English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in ......2019/08/18 · award-winning...

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The urban heartland inJammu & Kashmir

remained peaceful even as theadministration restored low-speed mobile internet andlandline services and easedrestrictions on movement ofpeople in selective areas, butthe Line of Control (LoC)became tense with an IndianArmy jawan succumbing tofatal injuries in a ceasefire vio-lation by Pakistan in Nowsherasector of Rajouri district.

Defence PRO in JammuLt-Col Devender Anand said,“In the exchange of fire, 35-year-old Lance Naik SandeepThapa attained martyrdom.He belonged to VillageRajawala, Tehsil Vikas Nagar,District Sahaspur, Dehradun.”He is survived by his wife,Nisha Thapa.

Life began limping back tonormalcy with the restorationof 2G mobile internet servicesin five districts of Jammu divi-sion and making of 17 tele-phone exchanges operationalacross Kashmir Valley.

Now there are no restric-tions in 10 districts of Jammuwith ongoing relaxation at

Poonch, Banihal, Kishtwar andBhaderwah towns for the day,Government spokespersonRohit Kansal told reporters inSrinagar. As for the Valley, hesaid relaxation has been pro-vided in 35 police stations.

“The process of relaxationand easing of restrictions is inprogress and most of the tele-phone exchanges in Valleyshould be functional by Sundayevening,” Kansal said.

Inspector General of Police(IGP) Kashmir SwayamPrakash Pani and DirectorInformation and Public

Relations Dr Syed SehrishAsgar were also present on theoccasion.

He added that in Jammudivision landlines services arealready functioning. Kansalsaid the administration is close-ly monitoring the whole situ-ation and so far no untowardincident has been reportedfrom anywhere in the Valley.He said the plying of publictransport normally on theroads is a good sign and thereare reports that the same hasbeen noticed in rural areas also.

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Amajor fire broke out on thesecond floor of an All

India Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) building thathouses the teaching block hereon Saturday evening. Thoughno casualty was reported, offi-cials said the blaze destroyedsamples and medical reports.

Authorities at AIIMSclosed the adjacent emergencydepartment as a precautionarymeasure. Patients from somefloors of the AB ward, close tothe Microbiology departmentwhere the blaze started around4.50 pm, were evacuated alongwith those in operation theatresabove it as the smoke spread,they said, adding the fire wasdoused within two hours.

The Microbiology depart-ment’s virology unit has beencompletely gutted, sources said.

Former Finance MinisterArun Jaitley is admitted at theIntensive Care Unit (ICU) ofthe cardio-neuro centre,housed in a different buildingin the complex. And he is safethere, sources said.

According to Atul Garg,Chief Fire Officer of DelhiFire Services, a call regardingthe fire was received around

4.50 pm following which 34 firetenders were rushed to thespot.

“The fire was broughtunder control around 6.30 pm,”said Garg. “The exact reasonbehind the fire is yet to beascertained. Initial investigationsuggests short-circuit to bereason behind the fire,” said afire official.

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Rio Paralympics silvermedallist Deepa Malik was

on Saturday nominated for theRajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, thecountry’s highest sporting hon-our, joining Asian andCommonwealth Games cham-pion wrestler Bajrang Punia.

The name of 48-year-oldDeepa, who won a silver in shotput F53 category in 2016 RioParalympics, was added forthe Khel Ratna by a 12-mem-ber selection committee onthe second day of the two-daymeeting here.

World No. 1 wrestler in65kg, Bajrang was nominatedfor the prestigious award onFriday, by the panel headed byJustice (Retd) MukundakamSharma.

Olympic bronze medallistboxer MC Mary Kom recusedherself from the meeting to

avoid conflict of interest as herpersonal coach ChhotelalYadav was in contention forDronacharya Award. Sheattended the meeting, whichnominated Bajrang for KhelRatna on Friday, but skippedthe whole of second day’s pro-ceedings.

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Raising the alarm bells forthe security establishment,

a group of 10-12 Pakistan-backed terrorists has managedto sneak into the KashmirValley in the last three daysdespite the forces having foiledas many as 12 infiltrationattempts along the Line ofControl (LoC) during the sameperiod. With a major attack onthe security installations by thisgroup now being apprehend-ed, the security forces havebeen asked to be on theirtightest vigil.

Incidentally, the infiltra-tion by such a big group fromPakistan Occupied Kashmir(POK) to stoke violence is thefirst such since the abrogationof special status under Article370 on August 5. Moreover, in

an apparent attempt to inter-nationalise the Kashmir issue,the Pakistan Army has steppedup ceasefire violations also inthe last three to four daysattracting retaliation by theIndian Army.

Admitting that the pres-ence of a large and well-trainedgroup of Pakistan-backed ter-rorists is a matter of concern

now, officials in the securityestablishment said here onSaturday. At least 25 terrorlaunch pads were also activat-ed in the last few days in POKacross Poonch and Rajourisector of Jammu division, theyadded. It indicates that thecoming days may see morebids by terrorists to sneak in.

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While the flood situation inKerala and Karnataka

improved significantly onSaturday, it’s now the turn ofthe northern States to bear thebrunt of the torrential rainthat has lashed Punjab,Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Haryana,Rajasthan, and Jammu.

The Punjab Governmentissued a high alert following therelease of excess water from theBhakra Dam on Saturday whilethe Himachal PradeshGovernment was forced toclose all educational institu-tions in Kangra district due toincessant rainfall and land-slides that ensued.

“The monsoon trough waspassing through Rajasthan,

Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand,West Bengal, and Bangladesh,

and heavy to very heavy rain islikely in the next two days andthunderstorms are likely over

Punjab, Himachal Pradesh,Jammu & Kashmir,Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi,Rajasthan and AndhraPradesh,” the IMD said.

As per data, Rajasthanrecorded 405.8 mm rainfallagainst the normal of 293 mm;Punjab recorded 281.9 mmagainst 329 mm; HimachalPradesh recorded 538 mmagainst 427.1 mm. and Jammu& Kashmir recorded 368.1 mmagainst the normal of 361 mm.

In Punjab, rain lashed sev-eral places, including Ludhiana,Amritsar, Mohali andChandigarh. People living nearthe Sutlej river and low-lyingareas have been advised to bevigilant and take precautions tosafeguard themselves.

Besides, the Bhakra BeasManagement Board authorities

discharged 17,000 cusecs ofexcess water out of total releaseof 53,000 cusecs through thespill gates, an official said. The

remaining 36,000 cusec wasreleased after its use for powergeneration.

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The water level of theYamuna has reached near

warning level in the nationalCapital. Preparations are beingmade to deal with flood-likesituation, officials said, addingthat authorities are monitoringthe situation.

According to an official,around 4 pm on Saturday,Yamuna’s water level reached203.27 metres, slightly belowthe warning level of 204.5

metres.The official said that at 10

am on Saturday, over 21,000cusec water was released fromHathani Kund Barrage inHaryana.

In July last year, trafficmovement on Old YamunaBridge in the national Capitalwas closed for a few days afterthe water level in the riverbreached the danger mark.Last year, the water level in theYamuna river had reached205.5 metres.

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From clubs, pubs, cafes to theextravagant shopping places, Delhinever disappoints anyone. It has

something for everyone. Apart from thenight life, the Capital is also famous for thehigh-profile people that call the city theirhome. Their lives has always been ofinterest to the public. After all who doesn’twant to have a sneak peek into the lives ofthe people with deep pockets. They are theones who make news on Page 3. Theirlifestyle is nothing short of a dream for thecommon man.

To take you through the daily lives ofthese people and to show what it takes tobe a millionaire, Zee TV has come up witha unique concept — Dilli Darlings — a realityshow featuring 10 socialites of Delhi. Thereality show is different from what we haveseen on TV so far. It is not following thefootsteps of the usual reality shows, it hasmuch more to it — lots of glamour. Not tomention what happens when all theglamorous ladies come together under asingle roof for kitty parties — whole lot ofdrama and ego tussles.

First in the list of the high-profilewomen of Dilwalon ki Dilli is ManyaPathak. Pathak is the co-owner of Ministryof Beer along with her husband Prateek

Chaturvedi. “I am an engineer and an MBA.I believe in living life king size. Apart frombeing the co-owner of Ministry of Beer, Ialso work as a consultant for embassies, tradepromotions and events. I believe in makingthe most of life. Beer is my first love,” shesays and adds that she is lucky to have foundsuch a co-operative and loving husband whohas been with her through thick and thin.

Second, there is Guneet Virdi, anaward-winning celebrity make-up artist.And obviously one can easily make it outfrom her personality. She has a style of herown and believes in making fashionstatements. Virdi has over two lakh followerson social media.

“People set their wedding datesaccording to my availability. I am verychoosy in terms of people I hang out with.I can’t mix with everybody. Fashion is myescape from all the tensions,” she tells you.

No 3 is Shaloo Jindal — the wealthiestof all the Dilli Darlings. Jindal follows asimple mantra of dressing according to theneed of the hour. “I dress up in a verysanskaari manner at my home. But, as soonas I step out for parties, I am nothing lessthan a diva. I love to experiment with mylooks. I love to take care of my family,” Jindaltells you.

No 4 darling is Pragati Nagpal. Nagpalis a fashion designer and has her ownhome-grown brand — Mastaani. “I am avery creative person. I love to give myimagination a shape. I love parties but don’tbelieve in being a part of a party thrownby others. I throw my own kitty parties andonly selective few are a part of it. Peopledie to be a part of these dos,” she tells you.

Then there is Sona Sharma, a proudgrandmother of two and a cancer survivor.For Sharma, age doesn’t define anyone’spersonality and she doesn’t like to hide herage. A fighter in real life, Sharma is neverafraid to be herself.

“Age is no boundary for anyone. Lifeis all about struggles, you have to fight, riseand shine. It’s no bed full of roses. You haveto learn to flaunt your flaws. There isnothing to feel ashamed about yourself. Dogood and good will come to you,” she saysand tells you that she is very much a familywoman but that doesn’t mean she has tostay within the four walls of her home.

These are just five out of the 10darlings. But, for sure all the others are asgorgeous and as bold and fierce as these.To find out more about them and get thatextra dose of entertainment, tune in to ZeeTV, Monday to Friday at 11 pm.

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Almost every Indian knows aboutThe Mission Orbiter Mars(MOM) or Mangalyaan, a space

probe, which was a success. Most of usknow that our country was the first inthe world to have achieved this successat first go. The US failed four timesbefore it’s Mars mission was a success.Russia has failed eight times. Therefore,all kudos to the entire team of ISRO andit’s scientists who made India proud andin turn made every Indian proud of themoment since it started orbiting sinceSeptember 24, 2014.

Mission Mangal tells this story — howit all happened. It goes without saying thatto make the movie appealing for themasses, there has been dramatisation bydirector Jagan Shakti. Interestingly, it is thisdramatisation that keeps the viewersengaged which could have otherwise beenanother docu-film that would lost itself inthe many others that have been made overthe years.

Writer R Balki ensures that the viewersare engaged with each of the characters.

Subtlety placed one liners that are his trademark give a sneak peek into the lives of thescientists — their dreams, their quirks, theirproblems and their daily struggles — hasan instant connect. The minute there is aconnect, there is a winner. So much so thatdespite knowing the end result, one stillroots for the team to succeed.

Then, there is some great performanceby the actors. Akshay Kumar as RakeshDhawan is absolutely brilliant. Passing thespotlight to his women co-stars will winbrownie points from the women viewers.Vidya Balan who plays Tara Shinde, theproject director exhibits an energy thatgives us a glimpse why some peoplebecome scientists— they see, dream andlive it. Not many of us in jobs can boast ofthis. HG Dattatreya who plays a wizenedscientist endears himself with his antics.Sharman Joshi does his bit as do TappseePannu who may not be a leading lady herebut manages to make her presence felt asdoes her Pink co-star Kriti Kulhari. SanjayKapoor, who plays Vidya Balan’s husband,is just as good. His angst that his childrenare not confirming to what he thinks isright is sweet and evokes laughter.

On the whole, the film captures thelives of the scientists in a manner that isheartwarming and truly inspiring.

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�Tell us about your character in Jaat Na Poocho Prem Ki.I play Badal Ram, who belongs to a low cast.

He is confident and determined. His motto in lifeis to uplift himself in the eyes of the society. Hefalls in love with a Brahmin girl — Suman who

sees a potential in him. She is impressed byhis thoughts and his approach towards life.�How did acting happen?

Acting happened since I was four-year-old.I started my career with a Marathi film

— Suna Yeti Ghara. Then, I went ondoing Dhangad Dhinga, Raju Chachaand eventually entered the Hindiindustry with a kids-based show —Shaka Laka Boom Boom. �How has the journey been?

My journey is amazing. I amlearning new things everyday. I feelblessed to be a part of the industry.�There is a lot of break in yourcareer graph. Why?

After doing Shaka Laka BoomBoom in 2006, I took a break fromacting because I wanted to focus on

my studies. Education is important formoulding one’s personality and Ididn’t want to compromise on that.

Hence, the gap. After I completed mygraduation, I came back to work. �Any mantra that you follow in life?

Being an actor you have to keeplearning and growing. You can’tstop. �A moment that made you feelnostalgic...

The passion that entire unitworks with, makes me feel nostalgiceverytime I am on the sets. It is thesame as it was earlier, when I was achild actor. All actors work with somuch dedication that I feel nothinghas changed since then. For Jaat NaPoocho Prem Ki, we had to shoot inBanaras in extremely hot weather.But, the entire team was shootingas if it was cool. This is the passion

and dedication that one needsto have towards their work.

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The big cast line-up, the Quinton Tarantinoindulgence in a subject which he loves tosplash, the subject being Hollywood of the

late 60s, and the delightfully vague scheme ofthings that pan out on the mountainous slide ofBoulevard Hollywood away from Hollywoodmakes this movie a dishy one.

Not just the rakish cowboy in Leornardo diCaprio but the rakish looks of his chauffeur-buddy-stuntman Brad Pitt make for acompelling story. Yes, you may question thehippie violence as a biased viewpoint,playing to the hilt on a high platform, but itis a typical Tarantino finish that plaquesthe film with many groovy moments,talking both of the rigours of being anactor on the slide, living on borrowedscreen time and the plushness of beingthe next door neighbour of someone asbig as Roman Polanski, with or woithouthis dreams-in-the-eyes wife, with blondhair. Some may find the story of RickDalton (Leo), a star-turned-villain-turned-out-of-work-pushed-to Italianwesterns, as gloomy but Tarantino ensuresthat there is much more mood in the film thatany other could have managed.

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Yet another movie that released this week didn’tneed to be told how it ends. The Batla Houseencounter is something that Delhiites are not likely

to forget anytime soon, nor for that matter is DelhiPolice. What really is the truth? Were the boys who wereshot innocent as claimed by their families? Or were theyguilty of the crime they were accused of? Is this what themovie wants to ask? Or is it just trying retell the story asit happened and reported by various newspapers?

It is all this and beyond since there are many events thattake place and Batla House is a story that needed to be told.Not because in the end the police won but because we ascitizens of this country need to take a step back and viewsome events without letting bias raise it’s ugly head. May bethe movie tries to drive home this point but the truth is: Isa Class X student stone pelter innocent. He is a student. Nodenying. But is he innocent? He may have been forced orbrainwashed. But the question still remains— is heinnocent? We all know that ignorance of law excuses no one.

What makes this film interesting is that directorNikhil Advani manages to keep you interested in a moviedespite the fact that the event was so closely followed by theentire nation — be it through newspapers or channels thatran the story from every angle possible to get to the truth.

Then there is John Abraham. After being part of recentlyreleased movies like Parmanu, Satyameva Jayate andRomeo Akbar Walter, the actor has managed to finally finda spot for himself that fits him to a T without making himlook uncomfortable.

The docu feel to the film because of the clipping fromreal life footage gives Batla House a break from what wouldotherwise become monotonous since it is a repeat of the samething. The item number by Nora Fatehi on the song O SakiSaki provides a break as well.

Advani and his writer Ritesh Shah need to becongratulated for making a movie that is not only intensebut engaging as well.

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The National Commission forProtection of Child Rights

(NCPCR), in collaboration with theIIT Kanpur, has developed a kit tospread awareness about sexual abuseamong children by using interactivemeans to teach them about personalsafety, respecting their body andovercoming guilt.

The kit is a set of cards, posters,short animation clips and games,which can be used by teachers or anNGO to conduct an interactive work-shop for children about sexual-abuseawareness, according to the minutesof the 38th statutory meeting of the.NCPCR

Noting that an unaware child mayeasily fall trap to sexual abuse with-out realising that he or she is wronged,the commission said the kit wouldhelp in spreading awareness as any

kind of physical or psychologicalabuse could scar a child's life forever.

"Through the workshop, childrenlearn about personal safety, respect-ing their body and overcoming guilt,"it said. "It also gets children to talkabout this issue with their peers andunderstand that they need to speakup, which many kids don't."

The kit also features game cardsas an intervention to assess the learn-ing acquired by children. It can beused in classrooms for kids agedbetween 8-12 and in a group of 30-35 students in one session. It has man-uals, reading and video material forthe teacher or workshop facilitator toread and understand how to conductthe workshop.

The workshop kit has been vet-ted by the psychologists at CentralInstitute of Psychiatry, Ranchi, and arevised version will be developedbased on their feedback.

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In yet another suicide at Delhi Metro's station, a 27-year-old man jumped in front of the metro at Blue

line's Tagore Garden metro station on Friday night.According to a senior police official, the deceased

has been identified as Rahul, a resident of Najafgarh. "A police control room (PCR) call was received at

around 11 PM on Friday at Raja Garden Metro policestation about a person entangled between track and plat-form at Tagore Garden metro station," said the seniorpolice official.

"Acting on the call, Emergency Response Vehicle(ERV) was dispatched for the spot. On reaching the spot,police team found Rahul lying between the metro tracks.He was taken to nearby hospital where doctorsdeclared him brought dead," said the police official.

"Police have also recovered CCTV footage of theincident in which Rahul can be seen jumping off beforethe metro train. The body has been sent to Deen DayalUpadhyay (DDU) hospital for autopsy," said thepolice official adding that police have initiated the pro-ceedings under section 174 of the Code of CriminalProcedure (CrPC ).

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The North Delhi MunicipalCorporation (North MCD)

has inaugurated a dedicatedCancer Care Centre at HinduRao hospital on Saturday. Thecentre will function thrice aweek — Wednesday, Thursdayand Friday — for two hoursfrom 3:00pm to 4:00 pm.

The new cancer care centrewas thrown open to the publicby the North Delhi Mayor AvtarSingh. The officials added thatthe centre will be run by themedical officers/specialist fromthe concerned department suchas obstetrics Gynae, Surgery,dermatology; Ophthalmologywill be running the services inthe Centre.

The inaugural event alsowitnessed senior officials of thecivic authority such as deputyMayor Yogesh Verma, StandingCommittee (SC) Chairman, JaiPrakash, Leader of House, TilakRaj Kataria, Deputy ChairmanSC, Vipin Malhotra and others.

"Prevention of cancer hasbeen one of the foremost of pri-orities of the hospital wherein allthe departments are offering

early detection and referral ser-vices to the patients. Thus, adedicate centre has been creat-ed to save time in diagnosis

treatment of the patients suf-fering from this deadly disease,"said the Mayor.

The Cancer Centre which

will run thrice a week will diag-nose the patients with cancersymptoms. After the patientwill be diagnosed with positiveresults will be treated in the hos-pital with available facilities orwill be referred to specialisedcenters for further care, said theofficials.

Hindu Rao Hospital is a 980bedded multi-specialty hospitalunder North Delhi MunicipalCorporation which caters thepoor and vulnerable populationnot only from Delhi, but alsoneighboring States.

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The CBI on Saturday soughta week's time from a Delhi

court to complete its investi-gation and file a status reportin the 2017 Unnao gangrapecase, one of four related casestransferred by the SupremeCourt from Uttar Pradesh.

The submission was madebefore District Judge DharmeshSharma who was hearing thecase in which Shubham Singh,Naresh Tiwari and BrajeshSingh Yadav are the accused.

The woman was allegedlyraped by expelled BJP MLAKuldeep Singh Sengar and thethree men in two differentincidents in 2017 when She wasa minor. A separate rape casehas been registered againstSengar in which the trial com-menced on Friday.

During Saturday's hearingin the gangrape case, seniorPublic Prosecutor Ashok

Bhartendu, appearing for theCBI, said the matter is stillunder investigation and theywill file a report very shortly.

"The matter is at the finalstage of investigation and theagency will be coming up witha report shortly. The IO seeksone week's more time," saidBhartendu.

Advocate Sunil KumarSingh, appearing for accusedShubham Singh, told the court

that while the charge sheet hasbeen filed in the other threerelated cases, the investigationwas still pending in the allegedgang rape case.

"Why is the investigationlingering for 16 months?" saidSingh.The court put up thematter for further hearing onAugust 26.The apex courttransferred four criminal cases— the 2017 rape case; analleged fake matter under the

Arms Act against the father Ifthe rape survivor; his death inpolice custody, and the gangrape of the woman.

All the three accused inthis case are out on bail. Thecourt had earlier declined theplea of CBI seeking 30 days tocomplete the investigation anddirected it to file a status reportby August 17.

The woman, who was aminor then, was allegedlyraped by Sengar in June 4, 2017and the three persons on June11, 2017. The woman is battlingfor life at AIIMS here after atruck rammed into the car inwhich she was was travellingalong with some family mem-bers and her lawyer on July 28.Two of her aunts died in theaccident.

Sengar, a four-time legis-lator who representsBangermau in the UttarPradesh Assembly, is lodged injail since April 2018.

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The Delhi Police has arrested a28-year-old man for alleged-

ly making a hoax call on August8 saying his wife was planning totrigger a bomb at the Delhi’sIndira Gandhi International (IGI)Airport.

Interrogation revealed thatshe was was going abroad forgreen pastures and in order tostop her from leaving the coun-try, he had intentionally made thecall to the IGI authorities.

The accused has been iden-tified as Nasruddin, a tailor, fromBihar’s Sitamarhi district. He hasbeen living in Chennai for the last10 years.

According to Sanjeev KumarYadav, the Deputy Commissionerof Police (DCP), Special Cell, onAugust 8, at around 9 PM, theControl Room of the DelhiInternational Airport Limited

(DIAL), based in Gurugram,received a call claiming that onepassenger, named Zabina aliasRafiya, is a "fidayeen" memberand was on her way to set off thebomb at the airport.

"The caller stated that hewas speaking from Chennai anda lady namely Zabina has reachedDelhi IGI airport to leave forDubai or Saudi Arab and she cancause explosion in the flight.Immediately, the call was for-warded to Airport Security offi-

cials, Police Station IGI Airportand other agencies includingSpecial Cell and all came intoaction," said the DCP.

"Following this threat, secu-rity was beefed up at the IGI air-port and the red alert was issued.However, the call turned out to bea hoax and a criminal complaintwas registered against the callerunder section 506 of Indian PenalCode (IPC) was registered atGurugram's Udhyog Vihar policestation," said the DCP.

"The accused was arrested onIndependence Day from Bawana.During interrogation, the accusedrevealed that on August 8, whenhe was in train on his way backto Chennai from Bihar, Zabinainformed him telephonically thatshe was leaving to a foreigncountry for a better life.Nasrudeen made all out efforts tostop her but she did not agree,"said the DCP.

"In the evening, whenNasrudeen reached maternalhouse of Zabina in Chennai, hecame to know that Zabina is inDelhi and going abroad. He gotfrustrated and as a last chance tostop her, he searched the DelhiAirport number on Google andmade the hoax call," said the DCP.

"The accused was producedbefore Gurugram Court onSaturday from where he washanded over to GurugramPolice," said the DCP.

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The sleuths of Special Cell ofDelhi Police have arrested a

46-year-old inter-State armsand ammunition trafficker inthe national Capital. Policehave also recovered 110 car-tridges .315 and .32 bore fromthe possession of the accused.

The accused has been iden-tified as Harveer, a resident ofAligarh district of Uttar Pradesh(UP) and he has been indulgedin trafficking illegal arms andammunition for last 16 years.Police said that after a rewardof �50,000 was put on his head,he was rampantly changing hishideouts to evade police arrest.

According to PramodSingh Kushwaha, the DeputyCommissioner of Police (DCP),Special Cell, on April 30 thisyear, two inter-state arms andammunition traffickers werearrested by Special Cell, who,during the interrogation,revealed that they had come to

deliver the illegal weapons andammunition to Harveer resid-ing somewhere in Badarpur,Delhi.

"Efforts were made toapprehend Harveer but he wasfound to have vacated his rent-ed house at Khadda Colony inDelhi's Badarpur area. Finally,on August 13, the police teamstationed at Aligarh got specif-ic input that accused Harveer isresiding in a rented house atShivpuri in Aligarh," said theDCP.

"Acting on the inputs, thepolice team raided the place ofinformation and arrested

accused Harveer," said the DCP."During interrogation, the

accused revealed that he hashidden a cache of illicit car-tridges in his village Kurana.Immediately, a police team leftfrom Aligarh and with theassistance of local police ofTappal (UP), the team con-ducted raid at his village Kuranaand seized 110 live cartridges,"said the DCP adding that theaccused used to procure illegalweapons from Khargone andSandhwa of Madhya Pradeshand ammunition from Meerutand Muzaffarnagar in UttarPradesh.

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Several leaders, including UnionMinister Piyush Goyal, Bihar Chief

Minister Nitish Kumar and BSP presi-dent and former Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Mayawati, visited the hospitalto enquire about former FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley's health conditionwho was admitted to AIIMS (All IndiaInstitute of Medical Sciences) on August9 after he complained of uneasiness andweakness.

Jaitley has been put on extracorpo-real membrane oxygenation (ECMO),which is used for patients whose lungsand heart are incapable of operating ontheir own, hospital sources said.

However, the AIIMS administrationhas not released a single medical bulletinregarding his health condition sinceAugust 10.

The 66-year-old leader's health isbeing monitored by a multidisciplinaryteam of doctors, the sources said.

Other leaders, including UnionHealth Minister Harsh Vardhan, BJP'sSatish Upadhyay, Jammu and KashmirGovernor Satya Pal Malik, Congress'Abhishek Singhvi and JyotiradityaScindia and Air Force chief Air MarshalBirender Singh Dhanoa, also visited thehospital on Saturday, they said.

"I visited AIIMS today to enquireabout the health condition of formerfinance and defence minister, and seniorBJP leader Shri Arun Jaitley. I met hisfamily and consoled them and prayed tothe almighty that he recovers soon,"Mayawati tweeted at 01.06 pm onSaturday.

Earlier, President Ram Nath Kovind,Union Home Minister Amit Shah andUttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi

Adityanath on Friday had visited AIIMSto check on the leader's health.

Jaitley, a lawyer by profession, hadbeen an important part in PrimeMinister Narendra Modi's Cabinet in theBJP government's first term. He held thefinance and defence portfolios, andoften acted as the chief troubleshooterof the government. Jaitley did not con-test the 2019 Lok Sabha election pre-sumably because of his ill-health.

He had undergone a renal transplanton May 14 last year at AIIMS withRailways Minister Piyush Goyal fillingin for him in the Finance Ministry at thattime. Jaitley, who had stopped attendingoffice since early April last year, was backin the finance ministry on August 23,2018. In September 2014, he underwentbariatric surgery to correct the weighthe had gained because of a long-stand-ing diabetic condition.

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Former Minister in the AAP-led Delhi Government and

disqualified Member ofLegislative Assembly (MLA)Kapil Mishra, along with AAPwomen’s wing chief RichaPandey, joined the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) in Delhi onSaturday.

Speculations about Mishrajoining the BJP were doing therounds since he started criticis-ing AAP National Convenorand Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal after beingremoved as a Minister in May2017. He grew close to manyDelhi BJP leaders and oftenshared stages with them.

The two leaders joined theBJP at the party office here inthe presence of vice-presidentShyam Jaju and Delhi unit chiefManoj Tiwari, former UnionMinister Vijay Goel and Leaderof Opposition in the AssemblyVijender Gupta.

Terming the occasion an"emotional moment" for him,Mishra accused the AAP of tak-

ing a U-turn from its principlesand anti-corruption stand of the'India Against Corruption'movement, from which it wasborn. "I was feeling helpless forthe past few years due to themurder of the anti corruptionmovement, lies and manipula-tions of the party I was in,"Mishra said. "Joining the BJP, Ifeel like a man who has finallyreached the shore."

Welcoming Mishra andPandey into the BJP fold, Tiwari

said: "I hope they will serveDelhi by following the policiesof Prime Minister NarendraModi and philosophy ofDeendayal Upadhyaya andSyama Prasad Mookerjee."

Jaju, who is the incharge ofthe Delhi BJP, said Mishra hadexpressed his desire to join theparty when Kejriwal sought"evidence" of the surgical strikes.

Taking a dig at the chiefminister, Mishra said the AAPchief was seen with Congress

leaders like P Chidambaram,Kapil Sibal and NCP's SharadPawar, against whom party vol-unteers once faced police lath-is while protesting.

The former minister saidhe would work to end the "neg-ativity" in Delhi by helping theBJP win the assembly polls duenext year. Earlier this month,Assembly Speaker Ram NiwasGoel had disqualified Mishraunder the anti-defection lawafter he campaigned for the BJP

the during Lok Sabha election.Mishra, who was elected fromKarawal Nagar, has challengedhis disqualification in the highcourt. Pandey, who headed theAAP's women's wing and was aspokesperson, said the AAPborn out of search of "alterna-tive politics".

"I realised the alternativepolitics I was seeking was notthere at the Rouse Avenue (AAPheadquarters), but it is here inthe BJP," she said. "Aam AadmiParty has become a 'khas' (spe-cial) party of 'khas' people."

Pandey said she had spokenagainst the BJP and its leadersas an AAP leader, adding thatnow she felt like a "waywardperson who has managed toreach back home".

Kapil Mishra's mother,Annapurna Mishra, who is asenior BJP leader and formereast Delhi mayor, was also pre-sent at occasion. "My motherused to argue with me, but Icould not understand. It's trueyou realise the worth of yourparents' wisdom after gettingknocked down," he added.

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From Page 1According to Sumeet

Jarangal, DeputyCommissioner, Roop Nagar,there are reports of crops get-ting submerged in the water insome villages adjoining theSutlej river in Anandpur Sahibof Rupnagar district due to therelease of excess water andrainfall. “An advisory hasalready been issued to peopleliving near Sutlej river. The dis-trict authority is fully geared upto deal with any situation,”Jarangal said.

In Jammu region, heavyrain lashed several parts raisingwater level in major rivers,including Tawi, and leavingsome low-lying areas sub-merged. According to StateDisaster Response Force, 11people belonging to a nomadiccommunity, were stuck in flashfloods in Ujh river in Rajbagharea and were rescued.

In Rajasthan, Mount Aburecorded a maximum of 137mm rain while Ajmer, Jodhpur,Bikaner, Vanasthali, Bhilwaraand Sikar received 104.5 mm,88.2, 79, 42.1,41 and 37.4 mmof rainfall. There is a flood-likesituation in Kota, Jodhupurand nearby areas due to heavyrain. The IMD has issuedwarning for extremely heavyrainfall at isolated places ineastern parts and heavy rainfallat isolated places in the west-ern parts of the State.

Six people were also res-cued from Neugal Khad near

Om Hydro Power Project nearPalamapur in Kangra inHimachal Pradesh. As a pre-cautionary measure, Lahrubridge in Kangra district hasbeen closed for vehicular traf-fic following heavy rain.

The IMD also predictedrainfall with heightened inten-sity on Saturday in parts ofHimachal Pradesh. An orangewarning, which denotes thelikelihood of conditions thatcould impact lives significant-ly, has been issued for theentire State.

Flood-like situation inAndhra

The flood situation inKerala and Karnatakaimproved while AndhraPradesh is facing flood-likesituation as the rivers Krishnaand Godavari are in a spate. Onthe other hand, people havestarted moving to their homesfrom relief camps in Kerala.According to the AndhraPradesh State DisasterManagement Authority, asmany as 80-90 villages andthousands of acres of farmland are inundated in the Statedue to heavy rainfall. PuligaddaBridge was submerged infloodwaters after almost 10years due to massive increase inwater level in Krishna river.Besides, the flood discharge atPrakasam Barrage inVijayawada has fallen to 7.99lakh cusecs while the inflowremained steady at 7.57 lakhcusecs.

From Page 1Providing details about opening of schools in the Valley, he

said that schools beginning from primary level shall open fromMonday, besides, all the Government offices will start functioningnormally from the same day.

On the LoC, giving a befitting reply to the Pakistan army,Indian troops reportedly inflicted casualties to Pakistani troopsbesides damaging several forward posts in their area. The situ-ation remained tense in the region as several residential areastoo came in the line of fire of Pakistani guns.

Lt-Col Anand said, “Pakistan army initiated ceasefire vio-lation around 6.30 am by firing of small arms and shelling withmortars in Nowshera sector of Rajouri on Saturday.”

“Indian Army responded strongly and effectively. Heavy dam-age to Pakistan Army posts and casualties to Pakistan soldiershave been inflicted by own troops,” he added.

From Page 1Giving details of the 12

infiltration bids foiled by theArmy in the last three days,they said these attempts tookplace all across the LoC inSouth and North of Pir Panjalranges. While south compris-es Poonch and Rajouri, sensi-tive districts of Tangdhar andGurez are part of north.

Generally, the terrorists tryto come in from Tangdhar andGurez as the mountain passesare rugged and dotted with jun-gles thereby making it difficultfor the security forces to guardthe entire stretch. However, ter-rorists have infiltrated fromPoonch and reports indicatethat the group has entered theKashmir Valley after traversingthe Pir Panjal ranges.

This means that ISI and thePakistan Army have nowadopted a new tactic to push inultras from south of Pir Panjal,

they said. Explaining the dan-gers associated with such amove, they said terrorists haveto trek for at least two days afterinfiltrating to reach theKashmir Valley and have toconstantly avoid capture.However, this group has man-aged to evade the securitydragnet thereby posing a gravechallenge, they admitted.

As the administration is setto ease restrictions and openeducational institutions inKashmir from Monday, secu-rity forces apprehend the ter-rorist group may try to shatterpeace by engineering some bigincident. Intelligence reportssuggest the target will be secu-rity forces. In case, they retal-iate and some collateral dam-age takes place in terms of civil-ian casualties, the blame willobviously will rest on the lawenforcement agencies. In thepresent atmosphere, it may

prove counter-productive forthe Government to maintaincalm, sources said.

Handlers located acrossthe border have also instruct-ed ultras active in the KashmirValley to refrain from takingpart in anticipated massprotests unlike in the pastwhen they used to brandishweapons. Instead, they havebeen directed to snatchweapons from security forcesinviting reaction and collater-al damage which would put theGovernment in a spot and badlight.

Faced with these likely sce-narios, the security forces willtry to prevent the critical massof protesters from gathering inorder to avoid situation gettingout of hand, officials saidadding the local commandershave redrawn their tactics toprevent a spike in violence inthe coming days.

Deepa became the firstIndian woman to win a medalat the Paralympics when shebagged a silver in the shot putF53 category (for para-ath-letes who make seated throwsand have full muscle power attheir shoulder, elbow and wristin the throwing arm) at 2016Rio Paralympic Games.

She became paraplegicwhen a spinal tumour madewalking impossible for her 17years ago. She was previouslyhonoured with the ArjunaAward in 2012 and PadmaShri in 2017. Deepa said theKhel Ratna nomination willinspire women athletes withdisability to take to sport.

“I think it will give a hugeinspiration to women athleteswith disability. It will be a bigboost for the Paralympic move-ment in India,” she said.

Last year, she shifted tojavelin and discus throw andcreated a new Asian record inJakarta, becoming the onlyIndian woman to win medalsin three consecutive Asian ParaGames (2010, 2014, 2018). Shewon a bronze each in discus(F51-52-53) and javelin throw(F53-54) in 2018 Asian ParaGames.

Khel Ratna is given for themost spectacular and out-standing performance by asportsperson over a period offour years immediately pre-ceding the year during whichaward is to be given. Theawardee is given a medal, a cer-tificate and cash prize of �7.5lakh.

The committee also picked19 sportspersons for the ArjunaAward, including the likes ofcricketers Ravindra Jadeja and

Poonam Yadav, track and fieldstars Tejinder Pal Singh Toor,Mohammed Anas and SwapnaBarman, footballer GurpreetSingh Sandhu, hockey playerChinglensana Singh and shoot-er Anjum Moudgil.

Jadeja has been an inte-gral part of India’s Test andODI teams in the past fewyears. He is one of the keymembers of the Indian teamthat rose to world numberone in Tests.

Poonam has been a part ofthe Indian team that reachedthe World Cup final in 2017and semifinal of Women’s T20World Cup last year. Shot put-ter Toor and heptathleteBarman had won a gold eachin 2018 Asian Games inJakarta while Anas hadclaimed three silver in thesame Games. Chinglensana

was a part of the bronze-win-ning team in 2018 AsianGames while Moudgil hasbeen one of the most consis-tent shooters, having secureda Tokyo Olympics quota inwomen’s 10m air rifle.

To be eligible for theArjuna award, a sportspersonshould not only have had goodperformance consistently forthe previous four years at theinternational level with excel-lence for the year for which theAward is recommended, butshould also have shown qual-ities of leadership, sportsman-ship and a sense of discipline.The Award carries a cash prizeof �5 lakh.

The panel also nominatedthree names for DronacharyaAward, including former bad-minton star Vimal Kumar, andthree for Dronacharya Award

(lifetime caregory), including2011 World Cup winningcricketer Gautam Gambhir’schildhood coach SanjayBhardwaj.

Five persons were nomi-nated for Dhyan Chand Award.

Dronacharya Awards aregiven to honour eminentcoaches who have successfullytrained sportspersons or teamsto achieve outstanding resultsin international competitions.The award carries a cash prizeof �5 lakh.

Dhyan Chand Award isgiven to honour thosesportspersons who have con-tributed through their perfor-mance and continue to pro-mote sports even after theirretirement. The award carriesa cash prize of �5 lakh.

The Awards will bebestowed by the President of

India at the RashtrapatiBhawan on the occasion ofNational Sports Day, whichcommemorates the birthanniversary of hockey wizardMajor Dhyan Chand.

List of sportspersons nom-inated for various awards.

Khel Ratna: BajrangPunia (wrestling), DeepaMalik (para-athletics) Arjuna Award: Tajinder PalSingh Toor (athletics),Mohammed Anas Yahiya (ath-letics), S Bhaskaran (bodybuilding), Sonia Lather (box-ing), Ravindra Jadeja (cricket),Chinglensana SinghKangujam (hockey), AjayThakur (kabaddi), GauravSingh Gill (motor sports),Pramod Bhagat (para sports-badminton), Anjum Moudgil(shooting), Harmeet RajulDesai (table tennis), Pooja

Dhanda (wrestling), FouaadMirza (equestrian), GurpreetSingh Sandhu (football),Poonam Yadav (cricket),Swapna Burman (athletics),Sundar Singh Gurjar (parasports-athletics), BhamidipatiSai Praneeth (badminton),Simran Singh Shergill (polo).

Dronacharya Award (reg-ular category): Vimal Kumar(badminton), Sandeep Gupta(table tennis), Mohinder SinghDhillon (athletics)

Dronacharya Award (life-time category): Mezban Patel(hockey), Rambir SinghKhokar (kabaddi), SanjayBhardwaj (cricket).

Dhyan Chand Award:Manuel Fredricks (hockey),Arup Basak (table tennis),Manoj Kumar (wrestling),Nitten Kirrtane (tennis), CLalremsanga (archery).

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday called on

Bhutanese King Jigme KhesarNamgyel Wangchuck andexchanged views on taking the“exemplary” India-Bhutanpartnership forward.

A traditional Chipdrel pro-cession and welcome ceremo-ny was held at theTashichhodzong Palace herefor Prime Minister Modi beforehis audience with theBhutanese King and his wifeQueen Jetsun Pema. The cere-mony symbolises the purifica-tion of path along which theguests are led.

“PM @narendramodireceived an audience with#DrukGyalpo H.M. JigmeKhesar Namgyel Wangchuk,the King of Bhutan. Exchangedviews on taking the exemplaryIndia-Bhutan partnership for-ward,” Ministry of ExternalAffairs spokesperson RaveeshKumar tweeted.

Later, Prime Minister Modimet the fourth King of Bhutan,Jigme Singye Wangchuk, andexpressed appreciation for his

continued guidance onstrengthening the uniqueIndia-Bhutan relationship.

In a joint press statement

with Bhutanese Prime MinisterLotay Tshering, Modi said theintelligence and foresight of theKing of Bhutan has guided the

bilateral relations for a longtime.

“Not only this, his visionhas presented Bhutan to the

whole world as a unique exam-ple, where development is mea-sured not by figures but by hap-piness. Where economic devel-opment moves along with tra-dition and environment. Whowouldn't want such a friend,and such a neighbour,” PrimeMinister Modi said.

Modi, who is here on hissecond visit to Bhutan and thefirst since his re-election inMay this year, held wide rang-ing talks with the BhutanesePrime Minister during whichthey discussed steps to furtherexpand the bilateral partner-ship across several sectors asthe two nations signed 10MoUs to infuse new energy intheir ties.

The two countries signed10 Memorandum ofUnderstandings in the field ofspace research, aviation, IT,power and education.

Modi also launched RuPayCard in Bhutan by making apurchase at Simtokha Dzong,built in 1629 by ShabdrungNamgyal, which functions as amonastic and administrativecentre and is one of the oldestdzongs in Bhutan.

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Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu on Saturday held

talks with Lithuanian PresidentGitanas Nauseda and discussedimportant aspects of bilateralrelationship as well as globaland regional issues of commoninterest.

Naidu, who arrived here onSaturday, also briefed theLithuanian President on therecent decision of the IndianGovernment to abrogateArticle 370 of the Constitutionthat conferred special statusupon Jammu and Kashmir.

He said the decision wastaken to ensure all-rounddevelopment and extend ben-efits to the people of the newly-created Union Territories --Jammu and Kashmir andLadakh, according to an officialstatement.

The Vice President is on afive-day trip to Lithuania,Latvia and Estonia, the firstever high-level visit from Indiato the three Baltic countries.

During his talks withNauseda, the Vice Presidentasserted that the re-organisa-tion of Jammu and Kashmirwas aimed at “reducing region-al disparity and improvingadministrative efficiency.”

He informed theLithuanian President thatArticle 370 had enabled “vest-ed interests” to create a climateof separatism and establishlinkages with terrorist groups.

He told him that althoughlarge resources were given tothe state by the UnionGovernment, there was nocommensurate development.

Naidu explained that thereorganisation of Jammu andKashmir was completely with-in the purview of theGovernment of India.

“We expect understand-ing from our internationalpartners that this decision con-cerns our national progress

and prosperity. It has equityand inclusion as the mainobjective,” he said.

Observing that terrorismwas one of the major challengesconfronting the world today,the vice president urged all thenations to intensify their col-lective efforts and strive toeliminate the menace of ter-rorism and also isolate nationswhich aid and abet terrorism.

The two sides had exten-sive discussions on importantaspects of bilateral relationshipas well as global and regionalissues of common interest.They renewed their commit-ment to further build on thelong-standing friendly tiesbetween the two countries.

They also agreed on theneed for the UN to demon-strate a collective political willfor early adoption of theComprehensive Conventionon International Terrorism,which was proposed by Indiamany years ago.

They discussed the needfor an early and comprehensivereform of the United Nation'sSecurity Council to make itmore representative to reflectthe realities of today andaddress current global chal-lenges.

They agreed to strengthenthe existing cooperationbetween the two countries atthe United Nations and othermultilateral fora.

The two countries dis-cussed the huge scope forexpansion of commercial andeconomic ties.

He praised Lithuania'smany achievements sinceachieving independence almost30 years back. Naidu said thatboth the countries have civili-sational links that go back cen-turies. “Lithuanian is the old-est Indo-European languageand it has strong links withSanskrit,” he added.

The Lithuanian Presidentand the Vice President wit-nessed the signing of twoagreements on agriculture andallied sectors and culturalexchange programme from2019-21.

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Starting this year, the ModiGovernment plans to hold

grand celebrations of SardarVallabhbhai Patel’s birthanniversary on October 31annually near his Statue ofUnity in Kevadia, Gujarat. Andthe scale of celebrations couldbe only second to the RepublicDay parade on Rajpath in thenational Capital.

Interestingly, the legislationfor removal of special status toJammu and Kashmir and thecreation of J&K and Ladakh astwo separate Union Territorieswill also come into existencefrom the same day (October 31).

Top sources said the grandcelebration of Sardar Patel’sbirth anniversary, on the direc-tions of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, will be held atthe Statute of Unity with a jointexhibition and parade by acombination of 3-4 differentstates every year.

“The celebration will benearly as grand as the RepublicDay parade on Rajpath. Allagencies including IntelligenceBureau, Ministry of HomeAffairs, Director General of allStates and Union Territoriesand the Central Armed CentralArmed Police Forces (CAPF)and Central PoliceOrganisations (CPOs) have

been directed to initiate actionin a time bound manner andcommunicate about theprogress,” sources added.

The Modi Government cel-ebrates Sardar Patel’s birthanniversary as NationalIntegration Day or RashtriyaEkta Divas after it came topower in 2014. The Governmenthas also decided to set up a newannual award in name of Sardar

Patel for individuals and policepersonnel who have dedicatedthemselves towards strength-ening unity in the country. “Theaward of Sardar Patel will not bebased on merely recommenda-tion or nomination. It will pure-ly be based on recipients workand dedication towards thecountry,” said the sources.

According to sources, theMHA has been given the taskto prepare the modalities forthe annual award. It will begiven only to people who havebeen extraordinary in theirwork towards building thenation. “A committee would beconstituted to select the officersas well as individual people andtheir work will be thoroughlyvetted by Central Intelligenceagencies,” sources said.

Besides, BJP also plans tocarry out a padyatra on SardarPatel’s birth anniversary in the 199 constituencies whereit couldn’t win in the Lok Sabha polls.

The Statue of Unity, theworld’s tallest statue was con-structed at a cost of Rs 2,989crore. The 182-metre sculpturehas been dedicated to thenation. In the inaugurationspeech, Modi had said that thestatue will be a reminder to thenation of Sardar Patel’s courageto thwart conspiracies to dis-integrate India.

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In an effort to give a boost tothe ‘Make in India’ initiative

of the Government in theDefence sector and removebottlenecks in the acquisition ofweapon systems, DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh hasgiven the nod for reviewing theDefence Procurement Policy(DPP)-2016 by a high-levelcommittee. The panel will giveits recommendations withinsix months about how to ensureseamless flow of acquisitionsand maintenance of assets.

“The Defence Minister hasapproved setting up of a com-mittee under the chairmanshipof director general (acquisition)to review the DPP 2016 andDefence Procurement Manual(DPM) 2009. The committeewill revise and align the proce-dures with the aim of ensuringseamless flow from asset acqui-sition to life cycle support,” theDefence Ministry said. The DPPis due for revision.

Giving details of the panel,officials said it will be headedby director general (acquisi-tion) and have 11 members notbelow the rank of joint secre-tary or equivalent of MajorGeneral in the Army.

The committee has beengiven six months to submit itsrecommendations.

With the Governmentfocusing on military moderni-sation, acquisition processesof a large number of militaryplatforms and weapons are notmoving forward due to proce-dural delays raising concern.

The terms of reference ofthe committee include simpli-

fying policy and procedures tofacilitate greater participation ofIndian industry and developrobust Defence industrial base inthe country, and explore wayshasten Defence acquisition.

It has also been tasked toexamine, wherever applicable,and suggest ways to incorpo-rate new concepts such as lifecycle costing, life cycle support,performance based logistics,lease contracting, codificationand standardisation for acqui-sition of military hardware,officials said.

A key mandate of the com-mittee is to recommend mea-sures to promote Government’spolicy to promote domesticDefence industry and encour-age Indian start-ups as well asresearch and development.

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ABJP delegation led by partyGeneral Secretary Arun

Singh would visit China onAugust 24 for a party levelinteraction in that country.

The BJP delegation isunderstandably visiting Chinaon the invitation of Communistparty of China (CPC) andexpected to visit some of thekey cities in that country.

In 2014, a 14-memberyouth delegation of the BJP ledby the then party NationalSecretary Siddharth NathSingh, currently a Minister inUttar Pradesh, toured Chinaand interacted with CPC lead-ers besides holding extensivediscussions at the party level.

This team was in China ona ten-day visit from October 26to November 4 having anextensive visit of Chinese citieswhich included Hangzhou,Beijing and Chongquig. Withthe Modi Government firmlyplaced at the Centre, theChinese are keen to build“afresh” party level “relation-ship” with the BJP and in theprocess “opening up a secondroute” of dialogue on the burn-ing issues, sources said.

Another BJP delegation ledby former Bhagat SinghKosiyari had also paid visit toChina on a study tour and metCPC members. CPC membershave also been meeting BJPleaders including partyPresident Amit Shah. In 2015,Shah met Wang Jiarui, Ministerof the InternationalDepartment of the CommunistParty of China’s CentralCommittee at the BJP head-quarters. Jiarui had thenextended an invitation to Shahto visit China while the duo alsodiscussed ways of encouragingpeople-to-people interactionbetween the two countries.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has

attached assets worth Rs 261crore in connection with itsmoney laundering probeagainst a Haryana-based multi-level marketing group thatallegedly perpetrated ponzischemes and cheated investors.

According to ED, an order,under the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA), forattachment of residential plots,agricultural lands and residen-tial units belonging to Hisar-based Future Maker Life CarePrivate Limited and its twoDirectors Radhe Shyam andBansi Lal, their family mem-bers and associates has beenissued.

The 16 immovable proper-ties that have been attached arelocated in Hisar, Adampur,Kulam, Delhi and Chandigarhapart from bank balances worthRs 252 crore kept in 34 accounts.The total value of the attachmentis Rs 261 crore, it said.

The ED said it filed aPMLA case in March this yearafter taking cognisance of FIRsregistered against the group bythe Telangana police for cheat-ing common public by propa-gating a false theme of “a lifeturning opportunity to earnincome of Rs 20,000 to Rs 10lakhs per month”.

It said the group invitedgullible people to becomemembers of their ponzi pyra-mid scheme “in the guise of ”multi-level marketing by sell-

ing products like suit lengthand edible items.

“They (promoters of thegroup) extensively advertisedtheir commission model inwhich very high commissionswere paid for enrolment of newmembers in the down links ofthe pyramid,” the ED said.

It alleged funds were fraud-ulently collected from sub-scribers as deposit towardsmembership in the schemethrough a chain of agentsspread across India.

These deposits collectedthrough the schemes were ille-gally diverted into the person-al accounts of the directors,their family members andother associates and to other shell companies incor-porated by the two directors,

the ED said. “Primary objective of the

promoters of the company is tolure the gullible public withpromises of huge commissionsand with dreams of becomingrich without much effort quick-ly,” it said.

“They also cheated thepublic by falsely claiming thattheir fraud pyramid schemewas a legitimate direct sellingnetwork scheme by introduc-ing sub-standard products likecheap suit lengths and supple-ments,” the agency said.

Probe found that theaccused have fraudulently col-lected around Rs 2,950 crorefrom lakhs of members and thesame has been identified as theproceeds of crime in this case,it said.

New Delhi: Chief Justice ofIndia Ranjan Gogoi onSaturday said there is a need tolook at the role and function-ing of lawyers and understandwhy a law graduate’s naturalchoice is not the legal profes-sion in spite of great attractionsand opportunities.

The CJI said lawyers act asadvocates and advisors of liti-gants and help them securetheir rights under the law.While working for their clients,they interpret and mould thelaw and help the judges in lay-ing down the legal propositionsthat have binding effects on thefuture generations.

Justice Gogoi, who wasspeaking at the seventh annu-

al convocation of National LawUniversity here, added thatthe purpose of law schools is tobring out lawyers who wouldserve the country as prospec-tive leaders of the bar, adjudi-cators on the bench and edu-cators and teachers.

He said it is time now forintrospection and analyse as towhether the five-year law course,a combined degree in law andarts, has met its ambitions.

He said the five-year lawschool model has not entirelyfailed in achieving the purpose,but it has also not brought aboutthe expected transformation.

“National law schools havesought to foster intensive five-year course, combined degree

in law and arts. This initiativewas on a strong commitment toimprove existing legal infra-structure. Indeed with thisambition, five-year law schoolshave spearheaded critical

changes in syllabi and structureto bring up new generation oflawyers who will think morecritically and analyse compre-hensive and argue articulately,”the CJI said.

He said it must be asked asto how many law schools areserving the purpose they weredesigned for and added that theprimary reason for setting upthe five-year law schools was tostrengthen the bar.

Besides Justice Gogoi, DelhiHigh Court Chief Justice DNPatel, who is the chancellor ofthe NLU, Justice Rajiv SahaiEndlaw, Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal, his deputy ManishSisodia, Delhi Chief SecretaryVijay Kumar Dev, NLU vicechancellor Ranbir Singh andregistrar GS Bajpai were alsopresent in the programme.

Degrees were conferred onthe students of LLM and BA.LLB courses and the toppers

were also awarded with goldmedals and cash prizes. DelhiChief Secretary Vijay KumarDev was also awarded a degreein LLM professional courseand a gold medal.

Justice Gogoi said the five-year model was aimed at devel-oping socially consciouslawyers who serve society bydeveloping skills in the field ofadvocacy, legal aid, legislationor reforms and also organiselectures, conferences and pro-mote legal knowledge.

“One will necessarily haveto look on the role and func-tioning of lawyers and try andunderstand why in spite ofgreat attractions and opportu-nities that the legal profession

offers, the law graduates naturalchoice is not the legal profes-sion,” he said.

He added lawyers also act asadjudicators, negotiators andmediators and they are greateducators too. Career in lawfirms and corporates havebecome popular choices andcontinue to remain so, the CJIsaid, adding the highly attractivecareer at the bar and the benchalso needs to be highlighted.

“Practice of law is a rea-sonably lucrative profession. Ido not wish to be drawn into thefinancial side of the legal pro-fession... All that I would like tosay is that the issue is left to themembers of the bar to ponderand decide,” the CJI said. PTI

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Amid much debate on eco-nomic slowdown, Khadi has

a reason to explain the growth!Unpalatable though it maysound, the sector that wasbelieved to be tagged with‘Dadaji’ and ‘Netaji’ till five yearsago, has made a quantum jumpsince then. Yes, the Khadi pro-duction, which was of Rs 879.98crore in the year 2014-15, hasgone to Rs 1,902 crore in 2018-19 - which is a growth of morethan 100 per cent. Similarly, theKhadi sale was Rs 1,310.9 crorein year 2014-15, has gone to Rs3215.13 crore in 2018-19, record-ing a growth of over 145 per cent.

Jubilant with Khadi’sturnover going over Rs 74,323crore in 2018-19, the Khadi andVillage Industries Commission(KVIC) Chairman VinaiKumar Saxena does not want to

believe that it is the maxim ofthis untapped sector.

“Even the Village Industriesreached to Rs 71,123.68 crore in2018-19 with respect toturnover Rs 31,965.52 crore in2014-15, with a growth rate of123 per cent,” he said, adding,“Khadi has made an averagejump of 62 per cent in Khadifabric production in the last fiveyears, i.e. from 103.22 millionsquare meters in 2014-15 to170.80 million square metres in2018-19. In the fiscal 2014-15,the share of Khadi in overallTextile production was 4.23per cent, which in the year2018-19 has gone up to 8.49 percent, which almost the double.”

Laying stress on how theartisan-centric initiatives couldmake a big impact, Saxena saidduring the last 3.5 years, theKVIC provided more than32,000 New Model Charkhas

and 5,600 modern looms, whichhas increased the Khadi pro-duction. “During this duration,376 new Khadi institutions havebeen added along with over40,000 new Khadi artisans. TheKVIC has also created employ-ment through Khadi in theremotest part of the country suchas Leh, Ladakh, Kaziranga for-est, Sunderban in West Bengaletc.,” he said, adding, “We, for thefirst time, brought Major Textilecorporate like Raymonds,Arvind Mills and Aditya BirlaTextiles in Khadi sector for its

marketing, which has increasedKhadi sale manifold. KVIC alsobrought major PSUs in theKhadi fold, for purchasing Khadigift coupons, for their employ-ees — which has given the busi-ness of over Rs 100 crore.”

The KVIC Chairman alsooutlined the introduction of e-marketing through Paytm,Shop’nShop and approachingUniversities, Colleges, Schools,Municipal Bodies etc. for adopt-ing Khadi Uniforms and cere-monial gowns for promotion ofKhadi, which has increased thereach of Khadi among theyoung generation and made itbuyer-friendly. “The introduc-tion of new trendy designs suchas Ladies Westernwear, ModiJacket, Modi Kurta, VicharVastra and other high-endproducts, with high-qualitystitching, has changed the imageof Khadi,” he said.

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The Defence Ministry onSaturday categorically said

there is no plan to privatise theOrdnance Factory Board (OFB)and efforts are being made toenhance the functioning of theammunition manufacturer.This assurance came after sev-eral MPs and others raisedconcern over the so-calledmove to privatise the factoriesthrough corporatisation.

“Discussions are continu-ously being held by a commit-tee of very senior officials ofthe Defence Ministry withemployees federations of OFBand engage with them in a pos-itive and constructive manneron all aspects relating to cor-poratisation of OFB. It was alsoclarified that the Governmentis not proposing to privatise

OFB and any apprehension inthis regard is misplaced,” saidAjay Kumar, Secretary, Defence Production.

State-run OFB is a leadingproducer of ammunition forthe defence forces, and has over1 lakh employees.

The Defence Ministry in astatement on Friday had said,“Rumours being spread thatOFB is being privatised aremisguiding and with the intentto mislead workers.”

“Corporatisation of OFB

will bring it on a par with otherDefence Public SectorUndertakings (DPSUs), it saidadding the interests of theworkers will be adequatelysafeguarded in any decision taken on the subject,”the statement said.

The committee also point-ed out that the Government hasbeen trying to strengthen thefunctioning of OFB, includinghaving taken several steps tomodernise the factories, re-skillOFB employees at Governmentcost, enable development ofproducts and components withindigenous technology, theMinistry said on Friday. IndianOrdnance Factories are theoldest and largest industrialsetup which functions underthe Department of DefenceProduction of the Ministry of Defence.

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Asoldier was killed onSaturday as Pakistan vio-

lated ceasefire by shelling for-ward posts and villages alongthe Line of Control (LoC) inRajouri district, promptingstrong response from theIndian Army which inflictedcasualties and heavy damage toPakistan Army posts, a defencespokesman said here.

Lance Naik Sandeep Thapa(35), a resident of villageRajawala in Sahaspur district ofDehradun, sustained fatalinjuries in the Pakistani firingin Nowshera sector of Rajouridistrict, Jammu-based defencePRO Lt Col Devender Anandsaid.

He said the“unprovoked firing”from across the bor-der started at around6.30 am and contin-ued intermittentlythroughout the day.

“Indian Armyresponded strongly and effec-tively. Heavy damage toPakistan Army posts and casu-alties to Pakistan soldiers havebeen inflicted by our troops,” hesaid.

The latest ceasefire viola-tion comes two days afterPakistan claimed that its foursoldiers were killed in firing byIndian troops on their posts

along the LoC.“Lance Naik

Thapa, who is sur-vived by his wifeNisha Thapa, was abrave, highly moti-vated and sinceresoldier. The nation

will always remain indebted tohim for the supreme sacrificeand devotion to duty,” thespokesman said

Last month, two Armypersonnel and a 10-day-oldbaby were killed and severalcivilians injured in heavyPakistani shelling and firing inthe twin districts of Poonchand Rajouri in Jammu region.

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Coming down on red-tapism, Union Minister

Nitin Gadkari said on Saturdaythat he warned some officialsearlier in the day that if a certain issue was not resolved,he would tell people “dhulaikaro” (thrash them).

The Union Minister, whoseportfolios include road trans-port and Micro, Small andMedium Enterprises, wasaddressing a convention ofLaghu Udyog Bharti, an RSS-linked outfit working in theMSME sector.

Asking the entrepreneurswho attended the convention toexpand their businesses fearlessly, Gadkari spoke aboutbusinessmen being harassed byGovernment officials.

“Why we have this red-tapism, why do all these inspec-tors come, they take ‘hafta’(bribe). I tell them to their face,you are (Government) servant,

I have been elected by people.I am answerable to people. Ifyou commit theft, I will say youare a thief.

“Today I held a meeting atRTO office here...Director andtransport commissionerattended,” Gadkari, who rep-resents Nagpur in the LokSabha, said.”I told them, yousolve this problem within eightdays, otherwise I will tell peo-ple take law into your handsand thrash them (`dhulaikaro’). My teachers have taughtme this — throw out the sys-tem which does not give jus-tice,” he added.

The Minister, known forhis blunt way of talking, did notelaborate on which problem hewas referring to.

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The leader of the Congress inLok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan

Chowdhury, has said it will betough for any leader from out-side the Gandhi-Nehru familyto run the party, as it has“brand equity”.

He also said the revival ofthe Congress largely dependedon the weakening of regionalparties that lack ideology, andclaimed that the country washeaded for “bipolar politics”.

Chowdhury said only aparty like the Congress, with its“strong” ideological mooring,and pan-India presence, cancounter the “communal jug-gernaut” of the BJP.

“The way regional partiesare functioning, they will losetheir importance in the days tocome. Their losing importancemeans the nation will headtowards bipolar politics.

“When there is bipolarpolitics, we would again comeback to power. So, the future ofthe Congress is bright,”Chowdhury told PTI.

Responding to a question,he said regional parties lackideological motivation andmass support a national partylike the Congress has.

He said Sonia Gandhi wasreluctant to helm the partyonce again, but yielded to therequest of senior Congressfunctionaries when the organ-isation was facing a “crisis” afterRahul Gandhi’s resignation.

“Sonia Gandhi has led theparty in times of crisis. It wasdue to her leadership in diffi-cult times that the Congresswas able to form theGovernment twice in 2004 and2009,” Chowdhury said.

The Congress leader fromWest Bengal said while SoniaGandhi heads the party asinterim chief, efforts are under-way to elect a new party pres-ident.

Chowdhury, a member ofthe Congress WorkingCommittee (CWC) — thehighest decision-making bodyof the party — however, notedit would be tough for someonefrom outside the Gandhi fam-ily to run the party.

“It would indeed be diffi-cult for someone from outsidethe Gandhi family to run theparty. In politics, too, there isbrand equity. If you look at thepresent BJP, without NarendraModi and Amit Shah, will itfunction smoothly? The answeris no.

“In our Congress party,too, the Gandhi family is ourbrand equity. There is no harmin it. No one else in our partyhas the charisma which theyhave. It is a hard reality,” he said.Sonia Gandhi, 72, was appoint-ed the interim Congress pres-ident barely 20 months aftershe had voluntarily relin-quished the post in favour ofson Rahul, who refused tocontinue as the party chiefafter the humiliating 2019 gen-eral election defeat.

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Flood and fury, deluges, landslides,death and destruction have

become annual rituals in Kerala,once known as God’s Own Country.Events of the last two years haveproved that the State is anything butthe sobriquet.

B Viju, a Kochi based journal-ist who had reported extensivelyabout the devastating floods of 2018in the State thought of leaving a traceof the history to the future genera-tion by bringing out a comprehen-sive copy of his experiences cover-ing the massive destruction of the2018 deluge which resulted in thebook “Flood and Fury”.

It may be a strange coincidencethat when the first bunch of copieshit bookshelves across the State lastweek, Kerala faced yet another del-uge, landslide and cloudburst result-ing in more than hundred personsdisappearing from the face of thisearth. “This is unprecedented andunheard of in Kerala,” said JohnPeruvanathanam , one of the pioneerenvironmental activists in the Statetold The Pioneer.

P K Ramachandran, formerdeputy director of the Rubber Board, who has played a significant role inpopularising rubber cultivationacross the county but by strictlyenforcing a standard operation pro-tocol in converting fertile forest landsaid that the present day destructionwas beyond human imagination.“My mission was to eradicate pover-ty and malnutrition but by preserv-

ing the delicate and exotic balancebetween man and nature,” saidRamachandran who works as a biodiversity evangelist across the State.

There is no need to waste timeby searching for the present state ofaffairs in Kerala. “This was a disas-ter which Kerala had asked for. Thepoor are paying for the sins com-mitted by the political class andsome religious leaders who por-trayed the Report as anti-people andanti-farmer,” said Prof MadhavGadgil, chairman, Western GhatsEcology Expert Panel, the scientif-ic team that studied the ramifica-tions of the unprecedented envi-ronmental degradation and pre-pared the Gadgil Report .

Dr V S Vijayan, member WGEEP, said the entire report was pre-pared with a focus in restoring theecology of areas with anthropogenicactivities . “No where we had men-tioned that farming or agriculturaloperations should be stopped orpeople be displaced. When we meanecologically sensitive areas, we mean

only areas where there are humanhabitation and activities. We hadclearly mentioned in the reportabout ecologically sensitive areas inthe Western Ghats ,” said Dr Vijayan,a research scientist groomed by thelegendary Dr Salim Ali.

What prompted the KeralaGovernment to reject the GadgillCommittee Report could be under-stood by reading the pastoral lettersissued by the leaders of the Churchwhich were a must read in allSunday congregations.

“The Madhav Gadgil Report hasbeen prepared with ulterior motivesand targeting members of a partic-ular community.

The report also would put a banon issue of pattayam by the StateGovernment,” said the lengthy state-ment issued by Bishop Mar MathewAanikuzhikattil, Idukki Diocese .

The Bishop also exhorted thefaithful to stage agitation against theReport which they obliged even asthe truth was covered from thepeople.

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Tens of villages and hundreds of acresof farm land remained under a sheet

of water in Krishna and Guntur districtseven as the flood fury in river Krishnawas abating, while the toll in the delugeclimbed to two with the death of an 11-year-old girl.

The body of the girl who drownedin the swollen river in Krishna districton Friday was recovered by NDRF per-sonnel.

A farmer too met with a waterygrave in Guntur district on Friday, theState Disaster Management Authoritysaid.

After touching a maximum of 8.21lakh cusecs in the early hours of the day,the flood discharge at Prakasam Barragein Vijayawada has fallen to 7.99 lakhcusecs at 10 am while the inflowremained steady at 7.57 lakh cusecs, the

State Real-Time Governance Centresaid.

Even the discharges from upstreamreservoirs showed a declining trend butthe travails of more than 17,500 peoplein 87 villages under 32 mandals inKrishna and Guntur districts may con-tinue for the next two days.

In the two districts, 24 villages werecompletely inundated by the flood. Inall 11,553 people in the two districtshave been moved to 56 relief campswhere food and drinking water are beingprovided.

In the lanka villages along the rivercourse, people are reluctant to move outof their houses despite the flooding,reminding of the scenario during themassive floods in 1998 and 2009.

According to the State DisasterManagement Authority, a total of 4,352houses in the two districts remainedmarooned.

Kolkata: Life was thrown out of gear in most parts of the metropolis on Saturday,following torrential rain that led to waterlogging in low-lying areas and snappedroad links at several places.

The city received 186.1 mm rainfall in the past 24 hours till around noon onSaturday, the Regional Meteorological Centre here said. The Met office has fore-cast heavy rain for the day. Commuters were seen wading through knee-deep watersin key thoroughfares, including Central Avenue, College Street, Shakespeare Saraniand Behala.

Vehicular traffic was disrupted in several areas of central, south and northKolkata, resulting in traffic snarls. Flight operations were also affected, as take-off and landing was delayed, said a senior official of the Netaji Subhas ChandraBose International Airport.

Eastern Railway CPRO Nikhil K Chakraborty said circular railway serviceswere cancelled from 10.40 am onwards, due to waterlogging. Train movement inSealdah and Howrah sections of the Eastern Railway was slow, but there has beenno cancellation so far, Chakraborty said. PTI

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Flash floods following heavyrainfall hit Kathua and

Samba districts of Jammuregion where a man was feareddrowned and 15 people, mostof them belonging to anomadic community, wererescued on Saturday, officialssaid.

Two siblings were washedaway on Saturday morningwhen they tried to cross anoverflowing stream on theirway home at Kameela villagein Vijaypur area of Samba dis-trict, a police official said.

He said while 30-year-oldNadiyal was rescued by localsand shifted to a hospital, hiselder brother Sain Lalremained untraced and wasfeared drowned.

The body was not recov-ered so far despite a rescueoperation by local police andSDRF personnel.

Eleven people, belonging

to a nomadic community, werestuck in flash floods in Ujhriver in Rajbagh area and were subsequently res-cued by Kathua police alongwith SDRF personnel, the offi-cial said.

The rescued people wereshifted to a safer location, headded. In another rescue oper-ation near the Ujh river, police-men saved three more mem-bers of the community nearPandori village in Kathua dis-trict, the official said.

Heavy rains lashed several parts of Jammu region,raising water level in majorrivers, including in the Tawi,and leaving some low-lyingareas submerged.

Katra, the famous townwhich serves as the base campfor the pilgrims visitingVaishno Devi shrine in Reasidistrict, recorded the highest133.4 mm rainfall since Fridaynight, a metrological depart-ment spokesperson said.

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Late night rash driving claimedmore lives in Kolkata even as

city’s civil society strongly con-demned the “highly infectious spoiltbrat syndrome,” demanding strin-gent laws for reckless driving.

A day after BJP MP RupaGanguli’s son was arrested for rashand negligent driving with his car lit-erally piercing through a concrete-wall in a south Kolkata locality, twoBangaldeshi nationals were killedwhen a speeding Jaguar lost controland rammed into a Mercedes Benzwhich flung in the air and crushedthe victims against a police kiosknear which they were standing toavoid pouring rain. One among thevictims is the vice president of a topmulti-national Bank in Bangladesh.

The driver of the erring Jaguar,Parvez Arsalan, a 22-year-old youthand son of the owner of an upmar-ket restaurant chain was arrestedeven as he tried to flee with his vehi-cle. The accident happened in thesmall hours of Saturday at the cross-ing of Shakespeare Sarani andLoudon Street in south-centralKolkata where Farhana Islam Tania(30), a resident of Dhaka, and KaziMd Mainul Alam (36), fromJhenaidah district in Bangladeshwere weighting to catch a cab.

A third person who was alsoinjured in the accident said the duowere standing by the police kioskwhen the speeding Jaguar jumpedsignal and hit the Mercedez makingit literally fly in the air and hit thevictims crushing them against thekiosk.

They were in Kolkata for treat-ment, the witness said adding “Iescaped with minor injuries as therewas no barrier (police kiosk) behind

me.The doctors declared the two

Bangladeshi nationals “broughtdead” after they were rushed to thenearby SSKM Hospital. Parwez andthe passengers travelling in theMercedes suffered minor injuries.

The erring driver has beenbooked under Section 304 (culpa-ble homicide), 279 (rash driving)and 427 (causing damage) of theIndian Penal Code.

Meanwhile the Deputy HighCommission of Bangladesh inKolkata said they were makingarrangements to send the deadbodies to that country after theautopsy was over.

Strongly condemning the “lackof discipline” among the “spoil bratsof the rich” members of Kolkata civilsociety said “this boy could also havebeen killed had it not been a costlycar. The guardians should take careof that point.”

With a larger number of flyoversconstructed in the city Kolkata hasof late become a hot spot for racingvehicles that hurtle down the emptymidnight streets in great speedoften leading to fatal accidents.

“Why does it happen with thechildren of the rich only? This isbecause they have the impressionthat they can buy their release aftercommitting any crime. Law shouldbe made stricter and its applicationeven more stringent,” said Anuttamaa psychiatrist.

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President Ram Nath Kovindinaugurated the Presidential

Guest House ‘Jal Kiran’ at RajBhavan here on Saturday.

The Guest House will serveas the accommodation for thePresident of India and thePrime Minister of India duringtheir visits to Mumbai.

Mrs Savita Kovind, wife ofthe President, Governor CHVidyasagar Rao, his wife CHVinodha, Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis, Ministerfor Higher and TechnicalEducation Vinod Tawde wereprominent among those present on the occasion.

Known all along only as anannex to the adjoining FlagstaffBungalow, Presidential GuestHouse ‘Jal Kiran’ has beencompletely renovated andupgraded recently.

The VVIP Guest Housewill have four suites includingthe one for the President ofIndia and the Prime Minister.The VVIP suite comprises ameeting hall, a drawing roomand a sea-facing balcony.

Kovind also unveiled theplaque to mark the completionof restoration of the twin can-

nons which were unearthedfrom the foothills of RajBhavan last year.

It may be recalled that onNovember 3, 2018, two identical 22- tonne Britishera cannons were found lyingan abandoned condition inRaj Bhavan here. Each of thecannons weighs 22 tonnes,measures 4.7 meters in lengthand has a diameter of 1.15meters.

The two cannons werelifted using a crane and placedtemporarily on the front lawnsof Raj Bhavan. The twin can-nons, which date back to thepre-World War I era, werethen lifted onto the HelipadLawn and placed there untiltheir restoration in front of theJal Vihar, the monumentalbanquet hall.

The cannons, believed tohave belonged to the batterynear the coast as part of thedefence of Bombay Castle fromnaval attacks, were first spottedby Raj Bhavan staff membersduring a tree plantation drive.

The President, who is hereon a two-day visit, will inau-gurate the undergroundBunker Museum at Raj Bhavanon Sunday morning.

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Hong Kong democracyactivists kicked off a week-

end of fresh rallies on Saturdayin a major test for the move-ment following criticism overan airport protest earlier thisweek — and as concerns mount over Beijing’s nextmove.

The new marches came asthousands of pro-governmentsupporters — many wavingChinese flags — gathered in apark to condemn their oppo-nents and support the police, astark illustration of the polar-isation now coursing throughthe city.

Ten weeks of demonstra-tions have plunged the inter-national finance hub into cri-sis, with communist-ruledmainland China taking anincreasingly hardline tone,including labelling the moreviolent protester actions “ter-rorist-like”.

Democracy activists arebilling the weekend rallies as away to show Beijing and thecity’s unelected leaders thattheir movement still enjoysbroad public support, despite

increasingly violent tacticsdeployed by a minority ofhardcore protesters that havecast a shadow.

On Tuesday, protestersblocked passengers fromboarding flights at the city’s air-port and later assaulted twomen they accused of beingChinese spies.

The images damaged amovement that until then hadlargely only targeted the policeor government institutions,and prompted some soul-searching among protesters.

China’s propaganda appa-ratus seized on the violence,with state media churning outa deluge of damning articles,

pictures and videos.State media also ran images

of military personnel andarmoured personnel carriersacross the border in Shenzhen,prompting the United States towarn Beijing against sending introops, which analysts saywould be a reputational andeconomic disaster for China.

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Members of China’s para-military People’s Armed

Police marched and practisedcrowd control tactics at asports complex in Shenzhenacross from Hong Kong inwhat some interpreted as athreat against pro-democracyprotesters in the semi-autonomous territory.

The sound of marchingboots and synchronized shoutsechoed from the grounds onFriday. Officers in green cam-ouflage stood guard at closedentrances. A stadium securityguard said “it wasn’t clear”when the paramilitary policewould leave the grounds.

Chinese state media haveonly said that the Shenzhenexercises were planned earlierand were not directly related tothe unrest in Hong Kong,though they came shortly afterthe central government inBeijing said the protests werebeginning to show the “sproutsof terrorism.”

From a distance, policecould be seen conducting drillsin military fatigues, usingshields, poles and other riot-control gear. In one exercise,two groups marched in for-mation with those in front rais-ing shields as if to protectthemselves from projectiles.Others behind held red flagsand banners. The words “thelaw” and “prosecuted” could beseen on one.

Outside, dozens ofarmoured carriers and truckssat in the parking lot of theShenzhen Bay Stadium, closeto a bridge linking mainlandChina to Hong Kong.

Asked if Hong Kong policecould maintain order or ifmainland Chinese intervention

is becoming inevitable, HongKong police commanderYeung Man-pun said thatwhile they face tremendouspressure, “I can tell you we’reconfident the police have thecapability to maintain law and

order.” Germany, meanwhile, said

it considers China to be aresponsible actor that willrespect Hong Kong laws guar-anteeing freedom of speechand rule of law.

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Hundreds of pro-Chinademonstrators marched

through Sydney on Saturday inresponse to a growing numberof rallies in support of theHong Kong democracyprotests as tensions betweenthe two groups increasinglyflare in Australia.

They marched throughthe city chanting “One China”,waving the Chinese flag andholding placards saying “Stopriots end violence in Hong

Kong”.“There has been a lot of

violence and violent protests inHong Kong,” Sydney-basedlawyer and rally organiserwho asked only to be calledZhao told AFP.

“And Hong Kong peoplehave suffered from that and wewant to voice our call forpeace and order.”

Police had to escort a lonepro-democracy supporterfrom the Sydney event after hewas set upon by a mob ofangry demonstrators.

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Conservationists warned of“unprecedented” species

declines Saturday as countriesmet in Geneva to tighten ruleson trade in elephant ivory andproducts from other endan-gered animal and plants.

Thousands of conserva-tionists and policymakers frommore than 180 countries willmeet for 12 days to evaluateregulations and species pro-tection listings under theConvention on InternationalTrade in Endangered Species(CITES).

“Business as usual is nolonger an option,” CITESSecretary General IvonneHiguero said at the start of themeeting, warning that “nature’sdangerous decline is unprece-

dented.”The treaty, created more

than four decades ago, regulatestrade in over 35,000 species ofplants and animals and con-tains mechanisms to help crackdown on illegal trade and sanc-tion countries that break therules.

The sense of urgency waspalpable at the conference,which will evaluate 56 pro-posed changes to protectionlistings, for species of largemammals like elephants, rhinosand giraffes, but also otters,lizards, sharks, and tree andplant species.

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North Korea on Saturdaysaid leader Kim Jong Un

supervised another test-firingof an unspecified new weapon,seen as an attempt to pressureWashington and Seoul overslow nuclear negotiations andtheir joint military exercises.

Pyongyang’s KoreanCentral News Agency said thatfollowing Friday’s launches,Kim expressed “great satisfac-tion” over his military’s “mys-terious and amazing successrates” in recent testing activityand vowed to build up “invin-cible military capabilities noone dare provoke.” The reportdid not mention any specificcomment on the United Statesor South Korea.

The launches were NorthKorea’s sixth round of tests

since late July that revealeddevelopments of a new rocketartillery system and two sepa-rate short-range mobile ballis-tic missile systems that expertssay would expand its ability tostrike targets throughout SouthKorea, including US basesthere.

KCNA did not describewhat Friday’s weapons were orhow they performed, but it saidthat the tests were successfuland strengthened the military’sconfidence in the reliability ofthe system.

Pyongyang’s officialRodong Sinmun newspaperpublished photos that showedwhat appeared to be a missilesoaring from a launcherinstalled on a vehicle and strik-ing what appeared to be acoastal target. Kim is seenjubilantly raising his fist whilecelebrating with military offi-cials.

“(Kim) said everyoneshould remember that it is the(ruling) party’s core plan andunwavering determination tobuild a powerful force strongenough to discourage anyforces from daring to provokeus and to leave any opponentdefenceless against our Jucheweapons of absolute powereven in situations of physicalclashes,” the agency said, refer-ring to the North’s national ide-ology of self-reliance.

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US President Donald Trumpchaired a meeting on the

Afghanistan peace deal with hisnational security team that,the White House said, went“very well” and negotiations areproceeding. The talks, attend-ed by Vice-President MikePence, Secretary of State MikePompeo and National SecurityAdviser John Bolton amongothers, were held at Trump’sgolf resort in Bedminster, NewJersey, on Friday.

Soon after the meeting,the president tweeted: “Manyon the opposite side of this 19-year war, and us, are looking tomake a deal - if possible!”

According to the WhiteHouse, discussions centredaround ongoing negotiationsand eventual peace and recon-ciliation agreement with theTaliban and the government ofAfghanistan. The meeting wentvery well and negotiations areproceeding, it said.

After briefing the presidenton the progress of the negoti-ations in the war-torn country,Pompeo issued a statement,saying, “Led by the president,we are working diligently onthe path forward inAfghanistan.”

“In continued close coop-eration with the government ofAfghanistan, we remain com-mitted to achieving a compre-hensive peace agreement,including a reduction in vio-lence and a ceasefire, ensuringthat Afghan soil is never againused to threaten the UnitedStates or her allies, and bring-ing Afghans together to worktowards peace,” the secretary ofstate said.

The meeting was alsoattended by Defense SecretaryMark Esper, SpecialRepresentative for AfghanistanReconciliation ZalmayKhalilzad, Chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff JosephDunford and CIA DirectorGina Haspel.

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Upping the ante, Pakistansaid on Saturday that its

army was “fully prepared” toface any challenge posed byIndia in the wake of currenttensions between the two coun-tries over Kashmir.

Addressing a joint Pressconference with ForeignMinister Shah MahmoodQureshi following a meeting ofthe country’s top brass on thesituation in Kashmir, Armyspokesman Major Gen AsifGhafoor said it was possibleIndia could launch an attack todivert the world’s attentionfrom Kashmir.

“We have apprehensionthat India can launch attack todivert attention but we arefully prepared to deal with anymisadventure,” he said.

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The European Union onSaturday called for “inclu-

sive dialogue” to calm ten-sions in Hong Kong, where tenweeks of protests have plungedthe city into crisis and prompt-ed mainland China to take amore hardline tone.

“It is crucial that restraintbe exercised, violence rejected,and urgent steps taken to de-escalate the situation,” EUdiplomatic chief FedericaMogherini said in a statement.

“Engagement in a processof broad-based and inclusivedialogue, involving all keystakeholders, is essential.”

The statement came asHong Kong democracyactivists kicked off new roundof protests that began over aplan to allow extraditions tomainland China.

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The shipping agent for anIranian supertanker caught

in a diplomatic standoff saysthe vessel is ready to departGibraltar on Sunday orMonday, as the US made a last-minute effort to seize it again.

The head of the companysorting paperwork and procur-ing for the Grace 1 oil tankerin the British overseas territo-ry said the vessel could be sail-ing away in the next “24 to 48hours,” once new crews dis-patched to the territory takeover command of the ship.

“The vessel is ongoingsome logistical changes andrequirements that have delayedthe departure,” Astralship man-aging director Richard De laRosa told The Associated Press.

De la Rosa’s commentscame a day after the USobtained a warrant to seize the

vessel over violations of USsanctions on Iran.

It was unclear if that couldhappen within a 24-hour timeframe as Gibraltar officialshave said any request to seizethe vessel would have to makeits way through the territory’scourts. He said the new crewswere Indian and Ukrainiannationals hired by the Indianmanagers of the ship and thathis company had not beeninformed about the super-tanker’s next destination.

The tanker, which carries2.1 million tons of Iranianlight crude oil, had beendetained for over a month inGibraltar for allegedly attempt-ing to breach European Unionsanctions on Syria.

The arrest fueled tensionbetween London and Tehran,which seized a British-flaggedtanker in the Strait of Hormuzin apparent retaliation.

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Lisburn (UK): Rememberingfallen comrades, veteransparaded Saturday to mark the50th anniversary of the BritishArmy’s deployment toNorthern Ireland — a keymoment in the Troubles.Hundreds of ex-service per-sonnel attended the NorthernIreland Veterans Association(NIVA) event in the city ofLisburn, southwest of Belfast.

A total of 722 soldiers diedduring Operation Banner,which ran from 1969 to 2007.

Since soldiers firstappeared on Northern Ireland’sstreets on August 14, 1969, theBritish army witnessed andwas involved in some of thedarkest hours of the Troubles,the three decades of unrest inthe province. AFP

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New Delhi: The Government’smarket borrowings havetouched �2.54 lakh crore,which is 57 per cent of theBudget Estimates, as of June2019.

The budgeted market bor-rowing is �4.48 lakh crore forthe fiscal.

On a comparison basis,the borrowing was 31 per centin the same time of the last fis-cal, as per the ControllerGeneral of Accounts.

Government raises fundsfrom the market to fund its fis-cal deficit through dated secu-rities and Treasury bills. Thefiscal deficit for the year is 3.3

per cent. At the level of grossborrowings, which is �7.06lakh crore, already 60 per centhas already been taken at �4.25lakh crore, which is lower than68 per cent at this time in thelast fiscal.

The Government plans toborrow �4.48 lakh crore fromthe market in 2019-20, mar-ginally higher than the �4.47lakh crore estimated for thecurrent financial year endingMarch 2019.

Gross borrowing includesrepayments of past loans.Repayment for past loans in thenext fiscal has been pegged at�2.36 lakh crore. IANS

�� >0A��!�7��)�� Nagpur: Delayed payments is

a major headache for Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises,Union MSME Minister NitinGadkari said here on Saturday,adding that he was trying tofind a solution to this issue.

Speaking at a conventionof ‘Laghu Udyog Bharti’, anRSS-linked outfit which worksin MSME sector, he alsopromised to rid the nationalcapital of pollution in fiveyears.

“The small scale industryproducer never gets paymentson time. And this tires and fin-ishes him. I am seriously think-ing, whether it is private orpublic sector or Government,the payment of MSME shouldget released in 45 days, and Iam trying to take some con-

crete decision on this,” he said.MSME play important role

in creation of employment, hesaid.

“So far, MSME have givenjobs to 11.50 crore youths, andin these five years I am aimingto add five crore more employ-ment opportunities,” Gadkari,

who took charge of MSMEportfolio in the second term ofModi-led NDA Government,said.

Expressing concern aboutthe agrarian crisis, he said theMSME Ministry was alsofocusing on handloom, hand-icrafts and agro processingindustries.

Talking about the pollutionin Delhi, Gadkari said, “I wantto tell you that (with) theworks we have undertaken inthese five years, Delhi will becompletely free of air and waterpollution before we completeour five years.”

Promoting entrepreneur-ship was an important missionof the Government, as withoutit “we cannot become 5 trilliondollar economy”, he said. PTI

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New Delhi: Two promoterentities of RelianceCommunications (RCom)have pledged 11.5 per centmore stake in favour of AxisTrustee Services, according toregulatory filings.

Reliance CommunicationsEnterprises and RelianceTelecom Infrainvest on August16 pledged about 11.51 percent of their holding inReliance Communicationsamounting to 31.82 croreshares in favour of Axis TrusteeServices acting assecurity/debenture trustee.

A BSE filing on pledge ofRCom shares in favour of AxisTrustee Services showed thatfresh pledge of 31.82 croreshares was created on August16, 2019.

Another filing showed thatReliance CommunicationsEnterprises pledged — in twolots — 8.37 per cent holdingwith Axis Trustee Services Ltd,while Reliance TelecomInfrainvest too created a freshpledge on 3.13 per cent hold-ing in its favour. PTI

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San Francisco: A whistleblow-er has accused General Electric(GE) of hiding massive losses byengaging in a $38 billionaccounting fraud, which is “big-ger than Enron”.

In his report this week,investigator Harry Markopolosaccused GE of utilising many ofthe same accounting tricks asEnron did to mislead theinvestors.

“In fact, GE’s $38 billion inaccounting fraud amounts toover 40 per cent of GE’s marketcapitalisation, making it farmore serious than either theEnron or WorldCom account-ing frauds,” said the report.

GE denied the charge say-ing the 175-page report con-tained false statements.

“GE will always take anyallegation of financial miscon-duct seriously. But this is mar-ket manipulation - pure andsimple,” Lawrence Culp,Chairman and Chief executiveOfficer of GE said in a statement.

“Mr. Markopolos’ report

contains false statements of factand these claims could havebeen corrected, if he hadchecked them with GE beforepublishing the report,” said thestatement. To investigate GE’sfraud, Markopolos team wentout and located the eight largestLong-Term Care (LTC) insur-ance deals that GE is a counter-party to, accounting for approx-imately 95 per cent or more ofGE’s exposure. Either these eightinsurance companies filed falsestatutory financial statementswith their regulators or GE’sfinancial statements are false,alleged the report. The investi-gator said he got access to theseeight insurers’ statutory financialstatements filed with the relevantstate insurance commissions.

“What they revealed wasthat GE was hiding massive lossratios, the highest-ever seen inthe LTC insurance industry,along with exponentiallyincreasing dollar losses beingabsorbed by GE,” said thereport. IANS

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Bhopal: More than �1 lakhcrore have been deposited inover 36 crore bank accountsopened under the PradhanMantri Jan Dhan Yojana(PMJDY), reveals an RTI.

Chandrashekhar Gaur, asocial worker from Neemuchdistrict of Madhya Pradesh, filedthe RTI seeking the details of thePMJDY from the Ministry ofFinance. The reply to his RTIapplication revealed that till July17, 2019, around 36.25 croreaccounts were opened under thescheme in which �1,00,831 crorehave been deposited. The RTIalso revealed that five years afterthe launch of the scheme, therewere 4.99 crore or 14 per centaccounts which still have zerobalance in them. PTI

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New Delhi: In a bid to seizeillegal cash, the Income TaxDepartment has issued a 17-point checklist to tax commi-sioners across the country totrack those who depositedunaccounted cash duringdemonetisation.

In a directive to thePrincipal ChiefCommissioners of IncomeTax and Principal DirectorGenerals of Income Tax, theCentral Board of Direct Taxes(CBDT) said that in conitin-uation of the handling ofcases related to demonetisa-tion, a verification checklist ofcash deposits has been pre-pared to assist the assessingofficers so that deviant casescan be taken up for furtherstudy.

The CBDT move is aimedat spreading the department’snet wide and deep to catchthose who deposited unac-

counted cash during demon-etisation.

In this latest directive to taxofficers, a 17-point checklisthas been created, which has tobe updated on the depart-ment’s server for further action.All unaccounted cash depositsmade between November 9,2016 and December 31, 2016will be examined as part of thisplan.

The checklist also says thatif a taxpayer disputes theamount, the correct amounthas to be mentioned afterchecking with the bank.

The particulars in thechecklist are — return filingcompliance, total income of thetaxpayer in 2016-17, grosstotal income (includingexempt income) of the tax-payer in FY 2016-17 and per-centage of cash deposit togross total income (includingexempt income). PTI

�9!� ��-:9�� Washington: Donald Trump

said on Friday that tech giantApple would be spending “vastsums” of money in the US in atweet ahead of a dinner meet-ing with its CEO Tim Cook.

The men have had severalinformal meetings before,including at Bedminster, NewJersey, where Trump is report-edly on a working holiday at hisgolf course.

“Having dinner tonightwith Tim Cook of Apple. Theywill be spending vast sums ofmoney in the U.S. Great!” hetweeted at around 7 pm localtime. The meeting followsThursday’s announcementfrom Apple that it has invest-ed roughly $60 billion in theUS, and currently employssome 90,000 people in thecountry.

Many of the tech giant’sproducts are assembled inChina and the company oppos-es incoming tariffs — an issueTrump is fixated on — of 10percent on goods manufac-tured in China, due to come intoforce on September 1. PTI

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Washington: President DonaldTrump is warning of an eco-nomic crash if he loses reelec-tion, arguing that even voterswho personally dislike himshould base their ballots on thenation’s strong growth and lowunemployment rate.

But privately, Trump isgrowing increasingly worriedthe economy won’t look sogood come Election Day.

The financial markets sig-nalled the possibility of a USrecession this week, sending ajolt of anxiety to investors,companies and consumers.

That’s on top of concernsover Trump’s plans to imposepunishing tariffs on goodsfrom China and word from theUnited Kingdom and Germanythat their economies areshrinking.

Though a pre-electionrecession here is far from cer-tain, a downturn would be adevastating blow to the presi-dent, who has made a strongeconomy his central argumentfor a second term.

Trump advisers fear aweakened economy would hurthim with moderate Republicanand independent voters whohave been willing to give hima pass on some his incendiarypolicies and rhetoric.

And White House eco-nomic advisers see few optionsfor reversing course shouldthe economy start to slip.

Trump has taken to blam-ing others for the recessionfears, mostly the FederalReserve, which he is pushingfor further interest rate cuts.

Yet much of the uncer-tainty in the markets stemsfrom his own escalation of atrade war with China, as wellas weakened economies in keycountries around the world.

Some of Trump’s closestadvisers have urged him tolower the temperature of thetrade dispute, fearing that fur-ther tariffs would only hurtAmerican consumers and rat-tle the markets further.

The president blinked oncethis week, delaying a set of tar-iffs in an effort to saveChristmas sales.

Aides acknowledge it isunclear what steps the WhiteHouse could take to stop adownturn. Trump’s 2017 tax cutproved so politically unpopularthat many Republicans ranaway from it during last year’smidterms. PTI

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It all started when his teach-ers would make him writeon the blackboard. His

handwriting was good so hewas made to write news head-lines and notes that the teach-ers wanted to be written on theboard. Besides having a goodhandwriting, it was the fact thatit was legible, clear and in astraight line that introducedhim to play with chalk. MeetSachin Sanghe, a techie whohails from Mudigere, 80 kmfrom Bengaluru, who is mes-merising people with hisminiature pieces of art carvedout of chalk and pencil lead.

He tells you that even as achild, he used to crave out justanything and everything on thepieces of chalk with the help ofa compass that was always inhis Geometry box.

“Drawing and cravingthings out of chalk was some-thing that I loved and it wasmore of an hobby and I carvedthings till I was in school. I wasgood in sports as well. But mypassion lay in engineering andhence pursued it. My hobbyturned into full-time passionand somewhat of a professiononly after I completed my engi-neering and was working withHCL. It was then that I decid-ed to take up where I had leftoff to pass time when I was inChennai,” Sanghe says who haspresented his work to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi —art pieces of chalk with the PMin various yoga poses and onewith his mother.

The reason why he has notturned his hobby into a careerpath is because there are stillsome risks involved. He tellsyou that he would have makeit his profession if what he doeswas a recognised and estab-lished art form. “Another obsta-cle is that I need a team. I alonecan’t do much to make enoughmoney. But this doesn’t meanthat I am not looking at waysto turn it into a full-timecareer,” Sanghe explains whohad tried to get his work reg-istered with Guinness WorldRecord. Sadly, he couldn’t finda category under which hecould put his work.

“I explored the possibilitybut found that the categorieswere tallest, shortest and

biggest. It was all related tomagnitude. There was no placeunder which I could place mywork. I got dejected and gaveup,” Sanghe says and tells youthat the chalk that he use for hispieces are dust-free.

The more elaborate piecesare also made from three-fourpiece of chalk — three to fourinches in height. The only dif-ference is that he attaches theother pieces with glue to biggerpieces of art. But he explainsthat in photos it looks biggerthan they really are. The actu-al height of the art pieces arenot more then a couple of inch-es. The tools that he uses arealso not expensive.

“People ask me if the toolsthat I use are expensive or spe-cial. The truth is that my mosttrusted tool is a dissection knifethat you find in the surgical boxthat one buys when you are inschool. It was a knife that I usedto dissect cockroaches withback in school. Another toolthat I regularly use which I acci-dentally found was left behindby a senior in my room. It is atool that dentists use — an exca-vator. I also use the blade fromthe sharpener. Then there is thescrewdriver that one uses toopen hard to reach places.Basically, small tools,” Sanghesays and tells you even thoughthe art pieces that he carves areminiatures, there isn’t muchstrain on the eyes since he does-n’t spend more than four hoursat one sitting.

“I don’t use any lens under

which I sit and carve these fig-ures. Right now, my eye sight isgood. Also, even though a fig-ure may take up to 20 hours, Idon’t sit for more than three-four hours at a stretch. Also Iwork only over the weekends.Since the rest of the days, I amworking full-time with CiscoSystems.

His work with pencil leadis something that Sanghe start-ed in 2013. He tells you thatthere are certain advantagesand disadvantages of workingwith pencil lead sculpting.“The advantage is that there isno dust while carving. Chalk isbrittle, lead is not. The disad-vantage is that the lead is thinas compared to chalk. Becauselead is so thin, I use surgicalscalpel to carve figures. Forexample, if one were to carvesomething on lead and thesame on chalk, one might needto look at the art piece moreclosely to figure out what it isas lead is small in comparison

to chalk. While, I don’t need todraw what I want to carve in apaper, I do keep a picture forreference since the lead sculpt-ing is in 3-D,” Sanghe says whouses 6B or 8B pencil. To carveletters, he uses carpenter pen-cil.

To buy a lead or chalk fig-urine, Sanghe tells you thatusually people contact him viasocial media. “Nowhere have Imentioned that I am in the pro-fession of selling my art. Peoplewho are interested contact methrough Instagram orFacebook. The cost alsodepends on the piece that theywant, but it varies between�4,000 to �12,000. A lot of peo-ple want a Lord Ganesh oreven Lord Krishna. The com-plexities happen when peoplewant a portrait. The face has tolook like the person. A wrongcut and the face changes. So Ineed to be more careful. Onehas to be very patient,” Sanghesays.

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Soul within human body with connec-tion to the super soul, creates cotton sculp-ture. Human body is medium of creativity

— Anant Khairnar

Born in 1966, in a small town Jawhar,(Palghar district of Maharashtra),Anant Khairnar even as a child was

interested in drawing and painting. Heused to gather just any material lyingaround to create art. However, it was nottill he was in college, while pursuing hisbachelor’s degree in Science from PuneUniversity that his full potential wasrealised.

“It was in 1987, last year of college,when there was a lot of discussion to cre-ate something new, never seen before idolfor Ganesh Festival. Since I always thoughtof myself as an artist rather than a Sciencestudent, I was asked to give my suggestions.After much deliberation that took methree-four days, I suggested that we shouldcreate an idol of Lord Ganesh using cot-ton wool. This proved to be a turning pointin my life,” the 52-year-old cotton sculp-tor says who worked in the private sectorfor three years before he spent his next 28years working for LIC.

Creativity, spirituality, sensibility andcaptivity are the qualities of the soul with-in he tells you. “I am a God gifted artist.But all through my career I never gave upmy passion to create. Art can be taught, butcreativity is inborn. Nature has bestowedme with this unique art. I never workedunder any master to learn the art. Myknowledge comes from within. A divinepower always directs me whenever I hit aroadblock,” Khairnar says.

To begin with he would need a base(like a wooden structure and paper)before he would start making a cottonsculpture. But, three decades down, withthe technique that Khairnar has perfect-ed, the entire sculpture that he makes todayare made from a special grade of surgicalgauge.

“When I made the first cotton sculp-ture I used cotton wool. I also needed tocreate a rough body before I could give theidol the final look. But with time, I haveperfected my art form. Today, I don’t needa base. As long as I have a reference pic-ture in front me, I am good to go. Also, cot-ton wool has been replaced with a specialkind of gauge. There were two stepsinvolved while making these sculptors.First, involves using a special combinationof chemicals. Second, at the same time,pieces of surgical gauge are used to giveshape to the sculpture. These chemicalsplay a vital role in my sculptures. They notonly give shape but have sticking qualityas well. The good part is that they are notvolatile, hence they evaporate quickly. Butweather plays spoilsport. Sometimes, I have

to wait for up to a day for the liquid to dry,”Khairnar explains who has taken up hispassion full-time, now that he has retired.

Over the years, Khairnar has ownmany awards. Limca Book of Records —1997; Guinness Book of World Records —1999; Outstanding Young Indian Award —

1999; Adarsh Nagrik Puraskar, Jalgaon —2000; Thane GauravAward, Thane —2009 and Samaj Seva purskar, Chennai —2015 to name a few.

His sculpture of Mahatma Gandhiwhich is seven-and-a-half feet tall has wonhim an award. He also made a sculptureof Shri Ram (12 feet tall for the KhumbhMela) which posed some challenge tobegin with due to it’s height. But he over-came that. Today, going big and tall is nolonger a challenge for Khairnar whocharges �15,000 per foot for his work.

Though, there are a few Indian clientsas well, most of his clients are foreigners.“Over the years, people have come to knowabout me and my work. I have a websitewhere I share my work from time to time.I get orders as well. Since my art form isunique, only my family is involved. My sonis pursuing his MS in the US. He also looksafter the marketing side of my work. I seeto the creative side. It takes around a-month-and-a-half to create one piecebecause I spend only four hours a day.Making these sculptures need a lot ofpatience,” Khairnar says who is now busygiving finishing the few orders that he hasof Lord Ganesh idols for Ganesh Chaturthi.

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Avisit to darzi gali in Patiala will throwup a surprise. Not because there areso many tailors but because there is

a man who creates beautiful works of artusing thread. He makes paintings using histrusted sewing machine. Yes, you read thatright. Meet the self-proclaimed Needle Manfrom Patiala— Arun Kumar Bajaj.

The 36-year-old artist who is a tailorby profession tells you that he hated work-ing in his father’s tailor shop. “I was 12when my father said that I should accom-pany him to the shop and learn the trade.I hated it. At that age I wanted to go some-thing different, something unique. I learntembroidery. I have made so many clothesfor celebrity singers over the years. All theembroidery on their clothes was done byme. Back then, I was still exploring otheravenues when my father passed away in2000. I had to shoulder the responsibility.I was only a teenager. But, I didn’t shirkfrom what I had to do,” Bajaj recounts.

It was fated that Bajaj got the recogni-

tion that was due to him. When he wasaround 20, he dreamt that he was paintinga portrait of Guru Nanakji using a sewingmachine. The dream was so real that Bajajcould clearly see the completed painting infront of his eyes. When he got up he wassurprised that there was no such paintingin front of him. But it got him thinking —was it possible to make a painting using dif-ferent threads and a sewing machine?

“When I woke up, I thought to myselfcan I realise my dream? Or is it just some-thing that my subconscious mind hadthrown up since I wanted to be differentfrom others and do things that nobody haddone before. I thought about it and decid-ed to give it a try. I went to my shop. I hada portrait of Guru Nanakji; I traced that ona piece of paper and then on a piece ofcloth. I bought different coloured threadsand began. It took me a week to completeit. Due to God’s grace my first attempt was

a success. From there, there was no turn-ing back” Bajaj recalls who has painted over

2,000 paintings. Each more beautiful andbrilliant than the last.

The beauty of these portraits lie in theshading that Bajaj has incorporated. Toachieve this was no mean task. “Unlike apainting when one can give shading bypainting over it, giving shading usingthreads was a challenge. Nobody haddone this kind of work before me. I didn’thave a template that I could follow. It tookmany trials and errors before I perfectedthe art of shading. Take for example thepainting of a tiger that took me over twoyears to complete. The moss on the cavefloor has so many shades that had to beincorporated to give the painting a feel thatit has been made using paints and notthread,” Bajaj explains and says that usu-ally a small portrait takes up 10-15 days tomake. However, a big one may take as longas six months.

The six feet by four feet Lord Krishnaportrait was made in three years using 28.36lakh m long thread has won him the India

Book of Records on February 4, 2015 andthe Unique World Records on September24, 2016. His other popular works includea portrait of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, JesusChrist and even that of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi whom he presented thepainting in person.

He tells you that his recently finishedthread painting of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’sdarbar (4x2 feet) fetched him �11 lakh.Most of his thread paintings are in the rangeof �60,000 to �4 lakh. The first threadpainting that he sold was that of an oldman, he tells you and adds that he hasalready applied for Guinness World Record.

“Almost all the formalities are over. Ihave submitted all the paperwork that isrequired. Now, they have to cross-checkand see that the sewing machine that I useis not computer operated. I hope that I willget this coveted record this year,”Bajaj says.

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Resurgent SvetlanaKuznetsova denied Ashleigh

Barty a chance to reclaim theworld number one ranking onSaturday as the Russian veteranthrashed the Australian 6-2, 6-4 in the WTA CincinnatiMasters semi-finals.

Barty could have re-takenthe top ranking she lost last weekto Japan’s Naomi Osaka had shereached the final.

The shutdown triumph bythe 34-year-old double GrandSlam winner leaves injuredOsaka atop the rankings with theUS Open starting a week fromMonday.

Kuznetsova will play forthe title on Sunday against thewinner of a later semi-finalbetween Americans Sofia Keninand Madison Keys.

Kuznetsova, bidding for her19th career title, now stands 15-8 in Cincinnati, the final majortuneup for the Open. Her sea-son record is 12-8 after onlyreturning to the courts last

April.Earlier on Friday, the US

Open alarm bells were ringingfor Osaka less than two weeksbefore the start of her title

defense at Flushing Meadowsafter a left knee injury saw herretire against Sofia Kenin —sending the American into thesemis with a 6-4, 1-6, 2-0 victo-

ry.Men’s top seed Novak

Djokovic also had the trainer onduring his 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 victo-ry over Lucas Pouille, but hopeddiscomfort in his right elbowwouldn’t linger.

The 16-time Grand Slamchampion will nextface Daniil Medvedev,who beat Russiancompatriot AndreyRublev, conquerer thisweek of Roger Federer,6-2, 6-3.

Osaka’s left kneetrouble was more of a

concern, the Japanese staradmitting it put a cloud over herupcoming US Open titledefense.

“Last year I won the USOpen and this year I’m trying toplay the US Open,” she said.

“I don’t even really thinkabout winning the tournament.I just want to have the chance to

play it now.“If there is a 1 percent

chance of me not playing it, that’swhat’s concerning me.”

Osaka had won the secondset to level the match when shefirst complained of apparentknee pain and after one game ofthe third set called for thephysio.

With the knee heavily tapedOsaka played one more gamebefore packing it in and sendingKenin to the semis. “This is notthe way I wanted to win,” saidKenin, who will next play fellowAmerican Madison Keys, a 6-2,6-3 winner over Venus Williams.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw,France’s Richard Gasquet earnedhis first Masters 1000 quarter-final victory in six years, defeat-ing Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(7/2), 3-6, 6-2.

He will play for a place inthe final against 16th seed DavidGoffin, who advanced in awalkover against Japanese qual-ifier Yoshihito Nishioka, whocould not take the court due toillness.

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The Bangladesh Cricket Board onSaturday named South Africa’s

Russell Domingo as the new head coachof the national team, replacingEnglishman Steve Rhodes.

The 44-year-old has agreed to atwo-year term with the BCB and isexpected to arrive in Dhaka onWednesday to take charge.

“He has a wealth of experience andwe have been very impressed with hispassion and coaching philosophy,”BCB president Nazmul Hassansaid.

Bangladesh were strugglingto appoint a head coach aheadof hosting Afghanistan for a oneTest series in earlySeptember and a tri-nation tournamentwith the visitorsand Zimbabwe.

Hasan saidthey choseD o m i n g oahead ofother candi-dates becauseof his avail-ability.

“We alsosought a full-timecoach... (Domingo)said he was very keento work with the boysand didn’t want anyholiday breaks. These

are the reasons why we found him suit-able,” he added.

Domingo, the lone candidate toface an interview for the post when hearrived in Dhaka on August 7, said hewas eagerly looking ahead to his newchallenge.

“I have followed Bangladesh’sprogress with keen interest and I amextremely excited to assist the team inreaching the goals that they are capa-ble of,” a BCB statement quoted him assaying.

Domingo was the assistant coachof South Africa in 2011. He replacedGary Kirsten as national team headcoach of the Proteas in 2013 andremained there 2017.

He led South Africa to semifi-nals of the 2014 World Twenty20

in Bangladesh.Domingo will have

compatriots CharlLangeveldt and NeilMcKenzie among hissupport staff.

Bangladesh lastmonth appointedLangeveldt as thepace bowling coachand retainedMcKenzie as battingcoach.

Former NewZealand captain Daniel

Vettori has also beenappointed as new spin bowlingcoach up to ICC World

Twenty20 in Australia next year.

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After flirting for a fewmonths with doubles as he

recovers from January hipsurgery, Andy Murray onFriday said that his days in thatspeciality are over.

Murray and FelicianoLopez lost in the CincinnatiMasters men’s doubles quarter-finals, going down in what forthe 32-year-old Scot was anuncomfortable confrontationwith his elder brother Jamie —who combined with fellow BritKen Skupski for a 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 10-4 defeat of Murray andLopez.

Three-time Grand Slamchampion Murray, who wonQueen’s Club in June withLopez said that he has decidedto dump doubles in hopes ofreturning to singles.

He accepted a wild cardinto the singles draw at next

week’s ATP tournament inWinston-Salem, but he willnot play singles at the USOpen.

Murray said that after play-ing doubles last week inMontreal and here in the US,he’s keen to return to his formerlife as a top singles player.

“I realized that if I want toget back to singles at the high-est as quickly as possible, I needto avoid doubles.

“Doubles was slowingdown everything. Now thatmy doubles is done, the focuswill be totally on singles, whichshould help in the long run.”

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Sri Lanka’s batters set the stageon Saturday for a thrilling

final day, reaching 133 withoutloss at stumps on day four as theychased 268 to beat New Zealandin the first Test in Galle.

Openers DimuthKarunaratne and LahiruThirimanne were involved in arecord opening stand of 133 runsand benefited from some sloppyfielding by the tourists. It leaves

Sri Lanka needing a further 135runs to record their first win inthe World Test Championship.

Karunaratne was unbeatenon 71 off 168 balls with twoboundaries while Thirimannewas on 57 having faced 132deliveries and hit four fours.They were in no mood to with-draw to the dressing room butbad light ended play 34 minutesbefore schedule.

Batting fourth in Galle is notthe prettiest thing for batsmen

and the highest successful runchase here is 99. But this trackheld together and there weren’tany demons for batsmen makinglife difficult.

Both openers were slow offthe blocks with the first bound-ary coming in the 22nd over.Karunaratne was the first toreach half-century with a cut shotoff William Somerville. It was theSri Lankan skipper’s 23rd Testfifty.

Thirimanne reached his sixthhalf-century with a flick for fouroff Ajaz Patel. After a series of lowscores, he was under pressure topost a decent figure and the half-century will have saved his placefor the next Test in Colombo.

The duo went onto establishthe highest partnership by a SriLankan opening pair in the fourthinnings. It is also the highest part-nership by a Sri Lankan pair forthe first wicket against NewZealand.

Earlier, resuming from theovernight score of 195 for seven,New Zealand posted 285 withWatling top scoring with 77 runs.He was well supported by the tailwith William Somerville hittinghis highest score in first classcricket — 40 not out.

Lasith Embuldeniya finishedwith four wickets whileDhananjaya de Silva claimedthree.

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Bangladesh Cricket Board havedecided to rest out-of-form

opener Tamim Iqbal for next month’sone-off Test against Afghanistanfollowing a request from the player,an official said on Saturday.

Afghanistan arrive later inAugust for their maiden Test againstBangladesh in Chittagong fromSeptember 5.

Chief selector Minhajul Abedinsaid Tamim would also be restedduring a tri-nation Twenty20 tour-nament from September 13 whichwill also involve Zimbabwe.

Abedin said the board hadaccepted Tamim’s request for abreak. “He will now rest both in the

Test match against Afghanistan andalso the tri-nation tournament,” hesaid.

MORTAZA RETIREMENT?Bangladesh one-day interna-

tional cricket skipper MashrafeMortaza has asked for two monthsto confirm his retirement plans.

He was expected to confirm hisretirement thoughts after the recentWorld Cup where he claimed justone wicket in eight matches.

The 35-year-old seamer missedthe latest Sri Lanka tour due to ham-string injury and is facing a longabsence from international cricket asBangladesh are not scheduled to playany ODIs until June next year.

Bangladesh Cricket Board(BCB) last week said they were plan-ning to host a one-off ODI sometimein September against Zimbabwe toorganise a farewell for Mashrafe.

But the plan has been shelvedfollowing Mashrafe’s meeting onSaturday with board officials.

“He sought two months to makehis final decision and we said that isfine,” BCB president Nazmul Hassantold reporters.

The veteran who made hisBangladesh debut in 2001 kept play-ing 50-over ODIs and has alredyretired from Tests (in 2009) and T20s(in 2017).

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The reappointed Ravi Shastrisays his primary endeavour

will be facilitating a smoothtransition by the time he leavesthe scene. There will also beroom for experimentation, hesaid, as the team looks to leavea lasting legacy.

Shastri, 57, was on Fridayreappointed for a second term.As per BCCI’s constitution, thenational team’s head coach hasto be below 60 years, the ageShastri will be approaching bythe time his current tenureends. The 2023 World Cup stilla long way and winning 2021World T20 is the realistic goalfor the team.

“Next two years is to seethat smooth transition happensbecause you will get a lot ofyoungsters coming, especiallyinto the white ball setup. Therewill be youngsters coming intothe Test match setup as well,”Shastri told BCCI tv.

“You will need to identifyanother three-four bowlers toadd to the pool, those are thechallenges. So that the team, atthe end of our tenure, in 26months, my endeavour wouldbe to leave the team in a hap-pier place. So that they canleave a legacy for the time tocome,” the former India all-rounder said.

He wants the team to leavethe kind of legacy that futuregenerations would find it dif-ficult look to emulate.

“I had the belief that this

team could leave a legacy veryfew teams have left behind inyears to come, not just for themoment they are playing but atthe end of it all... The kind oflegacy other teams going downdecades will want to try andemulate.

“That is the desire, we areon track. There is always roomfor improvement. And withyouth coming in through theranks, I think it’s very excitingtime,” he said.

“It’s been superbly consis-tent if you look at the perfor-mance over the last two-threeyears. But like I said that is thebar they have set and now it’sup to them to raise the bar,”Shastri assessed the team’s per-formance in the last two years.

He stressed on theimprovements the currentsetup has made in fielding.

“One thing that is mostimportant is that over the lastfour-five years the biggestimprovement is fielding andthe endeavour is to make thisthe best fielding side in theworld.

“So it is a clear diktat towhoever wants to play for thisteam the standards of thatparticular player’s fielding willhave to be of the highest level,especially in white ball crick-et.”

“Collectively, looking atthe coaches, the players, theteam management the endeav-our is to keep this consistencygoing and try and take it toanother level.”

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Australia’s Steve Smith returnedto make 92 after a sickeningblow to the neck before

England captain Joe Root fell for thefirst golden duck of his Test careeras Pat Cummins took two wickets intwo balls on a dramatic fourth dayof the second Ashes clash at Lord’s.

England were 96-4 in their sec-ond innings — a lead of 104 runs —when rain forced an early close onSaturday.

But with more than 98 oversscheduled for the last day, Australiaknow early wickets on Sunday couldleave them with time enough topress for a victory that would putthem 2-0 up in a five-match series.

England will now look to Ben

Stokes, dropped twice on his way to16 not out, and Jos Buttler (10 notout), to keep Australia at bay.

Smith’s 92 was the centrepiece ofAustralia’s 250 all out in reply toEngland’s first innings 258.

The star batsman had made 80when he was felled by a bouncerfrom fast bowler Jofra Archer, mak-ing his Test debut, timed at 92.4mph.

The ball struck him on the sideof the neck and head.

Smith, fell face forward onto theground. He was wearing a helmetwithout the additional neck protec-tion that was introduced followingthe death of Phillip Hughes after hisformer Australia team-mate was hitby a bouncer in a 2014 domesticSheffield Shield match in Sydney.

Smith, who had marked hiscomeback Test following a 12-monthball-tampering ban, with innings of144 and 142 in Australia’s 251-runwin in the ser ies opener atEdgbaston, received several minutesof on-field treatment involving bothteams’ medical staff.

He got to his feet but eventual-ly retired hurt, with Smith receivinga generous round of applause as hewalked back into the pavilion.

Archer had previously struckSmith, then on 70, on his unpro-tected forearm with another bounc-er in a fiery eight-over spell that cost31 runs.

And it was that injury, not theblow to the neck, which Australiasaid prevented Smith from fieldingat the start of England’s second

innings, with a team spokesmanadding later that hospital X-rays hadrevealed no fracture.

Earlier, Smith resumed hisinnings as soon as he could after abreak of 46 minutes when PeterSiddle’s exit left Australia 218-7.

From the second and third ballshe faced on his return, Smith hit twofours off paceman Chris Woakes.

But on 92, facing his ninth ball,Smith shouldered arms to a Woakesnip-back delivery and was plumblbw to leave Australia 234-8.

Smith reviewed almost as anafter-thought before replays con-firmed the end of a 161-ball inningsthat included 14 fours.

This series has seen the intro-duction of concussion protocolsdesigned to allow injured batsmento be replaced by a substitute — pre-viously restricted to fielding dutyalone.

SMITH ASSESSED ON PITCHBut the Australia spokesman

insisted Smith’s health had not beenput at undue risk by letting himresume his innings.

“He was assessed lying on thepitch at the instructions of team doc-tor Richard Saw.

“Dr Saw made the precautionarydecision to remove Steve from thefield of play to have him furtherassessed under Cricket Australia'shead impact protocol.

‘Steve then passed his assess-ments.”

Stuart Broad took 4-65 in 27.3overs and Woakes 3-61 in 19 whileArcher finished with figures of 2-59in 29.

England then suffered an all-toofamiliar collapse with World Cupwinner Jason Roy, caught andbowled by Cummins off a leadingedge.

Next ball, 9-1 became 9-2 withRoot caught behind by Australiacaptain and wicketkeeper Tim Paineoff a superb Cummins delivery.

Joe Denly survived the hat-trickbut was caught and bowled by PeterSiddle, with the paceman alsoremoving Rory Burns.

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Barcelona have an “agreement inprinciple” to send Philippe Coutinho

on loan to Bayern Munich, both clubsconfirmed on Friday.

Coutinho was left out of the squadfor Barca’s La Liga opener againstAthletic Bilbao, with club directorGuillermo Amor confirming theBrazilian is close to joining Bayern.

“We can confirm that there is anagreement in principle for the loan ofCoutinho to Bayern and we just have tofinalise the deal,” Amor told Movistar,ahead of the game at San Mames.

Bayern sporting director HasanSalihamidzic also confirmed the loandeal later on Friday.

“I can confirm that we were inBarcelona and have agreed terms withthe player and his agent,” Salihamidzictold broadcaster ZDF following Bayern’sown league opener.

“We have a good relationship withBarcelona. We are still missing a fewdetails such as the signature and themedical, but we are happy to have gota player like him.”

CUISANCE JOINSBorussia Moenchengladbach con-

firmed on Saturday that they had soldFrench midfielder Mickael Cuisance toBundesliga rivals Bayern Munich.

Bayern had announced on Fridayevening that Cuisance, 20, had under-gone a medical in Munich.

Kicker magazine reported thatBayern had paid around 10 millionEuros ($11.1m) to secure the services ofCuisance, who joinedMoenchengladbach from AS Nancy twoyears ago.

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Jadon Sancho helped BorussiaDortmund to a 5-1 win over

Augsburg in their first game ofthe new Bundesliga season onSaturday, scoring in the secondhalf to pick up his second goalof the new campaign.

England internationalSancho, who claimed his first ofthe term in Dortmund’sSupercup victory over BayernMunich two weeks ago,found the net just afterhalf-time as Dortmundran riot to go top of thetable.

Having thrownaway a nine-point lead andnarrowly missed out on the titlelast season, Dortmund hadpromised another attack onBayern’s hegemony in 2019/20.

They were given an earlyboost when the championsdropped two points againstHertha Berlin in Friday’s seasonopener, before romping to vic-tory in front of their own fanson Saturday.

Florian Niederlechner’sfirst-minute opener forAugsburg left Dortmundstunned, but it took the hosts allof two minutes to draw level, asPaco Alcacer gratefully pouncedon a mistake from Augsburgkeeper Tomas Koubek.

Koubek was at fault onceagain when Sancho putDortmund ahead after thebreak, flapping at a low crossbefore the Englishman smashedthe ball in at the far post.

The Czech keeper thencrowned a miserable Bundesligadebut as he dropped the ball atthe feet of Marco Reus to giftDortmund a third goal.

A curling long-range strikefrom Alcacer and a debut goalfor new signing Julian Brandtcompleted the rout forDortmund.

Elsewhere, FormerDortmund boss Peter Boszwatched his Bayer Leverkusenside stumble their way to a 3-2victory over promoted minnowsPaderborn.

Werder Bremen, widelytipped as dark horses in this

year’s race for Europe, gottheir season off to theworst possible start witha 3-1 home defeat toFortuna Duesseldorf.

A sweetly timed vol-ley from Maximilian Arnoldand a simple finish for WoutWeghorst saw Wolfsburg edgea 2-1 win over promoted sideCologne, while late goals fromLucas Hoeler, Jonathan Schmidand Luca Waldschmidtsnatched a 3-0 win for Freiburgover Mainz.

'LUCKY' HERTHAEarlier on Friday, a brace for

Robert Lewandowski was notenough to save Bayern Munichfrom making a spluttering startto the new Bundesliga season asthe reigning German champi-ons were held to a 2-2 draw athome to Hertha Berlin.

Lewandowski insisted thatvisitors Hertha had been“lucky” after he saved a pointfor Bayern with a second-halfpenalty.

Hertha, who finished 11thlast season, cancelled outLewandowski’s opener withtwo unusual goals to take a sur-prise lead in the first half andultimately deal an early blow toBayern's title defence.

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Zinedine Zidane promised changes butit was a retro Real Madrid that gave the

revolution a winning start on Saturday asGareth Bale led the way in a 3-1 victoryover Celta Vigo.

Bale was back in the team and back inform at Balaidos, with Zidane’s eagernessto move him out this summer still perhapsin his mind as he teed up Karim Benzema’sopening goal.

Celta saw a potential equaliserchalked off before half-time. ThenReal’s Luka Modric was sent off 11minutes inti the second half but astunning 30-yard shot from ToniKroos put Madrid firmly back incontrol.

By the time Lucas Vazquez added adelicious third, at the end of a silky pass-ing move, it was possible to wonderwhere this Madrid have been for the last12 months, particularly as this starting line-up included not a single summer signing.

Zidane wanted Paul Pogba but it wasCasemiro, Modric and Kroos in midfield,the same trio he picked for the ChampionsLeague final in 2018.

The coach also started Marcelo,arguably Madrid’s worst performerlast term, and Bale. Only last monthZidane had said it would be “bestfor everyone” if the Welshmanwere sold.

Eden Hazard, who injured histhigh in training on Friday, will certainlystart when he is fit again and there will bemuch tougher opponents than Celta, whofinished 17th last season and were deadand buried before Iker Losada delivered alate consolation.

But, after a poor pre-season, Zidaneneeded a positive opening. This one wasmade all the sweeter by Barcelona’s defeatby Athletic Bilbao on Friday night.

NIGHTMARE STARTIn the season’s opener on Friday,

Barcelona made a nightmare start to thedefence of their La Liga title by losingLuis Suarez to injury and then losing 1-0 to Athletic Bilbao, after a sensationallate volley from substitute Aritz Aduriz.

Suarez hobbled off in the 37th minutewith what looked like a calf injurybefore Aduriz came on in the 88th, the38-year-old striker who has announcedhe will retire at the end of the season.

This was a spectacular start to thefinale as Aduriz threw himself into theair and acrobatically volleyed past Marc-Andre ter Stegen to send San Mames wildon La Liga’s opening night.

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Manchester City were forcedto settle for a 2-2 drawagainst Tottenham after

the Premier League championswere denied a dramatic winner byVAR, while Liverpool extendedtheir perfect start to the title racewith a 2-1 win at Southampton onSaturday.

Pep Guardiola’s side failed towin for the first time in 16 PremierLeague matches dating back to lastseason following a controversial fin-ish at the Etihad Stadium.

City thought they had stolenthree points when Gabriel Jesusfired home in stoppage-time, buttheir celebrations were curtailedwhen a VAR review showedAymeric Laporte had flicked theball on with his arm.

The drama echoed Tottenham’sChampions League quarter-finalsecond leg triumph at City’sexpense last season when theywent through on away goals afterRaheem Sterling had a late goalruled out by VAR.

City were in front in the 20thminute when Kevin De Bruyne’ssublime cross was met by Sterlingat the far post and the City wingerheaded back across Hugo Lloris forhis fourth goal of the season.

But Tottenham hit back insidethree minutes as Erik Lamela beatslow-to-react City keeper Edersonfrom the edge of the area.

City’s lead was restored in the35th minute when Sergio Agueroglanced in a close-range finishfrom another pin-point De Bruynecross.

However, after less than 20 sec-onds on the pitch as a replacementfor Harry Winks, Brazilian forwardLucas Moura climbed higher thanKyle Walker to head Tottenhamlevel from Lamela’s corner.

Aguero exchanged angry wordswith Guardiola when he was sub-stituted for Jesus, who was evenmore frustrated than his team-mateas he protested to the officials at thefinal whistle.

At St Mary’s, Liverpool

matched a club record of 11successive Premier Leaguewins to move two pointsclear of City as they builton last week’s 4-1 thrashingof Norwich.

Jurgen Klopp’s sidetook the lead in first halfstoppage-time whenSenegal winger SadioMane, who scored twiceagainst Chelsea in the EuropeanSuper Cup victory in midweek,returned to haunt his former clubwith an agile turn and curling strikeinto the far corner.

Roberto Firmino made it twowith his 49th league goal forLiverpool, the Brazil forward tak-ing Mane’s pass, dribbling andthen firing home in the 71stminute.

Liverpool goalkeeper Adrianstarted despite suffering an ankleinjury when a fan slid into him dur-ing the celebrations against Chelsea

in Istanbul.But Adrian was

guilty of a mistake in the83rd minute when he hita panicked clearanceagainst Danny Ings, theball bouncing offSouthampton’s formerLiverpool striker into theempty net.

“I really loved howmuch respect we showed today,”Klopp said.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyangwas Arsenal’s match-winner againas they beat Burnley 2-1 at theEmirates Stadium.

Gabon forward Aubameyanghad netted the only goal in lastweekend’s victory at Newcastleand he emulated that crucial con-tribution with another decisivestrike.

Alexandre Lacazette’s first goalof the season had given Arsenal thelead before Ashley Barnes equalised

for Burnley just before half-time.With two successive wins to

start the season for the first time in10 years, the early signs are promis-ing for Unai Emery’s team aheadof sterner tests against Liverpooland Tottenham in their next twogames.

Teemu Pukki hit a hat-trick asNorwich clinched their first win ofthe season with a 3-1 victoryagainst Newcastle at Carrow Road.

Pukki struck in the 32nd, 63rdand 75th minutes to become thefirst Norwich player to score aPremier League treble since EfanEkoku in 1993.

Everton boss Marco Silvaenjoyed a 1-0 win against his for-mer club Watford at GoodisonPark.

Bournemouth condemnedAston Villa to a second consecu-tive defeat with a 2-1 victory,while Brighton drew 1-1 withWest Ham.

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The Indian women’s hockey teamstarted its campaign in the

Olympic test event with a resilient 2-1 victory over hosts Japan here onSaturday.

India took an early lead throughtheir penalty corner specialist, GurjitKaur, in the ninth minute, but the hostsequalised in the 16th minute as AkiMitsuhashi scored a field goal.

However, Gurjit stepped up againin the 35th minute to convert yetanother penalty corner, which turnedout to be the decisive goal in the match.

Both the teams, playing with 16players as per the Olympic Gamesguidelines, made swift and timelysubstitutions throughout the match,and it was in the 16th minute thatJapan’s substitution worked for them.

The 29-year-old Mitsuhashi com-bined well with her teammates beforedrawing parity.

The teams have played each otherfrequently in the past couple of years,which showed on the field as theyunderstood each other’s tactics well,and it meant that the teams went into

the half-time break level at 1-1.The third quarter saw India dom-

inate the initial few minutes, andwinning themselves another penaltycorner in the 35th minute. A momentof magic from Gurjit saw India regaintheir one-goal advantage as the 23-year-old smashed the ball into the backof the net.

The hosts tried to look for anoth-er equaliser in the remaining minutes,but could not convert their opportu-nities into goals.

After the Indian women’s hockeyteam registered a convincing 2-1 winover Japan in their opening match, themen’s hockey team also performed ina similar vein as they defeated Malaysia6-0 in their opening encounter at theOi Hockey Stadium.

Forwards Mandeep Singh (33’,46’) and Gursahibjit Singh (18’, 56’)scored a brace each for India, whileGurinder Singh (8’) and SV Sunil (60’)also registered their names on thescore-sheet.

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Barcelona striker LuisSuarez suffered a right

leg injury during his side’sdefeat at Athletic Bilbao inFriday’s La Liga opener, theSpanish champions haveconfirmed.

Suarez joins LionelMessi on the sidelines afterhobbling off in the 37thminute at San Mames, leav-

ing Barca without their twopremium strikers.

Messi sustained a calfinjury in training earlier thismonth and was not deemedready for the match.

Barcelona did not revealhow long Suarez would beout of action for, saying onSaturday he had a “right leg”injury and that his availabil-ity depended on his recov-ery.

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There is an adage— beauty liesin the eyes of the beholder.This saying can’t be more apt

when applied to art. To each his ownis what works here. What mayappear to be dull and dark and notworth even looking at, can be a pieceof art worth lakhs. Hence, it has beenseen that the young artists are. It justexperimenting with the mediumbut the concept of what art is allabout. It is no longer restricted tocanvas, wood or clay. Today, artistsdisplay a concept and sell that to theaudience who understands what thecreator wants to show.

The work on display at DhartiArts Residency Open Studio bySerendipity Arts Foundation in theCapital by artists Khursheed Ahmad,Dharmendra Prasad and FarahMulla are a case in point. In fact, 26-year-old Ahmad’s work is moreabout what he wants to say throughhis work rather than the art itself. Hetells you that his work is a reflectionof what is happening in the Valley.

“A piece that I have created — ashrine made from wood with win-dows — with a video where I ambanging the wall with my handswearing shoes is symbolic. A shrineis a place of peace and a place of wor-ship. People go there to soak in thepeaceful ambience. But then there isthis violent banging, a noise, that is

disturbing the tranquility in theshrine. One can draw a similar herewith what is happening in Kashmir.It is such a beautiful place, yet thereis violence everywhere,” Ahmadexplains who belongs to a perform-ing art community from Budgam.

He tells you that as a child heused to accompany his family to per-formance at a various events. “Webelong to the bhand community. Ourperforming style involves a tradition-al folk theatre of play and dance. SoI was inclined towards art. After fin-ishing my schooling from aGovernment school, I joined an artcollege in Srinagar. It was here thatI learnt how to fine tune my body artperformance. I was introduced topainting and photography. I learnthow one could use different strokesto tell the audience what we want toconvey. The idea is not to sell mywork but to introduce people to dif-ferent aspects of art. That doesn’tmean that I turn down work whenit comes to me. Sometimes peoplelike the photographs that I havetaken and want me to paint that ona canvas, other times, they want a bigposter size of the photograph; it alldepends,” Ahmad tells you.

Dharmendra Prasad, who isfrom Guwahati tells you that his artis what a farmer would perceive asart. “The piece that I have created is

what my life has been. I was born inBihar and lived there for 10 years andthen moved to Guwahati. I did myschooling there and pursued paint-ing from an art college. I thenmoved to Hyderabad but went backto Guwahati and visited many vil-lages. It was living in an urban cityand then in a rural area. This got methinking how I could use this intomy art. I wanted to use the knowl-edge that I had gathered and myinterest in ecology led to me createa work that showcased that aspect.I am working with farmers andartisans in different seasons. WhenI came to Delhi, that got me think-ing what I could create to show mybackground. I wanted to treat thespace I was given as a field. The pieceshows the agrarian side of Indiausing hydraulics, irrigation tech-nology and different kind of agricul-tural byproducts and mixing this

with my creative side,” the 32-year-old says who agrees that a piece likethis is not what people would be wil-ing to buy.

“The idea is not to sell art in theform that we are used to. My idea isto tell people that art is not just awestern concept and for people whowear suits. Art is for everyone, evena farmer. Nobody is going to buy arunning water system or cropresidue. But that doesn’t mean thatit has no value, it does for the peo-ple from rural India. But just like avideo can be sold, my work can alsofind buyers— not in it’s entirety butat least in part,” Prasad says whopassed out of an art college inHyderabad and since then he hasbeen trying to create a space for hiskind of work.

“I am based out of Guwahatiwhere there are no takers for mywork. So I make do by painting por-traits. The path that I have chosen istough but I want to repositionmyself. Life is not just about makingmoney. Art is everywhere. I want tobe in a place where I can bring all theknowledge that I have gained and putit on a single platform. For me art isnot just a painting on canvas. Art isnot restricted to any genre or medi-um,” Prasad explains.

Smriti Rajgarhia, Director,Serendipity Arts Foundation &Festival tells you that as an arts foun-dation, they are pleased to be able toprovide a platform for artists and tobe part of the process of creationwhile they explore their individualartistic practices and grow theirnetwork within the arts communi-ty.

Sunil Kant Munjal, FounderPatron, Serendipity Arts Foundation:“The Dharti Arts Residency allowsartists to create and collaborate with

peers, and to connect with the artistcommunity at large. 2019 marks ourthird edition, and we are proud to beable to support four artists again thisyear during the early stages of theircreation by offering them inspiration,space and time to focus solely onenriching their practice and build-ing their arts network.”

Farah Mulla, a sound artist anda curator, tells you that the herresearch is all about sound and it’seffects on humans; how acousticsoundscape helps us to navigate thesocial and public place and how itinfluences us. “Sound does not havematerial quality yet it speaks ofmateriality of objects.

That got me interested. I workwith cross model sensory perceptionwhere one sense can enhance theexperience other. I wanted to havethese little transfusions between dif-ferent mediums and started buildingdifferent insulations that are on dis-play like there is a piece that has beencreated to make sound by touch,”Mulla says and adds that art is a sen-sory perception that engages yoursenses and makes you interact.

“I am interacting in a differentmedium. My medium is sound andI find it interesting because it isimmaterial, it is reproducible, at thesame time recording is not a repro-duction. The morality of the medi-um interests me,” Mulla says whotravels constantly for work.

“There was a time whenthere were not many takers inIndia. There was a time whenmost of my work was outsideof the country. The goodthing is that things arechanging here. My workhas taken me to Baroda ordeep into the Himalayanmountains,” Mulla says.

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�You have been in the industry for almost two decades now.How do you think you have evolved as an artist?

It has not been an overnight thing. It takes time. Every dayis a learning process. At the end of the day, I analyse the mistakesand try not to repeat them. I learn by seeing myself. I am stillevolving. I try to improve and keep progressing.�How has your journey been? Were there more ups or moredowns?

The truth is that you have to hit the lows to go high. It is impor-tant for one’s progress. If you are already on that high, then thereis only downfall. I would rather like lows coming in my life sothat it can prepare me for the highs.�You have choreographed for people like Shah Rukh Khan andKareena Kapoor Khan. How is it like to work with them?

It is more of a giving process since I am choreographing them.While working with actors, you have to understand that this iswhat they are and you have to bring out the best in them. Theaudience doesn’t know if they can dance or not, it is up to mesee see how to present them. This is when our expertise comeinto work. It is also a challenge to figure out how to present a par-ticular actor, since everyone has their own strengths and weak-nesses, so that they come out as a better version of themselves.�Out of all the actors you have worked with, which one is yourfavourite?

Ranbir Kapoor is my favourite. I love working with him. Thereason being he has nothing to say. If I am giving him a step hejust does it without any ifs and buts. He just does everything thatis taught to him for the love of dance and for the love of what’shappening around him. He knows that he is with professionalswho will give him the right moves and what it takes to make thesong a hit.�What was the most challenging project for you?

The song Senorita in the movieZindagi Na Milegi Dobara was chal-

lenging. We had to be in Spainand had to complete the songin just 10 days. There was a lotof hard work that went into itand the appraisal was so welldone. It also got a National

Award for us.�What are some of the best

moment of your journey?I have enjoyed each and every

moment of my life. It is not a sin-gle memory that turns out to bebest for you but it is a collabo-rative effort of each and every-thing in your life. It will bewrong to term any particu-lar incident or memory asthe best one. But, yes one ofthe best moments can bethe year 2000 when mydebut film as a choreogra-pher — Mission Kashmir

released.�How do you define dance?

Dance is a way to release yourenergy. If you are happy you candance, if you are sad you candance. �What does success mean toyou?

Success is what you embed inyourself and what you derivefrom it. It is not as if you got a bigoffer and you become successful.Success for me is the little thingsthat makes me happy. If a childcomes and hugs me, it is asuccess.�How is the experience withDance India Dance?

I am thoroughly enjoyingit. There is a lot of fresh talent.Then, there is KareenaKapoor Khan as a judge thistime. It is a wonderful expe-rience.�What is your mindsetwhile judging a realityshow?

I try to give the best of myknowledge to the performer. I tryto give the best of my expertise tothe contestants so that they can

benefit from it. And, I hope that Ido it the right way.

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�What is your character in TheOffice about?

I play Riya Pahwa. She is the boss’boss. She sits in the Delhi head office.She has a lot of critical decisions to

make. She keeps telling JagdeepChadda (played by Mukul

Chadda), who is a branchmanager, that he has to lis-

ten to her advice other-wise the company willsuffer losses. Basically,time and again shemakes Chadda realisethat she is the boss.She is confident and asorted woman.�What made you say

yes?It is a character that

I haven’t played before. Inmy first film — Rocket Singh,

my role was set-up in an office

environment but it was of a reception-ist and here I play the boss. It is a dif-ferent role altogether. Moreover, it is aweb series and being aired on Hotstar.When the team of ApplauseEntertainment approached me for therole there was no reason to turn itdown.�What is that one thing that isattracting people towards remakes oradaptations of foreign shows?

When you see a movie and if youlike it, you want to see it’s sequels too.Same goes for this. If there is a goodadaptation people will watch it. TheOffice is an adaptation of a cult showwhich was an international format. It’snot as if it’s a scene to scene pick up.You have to make the required changes.Here comes the connectivity with theaudience. For example, it is an Indianadaptation so accordingly everythinghas been decided keeping in mind the

Indian audience — be it the charactersor the work environment. This makesit an interesting watch. A big show likethis deserves an Indian adaptation.�Is there a checklist that you followbefore signing projects?

First, the script should be good.Second, I look for the productionhouse. Third, good director is a must.Fouth, the platform on which it will beshown. For web series, the platform isdecided at a much later stage but thengood names should be associated witha project.�You have worked in films, TV andnow web. Where do you find yourselfmost comfortable working in?

I find myself most comfortable infront of the camera. Medium doesn’tmatter. I love playing different charac-ters. I am comfortable working in anymedium as long as I am performing. Ihave also done Zangoora, which was

Bollywood’s first musical. I have doneeverything and I hope I continue to addnewer mediums and genres in my list.�You have been a part of a lot of real-ity shows. Any plans to step into themainstream TV?

If I am offered a good lead char-acter, then yes. But, the role has to beappealing. I would love to do some-thing around love, drama andromance because I haven’t done thatyet.�How was the experience workingwith Vidya Balan in Begum Jaan?

There were so many lessons thatI took back home from her. More thanan amazing actor, she is an amazinghuman being. She takes care of peo-ple around her and is very muchaware of what’s happening around. Ilove her to bits. She is very profession-al, throws no tantrums and nevercauses any trouble to anyone just

because she is a big actor.�A lesson learnt in the industry.

You don’t need to be affiliated tosome big name from the industry toearn fame. Your hard work earns youwork. Doing good work brings moregood work in your way.�Good, bad and ugly of trolling.

Trolling is only bad and ugly,there is no good. The only good can bethat it teaches you how to ignore peo-ple who want to bring you down.�How has your journey been thusfar?

I only see my journey as a glass halffull. I don’t care about the time whenthings didn’t turn out well. I am a veryoptimistic person.�What are your upcoming projects?

There are two web series in thepipeline. I don’t want to talk more aboutit but I have completed shooting for oneand have signed the other.

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Nothing like some hotmasala chai and pakorason a rainy day, more so

if you are meeting up friends ata tony coffee shop in town.Keeping this clientele in mindthis monsoon, the Claridges’signature coffee shopPickwick’s has laid out a breakfrom the usual fare to suit theseason.

As rain drops keep fallingon your head chef Vikas Ranaregales you with cuisine talesfrom the four corners that themonsoon fare spreads out on.

Be it the onion bhaji andvada pav from Mumbai’s streetsor the Irani samosa andOsmania biscuit fromHyderabad or, for that matter,

the good old Dilli ki chhalli withmixed veg pakoras, the fare is lipsmacking for a lazy evening out.

Light, authentic and fulfill-ing for the rainy season the chefhas worked well on the tastebuds of simpletons who some-times want the real ghar ka stuffaway from home.

The spicy onion bhaji isboth in spirit and taste true tothe kiosks that line Colaba to fillyour tummy with tasty treats.The highlight of the monsoonfeast is The Claridges’ specialchai. The extravaganza bringswith it the familiar tastes of atypical rainy day. To top it, thewafting aroma speaks of thefinest quality of tea leaves whichare meant to more than mere-ly quench your thirst for somehot stuff on an overcast and wetday.

The sips and the treatsenhance your afternoon con-

versations with thevery special cuttingchai paired withsavoury snacks.

The corn on thecob is hot, well-roastedon coal fire, spiced upwith nimbu and salt andserved with elan. Thejuicy almost sweet andsoft corn sitting on thecob melts in yourmouth, as does the weebit crunchier parappuvada from downSouth.

All the regionspropel the locallyloved version of teaand so the SouthIndian stuff comeswith filter coffee as tea is analien brew in much of theDeccan. Take time out, it rarelygets so seasonal in five-starjoints, that too with taste intact!

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Known for her role in Begum Jaan, Khan haswon hearts through her acting and bold

nature. She speaks with Musba Hashmiabout her latest

projects and journey. In order toget fame, one needs to

work hard,

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Fantasies brim right through us whenone talks of thrilling games. Therush of adrenaline drives us tobelieve in the virtual world andoffers a much-needed break to de-

stress ourselves. Fantasy sports has been pop-ular amongst the Indian audience for quite awhile now. The popular platforms such asFanMojo, MPL, Dream11 amongst others arecapturing the imagination of people acrossthe urban and rural belt of our country, withmales below 30 years age bracket forming thecore of the player base.

Surveys reveal that up to 85 per cent ofthe users from significant cities play fantasysports one to three times a week. Predictably,cricket remains the front runner in India with90 per cent of the users playing a fantasy ver-sion of the sport, followed by 45 per centplaying kabaddi and another 30 per cent onfootball.

��Indian fantasy sports platforms have over 80million registered users and are expected tohit 100 million by the end of 2020. The num-ber of fantasy sports platforms has alsogrown from 10 to over 70 in the last two tothree years. The advent and rising popularityof sports premier leagues in the field of crick-et, kabaddi, football, hockey, table tennis, etc.has not only increased the popularity ofsports but also has given fantasy sports play-ers more chances to engage with their cus-tomer base.

Various fantasy game platforms havehosted plenty number of games in the pastfew years across multiple sports categories.Indian Federation of Sports Gaming (IFSG) isa self-regulating body for Indian fantasysports providers who help regulate the playersin the industry. Daily fantasy sports is a vastand well-regulated market in more prominentcountries and continents like the USA andEurope.

With the introduction of IPL in the coun-try, the fantasy gaming industry also wit-nessed a boom in the sector. Along with theICC World Cup stepping in right after theIPL, the statistics have hitched exponentiallyfor fantasy sports. Guests selecting their ownplayers, based upon the current match sce-nario seemed to intrigue the audience andhence a significant contributing factor inmaking the concept a success.

Acknowledging the advancement in thegame sector, one can witness the continualgrowth of overall sports as well. The sportsthat were less prominent earlier caught fameand recognition after the concept of fantasysports was brought into the light. Forinstance, women teams in sports were usuallynot given much attention or credit; however,after the debut of fantasy gaming, peoplestarted getting aware of various games as wellas players, irrespective of the gender or howprevalent the sport was formerly consideredin the society.

��A fantasy sports venture allows its users tohandpick their players, use their skill to playgames, compete and win prize money. Mostplatforms cover popular sports in India —cricket, kabaddi and football. To get going,users have to select a match they wish to par-ticipate in and then make a team of theirchoice by selecting 11 players playing thegame. As the live game progresses, playersfrom the team are awarded points, and userteam with the highest points wins the respec-tive cash prize assigned against the match.Users can participate with entry fees as smallas �27 and increase their stake to as high as�5000 per game.

The platform is generally focused on thesimplicity of the user experience while play-ing a game and has many built-in features tosupport the quick creation of the user team.To ease the addition of money, the platformsoffer leading payment options from netbanking, UPI, wallets, credit and debitcard. Like any other fantasy sportsplayer, the platform makes money inthe form of commissionearned on the capitalinvested in the game,so more the invest-ment, higher is thecommission rev-enue earned.

For thoselooking to crackthe game, each platform indicatescertain patterns than a gamer learnsto master and use to his advantageover time. For instance, one impor-tant tip that most of FanMojo usersfollow is making the team once tossfor the match is done and the

playing 11 from both the sides is declared.FanMojo shares a list on its platform as towhich players are playing for them (the users)to make a more informed choice while build-ing a team.

��Since this form of sport is a fairly new phe-nomenon, there exist misconceptions aboutthe gaming concepts — one of them beingthat fantasy gaming is fancy betting. But is itreally? Is it betting and is there any definedterm of the bet being “too much”? Well, fan-tasy gaming is primarily a game of skill,which allows users to apply their knowledgeof the game, players, teams, weather condi-tions, to judge and pick their best playing 11players while making the team. This skillallows a more informed player to win moreoften than not moving the fantasy sportstowards a game of skill and not a game ofchance where users despite their experienceand knowledge will have equal chances ofwinning.

Betting, on the other hand, is done on thegame of chance only — how many runs in anover will a batsman score, how many wicketswill go in this over... This is just pure guess-work, and users with limited knowledge canguess correctly as well. The bids placed infantasy sports are reasonable and reassuringlylegal. The players are picked based upon theirvalues, where the international bids hikecomparatively higher than the bids fornational ones. However, the game makes it

a point to prove itself as a sport and notan immeasurable, untamed and illegalbet.

Besides providingentertainment, fantasyleagues over time haveenabled players to par-ticipate in the game,where they can makeactive decisions.With the advent offantasy sports, non-

cricket sports now get the opportuni-ty to grow in prevalence and driveengagement for their teams. Amongall the emerging games, kabaddi hasgained significant traction over thepast couple of years as these sports

are associated with fantasy league

platforms, which further engages the audi-ence and maintains a grip on them.

�� Fantasy industry as a whole faces a lot ofchallenges in terms of setting clear regula-tions and support system for the industry.The industry is a part of IFSG — which is afederation for fantasy sports players in India.IFSG is helping the industry set up regula-tions to be followed as a standard practice.

As smooth as the process sounds, it isn’treally a cakewalk. The challenges associatedwith fantasy gaming include variousprospects, one of which being dealing withthe Tech Bots. The Tech Bots represent theadvancement in technology and aid theindustry to experiment, innovate and createbetter applications. However, when onedevelops fantasy gaming portals, the TechBots take their time to learn the game and thein-built strategies etc. It takes ArtificialIntelligence quite a significant deal of mentalaptitude and development to imbibe theaspects of fantasy gaming and its entireprocess.

Another challenge standing in the way ofsuccess for fantasy game development seemsto be the extensive data and information ofthe players involved in the fantasy game. Dataintegration and filtration have to be dealtwith carefully before the fantasy sport goeslive or hits a success mark in the industry.These struggles have to be taken care of tomaintain the CAC (customer acquisition) toLTV (lifetime value) ratio. Fantasy sports cat-egory allows less room for innovation in thebasic product structure due to legal restric-tions of the industry. Therefore the fantasysports platforms are presenting new endeav-ours with every passing day to smoothen theprocess for end users, ensuring their comfort.

Fantasy sports remain a highly regulatedbody, which is changing the entire game of thesports sector. It is growing into a big industrywith online gaming revenue expected to be�11,900 cr by 2023, further targeting 10 mil-lion users by the end of this financial year.Opening the doors to various possibilities, fan-tasy gaming is taking the market by storm.

— The author is an industry insider andco-founder, U2opia Global

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Justice delayed is justice denied, goes the popular say-ing. But the question is why is justice delayed? As theChief Justice of India expresses concern that over the

1,000 cases that are pending for 50 years in courts acrossthe country and over two lakh for 25 years, it certainlyneeds to be figured why. Statistics are rather mindboggling.There are over 90 lakh civil cases and 2.1 crore criminalcases that are waiting justice in India. Details, if sought mayprove to be revealing, because as per the Chief Justice, thetotal pendency in criminal cases at the summoning stageis more than one crore. The responsibility for summon-ing lies solely with the executive. That there is “a growingtrend of belligerent and reckless behaviour on the part ofsome individuals and groups” in the society, is the unfor-tunate side of this story. There is a need to think serious-ly about what is to be done. The public faith and confi-dence in the institution is still intact, as evident from thepromptness with which people seek legal recourse whenthey are dissatisfied with the executive action. What is wor-rying is that executive intransigence and callousness cou-pled with delay in judicial redressal may someday leavepeople in a state of hopelessness. That certainly would bea severe blow to a democratic state. It is the balance ofpower between the executive, legislature and judiciary andan independent fourth state that keeps a democracy tick-ing. And with judiciary being the final arbiter, the popu-lace has a belief that in the end truth does prevail. Lately,there have been disturbing portends as attempts to discred-it institutions on which public faith rests are on the rise.How do we face this challenge? Some of the suggestionsmade by the Chief Justice himself would certainly help.But there is a need to do more. There are certain weak-nesses in the legal system that must be addressed. It mustbe realised that the executive ego is a major reason for cre-ating litigious people. If the executive decisions are rea-son driven rather than ego driven, things would be muchsmoother. To curb such tendencies on the part of the exec-utive, the law of Torts needs to be strengthened. It is iron-ical that the executive fights the public with public fund,whereas the public is forced to pay from their hard earnedmoney. If the executive is made to understand that in casetheir actions do not stand the scrutiny of law, they maybe made liable for the costs that have been incurred onthe part of the system and the victim, who is litigant. Whenthe point of law gets adjudicated, there is hardly any needto drag the matter further. Maximum number of penden-cy in the civil matters are due to this tendency to drag anddelay matters. From one court to another, from single benchto double bench to a larger bench and so on. Yes, it is alegal right to seek such redressals. Only, if the executiveis found deliberately delaying the matter, the order as tocosts in case of the litigant getting matter adjudicated inhis or her favour must be given and liability must be fixed.Feeding personal ego at public cost is just not fair.

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It is a known fact that faith heals.Even scientists accept that faithdoes wonders. Whenever they can-

not explain how a patient suffering froma serious disease got cured, they givecredit to faith. Yes, faith is a reality inour lives and it does much more thanheal. I am a beneficiary of faith as itstrengthened in me over the years.

Faith gave me hope. The feelings ofhelplessness and sadness slowly left me.I am sure everyone has experiencedsuch a feeling when something goodhappened to them, even if momentar-ily. This could be due to some materi-al gain. Faith does much more; it givesa lasting feeling. Hope generated due tomaterial gains is lost as easily as it comeswhen there is some setback. Faith is notthat fickle; it makes one mentally sta-ble over a period of time. Because faithis reinforced with each new realisation/experience.

Earlier, I used to get depressedwhen some sickness struck me or mynear and dear one. Now I pray to Godfor guidance and help. And guidanceand help arrives. No longer is there adark feeling of something sinister wait-ing to happen. I am engaged in positiveacts with hope that things will work out.When I compare my present attitude towhen I was not so faithful, I amamazed by the change. Now, God — theomniscient is in the picture. Not onlydoes God give the right intuitions butHe helps also by arranging help, whicharrives mysteriously. No longer can Itreat it as mere coincidence, because thatcannot happen every time.

Painful mood swings ail a modernman, who expects quick solutions.One is given to extreme emotions. Andit hurts. It is no wonder that LordKrishna has spoken about equanimityso extensively in the Geeta. God wantsus to develop this quality, and it can be

done with the help of faith in a very last-ing manner. Gone will be the days ofextreme emotions or severe ups anddowns in the mood. Certainly, therewould be changes in the mood becausewe are human, but such variationswould be small and tolerable. Peace willcome gradually. And this peace can notcome without God consciousness. Howcan we be assured of our future unlessGod is involved? Can we ensure ourfuture happenings? No we cannot; weare too small to do that. Faith will help.

This is not all; faith propels ustowards goodness. This is natural.Those linked with God are dominatedby the mode of goodness. Faith helpsthem to overcome the two lower modesof passion and darkness. Remember,these three modes are always vying withone another for supremacy inside us.Under the influence of the mode ofgoodness one is attracted to acts ingoodness like eating foods in goodness,seeing what is good like natural scenery,hearing what is beneficial, etc. Similarly,

one will be naturally inclined to followdharma; faith has that power. Not onlythat, one will be dutiful because dhar-ma and dutifulness go together. One willbe mindful of what his or her duties are.One will have duties uppermost in hisor her mind while deciding on choiceof activities. Such following of dharmaand being dutiful brings enormousrewards in one’s life.

Faith makes one feel fortunate.Gone will be the days when one felt thathe or she was not so lucky. God gets intothe act and things begin to pan out dif-ferently. Faith helps secrete the rightchemicals in our brains. After all, ourmoods are mostly controlled by thechemicals that we are producing in our-selves. I can go on because the advan-tages which accrue to a faithful personare endless. We just need to get startedon the spiritual journey. No one canthen detract us from that path.

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Shri Krishna has played a sig-nificant role as the builder ofIndian nation, along with hisother roles — as an emotion-al guide and spiritual preach-

er (vide Gita) — the threefold char-acteristics that are upheld as traits ofthe great men of world history.

In this role, he excels the othergreat men of history because of hispower to influence the thoughtprocess and lives of the Indians — apower he continues to wield eventoday and perhaps in the ages to come.The sole reason behind this is that heinspires the various aspects of life foran individual. As goes the saying: “InKrishna breathes the soul of India.” Itis he who represents the heart and soulof the Indians, as he encompasses themultifarious phases of Indian histo-ry and culture.

It would be no exaggeration to saythat he is a cherished leader of Indiannation, one who shaped its destiny.For, he was the chief of Yadavas; thegreat hero of Mahabharata war; thegod incarnated teacher of Arjuna. As

many great men of the world history,he is assigned with large number ofvictories in battles. It is said that therewas no limit to his strength, powerand energy.

Born in the pastoral Yadava clan,he started very young when he dis-played his great youthful energythrough his various adventures,including slaying deadly enemies(like Kansa and his associates, who arereferred to as demons); Putana andothers, who were sent to kill him andhis people. The role he played atVrindavana and Mathura as well as atDwarka only establishes his influenceover people.

By killing his maternal uncle,Kansa, he brought peace not only tohis clan, the Yadavas, but also the peo-ple of the surrounding regions suchas Gokula, Vraja and Vrindavana.Further, by defeating Jarasamdhawhen he attacked Mathura alongwith his ally Kalayavan, a Greek king,he succeeded in restoring peace in thearea. He followed this by shifting hispeople from Mathura to a new king-

dom of Dwarka which he had estab-lished in far off place in the sea.According to Krishna saga, Indiaduring his times, was divided intosmall kingdoms and their rulers andkings often aligned with one oragainst someone. Such conditionsprovided Krishna with the ampleopportunity to exert himself as aNation-builder by proving his supe-riority by siding with the worthyneighbouring kings.

It is also said that during Krishna’stimes, the Aryans had entered his ter-ritory near Yamuna-valley. He madepeace with them and later, at Dwarkaby encouraging Arjuna to abductSubhadra, Krishna cunningly forgedan alliance between the two mightyclans of the era — the Yadavas and thePandavas.

This move ultimately proved ben-eficial for the country that emerged asone strong nation under the rule of thePandavas. As a preacher of Gita,Krishna further played the role of anunrefuted leader as he not onlyaddressed the despondency of Arjuna,

urging him to discharge his duty as aKshatriya king, but also becameinstrumental in the Pandavas winningthe battle of Mahabharata.

This restored peace in majorparts of India under the rule ofYudhishthira at Hastinapore. Krishnathen went on to build his own king-dom of Dwarka as safe and free fromthe opponents. Dwarka nagri, estab-lished by Krishna, was said to be sur-rounded by sea on all sides. Its loca-tion proved almost insurmountable tothe enemy kings, with whom he hadto fight. These kings included Bana,Shalva, Naraka, who were said to bethe rulers of Shontipura, Kashi andAssam, respectively.

Further, by overpowering thesehostile kings, he spread peace inthose regions and also brought themin alliance either with the Yadavas orthe Pandavas. For instance, by killingBana and Naraka who were rulers ofthe far-off regions, he succeeded win-ning over large number of kings andprinces to his side whose daughters orsisters numbering sixteen thousandone hundred had been kidnapped andheld captive by the evil king, Naraka.

Among his several feats, whichprovide evidence to his strong Nation-building trait, one is the importationof the heavenly plant called Parijatfrom king Indra’s kingdom (whichsounds like some foreign land) toDwarka. The second refers to a pecu-liar type of dance mixed with watersports which was enunciated byKrishna at Dwarka for the recreationof his people. He had accomplishedthe feat with the help of divinewomen known as Apasaras (whichagain sounds like artistes from a for-eign land). And finally, his role in thefamous Syamantak-Gem episodewherein he succeeded in setting rightthe vile conspiracy prevailing in hisown people for the possession of theprecious gem.

Finally, recapitulating Krishna’srole as nation-builder, let us recountthat he has discharged this rolethroughout his life within his all lee-las at Vrindavana. Mathura-Dwarkawhereby at each step, he ushered in anew era with a new scenario. Thekilling of Kamsa and his associates torestore peace at Mathura and in theregion. Next, his encounters atDwarka and at Hastinapore during theMahabharata war, too reveal hismany-sided involvement for thepreservation of the countrymen bydestroying all those who stood againsthis mission. All his feats establish himas a wise man, a sharp statesman andgood administrator — all qualities ofa true leader.

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If numbers are to be believed, almost 3billion people in the world today have theaccess of internet and more than 2 billion

people use Facebook alone. The rise of digi-tal world has helped people to instantly con-nect with any person in the world and youcan access all types of information fromacross the world using Google and watch thelessons on virtually any topic from theexperts by tuning on to their YouTubeChannel. There is no need today to stand inqueue to buy tickets, pay your bills, or trans-fer money as you can do everything onlineby a click of button on your mobile phone.

We have become so used to, ratheraddicted to, social media that the first thingwe do when we get up in the morning is tocheck the messages or notification on ourmobile phone. We are more concernedtoday about the Facebook likes and com-ments on our posts by our virtual friendsthan being liked by our friends, parents, sib-lings or children.

However, despite the digitisation of the

world, this generation seems to be less hap-pier, satisfied or social than the previousones. The internet may have made thingseasier in terms of access but hasn’t necessari-ly created better relationships.

The digital world comes with its own setof problems and we still don’t know how tohandle it. No sooner you post your views onthe social media platform, particularly onpolitical or religious matters, you are trolledruthlessly. You can be branded anti-nationalfor just having a difference of opinion.Young people are unable to focus on theirstudies because of the constant beep of thenotifications on their mobile phones.Billions of people are wasting hours in thevirtual world, rather than focussing on thereal. The personal life of billions of people isnow open to the world and privacy is virtu-ally dead.

It is, however, futile to blame the digitalworld alone for our unhappiness. The inter-net, social media, or mobile phones are justtools and we carry the responsibility of using

them to make our life better. We can indeedmake their best use and achieve happiness inthe modern digital world, if only we followsome steps.

For one, we must learn to have controlover the digital media rather than allowing itto control us. It is important to manage timeintelligently in the digital world. The firststep thus is to turn off the notifications fromyour apps so that they stop disturbing you.You can see them when you are free or youwish to divert your mind.

It is better to avoid posting your opin-ions on controversial issues like politics, reli-gion, reservation which almost always invitecounter-opinions and hate mails. You mustavoid displaying your personal life and affec-tion to your loved ones on social platform.What is sacred must be kept secret to main-tain its sanctity.

One must be careful while makingfriends on social media platforms. It is betterto carefully go through the profile beforeaccepting a friend request. If you don’t agreewith someone’s views, it is better to unfriendthem rather than bearing their hate mes-sages on your feed. You must also not hesi-tate to block and report the hate mongers,professional trollers and IT cell members, ifthey try to harass you.

We must avoid learning from theFacebook and WhatsApp University wheremost news and information is either fake orunreliable. It is better to always check theveracity of the claim before trusting it. Youmust also avoid spreading fake news andhate messages by sharing or forwarding thesame. Digital world and social media isthere to stay. It is better to accept them asconveniences and use them intelligently tomake our life happier. We must never losetouch with the real world and real peoplebecause the virtual world can never substi-tute the living.

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Hong Kong is no more an“Economic City” for

mainland China. It’s turneditself into a massive politicalhotbed. Protest is not ebbingaway. The city has entered intothe third month of demon-strations. Gradually, the pro-testers are making the city atheatre of all political activities.Starting from the resignation ofcity chief Carrie Lam, they havestarted demanding full auton-omy from the centralGovernment in Beijing, anindependent commission toinvestigate police brutality, andwider political reforms to allowfor direct elections to elect therepresentatives of theLegislative Council. The waythe demonstrations are carriedout and the black-clad van-guards are handling the currentsituation, it seems it would notbring an end to the crisis soon-er or later. Are they invitinganother “Tiananmen Square”type crackdown that struckChina way back in June 1989.Will the communist bosses inBeijing allow them the kind ofautonomy the Hong Kongersare demanding? How long thecrisis in the island will contin-ue? For many in internationalpolitics, these are baffling ques-tions that might take away theexisting liberal atmosphere andpolitical freedom available tothe islanders forever if theChinese Government directlycomes in confrontation withthe protesters.

This summer, Hong Konghas witnessed the worst polit-ical turmoil ever since the ter-ritory’s handover to China inJuly 1997. The current bout ofprotests stated with a demandfor withdrawing the contro-versial extradition law pro-posed by the city Government.And eventually, that Bill wasdropped by the LegislativeCouncil for an indefinite peri-od, as Lam clarified.

There is another question:is Hong Kong still crucial forChina? Experts say that ifChina behaves more in Mao-era style, it might have todepend on the island more incommercial terms than politi-cal perspective. As China has

not brought financial and legalreforms demanded by the glob-al business enterprises, it wouldhave been possible for theCommunist Party leadership tomake Hong Kong graduallyirrelevant for long-term busi-ness transactions. But whathas happened is that China,particularly under Xi Jinping,has grown beyond the tradi-tional Communist closet.China has reached out toalmost all destinations of theglobe. China has grown fastand entered into the glob-alised world at ease, but it hasnot opened up as it was expect-ed in the West.

This has made the econo-

my of Hong Kong criticallyimportant for mainland China.The most important aspect ofits economy is that it has beensuccessful in registering a sta-tus within a body of interna-tional laws and rules aroundthe world. This has made HongKong possible to provide itseamless access to the privi-leged western markets. Thisstatus has many aspects: ahigher credit rating, low riskweights for banks, and counterparty exposures, the ability toclear dollars at ease, indepen-dent membership of the WorldTrade Organisation (WTO),equivalent status of its stockexchange in the US, Europe

and Japan, recognised as adeveloped stock market byglobal index firms and coop-eration agreements with anumber of top security regu-lators. Besides, most of the for-eign direct investment (FDI)mainly flows through HongKong. The stock domiciled inthe island territory has nearlydoubled in the last decade upto $2 trillion. Despite theislanders developing suspiciousattitude towards mainlandChina, the territory’s share oftotal FDI flowing into the lat-ter, has remained stable at 60per cent. This is very striking.It must be admitted that Chinahas become an international

growth machine. TheGovernment has turned thecountry and its massive humanresources into a hub of foreigninvestment opportunities.Needless to say that this hasresulted into a situation wherethe movement of the FDI flow-ing into the country hasincreased at an alarming rate.But the reality is that most ofthe global investors alwaysprefer to have a legal stampfrom Hong Kong. This isbecause of China’s direct refusalto carry out major reforms asdemanded by a global marketeconomy.

Besides being an Asianfinancial hub, Hong Kong hosts

major regional headquarters ofthe giant multi-national cor-porations. And ironically, evenafter the withdrawal of Britishsuzerainty over the island sinceJuly 1997, such offices haveincreased by two-thirds to1,500. But the American tech-no giants such as the Amazon,Google and Facebook havesettled their offices inSingapore. With the protestsraging to a record high level,there has been constant fearsthat many of such regionaloffices might move toSingapore in the near future.

A direct military interven-tion by China is quite unlike-ly for now. It seems, the Xi

administration is solely bank-ing on the leadership of Lamand Hong Kong Police forsending the protesters backhome. By all possibilities, Lamadministration is hoping thatthe protesters will lose steamsoon. Even the security expertsfeel that very fast popular sup-port would be dwindling forthem. Initially, parents weremarching with their children.But then now mostly youngones are on the road and theirparents are highly concernedabout the growing violencethat is fast engulfing the entiremovement. Many of the par-ents are not giving pocketmoney to their wards so thatthey have to head home soon.Another expectation is thatwith the beginning of the newacademic session from earlySeptember, the college anduniversity students have to goback to their classrooms.

Currently, China andAmerica are locked in a tradewar. Thus Trump is cheeringthe protesters in Hong Kongand is also saying that Chinesetroops are moving towards theborder with the island. In fact,China knows very well thatTrump has a formidableweapon to use in the form ofHong Kong Policy Act 1992that recognises Hong Kong asa separate legal and economicentity from China. It alsomakes Hong Kong an openeconomy by all standards. Thismight stop China from inter-vening in the territory direct-ly in the form of a militaryattack. This will eventuallybreach the above act.

But the bottom line is thatcontinued protest will block allthe avenues for a peacefuladvocacy of resolving theconundrum for now and infuture as well. Hope the pro-testers listen to the writings onthe wall. Else Hong Kong willsoon be turning into a boilingpoint of Asia. This will providemore ammunition to theChinese army to intervene justto maintain the law and ordersituation in its own territory.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

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/��)� �-��The severity of the water cri-

sis in India can be gaugedfrom the fact that it was one ofthe most important issues thathogged Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s speech fromthe ramparts of Red Fort on the73d Independence Day.Acknowledging that nearly halfof India has no access topotable water, the PM termedthe crisis as a serious deterrentin the country’s efforts to com-bat poverty, and announced anoutlay of �3.5 lakh crore for JalJeevan Mission to providewater to every household.

The moot point is how thecrisis can be overcome in a“good governance” era for a“New India”. Rather than echo-ing the conundrum and allow-ing panic to cripple our think-ing, let us answer three mootquestions concerning the ter-rible water crisis.

Firstly, that ubiquitousquery: Is the water-situationindeed bad? Is it too late, or isthere still hope for correctionand redemption?

I would say it is a crucialissue and most policy-makersand water resources manage-ment departments know thatwe are late. A lot of time haselapsed without thought orremedial steps since 1971. Yet,being a positivist and privy toground-breaking technologiesthat can reshape state of thenation, I can say there remainshope for redemption of the pre-carious situation.

To help address the groundrealities which remain invisibleto most of political leadersand bureaucrats, we need to layresponsibility and bring out

strong legislation to end mind-less destruction of water bod-ies.

India is blessed with aunique geographical location:river bodies fuel the northernhalf and sea coast bordersfrom below middle-zone States.There ought to be a law whichenforces the supply of waterfrom rivers and the seas viapipeline. Closed pipelines arethe answer to stop wastage ofalmost 80 per cent of waterfrom conservative-forms asmud-based old dams.Authorities should levy heavyfines on violators, but whistle-blowers of water-theft casesmust be honoured. Thoseopposing the national policy tolink rivers and sea desalinatedwater-supply system via robustpipeline technology should beprosecuted under the “essentialservices” or “treason law”.

Next, the Governmentshould bring into vogue a“water-credits” system basedon a ‘reverse water-meter read-ing” system wherein all waterused is supplied back to a cen-tral processing plant by users.

There would no longer beexodus of villagers to the citieswhich have turned into urbanmeshes of imprisonment, withinadequate amenities and areincommensurate to a growingpopulation. Village panchayatscan soon transform into sup-pliers of water for irrigationneeds of the farmers. Eachand every drop can be utilisedproperly as the Israelis do.

India possesses new tech-nological methods to generateelectricity beyond the much-publicised solar-wind-hybrid

types. These innovativemethodologies should be har-nessed to end menace offarmer-deaths, unemployment,and water scarcity. While onthis subject, a most advancedState like Maharashtra, whichhas 36 revenue districts, has 18districts notified as water-starved area. Why? A majorcause is the irrational cultiva-tion of sugarcane as a cropbypassing others which wouldnot require as high an amountof water as sugarcane.

Vested political interests

and corruption rampant indepartment of irrigation andwater-boards are villains ofthe present disaster. Drip irri-gation was rendered ineffectiveby few private players, in con-nivance with wicked officials.Lack of accountability on partof lineage of babulog com-pounds the issue of good gov-ernance. Desalination plantsshould be set up along the twocoastlines and water suppliedthrough pipelines. Pipelinesmust be declared to be nation-al property and anybody tin-

kering with these must bedeclared a “traitor” and fast-track courts bring them tojustice with a minimum of lifeimprisonment, as a deterrentpunishment. Having said this,one would still insist uponnewer technologies with far-reaching ramifications andpath-breaking results as the keyto unlocking the “dry” patch ofa State which can only mum-ble — “water, water every-where, but not a drop to drink”!

The Government of Indiaought to welcome, appreciate

and embrace innovative solu-tions to tackle the water crisis.One foresees “New India” withPrime Minister Narendra Modigiving the clarion call for watermanagement. People mustmake it a national movement.I had started the “RashtriyaSampati Bachao Andolan” withthe primary focus on water,since no new reservoirs ordams have been constructed inthe past few decades.

Water is a natural resourceas well as a national treasure.Lawmakers should undertake

padayatras throughout the con-stituencies to convince themasses about the need to linkIndia via pipelines supplyingwater of the Brahmaputra andthe Ganga down south toRameswaram or from Konkanor Konaseema sea coasts tointerior districts of Bheed,Kalahandi or Ahmednagar, etc.

India can afford to consti-tute committees for delegatingpowers but the nation cannotafford to rest on committees toexamine land-acquisition relat-ed knotty tussles for linking therivers and seas to its almost150-billion strong populations.Let there be no more evapora-tion of water or funds allocat-ed for water supply.

Let every citizen be brand-ed as the “custodian of water”.This awareness campaignshould ideally begin at prima-ry school level and permeatehigher echelons of society.

Some innovative ideas likelocal bodies offering an exemp-tion, say 5 per cent, on prop-erty tax for the “reverse-watersupply metering system”should be adopted. Eventually,we all win. Our future genera-tions win. Humanity can besaved from the brink of exter-mination. In the ultimateanalysis however, the willing-ness of the people and moral-ity of our society as a whole willdetermine the shape of a landblessed with many major rivers,minor tributaries and a longcoastal belt. It is high timewater became the next impor-tant topic of public discourse.

(The writer is an eminentjurist and policy-planning expert)

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The other day an old man worriedabout his bullish grandson cameasking: “What is in store of his

destiny? He is 9 years old. Has no inter-est in studies. He doesn’t listen to hiselders. No amount of reprimand or evenbeating has any effect on him. He hasbecome defiant. When his parents showdispleasure towards his unseemly con-duct, he himself picks up a stick andhands over to his father and says: ‘Youwant to beat me, please do.’ We tried toput him in boarding, but he refused togo. We are at a loss how to reform him.Please suggest some remedial measurethat may help bring him around.”

At the outset, let me assure you thatif handled with prudence and patience,this boy will change with time. Hisastrological chart suggests as much thepossibility of change towards better as itreflects his present undesirable behav-iour. But remember, he doesn’t seem tobe the type who would respond to com-mandments. If things are forced uponhim, he will become a habitual defiant,which is already in evidence. So, thefirst thing that needs to be immediatelydone is to stop coercive practice —beating him or shouting at him. Instead,

engage with him with a sense of love.Over a period of time, as he realises thatcoercive methods have become a matterof past, he will begin to respond.

Remember, every child is bornunique, displaying varying mind traits.Try to figure out the trends of his mindand psyche, and accordingly innovateways and means to deal with him. Inthis context, I recall a story shared bysomeone as to how he and his youngersibling were handled differently by theirgrandfather. Their grandfather, ateacher by profession, took them underhis charge when he found them wantingin studies. He enforced strict disciplineon them. Later, the old man realisedthat his method was not working on theelder one. So, apparently in a state ofdesperation, he told them to do whatev-er they liked. “You will yourself bear theconsequences. I am not going to wastemy energy over you,” he said.

Thereafter, he stopped overseeinghis studies, but ensured that he was onthe study table in time. Followingwhich, the elder one began workingupon himself. Eventually, he performedvery well in the final examination. Theelder one used to wonder, why the two

brothers were handled differently. Helater realised that his grandfather beinga teacher could figure out the mind andpsyche of the two brothers and accord-ingly conducted them.

The same way, your grandchild isunique and has to be dealt differently.The usual way a child is handled inIndian families won’t work on him. Hehas to be led with a force of love, whichin turn, will tempt him to begin makingefforts to prove himself in his own right.Before suggesting a suitable remedialmeasure let me first run through theastrological pointers to the child’s mindtraits.

Born with Sagittarius lagna, havingRahu there itself makes him inherentlyerratic. Moon being the 8th lord makeshim habitually suspicious of other’sintent. Moon, the mind-signifier occu-pying the fiery sign Aries, makes himimpulsive, aggressive, domineering,intolerant, and impatient. He won’t takekindly to commandments, as he doesn’tlike to play second fiddle to any. Actingon instinctive prompting, he will like togo about unrestrained. If that would notbe enough, Mars, the lord of the Moonsign, is debilitated and in opposition toexpansive Jupiter and mischievousNeptune. That makes him all the more

fiery, rebellious and defiant. If subjectedto continued strain, he may developinferiority complex. Mercury placedadverse to Uranus makes him eccentric.Venus being combust speaks of a strongurge for love, which he would be miss-ing. But the good thing is that there ischange of signs between Moon andMars, which carries the possibility of adefinite change in his behavioural pat-tern with time, if tended with a force oflove.

Remember, planets are not doers.They are indicative of how one’s thoughtprocess works, and which can be verywell redirected through consciousefforts. The best remedy for a child is tointroduce him to an active game or asporting event, which he likes, underthe guidance of a proven coach. Let thecoach turn his eccentricity into a pas-sion towards becoming the lead personin the game, where after this approachwill help him in his studies also.

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English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in ......2019/08/18 · award-winning...

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