1 21 ˚ /3245/#6 /0 7 - News Headlines India King of Good Times” Kingfisher Airlines owes more...

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E mbattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offend- er, was on Tuesday arrested in London by Scotland Yard on India’s request for his extradi- tion on fraud charges. He was freed on a bail bond worth 6,50,000 pounds and will next appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on May 17. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London and was seen walking out with his legal team a few hours later after being granted bail. “Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Extradition Unit this morning arrested a man on an extradition warrant. Vijay Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud,” Scotland Yard said. In New Delhi, senior offi- cials described Mallya’s arrest as the first salvo in the case, which will now involve a legal process in the UK to determine if Mallya can be extradited to India to face charges in Indian courts. The arrest comes weeks after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had indicated that Mallya’s extradition would fea- ture in his talks during his visit to the UK. Sources said the CBI and the Indian High Commission in London will present India’s case in the UK court for extra- dition of Mallya. Senior offi- cials of Ministry of Home Affairs said soon team com- prising External Affairs Ministry, CBI and ED officers would visit London to co-ordi- nate with the Indian High Commission. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said India had put up a strong case against Mallya and ED is also prepar- ing strategy to present the case for his extradition under the UN convention of prevention of money laundering, of which the UK is also a signatory. Meanwhile, the External Affairs Ministry said that Mallya’s arrest in London on Tuesday was in connection with the request by the Government to UK authorities for his extra- dition. “Legal process in this regard is underway in the UK. The two Governments are in touch in this context,” MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said. The flamboyant business- man, whose now-defunct “The King of Good Times” Kingfisher Airlines owes more than 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016. Later Mallya tweeted his own reaction to the day’s proceedings, saying: “Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in court started today as expected.” Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said, “We are now assessing the facts how we can bring him back into the coun- try and start judicial proceed- ings against h i m .” The Government, he said, will leave no stone unturned to bring to justice anyone indulging in financial irregularities. Earlier in January this year, a CBI court had issued a non- bailable warrant against Mallya in the 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. The UK Home Office declined to comment on “indi- vidual cases” but said that Mallya’s case will be handled under Part 2 of the UK’s Extradition Act 2003. Continued on Page 4 A purported circular asking boarder of an IIT-Delhi girls’ hostel to wear “decent” and “full clothes” sparked a row on Tuesday. The notice put up at the Himadri Hostel, and allegedly signed by its warden Sreedevi Upadhyayula, reads, “Residents are requested to wear full-cov- ered decent western or Indian dress on House Day.” Upadhyayula, however, denied having issued any such circular and ordered to remove the notice. The warden said, “I have not issued any such notice. It looks like some prank by stu- dents as it has been circulated on social media as well. I have been told that it has my signa- tures as well and I have called a meeting of the hostel staff to investigate the issue.” House Day, scheduled for April 20, is an annual event at the institute where residents can invite guests in the hostel for an hour. Upadhyayula, the warden, denied having issued such a notice. Continued on Page 4 I n what could be called as ‘monsoon delight’, India will receive normal rain during the June-to-September southwest monsoon season, the Government’s weather office said on Tuesday. Rainfall will be 96 per cent of the long-period average and there is a 38 percent probabil- ity that monsoon will be near normal, said KJ Ramesh, Director General of India Meteorological Department (IMD). He added that the nor- mal rain will be good for the economy and agriculture and rain will be distributed fairly across the country. Anything between 96 and 104 per cent of the LPA is con- sidered as “normal”. Anything under 96 per cent is considered as “below normal” and 104-110 per cent of the LPA as “above normal”. Around 49 per cent of India’s workforce depends on agriculture for a livelihood and 68 per cent of the country’s pop- ulation resides in rural areas. The onset of monsoon kick-starts the sowing season for summer crops in the coun- try. India receives 70 per cent of its annual rainfall during this period which irrigates over half of its rain-fed lands. In 2016, the monsoon was normal at 97 per cent of the LPA after two straight years of deficit rains. The normal monsoon last year aided a rebound in agri- culture growth to 4.2 per cent (2016-17), after a dismal 1.2 per cent increase and a 0.2 per cent contraction seen in 2015-16 and 2014-15, respectively. IMD provides the long range forecast for the southwest monsoon rainfall in two stages. In April, seasonal rainfall for the country as a whole is issued. In early June, these numbers are updated. Last year, the southern peninsula had registered defi- cient rainfall and several parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala reeled under drought- like situation. Private weather forecaster Skymet has predicted 95 per cent rainfall with a margin of plus or minus 5 per cent for 2017 due to fears of El Nino this year. Thus, both Skymet and IMD are on equal footing in 2017 contrary to 2016 when both were at variance. An analysis of monsoon forecast (1st and 2nd stage) since 2008 indicates that IMD has only once increased its 2nd stage forecast (2014), else the forecast remained same or slightly less than the 1st. “With a 38 per cent prob- ability of rainfall in the normal category, we believe rainfall is most likely to be higher than 96 per cent of LPA. We believe that the agricultural GDP is most likely to be in range of 3-4 per cent, a tad low compared to the fiscal year 2017 expectation, if rainfall remains normal,” said a statement from the Ecoflash, a research agency of the SBI. The current year’s forecast is majorly important for the agriculture sector with initial reports pointing fingers towards the El Nino, which may happen during the later part of the year. IMD, however, says weak EL Nino and positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) are currently combining to give a positive monsoon scenario for India in 2017, explained the Ecoflash. T here was no respite for Delhiites from scorching heat as the maximum temper- ature was recorded 43 degrees Celsius at Palam observatory, the highest in April for the last seven years. The Safdarjung observato- ry, whose recording is consid- ered the official figure for the city, recorded a maximum tem- perature of 42.5 degrees Celsius, five notches above the season’s average. “It was the hottest day in April since 2010 when the maximum temper- ature had settled at 43.7 degrees Celsius,” Ravinder Vishan, the in-charge at the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre (RWFC) said. Areas under Palam, Lodhi Road, Ridge and Ayanagar reg- istered a maximum tempera- ture of 43.7, 41.8, 43.4 and 42.6 degrees Celsius, respectively, a MeT department official said. The minimum temperature was recorded at 24.9 degrees Celsius, three notches above the normal, the official said. Humidity levels oscillated between 76 and 15 per cent. According to the Met office, the city is likely to reel under heat wave-like conditions for the rest of the days in this week. The weatherman has pre- dicted mainly clear skies for Wednesday. In the weekly fore- cast, MeT has predicted light rain on April 22 while the max- imum and minimum tempera- ture will oscillate between 40 and 41 degrees Celsius and 25- 27 degrees Celsius respectively. I t’s fall from grace for jailed AIADMK (Amma) general secretary VK Sasikala as the K Palaniswami Cabinet on Tuesday decided to keep her and her handpicked party deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran out of the party and the Government. Emerging from a “consul- tative” meeting chaired by Chief Minister EK Palaniswami, Finance Minister D Jayakumar declared that one family cannot control AIADMK. “We are ousting Sasikala and Mannargudi clan from the AIADMK,” he said. The Minister claimed that the “unanimous” decision was taken in tune with the aspira- tions of the party cadres and people. He claimed it was the desire of all party cadres, top functionaries, district secre- taries, MPs, MLAs, and the Ministers. A committee will be formed soon to run the day-to- day affairs of the party, he said. Dhinakaran, who was expelled from the AIADMK by Jayalalithaa, was reinducted by Sasikala and appointed the party’s deputy general secretary just before she proceeded to Bengaluru to serve the remnant of her jail term after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction and sentence in a disproprtionate assets case in February this year. Replying to a question, Jayakumar, however, said the decision was not linked to the demand of rebel leader O Panneerselvam that party gen- eral secretary VK Sasikala and her nephew Dhinakaran be kept away as a pre-condition for talks for merger of the rival factions. Jayakumar, flanked by sev- eral Ministers, said still they were prepared to hold talks with Panneerselvam. Senior Ministers including Dindigul C Srinivasan, SP Velumani, RB Udayakumar, Thangamani, C Ve Shanmugam Rajya Sabha MP V Vaithilingam were present. The sudden announce- ment by Jayakumar came after efforts for the merger hit a hur- dle with Panneerselvam insist- ing on his demand for the ouster of Sasikala, Dhinakaran and their family from the party and the Government. Earlier on the day, O Panneerselvam, former Chief Minister and leader of the AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma), said, “There is no com- promise on this demand by us. The AIADMK was launched by MGR as a people’s movement to ensure that there was democra- cy and no family rule in Tamil Nadu. Jayalalithaa strengthened the party and it became one of the largest mass movements in the country. Troubles started only after the party was hijacked by Sasikala and her family mem- bers after the demise of Jayalalithaa. Sasikala’s appoint- ment as general secretary in December 2016 was against all democratic norms. We can have merger of both the factions only after making the party free of family rule.” Panneerselvam said the AIADMK was facing the biggest crisis in its 45 year his- tory as the police had registered a case against the deputy gen- eral secretary on charges of bribing Election Commission of India officials. “The Sasikala clan has brought disrepute and disgrace to the memories of MGR and Amma (Jayalalityhaa). This could be addressed only with the ouster of Sasikala and her family members,” said Panneerselvam. The AIADMK (Amma) faction has taken the offer of merger by Panneerselvam in right spirits. A seven member committee of senior Ministers, which include KA Sengottaiyan, Dindigul Sreenivasan and D Jayakumar has been formed by the Amma faction for formal discussions with Panneerselvam faction. P olice on Tuesday detained Shree Jagannath Sevayat Sammilani (SJSS) secretary Somanath Khuntia for oppos- ing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit to the Jagannath Temple here on Wednesday. Khuntia had said that Banerjee’s visit to the temple would hurt the sentiments of the devotees of Lord Jagannath because she has made state- ments in support of beef con- sumption. Hindus and other devout people are only allowed to enter the shrine, said Khuntia, known to be a BJP supporter. “Non-Hindus and people eating beef are not allowed entry into the temple. We will decide whether to allow the Chief Minister or not for dar- shan of the deities only after she takes a clear stand on the issue,” he added. On the other hand, Jagannath Temple Badagrahi Jagannath Swain Mohapatra said that during the BJP’s national executive meet, many VVIPs and VIPs had darshan of Lord Jagannath. So, Mamata Banarjee should also be allowed entry into the temple BJP State president Basanta Panda said the Puri temple is open for all Hindus. “Mamata Banerjee can also seek the bless- ings of Lord Jagannath,” he added. Notably, the Trinamool Congress supremo had earlier said that many minorities, Christians and tribals con- sume beef. It’s an individual choice and no one should oppose that. U nion Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram on Tuesday took on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, hours before Banerjee’s visit to Odisha. Oram alleged that there is a secret deal between the BJD and the Trinamool Congress. He termed Patnaik and Banerjee as ‘sinners’ of the multi-crore chit fund scam. “Naveen Patnaik and Mamata Banerjee are equally sad as both are in the same boat. While Patnaik’s Ministers are involved in the Artha Tatwa and Seashore chit fund scams, Banarjee’s party men are involved in the Sarada chit fund scam. So, they are meeting repeatedly to share their sorrows. Perhaps, both may enter into an alliance. Their leaders, film stars and party workers have duped people. They would be pun- ished by God for such sins,” Oram said. He also made scathing remarks against the leaders of the two prominent regional leaders perhaps in comparison to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Hundred lame persons cannot take on a wrestler. Langda Langda Hota He, Pahelwan Pahelwan Hota Hai,” Oram said. Reacting to Oram’s remarks, Naveen Patnaik rejected his remark about a BJD-TMC coalition. “His statement is false and baseless,” Patnaik said, adding that there is no such plan to meet TMC supremo Banerjee. A s scheduled, Trinamool Congress (TMC) president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here late on Tuesdayevening on a three- day visit to Odisha. “I have come here to meet Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay. Tomorrow, I will visit the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri. If I get time, I will call on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik,” Banerjee told reporters. Banerjee directly rushed to the Apollo Hospital to see Bandyopadhyay. She spent a few minutes there, according to reports. Though speculations are rife that her visit to Odisha has a political motive, TMC State convenor Aryakumar Jnanendra told The Pioneer that her visit is purely person- al and no party programmes are fixed for her. Notably, both CMs, Banerjee and Patnaik, had met at the Central Hall of Parliament in New Delhi on April 10, fuelling speculations about emergence of an anti-BJP alliance at the national level. A meeting between the two neighbouring CMs is per- ceived very important now as the BJP is eyeing to expand its base and capture power in both the States.

Transcript of 1 21 ˚ /3245/#6 /0 7 - News Headlines India King of Good Times” Kingfisher Airlines owes more...

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Embattled liquor baron VijayMallya, who has been

declared a proclaimed offend-er, was on Tuesday arrested inLondon by Scotland Yard onIndia’s request for his extradi-tion on fraud charges. He wasfreed on a bail bond worth6,50,000 pounds and will nextappear at WestminsterMagistrates’ Court on May 17.He appeared at WestminsterMagistrates’ Court in Londonand was seen walking out withhis legal team a few hours laterafter being granted bail.

“Officers from theMetropolitan Police’s ExtraditionUnit this morning arrested aman on an extradition warrant.Vijay Mallya was arrested onbehalf of the Indian authoritiesin relation to accusations offraud,” Scotland Yard said.

In New Delhi, senior offi-cials described Mallya’s arrest asthe first salvo in the case,which will now involve a legalprocess in the UK to determineif Mallya can be extradited toIndia to face charges in Indiancourts. The arrest comes weeksafter Finance Minister ArunJaitley had indicated thatMallya’s extradition would fea-ture in his talks during his visitto the UK.

Sources said the CBI andthe Indian High Commissionin London will present India’s

case in the UK court for extra-dition of Mallya. Senior offi-cials of Ministry of HomeAffairs said soon team com-prising External AffairsMinistry, CBI and ED officerswould visit London to co-ordi-nate with the Indian HighCommission.

Union Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad said India hadput up a strong case againstMallya and ED is also prepar-ing strategy to present the casefor his extradition under theUN convention of preventionof money laundering, of whichthe UK is also a signatory.

Meanwhile, the ExternalAffairs Ministry said thatMallya’s arrest in London onTuesday was in connection withthe request by the Governmentto UK authorities for his extra-dition. “Legal process in thisregard is underway in the UK.The two Governments are intouch in this context,” MEAspokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

The flamboyant business-man, whose now-defunct “TheKing of Good Times” KingfisherAirlines owes more than �9,000crore to various banks, had fledIndia on March 2, 2016. LaterMallya tweeted his own reactionto the day’s proceedings, saying:“Usual Indian media hype.Extradition hearing in courtstarted today as expected.”

Minister of State forFinance Santosh Kumar

Gangwar said, “We are nowassessing the facts how we canbring him back into the coun-try and start judicial proceed-ings against him.” TheGovernment, he said, will leaveno stone unturned to bring to

justice anyone indulging infinancial irregularities.

Earlier in January this year,a CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallyain the �720-crore IDBI Bankloan default case.

The UK Home Officedeclined to comment on “indi-vidual cases” but said thatMallya’s case will be handledunder Part 2 of the UK’sExtradition Act 2003.

Continued on Page 4

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Apurported circular askingboarder of an IIT-Delhi

girls’ hostel to wear “decent”and “full clothes” sparked a rowon Tuesday.

The notice put up at theHimadri Hostel, and allegedlysigned by its warden SreedeviUpadhyayula, reads, “Residentsare requested to wear full-cov-ered decent western or Indiandress on House Day.”

Upadhyayula, however,denied having issued any suchcircular and ordered to removethe notice. The warden said, “Ihave not issued any such notice.It looks like some prank by stu-dents as it has been circulatedon social media as well. I havebeen told that it has my signa-tures as well and I have calleda meeting of the hostel staff toinvestigate the issue.”

House Day, scheduled forApril 20, is an annual event atthe institute where residentscan invite guests in the hostelfor an hour. Upadhyayula, thewarden, denied having issuedsuch a notice.

Continued on Page 4

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In what could be called as‘monsoon delight’, India will

receive normal rain during theJune-to-September southwestmonsoon season, theGovernment’s weather officesaid on Tuesday.

Rainfall will be 96 per centof the long-period average andthere is a 38 percent probabil-ity that monsoon will be nearnormal, said KJ Ramesh,Director General of IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD). He added that the nor-mal rain will be good for theeconomy and agriculture andrain will be distributed fairlyacross the country.

Anything between 96 and104 per cent of the LPA is con-sidered as “normal”. Anythingunder 96 per cent is consideredas “below normal” and 104-110per cent of the LPA as “above

normal”.Around 49 per cent of

India’s workforce depends onagriculture for a livelihood and68 per cent of the country’s pop-ulation resides in rural areas.

The onset of monsoonkick-starts the sowing seasonfor summer crops in the coun-try. India receives 70 per centof its annual rainfall during thisperiod which irrigates overhalf of its rain-fed lands.

In 2016, the monsoon wasnormal at 97 per cent of the LPAafter two straight years of deficitrains. The normal monsoon lastyear aided a rebound in agri-culture growth to 4.2 per cent(2016-17), after a dismal 1.2 percent increase and a 0.2 per centcontraction seen in 2015-16and 2014-15, respectively.

IMD provides the longrange forecast for the southwestmonsoon rainfall in two stages.In April, seasonal rainfall for

the country as a whole isissued. In early June, thesenumbers are updated.

Last year, the southernpeninsula had registered defi-cient rainfall and several partsof Tamil Nadu, Karnataka andKerala reeled under drought-like situation.

Private weather forecasterSkymet has predicted 95 percent rainfall with a margin ofplus or minus 5 per cent for2017 due to fears of El Ninothis year. Thus, both Skymetand IMD are on equal footingin 2017 contrary to 2016 whenboth were at variance.

An analysis of monsoonforecast (1st and 2nd stage)since 2008 indicates that IMDhas only once increased its 2ndstage forecast (2014), else theforecast remained same orslightly less than the 1st.

“With a 38 per cent prob-ability of rainfall in the normalcategory, we believe rainfall ismost likely to be higher than 96

per cent of LPA. We believe thatthe agricultural GDP is mostlikely to be in range of 3-4 percent, a tad low compared to thefiscal year 2017 expectation, ifrainfall remains normal,” saida statement from the Ecoflash,a research agency of the SBI.

The current year’s forecastis majorly important for the

agriculture sector with initialreports pointing fingers towardsthe El Nino, which may happenduring the later part of the year.IMD, however, says weak ELNino and positive Indian OceanDipole (IOD) are currentlycombining to give a positivemonsoon scenario for India in2017, explained the Ecoflash.

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There was no respite forDelhiites from scorching

heat as the maximum temper-ature was recorded 43 degreesCelsius at Palam observatory,the highest in April for the lastseven years.

The Safdarjung observato-ry, whose recording is consid-ered the official figure for thecity, recorded a maximum tem-perature of 42.5 degreesCelsius, five notches above theseason’s average. “It was thehottest day in April since 2010when the maximum temper-ature had settled at 43.7degrees Celsius,” RavinderVishan, the in-charge at theRegional Weather ForecastingCentre (RWFC) said.

Areas under Palam, Lodhi

Road, Ridge and Ayanagar reg-istered a maximum tempera-ture of 43.7, 41.8, 43.4 and 42.6degrees Celsius, respectively, aMeT department official said.

The minimum temperaturewas recorded at 24.9 degreesCelsius, three notches above thenormal, the official said.

Humidity levels oscillatedbetween 76 and 15 per cent.According to the Met office,the city is likely to reel underheat wave-like conditions forthe rest of the days in this week.

The weatherman has pre-dicted mainly clear skies forWednesday. In the weekly fore-cast, MeT has predicted lightrain on April 22 while the max-imum and minimum tempera-ture will oscillate between 40and 41 degrees Celsius and 25-27 degrees Celsius respectively.

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It’s fall from grace for jailedAIADMK (Amma) general

secretary VK Sasikala as the KPalaniswami Cabinet onTuesday decided to keep herand her handpicked partydeputy general secretary TTVDhinakaran out of the partyand the Government.

Emerging from a “consul-tative” meeting chaired byChief Minister EKPalaniswami, Finance MinisterD Jayakumar declared that onefamily cannot controlAIADMK. “We are oustingSasikala and Mannargudi clanfrom the AIADMK,” he said.

The Minister claimed thatthe “unanimous” decision wastaken in tune with the aspira-tions of the party cadres andpeople. He claimed it was thedesire of all party cadres, topfunctionaries, district secre-taries, MPs, MLAs, and theMinisters.

A committee will beformed soon to run the day-to-day affairs of the party, he said.

Dhinakaran, who wasexpelled from the AIADMK byJayalalithaa, was reinducted bySasikala and appointed theparty’s deputy general secretaryjust before she proceeded to

Bengaluru to serve the remnantof her jail term after theSupreme Court upheld herconviction and sentence in adisproprtionate assets case inFebruary this year.

Replying to a question,Jayakumar, however, said thedecision was not linked to thedemand of rebel leader OPanneerselvam that party gen-eral secretary VK Sasikala andher nephew Dhinakaran bekept away as a pre-conditionfor talks for merger of therival factions.

Jayakumar, flanked by sev-eral Ministers, said still theywere prepared to hold talkswith Panneerselvam.

Senior Ministers includingDindigul C Srinivasan, SPVelumani, RB Udayakumar,Thangamani, C Ve ShanmugamRajya Sabha MP V Vaithilingamwere present.

The sudden announce-ment by Jayakumar came afterefforts for the merger hit a hur-dle with Panneerselvam insist-ing on his demand for theouster of Sasikala, Dhinakaranand their family from the partyand the Government.

Earlier on the day, OPanneerselvam, former ChiefMinister and leader of theAIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi

Amma), said, “There is no com-promise on this demand by us.The AIADMK was launched byMGR as a people’s movement toensure that there was democra-cy and no family rule in TamilNadu. Jayalalithaa strengthenedthe party and it became one ofthe largest mass movements inthe country. Troubles startedonly after the party was hijackedby Sasikala and her family mem-bers after the demise ofJayalalithaa. Sasikala’s appoint-ment as general secretary inDecember 2016 was against alldemocratic norms. We can havemerger of both the factionsonly after making the party freeof family rule.”

Panneerselvam said theAIADMK was facing thebiggest crisis in its 45 year his-tory as the police had registereda case against the deputy gen-eral secretary on charges ofbribing Election Commissionof India officials.

“The Sasikala clan hasbrought disrepute and disgraceto the memories of MGR andAmma (Jayalalityhaa). Thiscould be addressed only withthe ouster of Sasikala and herfamily members,” saidPanneerselvam. The AIADMK(Amma) faction has taken theoffer of merger byPanneerselvam in right spirits.A seven member committee ofsenior Ministers, which includeKA Sengottaiyan, DindigulSreenivasan and D Jayakumarhas been formed by the Ammafaction for formal discussionswith Panneerselvam faction.

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Police on Tuesday detainedShree Jagannath Sevayat

Sammilani (SJSS) secretarySomanath Khuntia for oppos-ing West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee’s visit to theJagannath Temple here onWednesday.

Khuntia had said thatBanerjee’s visit to the templewould hurt the sentiments ofthe devotees of Lord Jagannathbecause she has made state-ments in support of beef con-sumption.

Hindus and other devoutpeople are only allowed toenter the shrine, said Khuntia,known to be a BJP supporter.

“Non-Hindus and peopleeating beef are not allowedentry into the temple. We willdecide whether to allow theChief Minister or not for dar-shan of the deities only after she

takes a clear stand on theissue,” he added.

On the other hand,Jagannath Temple BadagrahiJagannath Swain Mohapatrasaid that during the BJP’snational executive meet, manyVVIPs and VIPs had darshanof Lord Jagannath. So, MamataBanarjee should also beallowed entry into the temple

BJP State president BasantaPanda said the Puri temple isopen for all Hindus. “MamataBanerjee can also seek the bless-ings of Lord Jagannath,” he added.

Notably, the TrinamoolCongress supremo had earliersaid that many minorities,Christians and tribals con-sume beef. It’s an individualchoice and no one shouldoppose that.

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Union Minister of TribalAffairs Jual Oram on

Tuesday took on Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik and his WestBengal counterpart MamataBanerjee, hours beforeBanerjee’s visit to Odisha.

Oram alleged that there isa secret deal between the BJDand the Trinamool Congress.He termed Patnaik andBanerjee as ‘sinners’ of themulti-crore chit fund scam.

“Naveen Patnaik andMamata Banerjee are equallysad as both are in the sameboat. While Patnaik’s Ministersare involved in the ArthaTatwa and Seashore chit fundscams, Banarjee’s party menare involved in the Saradachit fund scam. So, they aremeeting repeatedly to sharetheir sorrows. Perhaps, bothmay enter into an alliance.Their leaders, film stars andparty workers have dupedpeople. They would be pun-

ished by God for such sins,”Oram said.

He also made scathingremarks against the leaders ofthe two prominent regionalleaders perhaps in comparisonto Prime Minister NarendraModi. “Hundred lame personscannot take on a wrestler.Langda Langda Hota He,Pahelwan Pahelwan Hota Hai,”Oram said.

Reacting to Oram’sremarks, Naveen Patnaikrejected his remark about aBJD-TMC coalition. “Hisstatement is false and baseless,”Patnaik said, adding that thereis no such plan to meet TMCsupremo Banerjee.

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As scheduled, TrinamoolCongress (TMC) president

and West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeearrived at the Biju PatnaikInternational Airport here lateon Tuesdayevening on a three-day visit to Odisha.

“I have come here to meetTrinamool Congress MP SudipBandyopadhyay. Tomorrow, Iwill visit the Shree JagannathTemple in Puri. If I get time, Iwill call on Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik,” Banerjee toldreporters.

Banerjee directly rushed tothe Apollo Hospital to seeBandyopadhyay. She spent afew minutes there, according toreports.

Though speculations arerife that her visit to Odisha hasa political motive, TMC Stateconvenor AryakumarJnanendra told The Pioneerthat her visit is purely person-

al and no party programmesare fixed for her.

Notably, both CMs,Banerjee and Patnaik, had metat the Central Hall ofParliament in New Delhi onApril 10, fuelling speculationsabout emergence of an anti-BJPalliance at the national level.

A meeting between thetwo neighbouring CMs is per-ceived very important now asthe BJP is eyeing to expand itsbase and capture power inboth the States.

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Marketing Biju Patnaik’sname and fame for its

survival and continuance inpower may not help the BijuJanata Dal (BJD) any longer. Itappears the BJD is bleeding theBiju brand white for its quest toreturn to power for a fifth termin a row in 2019.

As evident during the Bijudeath anniversary celebrationsby the BJD on Monday, it isindeed over-selling of the leg-endary leader for a narrow par-tisan goal. The parroting of BijuPatnaik’s “vision” even byNaveen Patanik without detail-ing what it is about is likeresorting to a desperate bid tokeep the BJD afloat at a timewhen anti-incumbency signsagainst the ruling regional out-fit are visible.

The State Government alsospent lakhs and lakhs of rupeesof taxpayers’ money on adver-tisements in newspapers topay tributes to Biju Patnaik.Biju’s contributions to Odisha’sdevelopment are well-known,but the BJD, with an eye onvotes, tries to tell people that allthis is its own achievements.

Look why the BJD is harp-ing on the “Biju legacy” in asuper hyping manner. In a sit-uation where the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) is increasingits pressure on the BJD since itscredible performance at theBJD’s cost in the recent pan-chayat elections, the BJD’s slo-gans against the Centre arebecoming increasingly fainter.The BJD is at a loss to reply tothe Modi Government’s claimthat the Centre has now beenliberally providing funds for theState’s development which theBJD administration is unable toutilise. The BJP’ surge and theresultant BJD defensivenesshave become more pronouncedafter Prime Minister NarendraModi’s two-day visit toBhubaneswar on the occasionof the BJP national executivemeeting.

Significantly, the BJD’smuch-publicised anti-Centrestand on the Mahanadi waterissue miserably boomerangedin the panchayat polls. Peoplein most of the districts alongthe Mahanadi, especially inwestern Odisha, rejected theBJD and voted for the BJP.Chief Minister Raman Singh of

Chhattisgarh, where the so-called controversial dams onthe Mahanadi are built, boldlyand peacefully campaigned inwestern Odisha for days defy-ing the threats of protests

against his visit. Now that the BJD is hyp-

ing its Biju legacy, it is worth-while to recall the days in thelate 1990s when this party waslaunched and christened after

Biju and it coalesced with theBJP to fight elections. The lateleader might be turning in hisgrave to find his name associ-ated with a party that formeda coalition with the BJP, which

he was loathing as a “commu-nal” force.

It is plain and simple thatthe BJD had wanted to hand-hold with the BJP to ride on theAtal Bihari Vajpayee wave tocome to power. If the Biju lega-cy is so strong an asset with theBJD, why the party did not thencontest the elections on itsown? In fact, Biju Patnaik hadhimself failed to get a majori-ty for his Janata Dal (JD) in1995 and lost his Government,which he had formed in 1990after remaining in wildernessfor about a quarter centurydespite he did so much for thepeople of the State.

Naveen Patnaik rediscov-ered the BJP as “communal” byreferring to the Kandhamalriots only in 2009 after sharingpower with saffron party since1998 at the Centre and since2000 in the State. To the BJD’sadvantage, the main oppositionforce in Odisha, the Congress,decimated itself so much so thatNaveen Patnaik, on the adviceof his then supreme advisorPyarimohan Mohapatra, endedthe relations with the BJP beingconfident of retaining power allalone.

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Union Human ResourceDevelopment Minister

Prakash Javadekar has askeduniversities to conductresearches on current issueslike demonetisation and neweconomy in India.

Javadekar said universitiesand colleges need to go forresearches on the issues affect-ing people which would helpthe country in making plansand programmes.

Reviewing education sectorin Odisha here on 15 April, hesaid while demonetisation hasushered in a new economy with

people getting adapted to acashless system, such econom-ic reforms should be studiedand researched in details.

Higher EducationSecretary GVV Sharma, Schooland Mass Education SecretaryRanjan Chopra, UtkalUniversity Vice Chancellor AKDas, Ramadevi WomenUniversity Vice ChancellorPadmaja Mishra, IITBhubaneswar Director RV RajaKumar were present, amongothers.

Javadekar said teachershaving interest in researchshould be supported to conductresearches and those interest-ed in teaching should beallowed to do so for betterresults.

Taking up both researchand teaching by a single personwill not be fruitful in the long

run, he pointed out. Heresponded positively to sug-gestions that action orientedresearch need to be recog-nized as “Research” experi-ence.

Utkal University Vice-Chancellor Prof Das said theteachers are undertaking actionoriented research taken up byNSSO on nutrition and sever-al other issues. However, suchresearch experiences are notcounted as “Research”, saidProf Das.

To this, Javadekar said theMHRD would look into thematter. In fact, foreign univer-sities are going researches onpractical and current issuesand results of such research arebenefitting the people at large.Our universities and collegesshould do so for benefit of peo-ple, said Javadekar.

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Members of the HanumanJayanti Samannway

Samity (HJSS) on Tuesday satin a dharna in front of the officeof the RDC here protestingagainst the arrested of its activistsbefore the Hanuman Jayantiprocession.

Though there was nochance of breach of peace in thecity by the Samity members, thepolice and district administra-tion arbitrarily arrested themembers and the participants tofoil the celebration held once ina year on the eve of HanumanJayanti,” said Pradeep Bahidar, asenior member of the Samity.

“We protest the arrest of 24members of the SamannwaySamity for no reason. The actionof police is totally politically-motivated and designed inaccordance with the direction ofthe ruling party,” said GirishPatel, a former Chairman of theSambalpur Municipality and amember of the Samity.

“We are totally disciplinedand law abiding. We don’t want

any confrontation with anycommunity or even the admin-istration. Still then, police arevindictive on us for no validcause,” alleged Patel further.

While police are silent oncore issues like influx ofBangladeshi citizens all overthe State including Sambalpur,illegal and unlawful activities bythese people, we fail to under-stand why the police are hard ona disciplined organisation withwhich eminent citizens of thecity are involved, askedSatyanarayan Panda, a senioradvocate and a Samity office-bearer. “It is a highly regretfulmatter that we don’t have the rightto organise a procession in ourown land although we assuredpolice and the district adminis-tration much before that therewould be no breach of peace any-where in the city during the pro-cession,” Panda said further.

All other activists of theSamity also spoke on the sim-ilar line to protest the policeaction on the HanumanJayanti day in stopping pro-cession in the midway withoutany rhyme and reason.

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The National GreenTribunal, Kolkata Branch

on Tuesday issued directionsfor early closure of the KalingaCalciner petroleum coke plantat Paradip for failing to fulfillpollution norms.

The NGT asked the OdishaState Pollution Control Board(SPCB) to seal the plant andthe Jagatsinghpur districtCollector to disconnect powerto the factory while hearingpetitions filed by Udayabatavillagers and going by reportsof the SPCB, the StateEnvironment ImpactAssessment Impact Authorityand the district Collector.

Sankar Prasad Pani, rep-resenting petitioners, hadalleged that the factory pol-luted the entire environmentwith residential areas and

water bodies being coveredwith layers of sticky oily carbondusts released by the plant.

The locals were havingdifficulties in breathing andsuffering from eye irritationand skin infection. Further,they were unable to sleep dueto sound pollution caused bythe unit. Ashes released fromthe plant’s chimney also cov-ered up agricultural land.

Earlier, the NGT hadissued notices to short out theproblems to the company.However, the company failedto comply with the pollutionnorms of Consent to Operateand Environment Clearance.The unit still doesn’t have anelectrostatic precipitator, whichcontrols air pollution.

The unit too failed inmany other counts.

Taking note of the above,the NGT directed the SPCB toseal the plant and the Collectorto disconnect electricity to thefactory. The Tribunal too askedthe pollution board to filecompliance report on or beforeMay 2, 2017.

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Anotorious criminal wasinjured in an encounter

with police at Hadipatha in thecity late on Monday night. Thecritically-injured Shaikh Babuwas admitted to hospital,

“We were tipped off aboutthe hideout of Sheikh atHadiapatha in the city andaccordingly we carried out araid to nab him. He opened firefirst sighting the police and wetoo retaliated in which Sheikhsustained a bullet injury in hisleg,” said Cuttack DCP SanjibArora.

Babu has been admitted tothe SCB Medical CollegeHospital. An associate of gang-ster Mohammad Sakil, waswanted by the Commissioneratepolice. More than eight cases arepending against him at variouspolice stations of the city, saidDCP Arora.

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Scientist Dr Pramod KumarNayak, working at the

Centre for Law DimensionalCarbon Materials, UlsanNational Institute ofTechnology (UNIST) Republicof Korea, has discovered a newelementary excitation in con-densed matter physics.

His research outcome hasbeen published on 31st Marchin ASC Nano (2017). Dr Nayakhas his PhD degree in Physicsat the Indian Institute ofTechnology, Guwahati undersupervision of Prof S Ravi.

He hails from Lunigan vil-lage under Niali Police stationin Cuttack district.

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Rourkela BJP MLA and thethen Union Coal Minister

Dilip Ray would be facing atrial for his alleged involvementin the coal block allocationcase, national media reportssaid. A special CBI Court hasfixed April 26 to frame chargesagainst Ray in the case.

Besides Ray, the specialCBI Court would also framecharges against all the otheraccused in the coal scam. Thecase pertains to the allegedirregularities in allocation ofBrahmadiha coal block inJharkhand’s Giridh district toCastron Technologies Limitedin 1999.

In addition to Ray, theothers who would face trial arePradip Kumar Banerjee, thethen Additional Secretary, andNitya Nand Gautam, formerAdvisor (Projects) in theMinistry of Coal.

Ray, along with otheraccused, would battle chargesagainst him under Sections120-B (criminal conspiracy),420 (cheating) and 13(1)(d) ofthe Prevention of Corruption

Act, which stands for abusingof position by a public official.

The court had taken cog-nizance of the case on January15 last year after the CBI hadfiled the chargesheet a monthearlier in December 2015.

In his order dated January15 last year, Judge Parashar hadobserved that the decisions byRay and the other accused in1999 were made “withoutkeeping public interest inmind”. The court had alsomade observations on theCastron Technologies in thatorder, stating that the com-pany had “cheated the gov-ernment by unlawful lyobtaining the allocation ofthe impugned coal blockwhile entering into a criminalconspiracy with the publicservants.”

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Union Minister forPetroleum and Natural

Gas Dharmendra Pradhanattending a function in Jajpuron Monday, in reaction to theJajpur district Collector’s affi-davit in the Orissa High Courtdenying the infant deaths atNagada village due to malnu-trition, condemned the apathyof the State Governmenttowards the incident.

The ruling party’s apathy,negligence and irresponsibili-ty towards the deaths inNagada is a clear sign of its ret-icent emotions, said Pradhan.

“The Naveen PatnaikGovernment has failed in dis-charging its responsibilities inthe State. An arrogant andinept Government can onlymake a statement like this onchildren’s deaths,” said the

Union Minister.Reacting to Pradhan’s alle-

gations, BJD spokespersonAmar Satpathy said the partywon with a thumping majori-ty in the rural polls in the dis-trict which shows people hasfaith in the NaveenGovernment.

“The incident should notbe politicised. The StateGovernment has constructed amotorable road and set up atask force to investigate into thedeaths, Satpathy added.

Notably, the death of 19children in the village withinthree months had created afuror in the State. While oppo-sition parties in the State havebeen staunchly claiming thatthe children died of malnutri-tion, the Jajpur Collectorclaimed the deaths were due tofever, malaria and sepsis in theaffidavit.

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Pradesh Youth CongressCommittee (PYCC) presi-

dent Lokanath Maharathy onTuesday lashed out at PrimeMinister

Narendra Modi for notdeclaring Special CategoryState (SCS) status to Odishaduring his recent visit here.

He also demanded aninquiry into “the huge expendi-tures made for the arrange-ments of the two-day BJP nation-al executive meeting inBhubaneswar. Addressing a Pressconference here, Maharathy said,“Modi very well knows thatthere are large numbers of poorpeople in O0disha. Then why isthe Centre hesitating to accordSpecial Category State status tothe State?”

He also criticised the PrimeMinister for “not fulfilling”

the election promises on pover-ty and unemployment. Modihad promised to provideemployment for one crore peo-ple a year. But three yearsalready elapsed. How manyyouths have got jobs, hedemanded to know.

He further alleged that theCentre has failed to resolve theMahanadi water disputebetween Odisha andChhattisgarh. The BJPGovernment at the Centre andin Chhattisgarh do not want toresolve the crisis for their ownpolitical gains, he said.

Maharathy demanded aprobe into the sources of theenormous funds spent for themega arrangements for theBJP national executive meeting.The PYCC would hold amotorcycle rally here onWednesday to make peopleaware in this regards, he added.

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The Amway India in associ-ation with the Turnstone

Global launched a Braillelibrary for the visually-impaired students at the BhimaBhoi School for the Blind hereon Tuesday.

Fire Services DGP DrBinoy Behera gracing as chiefguest inaugurated the library inpresence Secondary EducationDeputy Director SnehamayeeSenapati, School PrincipalSumit Dasgupta and AmwayOdisha Cluster OperationsManager Rana Pratap Pradhan.

The library would offerBraille versions of a variety ofbooks and journals and CDsranging from academic books,fiction, self-help, generalknowledge for the benefit ofmore than 85 visually-impaired

students, who otherwise havelimited access to books. TheLibrary is also equipped withcomputers to enable students toaccess more than 30 CDs.

“This is a commendableinitiative shown by the AmwayIndia in a very noble and spir-ited cause. I believe the boys ofthe school will benefitimmensely. Such a combinedendeavour will be a step in theright direction towards ensur-ing a more level playing fieldbetween the physically-chal-lenged and those less disad-

vantaged,” said the DGPAmway India North and

East Vice-President GSCheema said, “We have beenworking tirelessly towards thewelfare of the visually impairedwith a firm belief that educa-tion and knowledge is the keyto the future that create oppor-tunities transcending physicallimitations. A Braille library isa key component of that strat-egy. We are in the process oflaunching 31 Braille librariesacross the country,”

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Excise Minister DamodarRout on Tuesday denied

that his department has anyrole in the de-notification of theState Highways by the WorksDepartment (WD) to avoid theSupreme Court ban on liquorsell on highways.

Minister Rout said hisdepartment did not ask theWD to de-notify the highwaysand term them as urban roads.

However, all the shops onurban roads excluding theNational Highways wouldopen, but they have to renewtheir licences.

It might be mentioned theroads passing through themunicipal corporations,municipalities, notified areacouncils (NACs) and sub-divi-sional headquarters were re-designated as ‘urban roads’

Besides these, the WorksDepartment had also classified

all road sections falling withinthe limits of block and tehsilheadquarters as urban roads.

With the SC ban on liquorshops on highways, the StateGovernment would have lost arevenue of 1,100 crore with theclosure of more than 1,500shops.

But the Excise Departmentis yet to estimate by opening ofthe liquor shops on urbanroads how much revenue willbe generated.

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Police on Tuesday registereda criminal case against

Priyadarshan Pattnaik, con-venor of the Jagannath Sena,who on Monday during thevisit of Chief Minister NaveenPattnaik to pay obeisance at theBiju Patnaik Samadhi atSwargadwar cremation groundhad tried to burn an effigy ofNaveen Patnaik.

Moreover, while police pre-vented the agitator, Inspector ofPolice Girija Pattnaik wasinjured in a scuffle.

An attempt to murder andseveral other Sections of IPChave been slapped againstPriyadarshan Pattnaik, andpolice are looking for Pattnaikto arrest him.

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The residents of UniskhandMouja comprising 19 vil-

lages under Lakhanpur block inBrajrajnagar constituency arefacing a severe shortage ofwater this summer despitebeing at stone’s throw from theHirakund Dam.

Recenty, the villagers ofKandheikela expressed theirgrievance in a public hearingof the district Collector atLakhanpur. Water shortagehas been a longstanding issuefor the residents of the region.

Local sources say that5,000 residents of Kandheikelapanchayat under Lakhanpurblock, 4,604 residents ofCharpali panchayat, 4,104 res-idents of Pithinda panchayat,5,033 residents of Remta pan-chayat, 3,874 residents ofKanaktora and 3,085 residentsof Badimal are facing acute dif-ficulty in sourcing drinkingwater.

The problem worsens fur-

ther when most deep borewells stop functioning due tolow voltage. Due to scorchingheat the water level of these sixpanchayats has gone downdrastically as ponds have alsodried up in the vicinity.

The State Government hadplanned to set up a water sup-ply centre near the Hirakundreservoir, Mahulapali at a costof Rs 84 crore to supply waterto these six panchayats throughpipe line. But, the projectseems to have hit bureaucrat-ic hurdles. In some areas, peo-ple are bound to drink conta-minated water from small wellsto meet their daily require-ments.

The villagers exhibiteddirty water in bottles to the dis-trict Collector during themeeting. However, Wesco saidthat low voltage problem willbe solved after a 33/11 KV substation which is under con-struction at Dhulundabecomes operational.

District Collector BibhutiBhusan Patnaik said, “Allarrangements are being madeto supply drinking water to thegeneral public and the problemof Uniskhand Mouja will soonbe sorted out.”

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Due to the one-year delay inpublication of results and

irregularities in evaluation ofanswer sheets by theBerhampur University, it isalleged that in the academicyear 2015-16, the students whoappeared in the Plus Three andTDS examinations secured lowmarks.

Besides, the hike in feefrom �50 to �100 for revalua-

tion has been opposed by thestudents. The students onThursday locked the gates ofthe City College and held adharna demanding fulfillmentof their five point charter ofdemands. Earlier, the studentshad met the authorities but astheir demands were not metthey sported black badges.Student leader Sunil Lenkawarned that if their demandsare not met, they would inten-sify their agitation.

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Even as thel e o p a r d ,

which hadsneaked into

Kurli village and injured two persons onMonday, was finally caught, locals are unhap-py that forest officials took 12 long hours to takehold of the animal as Balangir had no necessaryequipment and manpower to tackle such a sit-uation.

Though forest officials swung into actionimmediately, yet they didn’t succeed in catch-ing the leopard. The wild animal was grabbedafter 12 hours only when a wildlife expert teamwas brought in from Bhawanipatna.

“Had Balangir forest division been equippedwith tranquiliser and expert teams, the leopardcould have been caught early without harmingpeople, locals pointed out.

Another important aspect which needs seri-ous attention is how to control the curious mob.The tiger might not have attacked KantabanjiForest Range Officer and another person, if pan-icked villagers didn’t throw stones at the cow-shed where the leopard was hiding.

Two important points haunt people’s mindare lack of water and prey forcing wild animalsto come to human habitations. The water bod-ies of three metre width or 10 feet depth creat-ed by the Forest department in jungles are driedup in summer. Hence, the depth of water bod-

ies should be increased, demanded locals.High temperature is another reason that

makes wildlife restless in the jungle.Meanwhile, the leopard was taken to

Harishankar and released in deep GandhmrdanReserve forest on Tuesday.

Bhawanipatna RCCF Suresh Panth, BalangirDFO Rashmi Ranjan Naik and others conductedthe operation.

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The situation in the riot-hitBhadrak town is fast

returning to normal with relax-ation of the curfew duringday time for the last severaldays though night curfew con-tinues.

The Bhadrak districtadministration relaxed the pro-hibitory orders on Tuesdayfor 12 hours from 6 am to 6pm. The police have so farrounded over 170 persons,including BhadrakMunicipality ward no 13Councillor SubhankarMohapatra alias Kalia, in con-nection with the violence in

the town.Meanwhile, the district

administration would submitthe assessment report on dam-ages caused during the recentriots on Wednesday, sourcessaid.

As per reports, 25 of the 30Wards of Bhadark Municipalityhave been affected by the vio-lence. Around 180 permanentand temporary shops and morethan 120 houses have beencompletely damaged duringthe unrest. Seven teams head-ed by district CollectorGyanaranjan Das were engagedto assess the damage.

Notably, the situation in thecommunally-sensitive Bhadraktown turned volatile from April6 after some objectionableposts were posted on social net-working sites triggering tensionbetween two communities.

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In a shocking incident, aClass-X student, Rashmi

Ranjan Bej, committed sui-cide on Tuesday allegedly afterhe apprehended that his fami-ly would refuse to purchase acricket bat for him.

The deceased was a studentof the Munilal High School(MLHS) at Baisinga in the dis-trict. Sources said the boypestered his parents to buy hima cricket bat. Though his fatherassured him to buy a bat, heresorted to the extreme step byconsuming pesticide appre-hending that his request wouldbe turned down by his family.

Later, Rashmi was rushed tohospital after he complained ofchest pain, but doctors declaredhim brought dead. The incidenthas sent shockwaves amongthe residents of the area.

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Adistraught couple fromAmlipani village of

Jujumura area sat in dharna infront of the office of the ChiefDistrict Medical Officer(CDMO) demanding to getback their stolen child. OnMarch 24, their new born sonwas stolen from the SambalpurDistrict Headquarters Hospitalin the late night.

“My son was stolen fromthe hospital. I want to get backmy baby. I will not leave thehospital until I get him backson,” said Geetanjali Majhi,

mother of the stolen baby.“More than 25 days have

already been passed, but myson is yet to be traced. We willnot leave the place until we getback the baby,” said AnirudhaMajhi, the father. He furtheralleged that the CDMO askedhim to leave the hospital whenhe and his wife Geetanjalistaged dharana in the hospitalpremises.

On being contacted,CDMO Dr Kodanda Rao said,“We have not asked the coupleto leave the hospital. However,we have shifted Geetanjali to acabin from the gynaecologyward. She will be provided allthe facilities there.”

The CDMO further saidthat he had discussed with theSuperintendent of Policeregarding the stolen baby.

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The World Historical Daywas celebrated here on

Tuesday. The District CultureOfficer presided over the meet-ing held on the occasion.

Sub Collector Bhim CentPunamkanta joined as chiefguest and Yashbir Sing from theAEM English Medium Schooljoined as guest of honor. The

chief speaker was SushamaDash, Lecturer of KalapaniCollege.

The speakers advised theaudience to protect the histor-ical monuments. A quiz com-petition was held among stu-dents and awards were distrib-uted to the winners. Manyteachers and students werepresent. Kalyani Dash pur-posed a vote of thanks.

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Forest officials of Sambalpurand Jujomura arrested Om

Prakash Biswal, former presi-dent of BJP Jujomura Mandal,in connection with seizure oftusks from near a roadsidedhaba in Kansar.

“On February 22, our staffunder the same Jujomurapolice station seized hugequantity of tusks from a dhabaand arrested seven persons. Butmastermind of the illegal trade,Om Prakash Biswal, who is alsothe former president of BJPJujomura Mandal was abscond-ing. We arrested him fromSambalpur in a marriage recep-tion party,” informed SadarForest Range Officer TR Nayak.

“We came to know thatOm Prakash had come toBhatra area of the city to attenda marriage function.Subsequently, we arrested himfrom the Kalyan Mandap,where the function was goingon,” he added. Clarifying thematter, Sambalpur BJP districtpresident Ramachandra Mehersaid, “Biswal already hasresigned from the party onFebruary 15. Hence, our partyhas no relation with him.”

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The indefinite all India majorports’ strike called by var-

ious trade unions for April 19(Wednesday) was called offfor the time being, giving reliefsto port managements,importers and exporters ofParadip.

The strike could have inter-rupted in cargo handling of theParadip Port and other Indianmajor ports.

The trade unions called offthe strike following preliminarytalks held between union lead-ers Central LabourCommissioner at New Delhion Monday. Another round ofnegotiations with officials fromthe Indian Ports Association(IPA) would be held on April21 at Mumbai in an attempt toreach a settlement.

The strike notice was joint-ly issued by the trade unionfederation protesting againamendments in the MajorPorts Authority Bill 2016,which would attract more pri-vate investment to enhanceport activities. The Bill wouldeventually lead to a total pri-vatisation of India’s major portsand their 50,000 workers.

If those negotiations fail, itwould be the second nation-wide stoppage at major ports intwo years to hit exports andmanufacturing output. India’soutbound trade jumped 24.5percent year-over-year to $29.2billion in March, while totalexports during fiscal year 2016to 2017 through the end ofMarch reached $274.6 billion,up 4.7 percent from the pre-ceding year, according toGovernment statistics.

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The BJD Puri district unitorganised a blood donation

camp under the “Jeevan Bindu”programme to mark the 20thdeath anniversary of legendaryBiju Patnaik here on Monday.

A total of 108 blood unitswere collected from the campinaugurated by Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik and attendedby local MLA and NabakalebarInfrastructure SupervisionCommittee ChairmanMaheshwar Mohanty,

Agrinculture Minister PradeepMaharathy, Food Supplies andConsumer Welfafe MinistgerSanjay Dasburma, MPPrasanna Patsani, DistrictPlanning CommitteeChairman and Nimapada MLASameer Ranjan Das, SatyabadiMLA Umakanta Samantaray,ZP Member Dibakar Patra andDaitapati Niyog presidentRamkrushna Das Mohapatra.

Jeevan Bindu district coor-dinator Shubashis Khuntiacoordinated the whole pro-gramme.

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Union Petroleum MinisterDharmendra Pradhan

backed the demands of thestriking advocates of JajpurRoad who are on a dharana atthe court premises here for last16 days.

They press for opening of

Additional District Judge Courtand Additional Sub-Collectoroffice at Jajpur Road.

Various leaders includingformer Finance MinisterPrafulla Chandra Ghadai,Sukinda MLA Pritee RanjanGhadai, former Rajya SabhaMP Rama Chandra Khuntia,senior Congress leader Sarat

Rout, former Korai MLASanchita Mohanty, MLA AkasDas Nayak, Sambad EditorSoumya Ranjan Patnaik havevisited the strike place to sup-port the demands of the advo-cates.

Pradhan sat on the dharnasite for a few minutes. Replyingto reporters, Pradhan said he

will write to Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik urging him tofulfill the genuine demands ofthe advocates.

Pradhan was accompaniedby former BJP MLA SanchitaMohanty, former ZP PresidentGauttam Ray, district BJP pres-ident Ashutosh Parida amongothers.

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Baleswar: A review meetingwas conducted by State FoodCommission ChairmanRanglal Jamuda here recently.Besides district CollectorPramod Das, other district-level officers were present.

Jamuda while reviewingabout various Governmentschemes, including the publicdistribution system, ICDS,MDM, asked the officials fortheir proper implementations.

He also reviewed theimmunisation programmes ofchildren, de-worming and dis-tribution of vitamin tabletsamong children.

Sub-Collectors of Baleswarand Nilgiri Ramchandra Paltaand Ghasiram Murmu, respec-tively, Civil Supplies Officer JPManipatra, DWOBrajabandhu Nayak andDSWO Asteria Karketia werepresent. PNS

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Celebrating 150 years, theBalmer Lawrie and Co

Limited, a Government ofIndia enterprise and one ofIndia’s largest travel manage-ment companies, in associa-tion with the Sand Pebbles,another leading tours andtravel company in easternIndia, will hold a two-day trav-el expo here on April 22 and23.

The expo aims at providingspecial and attractive pack-ages to various holiday desti-nations. To make summer hol-idays more convenient andeconomical for the customers,Vacations Exotica, the brand ofBalmer Lawrie, is launchingspecial packages to Europe,US, Australia, New Zealandand far east countries, besidesdomestic tours in India.

At the expo, experts will bepresent to advice the customers

about the various packagesand discounts that will suittheir need.

As a part of the event,Odisha is also promoted as aholiday destination inAhmedabad, Bangalore,Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, etc.Road shows will be organisedacross Odisha as part of thepromotion.

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On its second venture in thecity after organising the

sketches of temples, the mem-bers of Urban Sketcherssketched the streets along theBindusagar lake, celebratingthe World Heritage Day with aspecial event ‘Art Haat.’

As part of the celebration,the Art Haat initiative wasjointly organised by theBhubaneswar DevelopmentAuthority, the BMC and theBhubaneswar UrbanKnowledge Centre with theUrban Sketchers’ local chapteras the knowledge partner.

During the early eveninghours an exhibition was alsoorganised to showcase thesketches of the participantsnear the Rukuna Ratha, theholy chariot of Lord Lingaraj,

on the Ratha Danda.The World Heritage Day’s

theme was “International Yearof Sustainable Tourism for

Development.’’ The theme forthe Urban Sketchers, on the

other hand, was “Streetscape’’.A group of young painters

included 30 students from KIITSchool of Architecture, KIITUniversity, four practicingarchitects, five artists/graphicdesigning students, one ClassVIII student of KendriyaVidyalaya No. 1 and two com-moners.

The youngest participantShrishti De, a resident of BapujiNagar, came for the sessionwith her father Sidharth Deafter knowing about the eventfrom social media.

Shristi, who has more than100 prizes in drawing andpainting from various compe-titions in her school and out-

side, termed the new experi-ence of drawing a live urbanlandscape enriching andawarding.’

“Apart from streetscapesketches, doodles, water coloursketches were also made by theparticipants. We will be doingweekly activities by the groupwhich is increasing every pass-ing day. Now within two dayswe are 30 members and thenext time after sketching theentire Old Town area, wewould venture into otherregion of the capital plannedand designed by OttoKoenigsberger and Julius Vazrespectively,’’ said city chaptermoderator SwayamprakashMohanty.

“We selected theBindusagar area as fromLingaraj Temple to Mukteswar,the Old City of Bhubaneswaroffers countless themes fordrawing and sketching,” headded.

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After Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s push for

digital transact ions, theCentre has decided to enacta law to protect data sharedon internet either throughpayment apps such as Paytmor on social media forumssuch as WhatsApp, Facebook,etc.

Attorney General of IndiaMukul Rohatgi disclosed thisbefore a Constitution Benchof the Supreme Court duringa hearing of a petition chal-lenging the privacy policy ofWhatsApp allowing the com-pany to share information ofits users with Facebook.

The issue of privacyinvolving such social mediaplatforms had emerged as amajor reason for the apexcourt to refer the case to aConstitution Bench.

The petition filed by oneKarmanya Singh Sareen wasargued by senior advocateHarish Salve who flagged thetwin issues of privacy and dataprotection claiming that thepolicy of WhatsApp is anassault on the fundamentalright of citizen’s to privacyprotected under Article 21

and right to free speech andexpression guaranteed underArticle 19(1)(a).

Rohatgi requested theConstitution Bench to deferthe hearing of the case tillAugust while disclosing thatby that time, the Centreintends to put in place a lawto protect data stored andexchanged on digital plat-forms.

“ The Government ismulling on a data protectionframework which essentiallyhas to be in the form of a leg-islation to be passed byParliament in line with USlaw on this subject.”

Explaining how this lawcan impact the future of dig-ital transactions, the A-Gsaid, “Suppose you use Paytmand transact money to a shop

owner or rickshaw puller,along with the data that isexchanged, it shows the pro-file of the person transferringthe data. This data has to beprotected.”

Similarly, he pointed outthat in the United States, avery important case is being

closely monitored by theIndian Government thatspeaks of the “Right to beForgotten”. “Suppose a personcommitted a misdemeanor atthe prime of his youth thatreflects against his name everytime a query on his profile ismade on the internet, thatperson can claim that his pastshould not reflect as part ofhis right to privacy,” the A-Gsubmitted. This aspect isbeing looked into to fasten aliability on internet serviceproviders to respect citizen’sright to privacy, the top lawofficer indicated.

However, this may taketime as the law will be in placeonly by September-Octoberthis year, according to the A-G and requested for the mat-ter to be adjourned.

But the Bench of JusticesDipak Misra, AK Sikri,Amitava Roy, AM Khanwilkarand MM Shantanagouderallowed Salve to formulatethe questions of law for deter-mination by the ConstitutionBench and fixed the matter forhearing on April 27.

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Ahead of the crucial munic-ipal elections in the nation-

al Capital, Congress suffered ajolt after former DelhiCongress president and ex-Minister Arvinder SinghLovely in the then SheilaDikshit Government and for-mer Congress youth leaderAmit Malik joined BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) on Tuesday.

Lovely, who had held cru-cial portfolios in Sheila DikhitGovernment for many years,took the primary membershipin the presence of BJP nation-al president Amit Shah.

Lovely’s decision to joinBJP comes after resentmentwithin the Delhi Congress overticket distribution for theupcoming MCD polls.

Delhi BJP president ManojTiwari welcomed Lovely inthe party fold and said Lovely’spresence will strengthen theparty in several areas of EastDelhi.

Vinay SahasrabuddheMember of Parliament andvice president of the ElectionCommittee said BJP is a largefamily where all get opportu-nity to serve society and thenation and the members workfor social welfare and not forparty posts.

His joining the BJP is beingseen by many as a big setbackto the Congress.

Former Delhi Chief

Minister Dikshit called Lovely’sdecision to join the BJP unfor-tunate and was quoted as say-ing that “when leaders who geteverything from the partyleave, then whom do youtrust?”

Dikshit, who served Delhias Chief Minister of the nation-al Capital for 15 years, also saidthe current Delhi Congresschief is not able to reach out toleaders as is needed and that isa reason for people leaving theparty.

Lovely was elected as thegeneral secretary of DelhiPradesh Youth Congress in1990. In 1998 he was elected tothe Delhi Legislative Assemblyand was the youngest memberin the House. He became aCabinet Minister in Diskhit-ledCongress Government in 2003and also held important port-folios of Education, Tourism ,PWD, Transport, Revenue andPower.

Lovely was upset with theCongress for sidelining himafter the 2015 Assembly elec-tion and was apparently miffedwith the Delhi Congress chiefAjay Maken. Being a popularface in Delhi political, Lovelywill add strength to BJP’s cam-paign in the national capital.

A few days earlier, three-time Congress MLA and for-mer Deputy Speaker of theDelhi Assembly, AmrishGautam, had also joined theBJP.

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The Centre told the SupremeCourt on Tuesday to lay its

hands off any attempt to debarpoliticians for life after they getconvicted for an offence pun-ishable with over two yearssentence. At present, any MLAor MP convicted in such acrime is debarred for theremaining of his term and fora period of six years hence.

An affidavit filed by theMinistry of Law and Justice inresponse to a PIL seekingelectoral reforms and de-crim-inalisation of politics alsoopposed any move prescribinga minimum educational qualif ication for elected representatives.

Such decision would leavea large section of society dis-enfranchised, claimed theCentre in its response filed onTuesday. The Bench of JusticesRanjan Gogoi and Navin Sinhawill decide on the future courseof the PIL filed by advocateAshwini Upadhyay on July 10,the next date of hearing in the case.

Dealing with the the peti-tion seeking a life ban on con-victed politicians from con-testing elections, the Benchwished to know the stand ofthe Centre since the ElectionCommission filed an affidavitearlier supporting the peti-tioner.

The affidavit by the LawMinistry shot down any pro-posal to tinker with the exist-ing framework of disqualifica-tion for MPs/MLAs providedunder Articles 102 and 191 ofConstitution and Section 8 ofthe Representation of PeopleAct 1951. “The above sets theparameters for disqualifica-tion of the Members of theParliament and the StateLegislature and these limits areconstitutionally prescribed andhence no further restrictions ofdisqualifications can beimplied or read into these.”

The petition even soughtto fix a minimum educationqualification on candidatesentering Parliament and StateAssemblies along with settinga maximum age limit. TheCentre did not favour anysuch suggestion. On the con-trary, it said the issue fell with-in the legislative domain as itrequired an amendment toArticle 83 and 173 ofConstitution laying down qual-ifications of MPs/MLAsrespectively.

“There cannot be a man-damus (by Constitutionalcourts) asking the Governmentto make a law or introduceamendments to an existinglaw and hence this prayer isalso for a relief that cannot begranted by the Courts,” theGovernment replied. It gave anadded reason to scuttle thepetitioner’s suggestion. If sucha prayer is to be granted,Centre submitted, “it will dis-enfranchise a huge part of thecountry’s population as manypeople have not had the ben-efit of organised education.

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From Page 1As the hostel inmates took

to social media and criticisedthe notice calling it “moralpolicing”, Delhi Commissionfor Women (DCW) chief SwatiMaliwal flayed the prestigiousinstitute for its “patriarchal”mindset.

Following the uproar, theIIT administration swung intoaction and removed the ‘notice’saying the authorities were notaware of any such “circular”.

S Krishna, IIT Delhi’s Deanof Students’ Welfare, said, “Wenormally don’t issue noticesregarding what type of dressthey should wear. In fact I wasnot even aware that such anotice has been put up”.

“I have instructed my officeto call the hostel and tell thestaff that it should be immedi-

ately removed. We don’tindulge in the personal affairsof students -- either boys orgirls -- and we don’t have adress code too,” he added.

There are two girls’ hostelsat IIT Delhi -- Himadri andKailash.

The ‘notice’ irked the stu-dents who shared it with PinjraTod -- a students’ group in thenational Capital fightingagainst discriminatory rulesfor women in hostels, univer-sities and colleges.

The DCW chief also saidthe commission will look intothe matter. “It is a horrible dis-play of a patriarchal mindset bya prestigious institution like IIT.This kind of moral policingneeds to stop. The DCW islooking into the matter,” shesaid.

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From Page 1The long-drawn procedure

begins with an arrest, followingwhich an extradition hearing isheld before the District Judgeat Westminster Magistrates’Court. The judge must decidewhether any of the statutorybars in the Act apply in thecase, including health andhuman rights grounds.

“If none of these bars applyin the case, the Judge will sendthe extradition request to theSecretary of State for approval,”the Home Office said.

Last month, setting inmotion the process of extradi-tion of Mallya, the BritishGovernment had certifiedIndia’s request and sent it to adistrict judge for further action.

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Taking a step towards bring-ing transparency in recruit-

ment, Himachal PradeshGovernment has decided to doaway with interviews for ClassIII and IV posts. After the nodof Himachal Pradesh Cabinet,the notification in this regardswas issued by GovernorAcharya Dev Vrat.

As per the notification, thestate government would dis-continue or dispense with theprocess of holding interviewsin respect of direct recruit-ment for making recommen-dations for Class-lll and IVposts or services under theState Government with imme-diate effect.

The selection to all Class-III and IV posts or servicesunder the State Governmentshould be made on the basis ofmerit of written examinationor prescribed educationalqualification followed by eval-uation based on other pre-scribed parameters.

As per the notification, forappointments where skill testand physical test, differentfrom the interview, are therequirement of recruitmentthese tests shall continue andonly be of qualifying nature.

Making the decision to beimplemented from the date,the appointments, where theprocess of recruitment hasbeen advertised but yet to becompleted, it has been decid-ed to re-advertise the postsand conduct the recruitmentsas per new notification.

Making this arrangement,the notification says, “foralready notified vacancies bythe recruiting authorities pre-scribing personal interview,which have not been com-pleted as yet, either the postsshall be re-advertised to theextent of dispensing with thepersonal interview and para-meters as above may be adopt-e dOR selection process shall be completed by May 31, 2017 bythe respective recruitingauthorities. ln case(s) whereadvertisement for filling up of vacancies hasbeen issued by the recruitingagencies but the written exam-ination hasn’t been held insuch cases, the recruitingagencies will issue supple-mentary advertisement imme-diately clarifying that afterwritten examination no inter-view will be held and theabove parameters will beapplicable for selection.”

The Government has also made arrangements for givingpreferences to the candidateson the basis of their financialor physical circumstances.

Candidates belonging tonotified backward area or pan-chayat would be given onepercent marks for both cate-gories, and landless familypoor family having land lessthan one Hectare would getone marks for Class III andtwo for Class IV.

N o n - e m p l o y m e n tCertificate to the effect thatnone of the family members isin Government or semi-Government job wouldbe given one and 2.5 marks,differently abled persons withmore than 40 per cent impair-ment or disab ility or infirmi-ty one mark to both category. NSS, NCC, Medalwinner in National level sportscompetitions 1 to get onemarks .BPL family havingfamily annual income from allsources below �40,000 perannum would be given 2 and2.5 marks. Widow or divorcedor destitute or single womanwill also get 1 or 1.5 marks.

Single daughter ororphans would also be givenone mark.

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The Centre has distributedover one lakh LED bulbs

under the Ujala scheme in thecity.

Along with distributingthe LED (Light emitting diode)bulbs, 15,000 20W LED tube-lights as well as 5,000 BEE 5-star rated energy efficientfans have also been distributedto the city.

“With the distribution ofLED bulbs, tubelights and ener-gy efficient fans, there hasbeen a cumulative saving ofover 39,000 kWh of energy,which has translated into a sav-ings of over �1.55 lakh in con-sumers electricity bills,” anEnergy Efficiency ServicesLimited (EESL) spokesmansaid here on Tuesday. EESL isthe nodal agency for distribu-tion of these appliances.

Saurabh Kumar, ManagingDirector, EESL said the targetis to make Chandigarh a 100per cent energy efficient city.

Under Ujala scheme, con-sumers in the city can buy 4LED bulbs, 4 LED tubelightsand 4 BEE 5-star rated energyefficient fans.

The price of each LEDbulb is �70 as against the mar-ket price of �300-350.

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India on Tuesday strongly con-demned the private member’s

motion adopted by Ontario pro-vincial Assembly, Canada, ter-ming the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as“genocide” and said the languageof the resolution was “exagg-erated and created disquiet” here. The issue was flagged byDefence Minister Arun Jaitley during his meeting with his vis-iting Canadian counterpart Ha-rjit Singh Sajjan. Jaitley said theresolution amounted to questioning India’s “democraticcredentials”.

Incidentally, ruling BJP’s allyAkali Dal had raised the issue inParliament recently welcomingthe resolution and demandedthat the Ministry of ExternalAffairs “immediately withdraw”its statement which said India“rejected” the “misguided”motion. Main Opposition partyCongress in the Rajya Sabha hadprotested against the use ofword “genocide”.

Making India’s stand clear,Jaitley said the Ontario motion

was “unreal and exaggerated”and the language did not con-form to reality adding it was“unwarranted”, defence ministrysources said here.

Jaitley also said since boththe countries are liberal democ-racies, the resolution was not inspirit of bilateral relations sharedby the two nations. Moreover,such a motion did not generate“right atmosphere” and led to“considerable amount of dis-quiet in India”, he told Sajjan,sources said.

On his part, the Canadiandefence minister disassociatedhimself from the Ontario motionand urged the Indian govern-ment to refrain from reading toomuch into it. He said themotion was moved through aprivate member’s bill and only 34members voted for it.

Moreover, the motion cameabout in the backdrop of elec-tions in that assembly, Sajjan saideven as he termed the issue as“not very significant”, sourcessaid. The Canadian minister alsostressed that the current politi-cal dispensation there was keen

to further strengthen tiesbetween the two countries andit was evident from regular vis-its by top ministers.

Sajjan also rubbished PunjabChief Minister AmarinderSingh’s allegation that he is “pro-Khalistani” and said he wouldnot get into any petty politicswith the Congress leader. “I amnot going to get into any pettypolitics of one chief minister ofa province... I am very veryproud of my roots and myaction speak for myself,” he toldreporters. Ahead of his visit,

Singh had said he would notmeet Sajjan alleging that theCanadian minister is a“Khalistani sympathiser”.

This apart, during the talksbetween the two defence minis-ters, it was decided to exploremore avenues to have partner-ships in research and develop-ment to give a fillip to the ‘Makein India’ policy. The two nationsalso decided to have moreintense joint exercises especial-ly in the sphere of high altitudeand cold conditions besidesmaritime drills.

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The Congress on Tuesdayurged the Centre to build

up pressure on UnitedKingdom to handover fugitivebusinessman Vijay Mallya toIndia, following his arrest andalmost subsequent bail even asit questioned why a request forhis deportation was not made.

Crediting the Congress’campaign leading to submis-sion of Mallya’s extraditionrequest, Congress chiefspokesperson RandeepSurjewala asked why the liquorbaron was not arrested earlierwhen the case was first regis-tered against him in 2015.

“Is it not a fact that on July29, 2015, the CBI registered acase and investigated VijayMallya? Why was he not arrest-ed? Why was he permitted togo scot-free?” Surjewala said.

Surjewala also blamed theBJP-led Government for notsending the request of depor-tation but of extradition,adding the move would haveled to immediate handing ofMallya to India.

“After three years ofrelentless campaign by theCongress , finally the requestfor extradition was submittedon February 9, 2017, by theGovernment of India to theBrit ish authorit ies . Therequest for deportation wasnot given. That would haveled to immediate handing ofVijay Mallya, who has fledwith Rs. 9,091 crore of India’sbanks and the people fromhere to London under thewatch of BJP Government.The reason was extraditioncan take up to a dozen years,it is only step one,” he said.

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Days after the PrimeMinister’s Office (PMO)

sought speeding up of greenclearances of pending projectsand regular follow ups withState Governments, the UnionEnvironment Ministry onTuesday said it has decided toreview their status to expeditethe process.

In a statement issuedhere, the Ministry said that itwill hold a meeting with allnodal officers, regional offi-cers and project proponentsin this regard.

The ministry has alsodecided that al l ExpertAppraisal Committees(EACs) will hold at least twomeetings in April and Maythis year for the appraisal ofprojects, with special empha-sis on those pertaining todifferent ministries.

The decision was takenafter a meeting chaired byEnvironment Secretary Ajay

Narayan Jha last week.“Special Secretary in the

Ministry R R Rashmi willhold a meeting, in which allofficers concerned from theMinistr y, nodal of f icer,regional of f icer and project proponents will beinvited.

“The meeting will reviewthe cases where the projectshave been apprised by theExpert Appraisal Committeesand recommended the grantof Environmental Clearance,but are being held up becauseof Forest Clearance-Stage I,”the statement added.

The issue of pending pro-jects in the want of greenclearance in the country wasdiscussed in mid-March in ameeting of PMO’s projectmonitoring group (PMG).

The PMG’s mandateincludes fast trackingapprovals for setting up andcommissioning large public,private and -public-privatepartnership projects.

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Unknown officials of theExternal Affairs Ministry

were on Tuesday booked bythe CBI for allegedly issuing“official” passports to 12 peo-ple on the basis of forgeddocuments showing them asArunachal PradeshGovernment officials to facil-itate their trafficking to the US.

The alleged criminal con-spiracy was hatched betweenthe ministry officials and pri-vate persons betweenDecember 2016 and Marchthis year, the FIR said.

The agency filed the FIRagainst Raja Kipa, Thupten,Kalden Kunseng, Lucky andunknown officials of the min-istry in this connection.

It is alleged that the 12 peo-ple had applied for non- immi-grant visa for the US and pre-sented their official passportsalong with letter purportedlywritten by the ministry to theUS Consulate in Kolkata, theFIR said.

They were called for visainterview but only four personsappeared for it on March 14,2017 along with identity cardsposing as government officialsof Arunachal Pradesh, it said.

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Terrorism in the South Asianregion and the situation in

Afghanistan dominated the talksbetween the visiting US NationalSecurity Advisor, LieutenantGeneral HR McMaster, and hisIndian counterpart Ajit Doval onTuesday. The two NSAs helddetailed discussions on Indo-USrelations, especially the securityaspect of the ties. McMaster alsomet Prime Minister NarendraModi and Foreign Secretary S.Jaishankar.

Terming the meetingbetween Doval and McMasteras ̀ productive’, the US embassysaid that McMaster empha-sized the importance of the US-India strategic relationship andreaffirmed India’s designation asa Major Defense Partner. “Thetwo sides discussed a range ofbilateral and regional issues,including their shared interest inincreasing defense and coun-terterrorism cooperation,’ theUS embassy said in a statement.McMaster’s visit was a part ofregional consultations that

included stops in Kabul andIslamabad.

During McMaster’s meetingwith Modi, the US NSA sharedhis perspective on the securitysituation in the extended region,including in Afghanistan, WestAsia and the North Korea.“During the conversation, theyexchanged views on how bothcountries can work together toeffectively address the chal-lenge of terrorism and toadvance regional peace, securi-ty and stability,” Prime Minister’sOffice said in a statement. It

added that PM recalled hispositive telephonic conversa-tions with American PresidentDonald Trump “that reaffirmedthe importance attached byboth sides to the strategic part-nership and to stepping upIndia-US engagement acrossthe board.”

McMaster had on Mondaymet Pakistani Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif and its ArmyChief Qamar Javed Bajwa andurged Pak to act against the ter-ror networks and use diploma-cy instead of proxies.

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Maintaining it is time to put‘Australians First’,

Australia on Tuesday scrappedthe 457 visa programme forskilled migrants, largely pre-ferred by Indians, in a movethat comes ahead of the US tooset to cut down H1B visa tocurb flow of migrant workersinto that country.

The announcement byAustralian PM MalcolmTurnbull came barely a weekafter his State visit to India. TheMinistry of External Affairssaid that the Government isexamining the consequences ofnew policy in consultationwith all stakeholders. “This isalso a matter we will be look-ing at in the context of CECA(Comprehensive EconomicCooperation Agreement) nego-tiations,” MEA spokespersonGopal Baglay said.

The 457 visa is a businessvisa given by the AustralianGovernment for four years toa worker and their family fromanother country. The protec-tionist measure by theAustralian Government isexpected to have a majorimpact on the Indian migrantworkers since they take awaythe major chunk of the nearly90,000 visas granted to theforeign nationals going toAustralia for work. The major-ity of the visa holders under457 programme are from India,followed by the UnitedKingdom and China.

The 457 programme willbe replaced by two new visas -short term for two years andmedium term for four — withnew restrictions that includehaving higher payment rates,stronger command over

English language and higherskills. It will also prioritise theareas where foreign nationalscan be hired and till whatperiod. In any case the Turnbullgovernment has made it clearthat Australian workers are tobe given `absolute first priori-ty’ for jobs and businesses willbe able to temporarily accessthe critical skills they need togrow if skilled Australiansworkers are not available.Current visa holders will not beaffected by the changes.

The AustralianGovernment said the new twovisa regimes will be under-pinned by more focused occu-pation lists that are responsiveto genuine skill needs.

The 457 visa programmeallows business houses toemploy foreign workers for aperiod up to four years inskilled jobs where there is ashortage of Australian workers.“We are an immigration nation,but the fact remains Australianworkers must have priority forAustralian jobs, so we are abol-ishing the 457 visa, the visa thatbrings temporary foreign work-ers into our country,” saidPrime Minister MalcolmTurnbull.

Turnbull’s sharp measurescome close to US PresidentDonald Trump’s announce-ment on curtailing the H1B

visas. Trump will sign an exec-utive order on Tuesday torevamp a temporary visa pro-gramme as he pushes for `BuyAmerica Hire America’.

In New Delhi, while justi-fying the calibration AustralianHigh Commissioner to India,Harinder Sidhu, said the entryof skilled workers is vital toAustralia’s economic growthand Indian nationals in the ITsector still have visa options.“India provides the highestnumber of temporary skilledworkers to Australia of anycountry: eight out of the top 10occupations for Indian 457visa holders (as at December2016) were IT professionals.The occupation list for thefour year visa includes IT pro-fessionals, so there continues tobe visa options for skilledIndian nationals,” Sidhu said.

According to the Australiangovernment more than 110,000foreign workers entered thecountry in 2013 under the thenLabour government. “Somewere allowed to work in the fastfood sector at the expense ofyoung Australians who werelooking for work. That will nothappen under this government.We are making it easier forAustralians to find work and wehave restored order to our bor-ders so we can ensure foreignworkers have an opportunity toarrive through the appropriatechannels,” Turnbull said. TheAustralian government has beenslowly cutting down the visasand during the year 2015-16, itwas brought down to 96,084from 126, 348 given in 2012-13.

Meanwhile, the Russiangovernment has relaxed visanorms for Indian tourists andbusinessmen travelling to itsFar East region.

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The country’s potato pro-duction is estimated to be

around 47 million tonnes thisyear, just below the all-timehigh witnessed in 2014. Theoutput stood at 43.4 milliontonnes in 2015-16 crop year(July-June), while the lastrecord was 48 million tonnesachieved in 2014-15. India is thesecond largest producer (afterChina) of potatoes in the world.

National HorticultureBoard (NHB) managing direc-tor AK Singh said that the over-all output will be close torecord levels. “Potato outputwould be around 47 milliontonnes this year,” Singh said.“Initially, NHB had projected43.88 million tonnes output forthis year. But this will berevised after assessing thearrival,” Singh added.

Singh further said thattotal area under potato wasmore or less at last year’s level.But, good weather conditionscoupled with recent unseason-al rains just before the harvestgave boost to the crop prospectand improved yields, he said.

Gujarat’s Banaskantha hastaken number one rank in thecountry. Union agricultureministry’s ‘District-wiseEstimation of Production andArea of Fruits, Vegetables andCrops in India’ has revealedthat Banaskantha has produced17.10 lakh MT of potatoes,which is 9% of the total pro-duction in the country.

Banaskantha is followedby Agra which has produced15.84 lakh MT of potatoes.According to the data, the areaof sowing was the highest in

Muzaffarpur in Bihar, whileBanaskantha was ranked thirdin the country on this countwith a sowing area of 52,800hectares. In Muzaffarpur, sow-ing took up 85,500 hectares.However, when it comes toproduction, Banaskantha wasleading the chart.

The crop condition inUttar Pradesh, West Bengaland Bihar — the top threepotato producing states — is invery good condition. As perthe state data, the output inUttar Pradesh — the country’s

top potato producing State —is projected to be higher at 15million tonnes this year asagainst 13.8 million tonnes lastyear, he added.

Given the scale of potatoproduction in UP the Centrehas started procurement oper-ation to ensure farmers avoiddistressed sale, he said. Theoutput in West Bengal andBihar is also expected to be bet-ter than last year. In 2015-16,the output stood at 8 milliontonnes and 6 million tonnes,respectively, in these two states.

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Not just physically disabled,but even persons suffering

from autism, cerebral palsy, mul-tiple sclerosis, muscular dystro-phy, Parkinson disease, deaf andblind, and leprosy cured, will notbe required to stand when thenational anthem is played in cin-ema halls.

The Court made this excep-tion to its November 19, 2016order on an application movedby the National Platform forRights of the Disabled demand-ing exemption from standing upwhen the national anthem isplayed before screening of anymovie. The Court issued theorder to enforce a spirit of patri-otism among citizens and to fos-ter respect for national symbols.

With a Kerala-based filmproducers association seeking arecall of the order citing judicial

overreach, the Centre came indefence of the Court order andthe petitioner who espoused thecause of the national anthem tobe shown honour. ASG TusharMehta, who represented theCentre and the states of Maha-rashtra and Rajasthan, said, “It isunfortunate to see that a citizenhas to approach a Constitutionalcourt to enforce our Fundam-ental Duty to show respect to thenational anthem. But what ismore unfortunate is that a sec-tion of people are opposing it.”

The Kerala association clar-ified that the attempt to paintone as “anti-national” or lesspatriotic for criticizing a judg-ment of the Court was unfortu-nate as it claimed that the oppo-sition is not to the singing ofnational anthem but to the wayit is sought to be enforced by theCourt when it squarely falls inthe legislative domain.

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At a time when the sabotageangle in the latest Rajya Rani

Express accident is also beinglooked into, an SMS received byauthorities about more trains tobe targeted in future has rungthe alarm bells for the Railwaysand the security establishment.

The SMS sent to a railwayofficial of Shahjahanpur stationnear Lucknow division threat-ened that the Rajya RaniExpress derailment will be fol-lowed by more major accidentsby blowing up of tracks andeven trains. The authoritiesshared the details with theUttar Pradesh Police and thesource of the SMS is beingascertained. Sources said theSMS does not bear a mobilenumber and has been sentthrough computer directly.

Early this year, the BiharPolice had arrested three sus-pected ISI agents in connectionwith the November 20, 2016,Indore-Patna Express mishap

that claimed 150 lives besidesother train accidents.

In case of Rajya RaniExpress, preliminary report hassuggested that a three-feet por-tion of the track was missing.“Sabotage cannot be ruled out,”said Rampur SP KK Chaudhri.

The arrests by the BiharPolice had provided some “pos-itive lead” about the Indore-Patna Express derailment inKanpur during questioning ofthe accused. Central agencieslike NIA and RAW besidesRailway Police and the UP andBihar ATS had interrogated theaccused and extracted detailsfrom the accused Moti Paswan,

Uma Shankar Patel and MukeshYadav to ascertain ISI role intriggering train mishaps in India.

They had revealed thatthey were paid �� lakh by aNepalese Brajesh Giri, whoallegedly had connections withDubai-based Shamsul Hodawho had links with the ISI. Themoney was paid to them toplant a bomb on the railwaytracks at Ghorasan in EastChamparan district, borderingNepal, on October 1 last year.Ever since then, efforts are onto arrest two others identifiedas Gajendra Sharma andRakesh Yadav, who are “hiding”somewhere in Champaran.

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Union Road and HighwaysMinister Nitin Gadkari on

Tuesday directed the authori-ties to expedite road infra-structure projects and askedthem to fast-track highwayprojects by resolving problemareas like land acquisition andenvironment clearance at theearliest. About expressways,Gadkari said the Mumbai-Vadodara, Bengaluru-Chennaiand Delhi-Amritsar-KatraExpressways are to be sanc-tioned by June 2017.

Further, the ambitious Rs10 lakh-crore Bharatmala roadproject will subsume theNational HighwaysDevelopment Project (NHDP)implemented by the then AtalBihari Vajpayee Government in1998. This may be one of thelast mega projects of the BJPGovernment before it seekspublic mandate in 2019,besides being the second-largest highway project after theNHDP that saw developmentof about 50,000 km of NHs asper global standards.

Gadkari, who reviewed theprojects by National Highways

Authority of India (NHAI),said a record 16,271 km ofNational Highways (NHs) havebeen awarded and 8,231 kmconstructed during the year2016-17. He said an award willbe constituted for the best per-forming Project Director andRegional Officer of the NHAI.Tenders for 33 wayside ameni-ties are also to be floated byJune 2017. Besides, electronictoll collection will be madeavailable on all lanes on all tollplazas by March 31, 2018.

Referring to the problem ofland acquisition as one of thehurdles in implementation ofprojects, Gadkari called forpositive cooperation with theconcerned state governments

to tackle the issue. He alsocalled for expeditious resolu-tion of issues like forest clear-ances, appointment of inde-pendent engineers and changeof scope, among other issues.

The first phase ofBharatmala project will be car-ried out at an estimated invest-ment of Rs 5.35 lakh crore forbuilding 29,000 km of high-ways network that includeseconomic corridor schemes,coastal and other roads. PMOearlier this month asked forPublic Investment Board’s(PIB) clearance to the firstphase of the project.

“After viewing the presen-tation by the Road Transportand Highways Ministry, the

PMO was of the view that anote should be floated forPublic Investment Boardapproval,” said a road transportministry official.

A blueprint of theBharatmala project has alreadybeen finalised and detailed pro-ject reports (DPRs) are in theprocess of formation. “TheBharatmala project has beenenvisaged as an umbrella pro-gramme that will subsumeunfinished parts of the NHDPand also focus on the new ini-tiatives like creation of eco-nomic corridors, development ofborder and international con-nectivity roads, coastal and portconnectivity roads and othercorridors. NHDP is being imple-mented in various phases andincludes Golden Quadrilateralconnecting four metropolisesbesides North-South Corridorconnecting Srinagar toKanyakumari and East-WestCorridor joining Porbandar toSilchar,” said the official.

About 10,000 km of projectsunder NHDP are yet to be com-pleted and most likely will beawarded by the end of the year.

The official said delibera-tions are underway for financ-ing of the projects underBharatmala and the NHAIcould be delegated projectsunder engineering, procure-ment and construction (EPC)mode as the NHAI board hasthe autonomy.

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Political Secretary to AllIndia Congress Committee

(AICC) and Member ofParliament Ahmed Pateljumped into the controversythat erupted following thetweet of singer Sonu Nigam ondisturbing sound of azaan, bysaying that azaan is an essen-tial ingredient for namaz andin today’s world of moderntechnology, loudspeakers aren’t.The senior Congress leaderon Tuesday said this whiletalking to reporters inVadodara. Later on he tweetedthe same.

Earlier Nigam tweeted thathis sleep was being disturbedby the sound of azaan — a callto prayer by mosques.

“God bless everyone. I’mnot a Muslim and I have to bewoken up by the azaan in themorning. When will this forcedreligiousness end in India,” thesinger tweeted on Monday.

The comment from Patelcame as relief for Nigam as theCongress leader backed himsaying that azaan is importantbut not loudspeakers.

It is worth mentioning that anti-noise campaigners in Mumbai argued that noise levels from mosquestouched 97 decibels, whichwas as loud as a drillingmachine.

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Just after the recent by-elec-tions, the country will now

go for marker pens replacingtraditional indelible inks for theensuing elections. As per thedirections of the ElectionCommission of India, theMysore Paints and VarnishLimited (MPVL) the only andexclusive supplier of indelibleink to the ElectionCommission has started man-ufacturing marker pens replac-ing decades old ink which useto be mark of pride on the elec-tion day.

The Mysuru based MPVL,a Karnataka Governmentundertaking has already start-ed manufacturing trendyswanky marker pens replacingsmall ink bottles and brush.The MPVL manufactured

marker pens will be the mainattraction at polling boothsfor marking on fingers of vot-ers as a proof of right of vote inthe next elections.

According to HAVenkatesh, Chairman ofMysuru Paints and Varnishlimited, they have started man-ufacturing marker pens replac-ing traditional indelible ink asper the directions of theElections Commission of India.He said “Following the direc-tions from the ElectionCommission, we decided toreplace the present bottle andbrush indelible ink with mark-er pens. We had sent the sam-ples to the Election Comm-ission and they are happy withthe product. The new markerpens were also tested at labo-ratory and the outcome resultsare in favour of the MPVL and

were appreciated.”“The new marker pens are

cost effective and easy to trans-port and can be easily stored.The required raw materialsare stocked and once theElection Commission appr-oves, we will start manufac-turing the pens and this will beused in the upcoming elec-tions,” he added.

According to Vekatesh,MPVL had sent these makerpens for local body elections inKerala and was very much suc-cessful. He said, “Earlier, as apilot project, a few markerpens were sent for a local bodyelection in Kerala and a goodresponse was received. Themarkers pens are easy to usethan the bottle and brush inksand each pen can be used toink around 1,000 people.”

According to MPVL

sources, the indelible ink wasfor the last time used in the twobypolls in Karnataka atNanjangud and Gundulpet onApril 9.

The MPVL had supplied1,100 bottles of indelible inkeach measuring 10ml of inkwhich would cost �142 foreach bottle for the bypolls . TheMPVL which supplies markerink for elections in the coun-try has a record of exporting itto 25 countries.

The MPVL was started in1937 by the Maharaja ofMysore in the name of MysoreLac (MyLac) manufacturingpaints and other related prod-ucts and became a public sec-tor company when Indiagained independence in 1947.In the year 1962, ElectionCommission, in collaborationwith Law Ministry, National

Physical Laboratory andNational Research Develo-pment Corporation made anagreement with Mysuru Paintsfor supply of indelible ink forthe Lok Sabha and Assemblyelections and also toMunicipalities, Co-operativeinstitutions and organisationsfor elections.

Mysore Paints and Varnishhad sold indelible ink costing�22.5 crore post-demonetisa-tion between November 15and 24in 2016. The ink man-ufactured by the company wasused by banks to prevent mul-tiple withdrawal of money afterdemonetisation of �500 and�1,000 denomination notesfollowing the direction of theReserve Bank of India whichhad placed an order of about2.96 lakh ink bottles to theMyLAC.

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In an important developmentahead of the State Assembly

polls, BJP’s national presidentAmit Shah appointedBhupender Yadav as GujaratBJP in-charge on Tuesday.

The State in-charge’s postbecame vacant following theelevation of Dinesh Sharma asDeputy Chief Minister of UttarPradesh on March 19 this year.The 48-year-old Yadav isMember of Parliament (RajyaSabha) from Rajasthan sinceApril 2012.

He was appointed asNational Secretary of BJP in2010 by Nitin Gadkari. In2013, Rajnath Singh, whobecame the national presidentof BJP, appointed him as anational secretary of the BJP. InAugust 2014, he was appoint-ed as national general secretaryof BJP by Amit Shah.

He entered politics after hisassociation with Akhil BhartiyaVidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).He actively participated inpolitical issues and joined tradeunion activities in Gurgaon,Haryana in early 1990s.

When he was given thecharge of Rajasthan during theState Assembly election and

Lok Lok Sabha elections, hesuccessfully did it . He was co-in charge of Jharkhand StateAssembly election in 2014. Hehas headed many Parliam-entary Committees and is alsoa member of many select com-mittees. He is an eloquent ora-tor and has good commandover many languages.

Yadav’s first major event inGujarat as in-charge would bethe two-day long State BJPexecutive meeting startingfrom Friday at temple townSomnath in which his prede-cessor Sharma as well as BJPchief Shah will participate.

He will have an uphill taskahead to achieve a target givenby the PM Narendra Modihimself to win 150 out 182assembly seats in the upcom-ing assembly polls.

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The continued incarcerationof 45 villages, who were

arrested from Sonshi, a ruralhamlet located 70 kms fromPanaji, for protesting against airpollution and scarcity of waterdue to iron ore transportationand mining activity respec-tively has snowballed into acontroversy here.

Nearly seven days aftertheir arrest on April 11, whilestaging a protest against truckstransporting ore, the 45 vil-lagers, including 23 women,continue to languish in theCentral Jail at Colvale, unableto shell out the money requiredto furnish a surety in court,while political parties havestarted raising questions aboutthe Government action and the

Panaji Bench of the BombayHigh Court in Panaji onMonday suo motu took cogni-sance of the plight of the still-in-prison villagers and pollu-tion in their village, which isringed by mining leases.

Children of Sonshi arebearing the brunt of the policeaction of April 11, with theirparents behind bars, for beingunable to pay the moneyrequired to furnish the bond.

"There are so many truckson the road that even going toschool is a problem. There isdust everywhere. In our food,water, classrooms, on our facesand clothes. That is why myparents went to protest," says10-year-old Vasudev Gawde,whose parents are among thosearrested.

Sonshi is located in the

Sattari sub-district and is a partof Goa's iron-ore rich belt inthe hinterland's mining belt.The village in inhabited by afew score houses, many ofwhich are located on the roadwhich connects the iron oreextraction points in the miningleases to a river-jetty, where theore is dumped with the use oftrucks.

While mining was bannedfor two years in Goa from2012-14, following theunearthing of a Rs. 35,000crore scam by a JudicialCommission, iron ore extrac-tion has gradually resumedoperation at a moderate scaleof 20 million tons per year,compared to around 55 milliontons a year, when the industrywas at its peak.

But numbers and statistics

mean nothing to villagers ofSonshi, whose homes and lifecontinue to get caked in dust,which has also destroyed theirhorticulture plantations.

"There is no food in thehouse. My children keep onasking about their father. Whatshould I do. First they took ourland, then polluted our place,"says Geeta Nile, a housewife.

Police however claim thatthe arrests of the 45 villagerswere made under sections 143,147, 447, 336, 323, 427, 504,506 (11) r/w 149 of the IndianPenal Code.

"We have to act as per law.The company has a high courtorder which clearly states thatnobody can stop them fromcarrying out mining activitiesin the area. This order wasissued by the court after the

company had complainedagainst the villagers in 2014when they tried to stop thetrucks," Valpoi Police stationin-charge Deepak Pednekartold The Pioneer.

There is hope though forthe arrested villagers of Sonshi,as well as those who continueto live in the dusty hamlet, withthe Panaji Bench of theBombay High Court taking suomotu note of their plight.

The court has directed thepolice as well as pollution con-trol board officials to file aresponse vis-a-vis the arrestsand pollution levels in Sonshi.

A local activist on Tuesdayhas also petitioned to the GoaHuman Rights Commissionseeking access to clean air andwater for the village's resi-dents.

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The Central Government ismooting to change the cri-

teria for considering titled landfor availing loans in States likeNagaland and Meghalaya.Union Minister for UrbanDevelopment, Housing, UrbanPoverty Alleviation, Ministry ofInformation and Broadcasting,M Venkaiah Naidu said this onTuesday while addressing aPress conference in Guwahati.Naidu was on a two-day visit toAssam to review the imple-mentation of different schemesunder the departments in theNortheastern States.

“Lands in Nagaland andMeghalaya does not belong tothe State but belongs to com-munities. So there is no conceptto titled lands. Unless land istitled against an individual, itis difficult to get loans from thebanks as the banks have theirown criterian of sanctioningloans,” said the Minister whileadding that he would take upthe matter with the FinanceMinistry so that the problemcould be eased for people inthese two States.

“It is a peculiar problem inNagaland and Meghalaya. I'llgo back to Delhi and take upthe matter with the Finance

Ministry. If the communitycan give a certificate identify-ing the beneficiary, that shouldsuffice for availing the loans,"he said.

The Union Minister fur-ther informed that the BJP ledNDA government is also plan-ning to set up a film instituteArunachal Pradesh, which willstart from a temporary campuswith an introduction of 10week short term course fromMay 15 this year.

He said that the institute tobe set up at Itanagar will main-ly focus on introducing NorthEast Students to the medium ofcinema and film making as acareer and enrich their skills in

the domain. The Minister fur-ther said that the CentralGovernment has proposed �200 crore for the institute,which is being setup under theaegis of Satyajit Ray Film andTelevision Institute.

“The Government has alsodecided to launch a dedicatedDoordarshan channel —ArunPrabha from ArunachalPradesh by August this yearwith the objective to seam-less—ly integrate NE andshowcase its rich culture to therest of the country. The focus will be on youth with contemporary entertain-ment and informative shows,”he said.

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When the Mahant ofGorakshapeeth in

Gorakhpur was made Mahantof Uttar Pradesh, eyebrowswere raised. It was speculatedwhether Yogi Aditya Nathwould be able to take thispolitically sensitive State tothe path of development asChief Minister. A month downthe line, Yogi has been able tosend the message loud andclear that he means business.

The biggest test for thisGovernment was controllinglaw and order as well asimproving work culture in thegovernment offices. Thirty daysis too small a time to judge anyGovernment on these twoparameters. But the indicatorsavailable clearly indicate thatthe Yogi Government has beenable to instill belief amongmasses that this Governmenthas come with new ideas.

UP has never witnessedwhat Yogi has done. He tookcharge on March 19 but carriedout his first bureaucraticreshuffle in the third weekand another reshuffle when he

completed 30 days in office. It has been routine that

with change of Government,the first decision any ChiefMinister takes is carrying outbureaucratic reshuffle.

The Yogi Government isworking with just one PrincipalSecretary and three SpecialSecretaries in its secretariatwhile the previous Governme-nts had a team of 10-12 bureau-crats.

Interestingly, Chief Secre-tary Rahul Bhatnagar and DGPJaveed Ahmad who wereappointed by the previousAkhilesh Yadav Governmenthave not been changed evenafter a month. During electionsthe BJP had called DGP a‘Samajwadi pawn’ and hadpetitioned Election Comm-ission to change him.

Deputy CM Dr DineshSharma told The Pioneer thatthe Yogi Government meansbusiness. The bureaucracy isthe tool which delivers deci-sions taken by political masters.“We want these officers todeliver and they are working asper the desire of CM. That’swhy they have not been trans-ferred,” he said.

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With the temperature risingtwo to five degrees above

normal at many places includ-ing Hyderabad, Telangana wasexperiencing an early heatwave, unprecedented for themonth of April.

With maximum tempera-ture touching a high of 43degrees Celsius in Hyderabadon Monday, it was very close tobreaking almost four and a halfdecade long record. The cityhad recorded the highest tem-perature of 43.3 degrees onApril 30, 1973. The same situ-ation continued on Tuesdaywhen most parts of the citywore a deserted look, bazarsand roads were emptied ofpeople as the citizens preferredto remain stay indoors to avoidthe hot winds.

Situation in interior partsof Telangana was till worse asthe temperature reached a highof 44.5 degrees in Mehbub-nagar and 44 degrees Celsius at

many places includingAdilabad.

Heat wave which normal-ly hits the State in month ofMay at the peak of the summerhas already started claiminglives in the State.

According to the DisasterManagement Department offi-cials seven people have died inthe State due to sunstroke sofar. The deaths were reportedfrom Karimnagar, Khammam,Komuram Bheem andWarangal districts.

The Meteorological Depar-tment office in Hyder-abad and Cyclone WarningCenter at Visakhapatnam haswarned that the heat waveconditions will continue atleast for the next 48 hours.“The maximum temperaturesare likely to be above normal by2 to 4 degrees Celsius. Themercury is expectd to be above42 degrees at isolated places inNorth Telangana on Tuesdayand Wednesday,” a bulletinissued by the IMD said.

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With an aim to give cleanand transparent admin-

istration, Chief Minister AdityaNath Yogi has issued guidelinesto his Ministerial colleaguesasking them to follow them inletter and spirit.

According to sources,prominent guidelines issuedwere that a State Ministershould not accept gift worthover �5,000 from anyone and

if he /she does accept, then itwill have to be deposited to theGovernment exchequer.

The guidelines further readthat a Minister could not accepta bag or any other such thing.They have been asked to stayaway from lavish parties besidesthey cannot purchaseGovernment properties. UPMinisters should keep them-selves away from the relatives,who are working as private con-tractors, and they have been

advised not to take loan that canaffect the Government’s image.Besides, Ministers have beenasked to stay in governmentguest houses during their offi-cial visits and tour while everyyear by March 31, they will haveto submit their assets detail, theguidelines said.

Meanwhile, the CM hasdirected Child WelfareDepartment to provide packednutrition food to childrenacross the State.

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Dinner diplomacy by seniorCongress leader Shanker-

sinh Vaghela popularly knownas ‘Bapu’ among his supportersand acquaintance, has turnedup political heat in the pollbound Gujarat.

The 76-year-old stalwartthrew a gala party at his pala-tial Bungalow ‘Vasant Vagado’situated at Vasania village onthe outskirts of the State capi-tal Gandhinagar on Mondaynight turned up as show ofstrength. Apart from GujaratCongress in-charge GurudasKamat, 36 out of 57 CongressMLAs attended the party.

Majority of the MLAs who

attended the dinner reported-ly told Kamat to declareVaghela as Congress party’sChief Ministerial candidate forthe upcoming Assembly elec-tions. Vaghela who is Leader ofOpposition (LoP) in theGujarat Assembly has given aproposal to make one of thePatidar MLAs as LoP if hewould be made CM candidate.

“If Congress wants to winthe Gujarat polls, the party hasno option, but to declare himas CM candidate. He is the onewho can give real fight toNarendra Modi in politicalarena, provided the party highcommand gives him freehand,”said an MLA while talking toThe Pioneer.

According to him GujaratPradesh Congress Committee(GPCC) was suffering from toomany factions. In such situationit would be difficult to regainpower in the State, he said,adding that the party has greatchance to win the election inthe backdrop of pro-quota agi-tation of Patel community,unemployment issue raised byOBC leaders and protests ofbackward community leaderspost Dalit flogging incident inUna.

Over the past few monthsVaghela’s supporters are lob-bying for him in campaignmode by saying ‘Bapu AaveChhe’ (Bapu is coming) linkingGujarat Congress’s slogan

Congress Aave Chhe (Congressis coming) in context to the Assembly elections.However Bapu’s rival groupssaid that high command wasnot happy with Vaghela’s armtwisting tactics to project him-self as the top Congress leaderof Gujarat.

Reacting on someCongress MLAs demand,GPCC president BharatsinhSolanki in his official statementsaid that they had given opin-ion, which in a democraticparty like Congress was theirright. Final decision on theissue would be taken by theparty high command, saidSolanki.

Vaghela who work shoul-

der to shoulder with NarendraModi as Rashtriya Swaya-msevak Sangh (RSS), Jan Sanghand BJP member came to limelight in national politics in September 1995 followingKhajuraho episode when he rebelled against BJP leader-ship with the support of 47MLAs and went to Khajurahoin Madhya Pradesh along with them and toppled then Keshubhai PatelGovernment. Later on thispowerful political leader wenton to become Chief Minister ofGujarat in October 1996 by forming his own politicaloutfit Rashtriya Janata Party(RJP) with Congress party'ssupport.

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Following protests by stu-dents across the Valley on

Monday that led to clashes inseveral areas causing injuries toaround 70 students, the author-ities extended closure of col-leges and universities for anoth-er day. Many areas in southKashmir observed shutdownagainst the security forcesaction against students even asthe youth wing of OppositionNational Conference staged ananti-Government protest incapital Srinagar to denouncethe recent civilian killings andalleged use of force against stu-

dents.Sources said scores of

female hostel boarders of theKashmir University staged aprotest demonstration insidethe campus against the treat-ment meted out to studentsacross the Valley duringprotests. The student unrestbegan in Kashmir last weekendwhen security personnelallegedly thrashed dozens ofstudents outside the campus ofa degree college in southKashmir's Pulwama. The inci-dent led to massive protestsacross the Valley when educa-tional institutions re-opened onMonday.

Universities, colleges andhigher secondary schools onTuesday remained closed fol-lowing the orders of the divi-sional administration in view ofthe widespread studentprotests. The step was taken asa precautionary measure toprevent further protests. Thedivisional administration

extended the closure order toWednesday.

Scores of students had beeninjured in Pulwama incidentlast Saturday. Monday's clash-es also left around 70 studentsincluding girls wounded, atleast seven of them receivingcritical injuries. Five policepersonnel were also injured.

Meanwhile, hundreds ofstudents staged a protest byblocking the Srinagar-JammuNational Highway at Banihaltown against alleged thrashingof students by paramilitaryCRPF troopers in Chareel vil-lage.

Mobile internet serviceincluding 3G and 4G acrossKashmir remained snappedsince Monday afternoon ascolleges and universities erupt-ed in the Valley over the thrash-ing of students of PulwamaDegree College by the securi-ty forces last week. However,the broadband Internet and 2Gservices have been spared.

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In a daring operation, theIndian Navy rescued four

crew members of a tugboatSonika, who were stranded atsea off Mumbai coast onMonday night, by using aSeaking 42C helicopter.'

Acting on a distress callreceived at its Mumbai MainPolice Control Room from thetugboat Sonika, a police launchfrom Mahim reached the siteby 9.15 pm on Monday, butcould not approach tug boatSonika due to rocks and shal-low waters.

The tugboat, with fourmen onboard, had run agroundon rocks in the waters off RajBhavan during low tide andhad begun to flood. The site isin vicinity of the general areawhere the Shivaji statue isplanned to be built.

Before long, the IndianNavy depoloyed police launchfrom Mahim reached the site at9:15 pm but could notapproach tug boat Sonika dueto rocks and shallow waters.

The Indian Navy was appro-ached for assistance and theJoint Operations Center wasalso contacted by the police.

Later on at 11:20 pm, theNavy launched a naval Seaking42C helicopter, with rescueteam onboard, from Naval AirStation, INS Shikra. The heli-

copter was able to rescue allfour stranded men andreturned to base by 11.45 pm.

Upon arrival, the rescuedmen were provided medicalcheck up by doctor of INSShikra. The crew is safe and noinjury was reported, said offi-cial sources.

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Two sensational incidentsrocked Mainpuri when a

40-year-old man was foundmurdered with his 19-year-old paramour and a 45-year-old woman was thrashed andshot dead outside a police out-post.

In the first incident,Ramsaran of Chandpura inKarhal area and Sheela of thesame area were said to be hav-ing an affair. On Tuesdaymorning, the couple was foundlying in a pool of blood insideRamsaran's dairy. The couplewas brutally hacked withsharp-edged weapons. Thelocal police said that circum-stantial evidences suggestedthat they might have beenkilled over some dispute. They,however, did not rule out thepossibility of 'honour killing'.The bodies were sent for autop-sy and investigations were on.

In the second incident,Aneesa Begum had gone toAgra Gate police outpost tocomplain about threat to herlife from Wasim over a landdispute. While she was com-plaining to the cops presentthere, Wasim reached the out-post along with his mother andsister. They later thrashedAneesa Begum and when sheran to save herself, Waseemfired four shots from a revolver,one of which hit her in theneck.

The woman was rushed tothe district hospital by thelocals where she was declared

dead on arrival. The localslater overpowered Wasim andhanded him over to the police,who had remained mute spec-tators till then. SP Sunil KumarSaxena said that all the threeculprits have been arrestedand investigations were on toascertain the details.

Meanwhile, one morewoman was hacked to death bya youth in Sonebhadra overhaving several affairs.

Subash Maurya (28) ofVandawa Bazar in Patti area ofPratapgarh had gone to meethis paramour Prema Devi atKurhal locality of Chopan onTuesday morning. MunnanTewari of Kurhal who also hada liaison with Prema, saw thecouple together. He rushedback home, took an axe andlater brutally hacked Prema todeath. Subhash also sufferedinjuries while trying to save thewoman. A case was registeredagainst Tewari.

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Within a week, the AdityaNath Yogi Government

effected the second majorreshuffle in bureaucracy byshifting 41 IAS officers onTuesday. In the first reshuffleon April 12, the Governmenthad shifted 20 IAS officers.

On Tuesday, the StateGovernment removed vice-chairman of Lucknow Deve-lopment Authority SatyendraSingh Yadav for alleged irreg-ularities in construction of JPInternational Cultural Centreand Janeshwar Mishra Park andkept him in the waiting. EstateOfficer Brajraj Singh Yadavhas also been shifted and post-ed as Special Secretary, RuralDevelopment. Special Secre-tary, Irrigation, Yogesh KumarShukla will take over as EstateOfficer.

The Government alsochanged eight DivisionalCommissioners and sevenDistrict Magistrates includingDM of Gorakhpur, the nativeplace of the Chief Minister.

Resident Commissioner,Delhi, Dr Prbhat Kumar wasposted as Divisional Comm-issioner of Meerut and wasgiven additional charge ofChairman of Greater NOIDAand Yamuna ExpresswayIndustrial DevelopmentAuthority.

The Government alsoappointed new VCs ofGhaziabad and Varanasi devel-opment authorities. DM ofMirzapur Kanchan Verma wasposted as VC of GhaziabadDevelopment Authority whileChief Development Officer ofVaranasi, Pulkit Khare will bethe new VC of VaranasiDevelopment Authority.

As per the list of officersreleased, DM of Basti PrabhuNarain Singh has been postedas VC of LDA. Rajiv Ratuela,who was awaiting posting willbe the new DM of Gorkhpurreplacing Sandhya Tiwari, whocomes to Lucknow as SpecialSecretary in Secondary Educ-ation while Director (Adminis-tration) Health departmentArvind Kumar Singh has beenmade the new DM of Basti.

Divisional Commissionerof Allahabad, Rajan Shuklahas been posted as PrincipalSecretary of Civil Defence andPolitical Pension whileSecretary, Rural DevelopmentAshish Kumar Goel has beenposted as Divisional Comm-issioner of Allahabad. Divis-ional Commissioner of Agra,Chandrakant has been postedas Secretary, Human RightsCommission in Lucknow whileCommissioner of Jhansi, KRam Mohan Rao goes to Agraas Commissioner. Secretary,Panchayatiraj Amit Gupta will

be the new Commissioner ofJhansi division.

Commissioner of Chitr-akoot Murli Manohar Lalcomes to Lucknow as Secretaryof Medical Health and FamilyWelfare while Mission Director,National Health Mission andSecretary Health and FamilyWelfare Alok Kumar- III goesas Divisional Commissioner ofChitrakoot.

Additional Chief Secretaryand Head of Power departmentSanjay Agarwal has beenrelieved from the additionalcharge of Chairman of GreaterNoida and Yamuna ExpresswayDevelopment authorities.

Commissioner of Devi-patan division Sudhir KumarDixit has been posted asSecretary, Medical Educationwhile Principal Secretary,Science and Technology Him-anshu Kumar has been maadeCommissioner of Devipatandivision.

Commissioner of Bareillydivision Pramanshu has beenposted as Secretary, PanchayatiRaj while Member (judicial),Board of Revenue PK Jaganm-ohan will replacee Pramanshu.

Additional Chief ElectoralOfficer Anil Garg will be thenew Commissioner of Luckn-ow division. Additional ChiefSecretary, Health, Sports andYouth Welfare department,Anita Bhatnagar Jain has been

relieved from the charge ofSports and Youth welfare.Besides Principal Secretary ofIrrigation and Water ResourcesSuresh Chandra has beenrelieved from the additionalcharge of Rural EngineeringServices department.

Commissioner of Kanpurdivision and MD UP SpinningMills Company Ltd, Moham-mad Iftkaruddin has beenshifted to Lucknow asAdditional Chief Secretary ofSports, Youth Welfare andRural Engineering Services.

Labour Commissioner andMD UP Finance DevelopmentCorporation, Kanpur, PKMahanti has been made Com-missioner of Kanpur. Secretaryand Additional Commissionerof UP Housing and Devel-opment Board Rudra PrtapSingh has been removed andkept in waiting. Commissionerand Secretary, Board ofRevenue Dheeraj Sahu hasbeen posted as HousingCommissioner. Leena Johari,awaiting posting will take overas Commissioner and Secret-ary, Board of Revenue.

DM of Sant Kabir Nagar,Ramakant Pandey has beenposted as Special Secretary ofUrban Development. Contro-ller of Weights and MeasuresMarkandey Shahi goes to SantKabir Nagar as DM replacingRamakant pandey.

DM of Kanpur Dehat,Kumar Ravikant Singh hasbeen posted as AdditionalCommissioner of RuralDevelopment department,Lucknow while Special Secre-tary in Agriculture ProductionCommissioner branch RakeshKumar Singh goes in place ofRavikant Singh.

DM of Jalaun, SandeepKaur has been posted in placeof Rakesh Kumar Singh.Special secretary Fina-nce, Narendra Shanker Pandeyhas been posted as DM ofJalaun.

VC of Varanasi Develo-pment Authority PrakashChandra Srivastava has beenposted as Special Secretary ofIrrigation and Water Resources.

Member (judicial), Boardof Revenue and Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Kashi Vishwanathtemple (Varanasi) ShyamNarain Tripathi has beenrelieved from the Board ofRevenue.

DM of ShahjahanpurKaran Singh Chauhan has been posted as SpecialSecretary in Revenue depart-ment and has been replaced bySpecial Secretary, RuralDevelopment and Director,Social Audit, Narendra KumarSingh. Vimal Kumar Dubey,who was awaiting posting, hasbeen posted as DM ofMirzapur.

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An Army jawan was mar-tyred by Pakistani sniper

along the Line of Control inPoonch district late Tuesdayevening. This incident wasreported by the local armyunit around 5.45 p.m

According to Defencesources, “Sepoy Ravinder Singh(Belt No 251239H) wasdeployed at Damu post whenhe was martyred by sniper firefrom across the Line ofControl.”

The incident was reporteda day after Pak Army hadshelled forward civilian areas inNowshera sector of Rajouri.

Defence PRO in JammuLt-Col Munish Mehta was notavailable to confirm the inci-dent.

According to Defencesources, the sniper fire camefrom Jhanda post of PakistanArmy. Pak Army’s 650Mujahid is posted on the otherside of the Line of Control.

Meanwhile, another Indiansoldier was killed in accidentalfiring in Mendhar area ofPoonch late Monday night.The deceased soldier was hit onhis right shoulder while he wasmoving from his bunker to thecommunication trench of hisforward Pimple post inMendhar sector.

The jawans were directedfor ‘stand to’ by the post com-mander Sub Balam Singh. Hewas alerted by the sentry afterhe had noticed some suspiciousmovement near his postaround 9.50 pm.

The deceased jawan wasidentified as Sepoy ManmohanBudhani.

The bullet injury had pen-etrated his lungs and vitalorgans and was declared deadby the Regimental MedicalOfficer deployed at Balnoibase. FIR has been registeredwith the Mendhar police tocarry out detailed investigationinto the case, official sources said.

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The Trinamool Congress hastaken strong exception to

what party leaders called a‘saffron bid’ to deter BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee from entering theJagannath Temple in Puri. Thiseven as a member of the Purishrine trustee board allegedlyrequested the management tostop Banerjee from entering theTemple for espousing the causeof beef-eaters. Somnath Khutiathe person concerned subse-quently told the media that hehad ‘come to know throughWhatsApp and other sourcesthat Mamata Banerjee sup-ports beef-eating and hence sheshould be barred from enteringthe shrine.”

The Chief Minister who on

Tuesday evening left forBhubaneshwar and Puri is like-ly to meet jailed party MPSudip Bandopadhyay who iscurrently recuperating in ahospital on account of illnessbefore travelling to Jagannathtemple in Puri for offeringprayers.

“Though this is a privatevisit, the BJP is trying topoliticise it by raising irrele-vant and false issues,” saidState Minister and TrinamoolCongress general secretaryPartho Chatterjee adding hisparty had strong exception ofthis.

However, BJP’s Bengal unitpresident Dilip Ghosh said“Even former Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi had to face asimilar situation for a contro-versial stance taken by her”

adding “Mamata Banerjee had gone on record telling in a televised interview how she backed cow slaughter and how those who ate beefshould not be stopped fromdoing so.”

Banerjee had told a Banglatelevision channel that she didnot want to slap prohibitionlaws on food.

“I do not want to politiciseissues like food habits on thebasis of religion. There arepeople who eat mutton, otherseat chicken and there are alsomany of my SC/ST andChristian brothers who prefereating beef. So I do not want tocome in between the food andits consumer just in the nameof religion.”

Khutia had been arrestedsources said.

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In the first week of April,Ram Navami was celebrat-ed with great fervour acrossBengal, as it has been foryears. But what was sur-

prising and striking was themanner in which the habituallyanti-Hindu Trinamool Congressand its leader Mamata Banerjee,one of the foremost among thediminishing tribes of adepts atappeasement politics, beganchanting the name of Ram andclaiming that they too were Ramworshippers and had the right ofworshipping and propitiatinghim. But then this is the quintes-sential Mamata Banerjee, oppor-tunistic, chameleon like andready to change track wheneverthe occasion demands it.

However, with an increasing-ly mature electorate in the State,people are beginning to seethrough Banerjee’s counterfeitfaith and political postures.There is a growing realisationthat she has, since she came topower in 2011, riddenroughshod over the sentimentsof the Hindus, has time andagain taken them for granted andhas allowed a continuous cycle ofparty abetted violence to beunleashed against Hindus, espe-cially those who hold and workfor opposing political formations— in this case, the BJP.

What shook the TrinamoolCongress establishment was theStatewide fervour demonstratedin worshipping Ram. Hindus ofBengal came out in large numbersdefying threats and curbs to cel-ebrate the occasion with greatfanfare and colour. Their demo-cratic right allows them to do thatand Mamata Banerjee’s WestBengal is not beyond the pale ofthe Constitution of India and itsdemocratic framework. What isof particular concern for Banerjeeand her mullah-appeasing polit-ical hangers-on is the reality of therise of a Hindu consciousness inthe State. The partition-afflictedBengali Hindu has habituallybeen a forgiving species and hashad to undergo a series of misfor-tunes and challenges startingfrom the day Jawaharlal Nehruinked the Delhi Pact and contin-uing with his refusal to carry outa total exchange of population aswas done in the case of theWestern frontier.

But this Ram Navami was asure sign that West Bengal wasvery gradually trying to emergeout of the cycle of degenerationthat it has been consigned to.The response to the call for cel-ebrating the occasion was a re-

assertion of the Hindus’ right toexist on the land that was histor-ically saved for them. That doesnot mean the right of existenceor of denial of the other; thisassertion and new found voiceactually expresses an existentialanguish, built up and suppressedfor over six decades and repeat-edly denied space, voice. It is thespurt of that nationalism whichhad, ever since the early fifties,begun to become a bad word inthe State’s political lexicon andwas eventually banished fromthe mid-1970s onwards, when totalk of the historic raison d'êtreof West Bengal, to discuss thehistory of its formation and to re-examine its journey, was taboo.

Three decades of communistrule suppressed the memories ofthat phase and six years ofTrinamool Congress rule hastried to physically and ideation-ally restructure and redraw thatspace and memory. But thisApril, that sly and often crassrestructuring has begun to see aresponse and a rejoinder.

The Gole Market coterie andLyutens’s observers struggle todecipher or discern such a phe-

nomenon. Far removed from therealities of Bengal, with little orno connection at the grassrootsand with sources that are limit-ed to the confines ofChowringhee, Park Street or theelite clubs of Calcutta, these peo-ple see an engineered communalphenomenon artificially createdand planned by interested groups,they are incapable of absorbingthe reality of a spontaneousresponse and re-assertion.

The Ram Navami episode hasrattled Banerjee’s lumpens andher administration. Her Ministersand she herself has questioned theshow of arms during the festivi-ties. The symbolic display ofarms during this celebrationshave always happened and buthas caught the attention ofMamata’s brigade this year sim-ply because of the magnitude ofthe response to the call for cele-brating the day. It was also sym-bolic of the fact that in Bengal,Hindus have been left to fend forthemselves under Banerjee’s ruleand, therefore, have to perforce beconcerned with their own defenceand security.

In the midst of this ongoing

assessment and counter-assess-ments came the results of the by-poll to the Kanthi Dakshin seg-ment, in which the BJP saw asharp increase of 22 per cent inits vote share. It relegated thecommunists and the Congress tothe third and fourth positionsrespectively. BJP president AmitShah especially thanked thepeople of Bengal for making thiswise choice.

The issue is not so muchthat the Trinamool Congresswon the seat; it will perhaps keepwinning for a while more. Thelarger issue is that of the BJPbeginning to emerge as a cred-ible alternative in the state andof the TMC's politics of divisionand of appeasement taking abeating. Mamata put up a braveface and accused the BJP of col-luding with the communists - itis one more among the manybizarre theories that she period-ically spins for the consumptionof her vacuous cadres.

The Congress and the com-munist parties in the State arefast turning into signboardswhile the TMC’s brazen abet-ment of the chit-fund mafiahas come back to haunt most ofits entire top leadership. On theone hand, the TMC has indulgedin vote-bank politics, hasallowed some of the mostvicious elements like the ImamBarkati to thrive, has attemptedto erase Bengaliness from thecultural mind and educationmap of the State. On the other,it has openly sided with andshielded rioters and the power-ful chit-fund mafia, from bothsections it has derived politicalresource and heft. Those mostaffected by these are the poorand the Hindus of Bengal —mostly again the poor and the marginalised.

What Mamata Banerjeeunder-calculated and failed togauge, however, is this tena-cious re-assertion, this unwill-ingness to be taken for granted,this refusal to be brow-beaten, tobe suppressed and to be hound-ed. While she is busy in trying toassiduously erase West Bengal’sexistence, what Mamata Banerjeehas just begun to perhaps realiseis that the State’s nationalistcore, a core that was long sup-pressed and undermined, hasbegun to re-assert itself. It is insuch a re-assertion that liesBengal’s salvation and MamataBanerjee’s political undoing.

(The writer is director, DrSyama Prasad Mookerjee ResearchFoundation)(

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Sir — Union Minister VenkaiahNaidu’s observation, that religion-based quota system is unconstitu-tional as it imperils the genuineinterest of the country, is convinc-ing. And, his claim that quota is vitalto the economically backward com-munities, irrespective of their reli-gion, is rational.

The basic reason for quota ispoverty, and poverty is not confinedto any particular religion/caste forobvious reasons. Hence, a blanketpolicy, allowing quota benefits to theentire community sans segregatingthe economically well, is unethical.Concisely, the regime should frameunbiased reservation policies sanscaste/religious discrimination, sole-ly considering the economic statusof the candidates.

TKM KumbalamchuvattilMuvattupuzha

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Crisis in Korean peninsula” (April17). Ever since the Korean penin-sula was bifurcated into two halves,North Korea and South Korea, theformer has been on the brink ofstarvation, self-destruction and iso-lated in the comity of nations.

Of late, North Korea has beenin news for its misdemeanours. InJanuary this year, Kim Jong-nam,the half brother of the present dic-tator, was killed at the KualaLumpur International Airport with-out any inquiry having been initi-ated by north Korea. Last year, thetyrant autocrat had his Army staffhead gunned down for having asiesta in public and now, he hasdared the world’s most powerfulcountry, the US, not to have anyantagonism against it.

The editorial has rightly saidthat north Korea is not challeng-ing the US on its own strength,China is covertly with it. Butparadoxically, the hermit king-dom should keep in mind that inthe 1965 war against India,Pakistan too had surmised thatChina, being belligerent againstNew Delhi following its victoryover India in the 1962 war, wouldside with it and India would bemade to capitulate.

But nothing of this sort everhappened and Pakistan had to bitethe dust as ever before.

China should play a peaceharbinger’s role and tell NorthKorea that war brings nothingbut annihilation, while peacegives everything that a humanbeing needs.

Sagar Singh Delhi

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Sir — The image of a young manbeing tied to the bonnet of an Armyjeep as a human shield in Kashmirhas made for very disturbing view-ing. No country, governed by therule of law, can countenance sucha blatant violation of human rights.

The announcement by theArmy that “paththar bazon ka yehhaal hoga” (this will be the fate ofthe stone-pelters) has causedimmense consternation among allright-thinking people. It turned outthat the victim was innocent of anycrime or wrongdoing. The videocapturing the unacceptable behav-iour of the Army men goes to lendlegitimacy to the perception that theArmy is an occupation force and thebattle in the valley is between theArmy and the people.

The rights and wrongs of theconflict in Jammu & Kashmir or thedifficult circumstances in which theArmy works cannot be cited in jus-tification of the use of the humanshield. The Army should stick to itsbrief; it cannot be given the freedomto act in manner to bring a diminu-tion of moral authority.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

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Will the Opposition beable to unite to take onthe BJP in the 2019

poll? This is a million dollar ques-tion, though the Oppositionwants to make the election as oneof Prime Minister NarendraModi versus the rest.

The Opposition has realisedthe need to come together to fightthe BJP, which has expanded inthe west and the east. and onlyin the south it has not been thatsuccessful so far. In the north, ithas already saturated. Moreover,the Opposition is getting jitteryafter the stellar performance ofthe BJP in the recent five StateAssembly elections, where theparty won two and managed toform the Government in twoother States despite not being thenumber one party.

Today the BJP is rulingalone or in coalition in 15States. So, ever since the resultswent the BJP way, there has beena call for opposition unity. But

it is not easy, as except theCongress and the Left, otherparties are confined to regionsand headed by single individu-als whose influence may not gobeyond their State.

The first move came fromBihar Chief Minister NitishKumar recently, when he sug-gested forming a united opposi-tion front, while speaking at abook release function in Delhi.He asked Congress vice presidentRahul Gandhi, who was sittingin the audience, to take a lead inthis regard. West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee alsoattempted opposition unity dur-ing Modi’s demonetisation drivein December.

The unity move was takenforward during the just conclud-ed Budget session and RahulGandhi had discussions with theLeft leaders D Raja and SitaramYechury. Congress presidentSonia Gandhi who had comeback after her medical check-up,

also held a meeting within theparty about how to check thegrowth of the BJP.

The first evidence came onthe efficacy of electronic votingmachines which many opposi-tion leaders including the BSP’sMayawati, Aam Aadmi party’sArvind Kejriwal and others hadcomplained. Last week, 13 oppo-sition parties went to PresidentPranab Mukherjee to complainabout the EVMs and they alsomet the Election Commissioninforming it of their mistrust.

What must be music to theears of the opposition leaders isthe latest addition to the unitymove chorus when BSP supremoMayawati said in Lucknow thisweek, “The BSP now has noreservations in taking the help ofanti-BJP parties in its fight againstEVM-tampering and the BJP, asit is democracy which comesfirst... we have to keep democra-cy alive.” This public statementhas ignited fresh hope on forg-

ing a united anti-BJP front. Infact, the Congress tried to get theSP and the BSP together to forma grand alliance in Uttar Pradeshjust as it did in Bihar, but the tra-ditional rivalry between theSamajwadi party and theBahujan Samaj Party blockedthat effort.

But these are all only initialmoves and there is a long wayto go and much more needs tobe done if it is to be concretised.The first thing is who will headsuch a front? Sonia Gandhi hadproved herself in 2004 by mobil-ising the non-BJP parties whenthe UPA Government wasformed. However, she is notgood health and wants her sonRahul Gandhi to take over theparty. Unfortunately for theCongress, Rahul Gandhi has nocredibility. Moreover, seniorleaders like Sharad Pawar,Mamata Banerjee, NitishKumar, Farooq Abdullah andothers may not be willing to

work under him.Rahul Gandhi reportedly

held a meeting with SharadPawar recently, and discussed themove. Pawar may be a goodchoice, if he agrees and other par-ties agree to his leadership. Theother two names are MamataBanerjee and Nitish Kumar.

While the arithmetic couldwork in favour of the Opposition,the chemistry may be a problem.Except for the Congress and theLeft ( in pockets), the others areall regional parties headed byindividuals with king-size egos.Such a front will be a combina-tion of parties which have nocommon ideology or pro-gramme. Finding commonground will be difficult.

Then there is the strategy. Sofar, BJP-bashing or Modi-bash-ing has not helped theOpposition in elections. On thecontrary, it has resulted in Modibecoming stronger. The otherplank of secular / communal too

seems to have failed with Hindupolarisation taking place infavour of the BJP.

The fourth is to do withcommunication. This is wherethe Opposition is lacking, as theBJP has been able to reach out tothe voter much better than theopposition parties.

The first test will come in theupcoming presidential and vicepresidential elections. Will theOpposition put up candidates foreither post, knowing that the BJPhas the adequate number ofvotes to get its own candidates?

The final hope of a divid-ed opposition is to wait for theBJP to commit mistakes. Itshould keep in mind thatamong all the States whichwent to polls post 2014, only inJharkhand the BJP has a slightedge over the combined vote-share of the opposition.

(The writer is a senior polit-ical commentator and syndicatedcolumnist)

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Recall the adage; the more thethings change, the more theyremain the same.Notwithstanding the high deci-bel frequent avowals of our

netas committed to the idea of an inclu-sive and egalitarian India, they remainobsessed with the urge to eke out the max-imum for themselves. They chant, “allmen are equal”, but they are more equalthan the others. Again, although the cur-rent Government claims to be just andstrong to safeguard the essential values andmores of good governance, much to thechagrin of aam aadmi, it has caved in tounabashed dadagiri of its recalcitrant ally.

Will the Government, at the highestlevels, be ignorant of immense demoral-isation caused, not only to airlines indus-try, particularly the ailing Air India, butacross the country’s bureaucracy, when,there was a countrywide popular upsurgefor serious, deterrent penal action againstthe boorish, remorseless MP shamefullybragging how obnoxiously and unjusti-fiably he humiliated an Air India manag-er? Didn’t the contrived justificationcited by Minister of State for CivilAviation, that the MP at fault tendered anapology for his reprehensible conduct lookludicrous in the face of the culprit and hiscohorts in the party openly maintainingthat the question of an apology by himdidn’t arise?

President Pranab Mukherjee hailedour Parliament as a temple of democra-cy. Do our MPs ever ponder, why thePresident’s allusion led to widespread pub-lic derision? Wasn’t the very basic sanc-tity of the institution allowed to beimpaired and sullied when the entire bandof an NDA Government ally, including acabinet minister from their ranks, men-acingly surrounded the Civil Aviationminister and laid siege within the hallowed

precincts of the Lok Sabha? Imagine the despicable ruckus creat-

ed by an ‘Honourable’ Member ofParliament only because he had to trav-el in the economy class on a short air flightfrom Pune to Delhi. The MP, like othersof the ilk, represents the people in thecountry where over 99 per cent of thegeneral masses do not ever have an oppor-tunity to travel by air in any class. Herewe have a typical ‘public servant’ groan-ing with discomfort of a little less wide aseat on the aircraft, also unable to fullysprawl himself for a snooze during thetwo-hour flight.

Whether it is the overwhelmingurge of a lal batti on the vehicle, or thelicence to jump the queue in general, toeke out a special treatment anywhereeverywhere, the malignant VIP virusgrows unabated. From the time of inde-pendence, the life styles of people in poweror position have changed dramatically.Pre-1947, we had the pomp and circum-stance of the British Raj (excusable in asense as they had an empire to rule anda corresponding message to send downto the ruled) and the grandiose panoplyof the Maharajas and Nawabs (under-standable but not excusable).

The lure of an easy and extravagantlife style with an urge to grab loaves andfishes of office has captivated all sectionsof political leadership — across theVidhayaks and councillors of all denom-inations. As the virus has rampaged, it hassucked in its vortex bureaucrats and allothers in public life. Today, frugality, thriftand husbandry are considered old-fash-ioned fads. Basic governance itself hasbeen hit hard.

Few comprehend how MahatmaGandhi derived his moral power, aweand respect from an exemplary austerelife-style. As Gurudev Rabindranath

Tagore explained, “Gandhiji sat at thethresholds of the huts of the thousandsof dispossessed, dressed like one of theirown. He spoke to them in their own lan-guage.” He held in his bony fingers thefate of world’s mightiest empire, wherethe sun never set. He travelled across thecountry by trains in the lowest classbecause, as a leader revered as a‘Mahatma’, he knew the virtue to reallyidentify himself with the masses. An aus-tere life-style is essential and relevant notmerely to demonstrate an abiding iden-tity with the aam aadmi but as a lastingvirtue in public life and governance.

What is austerity? Let us discusswhat austerity is not. It is not having yourcar fitted with flashing light and wailingsiren. It is not jumping queues, norwhisking the privileged away from theessential security drill at airport. It is notaudacious adulations so often splashedin newspaper advertisements at theexpense of the public.

It is not Ministers and leaders col-lecting a vast retinue of hangers-on anda battery of officials in tow, spendingpublic money on travel, entertainment,extravagance in renovation of officesand bungalows. It is not Rajyapals’ urgeto add newer models to their fleet ofcars. Austerity is not parliamentarycommittees vying with each other forjaunts and junkets to salubrious climeswithin the country or, still better, far-off overseas locales.

It is not judicial commissions, inquirycommittees or retired bureaucrats remain-ing ensconced in sinecures for years. It isno austerity that a self-proclaimed Dalitmessiah gets narcissistic, vainly erectingmonuments, spending thousands ofcrore. Such acts potentially cause revul-sion; nemesis comes about, sooner or later.

On the other hand, austerity is also

not stark puritanism or parsimony. Itrequires no self-flagellation of hermits orthe silence of monks. Austerity is certain-ly no sanctimonious hypocrisy. Austerityin public life is merely the practice ofrestraint by people whose actions are inpublic domain, who must view publicfunds and property as public trust,whose every move is watched, perhapsemulated, and who set an example fromabove. You may have a large privateincome or inherited wealth but itsostentatious display or a sign of conspic-uous consumption just does not becomeyou, if you are a representative of the peo-ple or a public servant.

Let us not delude ourselves: Thecountry has for long been enwrapped ina crisis of dysfunctional governance andpolitics, often teetering on the edge of avalley of despair, waiting to slide fartheroff the precipic. Confronted with balloon-ing wage bills and myriad public expens-es, not to talk of burgeoning populistpropensity towards distributing largess-es, Union and State Governments needto come out with healthy therapies, someneat ways out of rampant fiscal profliga-cy. The Modi Government has been rais-ing people’s expectations of achchhe dinin a swachch, new India. It has a long,arduous journey ahead to make it happen.

Government is expected to govern,more resolutely so, in adverse circum-stances when the going is not good.Nothing of substance is ever achievedunless people in position are prepared torise above the circumstance.

As former US President BrackObama said, every day, families sacrificeto live within their means; they deservea Government that does the same.

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

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The IMF on Tuesdaytrimmed India’s annual

growth forecast by 0.4 per-centage points to 7.2 per centfor 2017, citing the impact ofdemonetisation.

“In India, the growthforecast for 2017 has beentrimmed by 0.4 percentagepoint to 7.2 per cent, pri-marily because of the tem-porary negative consump-tion shock induced by cashshortages and payment dis-ruptions from the recent cur-rency exchange initiative,”the International MonetaryFund (IMF) said in its latestannual World EconomicOutlook (WEO).

The World EconomicOutlook was released herebefore the start of the annu-al Spring Meeting of theInternational Monetary Fundand World Bank.

“Medium-term growthprospects are favourable, withgrowth forecast to rise toabout eight per cent over themedium term due to theimplementat ion of keyreforms, loosening of supply-side bottlenecks, and appro-priate fiscal and monetarypolicies,” the IMF report said.

The Indian Governmentin February had pegged GDPgrowth at a higher-than-expected 7.1 per cent for thecurrent fiscal despite the noteban.

However, analysts hadraised concerns over the fig-ure, saying it had not takeninto account the full impactof demonetisation.

According to the IMFreport, India’s economy hasgrown at a strong pace inrecent years owing to theimplementation of criticalstructural reforms, favourableterms of trade, and lowerexternal vulnerabilities.

“Beyond the immediatechallenge of replacing cur-rency in circulation followingthe November 2016 currencyexchange initiative, policyactions should focus onreducing labour and productmarket rigidities to ease firmentry and exit, expand themanufacturing base, andgainfully employ the abun-dant pool of labour,” it said.

Policy actions should alsoconsolidate the disinflationunderway since the collapsein commodity prices throughagricultural sector reformsand infrastructure enhance-ments to ease supply bottle-

necks, the report said.Policy actions should also

boost f inancial stabi l itythrough full recognition ofnon-performing loans andraising public sector banks’capital buffers and securethe public finances throughcontinued reduction of poor-ly targeted subsidies andstructural tax reforms,including implementation ofthe recently approved nation-

wide goods and services tax,it said.

According to the report,growth in China is projectedat 6.6 per cent in 2017, slow-ing to 6.2 per cent in 2018.

The upward revision tonear-term growth -- the 2017forecast -- is 0.4 percentagepoint higher than in theOctober 2016 WEO and the2018 forecast is 0.2 percent-age point higher.

It reflects the stronger-than-expected momentum in2016 and the anticipation ofcontinued policy support inthe form of strong creditgrowth and reliance on pub-lic investment to achievegrowth targets, the reportsaid.

“The medium-term out-look, however, continues tobe clouded by increasingresource mis-allocation and

growing,” said the report,according to which the glob-al economic activity is pick-ing up with a long awaitedcyclical recovery in invest-ment, manufacturing, andtrade.

World growth is expect-ed to rise from 3.1 per cent in2016 to 3.5 per cent in 2017and 3.6 per cent in 2018,slightly above the October,2016, WEO forecast.

Stronger activity andexpectations of more robustglobal demand, coupled withagreed restrictions on oilsupply, have helped com-modity prices recover fromtheir troughs in early 2016, itsaid.

The IMF said a faster-than-expected pace of inter-est rate hikes in the US couldtighten financial conditionselsewhere, with potential fur-ther US dollar appreciationstraining emerging marketeconomies with exchange ratepegs to the dollar or withmaterial balance sheet mis-matches.

“More generally, a rever-sal in market sentiment andconfidence could tightenfinancial conditions and exac-erbate existing vulnerabilitiesin a number of emerging mar-ket economies, includingChina -- which faces thedaunting challenge of reduc-ing its reliance on creditgrowth,” it said.

According to the report,economic activity gainedsome momentum in the sec-ond half of 2016, especially inadvanced economies.

Growth picked up in theUnited States as firms grewmore confident about future

demand, and inventories start-ed contributing positively togrowth after five quarters ofdrag, it said.

Growth also remainedsolid in the United Kingdom,where spending provedresilient in the aftermath ofthe June 2016 referendum infavour of leaving the EuropeanUnion, the report said.

Activity surprised on theupside in Japan thanks tostrong net exports, as well asin euro area countries, such asGermany and Spain, as aresult of strong domesticdemand, the report said.

Economic performanceacross emerging market anddeveloping economies hasremained mixed, it said.

“Whereas China’s growthremained strong, reflectingcontinued policy support,activity has slowed in Indiabecause of the impact of thecurrency exchange initiative,as well as in Brazil, which hasbeen mired in a deep reces-sion.

“Activity remained weakin fuel and non-fuel com-modity exporters more gen-erally, while geopolitical fac-tors held back growth in partsof the Middle East andTurkey,” the IMF said.

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India has jumped one spotto rank 8th in the 2017 AT

Kearney Foreign DirectInvestment (FDI)Confidence Index with 31per cent of the surveyedrespondents being more opti-mistic on economic outlookover the next three years.

“Investors see India as avast and diverse up-and-coming market with plans toincrease investments thereover the near to mediumterm,” said Vikas Kaushal,Partner and Head of India atAT Kearney.

Investor confidence in

India has been growingsteadily over the last twoyears, making it one of thetop two emerging marketperformers on the FDI Index,said the UK-based ATKearney in the index.

“Reform efforts by thecurrent government haveimproved the countr y’sinvestment environment.This includes the nationalgoods and service tax (GST)reform, the largest non-direct tax reform in India inrecent years,” Vikas said.

“India’s vast domesticmarket is an added attractionfor foreign companies.Investors are looking at

India’s phenomenal eco-nomic performance as a keyselling point.

“It is forecast to be thefastest-growing major econ-omy in the world in thecoming years, which shouldprovide a variety of invest-ment opportunities to glob-al firms,” he said.

Among the investors sur-veyed, over half said a suc-cessful GST implementationwould cause them to signif-icant ly or moderatelyincrease their investment inIndia.

More broadly, 70 per centof the respondents plan tomaintain or increase their

FDI in India in the comingyears, according to Kearney.

India’s Government isconsidering further policyreforms to further boostFDI inflows. A proposal toloosen FDI regulations onthe retail sector is beingevaluated, in part to supportthe country’s ‘Make in India’initiative and bolster themanufacturing industry,said the consultancy.

The Government i seliminating the need forFDI approvals in sectorswhere licenses are alsorequired, such as defence,telecommunications andbroadcasting.

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����� � � The RBI onTuesday asked banks tomake higher provisioningfor loans to the telecom sec-tor that is facing financialstress and closely monitortheir exposure to avoid anyadverse impact on business-es.

The sector has a debt ofabout �4.6 lakh crore even asit is faces pressure on rev-enues and profitability in thewake of cut-throat competi-t ion fol lowing entr y ofReliance Jio.

The Reserve Bank saidbanks have been asked toput in p lace aBoard–approved policy formaking provisions for stan-dard assets at rates higherthan the regulatory mini-mum, based on evaluation ofrisk and stress in varioussectors.

“More immediately, asthe telecom sector is report-ing stressed financial con-ditions, and presently inter-est coverage ratio for thesector is less than one,boards of directors of thebanks may review the tele-com sector latest by June 30,2017...,” it said in a notifi-cation.

Interest coverage ratioindicates capacity of anorganisation to service thedebt and ability to repay itover the tenure of the loan.

It further asked banks to

“consider making provisionsfor standard assets in thissector” at higher rates sothat necessary resilience is

built in the balancesheets“should the stress reflect onthe quality of exposure tothe sector at a future date”.

Besides, banks should alsosubject the exposure to thetelecom sector to closermonitoring, it added.

The RBI further saidbank boards should framepolicy on making provisionsfor standard assets at high-er rates at least once a quar-ter.

The review should be toaccess performance of vari-ous sectors of the economyto which the bank has anexposure to evaluate the pre-sent and emerging risks andstress therein.

“The review may includequantitative and qualitativeaspects l ike debt-equityratio, interest coverage ratio,prof i t marg ins , rat ingsupgrade to downgrade ratio,sectoral non-performingassets and stressed assets,industry performance andoutlook, legal and regulato-ry issues faced by the sector,etc. The reviews may alsoinclude sector specific para-meters,” the RBI added.

In another notification,the RBI has prescribed a for-mat for banks to disclose in the‘Notes to Accounts’ to thefinancial statements.

This, the RBI said, is beingdone to ensure greater trans-parency and promote betterdiscipline with respect to com-pliance with income recogni-tion, asset classification andprovisioning (IRACP). ���

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��1����!���Industry body COAIon Tuesday said the Governmentshould address the issue of finan-cial plight of the telecom sectorwith “utmost urgency” and madea renewed push for lower leviesas mooted by the regulator.

“We are glad that RBI hastaken note of our contention thatthe industry is in financial stress.We had warned continuouslythat companies are hard pressedto make payments to theGovernment and the banks,”COAI Director General RajanMathews told the news agency.

Mathews’ comments comein the wake of the Reserve Bankof India (RBI) today askingbanks to make higher provi-sioning for loans to the telecomsector that is facing financialstress and closely monitor theirexposure to avoid any adverseimpact on businesses.

The telecom sector has adebt of about �4.6 lakh crore andis facing pressure on revenue andprofitability in wake of compe-tition intensified by the entry ofnewcomer Reliance Jio.

COAI also urged theTelecom Department to consid-

er recommendations of TRAI onlower spectrum and licence feecharges.

“TRAI’s recommendationsof lowering of Spectrum UsageCharges to one per cent andreduction of licence fee to threeper cent, needs to be looked at.In addition, focus should be onadoption of revised definition ofAdjusted Gross Revenue (AGR),”Mathews added.

It may be recalled that ear-lier this year, the inter- ministe-rial body Telecom Commissionin a letter to TRAI had warnedof a loan default by operators. Ithad asked the regulator to revis-it its tariff orders and free pro-motional offers of firms likeReliance Jio.

The then Telecom SecretaryJS Deepak, who headed theTelecom Commission at thatpoint, had flagged the “seriousimpact” of promotional offerson the financial health of thesector and the capability of thecompanies to meet their con-tractual commitments, includ-ing payment of instalments forspectrum purchased and repay-ment of loans. ���

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��1� ���!��� SBI Card, withover 4 million customers,has started charging �100for payment through chequeif the amount is up to �2,000and anything above willattract no fee. The fee kicksin from April 1.

The move, SBI Cardsaid, is aimed at encourag-ing digital payments in linewith the Government’s pol-icy.

“A fee of Rs 100 will becharged for payments madeby cheque for an amountless than or equal to �2,000w.E.F April 1, 2017,” it said.

The credit card compa-ny, however, said there willbe no additional fee forcheque payments greaterthan �2,000.

CEO of SBI Card VijayJasuja said that over 90 percent of its customers makepayments through non-cheque mode.

“We have observed atrend of payment relateddisputes arising in smallcheque payments, causinginconvenience to customersas well. We offer severalseamless digital modes ofpayment which we are seek-ing to encourage, in line

w it h t he G ove r n me nt’sfocus towards digital pay-ments and this step willfacilitate the same,” theCEO said.

Jasuja added that therewill be no charge on chequepayments on holders of SBICard Unnati which is tar-geted at first-time creditcard users and aimed atinclusion of people into theorganised financial stream.

With a customer base ofover 4 million, SBI Cardoperates through a foot-print of more than 90 loca-tions in India.

SBI Card is a joint jointventure between State Bankof India and GE Capital.The joint venture operatesthrough two companies.

GE Capita l BusinessProcesses ManagementServices (GECBPMSL) takescare of the technology andprocessing needs of SBI Cardwhi le SBI Cards andPayments Services (SBICP-SL) focuses on customeracquisition, marketing andrisk management of SBICard. Last month, SBI hadsaid it would increase itsstake in SBI Card to 74 percent by June-end. ���

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TCS on Tuesdayannounced 4.2 per cent

growth in net profit at �6,608crore for the quarter endedMarch 2017.

The company had report-ed net profit of �6,340 crorein the same period last fiscalas per Indian accountingnorms.

The Tata Group company,which accounts for more than60 per cent of the group’soverall profit, reported a rev-enue growth of 4.2 per cent at�29,642 crore for the saidquarter, up from �28,449crore a year earlier.

“2016-17 was a year ofbroad-based growth amideconomic and political tur-bulence in our key markets.We added USD 1.4 billion inconstant currency revenues

during the year,” TCS CEOand MD Rajesh Gopinathansaid.

He added that the com-pany’s digital business grew29 per cent annually to $3 bil-lion, with most industriesshowing double-digit growth.

At the end of the fourthquarter, digital revenues wereat 17.9 per cent, with asequential growth of 7.6 percent.

For the entire 2016-17,TCS saw its net profit grow-ing 8.3 per cent to �26,289crore while revenue was up8.6 per cent at �1,17,966crore.

During the Januar y-March 2017 quarter, TCSadded 20,093 employees(gross) while on a net basis,the addition was 8,726, takingthe overall employee strengthto 3,87,223.

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������� Weak state-run bankslike Indian Overseas Bank, IDBIBank, Bank of India and UnionBank of India are in for regulato-ry action if the tightened promptcorrective action (PCA) is imple-mented properly, warns S&P in areport.

“If the norms were applied toreported numbers for December2016, among the banks rated by us,Indian Overseas Bank is in riskthreshold 3; IDBI Bank is in riskthreshold 2; and Bank of India andUnion Bank of India are likely bein risk threshold 1;” S&P creditanalyst Geeta Chugh said onTuesday.

She also said the revised PCA,released last week by the ReserveBank invests a lot of powers on theregulator to supersede the troubledbanks, may trigger faster consoli-dation among the bad loan saddledstate-run banks or higher capital

infusion by the Government.“Our ratings on the banks fac-

tor in weak stand-alone credit pro-files of ‘B-’ on IOB and IDBI Bank,and ‘BB’ on Bank of India andUnion Bank. The ‘BB’ issuer cred-it ratings on IOB and IDBI Bankand ‘BB+’ issuer credit ratings onBoI and UBI continue to benefitfrom the very high likelihood ofgovernment support,” Chugh said.

Welcoming the new guidelines,

she said “we believe the Reserve Bankis taking a step in the right directionand the new regulations will forcepublic sector banks to raise their gen-erally low provisioning coverage,and likely accelerate the need for cap-ital.”

The revised norms may not nec-essarily be effective as early warningsignals amid the current industrydowncycle, she said and noted thata number of public sector banks arealready knee-deep in NPAs andfirmly entrenched within the new riskthresholds.

She further noted that the PCAmeasures such as restrictions on div-idend distributions or branch expan-sion will have limited benefitbecause most banks didn’t pay anydividends in fiscal 2016 as they areconserving capital. Also, most ofthem have shown little growth, andin many cases have contracted theirbalance sheets. ���

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Asurge in royalty outflow hasprompted the Government

to set up an inter-ministerialgroup to analyse payment normsand see whether there is exces-sive payout by Indian companiesto foreign collaborators. Royaltyis paid to a foreign collaboratorfor transfer of technology, usageof brand or trademarks.

“Royalty outflow has surgedin the recent past and it needs tobe analysed. So, the Governmenthas set up this inter-ministerialpanel,” an official said. The panelwill be headed by an additionalsecretary level officer of theDepartment of Industrial Policyand Promotion (DIPP).

It also has representativesfrom departments of revenue,economic affairs and the ReserveBank. It will submit its report byJune. The terms of referenceincludes scrutiny of the outflowand the present legal structure

dealing with royalty paymentsand transfer pricing. Earlier, theDIPP had raised serious con-cerns over the increasing outflowof such payments. The depart-ment had proposed re-intro-duction of restrictions on suchpayments by companies to theirparent entities. It had argued thatthe curbs would help increase theprofits of domestic companies,mainly in the automobile sector,prevent depletion of foreignexchange reserves, protect inter-est of minority shareholders andincrease revenue for theGovernment.

According to industryexperts, it will be very difficult to

assess the right quantum of roy-alty to be paid by domesticcompanies to foreign parentfirms. The increase in outflow ofthese payments started after thegovernment liberalised the FDI(foreign direct investment) pol-icy in 2009. It had removed thecap and permitted Indian com-panies to pay royalties to theirtechnical collaborators withoutseeking prior governmentapproval.

The outflows on account ofroyalty and fee for technical ser-vices, taken together, are esti-mated to be as high as 15-18 percent of the FDI inflows over2009-10 and 2012-13. As per

available data, royalty paymentincreased to $4.1 billion in 2012-13, from $1.7 billion in 2008-09.FDI, which is critical to bridgingthe widening current accountdeficit, grew 22 per cent to$35.84 billion during April-December of the last fiscal.

Before 2009, royalty pay-ment was regulated by the gov-ernment and capped at 8 per centof exports and 5 per cent domes-tic sales in the case of technolo-gy transfer collaborations andwas fixed at 2 per cent of exportsand 1 per cent of domestic salesfor use of trademark or brandname. Auto major Maruti Suzukipays an average royalty of around5.5 per cent of its net sales to itsparent Suzuki. It has begunmaking payments to Suzuki inrupee instead of yen for newmodels starting with compactSUV Vitara Brezza to bringdown royalty outflows. Telecomcompanies too pay $15 royaltyfor every mobile line.

,������(���&�����������������������������?����&������� NEW DELHI: Cash availability

at ATMs across the country hasdeteriorated again following abrief improvement in Januaryeven five months after demon-etisation, shows a survey. TheATM outage level, which hadimproved in January andFebruary, is showing deteriora-tion in April.

In a survey conducted by cit-izen engagement platformLocalCircles, 43 per cent citizenssaid they could not find cash inATMs on April 13-16. Thisnumber has worsened from the36 per cent who had faced prob-lems in finding a cash dispens-ing ATM on April 5-8. Over8,700 citizens from across Indiaparticipated in this poll sharingATM experiences in their areas.

The survey further said RBI’smove to lift withdrawal limits onMarch 13 could be a reason aspeople have been withdrawingcash in bulk from counters andbanks have been forced to main-tain high liquidity. This has ledto maintenance of ATMs andfrequent cash replenishmenttaking a back seat. PNS

NEW DELHI: South Koreanconsumer electronics giant LGis looking at making India itsexport hub, banking on goodties between the two countriesat a time when its overseasshipments from China aredeclining. According to LGElectronics India ManagingDirector Ki Wan Kim, one ofthe main reasons for the com-pany to look at making Indiaan export hub is due to tensionprevailing between SouthKorea and China.

LG, which has two manu-facturing units in India, exportsto the Middle East and coun-tries in the eastern coast ofAfrican continent. Around 10per cent of sales of the compa-ny's Indian arm -- LGElectronics India (LGEI), arecurrently from exports. Lastyear, LGEI had sales of �22,000crore. “On the other hand tiesbetween South Korea and Indiahave improved. All Korean

(companies) have started to seeIndia as a strategically impor-tant manufacturing base notonly for India but for otherareas,” Wan told PTI. Whenasked if LG is scouting for moreglobal markets for exports fromIndia, he replied in the affir-mative saying it is looking for-countries where there is little orno manufacturing.

Earlier, LG used to servesuch markets from China but‘it is declining gradually’, Wanadded. “Already we are export-ing from Noida and Pune toMiddle East mainly in Saudiand Iran and African countrieson (the eastern coast of the con-tinent),” he said.

Another major factor forseeing India as a major hub forexports is that the country isbecoming more competitiveeconomically and there will besecured and transparent taxa-tion regime with the expectedimplementation of GST. PTI

NEW DELHI: Telecom MinisterManoj Sinha on Tuesday soughtto allay concerns over radiationemitted from mobile towers, say-ing studies so far have notrevealed any health hazards. Thecomments come in the wake ofa Supreme Court order directingthe deactivation of a BSNL towerin Gwalior on the plea of a 42-year-old cancer patient.

“This is not the final orderand it needs to be seen in that per-spective. Let the final order come.“Secondly, (given) the research sofar, including by World HealthOrganisation and even studiesconducted in India by variousinstitutions. I understand there isno ill effect of such (electromag-netic) radiation on the health of

humans,” Sinha said on the side-lines of a CII event here.Moreover, Sinha said, the normsin India with regard to the per-missible limits of electromagnet-ic radiation from mobile towersis seven times more stringent thanglobal limits.

“So there is no need to worryor be concerned on the directions.Government is looking into it,” headded. The apex court order isexpected to intensify the ongoingdebate on impact of radiationfrom mobile phone towers onpeople's health. After the order,industry body Cellular OperatorsAssociation of India had saidmobile towers emit a low level ofradiation within the prescribednorms and are ‘completely safe’. PTI

BENGALURU: Cab aggregatorOla on Tuesday announced that itplans to reach out to over 1,00,000driver entrepreneurs through ‘AutoDriver Partner Melas’ across allmajor cities and towns in the coun-try. This multi-city programme is anon-ground initiative to help thou-sands of aspiring auto driver part-ners to take the first step towardsentrepreneurship and achieve theirdreams, the co said.

The OLA Auto Mela will bringtogether a host of manufactur-ers, service providers, and finan-cial institutions under one roof,to enable deep discounts and sav-ings for their customers andbuild a large customer-base inreturn, it said in a release. PTI

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UK Prime Minister TheresaMay on Tuesday called

for an early general election onJune 8, saying it is the only wayto guarantee political stabilityfor years ahead after Britainleaves the European Union.

Explaining the decision,May indicated that the movewill help unite the political cor-ridors of the country.

There will be a House ofCommons vote on the proposedelection tomorrow and Maywill need Parliament’s backingto hold a vote before 2020.

Explaining her change ofheart on an early election, Maysaid: “I have concluded the onlyway to guarantee certainty andsecurity for years ahead is to

hold this election”.Speaking outside her

Downing Street residence inLondon, May, 60, warned that“division in Westminster willrisk our ability to make a suc-cess of Brexit”.

The Prime Minister hadearlier repeatedly denied thatshe would call an electionbefore the next scheduled pollin 2020.

But following a Cabinetmeeting at Downing Street shesaid she would go to the coun-try this year.

The dramatic move comesagainst the backdrop of thecountry’s decision to leave theEuropean Union in the lastyear’s referendum.

Britain’s next election wasdue to have been held in 2020,

according to a legislation butthe law can be overruled if two-thirds of lawmakers in theBritish parliament vote infavour of early elections.

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader ofthe Opposition, welcomedMay’s decision to hold thesnap election.

“Labour will stand up forthe people of Britain. I welcomethe Prime Minister’s decision togive the British people thechance to vote for a govern-ment that will put the interestsof the majority first,” he said.

“Labour will be offering thecountry an effective alternativeto a government that has failedto rebuild the economy, deliv-ered falling living standardsand damaging cuts to ourschools and NHS,” he said. PTI

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Washington: US President Donald Trump isset to sign an executive order that wouldrevamp the H-1B visa programme, the mostsought-after by Indian IT firms and profes-sionals, to ensure that the visas are awarded tothe most skilled or highest-paid applicants.

Trump is scheduled to travel to Milwaukee,Wisconsin, the home state ofHouse of RepresentativesSpeaker Paul Ryan, to signthe ‘Buy American, HireAmerican’ Executive Order.

This was a transitionalstep aimed at achieving amore skills-based and merit-based immigration system.

The executive order would be signed a dayafter the US Citizenship and ImmigrationServices (USCIS) announced that it has com-pleted the computerised draw of lots from the199,000 petitions it received for theCongressional mandated 65,000 H-1B visas forthe fiscal year 2018 beginning October 1 thisyear. PTI

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Army chief Gen Qamar JavedBajwa on Tuesday said Pakistan

is not using terrorist groups as prox-ies, asserting that the country is itselfa victim of “state-sponsored” terrorism.

His remarks came a day after USNational Security Adviser HRMcMaster asked Pakistan’s top civil-ian and military leadership to con-front terrorism in all its forms dur-ing a meeting with them.

“Pakistan itself is a victim ofstate-sponsored terrorism. It strong-ly rejects allegations of employingproxies from its soil,” the Army saidin a statement quoting Bajwa.

The Army said that McMaster,who arrived here during an unan-nounced visit, the first by a top

Trump administration official tothis country, was briefed aboutPakistan’s war on terror and its con-tributions to regional and global sta-bility during the meeting.

“In the meeting it was high-lighted that distinguished feature ofPakistan’s counter-terrorism effort isfocused against terrorists of all huesand colours,” the statement said.

“The US NSA acknowledgedPakistan army’s efforts in eliminat-ing terrorists and their infrastructure,

assuring US support to bring peaceand stability in the region and globe,”it said.

McMaster held talks with PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif, PrimeMinister’s Adviser on Foreign AffairsSartaj Aziz, Gen Bajwa, PakistanNSA Lt Gen (retd) Nasser Janjua andSpecial Assistant to the PrimeMinister on Foreign Affairs SyedTariq Fatemi.

McMaster’s visit to Afghanistanand Pakistan comes just days afterthe US dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb targeting an IslamicState complex in Afghanistan, closeto the border with Pakistan.

This was McMaster’s first visit toPakistan as the US NSA and the firstformal high-level exchange betweenthe US and Pakistan under the newDonald Trump Administration.

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Ankara: Turkey’s mainOpposition party on Tuesdaywill formally present theSupreme Election Board (YSK)with a demand to annul theresult of the referendum grant-ing President Recep TayyipErdogan new powers, afteralleging major violations.

Republican People’s Partydeputy chairman Bulent Tezcanwill present the demand at11:30 GMT, the party said.

The Opposition has beenparticularly incensed by a last-minute move from the YSK toaccept ballot documents inenvelopes without an officialstamp.

The “Yes” camp wonSunday’s referendum with51.41 per cent of the vote butthe aftermath has been shad-owed by Opposition claims ofblatant vote-rigging and angryprotests in parts of Istanbul.

Speaking to a meeting ofthe ruling AKP in Ankara,Prime Minister Binali Yildirimsaid “everyone has to respectthe result, including the mainOpposition party.”

“The nation’s will emergedfreely from the ballot box...This work has now finished. It’swrong to say something afterthe nation has spoken,” hesaid. AFP

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Islamabad: Pakistan’s NationalAssembly has passed an unan-imous resolution to condemnthe “barbaric and cold-blood-ed murder” of a 23-year-olduniversity student who waslynched by a violent mob overalleged blasphemy.

Mashal Khan, a journalismstudent, in Abdul Wali KhanUniversity in Mardan waskilled by an enraged mob lastweek, blaming him of passinganti-Islam remarks.

The tragedy has sparked anoutrage and demands to reformthe laws dealing with blasphemy.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’sSenate or upper house of par-liament has sought changes inthe blasphemy laws to avert itsmisuse after the lynching.

Dawn reported that theSenators in yesterday’s sessioncalled for amending the blas-phemy law to punish those whoconcoct blasphemy accusationsagainst others and demandeda campaign against those tak-ing the law into their own

hands.Pakistan Peoples Party sen-

ator Farhatullah Babar said areligious scholar had proposedthat those who levelled falseaccusations should suffer thesame sentence as provided fora blasphemer.

He recalled how a federalShariat Court decision hadprompted the maximum pun-ishment for blasphemy to beincreased from life imprison-ment to death, reminding thehouse that Raja Zafarul Haq —the current leader of the House— was the chairman of law andjustice committee at the time.

He said the committee hadmade some suggestions whileapproving the bill and called forthat report to be made the basisof any further action.

“The assassination ofMashal Khan should make usthink about concrete measuresto prevent the misuse of theblasphemy law; we need torevisit this law,” he remarked.

PTI

/ "��� �6���'� �����������������������!�����������&��������Beijing: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang

Yi has made a new appeal for calm on theKorean Peninsula and says he believes theUnited States would prefer a diplomaticresolution to the standoff.

Wang told reporters today thatalthough US officials have made clear thata military strike remains on the table, hebelieves that Washington would still pre-fer to de-escalate tensions through multi-sided talks.

Wang’s comments came amid amounting war of words betweenWashington and Pyongyang.

After Vice President Mike Pence vis-ited the demilitarised zone in South Koreayesterday and warned that “all options areon the table,” a senior North Korean offi-cial responded by accusing the US of bring-ing the countries to the brink of ther-monuclear war. AP

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Tokyo: US Vice President MikePence reiterated his country’s com-mitment to the security of Japan onTuesday, as North Korea intensifiedconcerns over its weapons pro-gramme with a vow to launch mis-sile tests “every week”.

The North, which is intent ondeveloping a nuclear-tipped ballis-tic missile capable of reaching themainland United States, defied inter-national pressure Sunday with a testthat failed immediately after launch.

As fears grow that it may alsobe preparing for its sixth nuclearweapons test, Vice Foreign MinisterHan Song-Ryol said that its pro-gramme would only escalate.AFP

�&�����#����������%"����)�����9������������. ��&��������� Yola (Nigeria): It may take years to find all the

Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by the Nigeria-based Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, thecountry’s Defence Minister warned on Tuesday.

Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirlsfrom a secondary school in the northeasterntown of Chibok in April 2014. Some escapedand 21 were released last year after negotiationswith Boko Haram, but 195 remain missing.

Nigeria’s military is searching Boko Haram’shideouts in the Sambisa Forest, a vast area cov-ering parts of three states in the northeast,General Manir Dan Ali told Voice of America’sHausa language service.

He said even the US needed a long time tofind Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of theSeptember 11, 2001, attacks.

“It took the US up to seven, eight, up to 10years before they could get to bin Laden,” hesaid. “We are continuing our campaigning inthe Sambisa Forest in all its nooks and corners.”

Ali spoke after Nigerians last week markedthe third anniversary of the schoolgirls’ abduc-tion.

In 2014, Boko Haram had seized control ofmuch of northeastern Nigeria but it has beendriven back by a military campaign.

Failure to find the girls would translate intoa victory for Boko Haram, said Sheikh NuruKhalid, a member of a group that tries toencourage peace between Nigerian Muslims andChristians. AP

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Scientists have discovered thefirst live specimen of a bizarre,

giant worm-like animal in thePhilippines that plants itself intomud like carrots and feeds onnoxious fumes of sulphur.

The existence of the black,mud dwelling creature has beenknown for centuries. Its tusk-like shells, measuring three tofive feet long, were first docu-mented in the 18th century.

“The shells are fairly com-mon. But we have never hadaccess to the animal livinginside,” said Daniel Distel, aresearch professor at Northe-astern University in the US.

Scientists set up an expe-dition and found live speci-mens of Kuphus polythalamiaplanted like carrots in the mudof a shallow lagoon.

With a live giant ship-worm finally in hand,researchers carefully washedthe sticky mud caked to theoutside of the giant shipwormshell and tapped off the outercap, revealing the creature liv-ing inside.

“I was awestruck when I

first saw the sheer immensity ofthis bizarre animal,” saidMarvin Altamia, researcher atUniversity of the Philippines.

“Being present for the firstencounter of an animal like thisis the closest I will ever get tobeing a 19th century natural-ist,” said Margo Haygood, aresearch professor at theUniversity of Utah.

Since the animal had neverbeen studied rigorously, littlewas known about its life histo-ry, habitat, or biology.

“We suspected the giantshipworm was radically differ-ent from other wood-eatingshipworms. Finding the animalconfirmed that,” said Haygood.

The worm was was foundin a remote habitat - a lagoonladen with rotting wood.

Normal shipworm bur-rows deep into the wood oftrees that have washed into theocean, munching on anddigesting the wood with thehelp of bacteria.

Unlike its shipwormcousins, Kuphus lives in themud. It also turns to bacteria toobtain nourishment, but in adifferent way.

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Beirut: Air strikes by the US-led coali-tion fighting the Islamic State groupkilled 20 civilians in Syria’s eastern DeirEzzor province, a monitor said onTuesday.

The Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights said the deaths came intwo separate incidents on Monday.

It also reported 10 civilians, amongthem nine children, were killed in a sus-pected Russian air strike today on atown in the rebel-controlled provinceof Idlib.

The Observatory, which relies ona network of sources inside Syria forits information, says it determineswhose planes carry out raids accord-ing to type, location, flight patterns andmunitions used.

The Britain-based monitor said aUS strike on Monday night on the DeirEzzor town of Albu Kamal had killed13 civilians, among them five children.

The strike also killed three membersof IS, which controls the town by theSyria-Iraq border, the monitor said.

Earlier, on Monday, a US-led coali-tion strike killed seven civilians, includ-ing a child, in the village of Husseinyeh,the monitor said.

The US-led coalition has been car-rying out air strikes against IS in Syriasince 2014 and is providing air support

for a Kurdish-Arab alliance advancingon the jihadist bastion of Raqa.

Last month, the coalition said itscampaign against IS in Syria and Iraqhad unintentionally killed at least 220civilians, but monitors say the realnumber is far higher.

Most of the oil-rich province ofDeir Ezzor, in Syria’s east, is held by IS,including parts of the provincial capi-tal, Deir Ezzor city.

The jihadists have besieged theremaining Government-held parts ofDeir Ezzor city, trapping civilians insidewith limited access to supplies.

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Beirut: The US military failed to take“necessary precautions” to preventcivilians deaths in a strike on aSyrian mosque last month that killeddozens of people, Human RightsWatch said on Tuesday.

The March 16 strike in the villageof opposition-held Al-Jineh in north-ern Aleppo province killed 49 peo-ple, mostly civilians, according to theBritain-based Syrian Observatoryfor Human Rights. AFP

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Nepal Police on Tuesday res-cued an Indian teenager

and arrested four persons forallegedly abducting him for ran-som.

Pradeep Kumar Yadav, 16,who hails from Bihar’s Nirmalitown, was abducted on April 5.

He was rescued early todayfrom a house in LahanMunicipality-15 of Siraha dis-trict, about 242 kms from here,The Himalayan Times reported.

Four suspects — Ramesh

Lama, Jayaram Yadav, KishunYadav and Deep Narayan Yadav— have been arrested.

A joint team raided Lama’shouse where Yadav was heldhostage, Deputy Superintendentof Police (DSP) Hira BahadurPandey said.

The accused had demandedmoney from the boy’s father inBihar for his safe release, theofficer was quoted as saying bythe report.

The boy will be handedover to his family after investi-gation, police added.

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Bamako: A Malian Army spokesman saysarmed men have attacked an army camp inthe country’s north, killing at least four sol-diers and wounding another.

Lt Col Diarran Kone on Tuesday wouldnot give more details about the attack inGourma-Rharous, about 160 kilometressouth of Timbuktu.

A local official said the assailantsdestroyed about six armed vehicles but leftafter failing to take control of the camp. Hespoke on condition of anonymity becausehe was not permitted to speak to reporters.

AP

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The Indira Gandhi National OpenUniversity (IGNOU) hosted its

30th convocation in Delhi and simul-taneously at 56 regional centres inIndia through video conferencing toconfer degrees/diplomas/certificatesto 2,38,000 students.

Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey,Minister of State for HigherEducation, HRD, presented Goldmedals and cash awards. Whileaddressing the students, he said:“IGNOU has now reached the freeand digital education horizon,expanding the perimeter of the freeand distance education system. TheMHRD has given the channels of‘Swayam’ and ‘Swayamprabha’ toIGNOU so that it can bring a digi-tal revolution in higher education.

The university is already working onMassive Open Online Course. Ourexpectation from the university shallbe to extend its students horizontowards digital education throughnew technology, communicationmediums, electronic mediums anddevices.”

IGNOU has signed a MoU withthe Kendriya Vidyalas all over thecountry to conduct its term endexaminations in these schools now.The vice-chancellor of the universi-ty, Prof Ravindra Kumar said: “Theonline admission system has receivedan encouraging response with theUniversity for admission of stu-dents for the July 2016 cycle. As manyas 1,53,454 students took admissionthrough this mode for the January

2017 cycle. Students are now allowedto edit the filled-in informationbefore final submission to theUniversity. With the shifting of thefee module to the last stage, the sys-tem has become more student-friendly.”

The university has developed acloud based application for online re-registration of existing learners of sec-ond/third year for BA, BCom, BSc,Bachelor in Tourism Studies &Bachelor in Social Work pro-grammes having duration of one yearor more. “Cumulative internationalstudent enrollment of 66,769 is like-ly to increase with integration of ICTsand quality of learner support ser-vices. 12 Overseas Study Centres forfresh admission have been approved,”

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For the first time, the UN Guidelinesfor the Alternative Care of Childrenwill be shared with learners around

the world, including policy makers andpractitioners, in a free online course titledGetting Care Right for All Children. ThisMassive Open Online Course (MOOC)has been developed by academics andpractitioners from Centre for Excellencefor Looked After Children in Scotland withthe support of Education Enhancement atthe University of Strathclyde.

Across the globe, for many differentreasons, hundreds of thousands of childrencannot live with their parents. To addressthis, the UN General Assembly unani-mously welcomed the Guidelines for theAlternative Care of Children in 2009 dri-ven by two fundamental principles — theensuring of both the necessity and the suit-

ability of alternative care.Alternative care is the provision of a

safe and caring setting for children to livewhilst they are unable to stay with theirfamilies —foster care being one exampleof this.

The course is offered in partnershipwith the social learning platform,FutureLearn and will be available inEnglish with some course materials(including text and videos) also accessiblein Spanish and French.

The initial concept for the course wasproposed and sponsored by the GenevaWorking Group on Children WithoutParental Care, comprising of a number ofmajor international child protection andchild care organisations.

For details, visit https://www.future-learn.com/courses/alternative-care.

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The Oxford UniversityPress has recently

launched author Dr SaumyaSharma’s new book —Common Errors in EverydayEnglish. English is widelyused language in the worldand a common vehicle ofcommunication. Often times, while communicating inEnglish, people are at a loss to express themselves in clearterms. A grammatical error not only distorts the meaningof the sentence, it also puts the speaker in poor light. InCommon Errors in Everyday English, Sharma has identifiedand compiled some of the most common errors in every-day English and provides readers with simple solutions. TheUSP of the book lies in its simplified, easy-to-use format.

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We live in an age of fast-pacedchanges where organisa-tions must strive for evolu-

tion and innovation. Revenue, prof-its, sales are necessary for a compa-ny’s growth, but what is crucial forit to stay relevant and in competitionis the spirit of innovation. It includesorganisational resilience — theorganisation’s capability to anticipateand respond to incremental changeand sudden disruptions to surviveand thrive. It also implies that werecognise people’s innate capacity toadapt, create and innovate.

Geniuses like Steve Jobs took theworld by storm using his innovativeskills. Jobs experimented with dif-ferent pursuits before starting AppleComputer with Steve Wozniak in1976. Apple’s revolutionary products— iPod, iPhone and iPad, which havebeen dictating the evolution of mod-ern technology, were nothing but themanifestations of an innovativemind.

Innovative companies attractcreative employees who set in motionan environment of innovation. Thefallout of this creative thinking — thesatisfaction and the excitement ofsolving interesting problems, thesense of achievement, the thrill ofcollaboration, and the augmentationof skills, are all key ingredients to thekind of purpose-driven culture thatfosters disruptive innovation.

����?�����Traditional carrots — pay hikes,

bonuses, perks, and sticks — poorappraisal, denial of increment, lackof promotion, do work, but only toan extent in motivating employees.Real motivation comes from withinand is best generated in an atmos-phere of growth and creativity. Itkeeps employees energised and com-mitted, especially the world-chang-ers and the risk takers types, whothrive on disruption. The promise ofinnovation gives purpose and mean-

ing to their work. Such people are anasset for companies that want to stayahead of competition.

��������������?����� �An organisation is all about its

people. Long-term innovation mod-els require dedicated inputs, support,and engagement from the employeesand all stakeholders involved.Progressive organisations are theones having skills to manage com-plexities of human minds, as peopleworking for the organisations are dif-ferent in their requirements evenwhen moving along the same tra-jectory. To be successful in today’sfast-changing business environmentswith collective and energised value-creation, companies need to adoptholistically innovative mindset.

Creativity and innovation atworkplace progress with soul search-ing. If organisations are able to findout their raison d’être, capabilitiesgrow like never before. On the otherhand, if they only focus on revenuegeneration, there are chances of dis-enchantment of the employees.Inculcating a culture of innovationis imperative even for better humanresource management, attractinginspired talent and managing brandreputation.

�!�������A� �� �������Even a decade back, innovation

was viewed as a primary challenge of

building leadership capabilities.Today the lens of innovation hasbecome the indispensable high-per-formance mantra for organisationswhich are ready to incubate experi-ment and come up with break-throughs. Innovation is under-standably becoming a part of board-room agenda, managerial decision-making, and leadership processes.Innovative leaders are today agentsof change and an asset for anyorganisation. They lead by exampleto generate new ideas and turn chal-lenges into opportunities, to stay onestep ahead of the curve every time.They are also bold thought influ-encers in general with open-mind-ed outlook. Rarely would find aninnovator who is stuck inside hiscabin all day long, rather he is all eyesand ears to new ideas.

Here, it must also be pointed out

that an organisation’s innovationneed not always be in the domain ofproducts or services. It can also bein strategising, channelising man-power, and so on. All of that ulti-mately adds to the value chain ofbuilding efficient workplaces. Here,it is important to underline that whileinnovative ideas can be arbitrary orunstructured, the roadmap for exe-cution needs to be clear; it makesimplementation easy and conve-nient.

�!��1�� �1��It is becoming increasingly clear

that innovation backed by adequatein-house R&D is the way forward fororganisations to succeed and foremployees to excel. There are com-panies that have launched ‘internalstart-up’ programmers, where teamswork on entrepreneurial ideas, tostimulate creativity. Others havestarted competitions where employ-ees pitch ideas to improve the busi-ness, and the best ones get fundingand support. Employees know theycan contribute ideas and that theywill be rewarded for their contribu-tions. That encourages them to thinkdifferently and come up with inno-vative ideas. When it comes to com-panies operating in the agrochemi-cal space, embracing cutting-edgeinnovative technologies helpsimmensely in dealing with issues on-ground, and developing sustainable

products for customised needs.But it’s not as if innovation is new

to Indian business. The rural com-munity driven economy of our coun-try has been turning to jugaad (whichitself is ground-level innovation at itsbest) for as long as one can remember.

The digital age we live in allows amore open and collaborative envi-ronment where everyone works tobrainstorm on ideas. The new envi-ronment allows for collaboration andideas to come from any quarter, nothemmed in by hierarchies. Inculcatinga culture of innovation is one of themost important things a leader can doto improve the performance ofemployees and the balance sheet of thecompany. But it is tough. Entrenchedcorporate cultures thwart innovationefforts. Business leaders need to rein-vent their culture and deliver betterinnovation.

But going forward, only disruptiveprocess-driven innovation will act asa critical differentiator in outper-forming the existing standards oforganisational excellence. When led byoutstanding torchbearers or smartentrepreneurs, effective innovationmanagement policies can energiseteams to deliver their best. So insteadof chasing profits for shareholders, wemust focus on innovation which cre-ates value for all stake holders and istherefore a loftier ideal for companiesto follow.

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Education New Zealand(ENZ) is welcoming

more high-quality Indianstudents who are pursuinghigher level qualificationsin the country. Withenrollments at the uni-versities rising by 53 percent so far in 2017, Indiaremains New Zealand’ssecond largest market, asIndian students are attract-ed by the high-quality edu-cation experience and wel-coming, safe environmentthat New Zealand offers.

ENZ is announcingseveral initiatives focussedon specialist subject areas,

scholarships, and short-term internships, to namea few. April 2017 will be afocus month for ENZ witha range of activitiesplanned across tier 1 andII markets, targeted at stu-dents, parents, influencersand education agents.

The month kick-startswith the launch of a specialseries called Welcome 2NewZealand across multi-ple cities that offers a plat-form for New ZealandGovernment agencies in

India to interact and pro-vide guidance to local edu-cation agents and consul-tants.

The recent session inDelhi was attended by over20 education agents fromthe National CapitalRegion. The interactivesession aims to support thework being carried out bythe local agents on behalfof New Zealand institu-tions and also arm themwith tools and techniquesto provide the right guid-

ance to the prospectivestudents.

The month will alsowitness a range of student-centric engagement activ-ities such as New Zealandeducation fairs in Mumbai(April 22), Vadodara (April23), Kochi (April 28) andVizag (April 30).

These fairs provide aone-stop solution for stu-dents and parents tointeract with representa-tives from New Zealandinstitutions and get adviceon appropriate coursesand application proce-dures.

��"�������)���Aadhar Housing Finance Limited

(Aadhar), a low income group segment-focused housing finance company, hassigned an Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with ITM Skills Academy to launcha one-year PG Programme in HousingFinance. The MoU was signed by DeoShankar Tripathi, CEO, Aadhar HousingFinance Ltd, and Dr PV Ramana, chairmanand chancellor, ITM Group of Institutionsand ITM Universities.

The programme aims to facilitate indus-try-academia partnership to develop com-petent professionals in the housing financeindustry and is aligned to the Government’sflagship initiatives of creating affordable

housing and accomplishing Housing for All. ITM Skills Academy will provide qual-

ity education in the financial sector, whilestudents undergo an industry-linked intern-ship at Aadhar Housing Finance Ltd duringthe course duration, which will give thema holistic understanding of the industry aswell as the business. The first batch of a qual-ified housing finance professionals trainedin various functions will be absorbed byAadhar branches in the identified tier II andIII locations post successful completion ofthe one-year programme. It will compriseof six months residential programme at theITM campus, followed by six months ofinternship at a Aadhar branch/office.

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� �����2������Les Roches Global

Hospitality Education iscalling for applications ofIndian students to itsundergraduate pro-grammes in the fields ofhospitality, tourism and eventmanagement. Founded in 1954,Les Roches is a private institu-tion based on the Swiss modelof experiential learning, prepar-ing entrepreneurial and innov-ative graduates across its cam-puses in Switzerland, Spain, theUS, China and Jordan.

Les Roches transfers busi-ness and leadership skillsthrough a dynamic curriculumthat blends rigorous academicswith hands-on practice. Globalinternship opportunities arebuilt into the curriculum, pro-viding students with valuablework experience and first-handindustry knowledge.

Eligibility: Students musthave completed a minimum of12 years of education with atleast three years of high schooleducation supported by an offi-cial certificate/diploma.

English qualification: Ifyou aren’t a native English speak-er, or if you haven’t spent the last3 years in an English mediumschool, students will requireTOEFL score of minimum 525points for the paper based testand 70 on the Internet BasedTest (IBT). Cambridge FirstCertificate Exam (FCE) withGrade C. IELTS, with an over-all band score of 5.5 and at least5.0 in each discipline. The schoolmay require a phone or personalinterview before admission intothe programme.

Last date to apply:Applicants for the next summerintake in July must apply by May15, 2017. For more information,log on towww.lesroches.edu/admissions.

��! �����The University of Sheffield,

UK, invites applications forBMedSci (Hons) Orthopticcourse starting in September2017. This three-year full timevocational degree includes the-oretical teaching and practicalclinical experience necessaryfor professional practise as anorthoptist. The students go onclinical placements in eyedepartments at hospitals acrossthe UK, Ireland and Gibraltar.The degree is approved by theHealth and Care ProfessionsCouncil.

Eligibility: Minimum 75

per cent marks in Class XIIwith 75 per cent in any one outof Biology or Human Biology,Maths, Chemistry or Physics.International Baccalaureate stu-dents should have 32 points, 6in either higher level Biology,Maths, Chemistry or Physics ,Biology is preferred. Studentsfrom EU and international stu-dents will require IELTS 7.0 witha minimum of 6.5 in each com-ponent.

Fee: International studentswill be required to pay a tuitionfee of £20,470 per year.

Last date: The last date toapply is June 30, 2017. For fur-ther information, log on to [email protected].

!���!����������International Institute of

Health Management ResearchDelhi invites application foradmission to its PG Diploma inHealth Management(PGDHM).

Eligibility Requirements:Bachelor’s degree in any disci-pline with a minimum of 50 percent marks in the aggregate.They should have taken any oneof the Management AptitudeTest like CAT/MAT/XAT/ATMA/ GMAT/CMAT.Candidates appearing at thefinal year examination of theBachelor’s degree or waiting forthe results of their final yeardegree examinations in 2017may also apply.

Selected candidates will begiven provisional admission.They will be required to produceevidence of their graduationwithin two months of admis-sion. For working executives,they are exempted from writtenManagement Aptitude Test butaspirants should have a mini-mum of two years relevant workexperience in the healthcaresector.

Last date: The candidatescan apply online till July 31 athttp://delhi.iihmr.org/how-to-apply. The group discussion andinterviews will be held from June12-13 and July 12, 2017. The aca-demic session will start from July17, 2017.

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The Graduate Management AdmissionCouncil (GMAC), governing body of

the GMAT and NMAT, recentlyannounced the launch of third edition ofNMATPrep, an online practice tests toassist aspirants in preparing for the NMATexam. It is created with the same look andfeel as the main NMAT by GMAC test withpast NMAT by GMAC retired questionsto ensure that the candidates understandthe format, structure and length of the testetc. It offers the test taker the followingadvantages:�Each test has 120 questions in the same

structure as the actual NMAT.�Get one practice test of 120 questions freeto familiarise yourself with test structure.�Get simulative experience through onlinepractice tests using past NMAT questions.�Buy the exam pack and get two morepractice tests of 240 questions with 120 offi-cial never-before-seen questions frompast NMAT tests for �499 plus taxes.�Answer explanation and scaled scores areprovided so that candidates can get theinsights on level of their preparedness.

The NMATPrep online practice testsare available at www.nmat.org.in.

The Training.com, a multi-modallearning platform by NIIT, and

IIM Calcutta has announced the firstbatch of the Executive Programmein Digital and Social MediaMarketing Strategy to help build agreat career in the field of digital mar-keting. This is the first managementprogramme with live virtual classesby IIM Calcutta which is madeavailable on training.com. The six-month programme focuses on pro-viding in-depth knowledge on dig-ital and social media marketing and

analytics which will help in planningand implementing the social mediastrategy to create awareness and ulti-mately drive sales.

The classes will be held twice aweek. The programme is divided intothree modules. The first modulewould be delivered online on train-ing.com platform over 10 weeks. Thenext two modules will be conduct-ed at IIM Calcutta campus. The twocampus visits would be of one-weekduration each. The programme isaimed at marketing, advertising,

brand, product and sales execu-tives. It is also relevant to entrepre-neurs, e-commerce and freelanceexecutives. Those who are interest-ed to apply should be a graduate fromrecognised institute in any disciplineand should have a minimum two ormore years of full time work expe-rience in media, advertising, start-ups, social or digital media, e-com-merce or related domains.

For more information, log on tohttps://www.training.com/digital-marketing-courses-online/epdsmms.

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Srathclyde BusinessSchool, Glasgow is delightedto offer full time MBA appli-cants Female Leader of theFuture Scholarships — one toapplicants from Asia/Africaand the other to those fromEuropean/Americas.

Candidates mustdemonstrate through theirideas, experience andachievements that they are anexcellent team player, with astrong vision for the future.Leadership/managementskills or potential, overallquality of the applicationand financial need will alsobe considered. Value —£10,000

Eligibility: The awardwill be judged on a 1000word statement supplied byeach candidate that shouldstate which scholarship youwish to be considered for andshould clearly articulate howyou meet the scholarshipcriteria.

Please note: We areunable to consider candidateswho do not hold an offer ofa place on the programme.Students already registeredon the programme are inel-igible to apply. The success-ful candidates for the full-time awards will be notifiedby the end of July 2017.Awards will automaticallybe deducted from tuitionfees.

Applicationdeadline: May 31, 2017

For further informa-tion contact: [email protected]

For the academic year2017/2018, University ofLugano is offering 60International grants of CHF4’000 each. The merit basedgrants are given to the stu-dents admitted to the firstyear of a USI master pro-gramme starting inSeptember 2017.International students areeligible to apply.

Eligibility: Applicantsmust have obtained theBachelor’s degree (passed allthe exams and defended thethesis) by July 31, 2017 witha cumulative grade pointaverage of at least 80/100.

Applicants must havebeen admitted to the firstyear of a USI Master pro-gramme beginning inSeptember 2017.Applications from studentsenrolled in a USI Masterbefore September 1, 2017will not be considered.

Entrance requirement:Applicants must have theirbachelor’s degree.

English languagerequirement: Applicantswhose first language is notEnglish are required to pro-vide evidence of proficiencyin English at the higher levelrequired by the university.

Application deadline:The deadline for the sub-mission of the applications isJuly 31, 2017.

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In a bid to boost skill based employ-ment via entrepreneurship, the Ministry of Skill

Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) signedan MoU with Bhartiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST). Itwill help nurture the under-privileged residing in therural hinterlands, and assist them to become entre-preneurs through effective mentorship. The collab-oration seeks to provide mentor development servicesto the officials suggested by the ministry for pro-moting and setting up micro and rural businesses.

“Training, Research and Consultancy will be thekey parameters to boost this endeavor. Mentor train-ing will be provided at skill development centers, IITs,polytechnics, universities and other places for sup-porting entrepreneurship, self-employment and cre-

ating more jobs,” said Dr KP Krishnan, SecretaryMinistry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

Both the parties will promote and develop thementioning ecosystem through training, research andconsultancy with the objective of empowering under-served entrepreneurs and help them set up micro andrural business; Develop the mentor training ecosys-tem in skill development centres, ITIs, polytechnics,universities and other alliances (related to Ministryof SDE) for supporting entrepreneurship, self-employment and creating further jobs; This MoU issigned for one year after which it can be furtherextended with mutual consent; Both the parties wouldmake efforts to determine the final proposal withworkplan within eight weeks of signing the MoU.

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Esri India Technologies Ltd,India has launched the third edi-tion of its annual GIS contestmApp Your Way AppDevelopment Challenge 3.0. Anapplication (mobile or web) devel-

opment challenge, itis open to all thestudents associatedwith the institutions

that are users of Geospatial orArcGIS technology.

The challenge has three phas-es: Phase 1: Idea submission andselection Phase 2: App develop-ment and screening Phase 3:National level presentation andfinal judgement

The challenge offers an exclu-sive opportunity for institutes and

students to implement new ideasvia meaningful GIS enabled appli-cations that are focused on largerbenefit to society and have a busi-ness and citizen impact. The bestthree teams with innovative andimpactful applications will berewarded with national level recog-nition in addition to winning fas-cinating prizes.

Manipal Global EducationServices (MaGE) and DeakinUniversity, Australia haveannounced a strategic alliance tostart education and training pro-grams and establish Data Scienceand Cyber Security Centre ofExcellence. The Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) was signedbetween Professor Jane denHollander AO, Vice-Chancellorand President of Deakin Universityand A P Ramabhadran, Senior VicePresident, Manipal Global

Education Services.This marks the coming togeth-

er of two dominant professionaleducation providers to formulateand derive solutions to valuablecorporate and societal problemsand construct new machine learn-ing technologies to interrogaterelevant data.

The scope of this engagementinvolves solving sector specific bigdata problems, developing newknowledge and practices in newcomplex problems and bringing

methodological consistency thatare particularly relevant to theIndian context.

Speaking on the occasion, DrH Vinod Bhat, Vice ChancellorManipal University said: “ManipalUniversity and Deakin have alwaysenjoyed strong collaborative rela-tionship. With the signing of theMoU, the relationship with Deakindeepens by ushering in an era ofprofessional education partner-ship along with the strong univer-sity relationship.”

#+�&������������+ �� �� ��� �5)���2�� ������?�������������������%������ ����������������������� �����������2� ���$��1�������What programmes are you offering?

We offer comprehensive variety ofcourses. We have six academic colleges.Students can explore more than 180 aca-demic programmes. Besides regular degreeprogrammes, the university provides off-beat degree courses in subjects likeAgriculture, Music, Fine Arts, Viticulture,Equestrian, Child and Family DevelopmentProgrammes and Oenology as per indus-try needs.�What are the admission criteria?

Admission criteria for internationalstudents differs from programme to pro-gramme. For example, a GMAT score of600 or more is compulsory for a studentto get admission into the College ofBusiness. Requirements for undergraduatesare: high GPA, ACT score of 24 or SATscore of 1180 and IELTS score of 5.5 orTOEFL score of 61. For Graduates GREscore of 290 or GMAT score of 500 andTOEFL of 79 or 6.0 banded IELTS scoreis required.�Is there any aid/scholarship providedfor Indian students?

The Scholarships for Indian studentspursuing a programme at MSU areMissouri Outreach Graduate Opportunity(MOGO) Scholarship and GraduateAssistantship. MOGO Scholarship providesa partial reduction of out-of-State fees forfull-time graduate students who are notMissouri residents. This scholarship isavailable to students admitted into an eli-gible graduate programme. Graduate assist-antships are available in many areas to assiststudents with expenses and to enhancelearning while studying for advanceddegrees at the university. �The reason why students should chooseMSU?

It offers flexible programme to matcha student’s interest with full accreditationat a reasonable fee compared to other USuniversities. The campus offers manyopportunities for students to get involvedand reach out to their community and helpstudents find their place and follow theirpassion.�Tell us about the facilities.

It provides several unique facilities toits students that include a world-classlibrary, a brand new recreational centre,Bear Line Shuttles and dedicated academ-ic facilities. Students can choose from morethan 300 student organisations and groupsbased on culture, religion, politics, social-ising, etc.�Benefits for Indian students?

The curriculum provides them witha global perspective to work in a variety ofdifferent domains. The university providesstudents with a very friendly, encouragingand helpful campus offering many social

opportunities to meet and develop rela-tionships with people. Housing facilities oncampus and off-campus are a boon toIndian students. �Now that President Donald Trump hastaken over, will it affect the footfall ofIndian students?

Since the Protecting the Nation fromTerrorist Entry into the United States byForeign Nationals signed by PresidentTrump on January. 27, Missouri hasworked closely with Indian students. Wemeet on one to one basis with them to pro-vide guidance and support. This hasresulted into no declination in number ofIndian students. We have also spoken togroups of students, stressing their value andour desire for them to continue their stud-ies here. The university values the presenceof all of Indian students and we remaincommitted to their safety and peace ofmind. Going forward too we expect sim-ilar confidence amongst the students whowish to study with us and are quite certainthat they would have no issues withregards to their immigration.�What advice will you give to studentsto crack interviews?

Making way to an interview of a for-eign university itself is an achievement. Thegoal for students is to show who they are,how they have been doing, what are theirfuture plans with passion and clarity.Students need to connect with their inter-viewer and share their passion with themwith honesty. Students should expressthemselves in polite respectful manner toreceive a similar behaviour from the inter-viewers.

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From time to time Statebank of India invites appli-cation for the post of

Probationary Officer (PO) inState Bank of India. SBI PO isone of the most lucrative oppor-tunities for young graduates whowish to enter the banking pro-fession.

�����������Preliminary Exam�Main Exam�Group Discussion/Exercise andInterview

Preliminary exam consistingof objective online test of 100questions needs to be complet-ed within 60 minutes. The sec-tion on English Language willhave 30 questions and the quan-titative and reasoning abilitysection will have 35 questions.Each question will carry onemark and for every wronganswer one fourth of the marksallotted to that question willdeducted. Thus, candidates needto answer the questions whilemanaging both Time andAccuracy.

������The main exam is segregat-

ed into two stages:�Objective Test�Descriptive test: The objectivetest will be of 200 marks with 155questions. It needs to be com-pleted within 180 minutes.

The objective test includesfour sections. Every section hasseparate time limits. �Reasoning and computer apti-tude: No of questions 45; total

marks 60; time durations 60�Data Analysis andInterpretation: No of questions35; total marks 60; time 45�General/Economy/BankingAwareness: No of questions 40,total marks; 40; time 35�English language: No of ques-tions 35, total marks 40; time 40.Total No of questions 155, totalmarks 200; time 180 (threehours)�The candidates need to quali-fy each of the sections by secur-ing qualifying marks as decidedby the bank.�For every correct answer thecandidate will be awarded onemark and for every wronganswer one fourth marks will bededucted.�Immediately after the comple-tion of the Objective examina-tion, the descriptive examinationwill be administrated

Descriptive exam comprises50 marks. The section has a timelimit of 30 minutes.�Candidates are required toqualify in the descriptive test bysecuring pass marks as decidedby the bank.�The test is conducted inEnglish language tojudge the writingskill (essay andletter writing) ofcandidates

After thecompletion ofthe main exam,successful can-didates will becalled for groupdiscussion/exer-

cise by the bank. The final selec-tion depends on the cumulativescore of the mains, group dis-cussion and interview.

����������The Prelims exam is aboutmaintaining the balance of speedand accuracy. Focus first onaccuracy, while practising. Youcan always increase your speedlater.�This stage of the exam is qual-ifying in nature so you need toclear the sectional and overall cutoff. Attempt questions suffi-ciently to clear your sectional cutoff correctly in your weakerareas and cover up for the gapwith areas that you are strong at.

For example, there is nopoint wasting 15-20 minutes onEnglish and doing only 10-12right when you can score 15-20or more marks in reasoning inthe same time.�Sincere and serious study withplanning is the most importantpart. With potentially lakhs ofapplicants, it will not be a cake-walk to crack the SBI PO.�Read English books, maga-

zines and newspapers tokeep yourself updated

with new vocabu-lary and phrases.�Attempt onlinemock tests reg-ularly toanalyse speedand accuracy.�Strong basics

are critical forthe prelims. Do

revise them first.

�Keep yourself motivated. Don’tthink anything negative aboutthe examination. Similarly don’tbe overconfident about yourperformance.

��������������Generally students tend topanic during the exam due tolack of practice. Practise enoughto avoid this issue.�During the exam you need tounderstand your strengths andweaknesses. First attempt thosequestions that you feel you arecomfortable at. Then attempt thetime consuming sections.

�����������Academic qualification, (as

on 01-07-2017): Candidatesmust be graduates in any disci-pline from a recognised col-lege/university. Final year/semes-ter students are also eligible pro-vided they are able to produceproof of having passed the grad-uation examination on or before01-07-2017.

Age limit: In the general cat-egory, students between 21 to 30years can appear in the exami-nation although age relaxation isapplicable to the students fromOBC (of three years) and SC/ST(of five years) category.

Limitations to appear inexam: For general category can-didates maximum permissible isfour attempts. For persons withdisabilities, OBC and SC/ST it isseven.

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Swashbuckling West Indies openerChris Gayle returned to form with

a blistering 38-ball 77-run innings topower Royal Challengers Bangalore toa massive 213 -2 against GujaratLions in their IPL match here onTuesday.

Invited to bat, Gayle and skipperKohli gave Bangalore a blistering startas they amassed 45 in the first six oversand then went on to forge a 122-runopening partnership off 76 balls at theSaurashtra Cricket AssociationStadium. Gayle's innings was studdedwith five boundaries and seven mas-sive sixes, while Kohli blasted sevenfours and one six in his 50-ball innings.

Kohli took the early initiative ashe picked up a boundary each in thefirst two overs before picking DhawalKulkarni for a special treatment,blasting three fours of the third over.

Gayle, who has been out of form,meanwhile completed his 10,000 runsin twenty20 cricket with a single offBasil Thampi in the fourth over.

The West Indies batsman thenblasted one over mid-off to score hisfirst six of the innings. He then sentyoung mystery spinner Shivil Kaushikfor another maximum over long-off inthe seventh over.

Gayle then exploded with suc-cessive fours and a six off left-armspinner Ravindra Jadeja. He alsoblasted the last delivery of the over fora maximum but he was brilliantlycaught by Brendon McCullum at thelong-off boundary.

But the West Indies batsman sur-vived after replays showed thatMcCullum's hat had touched theboundary line.

Gayle made Lions pay as hebrought up his fifty with a massive sixover long on into the top-tier offKaushik in the 10th over and thenclobbered Dwayne Smith for anoth-

er six as RCB reached the 100-mark.The dashing opener sent Smith

out of the park again for another sixin the fourth ball over long-on as RCBpicked 17 runs off the over.

In the 13th over, Basil Thampifinally dismissed Gayle when hetrapped him leg before to break thepartnership.

Kohli, however, continued to scoreruns and reached his 28th IPL fifty inthe 15th over with a couple of runs off

Kaushik. He thenblasted a towering six

over wide of long-on in the 4th ball.Newman Travis Head (30) then

sent the last ball for another maximumover deep midwicket.

In the next over, Kulkarnireturned to dismiss Kohli, who holedout to deep midwicket with Smith tak-ing the catch at the boundary line.

Head and Kedar Jadhav (38) thenprovided the late charge to take RCBacross the 200-mark. While Jadhavcracked five fours and two sixes,Head hit two fours and a six in hisinnings.

����� �@��?'*'�

Delhi Daredevils will beaiming to display more

impact in their battingdepartment as they face a for-midable challenge fromdefending championsSunrisers Hyderabad in anIPL encounter, here onWednesday.

It will be an arduous taskfor the Daredevils as they facea team that has both current'Orange Cap' holder DavidWarner (235 runs) and 'PurpleCap' owner BhuvneshwarKumar (15 wickets).

Both teams met with con-trasting fate during their pre-vious encounters withSunrisers edging past KinghsXI Punjab in an exciting lastover finish while Daredevilscouldn't stop KKR fromreaching the target in anoth-er final over face-off.

The points table is at anascent stage with Sunriserson six points from five gamessitting at the third positionwhile Daredevils is lyingfourth with four points.

In a fast-paced league, acouple of matches can com-pletely turn things around.

For Delhi, it will beimportant to have consistentimpact in their batting. Theyhave had forceful perfor-mances at the start of theinnings and at the end but thetwo games — vs RCB andKKR that they have lost hasbeen primarily due to theirinability to force the pace dur-ing middle overs.

Delhi boasts of some ofthe spirited batsmen in thetournament in its ranks inSanju Samson, who scored acentury the other day, SamBillings, Rishabh Pant, CoreyAnderson and Chris Morris.

Though the Delhi bats-men have been in good formespecially Rishabh Pant, thisedition's only centurion SanjuSamson and all-rounder

Chris Morris, problem hasbeen consistency.

The slowish pitch at theUppal with an in-formBhuvneshwar and Afghansensation Rashid Khan couldpose a few problems.

It will be interesting if anout of sorts Angelo Mathewsgets a second game.

Delhi's bowling, com-prising skipper Zaheer Khan,Morris, Shahbaz Nadeem andPat Cummins, besidesAnderson and Amit Mishrahave played a vital role in theteam's success so far.

They need to come upwith another accomplishedeffort in order to stop an in-form Warner, who has showna different side to his battingadapting to vagaries of sub-continental pitches.

For Hyderabad, AshishNehra may make a comebackin place of Barinder Sran,who was taken to task byManan Vohra.

Yuvraj Singh would like tomake amends for his lastmatch's failure while presenceof Moises Henriques as seam-er all-rounder and Ben Cuttingas the back-up lends the teammuch-needed solidity.

����� �@��?'*'�

Sunrisers Hyderabad's pacespearhead Bhuvneshwar

Kumar said he was not worriedabout the onslaught launchedby Manan Vohra of Kings XIPunjab in their IPL matchhere tonight, as he is "used toit".

Bhuvneshwar finishedwith excellent figures of5/19, as Sunrisers regis-tered a five-run win, over-

coming a belligerent 50-ball95 by Vohra.

"My heart is still pound-ing. T20 is a game where youmust expect the unexpected.I've been doing this job forSunrisers and I knew I had tobowl the 19th over. I'm used to

it and I believed in myself,"Man of the MatchBhuvneshwar said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

He added, "When I bowledthe 16th or 17th over, I knewhe was in good nick. I wasn'tworried but wanted to make aplan instead. Warner and Iplanned to bowl straightyorkers and it worked."

Sunrsiers skip-per David Warnersounded relievedto have a bowlerl i k eBhuvneshwar inhis attack.

Warner said,"Credit to Mananfor playing likethat. Credit to Bhuvi

too, he was unbelievable.Manan made it look easy whenhe cleared the ropes. He had todig in for his team.Unfortunately, only one teamcan win. It's great to haveBhuvi in the shed at the backend and he executed perfect-ly."

Maxwell said it was"criminal" to have

lost the matchafter Vohra's

knock."It was

an outstand-ing game,made by agreat innings

by Vohra.Unfortunately,

he didn't have

help from the rest of us. It wasdefinitely chase-able. We didwell in the middle with the ballbut let it slip in the back end.

"To play an innings likethat in a losing cause is crim-inal. He's a superstar. A bigscore like that was around thecorner for him," Maxwell said.

Regarding Bhuvneshwar'sexploits, Maxwell said, "Weknew Bhuvi was going to swingit around a bit. We didn'texpect the wicket to be so upand down and he bowled goodlengths.

"We had planned for himand Rashid, but giving sevenwickets to them probably didus in. We wanted to take offand get 60 in the powerplay,but it didn't come off."

����� �@��?'*'�

Kings XI Punjab have lost their thirdmatch on the trot but batsman Manan

Vohra feels there is no need to press thepanic button just yet as the side will regainmomentum during its home matches.

Vohra's 95-run knock went in vainagainst Sunrisers Hyderabad and the visi-tors went down by five runs in a chase of160. It was Punjab's third successive loss butVohra denied that his team is under anypressure as of now.

"This is still early stage of the tourna-ment. But we would like to get back the win-ning momentum once we are back to ourhome ground. Hopefully, by god's grace,things will happen," he said.

Punjab will be playing their first homegame of the season in Mohali on April 28against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Reflecting on the team's performancelast night, Vohra said it was a good bowl-ing effort to restrict Hyderabad to 160.

"...Because the wicket was batting-friendly, it was slower on one side. Bowlersdid their job as well as the fielders," he point-ed out.

"We just lost our way in between, in theearly stages of the chase. I got a great oppor-tunity to finish the game, but I could not do

that. I am pretty sad about this," Vohra saidin the post-match press conference.

With seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumarscalping five wickets, Sunrisers Hyderabadput up a superb all-round show after cap-tain David Warner led with a 70-run knock."David Warner is a legend of this game. Hejust changed gears. Still, I think 160 was nota bad total to stop them," Vohra said.

Hyderabad's wicket-keeper-batsmanNaman Ojha said his team could have wonmore easily. "We dropped too many chances.I think we should have taken it. I think itwas a slow and low wicket. We thought 160was a good total on this wicket because theball kept low," he said.

����� ��������

Tainted pacer S Sreesanth'splea for a review of his life

ban has been "summarilyrejected" by the BCCI, whichsays it will not compromise onits zero tolerance policytowards corruption. The BCCIhas informed Sreesanth of itsdecision in a letter. The letterwas sent by BCCI CEO RahulJohri after the cricketer wroteto the COA appealing forrevocation of his ban in the2013 spot-fixing scandal. "TheBCCI has informed him thathis life ban stays and he won'tbe allowed to play any form ofcompetitive cricket. He hadalso appealed in a local courtin Kerala and our legal coun-sel will be replying," a seniorBCCI official told PTI.

"The BCCI has alwaysmaintained zero tolerancetowards corrupt practices. Nocourt has exonerated Sreesanthof fixing charges. It was chargesof his links with Underworldthat were dismissed by thelower court," the source said.

It was made clear thatSreesanth, who intended toplay club cricket in UK, won't

be allowed and the BCCI hasnow shut the case.

On Monday, the BCCIsubmitted a counter-affidavitregarding this issue beforeKerala High Court in responseto a petition filed by Sreesanth.The pacer had challenged thecontinuation of the life banimposed on him by the BCCIdespite being exonerated by aDelhi court from the chargesof match-fixing against him.

In a affidavit, BCCI said"the decision of the SessionsCourt to acquit the petitionerfrom criminal charges has noimpact whatsoever on thedecision of the internal disci-plinary committee of the BCCIto ban the petitioner fromplaying cricket tournamentsorganized by the BCCI and/orits affiliates."

����� ��������

His finishing skills called into question by critics,Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday received firm back-

ing from spin legend Shane Warne, who feels that formerIndia captain doesn't need to "prove anything to anyone".

Removed from captaincy before the start of the 10thedition of the ongoing IndianPremier League, Dhoni so farhas had a quiet tournamentfor Rising Pune Supergiant byhis standards, scoring only 61runs in five games.

Warne on Tuesday tookto twitter to back Dhoni, whohas been a phenomenal lim-ited-overs cricketer.

"@msdhoni does not haveto prove anything to anyone,he's class & a wonderful play-er in all formats. MS is also agreat captain & inspires!,"Warne wrote on his twitterpage.

Dhoni's strike-rate in the10th IPL has been a dismal 87.14 with an average of shadeover 15. He has managed to hit only two sixes in five games.

While he is still the undisputed No 1 keeper-batsmanin the limited-overs format but inconsistent form over thepast year has led to debate if he is still a potent match-winner.

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Things have changed since Barcelona's historiccomeback against Paris Saint-Germain in thelast round of the Champions League.

When Barcelona routed PSG 6-1 to reverse a4-0 first-leg deficit in the last 16, its confidence washigh from winning four games in a row and outscor-ing opponents 15-3 before that second leg.

This time, it has to overcome a 3-0 first-leg lossagainst Juventus in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.But without the boost of a winning streak.Barcelona has lost three of its seven games since thatspectacular victory over PSG at the Camp Nou.

From leading the Spanish league by one pointbefore beating PSG, Barcelona has dropped to sec-ond, three points behind, and hasn't been playing well.

It lost at Malaga 0-2 before the defeat to Juventusin Turin, and had to claw its way past Real Sociedad3-2 at the weekend.

"There's only one option: Attack, attack, attack,"Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said.

"This is similar to the PSG match but in theo-ry we need to score fewer goals. Juve will have theirchances, too, so our objective is to score five times."

He said fans shouldn't leave in the 80th minutebecause they could miss another historic comeback.Barcelona scored three goals after the 87th minutein the win over PSG.

"We are the same team and we can repeat that,"said Neymar, who led Barcelona with two goals andtwo assists in the victory over PSG last month. "Wehave to give everything we have. We believe thatwe can come back again."

A contribution from Lionel Messi would behelpful, too. He's scored a pair in three of his lastfive games. He netted twice each against Valencia,Sevilla, and Real Sociedad, but failed to score in thelosses to Malaga and Juventus.

Juventus pays no mind to Messi's middlingform. "These guys are like sharks," Juventus defend-er Giorgio Chiellini said of Messi and Co. "If youshow a sign of nerves, they smell the blood and fin-ish you off.

"Instead, you have to push them back as far asyou can, double up when they are in possession, andshut down the lines between defense and midfield."

If Messi scores twice against Juventus, he willreach his 500th goal in official matches withBarcelona. He would be the first player to reach thatmark with the club. Messi has played 575 gamessince making his debut for Barcelona in 2004.

Barcelona is trying to return to the ChampionsLeague semifinals for the first time since beatingJuventus in the 2015 final to win its fifth title.

"We must take charge of the game," Barcelonamidfielder Andres Iniesta said. "That's our mentality.We need a perfect game, tactically, mentally, andphysically."

Juventus, looking for its third Champions

League title, is coming off three straight victories.It has lost only one of its last 19 matches, winning16 of them, and leads Serie A.

It remains unclear if Juventus will be able tocount on forward Paulo Dybala, who scored twicein the first leg. Dybalal hurt his ankle at the week-end in the 2-0 win at Pescara.

Barcelona will have back midfielder SergioBusquets after he missed the first leg because of asuspension.

�������������G������ ������Diminutive, dynamic and armed with a dead-

ly left foot, Paulo Dybala could be a prototype ofa Lionel Messi clone.

The similarities between the two Argentines,who face off in Wednesday's Champions Leaguequarter-final second leg between Juventus andBarcelona, have been noted by Dybala's strike part-ner Gonzalo Higuain among others.

The fact that Argentina now looks for the next

Messi rather than the next Diego Maradona is asgood a testament to the five-time world player ofthe year's achievements as any.

Hundreds of talented number 10s were chris-tened as Maradona's heir before Messi turned eventhe "Hand of God" into distant memory.

"Messi is the best, he shows it every day," saidHiguain, who joined Juventus in a fractious trans-fer from Napoli for 90 million euros ($96 million)at the start of the season and has played alongside

Messi for most of his 68 Argentina caps."Paulo is still young. He is 23 and has the world

at his feet," he told Premium Sport.The younger man won the battle in the first leg

last week with a quickfire first-half double asJuventus claimed a commanding 3-0 lead.

However to win the war, the Italian championsmust resist for 90 minutes at the Camp Nou to pre-vent another famous Barcelona comeback.

The Catalans overcame a record 4-0 first-legdeficit by beating Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 in thesecond leg at home in the last 16.

"It's one of my greatest nights in football," saidDybala after the first leg. "Let's not ruin it now."

Last week in Turin was only the second timeDybala and Messi have graced the same pitch.

The first time was a far unhappier experiencefor Dybala as he was sent off on his first start forArgentina. A tearful Dybala was consoled and bailedout by his captain that night as Messi scored the onlygoal in a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win overUruguay last September.

G����G��!������"Messi told me to be calm, that these things hap-

pen and that it was the referee's fault," Dybala saidafterwards.

Yet, even a red card brought comparisons toMessi as he too was sent off for the only time inhis career just minutes into his Argentina debut.

Dybala's big break in the national team couldyet come due to another piece of uncharacteristicMessi indiscipline.

Messi is banned for three of Argentina's fourremaining games of a floundering World Cup qual-ifying campaign, with Dybala clearly the most nat-ural replacement.

Even despite seeing red that night in Mendoza,Dybala achieved a long-awaited "dream". "My dreamwas to play a one-two with him and I managed todo that," he said. "It is incredible to play by his side."

Higuain knows more than most about the joysand pressures of playing next to Messi.

The former Real Madrid man is often deridedas the reason Messi has failed to win a major inter-national trophy having missed gilt-edged chancesin the 2014 World Cup and 2015 and 2016 CopaAmerica finals.

Matching Messi is an almost impossible task.At 23, he had already won the Ballon d'Or and isnow just two goals off a remarkable 500 forBarcelona. However, Higuain recognises a commontalent and points to Messi's consistency as the goalfor his teammate to reach.

"He has the characteristics to become one of thebest players in the world. "After getting to the topso quickly, it is not easy to stay there for many years.

"There will be many ups and downs and youhave to always maintain an equilibrium and not lis-ten to the critics or the compliments."

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The last time Fabinho did not play forMonaco, the French league leader

was thrashed by Paris Saint-Germain 4-1in the League Cup final this month.

The midfielder won't be playing onWednesday either, when Monaco hostsBorussia Dortmund in their ChampionsLeague quarterfinal. Monaco leads 3-2from the first leg in Germany, but itschances of advancing without Fabinho,

who is serving a suspension, have dropped.He's that important.With him, Monaco has lost just once

in 2017 and won 75 percent of its match-es in all competitions this season.

His partnership with TiemoueBakayoko in midfield has been key asMonaco became Europe's most efficientattack. A technically gifted holding mid-fielder who started at right back, Fabinhohas also been contributing offensively, scor-ing 10 goals in 46 appearances.

"When he is not there, it makes a hugedifference," said former Nice coach EricRoy, now a TV pundit.

"In Monaco, they sometimes playwith four attacking players at the sametime. They need two midfielders coveringa lot of ground. As soon as there is onemissing, the team becomes a bit unbal-anced."

Against Dortmund, Fabinho is likely tobe replaced by Joao Moutinho, who part-nered Bakayoko in that big loss to PSG.Defender Djibril Sidibe is still out after anappendicitis operation while left backBenjamin Mendy has recovered from injury.

In addition to Fabinho's suspension,fatigue could also be a crucial factor againstDortmund. Monaco, which progressed tothe Champions League quarterfinals afterstarting its campaign in the third qualify-ing room, has already played 53 times thisseason. The club is still involved in theFrench Cup and has played five matchesover the past 15 days.

Fatigue and stress appeared to have aneffect on Monaco's performance in its pasttwo league games, when the French leagueleader had to rely on the individual bril-liance of Radamel Falcao to secure scrap-py but crucial wins.

"Every game will be like that until theend," manager Leonardo Jardim said. "Ifyou don't play in the Champions League,you play once a week. And perhaps we winthat match 3-0. If we progress in the

Champions League, it'll be that type of sce-nario. We'll have to play with rage to findsolutions and win."

Falcao 26 goals this season confirmedhis return to the highest level. Back to hisbest at the right time, he is expected to startalongside Kylian Mbappe, who has 15 goalsin his last 15 matches with Monaco.

HIGH SECURITYFollowing the explosions around

Borussia Dortmund's team bus which ledto the first-leg tie being postponed for aday, security has been reinforced inMonaco.

Monaco Interior Minister PatriceCellario told L'Equipe newspaper that localauthorities will make sure Borussia play-ers feel in the principality.

Monaco authorities will also receivethe support of about 350 French police offi-cers in support of local security personneldeployed in and outside the stadium.

"WE'RE NO DREAMERS"Dortmund has no new injury worries

ahead of its 100th Champions Leaguematch. Apart from the long-term injuredMario Goetze, Andre Schuerrle andSebastian Rode — as well as Marc Bartra,who was wounded in the bomb attack onthe team bus - manager Thomas Tuchel hasa full contingent to choose from.

"The team has been outstanding overthe past week," Dortmund chief executiveHans-Joachim Watzke said of the side'sreaction to the attack.

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Goals from Alexis Sanchez and MesutOzil ended Arsenal's run of four suc-

cessive away defeats with a scratchy 2-1 vic-tory over struggling Middlesbrough in theirPremier League clash on Monday.

The Gunners' performance was farfrom convincing but will still bring somerelief to their beleaguered manager ArseneWenger. There was a period after AlvaroNegredo scored an equaliser whenMiddlesbrough, who have won only fourleague games this season, looked capableof going on to claim their fifth scalp.

Arsenal are new seven points behindfourth-placed Manchester City with agame in hand, while Middlesbrough lie sixpoints from safety and have also played onegame fewer than most of the teams abovethem. At least Arsenal's trip to Teessidebegan far more smoothly than their pre-vious away game at Crystal Palace whenthey were caught in London traffic andarrived shortly before the kick-off.

They reached Middlesbrough'sRiverside Stadium with plenty of time tospare, yet there was still a lack of directionon the pitch as they searched for a route togoal in the opening stages.

Wenger had made the sort of selectiondecisions that he usually reserves for cupties against teams from lower divisions.

The French manager announced sixchanges from the team that lost 3-0 atPalace seven days earlier and, even moresignificantly, employed wing-backs along-side a defensive trio for the first time since1997. His tactical alterations did not pro-vide instant results, although they did enjoythe bulk of the early possession andOlivier Giroud's claims for a penalty whenhe was floored by Daniel Ayala certainlyhad some merit.

Arsenal's attacking difficulties were notunexpected because Middlesbrough went

into the game after conceding only 37 goals— two fewer than Wenger's under-per-forming side.

Marten de Roon headed past theArsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech midwaythrough the opening half, but was offside— Middlesbrough were unimaginativeand with 42 minutes gone, they werebehind. A foul by Adam Clayton on theedge of the area was a gift for Sanchez, theChilean star flighted his free-kick over thewall and inside the post.

It was his 19th Premier League goal ofthe season and only three fewer than theentire Middlesbrough team going into thisgame, so it was a surprise that the home sidesuddenly looked capable of producing aresponse in the second half.

Middlesbrough were immediately onthe front foot and levelled inside five min-utes after Sanchez lost possession.

The hosts broke quickly down the rightthrough Stewart Downing, whose cross wasmissed by Laurent Koscielny beforeNegredo steered it past Cech.

Suddenly, the game burst into life, withDowning heavily involved. The formerEngland winger wasted an excellent oppor-tunity when George Friend's cross wasallowed to reach him at the far post, thenthe pair combined again to carve out achance for Ayala. Downing's cross washeaded back towards goal by Friend andAyala looked certain to score before hedirected his header too close to Cech.

Arsenal's response was impressive inthe 63rd minute as Sanchez's through ballpicked out Ozil, but goalkeeper BradGuzan sensed the danger and did well tosave at the feet of the German international.

However, the outcome was different intheir next confrontation eight minutes later.

Sanchez was involved again with a crossthat was chested down by Aaron Ramsey,leaving Ozil with the chance to drillArsenal back in front from close range.

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Chelsea captain John Terry willend his 22-year association

with the London club at the endof the season, but the veterandefender wants to keep on playing.

The 36-year-old Terry hasdropped so far down the peckingorder at Chelsea that the last of his713 appearances came twomonths ago in the FA Cup. Thecenter back last played in theEnglish Premier League for theleader in November and hasalready started studying for coach-ing qualifications and learningPortuguese.

"The club and I have alwayshad a fantastic relationship, whichwill continue beyond my playingdays," Terry said in a statement onMonday. "We had some really pos-itive talks but with everythingtaken into careful consideration Ihave decided it's the right time forme to leave.

"I've always been consciousthat I depart at the right time, in

the right way, and I feel that theend of this season is the right timefor the club."

Although a managerial careerappears to be beckoning, Terrydoes not feel ready to hang up hisboots. The next move will bedecided "in due course," Terry said,with lucrative moves to China, theUnited Arab Emirates and UnitedStates obvious potential destina-tions. "I feel I still have plenty tooffer on the pitch but understandthat opportunities here at Chelseawill be limited for me. I'm eagerto carry on playing and so will belooking to continue with a newchallenge."

Having joined the youth ranksand then made his senior debut in1998, Terry was appointed captainin 2004. His physical presence,anticipation, and leadership qual-ities made him the outstanding fig-ure in Chelsea's defense as the clubenjoyed a run of trophy success.

On the continent, he collect-ed the Champions League in2012, despite being suspended for

the final, and the Europa Leaguethe following year. As the key cogin Chelsea's resurgence after its2003 takeover by Russian billion-aire Roman Abramovich, Terryhas also won the Premier Leaguefour times, the FA Cup five times,and the League Cup on three occa-sions.

"He has been an outstandingplayer, inspirational captain, andhas always demonstrated anexceptional commitment to thecause," Chelsea director MarinaGranovskaia said. "In that time,Chelsea has grown into one of theworld's top clubs and it is onlyright that John's contribution isrecognized. He will always beheld in the highest regard byeverybody at Stamford Bridgeand we look forward to welcom-ing him back in the future."

Terry held on to the Chelseacaptaincy despite being banned forfour matches and fined in 2012 forracially abusing Queens ParkRangers defender AntonFerdinand.

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