill gesture.

There were nine womenamong the Maoists who sur-rendered, Bastar (Range)Inspector General of Police(IGP) Viveknand Sinha hadtold reporters at a press con-ference held here.

The surrendered Maoistswere identified as -- LakshmanMadkami, BharsuramMandavi, Laxman Kashyap,Arjun Kashyap, NanduramMarkam, Kawasi Muka, GuddiMarkam, Masa Podiumi, jagraMarkami, Mangali Markam,Baman Kawasi, Deva Muchaki,Jogaram Markam, BudhramMuchaki, Bijjo Mandavi, SuiKawasi, Muya Sodhi,Bheemaram Naag, Baisakhu

Naag and Phooldeo RamBaghel, IGP Sinha further said.

Sinha said that LakshmanMadkami, the PLGA Platoonmember carried a reward of Rs2 lakh on him.

Similarly BharsuramMandavi, Janmilitia Com-mander and Arjun Keshyap,Member of Kutul LOS carrieda reward of Rs one lakh each.

He said that while three sur-rendered cadres are from Tulsivillage of Malkangiri district inOdisha besides a woman Maoistcadre Mangli Markam, Memberof Chaitya Natiya Mandali ofCPI (Maoist) also surrendered.

The surrendered Maoistswould be given all assistancefor their rehabilitation as perthe provisions underChhattisgarh Government'ssurrender and rehabilitationpolicy Sinha further said.

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Chief Minister RaghubarDas said here on Friday

that the survey report submit-ted by the panchayat volunteerswill be the guiding force for thegovernment in the days tocome.

Speaking at a programme‘Sarkar Aapke Dwar-2017’where panchayat volunteers ofNorth Chotanagpur divisiontook part, Das said thatPanchayat secretariats willbecome functional from June 1in the State and every workrelated with panchayats will bedisposed by these secretariats.

He announced that thecaste and other certificates willbe valid for three years nowinstead of one year and incomecertificate will remain validfor one year instead of sixmonths. On this occasion, he

along with Minister NeelkanthSingh Munda also released thebook ‘Panchayat Digdarshika’.

Talking about theMomentum Jharkhand heldtwo months back, the CM saidthat investment of crores iscoming to Jharkhand and soonsome industries will become

functional in the state.“Keeping the demand of

industries in mind we haveplanned to make hundredyouths of every panchayatskilled. Without making half ofthe society i.e. women social-ly and economically strong thedream of making the state

developed cannot become trueso special skill developmenttraining programmes forwomen will also be started atpanchayat level soon,” headded.

Praising the attempts ofHazaribagh district adminis-tration as well as the municipalcorporation, he said that it isgood to be in top 100 cities ofthe country in recent cleanli-ness survey and now the aim isto make our cities capableenough to capture a position intop 10 clean cities of the coun-try in the next survey. He alsoannounced that Jharkhand willbe ODF by 2018. On this occa-sion, the CM inaugurated andlaid the foundation stone of 45schemes worth Rs 153.45crores.

Rural Development minis-ter Neelkanth Singh Mundasaid that we are trying to

understand the problems of vil-lagers through such pro-grammes. HRD Minister NeeraYadav said that our governmentis working like a team that iswhy it is developing speedily.

Chief Secretary RajbalaVerma said that the represen-tatives of rural governmentmust know their duties andrights and they should actaccordingly.

She said that everyone’scontribution is important andneeded to make the state devel-oped. Energy Secretary NitinMadan Kulkarni said that thegovernment is providing LEDbulbs, tube lights and fans tothe villagers and appealedeveryone to save more andmore energy.

Earlier, Deputy Commis-sioner Ravi Shankar Shuklawelcomed the dignities partic-ipating in the programme.

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Heavy EngineeringCorporation (HEC) signed

a MoU with Northeast FrontierRailways on Friday in Guwahatifor manufacturing and supply ofcomponents for Darjeeling,Himalayan Toy Train. The func-tion was graced by Minister ofState Railways, Rajen Guhain.

The MoU was signed in thepresence of HEC CMD AvijitGhosh and Director (Finance) RCSen.

The Darjeeling HimalayanRailway (DHR) also known as the‘Toy Train’, narrow-gauge railwaythat runs between New Jalpaiguriand Darjeeling in West Bengal.Built between 1879 and 1881, thelength of the railway is about 78km. The dailyKurseong–Darjeeling return ser-vice and the daily tourist trainsfrom Darjeeling to Ghum (India'shighest railway station) are han-dled by the vintage British-builtB Class steam locomotives.

DHR is listed as theMountain Railways of India inthe UNESCO World HeritageSite. Maintenance of steam loco-motives is a big challenge ofDarjeeling Railways.Subsequently, HEC had sent ateam in the month of October toTindharia workshop to under-stand their requirements ofequipment and spares.InDecember 2016, there was visitof a high-level delegation of NFRailways to HEC headed by itsGeneral Manager Chahet Ram.They were impressed to see thefacilities of HEC. It was decidedin the meeting for signing a MoUbetween HEC and NF Railwaysfor procurement of spares andequipments from HEC.HEC isplanning to enter into railwaybusiness in a big way. Present onthe occasion were Chahet Ram,GM, NF Railways along withother delegation.

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From Page 1“Is this journalism? The Indian

media has raped journalistic ethics,”Malik said.

The police have registered a caseagainst the journalist and the cam-eraman under Section 448 of theRanbir Penal Code (illegal trespassing),which carries a punishment of up toone year in prison and a fine of Rs1,000.

The journalist later said she andthe cameraman had made a “legal andethical entry” into his house.

“Malik could have asked us toleave the location. Instead, he smashedour mobile phones. He assaulted thecameraperson, and pushed him fromthe stairs.” She said he had accusedthem of trying to do a “sting operation”on him. “We asked questions. If youdon’t want to answer, at least say youdon’t want to speak,” the journalist said.

Malik was also asked at the con-ference about the NIA registering acase on the funding of separatist lead-ers. “I am not concerned with whatNIA has to do,” he said.

From Page 1BJP president Amit Shah

too had recently made a trip toTripura.

“The focus of all these vis-its is to draw attention to theNortheast, build connectivityand attract tourists. In the

next two years, the idea is tobuild on the victories inAssam Arunachal andManipur and repeat it in 2019.This, they have decided, willbe built on the plank oftourism in the region,” said thesources.

From Page 1Jaitley also said that there would be no tax

on lottery from July 1, while e-commerce play-ers like Flipkart, Snapdeal will have to deduct1 per cent TCS (tax collected at source) whilemaking payments to suppliers.”

Work contracts like white washing will beliable for a 12 per cent GST.

“Tax on gold and precious metals wouldbe taken up at the next meeting of theCouncil on June 3. GST on services was themain item discussed at the GST meet onFriday,” said Jaitley.

The Finance Minister said the GST has norelation with subsidies and the States, whowon’t implement GST regime, will put the con-sumers under burden of double taxes on var-ious items and services. He said that theremaining issues related to six categories ofgoods will be deliberated in June 3 meeting inthe national Capital.

“Most of the work on the rollout has beencleared. On We need some more input on thepending issues. The 15th meeting of the GSTcommission has been fixed at New Delhi onJune 3,” he said.

From Page 1The apex environment

watchdog also directed Delhigovernment and other author-ities to restore and revive thewater bodies in different partsof the national capital and turnthem into places of touristattraction.

It directed that Delhi gov-ernment and all the municipalcorporations to start removal ofmunicipal solid waste anddredging of drains underPhase-I of the judgement.

“The authorities are direct-ed to submit methodology andformulate scheme to help inselective dredging of Yamunato ensure that its deep rootedpollutants are removed beforecompletion of the Phase-I pro-ject,” the bench said.

“We direct that Delhi gov-ernment and all the corpora-tions concerned to startremoval of municipal solidwaste and dredging of drainsunder Phase-I of the judge-ment. The authorities are alsodirected to submit methodol-ogy and formulate scheme tohelp in selective dredging ofYamuna to ensure that its deeprooted pollutants are removedbefore completion of the Phase-I project.

From Page 1and AGM Kushal Aggarwal

-- were held guilty by the courtfor “deceiving” the Governmentby making false representationeven before then PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh.

Friday’s decision by SpecialCBI Judge Bharat Parashar,who was appointed exclusive-ly to deal with the coal scamcases, was the third.

Besides the three publicservants, others convicted arethe firm KSSPL and its man-aging director Pawan KumarAhluwalia.

Among the other impor-tant cases arising out of the coalscam related to the allocationof Talabira II coal block inOdisha to M/s Hindalco in2005 in which the name ofManmohan Singh was draggedas one of the accused. Singhwas then also holding the

charge of the Coal Ministry. The proceedings in the

case against Singh was stayedby the SC on April 1, 2015 afterhe moved it opposing the orderof the Special Court which hadon March 11, 2015 summonedhim and others, including thethen Coal Secretary PC Parakhand industrialist KumarMangalam Birla as accused.

The two other officials ofthe Aditya Birla Group --Shubhendu Amitabh (sinceleft) and D Bhattacharya --were also accused in the case.

One important case arisingout of the scam related to thealleged involvement ofCongress leader and industri-alist Naveen Jindal in allocationof Amarkonda Murgadangalcoal block in Jharkhand inwhich Gupta is also an accused.

In another case pertainingto allocation of coal blocks to

Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltdin Jharkhand’s Rajhara town,also involving former JharkhandChief Minister Madhu Koda asaccused, the court is currentlyhearing the final arguments.

Gupta is also an accused inthe allocation of coal block toAMR Iron and Steel Pvt Ltdwhich also involves formerMinister of State for CoalSantosh Bagrodia and RajyaSabha MP Vijay Darda asaccused.

The other case relating toirregularities in allocation of aChhattisgarh-based coal blockto SKS Ispat and Power Ltd alsoinvolves Kropha as accused.

Gupta, Kropha andSamaria are facing trial in thecase of alleged irregularities inthe allotment of ‘MahuagarhiCoal Block’ in Jharkhand to JASInfrastructure Capital Pvt Ltd(JICPL). The three are also

facing trial in another caseinvolving M/s Navbharat PowerPvt Ltd (NPPL), now known asBrahmani Thermal Power PvtLtd (BTPPL).

Another case filed againstthe three of them related to theallocation of Fatehpur (East)coal block in Chhattisgarh toaccused firm JLD YavatmalPvt Ltd in which it had earlierrejected CBI’s closure report.

The three are also accusedin a case pertaining to thealleged irregularities in alloca-tion of Moira and Madhujore(North and South) coal blocksin West Bengal to VikashMetals and Power Ltd.

Gupta and Kropha are fur-ther accused before the court ina case of alleged irregularitiesin allocation of a Chhattisgarhcoal block to SKS Ispat andPower Ltd and another caseinvolving Grace Industries Ltd.

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Jharkhand State Khadi Board is all setto organize the first ‘Ratri Bazaar’ at

MG Road on May 20.In a bid to promote the first night

market concept here in State Capital,the Chairperson of Khadi Board,Sanjay Seth conducted a meeting withthe district administration officialson Friday for beefing up security dur-ing the late night hours.

Seth, addressing a press meet,said that after the successful organi-zation of the first night market here,further attempts will be made to reg-ularize it.

After getting consent from the dis-trict administration team to initiate theproject, Seth said, “All security facetshave been figured out. PCR vans,including the police constables willassist the people during emergency.Adequate number of CCTV cameraswill be mounted at stalls to keep acheck on public activities.”

Seth said that if a family requiresthe support of administration duringthe late night hours, police team willescort them. Health officials too havebeen instructed to be on spot from 9

PM to 12 PM to prevent any untowardincident. “Ranchi Civil Surgeon hasassured us that a separate health teamwill be deployed on the spot. We havealso collaborated with Orchid Hospitalfor medical assistance,” added Seth.

Areas near Sadar Hospital, St.Xavier’s College lane, Shastri Market,Zila School and Chadri Talab have been

demarcated for vehicle parking. Noadditional parking charge will be takenfrom the visitors. The Ranchi MunicipalCorporation officials have been askedto depute additional workforce to cur-tail the traffic snarl along the busieststreet.

Highlighting on special features ofthe night market, Seth added thatunique cultural events have beenplanned by the Department of Art andCulture. Based on the theme ‘StreetMasti’, troops will perform several cul-tural activities like dance, drama, skitand songs. The area will be barricad-ed from Albert Ekka Chowk to SarjanaChowk,” Seth further added.

He said that all the stall ownershave been asked to sell their productsat 10 per cent discount. “Khadi Boardhas adopted innovative measures tocaptivate the interest of leisure buffs forpromoting night market. The Board will give heavy dis-count on all Khadi products. Besidesgiving a platform to street vendors,approximately 20 stalls of Khadi Boardwill be put up at Ratri Bazaar and twostalls of Jharcraft will be setup. Duro Plyis sponsoring the entire event,” addedSeth.

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Swedish prosecutors onFriday dropped a seven-year

rape investigation into JulianAssange, a legal victory for theWikiLeaks founder who hasbeen holed up in the EcuadoranEmbassy in London since 2012.

But British police said theywould still arrest Assange if hetried to leave the Embassy,saying he had breached theterms of his bail by refusing toturn himself in when an arrestwarrant was issued in 2012.

Friday was the deadline forthe public prosecutor’s office toeither renew the pan-Europeanarrest warrant or lift it.

“Director of Public Prose-cution, Marianne Ny, has onFriday decided to discontinuethe investigation regarding sus-pected rape by Julian Assange,”the prosecutor’s office said in astatement. Shortly after theannouncement, Assange post-ed on Twitter a picture ofhimself smiling broadly, with-out comment.

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President Donald Trumpsays he is “very close” to

naming a new FBI director. Anannouncement could come onFriday, the soft deadline Trumpset for himself. The Presidentdeparts Friday on his inaugur-al overseas trip, a four-country,five-stop journey tour of theWest Asia and Europe thatwill keep him out of the coun-try for more than a week.

“We’re very close to an FBIdirector,” Trump said Thursdaywhen asked about the searchduring an Oval Office appear-ance with Colombian PresidentJuan Manuel Santos. He said anannouncement could come“soon” and that former Sen. JoeLieberman was among his top

candidates. Lieberman wasamong four candidates Trumpinterviewed at the White Housethis week. The former Connec-ticut senator flashed a thumbs-up as he left the White House onWednesday after meeting withTrump and said they had a “go-od meeting.” Trump also met wi-th former Oklahoma Gov FrankKeating; Richard McFeely, a for-mer top FBI official; and actingFBI director Andrew McCabe.

Trump needs a new FBIdirector because he fired JamesComey last week, an unexpect-ed move that drew bipartisancriticism. Comey was overseeingthe FBI’s investigation intoRussia’s role in the presidentialelection, including ties betweenRussian Government officialsand Trump associates.

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The Pakistan Governmenton Friday faced flak over its

handling of Indian nationalKulbhushan Jadhav’s case at theInternational Court of Justice(ICJ), with several legal expertsquestioning the strategy adopt-ed and asking why it acceptedthe global court’s jurisdiction.

The Hague-based court,the UN’s highest judicial body,had on Thursday stayed theexecution of Jadhav, 46, con-sidered to be a spy by Pakistan.

The ruling triggered criti-cism of the the PakistanForeign Office (FO) for its“poor handling” and also for itschoice of Khawar Qureshi,who represented Pakistan’s casebefore the ICJ.

The Attorney General forPakistan (AGP) had recom-mended some other counsel,The Express Tribune reported.

According to formerPakistan Bar Council ViceChairman Farogh Naseem,Pakistan should have immedi-ately withdrawn its March 29,

2017 declaration accepting thecompulsory jurisdiction of theICJ. Instead of contesting thematter, Pakistan should havewithdrawn the declarationimmediately after India tookJadhav’s case to the ICJ, he said.“Why did Pakistan not take theglaring and brutal humanrights violations in Kashmirbefore the court, despite thefact that Islamabad had a strongcase in this regard?”

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The Japanese Governmenton Friday approved a one-

off Bill allowing ageingEmperor Akihito to step downfrom the ChrysanthemumThrone, in the first such abdi-cation in two centuries.

The Bill will now be sent toparliament for debate and like-ly receive swift final approval,Chief Cabinet SecretaryYoshihide Suga said after PrimeMinister Shinzo Abe’s cabinetsigned off on the legislation.

Abdication must take placewithin three years of the billbecoming law. Earlier this yearreports suggested that 83-year-old Akihito could step down atthe end of December 2018 andbe replaced by Crown PrinceNaruhito on January 1, 2019.

Reports of his desire to

retire surprised Japan whenthey emerged last July.

In August he publicly citedage and declining health, whichwas interpreted as his wish tohand the crown to his eldest son.

But current Japanese law hasno provision for abdication, thusrequiring politicians to craft leg-islation to make it possible. Thestatus of the emperor is highlysensitive in Japan given its 20thcentury history of war waged inthe name of Akihito’s fatherHirohito, who died in 1989.

Revered as a demigodbefore and during the conflict,Hirohito was reduced to amere figurehead as part ofpostwar reforms. Akihito haswon plaudits for seizing uponthe constitutionally-prescribedrole of national symbol andthere is wide sympathy for hiswish to retire.

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Iranians poured into pollingstations on Friday to deliver

their verdict on President HassanRouhani and his troubled effortsto rebuild ties with the world andkickstart the struggling economy.

There was a festive atmos-phere in Tehran where Rouhani,a 68-year-old moderate clericwho spearheaded a 2015 nucleardeal with world powers, wasmobbed by cheering supportersas he cast his ballot in a mosque

in the city centre. “The enthusi-astic participation of Iranians inthe election reinforces ournational power and security,” hesaid, as polling stations report-ed morning queues were far big-ger than usual. Rouhani, who hasframed the vote as a choicebetween greater civil liberties and“extremism”, faces stiff competi-tion from hardline cleric Eb-rahim Raisi, 56, who has posi-tioned himself as a defender ofthe poor and called for a muchtougher line with the West.

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Aspecial Pakistani court look-ing into the 2008 Mumbai

terror attack case has just seenanother judge being appointed— its ninth change in eight years.

The anti-terrorism court(ATC) conducting the trial ofseven Pakistani suspectscharged with involvement inthe attack has recently beenchanged again, a court officialsaid on Friday.

“ATC Judge Sohail Akramwho had been conducting the26/11 case for the last two yearsor so is transferred to thePunjab judicial services,” theofficial said.

“It is a routine transfer ofthe judge in question,” he said.

The Mumbai case has nowbeen transferred to the court ofJudge Kausar Abbas Zaidi, whowas the judge in the case beforeAkram, the official said.

Besides Akram, the otherjudges who have been associ-ated with the case that began in2009 are Attiquer Rehman,Shahid Rafique, MalikMuhammad Akram Awan andPervez Ali Shah.

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Germany’s Parliament haspassed new measures

making it easier to deportmigrants whose asylum appli-cations have been denied, andmonitor and control thosedeemed dangerous.

In a law passed late lastnight, Germany’s migrationagency will be allowed to eval-uate cellphone data of migrantswho arrive without proper doc-uments, and permitted to sharedata with other authorities in sit-uations considered dangerous.

Deportations will also besped up under the new law, andauthorities will be allowed todetain individuals who areawaiting deportation for up to10 days, from an original four,if they’re deemed dangerous.

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A58-year-old Indian man,who was in the US cus-

toms’ custody for enteringthe country illegally, has diedafter being hospitalised forshortness of breath.

Atul Kumar BabubhaiPatel was taken in custody byUS Immigration and CustomsEnforcement at the AtlantaCity Detention Centre fortwo days.

He died on Tuesday after-noon at Atlanta’s GradyMemorial Hospital with theofficials stating the prelimi-nary cause of his demise ascomplications from congestiveheart failure.

Patel arrived at the Atlantaairport on May 10 on a flightfrom Ecuador.

The US Customs andBorder Protection subse-quently denied him entry intothe country as he did not pos-sess the necessary immigra-tion documents, the USImmigration and CustomsEnforcement (ICE) said in astatement.

Patel was transferred intothe ICE custody last week atthe Atlanta City DetentionCentre where he received aninitial medical screening andwas found to have high bloodpressure and diabetes.

On Saturday, two daysafter being in the ICE cus-tody, a nurse checking Patel’sblood sugar noticed he hada breathing problem following which he was shift-ed to a hospital where hepassed away.

ICE said it is firmly com-mitted to the health and wel-fare of all those in its custodyand is “undertaking a com-prehensive agency-widereview of the incident, as itdoes in all such cases”.

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In the summer of 2009, a journal-ist friend phoned and asked for rec-ommendations. His newspaper hadtold him to profile a “new-ageSwayamsevak”. “Could you intro-

duce me to an RSS whole-timer who isalso a modern person, preferably fromoutside Delhi?” I smiled because the jux-taposition of ‘modern’ and ‘RSS’ (or ‘BJP’for that matter) was and remains a mys-tery for significant sections of theEnglish-speaking media.

Nevertheless it was not the time tohave that debate. My friend’s editors hadgiven him a task and he had a feature arti-cle to write. I knew exactly what he want-ed and whom he needed to meet. “Areyou okay with travelling to Bhopal?” Iasked, thinking immediately of the per-son I had in mind. That person was AnilMadhav Dave, then an emerging BJPpolitician in Madhya Pradesh, havingmoved to the party a few years earlierfrom a full-time role in the RSS.

A few days later, on his return fromBhopal, I met my friend. He had beenimpressed by Anil Dave. I wasn’t sur-prised. Very few people who met AnilDave, who so unfortunately passed awayon May 18, two months short of his 61stbirthday, were left unimpressed oruntouched. He was a remarkable man.Polite to a fault, genial and smiling, butwith strong views — on river conserva-tion, on politics, on history and culture— expressed with utmost civility.

There are some politicians who canoffer you an engaging conversation onpolitics and elections, but no topicbeyond that. With Anil Dave you couldspend hours discussing a variety ofissues, not mentioning politics at all, andcome away the wiser. It is a rare gift intoday’s politics, across parties, wherepoliticians find themselves so engrossedin day-to-day ‘breaking news’ that theyforget to pursue other interests or just sat-isfy the hunger for ideas and sense ofcuriosity that is so natural for any thinking person.

When telling my journalist friendabout Anil Dave, I called him “perhapsthe only RSS pracharak with a pilot’slicence”. It had begun as a fascinationwhile watching fighter aircraft in the skyin Junagadh, where he spent some of hisearly years. The child of a Gujarati-ori-gin family settled in Madhya Pradesh, hewas at home in the sky and on the ground— but most so while exploring the river.The Narmada was his passion and riverconservation his mission. He once flewa small plane across the length of the Narmada.

More than that, he worked hard forreviving and cleaning the river, which hedescribed as a living being and not just

a resource to be exploited. It is not oftenrealised that the issue of the NarmadaDam was not just a debate between theso-called ‘Right’ and ‘Left’ but saw a fer-vent argument within the Sangh parivaritself, and was a testimony to the diver-sity of opinion and under-recognised plu-rality of thought within the RSS family.Yet, that is another story for another day.

In the case of people like Anil Dave,it would suffice to say that river-systemconservation and restoration efforts ofgrassroots activists often get crowded outby the noise generated by better-resourced and media-savvy NGOs in thebig cities. Even so, in terms of efforts andoutcomes, it is quite obvious whoachieves more. One hopes the RiverFestivals that Anil Dave organised andthe civil society institutions he incubat-ed and ran with such loving care to com-memorate the Narmada continue. Thatwould be his biggest monument.

Environmental activist, history buff,amateur pilot, writer — he had writtenbooks on the Narmada river, of course,as well as an assessment of Shivaji’sadministration — there was enoughAnil Dave did to fill a full day. From theearly 2000s at least, he was also an activeand busy politician.

In Madhya Pradesh, he was the one-man electoral think-tank of the party. Hedidn’t need to refer to his laptop to rat-tle off facts and figures and give you clin-ical analyses of electoral prospects in far-

flung constituencies. He had a built a net-work of associates and workers who gavehim honest feedback.

This writer was privileged to see himat work during elections in MadhyaPradesh and Gujarat. He could puttogether a team of intelligent and com-mitted volunteers and guide them intothe various regions of the State to getqualitative and sometimes even quanti-tative feedback. It was astonishing toexperience this, because it wasn’t a for-mal market research agency in the cor-porate sense of the term — but it was very effective.

This combination of sensitivity toriver systems and their broader ecology,and experience of managing teams andprojects made him a natural choice forministerial office. Some of his friendswere disappointed that he didn’t make itto Narendra Modi’s team in May 2014,but Anil Dave himself never complained.Eventually justice was done and AnilDave was the very appropriate choice asEnvironment Minister in July 2016. Alas,he was to have too short a tenure.

Anil Dave has been called manythings: A hard-working and non-contro-versial Minister, a dedicated MP, a friend-ly colleague, an agile political mind, adevotee of the Narmada in more ways thanone, a proud son of India. Like many ofus, he wore several identities. Nevertheless,to him his primary label was that of an RSSpracharak. As he often said, he had devel-

oped his ideas not in spite of the RSS butbecause of the fostering by the Sangh,which he considered a much misunder-stood organisation and certainly not onewith a unifocal obsession.

What does a pracharak do? At thesimplest, he builds institutions. He trav-els to a new location — geographical gen-erally, but sometimes a notional locationthat actually means a hitherto untappedsegment of society — and builds a localunit or a local shakha. Have instilledenough institutional strength and vital-ity and having ensured members he hasintroduced will take the mission forward,the pracharakmoves to a new challenge,a new geography and new frontier.

When a talented and politically inter-ested and knowledgeable pracharak takesthese skills and these learnings into for-mal politics, into the BJP for instance —though there have been pracharaks inother parties — the results can beastounding. The BJP is much more thana party of RSS people, and has a strongquotient from outside the formal Sanghparivar. Yet, a diligent, meticulous andpolitically alive pracharak can provide theparty a backbone that it cannot do with-out, especially in individual constituen-cies and states. In that sense, Anil Davewas a role model. We are all poorer without him.

(The writer is distinguished fellow,Observer Research Foundation. He can bereached at [email protected])&

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Sir — The International Court ofJustice in the Hague has put onhold the execution of Indiannational Kulbhushan Jadhav, whohad been sentenced to death bya military court in Pakistan.Jadhav, was denied consularaccess. He was denied a lawyertoo, to fight his case. It is a sheerviolation of the internationalconventions. We provided allthe facilities including assistanceof lawyer to Ajmal Kasab, thelone terrorist survivor in theMumbai attacks in 2008.Pakistan should not executeJadhav till the court delivers itsfinal verdict.

It is a victory for our concert-ed efforts to get him released.Since he was held in Iran, weshould fight the case with vigourand see that he is released.Pakistan should learn a lesson ortwo from this judgement. Itshould not act unilaterally indealing with such cases. It shouldrevamp the military courts too.

N R RamachandranChennai

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Sir— This refers to the UnionCabinet giving the nod to mater-nity benefit programme, thatentails extending freebie of�6,000 to ever y womanemployed in Government andpublic sector enterprise on herfirst pregnancy in 53 select dis-tricts of the country. It is signif-icant that the costly gift of�12,661 crore in the first threeyears from the public exchequer

was never demanded by anyone. Otherwise also, employeesin Government and public sec-tor are considered to be betterpaid than those in the privatesector. Withdrawal of suchschemes can attract criticism.Union and State Governmentsshould avoid making peopleaddicted to freebies at the cost ofthe public exchequer, funded byhard-earned money of taxpaying citizens.

Madhu AgrawalDelhi

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Intellectuals, yes, but with closedminds” (May 17) by AnirbanGanguly. It’s a brilliant piece ofwriting, reasoned and tightlyargued. There’s not a word in thearticle that can be refuted. Thesepseud-seculars had flourishedduring the previous regimes andare now floundering.

Hemendra VermaVia email

��

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Rajinikanth the politician?”(May 17). Rajinikanth is truly astupendous film-star whose fanfollowing is unparalleled. It ispossible that he can bring thecharisma he has gained, into pol-itics, if he devotes himself com-pletely to the call of public life.

Raju ChandraVia email

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“The sadness is, that everyleaf has fallen before…”

Allen Ginsberg in his bookKADDISH AND OTHERPOEMS

Writing this piece, I amaware that societies

struggling to come to propershape thrive on assumptionsregulating these societies. Andwith the job in hand, I will gowith the assumptions evennaïve one of the place I belongto, for realties divorced fromsuch assumptions when reflect-ed upon, irrespective of timeand period of reflection, por-tray distortions in experiencedrealties. The cards have to belaid on the table. Ingenuously.On my recent visit last month,after many years, to Gorakhpur,a city in eastern Uttar Pradesh,where I was born in 1960 andwhere I spent first twenty-three years of my life — themost important formative yearsin any individual’s life — whatwelcomed me there amid manythings, usual and unusual, werememories that had been qui-escent, with sporadic remis-sions, but this confrontationwith the place: the streets, theshops, the colleges, the schools,the university, the vendors,the hospitals, the libraries andabove all the individuals peo-pling the city brought a some-what cumulatively animatedrevival and reminder of thepast. A visit to the past makesone judge how far societieshave moved, how matured,well-behaved these havebecome. It was in 1980 that Idid my masters in Economicsfrom the Gorakhpur Universityand like many other students,I was also sieged with theapprehension and hopeless-ness likely to be embedded inthe days to come. To overcomethat, I went to meet Dr BKSingh, then Head of theDepartment of Economics,entreating him to accept me ashis research scholar for PhD.His stern looks matched hisequally firm and icy voice,“What will you do after that?Go back and prepare for com-petitive examinations.” Theend was nearly complete. Thetime to stay with languid feel-ings of being an unemployedyouth, in a lower middle classfamily, losing preciousmoments of life had come.However, unfortunately afterthat I could never meet late DrSingh.

Then times were different.Strange considerations causedbizarre decisions. So was thecase with the opening of adegree college about whichthis was what was in the air. Adegree college was opened bya rich and liberal person inorder to offer job to a youngman who was reportedly goingto be his very close relativeprospectively. Unaware of thisimmutable relationship in theoffing, I applied for the post oflecturer in that college. A fewof my “well-wishers”approached me with a saga-cious advice asking me not toappear for the interview asthere was only one post. Ideclined. The day of reckoningwas unlike other days and the

interview board was headed bynone other than the same lateDr BK Singh. It transpiredthat he was determined tooffer the job based on merit butthe relationship betweenprospective relatives duo wastoo much for him. Refusing tosuccumb to pressure, hedeclined to conduct the inter-view. Later on, a new board wasformed; this time headed byanother gentleman, flexibleenough, from some other uni-versity. I felt the atmospherewas relaxed and the ease outthere was really piquant.

The gentleman headingthe board asked me about thedifference between economicgrowth and economic devel-opment. Realising that the diewas already cast, I decided togive my best and tried toexplain the difference by citingthe concept of “instrumentalvalue premises” enunciated byeconomist Gunnar Myrdal andfurther amplifying it by citingten indices of economic devel-opment again as suggested byMyrdal and relevance of theseto Adelman and Morris’s forty-eight qualitative indicatorsapplicable to developing coun-tries. I could sense the disqui-eted demon of “holier thanthou” syndrome raising itshead in the room as the learnedmembers seemed to be the leastinterested in what I wasmouthing. Obviously theymight have found it miffing.Then one more member askedwhat should be the aim of eco-nomic development in the con-text of Gorakhpur, the city.Another economist of emi-nence, Paul Streeten, came tomy rescue. “Transformationof human beings is the ultimateobjective of economic devel-opment. Gorakhpur requirestransformation of humanbeings.” By that time the levelof discomfort was at its summitand Chairman of the boardtold me very curtly that inter-view was over and I mustleave. I left with late Dr BKSingh’s icy words ringing in myears, “What will you do afterthat? Go back and prepare forcompetitive examinations.” Irealised the pivotal messagegiven to me by the Professor:he placed his belief in com-petitive examinations as a rel-atively fairer means to haveone’s talent scrutinised. So didI. My deepest regards to sucha rare and uncompromisinglyforthright breed of teachers asthat of Professor Singh.

Thirty-five years later, dur-ing this visit, what impacted methe most was the relevance ofthe question learned membersof the interview board askedme and the reply I gave. Societygrows only when humanbeings realise the need fortransformation, yearn, by allmeans feasible, for achievingthat transformation and beprudent enough to see logic inthe steps taken towards suchtransformation and to acceptthese. A society which lacks thepower to question itself, to con-front itself with the questionsso bare as not to escape eventhe blindest eyes and to seekanswers to such questions andwhich feels incapacitated

enough to assess itself is a soci-ety where such a transforma-tion, which economists likePaul Streeten cogitate, is metwith maximum resistance.Individuals need no safety-valve; they are comfortablyensconced in their daily routineshunning any disturbance.They want their world reflect-ed in others but never others intheir own. The idea of not look-ing beyond oneself is the mostlucrative idea as it bars the pos-sibility of interpretation; thepossibility of having a renewedor fresh look at one’s interpre-tations of oneself or the wayone looks at things around.

In my conversation with aseasoned poet and senior jour-nalist of a national Hindi news-paper who had spent a fewyears in Gorakhpur roughly thesame time I had, my ideas gotpepped up: the place had been,not to speak of stagnating,actually going downhill. Wetried to remember Gorakhpuras it existed almost thirty-fiveyears back and we wereapproaching the discussionfrom students’ point of view asat least some of them mightprove to be marvels of the cityin future. He fondly recollect-ed about the book stall, a mid-dle-sized shop in the heart ofthe town, the only shop sellingimportant magazines like TheSunday, Illustrated Weekly ofIndia, Caravan and many oth-ers and further recollected howthe big-moustached owner ofthe stall, had equally largeheart who was all agog to helpcurious students by arrangingbooks and magazines for them.What was abstruse startedclearing up; I too was constantvisitor to that bookstall, thejovial-all helping visage of theowner reappeared before me.“Where is he?” I asked. “Youshould visit the bookstall in theevening,” the journalist’s voice:a dimmed voice, I heard. Nextday I had to board the flight toDelhi. “So I ought to meet himthis evening itself.” I thought.

Then Golghar was consid-ered the poshest area ofGorakhpur with a relativelywide road: two cinema theatreslocated side by side with huge

rush every show; the bookstallwas in the front corner of onetheatre. Books and magazinesgot throne there and theseilluminated the mind of anystudent capable of fathomingthe value of books. It was 7 inthe evening. Traffic was verydense; almost impenetrable. Ireached up to the point; every-thing seemed hazed. The book-stall was nowhere in sight;large concrete structures said tobe the future hub of businessactivities were rising. There wasno way I could access the stall.Roads were worse thandetours. I really felt guilty.Later I came to know thebookstall was very much therebut it had a highly skewed exis-tence; it was almost unnotice-able. Someone else informedthe bookstall had ceased toexist. An example of concretestructures replacing places ofknowledge and learning.Development entails costs.

Virtually a decade back —the same place — Gorakhpur,a professor of mine was talkingabout the status of libraries incolleges: there had been no orvery meagre funds for thebooks; there were booksbought years back but notissued to any student orteacher; very few studentsentered library; for them therewere attractions galore insidethe campus excepting thelibrary; nonchalant nature ofteachers added further insult toinjury; contentment was with“kunji or key-books” with no orlimited desire for main textbooks, everything was in com-plete disarray. “But why theman in charge of the library, thelibrarian not ask for funds orraise other issues you justspoke about?” I asked him. “Hewouldn’t do that. His seniorsand colleagues would warnhim of possible consequences.He might be asked to explainhis utility to the college: how heis useful to the college whenbooks bought are not indemand. You are in bureau-cracy. I suppose you knowhow systems work; how mir-rors are diverted.” I found theProfessor very candid andfacile. But he was successful in

making a point. He continuedfurther, “People have no trou-ble with the form; they knowthe art of fitting into particu-lar forms as these suit them.But they have complaints aboutthe way systems work. Why toblame the librarian? Or eventhe system.” The professor con-cluded and he implied aneffortless conclusion.

Empty spaces: possibleplaces of public rendezvous,where children used to playand old people used to spendmornings and evenings sharingtime together are no longerempty: these are completelyand mechanically filled: thereis a definite pattern: there aredoctors’ clinics, adjacent towhich are privately-run hospi-tals; adjacent to which aremedical stores and then coach-ing centres for MBBS and IIT-JEE. The number of patientswaiting outside for their turn tocome was simply choking.Their patience harrowing;many times their turn mightnot come the same day. Thevicious circle continues; stu-dents getting trained to passMBBS examinations; they willopen more clinics; more hos-pitals; more medical shops:the chain — robust one isalready in place. In the Mohallacalled Sumer-Sagar, where Ispent my childhood and earlyadulthood and where walking,running or even playing onnarrow roads were easy andcomfortable, this time I foundnarrow roads had become nar-rower beyond imagination; noteven two square feet spacewas available on either side ofthe road; everything was per-fectly occupied. What was themost horrendous was move-ment of people. Fabulous carsfabulous families dream of;rickshaws, auto-rickshaws,scooters; motor-cycles, bicycles,umpteen number of pedestri-ans, all vying with each otherto make a movement forward.Every movement seemedlocked. There was no sense ofdispersal nor of relief. Theirpatience was really distressing.It took me forty minutes by carto cover a distance of thousandmetres. “Har sham yeh numayis

dekh sakten hain yehan” (Everyevening this exhibition can beseen here,) my co-passengersaid it and then laughed bois-terously. None seemed to takenote of either what he said orhis boisterous laughter.

Enamoured with newmodels, modern developmen-tal economists now fascinat-ingly talk of “human thriving”and “functionings” as indices ofdevelopment. Economist GACohen explains these conceptsby saying that the life a personleads can be seen as a combi-nation of “doings” and “beings”which can be generically called“functionings”. These “func-tionings” accrue from elemen-tary matters such as beingwell-nourished and free fromdisease and also accrue fromcomplex matters such as hav-ing self-respect, human digni-ty, participating in communi-ty life, etc. In brief, these mod-ern concepts, heavily influ-enced by Rawls’ and Dworkin’sphilosophical outpourings,connote how people conducttheir lives; how and what qual-ity of health and medical ser-vices they enjoy; the nature andquality of education available tothem; how labour is rated:whether it is rewarding ormonotonous; how citizens con-duct their social and personalrelations; how family relationsand sexual relations are struc-tured; how societies permittheir inhabitants to imagine, tohave feelings of emotions likelove, appreciation and grati-tude. All these modern indicesof development were what per-haps Paul Streeten had in viewthough not in as articulatedform as available in economicliterature today, when he equat-ed economic development with“transformation of humanbeings”.

When one looks back atpast, about assumptions talkedof in the beginning, one looksat it with a hope that thingsmust have travelled forwardand a bigger, clearer worldwill be in sight. As I initiatedmyself into services, a seniorbureaucrat, with a mischie-vous smile, buttonholed me,“So you are from Gorakhpur,the place known for mafiagangs and encephalitis.” “Yes, ofcourse, Sir, but also for the GitaPress, the famous Gorakhnathtemple, literary legends likeMunshi Premchand, FiraqGorakhpuri, Professors like DrRaghuvir Singh of PoliticalScience and many more.”“Yeah, I see but that is not thepoint,” his meek voice accom-panied a smile the nature ofwhich, I must admit, I have notbeen able to unravel thus farjust like “what” of “that is notthe point”. But his questionintroduced me to another ques-tion: the question of visitingand revisiting the concept ofself-definition. Should onestand where one stood decadesback? Should one not seekmore exquisite self-definition?Should one not strive for a big-ger world — an altered world?Incidentally this time, one veryremarkable thing was observedat Gorakhpur Airport, a tinyone, the behaviour of policepersonnel on duty: they were

very courteous, well-behavedand helpful to the passengers.A good augury. And this will beseen in many other areas soon.So people hope.

Something akin to whatwas experienced in Gorakhpureach time I visited there, I cameacross in a recently publishednovel which seeks to tacklehumdrum life of a Man, aWoman and a Child with theirpseudo-civilised characteris-tics. It is SHE WILL BUILDHIM A CITY by author RajKamal Jha. In this intellectual-ly engrossing work, Jha makesa threadbare and true pas-teurisation of typical modernday society with all kinds ofdiversities: life in the slums tothe lavishness of the affluent,day-to-day miseries of the low-est strata of the society, frus-trations of middle and upper-middle class working men andwomen, boisterous life styles ofchildren and teenagers of theupper and most affluent insociety, perversions of themeanest kind, all these andmore find display in the nar-ration and these are a few of thedifferent forms of fuel thathelps to kindle the emberslying dormant within the soulof the author. It is a tale of asociety determined to developwhere, to quote Jha, “She can-not understand what he saysbecause he speaks a languageshe has never heard.” Jha actu-ally sets a puzzle of humanexistence amid steely develop-ment in cities. So true of citieslike Gorakhpur.

Economic developmentdoes not lie in figures set forthin tabular forms alone nor it isachieved in terms of haphazardgrowth of roads, schools andcolleges, clinics, hospitals, med-ical shops, coaching centres,schools and old-age homes. Allthese are required but in aplanned manner. Commercialrelations don’t explain and endeconomic development.Statistical tables cannot narrateall stories. They sometimescontain facades, commercialfacades, conceptual facades.To me, Gorakhpur seems likea box-diagram of internation-al economic theory: one boxwith one equal size box super-imposed over it. People, crowd,events, happenings, stories alltightly packed inside. Thegroup dynamics at its nadir: itsvision considerably obscured.Movement should be in termsof creation of physical assetswhich no doubt is a Herculeantask with long “frution-effects”given meagre developmentalefforts during last decades.What is really more Herculeanis how not to allow concretestructures define and deter-mine the nature and characterof the city; how to make stu-dents visit libraries very oftenand at least have a look at thebooks; how to make ordinarycitizens — the most marginalman — enjoy “human func-tionings”; making them capa-ble to feel life, to love it, to drawpleasure out of it. The seniorjournalist, the Professor, thelibrarian, the co-passenger inthe car whose wont was tolaugh boisterously for no rea-son or rhyme, the bureaucrat

who had evolved himself tojudge people in terms of ugli-er facets of the place they wereborn and raised, the membersof interview board getting per-plexed at mere mention ofnames of Myrdal, Streeten,Adelman and Morris andmany, many more from thegeneral populace like themcan hardly be said to haveenjoyed much of “humanthriving” or “functionings”.

The way to cope withGinsbergian pessimistic out-look that might also emanatefrom realities as obtained incities like Gorakhpur is toremember Henry DavidThoreau’s words recorded inhis celebrated book: WALDENAND OTHER WRITINGS,“The light which puts out oureyes is darkness to us. Only thatday dawns to which we areawake. There is more day todawn.”

It is high time Gorakhpurshould swallow uglier facets ofits past. Gorakhpur with its vastspiritual, religious, historicaland literary past can factor inelements from its marvellous-ly gargantuan heritage intooverall developmental model ofthe city and make headwaytowards a new dawn. Andthen let history judge it — thecity — for history is the bestjudge when it judges dispas-sionately. Recent past, in manyparts of the world includingIndia, is privy to it.

(The writer hails fromGorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.Currently he is working asDirector General in the Office ofComptroller & Auditor Generalof India, New Delhi. He is anacclaimed poet, literary review-er and columnist. In this articlehe shares his experiences aboutthe place he belongs to. Viewsexpressed here are his personalviews.)

The current civil services examinations needto be thoroughly overhauled if it were to

serve as an effective instrument for selectingsuitable candidates for the country’s premiercivil services. Nearly one-year long process,comprising preliminary screening test followedby mains and interview for shortlisted candi-dates, leaves unsuccessful candidates little timeto devote to anything else or to take any breakand they find themselves immersed again intoanother year devoted solely to preparations forthe exam. This cycle is repeated year after yearand some candidates spend as much as 5-6years exclusively in preparations for the civilservices entrance examination. Some of themdo succeed but surely that is not the best wayfor a bright youth to be spending his/her mostproductive years. And look at the colossalwaste of human capital in the case of those whounfortunately are not able to crack the exams.

Average age of the candidates has beensteadily going up over the years. As against24.20 in 1960, it had gone up to 27.50 in 2005largely due to relaxation in the upper agelimit from 24 in 1960 to 32 currently. Ofsome five lakh candidates who took theexams in 2015, nearly 10 per cent were wellpast 30. The upper age limit was raised toprovide a level-playing field to candidatesfrom rural areas and to increase the pro-portion of those from economically back-ward and underprivileged classes to makeour premier civil services more representa-tive of the Indian society, instead of being elit-

ist. But this has resulted in candidates tak-ing multiple attempts without doing anythingelse and wasting prime years of their youth.Instead of contributing to the financialwellbeing and upkeep of their families by tak-ing up jobs which would have been availableto them, they end up becoming an unman-ageable financial burden on their families.Should we encourage this kind of start forour young people?

Administrative Reforms Commission inits report in 2008 expressed doubts over thesuitability of the candidates being current-ly recruited in terms of temperament andmotivation and commented that “entrantsinto civil service at a late age bring with thema baggage of entrenched mindset.” It evenrecommended recruitment after school andlonger training in public administration onthe pattern of recruitment of commissionedofficers in our defence forces.

A large number of engineering andmedical graduates passing out from country’sprestigious institutions, including IITs, aretaking the civil services exams these days. Onecannot normally find fault with this sincecareer choice is a matter of individual free-dom and aptitude except that the professionaldegree acquired with so much of effort is ren-dered useless since that degree can hardly beof much use in the administrative jobs.Considering that most of these institutionsare funded or subsidised by the Government,such non-utilisation of the technical degree

for the intended professional purposesamounts to tremendous wastage ofGovernment funds. It is also a loss of oppor-tunity for someone else who might haveutilised the professional education anddegree better by contributing to the much-needed growth of manufacturing sector andeconomic development of the country.

A big problem with the present structureof the civil services exam is that it requiresextensive preparations leaving someonepursuing a regular or even part-time jobseverely disadvantaged, which explains whycandidates either give up their jobs ordecide not to take up any jobs while attempt-ing the civil services exams.

Long descriptive answers required to begiven in the answer-sheets encourage rotelearning of selected questions and not in-depth understanding and comprehension ofthe subject matter. This problem has per-sisted from the early days and regrettably nosolution has been found even though severalother exams based on objective type testssuch as GMAT, GRE and CAT have beenaround which manage to assess a candidate’sintelligence, capability and potential farmore accurately. The civil services examscurrently depend a great deal on the luck fac-tor since if a candidate finds his anticipatedquestions, which are well prepared by him,in the actual question paper he tends to dowell. Subjectivity in evaluating descriptiveanswers further aggravates the luck factor.

Strangely, performance of the same candi-date could swing from one extreme to anoth-er within the space of one year.

The provision of an optional subject to bechosen by the candidate in addition to gen-eral studies and current affairs is perhaps thebiggest culprit in disturbing the level-playingfield among candidates taking the exams sincedifferent subjects have vastly different scoringpatterns. Good Science and Maths students,for instance, can score very high marks in theiroptional papers but the same would not holdtrue for those who may be equally excellingin their chosen humanities field. In fact, engi-neering graduates often do not find it viableto choose one of their technical subjects as theoptional subject and are forced to select total-ly new subjects like anthropology, sociology,geography, public administration or evenregional languages literature.

The ARC report observed that most ofthe optional subjects had no relevance to “theproblems that a civil servant may need toaddress.” Commenting on this issue, theAlagh Committee on Civil Services ExamReview in 2001 noted that “re-examining thecandidates in their own subjects appears tobe of doubtful utility.”

As a young man of 21 in 1976, I took anumber of service entrance exams andfound the test conducted by SBI for selec-tion of Probationary Officers decidedly thebest — in fact, far better than the civil ser-vices exams. To this date, PO exams remain

worthy of emulation. It starts with one hourobjective type preliminary test comprising3 sections on English language, quantitativeaptitude and reasoning. It is followed bymains exam comprising an objective type testin four relevant sections, including reason-ing, computer aptitude, data analysis, gen-eral economics and English language for 200marks and a small 50 marks descriptive testto assess the candidate’s skill in essay and let-ter writing which has considerable relevancein actual job condition. Qualifying candidateshave to also appear in a “Group Discussion”apart from personal interview.

The Government must take immediatesteps to simplify the civil services exam struc-ture and to shorten the whole process toensure that unduly strenuous preparatorywork is not required to succeed and degreeof subjectivity is reduced to the barest min-imum. That would bring much neededrelief to the candidates and they would alsobe able to continue with their jobs whileappearing in the exam. If this were done, onewould be justified in reducing maximum agelimit and the number of attempts. UPSCshould look at the SBI recruitment exam todraw some inspiration.

(The writer retired from the IndianForeign Service recently and has been asso-ciated with ‘Samkalp’, an NGO, which helpspoor and underprivileged children in prepar-ing for the civil services exams)

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On the last and concludingday of his meetings with

fans from various districts inTamil Nadu held at Chennai,Rajinikanth, the reigningsuperstar of Tamil tinsel townmade it clear that he was readyto wage a battle to make therotten system pure. But he leftunanswered when, what andhow about his future plans.

“Tamil Nadu has some ofthe best political leaders whocould be described as vision-aries. MK Stalin, working pres-ident of the DMK, DrAnbumani Ramadoss, youthwing chief of the PMK, TholThirumavalavan, president ofthe VCK and Seeman are lead-ers with vision, ideas and lead-ership qualities. But the systemis rotten. Democracy is rotten.The way people think ofdemocracy has changed dras-tically. People’s notion aboutdemocracy needs to bechanged,” said Rajinikanthwhile addressing his fans onFriday after being pho-tographed with all who hadcome to meet him.

Hinting that he intends toclean the rotten system bywaging a war, the superstar saidthat he was not sure when thebattle would begin. “We have towage a war. Now all I could tellyou is to go home and do yourwork. The day we will have towage a war, we will take care ofit,” said the Thalaivar (asRajinikanth is addressed by thefans).

He gave a befitting reply tothose who make fun of himthrough social media about hisnon-Tamil background. “I was

in Karnataka till I turned 22. Forthe last 44 years, I am in TamilNadu. It was people in TamilNadu who made me what I amtoday. You made me a Tamilwith your unflinching support.I am a Tamil. If you ask me toget out of Tamil Nadu, all I havegot to go is the Himalayas,”thundered Rajinikanth.

As Rajinikanth tweetedthat he was extremely happyafter his meeting with the fans,Tamil Nadu’s political class gotinto a huddle and started dis-cussing the cascading effects ofhis decision.

But TS Sankara Narayanan,a BJP leader, who is an ardentRajinikanth fan said the actorwould not join politics. “I havebeen following him since 1992.Rajini sir knows that he wouldbe safe if he is away from pol-itics. The speeches he deliveredare only meant for journalists.He knows he would get goodmedia coverage,” he said.

Political commentators,who are well known for theiropposition to the BJP said thatthe BJP at the Centre is dealingwith Rajinikanth through aChennai-based RSS ideologue.“The BJP’s central leadershipwould sponsor Rajinikanth toform an outfit with which theHindutva party would forgeelectoral alliance. This isbecause the BJP’s style of pol-itics would not be accepted inTamil Nadu,” said Sam Rajappa,veteran commentator.

Late Cho Ramaswamy,described as the cultural czar ofTamil Nadu, had alwaysopined that Rajinikanth hasthe potential to emerge as a ral-lying point in Tamil Nadu pol-itics.

There is a vacuum in TamilNadu caused by the exit ofJayalalithaa and Karunan-idhi. The question being askedis whether Rajinikanth couldfill that space.

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Stepping up its attack on theMaha Gathbandhan Governm-

ent in Bihar, the BJP has plannedrallies by prominent leaders of theparty, including party chief AmitShah and UP Chief Minister YogiAdiyanath, by the end of thismonth.

To commemorate completionof three years of Narendra Modi-ledGovernment, the BJP has decidedto send its Chief Ministers to non-BJP ruled States to promote theworks of the Centre. Shah is expect-ed to address two rallies in Patna onMay 27 and in Nalanda on May 30.

State BJP president NityanandRai said UP CM Yogi and DeputyCM Keshav Prasad Maurya willaddress rallies in Bihar. He said thevenue and dates have not beenfinalised, but most likely Mauryawill address rally at Nalanda andYogi’s rally would be held either inPatna or any other town.

Reacting to Yogi’s rally, RJDspokesman Manoj Jha said hewould only vitiate the social atmos-phere by enacting Saharanpur typeviolence in Bihar, but would notsucceed in his gameplan.

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RJD boss Lalu Prasad, on whose 22 allegedpremises had been raided by the Income Tax

department on Tuesday last in Delhi and NCR,asked the authorities and the media to revealwhich were the premises linked to him and whatthe sleuths recovered from there. “Which arethese places? Why have I not received anynotice?” he asked while talking to a section ofelectronic media on Friday.

Lalu in his irrepressible manner thunderedthat he has vowed to oust Narendra Modi-ledNDA Government. “I have put down my feet likeAngad and this Government will not survive itsfive-year term. I will not rest till this regime isousted,” he said sitting on a single cane sofa withhis legs crossed. “Gayi jawani phir na laute, BJPjitna bhi ghee malida khaye,” he chuckled inBhojpuri accent.

However, Lalu got a setback on Friday whenthe Union Ministry of Forest and Environmentordered a stay on work on construction of Bihar’sbiggest mall which is allegedly owned by Lalufamily. Recently, senior BJP functionary SushilKumar Modi submitted a memorandum to theMinistry alleging irregularities and a soil scaminvolving Lalu and his elder son Tej Pratap whois Bihar’s Forest and Environment Minister.

Saying that the BJP was trying to sully hisimage by hurling allegations on him and his fam-ily, Lalu said he could have filed defamation caseagainst them, but he did not. “BJP is worried overmy call of rally of non-BJP parties for BJP hatao,Desh bachao (remove BJP, save country) onAugust 27 and want to gag my voice. But I willfrustrate their conspiracies,” he said.

The RJD supremo has already spoken andinvited leaders of different parties includingAICC president Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal CMMamata Banerjee, BSP head Mayawati andOdisha CM Navin Patnaik among others. Manyof them have accepted his invitation. Bihar CMand JD(U) president Nitish Kumar on Mondaylast said he would attend if invited.

Taking on the Centre, Lalu alleged that theGovernment failed on all fronts and could donothing in three years. In bid to divert the pub-lic attention, he said, it was raking up issues likeGau Raksha and triple talaq. “Some media hous-es are blindly supporting the Government andhave also ganged up against me,” he alleged.

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Even as Telangana was sizzlingdue to the severe heat wave con-

dition, the political climate of theState was also set to hot up with twomajor Opposition parties gearingup for the visit of their top leader-ship.

While the BJP president AmitShah’s three-day hectic tour willbegin on Monday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi willaddress a mammoth public meet-ing at Sangareddy on June 1.

During his three-day visit toNalgonda, Munogode, NagarjunaSagar, Bhongir and Hyderabad,Amit Shah will focus on mobilisingthe party’s workers and alsostrengthen the organisation rightfrom the booth-level committees.

In a clear indication that thesaffron party was ready to go to anyextent to strengthen itself, AmitShah will also dip into the past his-tory of Hyderabad and rekindle thebitter memories of Nizam’s rule. Hewill visit Gundrampally village inNalgonda district and have lunchwith the kin of 160 people who werebelieved to have died while fight-

ing against the rule of Nizam ofHyderabad. This was likely to givea communal tinge to the BJP’s cam-paign in the State

This will be a new addition tothe BJP’s strategy of targeting theruling Telangana Rashtra Samitiover the alleged appeasement ofminorities. The party has alreadydecided to make the 12 per centquota for backward Muslims anissue and Amit Shah was also like-ly to raise it during the visit.

Interestingly, Amit Shah willalso address the party workersmeeting in Hyderabad Lok SabhaConstituency which the party couldnever win in the past and whichremains a fortress of BJP’s bitterrival Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.

It was perhaps part of the strat-egy to further stir the pot based onBJP’s floor leader in the StateAssembly G Kishan Reddy’s alleg-tions that 10,000 illegal migrantsfrom Pakistan and Bangladesh werehiding in Hyderabad. Alleging thatHyderabad was gradually turninginto safe haven for terrorists, KishanReddy told the media that theMIM was backing such anti-nation-al elements and the ruling TRS wasdancing to its tunes.

Meanwhile, the Congress, themain Opposition in the State hasstarted gearing up for the visit ofparty vice-president Rahul Gandhion June 1.

As Rahul Gandhi will beaddressing his first public meetingin the State since the formation ofTelangana in June 2014, Congresswas going all out to mobilise thepeople to Sangareddy town, about50 kms from Hyderabad.

State Congress Committeepresident Uttam Kumar Reddy saidthat Rahul Gandhi will kickstartparty’s campaign for the next elec-tions. “He will release a chargesheetagainst the TRS Government high-lighting its failures during the lastthree years,” Reddy said.

Congress leaders were hopefulthat Rahul’s visit and the publicmeeting named ‘Telangana PrajaGarjana’ will put a new life in therank and file and set the party onthe road to victory in the next elec-tions.

Congress will also target theTRS with the charge of nexus withthe BJP on the ground that the rul-ing party has decided to support theBJP candidate in the Presidentialelections.

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The steam locomotives that usedto be the sheen of the heritage

status Darjeeling HimalayanRailways (DHR) are all set to back ontrack.

The Northeast Frontier Railway(NFR) on Friday signed a Memor-andum of Understanding (MoU)with the Ranchi-based HeavyEngineering Corporation (HEC)Limited, a Government of Indiaenterprise design, to manufactureand supply the 41 critical spares formaking the steam locomotives oper-ational on the tracks which was givena World heritage site status by theUNESCO in 1999.

If everything goes as planned, thesteam locomotives will run on thenarrow gauge of the DHR soon, saidgeneral manager of the NFRChahatey Ram after taking part inthe MoU signing ceremony at theNFR headquarters in Guwahati.“Both the NFR and the HEC hasdecided to join hands together tokeep alive the pride and glory of theDHR,” he said.

The small steam locomotivesknown as B Class engines andreferred to as Iron Sherpas are morethan 100-years-old and it is themainstay of the DHR. It is also themajor tourist attraction.

“Keeping them operational andwith the original features of the locosintact pose a big challenge for theDHR as most of original manufac-turers no more produce such locosor spares. The mission of the NFR isto conserve the DHR heritage bykeeping the steam traction alive forpeople to get a feel of the gloriouspast,” said the senior NFR official.

“The NFR is trying to locate gen-eral drawings for 11 items so that itcan be developed. The signing of theMoU will ensure steady supply ofspares for the steam locomotivefleets, which inturn will ensure opti-mum and efficient utilisation of thelocomotives for sustainability ofDHR and it will go a long way in

turning DHR towards making itcommercially viable,” he added.

It may be mentioned here thattimely availability of the spares forsteam locomotives has been one ofthe major problems for the DHR,which often resulted in suspension ofoperation and loss for it.

“The HECL had already collect-ed a list of 41 critical spares to studyfrom the Tindharia workshop ofNFR. Out of the 41 critical spareparts, 13 items and manufacturingdrawings for these were developed bythe HECL,” he said adding that theHECL has requested NFR for supplyof components as samples to HECLfor generating drawings from reverseengineering.

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Turning up the heat onceagain on Chief Minister

Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Senapresident Uddhav Thackeraysaid on Friday that his partywould walk out of the BJP-ledGovernment if the ruling BJPdid not announce the loanwaiver for the farmers in theState.

Joining the Oppositionparties in the clamour for farmloan waiver, Uddhav said, “Theruling BJP is busy making cal-culations as to how many seatsit will win if the mid-term pollsare to be held now. The peoplehave given everything to theBJP. They still want more.Done, people will give that aswell, but before the people doit, you (the BJP-led govern-ment) should announce farmloan waiver”. “If you announcefarm loan waiver, all ourMinisters will resign and sup-port the Fadnavis Governmentfrom outside. We will not let thisGovernment fall,” the Sena pres-ident said at one stage, assuringhis party’s outside support to theFadnavis Government.

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The death of an youngKarnataka cadre IAS officer

Anurag Tiwari, who was founddead suspiciously near a guesthouse at Lucknow on May 17,has become a major politicalcontroversy in Karnataka. Themajor Opposition BJP has onFriday demanded a CBI probeinto the death amid suspicionof foul play. However, ChiefMinister Siddaramaiah onFriday said his governmentwill cooperate in any inquiryinto it.

Siddaramiah’s reactioncomes in the wake of BJP Statepresident BS Yeddyurappa andLok Sabha member ShobhaKharandlaje of the BJPdemanding a CBI inquiry intothe death, alleging that it wasa murder as the officer waspreparing to expose a majorscandal involving political lead-ers and officers in the Food andCivil Supplies Department.

Kharandlaje had also spoken toUttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath urging him toseek CBI inquiry andYeddyurappa, who is on JanaSampark Abhiyan at Chitrad-urga at north Karnataka alsomade a similar demand.

Siddaramaiah said, accord-ing to reports, the death wasdue to cardiac arrest and

Karnataka Government willextend all cooperation if theUttar Pradesh Governmentwants it to handover the caseto CBI for investigation. “Idon’t know on what basis theallegations were made. But weare ready for inquiry by anyagency,” he added.

Meanwhile, a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) team

from UP, who arrived in thecity on Friday, had discussionwith Home Minister GParameshwara.

Tiwari, a 2007-batch IASofficer serving as commis-sioner of the Food, CivilSupplies and Consumer AffairsDepartment was found deadunder mysterious circum-stances on a roadside inLucknow’s Hazratganj area onMay 17 morning.

Asked about the suspi-cions that Tiwari may havebeen murdered because he wasprobing into a scam involvingthe food department,Siddaramaiah said, “Don’t sayall these things just becausesomeone is saying it. Let theminvestigate, everything will beknown.”

Tiwari’s father BN Tiwarihas alleged his son was elimi-nated, while his brotherMayank has demanded a CBIprobe into the matter.

Speaking to reporters in

Chitradurga, Yeddyurappademanded a CBI probe into thecase. “His (Tiwari’s) brother hassaid he was murdered as he wasunearthing about �2,000 crorescam in the food department.The Chief Minister has to takedirect responsibility for this,” hesaid.

“As this is a matter that isof concern to Uttar Pradeshand Karnataka, I urge that thecase be immediately handedover to the CBI for the truth tocome out. If the Chief Ministeris honest, he has to order a CBIinquiry or else the UttarPradesh Chief Minister will doit,” he added.

Tiwari, who had alsoserved as deputy commission-er in Bidar and Kodagu dis-tricts in the past was staying atMeera Bai guest house with abatchmate after attending amid-career training pro-gramme at Lal Bahadur ShastriNational Academy of Admin-istration in Mussoorie.

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Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao on

Friday saluted the State policefor its huge success in ensuringpeace in the State, curbing theMaoist menace and bringingthe crime rate down.

Addressing first of its kindconference of policemen fromthe level of Sub Inspectors to

the Director General of PoliceKCR said that whenever he vis-ited New Delhi every body,including the Prime Ministerand Home Minister, praised theperformance of State policeand said there was no match toTelangana police in the coun-try.

The day long conference atthe Hyderabad InternationalConvention Center was attend-

ed by nearly 2,000 cops from allover the State and had a directinteraction with the ChiefMinister.

“For women, Hyderabadwill be made as safe as Singaporewhere women fearlessly movearound even at midnight. Withthis spirit we have formed ‘SheTeams’ to curb eveteasing andit has earned laurels from all,”KCR said.

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The post closure of mines and its consequences takes its tollon the people who live there. The story of Kolar Gold Fields

(KGF) in Karnataka is no exception and the population is fac-ing all sorts of problem, including health, which has taken amajor beating with cyanide dumps all around. The KGF, whichwas closed in 2001, is a clear example of trauma of a popula-tion in modern India who has been victims of its glitter. Theclosure led to losing of jobs for over one lakh people and theirfamilies who are living in this town amidst cyanide dumps,which is now a favorite spot for the film shooting. KGF knownas the golden dust bowl now stands mute witness to the trau-ma of a population.

But a doctor in KGF is a ray of hope for the displaced pop-ulation. His mission is to provide free healthcare to the dis-placed population, who need medical care the most. For thepast two decades, Dr B Rajendra Kumar, who was a medicalofficer in the Bharat Goldmines Hospital, has changed thehealthcare concept of the population with his most modernapproach to find answer to all illness faced by the people whowere working in the gold fields.

Dr Rajendra Kumar opens his hospital at 5 in the morn-ing with hundreds of patients queuing up for treatment. Hishospital run by charity has qualified medical and paramed-ical staff to take care of the need of the patients. From MRIscanning, all pathological tests are available under one roof.Dr Kumar feels that it was his mission to provide healthcareto the displaced population.

He said “I have been treating the displaced population herein KGF for over 25 years. I have seen them facing lot of prob-lems and health is a major issue with them. The hospital isrun by a trust and we don’t charge anything from the work-ers of the gold mines. Everyday hundreds of them come hereto take medicine.”

Dr Rajendra Kumar has evolved many unique methods totake healthcare to them. He runs free clinics around the townnear a temple, mosque and a church to reach out to the dis-placed families. His mission for over twenty five years has beenreaching the have-nots. Dr Rajendra Kumar, a cardiologist, usesmost modern gadgets to treat his patients. He is one of the veryfew doctors in the country to implant a chip to anlayse the bloodsugar with the help of internet and GPRS. He records the sugarlevel online and advice the patients about what has to be done.He strongly advocates using technology to reach the people whoare in need of healthcare. He wants Government Hospitals alsotoo use internet and other technology to reach out to the pop-ulation who are in need of health care.

For 70-year-old Selva a patient regularly takes treatmentfor his heart ailment Dr. Rajendra Kumar was a living God.He adores him and says he has saved thousands of poor fam-ilies who do not afford treatment at all.

“I have been coming here for years. He is God to me. Hehas saved people like me who has got nothing. I am alive todaybecause of him,” said Selva.

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Fresh from Delhi where sheheld talks with Congress

president Sonia Gandhi onPresidential elections, BengalChief Minister and TrinamoolCongress chief Mamata Banerjeeon Friday instructed her partyleaders to hold fire against theCongress and target the Left andthe BJP instead.

Issuing directives to apacked house of TMC leaders,who were present and listeningwithout questioning the reason

behind the abrupt U-turn orhow the leaders would explainthe sudden shift to the grass-roots, Mamata bluntly told theparty core committee meetingnot to issue any adverse state-ment against the Congress.

“From now on no one willmake adverse commentsagainst the Congress.” she said.“If needed I will handle a situ-ation but it is a clear cutinstruction to all the leaders torefrain from using any hos-tilecomment against theCongress or its leaders."

The CM, however, afford-ed the TMC leaders potentalternatives to exhaust theirammunition even as she toldthem to raise their decibel levelagainst the CPI(M) and the BJP.

“Concetrate on the CPI(M)and the BJP and expose theirdirty politics of joining handson the sly while attacking eachother in public,” she said addinghow the BJP-led Governmentwas harassing a pro-peopleparty like hers.

Referring to the bail givenby Orissa High Court to Sudip

Banerjee the Chief Ministersaid, “Sudip da’s bail is a causeof relief. We are happy. He hassuffered so much for no fault ofhis. He is unwell and we willask him to take rest when hecomes to Kolkata.”

Banerjee’s sudden changeof track vis a vis the Congressagainst which the Trinamoolhad gone all guns blazing in therecent past was the result of a‘fruitful meeting’ between herand Sonia Gandhi in Delhiwhere the duo discussed‘among other issues’ a consen-

sus Opposition candidate forPresidential elections, insid-ers said.

Moments later she wasseen exchanging pleasantrieswith senior Pradesh Congressleader Abdul Mannan one ofthe whistle blowers and a peti-tioner for CBI investigation inthe Sharada chit fund case —that tended to pull the veneeroff her senior colleagues’ vir-tuous countenance — insidethe Assembly House whereshe enquired after his healthafter quite a few years.

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As India gears up to roll outbiggest tax reform since

the Independence on July 1,the main Opposition inJammu & Kashmir NationalConference (NC) on Fridayasked the State Governmentto come clear on the imple-mentation of GST regimewithout comprising itsautonomous fiscal status vis-à-vis tax structure.

Alleging that the StateGovernment did not discussone tax regime with the stake-holders, the business com-munity of Kashmir has cau-tioned the State Governmentagainst implementation ofGST stating that they won’tallow infringement of theState’s special status.

The J&K Government isintroducing its own GST Billin a special session of the leg-islature in view of its specialconstitutional position toenact GST law.

Meanwhile, UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitleyassured the State Government

that the Centre would extendall possible help in restruc-turing the GST implementa-tion for Jammu & Kashmirwhile respecting the specialstatus of the State.

“Jammu & KashmirAssembly has the completeright to implement GST in theState. Those who are oppos-ing implementation of GSTare actually against the peo-ple because consumers of theState have to give double tax.First, they have to give tax oninputs and then on finalproducts because if GST is notimplemented here then theywon’t get the input credit,”Jaitley said.

Jaitley, who is alsoDefence Minister, refused tomake distinction between ter-rorists of local and foreign ori-gin and said the people whoresort to violence will betaken into account for theiractivities.

“Terrorism and militancyare aimed against the IndianState and its sovereignty, andalso against the people ofJammu and Kashmir. Theeffect of their actions is that

besides security personal,local citizens are also losingtheir lives. And those whotake to violence of this mag-nitude will certainly beaccountable for their actions.”

He said that during hisvisit to the Line of Control hefound the enthusiasm andpreparedness of troops laud-able. “The troops are fullyconfident to deal with any sit-uation effectively,” he said.

He reiterated that theGovernment of India wouldnot engage in dialogue (withseparatists) until the situationin Kashmir returns to nor-malcy.

On alleged involvementof a separatist leader inhawala transactions, asreported by a TV channelclaiming a sting operation,Jaitley said that the operationhas only confirmed that theseparatists are being fundedby Pakistan and they instigateviolence, target schools andhospitals and back violence.He said the agencies con-cerned would take cognizanceof the issue and initiate rele-vant action.

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Aetna International hasannounced the first phase

of the global launch of ’vHealthby Aetna’.

India is the first market inthe world to see the launchof‘vHealth by Aetna’ and is set tobecome the centre of excellencefor global expansion of this ser-vice, with subsequent launchesplanned in other key globalmarkets later this year. TheIndian Health Organisation,Aetna International’s fullyowned subsidiary in India, plansto have 4 million members inIndia by 2020, with revenue of�300 cr.

‘vHealth by Aetna’ is set totransform health care across theworld. The service is set to givepatients a very different expe-rience when they see a doctor,designed so that doctors haveextended time with patients, tolisten to their concerns, andtreat them with courtesy andprofessionalism. Consultationsare delivered virtually, througha new mobile app, where theycan communicate with in-houseprimary doctors by video call,or by telephone call. The doc-tors can prescribe, refer to spe-cialists, and advise on medicalconcerns. Not only does thisinnovative service provide com-prehensive, accessible primaryhealth care, it also paves the wayfor a fully connected care pack-age, reducing the need for hos-pital visits, and allowing mem-bers to manage their own healthand keep all their health carerecords in one place.

��%��High GST rates on hos-pitality will be the “final nail” in thecoffin for the sector which is alreadyreeling under demonetisation andliquor ban along the highways,according to industry players.

The high incidences of taxes willmake India uncompetitive when itcomes to tourism as internationaltourists will skip the country as a des-tination, they said.

Under the GST rates announcedon Friday, 5-star hotels will becharged 28 per cent while AC restau-rants and those with liquor licence willbe taxed at 18 per cent.

“The initial reaction is of greatdespair...28 per cent would be the endof the industry,” Federation of Hotelsand Restaurants Associations ofIndia (FHRAI) Vice President GarishOberoi said in a statement.

He further said India’s hospital-ity has already been suffering a lot dueto various developments in therecent past.

“(After) demonetisation, liquorban on highways, this will be the final

nail in the hospitality (sector) coffin,”Oberoi said.

Expressing similar sentiment,Hotel and Restaurant Association ofWestern India (HRAWI) past-President Bharat Malkani said: “Oneof the biggest hurdles for Indian hos-pitality and tourism, in terms ofattracting international tourists is itsuncompetitive tax structure”.

The Government should realisecountries like Myanmar, Thailand,Singapore, Indonesia and otherslevy taxes ranging from 5 to 10 percent. India cannot afford to have these

kind of complex and high GST,HRAWI President Dilip Datwanisaid.

“This is simply not viable.Tourists will simply skip India,” headded.

As per rates fixed by the GSTCouncil in its meeting held onFriday at Srinagar, non-AC restau-rants will charge 12 per cent GST onfood bill. Restaurants with �50 lakhor below turnover will go under the5 per cent composition.

Tax rate for AC restaurants andthose with liquor licence will be 18

per cent.Hotels and lodges charging per

day tariff of �1,000 will be exemptfrom GST. Rate for hotels with tariffof �1,000 to 2,000 per day would be12 per cent while those with tariff of�2,500 to �5,000 would be 18 per cent.

GST for hotels with tariff above�5,000 will be 28 per cent.

“While we applaud the govern-ment’s effort to keep GST at 5 per centfor restaurants below 50 lacs and 12per cent for restaurants without AC.We are disappointed with the highGST slab of 18 per cent for organisedrestaurants and 28 per cent for 5 starrestaurants. This will not go a long wayto promote tourism and tourism relat-ed jobs”, National RestaurantAssociation of India (NRAI)President Riyaaz Amlani said.

Striking a contrarian note, OYOFounder & CEO Ritesh Agarwal said:“A lower tax rate for budget hotels sec-tor will ensure that the industry’s qual-ity upgrade continues while deliver-ing standardised accommodation tomillions of middle- class travellers. ��”

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��%� �� Auto industry onFriday termed clubbing of hybridvehicles along with luxury cars inGST rates as environmentunfriendly and regressive step, say-ing it went against plans to pro-mote green vehicles.

Under the GST ratesannounced yesterday, large carswith engine greater than 1,500 ccand SUVs with length more than4 metres and engine greater than1,500 cc are slated to attract 15 percent cess over and above peak rateof 28 per cent.

Hybrid vehicles will also fallin the category under GST. Incomparison, tax on electric vehi-cles has been kept at 12 per cent.

At present hybrid vehiclesattract excise duty of 12.5 per cent,similar to the ones on entry levelsmall cars such as Tata Nano orMaruti Alto.

Some of the popular hybridvehicles sold in India are CamryHybrid and Prius from Toyota andHonda Accord. These are pricedbetween �31.98 lakh to �38.96lakh.

“This is a very environmentunfriendly, regressive tax rate as faras hybrid vehicles are concerned.It goes against the government’s

drive to promote eco-friendlyvehicles,” Toyota Kirloskar MotorVice Chairman and Whole TimeDirector Shekar Viswanathan toldthe news agency.

He said this was not expect-ed from this government, whichhas been very forward lookingotherwise.

“Hybrids and electric vehiclesfeed from the same ecosystem andthe least that they could have donewas to keep the rate on hybridvehicles at peak rate of 28 per centwithout the cess,” Viswanathansaid.

Expressing similar sentiments,Maruti Suzuki India Chairman RCBhargava said: “Putting hybrid carsat par with luxury cars is againstthe stated Government policy topromote use of such vehicles. Weare going to seek clarity on thematter”.

He further said: “We believeit as an inadvertent error on thepart of the government, unless theyhave decided to change the poli-cy on promoting such cars in thecountry”.

Society of Indian AutomobileManufacturers secretary generalVishnu Mathur said: “We don’tunderstand at this moment why

the Government has not contin-ued with the promotion of hybridvehicles when it is trying to pro-mote green vehicles.”

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL)Senior Vice-President (Marketingand Sales) Jnaneswar Sen said: “Wewill have to wait and watch till

there is clarity on second phase ofFAME scheme. As things standnow, there will be an impact onAccord Hybrid”.

Overall, the industry playerswere unanimous that the GSTrates will not impact prices of nor-mal cars and passenger vehicles in

a big way.“As far as all cars are con-

cerned, there would be minimalimpact. It is only hybrid cars whichwill have an impact as they havebeen placed at the highest taxbracket along with luxury cars,”Bhargava said.

Viswanathan also said theGST rates will not push up carprices much and from that pointit is consumer friendly.

Society of Indian AutomobileManufacturers (SIAM) presidentVinod Dasari pointed out that dif-ferential GST for electric vehicleswould help electric mobility to gainmomentum in the country.

“We would have liked to seea similar differential duty onhybrid vehicles to continue,” headded.

The Government has alwaysencouraged environment-friend-ly technologies and with the cur-rent focus on reducing emissionsof greenhouse gases and carbonfootprint, one would have expect-ed the lower taxation to continueon such vehicles in a technologyagnostic manner, Dasari said.

Besides, the inclusion of 10-13seater vehicles used mainly for pub-lic transport in the same tax brack-

et as luxury cars with a 15 per centcess is also unexpected and maymerit a review, Dasari said.

Hyundai Motor IndiaDirector, sales and marketing,Rakesh Srivastava said the newGST structure seems to be a “zerosum game” for auto industry.

“The placement of green vehi-cles in highest slabs of GST is con-trary to the spirit of promotinggreen mobility in India,” he added.

The move will adverselyimpact the hybrid vehicles’ accep-tance in future, Srivastava said.

Under the GST rates, cars willattract the top rate of 28 per centwith a cess in the range of 1 to 15per cent on top of it.

While small petrol cars withengine less than 1,200 cc willattract 1 per cent cess, that witha diesel engine of less than1,500 cc will attract 3 per centcess.

Large cars with enginegreater than 1,500 cc and SUVswith length more than 4 metresand engine greater than 1,500 ccwill attract cess of 15 per cent.

Earlier this year, govern-ment withdrew incentives givento mild hybrid vehicles underFAME India scheme. ��

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Umbrella organisation of automakers SIAM on Friday wel-comed the GST rates for automobiles saying the new tax

rates would help in stimulating demand.“The rates are as per the expectations of the industry and

almost all segments have benefited by way of a reduced over-all tax burden in varying degree,” Society of Indian AutomobileManufacturers (SIAM) president Vinod Dasari said in a state-ment.

It will stimulate demand and strengthen the automotivemarket in the country, paving the way for meeting the visionlaid down in the Automotive Mission Plan 2016-26, he added.

The Government has done well to ensure stability in tax-ation while at the same time moderating the taxes, wherev-er they were too high, Dasari said. He, however pointed outthat differential GST for electric vehicles would also help elec-tric mobility to gain momentum in the country.

“We would have liked to see a similar differential duty onhybrid vehicles to continue,” he added.

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Traders body CAIT on Fridaysuggested the first nine

months of GST, from its rolloutdate of July 1, should be treatedas a ‘trial period’ and no punitiveaction taken against businessesfor ‘procedural mistakes’ to allowthem to get familiarised with thenew regime.

Commenting on the out-come of the GST Council meet-ing that concluded today, CAITSecretary General PraveenKhandelwal said that classifica-tion of goods under different taxslabs of GST are ‘by and large’ fit-ted in the correct basket and itis expected that goods willbecome cheaper under the newindirect tax regime.

“However, on the other side,several items which have beenplaced under higher category oftax rate will disturb the pricingstructure and pinch the commonman,” said B C Bhartia, presidentof the Confederation of All IndiaTraders (CAIT).

He pointed out that itemslike pickles, sauces, and instant

mixer pertaining to food pro-cessing which are consumed bylarge number of people, havebeen placed under the higher taxrate of 18 per cent.

The CAIT further said thatwhile the GST should be imple-mented from the scheduled dateof July 1, the remaining ninemonths of the current fiscal“may be declared as trial period”and except habitual offenders,no action should be takenagainst traders for proceduralmistakes.

“Let this period be a learn-ing period and a process of rec-tification may be carried out inorder to ensure greater compli-ance under GST,” the traders’body said.

It also suggested that itemslike cement, paint, marble, ply-wood, and other hardware relat-ed to construction should beplaced under lower tax slab.

The CAIT also said thatauto spare parts used for repairsof vehicles and maintenancehave been placed under the taxslab of 28 per cent which needsre-consideration.

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With companies indicat-ing a possible rise in

prices on the Goods andServices Tax rollout fromJuly 1, the finance ministryon Friday warned India Incagainst raising rates arbi-trarily in anticipation of theGST.

The tax department mayinvoke the anti-profiteer-ing clause after the mecha-nism is put in place and maylook into balance sheet ofcompanies i f they havegained from the GST andwhether the benefits havebeen passed on to con-sumers.

“The machinery for theanti-profiteering authoritymay not be ready at presentbut any change in prices willbe called into questioned,”R e ve nu e S e c re t ar yHas mu k h Ad h i a s a i d ,adding that any fluctuationsin prices will be closelymonitored.

The GST Council in itstwo-day meet finalised therates for goods and ser-vices, giving companies ade-quate time to work out theirpricing policies.

Adhia said the govern-ment will soon begin workon setting up an anti-profi-teering agency, as proposedin the GST law and the taxdepartment may even initi-ate suo motu action againstfirms.

“We expect companiesto cooperate. We hope wedon’t have to use the weapon(of anti-profiteering author-ity),” he said.

The GST Act includesthe provision of setting upan anti-profiteering author-ity to ensure that companiespass on the benefit of taxreduction to customers.

The GST Council hasfitted the goods and servicesin tax brackets of 5, 12, 18and 28 per cent.

Adhia said that despitethe higher standard rate of1 8 p e r c e nt , s e r v i c eproviders will get input taxcredit that will lower theeffective incidence of the

GST to around the currentincidence of 15 per cent.

The tax department feelstax cut benefits should bepassed on to consumersthrough more transparentbilling.

Several analysts haveopined that consumers mayhave to bear the brunt of thehigher tax.

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��%��Tax rates on fastmoving consumer goods(FMCG) items under GSTwill drive consumption,although a few home careproducts and shampooscould become pricier,according to industry play-ers.

The country’s largestFMCG firm HindustanUnilver (HUL) said laundrydetergents and dish washingbars, which have been taxedat 28 per cent, must be giventhe same treatment as otherdaily necessity products inthe interest of consumers tomaintain basic hygiene.

Welcoming the overallclassification, Marico LtdMD and CEO Saugata Guptasaid: “We understand thatthe GST rate structure isextremely positive, encour-aging and augurs well for theindustry. It is anti-inflation-ary in nature and will helpdrive consumption as well aslong-term economicgrowth.”

Expressing similar views,Dabur India Chief FinancialOfficer Lalit Malik said:“Overall, the new rates aremarginally favourable.”

He further said thatexcept for home care prod-ucts and shampoos, whichwill attract 28 per cent GST,most FMCG products havebeen placed at 18 per cent orbelow levels and this is on theexpected lines. ��

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#��&��%��State Bankof India (SBI), the country’slargest lender, on Friday report-ed more than doubling of itsfourth quarter net profit on theback of increased lending andreduction in provisioning forbad loans.

Net profit of the bank onstandalone basis rose to�2,814.82 crore for the Marchquarter as against �1,263.81crore in the same period of pre-vious fiscal, 2015-16.

Operating profit of thebank during the quarterincreased 13 per cent at �16,026crore as against �14,192 crore inthe same period of previousyear.

Total income increased to�57,720 crore for the quarterended March 31, 2017 from�53,526.97 crore for the samequarter year ago.

During the quarter, theNet Interest Income increasedby 17.33 per cent to �18,071crore as against �15,401 crore inthe same quarter a year ago.

The gross NPAs rose to 6.9per cent from 6.5 per cent forthe quarter ended March 2016while net NPAs declined to 3.71per cent from 3.81 per cent dur-ing the same period.

SBI chairman ArundhutiBhattacharya said ‘loan lossprovisions’ were lowered to�10,993 crore during the fourthquarter of last fiscal as against�12,139 crore in the year-agoperiod.

In absolute terms, gross

NPAs increased to �1,12,343crore on March 2017 from�98,173 crore in the same peri-od last year.

She said that this was its lastsolo financial result as all theassociate banks and BharatiyaMahila Bank had been mergedwith it.

The fourth quarter resultdoes not take into accountacquisition of its five associatesState Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur,State Bank of Mysore, StateBank of Travancore, State Bankof Patiala, and State Bank ofHyderabad and BharatiyaMahila Bank (BMB) as themerger came into effect fromApril 1.

Commenting upon thequarter, she said it had beendifficult but satisfying quarterand the biggest thing whichhad happened was the merger.

“This was a seven-waymerger and the first time in thehistory of the world,”Bhattacharya told reportershere on Friday.

The board of SBI declared

a dividend of �2.60 per share or260 per cent for the financialyear ended March 31, 2017.

Bhattacharya said SBI haddone well on a solo basis andthe bank had decided to absorbthe maximum pain arising outof the merger as a result ofwhich the current quarterwould be stressful.

“In the near term, marginswill be under pressure due toelevated credit cost due to themerger. At the same time thedeposits of the associate bankswill be re-priced which willhave a positive impact,” she said.

Owing to this two-way pres-sure, the outlook of the marginsis stable, she said.

For the entire fiscal endedMarch 2017, the net profit ofthe bank improved by 5.36 percent to �10,484 crore asagainst �9,951 crore in the pre-vious fiscal. Net InterestMargin (Domestic) declined by0.16 per cent to 3.11 per centas on March 2017 from 3.27per cent at the end of previousfiscal. ��

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Rafael Nadal's winning streak ended at 17matches as he lost in straight sets to DominicThiem in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open

on Friday.The 6-4, 6-3 victory was a sort of revenge for

Thiem, who was beaten by the Spaniard in theMadrid Open final last week.

The 30-year-old Nadal, who was seeded fourth,had won consecutive clay-court tournaments inMonte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid and was aim-ing for an eighth title at the Foro Italico as he pre-pares for the French Open in less than two weeks.

Thiem could be considered third time lucky ashe lost back to back clay court finals – Barcelonaopen and Madrid Open – to NAdal, finally defeat-ing the clay court king in Rome.

The Canadian will now face Novak Djokovicor Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals.

Earlier on Thursday, Fourth-seeded Nadalbroke Sock's serve twice in the second set and servedout the match to set up a last-eight meeting withThiem.

"I am here to try my best. I know (it) is a toughtournament. I don't have an easy draw here, a toughone," Nadal said. "Dominic is the player that is hav-ing probably more success now on clay, no? So willbe another tough battle tomorrow."

The 30-year-old Nadal has won consecutive clay-court tournaments in Monte Carlo, Barcelona andMadrid. The Spaniard is aiming for an eighth titleat the Foro Italico as he prepares for the French Openin less than two weeks.

"I think I can play a little bit more aggressive thanwhat I did tonight. I think I have to do it," Nadalsaid. "But in general terms I am happy with the waythat I played, obviously."

Thiem also beat an American but had to savetwo match points in a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory overSam Querrey.

Four-time champion Novak Djokovic is alsosafely through to the quarterfinals after beatingRoberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4. Second-seededDjokovic next plays Juan Martin del Potro after theArgentine ousted seventh-seeded Kei Nishikori 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Djokovic seemed in full control when he went3-1 up in the second set but allowed the Spaniardto fight back to 4-4 before going on to seal the match.

Bautista Agut could have gone 5-4 up in the sec-ond set after Djokovic appeared to send the ball longbut the umpire said it was in. Television replaysshowed the ball was out.

Instead it was Djokovic who broke to take a 5-4 lead and won the match when he had a forehandruled in.

Third-seeded Stan Wawrinka went out of thetournament after losing 7-6 (1), 6-4 to AmericanJohn Isner, who served up 19 aces in their match.

"It's a situation for me where I'm going out thereagainst the No. 3 player in the world. Maybe I havea little bit less to lose than he does," Isner said. "Iwent out there with the belief that, if I played well

and executed my game plan, that I could walk offthat court with a win. That's what happenedtoday."

ome favorite Fabio Fognini, who saw off top-seeded Andy Murray on Tuesday, lost 6-3, 6-3 toAlexander Zverev, who will play fifth-seeded MilosRaonic in the quarterfinals after the Canadian beat

Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-2.In the women's draw, Venus Williams defeated

Johanna Konta 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.Konta had won her previous three meetings

against Williams but the American dominated thefirst set. Although Konta rallied in the second, anoth-er double break in the third handed Williams vic-

tory. Williams will take on Garbine Muguruza afterthe 2016 French Open champion beat Julia Gorges7-5, 6-4.

"I love this tournament, and I love Rome,"Williams said. "It's one of my favorite places on earth,so that's one of the reasons why I have always comehere.

"You know, I have had a good amount of suc-cess here."

Second-seeded Karolina Pliskova is also safelythrough after easing past experienced clay-courtplayer Timea Bacsinszky 6-1, 7-5. The Czech nextfaces eighth-seeded Elina Svitolina, who recoveredto beat Mona Barthel 3-6, 6-0, 6-0.

Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit, who beattop-ranked Angelique Kerber in the second round,continued her dream debut. Kontaveit beat 16th-seeded Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-1, 6-1 to set up aquarterfinal against Madrid Open champion SimonaHalep.

"I'm just really trying to take it match by matchand setting these really small goals," the 21-year-oldKontaveit said.

Sixth-seeded Halep beat AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova 6-1, 4-6, 6-0.

Qualifier Daria Gavrilova beat seventh-seededSvetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 and Kiki Bertenswon 7-6 (3), 6-1 over Russia's Ekaterina Makarova.

�� #(�# ��%��Paris: Maria Sharapova said Friday she will not

request a wildcard for Wimbledon, instead optingto play in qualifying for the Grand Slam she wonin 2004, as she returns from a doping ban.

"Because of my improved ranking after the firstthree tournaments of my return, I will also be play-ing the qualifying of Wimbledon, and will not berequesting a wildcard into the main draw," saidSharapova on her website.

"A few months ago I received a wildcard offerfrom Birmingham, one of my most memorable tour-naments as a young player. I am so grateful and excit-ed to be playing this event again!" she said.

$# ��6��(��C��Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas came from

behind to knock out seventh seeds FelicianoLopez and Marc Lopez, sealing a quarterfinals berthat the ATP Rome Masters, here.

Bopanna and Cuevas rallied to beat theSpaniards 4-6, 7-6 (7), 10-8 in a gruelling secondround match of the �4,507,375 clay court tourna-ment.They next face fourth seeded pair of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.

Meanwhile, in the WTA event, India's SaniaMirza and Shvedova, seeded third, will face SaraErrani and Martina Trevisan in the quarters.

�� 9@/8@/�

If Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger istroubled about his future, he's not

showing it.Approaching Sunday's Premier

League season finale against Everton,which could determine whether Arsenalwill play in the Champions League nextseason, Wenger again gave little away.

Wenger's contract is up at the end ofthe season, so this weekend's match couldbe his last at Emirates Stadium.

"This season, yes," Wenger said,adding that his future will be discussedat a board meeting after Arsenal playsChelsea in the FA Cup final on May 27.

Arsenal is in real danger of missingout on a top-four finish for the first timein 20 seasons under the Frenchman.

In a three-way race for the final twoChampions League qualification spots,Arsenal is the outsider.

Manchester City has 75 points,Liverpool has 73, and Arsenal has 72.

City, which has the best goal differ-ence, plays at Watford and Liverpoolhosts already-relegated Middlesbrough.

Arsenal has been playing well lately,winning four straight league games, butits rebound may have come too late.

"It doesn't matter about chances. Weare professional and we have to do ourjob," Wenger said.

"We do not need to look at any othergame. That's all we can do, win ourgame."

Much speculation has also sur-rounded the future of Alexis Sanchez andMesut Ozil, but Wenger claimed theywould both stay, even if Arsenal missesout on the Champions League.

"First of all, they are under contract.And they behave like they want to be atthe club," Wenger said.

"I don't question their focus and their

determination because in every gamethey turn up with strong performances."

Like Wenger, Liverpool managerJurgen Klopp was also in a philosophi-cal mood on Friday.

"If we have enough points, we deserveChampions League. If we don't, wedon't," the German said.

"The best thing would be 4-0 aftertwo minutes but that is not possible."

�#��$##�England striker Harry Kane's four

goals in Tottenham's 6-1 win overLeicester put him two ahead of Evertonfoward Romelu Lukaku in the race to fin-ish at the top of the Premier League scor-ing chart.

Kane, last year's Golden Boot winner,has 26 league goals while Lukaku has 24and Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez has23.

Despite missing three months of the

season because of injury, Kane is the firstTottenham player to score four hat tricksin a season since Jimmy Greaves in 1968-69.

Tottenham, guaranteed to finish insecond place behind champion Chelsea,ends its season at relegated Hull.

��#�Sunday's game at Arsenal could be

Lukaku's last match for Everton.The Belgium forward has refused to

commit to a new long-term contract andhas made clear his desire to play in theChampions League, something Evertoncannot offer.

Chelsea can, however, and if DiegoCosta leaves Stamford Bridge, the Bluescould be interested in bringing Lukakuback to west London.

Despite going the last four gameswithout a goal, the Belgian has enjoyedthe best season of his career.

�� FF��Watford said this week that manager

Walter Mazzari would step down after thefinal game of the season againstManchester City.

Hull manager Marco Silva is thefavorite to replace him, while formerRussia coach Leonid Slutsky and formerLeicester manager Claudio Ranieri havealso been mentioned as possible candi-dates.

�#�� #��Son Heung-min became the highest-

scoring South Korean player in a Europeanseason on Thursday, scoring twice forTottenham at Leicester to break a 31-year-old record.

Son enters Tottenham's final game ofthe season on Sunday with 21 goals, hav-ing surpassed Cha Bum-kun's 19-goal haulat German club Bayer Leverkusen in the1985-86 season.

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Harry Kane's first ever four-goal haul pro-pelled him to the top of the Premier

League scoring charts with the Tottenhamstriker in the "driving seat" to finish top scor-er when the final league games are played onSunday.

The 23-year-old, whose goals along witha double from Korean star Son Heung-min sawthis season's runners-up hammer last year'schampions Leicester 6-1, added he hopedHugo Lloris could also win the Golden Glovefor the least goals conceded when they roundoff their league season at relegated Hull.

Kane tops the Golden Boot charts with 26goals, two ahead of Everton's Romelu Lukakuwith Arsenal's Chilean marksman AlexisSanchez third, a further goal adrift.

"I wanted to get one or two goals at leastand take it to the final game," Kane told SkySports.

"I am in the driving seat but there's still onemore game. I am not resting on my laurels butI hope to get four more.

"Hopefully I can get the Golden Boot andhopefully Hugo Lloris can get the GoldenGlove.

"It is disappointing to concede but hope-fully we can keep a clean sheet against Hull,"added Kane, who has scored five hat-tricks forhis club in just over two years.

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino saidhe was proud how Kane had shown he is oneof the best strikers in the world in again con-testing to be leading scorer despite two spellsout injured.

"It is fantastic for him," he told SkySports.

"It is a season again where he fights to bethe top scorer in the Premier League.

“He is great, he is one of the best strikersin the world.

"He will try to keep going in the next gameand try to finish in the best way."

The 45-year-old Argentinian said he wasnot worried Kane would leave in the close sea-son as Spurs were in a position to keep theplayers they wanted to keep.

"It is very clear we will keep the players wewant to keep and we will maybe sell the play-ers we want to sell," said Pochettino.

"We are so, so calm about our key players.They are happy here, we have an exciting pro-ject,” said the Spurs manager.

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The India U-17 World Cup Squadstunned their fancied Italian

counterparts 2-0 in Arizo, Italy onFriday.

The win epitomises the grit anddetermination of the Indian Coltswho have been grinding togethersince February 2013.

Strikes by Abhijit Sarkar (31')and Rahul Praveen (80') led theirteam to a massive win over the'Azzuri' in a match largely domi-nated by the Indian Colts in termsof possession and chances created.

India got off the blocks and gavethe opposition a tough time.

Komal Thatal's 8th minutestrike went whiskers past the Italiancustodian as India hunted in packsfor an early lead.

In the 13th minute, Aniketcame close to opening the goal scor-ing charts for India but his effortwent straight down the keeper'sthroat resulting in an easy save.

In the 31st minute, however, thegoal for the India came whenSarkar's cross took a wicked deflec-tion off the Italian defence line andended up in the back of the oppo-sition net.

After India led 1-0 at half-time, the Colts searched to extendthe their lead and safeguard theresult.

In the 59th minute, Aniketmissed a one versus one chanceagainst the Italian goalkeeper afterhe rounded the opposition custo-dian up but failed to convert.

Rahul in the 75th minute cameclose to scoring when he failed totap the ball home from handshak-ing distance after Aniket's shothad earned an uncanny save by theItalian custodian.

Goal scoring chances everynow and then had to bear fruits andit did for the India in the 80thminute when Rahul scored frominside the box to double India's lead.

With India all set to host theFIFA Under-17 Footbal World Cuplater this year, this victory over aEuropean team could prove veryuseful in generating greater inter-est among fans as well as less-inter-ested viewers for the tournamentand making it successful.

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Indian boys and girls qualified for the AsianJuniors, after attaining top-of-the-table posi-

tion in group league on the first day of theSouth Asian Junior Table TennisChampionships at Mount Lavinia, nearColombo, on Friday.

In Junior Boys, India beat Maldives andBangladesh with an identical margin of 3-0 andwill take on both hosts Sri Lanka and Pakistanto complete the group events.

With two wins already in their pocket,Indian boys have made the cut for Asian JuniorChampionships, to be held in Ansan (Korea)from June 29 to July 4. At the end of the groupmatches the second team that joins India willbe known tomorrow. As for the Junior Girls,both India and Sri Lanka qualified. In the groupmatches today, India thumped Sri Lanka,Pakistan and Maldives for 3-0 score-lines to keepa clean slate and lead the table with six points.

Lanka, who beat the other two teams with-out a hiccup, finished as the second best teamto qualify. Meanwhile, India's Cadet Girls team,comprising Anusha Kutumbale, VanshikaBhargave and Swastika Ghosh, defeated SriLanka 3-0 in their last group league match to fin-ish on top and claim the gold medal.

Earlier, they beat Pakistan and Maldives andthe wins were as sweet as the one against hosts,the margin being 3-0 in both cases. The boys'team consists of Manav Vikas Thakkar, H Jeho,Jeet Chandra, Manush Shah, Parth Virmani,Payas Jain and Chinmaya Somaiya while the girlssquad has Archana Kamath, Anusha Kutumbale,Moumita Datta, Priyanka Pareek, Selena DeepthiSelvakumar, Swastika Ghosh and VanshikaBhargava.

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