ˇ ˜˜ ˚˙ # RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... 60 per kg at Safal outlets run by...

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A s the stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops continues in Sikkim, China on Wednesday alleged that India was acting at the behest of Bhutan by crossing the boundary to obstruct con- struction of a road in the Chinese territory. Beijing also said future visits of pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar through Nathu La in Sikkim will depend on whether India will “correct its errors.” With the face-off between the soldiers of the two sides con- tinuing for the 12th day, Army chief General Bipin Rawat is likely to visit Sikkim on Thursday to take stock of the sit- uation. He will also visit some other States in the North-East, sources said on Wednesday. The Army has rushed more reinforcements to the site of the deadlock in the Doka La area of Sikkim. Doka La is at the tri-junction of Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet and is strategically important for India as the crucial Siliguri cor- ridor known in military par- lance as ‘Chicken’s Neck’ hav- ing road and rail head, is just 50 to 60 kms from there. While accusing the Indian troops of transgressing the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to stop construction of a road by China, Beijing also hinted that India did so at the behest of Bhutan which does not have diplomatic ties with China. It is learnt that Bhutan Ambassador in India issued a demarche to the Chinese Ambassador through its embassy in New Delhi asking Beijing to stop and refrain from changing status quo in the Doka La area. He claimed that the Chinese Army’s road con- struction work was progressing towards the Bhutanese Army camp at Zom Pelri. Bhutan and China are engaged in talks to settle the border dispute. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang hinted that India was objecting to China’s efforts to build the road in Donglang (Doka La) area of the Sikkim sector on behalf of Bhutan. Taking a dig at India, Lu said Bhutan is a universally recognised sovereign country. “Hope countries can respect the sovereignty of the country. The China-Bhutan boundary is not delineated, no third party should interfere in this matter and make irre- sponsible remarks or actions,” he said. “If any third party, out of hidden agenda, interferes it is disrespect of the sovereignty of Bhutan. We don’t want to see this as Bhutan is a country enti- tled to sovereignty by the inter- national community,” Lu said. Terming the construction of road as “legitimate,” the spokesman said on Wednesday the road was being built on Chinese territory that neither belongs to India nor Bhutan and no other country had the right to interfere. However, Bhutan has refuted China’s claim that the construction of road at China-India-Bhutan tri-junction was an undis- putable area. “Donglang is part of China’s territory. This is indis- putable. The Donglang area belonged to China since ancient times and it doesn’t belong to Bhutan,” he said. “India wants to raise an issue with this part. I should say it doesn’t belong to Bhutan, nor does it belong to India. So we have complete legal basis for this. Chinese construction of the road project is legitimate and normal action on its terri- tory. No other country has the right to interfere,” he said while replying to a question. Lu defended China’s deci- sion to shut the Nathu La pass in Sikkim for Indian pilgrims, saying that China had agreed to open the route as the boundary there has been delin- eated with the consent of both the countries. “For a long time in the interest of India-China rela- tions, China provided great conveniences to the Indian pilgrims. Based on the con- sensus between the two coun- tries’ leaders, and on the fact that the Sikkim sector bound- ary is delineated and recog- nised by two countries, the Chinese side in 2015 opened the Nathu La pass for Indian pilgrims,” he said. For two years it worked well and in fact this year also the Chinese authorities had prepared for the reception of Indian pilgrims and informed the Indian side about it, Lu said. “Now the suspension of the same is an emergency response to the situation there. I want to stress that the resumption of pilgrims’ passage requires the necessary atmosphere and con- ditions. So the liability of the same totally lies with the Indian side and when it will be reopened depends on when or whether the Indian side will correct its errors,” he said. Lu on Tuesday had also justified the move to construct a road in the Sikkim sector, say- ing that the area is “undoubt- edly” located on its side of the border as per the 1890 Sino- British Treaty on Sikkim. “According to the treaty, ‘Zhe’ is the ancient name of Sikkim,” Lu said. “As per this treaty, the area over which the Indian Army has raised objection is undoubtedly located on the Chinese side of the border,” he had said on Tuesday. Continued on Page 4 T he Opposition is not warm- ing up to the Modi Government’s ambitious plan to hold a midnight bash to usher India into the GST era. While the Congress is yet to confirm its participation in the midnight function in Parliament on Friday, the Trinamool Congress and Left parties announced that they would not participate in it at all. Several Opposition parties have also questioned the propriety of Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching the biggest tax reform in India’s his- tory when President Pranab Mukherjee will be present on the occasion. . Congress sources said that a final call on the party’s decision to attend the function will be taken after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi consults senior leaders. The Government has invit- ed all Members of Parliament and Chief Ministers and has also requested former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda to join Modi and the President at the high table. Singh is yet to con- firm his participation. Though no official word has come as to whether the Congress will participate, it has raised objections to the Centre’s invitation, which says that Modi will launch the new tax regime. “How can the Prime Minister launch the GST in the presence of the President? This is not done and acceptable,” said Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. The invite, sent by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar for the function in Parliament’s Central Hall, says Modi will launch the GST in the presence of the President. Surjewala, however, sug- gested that the Government should consider requests to delay the launch of the GST in view of protests by textile traders and others. “They can’t have the arrogance of numbers and not listen to small traders and weavers,” he said. Sources said the Congress held internal consultations as well as informal discussions with other parties on whether or not to attend the meeting. Sources in Left parties said some key Opposition parties may not participate, contend- ing that the official machinery itself is “not prepared” to intro- duce GST, but the Government was “rushing” through to implement it. A Left leader said all sec- tions are agitating and one cannot turn it into an enter- tainment event when people are suffering. The Government will use the Central Hall to launch the new taxation system that is set to dramatically re-shape the economy. A gong will be sounded at midnight to usher in the GST. Modi will be the key speaker at the function. Continued on Page 4 M uch to the chagrin of consumers, tomato prices have seen a sudden spurt in major parts of the country. In Delhi, tomato is being sold between Rs 60-70 per kg in the retail market, while the whole- sale rate is Rs 30-35 per kg. In Chennai, the retail market price of tomato is Rs 80 per kg, and in Chandigarh it is between Rs 50-60 per kg. In Patna, the price hovers around Rs 55 per kg, whereas it is being sold at Rs 90 per kg in Bengaluru. Tomato prices have risen sharply in other metro- politan cities as well. Wholesale traders in Delhi attributed the rising prices to “tight” supply as a result of showers damaging tomato crops in Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and other producing States. Normally, prices of tomato firm up in July- September every year. Tomato traders are pre- dicting that prices will not come down for at least five to six weeks due to monsoon as fresh stock was expected to arrive in the markets only by September-October. Interestingly, two weeks ago, farmers of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh threw tonnes of vegetables and tomatoes on highways due to the sudden dip in wholesale prices. Tomato is being sold at Rs 60 per kg at Safal outlets run by Mother Dairy in the national Capital and Rs 45-48 on online platforms of Grofers and Nature’s Basket. At Amazon.com, tomato is being sold at Rs 55 per kg. Meanwhile, officials of the Ministry of Agriculture said that rise in tomato prices was a seasonal phenomena and the Government was keeping a close watch on the price movement. “More than 70 per cent of the tomato crop has been dam- aged due to excess rains fol- lowed by heat in Haryana, one of the key suppliers of the pro- duce to Delhi,” said Ashok Kaushik, president of the Tomato Merchants Association in Azadpur, Asia’s largest wholesale market for fruits and vegetables. The supply shortage and price rise were also witnessed in other parts of the country, Kaushik said, adding that the tomato crop in some parts of South India has also been dam- aged due to rain, leading to price increase. “Prices quoted were so high that it was unvi- able to bring tomato from the South. In fact, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are supplying tomatoes to southern States at present,” he said. “As far as Delhi is con- cerned, 100 trucks of tomatoes arrive daily which caters to Delhi and its surrounding areas. For the last one week, only 60-70 trucks have been coming to mandis here,” said Kaushik. Continued on Page 4 I n a controversial decision, Union Cabinet on Wednesday “in principle” approved “strategic disinvest- ment” of Air India and its five subsidiaries. A body known as Air India-specific Alternative Mechanism will be constituted for this purpose to look into the several aspects of the debt-rid- den National carrier. The Cabinet also approved the 7th pay commission rec- ommendations for grant of allowances to Government employees, members of armed forces and those posted in Siachen areas. For the disinvestment of the Air India, the Cabinet decided to set up a committed headed by Finance Minister and Civil Aviation Minister. The body will also have sever- al other Union Ministers as its members and decide on the modalities of the biggest dis- investment decision taken by the Modi Government. Detailing the Cabinet deci- sions, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said a group will be set up to finalise modalities/ details of disinvestment of Air India, including the quantum of stake sale. The Civil Aviation Ministry is charting out the dis- investment of the state-run carrier, said Jaitley without detailing much in this regard to a volley of questions on the dis- investment decision. Continued on Page 4 F aulty road signage and sig- nals are, to a great extent, responsible for massive traffic jams, road accidents and pile- ups, claims a study by Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE). Defective traffic signals, misplaced signboards — like those hidden by trees — and incoherent road markings led to maximum traffic violations in Delhi last year — more than 88 lakh. According to the study, out of the 1,514 road signs installed over 14 stretches cov- ering 85 km in the national Capital. More than 70 per cent have been found to be below standard which caused traffic violations, without the fault of commuters. Out of the 122 cities across the globe, Delhi tops the list with 1,622 accidental deaths in 2016. Apart from the loss to human life, the annual social cost incurred in road accidents is estimated at 1,050 crore. Dr Rohit Baluja, president of IRTE, said, “Seventy-five per cent of the signage did not meet the standard of the Indian Road Congress (IRC) codes, thereby not adhering to the United Nation’s convention of the Road Signs and Signals 1968, of which India is a key member. As per the survey, 93 per cent of the regulatory signage is found to be flouting the prescribed size, installation, shape in turn defeating the purpose of recog- nising the signs by shape and colour. Apart from that, the study found that 30 stop signs which were examined were found to be non-standard and wrongfully installed.” “One of the major defi- ciencies was short blinking green signals used instead of an amber signal. The duration of amber clearance before the red light appears is so short that in present conditions a large per- centage of drivers are being caught without any fault,” Dr Baluja said. The IRTE said the pro- posed the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, 2016, which has been passed by the Lok Sabha, stipulates penalties such as imprisonment of up to one year and fine extending up to 5,000 for violating certain signage. Dr Baluja added, “There is a need to focus on maintaining proper traffic control devices. Fifty-four per cent signage is inserted within rectangular boards of either blue or yellow colour. By inserting these reg- ulatory and warning signs with- in the box, the sign loses its pur- pose of colour recognition and makes the signage useless.” Explaining the signage sys- tem, he added most of the time, a commuter is ignorant about the signs. “While circle repre- sents order, triangle represents warning, and the information within the rectangular box means general information. The land owning agencies such as PWD, MCD, DDA, NDMC, etc, flout the norms codified by the IRC and the United Nation’s Convention on Road Signs and Signals. The traffic experts opined that firstly, most of the speed signs were not inserted in a “white background” which vio- lates the requirements of the shape and colour. Instead of the standard 225 mm, the size of the numerals is 100mm which means that the commuter is not able to read the sign by less than 50 per cent. Secondly, speed limit for two wheelers is not mentioned on the sign boards which make 64. 35 per cent of the total reg- istered motor vehicles in the national capital. Continued on Page 4 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

Transcript of ˇ ˜˜ ˚˙ # RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... 60 per kg at Safal outlets run by...

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As the stand-off betweenIndian and Chinese troops

continues in Sikkim, Chinaon Wednesday alleged thatIndia was acting at the behestof Bhutan by crossing theboundary to obstruct con-struction of a road in theChinese territory. Beijing alsosaid future visits of pilgrims toKailash Mansarovar throughNathu La in Sikkim willdepend on whether India will“correct its errors.”

With the face-off betweenthe soldiers of the two sides con-tinuing for the 12th day, Armychief General Bipin Rawat islikely to visit Sikkim onThursday to take stock of the sit-uation. He will also visit someother States in the North-East,sources said on Wednesday.

The Army has rushedmore reinforcements to the

site of the deadlock in theDoka La area of Sikkim. DokaLa is at the tri-junction ofSikkim, Bhutan and Tibet andis strategically important forIndia as the crucial Siliguri cor-ridor known in military par-lance as ‘Chicken’s Neck’ hav-ing road and rail head, is just50 to 60 kms from there.

While accusing the Indiantroops of transgressing theLine of Actual Control (LAC)to stop construction of a roadby China, Beijing also hintedthat India did so at the behestof Bhutan which does not havediplomatic ties with China.

It is learnt that BhutanAmbassador in India issued ademarche to the ChineseAmbassador through itsembassy in New Delhi askingBeijing to stop and refrainfrom changing status quo in theDoka La area. He claimed thatthe Chinese Army’s road con-struction work was progressing

towards the Bhutanese Armycamp at Zom Pelri. Bhutan andChina are engaged in talks tosettle the border dispute.

Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesman Lu Kang hintedthat India was objecting toChina’s efforts to build the roadin Donglang (Doka La) area ofthe Sikkim sector on behalf ofBhutan. Taking a dig at India, Lusaid Bhutan is a universallyrecognised sovereign country.

“Hope countries canrespect the sovereignty of thecountry. The China-Bhutanboundary is not delineated, nothird party should interfere inthis matter and make irre-sponsible remarks or actions,”he said. “If any third party, outof hidden agenda, interferes itis disrespect of the sovereigntyof Bhutan. We don’t want to seethis as Bhutan is a country enti-tled to sovereignty by the inter-national community,” Lu said.

Terming the construction

of road as “legitimate,” thespokesman said on Wednesdaythe road was being built onChinese territory that neitherbelongs to India nor Bhutanand no other country had theright to interfere. However,Bhutan has refuted China’sclaim that the construction ofroad at China-India-Bhutantri-junction was an undis-putable area.

“Donglang is part ofChina’s territory. This is indis-putable. The Donglang areabelonged to China sinceancient times and it doesn’tbelong to Bhutan,” he said.“India wants to raise an issuewith this part. I should say itdoesn’t belong to Bhutan, nordoes it belong to India. So wehave complete legal basis forthis. Chinese construction ofthe road project is legitimateand normal action on its terri-tory. No other country has theright to interfere,” he said whilereplying to a question.

Lu defended China’s deci-sion to shut the Nathu La passin Sikkim for Indian pilgrims,saying that China had

agreed to open the route as theboundary there has been delin-eated with the consent of boththe countries.

“For a long time in theinterest of India-China rela-

tions, China provided greatconveniences to the Indianpilgrims. Based on the con-sensus between the two coun-tries’ leaders, and on the factthat the Sikkim sector bound-

ary is delineated and recog-nised by two countries, theChinese side in 2015 openedthe Nathu La pass for Indianpilgrims,” he said.

For two years it worked

well and in fact this year alsothe Chinese authorities hadprepared for the reception ofIndian pilgrims and informedthe Indian side about it, Lu said.“Now the suspension of thesame is an emergency responseto the situation there. I want tostress that the resumption ofpilgrims’ passage requires thenecessary atmosphere and con-ditions. So the liability of thesame totally lies with the Indianside and when it will bereopened depends on when orwhether the Indian side willcorrect its errors,” he said.

Lu on Tuesday had alsojustified the move to constructa road in the Sikkim sector, say-ing that the area is “undoubt-edly” located on its side of theborder as per the 1890 Sino-British Treaty on Sikkim.“According to the treaty, ‘Zhe’is the ancient name of Sikkim,”Lu said. “As per this treaty, thearea over which the IndianArmy has raised objection isundoubtedly located on theChinese side of the border,” hehad said on Tuesday.

Continued on Page 4

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The Opposition is not warm-ing up to the Modi

Government’s ambitious plan tohold a midnight bash to usherIndia into the GST era. Whilethe Congress is yet to confirmits participation in the midnightfunction in Parliament onFriday, the Trinamool Congressand Left parties announcedthat they would not participatein it at all. Several Oppositionparties have also questioned thepropriety of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi launching thebiggest tax reform in India’s his-tory when President PranabMukherjee will be present onthe occasion. . Congress sourcessaid that a final call on theparty’s decision to attend thefunction will be taken afterCongress chief Sonia Gandhiconsults senior leaders.

The Government has invit-ed all Members of Parliamentand Chief Ministers and hasalso requested former PrimeMinisters Manmohan Singhand HD Deve Gowda to joinModi and the President at thehigh table. Singh is yet to con-firm his participation.

Though no official wordhas come as to whether theCongress will participate, ithas raised objections to theCentre’s invitation, which saysthat Modi will launch the new

tax regime. “How can thePrime Minister launch the GSTin the presence of thePresident? This is not done andacceptable,” said Congress chiefspokesperson RandeepSurjewala.

The invite, sent byParliamentary Affairs MinisterAnanth Kumar for the functionin Parliament’s Central Hall,says Modi will launch the GSTin the presence of the President.

Surjewala, however, sug-gested that the Governmentshould consider requests todelay the launch of the GST inview of protests by textiletraders and others. “They can’thave the arrogance of numbersand not listen to small tradersand weavers,” he said.

Sources said the Congressheld internal consultations aswell as informal discussionswith other parties on whetheror not to attend the meeting.

Sources in Left parties saidsome key Opposition partiesmay not participate, contend-ing that the official machineryitself is “not prepared” to intro-duce GST, but the Governmentwas “rushing” through toimplement it.

A Left leader said all sec-tions are agitating and onecannot turn it into an enter-tainment event when peopleare suffering.

The Government will usethe Central Hall to launch thenew taxation system that is setto dramatically re-shape theeconomy. A gong will besounded at midnight to usherin the GST. Modi will be thekey speaker at the function.

Continued on Page 4

��(��� ������ �2'�&234-

Much to the chagrin ofconsumers, tomato prices

have seen a sudden spurt inmajor parts of the country. InDelhi, tomato is being soldbetween Rs 60-70 per kg in theretail market, while the whole-sale rate is Rs 30-35 per kg. In

Chennai, the retail marketprice of tomato is Rs 80 per kg,and in Chandigarh it isbetween Rs 50-60 per kg. InPatna, the price hovers aroundRs 55 per kg, whereas it is being

sold at Rs 90 per kg inBengaluru. Tomato prices haverisen sharply in other metro-politan cities as well.

Wholesale traders in Delhiattributed the rising prices to“tight” supply as a result ofshowers damaging tomatocrops in Haryana, Rajasthan,Punjab and other producingStates. Normally, prices oftomato firm up in July-September every year.

Tomato traders are pre-dicting that prices will notcome down for at least five tosix weeks due to monsoon asfresh stock was expected toarrive in the markets only byS e p t e m b e r - O c t o b e r .Interestingly, two weeks ago,farmers of Maharashtra andMadhya Pradesh threw tonnesof vegetables and tomatoes on

highways due to the sudden dipin wholesale prices.

Tomato is being sold at Rs60 per kg at Safal outlets run byMother Dairy in the nationalCapital and Rs 45-48 on onlineplatforms of Grofers andNature’s Basket. AtAmazon.com, tomato is beingsold at Rs 55 per kg.

Meanwhile, officials of theMinistry of Agriculture saidthat rise in tomato prices wasa seasonal phenomena and theGovernment was keeping aclose watch on the pricemovement.

“More than 70 per cent ofthe tomato crop has been dam-aged due to excess rains fol-lowed by heat in Haryana, oneof the key suppliers of the pro-duce to Delhi,” said AshokKaushik, president of theTomato Merchants Associationin Azadpur, Asia’s largestwholesale market for fruitsand vegetables.

The supply shortage andprice rise were also witnessedin other parts of the country,Kaushik said, adding that thetomato crop in some parts ofSouth India has also been dam-aged due to rain, leading toprice increase. “Prices quotedwere so high that it was unvi-able to bring tomato from theSouth. In fact, Uttar Pradeshand Maharashtra are supplyingtomatoes to southern States atpresent,” he said.

“As far as Delhi is con-cerned, 100 trucks of tomatoesarrive daily which caters toDelhi and its surroundingareas. For the last one week,only 60-70 trucks have beencoming to mandis here,” saidKaushik.

Continued on Page 4

����� �2'�&234-

In a controversial decision,Union Cabinet on

Wednesday “in principle”approved “strategic disinvest-ment” of Air India and its fivesubsidiaries. A body known asAir India-specific AlternativeMechanism will be constitutedfor this purpose to look into theseveral aspects of the debt-rid-den National carrier.

The Cabinet also approvedthe 7th pay commission rec-ommendations for grant ofallowances to Governmentemployees, members of armedforces and those posted inSiachen areas.

For the disinvestment ofthe Air India, the Cabinetdecided to set up a committed

headed by Finance Ministerand Civil Aviation Minister.The body will also have sever-al other Union Ministers as itsmembers and decide on themodalities of the biggest dis-investment decision taken bythe Modi Government.

Detailing the Cabinet deci-sions, Finance Minister ArunJaitley said a group will be setup to finalise modalities/details of disinvestment of AirIndia, including the quantumof stake sale.

The Civil AviationMinistry is charting out the dis-investment of the state-runcarrier, said Jaitley withoutdetailing much in this regard toa volley of questions on the dis-investment decision.

Continued on Page 4

��� �������� �2'�&234-

Faulty road signage and sig-nals are, to a great extent,

responsible for massive trafficjams, road accidents and pile-ups, claims a study by Instituteof Road Traffic Education

(IRTE). Defective traffic signals,

misplaced signboards — likethose hidden by trees — andincoherent road markings ledto maximum traffic violationsin Delhi last year — morethan 88 lakh.

According to the study,out of the 1,514 road signsinstalled over 14 stretches cov-ering 85 km in the nationalCapital. More than 70 per centhave been found to be belowstandard which caused trafficviolations, without the fault ofcommuters.

Out of the 122 cities acrossthe globe, Delhi tops the listwith 1,622 accidental deaths in2016. Apart from the loss tohuman life, the annual socialcost incurred in road accidentsis estimated at �1,050 crore.

Dr Rohit Baluja, presidentof IRTE, said, “Seventy-five percent of the signage did not meetthe standard of the Indian RoadCongress (IRC) codes, therebynot adhering to the United

Nation’s convention of the RoadSigns and Signals 1968, of whichIndia is a key member. As perthe survey, 93 per cent of theregulatory signage is found to beflouting the prescribed size,installation, shape in turndefeating the purpose of recog-nising the signs by shape andcolour. Apart from that, thestudy found that 30 stop signswhich were examined werefound to be non-standard andwrongfully installed.”

“One of the major defi-ciencies was short blinkinggreen signals used instead of anamber signal. The duration ofamber clearance before the redlight appears is so short that inpresent conditions a large per-centage of drivers are being

caught without any fault,” DrBaluja said.

The IRTE said the pro-posed the Motor VehiclesAmendment Bill, 2016, whichhas been passed by the LokSabha, stipulates penalties suchas imprisonment of up to oneyear and fine extending up to�5,000 for violating certainsignage.

Dr Baluja added, “There isa need to focus on maintainingproper traffic control devices.Fifty-four per cent signage isinserted within rectangularboards of either blue or yellowcolour. By inserting these reg-ulatory and warning signs with-in the box, the sign loses its pur-pose of colour recognition andmakes the signage useless.”

Explaining the signage sys-tem, he added most of the time,a commuter is ignorant aboutthe signs. “While circle repre-sents order, triangle representswarning, and the informationwithin the rectangular boxmeans general information.

The land owning agenciessuch as PWD, MCD, DDA,NDMC, etc, flout the normscodified by the IRC and theUnited Nation’s Conventionon Road Signs and Signals.

The traffic experts opinedthat firstly, most of the speedsigns were not inserted in a“white background” which vio-lates the requirements of theshape and colour. Instead of thestandard 225 mm, the size ofthe numerals is 100mm which

means that the commuter is notable to read the sign by lessthan 50 per cent.

Secondly, speed limit fortwo wheelers is not mentioned

on the sign boards which make64. 35 per cent of the total reg-istered motor vehicles in thenational capital.

Continued on Page 4

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The Congress on Wednesdayaccused the Centre of com-

promising with national securityand sovereignty by not object-ing to the mention of 'Indian-administered Jammu andKashmir' in the US order onHizbul chief Syed Salahuddin.

The party also questionedthe silence of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on the issuethat emerged at a time when hewas in the US and was to meetUS President Donald Trump."Shocking that the US govern-ment order on Syed Salahuddinrefers to 'Indian-administeredJ&K. This is a compromisewith India's national securityand sovereignty," seniorCongress spokesperson andparty general secretary GhulamNabi Azad said.

"Why has the PrimeMinister not protested despitebeing on US soil? Why are theforeign minister, defence min-ister and home minister ofIndia and information andbroadcasting minister keepingmum on the issue? "Why is BJPsilent? Is it not a sellout ofnational interests," he asked.

The Leader of Oppositionin the Rajya Sabha saidJammu and Kashmir is anintegral part of India and willremain so, even though itmay be a subject of debate forModi and his party.

He also said that "emptychest-thumping, false bravadoand captive TV studio warfare"by the BJP government cannothide its failures in compromis-ing with national security.

He said terrorism shouldnever be politicised and a col-lective effort is needed to erad-icate it, which should be sanspartisan considerations.

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In a first-of-its-kind pan-Indiainitiative by the poll watch-

dog, the Election Commissionof India has joined hands withFacebook to remind Indianvoters to register themselves onthe electoral rolls.

From July 1 to 4, a voter reg-istration reminder will be sentto people who are eligible to votein India, on Facebook. Facebookwill activate a unique 'RegisterNow' button for its Indian userswho are eligible to vote.

The voter registrationreminder will be available forfour days starting July 1 andwill be in 13 languages -English, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil,Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada,Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu,Assamese, Marathi and Odiya.

The 'Register Now' button

will guide users to NationalVoters' Services Portal, wherethey can register themselves asvoters. By clicking on it, the eli-gible voters would be directedto the National Voters' ServicesPortal (NVSP) for registration.

During Presidential elec-tions in USA, Facebook had ini-tiated a similar concept to reg-ister new voters for the polls.

While Facebook had earli-er implemented such featuresduring state elections of UttarPradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa,Punjab, and Manipur, in 2017,for the first time a pan-Indiadrive is being carried out.

The Election Commission ishoping to reach over 180 millionIndians on Facebook throughthis drive. "This special drive isto enrol left out electors, with aparticular focus on first timeelectors," said CEC Nasim Zaidi.

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Against the backdrop of sev-eral initiatives taken over

the last one year for improvingthe ease of obtaining con-struction permits in Delhi andMumbai, the Narendra ModiGovernment has stronglystaked its claim for an upgrad-ed ranking in the World Bank's'Ease of Doing Business' index.

In the 'Ease Of DoingBusiness ' rankings forConstruction Permits for2017 announced last year bythe World Bank, India wasranked 185 among the 190countries surveyed.

Rankings for 2018 are like-ly to be announced inNovember this year. WorldBank ranking of India is basedon the average of scores forDelhi and Mumbai.

With regard to Delhi, a vis-iting World Bank team was onSaturday informed by the Centrethat a timeframe of 30 days hasbeen stipulated for grantingconstruction permits, 7 days forPlinth Inspection certificate and22 days for Occupancy andCompletion certificate, beyond

which approvals are deemed tohave been accorded.

According to sources,World Bank team will hold dis-cussions in respect of Mumbaion July 4. They will also takefeedback from architects andother stakeholders beforeassigning ranks. Improvementslike in Delhi have been made incase of Mumbai too.

Sources said that given thesubstantial improvements reg-istered in respect of the fourparameters considered by theBank, India should score sub-stantially high this year and itcould be among the top 25 inthis round of rankings. Sources said that UrbanDevelopment Secretary told theWorld Bank team that allreforms relating to the reductionin the number of processesinvolved and time taken forapprovals have been accordedstatutory status by incorporatingrevised frameworks/timelines inthe Building Bye-laws of Delhiand Mumbai. Copies of said laws and rele-vant circulars issued havebeen presented to the bankteam as evidence.

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Blaming the MamataBanerjee Government in

West Bengal for not fulfillingthe "economic and culturalaspirations" of Gorkhas, the BJPon Wednesday said that GorkhaJanmukti Morcha (GJM) was“in contact” with it and will votefor the NDA’s presidential can-didate on July 17.

The party has desistedfrom making a statement onGorkhaland after some of itsleaders reportedly said thatthey were not in favour of sep-arate State for Gorkhas. BJPpresident Amit Shah discussedthe issue with State leadersincluding West Bengal Statepresident Dilip Ghosh as theparty nuanced its stand on theGorkhaland issue.

Shah also discussed thematter with party GeneralSecretary and State-in-chargeKailash Vijayvargiya and RamLal (General Secretary -Organisation).

The Gorkhaland agitationexperienced a spurt afterMamata made Bengali manda-tory for classes I-X but later clar-ified that it was not so for thehills. The TMC-led Governmentalso assured that Nepali wouldbe recognised as one of the offi-cial languages of the State, ademand made by GJM.

Vijayvargiya claimed thatthe TMC Government's "failureto fulfill cultural and economicaspirations" as detailed in

Gorkhaland TerritorialAdministration (GTA), a semi-autonomous administrativebody for the Darjeeling hills, wasresponsible for the current unrestamong Gorkhas.

The tripartite memoran-dum for the GTA was signed on18 July 2011, and it was thenexpected that it would ease outthe Gorkhaland protest.

GTA presently has threehill subdivisions Darjeeling,Kurseong and Mirik and someareas of Siliguri subdivision ofDarjeeling district and thewhole of Kalimpong districtunder its authority.

"GTA was not implement-ed by Mamata and hence theunrest. The imposition ofBangla language only furtheraggravated it", said the BJPGeneral Secretary.

The BJP has been makingefforts to create its base in theNorthern Bengal and main-taining tactical approach on theGorkhaland issue. BJP has anMP in SS Ahluwalia fromDarjeeling.

BJP had found an ally inGJM in 2013 when its ChiefBimal Gurung resigned fromthe GTA alleging interferencefrom the West BengalGovernment and renewed theagitation for Gorkhaland.

The party had then creat-ed positive noises on the issue.Unofficially though, BJP findslittle feasibility of carving outa separate State from a regionwith only three MLAs.

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Narendra Modi will be thefirst Indian Prime Minister

to visit Israel. India and Israelon Wednesday announced hisupcoming visit from July 4-6,wherein Modi will havedetailed discussions with hisIsraeli counterpart BenjaminNetanyahu on matters of mutu-al interest and will also call onPresident Reuven Rivlin.

The Ministry of ExternalAffairs said that elements ofModi's programme in Israelinclude homage to Indian sol-diers at the Indian Cemetery inHaifa and address to the Indiancommunity in Tel Aviv. About4,000 Indian Jews living inIsrael are expected to attend thecommunity event.

"India established diplo-matic relations with Israel in1992 and since then the rela-tionship has evolved into amulti-dimensional partner-ship. This year both the coun-tries are commemorating 25years of diplomatic relationsand visit of PM will provide animpetus for deeper bilateralengagement in areas of mutu-al interest," MEA said.

Extending a warm welcometo Modi, Israel termed it a sig-nificant visit. "The significant

visit, the first of an Indian PrimeMinister to Israel, takes place onthe backdrop of marking 25years of diplomatic relationsbetween India and Israel, andwill further upgrade the evergrowing partnership betweenthe two countries," the Israelembassy spokesperson in India,Avigail Spira said on Wednesday.

There is a lot of enthusiasmin Israeli Government withregard to Modi's visit and it islearnt that Netanyahu has keptthree days exclusively for theIndian PM's visit.

During a recent statementmade in Tel Aviv University,Netanyahu mentioned Modi ashis friend and said he is look-ing forward to receive him.Cyber security, water desali-nation, agriculture, defenceand security are some of theareas where India and Israelihave deep cooperation.

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The filing of nominations forthe July 17 presidential

election ended on Wednesdaywith 108 papers, including thatof NDA candidate Ram NathKovind and Opposition's MeiraKumar, filed.

According to sources in the

Lok Sabha Secretariat, 108nominations were filed by atotal of 95 candidates, withsome having filed multiplepapers. A candidate can file amaximum of four nominations.

Of these, 35 candidateshave already been rejected asthey have not submitted themandatory security deposit of�15,000. Many more nomina-tions are likely to be rejected onThursday during scrutiny, as amajority of them do not havethe adequate numbers of pro-posers and seconders from theelectoral college.

Except Kovind's andKumar's, the other papers areset to be rejected on June 29during scrutiny as they lack thenames of 50 proposers and asmany seconders.

Total 13 aspirants filedtheir nominations for the pres-idential post each from Delhiand Uttar Pradesh respective-ly, followed by seven fromMaharashtra, four fromMadhya Pradesh and Haryanaeach. Three nominations eachhave been filed from Telanganaand Tamil Nadu.

K Padmarajan from Salem,Tamil Nadu is among those

who have filed nominations forthe presidential election.Known as the 'election king', hehas contested over 150 polls.

Lalu Prasad Yadav fromSaran district is another aspirantfor the post. A Mumbai-basedPatel couple, Saira BanoMohammed Patel andMohammed Patel AbdulHamid, told the returning offi-cer that it would be "good" if oneof them became the presidentand the other the vice president.Prof Dr Dayashankar Agarwal isfrom Delhi while Dr Mir LayaqHussain is from Bengaluru whohave filed nominations.

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Opposition presidential can-didate Meira Kumar and

Congress president SoniaGandhi on Wednesdaydescribed the presidential elec-tion as a battle of ideologies andprinciples and said theOpposition was determined tofight it. Sonia led the 17Opposition parties as the for-mer Lok Sabha Speaker filedher nomination on the last day.

"For us, it is a battle of ide-ologies, principles and truthand we will fight it," Sonia, oneof Kumar's proposers along-

with BSP's Mayawati amongothers, said.

Kumar will launch hercampaign from SabarmatiAshram in Gujarat on June 30.Congress vice president RahulGandhi tweeted Kumar repre-sents the values that bind thecountry and its people.

NCP’s Sharad Pawar, CPI-M general secretary SitaramYechury and former PrimeMinister Manmohan Singhwere also present. TheCongress was represented by allits Chief Ministers - AmarinderSingh, Siddharamaiah,Virbhadra Singh, V

Narayanasamy, Mukul Sangma- and its top leaders, includingGhulam Nabi Azad, AhmedPatel, Mallikarjun Kharge andAmbika Soni. Former ChiefMinisters Bhupinder SinghHooda, Ashok Gehlot,Digvijaya Singh attended theevent as well.

Also present were CPI's DRaja, DMK's Kanimozhi, SP'sNaresh Agrawal, BSP's SatishChandra Misra, NCP's TariqAnwar, JMM's Sanjeev Kumarand TMC's Derek O'Brien andleaders of other oppositionparties.

Kumar said she had already

appealed to all members of theelectoral college that this was avery important time when thecountry stood at a crossroads."There is one path which takesus towards narrow- minded-ness and no concern for thepoor and downtrodden, whilethe other path leads to uplift-ment of Dalits, poor, oppressed,downtrodden, women andlabour and people of all reli-gions," Kumar said.

From Sabarmati, Kumarwould go to Mumbai andBangalore and be in Bihar onJuly 6. She ends her campaignon July 15.

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Acting on the recommen-dation of the Medical

Council of India (MCI), theUnion Health Ministry hasbarred six more medical col-leges from admitting MBBSstudents for 2017-18 and2018-19 academic years forfailing to meet the pre-requi-site infrastructure as set bythe top medical educationregulator. The colleges havean intake capacity of 150 stu-dents each.

This is in addition to 23colleges which have been so fardisapproved by the Ministryafter they were found deficientin ensuring infrastructure andhuman resources.

A total 34 colleges wereapproved by Supreme Court-appointed OversightCommittee in May 2016,which were earlier disap-proved by the MCI itself.

Retired Judge RM Lodha,who headed the OversightCommittee, had directed thatif these colleges fail anotherinspection test, they will notbe able to conduct admissionsfor another two years.

A senior health officialsaid that during inspection,the MCI had found deficien-

cies such as shortage of fac-ulty and resident doctors, noemergency wards, fake facul-ty members and fake patientsamong others.

When asked about thefate of the first batch studentswho were admitted in these

colleges in 2016 after clearingthe National Eligibility cumEntrance Test (NEET), theofficial said that these stu-dents will continue theircourses in these colleges only.

After all they have madehuge investment.

They cannot close downjust like that.

In case the colleges areable to make up with the stan-dards they will be givenapproval after two academicsessions.

Debarring them from thetwo sessions is just a sternwarning to them that theycannot compromise with edu-cation standard.

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The CISF has been taskedwith providing security to

ports and also ensure an air-port-like facility for travellers ofluxury ships, as part of the gov-ernment's grand plans to pro-mote cruise tourism.

Initially, 4000 CISF person-nel will be posted at 12 majorports and six shipyards for pro-viding security in cruise mari-nas. CISF will be responsible forall entry and exit operations atthe port, frisking of disembark-ing and boarding passengers,validation of travel tickets, car-rying out anti- sabotage checksand simplifying arrival proce-dures for incoming tourists.

The CISF has also designat-ed, for the first time, a Deputy

Inspector General (DIG) rankofficer at its headquarters here tolook after the security of all theports under its security umbrel-la in the country. "The securityset up at the ports will be like thatof the airports. The control andaccess of the port area will be reg-ulated by the CISF and protocolsas per international standardswill be put in place at the desig-nated ports where cruise shipswill anchor," a senior HomeMinistry official said.

Union Shipping, RoadTransport and HighwaysMinister Nitin Gadkari andMinister of State for Tourismand Culture Mahesh Sharmahad on Tuesday announcedCentre's plans to soon comeout with a full-fledged cruisetourism policy.

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Union Minister of State forSkill Development and

Entrepreneurship (IndependentCharge), Rajiv Pratap Rudy onWednesday said that IndustrialTraining Institutes (ITIs) will beopened on the lines of KendriyaVidyalayas (KVs) inChhattisgarh.

He was reviewing the func-tioning of State’s SkillsDevelopment Departmentalong with Chief MinisterRaman Singh.

The Union Ministerrevealed that the authorities haddecided to brand ITIs. Themain aim is to popularise theinstitutes. For the first time in68 years, a logo had been madefor ITIs.

The Union Minister appre-ciated the steps taken toimprove the skills of youth.

He said that Chhattisgarh isthe first State in the countrywhich gave the Right for SkillDevelopment to the citizens inthe age-group of 14—45 yearsin the year 2013.

The State Government hadallocated �400 crore funds forSkill Development Trainingprogrammes in the year 2015-2016.

State Skill DevelopmentMinister Prem Prakash Pandey,Chief Secretary Vivek Dhandand several senior officers werealso present.

Rudy said that there areabout 13,000 ITIs in the entirecountry out of which 3,000 areGovernment institutes. Effortsare being made to categorise theinstitutes on the basis of their

quality.

The examinations are beingheld Online and the results aredeclared instantly, the UnionMinister stated.

He expressed satisfactionthat the State Government hadopened the institutes in all thedevelopment blocks inChhattisgarh. There are 172State Government institutesand 101 private institutes.There are only four develop-ment blocks where there are noITIs in the State.

The Union Minister appre-ciated that the Prime Minister’sSkills Development Programmeand Chief Minister’s SkillsDevelopment programmes arebeing implemented efficientlyin Adivasi-dominated Jashpurdistrict’s— Manora, Dhuldhula,Surguja district’s— Batoli andNarayanpur district’s Orchha.Youth are being trained invocational courses in 27 liveli-hood colleges of the State.

In a detailed presentation

the department officials saidthat there are 2646 registeredinstitutes giving vocationaltraining in several trades. About1800 are functioning. Onelakh youth had been trained invarious vocations in the year2016-2017. Three lakh 57 thou-sand youth had been trained invarious courses till date. About1781 widows and destitutewomen and 71 transgendershad been provided with voca-tional training in various trades.

The courses include com-puter hardware, masonry, nurs-ing, garment making, beautyparlour, agriculture, automotiverepairing plastic engineeringand many others.

Rudy assured Singh that thenumber of trades will beincreased in ITIs inChhattisgarh soon.

There is limited participa-tion of the private sector in skilldevelopment space inChhattisgarh, the National SkillDevelopment Corporation(NSDC) has observed in its

study report last year.The NSDC had got carried

out a ‘skill gap study’ for theState of Chhattisgarh’ recently.

The NSDC in its recom-mendation had advised theState Government to form‘State-level Industry-VocationalEducation Council’ in collabo-ration with existing industrybodies.

Under the tie-up, the indus-try bodies could be tasked withfacilitation of industry partici-pation in design and delivery ofcourses and skill developmentprogrammes, it has advised.

It also recommendedemployee satisfaction surveywith on/off campus companies.

The NSDC advised facili-tation of two-way sabbatical/exchange programme betweenindustry and ITIs to addressissue of industry orientation offaculty.

District-level incrementalmanpower requirements esti-mation indicates that the dis-tricts of Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur,

Korba and Raigarh account foraround 47 per cent of the man-power requirement with mostincremental demand to be gen-erated in sectors such asAgriculture, manufactur-ing(mineral and metal based),building an construction, min-ing and quarrying and trade(wholesale and retail), it hadobserved in its report.

In terms of manpower sup-ply, the estimated incrementalsupply over the aforesaid peri-od is around 34.27 lakh. Theproportion of incremental sup-ply of skilled manpower is 55per cent compared to 27 percent of semi skilled and 18 percent of skilled manpower (2012-22).

During the period 2012-22,the incremental demand supplyof the State to be a surplus ofabout 3.83 lakhs i.e. the Statewill have excess of incrementalmanpower supply.

While a shortage of man-power is likely to be expectedacross semi-skilled (0.72 lakhs)

segment, an excess supply isestimated in the skilled (1.34lakhs) and minimally skilled(3.21 lakhs segment), itobserved.

Meanwhile, for all-rounddevelopment of college stu-dents, the State Governmentwill be launching‘Mukhyamantri Yuva JeevanKaushal Vikas Karyakram’(Chief Minister Life SkillsDevelopment Programme) forCollege Youth).

This programme will startfrom upcoming academic ses-sion, officials informed.

It is noteworthy that objec-tive of this scheme is to enhanceemployability of college stu-dents, and improve their con-fidence level as well as creativecompetitive skills.

Under this scheme, stu-dents will be trained in Englishlanguage, computer educationand behavioural skills. Thiswill improve their employabil-ity to greater extent. Thisscheme will be implemented

under National HigherEducation Campaign.

As per the instructions ofState Government, implemen-tation of this scheme will com-mence from upcoming acade-mic session, for which StateProject Office has issued nec-essary guidelines to all the col-lectors under National HigherEducation Campaign.

The ChhattisgarhGovernment would also be set-ting up a Project ManagementUnit (PMU) for proper imple-mentation of the ‘MukhyaMantri Yuva SwavalambanYojana’.

The project is a major ini-tiative taken by ChhattisgarhGovernment to improve place-ment rates of fresh collegegraduates of three and four yeardegree courses in IT sectors,officials informed.

The program envisagesproviding training to studentsin such areas of aptitude that arerequired to successfully navigatethe selection process of IT and

BPM employers and secureplacement.

The training will bedesigned with a view to impart-ing in-demand skills and abil-ities in contemporary employ-ment market.

The training will be deliv-ered by leading trainers whowill also make necessaryarrangements for the employ-ment opportunities for placinga minimum of 60% of the totalstudents undergoing the train-ing program.

The Chhattisgarh Infotechand Biotech Promotion Society(CHiPS), the nodal agency ofDepartment of InformationTechnology and Biotechnology,Government of Chhattisgarhrecently invited technical andfinancial proposals from reput-ed Consultants of National andInternational repute to act asthe Project Management Unit(PMU) and undertake respon-sibility of implementing the“Mukhya Mantri YuvaSwavalamban Yojana”.

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Chhattisgarh Health Minister Ajay Chandrakaron Wednesday met Union Health Minister JP

Nadda in New Delhi and urged the Centre to pro-vide financial assistance for research work anddevelopment of health facilities in the State.

The Minister highlighted increasing numberof kidney diseases in Supbeda village of Gariabanddistrict and urged the Centre to provide assistancein initiating research work to know the cause ofits spread. The Minister demanded setting up ofpublic health laboratory and regional healthresearch centre for research work in communicableand non communicable diseases.

He also urged the Union Minister to increase

Chhattisgarh’s centre fund under National HealthMission for improvement of health facilities, infra-structure and human resources. Chandrakar alsourged permission for admission in 100 seats ofMBBS curriculum in Ambikapur district.

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The Steel Authority of IndiaLtd (SAIL) is planning to

make value-added productsfrom its new rail mill at theBhilai Steel Plant (BSP), offi-cials informed.

As many as ten rakes of260 metre long rails weredispatched to different desti-nations from Bhilai SteelPlant’s Universal Rail Mill inthe month of May 2017.

While one rake each weredispatched to Agra Cant,Jhasidih, Palwal, New CoochBihar, Jagannathpur andQuilon, two rakes were dis-patched to Raigarh andRasmada. The total tonnagedispatched in the ten rakes is8471 Tonnes, informed BSPPRO Subir Daripa in a state-ment issued here recently.

Rate of rolling of longrails has been progressivelyincreasing at the UniversalRail Mill that was commis-sioned in January 2017. Theentire team of Universal RailMill as also members of otheragencies working alongsidethe personnel managing oper-ations and maintenance of thenew mill are working relent-lessly to ensure smoothrolling as also to increase therolling rate, the BSP PROfurther said.

A total of 4674 Tonnes

was dispatched in five rakes toRupnagar, Raigarh, Mugar,Kalyan and Cannanore inApril 2017 while 2635 Tonneswas dispatched in three rakesto Janpahad, Anuppur andTalcher in March 2017.

Total dispatches of 260metre rails from URM in thethree months from March toMay 2017 has been 15,780Tonnes, BSP PRO Daripaadded.

The world’s longest 130metre rails rolled at the newMill are welded at the newRail Welding Plant adjacent toURM and loaded for dis-patch from the Mill’s loadingcomplex. The new 1.2 MTPAUniversal Rail Mill wouldhelp SAIL to meet theincreased demand for 260metre rails from the IndianRailways

SAIL's value added pro-duction as a percentage ofsaleable steel will cross 50 percent after the completion ofits mega modernisation pro-ject including the one beingtaken up at its flagship BhilaiSteel Plant(BSP).

SAIL is also the largestand main supplier of steel forconstructing country’s longestbridge 'Dhola-Sadiya’ which isbuilt on river Lohit in Assam.

SAIL has supplied around90% or around 30,000 tonnesof steel, including TMT,

Structurals and Plates, forthis bridge which will connectthe States of Assam andArunachal Pradesh.

The product mix offeredby SAIL was one of the majorcriteria for selection of thecompany for this prestigiousproject.

The construction of this9.15-km-long bridge began in2011 under public privatepartnership. This bridge is3.55 kms longer thanMumbai’s Bandra-Worli SeaLink, making it the longestbridge in India.

SAIL is supplying steel forseveral vital projects in coun-try’s north-eastern region.Apart from the Dhola-Sadiyabridge, SAIL steel has alsobeen used for constructingthe Bogibeel Rail-cum-Roadbridge, several power plants

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including 750 MW powerplant of NTPC & 600 MWKameng Hydro-electric pro-ject, Trans Arunachal high-way etc. which all are veryimportant projects for theregion.

SAIL has identified spe-cific focus areas in the North-Eastern region for increasingits presence and market share

and has adopted a structuredapproach to widen its foot-prints.

Supplying steel to remoteareas of NE, tapping the highpotential rural sector of theregion, exploring theGovernment’s thrust toimprove the nation’s connec-tivity with North-East— allprominently figure on thecompany’s priority list.

Recently SAIL hasappointed a General Managerto look after steel marketingin this area.

Becoming part of pro-jects of such national impor-tance and value is also a tes-timony to nation’s trust onSAIL steel.

SAIL is now in a positionto offer better and morevalue-added steel for suchprojects as it is almost com-pleting its balance moderni-sation.

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Raipur city will have ‘multioperator integrated telecom

masts’ while getting rid of hun-dreds of telecom towers erectedacross the city under the ‘SmartCity Mission’, officials informed.

The Raipur Smart City Ltd(RSCL) will also be setting up an‘Integrated Command andControl Centre’ as part of the‘Smart City’ Mission project ofthe Union Ministry of UrbanDevelopment, officialsinformed.

Smart City mission waslaunched by the CentralGovernment on June 25, 2015.Subsequently, Raipur was select-ed among 100 cities to be devel-oped as Smart City in India dueto various achievements, initia-tives and all-inclusive approach,they informed.

Accordingly Raipur city hadsubmitted “Smart City Proposal”(SCP) to Union Ministry ofUrban Development withrequired consent of Governmentof Chhattisgarh and statutoryauthority of Raipur MunicipalCorporation (RMC).

The city of Raipur has beenselected to be developed into aSmart City under the fast trackmode of first phase of the SmartCities mission.

The Smart City proposal ofRaipur includes the Smart Citysolutions which involve the use

of technology, information anddata to improve infrastructureand services within the city ofRaipur .

On the other hand, theNaya Raipur DevelopmentAuthority (NRDA) is also con-structing a state-of-the-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’ willmanage the extraordinarilyhigh-technology oriented ‘NayaRaipur Smart City System’ .

The Naya Raipur SmartCity System will comprise ofsmart governance, city surveil-lance, intelligent transport man-agement system, electricity andwater supply and CityCommand and Control Centreamong others.

The Naya Raipur as a SmartCity will leverage the collectiveintelligence created by connect-ing physical, institutional, socialand economic infrastructure todeliver a quantum improve-ment in the quality of life of localpopulation, they informed.

The new capital city ofChhattisgarh is a ‘green field’ cityand is planned to develop itsinfrastructure gradually in orderto provide world class amenitiesand facilities to its residents andvisitors.

NRDA has taken the next

step in “Smart City’ develop-ment with plans now for‘Information & CommunicationTechnology” (ICT) enablementof infrastructure and citizenservices, officials informed

Naya Raipur is alreadyamong five other cities in thecountry chosen as‘Demonstration Cities’ for theCentre’s ambitious SustainableUrban Transport Project(SUTP).

The final five cities partici-pating as ‘Demonstration Cities’under Sustainable UrbanTransport Project (SUTP) are—Indore (Madhya Pradesh),Mysore (Karnataka), NayaRaipur (Chhattisgarh), Puneand Pimpri Chinchwad(Maharashtra).

Detailed project profileswere 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 of util-ities using state-of-the-art tech-nology.

The design would compriseIT enabled land managementsystem, city surveillance besidesa host of other systems till nowpopular and being used only inthe developed countries.

The other city managementsystems include intelligent light-ing systems, pay and use park-ing systems, city guide mapavailable through web browser,intelligent transport system, citylevel wi-fi touch screens acrossthe city, display boards across thecity for providing real-timeinformation, emergency alertand crisis response systems,traffic re-routing applicationsbased on real time traffic data.

It may be recalled that NayaRaipur has emerged in thecountry with the largest landbank of a mammoth 237 squarekilometers ( 23,700 hectares).

The NRDA has plans ofdeveloping a ‘Transport Hub’spread over an area of 161.9hectares in the new capital city.

The hub would include set-ting 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 stated.

On the other hand, theChhattisgarh Government willalso be utilising ‘CentralizedProject Management SoftwareSystem’ (CPMS) for automationof Project 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 monitorand control these majorInfrastructure Projects frominception to closure,Government of Chhattisgarhwants to implement CentralisedProject Management system.

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

The Centralised projectmanagement software systemwould be used for monitoringwork of major departments andagencies such as ChhattisgarhRoad Development Corporation(CGRDC), Chhattisgarh StatePower DevelopmentCorporation Ltd (CSPDCL),Naya Raipur DevelopmentAuthority (NRDA), PublicWorks Department (PWD) andWater Resources Department(WRD). This apart, aCentralised ProjectManagement Unit (CPMU) —Team of consultants would workas an interface betweenSecretariat and GovernmentImplementing Departments andsystem integrators to ensureproper monitoring of the projectworks.

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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh is all set

to trim the misgivings aboutthe State Government’s farmdebt waiver on Thursday.

After announcing themuch-awaited debt relief to theState farming community pastweek, the Chief Minister wouldmeet all the farmer organisa-tions of the State to elucidatethe same. Farm loan waiver —karja, kurki khatam — is themajor pre-poll promise of theCongress party.

Punjab Government hadrecently passed the Bill to doaway with the kurki (mortgageof farmers’ land). Moreover,Punjab Congress has becomethe first Congress-ruled State inthe country to announce theloan waiver for the “debt-rid-den” farming community of thestate.

“There are lot of miscon-ceptions, and doubts regardingthe State Government’s farmloan waiver. We just wanted toclarify that and explain what itis all about. Thus, ChiefMinister has invited all thefarmers’ organisations of theState,” a senior Governmentofficial told The Pioneer.

It has been learnt that theChief Minister will give a pre-

sentation to the farm outfitsregarding the StateGovernment’s waiver, andanswer their queries.

“Farmers’ welfare is themain focus area for the StateGovernment, and it is a step inthat direction,” the officialadded.

Capt Amarinder, during therecently-concluded budget ses-sion, had announced �9,500-crore crop loan waiver for 10.25-lakh small and marginal farmersin the State. He had announcedthat the Government wouldwaive up to �2-lakh crop loan of10.25 lakh farmers who own upto five acres.

Finance Minister ManpreetBadal, presenting the CongressGovernment’s maiden budget,also made provision of �1,500crore for the debt waiver,against the promise of “com-plete loan waiver”.

The State Government hasall along been maintaining that

�1,500 crore budget provisionwas the first instalment towardsthe gigantic debt amount, and�9,500 crore would be spenttowards the same in total fiveyears.

It was clarified that theGovernment would take overthe farmers’ loan while givingthe guarantee, and repay tobanks on farmers’ behalf. “Thefarmers will be free of all debt theday the Government will issuethe notification, and they it willbe between us and the banks,”Capt Amarinder had clarified.

The notification is expect-ed sometime in September orOctober. Besides, the expertcommission, set up under THaque, is also expected to sub-mit its complete report by then.

In the Government’s loanwaiver, no mention was madeabout the 15 lakh landlessfarm labourers, who by anestimate of the agriculturedirectorate, owe an average

loan of �68,000.Besides, the waiver pro-

posal was also silent about�15,000 crore to �25,000 croredebt the farmers owe tothearhtiyas (commissionagents). The Congress hadpromised to waive of entireloan taken by both nationalisedand cooperative banks, besidesthat of the arhtiyas.

As per the figures provid-ed by Finance Minister, thefarm debt figure stood at�90,000 crore till March 2016covering almost all 18-lakhfarmers of the State. Mall farm-ers, having the land holdingsbetween 2.5 to five acres, arethe most burdened.

“�1,500 budget provision isa small but a good step forwardin the right direction. TheGovernment has shown itscommitment to work for thefarming community in justfirst three months, and wehope that in its remainingterm, it would take more gooddecision for the community,”said Bhartiya Kisan Union(Mann) national presidentBhupinder Singh Mann.

Mann, a former MP whohas also been invited for themeeting, said that they alsohave some points of concernthat they are going to discusswith the Chief Minister.

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Faced with an acute shortageof teachers in the schools,

Haryana Government hasdecided to re-engage retiredteachers in the state.

At present, the educationsystem is suffering due to theshortage of about 22,000 teach-ers including 15,000 PostGraduate Teachers and 7,000Trained Graduate Teachers inHaryana schools. However, theState Government hoped thatabout 5,000 retired teacheswould be engaged in the gov-ernment schools to improve theeducation scenario.

In this regard, HaryanaGovernment on Wednesdaylaunched a portal“http:dsehry.in/RE” developedby School EducationDepartment for re-engagementof retired teachers in the state.

Additional Chief Secretary,School Education, PK Das saidthat strenuous effort are beingmade to fill up teachers’ vacan-cies in various categoriesthrough regular recruitmentyet there is shortage of about22,000 teachers in Haryana.

He expressed hope that

about 5,000 retired teacheswould be engaged through theportal in the governmentschools.

Das said that retired teach-ers below the age of 65 yearsfrom Haryana Government,other State Government andprivately managed schoolscould apply on the portal.

He said that said that re-engagement of retired teachersin government schools wouldhelp in providing quality edu-cation to the students in thestate.

Giving details about digitalplatform, Das said that it wouldmake the engagement processof retired teachers easy, trans-parent and hassle-free.

The retired teachers belowthe age of 65 years fromHaryana government, otherstate government and private-ly managed schools required toregister themselves on the por-tal, and fill up their choices ofschools in order of merit in thedistrict of their choice.

The vacancy positionwould be displayed on theportal so as to enable them toget the present status of vacancies.

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Special teams ofHaryana Chief

Minister’s f lyingsquad conducted sur-prise raids at 356places across the Stateon Wednesday as partof the ongoing driveagainst the manufac-ture of spurious prod-ucts and thoseindulging in illegalactivities. As many as98 criminal cases havebeen registered by theteams at different

police stations. Theraids were conductedto check the manu-facture of spuriousproducts, includingillicit liquor, illegalplying of passengerand transport vehi-cles, and registeredcases against thoseinvolved in suchunauthorized activi-ties, said Anil Rao,IG, CID, Haryana.

He said the teamshad raided 38 placesand seized 30,000 kgadulterated dhesi

ghee, 22,000 liters ofadulterated palm oiland 47,000 liters ofadulterated mustardoil. Besides, sampleshave also been col-lected from factoriesmanufacturing vari-ous food items andsent for lab-testing.As many as 308 illegalgas cylinders werealso recovered fromvarious districts dur-ing the raids, he said.

Rao said the CMflying squad team alsobusted a gang in

Karnal involved inillegal trade of blackoil and recovered60,800 liters of blackoil, 2,000 liters ofwaste black oil, 1200bags of chuna powder,108 drums of taar and45 bags of bitumenfrom them. In sepa-rate raids, the teamdetected 17 cases ofpower theft duringthe raids at variouslocations. The powerdepartment is takinglegal action into thematter, he said.

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From Page 1China had lodged a protest

with India over the alleged“crossing of the boundary” byits troops in the Sikkim sectionand demanded their immediatewithdrawal. It had also linkedfuture visits of pilgrims toKailash Mansarovar to India“withdrawing the troops” fromthe area.

At present more than 1,000soldiers from both the armiesare engaged in the stand-offwhich began when the Chinesetroops intruded into Doka Laand destroyed two Indian Army

bunkers. China said thebunkers were built on its terri-tory and India contested theclaim stating the bunkers wereon the Indian side.

A scuffle broke out betweenthe troops when Indian soldiersformed a human wall to preventthe Chinese from proceedingforward. A meeting betweenthe local commanders of boththe armies on June 20 to resolvethe issue failed. Senior officersof 17 Division responsible forthis sector are now campingnear the site to monitor the sit-uation, sources said.

From Page 1“Constitution of an Air

India-specific AlternativeMechanism headed byMinister of Finance, includingMinister for Civil Aviationand such other Minister(s), toguide the process on strategicdisinvestment from time totime and decide the following:a. Treatment of unsustainabledebt of Air India; b. Hiving offof certain assets to a shell com-pany; c. Demerger and strate-gic disinvestment of threeprofit-making subsidiaries; d.The quantum of disinvest-ment; and e. The universe ofbidders,” said the statementissued by the Government.

The Government decisionto implement the pending rec-ommendation of the seventhpay commission will lead toquantum jump in House RentAllowances (HRA) of the

Government employees.Children’s educationallowances as well asallowances to forces and para-military staff have also beenhiked up.

The 7th CPC had placedSiachen Allowance in twoslabs of �21,000 and �31,500.Recognising the extremenature of risk and hardshipfaced by officers and others oncontinuous basis in Siachen,the Government decided tofurther enhance the rates ofSiachen Allowance from theexisting �14,000 to �30,000 permonth for jawans and JCOs(Level 8 and below) and from�21,000 to �42,500 per monthfor Officers (Level 9 andabove).

“With this enhancement,Siachen Allowance willbecome more than twice theexisting rates. It will benefit all

the soldiers and officers ofIndian Army who are postedin Siachen,” said theGovernment statement.

The Cabinet also sanc-tioned �3,691 crore highwayproject in Uttar Pradesh thatis part of the GoldenQuadrilateral between Delhiand Kolkata. Cabinet “hasgiven its approval for devel-opment of six laning ofChakeri-Allahabad section ofNational Highway (NH)-2 inUttar Pradesh,” Ministry ofRoad Transport and Highwayssaid in a statement.

The cost of the project isestimated to be at �3,691.09crore, including cost of landacquisition, resettlement andrehabilitation and other pre-construction activities.

The total length of theroad to be developed isapproximately 145 kms.

From Page 1The GST Bi l l was

original ly pi loted byMukherjee when he was theFinance Minister in the UPAregime.

West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee ina Facebook post said that the“unnecessary hurry to rollout GST is another epic blun-der by the Centre.”

“Our Finance MinisterAmit Mitra had requestedthe Centre to delay the launchas small businesses are notprepared for the big transitionto a unif ied tax regime across the country,” she

remarked. The Left’s Sitaram

Yechury, who had earlier this week confirmed that hisparty would attend theGovernment’s function tolaunch the GST, asked on Wednesday, “Why thehurry?”

The Government hasrepeatedly pointed out thatevery GST rule has beendesigned and frozen by theall-powerful GST Council,where Finance Ministers ofStates ruled by the Congressand other Opposition partieshave represent their parties’views.

From Page 1Even other tomato-pro-

ducing States such asMaharashtra, MadhyaPradesh and Karnataka arealso supplying less than halfof their total supplies.

Retailers say that in May,tomatoes were available at�15-20 per kg in the retailmarket.

As per the secondadvance data of Ministry ofAgriculture, tomato ranksthird in priority after potatoand onion in India, but rankssecond after potato in theworld.

India ranks second in thearea as well as in productionof tomato.

Notably, the country’stomato production is esti-mated to be higher by 15 percent at 187 lakh tonnes in2016-17 crop year (July-June),as per the estimates by theGovernment.

Currently, AndhraPradesh, Odisha, Karnataka,Maharashtra, West Bengal,Bihar, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh,Tamil Nadu and Jharkhandare in the list of the top pro-ducers of tomato in the country.

From Page 1“India accounts for highest

number of road deaths in theworld. In India drivers takeroad signs for granted but atmost of the places in Delhi itis hidden, bungled, missing orjust plain wrong. Simple roadengineering measures like pro-vision of appropriate roadmarkings and traffic signs,minor layout changes in theroad junctions are proven mea-sures which significantlyreduces road accidents,” saidMR KK Kapila, chairman ofthe International RoadFederation.

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ASaudi-led bloc is consider-ing fresh sanctions against

Qatar that may include askingtrading partners to choosebetween them or Doha, theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)ambassador to Russia said.

In an interview with TheGuardian newspaper, envoyOmar Ghobash said the expul-sion of Qatar from the GulfCooperation Council (GCC)was “not the only sanction avail-able” for the UAE and its allies.

“There are certain eco-nomic sanctions that we cantake which are being consid-ered right now,” Ghobash saidin the interview, which waspublished on Wednesday.

“One possibility would beto impose conditions on ourown trading partners and say:you want to work with us thenyou have got to make a com-mercial choice,” he added.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE,Bahrain and Egypt cut diplo-matic ties with Qatar and

imposed sanctions on thecountry on June 5, accusing itof supporting “terrorism”.

The four countries havenot provided any evidence fortheir claim, while Qatar has

repeatedly rejected the allega-tion. Ghobash said that if Qatar“was not willing to accept thedemands, it is a case of‘Goodbye Qatar’ we do notneed you in our tent any more”.

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Danish shipping mammothMaersk said on

Wednesday it had shut downsome of its computer systemsafter a global cyberattack dis-rupted operations at its termi-nals and hindered it from tak-ing new orders.

A number of Maersk’s 76container terminals were affect-ed and were forced to run onmanual systems, AP MollerMaersk chief operating officerVincent Clerc told AFP, refus-ing to specify which terminalswere impacted because of the“fluidity of the situation.”

“Some terminals that weredown this morning are now upand running,” Clerc said.

Maersk’s two terminals inRotterdam, Europe’s biggestport, were however “still affect-ed” on Wednesday, Clerc said.

The port, one of the top 10 in the world, handles

more than 461 million tonnesof cargo a year, and welcomesthe largest container ships inthe world.

APM Terminals, part of theAP Moller Maersk conglomer-ate, runs the two terminals atthe sprawling port whichstretches across 42 kilometres.

India’s shipping ministrysaid meanwhile a terminal runby Maersk at the Mumbai port,the largest in India, was alsoaffected. While the systems aredown, “We have to manage ona manual basis... It's difficult forpeople in the terminals to tellthe people on the ground — thelongshoremen — which con-tainers to unload,” Clerc said.

A spokesman for APMTerminals in Rotterdam, TomBoyd, said the manual processwas tough work. “Today we arehandling 4,500 containers. It’smore labour extensive, but weare making it work,” he toldAFP.

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;)� ��������������������������������+1+1�����Beirut: At least 30 civilianswere killed in airstrikes on anarea of eastern Syria held byISIS group on Wednesday, amonitoring group said.

The Syrian Observatoryfor Human Rights said it wasnot immediately able to say

whether the strikes in DeirEzzor province were carriedout by the US-led coalition, orby the Syrian Army or itsRussian ally.

The coalition did notimmediately respond to arequest for comment. AFP

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Ahelicopter dropped twogrenades on Venezuela’s

Supreme Court building in a“terror attack” against theGovernment, President NicolasMaduro said in a speech.

“I have activated the entirearmed forces to defend thepeace,” he said in remarks deliv-ered from the Miraflores pres-idential palace. Maduro said hehas put the military on alert torespond to the alleged assault.

“Sooner or later, we aregoing to capture that helicopterand those that carried out thisterror attack,” he declared. Hedid not say when the allegedattack is supposed to haveoccurred, and said no one wasinjured and that one of thegrenades failed to detonate.

The beleaguered Presidentsaid the aircraft was flown by apilot who worked for his formerInterior and Justice ministerMiguel Rodriguez Torres, fromwhom he is now estranged.

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London: A secondary school innorth-west England hasbecome the first in the UK tooffer hijabs or headscarvesworn by Muslims as part of theuniform for pupils. Sir JohnThursby Community Collegein Burnley, Lancashire, reactedto concerns that some hijabswere being worn incorrectly byintroducing a uniform ver-sion. PTI

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India’s internal trade gross domes-tic product (GDP) ratio, at about 54per cent, is comparable to that inother large countries. India has, fornearly 70 years, affirmed and re-

affirmed the political “idea of India”, isde facto and de jure one economic India,observed Economic Survey 2016-17.

“The inter-State trade is 1.7 timeslarger than the country’s internationaltrade of 32 per cent of the GDP”. India’strade profile is thus more similar to thatof China at 1.6 times its internationaltrade but less than the US, whose inter-nal trade is 2.5 times its international.

The observation is significant on theeve of the ceremonial launch of theGoods and Services Tax (GST) from theCentral Hall of Parliament House. Itmeans, Indians have ingenuity and pas-sion to integrate the country. Languageor political regionalism is not a barrierin internal trade expansion. Despitemany hurdles — more bureaucratic orrule-based — the integration is amazing,the survey notes.

The survey has come down heavilyon impediments on truck movements onState borders “with their drivers hagglingfor official clearances or subject to extor-tion”. The GST possibly is not address-ing these issues as of now. It may grad-ually pave the way for smoother move-ment. But the new GST — one nationaltax with four different components ortaxes — is ignoring it.

Ideally, it should have done away withhighway and other tolls (municipal etc)despite multiplicity of road, parking andfuel cess on transport movement. “Theconsequent damages to trade and eco-nomic activity too have been extensive-ly catalogued”, the survey notes. This isdespite the fact that the Indian society isextremely mobile, a dream of father of theConstitution, BR Ambedkar, for convey-ing a change.

But the costs of movement are abouttwice as great. The survey attributes it tothe current indirect taxes. It, however,does not refer to the inter-district policebarriers and jumbling of vehicles atinter-city borders due to tolls levied bylocal bodies. The GST presently is notaddressing the issue apparently. Thesur vey hopes that the GST “by ironing out oddities may normaliseinter-State trade”.

According to a recent report pub-lished by the Transport Corporation ofIndia (TCI) and Indian Institute ofManagement Kozhikode, such delaysimpose transaction costs of over one lakhcrore rupees ($21 billion) annually onIndia’s businesses. In addition, it increas-es the average transit times and makessupply chains inefficient.

Enabling seamless movement ofgoods across India is, in fact, consideredto be one of the most important aspectsof GST-related reforms.

The rules of transport-related docu-mentation and administrative proce-dures, for checking and inspection oftrucks, though usually unnecessary andoften severe duplication, so far has notreceived attention.

The National Highway Authority ofIndia says that it is digitalising toll gates.It conceals the fact that the tolls are addi-tional and unnecessary tax as already sev-eral kind of road taxes are levied on truck,bus and other transport movement. It isan additional cost. Each toll gates, despitesupposed electronic control, adds totravel time and creates barriers.

With one GST, check posts at Stateborders need to be completely eliminat-ed. Presently, a plethora of forms areneeded to be filled up to satisfy the Stateroad transport authorities and also payan additional road tax, in some cases evenwith a national permit.

The system of inspectorate — thatthrives of what the survey notes asextortion — has to be done away with.Apart police and Regional TransportOffice posts levy “taxes” amounting toabout �28,000 crore a year

The GST Network (GSTN) that hasalready come out with an IT architecturehas to broaden it to include the goodsmovement. Instead of each time demand-

ing hardcopies of invoice and forms, itshould create an automatic ID to end thediscretion of inspecting officials. A sys-tem of trust has to be built.

The official system is based on theconcept of mistrust. The human elementis missing in it. Distrust apparently is thecreation of the not so honest officials sothat extortions can go on. Even the GSThas to be widened beyond taxes to cre-ate a system of having seamless move-ment across States.

The GST Bill has provisions for sub-stantive powers for stoppage and seizureof vehicles, which can be potentiallyabused. The nation has witnessed how thelocal police abuses these provisions lead-ing to lakhs of vehicles being turned intojunks at police stations, often just for thereason that someone has not paid theslush money. This is a severe penalty andsoar business costs; causes uncertaintyand hampers trade.

Such clauses should gradually be outof the law books so that the business andtrade can thrive, jobs can be created andthe happiness that India aspires for maybecome real. Yes, that would boomnational and State GDP too. There is norationale for holding goods at police postsfor non-payment of a small amount oftax. This can be sorted out in ways otherthan punitive.

President of Global Trucks, AnujKathuriam, at the recent zonal conferencetold the media that he hoped that tolls

and restriction on movement is set to gowith the GST and goods could now move with ease. Such ease of rules haslarger benefits. It not only makes move-ment easier, but also increases demandand boosts manufacturing at all levels,including automobiles.

Removal of barriers can help the lag-gards. The survey says the so-called lag-gards like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana arethe manufacturing powerhouses not justTamil Nadu and Gujarat. Uttar Pradeshis a net exporter, and hence competitivein manufacturing.

There is a strong correlation betweena State’s manufacturing share of State’sGDP (GSDP) and its trade volumes (asper cent of the GSDP).The manufactur-ing prowess of States is associated withhigher inter-State trade.

The fundamentals of India’s provin-cial trade compare with the best in theworld — Canada, the European Unionand the US. These are governed by thefour freedoms — allowing unfetteredmovement of goods, services, capital andpeople. India’s internal trade data isunderstated as it does not include agri-cultural products. So the road to progressin India is enormous provided the man-made barriers are eliminated.

The GST in its present form is not theend. It would be a beginning of the realfuture reforms. One hopes the dream of oneeconomic India would succeed with it.

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“The dance of hatred” (June 26).The death of Mohammed AyubPandith at the hands of a lynch mobhighlights the dangers to the policeforce in Kashmir, whether fromgun-wielding militants or locals dis-gruntled with the Indian state.

That the policemen should bethe target of terrorists is a well-known strategy, but people join-ing the lynching of someone onone of the holiest days in theIslamic calendar is self-speakingevidence how far the de-human-isation of Kashmir has proceeded.

Isn’t it time for all the ‘con-science-keepers’ of Kashmir, partic-ularly the separatist leaders and cler-ics, to stem this rot that threatens totear apart an already overstrainedsocial culture of tolerance ?

KS Jayatheertha Bengaluru

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Sir — People abhorring violenceare now often reading aboutlynching. How else does oneexplain the murder of a teenager,Junaid Khan, in a train compart-ment packed with passengers?His two brothers and another fel-low traveller suffered stab woundstoo. Sadly, no one in their vicini-ty found it worthwhile to inter-vene even when lives were at stake.

As political parties adopt amuted response to blood on thestreets, mobs of angry men arenow raring to settle their societaland political disagreements bylynching the hapless and the out-numbered. In India, this tyranny

is increasingly rearing its uglyhead, signifying a virtual col-lapse of law and order. A mobseeks refuge in numbers, whichmakes it easy for even a small col-lective to get away with the hor-rific crime of lynching.

Are the core values of human-ity at stake now? For, systematicviolation of such rights to targetminorities would lead to schismand violence, damaging India’smulti-cultural tradition and rob itof the fruits of economic reform.

JS Acharya Hyderabad

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Sir — Prime Minister NarendraModi’s visit to the US marks animportant milestone with the USdeclaring Syed Salahuddin, head ofthe Kashmiri militant group HizbulMujahideen, a global terrorist. Thiswill help in choking his movementand financing. First, all terroristsmust starve for finance. Lack offinancial support can deliver asevere blow to the terrorists.

The UN must also take appro-priate action against countriesthat provide financial aid to theterrorists. Declaration onSalahuddin by the US emphasis-es its commitment to end terrorin all forms. The declaration alsoprohibits the US citizens fromengaging in transactions withSalahuddin and that all his prop-erty and interests subject to theUS’s jurisdiction will be blocked.It is a welcome move.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

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The rapid growth in carbonemissions is increasingly con-tributing to the rising level of

the oceans. Climate change manifest-ing itself in the form of thermalexpansion and melting of floatingicebergs is leading to a concerningspike in global mean sea levels.

Core samples, tide gauge readingsand satellite measurement data haveshown that over the past century, theglobal mean sea level has risen by fourto eight inches or nearly 10 to 20 cen-timeters. Moreover, the annual rateof rise over the past 20 years has been0.13 inches (3.2 millimeters) a year,roughly twice the average speed of thepreceding 80 years.

According to the study led byXianyao Chen of the Ocean University

of China and Qingdao NationalLaboratory of Marine Science andTechnology, a thaw of Greenland’s icesheet accounted for more than 25 percent of the sea level rise in 2014 againstjust five per cent in 1993.

Additionally, the losses of glaci-ers in the Himalayas, Andes andAntarctica too have sped up the risein sea levels. The worsening of the sealevels has also been exacerbated dueto global warming which is actuallywarming up the oceans. Over the pastcentury, burning of fossil fuels andother human and natural activitieshas released enormous amounts ofheat-trapping gases into the atmos-phere. These emissions have causedthe Earth’s surface temperature to rise,which are in turn absorbed up to 80per cent by the oceans.

Globally, the rising tempera-tures have paved way for increasingsea levels. For instance, the annualrate of sea level rise increased to 3.3mm (0.13 inch) in 2014 — a rate of33 cm (13 inches) from 2.2 mm in1993. Given these conditions scien-tists and experts have opined in the

journal, Nature & Climate Change,that the quickening rise in sea levelhighlights the importance andurgency of working out ways to cutgreenhouse gas emissions and to pro-tect low-lying coasts. The growingthreat of sea level has to be under-stood for its long-term impact.

According to studies conducted

by the Imperial College, London, lowlying coasts from Miami toBangladesh and cities from Shanghaito San Francisco stand to be the mostaffected due to a rise in sea levels.

China will also be most severe-ly affected due to sea level rise assome 145 million people face theprospect of getting submerged. India

too faces a threatening prospect dueto rising sea levels. A ClimateCentral, US report states that mil-lions of people living in Indian met-ros Mumbai and Kolkata are at therisk of getting submerged in thefuture if climate change triggered sealevel rise is left unchecked.

Elevated sea levels are a causeof major concern from the weath-er point of view as well as they tendto make storm surges and hurricanemuch worse. Given these condi-tions, it is of outmost importanceto rein in the rising sea levels, thiscan be done by cutting down dras-tically on the carbon emissions bymaking a sharp transition to cleanenergy. In fact, according to arecent report by the National Centreon Atmospheric Research, reducedemissions can help cut down theseal level rise anywhere between sixto 20 inches by 2100.

India must set the global pace incutting down on emissions in orderto reduce the rising sea levels and itcan do so by initiating control on theproduction of four pollutants —

black carbon, methane, ozone andhydrofluorocarbons.

These have a major role to playas all these pollutants cycle throughthe atmosphere more quickly thancarbon dioxide, which lasts for cen-turies in the troposphere. Carbondioxide is the main cause in Earth’swarming temperatures, whichimpacts sea level rise, both by theexpansion of water as it warms andby the melting of glacial ice.

India has a long coastline of3,214 km and has a lot at stake if thesea level surges. Given the threat fac-tor, India must take immediate stepsto assess the full impact of project-ed sea level increase over the nextdecade and take evasive measures toreduce the impact.

A complete awareness on the sub-ject is the first step towards bringingabout a positive impact in reducingthe sea levels, as a more aware pop-ulation will emit lesser green housegas emissions, which in turn willmean slower increase in sea levels.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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Let us for a moment keep asidethe issue of the creation of aseparate Gorkhaland Statedemanded by the GorkhaJanmukti Morcha (GJM),

which has been spearheading a bandhin the Darjeeling Hills for long now. Thisis not to say that the demand must alto-gether be debunked. Nor does it meanthat it has to be accepted. All that oneneeds to say at this moment is that theissue, if repeatedly raised at this point intime, will add fuel to fire in the Hills, therest of West Bengal, and elsewhere.

The immediate cause of the protestis fairly well-known. The trigger for vio-lence was the West Bengal Government’sdecision to make BengaIi compulsory inall schools across the State. Though theTrinamool Congress Government,which is in power in West Bengal, wasquick to make corrections, and said thatBengali would not be mandatory, bythen the fears of the residents of the Hillswere unnerved. Bengali domination andethnic subjugation are probably the worstapprehensions they live in. Additionally,the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, spear-headed by its chief Bimal Gurung, didnot fail to seize upon the moment — itre-kindled anger and emotions amongthe Gorkhas and re-ignited the demandfor a separate Gorkhaland State. TheGJM refused to accede even after theWest Bengal Government made conces-sions; it continued with the agitation.Resultantly, Gorkhaland is now on fireand is burning. Protests have reached the15th day and the dream for a new home-land has found resonance across theregion, across party lines. NeighbouringStates such as Sikkim too have extend-ed support to the demand.

It would, therefore, be short-sighted to assume that the Bengalilanguage issue was the primary(though it was the immediate) causeof the protest. To understand the rootof the problem, one has to realiseboth the alienation of the Nepalese-speaking people and the toweringpolitical ambitions of politicians onboth sides — to carve for themselvesa name at regional politics, if not atthe national level.

Though successive regimes in WestBengal have claimed the right to be thevoice of the Gorkhas, in reality they havedone little for the local populationwhich remains steeped in poverty andneglect. The pertinent question is: Whydid the question of a separateGorkhaland State arise at all? It happenedbecause of the insensitivity of the pre-vious Communist regimes, and now thatof the Mamata Banerjee Government,to understand the problems, senti-ments, aspirations, and the ethic and lin-guistic needs of the Hill people. This ledto frequent demands for a separate State,and each time the demand grew stronger— so much so that today, it refuses todie. It must, therefore, be admitted that,

if their needs had been sensibly handled,the demand for a separate Gorkhalandwould have never arisen.

A part of the problem has to also dowith the rising aspirations of politiciansat the helm in the State. Talking aboutthe Left Front Government, the party,in order to escape matters in the Hills,allowed the Gorkha National LiberationFront (GNLF) to flourish. Subsequently,a seven-year long protest by the GNLFled to the formation of the DarjeelingGorkha Hill Council (DGHC) whichpromised autonomy and funds for theHill region. But the GNLF, which washeaded by Subhas Ghising, ended up asa failure. Instead of resolving the prob-lems of the people, it became a corrup-tion hub. Similarly, the GNLF too couldnot fight for the cause of the Gorkhas —no funds were transferred and noautonomy was given to the body.

It is surprising that political partiesshould go to the extent of playing withthe sentiments of the Gorkhas just tocome to power. The breakdown of theGNLF led to the formation of its rival,the GJM, after Banerjee, in a peace-bro-ker gesture, held tripartite agreementwith the GJM, the Union Governmentas partners. She promised more powersand the transfer of many departmentsto the GJM, and the creation of a simi-lar body like the DGHC, which cameinto being by the name of the semi-autonomous Gorkhaland TerritorialAdministration (GTA). It got addition-al financial and autonomous powers.The Banerjee Government too, howev-er, failed to deliver on the promises. Thiscreated a deep rift between the GJM andthe Bengal Government. Now, both arelocked in a bitter tussle politically. The

GJM was all the more peeved with theBanerjee Government’s bid to woo theminority sections and top leaders of theGJM in the State. This helped theTrinamool Congress make significantgains in the just-concluded civic electionin Mirk. The GJM too on its part hastime and again played the statehood cardto contain the growth of the TrinamoolCongress in the Hills. This time, it didso by using the Banerjee Government’sdecision to impose Bengali language.

Such agitations have becomeMachiavellian tactics for the likes ofBimal Gurung (and earlier SubhasGhising also) to flourish. Both wereunknown personalities once upon a timebut came to the centre-stage at differentto become the undisputed mass leadersof the Gorkha community.

The larger issue, however, is to movebeyond the present and beyond what hashappened in the past. What led to thecurrent situation and where does it leadus to? It’s important to understand thatno State can hope to prosper with civilinsurgencies or something near to that,breaking out every now and then. Theagitations have come to adversely affecttourism and tea — the two core indus-tries that contribute to the economy ofthe State. The Darjeeling tea variationalone earns a gross revenue of around�600 crore annually. Already, the teaindustry has suffered a total loss of $18million. Tourists who flocked to theQueen of the Hills every year for itsscenic beauty, are less to be seen.

At the same time, much as the likesof Gurung would like to boast, the factremains that a separate State ofGorkhaland will not be able to sustainitself. It is bound to face tremendous dif-

ficulties. Very soon, the enthusiasm willvanish and then the struggles and chal-lenges will come to the fore. The Centre,of course, cannot be expected to unnec-essarily intervene in these matters everynow and then. Meanwhile, a certain levelhostility will always be prevalent betweenthe plains of Bengal and the Hill region.

Some may argue that there are otherStates too which have been bifurcatedand they have been co-existing perfect-ly. But between them, there never exist-ed this kind of a stir — they were notbacked by mass movements. Whatexisted between them was not people-to-people hostility, but the ire wasagainst the far located power centre.

For example, in Uttar Pradesh, thedemand for Uttarakhand came upbecause people in the Hill region felt thatthe regime sitting in Lucknow was fartoo remote and, therefore, it was reallydifficult for it to address their problems.Similarly, Jharkhand too came upbecause Patna was too far. People in theeastern region felt that given the enor-mous mineral potential, the eastern partwas not getting its due in terms of devel-opment, earning etc. The demand was-for better governance and decentralisedadministrative machinery.

The situation in Gorkhaland, how-ever, is different. And it has been madeworse by political brinkmanship. Theoutburst of the demand for a separateGorkhaland has not just taken ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee by surprisebut it has also put other national partiesin a dilemma. No party is willing to takea stand on this contentious issue, lest itburn its fingers.

(The writer is senior Assistant Editor,The Pioneer)

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Aiming to transform AndhraPradesh into a mobile

manufacturing hub like China,State’s Minister for Informationand Technology, Panchayat Rajand Rural Development NaraLokesh on Wednesday said theChandrababu NaiduGovernment is planning toachieve $10 billion worth ofproduction output and provideemployment to 2 million youthand rural women by 2025.

Lokesh was in Delhi on aday-long tour holding meetingswith Union InformationTechnology MinisterRavishankar Prasad, Union ITSecretary Ajay Sahni and rep-resentatives from electronicsmanufacturing industry.

“To achieve the target, weare planning to set up a robustElectronic System Design andManufacturing Hub in AP. Weare readying a road map topromote AP as the preferredmanufacturing destination inelectronics sector with empha-sis on mobile handsets andcomponents. We want to exportmobile handsets and compo-

nents to other countries. To pro-mote and sustain electronicsmanufacturing, we would like toestablish a R&D and Designeco-system. We are also makingan action plan to create a largepool of talent to feed the man-ufacturing sector,” Lokesh saidelaborating the steps taking bythe State Government.

He requested the Centre togive permission to the proposedfive manufacturing clustersplanned in Chittoor,Anantapuram andVisakhapatnam districts;increase another 2,700 seats inthe Indian BPO Scheme for APand establish CentralElectronics, InformationTechnology Research andDevelopment Centre C-DAC inVisakhapatnam, besides Centreof Excellence for Cyber Securityand Centre of Excellence forInternet of Things in AP.

He also requested permis-sion to the proposedInternational Institute of DigitalTechnology, Centre ofExcellence for Black ChainTechnology, Big Data Analyticsin the State besides release offunds for early completion ofthe Microvare ElectronicEngineering Institute —SAMEER proposed byGovernment of India in AP.Prasad promised total support,cooperation and help from theCentre to Andhra Pradesh forthe development of Electronicsand IT Sector, sources said.

Lokesh directed State’s IT

Principal Secretary KVijayanand to prepare a sepa-rate action plan on specialtraining to women and studentsin mobile manufacturing sector.“Women and Students must betrained from schooling itself inmobile manufacturing,” he saidas he met representatives fromthe Indian Cellular Associationin Delhi. Lokesh requestedCellular companies to establishmobile manufacturing units inRenigunta ElectronicsManufacturing Cluster locatednear the temple town Tirupati.He requested the Association tostart units in every month ifpossible.

“Andhra PradeshGovernment is making a roadmap for a special hub for elec-tronics, mobile handsets man-ufacturing and other compo-nents. State Government isvery much keen to establishCentre for Development ofElectronics System Design andManufacturing (CD-ESDM)amd is ready to supportCellular Industry in all aspects,”Lokesh informed theAssociation representatives.

Indian Cellular Associationpresident Pankaj Mahendrobrought to the notice of Lokeshcertain issues. “If the StateGovernment is keen to competewith China in the mobile man-ufacturing sector and wants toexport to other countries, thelocal Government has to offertax benefits and has to simpli-fy the policies,” he suggested.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi to kick-start a two-day

visit to his poll bound homeState Gujarat by leading a megaroadshow in Chief MinisterVijay Rupni’s hometown Rajkoton Thursday evening.

Modi, who contested firstever election of his life fromRajkot February 2002, is vis-it ing the main city ofSaurashtra region for the firsttime after he became PrimeMinister in May 2014.

State BJP cadre are notleaving single stone unturnedto make the 12-km-long megaroadshow from Aji dam toairport successful in lines withthe similar roadshow held inSurat in April this year. CMRupani too is taking personalinterest to make the event

grand as on Wednesday heappealed to the people ofRajkot to join the roadshow.Rupani has also appealed to thepeople to light up earthenlamps at their houses between7.30 pm to 8 pm to celebratearrival of Narmada waters.

Ahead of the roadshowModi will attend a formal func-tion to welcome Narmadawaters in Aji dam, a majorsource of drinking water forRajkot. The Prime Ministerwill also address a public meet-ing near Aji dam site. He willalso attend a function to dis-tribute kits to physically chal-lenged people at racecourseground immediately after hisarrival to Rajkot.

Describing coming ofNarmada water at the doorstepof Rajkot as golden moment forRajkotian, Rupani as hard daysof frequent droughts and severeshortage of water wouldbecome past.

Meanwhile, tight securityarrangements have been doneenroute mega roadshow of PMModi and at Aji dam where hewould attend a function andaddress a public meeting.

Gujarat Minister of State forHome Pradipsinh Jadeja andDGP Geetha Johri along withother top cops personally tooka tour from airport to Aji damto examine security cover forthe Prime Minister.

Apart from 60 special pro-tection group (SPG) comman-dos, three inspector generals ofpolice (IGPs) will supervise thesecurity arrangements.Moreover, 27 IPS officers will bedeployed in the city, along with65 deputy superintendents ofpolice, 50 police inspectors, 500police sub inspectors and 15companies of State ReservePolice force (SRP). The RajkotPolice commissioner has issueda notification banning parking ofvehicles on all the routes whereModi would travel and divertedfrom seven major roads.

During his couple of daysvisit to the State, Modi wouldinaugurate Textile India 2017 atMahatma Mandir inGandhinagar, he will also inau-gurate a water related projectnear North Gujarat townModasa and also attend a func-tion at Sabarmati Ashram tomark its centenary year.

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Thanjavur, Thiruvarur andNagapattinam, popularly

known as the Cauvery Deltadistricts and the Rice Bowl ofTamil Nadu are all set to losetheir lush green paddy fieldswhich feed the State thanks toyet another mission by the Oiland Natural Gas Commission(ONGC), the country’s energymajor, to drill 110 exploratoryand development wells in thisregion. This time the ONGChas sought clearance from theUnion Government to drillwells in Ramanathapuram dis-trict also, which has alreadybecome a barren stretch of landthanks to severe shortage ofwater.

The move by ONGCcomes after its fiasco in

Neduvasal, a village inPudukottai district, which sawmass upsurge against the pro-posed shale gas extraction well.Environmental experts wereunanimous in their view thathad the ONGC gone aheadwith the Neduvasal project, itwould have definitely ruinedthe village.

Though, the ONGCclaims, the latest move is to dig110 wells for extracting 155cubic meters of oil and 2.65lakh cubic meter of natural gasper day, P Ananthanarayanan,a United Nations expert on cli-mate change who has been des-

ignated as Clean DevelopmentMechanism Assessor by theworld body said that the realmotive by the energy major isto extract shale gas and CoalBed Methane (CBM) from thefertile Cauvery Delta region.

“There is no need for themto dig wells upto a depth of4,000 meters if their intentionis to exploit only oil and naturalgas. Petroleum and natural gascould be extracted from adepth of 1,500 meters,”Ananthanarayanan told ThePioneer. He also made it clearthat this is a project whichTamil Nadu could do without.The lush green paddy fields inthe three districts wouldbecome a thing of the past if theONGC goes ahead with theirplan to extract shale gas,” hewarned.

Farmers in the three dis-

tricts are agitated over the newinitiative by the ONGC. “Weare not opposed to any kind ofdevelopment activities whichare beneficial to the nation. Butwe will oppose any move whichwould lead to the destructionof our precious farm lands,”said RV Giri, president,Consortium of Indian FarmersAssociations (CIFA), anumbrella organisation of vari-ous farmers’ collectives in thecountry.

Ananthanarayanan point-ed out that though the ONGChas claimed that it wouldrequire only 25 cubic meterswater per day per well, this wasfar from reality. “They are dig-ging wells upto a depth of4,000 meters. Each well of1,000 meter depth itself wouldneed 1,200 cubic meters waterper day. One can imagine ho

much wayter they have topump into the 110 wells eachof 4,000 meters depth,” he said.

According to Giri, therewas no need for such a projectin Tamil Nadu. “Let them digthe wells in barren lands ordesert. But not in fertile landwhich feeds the nation”, hesaid.

Cauvery S Dhanapalan,another farmer leader said thatNagapattinam has alreadyruined by drought. “Any kindof drilling near paddy fieldwould destroy the entire dis-trict. The memories ofNeduvasal is still fresh in ourminds,” said Dhanapalan.

Ananthanarayanan said thereturns would be more in eco-logical and economical terms ifthe ONGC is denied the per-mission to dig wells in the deltadistricts.

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Security has been beefed upin parts of south and central

Kashmir a day before annualAmarnath pilgrimage takes offsimultaneously from Baltal inSonamarg and Chandanwari insouth Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

The first batch of pilgrimsarrived in Kashmir valley onWednesday afternoon to beginthe yatra scheduled for 40 daysthis year. The pilgrimage beginsat a time when security situa-tion has worsened in the regionespecially in south Kashmir.

The authorities have mademulti-layered security arrange-ments to ensure smooth pas-sage of pilgrims from sensitiveareas. The areas would bedominated by Army, CentralReserve Police force (CRPF),Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) andthe Jammu & Kashmir Police,from Lakhanpur. The yatrawould conclude on August 7,coinciding with shravan purn-ima. All the concerned securi-

ty and Intelligence agencieshave been asked to enforce sus-tained watch and maintaineffective co-ordination toensure the smooth conduct ofthe pilgrimage.

Tens of thousands of devo-tees are expected to pay obei-sance at the holy cave shrinethis year situated in theHimalayan mountain rangenearly 14,000 feet above the sealevel in South Kashmir’sAnantnag district. The cavehouses an ice stalagmite thatforms naturally.

Amidst chanting of VedicMantras the first batch of 2,280pilgrims including 422 women

travelling in 72 vehicles enteredthe Kashmir valley safely forovernight stay at the basecamps.

The separatists have wel-comed the pilgrims and soughtto allay apprehensions on theirsafety. Veteran separatist leaderSyed Ali Geelani has alreadywelcomed the arrival of pil-grims and described them asguests of the people in the val-ley. He said nobody wouldharm or obstruct the perfor-mance of their religious duties.

This year 2.12 lakh pil-grims have registered for thepilgrimage to the Amarnathcave shrine.

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Pakistan Army on Wednesdaytrained their guns towards

forward Indian posts in Balakotesector of Poonch violating cease-fire agreement for seventh timein a row in last 10 days.

Several forward Indian vil-lages were also targeted by thePakistan Army in the forwardarea with long range mortars,small arms and automatics.The firing which continuedshortly before 3 pm was stillgoing on till the time of filingthe report. Ground reportssuggested both the sides wereusing heavy calibre of weapons

to target each other. AfterUnited States designated chiefof Hizbul Mujahideen SyedSalahuddin as ‘global terrorist’establishment in Pakistan waslooking for an opportunity todeflect attention over its failureto internationalise Kashmirissue in world arena.

Defence spokesman inJammu said, Pakistan Armyinitiated unprovoked and indis-criminate firing of small arms,automatics and mortars from2.45 pm in Bhimber Gali sec-tor along the line of control.The spokesman said, theIndian side was retaliatingstrongly and effectively.

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After the fire, it is time todouse it. The JD(U) took

the initiative on Wednesday topour water on the fire ignitedby the statements of somesenior leaders of the mahagathbandhan which createdapprehension that the alliancewas on brink of disintegration.

A day after JD(U) secretarygeneral KC Tyagi stated inDelhi that unfriendly state-ment by Congress leaderGhulam Nabi Azad againstChief Minister Nitish Kumarwas intolerable and mightshorten the life of the alliance,he relented on Wednesday andasserted that there was noproblem in the alliance and thathis party has absolutely nointention to go back to BJP ledNDA. Tyagi also clarified thatby saying that his party wasmore comfortable in the com-pany of NDA he was actuallyreferring to the time of AtalBihari Vajpayee and not thepresent leadership of the BJP.

Nitish at a function said

that he has a commitment withthe people of Bihar to servethem and would go to anyextent to honour that commit-ment. “We will not budge fromour stand come what may,” headded. His one liner is seen inthe context of the currentupheaval in the alliance amidspeculations of a split.

Tyagi said the three partiesin the alliance have differentview point on the Presidentialelection but this was not goingto affect the alliance as well asthe Government. On the can-didature of Meira Kumar, hesaid that till a few days backmost of the opposition partieshad favoured fielding GopalKrishna Gandhi and Congresshad not revealed the name offormer Lok Sabha Speaker.

The Bihar BJP has beentaking a sadistic pleasure overthe bickering in the mahagath-bandhan and anticipated split.Some leaders praised Nitish andsaid he would be welcomedback in the NDA althoughsome BJP leaders opposedrealignment with JD(U).

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In a move to integrate all theNaga inhabited areas in the

region, the Nagaland’s region-al political party, Naga Peoples’Front (NPF) is now planning toexpand to all the tribal areas ofthe region.

Nagaland Chief MinisterDr Shürhozelie Liezietsu saidthis on Wednesday whileaddressing over 200 partymembers of Arunachal Pradeshunit on Wednesday and addedthat the NPF party should beintroduced not only to all theNaga inhabited areas but to alltribal areas in the region andadded that this will be the firststep towards integrating thetribal peoples of the region.

He said that the demand forintegration of the whole Nagainhabited areas may be difficultat present but that comingtogether under the umbrella ofthe NPF could be the first step

to integrate the people emo-tionally and politically.

“After the NPF became apart of the Government inManipur, the Naga people liv-ing in the Manipur are now feela sense of belongingness as oneNaga family,” he said whileadding that the NPF must takepart in the next Government inArunachal Pradesh.

“The Naga people ofArunachal Pradesh must sendtheir representative to theLegislative Assembly,” he saidadding that the NPF will berecognised as a national partyonly after it succeeds to gainentre in legislative Assemblies ofthree States. It may be men-tioned here that while the NPFis leading the DemocraticAlliance of Nagaland allianceGovernment in Nagaland, theparty could manage to securefour seats in the recent Manipurelections, who were also accom-modated in the Cabinet.

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Ignoring rains and dampweather a motley crowd

gathered on Hussain SagarTank Bund on Wednesdayevening to register theirprotest against the growingincident of mob lynching inthe country.

The protesters includingactivists of various massorganisations gathered withplacards of “stop lynching”and “not in my name”.

As the police did not allowthem to put up banners orraise any slogans the protest-ers held a silent sit in.

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Lucknow : The BJP onWednesday attackedSamajwadi Party patronMulayam Singh Yadav fordefending his close aideGayatri Prajapati and advisedthe SP patriarch to “chantGayatri Mantra” instead ofsupporting the jailed rapeaccused.

Mulayam’s defence ofGayatri reflected his “anti-woman” stance, the BJP said.

“Giving certificate of inno-cence to Gayatri is con-demnable. He (Mulayam) is asenior and mature leader, buthis anti-woman face was seenearlier also when he madecontroversial comments.Defending Gayatri, corrobo-rates his anti-woman stanceand mentality of giving patron-age to criminals,” BJPspokesman Rakesh Tripathisaid.

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The Gorkha JanmuktiMorcha (GJM) on

Wednesday added Talibaniflavour to the Gorkhaland agi-tation getting scores of toddlerssome of who could barely walkto trudge up and down themountain paths with flashingkhukris in their hands hardlyknowing what they were up toeven as thousands of rallyistsincluding the mothers of the totscheered them from the wings.

The symbolic introductionof Khukri a traditional knifeassociated with the Gorkhaswas promptly interpreted bythe observers who had seen theviolent movement of SubasGhising-led GNLF in the mid-eighties as a device to keep theHill people united in the faceof mounting hardship onaccount of indefinite bandhthat entered its 14th day onWednesday.

The routine protest ralliesapart reports of violence andarson also filtered in from var-ious areas even as the GJMpromptly denied its involve-ment with any kind of subver-sive activities terming it “the

handiwork of TrinamoolCongress agents who are tryingto malign the movement.”

An office of the engineer-ing division of the GorkhalandTerritorial Authority wastorched and another panchay-at office at Bijonbari was loot-ed and put to fire by allegedGJM supporters, police saidwhile TMC leadership inSiliguri said it was a ploy to“burn down documents tothwart the ongoing specialaudit of funds allocated by theState Government” to the GTA.

Sources in the DM’s officesaid about 25 Governmentproperties had been burntdown in the past 20 days of themovement.

Morcha leader BenoyTamang however said his partywas “not remotely connected toany kind of violent activities. Itis the ploy of the TrinamoolCongress to malign our move-ment and arrest out men onfalse charges.”

He however said the move-ment had been forced on thepeople of the Hills and it hadbecome a “mass movement” inthe given point of time addingthe State Government was try-

ing to escalate the situationwhich could be proved by bring-ing Darjeeling under a DIG.

In a new administrativeshuffle the State Governmenton Tuesday created Darjeelingas a new police division bring-ing it under a new DIG,Humayun Kabir. It alsoappointed a new commission-er for Siliguri in Dooars.

On the Khukri rally of theyoungsters, Darjeeling intel-lectuals said: “the people haveto be kept united againstmounting adversities particu-larly food shortage and spiral-ing prices by introducing newerideas every day otherwise themovement will gradually dryout and fall apart.”

They criticised the Centreand the State Governments fornot taking adequate “steps toassuage the hurt feelings of theGorkha people.” It was the ques-tion of honour and rights of thepeople of the Hills “the Centreshould take it up immediatelybefore things spill out of hand.”

Mamata Banerjee was“playing the waiting game toeliminate Bimal Gurung. Butthis time we will take to its log-ical end,” Tamang said.

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Like demonetisation the“unleashing of Goods and

Services Tax” without allowingthe nation to prepare for it wasgoing to be an “epic blunder”for which the country willhave to pay dearly, BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee has said while herparty Trinamool Congress hasdecided to boycott the mid-night launch of the GST regimein a special session ofParliament on June 30.

Banerjee’s statement cameat a time when her seniorCabinet col-league ParthoC h a t t e r j e eextended “fullsupport” to theJune 30 textiletrade strikewhich will be apart of all-India textile strike.“We have full support for thestrike because it is for thecause of the common andmedium scale traders who herstanding on the verge of disaster.”

Incidentally the ChiefMinister had from the incep-tion of her rule in 2011 had“oppose any kind of bandh”which she called “negative pol-itics and impedes development.”

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Aday after the Prosecutionrooted for a capital pun-

ishment to him in the 1993Mumbai serial blasts case,notorious smuggler and keyconvict Mustafa Dossa aliasMustafa Majnu died of a mas-sive heart attack at the State-run JJ Hospital on Wednesdayafternoon.

Dossa (61), whom theTADA court had on June 16convicted for being part of the1993 blasts conspiracy and foroverseeing the landing of and-ing of RDX and Kalashnikovassault rifles, was rushed fromthe Arthur Road prison to thejail ward of JJ Hospital at 3.30am, following high-fever,hyper-tension and uncon-trolled diabetes.

“Mustafa Dossa died ofheart attack at 2.30 pm,” Dr TPLahane, the Dean of Sir JJGroup of Hospitals, said.

Dossa, who had under-gone a by-pass surgery last year,is survived by his brotherMohammed Dossa, anabsconding co-accused in the1993 serial blasts case, his sec-ond wife and four children.

On Tuesday, in his sub-mission made before theSpecial CBI court hearing thepart-two trial of the 1993

Mumbai serial blasts, SpecialCBI counsel Deepak Salvi haddubbed Dossa as one of the“brains” behind the conspira-cy to engineer serial blasts at 13locations across Mumbai onMarch 12, 1993, in which 257persons were killed and 713others injured.

Dossa, who was deportedfrom UAE on March 20, 2003,is the younger brother ofMohammed Dossa, theabsconding chief landing agentof Dawood. It was he who hadasked his brother to have explo-sives landed in India for theblast. He was present at the firstconspiracy meeting held at hisresidence in Dubai and super-vised landing of Kalashnikovsand RDX twice in the Raigadcoast in Maharashtra. At theDubai meeting, Dawood, Tiger,Annes Ibrahim, MohammedDossa, Mustafa Dossa and Ejaz

Khan were present. On his role in the 1993 ser-

ial blasts, Special PublicProsecutor Salvi argued beforethe CBI court on Tuesday:“His degree of responsibilitytowards the commission of thecrime was the highest. If not forhim and the other abscon-ders, the crime would neverhave taken place”.

Alluding to the SupremeCourt’s decision on confirmingthe death penalty of key 1993serial blasts accused YakubMemon, Salvi said: “Just likethe Supreme Court had heldthat Yakub Memon’s deedscannot be viewed distinct fromthe act of Tiger Memon (anabsconding accused in theblasts case), the same can beattributed to Dossa and othersuggestion would be futile andworth discarding at the firstglance”.

“Having demonstrated thataccused Mustafa Dossa hadplayed a role which is stillsevere than Yakub Memon, weseek the capital punishment forhim,” Salvi told the court.

A resident of downtownAgripada in south Mumbai,Dossa had led a colourful andviolent life. With a string ofromantic liaisons, Dossa atone stage earned the sobriquetof Majnu.

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In a development that threwlight on the alleged murder

of convict Manjula Shetyeinside the Byculla womenprison, prime accused in theSheena Bora murder caseIndrani Mukherjea informed aspecial CBI court onWednesday that she was beat-en up in the jail and threatenedwith sexual assault by the jailstaff for protesting againstManjula’s murder.

Making a statement madebefore Special CBI Judge JCJagdale, Indrani said, “I was hiton the hand and legs. I canbarely walk. The JailSuperintendent told me ‘tuwitness banne ja rahi hai…tereko bhi dekh lenge’ (you aregoing to become a witness, wewould see you)....I was threat-ened that they will do thesame thing that they did to her

(Manuja Shetye)”. In a statement that will help

nail the alleged the jail and fivejail staffers who were bookedon Saturday for Manjula’salleged murder, Indrani said,“On Friday, I saw jail officialsdragging Manjula Shetye by herhair with a sari wrappedaround her neck. The officialsinserted a stick inside her pri-vate parts. The male officersthen took her to the hospital.The next day, I learned thatShetye had died”.

Indrani told the Judge thatshe was prepared to record aMagistrate under Section 164CrPC, which is admissible in acourt of law on the assault onher and the alleged murder thattook place inside the Bycullawomen prison, which housesmore than 350 women inmatesand at least 25 children whostay with their jail inmate-mothers inside the prison,

Following Indrani’s depo-sition, the Judge ordered thatshe should be taken for a med-ical and later to the NagpadaPolice Station to lodge her for-mal complaint on the incident.

After the news ofManjula’s death spread within

the Byculla women jail, 290-odd women prisoners —including Indrani — had onSaturday morning climbed upthe two-storey terrace of thejail building and staged aprotest against the inmate’salleged murder.

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New Delhi: The UK has frozenforeign accounts allegedlybelonging to Peter and IndraniMukerjea in connection witha money laundering and cor-ruption probe case againstthem.

Government sources saidauthorities based in Londonhave informed Indian investi-gating agencies about thefreezing of certain bankaccounts related to the former

media baron couple.They said the United

Kingdom (UK) authoritiestook the action subsequent tosome Letters Rogatories (LRs)sent to them.

It is understood, they said,that the LRs were sent by theEnforcement Directorate (ED)after consultations with theCBI, in connection with itsprobe against the duo, INXmedia and others. PTI

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In perhaps a first-of-its-kinddevelopment in the history of

Malayalam film industry, theKerala Police on Wednesdayrecorded the statement of a topactor, superstar Dileep, in con-nection with the sensationalcase pertaining to the abduc-tion of and attack against ayoung frontline actress overfour months ago and thealleged attempt to blackmail theactor in connection with it.

The probe team, headed byADGP B Sandhya, recordedthe statements of Dileep, hismanager Appunni and directorNadir Shah at the Police Clubat Aluva near Kochi for sever-al hours. Before the question-ing, Dileep said he was goingto record his statement in con-nection with his complaintover a suspected bid to black-mail him in connection withthe attack.

“I don’t have time to sub-ject myself to media trial. I willtell the police and court whatI have to say. Some people wantto make me an accused (in theactress attack case). I am hereto record my statement withthe police in support of mycomplaint. Please don’t distortfacts,” the actor said. The ques-tioning that started at 12.30 pmWednesday had not endedeven late at night.

Dileep and Nadir Shahhad lodged complaints with theDGP in April after the latterand former’s manager alleged-ly received telephone calls fromone Vishnu, a co-prisoner ofSunil Kumar alias Pulsar Suni,prime accused in the case ofattack on the actress, demand-ing Rs 1.5 crore not to disclosethe superstar’s alleged role in aconspiracy behind the inci-dent. But it was later revealedthat the phone calls were madeby Suni himself.

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Two uniformed cops onduty remove their caps

and put them on the paper-prayer mats to prevent themfrom fluttering while membersof Muslim community offerthe Eid prayer. The scene cap-tured by an onlooker on hismobile phone had gone viralon social media as the peoplehailed the two Hyderabadcops for their act.

Ever since it happened onthe Eid al-Fitr on Monday, thevideo has been watched 50,000times and nearly 3,500 peoplehave commented.

The footage of the heartwarming act, first released byan ordinary citizen was laterforwarded from the officialFacebook and Twitter handlesof the Hyderabad city police.

It has made the two con-stables Venkatesh Naik and VPratap Singh of KalapatharPolice station a hero. Deployedat the Mir Alam Eidgah formaintaining order the two werepart of a posse which watchedas hundreds of thousands ofMuslims offered prayers.

“I noticed that because ofstrong wind the temporaryprayer mats of card boards andpaper were blowing away dis-turbing the worshippers Ilooked for something to use aweight. When I did not findanything I put my uniform cap.I didn’t want the person to puthis head on the ground”, saidconstable Venkatesh Naik.

“I did my duty. As a police-man I should respect all faiths”,he said when his attention wasdrawn to the praise he earnedfrom the people.

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Gopalakrishna Ronanki, oneof the top rankers of 2016

Public services examinationhas denied the allegations thathe had falsely secured a phys-ical disability certificate tomanipulate his success in theexamination.

Ronanki, who hails fromSrikakulam district of AndhraPradesh and worked as ateacher before clearing the civilservices examination and secur-ing third rank, told the mediathat he belongs to a poor fam-ily and could not have manip-ulated a disability certificate.

He issued the denial afterHyderabad High Court issuedhim and the Government anotice on a petition filed by acity lawyer Muralikrishna alleg-ing that he had secured a fakedisability certificate to benefitin Union Public Services exam-ination.

Ronanki said that he hadfallen from a tree in 2002when he was in studying inclass ten and suffered fracturein his right arm. “Since then Iwas not able to bend my righthand. I was certified by a localGovernment hospital that Iwas disabled”.

He also pointed out thateven after the personality testat the UPSC he was sent for amedical test at theRammanohar Lohia Hospitalin New Delhi and they also cer-tified him to be a disabled.

The issue has become cru-cial as the physically disabledperson requires only 75.34marks to qualify while a nor-mal person belonging to theOther Backward Castes require110.66 marks. Ronanki secured91.34 marks and was declaredqualified on the grounds ofphysical disability.

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Rampur/New Delhi:Samajwadi Party leader AzamKhan has kicked up a stormagain, this time with remarksabout the Indian Army thatwere on Wednesday con-demned by the Bharatiya JanataParty, which urged the SP to“sack” him.

Addressing party activistsin Rampur on Tuesday, the SPnational general secretaryreferred to “shameful violenthappenings” in places such asKashmir, Tripura, Jharkhandand Bengal.

Khan said excesses bysecurity forces had led to“women in some places chop-ping off the private parts ofArmy men”.

The BJP hit out at the SPleader, demanding that hisparty “sack” him for seeking to“divide the country” on reli-gious lines.

“It has become a fashion inthe country to demean theIndian Army in the name offreedom of speech and expres-sion,” BJP spokesperson SambitPatra said in New Delhi, attack-ing the SP, Congress and theLeft for “making statementsagainst the Army”.

While the Army protectedthe borders, the political par-ties were bent upon “showingit in a poor light”, he said.PTI

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Malaysia-based conceptretail store KIODA

revealed its plans to open 300stores by 2021 while announc-ing its joint venture with fran-chise solution companyFranchise India in an attempt toexpand its dominance over theIndian consumer market

The company initially plansto produce goods from Indiaitself and is eyeing to source 25-30 per cent of their productslocally for Indian stores whilethe rest will be imported fromMalaysia. Franchise India,meanwhile, plans to invest over$10 million for expansion andmarketing through franchis-ing route.

“We eventually want tosource products from Indiaitself especially in the F&Brange. Our stores will beunique having a Korean con-cept and experience,” saidAlvin, Managing Director,KIODA.

This bilateral venturecomes as a huge boost to PMNarendra Modi’s “Make inIndia” initiative which laysemphasis on domestically pro-duced items.

The company also plans toexpand its footprints over addi-

tional 13 countries by 2018.KIODA, which has a pres-

ence in Singapore and Chinaapart from Malaysia, includesproducts ranging from cos-metics, gifts to stationary andhousehold items.

“India is a strategic marketfor us as our product portfoliois the right fit for country’s mid-dle class. This gives us hugepotential to rapidly expand ourbusiness here and provideunique products for the Indianmarket” said Alvin, stressing onthe importance of the dealfrom a strategic standpoint.

The announcement wasmade at the 6th Annual MasterFranchise Show, organised byFranchise India and FranGlobal,which saw the participation ofover 150 countries.

“India offers a large landscapefor brands to access the bur-geoning consumer market withinternational brands taking thetop tier space in the hierarchy. Weare sure KIODA will become aleading retail brand in a shortspan of time in India as its pricepoints are extremely attractive forthe price conscious middle class,”said Gaurav Marya, Chairman,Franchise India.

Stores will open across majorIndian cities with first store inNew Delhi.

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The Joint initiative ofIndraprastha Gas Limited(IGL)

and Petroleum ConservationResearch Association (PCRA)-’Swasth Saarthi Abhiyaan’ (SSA),focusing on providing healthcarefacilities to commercial driverswas inaugurated by Union Ministerfor Science and Technology andEarth Sciences and Environment,Forest and Climate Change, DrHarsh Vardhan and Minister ofState (Independent Charge) forPetroleum and Natural Gas,Dharmendra Pradhan at Siri FortAuditorium on Wednesday.

“The Swasth Saarthi Abhiyaanis an initiative to provide basic healthcheck up to the drivers. The 2month long medical camp at vari-ous IGL stations in the Capital willprovide free health checkup whichincludes blood test, sugar test, eyetest with the help of doctors fromSt Stephen Hospital” said Pradhan.

The event was inaugurated inthe presence of various dignitariesincluding Members of Parliament,Officials of Delhi Police and otherSenior Officials of the Ministry. MrES Ranganathan, ManagingDirector, IGL, welcomed the guestsand highlighted the need to be inactive aid with one of its largeststakeholder groups i.e. the drivers.

The SSA event is a rare initia-tive to tackle a major issue beingfaced by public transport drivers,with almost all of them being usersof CNG. The two month long megacampaign focusing on providingpreventive healthcare to about80,000 auto, 2,50,000 taxi and1,00,000 bus drivers of the region.A class of workers who are the oneof the biggest part of the GDP withuncertain work hours in a toxicenvironment which tend to causeall sort of problems as they earningfor livelihood while being toonaively ignorant about themselves.A ‘Fuel Conservation Workshop’ fordrivers was also organised by PCRAas a part of Saksham 2017

Dharmendra Pradhan added“The drivers in the capital region arepartners in the growth story of gasused as fuel in vehicles. CNG is usedin vehicles for transport, domesticuse, autos etc. He said that approx.4.5 Lakh vehicles which use CNGcontribute to the �3000 Cr businessof IGL. He said that new aim shouldbe to increase this business from�3000 crore to �30,000 crore .Peoplewho require operation for cataract,amongst drivers, facility for the samewill also be provided. He alsoadded that IGL is planning to pro-vide health insurance which wouldalso include death benefits for dri-vers in the Capital.”

�������$�Finance MinisterArun Jaitley on Wednesdayrejected demands for defer-ring the Goods and ServicesTax (GST) rollout saying theConstitution does not giveluxury to delay the nation’sbiggest economic reform bysix months.

Not ruling out a few ini-tial glitches when more thana dozen state and centraltaxes are abolished and bar-riers between 29 states doneaway with, Jaitley said thesystem is fully geared up andwill eventually smoothenitself out.

While there have beensporadc protests in somecities against implementingthe GST without giving busi-nesses more time to prepare,Trinamool Congress hasdecided not to attend the galaevent planned in CentralHall of Parliament on June 30midnight to usher in themega tax reform.

West B engal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee

termed the “hurried” roll outof the GST as “epic blunder”by the Centre and demand-ed deferring it by six monthsto help small businesses.

Jaitley, however, said thedate of GST implementation,rules and tax rates had beendecided through a consensusby the GST Council -- abody that is made up of rep-resentatives from each stateas a lso the C entra lGovernment.

“Those who are talkingin terms of deferring (GST)by 6 months and so on, that’sa constitutionally impossiblething,” the finance ministersaid.

The C onst itut ionalamendment approved byParliament in September lastyear gives time only till mid-September to replace theexisting indirect tax structureby the GST. In absence of theGST, there will be a consti-tutional crisis as no tax canbe levied on goods and ser-vices.

“More importantly thereis a constitutional mandate,and the mandate i s onSeptember 15 you will loseyour right to collect existingtaxes. So, therefore, the alter-nate system has to come in

place and hopefully, by thatdate the (GST) system willcome into place in a moresmooth manner,” he said.

The GST ConstitutionalAmendment Bill providesfor roll out of the Goods and

Services Tax by September15, failing which the gov-ernment will lose its legalentitlement to collect taxes.

Jait ley said theGovernment has been suc-cessful in taking every deci-

sion on the GST throughconsensus, the constitution-al amendment bill was alsopassed by Parl iamentthrough consensus.

Besides, the SGST billwas passed unanimously by

the state legislatures, bar-ring one or two.

With regard to Jammuand Kashmir, which is yet topass the SGST bill, the Unionfinance minister said, “Thestate government has beenmaking efforts to pass itthrough larger consensus.”

“They (J&K) have theirown legislative system and Ihope they are able to do itsown. I have emphasised on thestate government that if theydon’t join the GST, or tillsuch time that they don’t join,their consumers and traderswill have to pay tax twiceover,” he said.

Earlier this week, Jaitleyhad written to J&K ChiefMinister Mehbooba Muftinudging the state to roll outthe GST from July 1 as failureto implement it will lead to“adverse impact” of price riseand put local industry at a dis-advantage.

“The same product isgoing to be cheaper in otherparts of the country than in

that state. So it is in the inter-est of consumers, citizens ofthe state to join the GST,”Jaitley said.

Asked if there is a rethinkon the tax rates as demandedby sectors like textiles, hesaid the GST Council is alwaysworking with an open mind.

“...If you see great force insome argument, the Councilhas always shown its open-ness. No one Central or stategovernment can decide this. Itis collectively decided by all ofus. So far, every decision hasbeen merit based. It is neitherbeing partisan, nor being dic-tated by any form of pressure,”Jaitley said.

Over the two months, theGST Council, chaired byJaitley and comprising staterepresentatives, fitted goodsand services in the tax brack-et of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent.

The Council has met 17times since September anddecided on rules and regula-tions for the new indirect taxregime.

8������������������������(���(�����$% �������� ����$� With two daysleft for roll out of GST, theFinance Ministry has startednotifying various provisionsof law relating to interest cal-culation, input tax creditand valuation.

Provisions in the CentralGST Act (CGST), IntegratedGST (IGST) Act and UnionTerritory GST Act and rulesunder them are being noti-fied.

These include thoserelating to tax invoice, cred-it and debit notes, accountsand records, returns, pay-ment of tax, refund, assess-ment and audit, advance rul-

ing.Also appeals and revi-

sions, transitional provisions,anti-Profiteering and e-wayrules have been notifiedwhich shall come into effectfrom July 1.

As per the notification,interest at 18 per cent is to bepaid for delayed payment oftax, 24 per cent in case ofexcess claim of input creditor undue/excess reduction inoutput liability. Besides,interest at the rate of 6 percent would accrue in caserefund is withheld.

With regard to IGST,provision prescribing refund

of 50 per cent of IGST onsupplies to defence run CSDcanteen has been notified.Also notified is those provi-sions relating to supplies ofgoods in respect of which norefund of unutilised inputtax credit shall be allowed.

The Ministry has alsonotified the compositionlevy and has barred manu-facturers of ice cream, panmasala and tobacco frompaying tax under the scheme.

Under the compositionscheme where the sales ofbusinesses does not exceed�75 lakh, manufacturers willhave to pay 1 per cent of

turnover as GST, traders 2.5per cent and 0.5 per cent ofturnover in state in case ofother suppliers.

Besides, the Ministry hasalso notified 12 amendmentsto the CGST Rules.

Among other things, theamendments provide forcancellation of registration ofa business for violation ofanti-profiteering rules.

The Goods and ServicesTax (GST) will be rolled outfrom July 1 and in the run upto the new indirect taxregime various provisionsare being notified by thefinance ministry.

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The G over nment onWednesday cleared dis-

investment of beleaguerednational airline, Air Indiawhich has floundered amidstiff competition from no-frills rivals and reported atleast seven years of losses.

Announcing the deci-sion, Finance Minister ArunJaitley said an in-principalapproval for divestment ofAir India has been taken, butdid not say if it will be anoutright sa le or part ia ldivestment.

“ The C abinetCommittee on EconomicAffairs, chaired by the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,has given its approval tofourth tranche recommen-dations of NITI Aayog onstrategic disinvestment ofCPSE (strategic disinvest-ment of Air India and five ofits subsidiaries) based on therecommendations of CoreGroup of Secretaries onDisinvestment (CGD),” hesaid.

A Civ i l Av iat ionMinistry note for stake salein Air India was consideredby the Cabinet today.

The airline, which wasafloat thanks to a �30,231crore nine-year bailout pro-gramme approved in 2012,has about �52,000 crore ofdebt. It is hampered by debtand servicing costs, which

largely eroded its recovery.Air India, which made

an operating profit of about�100 crore in 2015-16 onback of drop in oil prices,but posted a net loss of�3,840 crore, has seen itsmarket share shrink to 12.9per cent from 35 per cent adecade back.

Asked about how soonthe decision on Air Indiacould come from the Groupof Ministers, Jaitley said “in

this Government process isvery fast”.

“All the aspect would bedecided by the group. ThePrime Minister would con-stitute the group...Obvisoulythe last word is of theCabinet,” he said.

The group on Air India-sp ec i f i c Alter nat iveMechanism headed by thefinance minister will includeCivil Aviation Minister andother concerned ministers.

The group will guide theprocess on strategic disin-vestment from time to timeand decide treatment ofunsustainable debt of AirIndia, hiving off of certainassets to a shell companyand demerger and strategicdisinvestment of three prof-it-making subsidiaries.

B es ides , i t wi l l a l sodecide on the quantum ofdisinvestment in Air Indiaand the universe of bidders.

������� ������*���+������������������

��� ����$� An employees’union of Air India onWednesday met NITI Aayogchairman Arvind Panagriyaand demanded that the gov-ernment waive the airline’sdebt, instead of selling it to aprivate player.

However, the move mayhave come a little too late ashours later the Union Cabinetgave its in-principle approvalfor the disinvestment of AirIndia.

NITI Aayog, the govern-ment think tank, had earlierproposed privatisation of AirIndia because of its debt of�52,000 crore.

“We request you towaive �30,000 crore and give

opportunity to Air India man-agement to keep flying the flagof national carrier,” accordingto a letter the Air IndiaEmployees’ Union submittedto Panagriya.

Expressing concerns aboutthe uncertain fate of 25,000employees of the airline, theunion representatives havealso demanded that if AirIndia is privatised, their salarydues should be cleared.

The union members alsohighlighted that the airlinehad incurred huge lossesbecause of “hasty decisionsand wrong civil aviation poli-cy of the Government of India”such as the purchase of 111 air-craft and surrendering of prof-

itable routes to private carriers.They also add that

appointing retired employeeson last- drawn salary hasaffected the airline adversely aswell as recruiting sports per-sonalities such as Suresh Raina,Yuvraj Singh and HarbhajanSingh cost the airline severalcrore rupees.

Another employees union,Air Corporation EmployeesUnion, is planning to seek anappointment with the PrimeMinister’s Office.

Seven unions of Air Indiaemployees had earlier warnedthe government of large-scaleprotests if the NITI Aayog pro-posal to privatise the nationalcarrier was approved. ���

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Chinese auto major SAICMotor Corporation on

Wednesday of f ic ia l lyannounced its its plan toenter Indian automobilemarket through a fully-owned car manufacturingfacility.

The company expects tocommence operations in thecountry by 2019 and is in theprocess of finalising its man-ufacturing facility, SAICMotor Corporation said in astatement.

Besides, the companysaid, it is firming up productstrategy for the market here,details of which will beannounced later.

It will operate in Indiathrough the fully-ownedsubsidiary, MG Motor Indiaand has app ointed ex-General Motors India headRajeev Chaba as its Presidentand MD.

It has also roped inindustry veteran P Balendranas Executive Director.

As part of entry plans,the company would intro-duce environment-friendlymobility solutions under itsiconic ‘MG’ (Morr isGarages) brand.

“The introduction of theiconic British sports carbrand ‘MG’ in India is animportant part of SAICMotor’s global strategy,” thecompany said.

The MG brand, whichorig inated as an iconicBritish Racing Sports Brandin 1924, has evolved into amo dern-day innovat ive

brand through the last 93years.

MG products, designedand engineered at i t sEuropean and global designcenters, will be manufac-tured in India while con-forming to global qualitystandards and aligning withthe Indian regulations, emis-sion norms and driving con-ditions, the company said.

SAIC had earlier thisyear signed a term sheet toevaluate buying the Halolplant of General Motors inGujarat after the American

company decided to stopproduction as part of con-solidation of manufacturingoperations in India.

The Chinese company,however, did not enter intoa formal agreement insistingthat deal was subject to GM’ssubmission of all govern-ment approvals, settlementof labour and all other pend-ing issues.

According to industrysources, the talks betweenthe two players are ongoingdespite delays.

SAIC Motor said i texpects to create sizeableemployment opportunitiesunder the ‘Make in India’and ‘Skill India’ initiatives.

In 2009 , SAIC hadbought 50 per cent stake inGeneral Motors India duringthe bankruptcy crisis facedby the US auto major. Later,GM had bought back thestake.

SAIC is ranked 46th inthe Fortune Global 500 listwith an annual revenue ofover $100 billion.

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���( �� #��� +�("�)��!��$ ,(+�- &"%�� %&$���1� ,��9# ��%"+�, /�"��+� "&�� ��&%� ������$ �$��*�2�D* ��� '��E�/ %;�G�!���� %&$�� � #��!��$ �$�� ����!��( ���$ �/ %��*�2����%������,( ���( �� #������* � 2��'" /"�� ��'+)H��!��$ ,(+���%;�!��*��/ %)-!�$!� �'���%�����$ �$�� ����!�$�'��( ���� %���65�4)�!���1 "1�%�� ��, %� 9%+�� 1��1��/ %��! &'!�!��"���53�+� �;

�������$�Reliance Industriesrefinanced $2.3 billion of syndi-cate and club loans resulting insubstantial interest savings, com-pany Chairman Mukesh Ambanihas said.

The company had a grossdebt of �1,96,601 crore as onMarch 31, most of which wastaken to fund its fourth- gener-ation telecom venture, RelianceJio.

“During the year, our com-pany has successfully refinancedlong-term financing of $1.75billion syndicated loan and $550million club loan aggregating to$2.3 billion resulting in substan-tial interest savings over theremaining life of these loans. Thiswas the largest amount syndi-cated by RIL since 2007,” Ambanisaid RIL’s latest annual report.

He however did not givedetails of the interest saving.

In the annual report for2016-17, he said the companyinvested �1,14,742 crore ($17.7billion) during the fiscal, thehighest ever by any corporate inIndia.

“This capex has been fund-ed while maintaining invest-ment grade ratings. Our strongbalance sheet and conservativefinancial profile are reflectedthrough the strong credit ratings.

“We have maintained twonotches above India’s sovereignrating for our international debt

at BBB+ by S&P,” he said.The capex, he said, across

energy and materials businessesand digital services will signifi-cantly enhance the company’scash flows and reduce volatilityin earnings in the coming years.

“I am happy to report that wehave delivered superior financialperformance, improved capitalefficiency and continued strongproject execution. Our focus ondelivery and growth continued toyield results in what was a diffi-cult year for many of our peersglobally,” he said.

RIL is preparing to startrefinery off-gas cracker atJamnagar, he said. Completion ofhydrocarbon capex would sig-nificantly enhance cash flow.Also,the focus is on expanding fuelretail business. The companyhas 1,221 operational petrolpumps and is focusing on expan-sion into new markets inFY2017-18.

RIL plans to ramp up coal-bed methane (CBM) outputfrom Sohagpur block inMadhya Pradesh over the next15-18 months.

Targeting to produce 2.5million standard cubic metersper day of coal gas by 2018,RIL is on the way to becomelargest unconventional natur-al gas producer in India, hesaid.

RIL’s twin refineries atJamnagar have processed over150 grades of crude till date andnew initiatives were launched in2016-17 to enhance flexibility andenable them to process crudewith even heavier and highercontaminant content. ���

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�������$�Reliance Industries’Chairman and ManagingDirector Mukesh Ambani kepthis annual salary capped at Rs 15crore for the ninth year on thetrot and did not even take stockoptions that were given to otherboard directors.

Ambani, the richest Indian,has kept salary, perquisites andallowances and commission atRs 15 crore since 2008-09, for-going almost Rs 24 crore perannum.

“The chairman and man-aging director’s compensation hasbeen set at �15 crore as against�38.75 crore as approved, reflect-ing his desire to continue to set apersonal example for moderationin managerial compensation lev-els,” RIL said in its annual reportfor 2016-17. Ambani voluntari-ly capped his compensation at�15 crore in October 2009 amida debate over right-sizing ofCEO salaries. ���

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��� ����$� The Government isengaging with Danish firm APMoller-Maersk to ensure that nor-malcy is restored at the earliest at theJNPT port that was hit by the ‘Petya’ransomware attack.

Speaking to PTI, National CyberSecurity Coordinator Gulshan Rai saidhe, along with state and port author-ity officials, are at the venue to assessthe situation.

“We are here to assess the situa-tion and damage that has been causedto the systems of the Danish compa-ny. We are looking at how fast it canbe restarted (at the terminal),” he said.

Operations at the terminal of thenation’s largest container portJawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT)were impacted last night as a falloutof the global ransomware attack,which has crippled some centralbanks and many large corporationsacross Europe.

Rai said the government isextending all help to the Danish com-pany to address the situation.

“The ICT infrastructureinstalled, managed and operated bygovernment authorities, central andstate, are functioning efficiently,” headded. Some of the biggest corpo-rations, including Russia’s largest oilcompany Rosneft, Ukraine’s inter-national airport, shipping firm APMoller-Maersk, and advertisinggiant WPP have been affected byPetya, which comes close on the heelsof the ‘WannaCry’ ransomwareattack. ���

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Inflicted another penalty-shootout loss on f ierceFootbal rival England, this

time in the semifinals of theUnder-21 EuropeanChampionship on Tuesday.

Goalkeeper JulianPollersbeck saved from NathanRedmond to clinch a 4-3shootout win for the Germans,after the match ended 2-2 afterextra time.

England's senior team lost toGermany on penalties in thesemifinals of the 1990 World Cupand 1996 EuropeanChampionship. At Euro 96,Stefan Kuntz was a member ofthe Germany team and he is nowcoach of the country's Under-21side, which will play Spain in the

Final in Krakow on Friday.Germany reached its third

final at a European Under-21competition and will go for itssecond tit le, after beatingEngland in 2009.

Davie Selke headed Germanyin front in the 35th minutebefore England responded withgoals either side of halftime byDemarai Gray and TammyAbraham. Felix Platte equalizedin the 70th, and Germany dom-inated the Final 20 minutes ofnormal time and in extra timebut had to settle for penalties.

Pollersbeck made two savesin the shootout, first fromAbraham before he dived to hisright to parry away Redmond'sattempt.

A year to the day that itssenior team lost to Iceland in the

European Championship's last 16for one of English Football'smost embarrassing results,England can look back at a suc-cessful summer for its youthsides despite this painful loss.

England reached the Final ofthe Under-17 EuropeanChampionship in Croatia in Mayand won the Under-20 WorldCup in South Korea this month.

���������<��������� �� ��$� Saul Niguez scored asecond-half hat trick to fire Spaininto the Final of the Under-21European Championship with a3-1 victory over 10-man Italy onTuesday. Seeking its fifth title,Spain will meet Germany inKrakow on Friday.

Saul broke the deadlock eightminutes into the second half.

With brilliant control of theball, Dani Ceballos moved to thecenter from the left flank, leav-ing several opponents behind,before presenting a perfect passfor Saul to net with a left-footedshot past goalkeeper GianluigiDonnarumma.

Five-time champion Italymanaged to answer with FedericoBernardeschi nine minutes laterwith a low shot from inside thearea. Italy already had beenreduced to 10 men after RobertoGagliardini received his secondyellow four minutes before theequalizer. Saul, who become theleading scorer of the tourna-ment with five goals, didn't wastetime and added two more.

In the 65th, the AtleticoMadrid player netted with a longdistance, left-footed drive for

his second and completed his hattrick in the 74th - again with aleft-footed strike after capitaliz-ing on Marco Asensio's pass fol-lowing his break down the left.

For more than a half, thegame looked little like the high-scoring 2013 Final between thetwo that Spain won 4-2 to win thetrophy for the fourth time. Withclear goal chances missing, Spainlooked dominant with Italyfocusing on defense at earlystages. Lorenzo Pellegrini firsttested Spain goalkeeper KepaArrizabalaga in the 22nd minutewith a low attempt as Italystepped up the pace with threestraight corner kicks that fol-lowed. Spain captain GerardDeulofeu just missed the target,hitting the side of the net in the31st

���� 6@-*6��2

Manny Pacquiao isn't saying itpublicly, preferring not to dwell

too much on landing a knockoutblow.

His trainer, Freddie Roach, isn'tpulling any punches, though. Roachreckons the WBO welterweightworld championship fight againstJeff Horn on Sunday will be "shortand sweet."

"Manny is in great shape," Roachsaid. "He doesn't like to predictknockouts, but I do. It's going to beshort and sweet.

"If Horn comes out likes he sayshe's gonna, Manny will fire back. Ithink it's going to be a great fight butit won't last too long - someone willget knocked out."

Pacquiao, who hasn't won byknockout since 2009, said he has afew strategies to handle Horn, whois unbeaten in 17 fights since turn-ing pro in 2013. The 38-year-oldPhilippines senator has knockedsparring partners down in trainingand said he's feeling better than hehas in a while.

Roach said the training camp

has been more like a vintagePacquiao preparation.

"The thing is, in sparring, wehaven't had knockdowns and knock-outs in a long time. This time wedid," the legendary trainer said."Manny has been his old self, hav-ing fun and doing what he doesbest."

Pacquiao said he likes to fightboxers in front of their home crowd,and recalled a similar bout withMarco Antonio Barrera at SanAntonio, Texas, in 2003.

"I feel excited for the fight.Everything is all set," he said. "I liketo fight a home advantage of myopponent so that there are a lot offans cheering for him. That gives mea lot of motivation, determinationand focus to win the fight.

"I'm not taking it lightly. I'm seri-ously focused."

The afternoon fight is beingdubbed the "Battle of Brisbane" andwill be staged at the outdoor SuncorpStadium, with an expected crowd ofmore than 50,000 and in forecastsunny skies and a high of about 22degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit).

It will be broadcast live on the

U.S. east coast at 9 p.m. on Saturdayby ESPN, with Pacquiao's handlersexpecting the timing to expose theFilipino boxer to millions of newfans.

Horn's trainer, Glenn Rushton,believes Pacquiao's camp hasunderestimated the Australianboxer by talking already aboutfuture rematches with FloydMayweather.

"I believe this fight will end ina stoppage. As much as I respect(Roach) for his wealth of experience- he's trained more world champi-ons than most boxers have had pro-fessional fights - I think he's wrong,"Rushton said. "Where he's talkingabout an early stoppage I don't seethat at all.

"I see this going deep. I thinkit'll be a late stoppage after a torridwar. I do think Freddie and Mannyare underestimating Jeff ... (and)when they get out there, it's goingto be so different."

Horn's promotor DeanLonergan also picked up on thetheme, highlighting Pacquiao's con-tinual attention to his cell phoneduring Wednesday's official news

conference and describing the 11-time world champion Filipino fight-er as a "world champion texter."

For his part, the 29-year-oldHorn didn't mind it if Roach andCo. are expecting a knockout.

"I was surprised to hear themsay that, actually," the former schoolteacher said. "If he's looking for aknockout it always makes you vul-nerable. If you look for a knockout,it usually doesn't come and youleave lots of openings."

Pacquiao said he never pre-dicted how he'd win a fight, andsaid he only spoke about a poten-tial rematch with Mayweatherbecause he was answering questionsabout it from the media.

Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 knock-outs) explained that he was prepar-ing notes on his phone regardingwho to thank during the news con-ference and didn't mean anyoffense.

He rejected any suggestion hewas taking Horn lightly, saying he'dworked so hard in training at timesthat Roach had ordered him to stop,and he was ready to put his WBObelt and his reputation on the line.

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The International Olympic Committee(IOC) on Wednesday praised

Japanese organisers for slashing costs forthe 2020 Tokyo Games, but warned thatsoaring Olympic budgets could seefuture bids dry up.

Tokyo 2020 coordination commis-sion chairman John Coates noted thatsignificant progress had been madesince the IOC ordered local organisersto keep costs below $20 billion but addedthat more needed to be done.

"Apart from the fact you've got thebudget down now to around $13 billion,the emphasis that you are continuing towork together to further reduce costsand optimise resources is not onlyimportant to you and taxpayers, but alsovery important to the IOC," he said atthe start of a three-day visit to Tokyo.

"We know you can pay for theGames in a city as strong financially asyours and with the support you get fromthe government, private sector andsponsorship," added Coates.

"But it is important to us that whenthe costs of the Games in the final analy-sis become public that they're going toattract (future) candidate cities, rather

than scare them off."The IOC pledged earlier this year to

make changes to the Olympic biddingprocess following the withdrawal ofBudapest from the race to host the 2024Games, leaving just Paris and Los

Angeles in the running."If we appear to be pushing very

hard on saving money, it's for our ownfuture that we are doing it -- just as muchas you want to do it for your taxpayers,"Coates said.

Rome, Hamburg and Boston allpreviously pulled the plug on their bidsfor the 2024 Summer Games, citingcosts.

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike lastyear ordered a review of the budget that

recommended revised plans for threevenues to reduce costs projected to bal-loon to more than $25 billion -- fourtimes the initial estimates when Tokyowon the 2020 hosting rights.

As Tokyo organisers battle to rein incosts, Coates added that a progressreport on the troubled 2020 Olympic sta-dium would be high on the agenda dur-ing the coordination commission's visit.

Japanese officials bungled the roll-out of the showpiece venue in 2015 whenPrime Minister Shinzo Abe tore up theblueprints for Tokyo's new nationalstadium over its eye- watering $2 billionprice tag.

Coates also said the commissionhopes to decide on the 2020 Olympicrole of Fukushima, which was hit by anuclear meltdown following the deadly2011 tsunami that devastated north-eastJapan.

"We want to finalise how manygames in baseball and softball will beheld in Fukushima," he said.

"We really want to honour the com-mitment that president (Thomas) Bachmade to Prime Minister Abe to takeevents to Fukushima as part of the(region's) recovery and rehabilitation. Ithink it's critical we do that."

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Novak Djokovic made a successful transi-tion to grass ahead of Wimbledon by

beating Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-3 in the secondround of the Eastbourne International onTuesday.

The top-seeded Djokovic broke Pospisil'sserve once in each set.

It was Djokovic's first match since hisstraight-set loss to Dominic Thiem in theFrench Open quarterfinals three weeks ago.It's the first time he has played a grass-courtevent between the French Open andWimbledon since 2010.

Djokovic will play either Donald Youngor Jared Donaldson in the quarterfinals.

�����%���������������������������$� The Davis Cup and Fed Cup areplanning to combine forces into a World Cupof Tennis.

Starting in 2018, the finals of the men'sand women's national team tournaments willbe brought together under one roof in aneffort to raise the profile of the competitions.For the first three years, the event will be heldin Geneva, the International TennisFederation said Wednesday.

"Change is needed to ensure that we max-imize the full potential of these iconic and his-toric competitions," ITF President DavidHaggerty said in a statement.

The changes still need to be approved atthe federation's annual general meeting inAugust in Vietnam.

Starting in November 2018, the Davis Cupand Fed Cup finals will be staged on indoorhard courts at Palexpo, which has a capaci-

ty of more than 18,000 spectators.Geneva beat out five other bids for the

right to be the first host. The other cities incontention were Copenhagen, Denmark;Miami; Istanbul, Turkey; Turin, Italy; andWuhan, China.

The ITF said it chose the host venue wellin advance in an effort to follow the successfulmodel used by the Super Bowl andChampions League final.

"By providing Geneva with a full year toorganize and promote the event, it will be ableto fully maximize the competition's potential,elevating venue and hosting standards to aconsistent Grand Slam level and delivering thevery best athlete and fan experience,"Haggerty said.

For the early rounds, the ITF said the tra-ditional format will continue.

The ITF has been working to reform theDavis Cup and Fed Cup this year. It hasalready proposed making the Davis Cupmatches best-of-three sets instead of the usualbest-of-five.

The new World Cup of Tennis could alsoinclude the Fed Cup semifinals along with thefinals, allowing the ITF to expand the com-petition's top group back to 16 teams. TheDavis Cup's top group has 16 teams.

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Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osoriowarned against underestimatinga youthful Germany in Thursday's

Confederations Cup semi-final because ofthe wealth of experience many of themhave already gained.

Of the eight teams at the tournamentthe Germans brought the youngest squadto Russia's Confed Cup with an average ageof just over 24.

Despite leaving their 2014 WorldCup-winning stars at home, the Germansearned their semi-final place by toppingtheir group after beating Australia andCameroon and fighting back to draw 1-1with South American champions Chile.

Osorio pointed out that the likes ofParis Saint- Germain's Julian Draxler, 23,Liverpool's Emre Can, 23, and Arsenal'sShkodran Mustafi, 25, have already playedin both the Bundesliga and Europe's topleagues.

"Guys like Draxler and (BayernMunich's) Joshua Kimmich, have allplayed Champions League and have lotsof Bundesliga experience, despite theirages."

Osorio has chopped and changed theMexico team for all three Confed Cupgames so far.

Ex-Manchester United striker JavierHernandez says whoever plays at Sochi'sFisht Stadium will be capable of beating theworld champions to reach Sunday's final,against Portugal or Chile who meet inWednesday's other semi.

"I have been playing for two years inthe Bundesliga, we need to see where theirweaknesses are and where we can hurtthem," said BayerLeverkusen strikerHernandez, who has start-ed two of Mexico's threegames in Russia.

"But we're focused on what we needto do, we don't know who is going to play,it's one of our qualities that anyone cancome in and do the job.

"They are the world champions andwe're very happy to be in this match."

���;����������The youngest captain to lead Germany

into a tournament in 105 years, Draxler haseffortlessly taken on the task of mentor-ing an inexperienced squad.

All while displayingthe versatility linking upattacks that has helped tosteer Germany into the

Confederations Cup semifinals.If Germany coach Joachim Loew

learns one thing from the World Cup dressrehearsal, it's that the 23-year-old Draxleris a strong contender to one day assumethe armband from injured goalkeeperManuel Neuer.

"The way he is coordinating the youngteam is very good," Loew said Wednesday."He is turning into a personality who is ina position to assume responsibilities. He'staking care of younger players and trying

to integrate them into the team."He is always keeping his mind on

what matters on the pitch but also off thepitch he is very sociable with other play-ers as well."

Draxler is far from the youngestplayer in the squad, but he's the mostexperienced on the international stage.The semifinal against Mexico on Thursdaywill be Draxler's 34th appearance forGermany. He is also one of only threemembers of the World Cup winning squadfrom 2014 who were included in theexperimental group in Russia.

Shkodran Mustafi is another, and thedefender is delighted to see Draxler's

progress from being abit-part squad mem-ber in Brazil to anintegral member ofthe team in Russiathree years on.

"He has got areally bright future infront of him,"Mustafi said on thesidelines beforetraining in thesouthern Russiancoastal resort ofSochi. "Talent some-times is not enough

but I think he has the character and thetalent, the head, to be the next superstarfor sure."

Don't take Germany's word for it.Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio spokeWednesday of his admiration for Draxler'srole as Germany's "connector" and the wayhe finds space in midfield to be the link-man to the forwards.

What Draxler offers Loew is variety.The Paris Saint-Germain player is com-fortable on both feet and he is given thefreedom to roam across the pitch.

"Julian is a very fast, technicallyrefined player with the ball," Loew saidthrough a translator in the Fisht Stadiumin Sochi. "He can travel through longerdistances with no problem while keepingthe ball and he has very good scoringcapabilities."

In the opening win over Australia atthe Confederations Cup, Draxler nettedhis fifth international goal from thepenalty spot. In the final group match onSunday, Draxler's slick back-heel set up

Kerem Demirbay for Germany's open-er in a 3-2 victory over Cameroon.

Not since the 1912 Olympics therebeen a younger German captain at aFIFA or UEFA tournament.

"He's not the loudest guy but on thepitch you could see his quality in the

three games now and he's talk-ing to the players," midfield-er Can said. "He wants to help.He has a lot of experienceand he's doing it very well.

"You can see he wantsalways the ball, he wantsalways to create somethingon the pitch and he wantsto always score always.You can see that in everygame."

Draxler has trav-eled to Russia after

finding some stabil-ity in his club career

after leavingWolfsburg forPSG in Januaryfor 47 million

euros (thenabout $50 mil-lion)."He is very

ambitious," Loew said."He is a classy player."

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Defending champion Andy Murray's indif-ferent form of late did not prevent him

being named top seed for Wimbledon for thefirst time on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old Scot and world No one —who suffered a shock first round defeat at thehands of Australian Jordan Thompson at lastweek's Queen's tournament — will not face anyof his fellow members of the 'Big Four' till thesemi-finals.

Novak Djokovic, whose form has also takena turn for the worse, Roger Federer, fresh fromwinning at Halle, and Rafael Nadal, re-invig-orated after triumphing at the French Open, areseeded in the top four meaning it is the first timesince Wimbledon in 2014 the quartet have beenthe top four seeds at a Grand Slam event.

Djokovic — a two time Wimbledon cham-

pion — and seven-time champion Federer bothbenefit from Wimbledon organisers habit of notsticking blindly to the world rankings.

Djokovic is raised to second seed despitebeing world ranked four and the Swiss masteris promoted to third seed from a global rank-ing of five with second-ranked Nadal droppingdown to fourth seed.

World number three Stan Wawrinka —overwhelmed by Nadal in the French Openfinal — has never reached the last four atWimbledon and drops to fifth seeding.

The women's draw sees world number oneand last year's beaten finalist Angelique Kerberof Germany top the seedings with Romania'sFrench Open finalist Simona Halep, KarolinaPliskova of the Czech Republic and UkrainianElina Svitolina rounding up the top four.

Two-time Wimbledon champion PetraKvitova is seeded 11 and provided sherecovers from an abdominal injury, whichruled her out of Eastbourne this week,could provide a fairytale winner after suf-fering severe wounds to her left hand whilefighting off a knife-wielding burglar at herhome last December.

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Trailing 0-1 in the series, theWest Indies have brought

in two fresh faces — KyleHope and Sunil Ambris — forthe remaining three ODIsagainst India.

Hope and Ambris replacedJonathan Carter and KesrickWilliams in the 13-man squad.

Hope, brother of currentWest Indies wicketkeeper,leads Trinidad and Tobago indomestic cricket while Ambrisplays as a wicketkeeper-bats-man for Windward Islands.

"Sunil Ambris and KyleHope are two very promisingyoung batsmen who have beenselected on the basis of strongperformances in our competi-tions," said Courtney Browne,Cricket West Indies' chair-man of selectors.

"Kyle opened on our last Ateam one-day tour to SriLanka and had some verygood performances. In addi-

tion, he also had a good show-ing opening the batting for theTrinidad & Tobago Red Forcefranchise in this year's PCLcompetition."

Talking about Ambris,Browne added: "Sunil did wellin our Regional Super50 One-Day tournament and also hada good showing in this year'sPCL first-class tournamentfor Windward IslandsVolcanoes, and therefore willfit within our middle order.

"They will be up against agood Indian team and theyhave an opportunity to showtheir skills and contribute to astronger team performance."

The third ODI takes placehere on Friday and the samevenue will also stage the fourthODI before teams travel toJamaica for the final ODI anda T20 International.

India lead the series 1-0after a comfortable 105-runwin in the second ODI atPort of Spain, following thewashed out series opener.

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Brimming with confidence afterupstaging England, India would

look to continue the winning momen-tum when they take on the West Indiesin their second match of the ICCWomen's World Cup, on Thursday.

The Indian eves could not haveasked for a better start to the tournamentas they stunned hosts England by 35runs in their tournament-opener.

The West Indies, on the other hand,lost by eight wickets to fancied Australiain their opening match.

It was an all-round performance byIndia against England as they excelledin all three departments of the game.

First the batters piled up a compet-itive 281 for three after being sent in andthen the Indian bowlers bundled out thehosts for 246 in 47.3 overs. They wereably assisted by the fielders who effect-ed four run outs.

Openers Smriti Mandhana (90),Poonam Raut (86), Mithali Raj (71) andHarmanpreet Kaur (24 not out) allexcelled with the bat to set the platformfor India's total.

On the bowling front, off-breakbowler Deepti Sharma (3/47), mediumpacer Shikha Pandey (2/35) and leg-spinner Poonam Yadav (1/51) returned

among wickets to help India's cause.And on Thursday, the Indians

would expect a repeat show if not bet-ter against the dangerous Caribbeans,who will be desperate to register theirfirst win in the tournament.

For India, skipper Raj, whose firsttarget is to make the semi-finals, is com-ing off a record-breaking seven suc-cessive half centuries, and she wouldlook to continue in the same vein.

Mandhana, who has made a finereturn from injury, looked in ominousform against England. Her 90-runknock came off just 72 balls and waslaced with 11 boundaries and twosixes.

She might not have picked up anywickets against England, but JhulanGoswami, the highest wicket-taker inODI history, will lead the Indian bowl-ing attack.

As far as their recent form is con-cerned, India comprehensively wontheir last four ODI series, first white-washing Sri Lanka and the West Indiesat home and then beating South Africain the finals of the World Cup qualifi-er as well as the quadrangular series.

Going by the outcome of theirrecent clashes, India will definitely startfavourites against the West Indies.

Meanwhile, in the other match ofthe day, defending champions Australiawill play Sri Lanka.

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�����$�M Raj (capt), H Kaur, SMandhana, V Krishnamurthy, MMeshram, P Raut, D Sharma, JGoswami, S Pandey, E Bisht, S Verma,M Joshi, R Gayakwad, P Yadav, NParween.���������$�S Taylor, M Aguilleira, RBoyce, S Connell, S Daley, D Dottin,A Fletcher, Q Joseph, K Knight,Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed,Chedean Nation, Akeira Peters,Shakera Selman, Felicia Walters.

Match starts at 3 pm IST.

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Sri Lanka are looking to pickthemselves up as the series

against Zimbabwe begins thisweek in Galle after a string ofpoor performances promptedtheir coach to quit.

Angelo Mathews leads theSri Lankans who take onZimbabwe in the first of fiveone-day internationals onFriday as they look to get overtheir first-round exit in theChampions Trophy.

South African GrahamFord quit as coach last weekwith assistant Nic Pothas tak-ing over in an interim capaci-ty for the clashes againstZimbabwe, whose tour willend with a single Test matchnext month in Colombo.

Ford's exit just 15 monthsinto his four-year contract addsto Sri Lanka's problems onand off the field, which arehampering preparations for the2019 World Cup.

"It is beyond our control.What happens outside thecricket field, we don't think a lotabout it," Mathews said on

Tuesday. "Fordy has been fan-tastic, one of the very best in thebusiness. Sorry to see him go.But, we have to move on andlook ahead to this series."

Lasith Malinga has beendocked 50 per cent of his matchfee from Friday's opening gamein Galle and is under six-month probation after com-paring the country's sportsminister to a "monkey".

The minister — Dayasiri

Jayasekera — had accused SriLankan players of being too fatafter the team failed to reach theChampions Trophy semi-finalsin England.

Malinga, who returnedfrom injury to the 50-over sidein England, struggled and tookonly three wickets in threematches.

The islanders have just wonfive of their 20 one-day gamessince August 2016 with twocoming against hostsZimbabwe during a tri-nationseries triumph in November.

�����������<������Zimbabwe, on their first

tour of Sri Lanka since 2001-2002, are led by GraemeCremer and are trying to buildmomentum as they look aheadto the World Cup qualifyingtournament in April next year.

The African nation hasslipped to 11th, a place abovebottom-ranked Ireland, in theInternational CricketConference ODI rankings.They lost a five-match series athome to Afghanistan 3-2 inFebruary.

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