1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP ... · Union Housing and Urban Affairs...

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Even as Congress presidentRahul Gandhi renewed his

attack on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in the Rafaeldeal, a delegation of seniorCongress leaders met theCentral VigilanceCommissioner (CVC) onMonday and sought registra-tion of a case in the alleged cor-ruption in the fighter jet deal.

The meeting comes daysafter a Congress delegationmet the CAG and urged theapex auditor to prepare a reporton the alleged irregularities inthe deal and present it inParliament.

The BJP on the other hand

has hit back at Rahul and saidhe has been lying on the priceof the fighter jet and there wasa nexus between him and for-mer French President FrancoisHollande.

The BJP alleged Rahul isinvolved in a “conspiracy, inter-nationally” and the formerFrench President is part of the“nexus” to sabotage the Rafaledeal.

While Defence Minister

Nirmala Sitharaman spokeabout an “international dimen-sion” to Rahul’s attack on thePM over the deal and saidHollande’s comments were nota coincidence, Union MinisterGajendra Shekhawat allegingthat the UPA Government hadcalled off the multi-billion dol-lar deal after a private compa-ny linked to Robert Vadra wasnot chosen as a broker.

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Indian Navy officerCommander Abhilash Tomy,

who was stranded in the IndianOcean near Australia sinceFriday after his boat was dam-aged in a fierce storm, was res-cued by a French fishing ves-sel Osiris on Monday.

Tomy had suffered griev-ous spinal injury in the mishap.He is conscious and will beshifted to an Australian frigateexpected to reach the Frenchboat soon.

Participating in the GoldenGlobe Race (GGR)-solo sail-boat race around the world, the39-year-old officer’s boatThuriya was damaged in astorm as the main mast of thevessel was ripped off by near-ly 15-metre high waves, Navyspokesperson DK Sharma saidhere on Monday.

The mishap took placeabout 1,900 nautical miles fromPerth, Australia.

Australian RescueCoordination Centre at

Canberra coordinated the res-cue mission in cooperationwith many agencies, includingthe Australian Defence

Department and the IndianNavy.

Tomy was in the thirdposition in the race and sailedover 10,500 nautical miles inthe last 84 days, since July 1when the competition began.On Sunday, he managed to getin touch with the organisers ofthe race in France throughmessages and requested forhelp as he could not move onhis own.

“We are expecting anAustralian frigate to reach theOsiris soon and Tomy will beshifted to it. We will decide ifwe have to take him to Perth orChennai,” Sharma said.

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Benchmark BSE Sensex onMonday suffered its worst

single-day loss in sevenmonths, extending its fall for afifth day due to a meltdown inbanking and auto stocks on liq-uidity concerns and a rout inglobal markets.

The 30-share index tanked536.58 points or 1.46 per centto settle at a two-month low of36,305.02, logging its biggestsingle-day loss since February6 when it declined by 561.22points.

This is the weakest closingsince July 11 when it settled at

36,265.93. The index dropped a total

1,785.62 points or more than 5per cent in five sessions, wip-ing out �8.48 lakh crore of mar-ket wealth.

Factors like crude oil priceshitting a four-year high, liq-uidity concerns after defaults byIL&FS, the rupee retreating alow of 72.73 against the US dol-lar beset investors.

The broad-based Nifty ofthe National Stock Exchangecrashed below the 11,000 mark,declining by 168.20 points or1.51 per cent to end at10,974.90.

Detailed report on P10

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The strongman president ofthe Maldives on Monday

conceded defeat in elections,easing fears of a fresh politicalcrisis in the archipelago at thecentre of a battle for influencebetween India and China.

“The Maldivian peoplehave decided what they want.I have accepted the results,”President Abdulla Yameen saidin a televised address to theIndian Ocean nation a dayafter the joint Opposition can-didate, Ibrahim MohamedSolih, unexpectedly triumphed.

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Tall claims of “Digital-India”have apparently fallen flat at

Incredible India’s “ParyatanParv” organised in the heart ofnational capital’s RajpathLawns by the TourismMinistry, as many stalls show-casing the diversity of India andselling various indigenousproducts don’t have the facili-ty of digital or e-transactionand are accepting only cash asa mode of payment.

However, most of the vis-itors in the Parv were ready topurchase items using theirdebit or credit card.

Prime Minister NarendraModi’s vision regarding ‘cash-less economy’ seems to be a dis-

tant dream as in flagship ofParyatan Parv itself many ofthe stalls did not have thefacility of e-payment.

Joint Secretary, Ministryof Tourism, Suman Billa toldThe Pioneer, “We have advisedeverybody to have swipemachines, however, some of theTRIFED stalls and others donot have it. The swipe machinesare linked with the bankaccounts and it is on the part ofshopkeepers to have it and theGovernment doesn’t make itavailable to them. However weare working on the issue and itwould be resolved soon.”

Due to it many visitors whodo not carry cash are facing theproblem since the stalls don’thave Point of Sales (PoS)machines for e-transactions or

swapping of the bank cards.Adding to their woe is the factthat ATMs are not easily acces-sible in the area and neither anymobile ATM van can be seen.

Many of the stalls sellinghandlooms, handicrafts andother products from all acrossIndia do not have the facility ofe-transaction and are accepting

only cash. Though some of theshops or stalls which do nothave any e-mode of paymentsaid they manage to acceptthrough Paytm.

A shopkeeper namedNizamuddin running handi-craft stall of Uttar Pradeshselling world-famous carpetfrom Bhadohi and other hand-icraft products said he cannotaccept card payment as hedoesn’t have the POS facility.

He said it is not his shopalone but almost all shops ofUttar Pradesh do not have e-payment facility. Similarly, stallsboth of handicrafts and hand-looms like DC Rajasthan, DCOdisha, DC Jammu &Kashmir, DC handicraft Delhidon’t have the facility of POSpayment due to which many

buyers were left high and dry. There were about 15 stalls

of Tribes India organised withthe help of Tribal CooperativeMarketing DevelopmentFederation of India (TRIFED)while most of the stalls didn’thave the swipe machine or thePoS while rest said they havethe facility of e-paymentthrough swipe machine.

“On one hand theGovernment is promoting‘Digital India’ and ask us toswitch over to the e-mode ofpayments using BHIM Appand other modes while onother hands in its own festorganised by Ministry ofTourism many stalls do nothave PoS machines or other e-payment modes.

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Andhra Pradesh has toppedthe chart among States in

terms of the “Ease of LivingIndex” rankings under the AtalMission for Rejuvenation andUrban Transformation(AMRUT). Andhra Pradesh isfollowed by Odisha andMadhya Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh has alsooutperformed 28 other Statesand seven Union Territories(UTs) to be the best in India forconducting business.

Launched by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi in

June 2015, AMRUT aims atensuring robust sewage net-works, water supply and otherinfrastructure to improve thequality of life of people inurban areas.

Speaking at the NationalDissemination Workshop onEase of Living Index, 2018,Union Housing and UrbanAffairs Minister Hardeep SinghPuri said the index will encour-age all cities to move towardsan “outcome-based” approachto urban planning and man-agement, and promote healthycompetition among cities.

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In a sudden twist in a Sex CDscandal in which a Cabinet

Minister of ChhattisgarhGovernment is filmed andshowed in a compromisingposition, a Special CBI court onMonday sent ChhattisgarhState Congress presidentBhupesh Baghel to judicialcustody till Oct 8 after the CBI

charge-sheeted him and theleader refused to seek bail.

The sensational develop-ment in CD case has come justahead of Assembly polls in theState expected by Novemberand the Congress is putting itsall thoughts and strategy intoaction to vote out the BJPwhich is in power for the past15 years.

Upset by sudden move ofthe CBI to present a charge-

sheet in the court of special CBIjudge Sumit Kapoor againstBaghel and others, theCongress termed it a ‘purepolitical vendetta’ of the BJPand announced to launch aprotest on the issue on Tuesdayagainst personally targeting itsstate president.

Meanwhile, the BJP hassaid that State Governmenthas recommended a CBI probeinto the scandal specifically ondemand of the Congress andBaghel is paying the price forattempting to politically finishcareer of PWD Minister RajeshMunat by indulging into ‘belowthe belt’ politics.

The Sex CD case came intopublic in October last yearafter Chhattisgarh policearrested a senior journalist andBaghel’s close relative VinodVerma from his residence atNational Capital Region (NCR)Ghaziabad on charges of pos-sessing fake Sex CDs and theCBI had taken over investiga-tion of the controversial SexCD scam a month later.

The CBI also presentedcharge-sheet against Vermaand a businessman Vijay Bhatiabut they were granted bail butBaghel chose not to move anybail application in a bid to givethe arrest a big political colourto probably garner public sym-pathy with crucial election isjust round the corner.

The CBI court haddropped charges of extortionagainst Verma. The CBI hadalso listed a young businessmanRinku Khanuja as an accusedwho had committed suicide inRaipur earlier this year after theinvestigating agency interro-gated him.

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Union Minister for Railways and CoalPiyush Goyal and Chief Minister Raman

Singh jointly carried out bhoomi pujan and laidfoundation stone for four railway projectsworth �9952 crore here on Monday.

The project also encompasses laying of rail-way tracks measuring 345 kilometres.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)was also signed for laying railway track onKhatghora-Mungeli-Kawardha-Dongargarhsection at a cost of Rs 5950 crore measuring 255

kms.The event was held as part of ‘Atal Vikas

Yatra’ at Hardi Bazar, under Korba district inpresence of a large gathering on Monday.

Both Union Minister Piyush Goyal andChief Minister Raman Singh distributed mate-rials to around 3000 beneficiaries from Centreand State Government sponsored schemes.

State Commerce and Industries MinisterAmar Agrawal, Korba MP Dr Banshilal Mahato,Bilaspur MP Lakhan Lal Sahu among otherswere also present.

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Raipur: In presence of ChiefMinister Raman Singh andUnion Minister for Railwaysand Coal, Piyush Goyal, SouthEastern Coalfields Limited(SECL) and Government ofChhattisgarh signed aMemorandum of Understandingfor making the water from coalmines potable.

The MoU was signed byofficers of SECL and KorbaDistrict Collector MohammedAbdul Kaizer at Hardi Bazar onMonday. State Commerce andIndustry Minister AmarAgrawal, ParliamentarySecretary Lakhan Lal Dewangan,Korba MP Dr Banshilal Mahatoand Bilaspur MP Lakhan LalSahu were also present. SR

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India and China will sign aninternal security cooperation

agreement during the forth-coming visit of China’s Ministerof Public Security. The firstsuch agreement between thetwo countries will mark a newbeginning in bilateral relations,officials said on Monday.

Zhao Kezhi, China’sMinister of Public Security, isexpected to visit India nextmonth and hold meetings withHome Minister Rajnath Singhduring which they will discussvarious aspects of security coop-eration between the two coun-tries. During the visit of theChinese leader, an agreement oninternal security cooperationbetween the two countries willbe signed, a home Ministry offi-cial said.

The proposed pact is

expected to cover areas of intel-ligence sharing, exchange pro-gramme, sharing of best prac-tices, cooperation in disastermitigation besides others, anofficial said.

The move comes just ayear after a two-month-longborder stand-off between theIndia Army and the China’sPeople’s Liberation Army atDoklam on the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction.

Prime Minister NarendraModi and Chinese President XiJinping held an informal sum-mit in Wuhan, China, in Aprilthis year which helped repairbilateral ties.

A Chinese delegation metan Indian team on August 28 tohold discussions on the forth-coming visit of the ChineseMinister of Public Security andthe proposed pact on securitycooperation between the two

countries, the official said.This will be the first such

agreement between the author-ities of India and China whichlook after internal security of therespective countries, the officialsaid. While Singh is the head ofeight central armed police forceswith a combined strength ofabout 10 lakh personnel, Zhaois responsible for day-to-day lawenforcement in China and com-mands about 19 lakh personnel.

The forthcoming meetingmay lead to a future India-China agreement on exchangeof sentenced prisoners, anoth-er official said.

Currently, India does nothave an extradition treaty withChina, nor a pact to exchangeeach other’s sentenced prisoners.

There are at least 10 Indiansin Chinese prisons and an equalnumber of Chinese citizens inIndian prisons.

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The Home Ministry on Monday dis-missed Congress President Rahul

Gandhi’s allegations about RSS infiltra-tion in SPG as “baseless” and “devoid offact”. In a statement, Home Ministry saidthat the former SPG Director VivekSrivastava never had any talks on thematter with Rahul.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi’srecently in a meeting said that a formerSPG chief had to quit because he refusedto accept a list of officers handpicked bythe RSS. “The comment reportedlymade by Gandhi through the media isbaseless, devoid of fact and unfortunate,coming from an SPG protectee,” theministry said in a statement.

“The matter has been verified. Theofficer in question, Vivek Srivastava, for-mer Director, Special Protection Group(SPG), has specifically averred that hedid not have any such conversation withRahul Gandhi at any point of time. Theofficer has stated that as part of his pro-fessional duties he interacted with SPG

protectees; however, he has categorical-ly stated that during his interaction withShri Gandhi, there was no talk whatso-ever regarding the appointment of a newDirector, or the reasons for his leavingSPG,” said Home Ministry..

The SPG is a professional organisa-tion that takes its task of protecting serv-ing prime ministers, former prime min-isters and their families entrusted to itssecurity very seriously, and in the high-est professional spirit, the ministry said.

Rahul Gandhi, at an interaction withacademicians here Saturday, had allegedthat educational institutions, theSupreme Court and the ElectionCommission of India and others are “sys-tematically being captured” by theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Citing an example, the Congresschief had alleged, “When Mr (Narendra)Modi came to power, a person fromGujarat was chosen to head the SPG. Ina short time, he left the position. He toldme that he refused a list of SPG officershandpicked by the RSS, and that is whyhe was sent home.”

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As a follow up to CBI SpecialDirector Rakesh Asthana’s

complaint against CBI ChiefAlok Verma for allegedly inter-fering in the cases under hisprobe team, a senior agencyofficial on Monday met theCentral VigilanceCommissioner KV Chowdaryand submitted documentssought by the anti-corruptionwatchdog.

A senior official of thepolicy wing of the CBI met theCVC at his office for about anhour and is learnt to have sub-mitted the files of the casessought by the Commission inconnection with the Asthana’sallegations against his boss.

Asthana had recently senta complaint to the PMO alleg-ing Verma was interfering inthe probes undertaken by him.The Government referred thecomplaint to the CentralVigilance Commission follow-

ing which the Commissionthrough communications datedSeptember 11 and September14 sought files of various casesfrom the CBI.

The CVC exercises super-intendence over the CBI forinvestigation of offences underthe Prevention of CorruptionAct, 1988; or an offence underthe Criminal Procedure Code.

The CVC can direct theCBI to “inquire or cause aninquiry or investigation to bemade on a reference by theCentral Government.” TheCVC can also inquire or causean inquiry or investigation tobe made into any complaintreceived against any officialbelonging to the CentralGovernment. In addition, theCVC is also empowered toreview the progress of investi-gations conducted by the CBIinto offences alleged to havebeen committed under thePrevention of Corruption Act,1988.

Asthana’s complaint to theGovernment that was subse-quently routed to the CVC fullycomes under the jurisdiction ofthe Commission which isexpected to take a call into reg-istration of a case againstVerma after verifying the alle-gations. If the allegations areunsubstantiated, the CVC mayjunk the complaint.

Earlier, Verma hadopposed Asthana’s promotionas CBI Special Director duringa selection panel meeting led bythe Chief VigilanceCommissioner following whichthe infighting between the twotop officers has come to thefore.

Despite Verma’s objections,the CVC unanimously clearedAsthana, a Gujarat-cadre IPSofficer, last year for appoint-ment as Special Director inCBI.

Verma has trashedAsthana’s complaint as “mali-cious and frivolous”.

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Congress on Mondayaccused Prime Minister

Narendra Modi of deflectingthe country’s attention fromkey issues like “corruption” inthe Rafale deal by raising theissue of Pakistan.

Congress chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewalacharged that “an unnerved,frustrated and worried ModiGovernment is now seekingshelter of Pakistan to deflectattention of the country” as itwas faced with corruption“exposed” in the Rafale scam.

He told reporters thatModi should answer questionsraised on corruption in Rafaledeal and other issues and notteach lessons to its leaders onnationalism. The Congressleader charged that every timedemonetisation-like “disaster”happens and people suffer,Modi remembers Pakistan.

“Every time a MehulChoksi or ‘chhota Modi’ NiravModi runs away with India’smoney, the Modi Governmentremembers Pakistan. Everytime a bank scam where gov-ernment is guilty, the ModiGovernment remembersPakistan”. Now that Rafale

scam has exposed rampantcorruption, the ModiGovernment is again seekingshelter behind Pakistan. Pleaseanswer questions of the nationfor the nation seeks account-ability from you Mr PrimeMinister. We want to ask cer-tain questions to the PM,” hesaid.

Surjewala also took a dig atModi for his “sari-shawl diplo-macy” saying it was done whenPakistan was indulging inceasefire violations. “Was yourlove for Pakistan not apparent

when you were indulging insari -shawl diplomacy asPakistan was doing ceasefireviolations and killing our sol-diers. Was it not your love forPakistan Modi ji when you hadgone as an uninvited guest toPakistan as Pakistan attackedour Pathankot airbase,” heasked.

“Was it not your love forPakistan when you invited thedreaded ISI who is the harbin-ger and protector of terroristswho come to India every dayfrom Pakistan soil, when you

invited them to investigate thePathankot airbase attack andthe same ISI went back andaccused India of killing itsown soldiers, “ he queried.

“Was it your love forPakistan when you formed aGovernment in J&K with PDPand in presence of our PrimeMinister, the PDP ChiefMinister thanked not people ofIndia or J&K not Indian armyor election commission butthey thanked Pakistan and theseparatists.”

He also asked whether itwas his love for Pakistan whena leader, whom the Congressalleged belonged to the BJP ITcell of Madhya Pradesh, wascaught spying for the ISI.

“Was it your love forPakistan when your deputyCM Nirmal Singh in J&K pub-

lically said that Burhan Wanithe terrorist would not havebeen killed by security forceshad they known that the ter-rorist was inside. Was it yourlove for Pakistan when ModiGovernment proceeded toinvite Asiya Andrabi as theposter girl for ‘Beti Bachao BetiPadhao’.

“So the connection of ter-rorists with BJP is well known.Don’t preach us lessons onnationalism. We have servedthis country with our ownblood. The history of this coun-try is written with the blood ofMahatma Gandhi, IndiraGandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, SardarBeant Singh, Nand KumarPatel and many many others.Answer the questions don’tdeflect,” Surjewala said at AICCbriefing.

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The average speed of the trains islikely to increase by 10-15 per

cent by 2021-22 once the IndianRailways achieves 100 per cent elec-trification of its network. RailwayBoard Member (Traction)Ghanshyam Singh on Monday saidthat with the network being electri-fied through and through, it willincrease average speed of trains andcut down travel time.

“Electrification will not onlyincrease the speed of trains by 10 percent to 15 per cent but also linecapacity by the same amount,” Singhsaid. While 29,000 route kilometershave already been commissioned,13,000 route kilometers more werejust approved, Singh said, adding thatwork is underway in 20,000 routekilometers.

The Indian Railways plans tocomplete electrification of its broad-gauge routes by 2021-22. It will alsorun freight trains in dedicated freightcorridors on electricity.

He said the railways is planningto convert all those diesel locomo-tives among its 5,500 fleet which haverun for 18 years (mid life) into elec-trical locomotives, while the 1,000diesel locomotives to be delivered byGeneral Electric (GE) will be used for“disaster management and strategicneeds.”

“Converting them would costus �2 crore per engine, while theirmid-term rehabilitation after 18years is around �5 crore. These con-verted locos will have 5,000 horse-power. These are completely ‘Make inIndia’ and a matter of great pride,”Singh asserted. He said the newengines will be less polluting, moreefficient and involve brand newtechnology.

While two such locos havealready been converted at the DieselLocomotive Works (DLW), a pro-duction unit of the Indian Railwaysin Varanasi, another two is in theprocess of being converted, he said.This year, around 100 locos areexpected to reach the 18-year mark.

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In a tribute to the formerPrime Minister Atal Bihari

Vajpayee, the Government hasdecided to organise the fourthedition of India InternationalScience Festival (IISF) in hishometown in Lucknow in UttarPradesh. To be attended byapproximately 10,000 delegatesincluding students and teach-ers from India and abroad, aworld record attempt will bemade to “isolate DNA” by 500students from class 8th to 10thstandard.

The festival will be inau-gurated by President RamnathKovind.

Union Science andTechnology Minister Dr HarshVardhan said that it was theformer Prime Minister whohad brought Science to the cen-tre stage of national agenda. “It was Vajpayee who had addedJai Vigyan to Lal BahadurShastri’s slogan of “Jai Jawan, JaiKisan”, he added while

addressing a curtain raiser ofthe festival here.

Dr Harsh Vardhan said,IISF is the biggest platform inthe country to bring togetherstudents, researchers, innova-tors, artists and general publicto celebrate India’s achieve-ments in science and technol-ogy. The Minister said that IISFis a medium to encourage theyoung minds towards the fieldof science and to promote thenetworking of stakeholdersworking towards the propaga-tion of science.

IISF-2018 with its focal

theme “Science forTransformation” will have 23special events. The GlobalIndian Science & TechnologyStakeholders Meet (GIST),Industry Academia Meet andScience & Technology forHarnessing Innovations(SATHI) - A National startupentrepreneurship summit andStudent Science Village aresome of the important events,being organized. The ScienceVillage program is linked withthe Pradhan Mantri SansadAdarsh Gram Yojana to reachout to the rural masses and

propagate science and for seek-ing scientific solutions to thediverse challenges facing oursociety, particularly rural India.

Secretary Department ofBiotechnology, Dr RenuSwaroop said that the specialrole of women scientists andentrepreneurs in shaping thescientific growth trajectorywill be another highlight of thefestival. “The programmeaspires to develop new entre-preneurship and explore newvistas of opportunities in thefield of science and technolo-gy among the women.Approximately 800 womenscientist/entrepreneurs willattend the event,” she said.

There will be a specialeffort to engage with stake-holders of the Northeast andthe aspirational districts.Another feature of IISF-2018will be mega science and indus-try expo that will highlight theoutstanding contributions ofIndia in the field of science,technology, and industry.

New Delhi: The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) will soon file aprosecution complaint(chargesheet) under the Preventionof Money Laundering Act againstthe Sandesara brothers, promotersof a Gujarat-based pharmaceuticalcompany Sterling Biotech and want-ed in a case worth over �5,000 crorebank loan fraud case.

The ED will subsequently seekInterpol Red Corner Notices againstthe accused brothers and otherseven as their exact locations remainsunknown. The brothers are sus-pected to be changing locationsfrom UAE to Nigeria, officials said.The charge sheet under PMLA isexpected to be filed before a specialcourt here within the next fortnight,they said.

The ED had earlier filed fewcharge sheets case against otheraccused persons.

The agency said it had registereda PMLA case against the Sandesarabrothers—Chetan JayantilalSandesara and Nitin JayantilalSandesara—and their Vadodara-based company Sterling BiotechLimited and others on October 27 lastyear, two days after a case of allegedbank fraud of �5,700 crore and cor-ruption was filed against them by theCBI. “Loans to the tune of �5,700crore was disbursed by various banksduring the years 2004-2012. LookOut Circulars (LOCs) were openedagainst the accused in August, 2017.During the course of investigation,three persons were arrested, one ofthem Gagan Dhawan, who was closeto the power centre when the loanswere sanctioned,” the ED said in astatement.

It added that the agency hasalready attached properties worth�4,703 crore and is looking for“more properties and trails for theproceeds of crime” in this case.

The ED and the CBI havebooked the company, its directors-- the Sandesara brothers, DiptiChetan Sandesara, RajbhushanOmprakash Dixit, Vilas Joshi, char-tered accountant Hemant Hathi,former director Andhra Bank AnupGarg and some unidentified personsin connection with the alleged bankfraud case. PNS

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Amidst the raging controversysurrounding the Nehru

Memorial Museum Library(NMML), the Jawaharlal NehruMemorial Fund, chaired by SoniaGandhi and housed in the TeenMurti Estate in New Delhi , hasbeen asked by Ministry ofHousing and Urban Developmentto vacate the premises on groundsof “unauthorised occupation”,which the Fund has refuted in“unequivocal terms”.

In a letter dated September11 from the Directorate of Estatesunder the Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs, a copy ofwhich is with IANS, theJawaharlal Nehru MemorialFund had been asked to vacatethe Teen Murti Bhavan bySeptember 24.

The letter said that NMML

is in “dire need of space” andalleged that the Jawaharlal NehruMemorial Fund is occupyingthe premises “without anyauthority of law”.

“Having coming to knowabout your unauthorised occu-pation of the building in pur-suance of the communicationsreceived from NMML and hav-ing realised that you are in unau-thorised occupation of thedemised premises which is badlyrequired for the objects ofNMML, you are directed tovacate the premises… not laterthan 24.09.2018… failing whichfurther action will be takenunder the Public Premises(Eviction of Unauthorised occu-pants) Act 1971,” the Ministry ofHousing and Urban Affairswarned in its letter.

The letter signed by G.P.Sarkar (Deputy Director, Estates)further said that JawaharlalNehru Memorial Fund is “liableto pay damage charges for illegaloccupation of the premises w.e.f.

28.08.1967”. Responding to the notice, N.

Balakrishnan, AdministrativeSecretary of the Jawaharlal NehruMemorial Fund, refuted itspremise and asked that it bewithdrawn.

“I hereby refute in unequiv-ocal terms your charge of unau-thorised use or unauthorisedoccupation of the present officepremises by the Jawaharlal NehruMemorial Fund in the TeenMurti Estate,” Balakrishnan saidin his response in a letter (thatIANS has has access to) onSeptember 20.

The five-page letter elabo-rated at length that the premis-es has been in its occupationsince 1967, and has “remainedunchallenged and never ques-tioned and has been cemented”.

Notably, it was NMML thathad requested the CentralGovernment (vide letter datedJune 14, 2018) “that a portion ofTeen Murti Estate” occupied bythe Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial

Fund “be vacated”. “The NMML is in need of

space. People want to watchmicro films, the library is alwayscrowded… I want to shift allnon-academic departments outof the library but there is nospace. The part of the premisesoccupied by the JawaharlalNehru Memorial Fund is theonly possible and viable space inthe Teen Murti Complex,”NMML Director, Shakti Sinhatold IANS at his office.

He further alleged that thereis “no organic relationship”between NMML and theJawaharlal Nehru MemorialFund.

“I do not know what is theirmanagement structure and howthey function. A lot of money hasbeen passed on by the govern-ment to the Fund in the past. Inthe two years that I have beenhere, they have had no interac-tion with me. I wish them bestbut I also need more space for thelibrary,” Sinha stressed.

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The Supreme Court on Mondaytermed as “serious” the allegations

made by the wife of arrested former IPSofficer Sanjiv Bhatt that he was not beingallowed to sign any document in custodyto enable him approach the apex court.

A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi andNavin Sinha said the GujaratGovernment should file a reply to theallegations levelled by Shweta SanjivBhatt in her petition, on or beforeOctober 4.

“Before we go into the merit of thecase, we would like Gujarat Governmentto respond to the allegations. Accordingto us, the issue raised is serious as it per-tains to allegation made against thestate that it is preventing a citizen toapproach us,” the bench said.

Advocate Divyesh Pratap Singh,appearing for Shweta Sanjiv Bhatt saidthey have also challenged the remand ofBhatt, who was arrested by the GujaratCID on September 5 in connection with

a 22-year-old case of alleged planting ofdrugs to arrest an advocate.

“We are not on remand at present.We are not on individual hardship. If acitizen is not allowed to come to courtand his wife has to come before us, thenit’s a very serious issue,” the bench said.

At the outset, the bench asked Bhatt’slawyer to read the averments made in thepetition and said it had taken note of it.

Singh said Bhatt was not allowed tosign any documents includingVakalatnama for filing an appeal againstthe high court order.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi,appearing for Gujarat government, saidit will file an affidavit with regard to theaverments made in the petition.

The bench then listed the matter forOctober 4.

Bhatt and seven others, includingsome former policemen attached with theBanaskantha Police, were initiallydetained for questioning in the case.Bhatt was the Banaskantha district super-intendent of police in 1996.

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This year the industriousfarmers of Chhattisgarh

will be distributed �2,400 crorepaddy bonus by the StateGovernment on MinimumSupport Price, said ChiefMinister Raman Singh.

He was addressing a pub-lic meeting at GovernmentHigher Secondary Schoolground at village Kotmi ofPendra block in Bilaspur dis-trict on Monday.

Prime Minister NarendraModi had hiked the MSP by�200 while State government isproviding �300 per quintal asbonus; so a farmer would get�2050 to �2070 on the paddyper quintal. The paddy pro-curement would commencefrom November 1 across theState, he said.

The Chief Minister latercarried out dedication andbhoomi pujan of 49 worksworth �132 crore out of which

�113.44 crore bhoomi pujanwas for 26 works and 23 works

worth �18.24 crore were ded-icated.

He also provided assis-tance under different welfareschemes to the beneficiaries.

Singh said that farmers arebeing provided flat rate powerconnection for irrigation whichis being provided to farmers hav-ing upto 5 HP pumps and above.

The single point powerconnection holders numberingaround 12 lakh poor familieswhose per month consumptionof power is more than 40 units,then they can avail the facilityof flat rate bill payment, he said.

Farmers are being provid-ed zero interest loans fromCooperative banks. Within amonth, �750 crore bonuswould be disbursed to tendu-patta pluckers, Singh said.

“I had come before you allto seek your blessings. The AtalVikas Yatra had started withblessings of GoddessDanteshwari and GoddessBambleshwari. It is the faith ofpeople. It is also like a pil-grimage and carries the same

purity,” the Chief Minister said.Singh also mentioned

about food security scheme,Chief Minister Health SecurityScheme, Prime MinisterUjjwala Scheme, PM HousingScheme and other schemes.

He said that PrimeMinister had recently launchedAyushman Bharat Scheme inwhich 37 lakh families wouldget �5 lakh per year for treat-ment of critical diseases.

Singh said that forChhattisgarh, the PrimeMinister had provided all assis-tance. In coming days, inMarwahi area the developmentworks would be expedited.

The Chief Minister alsocarried out bhoomi pujan of�54.26 crore Pendra bypassroute measuring 13 kilometres,13 km Sivni to Marwahi routewidening and strengtheningwork at cost of �36 crore, 5 kmBasantpur to Bhandi upgradingand widening work at cost of�11.56 crore among others.

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The Chhattisgarh HighCourt has stayed six of the

Government Medical Diplomacourses being run underCollege of Physicians andSurgeon (CPS) by the Stategovernment.

The courses were recentlyintroduced by the Governmentin a bid to fill the vacancy ofspecialist doctors in the State.

During hearing on a PublicInterest Litigation (PIL), filedby Congress leader Dr RakeshGupta, a division bench com-prising Chief Justice AjayKumar Tripathi on Mondaystayed six out of the eightcourses recently introduced bythe Chhattisgarh governmentunder CPS.

Gupta while talking to ThePioneer informed that throughhis counsellor Ms Madhunisha,

he pleaded before the court thatthe courses were not approvedas per the Act of MedicalCouncil of India (MCI) andwere having a heavy fee struc-ture which was difficult to beborne by common students ofthe state.

Notably, keeping in viewthe dearth of doctors, the Stategovernment had amendedChhattisgarh Medical Act 1987(No. 11-1990) section 26 andadded 26 (A) after which aMoU was signed with College

of Physicians and Surgeons,Mumbai in March, 2016. Aftercompleting all the formalitiesfrom all quarters and seekingpermissions, the process ofadmission was started.

The Government was toprovide backup support for allthose passing this course forappointment in theCommunity Health Centre,Primary Health Centers andother health centers of thestate.

The courses offered by theGovernment were in eight dis-ciplines such as Diploma inMedicine, Orthopaedics,Anaesthesia, Otto-Rhino-lryn-gology (ENT), OphthalmicMedicine and Surgery,Gynecology and Obstetrics(OBG), Pathology andPediatric and the admissionwould have to be done throughthe NEET score.

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NMDC Ltd is expected toproduce 2.89 Million

Tonnes (MT) per year of fin-ished steel from its NagarnarSteel Plant in Bastar region ofChhattisgarh when commis-sioned, officials informed.

The Nagarnar Plant is hav-ing the single largest BlastFurnace in India of 4500 Cum,they informed.

Notably, the company’sNagarnar Plant is all set forinaugural heating up of itsCoke Oven in Bastar divisionof Chhattisgarh. The CokeOven will be inaugurated onSeptember 28.

Union Minister for SteelChaudhary Birender Singhand Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Raman Singh willlight up the Coke Oven onSeptember 28, 2018, officials

informed.Notably, NMDC Ltd will

also be generating about 70MW of captive power usinggases from steel makingprocesses in the upcoming 3MTPA Nagarnar steel plant inBastar district of Chhattisgarh.

The power would be gen-erated from gases releasedfrom blast furnace, coke ovenand 'LD gases'.

The total power require-

ment of the steel plant wouldbe around 420 MW in whichthe mines, pellet plant and theslurry pumping system wouldrequire around 120 MW ofpower, officials stated.

The remaining 350 MWpower would be conventionalin nature which would be ful-filled by the captive powerplant and the ChhattisgarhState Power DistributionCompany Ltd (CSPDCL).

The Union Steel & MinesMinistry has plans of doublinginstalled capacity of NMDCLtd’s proposed 3 MTPA inte-grated steel plant coming up atNagarnar in Bastar district inChhattisgarh in due courseonce the plant is commis-sioned.

In order to increase thedomestic capacity of steel pro-duction, a concept of SpecialPurpose Vehicle (SPV) hasbeen introduced, officials stat-ed.

Two MoUs have alreadybeen signed by the states ofChhattisgarh and Jharkhandfor setting up Greenfield steelplants with initial capacity of3 million tonnes per annum(MTPA) each, to be laterenhanced to 6 MTPA. Morethan Rs 70,000 crore will beinvested for setting up of thesesteel plants.

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As many as eight new rail-way track project are cur-

rently under execution inChhattisgarh, the CentralGovernment has informed.

Overall in the country,Indian Railways have takenup 180 New Line projects invarious States which are in var-ious stages of execution.

This includes 18 in AndhraPradesh, 15 in Assam &Northeast Region, 34 in Bihar,08 in Chattisgarh, 01 in Delhi,04 in Gujarat, 07 in Haryana,04 in Himachal Pradesh, 01 inJammu & Kashmir, 14 inJharkhand, 16 in Karnataka, 02in Kerala, 12 in Maharashtra,08 in Madhya Pradesh, 10 inOdisha, 06 in Punjab, 10 inRajasthan, 08 in Tamil Nadu,09 Telangana, 03 in

Uttarakhand, 15 in UttarPradesh and 18 in West Bengal.Some of the projects fall inmore than one State. Most ofthe new line projects havebeen taken up primarily onsocio-economic considerations

in backward and remote areasfor the speedy development ofeconomically backward areas.

The completion of railwayprojects requires clearancesfrom various departments ofState Government and Central

Ministries like acquisition ofland, statutory clearances likeforestry and wild life, shiftingof utilities etc.

Notably, the CentralGovernment has offered a bud-get grant of Rs 2202 crores forlaying new railway tracks in theSouth East Central Railway(SECR) zone during financialyear 2018-19.

The project of new railwayline with electrification fromKatghora- Mungeli-Kawardha-K hairagarh-D ongargarhCorridor (255 km) besidesKatghora to Kartala (22 km)will be implemented at a totalcost of Rs 4821 crore which isbeing developed byChhattisgarh RailwayCorporation Limited (CRCL),a Joint Venture Company ofMinistry of Railways andGovernment of Chhattisgarh.

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Atal Nagar of Chhattisgarhand Amravati of Andhra

Pradesh did not fulfil theparameters of 'Ease of LivingIndex' as they are green-fieldcities, the CentralGovernment has informed.

Union Minister of State(Independent Charge) forHousing and Urban Affairs,Hardeep Singh Puri in aworkshop held in New Delhion Monday urged all Statesand cities to share their inputs on ‘CityGDP Framework’ so as to devise a robustGDP framework for cities.

Notably Andhra Pradesh had toppedthe charts among States in terms of “Easeof Living Index” rankings launched by theMinistry of Housing and Urban Affairs(MoHUA). It was followed by Odisha andMadhya Pradesh.

The three States were awarded thethree best performing States under AtalMission for Rejuvenation and UrbanTransformation (AMRUT) at the NationalDissemination Workshop on Ease ofLiving Index, 2018, in New Delhi onMonday.

While presenting the awards to theStates, the Union Minister of State (I/C))for Housing and Urban Affairs, Puri saidthat the Ease of Living Index is a trans-formative initiative of the Ministry to helpthe cities assess their liveability vis-à-visnational and global benchmarks.

He exuded confidence that the Ease ofLiving Index will encourage all cities tomove towards an ‘outcome-based’approach to urban planning and man-agement and promote healthy competitionamong cities.

The MoHUA released the first ever‘Ease of Living Index’ covering 111 Indiancities on 13 August, 2018, which serves as

a litmus test to help assessthe progress made in citiesthrough various initiatives.All cities were evaluatedout of 100. The 'physical'pillar (infrastructure) wasgiven the highest weigh-tage of 45, while institu-tional (governance) andsocial were weighted 25each. Economy wasweighted 5.

Puri pointed out thatEase of Living frameworkcomprised four pillars

namely Institutional, Social, Economicand Physical which are further broken downinto 78 indicators across 15 categories (gov-ernance, identity and culture, education,health, safety and security, economy, afford-able housing, land use planning, public openspaces, transportation and mobility, assuredwater supply, waste-water management,solid waste management, power, and qual-ity of environment). “Another highlight ofthe Ease of Living assessment standards isits close linkage with the SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs). Of the 17 SDGgoals, 8 goals are directly linked to India’sease of living assessment framework withSDG 11” he said.

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The Bharatiya Janata Partyhas been always respecting

the judicial system. Even afterbeing sent to jail in a sordidcrime of character assassina-tion, Chhattisgarh PradeshCongress Committee(CGPCC) President BhupeshBaghel is trying to derive polit-ical mileage by trying tobecome some sort of a ‘martyr’before the people, which thepeople would not tolerate, StateBJP Spokesman SachchidanandUpasane said on Monday.

While addressing a hur-riedly called press conferenceon Monday, RaipurDevelopment Authority (RDA)Chairman Sanjay Shrivastavaand BJP SpokesmanSachchidanand Upasane saidthat Bhagel knows that now hewould not be able come out ofthe case so is creating a dra-matic situation and showingdisrespect to the law of land.

“Everyone knows that

Congress party had sought theCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI) probe in the incident.

Now, without applying for abail, Baghel has proved that hewants to take political mileage,

which is never possible”, thetwo leaders stated.

“He (Baghel) has brought

disrepute to state ofChhattisgarh”, they said.

Both BJP leaders said thatChhattisgarh has a differentway of thinking. It does not tol-erate the people of criminalmindset. Earlier also such peo-ple were shown the door, theysaid.

Congress party has becomea tool to spread lies andrumours. As the public supportis being lost, it is adopting suchtactics to remain relevant butthe people of the state wouldnot allow their tactics to be suc-cessful, the two leaders said.

The BJP leaders allegedthat whenever Congress hasbeen in power, it has beenbacking the crimes which causeanarchy in the peaceful state.Now the Congress nationalleadership should decidewhether to give the party lead-ership to persons having crim-inal mentality or learn lessonsfrom such incidents and pre-pare for playing a better role asan opposition, they said.

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After Rafale issue which wasopened in Lok Sabha

annoyed Congress party whichis trying to convince ‘the lies astruth’; but telling lies again andagain would not at any situationprove to be the truth, saidBharatiya Janata Party StateSpokesperson Shivratan Sharma.

“Congress party’s youngand irresponsible leadershipis putting the security of coun-try at risk which would get ben-eficial for the strategic enemiesof the country. Is there any con-spiracy to support such coun-tries,” he questioned.

Sharma said that to gainpower at any cost, should theinterests of country be keptaside and such efforts wouldnot prove useful at any cost.The 125 crore population willnot bear the antics of CongressPresident over the issue as ifsomeone is writing the scriptsfrom behind and he is playingin hands of such people,Sharma points out.

The BJP StateSpokesperson said that in Modi

government no scam can hap-pen but Rahul is trying tocover up the truth and tryingto create confusion among thepeople. Whatever is being saiddoes not have any base.

On the statement of formerFrench President FrancoisNicolas Hollande on whichsuch a situation is being creat-ed, the biggest question is thatCongress President is not con-sidering the aspects of presentGovernment of France.

The French companywanted a partnership and therewas no pressure on it, saidSharma.

During the UPA govern-ment, there was no problem forthe Reliance but was not theHAL also present in that peri-od for which Rahul should pro-vide the reply.

Why the HAL was kept asshowcase instead the Congressgovernment had never madeeffort to support the public sec-tor units so they can becomeself-reliant. Was not a conspir-acy to keep the HAL on back-foot for all these years, raisesmany questions, Sharma said.

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Reacting on the razing ofhouse of Padmashri

Bharati Bandhu and makinghis family homeless, formerRaipur MunicipalCorporation Chairman andBJP Spokesperson SanjayShrivastava said that it showstotal insensitivity and inhu-man act of Raipur MayorPramod Dubey.

The barbaric act is notonly disrespect to thePadmashree but also to thestate.

Shrivastava said that inRMC limits there are thou-sands of houses which havebeen constructed throughencroachment on governmentland.

The Mayor had notshown any interest in razingsuch structures but on otherside the Sufi singer withoutbeing provided an alternative,his house have been razed.

The BJP spokespersonsaid that the ruling govern-ment both the Centre and theState had launched housingschemes and is providinghouses to all the families.

The Mayor had acceptedthe fact that the action hasbeen taken by MunicipalCorporation, so he has toreply then why without pro-viding alternative residence,the house of Padmashree wasbrought down, he said.

Bharati Bandhu had alsosaid that without notice theaction has been taken, thenthe action cannot be justified,Srivastava said.

He aid that PadmashreeBharati Bandhu should beimmediately provided a houseto rehabilitate as per his sta-tus and action be takenagainst the officer involved.Mayor should also seek apol-ogy from the family and withdue respect provide them aroof.

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Ameeting of ChildProtection Committee of

the district was held here inthe Collectorate on Monday.

The meeting chaired byDistrict Collector ShyamDhawade discussed in detailthe Right to Education andHealth of children.

In the meeting Dhawadeinstructed the Committeemembers to take necessaryaction in order to include theissues of Child Rights as per-manent agenda of Gram

Sabhas.Regarding treatment of

the ai l ing children theCollector instructed to imme-diately prepare proposalsunder Sanjivani Kosh andapproval to it must be given atthe earliest, he said.

Only Sanjivani Koshcould help the children some-

times when they need expen-sive treatment for their ail-ment, he said.

About cases of childlabour , the Collector instruct-ed the officials of LabourDepartment to constantlymonitor the matter and takestern steps in case any suchincident is found.

The col lector alsoinstructed the concerned offi-cials to prepare a proposal ofChild Protection Home forgirl children.

He also instructed tomaintain a record of missingchildren from the district.

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Second leg of ‘JungleSatyagrah’ of Chhattisgarh

Pradesh Congress Committee(CGPCC) was commenced insouthern Chhattisgarh Bastarregion on Monday by DeputyLeader of Opposition KawasiLakhma.

CGPCC President BhupeshBaghel was to initiate it in dis-trict headquarters Jagdalpur onMonday but he failed to make itdue to summon of CBI specialcourt.

Notably, the first phase ofthe Satyagrah was held in theNorthern Chhattisgarh Surgujaregion previous month.

However, the programmeunder the Satyagrah was motor-cycle rally and conducting of vil-lage level ‘Chaupals’. Lakhma initiated therally from Danteshwari temple by wor-shipping the goddess.

During the second phase, VicePresident of Tribal Wing of All India

Congress Committee, Manoj Mandavi,State Working President of CGPCCRamdayal Uike, senior leader ArvindNetam, Deputy leader of Opposition inState Assembly Kawasi Lakhma, State

Tribal Congress President AmarjeetBhagat along with all the MLAs, stateoffice bearers, MP, former MP candidates,district and block committee office bear-ers participated in the event.

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All India Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS), Raipur

and Health Department,Government of Chhattisgarhsigned a memorandum ofunderstanding for establish-ment of ‘Rural Health TrainingCentre (RHTC) on Monday inpresence of State HealthMinister Ajay Chandrakar atRaipur based Multi-Super spe-ciality DKS hospital conferencehall.

The centre would come upin Kurud block of Dhamtaridistrict and the MoU is for 30years period.

The State government hasearmarked 10 acres of land invillage Gadadih of Kurudblock.

Health DepartmentSecretary Niharika Barik Singhand AIIMS Director Dr NitinNagarkar signed the MoU.AIIMS had established a highlevel medical education andresearch centre at Vallabhgarh,New Delhi. It is providing ser-

vices to people from all over thecountry. In same lines, theKurud Centre would be devel-oped for providing primaryhealth services in rural areas.

Health department offi-

cials said that with MoU at pre-sent the primary services wouldbe provided at KurudCommunity Health Centre.

The main aim of RuralHealth Training Centre is toprovide Medical Officer,Paramedical and MBBS stu-dents training at the centre. Thecentre would be also strength-ening the community basedresearch works on health issues.At present the communityhealth centre Kurud building,employees’ residence and pre-sent run institution would beutilised for the services forwhich permission would begranted. The land would beprovided on lease till the MoUperiod. The central govern-ment fund would be used forestablishing the centre andproviding graduate and PGlevel hostel facilities for thetrainees. The administrativecontrol and allocated landwould be under AIIMS. AIIMSRaipur would make the post-ing of paramedical staff, doc-tor, Medical Officer and others.

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Heavy rain and flash floodsin the north India have

killed at least 11 people, includ-ing eight in Himachal Pradesh,even as the a “high alert” hasbeen sounded in Punjab, whichis bracing for inundation asflood gates of Pong Dam inHP's Kangra district may beopened on Monday night as thewater level is running above thedanger mark.

The situation in Haryanatoo is grim with rivers over-flowing and Government issu-ing advisory to the people notto venture near water bodies,rivers or canals.

Schools in HimachalPradesh and Punjab have beenclosed for Tuesday fearingmore rain in the States. Whilethree people were washed awayin Beas near Manali after theirvehicle fell into the river, twoother people were washedaway in Parbati river inManikaran valley on Sundaymidnight. A bus and a truckwere washed away in theswelling Beas river in Kulludistrict. Several houses werealso swept away in flash floodsas the Beas is flowing at a dan-gerous level. Later in the day,the Himachal Cabinet

reviewed the losses, rehabili-tation and rescue operations.

In the Cabinet meeting,held in Shimla under the chair-manship of Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur, it was informedthat 120 stranded persons wererescued from Koksar inLahaul-Spiti, 23 from Marhiand 31 from Rohtang (Kullu).Apart from it, 33 persons

stranded at Phojal in Kulluwere also rescued. Out of these,21 persons were rescued by AirForce and 14 persons wererescued by other means.

As many as 45 vehicleswere retrieved from Koksar inLahaul-Spiti. Similarly, 600 stu-dents and teachers were shift-ed from Jawahar NavodayaVidyala Chamba and 100 stu-

dents from Kasturba GandhiBalika Vidyalaya Mehla inChamba district. In addition tothis, three families of Rakh inChamba district were alsoshifted to PWD Rest House.

The Cabinet was alsoapprised that 12 tourists fromSikkim State have been evacu-ated from Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti to a Hotel at Keylong.

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From Page 1The Navy’s P -8 I aircraft

managed to spot Tomy’s boat onSunday and Sharma said Tomyresponded by ping on EPIRB(Emergency Position IndicatingRadio Beacon) as the aircraft wasflying over him. His rescue wasclosely monitored at Naval head-quarters in New Delhi and theJoint Rescue CoordinationCentre at Melbourne, Australia.

The first Indian to circum-navigate the globe in 2013,Commander Tomy was the onlyIndian participating in the racethat involves a gruelling 30,000-mile solo circumnavigation of theglobe. The spokesperson said theinjured officer was shifted toFrench vessel and it will move totake shelter at Ile Amsterdam,about 100 nautical miles north ofthe rescue position. The islandhas a small hospital. Indian Navalship Satpura has been sent tobring the commander, a KirtiChakra awardee, back to India,Sharma added.

PTI added from Kochi, threedays of tension gave way to joyfor the Kerala-based family ofTomy as he was rescued with hisfather saying his son’s grit will seehim come back to adventuresport. “Praise the Lord. I am sohappy...,” VC Tomy, a retiredNaval personnel himself, toldmediapersons near here after hisson’s evacuation. “He may bephysically weak but he will bementally stable. He will come

back. I have full confidence inhim,” the father said while admit-ting that he was tense in the lastthree days after hearing the newsabout the incident.

From Page 1He also hinted at Pakistan’s

role in the conspiracy, sayingone of its leaders, formerInterior Minister RehmanMalik, has even tweeted thatRahul will be the next IndianPrime Minister.

Sitharaman said theGovernment will fight the “per-ception battle” over the Rafaledeal by putting facts before themasses to counter theCongress’ “false propaganda”.“I, others will go around thecountry to put facts before thepublic. It is a matter of per-ception battle,” she toldreporters.

The Defence Minister alsorejected the Congress’ chargethat the Modi Governmenthad undermined the State-runHindustan AeronauticsLimited, saying the HAL on anaverage got annual ordersworth over Rs 10,000 croreduring the 10-year UPA ruleagainst annual orders of aroundRs 22,000 crore given by thecurrent dispensation so far.

The Congress continuedwith its offensive against theBJP Government over theRafale deal, alleging corruptionand violation of rules by thePM and demanded answersfrom him. It also accused thePM, the Finance Minister andthe Defence Minister of “lyingon the issue”.

Rahul released a video ofa French media portal in con-nection with the jet deal andappeared to suggest this is the“sad truth” about the PM. “Thesad truth about India’sCommander in Thief,” Rahulsaid on Twitter, in an apparentattack on Modi and tagged thevideo along with his tweet.

The video targets the ModiGovernment on the Rafale dealand quoted the editor ofMediapart, a French mediahouse, that published a story onFriday quoting Hollande as

saying it was the IndianGovernment that “proposed”Reliance Defence as the part-ner of Dassault Aviation forRafale offset contracts.

The video further notedthat while the IndianGovernment has stated it didnot have “any say in the com-mercial decision”, but Hollande,who had presided over thedeal, said this was not true.

Later addressing public rallyin Amethi, Rahul said thecontract worth thousands ofcrores of rupees could have pro-vided jobs “to youth of Amethi,to engineers...It could havegiven employment to thou-sands of youth...Aircraft withFrench technology would havebeen made in India...The nationwould have benefitted from it.”

“Soon after becoming thePrime Minister, ‘chowkidarji’goes straight to France andenters into a deal with the pres-ident of that country...,” Rahulalleged. “The company, whichgot the contract, was floated justten days before...Don’t knowhow Anil Ambani came to knowten days before that he wasgoing to get the contract,” he said.

“We sought a JPC probeand tweeted to Arun Jaitleyalso, but Jaitley’s boss NarendraModi will not do this...I askedfour questions but not even onehas been replied to. You talk ofbig issues, give speeches, go toRajasthan and Chattishgarhbut there is not a single wordabout Rafale from Modi...Why,because ‘chowkidar’ has madeAnil Ambani commit a theft,”Rahul said.

Earlier in the day a dele-gation of senior Congress lead-ers led by Gulam Nabi Azadmet the CVC K V Chowdharyand demanded registration ofa case in alleged corruption inthe Rafale fighter jet deal. Thedelegation submitted a detailedmemorandum, accusing theGovernment of causing loss to

the public exchequer andendangering national securityby bypassing state-runHindustan AeronauticsLimited (HAL) in favour ofsome businessman “friends”for offset contract.

Opposition leader SharadYadav too sought a JointParliamentary Committeeprobe into the Rafale deal,alleging a scam in the purchaseof 36 fighter aircraft. “Therewas a lack of transparency inthis deal, and therefore peopleof the country have doubtsabout scam in the purchase of(the) Rafale fighter jets. The rel-evant questions have not beenanswered from theGovernment side as to why theprice of one aircraft was raisedfrom Rs 526 crore to Rs. 1570crore,” Yadav said.

Union Minister PrakashJavadekar termed Rahul as a“directionless leader” and saidthe Congress chief and hisparty have no hope to return topower therefore they were try-ing to create a campaign on thebasis of lies and speculationsagainst the BJP Government.The senior BJP leader saidGandhi has no facts and evi-dence against the Governmentover the Rafale deal. The HRDMinister said there were evi-dences and proof when therewere allegations (against for-mer UPA Government) overthe coal scam.

Interestingly BJP MPShatrughan Sinha drew flakfrom a fellow party parlia-mentarian R K Sinha whoaccused him of siding withOpposition leaders, like RahulGandhi and Lalu Prasad byquestioning the ModiGovernment on the Rafaledeal. In his tweets, Shatrughanhas called the controversy sur-rounding the Rafale deal aserious issue and called for theneed for the Government tocome clean.

From Page 1Common people usually

do not carry much cash in theirwallet these days as everywhereone can find digital transaction,”said Nishant Sharma, a residentof Faridabad who had comealong with his family. He saidhe is a bit disappointed on see-ing that many shops from wherehe wanted to purchase a few arti-cles don’t have the e-paymentfacility.

While Nimish, who camefrom Hauz Khas, appreciated theinitiative of the CentralGovernment and TourismDepartment calling the“Paryatan-Parv” a conglomerateof different culture and diversi-ty of various Indian States at oneplace, he said he had no idea thatmany shopkeepers don’t have e-payment facility and hence didnot carry cash with him andeven didn’t found any ATM ormobile ATM van in the nation-al fest.

“There are too many thingsto buy. The cost of items is real-ly cheap but due non-availabil-ity of swipe machines at most ofthe stalls is the biggest issue.Even there is no ATM machinein the vicinity. They shouldhave made proper arrangementsbefore organising such an event,”said Radhika, a resident ofMayur Vihar phase-2.

“I liked a Rajasthani sareefor my mother which costsaround Rs 1,500. I didn’t havecash so I asked the shopkeeper

to swipe my card. First, he saidhe doesn’t have a swipe machinebut after a few minutes he madearrangements for accepting pay-ment through Paytm but Irefused as I have not installedPaytm on my phone,” com-plains Devesh Verma, who hadcome from Alwar.

However, some of the shop-keepers who have e-paymentfacility made brisk business asmany of the shoppers who weredisheartened after being deniede-payment mode in many stallsthronged theirs.

Shikha Das at her handicraftstall, selling items made inAssam said that nearly 90 percent of customers who visitedher stall have paid through thecard using the PoS machinewhile only 10 per cent prefercash. She said her daily sale issomewhere between 26 and 30thousand rupees.

The Ministry of Tourism,Government of India in col-laboration with other CentralMinistries, State Governmentsand Stakeholders has organ-ised a “Paryatan Parv” across thecountry from September 16 to27. The “Paryatan Parv” is beingorganised with the objective ofdrawing focus on the benefits oftourism, showcasing the culturaldiversity of the country and rein-forcing the principle of “Tourismfor All”. The Paryatan Parv shallconclude with the WorldTourism Day celebrations on 27September 2018.

From Page 1Union Minister Piyush

Goyal and Chief MinisterRaman Singh laid foundationstone of Gevra Road to PendraRoad 135.3 km new railway lineat cost of �4970 crore underEast-West Rail Corridor Project.

Nine railway stations wouldbe constructed whileDharamjaigarh to Korba 63 kmnew railway line would be laid ata cost of �686 crore in which sixrailway stations would be con-structed whose foundation stonewas also laid. The project is beingdeveloped under East RailCorridor Project under secondphase. Kharsia to Dharamjaigarh131 km new railway line foun-dation was also laid under EastRail corridor which is part of firstphase at cost of �3055 crore. Theleaders during the public meet-ing also laid foundation stonethrough video-conference ofHardi Bazar to Chirmiri-NagpurRoad halt 17 kilometres new rail-way line costing �241 crore. Itwould link Ambikapur toBilaspur-Durg and Anuppur-Jabalpur route and all trains onthese routes would then passthrough Chirmirri.

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The surprise victory of oppo-sition candidate Ibrahim

Mohamed Solih in the Maldives’third multiparty presidentialelection will shake up politics inthe Indian Ocean archipelago.

Famed for its sandy whitebeaches and luxury resorts,the Maldives under outgoing

President Yameen AbdulGayoom saw economic growth,in part due to China’s growinginfluence and investment inSouth Asia. But after beingelected in 2013, Yameen rolledback democratic freedoms, jail-ing rivals and controllingcourts, and was expected tohold onto power.

An election-eve raid of

Solih’s main campaign officecast a pall over Sunday’s bal-loting, triggering fears that thevote would be rigged. But theturmoil did not appear to detervoters, who waited in rain andtropical heat to cast ballots.

The election commissionreleased provisional results onMonday showing Solih had

won with 58.3 perc ent of thevote, with voter turnout of89.2 per cent in the country of4,00,000 people. Officials saidvoting proceeded smoothly,with no reported incidents.

After meeting with Solih,Yameen conceded defeat andpromised to work on a smoothtransition of power.

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Confronting the dangers ofNorth Korea’s nuclear

threat, President DonaldTrump arrived at the UnitedNations on Monday striking afar less ominous tone than ayear ago, announcing he like-ly will hold a second summitwith Kim Jong Un “quite soon.”

Twelve months afterTrump stood at the rostrum ofthe UN General Assembly andderided Kim as “Rocket Man,”the push to denuclearise theKorean Peninsula is a work inprogress, although fears of warhave given way to dreams ofrapprochement. The president’sbellicose denunciations ofPyongyang have largely givenway to hopeful notes.

“It was a different world,”Trump said Monday of hisone-time moniker for the NorthKorean leader. “That was adangerous time. This is one yearlater, a much different time.”

He added preparations areunderway by Secretary of StateMike Pompeo for a secondpresidential meeting with Kim“quite soon.”

Trump arrived at the UNon Monday morning for a

meeting on the global drugtrade, ahead of a sit-down withSouth Korean President MoonJae-in, who comes bearing apersonal message to Trumpfrom Kim after their inter-Korean talks last week.

Trump and Moon areexpected to sign a new versionof the US-South Korean tradeagreement, one of Trump’s firstsuccesses in his effort to rene-gotiate trade deals on morefavorable terms for the USEven so, some US officialsworry that South Korea’s eager-ness to restore relations withthe North could reduce sanctions pressure onKim’s government, hamperingefforts to negotiate a nuclearaccord.

The nuclear threat was onthe agenda at Trump’s firstmeeting in New York, a dinnerwith Japanese Prime MinisterShinzo Abe in Manhattan onSunday night.

Abe stands first amongworld leaders in cultivating aclose relationship with thepresident through displays offlattery that he has used toadvance his efforts to influencethe unpredictable Americanleader.

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China and the United Statesimposed new tariff hikes

on each other’s goods onMonday and Beijing accusedWashington of bullying, givingno sign of compromise in anintensifying battle over tech-nology that is weighing onglobal economic growth.

US regulators went aheadwith a planned 10 percent taxon a $200 billion list of 5,745Chinese imports includingbicycles and furniture. China’scustoms agency said itresponded at noon by begin-ning to collect taxes of 5 or 10 per cent on a $60 bil-lion list of 5,207 Americangoods, from honey to industrialchemicals.

The conflict stems from USPresident Donald Trump’scomplaints Beijing steals orpressures foreign companies tohand over technology.

American officials sayChinese plans for state-leddevelopment of global com-petitors in robotics and othertechnologies violate its market-opening obligationsand might erode US industri-al leadership.

China’s leaders offered tonarrow their politically sensi-tive, multibillion-dollar tradesurplus with the United Statesby purchasing more natural gasand other American exports.But they have rejected pressureto change industry plans thecommunist leadership sees asa path to prosperity and glob-al influence.

Tehran: Iran’s Supreme leaderon Monday said the attackerswho killed 24 people at a mil-itary parade in the southwest-ern city of Ahvaz were fundedby Saudi Arabia and the UnitedArab Emirates.

“Based on reports, this cow-ardly act was the work of thosevery individuals who are res-cued by the Americans when-ever they are in trouble in Iraqand Syria and who are fundedby the Saudis and the (United)Arab Emirates,” Ayatollah AliKhamenei said, in remarksposted on his official website.

He did not give any furtherdetails on the identity of thosebehind what he called a “ter-rorist attack”. In the immediateaftermath of the attack on

Saturday, Iranian authoritiessaid they suspected Arab sep-aratist groups were behind theattack, none of whom is knownto have a presence in Syria.

Khamenei, who was speak-ing to a group of Iranian athletes,

said the attack “once again showsthe Iranian nation faces manyenemies on its proud path ofprogress and development”. “Wewill most certainly rigorouslypunish the perpetrators of thisattack,” he added. AFP

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President Donald Trump staunchly defendedhis embattled Supreme Court nominee

against a new allegation of sexual misconductMonday, calling the accusations against JudgeBrett Kavanaugh “totally political.”

The president spoke a day after a second alle-gation emerged against Kavanaugh, a develop-ment that further imperiled his nomination tothe Supreme Court, forced the White House andSenate Republicans onto the defensive and fueledcalls from Democrats to postpone furtheraction on his confirmation.

Trump, at the United Nations for his secondGeneral Assembly meeting, called the allegations

unfair and unsubstantiated, made by accuserswho come “out of the woodwork.”

He also questioned the political motivationsof the attorneys representing the women, say-ing “you should look into the lawyers doing therepresentation.”

On Kavanaugh, Trump stressed, “I am withhim all the way.”

The new accusation landed late Sunday ina report from The New Yorker, just a few hoursafter negotiators had reached an agreement tohold an extraordinary public hearing onThursday for Kavanaugh and Christine BlaseyFord, who accuses him of sexually assaulting herat a party when they were teenagers. Kavanaughdenies the accusation.

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Colombo: Maldives PresidentAbdulla Yameen on Mondayconceded defeat in elections andsaid he would arrange a smoothtransition for President-electIbrahim Mohamed Solih.

“I have accepted the resultsfrom yesterday,” Yameen said ina televised address to the nationafter Sunday’s election gavethe joint Opposition candi-date 58.3 per cent of the vote.

“I accept the defeat,”Yameen said. “I will enable a

smooth transition.” There hadbeen concerns that Yameen,who has borrowed hundreds ofmillions of dollars from Chinafor an infrastructure blitz,might not accept the outcome.

At the last election in 2013,the Supreme Court annulledthe result after Yameen trailedformer president MohamedNasheed, giving Yameen timeto forge alliances and win a sec-ond round of voting that waspostponed twice. AFP

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Hea

lthie

r In

dia

%��&�� :��

��

��

Life

is c

heap

3��

��I��

�� "��

��

A g

limps

e of

the

new

, lib

eral

RSS

ww

w.d

aily

pio

nee

r.co

m

*!*7$�5

�">�*

!��3

2

#�

��7��

��!

33��

��!33��

��

��

The R

asht

riya

Sway

amse

vak

Sang

h’s(R

SS) u

npre

cede

nted

outre

ach e

ffort

viawe

ll-pl

anne

d an

d ex

ecut

ed l

ectu

rese

ries

by it

s Sa

rsang

hcha

lak, M

ohan

Bhag

wat, b

efore

an in

vited

cosm

opol

i-ta

n au

dien

ce in

the C

apita

l sho

uld

disp

el m

uch

of t

he a

ppre

hens

ions

tha

t ha

ve b

een

voice

dab

out t

his o

rgan

isatio

n fo

r man

y dec

ades

. H

avin

g atte

nded

this

even

t and

hear

d Bha

gwat

as h

e to

uche

d up

on a

wid

e ra

nge

of is

sues

and

chos

e to t

ake t

he R

SS’ o

ppon

ents

head

on, I

woul

dsa

y tha

t his

thou

ghts

on co

re is

sues

that

are c

en-

tral t

o ou

r dem

ocra

tic ex

isten

ce, li

ke se

cular

ism,

plur

alism

, dive

rsity

, rig

hts o

f reli

giou

s min

oriti

es,

gay

right

s, th

e cen

tral i

deas

in o

ur C

onsti

tutio

n,th

e Nati

onal

Flag

and t

he N

ation

al An

them

, wou

ldha

ve le

ft m

ost o

f the

Sang

h’s de

tracto

rs sp

eech

less.

Muc

h of

wha

t has

bee

n sa

id to

cond

emn

the R

SSan

d to

deb

unk

the g

enui

nely

secu

lar as

pira

tions

of th

e majo

rity

of ci

tizen

s, wa

s, to

use

a cr

icket

-

ing p

hras

e, sm

acke

d ou

t of t

he bo

unda

ry an

d th

esta

dium

by t

he R

SS ch

ief.

Whi

le th

ese a

sser

tions

cons

titut

e the

mos

tsig

nific

ant o

utco

me o

f thi

s lec

ture

serie

s, w

hat

Bhag

wat

had

to s

ay a

bout

Gur

u G

olw

alka

r’sBu

nch

of T

houg

hts,

clear

ly p

oint

s to

the S

angh

’sha

rmon

y with

Indi

a’s d

emoc

racy

, div

ersit

y and

liber

al v

alue

s. A

lthou

gh G

uru

Gol

wal

kar,

the

seco

nd Sa

rsang

hcha

lak of

the R

SS, s

aw M

uslim

s,Ch

ristia

ns a

nd C

omm

unist

s as

inte

rnal

ene

-m

ies, B

hagw

at si

gnale

d th

at th

e RSS

had

dec

id-

edly

cho

sen

to m

ove

away

from

Gol

wal

kar’s

postu

lates

. He s

aid so

me t

hing

s are

said

in a

cer-

tain

cont

ext.

The R

SS h

ad n

ow co

me o

ut w

itha

publ

icat

ion

that

had

Gol

wal

kar’s

tho

ught

sw

hich

wer

e rele

vant

at al

l tim

es (S

adaa

kaal

keliy

e up

yukt

vic

haar

)—

this

mea

ns t

hat

Gol

wal

kar’s

vie

ws o

n m

inor

ities

, whi

ch ar

e in

conf

lict

with

Ind

ia’s

cont

empo

rary

rea

lity,

have

bee

n ed

ited

out.

Bhag

wat

said

the R

SS is

not

hide

boun

d an

d th

at, a

s or

dain

ed b

y its

foun

der,

Dr H

edge

war

, it h

ad a

dut

y to

ada

ptits

elf to

the

chan

ging

tim

es.

Her

e is a

qui

ck ru

n do

wn o

n th

e key

issu

eshe

touc

hed

upon

. O

n th

e Con

stitu

tion:

Bha

gwat

spok

e of t

heRS

S’ un

equi

voca

l acc

epta

nce o

f and

adhe

renc

e to

the C

onsti

tutio

n of

Indi

a. Th

e Con

stitu

tion

rep-

rese

nts n

atio

nal c

onse

nsus

. It i

s the

dut

y of e

very

citize

n to

resp

ect a

nd fo

llow

the C

onsti

tutio

n. It

had

been

dra

fted

by p

erso

ns of

grea

t cali

bre w

ho

took

into

acc

ount

a v

ariet

y of

fact

ors s

pecif

ic to

Bhar

at. Ev

eryt

hing

was

thou

ght-t

hrou

gh an

d eve

rywo

rd w

as w

eighe

d befo

re its

inco

rpor

ation

and t

his

inclu

des t

he D

irecti

ve P

rincip

les of

State

Polic

y and

the F

unda

men

tal R

ight

s. “It

is ou

r con

sens

us. W

ebe

lieve

we m

ust a

ll be

bou

nd b

y it.”

Talk

ing

abou

t the

Pre

ambl

e, he

spec

ifica

l-ly

men

tione

d th

e re

fere

nce

to fr

ater

nity

, dig

-ni

ty o

f th

e in

divi

dual

and

the

uni

ty a

ndin

tegr

ity o

f the

nat

ion.

Fra

tern

ity e

ncap

sulat

-ed

the

idea

of V

ivid

hata

Mein

Ekt

a (U

nity

inD

iver

sity)

. Th

e th

ough

t of

tak

ing

ever

yone

alon

g, w

hich

is em

bedd

ed in

the C

onsti

tutio

n,m

akes

it a

liber

al d

ocum

ent e

spou

sing u

nive

r-sa

l valu

es. T

hat i

s wha

t Hin

dutv

a is a

bout

. The

RSS s

upre

mo’s

cate

goric

al re

mar

ks re

gard

ing t

heef

ficac

y of t

he C

onsti

tutio

n sh

ould

silen

ce th

ose

who

beli

eve t

hat t

he Sa

ngh

is an

ti-Co

nstit

utio

n.O

n di

vers

ity:O

ne o

f the

oft-

repe

ated

accu

-sa

tions

aga

inst

the

Sang

h Pa

rivar

is th

at it

is a

Hin

du co

mm

unal

orga

nisa

tion

and t

hat it

abho

rsdi

versi

ty. B

hagw

at’s w

ell-a

rticu

lated

posit

ion on

this

issue

is pr

obab

ly th

e RSS

’ firs

t ser

ious

effo

rt at

the

natio

nal le

vel to

chall

enge

its ac

cuse

rs. H

e tol

d his

audi

ence

that

dive

rsity

is a

matt

er o

f cele

brat

ion.

One

shou

ld n

ot fe

ar di

vers

ity. O

n th

e oth

er h

and,

we m

ust c

elebr

ate an

d res

pect

dive

rsity.

Thi

s is w

hat

Hin

dutv

a is a

ll abo

ut. “

My w

elfar

e dep

ends

on th

ewe

lfare

of a

ll, th

is is

Hin

dutv

a.” F

or th

e RSS

, no

one i

s an

outsi

der (

para

ay).

The e

ffort

is to

uni

teev

eryb

ody

(Sam

poor

n sa

maj

ko

jodn

a ha

i). W

e

mus

t wor

k tow

ards

a so

ciety

that

is de

void

of di

vi-sio

ns (b

hed

rahi

t sam

aj).

O

n th

e fea

r am

ong M

uslim

svis-

à-vis

the R

SS:

Bhag

wat i

nvite

d M

uslim

s to

com

e to

RSS

pro

-gr

amm

es an

d in

stitu

tions

, and

see t

he R

SS fr

omin

side a

nd ge

t a fi

rst-h

and

feel o

f wha

t the

orga

n-isa

tion

stand

s for

. A m

emor

able

quot

e fro

m th

elec

ture

serie

s was

that

Hin

dutv

a do

es n

ot m

ean

ther

e is n

o pl

ace f

or M

uslim

s. “T

he d

ay it

is sa

idso

, it w

ill n

ot b

e Hin

dutv

a any

mor

e.”

On

mob

lync

hing

: Mob

lync

hing

and

such

othe

r act

s of v

iole

nce i

n th

e nam

e of c

ow p

ro-

tect

ion

is an

offe

nce a

nd is

una

ccep

tabl

e. At

the

sam

e tim

e, on

e m

ust a

lso ra

ise o

ne’s

voic

e in

rega

rd t

o co

w s

mug

glin

g be

caus

e th

eC

onsti

tutio

n ac

cord

s cow

pro

tect

ion.

On

gay

righ

ts:T

hey

(LG

BTQ

com

mun

i-ty

) are

a p

art o

f soc

iety

. The

y sh

ould

not

feel

isola

ted.

On

the U

nifo

rm C

ivil

Code

: Bha

gwat

said

that

the

RSS

belie

ved

in ‘o

ne n

atio

n, o

ne la

w’.

But a

t the

sam

e tim

e, on

e mus

t be a

ware

of h

owdi

vers

e so

ciet

y is.

Eve

n am

ong

Hin

dus,

ther

eis

so m

uch

dive

rsity

in th

ese m

atte

rs. T

here

fore

,it

is es

sent

ial t

o en

sure

that

ther

e is n

o co

nflic

ton

this

issue

.O

n bu

ildin

g the

Ram

Tem

ple i

n Ay

odhy

a:A

gran

d tem

ple m

ust b

e bui

lt at t

hat s

ite. L

ord R

amre

pres

ents

Bhar

atiya

mar

yada

. H

e wa

s ev

enca

lled

the I

mam

-e-H

ind.

The

re w

as a

tem

ple a

tth

at si

te b

efore

. It i

s a m

atter

of f

aith

for c

rore

s of

peop

le. T

he m

atter

shou

ld n

ot h

ave d

ragg

ed o

nso

long

. The

tem

ple s

houl

d be

bui

lt an

d wh

en it

com

es u

p, “

a bi

g re

ason

for

ten

sion

betw

een

Hin

dus a

nd M

uslim

s will

end.”

On

rese

rvat

ions

:Th

e RS

S su

ppor

ts al

lCo

nstit

utio

nal p

rovis

ions

relat

ing t

o res

erva

tions

.Th

ose

who

deriv

e be

nefit

fro

m r

eser

vatio

nsm

ust t

ake a

call o

n th

e con

tinua

nce o

r oth

erwi

seof

the p

olicy

of re

serv

atio

ns. T

here

is n

o pro

blem

in re

gard

to re

serv

atio

ns. T

he p

robl

em lie

s in

the

polit

ics ar

ound

rese

rvati

on. F

urth

er, th

e law

to pr

o-te

ct S

ched

uled

Cas

tes

and

Sche

duled

Trib

esm

ust b

e stri

ctly

enfo

rced

. It m

ust a

lso be

ensu

red

that

the l

aw is

not

misu

sed.

As

can

be se

en fr

om th

ese r

espo

nses

, exc

ept

for t

he A

yodh

ya is

sue,

muc

h of w

hat h

e said

shou

ldbe

acc

epta

ble

to in

divi

duals

acr

oss t

he p

oliti

cal

spec

trum

. Inter

estin

gly, h

e told

the p

acke

d hall

that

he w

as n

ot th

ere t

o eith

er co

nver

t or c

onvin

ce an

y-on

e abo

ut th

e cor

e ide

als of

the R

SS. H

e was

ther

eon

ly to

conv

ey an

d ex

tend

an o

pen

invit

atio

n to

whoe

ver w

as in

tere

sted

to vi

sit th

e San

gh an

d its

Shak

has,

and m

ake t

heir

own

asse

ssm

ent o

f wha

twe

nt on

ther

e. Th

is is

inde

ed th

e mom

ent o

f tru

th.

The N

ehru

vian

s and

Mar

xists

, who

hav

e view

edth

e RSS

with

utm

ost s

uspi

cion,

mus

t pick

up

the

gaun

tlet a

nd se

e the

RSS

from

with

in an

d m

ake

their

own

asse

ssm

ent o

f wha

t thi

s org

anisa

tion

isall

abou

t. In

oth

er w

ords

, the

y too

nee

d to

revi

s-it

their

bun

ch o

f tho

ught

s.(T

he w

riter

is C

hairm

an, P

rasa

r Bha

rati)

��

��

�

��

��

Sir —

Thi

s refe

rs to

the r

epor

t, “M

aoist

sgu

n do

wn

TDP

MLA

, ex-

legi

slato

r in

T” (S

epte

mbe

r 24)

. It i

s sho

ckin

g th

atth

e M

aoist

s kill

ed tw

o M

LAs b

elon

g-in

g to

the T

elugu

Des

am P

arty

(TD

P).

At a

tim

e w

hen

Nax

alism

is

on t

hewa

ne, t

his o

utbu

rst o

f the

ir ou

tpou

ring

of v

enge

nce

is no

thin

g bu

t ter

rifyi

ng.

This

port

ends

a ji

ttery

futu

re fo

r th

ena

tion.

N

axal

ism is

a sc

ourg

e and

it h

as to

be w

iped

out

any

rat

e. W

here

doe

sN

axal

ism li

nger

? And

wha

t is i

ts m

ain

attr

actio

n? N

axal

ism g

row

s w

here

ther

e is

a bre

akdo

wn

of th

e jus

tice s

ys-

tem

. Also

, hug

e ec

ocno

mic

disp

arity

and

pove

rty p

lay an

impo

rtan

rt ro

le in

taki

ng ro

ot o

f thi

s soc

ial o

utfit

. So,

as

an

imm

edia

te

mea

sure

, th

eG

over

nmen

t m

ust

addr

ess

the

core

prob

lem

s of t

he M

aoist

s.

Onc

e th

e so

cial

ly m

argi

nalis

edpe

ople

, who

ofte

n fa

ll pr

ey to

the r

ev-

olut

iona

ry p

rinci

pals

of an

nihi

latio

n,ar

e ta

ken

to t

he m

ains

trea

m o

f th

eco

untr

y by

pro

vidi

ng t

hem

all

that

need

ed b

asic

ally,

Nax

alism

will

van

-ish

for s

ure.

TK N

anda

nan

Vi

a em

ail

��

��

��

��

��

��

Sir

— T

his

refe

rs t

o th

e ed

itoria

l,“F

renc

h gu

st of

win

d” (S

epte

mbe

r 24)

.By

now

, it

is cl

ear

enou

gh t

hat

the

Con

gres

s is

tryi

ng to

mak

e a

Bofo

rsou

t of t

he R

afal

e de

al.

Whi

le th

ere m

ay n

ot b

e an

iota

of

trut

h in

the

Con

gres

s alle

gatio

ns b

utth

e w

ay P

rime

Min

ister

Nar

endr

aM

odi h

as b

een

silen

t on

the

issue

, it

is di

fficu

lt to

fath

om.

Mod

i-led

Gov

ernm

ent’s

big

gest

USP

is it

s cle

an g

over

nanc

e rec

ord

sofa

r and

the C

ongr

ess i

s try

ing

to h

urt

the

Bhar

atiy

a Ja

nata

Par

ty (

BJP)

whe

re it

hur

ts th

e m

ost.

BJP

stra

tegi

sts k

now

it b

ette

r how

to h

andl

e the

stua

tion

but t

hey s

houl

dre

mem

ber t

hat p

erce

ptio

n pl

ays a

big

-ge

r ro

le t

han

real

ity. I

n vi

ew o

f th

eup

com

ing

elec

tions

, the

Con

gres

s is

not

leav

ing

any

ston

e un

turn

ed t

och

ange

the p

eopl

e’s p

erce

ptio

n ab

out

Prim

e M

inist

er M

odi.

The

BJP

may

thi

nk t

hat

it m

ayan

swer

vot

ers

at t

he r

ight

tim

e bu

tth

ey n

eed

to as

sess

the d

amag

e whi

chis

bein

g do

ne o

n w

hate

ver

poss

ible

pret

ext b

y th

e O

ppos

ition

. Bal G

ovin

dN

oida

��

��

��

��

Sir —

Thi

s ref

ers t

o th

e edi

toria

l, “F

orge

nder

equ

ity”

(Sep

tem

ber

22).

The

Gov

ernm

ent’s

use

of

the

ordi

nanc

ero

ute

to c

rim

inal

ise i

nsta

nt t

riple

tala

q sh

ows

its d

espe

ratio

n fo

r vo

teba

nk.

It sh

ould

hav

e in

stea

d di

s-cu

ssed

the

issue

s tha

t wer

e ra

ised

byth

e Opp

ositi

on. T

he m

ove a

lso sh

ows

its d

icta

toria

l atti

tude

.M

anis

haVi

a em

ail

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I am

disap

point

ed at

India

’s ar

roga

nt re

spon

se to

the pe

ace d

ialog

ue. A

ll my l

ife, I

have

come

acro

sssm

all m

en oc

cupy

ing bi

g offic

es.

—Pa

kistan

Prim

e Mini

ster

IMRA

N KH

AN

The c

ommo

nality

betw

een P

akist

an an

d Con

gres

s is

their

frustr

ation

. Both

of th

em w

ant t

o rem

ove

Prim

e Mini

ster M

odi f

rom

Indian

politi

cs.

—BJ

P sp

okes

pers

onSA

MBIT

PATR

A

��7� �6 ��

The

Ras

htri

yaSw

ayam

seva

k Sa

ngh

(RSS

), w

hich

had

bee

nun

der

seve

r cr

itici

smby

a se

ctio

n of

pol

itica

lle

ader

s and

the

soci

al ‘c

hatte

rati’,

in a

n un

prec

eden

ted

mov

e,ar

rang

ed fo

r a h

igh-

prof

ile m

eet-

ing

in D

elhi

’s V

igya

n Bh

awan

from

Sep

tem

ber 1

7 to

Sep

tem

ber

19. A

gal

axy

of p

eopl

e fr

om a

llw

alks

of l

ife, i

nclu

ding

fore

igne

rs,

wer

e in

vite

d. O

ppos

ition

lead

ers,

incl

udin

g C

ongr

ess

pres

iden

tRa

hul G

andh

i, to

o w

ere

invi

ted

but t

hey

refu

sed

to a

ttend

. Th

is w

riter

, whi

le o

n to

ur, g

ota c

all f

rom

Sure

sh K

ulka

rni,

a self

-ef

faci

ng R

SS n

atio

nal r

epre

sent

a-tiv

e of t

he S

angh

’s af

filia

te V

anva

siK

alya

n A

shra

m,

and

a se

nior

Prac

hara

k, w

ho a

sked

him

if h

eco

uld

atte

nd t

his

mee

t to

kno

wab

out h

is or

gani

satio

n’s p

hilo

so-

phy o

n th

e “fu

ture

of B

hara

t”. T

his

writ

er h

ad b

een

in to

uch

with

the

Vanv

asi K

alya

n A

shra

m o

n re

lat-

ed m

atte

rs a

nd a

gree

d to

atte

ndth

e pr

ogra

mm

e.T

he

mee

t go

t m

assi

vere

spon

se, a

s the

plen

ary h

all o

f the

Vigy

an B

haw

an, w

hich

has

a se

at-

ing

capa

city

of 1

,285

, was

full

toits

cap

acity

dur

ing

the

thre

e-da

ym

eet.

RSS

chie

f Moh

an B

hagw

at,

as p

er t

he s

ched

ule

of t

he p

ro-

gram

me,

spok

e for

abou

t one

-and

-ha

lf-ho

ur e

ach

for t

wo

days

. H

e al

so so

licite

d qu

estio

ns in

writ

ing,

on

topi

cs t

hat

touc

hed

upon

by

him

, tha

t w

ere

hand

edov

er to

the v

olun

teer

s to

be re

plie

don

the

last

day

of t

he e

vent

. The

Sarsa

nghc

halak

was

hea

rd w

ith ra

ptat

tent

ion

by th

e au

dien

ce.

The

RSS

chie

f was

fran

k an

dsp

onta

neou

sly e

ffort

less

in

his

disc

ours

e on

a w

ide

rang

e of

su

bjec

ts. T

hose

who

hea

rd h

im,

unan

imou

sly a

gree

d th

at i

t w

ason

e of

the

fin

est

spee

ches

de

liver

ed b

y any

Indi

an in

the p

ast

few

dec

ades

on

issue

s clo

se to

thei

rhe

art.

The

even

t will

be

rem

em-

bere

d in

the h

istor

y of

the R

SS a

son

e of

the

bes

t ex

posit

ion

of it

spr

inci

ples

, ph

iloso

phy

of l

ife,

chan

ges i

n ap

proa

ch o

n m

ultip

leiss

ues f

rom

the p

ast w

ith a

colla

t-

eral

ly b

enef

icia

l com

men

tary

on

wha

t th

e In

dian

cul

ture

is,

and

lofty

eth

os o

f sus

tain

ing

a di

gni-

fied

hum

an li

fe.

On

day

one,

Bha

gwat

star

ted

with

esta

blish

men

t of t

he R

SS an

dth

e li

fe o

f K

esha

v B

alir

amH

edge

war

, who

foun

ded

the

RSS

in 1

925

in N

agpu

r with

the i

nten

-tio

n of

pro

mot

ing

the

conc

ept o

fun

ited

Indi

a, ro

oted

in H

indu

ide-

olog

y. A

fter p

ropo

undi

ng th

e phi

-lo

soph

y of

the

Sang

h, h

e, st

ep b

yste

p se

t asid

e pre

vaili

ng m

isgiv

ings

abou

t the

org

anisa

tion.

Bh

agw

at as

sert

ed th

at th

e RSS

resp

ects

the

Nat

iona

l Fl

ag a

ndci

ted

the e

xam

ple o

f 193

6 Fa

izpu

r(J

alga

on d

istric

t of M

ahar

asht

ra)

sess

ion

of th

e Con

gres

s, in

whi

chRS

S vo

lunt

eer K

ishan

Lal

, one

of

the

man

y w

ho a

ttend

ed t

he s

es-

sion,

hoi

sted

the

tric

olor

. He

was

prai

sed

by Ja

wah

arla

l Lal

Neh

ru.

Bhag

wat

also

refu

ted

the c

rit-

icism

that

the R

SS w

as o

ppos

ed to

Mah

atm

a Gan

dhi a

nd ci

ted

man

yin

stan

ces o

f the

San

gh’s

supp

ort t

ohi

m a

nd v

ice-v

ersa

. He

stre

ssed

that

the

San

gh h

ad n

o de

sire

toim

pose

itse

lf on

the

coun

try.

Furt

her,

the R

SS ch

ief m

ad ei

tcl

ear t

hat n

eith

er d

oes t

he S

angh

rem

ote c

ontr

ols i

ts af

filia

te o

rgan

-isa

tions

nor

doe

s it

allo

ws

itsof

fice

bear

ers

to p

artic

ipat

e in

polit

ical

act

iviti

es.

He

asse

rted

tha

t th

e Sa

ngh

defin

itely

raise

s iss

ues o

f nat

ion-

al se

curit

y, lik

e inf

iltra

tion

of fo

r-eig

ners

. Ind

ivid

ual m

embe

rs, h

ow-

ever

, are

free

to jo

in a

ny p

oliti

cal

part

y an

d es

pous

e th

e ca

use

ofth

eir c

hose

n fie

ld.

The

RSS,

the

refo

re, c

once

n-tra

tes o

n tra

nsfo

rmin

g the

indi

vid-

uals

as g

ood

hum

an b

eing

s to

mak

e a

vibr

ant s

ocie

ty. I

f thi

s is

ensu

red,

nat

ions

arou

nd th

e wor

ldw

ould

be

inte

grat

ed a

s a

wor

ldco

mm

unity

—it

is th

e bed

rock

of

Hin

dutv

a and

Indi

an ci

vilis

atio

n.In

nut

shel

l, th

is is

the

crux

of

Hin

duism

. Th

e te

rm ‘

Hin

duism

’ ne

ver

exist

ed i

n In

dian

tex

ts a

nd w

asco

ined

by

fore

ign

inva

ders

. It

cam

e to

use

onl

y in

the

sev

enth

Cen

tury

AD

. Bh

agw

at a

sser

ted

that

Hin

dutv

a en

com

pass

edIn

dian

Mus

lims a

s oth

er fo

rms o

fw

orsh

ip an

d th

at se

greg

atin

g pe

o-pl

e in

to d

iffer

ent

grou

ps i

s th

ean

tithe

sis o

f the

RSS

’ val

ues.

The

foun

datio

n of

Ind

ian

civi

lisat

iona

l va

lues

is

base

d on

unit

y in

di

vers

ity

that

is

Vasu

dhai

va K

utum

baka

m, w

hich

mea

ns th

at th

e ent

ire w

orld

is o

nesin

gle

fam

ily. W

ithou

t th

is ve

ryco

ncep

t, th

e Sa

ngh

cann

ot e

xist

.Th

is is

the b

igge

st st

atem

ent e

ver

mad

e by a

ny S

angh

chie

f. In

doi

ngso

, Bha

gwat

set t

he re

cord

stra

ight

abou

t hi

s or

gani

stai

on’s

view

on

relig

ion.

H

e, t

hus,

effe

ctiv

ely

coun

-te

red

prop

agan

da s

prea

d by

few

that

the

San

gh i

s an

ti-m

inor

ity,

espe

cial

ly a

n an

ti-M

uslim

bod

y.H

e sai

d th

at in

RSS

’ par

lance

, the

reis

no s

cope

for

min

oriti

sm a

s it

belie

ves i

n on

enes

s of t

he p

eopl

e.O

n th

e las

t day

, he d

eclar

ed h

isor

gani

satio

n’s

supp

ort

for

all

Con

stitu

tiona

l pr

ovis

ions

, la

ws

and

judi

cial

int

erpr

etat

ions

and

fully

sup

port

ed t

he r

eser

vatio

npo

licy

till t

he ti

me

thos

e w

ho a

rebe

nefic

iarie

s, re

noun

ce it

the

m-

selv

es.

He

also

ass

erte

d th

at th

e RS

Sst

ands

opp

osed

to th

e ca

ste

sys-

tem

. H

e, h

owev

er,

cate

goric

ally

dem

ande

d th

at th

e Ra

m T

empl

e

shou

ld b

e m

ade

in A

yodh

ya a

sso

on a

s po

ssib

le a

s it

has

been

prov

ed b

eyon

d do

ubt t

hat i

t is t

hebi

rth

plac

e of

Lor

d Ra

ma,

and

ifM

uslim

s agr

ee, i

t will

stre

ngth

enth

e bo

nd b

etw

een

the

two

com

-m

uniti

es.

The

RSS

chie

f also

reite

rate

dth

e vie

ws o

f the

RSS

on

Jam

mu

&Ka

shm

ir fo

r abr

ogat

ion

of A

rtic

le37

0 an

d A

rtic

le 3

5A an

d sa

id th

atRS

S vo

lunt

eers

are

wor

king

with

the

loca

l po

pula

tion

to a

chie

veso

cial

har

mon

y. H

owev

er, h

e ev

aded

a d

irect

answ

er o

n th

e Su

prem

e C

ourt

’sde

cisio

n on

Art

icle

377

but

sai

dth

at h

e be

lieve

d th

at a

n in

clus

ive

appr

oach

sho

uld

be a

dopt

ed o

nth

is. M

ohan

Bha

gwat

also

sup

-po

rted

the G

over

nmen

t’s d

ecisi

onon

the C

ourt

’s or

der o

n at

roci

ties

on S

C/S

T, b

ut s

aid

that

the

resh

ould

not

be a

ny d

iscrim

inat

ion

and

misu

se o

f the

Act

. Bh

agw

at d

eplo

red

cow

vig

i-la

ntes

for

tak

ing

law

int

o th

eir

hand

s but

at th

e sam

e tim

e pitc

hed

the

idea

of ‘

cow

con

serv

atio

n’ s

oas

to

m

ake

smal

l fa

rmer

s se

lf-su

ffici

ent.

The

RSS

supr

emo

dem

ande

da

new

pop

ulat

ion

polic

y w

hich

shou

ld t

ake

into

acc

ount

dem

o-gr

aphi

c bal

ance

for a

bet

ter f

utur

eof

the

cou

ntry

. H

e al

so v

ehe-

men

tly o

ppos

ed th

e ide

a of c

hoos

-in

g no

ne o

f th

e ab

ove

(NO

TA)

whi

le v

otin

g.

On

a que

stio

n on

conv

ersio

n,he

sai

d th

at G

od is

not

for

trad

ein

the m

arke

t — vo

lunt

ary c

onve

r-sio

n is

need

ed,

devo

id o

f an

yul

terio

r mot

ive.

On

langu

age i

ssue

,he

aske

d th

e Hin

di sp

eaki

ng St

ates

to a

dopt

tea

chin

g of

one

non

-H

indi

lang

uage

. O

vera

ll, it

was

a g

ood

publ

icre

latio

n ex

erci

se in

ters

pers

ed w

itha

chan

ged

mat

rix v

ision

in w

hich

the

mas

ter

spea

ker

wal

ked

away

with

a g

old

med

al.

(The

writ

er i

s a

retir

ed c

ivil

serv

ant)

B5.!>)#)2!

=+>*

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After

the

Sepo

y M

utin

y, w

hile

the

Briti

sher

s lef

t va

rious

per

sona

l law

sun

chan

ged

— t

he I

ndian

Chr

istian

Mar

riage

Act

of 18

72, th

e Ind

ian D

ivorc

e Act

of 1

869,

the M

arrie

d W

omen

’s Pr

oper

ty A

ct,

the H

indu

Inhe

ritan

ce (R

emov

al of

Disa

biliti

es)

Act o

f 192

8, th

e Spe

cial M

arria

ge A

ct of

1923

and s

ubse

quen

tly 19

54, th

e Par

si M

arria

ge an

dD

ivor

ce A

ct o

f 19

36 a

nd e

vent

ually

the

Hin

du M

arria

ge A

ct of

1955

, wer

e ena

cted

toco

dify

per

sona

l laws

of va

rious

com

mun

ities

,pe

rtain

ing

to is

sues

of m

arria

ge, s

ucce

ssio

n,gu

ardi

ansh

ip an

d m

ainte

nanc

e.M

uslim

radi

cals,

howe

ver, r

esist

ed ch

ange

sto

their

per

sona

l law

s, lea

ding

to th

e Sha

riat

Appl

icatio

n Ac

t of 1

937.

How

ever,

the S

haria

’hwa

s nev

er co

difie

d, an

d hen

ce, it

s leg

al sta

nd-

ing

tant

amou

nts t

o no

thin

g, de

spite

the h

ul-

labalo

o by t

he A

ll Ind

ia M

uslim

Pers

onal

Law

Boar

d (A

IMPL

B), w

hich

in an

y ca

se is

sim

-pl

y ano

ther

NG

O w

ith n

o leg

al sa

nctit

y, se

t up

unde

r the

aegi

s of I

ndira

Gan

dhi i

n 19

73, fo

rm

inor

ity ap

peas

emen

t. Al

so, t

he A

IMPL

B is

prim

arily

a S

unni

Mus

lim b

ody

and

does

not

repr

esen

t Shi

as,

Bohr

as or

Ahm

adiy

ya M

uslim

s. H

ence

, wha

tit

says

is h

ardl

y rep

rese

ntat

ive o

f the

bro

ader

Mus

lim o

pini

on.

The

Diss

olut

ion

of t

heM

uslim

Mar

riage

s Act

of 19

39 in

Indi

a, wh

ichga

ve re

cour

se to

lega

l help

to M

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ister

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thly

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f �17

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gres

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ally

corr

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urre

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gh,

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nmen

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CC),

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In an atmosphere surchargedwith emotions and anger,

the funerals of the two TeluguDesam party leaders gunneddown by Maoists were per-formed in Visakhapatanamdistrict of Andhra Pradeshon Monday.

A large number of sup-porters attended the funeral ofTDP MLA from Araku KadiriSarveshwara Rao at Paderu.Two State Ministers - AyyannaPatrudu and N Ananda Babu -represented the Government atthe funeral. The cremation wasdelayed due to heavy rain.

Former MLA Siveri Somawho was also killed in the CPIMaoist attack on Sunday wasburied according to theChristian customs at his nativeplace Battivalasa near Araku. Alarge number of tribal peopleand TDP workers bid a tearfulfarewell to him. Earlier theDistrict Superintendent of PoliceRahul Dev Sharma visited Arakuand laid wreaths and paidrespects to the slain leaders. Healso visited the police stations atAraku and Dimbriguda whichwere burnt and vandalised by theangry supporters of the two

leaders Sunday afternoon hold-ing the police responsible for fail-ing to protect their lives.

Meanwhile, State DirectorGeneral of Police RP Thakurannounced that the sub-inspec-tor of police Amarnath wasbeing put under suspension inconnection with the Maoistattack as well vandalism at thepolice station. He also said thata special investigation team willinvestigate the Maoist attackand establish the cause of thefailure of security in preventionof the attack.

Security was tightened inand around Araku and theadditional DGP Harsh Guptaand DIG Ch Srikant were camp-ing in Araku and Paderu tosupervise the security arrange-ments and combing operations.

Normal life was hit in theagency or tribal areas ofVisakhapatanam as the busservices of State RoadTransport Corporation weresuspended since last evening inview of the Maoist attack andprotests in Araku. This has putthe ordinary people and com-muters to a great hardship.Even the special police forcesdispatched to the area found itdifficult to travel last night.

�� =�� 0>&!4�1�&

With the targeting of tworuling Telugu Desam

party leaders, including MLAK Sarveshwara Rao theAndhra-Odisha border zone isback in focus as a stronghold ofthe outlawed CPI Maoist party.

As the Visakhapatnamagency area was reeling undertension and a further flare-upof violence appears quite like-ly, the top officials of AndhraPradesh police were analysingthe reasons for the failure ofsecurity leading to the killing ofthe two tribal leaders so closeto Araku, a major town andtourist spot.

The reason the failure hasbecome more stark was that theMaoists had issued a clear threatto attack the MLA from Arakuin April last. There were alsofears that the Maoists mightcarry out a spectacular attack onthe occasion of the 14th for-mation day of the CPI Maoist.However, it now appears that noheed was paid to the threat.

"A combination of factorsincluding intelligence failure andthe over-confidence on the partof the police seems to have ledto this tragedy", said a top APpolice official, adding that cor-rective measures will be takenonce the probe was completed.

He also felt that the MLA alsodid not follow the procedure ashe ventured into the interiorswithout informing police.

AP police was confidentthat the Maoists will not ventureinto their area from Odishahacking suffered severe set-backs during last two yearsincluding the killing of 32Maoists in a joint operation byGreyhounds of AP and specialforce of Odisha police. The inci-dent in October 2016 atRamgarh was seen as a backbreaking blow to the outlawedorganisation. Since thenMaoists made several unsuc-cessful attempts to carry out aretaliatory attack but sufferedmore losses leading to the com-placency on the part of police.

Police officials feel that thetriangle of Andhra-Odisha-Chhattisgarh border due to itstopography and forests had thepotential to once again becomea stronghold of the Maoists andcould be used by them asspringboard for more attacks.

Ever since the CPI Maoistcompletely lost their fortress inNallamalla forest in AndhraPradesh they could not findanother foothold till now. Asthe Maoists were quite strongand active in Odisha andChattisgarh they could stageattacks in Andhra as well asBhadradari-Kottagudem dis-trict of Telangana, the policeofficial said.

Six teams of AP police havelaunched combing operations in

Visakhapatnam agency areaagainst the Maoists involved inthe killings. Sources said that thefforts to nab or kill them werebeing coordinated with theOdisha police which was alert-ed soon after the attack.

State police officials believethat Andhra Odisha BorderSpecial Zone CommitteeMilitary Commission ChiefPratapreddy Ramchandea Reddyalias Chalapati could be themain brain behind the attack.The organisation had movedhim to Odisha after the Ramgarhencounter in 2016 and accord-ing to the intelligence sources hereturned to Andhra side a fewdays back. Chalapti's wifeChaotanya alias Aruna heads theNandapur area committee in thesame area on Andhra Odishaborder. Police believes that thiscommittee provided logisticalsupport to the action team ofmilitary commission in execut-ing the decision taken at a highlevel in CPI Maoist party.

The other name of possibleexecutioner of the plan was TVasudev Rao alias Vasanna whowas also involved in the bid toassassinate Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu in a mineblast in Tirumala and wasbelieved to be active in the area.Visakhapatnam incident alsohad its echo in neighbouringTelangana where police havegone on alert in districts ofWarangal and Karimnagar,strongholds of Maoists in thepast.

�� =�� 0>&!4�1�&

Hyderabad, one of the fastestdeveloping cities in India,

today added another feather toits cap with the opening of thesecond phase of Metro Raillinking Ameerpet in the heartof the city to LB Nagar, a busyeastern suburb. The 16-kmlong route was formally inau-gurated by Governor ESLNarasimhan at Ameerpetaround noon. The service wasopened to the public in the evening.

The Governor, who trav-elled in the inaugural servicefrom Ameerpet to LB Nagar,said, “I urge all the citizens ofHyderabad to use the Metroextensively to reduce the pollu-tion and fuel consumption".Lauding the efforts ofHyderabad Metro Rail Ltd andL&T Metro company officials tomake Hyderabad project worldclass, Narasimhan said that theHitech City route should becompleted by December 15.

After returning from LBNagar by metro Narasimhanrode a bicycle from Khairatabadstation to Raj Bhavan.

Speaking on the occasion,Minister Taraka Rama Raosaid that every station of Metrowas built to the internationalstandard and the project waswinning international awards."It can compete with any MetroRail project in the world", hesaid pointing out that with 46kms long Metro already oper-ational Hyderabad Metro hadbecome the second biggestsuch project after Delhi leavingother cities including Chennai

and Bengaluru behind. The L&T Metro which was

executing the project has spent�12,000 crore on it while theState Government acquired thenecessary land and propertiesfor the project, KTR said. Withthe opening of this stretch entire29 kms long corridor fromMiyapur to LB Nagar was oper-ational. The Miyapur-Ameerpetand Ameerpet-Nagole route wasopened by the Prime MinisterNarendar Modi last year.

Of the 71 kms Metro lineon all the three corridors theservice has started on 46 kmsand work was moving fast tocompete the corridor 3 fromSecunderabad to MahatmaGandhi bus stand at Imlibun.

The Imlibun metro stationwill be the biggest and thetallest in the entire city as twocorridors will join at this pointand the people can interchangeto different routes.

It has corridor stations on 1stand second floors, the corridorIII stations will be on the two topfloors NVS Reddy, managingdirector of the HMRL said thattwo skywalks will connect theMetro stations with the centralbus station on one side andChadarghat area on the other toensure smooth flow of the commuters. Another aspect ofthe project was the developmentof five kms route from stateassembly station to the MGBSpoint as heritage precincts. Aspart of this effort to beautify thestretch road aides will be pavedwith Deccan stones and railingswill be in Indo-Persian style tomatch with the architecturalcharacter of Hyderabad.

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The first day of the autumnsession of the Assam

Legislative Assembly startedwith a noisy note with both rul-ing and Opposition legislatorsraising voice of concern over

the issue of recently-declareddraft National Register ofCitizens (NRC) in Assam.

BJP legislator, ShiladityaDev raised his voice of con-cern over the issue by show-ing a placard which read “MyLord do not discriminate yourown children”. Dev explainedthat he was referring to the recent decision of theapex court to drop five doc-uments from the list of doc-uments for filing claims andobjections and said that it isdiscrimination.

It may be mentioned herethat the process of claims andobjection for inclusion ofnames in the NRC will com-mence from September 25. Atotal of 40,07,707 people wereleft out of the draft NRC pub-lished by the Assam govern-ment in August this year.

State NRC coordinatorPratik Hajela had earlier pro-posed to the Supreme Court tobring down the list of docu-ments from 15 to 10 for thosecalming for inclusion in the

NRC. The five documents thatproposed to be dropped werethe 1951 NRC, pre-1971 voters’lists, citizenship certificate,refugee registration certificateand ration cards (as supportingdocuments).

“The idea of NRC upda-tion is to weed out illegalimmigrant and ensure thatgenuine Indian cit izen’snames are there in NRC. Thecourt has asked Hajela not togive any details to any one inCentre or State Governmentand this is unfortunate,” Dev said.

He added, “As a MLA weare supposed to know somedetails from NRC Departmentso that we can explain topeople. Is there somethingwrong in NRC, is NRC trans-parent?. Tomorrow if NRCfails what will happen therewill be law and order problem.What is the point of keepingaway the Centre and stategovernment from the NRC process.”

“Till now NRC directoratehas not been able to do map-ping and cannot say with pre-cision what is percentage of leftout in each district. If 1951NRC is not acceptable as a doc-ument for claim and objectionwhat purpose will the NRC of2018 serve?” he asked.

Nearly 14 organizationsparticipated in a protest out-side assembly demandingouster of Hajela.

BJP State president RanjeetKumar Das along with MLAsShiladitya and Ashok Singhalmet the agitating organisa-tions. “We have met Union

Home Minister, Rajnath Singhand requested him file affidavitin Supreme Court againstHajela’s proposal,” Dass said.

“We met Assam chief min-ister, Sarbananda Sonowalrequesting him to file affidavitand accordingly state govern-ment filed affidavit in theSupreme Court. The StateGovernment has also request-ed the Supreme court to con-sider pension slip as one of thedocuments,” he said.

Inside the assembly thecongress MLA, AbdulKhaleque sought ouster ofHajela. Industry Minister,Chandra Mohan Patwaryreplied that both Centre andState Government has statedthat details of NRC must beshared with both Centre andState as it is a sensitive mat-ter and law and order is Statesubject. “We are clear that nota single genuine Indian citi-zen name will be left out ofNRC and ensure that there isnot a single illegal immi-grants name in NRC.”

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With 2019 Lok Sabha pollscoming closer, the stage

is being set for new politicalequations in Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s home StateGujarat as OBC leader andCongress MLA Alpesh Thakormay join the BJP.

The 42-year-oldRadhanpur MLA’s futurecourse of action is the hottesttopic of discussion in politicalcircles of Gujarat. If sources inthe Congress as well as BJPhave to be believed, Thakor isin contact with the top lead-ership of the saffron brigadefor the past few months.

He had founded ‘OBC, SC,ST Ekta Manch’, to counterHardik Patel’s agitation. His risein the Gujarat’s political arenais at supersonic speed. Playinghis cards smartly, just couple ofmonths before the 2017 assem-bly polls Thakor joined the old-est political party in India andwent on to become a Memberof the Legislative Assembly.

Sources close to Thakorclaimed that the OBC leaderwas not happy with the GujaratPradesh Congress Committee(GPCC), as the GPCC leader-ship didn’t give due importanceto him. Thakor remained silentover surging petroleum pricesand inflation, says a seniorGPCC leader adding that evenduring the recently completed

monsoon session of GujaratAssembly his participation tooppose ruling party wasextremely cold.

In fact on the issue ofincrease in the salary of MLAs,Thakor criticised Congress leg-islators for supporting the rul-ing party’s Bill. He publicly saidthat on one hand Congressparty was up in arms againstBJP for increasing prices, butthey wouldn’t mind takinghuge hike in salary which onlyadd burden on the taxpayers.

Thakor’s entry in BJPmeans a lot for Gujarat BJP ata time when a section ofPatidar community is nothappy with the ruling party inwake of ongoing pro-quotareservation stir of the 25-year-old Hardik Patel. If Thakorwould join the saffron brigade,the deficit of votes due to a sec-tion of Patidar community’s slat

towards Congress would becompensated, said a seniorBJP leader requestinganonymity.

“In case Alpesh would joinBJP, he is expected to contestfrom Patan Lok Sabha con-stituency in North Gujarat.That is not enough. Along withhim five other sitting CongressMLAs belonging to Thakorcommunity will also join thesaffron party,” he claimed.

Just four days ago formerCongress MLA and Patidarleader from Surat Dhiru Gajerahad resigned from the partywith his nine supporters.Gajera has also indicated tojoin BJP. Strong Koli leader ofSaurashtra region who electedfrom Jasdan constituency inRajkot district on Congressticket in 2017 assembly pollshad also joined the BJP in Julyearlier this year.

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In the backdrop of the death of11 Asiatic lions in its last

abode – Gir Forest - the Stateforest department suddenlydecided to form 64 teams toscreen sick and weak big catsand immediately shift them torescue centre.

According to the claims ofGujarat forest officials, thelions died because of infightingand territorial war. Later on theofficials added that besidesinfighting, the big cats died ofinfections also. Looking to theseriousness of the incidents, aCentral Government team ofwildlife experts has also flownin to Gujarat to find out thereasons for the death of theendangered cat family species.

During the span of 11 to 19September, 11 carcasses of lionswere found which rocked theentire Government machinery inthe State. Gujarat’s AdditionalChief Secretary of forest RajivGupta said that viscera samplesof the dead animals have beensent to Pune-based NationalInstitute of Virology to find outthe exact reason of death.

Once report of the institutewould come, it would be easi-er to take further course ofaction in order to save lions,said Gupta adding that morethan 270 personnel have beendeployed in 64 teams for thescreening purpose. The stateforest department carries out alion census every five years. The2005 survey counted 359 lionswhile the number grew to 411in 2010. The latest census in2015 found 523 lions, 109 ofwhich were male, 201 female,140 cubs and 73 sub-adults.

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The petrol prices breachedthe psychological barrier of

�90 per litre in Maharashtra onMonday, with the retail outletsin Mumbai selling the fuel at�90.08 per litre and the pricetouching an all-time high of�91.91 in Parbhani town inMarathwada region of the State.

Petrol was sold in retail inat least 13 cities in the State inthe range of �90.08 to �91.91.The petroleum dealers attrib-uted the hike to dip the valueof rupee and rise in interna-tional oil prices.

In Mumbai, the petrolprice was hiked 11 paise perlitre from �89.97 to �90.08,while diesel price was hiked byfive paise per litre.

The fuel prices peaked inParbhani town, where petrolwas sold at �91.91 and dieselat �79.15.

According to theFederation of MaharashtraPetroleum Dealers Association(FAMPEDA), petrol was sold atNanded at the rate of �91.61 perlitre, at Amravati �91.31 perlitre, at Ratnagiri �91.14 per litreand at Jalgaon �91.01 per litre.Meanwhile, the OppositionCongress slammed the BJP-led NDA Government for theunchecked increase in petrol prices.

As a mark of protest, the

Maharashtra Congress per-formed 'shraadh-puja' of cansof petrol, diesel and US Dollaron the first day of 'Pitrupaksh'.Hitting out at the NarendraModi Government for the spi-raling petrol prices, MumbaiCongress chief Sanjay Nirupamsaid: “Today is black day,since the petrol has breachedthe barrier of �90 per litre in 13cities across the State,Nandurbar, Parbhani, Mumbai,Nanded, Latur, Jalna, Jalgaon,Hingoli, Gondia, Buldhana,Beed, Aurangabad andRatnagiri.

In his cr it icism ofMaharashtra Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis not cut-ting local tax on petrol anddiesel, Nirupam said: “TheChief Minister should hanghis head in shame. Four Stateslike Andhra Pradesh, WestBengal, Karnataka andRajasthan have reduced localtax on petrol and diesel. I amsurprised that our Govt hasnot bothered to reduce localtax on petrol and diesel. Wewill continue to protest till theState Government takesappropriate action”.

Nirupam said that therise in the fuel prices hadstarted showing a directimpact on some products ofthe FMCG sector like deter-gents, soaps, hair oil and edi-ble oil among others.

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After the Bihar leaders of theRLSP disapproved of the

talks on seat-sharing amongthe NDA partners, party chiefand Union Minister UpendraKushwaha on Monday sum-marily rejected the possibility ofa 20:20 formula of seat-sharing.Instead of rejecting in clearcutterms, he said some peoplewere introducing cricket formatin politics but “I am not inter-ested in cricket rather I used toplay gilli-danda.”

The talks in the NDA cir-cles had been going on thatunder the 20:20 formula BJPwould contest half of the total40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar andgive 20 to its three allies; 12 toJD(U), five to six seats to LJP

of Ram Vilas Paswan andremaining two to Kushwaha’sparty. But there was no officialword from either the BJP orLJP and JD(U).

The only reaction, that toosymbolically, came fromKushwaha after Bihar RLSPleaders Nagmani and BhagwanSingh Kushwaha rejected it say-ing their party would not toler-ate discrimination and theywanted as much seats as allottedto JD(U) or rather more claim-ing their party represented 10 percent of population of Kushwahaas compared to less than two percent vote share of Kurmis.

“There have been, so far,no talks on seat sharing. Oncethere is talk on this matter I willtell you,” the RLSP chief toldmedia people on Monday.

Union Minister Paswansaid his party was neither wor-ried nor in a haste on seatsharinge. He said he was notaware of such talks betweenJD(U) and BJP. Kushwaha whocreated a stir early this month bysaying that he has planned toprepare kheer and its ingredientswould include milk fromYaduvanshi and rice fromKushwaha. On Monday he saidhe was going to launch his“Paigham-e-Kheer” on Tuesdayfrom Patna and the message ofsocial unity would go down tovillages across Bihar. “My mes-sage was meant to unite all sec-tions of the society. Dalits andPundits will sit together to savourour kheer. All castes and class willbe welcomed in this pro-gramme,” he said.

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Monday (September 24)being the last day to file

the nominations for thebyelections to the KarnatakaLegislative Council (UpperHouse ) for the three seats,surprisingly the OppositionBJP has decided not to filepapers. The byelections forthe council will be held onOctober 4 for three vacant seats.

The BJP took the decisionfollowing lack of strength towin the election. In the 224member House the BJP has104, while JDS-Congress,which have joined hands toform the coalit ionGovernment, put togetherhave 117 MLAs. However therumour mill was abuzz thatBJP tried to lure Independentand disgruntled MLAs of JDSand Congress but failed in itseffort to garner support for a

candidate. This made the saffron

party to backtrack from thecouncil polls which is seen ascrucial as the political situa-tion is fluid and uncertain.

Former Minister NazirAhmed and M C Venugopal ofthe Congress and RameshBabu of JDS have filed theirnominations on the last dayclearing way for their unani-mous election.

Monday was the last datefor filing nomination.

The BJP State President BS Yeddyurappa, though theparty had emerged as singlelargest party by winning 104seats in the May 12 Assemblyelection and swearing in asChief Minister, had to stepdown as he could not mustermagic number of 113 to provemajority on the floor of theHouse within 24 hours asdirected by Supreme Court .The Congress moved the Apex

Court for its intervention. JDS and Congress joined

hands and formed theGovernment to keep the saf-fron party away. However BJPunder its strongman BSYeddyurappa is still trying foroperation lotus to poach dis-gruntled MLAs from both theCongress and the JDs. This hasescalated the war of wordsbetween Chief Minister HDKumaraswamy who is headinga fragile coalition with theCongress and BJP Lingayatstrongman BS Yeddyurappa.The seats had fallen vacant fol-lowing resignation of DeputyChief Minister GParameshwara (Cong),Opposition Leader in theLegislative Council K SEshwarappa and V Somanna(both BJP), on being elected tothe Legislative Assembly. It issaid that in the process of thepolitical development formerChief Minister Siddaramaiah

who is calling shot has suc-ceeded in nominating his can-didates to the council. Thisshows he still controls theparty and the coalitionGovernment banks on him.

The byelection was origi-nally scheduled for October 3but was deferred by a day toOctober 4 due to the GeneralHolidays of Muharram onSeptember 21 and 4th Saturdayof September 22 andSeptember 23 being Sundayeffectively curtailing the num-ber of days available for thecandidates to file their nomi-nation papers.

New schedule wasannounced by fixing last datefor filing nomination onSeptember 24, scrutiny onSeptember 25, last date forwithdrawal of nominations isSeptember 27 and polling onOctober 4. Counting of voteswill be taken up on the sameday 5pm onward.

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The sensational killing of aformer Mayor of

Muzaffarpur, Samir Kumar, byAK-47 on Sunday in the northBihar town has once againexposed the fact that the crim-inals are going bold and fear-less in Bihar.

The use of sophisticatedweapon in hitting the targets inseveral murders in recent timesalso showed that AK-47 is inthe possession of the criminalsin abundance.

In most of the recent highprofile murders in Bihar, AK-47 was used. This dreadedweapon is not only beingsmuggled in to the State butalso assembled and sold for aprice of �3-4 lakh.

Recently some assaultrifles were seized in Mungerwhich had been smuggledfrom Madhya Pradesh andthe involvement of an ord-nance factory was also sus-pected.

According to eye witness-es Samir was murdered nearBanaras Bank Chowk inMuzaffarpur by four bikeborne criminals and they firedno less than 50 rounds killingformer mayor and his driveron the spot.

Only a couple of days backone history sheeter Tabrez,said to be sharp shooter of for-mer Siwan MP MohammadShahabuddin was gunneddown just behind the Kotwalipolice station in broad daylight. Some of the criminalsarrested for killing Tabrezrevealed they wanted to useAK-47 but could not because ofthe crowd there so usedrevolver. This was an admissionthat they too had this sophis-ticated weapon. Last month anRLSP functionary was mur-dered in Hajipur by AK-47 andan RJD worker in Samastipur.

“Criminals no more usecountry made pistol and theyprefer AK-47,” commentedRLSP chief and Union MinisterUpendra Kushwaha who camedown heavily on the BiharGovernment for poor law andorder situation. RJD vice pres-ident Raghubansh PrasadSingh reacted, “It is beyonddoubt that criminals have moreAK-47 than the security forces.”

While Muzaffarpurobserved bandh on Monday, allthe opposition parties strong-ly condemned the “governance”of Chief Minister Nitish Kumarleaving little space for NDA

leaders to defend theGovernment.

After the recovery of eightAK-47 in Munger and arrest ofsome accused names of somewhite collared people andpoliticians have been revealedby the arrested persons whichexposed that this weapon wasnot only being purchased bythe Naxalites but also thepoliticians and their muscle-men in Bihar and Jharkhand.DGP K S Dwivedi has handedover the monitoring of theinvestigation into the smug-gling of the AK-47s to Mungerrange DIG Jitendra Mishrawho is likely to submit hisreport to the headquarters innext few days.

What is more intriguingthat the police have far badlyfailed to check the crime despitea high level marathon meetingby Nitish last week duringwhich the CM gave a sternwarning to IGs, DIGs and SPs.

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Ahead of the secondanniversary of the 'surgical

strike,' security forces are onsong in Jammu & Kashmir.

In the last two monthsmore than 50 terrorists havebeen killed by the joint teamsof security forces in clinicaloperations.

According to officialsources, " a total number of 25terrorists were eliminated indifferent operations across theState in the month of August2018, highest in a single monththis year".

For the second consecutivemonth this year the securityforces have managed to elimi-nate more than 25 terrorists ina single month.

Till September 24, thesecurity forces have alreadyeliminated 28 terrorists whilerelentless operations weregoing on in South Kashmir dis-tricts to ensure smooth con-duct of the civic/Panchayatpolls in the State.

According to official sources,"since January 1, 2018 a totalnumber of around 170 terror-ists/infiltrators have been elim-inated in the State this year".

Addressing a press confer-ence in Srinagar on August 24,2018 the Director General ofCentral Reserve Police Force(CRPF), RR Bhatnagar hadclaimed, "a total number 142terrorists have been eliminat-ed in anti-terror operations in

Jammu & Kashmir sinceJanuary 1 this year".

Rough estimates suggestedthe total number of active ter-rorists in the State hoveraround 300 out of which anestimated number of 180 arebelieved to be local cadre andrest comprise foreign terrorists.

In the aftermath of killingof Hizbul Mjahideen com-mander Burhan Wani on July8, 2016 large number of localyouth from South Kashmirdistricts had joined ranks ofdifferent militant outfits.

According to policerecords, "126 local youth hadjoined ranks of militant outfitsin 2017 and over 130 havealready joined this year withShopian emerging as hub oflocal militant cadre".

In 2017, a total number of218 terrorists were eliminatedby the security forces in J&K.

In the wake of Municipaland Panchayat polls in thestate the security forces haveincreased their footprints in theSouth Kashmir districts.

To ensure safety of candi-dates and create conducive

atmosphere ahead of thepolling dates the security forcesare also conducting massivecordon and search operations(CASO) to track down thehiding groups of terrorists.

On the other hand to ter-rorise voters and different can-didates from participating inthe polls the different terroristoutfits are resorting to pressuretactics and issuing threateningletters to prevent them fromtaking part in the polls.

In some pockets of SouthKashmir especially in Shopianand Pulwama the terroristsare regularly abducting kithand kin of security forces orpolice personnel and eliminat-ing them to avenge killing oftheir top commanders.

Three police personnel werekilled last week by terrorists inShopian district after abductingthem from their homes.

On the other hand, in theabsence of mainstream politi-cal parties National Conferenceand Peoples Democratic Partyfrom the poll arena the politi-cal activity is yet to pick paceon ground zero.

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Awhole system of rail androad communication was

on Monday literally hijacked bya relatively unknown pressuregroup in the Jangalmahal areaof Bengal area demanding,among other things, officialrecognition of Santhali andOlchiki languages, appoint-ment of Santhali teachers inschools and construction oftribal-specific hostels.

Called by Bharat Jakat MajhiPargana Mahal, a relatively newface in the history ofJangalmahal, the bandh took anoppressive character by theevening when the passengersand the authorities wereinformed that what started as adawn-to-dusk blockade wouldcontinue indefinitely, sourcessaid.

“We have been petitioningthe Government since 2003 forinclusion of Santhali in the listof official language. But thoughit has been recognised by theConstitution, it is yet to be usedas an alternative official lan-guage in Government offices,”

a BJMPM leader said.“We want Santhali and

Olchiki to be recognised as offi-cial languages, besides we wantthese languages to be taught inthe schools and for that teach-ers will have to be appointed.We also want Adivasi hostels invarious places,” another leadersaid adding the bandh wouldnot be called off until someassurance came from therespective Governments.

Even as the Central and

State Governments were luke-warm in their response inreacting to the situation tens oftrains remained vulnerable andstranded, some of them inopen fields. Railway serviceswere heavily disrupted inH o w r a h - K h a r a g p u r ,Kharagpur-Tatanagar,

K h a r a g pu r- B h a d r a k ,Kharagpur-Adra sections astrains remained stranded atPurulia, Bankura, Adra,Nekursuni, Basta, Salboni,

Balichak and other places.Sandwiched between the

tribal demands andGovernmental indifference werethousands of helpless passen-gers, students, women, chil-dren, patients desperately askingfor food and water through theday and throughout the nighteven as none from the powersthat be tended to come forwardto account for the affairs.

At least four districts ofPurulia, Birbhum, WestMidnapore and Bankura cameunder the impact area of thesudden bandh. The nationalhighways linking Bengal withJharkhand, Odisha and theentire South and Western Indiawere also affected. Even astracks were blocked withstranded trains in many placesin Bengal, Jharkhand andOdisha sources in the South-Eastern Railways said at leastnine trains from Kolkata hadbeen cancelled. Apart fromthese a number of trains hadbeen rescheduled, sourcesmaintained.“We are returningfrom an educational trip toVishakhapatnam with 73 girl

students. Now we are standingin the middle of nowherethough the Railways have pro-vided us with some securityguards,” S Sen the Principal ofthe BSS School said.

Falling in the mainlinebetween Howrah and Madrasthe route is a busy one fre-quented by hundreds ofpatients travelling betweenKolkata and Vellore. “We havea number of patients returningfrom South India. Their con-dition is precarious,” a studentof the school said.

Meanwhile, the TrinamoolGovernment and the BJPlocked horns over a Bengalbandh called by the saffron out-fit on September 26 in protestagainst death of two schoolchildren in an alleged police fir-ing in Islampur block of NorthDinajpur district. “We will notallow any bandh to take placein Bengal. All the Governmentoffices and transport willremain open,” State EducationMinister Partho Chatterjee saidadding all leaves ofGovernment employees hadbeen cancelled.

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Kolkata: Bridges continued toexhibit unpredictability asanother under-constructionviaduct, this time over aSunderban river, collapsed onMonday morning, sources said.

The labourers working atthe site had a providential escapeas they were about to join workin half-an-hour when a part ofthe bridge over Kalnagini rivercollapsed at about 9 am.

Sunderban DevelopmentMinister Manturam Pakhirasaid an inquiry had beenordered and the guilty wouldbe taken to task.

“No injuries have beenreported neither has there beenany casualty," South 24Parganas District Magistrate YRatnakara Rao said.

This was the fourth suchincident in the recent pastafter Majherhat Bridge col-lapsed in South Kolkataclaimed three l ives late last month. PNS

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Five infiltrators and a soldierwere killed as army foiled a

major infiltration bid inTangdhar sector of northKashmir’s Kupwara district. Theprolonged operation continuedthrough Monday as the securi-ty forces apprehend presence ofmore infiltrators in the area.

Defence spokesman saidthat three infiltrators werekilled on Monday during mas-sive search operation in thearea. The first contact with theinfiltrators had been estab-lished late on Sunday when thearmy shot dead two infiltrators.The more members of theinfiltrators’ group had dis-persed in the dense forest.

The spokesman said thatsearch operations were inprogress in the difficult moun-tainous area along Line ofControl. During the gunfight asoldier was critically wounded.He was immediately evacuatedfrom the area but succumbedto his injuries later.

Meanwhile, the normal liferemained affected on fourthconsecutive day in northKashmir’s Bandipora town inresponse to killing of five ter-rorists in Shokhbaba village ofSumlar area.

Even as the security forcesclaimed that the slain terror-ists belonged to Lashkar-e-Tayyeba outfit and were for-eigners, Hizbul Mujahideenoutfit on Monday claimed thatthey were local cadre of theoutfit. The outfit also identi-fied the slain terrorists.

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Although deportation of illegalBangladeshi infiltrators remained the

main poll plank for most of the parties inAssam, yet the successive governments runby different parties in the state coulddeport only 29,795 illegal foreigners so far.

Assam Industry minister ChandraMohan Patowary said this on Mondaywhile replying to a question in the Assamlegislative Assembly. A total of 91,609 per-sons have so far been declared or convictedas foreigner by different Foreigners’Tribunals in Assam. The Minister furthersaid that out of this only 1,037 declared for-

eigners are living in six detention campsof Assam. The 1,037 also includes 31 chil-dren, he added.

“According to the data received fromBorder wing of Assam Police, the for-eigners tribunals have declared 91,609 per-sons as foreigners till March 31, 2018.While 128 of them have been deported tillAugust 31, 2018, four other of them havealso been expelled during this period. Priorto this, the State Government has pushedback a total of 29,663 declared foreignersand convicted persons to Bangladesh tillDecember 31, 2017,” said Patowary.

“The 1,037 declared foreigners are keptunder detention in detention camps at

Goalpara, Kokrajhar,

Silchar, Dibrugarh, Jorhat and at Tezpur, heinformed the House. The revelation by theminister assumes significance consideringthe fact that Assam had witnessed a six yearlong students’ movement from 1979 to 1985seeking to detect and deport the illegalBangladeshi foreigners living in the state.

A total of 855 young men and womenwere killed and hundreds of others weremaimed by police and security forces dur-ing the period for taking part in the move-ment and agitating against the then Congressled Government. It may be mentioned herethat the BJP led Assam Government is nowupdating the National Register of Citizens(NRC) which is expected to detect the ille-gal Bangladeshi infiltrators living in the State.

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Benchmark BSE Sensex onMonday suffered its worst

single-day loss in sevenmonths, extending its fall for afifth day due to a meltdown inbanking and auto stocks on liq-uidity concerns and a rout inglobal markets.

The 30-share index tanked536.58 points or 1.46 per centto settle at a two-month low of36,305.02, logging its biggestsingle-day loss since February6 when it declined by 561.22points.

This is the weakest closingsince July 11 when it settled at36,265.93. The index droppeda total 1,785.62 points or morethan 5 per cent in five sessions,wiping out �8.48 lakh crore ofmarket wealth.

Factors like crude oil priceshitting a four-year high, liq-uidity concerns after defaults byIL&FS, the rupee retreating alow of 72.73 against the US dol-lar beset investors.

The broad-based Nifty ofthe National Stock Exchangecrashed below the 11,000 mark,declining by 168.20 points or1.51 per cent to end at 10,974.90.

Liquidity concerns andreports that China has calledoff planned trade talks with theUS weighed on the market sen-timent, brokers said.

“This turmoil which was

triggered last week by housingand NBFC’s continued to trou-ble the market as panic spread.In spite of assuring statementsby key government and insti-tutional leaders, market wasconcerned about the near-termheadwinds like quality andincreased cost of funds alongwith tighter liquidity,” VinodNair, Head of Research, GeojitFinancial Services Ltd, said.

Brent crude prices hit afour-year high before tradingup 2.34 per cent at $80.07 a bar-rel while WTI gained 1.81 percent to $72.06 a barrel.

Of the 30 Sensex scrips, 24declined with Mahindra &Mahindra emerging as the

biggest loser. Mahindra andMahindra fell by 6.46 per centwhile Maruti and Bajaj Autodecline by 3 per cent and 1.7per cent respectively.

Financial stocks led byHDFC also took a hit. HDFCdropped 6.22 per cent,IndusInd Bank by 4.94 percent, ICICI Bank by 2.8 percent, Kotak Bank by 2.6 percent, HDFC Bank by 2.16 percent, and SBI by 2.04 percent.

Yes Bank fell by another0.35 per cent, taking its totallosses to more than 29 per centafter the RBI curtailed theterm of its founding CEO RanaKapoor.

Finance Minister ArunJaitley said Monday that thegovernment would take allmeasures to ensure adequateliquidity for non-bankingfinancial companies (NBFCs)

and mutual funds.The Reserve Bank of India

(RBI) and market regulatorSebi said on Sunday that theywere closely monitoring thedevelopments in the financialsector and were ready to take“appropriate actions” to calmthe jittery investors.

Other index losers includ-ed Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports,Tata Motors, Tata Steel, AsianPaint, Wipro, Hero MotoCorp,Sun Pharma, HUL, ITC Ltd,L&T and PowerGrid whichfell up to 4.94 per cent.

Bucking the trend, ITstocks TCS and Infosys rose by4.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent.Coal India rose by 2.1 per centwhile Reliance gained 1.27 percent.

In the broader market, theBSE small-cap index fell by 2.72per cent while the mid-capindex shed 2.40 per cent.

Aviation stocks fall as brentcrude price crosses $80 per bar-rel.

SpiceJet stock fell by 7.20per cent to �71.50 andInterGlobe Aviation stock wasdown 4.97 per cent to �860.65.

Shares of Dewan HousingFinance Corporation rebound-ed nearly 11.79 per cent afterthe company stated that it hadnot defaulted on any bonds orrepayment nor had there beenany single instance of delay onany of its repayment of any lia-bility.

The company’s shares hadtumbled 42.43 per cent in theprevious session on Friday fol-lowing massive selling overfears of a liquidity crisis.

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Spiralling fuel prices contin-ued their upward march on

Monday as petrol price inMumbai crossed the landmarklevel of �90 per litre. Dieselprices also hit new highs for thesecond consecutive day.

Petrol was sold at �90.08per litre in country’s financialcapital Mumbai, up from�89.97 on Sunday, data on theIndian Oil Corp’s websiteshowed.

In the other key cities ofDelhi, Kolkata and Chennai,the fuel was priced at �82.72,�84.54 and �85.99, respective-ly, against the previous levels of

�82.61, �84.44 and �85.87 perlitre.

The recent surge in trans-portation fuel prices comesamid increasing crude oilprices. On Monday, the price ofBrent crude oil crossed the $80-per-barrel mark.

Diesel prices also rose onMonday in tandem with petrolprices.

Cost of diesel in the fourmetros of Delhi, Kolkata,Mumbai and Chennai was at�74.02, �75.87, �78.58 and�78.26 respectively, against theSunday’s levels of �73.97,�75.82, �78.53 and �78.20 perlitre. Prices in all the four citiesare at their record levels.

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With petrol and dieselprices scaling record

highs, S&P Global RatingsMonday said the Governmentmay opt to control retail fuelprices to cushion inflationaryshocks.

India imports almost 80per cent of its crude oil require-ments. Rising crude prices andthe recent 10 per cent slide inthe rupee has translated intohigher fuel prices for con-sumers.

“This puts pressure onconsumers and results in high-er inflation, a sensitive subject,given the impending federaland state elections over the next12 months,” S&P GlobalRatings credit analyst VishalKulkarni said.

“We don’t expect any rever-sion to the subsidy mechanismsimilar to before 2014 in India,even though the incumbentgovernment may opt to controlretail fuel prices, using othermeans, to cushion the infla-tionary shocks,” Kulkarni

added.The US-based agency said

it assumes a Brent crude oilprice per barrel of $70 for therest of 2018, $65 for 2019, and$60 for 2020, against the cur-rent spot price of almost $80per barrel in our financial pro-jections.

Petrol price Mondaycrossed the �90-mark inMumbai, while it was at �82.72per litre in Delhi. Diesel atIOC’s outlets in Mumbai costs�78.58 a litre, while in Delhi thefuel costs �74.02 a litre.

The Government freedpetrol price from its control inJune 2010 and diesel inOctober 2014. It now providesa limited subsidy on LPG andkerosene. S&P said amid risingcrude oil prices, tight imple-mentation of retail fuel-pricingpolicies will influence the lever-age of Indian oil companies.

“While rising oil pricesbolster the cash flows ofupstream businesses, cross sub-sidies from upstream to down-stream segments could limitsuch benefits,” Kulkarni said.

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitleywill meet the heads of pub-

lic sectors banks (PSBs) onTuesday as part of the annualfinancial performance reviewexercise.

The meeting is expected todiscuss a host of issues, includ-ing progress made with regardto reduction in non-perform-ing assets, sources said.

The meeting will happenagainst the backdrop of the‘Alternative Mechanism’ (AM)to merge three public sectorbanks — Bank of Baroda,Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank —with a view to create a global-size lender, which will bestronger and sustainable.

Besides, the finance minis-ter will also discuss creditgrowth and bad loan situation,they said, adding that variousrecovery measures by banksand legislative steps taken by thegovernment to expedite recov-ery are also part of the agenda.

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The Government is consid-ering developing nation-

wide specifications for publicprocurement of goods byCentral Government agenciesto encourage domestic suppli-ers to plan their productionschedule, an official said.

The proposal is likely to beincluded in the new industrialpolicy being prepared by thecommerce and industry min-istry.

The policy may also sug-gest extending the offset poli-cy in public procurement insectors beyond defence such aselectronics and ICT.

The official said standard-ised specifications of products

would enable Governmentdepartments and public sectorunits (PSUs) to release largeorders helping the industryachieve economies of scale.

The Government and PSUsprocure goods and servicesworth over �5 lakh crore everyyear, as per estimates.

Standardised specificationswould also help domesticindustry plan their productionand technology well in advance.

“Policy actions can helppublic procurement add sig-nificant value to the domesticindustry,” the official added. The ministry has developed ane-marketplace portal (GeM)for buying of goods and ser-vices by different Governmentagencies and departments.

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The Government is consid-ering selling its 65.61 per

cent stake in state-ownedPower Finance Corporation(PFC) to Rural ElectrificationCorporation (REC), whichcould fetch the exchequerabout �13,000 crore.

“The discussions are at apreliminary stage. TheGovernment sees a lot of syn-ergy between the two NBFCsfunding power sector projects,”an official said.

At the end of 2017-18financial year, the totalresources of REC stood at over�2.46 lakh crore, of which‘Reserves and Surplus’ stood at�33,515.59 crore. The net worthof the company stood at�35,490 crore and ‘cash andbank balance was at �1,773crore at the end of March 2018.

Stock of REC was tradingat �98.90, down 7.35 per cent,while PFC scrip was trading at�79.60, 1.18 per cent lower overprevious close on the BSE.

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Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), which hasdefaulted on a series of interest payments, needs to resolve issues

on its own, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Gargsaid.

“IL&FS is independent of Government. It has independent

board and shareholders. So, IL&FS needs to resolve its issues onits own and I think it is capable of doing it,” Garg said in an inter-view.

Although Government has no holding in the company, someof the state-owned financial firms including LIC and SBI areshareholders of the non-banking financial company (NBFC).

“It has assets, it has liabilities to take care. There might be sometemporary mismatch, so it is IL&FS, which willdeal with the problem. The Government is notinvolved directly,” Garg said.

Earlier this month, IL&FS Group defaulted oninter-corporate deposits and commercial papers.

On September 4, it came to light that IL&FShad defaulted on a short-term loan of �1,000crore from Sidbi, while a subsidiary has alsodefaulted on �500 crore dues to the developmentfinancial institution, which reportedly forcedSidbi to ask its chief general manager in chargeof the risk management department to resign.

State-owned LIC is the largest shareholderwith a fourth of the firm’s equity, while OrixCorporation of Japan owns 23.5 per cent.

Other shareholders include Abu DhabiInvestment Authority with 12.5 per cent stake,IL&FS Employees Welfare Trust with 12 per cent,HDFC with 9.02 per cent, Central Bank of Indiawith 7.67 per cent and State Bank of India (SBI)with 6.42 per cent at the March-end 2018.

In a letter to its employees, IL&FS hadclaimed that if funds worth �16,000 crore stuckwith concession authorities were released on time,it would not have landed in this mess.

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The Spiritual Guru Sri SriRavishankar along with

Hema Malini inaugurated Kent’snew Manufacturing Facility inNoida, Uttar Pradesh. Kent’snew facility is India’s largest ROWater Purifier manufacturingunit and with this facility, KentRO will double its currentcapacity for RO water purifiersfrom 5 lacs units a year to 10 lacsunits a year.

Spread on a total area of23000 square meters & havinga built up area of 3.5 lac squarefeet, Kent’s new manufacturingfacility has been planned inphases. The newly inauguratedphase-1 of the plant, con-structed at a cost of �150 croreswould undertake manufactur-ing of Next Gen range of ROpurifiers. The new plant willfulfill capacity expansion andmeet the increasing demand.

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Seeking to calm the nerves ofworried investors, Finance

Minister Arun Jaitley said onMonday that the Governmentwould take all measures toensure adequate liquidity fornon-banking financial com-panies (NBFCs) and mutualfunds.

The minister’s remarkscome in the wake of stock mar-kets witnessing sudden andstiff fall in intra-day trade onFriday over concerns of liq-uidity crisis being faced bysome of the NBFCs.

“The Government will takeall measures to ensure that ade-quate liquidity is main-tained/provided to the NBFCs,the mutual funds and

the SMEs,” Jaitley tweetedahead of the opening of stockmarkets.

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American fans will be licking their lipsif this is what awaits Miami's HardRock Stadium in January after

Barcelona and Girona played out anenthralling 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou onSunday.

There were four goals, one for LionelMessi and two for Girona's CristhianStuani, not to mention a controversial redcard shown to Barca defender ClementLenglet.

Gerard Pique salvaged a point for thehosts to complete his own blockbuster night,after clearing one shot off the line and mak-ing mistakes for each of Girona's goals.

By the end, Barca had surrendered theirperfect record in La Liga, as well as a two-point advantage over Real Madrid. Theyreturn to the top of the table, but only ongoal difference. Girona move up to sixth.

"For us, this is a triumph," Stuani said."Coming here and getting this result is sovaluable for us." Hanging over this game wasalways the wider prospect of it not beingreturned, given La Liga's desire to move thereverse fixture at Girona's Estadi Montilivion January 26 to the United States.

For all the opposition, however, therewas a noticeable lack of complaint at theCamp Nou, where there were chants forCatalan independence but precious little inopposition to a trip to Miami.

A point may not be viewed as a badreturn either for Barca, having playedthrough the best part of an hour with 10men, but changes made by coach ErnestoValverde failed to hit the mark.

Lenglet came in for Samuel Umititi, pre-sumably to bed in next to Pique, givenUmtiti is suspended for Barcelona'sChampions League game against Tottenhamlater this month.

But he was, perhaps harshly, sent off inthe 35th minute with Barca one up, and theythen conceded before Umtiti came on athalf-time. Arthur and Arturo Vidal - alsobrought in - were substituted before thehour.

"When we got the red card, our inten-tion was to make a change but we had tolet him (Umtiti) warm-up," Valverde said."It looks like an error on my part." Messi and

Pique had changed too, each shaving theirbeards, but it had contrasting effects basedon the evidence of the first half.

Within 19 minutes, Messi had put Barcaahead, a slick finish into the corner finish-ing off Vidal's pass for the Argentinian'seighth goal in six games. Pique, however, wasat fault for the equaliser, a lethargic attemptat a clearance allowing Stuani to poke theball past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Girona had been spurred on by Lenglet'sred card, after VAR showed the Frenchdefender landed an elbow into the face ofPere Pons, and referee Jesus Gil deemed itdeliberate.

The red card rippled through theFrench contingent as Lenglet's dismissalmeant Ousmane Dembele was replaced byUmtiti at half-time.

It made little difference as Girona, and

Stuani, scored another six minutes after therestart, with Pique again the one culpable.

First, he was outrun by Portu and thenhe brought the striker down from behindfor what was probably a penalty. Portu's shotwas pushed away by Ter Stegen but Stuanibanged in the rebound.

Valverde replaced Vidal and Arthurwith Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Rakitic,and Messi struck the crossbar with a free-

kick soon after.He was involved in the last goal too as

a brilliant exchange with the lively LuisSuarez saw the latter's shot loop across thebox. Pique leapt high to head in.

Earlier, Ben Yedder scored a hat-trickas Sevilla thrashed Levante 6-2 while RealBetis came from behind to draw 2-2 at hometo Athletic Bilbao. Valencia and Villarrealdrew 0-0.

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Cristiano Ronaldo erased the frustrationof his Champions League red card mid-

week by scoring the opener and setting upFederico Bernardeschi for a second asJuventus kept their perfect record in SerieA after five games with a 2-0 win a pro-moted Frosinone on Sunday.

The Portugese star hadthreatened several times at theStadio Benito Stirpe but final-ly found a way through nineminutes from time, and thenhelped Italian Bernardeschi toscore Juve's second, four min-utes into injury time.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner hadscored his first goals last week with a dou-ble in a 2-1 win over Sassuolo, before the33-year-old was sent off on Wednesday ina 2-0 Champions League win over Valencia.

Juventus — the only unbeaten team inSerie A — have 15 points from five games,three points ahead of Napoli who beatTorino 3-1 earlier on Sunday.

Seven-time reigning championsJuventus and Napoli, last season's runners-up, will go head-to-head next Saturday inTurin.

Frosinone had frustrated the champi-ons for long periods but caved in late andhave now conceded 12 goals to remain sec-ond bottom of the table with just one point.

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Goalkeeper Niraj Kumarturned out to be the hero

as India held heavyweightsIran to a goalless draw in theAFC U-16 Championshiphere on Monday, the firsttime in 33 years.

The young custodianfrom Punjab blocked a 76thminute penalty to deny thefancied Iranians full points.

The last time India man-aged to hold Iran, across allage groups, was in December1984 in the Asia Cup Finalsin Singapore. That game alsoended in a goalless stale-mate.

On expected lines, Iran asserted theirdominance early in the game and had a cou-ple of attempts saved by Niraj. The Asian giantscame very close to scoring in the 23rdminute, but the shot from a corner kick hit thebar, much to India's relief at the Bukit JalilStadium.

Then, pressing football backed by confi-dent defensive organisation and some sharpcounter attacks helped India's cause.

For all the possession that Iran enjoyed,

it was India who had two ofthe easiest opportunitiestowards the end of secondhalf.

Ravi Rana missed thefirst one as his chip wentinches over the Iraniangoal while the second shotmissed the target by awhisker as Sailo, afterrounding the Iranian cus-todian, could not finishfrom close range.

The match also sawNiraj displaying his talentunder the bar. He stayedconfident all throughoutand was unbeatable in theaerial balls, leaping higherthan all every time to col-

lect the crosses from the flanks. He also divedfull length to make a stunning save to denyIran in the 16th minute.

"We could have won the match. It was thatclose. But the boys gave their hundred percenton the pitch and they performed according tothe game plan," said head coach of the IndianU-16 side Bibiano Fernandes.

"We are happy with a draw, though weaimed for a win and now we focus towards thenext match against Indonesia (on Sept 27)."

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Grappler Ritu Phogat will replace her injuredcousin Vinesh Phogat in the 50kg category for

the World Championship, the WrestlingFederation of India said on Monday.

Vinesh, who was a medal favourite, sufferedan elbow injury on Friday during practice and wasruled out.

The WFI had entered Ritu's name in the 53kgafter original choice Pinki refused to appear in are-trial recently.

However, in the changed scenario, the WFIwas left with no option but to bring back Ritu forher original weight category, 50kg.

It also means that Pinki will now compete inthe 53kg and will not miss the prestigious eventof the United World Wrestling (UWW).

"We have asked Ritu to compete in 50kg andbrought back Pinki in 53kg. Vinesh missing outis a loss for us, the injury is unfortunate," WFI assis-tant secretary Vinod Tomar said.

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Saina Nehwal and Sameer Vermawill look to put their best foot for-

ward when they lead Indian challengeat the $ 600,000 Korea Open WorldTour Super 500 tournament begin-ning here on Tuesday.

Saina, who had skipped theJapan Open earlier this month afterwinning a Bronze at 18th AsianGames, will look to get over the dis-appointment of her first-round exitat China last week when she takes onKorean Kim Hyo Min.

Fifth seeded Saina, ranked 10thin the world, has done well in themajor events this year, grabbing a sec-ond Gold at Gold CoastCommonwealth Games and a Bronzeat the Jakarta Asian Games. Butthe Indian has been inconsis-tent in the BWF events.

Saina, who had reachedthe finals at the $ 350,000Indonesia Masters in January,was ousted by Korea's Sung JiHyun last week at China and willhave a tough task at hand as she islikely to face third seed JapaneseNozomi Okuhara in the quarterfinals.

In men's singles, Sameer Vermawill carry the Indian flag afterKidambi Srikanth pulled out after

playing back-to-back tourna-ments in Japan and China inthe last two weeks.

Sameer has been trou-bled by injuries but he has

done well when he has been fit,winning titles at Swiss Open in

February and Hyderabad Open earlythis month.

The 23-year-old Dhar, who hadfinished runners-up at 2016 HongKong Open, will play Denmark'sAnders Antonsen in his openingmatch.

He had beaten the Danish shut-tler at India Open in January thisyear. If the Indian crosses the open-ing round, he is expected to meetreigning world champion KentoMomota of Japan.

Young women's shuttlerVaishnavi Reddy Jakka will alsocompete in the tournament, taking onformidable sixth seed Beiwen Zhangof USA in the opening round. Amongothers, Ajay Jayaram will take onChina's Zhao Junpeng in the quali-fiers.

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Tiger Woods scored his first victory inmore than five years on Sunday, com-

pleting a two-shot win at the TourChampionship to crown a fairy tale come-back after a near two-year absence.

The 42-year-old, 14-time major winnercarded a one-over-par 71 at Atlanta's EastLake Golf Course to claim the 80th title ofhis glittering career.

Woods, who finished with an 11-under-par aggregate 269, raised his arms indelight after the victory, with several thou-sand fans ringing the green roaring theirappreciation.

Woods admitted he had nearly beenovercome with emotion as he walked up the18th fairway.

"I was having a hard time not cryingcoming up the last hole," Woods said, whosemost recent before Sunday had come 1,876days ago at the 2013 WGC-BridgestoneInvitational.

"I kept saying 'Hey, I could still play thisout of bounds.' But once I got the ball on thegreen I gave (caddie) Joey (LaCava) a highfive because I knew it was done."

It was an emotional finale to a yearwhich saw Woods return to the highest levelafter he had once feared he may never playgolf again.

"It was just a grind out there," Woodssaid of his final round. "I loved every bit ofit. The fight, the grind, the tough conditions.

"Beginning of the year (winning) was a

tall order. But as the year progressed I foundmy swing and put the pieces together andI knew I could do it."

Woods later revealed he had been closeto tears on the final green as he prepared forthe par putt to complete the win. "I realisedall of sudden I was going to win the tour-nament," he said.

"My eyes started tearing up a little bit.I just can't believe I pulled this off after I'vegone through. It's been tough. I've had a not-so-easy last couple of years. I've worked myway back. I couldn't have done it without thehelp of all the people around me.”

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Europe retained their Laver Cuptennis crown here on Sunday as

Alexander Zverev defeated KevinAnderson to complete a 13-8 win overthe World team.

Germany's Zverev came from a setdown to complete a 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 10-7 over Anderson as the Europeans suc-cessfully defended the title won inPrague last year.

"It was such a close match allaround, not only this one but all week-end, a few points here and there andit could have been different," saidZverev.

"I'm just happy to get the win andwe defended the title, that's the mostimportant thing."

Zverev's win was the final act ofan enthralling day of action atChicago's United Center, where theWorld team had roared back into con-tention in the day's first rubber.

American duo John Isner and JackSock fought off two match points todefeat Zverev and world number twoRoger Federer in a gripping doublesbattle.

Isner and Sock prevailed 4-6, 7-6(7/2), 11/9 to give the World team an8-7 lead with the three singles rubbersremaining.

Europe responded superbly afterthat early setback however, with the

37-year-old Federer returning tosecure a vital three points against Isnerin the first singles match of the day.

The Swiss ace came from a setdown to defeat the big-serving Isner6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (8/6), 10/7.

The win was testimony toFederer's remarkable physical condi-tioning. The 20-time Grand Slam sin-gles champion outlasted Isner less thanan hour after he had been beaten inthe day's opening doubles game.

Federer celebrated the win by per-forming push-ups on court with his

teammates to the delight of thecrowd.

Europe skipper Bjorn Borg mean-while praised the performance of theWorld team, who were captained byhis old rival John McEnroe.

"I'm very proud of my team, weknew it's going to be very difficult tobeat Team World with John as the cap-tain," Borg said. "He has a great team,they're very professional." The nextLaver Cup, which is named afterAustralian legend Rod Laver, will bestaged in Geneva in September 2019.

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Serena Williams says she is trying to "move on" fromthe meltdown that overshadowed her US Open final

loss but remains perplexed at her coach's admission heillegally signalled to her.

The 23-time GrandSlam champion lost thedecider in straight setsto Japan's Naomi Osakaafter a fiery confronta-tion with chair umpireCarlos Ramos that shelater blamed on sex-ism.

Williams calledRamos a "thief " and a"liar" in a running rowwith the Portugueseofficial that eventuallysaw her docked a game.

In an interviewwith Australia's Channel Ten, the American superstar saida male player would not have been treated the same way.

She said women could not get away with "even halfof what a guy can do".

"Right now we are not, as it's proven, in that same posi-tion," she said in an interview that aired late Sunday.

"But that's neither here nor there. I'm just trying mostof all to recover from that and move on." Williams saidshe felt "on the cusp of this amazing moment" before the6-2, 6-4 loss to Osaka.

A win would have taken her to 24 Grand Slams,equalling Australian Margaret Court's all-time record.

The dispute with Ramos began when Williams wasissued a warning for coaching, something her coach sit-ting in the player's box, Patrick Mouratoglou, admittedto doing.

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The Indian cricket team will hope that itsuntested middle-order gets some game timeahead of the grand finale when it takes on

an ever-improving Afghanistan in the final'Super Four' encounter of the Asia Cup here onTuesday.

India have been on a roll after an unimpres-sive start against Hong Kong, with couple of one-sided victories over arch-rivals Pakistan and anequally facile one against Bangladesh.

With a spot in Friday's final sealed, skipperRohit Sharma may want some of his untested mid-dle-order batsmen to get quality time in the mid-dle against someone of Rashid Khan's calibre.

Often in cricket, the 'Law of Averages' catch-es up with the best performing teams at a criti-cal juncture.

Shikhar Dhawan (327) and skipper Rohit(269) have done the bulk of the scoring in the fourmatches so far with very little contribution beingrequired from the other batsmen in the line-up.

The next highest scorer is Ambati Rayudu(116 runs) because he comes in at No 3.

The problem has been lack of batting time forthe likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, KedarJadhav and Dinesh Karthik so far.

Sample this: Rohit and Shikhar have so farfaced 284 and 321 deliveries respectively. The nextbest Rayudu has played 162 balls.

However, Karthik (78 balls), Dhoni (40balls) and Kedar (27 balls) can be found wanti-ng if there is a top-order collapse on the big day.

Rohit had given Dhoni an opportunity tocome in at No 4 against Bangladesh and the for-mer captain scored 33 runs. But it was a pressure-free situation.

Dhoni's achilles heel of late has been to keepthe scoreboard ticking in pressure situations thatthe middle-overs throw up.

If the likes of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb urRahman can put pressure, it will be a good warm-up for the middle-order trio before the final match.

The Indian captain might fancy batting firstin case he wins the toss, which in turn will givehis team a chance to bat 50 overs instead of chas-ing another modest total.

The Indian bowlers have beensplendid on the slow DubaiInternational Stadium track with allthe bowlers enjoying an economy rateof less than five runs per over.

The spinners have been on a rollwith Yuzvendra Chahal (5 wickets at4.61 runs per over) and Kuldeep Yadav (5 wick-ets in 4.01 runs per over) have been tight as usualwhile Jasprit Bumrah (7 wickets with 3.37 runsper over) has been exceptional at the death withhis yorkers.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (6 wickets at 4.08 perover), in his comeback tournament, has also beenconsistent.

There is a possibility that India might rest bothBhuvneshwar and Bumrah before the summit

clash to help them recharge their bat-teries.

In such a scenario, two amongDeepak Chahar, Siddharth Kaul andKhaleel Ahmed will take their spotsin the playing XI for the game.

For Afghanistan, a win against the fanciedIndian side will be a great end to the tournamentwhere they have been competitive throughout,only losing out due to lack of experience.

Having packed off Sri Lanka in the groupleague stage and crushed Bangladesh, Afghanistanwere done in by inexperience during the fag endof the Super Four matches against Pakistan andBangladesh.

Against Pakistan, their bowlers couldn't hold

nerve in the final over while their batsmen foundit difficult to read Mustafizur Rahman's variationsin the final over.

�=��India: Rohit Sharma, Dhawan, Ambati

Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MSDhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Chahal,Bhuvneshwar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed,Deepak Chahar, Siddharth Kaul, Manish Pandey

Afghanistan: Mohammad Shahzad,Ihsanulluah Jamat, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah,Asghar Stanikzai, Hasmat Shahidi, MohammadNabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, NajibullahZadran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Aftab Alam,Samiullah Shenwari, Munir Ahmed, SayedAhmed Sherzad, Ashraf, Momand Wafadar.

�� &)1��

India captain Rohit Sharmawas all praise for his bowling

unit, which has consistentlykept opposition teams on tightleash ensuring the side's smoothpassage into the Asia Cup final.

The Indian bowlers haverestricted Pakistan to 162 and237 in two games while bowlingout Bangladesh for 173.

"The entire bowling unitstuck to their task and hats offto them. Repeated performancesare challenging in these condi-tions and I don't want to takeany credit away from bowlers,"said Rohit, who was involved ina double hundred partnershipwith Shikhar Dhawan.

Rohit mentioned JaspritBumrah for his exceptionalbowling in the ongoing tourna-ment.

"I think he's (Bumrah)matured as a bowler now, playedgreat amount of cricket and heunderstands his bowling. I thinkthat's very very important forany individual; Bumrah under-stands what fields he needs to setand knows how to keep it tight.Bhuvi also did the same," theskipper said.

Rohit was also happy thatthe strategy of playing fourspinners, including part-timerKedar Jadhav, has clicked so farwith Ravindra Jadeja's comebackadding a new dimension.

"When Hardik got injured,the challenge was to field fourspinners and we thought abouta few combinations (3 seamers,4 spinners) and in these condi-tions it is important to take the

pace and not give much pace.For Jadeja, to come out and per-form like that is amazing."

They now have 13 centuryopening partnerships and Rohitfeels batting with Dhawanbecomes easy as both of themare clear about their roles.

"With Shikhar, I don't needto talk much. It's important to lethim be himself. We have battedenough to know each other tostart off like that and we clear-ly know our roles. We alwaysknew that the new batsman willfind it difficult to keep goingstraightaway and Shikhar and Iknew it."

Pakistan captain SarfrazAhmed rued the couple ofdropped catches of Rohit, whichcost his team dearly in the end.

"We made it tough for our-selves by dropping those catch-es. We were 20-25 runs shortand if we would have held on toour catches we could have pos-sibly made things interesting.

"The wicket was a bit diffi-cult to play on as the cracks hadwidened up. It wasn't easy for anew batsman walking in. Hadwe got early wickets, this chasewould have been certainly dif-ficult. We have been losing a lotof wickets in the early overs andhence it becomes difficult torecover from such situations."

The Pakistan captain was allpraise for the Indian centurions.

"The way they batted, allcredit to them. Rohit andDhawan were exceptional. Theyhave shown better skills as com-pared to us. We need to work alot on our skill level if at all wewant to get into the final.

�� &)1��

Leg-spinner YuzvendraChahal has attributed

India's consistent show withthe ball across formats to askilful pool of bowlers andconfidence shown by the teammanagement.

"Our bowling pool hasswelled to 10-15 and earlier itwasn't so. Now one who isreplacing you is also as skil-ful," Chahal told reportersafter India's win.

"Even in England, the wayour bowlers have dominated,it shows the regular flow ofspinners and medium pacersin the team. Also the confi-dence showed by the man-agement is important for ayoungster. There is no nega-tivity, you can concentrate onyour bowling."

India have dominatedPakistan both with the bat andthe ball but Chahal said it wasjust a case of a team having abad day in office for theirarch-rivals.

"Our batsmen put theirbowlers under pressure fromthe start. They are playing thenew ball well, they are takingtheir time and partnershipare getting longer," he said.

"In this wicket, you haveto vary line and length. Butthey got mentally down as thematch was slipping away, sothe situation was different.

"Sometimes it hap-pens, teams don't have agood day but they (Pakistan)are also a good team. So it isnot a one-sided thing, thetournament is still not over."

�� 23/3�13

Anuja Patil and JemimahRodrigues smashed

unbeaten half centuries, takingIndian women to a series-seal-ing win over hosts Sri Lanka ina rain affected fourth T20International here on Monday.

With the second T20 beingwashed out, India have nowtaken a 3-0 lead in the five-match series. The final matchwill be played on Tuesday. Thevisitors had also won the pre-ceding ODI against Sri Lanka.

Patil (3/36) helped Indiareduce Sri Lanka to 134 for fivein a shortened 17-over a sidecontest. Shashikala Siriwardenetop-scored forSri Lanka

with 40 off 32balls.

India chaseddown the targetwith more thanan over to spareand seven wick-ets in hand,thanks to Patil(54 not out off42) and teenag-er Rodrigues

(52 not out off37).

It was a sec-ond successive

half-century forthe 18-year-old, who had

hammered 57 off40 balls in the third T20.

India were 56 for threeafter seven overs, needing 79 offthe last 10 overs. Patil andRodrigues completed the taskwith ease, sharing a 96-runstand off 70 balls. Rodrigues hitfive fours and two sixes whilePatil's knock comprised sevenboundaries.

India had lost three wick-ets for 41 runs in the first fourovers before Patil andRodrigues came up with amatch-winning effort.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka134/5 in 17 overs (ShashikalaSiriwardene 40, Anuja Patil3/36). India 137/3 in 15.2 overs(Jemimah Rodrigues 52 no off37 balls, Anuja Patil 54 no off42 balls). India lead five-matchseries 3-0.

� �� 23/3�13�

Sri Lanka's sacked skipperAngelo Mathews accused

the country's cricket boardon Monday of blaming himsolely for the island's humil-iating exit from the Asia Cup.

The 31-year-old allrounder has threatened toretire from the two shorterformats of the game afterbeing dumped on Sunday ascaptain of Sri Lanka's one-day international andTwenty20 teams.

"I have been made thescapegoat in this entire sagaof Sri Lanka's dismal per-formance againstBangladesh and Afghanistanin the Asia Cup," Mathewssaid in a letter to Sri LankaCricket.

The board said it askedMathews to step down andallow Dinesh Chandimal to

lead Sri Lanka duringEngland's tour which beginsnext month.

"The national selectors...Have requested Mathews torelinquish his duties as cap-tain with immediate effect,"the board said in a statement.It did not elaborate on whyMathews was sacked.

Chandimal, who wasalready captain of Sri Lanka'sTest side, now takes thereins in all three formats ofthe game.

�� &)1��

Pakistan's cricket team is goingthrough a "confidence crisis"

right now, coach Mickey Arthurconceded after the nine-wicket lossto India in the ongoing Asia Cup,calling it one of the side's "worst per-formances".

"We are not abandoning them.Yes, they are suffering a bit of con-fidence crisis at the moment. Thereis fear of failure in the dressingroom. There is a bit reality check ofwhere we are as a cricket team"Arthur told reporters after Pakistanwere beaten by India for the secondsuccessive time in the tournamenthere.

"In terms of worst perfor-mance, nine wickets has to be upthere. India have very good players.If we give them an inch, they aregoing to make us pay and they didthat," he said.

Pakistan set India a target of238 after another below-par battingshow. India romped home in 39.3overs with Rohit and Shikhar

Dhawan striking hundreds."Our strike rates were not good

enough with the bat. With the ball,we need to strike early against theseguys. We had a couple of chances,we didn't take them. When you getthese guys chances on wickets likethese, they dominate you," Arthursaid dissecting the loss.

"We need to get into theirmiddle order as quick as we canthat's when we can inflict mostdamage" he added.

Arthur said Pakistan have ahuge task at hand in the clashagainst Bangladesh on Wednesday.

"It's a semi-final now. We haveto find a way to dig ourselves outof the hole we are in at the moment.We will come back from this. Weare at our best in must-win match-es. That's when we come to theparty," he said.

"I believe in our players. Ithink they are a fantastic bunch ofplayers," he added.

�� 20!**��

Skipper Ishan Kishan's blisteringknock of 139 (91 ball), studded

with 12 fours and nine sixes, pow-ered Jharkhand to an eight-wicketwin over Assam in a Vijay HazareTrophy Elite Group 'C' match hereon Monday.

The talented southpaw toyedwith the rival bowling and smashedthe ball to all parts of the M AChidambaram stadium as the teamreached the target of 222 in just 31overs to boost its net run-rate.

Earlier, sent in to bat, Assamlost wickets at regular intervals tofinish at 221 for 9 in 50 overs.Though three of its batsmen gotinto the 40s, none was able to pushfor a bigger score as the Jharkhandbowlers kept things under control.

Shahbaz Nadeem, who took aworld List 'A' record 8 for 10against Rajasthan last week, cap-tured three wickets for 47.Sibshankar Roy was the top scorerfor Assam with 46.

Meanwhile, Services upsetHaryana at TI Murugapa ground byfive wickets, riding on NakulVerma's knock of 95. Rahul SinghGahlaut contributed 61 as the teamoverhauled Haryana's score of 257for 8 in 50 overs.

In another match, Gujarat

downed Tripura by 74 runs, restrict-ing its rival to 138 for 9 after mak-ing 212 for 6 in the quota of 50overs.

Rujul Bhatt was the top-scorerwith 62 while Piyush Chawala's 4 for21 turned the match Gujarat's way.

��:�� Puneet Bisht cracked acareer-best 135 before Abhay Negibamboozled Arunachal Pradeshwith a seven-wicket haul to powerMeghalaya to a huge 256-run winin the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-daycricket tournament here Monday.

In his third domestic match,Negi returned with extraordinaryfigures of 6-0-17-7 as ArunachalPradesh batting caved in for 61 all-out in 26 overs at the ShastriMaidan here.

Earlier Arunachal Pradesh'sdecision to bowl backfired as Bishtsmashed a 90-ball 135 (17x4, 4x6)while skipper Jason Lamare alsochipped in with 42 off 54 balls topush the total to 317/4 in 43 overs.

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1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP ... · Union Housing and Urban Affairs...

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Transcript of 1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP ... · Union Housing and Urban Affairs...