RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ......(POS) installed at 13 RFID toll...

12
A day after Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian ruled out a major stimulus package for the economy trig- gering a massive sell-off in the equity market, the Government did just the opposite on Friday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced a slew of measures to perk up the economy and address the concerns of foreign portfolio investors , who pulled out nearly $3 billion from the India stock markets ever since the Budget imposed surcharge on their investment. Relentless selling by the foreign portfo- lio investors (FPIs) and con- cerns about the health of econ- omy saw sensex losing more than 4,000 points in less than two months. The stimulus package included rollback of super- rich surcharge on FPIs, domes- tic investors on gains from stock market, frontloading of already announced 70,000 crore of recapitulation package for PSU banks, CSR violation not to be treated as criminal offence, reduction on EMIs for housing loans, vehicle and other retail loans and provid- ing protection to honest deci- sion-making by bankers for boosting lending. Also it included additional liquidity support to HFCs raised to 30,000 crore, pending GST refunds to MSMEs to be paid within 30 days, amendment to MSME Act to move towards single definition to be consid- ered, issue of IT orders, notices, etc through a centralised sys- tem to cut harassment, etc. Besides, the Government said it will set up an inter- Ministerial task force to short- list infrastructure projects for its ambitious target of spending 100 lakh crore in the sector. With several major com- panies reporting sinking prof- it and announcing job cuts, the Government had a few option, but to come out with some relief for both the equity mar- ket and corportates as well as commoners. The Finance Minister did try to cover all the key stakeholders within the constraints of not too rosy tax revenue scenario. The reveral of FPI sur- charge shows that the people engaged in the Budget making completely failed to under- stand the mindset of foreign investors. It is also baffling why someone like the CEA made such a comment about no stimuls, the news was one of the prime reason of sail-off in the market and estimated loss of nearly 2 lakh crore of investors’ wealth in a single day. “In order to encourage investment in the capital mar- ket, it has been decided to with- draw the enhanced surcharge levied by Finance (No.2) Act, 2019 on long/short term capi- tal gains arising from the trans- fer of equity shares/units,” Sitharaman told reporters here. The move will dent Government revenues by 1,400 crore. Sitharaman had in her maiden Budget hiked the sur- charge on income tax paid by super-rich individuals. The surcharge, levied on top of the applicable income tax rate, was hiked from 15 per cent to 25 per cent for those with taxable income of 2-5 crore and to 37 per cent for those earning more than 5 crore. This increased the effective tax rate for these two groups by 3.12 per cent and 7 per cent to 39 per cent and 42.74 per cent, respectively. Some 40 per cent FPIs automatically came under the higher tax rate as they have been investing as a non-cor- porate entity such as trust or association of persons (AOPs), which in the Income Tax law are classified as an individual for the purpose of taxation. Sitharaman also announced exempting start-- ups from the so-called angel tax. “To mitigate genuine dif- ficulties of start-ups and their investors, it has been decided that section 56(2)((viib) of the Income Tax Act shall not be applicable to a start-up regis- tered with DPIIT,” she said. The Government also announced several relief mea- sures, including deferring one- time registration fee, lifting ban on purchase of petrol/diesel vehicles and allowing higher depreciation, but it remained non-commit- tal on the demand for a reduc- tion in GST rates. In a bid to help clear rising inventory of BS-IV emission compliant vehicles, it said such vehicles purchased till March 31, 2020 will be allowed to ply till the validity of their regis- tration. This is because the country is to leapfrog to selling only BS-VI emission compliant vehicles from April 1, 2020. Auto sales in the country have been declining for almost a year now with the passenger vehicles (PVs) segment being the worst hit. Industry estimates suggest that 2 lakh jobs have been cut in the last three months as auto companies and component makers grapple with slow demand. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said representa- tives from the automotive sec- tor had held meetings - both as an industry and individually. “BS-IV vehicles was a big issue. There was a confusion because the government want- ed to make an announcement to encourage electric vehicles and electric batteries (produc- tion)... BS-IV vehicles, which are purchased up to March 2020 will all remain operational for their entire period of regis- tration,” she told reporters while announcing measures to boost the sagging economic growth. The government also announced an additional Rs 20,000-crore liquidity support to the struggling housing finance companies (HFCs), a move aimed at enhancing their lending capacity. The additional liquidity support to be provided by the National Housing Bank (NHB) will help the real estate sector which is facing a demand slow- down and cash crunch. The Rs 20,000 crore is in addition to Rs 10,000 crore support announced earlier by the hous- ing sector regulator NHB. Announcing this as part of measures to prop up the economy, the Finance Minister said now the liq- uidity support for HFCs would be Rs 30,000 crore. T he South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Friday announced that only those commercial vehicles which have radio-frequency identification tags (RFID) will be allowed to enter the nation- al Capital after three weeks. With the RFID system coming into force at 13 busy border points from August 23 midnight, non-RFID vehicles will have to pay penalties in order to enter the city. However, after three weeks, non-RFID vehicles will not be allowed to enter the city, SDMC authorities said. “After three weeks, those without RFID will not be allowed to enter the city,” a senior corporation official said. The 13 entry points receive 85 per cent of the incoming traffic in Delhi. Once a person buys an RFID tag and it is past- ed on his registered vehicle, the environment compensation charge will be deducted at the 13 toll plazas automatically. The sale of tags will con- tinue on the points-of-sale (POS) installed at 13 RFID toll plazas. Additional six points have been set up in satellite towns of UP and Haryana. The SDMC had earlier extended the last date for pre- registration and subsequent issuance of RFID tags from August 16 to August 23, con- sidering difficulties being faced by owners of commercial vehi- cles and taxis in getting pre-reg- istered and subsequently obtaining RFID tags for entry into Delhi from 13 toll plazas. Additional Commissioner of SDMC Randhir Sahay said after Friday midnight, non- RFID vehicles will have to pay twice the basic amount of envi- ronment compensation charge in the first week. It will become four times in the second week and six times in the third week. “After three weeks, the entry of non-RFID commercial vehicles will be completely banned,” he added. Around 12 to 15 thou- sand RFID tags are being issued every day, Sahay said, adding that the civic body has issued 1.63 lakh tags and expecting the figure may cross around 1.75 lakh at Friday midnight. RFID tag aided system facilitates entry of commercial vehicles without any stoppage at toll plazas, cashless transac- tion, and automatic deduction of the amount of the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) and MCD toll, completion of the process with- in three seconds, permanent solution of the congestion at toll plaza and no visibility of long queues apart from con- taining air pollution, the offi- cial said. The officials said that to recharge the RFID tags through mobile handsets, customers can download ‘MCD Toll App ‘from the mobile play store by registering their number. The RFID system will help smoothen the traffic move- ment and bring down pollution levels, he added. P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the resounding mandate to the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls was for building a “new India”, and asserted corruption, nepo- tism, loot of people’s money, and terrorism have been reined in like never before. Addressing the Indian community at the UNESCO headquarters here, Modi also talked about “major decisions” such as banning of practice of triple talaq, taken by his Government. In a veiled reference to abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir, Modi said, “There is no scope for tempo- rary in India. You would have seen that a country of 1.25 bil- lion people, the land of Mahatma Gandhi, Gautam Buddha, Ram, Krishna, took 70 years to remove what was tem- porary. To remove temporary it took 70 years, I dont know whether I should laugh or cry...Reform, perform, and transform and with perma- nent systems, the country is moving forward to achieve its goal.” Modi, who was in France on the first leg of his three- nation tour, said there have been a number of constructive changes in the last five years. “India is racing ahead not because of Modi...It is because of the stamp of approval that the people of India have given in the form of their votes,” the Prime Minister said amid loud cheering of “Modi hai toh mumkin hai” (it is possible if Modi is there) from the crowd. He also asserted “in ‘new India’, corruption, nepotism, dynasty, loot of people’s money, and terrorism have been reined in like never before.” Continued on Page 4 I n a relief to former Union Minister P Chidambaram in the INX media scam, the Supreme Court on Friday granted him protection from arrest by the Enforcement Directorate till August 26. Chidambaram is in the CBI custody in the INX case till August 26. In real term, the SC’s deci- sion does not matter much for Chidambaram as her is already in the CBI custody till August 26. However, his legal team sees the order as the first victory since the ED vehemently opposed Chidambaram’s plea for interim protection. Meanwhile, a Delhi Court on Friday refused to adjourn the Aircel-Maxis case against Chidambaram and his son Karti on the pleas by the CBI and the ED, which sought the adjournment saying that another case pertaining to INX Media involving them was pending before the Supreme Court. Special Judge OP Saini took strong objection to the agencies seeking repeated adjournments, saying “things have become very embarrass- ing for me”. The court then reserved order on Chidambaram’s antic- ipatory bail plea for September 3 and extended the interim protection from Chidambaram’s arrest by the agencies till then. Continued on Page 4 C ongress leaders Abhishek Singhvi and Shashi Tharoor on Friday came out in support of party colleague Jairam Ramesh, saying demon- ising Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “wrong” and he should be praised for doing the right things. While Singhvi said Modi’s acts must be judged issue- wise, not person-wise, Tharoor said praising the PM for doing the right things would lend credibility to the Opposition’s criticism of him. “Always said demonising Modi wrong. Not only is he PM of the nation, a one-way oppo- sition actually helps him,” Singhvi tweeted while echoing Ramesh’s views. “Acts are always good, bad and indiffer- ent — they must be judged issue-wise and not person- wise. Certainly, Ujjawala scheme is only one amongst other good deeds,” he said. Tharoor also joined him saying, “As you know, I have argued for six years now that Narendra Modi should be praised whenever he says or does the right thing, which would add credibility to our criticisms whenever he errs. I welcome others in Opposition coming around to a view for which I was excoriated at the time.” When asked to comment on the views expressed by these leaders, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said they are best placed to clarify or amplify, add or subtract to what they have said. “As the Congress party, we believe the country is facing a grim eco- nomic situation that will affect the lives of millions and we are extremely worried about it,” Tewari said at a Press briefing. Continued on Page 4 T he Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine the validity of a newly enacted law which makes the practice of instant triple talaq a pun- ishable offence entailing jail for up to three years. A Bench of Justices NV Ramana and Ajay Rastogi issued notice to the Centre on a batch of petitions seeking to declare The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019 as “uncon- stitutional” on grounds that it allegedly violates the provi- sions of the Constitution. “We will examine this,” the SC told senior advocate Salman Khurshid, who was appearing for one of the petitioners. Khurshid said there were many dimensions, including making the practice a punish- able offence and jail term of up to three years, which need to be examined by the top court. He said the petitioners were concerned about making triple talaq an offence as the SC had already declared it to be null and void. “If there is no such thing as triple talaq then what are they making an offence,” he told the SC and referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench verdict which had declared the practice of triple talaq null and void. Continued on Page 4 D onald Trump is “ready to assist” India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue if both sides ask for it, a top White House official has said, under- lining that the US President is “very focused” on the situation in the Valley in view of its “broader implications”. Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after New Delhi abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution to withdraw Jammu & Kashmir’s special status and bifurcated the State into two Union Territories on August 5. “The United States is watching the situation in Kashmir very closely. We are continuing to call for calm and restraint, including on rhetoric,” a senior administra- tion official said on Thursday ahead of the bilateral meeting between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France over the weekend. India has categorically told the world that the scrapping of Article 370 is an internal mat- ter and also advised Pakistan to accept the reality. “We note the broader implications of the develop- ments in Kashmir and the potential for increased insta- bility in the region. So the pres- ident is very focused on this sit- uation,” the official said. Continued on Page 4 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

Transcript of RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ......(POS) installed at 13 RFID toll...

Page 1: RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ......(POS) installed at 13 RFID toll plazas. Additional six points have been set up in satellite towns of UP and Haryana.

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Aday after Chief EconomicAdviser (CEA)

Krishnamurthy Subramanianruled out a major stimuluspackage for the economy trig-gering a massive sell-off in theequity market, the Governmentdid just the opposite on Friday.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Fridayannounced a slew of measuresto perk up the economy andaddress the concerns of foreignportfolio investors , who pulledout nearly $3 billion from theIndia stock markets ever sincethe Budget imposed surchargeon their investment. Relentlessselling by the foreign portfo-lio investors (FPIs) and con-cerns about the health of econ-omy saw sensex losing morethan 4,000 points in less thantwo months.

The stimulus packageincluded rollback of super-rich surcharge on FPIs, domes-tic investors on gains fromstock market, frontloading ofalready announced �70,000crore of recapitulation packagefor PSU banks, CSR violationnot to be treated as criminaloffence, reduction on EMIsfor housing loans, vehicle andother retail loans and provid-ing protection to honest deci-sion-making by bankers forboosting lending. Also itincluded additional liquiditysupport to HFCs raised to�30,000 crore, pending GSTrefunds to MSMEs to be paidwithin 30 days, amendment toMSME Act to move towardssingle definition to be consid-ered, issue of IT orders, notices,etc through a centralised sys-tem to cut harassment, etc.

Besides, the Governmentsaid it will set up an inter-Ministerial task force to short-list infrastructure projects forits ambitious target of spending�100 lakh crore in the sector.

With several major com-panies reporting sinking prof-it and announcing job cuts, theGovernment had a few option,

but to come out with somerelief for both the equity mar-ket and corportates as well ascommoners. The FinanceMinister did try to cover all thekey stakeholders within theconstraints of not too rosy taxrevenue scenario.

The reveral of FPI sur-charge shows that the peopleengaged in the Budget makingcompletely failed to under-stand the mindset of foreigninvestors.

It is also baffling whysomeone like the CEA madesuch a comment about nostimuls, the news was one ofthe prime reason of sail-off inthe market and estimated lossof nearly �2 lakh crore ofinvestors’ wealth in a single day.

“In order to encourageinvestment in the capital mar-ket, it has been decided to with-draw the enhanced surchargelevied by Finance (No.2) Act,2019 on long/short term capi-tal gains arising from the trans-fer of equity shares/units,”Sitharaman told reporters here.

The move will dentGovernment revenues by�1,400 crore.

Sitharaman had in hermaiden Budget hiked the sur-charge on income tax paid bysuper-rich individuals. Thesurcharge, levied on top of theapplicable income tax rate, washiked from 15 per cent to 25per cent for those with taxableincome of �2-5 crore and to 37per cent for those earningmore than �5 crore. Thisincreased the effective tax ratefor these two groups by 3.12per cent and 7 per cent to 39per cent and 42.74 per cent,respectively.

Some 40 per cent FPIsautomatically came under thehigher tax rate as they havebeen investing as a non-cor-porate entity such as trust orassociation of persons (AOPs),which in the Income Tax laware classified as an individualfor the purpose of taxation.

Sitharaman alsoannounced exempting start--

ups from the so-called angeltax. “To mitigate genuine dif-ficulties of start-ups and theirinvestors, it has been decidedthat section 56(2)((viib) of theIncome Tax Act shall not beapplicable to a start-up regis-tered with DPIIT,” she said.

The Government alsoannounced several relief mea-sures, including deferring one-time registration fee, liftingban on purchase ofpetrol/diesel vehicles andallowing higher depreciation,but it remained non-commit-tal on the demand for a reduc-tion in GST rates.

In a bid to help clear risinginventory of BS-IV emissioncompliant vehicles, it said suchvehicles purchased till March31, 2020 will be allowed to plytill the validity of their regis-tration. This is because thecountry is to leapfrog to sellingonly BS-VI emission compliantvehicles from April 1, 2020.

Auto sales in the countryhave been declining for almosta year now with the passengervehicles (PVs) segment beingthe worst hit. Industry estimatessuggest that 2 lakh jobs havebeen cut in the last threemonths as auto companies andcomponent makers grapplewith slow demand.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman said representa-tives from the automotive sec-tor had held meetings - both asan industry and individually.

“BS-IV vehicles was a bigissue. There was a confusionbecause the government want-ed to make an announcementto encourage electric vehiclesand electric batteries (produc-tion)... BS-IV vehicles, whichare purchased up to March2020 will all remain operationalfor their entire period of regis-tration,” she told reporters whileannouncing measures to boostthe sagging economic growth.

The government alsoannounced an additional Rs20,000-crore liquidity supportto the struggling housingfinance companies (HFCs), a

move aimed at enhancing theirlending capacity.

The additional liquiditysupport to be provided by theNational Housing Bank (NHB)will help the real estate sector

which is facing a demand slow-down and cash crunch. The Rs20,000 crore is in addition to Rs10,000 crore supportannounced earlier by the hous-ing sector regulator NHB.

Announcing this aspart of measures to prop up theeconomy, the Finance

Minister said now the liq-uidity support for HFCs wouldbe Rs 30,000 crore.

��##��� ������ (:&�;:,<

The South Delhi MunicipalCorporation (SDMC) on

Friday announced that onlythose commercial vehicleswhich have radio-frequencyidentification tags (RFID) willbe allowed to enter the nation-al Capital after three weeks.

With the RFID systemcoming into force at 13 busyborder points from August 23midnight, non-RFID vehicleswill have to pay penalties inorder to enter the city.However, after three weeks,non-RFID vehicles will not beallowed to enter the city, SDMCauthorities said.

“After three weeks, thosewithout RFID will not beallowed to enter the city,” asenior corporation official said.

The 13 entry points receive85 per cent of the incomingtraffic in Delhi. Once a personbuys an RFID tag and it is past-ed on his registered vehicle, theenvironment compensationcharge will be deducted at the13 toll plazas automatically.

The sale of tags will con-tinue on the points-of-sale(POS) installed at 13 RFID tollplazas. Additional six pointshave been set up in satellitetowns of UP and Haryana.

The SDMC had earlierextended the last date for pre-registration and subsequentissuance of RFID tags fromAugust 16 to August 23, con-sidering difficulties being facedby owners of commercial vehi-cles and taxis in getting pre-reg-istered and subsequentlyobtaining RFID tags for entry

into Delhi from 13 toll plazas. Additional Commissioner

of SDMC Randhir Sahay saidafter Friday midnight, non-RFID vehicles will have to paytwice the basic amount of envi-ronment compensation chargein the first week. It will becomefour times in the second weekand six times in the thirdweek. “After three weeks, theentry of non-RFID commercialvehicles will be completelybanned,” he added.

Around 12 to 15 thou-sand RFID tags are beingissued every day, Sahay said,adding that the civic body hasissued 1.63 lakh tags andexpecting the figure may crossaround 1.75 lakh at Fridaymidnight.

RFID tag aided systemfacilitates entry of commercialvehicles without any stoppageat toll plazas, cashless transac-tion, and automatic deductionof the amount of theEnvironment CompensationCharge (ECC) and MCD toll,completion of the process with-in three seconds, permanentsolution of the congestion attoll plaza and no visibility oflong queues apart from con-taining air pollution, the offi-cial said.

The officials said that torecharge the RFID tags throughmobile handsets, customerscan download ‘MCD Toll App‘from the mobile play store byregistering their number. TheRFID system will helpsmoothen the traffic move-ment and bring down pollutionlevels, he added.

��� �2 7

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday said the

resounding mandate to theBJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha pollswas for building a “new India”,and asserted corruption, nepo-tism, loot of people’s money,and terrorism have been reinedin like never before.

Addressing the Indiancommunity at the UNESCOheadquarters here, Modi alsotalked about “major decisions”such as banning of practice oftriple talaq, taken by hisGovernment.

In a veiled reference toabrogation of Article 370 inJammu & Kashmir, Modi said,“There is no scope for tempo-rary in India. You would haveseen that a country of 1.25 bil-lion people, the land of

Mahatma Gandhi, GautamBuddha, Ram, Krishna, took 70years to remove what was tem-

porary. To remove temporaryit took 70 years, I dont knowwhether I should laugh or

cry...Reform, perform, andtransform and with perma-nent systems, the country ismoving forward to achieve itsgoal.”

Modi, who was in Franceon the first leg of his three-nation tour, said there havebeen a number of constructivechanges in the last five years.

“India is racing ahead notbecause of Modi...It is becauseof the stamp of approval thatthe people of India have givenin the form of their votes,” thePrime Minister said amid loudcheering of “Modi hai tohmumkin hai” (it is possible ifModi is there) from the crowd.

He also asserted “in ‘newIndia’, corruption, nepotism,dynasty, loot of people’s money,and terrorism have been reinedin like never before.”

Continued on Page 4

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In a relief to former UnionMinister P Chidambaram in

the INX media scam, theSupreme Court on Fridaygranted him protection fromarrest by the EnforcementDirectorate till August 26.Chidambaram is in the CBIcustody in the INX case tillAugust 26.

In real term, the SC’s deci-sion does not matter much forChidambaram as her is alreadyin the CBI custody till August

26. However, his legal team seesthe order as the first victorysince the ED vehementlyopposed Chidambaram’s pleafor interim protection.

Meanwhile, a Delhi Courton Friday refused to adjournthe Aircel-Maxis case against

Chidambaram and his sonKarti on the pleas by the CBIand the ED, which sought theadjournment saying thatanother case pertaining to INXMedia involving them waspending before the SupremeCourt.

Special Judge OP Sainitook strong objection to theagencies seeking repeatedadjournments, saying “thingshave become very embarrass-ing for me”.

The court then reservedorder on Chidambaram’s antic-ipatory bail plea for September3 and extended the interim protection fromChidambaram’s arrest by theagencies till then.

Continued on Page 4

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Congress leaders AbhishekSinghvi and Shashi

Tharoor on Friday came out insupport of party colleagueJairam Ramesh, saying demon-ising Prime Minister NarendraModi was “wrong” and heshould be praised for doing theright things.

While Singhvi said Modi’sacts must be judged issue-wise, not person-wise, Tharoorsaid praising the PM for doingthe right things would lendcredibility to the Opposition’scriticism of him.

“Always said demonisingModi wrong. Not only is he PMof the nation, a one-way oppo-sition actually helps him,”

Singhvi tweeted while echoingRamesh’s views. “Acts arealways good, bad and indiffer-ent — they must be judgedissue-wise and not person-wise. Certainly, Ujjawalascheme is only one amongstother good deeds,” he said.

Tharoor also joined himsaying, “As you know, I haveargued for six years now thatNarendra Modi should be

praised whenever he says ordoes the right thing, whichwould add credibility to ourcriticisms whenever he errs. Iwelcome others in Oppositioncoming around to a view forwhich I was excoriated at thetime.”

When asked to commenton the views expressed bythese leaders, Congressspokesman Manish Tewari saidthey are best placed to clarifyor amplify, add or subtract towhat they have said. “As theCongress party, we believe thecountry is facing a grim eco-nomic situation that will affectthe lives of millions and we areextremely worried about it,”Tewari said at a Press briefing.

Continued on Page 4

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The Supreme Court onFriday agreed to examine

the validity of a newly enactedlaw which makes the practiceof instant triple talaq a pun-ishable offence entailing jail forup to three years.

A Bench of Justices NVRamana and Ajay Rastogiissued notice to the Centre ona batch of petitions seeking todeclare The Muslim Women(Protection of Rights onMarriage) Act 2019 as “uncon-stitutional” on grounds that itallegedly violates the provi-sions of the Constitution.

“We will examine this,” theSC told senior advocate Salman

Khurshid, who was appearingfor one of the petitioners.

Khurshid said there weremany dimensions, includingmaking the practice a punish-able offence and jail term of upto three years, which need to beexamined by the top court.

He said the petitionerswere concerned about makingtriple talaq an offence as the SChad already declared it to benull and void. “If there is nosuch thing as triple talaq thenwhat are they making anoffence,” he told the SC andreferred to a five-judgeConstitution Bench verdictwhich had declared the practiceof triple talaq null and void.

Continued on Page 4

��� &�7< ( �6(

Donald Trump is “ready toassist” India and Pakistan

on the Kashmir issue if bothsides ask for it, a top WhiteHouse official has said, under-lining that the US President is“very focused” on the situationin the Valley in view of its“broader implications”.

Tensions between Indiaand Pakistan spiked after NewDelhi abrogated provisions ofArticle 370 of the Constitutionto withdraw Jammu &Kashmir’s special status andbifurcated the State into twoUnion Territories on August 5.

“The United States iswatching the situation inKashmir very closely. We are

continuing to call for calmand restraint, including onrhetoric,” a senior administra-tion official said on Thursdayahead of the bilateral meetingbetween Trump and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on thesidelines of the G7 Summit inFrance over the weekend.

India has categorically toldthe world that the scrapping ofArticle 370 is an internal mat-ter and also advised Pakistan toaccept the reality.

“We note the broaderimplications of the develop-ments in Kashmir and thepotential for increased insta-bility in the region. So the pres-ident is very focused on this sit-uation,” the official said.

Continued on Page 4

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Ahigh-level probe by theIAF into the crash of a MI-

17 helicopter on February 27this year in Budgam in Jammu& Kashmir has held five offi-cers guilty as it was found outthat the helicopter went downafter getting hit by an Indianmissile, generally known as‘friendly fire.’ The incidenttook place on the day when the

Pakistani jets intruded intoIndia leading to a dog fight. Allthe six crew members and acivilian on the ground werekilled in the crash.

These findings are part ofthe mandatory court of inquiryand its report is now with theAir Force headquarters for fur-ther action. The officers foundguilty of negligence and not fol-lowing procedures include oneGroup Captain, two WingCommanders and two FlightLieutenants, sources said hereon Friday.

They also said the officersmay face severe punishment asper provisions of the militarylaw adding the IAF top brass

will decide on the quantum ofpunishment to those heldresponsible for the incident.

They also said the IAF willinitiate action based on thereport of the court of inquiryheaded by an Air Commodoreand the officers may facecharges of culpable homicidenot amounting to murder.

The inquiry found that the‘Identification of Friend orFoe’ (IFF) system on-boardthe helicopter was switched offand there was a “vital gap” incommunication and coordi-nation between the groundstaff and the crew of the ill-fated helicopter.

The IFF helps air defence

radars identify whether an air-craft or helicopter is friendly or hostile.

In early May, the IAF trans-ferred the Air OfficerCommanding (AOC) ofSrinagar base to ensure a thor-ough probe into the incident.

The helicopter crashed inBudgam on February 27 whenIndian and Pakistani fighter jetswere engaged in aerial combat,a day after India’s air strike ona Jaish-e-Mohammed terroristtraining camp in Balakot inPakistan. The Pakistani jetsunsuccessfully attempted totarget various Indian militaryinstallations in Rajouri andPoonch sectors.

Officials said the Court ofInquiry was also specificallyfocusing on examining the roleof various people, includingthose controlling the airdefence system when the heli-copter was hit by a surface-to-air missile.

Incidentally, the helicopterwas shot down around thesame time when Indian andPakistani fighter jets wereengaged in the aerial battle.Moreover, the incident tookplace when the Indian forces ontheir highest alert following thePakistani aerial raid. The heli-copter crashed within ten min-utes of take off after getting hitby own missile.

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The decline in the kharifcrop sowing presents grim

grim sitaution for economy.The sowing of rice and pulseshas declined sharply due tofloods and heavy rainfall in sev-eral parts of the country.

The Union AgricultureMinistry’s latest data showsthat planting of kharif cropssowing area has slipped belowlast year’s cultivated area ofJuly and August. There hasbeen decline of 20 lakhhectare in rice cultivationand 5 lakh hectare in pulsesin the country.

According to NationalDisaster Relief Force (NDRF),it is estimated that 6-7 lakhhectare under kharif cropshave been affected due to floodand incessant rainfall. Thefinal assessment is yet to bemade by the inter-State min-isterial group. Due to shortageof pulses, prices of arhar,moong and tur have beenincreased from Rs 50-60 per kg

to Rs 100 per kg. Flood has alsoaffected the cultivation of teathis year as most of the teaplantation have been dam-aged in Karnataka, Kerala andWest Bengal. This may impactthe prices of tea in the retailmarket in the coming days.

India has seen large scalefloods in several parts of thecountry this month. States likeAssam, Bihar, Gujarat,Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,Karnataka and Kerala havebeen grappling with devastat-ing floods.

The Agriculture Ministry’sdata shows that kharif cropplanting has covered 975.16lakh hectare land as comparedto 997.67 lakh hectare a yearearlier from June up to August23, a decline of 22.51 lakhhectare so far.

Rice was planted on 334.92lakh hectares as compared to355.42 lakh hectare a year ear-lier, a decline of 23.03 lakhhectare. Bihar, Jharkhand,Tamil Nadu, Kerala, ArunachalPradesh, Maharashtra and

Assam have reported less iscovered under Rice due toflood and rainfalls. In someStates, rice cultivation wasbadly impacted due to flood.

The area of pulse cultiva-tion also dropped from 128.54lakh hectare last year to 124.56lakh hectare, a decline of 3.97lakh hectare so far.Maharashtra, Gujarat,Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu,Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh havereported less cultivation thisyear. Due to shortage of puls-es, the prices is expected toincrease further in the comingdays. Currently, the rate ofArhar, Moong and Urad havebeen touched Rs 100 per kg.

The area of coarse cereals cul-tivation is also less by 3.66 lakhhectare this year so far.

A good monsoon is crucialfor the country’s economy asfarming sector accounts formore than 15% of the country’sGDP but nearly half of thecountry’s workforce is depen-dent on the agriculture sector.As many 1500 people diedand over 60,000 villages areaffected from flood in 14 states.It is estimated that 6 to7 lakhhectate of agriculture land and5 to 6 crore poultry destroyedin the flood.

With less than 37 days to goin the 2019 monsoon season,most regions across have record-

ed normal or above normalrainfall till August 23. Indiarecorded surplus rainfall 658.5mm as against the normal of652.2 mm so far. Only east andnortheast India, especiallyJharkhand and Gangetic WestBengal, have recorded significantbelow-normal monsoon rain.

The countrywide averagerainfall accumulation stood 10percent more than usual in thethird week of August. In the firstand second week of August,India received 28% and 45 per-cent above normal monsoonrainfall. As many as 28 sub divi-sions have recorded normalmonsoon while eight receiveddeficient rainfall.

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The CBI is likely to confrontall the six signatories on the

Foreign Investment PromotionBoard (FIPB) file relating toalleged irregular clearance ofFDI to the tune of Rs 300 croreby INX Media with formerFinance Minister PChidambaram who is current-ly undergoing custodial inter-rogation by CBI in the case.

The agency is also mullingwhether to take Chidambaramto Mumbai to confront himwith approver in the caseIndrani Mukherjea or bring herhere for confrontation withthe former Finance Minister.

In view of the high profilenature and vast experience ofChidambaram as a lawyer, theinvestigators are grilling himunder direct supervision ofagency director RK Shukla,sources said.

Chidambaram has so farbeen denying the allegationsduring the questioning andhas largely been evasive to thequeries put forth by the agencysleuths, they said, adding, he isa tough nut to crack.

Meanwhile, the CBI iswaiting responses to LettersRogatory (judicial requests)

sent to five countries---UnitedKingdom, Switzerland,Singapore, Mauritius andBermuda.

Through the LRs, theagency has sought to establishthe money trail of the allegedproceeds of crime throughshell companies, bankingtransaction details and bankaccounts.

The LRs are not only relat-ed to the INX Media case butto a number of other clearancesby the Foreign InvestmentPromotion Board (FIPB) dur-ing Chidambaram’s tenure asFinance Minister in the UPAregime.

Meanwhile, Karti alongwith his mother metChidambaram at the agency

headquarters as permitted bythe designated CBI court onThursday sending him to four-day CBI custody.

After the meeting, Kartitold reporters that his father isin very good spirits andenquired about his daughterwho is vacationing in DownUnder (Australia).

Karti further said, (He(Chidambaram) is enjoyingthe hospitality of theGovernment of India.

On a question on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’sassertion in France that corruptshould not be spared, Kartiasserted even he believes thatcorrupt should be punished,adding neither he nor his fatheris corrupt.

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Former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh on Friday

took oath as a member of theRajya Sabha for his sixth term.Rajya Sabha Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu administeredthe oath in his chamber to 86-year-old Singh.

Leader of the HouseThaawar Chand Gehlot,Congress president SoniaGandhi and Rahul Gandhi werepresent during the oath-taking.Leader of the OppositionGhulam Nabi Azad, deputyleader of Congress in RajyaSabha Anand Sharma, andAhmed Patel were also presentin the chairman’s chamber.

Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot and his deputySachin Pilot, besides some BJPleaders were also present. Singhreturned to the Upper Houseunopposed after getting elect-ed from Rajasthan.

“Administered oath toFormer Prime Minister DrManmohan Singh as Rajya

Sabha MP in my Chamber inRajya Sabha today,” Naidu latertweeted along with pictures ofthe oath-taking in whichSingh’s wife Gursharan Kaurwas also seen.

In the August 19 by-elec-tion, necessitated by the deathof BJP MP Madan Lal Saini, theseat went to the Congress whichis in power in Rajasthan afterlast year’s state polls. Singh’s

tenure in the Upper Househad ended on June 14. He hadearlier represented Assam inRajya Sabha for around 28years.

He was elected to the RajyaSabha in 1991, 1995, 2001,2007 and 2013. He was also theLeader of the Opposition inRajya Sabha during 1998-2004and Leader of the House as thePrime Minister during 2004-14.

Singh is the fourth oldestamong the sitting members ofthe House of Elders after the 96-year-old Ram Jethmalani, 91-year-old Motilal Vora and 88-year-old C P Thakur. While 79-year-old Mahendra Prasad isserving his seventh term inRajya Sabha, Jethmalani is in hissixth term and Vora is servingfourth term in the UpperHouse, officials said.

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Levels of microplastics—tinyparticles smaller than about

one-fifth of an inch— in drink-ing water don’t appear to be ahealth risk. However, moreresearch is needed to assesshow microplastics may impacthuman health and the envi-ronment, the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) haswarned.

Following the release of ananalysis of current researchrelated to microplastics indrinking-water recently, theUN health agency has alsocalled for a reduction in plas-tic pollution to benefit theenvironment and reducehuman exposure.

“We urgently need to knowmore about the health impactof microplastics because theyare everywhere - including inour drinking-water,” said DrMaria Neira, Director,Department of Public Health,Environment and SocialDeterminants of Health, atWHO.

“Based on the limitedinformation we have,microplastics in drinking waterdon’t appear to pose a healthrisk at current levels. But weneed to find out more. We alsoneed to stop the rise in plasticpollution worldwide.”

“We are not alarmed,”WHO technical officer Jennifer

de France said. “With the datathat we have, we can say that webelieve the risk to be low, butat the same time, we can’t ruleout conclusively that theremight never be a risk in thefuture.”

According to the analysis,which summarizes the latestknowledge on microplastics indrinking-water, microplasticslarger than 150 micrometresare not likely to be absorbed inthe human body and uptake ofsmaller particles is expected tobe limited. Absorption and dis-tribution of very smallmicroplastic particles includingin the nano size range may,however, be higher, althoughthe data is extremely limited.

Further research is neededto obtain a more accurateassessment of exposure tomicroplastics and their poten-tial impacts on human health.These include developing stan-dard methods for measuringmicroplastic particles in water;more studies on the sourcesand occurrence of microplas-tics in fresh water; and the effi-cacy of different treatmentprocesses.

The WHO has recom-mended drinking-water sup-pliers and regulators prioritizeremoving microbial pathogensand chemicals that are knownrisks to human health, such asthose causing deadly diarrhoealdiseases.

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CBI Joint Director AjayBhatnagar has flagged

concerns over agency officialsbeing posted at a particularbranch for longer periodwhich is “severely” affectingthe conduct and work cultureas also discipline of theagency.

“All HOZs (Heads of

Zones) are requested toreview the posting particularsof each individual individualposted in their Zone andsend a list of officers rankwise … who are to be con-sidered for rotation due tolong tenure,” Bhatnagar saidin a letter on August 21 to hiscolleague Anurag.

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The number of tigers in thecountry has increased but

the manpower manning themhas not. As per the latest tigercensus, the number of thepredators in the country hasrisen by 33 per cent in last fouryears to 2,967,however, on anaverage the tiger reserves arereeling under shortage of staffwith 30 per cent posts lyingvacant.

A senior Government offi-cial from the UnionEnvironment Ministry saidthat vacancies pertain to forestguards, forest rangers, forestsection officers who are essen-tial for wildlife conservation,grassland management andrigorous protection frompoaching and illegal tree-fellerslying vacant.

According to the recentdata available from the

National Tiger ConservationAuthority (NTCA), numberwise, there are just 11,500 staffprotecting manning the 2,967big cats in the 50 tiger reservesacross the country.

The tiger reserves are just

not the home of big cats butalso the habitat of rich bio-diversity and a considerablewildlife population, includingbig predators like leopards andfaunas such as swamp deer,neel gai, hispid hare and stag,

to name a few, which needsconservation and protectionfrom wildlife smugglers, theofficial pointed out.

Tiger reserves such asSundarbans in West Bengal,Anamalai in Tamil Nadu,

Pakke in East Kameng districtof Arunachal Pradesh in north-eastern India, and Kawal tigerreserves in Telangana havereported acute shortage of staffwith half of the total sanctionedposts lying vacant.

Valmiki tiger reserve inBihar which has 31 tigers andten cubs is grappling withacute shortage of vacancy with86 per cent posts yet to be filled,speaking volumes of existinggaps in the management.

Sources said that most ofthe employees at VTR are dailywagers and not permanentemployees. They also lack therequired skill and interest. Infact, the contractual staff arebeing deployed at most of thetiger reserves.

Vivek Menon, CEO ofWildlife Trust of India (WTI)said: “Forest guards are thebackbone of India’s wildlifeand habitat protection system.

They are the guardians of itsnatural heritage and at thefrontline of the fight againstpoachers and timber smugglerswho are sometimes far betterarmed and equipped.

It is thus important thatthis force remains trained andhighly motivated to tacklediverse threats it is being facedwith. From time to time wehave been conducting work-shops with the StateGovernments to strengthenstaff morale and sharpen their skills.”

Interestingly, between 2012and 2018, 657 tiger deathswere reported in India, most ofthem (48% or 313) due to nat-ural causes and 21% or 138 dueto poaching, NTCA data says.Of the 138 poaching deaths,Madhya Pradesh reported themost (22% or 30), followed byKarnataka (24) andMaharashtra (18).

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court,hearing the politically sensitiveRam Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid land dispute matter, tolda lawyer for a Hindu party onFriday to be “pin-pointed” and“precise” in his submissions.

“Mr (Sushil) Jain, we lookforward to your pin-pointed,crisp and precise arguments,” thefive-judge Constitution benchheaded by Chief Justice RanjanGogoi said as soon as the seniorcounsel for the Nirmohi Akharastarted advancinghis submissions.

T h eAllahabad HighCourt, in its 2010judgment on fourcivil suits, had par-titioned the 2.77-acre disputed landin Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhyaequally among the three parties-- the Sunni Waqf Board, theNirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

The Supreme Court bench,also comprising justices S ABobde, D Y Chandrachud,Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer,had on Thursday asked Jain toexplain as to how the Akharacould claim title over the dis-puted land in the capacity of a“shebait” of the deity.

Friday was the eleventh dayof the hearing in the matter

before the apex court.So far, the Akhara’s argu-

ments were contrary to the caseit had built in the high court, thebench observed and asked Jainto “build” his case “on merits”.

“While arguing, always keepin mind that we have alreadylooked at large part of the doc-uments,” it told Jain.

On being told by the lawyerthat a note was prepared and hewould take around a week toconclude his arguments, the

bench said, “You don’tneed a week, take aday and try your bestto put forward thecase.”

The bench said ithad perused manydocuments and askedJain to supplement

the arguments advanced byother Hindu parties.

“You say that you will dothis, you will do that, but you donot start,” the bench told thesenior lawyer.

Jain said the Akhara wasvery poor, it had no money andits temple was taken away,adding that the Hindu body wasentitled to put forward its case.

“Mr Jain, still you have notstarted the submissions,” thebench said, leading to com-mencement of arguments. PTI

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Page 3: RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ......(POS) installed at 13 RFID toll plazas. Additional six points have been set up in satellite towns of UP and Haryana.

Tiny tots dressed as Lord Krishna and Radha wish chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on his birthday. Coincidently the birthdayof Baghel falls on Krishna Janmashtami on Friday. Pioneer Photo

RAIPUR | SATURDAY | AUGUST 24, 2019chhattisgarh 03

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

State Election Commission(SEC), Chhattisgarh has

issued the electoral rollrevision process scheduleahead of the upcomingelections for civic bodies andthree-tier Panchayats.

According to SEC Deputysecretary S. R. Bandhe,summary revision of electoralroll has been issued under‘Jaagav Botar’ (Stay AlertVoter) to spread the messageamong the electors.Information regarding theelectoral roll will be given in allmeetings and programmes ofcivic bodies and three-tierpanchayat.

He added that electors canadd, delete or rectify theirnames in the electoral roll.Intimation of summaryrevision should be given inhigher secondary schools,colleges, university so that thenew voters can add their

names, he added.Bandhe said the electoral

roll prepared by the ElectionCommission of India for thestate assembly and Lok Sabhaelections will be the base ofelectoral roll for local bodyelections. The difference is in

local election the electoral rollis prepared ward/village wise soelector has to ensure his/hername is in his/her ownward/village.

Due to clerical mistake orcomputer error, elector’s namemay get registered in anotherward/village. In such a caseintimation can be given to co-certification registration offi-cer or assistant registrationofficer.

The new elector shouldattain 18 years of age onJanuary 1, 2019 for enrolment.The primary publication ofelectoral roll will be done onSeptember 6, after whichelectors can check their namesin electoral roll.

SEC commences revision ofelectoral roll for local body polls

Registration of 44sonographycentres cancelledRAIPUR: Raipur district AdvisoryCommittee on Pre-Conception andPre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act(PCPNDT) during a meeting onThursday cancelled the license of 44sonography centres for not comply-ing rules. Meanwhile, the meetinggave clearance for nine new registra-tions and approved four applicationsfor renewal. The meeting was held atthe office of Chief Medical andHealth Officer and was chaired bynodal officer and deputy collectorPoonam Sharma. CMHO Dr K.R.Sonwani, pediatrician Dr S.K. Sinha,and social workers participated in themeeting. The meeting decided toexpedite the inspection of sonogra-phy centres and to take stern actionagainst those found violating the Act.Discussion was held for spreading themessage that fetus sex determinationis banned. It’s decided that the mes-sage will be spread through multiplexand theatres by playing the video andputting up instructions inChhattisgarhi language.

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

An extensive ticketchecking drive is being

carried out at Bilaspur,Raipur and Nagpur RailwayDivisions of South EastCentral Railway (SECR)zone.

More than `12 lakhwas levied as fine againsttravelling without ticket,irregular ticket and luggagewithout booking in the lasttwo days of the drive. Thedrive will continue tillAugust 30.

On the first and secondday of the extensive ticketchecking, Raipur RailwayDivision, DivisionCommercial Manager AdityaGupta, Bilaspur AssistantCommercial Manager alongwith senior officials andsecurity personnel hadformed different teams for

the drive.Around 54 trains were

checked. Similarly, fromThursday, Nagpur RailwayDivision began the checkingdrive.

As per information,around 1245 cases wereregistered, out of which therewere 265 cases of travellingwithout ticket, 355 cases ofirregular ticket, 575 cases ofluggage without booking and38 cases of difference in fare.

Action was also takenagainst unauthorised ven-dors in the trains duringinspection of the pantry cars.The license of the authorisedvendors was also checked.This was to ensure quality offood is being sold on railwaystation and in trains.

Railway authorities haveurged the passengers to procureproper ticket for the journeyand platform ticket for enteringrailway premises.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

On the occasion of hisbirthday on Friday, Chief

Minister Bhupesh Baghelflagged off a half-marathon formalnutrition eradication.

Large number of schoolstudents, youth and publicrepresentatives participated inthe half-marathon.

Chief Minister in hisaddress to the gathering saidthat youngsters havecommendably lived up to theirresponsibilities by organising'Halla Bol Half Marathon' tocreate public awareness about

malnutrition.The marathon was

organised by the NSUI, thestudents’ body of theCongress.

He added thatcommunity participation isnecessary in this battleagainst malnutrition, to builda healthy and empoweredChhattisgarh. MLAs MohanMarkam and DevendraYadav and Raipur MunicipalCorporation Mayor PramodDubey also participated inthe marathon. Participantsgreeted Baghel on hisbirthday.

Birthday boy Baghel reaffirmscommitment to ‘Nutritious C’garh’Flags off half marathon for malnutrition eradication

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Sleuths of Anti CorruptionBureau (ACB) and

Economic Offence Wing(EOW) on Friday raidedoffices of Digital Marketingand Public Relation (PR) com-panies Konsole Group andCube India.

Additional DirectorGeneral of Police (ADG),EOW G.P. Singh confirmedthat the raids were made atthe offices of these groups.

He informed that FIRswere already registeredagainst them in allegedcases of irregularities intender processes inChhattisgarh Samwad ofPublic RelationDepartment of the stategovernment.

“The probe agencyEOW just needed somedocuments from them. Therequired documents havebeen seized and necessaryaction would now be taken”,he said.

Notable, these PR

groups are accused ofgetting undue advantagesduring the BJP regime andthe Baghel governmentafter assuming the chargehad filed FIRs againstthem after blacklistingthem.

EOW, ACB raids PR agenciesKonsole Group, Cube India

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Raipur Smart City Limited’s(RSCL’s) initiative to

rejuvenate Telibandha lakesituated at Marine Drive incapital city bagged the‘National Excellence Award’ atNational Urban DevelopmentSummit held at Gurugram,Haryana on Friday.

Official sources in theRSCL informed that the award

was given to it for purificationas well as for revival of theTelibandha pond.

Union Minister of state forplanning, statistics andprogramme implementationRao Inderjit Singh handedover the award to RaipurMunicipal CorporationAdditional CommissionerPulak Bhattacharya.

Using innovative mode of

biological process the pondsbased in Raipur capital cityunder Raipur Smart CityLimited and MunicipalCorporation, Raipur wasrevived.

Notable, The RSCL andRaipur MunicipalCorporation jointly used theinnovative biological methodfor revival of the pond. Thismodel has been adopted forthe first time in the state.

Telibandha pond has beentaken as a model, wheremaintaining environmentalbalance, naturally, the cleaningof pond was undertaken withtechnical assistance fromBharat Heavy ElectricalLimited (BHEL) and NEERI,Nagpur.

The Telibandha model isbeing appreciated across thenation and experts from vari-ous parts of the country hadvisited the Telibandha pondand are contemplating toadopt it in their respectivecities.

During the summit, PulakBhattacharya also gave a pres-entation of different workplans being undertaken andbriefed various schemes beingundertaken in order toupgrade the civic amenities.

RSCL’s Telibandha Lake modelbags National Excellence Award

STAFF REPORTER nDANTEWADA

Four naxals, three ofthem carrying cash

reward on their heads, werearrested from two separateplaces in insurgency-hitDantewada, police said onFriday.

While three cadreswere apprehended fromFarspal police station area,another was nabbed fromAranpur police stationlimits, a police official heresaid.

“Acting on a specificinput about the presence ofsome suspects on Faraspal-Bhairamgarh road, a jointteam of District ReserveGuard (DRG) and local

police raided the place androunded up the trioidentified as Budhram aliasChhotu Oyam (22), OyamRaju (35) and PunemSukhram (28),” he said.

Budhram and Rajuwere active as LocalGuerilla Squad (LGS)member and Janmilitiacommander respectively,the official said adding thatthey were carrying a rewardof `1 lakh each on theirhead.

The two were allegedlyinvolved in the incidents ofattacks on police teams,damaging railway tracksand planting bombs in thearea, he added.

Sukhram was active as a

member of DandakarnyaAdivasi Kisan MajdoorSangthan (DAKMS, afrontal outfit of Maoists)and was allegedly taskedwith arranging meetings ofNaxals, conducting reccefor them, damaging publicproperty, putting up pam-phlets, posters and banners,he added.

In a separate operation,the cadre identified asNanda Kunjam (25), aMaoists’ Local OrganisationSquad (LOS) member, wasarrested by a team of localpolice from the forest nearPotali village, he said.

Kunjam was carrying areward of `1 lakh on hishead, he added.

Four Naxals heldin Dantewada

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel on Friday inaugu-

rated Swadisht ChanaVitaran Yojana in the state.Under nutritious mealscheme, chickpeas will bedistributed in scheduledareas of Chhattisgarh withthe objective of eradicatingmalnutrition.

Chief Minister Baghelflagged off 10 trucks ofchickpeas from his officialresidence in Civil LinesRaipur for Bastar region. Onthe occasion, Food Minister

Amarjeet Bhagat, IndustryMinister Kawasi Lakhma,Revenue Minister JaisinghAgrawal, MLA DhanendraSahu, Food DepartmentSecretary Kamalpreet Singhand department officialswere also present.

It is noteworthy thatunder PDS, chickpeas will bedistributed in scheduled andMaada areas of the state viafair price shops. Every monthtwo kg chickpeas will besupplied at `5/kg to the poorfamilies in all the 85scheduled blocks and Maadaareas of the state.

CM launches ‘Chana Vitaran’

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel made several

important announcementson Friday, which is also hisbirthday.

A delegation of peoplebelonging to extremelybackward tribes called onChief Minister at hisresidence to greet him on hisbirthday.

After having discussionwith the delegation, ChiefMinister announced forma-tion of six agencies for espe-cially backward tribes. Healso announced that at all thelevels of panchayats, a repre-

sentative of especiallybackward tribe will benominated and communityhalls for them will also be

sanctioned.Chief Minister also

advised members of the dele-gations to get their ration

cards issued.Baghel had warm inter-

action with the delegation,official sources said. He alsoplayed with a kid that hadcome with his parents whowere part of the delegation.

State head BaigaCommunity Itwari RamMachhiya Baiga thankedChief Minister for govern-ment order of recruitingeducated youth from thecommunity as assistantteacher grade-III.

On his birthday, peopleof Baiga, Kamaar and PahadiKorva tribes from Kawardha,Bilaspur and Koriya districtsvisited Chief Minister inRaipur and greeted him.

CM announces schemes fortribal welfare on his birthday

According to SEC Deputy secretary S. R.Bandhe, summary revision of electoral

roll has been issued under ‘Jaagav Botar’(Stay Alert Voter) to spread the message

among the electors. Informationregarding the electoral roll will be givenin all meetings and programmes of civic

bodies and three-tier panchayat.

SECR collects `12 lakh as fineduring ticket checking drive

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The Asia Pacific Group of theFATF, a global watchdog for

terror financing and moneylaundering, has put Pakistan ina terror ‘blacklist’ for its failureto curb funnelling of funds togroups responsible for scores ofattacks in India, officials heresaid on Friday.

While putting Pakistan inan ‘Enhanced Expedited FollowUp List’, the Financial ActionTask Force’s Asia Pacific Groupalso found that the country wasnon-compliant on 32 of 40compliance parameters relatedto terror financing and moneylaundering, they said.

The FATF APG meetingwas held in Canberra, Australia,and the discussions, whichended Friday, lasted more thanseven hours over two days.

India is a member of boththe APG and the FATF con-sultations and was representedby a team of officials from theministries of Home, ExternalAffairs and Finance.

Pakistan’s multi-ministeri-al team at the APG meeting wasled by the Governor of the StateBank of Pakistan.

“The APG has placedPakistan in the EnhancedExpedited Follow Up List(Blacklist) for failure to meet itsstandards,” an Indian officialprivy to developments said. Headded that it had failed to stopfunding to groups like theLashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Actions demanding areview of Pakistan’s compliance

record were pushed by the US,the UK, Germany and France.

Despite its efforts, Pakistancould not convince the 41-member APG plenary toupgrade it on any parameter, hesaid.

On 11 “effectiveness para-meters” of terror financing andmoney laundering, Pakistanwas adjudged low on 10.

Pakistan now has to focuson avoiding the FATF blacklistin October, when the 15-monthtimeline on the FATF’s 27-point action plan ends, anoth-er official explained.

Pakistan has been underthe FATF radar for its com-plicity towards terror groupsLeT, JeM and others, he said.

It is almost certain thatPakistan will continue in its pre-sent status in the FATF ‘GreyList’ and there is every possi-bility that the country mayfurther be downgraded into theFATF ‘Black List’ at its next ple-nary to be held in October inParis, officials said.

Pakistan’s continuance inthe ‘Grey List’ means its down-grading by the IMF, the WorldBank, the ADB, the EU and alsoa reduction in risk rating byMoody’s, S&P and Fitch.

This will add to the finan-cial problems of Pakistan,which is seeking aid from allpossible international avenues.

During the FATF meeting,several countries voiced con-cern on the country’s failure todo enough to contain terrorfunding on its soil.

According to officials, akey point made by these coun-

tries is the absence of a properunderstanding in Pakistan of“transnational risk” —riskposed to neighbouring andother nations by designatedterrorist organisations basedin Pakistan.

In June 2018, Pakistan wasplaced in the ‘Grey List’ andgiven a 27-point action plan byFATF. This plan was reviewedat the last plenary in October2018 and again in February,when it was again put into the‘Grey List’ after India submit-ted new information aboutPakistan-based terrorist groups.

In a bid to bluff the finan-cial watchdog, Pakistani author-ities have shown arrests of LeT,JeM, Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD),Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation(FIF) and Falah-e-InsaniatFoundation (FiF) cadres, offi-cials said.

However, most wereapprehended under itsMaintenance of Public Order(MPO) Act and very fewunder the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Under the MPO Act,authorities cannot hold adetainee beyond 60 days.Pakistan has detained JeMfounder Masood Azhar andLeT founder Hafiz Saeedmostly under laws that providefor detention for apprehensionof breach of peace.

Pakistan recently submit-ted a 450-page compliancedocument that details all thechanges the government hasmade to existing laws, andactions against terror groupsin the past year and a half.

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The issue of demolition of atemple in the national cap-

ital figured in the HimachalPradesh Assembly on Friday,with Chief Minister Jai RamThakur saying “we will dowhatever we can” in the matter.

The Delhi DevelopmentAuthority (DDA) had demol-ished the temple in Delhi’sTughlaqabad area on August 10on the orders of the SupremeCourt.

Responding to the issueraised in state Assembly by theleader of Opposition MukeshAgnihotri, Thakur said, “Theissue is very sensitive as it con-cerns religious sentiments of asection of the society. We willdo whatever we can in thisregard.”

Earlier Agnihotri said thestate government should writeto the Centre to provide landfor reconstruction of the tem-ple.

NO GOVT VEHICLE

AVAILABLE TO CONTROLFOREST FIRE

Himachal Pradesh ForestDepartment has no govern-ment vehicle to control forestfire, Forest Minister GovindSingh Thakur told the stateassembly on Friday.

The minister gave thisinformation in reply to a ques-tion by BJP MLA JawaharThakur and Congress MLARam Lal Thakur. “No govern-ment vehicle is available tocontrol forest fires, tree fellingor mining in any of the 198 for-est ranges of the state,” said theminister.

As per a remote sensingstudy conducted by the ForestSurvey of India, Himachal’sforest cover has increased by2.67 percent (393 square kilo-metre) in two years from 2015to 2017, he added.

The Forest Survey of Indiadoes forest mapping throughremote sensing system in thecountry in every two years, headded.

There are 37 forests and sixwildlife divisions in the state, headded. Further a total of 198forests ranges exist in the stateand 39 of them are sensitiveforests ranges, he added.

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Adelegation of oppositionleaders will visit Srinagar on

Saturday to meet people andassess situation in the KashmirValley where restrictions are inplace after the Centre withdrewspecial status to Jammu andKashmir.

According to sources, someof the parties that will be part ofthe Opposition all-party delega-tion are Congress, CPI-M, CPI,RJD, NCP, TMC and DMK.

The sources said topCongress leaders who will visitSrinagar are Ghulam Nabi Azadand Anand Sharma. RahulGandhi is likely to accompanythem. CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury,CPI’s D Raja, DMK’s TiruchiSiva, RJD’s Manoj Jha andDinesh Trivedi from TMC willalso be part of the delegation thatwill leave for Srinagar aroundnoon from Delhi airport.

“Senior Trinamool Congressleader Dinesh Trivedi @DinTrito visit Srinagar on Saturdayalong with other Oppositionleaders. They will see the situa-

tion in the valley after abrogationof Article 370,” the TMC tweet-ed.

Senior Congress leaderswere huddled in a meeting onFriday evening to discuss theissue within the party.

The sources said the leadersalso intend to visit some otherparts of the state, if allowed toenter.

So far, the Government hasnot allowed any political leaderto enter the state ever since pro-visions of Article 370 were abro-gated by the Centre.

Leaders of regional parties,including former chief ministersFarooq Abdullah, OmarAbdullah and Mehbooba Mufti,have been put under housearrest. Congress MP Azad wasnot allowed to enter the state andwas stopped twice, both atSrinagar and Jammu.

Earlier, Raja was alsostopped at Srinagar airport andsent back. Rahul had recentlyasked Governor Satya Pal Malikwhen he could come to the stateand meet people without anyconditions.

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BJP’s membership has risento 30 lakh in Telangana on

the back of its “growing popu-larity” and it would form gov-ernment after the next assem-bly elections in 2023, stateparty president K Laxmanclaimed on Friday.

Impressed by the NarendraModi governments “good gov-ernance” and welfare measures,people were seeking a similarrule in Telangana and BJPwould undoubtedly form thegovernment, he said.

Flaying TRS working pres-ident K T Rama Rao’s reportedremarks questioning BJPs fig-ures of its membership, Laxmansaid the ruling party leader was“unable to tolerate the growingpopularity” of the nationalparty in the state.

“...BJP membership is not12 lakh. It was already 18 lakh.Additionally, 12 lakh (enrolledin the latest drive). That means,

30 lakh membership. Our tar-get is six lakh more... Ourmembers are 30 lakh today, hetold reporters.

Wondering whether Raohad any knowledge about BJP,he said it was the “single largest”political party in the worldwith a primary membership of11 crore which would go upfurther after the just endednation-wide enrolment drive.

Meanwhile, Laxmans alle-gations on Thursday of cor-ruption in power purchaseswere countered by the officialsof power utilities.

Transmission Corporationof Telangana (Transco) CMD DPrabhakar Rao asserted thatthey were open for any inquiry,either by CBI or a sitting judge,into PPA (Power PurchaseAgreement) or any other mat-ter.

Reacting to it, Laxman saidofficials perform their role andgovernment leaders shouldspeak on the matter.

From Page 1To this the bench asked, suppose if a religious

practice is declared as null and void and it isdeclared as an offence like dowry and child mar-riage, but if it still goes on then what is the rem-edy. Responding to the query, Khurshid said sev-eral aspects have to be examined and in the tripletalaq matter the Constitution bench had alreadysaid the practice is void.

He said it has to be examined whether the reli-gious practice denies the rights to the woman. Thebench, while agreeing to examine the validity ofthe 2019 Act, observed that petitioners have alsoraised the issue of punishment of up to three yearsand grant of bail to the husband only after thewoman is heard by the court.

A total of four petitions have been filed in apexcourt challenging the validity of the law.

Two Muslim organisations Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind and ‘Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema’, a reli-gious organisation of Sunni Muslim scholars andclerics in Kerala, have moved the Supreme Courtthis month challenging the law’s validity. JamiatUlama-I-Hind approached the apex court onThursday.

Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to the Actwhich makes ‘talaq-e-biddat’ or any other similarform of talaq having the effect of instantaneous andirrevocable divorce pronounced by a Muslim hus-band void and illegal. In the plea filed throughadvocate Ejaz Maqbool, Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind hasclaimed that since the pronouncement of talaq bya Muslim husband upon his wife had already beendeclared “void and illegal”, there was no require-ment to enact the law.

From Page 1“What he (Trump) has

indicated that he is ready toassist if both sides are interest-ed in helping to reduce theirtension. But we just know thatIndia has not requested any for-mal mediation,” the officialsaid, requesting anonymity.

The official said thatPresident Trump, during hismeeting with Modi in Francewill likely want to hear how he

intends to calm regional ten-sions in the aftermath of hisdecisions on Kashmir.

“The president will likelywant to hear from PrimeMinister Modi on how he plansto reduce regional tensions anduphold respect for humanrights in Kashmir, as part ofIndia’s role as the world’s largestdemocracy,” he said.

Trump on Tuesday saidthat he was willing to eithermediate or do something toresolve the Kashmir issuebetween India and Pakistan.

But New Delhi has made it clearto the US that Kashmir is abilateral issue between Indiaand Pakistan and there was norole for a third party. Accordingto the official, in light of thissignificant move by Modi onKashmir, the president is like-ly to stress the need for dialogueamong all sides of the conflictand he hopes that India will liftcommunication and movementrestrictions in Kashmir andexercise utmost restrain in deal-ing with potential protests.

Trump has said that he is

friends with both the leaders ofIndia and Pakistan and “standsready to assist if they bothwould like him to do so”, theofficial said.

“Certainly, presidentTrump is also calling onPakistan to prevent infiltra-tion of militants across theLine of Control and to crack-down on groups on its territo-ry that have attacked India inthe past,” said the official.

Trump, the official said, isvery much looking forward tohis meetings with Prime

Minister Modi where they willdiscuss the strategic partnershipand how they can cooperatemore closely on issues likedefence cooperation, countert-errorism and trade.

“We expect the two leadersto build on a very productivediscussion they had in Osaka atthe G-20 as well as the phonecall that they held earlier thisweek. They will look for solu-tions on the trade front. The USis looking to India to reduce tar-iffs and open its market,” saidthe official.

From Page 1In the Supreme Court, a

Bench comprising justices RBanumathi and AS Bopanna saidit will hear on August 26 thepleas filed by Chidambaram inwhich he has challenged theAugust 20 order of the DelhiHigh Court rejecting his antici-patory bail pleas in ED and CBIcases. The SC Bench said itwould also hear a fresh plea filedby Chidambaram, challengingThursday’s order of remandpassed by trial court by which hewas sent to the CBI custody tillAugust 26.

“In our view, having regardto the fact that the petitioner wasalso granted interim protectionon July 25 and that the co-accused were also granted bail bythe High Court, the petitioner isgranted interim protection, inso-far as the EnforcementDirectorate case is con-

cerned...Till the next date ofhearing. List the matter onAugust 26,” the Bench said.

The court also sought replyof the ED on Chidambaram’splea by Monday itself.

As soon as the order wasdictated, Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta, appearing forED, tried to hand over some doc-uments in sealed cover to thecourt saying that the Benchshould satisfy its consciencebefore passing an order granti-ng protection from arrest toChidambaram.

The move was objected bysenior advocate Kapil Sibal,appearing for Chidambaram,who said the same thing wasdone by the ED before the HighCourt and a note was submittedafter the arguments were over.

The Bench refused to perusethe documents at this stage andasked Mehta to submit them on

Monday, saying these are confi-dential and cannot be kept likethis with the court.

The hearing led to severalrounds of heated exchangesbetween Mehta and senior advo-cates and Chidambaram’s partycolleagues Kapil Sibal and AMSinghvi. Mehta vehementlyopposed the order granting pro-tection from arrest toChidambaram in the moneylaundering case and said that theprobe agency “has collectedinnumerable evidence to showthat the money has been trans-ferred from one company toanother shell company”.

Mehta said Chidambaramamassed 11 properties outsidethe country and has 17 bankaccounts, not only in India butalso abroad, and the money wastransferred through a web ofshell companies.

Mehta said that lot of “hueand cry” and “political vendet-ta” is alleged by petitioner(Chidambaram) and his partycolleagues but “I am saying witha great sense of responsibility thatthis is a case of money launder-ing of a monumental magnitude”.

He further asserted thatcustodial interrogation ofChidambaram was needed tounravel the truth. While beingUnion Finance Minister,Chidambaram had askedIndrani and Peter Mukherjea to“take care of his son” when shehad met with him in 2007regarding FIPB approval fortheir company INX Media,Mehta said.

The SG said they need toconfront Chidambaram withthe evidences collected so far,including some e-mail andmoney transaction, as severalpersons who have created theshell companies have executed awill in the name ofChidambaram’s granddaughter.

Mehta said Chidambaramhas been evasive in his replies,refused to divulge anything andhas not cooperated in the EDprobe. “Custodial interrogationof the accused is necessary tounravel the truth which cannotbe done under the protectiveumbrella of anticipatory bail,”Mehta said, adding, the courtshould go through the case diaryand satisfy its conscience beforegranting any relief to the formerMinister.

In his arguments, Sibal saidthat it is violation of his funda-mental right under Article 21 ofthe Constitution that his petitionchallenging the High Courtorder was not heard by the apexcourt on July 20 and 21 and hewas arrested on Wednesdaynight.”My rights under Article 21cannot be frustrated”, Sibal said.

while rejecting the anticipa-tory bail plea, the Delhi HighCourt had taken on record a notesubmitted by the ED, which wasnot even argued, Sibal said.

“Word by word, comma forcomma and full stop for full stop,even adjectives were copied as itwas in the note and para-wisenoting was done,” Sibal said,adding, if the courts are going tocopy-paste from a note of probe

agencies then how will commonpeople protect themselves.

Singhvi said that in theanticipatory bail rejection orderof the ED case, the High Courtshould not have made observa-tions with regard to Aircel-Maxis cases. The apex court washearing two separate petitionsfiled by Chidambaram chal-lenging the Delhi High CourtAugust 20 verdict by which hisanticipatory bail was dismissedin the cases registered by both theCBI and ED.

FromPage 1Modi’s comments on cor-

ruption assume significance asthey come two days after thehigh-profile arrest of seniorCongress leader and formerUnion finance minister PChidambaram by the CBI in amoney laundering case, evokinga strong reaction from opposi-

tion parties which accused theCentre of misusing probe agen-cies for “political vendetta”.

Hailing the move of doingaway with the practice of tripletalaq, he said how could a ‘newIndia’ accept such injustice toMuslim women.

“Inspired by the mantra ofclear policy and right direction,one after another several majordecisions have been taken by thegovernment,” he said.

Modi also asserted thatIndia has embarked upon ajourney of hope and aspirations,and with the collective efforts of130 crore people, the country ismoving ahead at a fast pace onthe path of development.

“This is the reason thatpeople have again given us aresounding mandate. This man-date is not just to run the gov-ernment, but it is for building anew India. A new India ofwhose enriched culture, theworld is proud of. A new Indiawith a focus on ease of doingbusiness and also ensures easeof living,” Modi said.

“The 100-day milestone isyet to arrive. Mind you, the first50-75 days are generally takento plan things and get greetingsand congratulatory calls, but we

did not get into that,” Modiasserted.

Modi also said India willachieve most of the COP 21 cli-mate change goals set for 2030,in the next year and a half.

India will be free of tuber-culosis in 2025, five years aheadof the global target of 2030, hesaid.

Ahead of his address, thePrime Minister through a videoconferencing inaugurated amemorial in honour of the vic-tims of two Air India crashes inFrance in the 1950s and 1960s.

In his speech, he also listeda slew of measures taken by hisgovernment for developmentand empowerment of the peo-ple such as opening of bankaccounts and the running of the“world’s biggest health insurancescheme”.

“In the last five years, wehave red carded a number ofbad practices from the country,”he said while using a footballanalogy.

Modi also talked about hisgovernment’s achievementssuch as forming of the ‘jal shak-ti’ ministry, pension for poorfarmers and traders and doingaway of the “inhuman practice”of triple talaq.

He also highlighted thatthe recently-concludedParliament session was themost productive in the last sixdecades. Modi also hailed theIndo-French strategic rela-tions and partnership.

“We have fought fascismand extremism not only inIndia, but also in France,” hesaid. “Friendship betweenIndia and France is based onstrong ideals. The character ofboth nations was built on thecommon values of liberty,equality and fraternity,” hesaid.

If today, France and Indiaare closely cooperating infighting the big dangers facingthe world such as terrorismand climate change, the reasonis these common ideals, theprime minister said.

“India and France havedistinct characteristic that theyface challenges by takingstrong action,” Modi said.

There was a lot of talkabout dangers of climatechange but action was notevident, he said, adding that itwas India and France whichtook the decisive step of form-ing the International SolarAlliance.

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At a book launch onWednesday, former UnionMinister Ramesh had saidModi’s governance model was“not a complete negative story”and added that not recognisinghis work and demonising himall the time was not going tohelp.

“It is time we recogniseModi’s work and what he didbetween 2014 and 2019 due towhich he was voted back topower by over “30 per cent ofthe electorate”, Ramesh hadsaid. He had also cited howsuccessful the Pradhan MantriUjjwala Yojana (PMUJ) hadturned out for the PrimeMinister.

Former president PranabMukherjee’s daughterSharmistha Mukherjee alsoagreed with Singhvi saying,“Very true sir. Nation building

is an ongoing process carriedon by successive Governments.Hope Mr Modi and team alsorealise this.”

“Instead of trying to dimin-ish Pandit Nehru they shouldaccept his and Congress’simmense contribution andcarry it forward. Criticismsshould be on policies, not per-sonalities,” she said.

Countering Ramesh, for-mer Union Minister andCongress veteran KK Tewarysaid some “self propagating”leaders in the Congress had“hijacked” the party and weremaking all kinds of commentsthat were not in the interest ofthe party.

“Some self-propagatingleaders in the party, who neverfight elections and find a sanc-tuary in the Rajya Sabha, havehijacked the party,” he said.

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US officials have confirmedthat Israel was responsible

for the bombing of an Iranianweapons depot in Iraq lastmonth, an attack that wouldmark a significant escalation inIsrael’s years-long campaignagainst Iranian militaryentrenchment across theregion.

The confirmation comes asIsraeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu is strong-ly hinting that his country isbehind recent airstrikes thathave hit bases and munitionsdepot belonging to Iran-backedparamilitary forces operating inIraq.

The mystery attacks havenot been claimed by any sideand have left Iraqi officialsscrambling for a response,amid strong speculation thatIsrael may have been behindthem.

Earlier this week, thedeputy head of the Iraqi Shiitemilitias, known collectively asthe Popular MobilisationForces, openly accused Israeli

drones of carrying out theattacks, but ultimately blamedWashington and threatenedstrong retaliation for any futureattack.

Such attacks are potential-ly destabilizing for Iraq and itsfragile Government, which hasstruggled to remain neutralamid growing tensions betweenthe United States and Iran.

There have been at leastthree explosions at Iraqi Shiitemilitia bases in the past month.American officials now con-firm Israel was responsible forat least one of them.

Two American officials

said Israel carried out an attackon an Iranian weapons depot inJuly that killed two Iranian mil-itary commanders. The U.S.Officials spoke on condition ofanonymity because they werenot authorized to discuss thematter with the media.

The July 19 attack struck amilitia base in Amirli, in Iraq’snorthern Salaheddin province,causing a huge explosion andfire.

A senior official with theShiite militias at the time toldThe Associated Press that thebase hit housed advisers fromIran and Lebanon — a refer-

ence to the Iranian-backedLebanese Hezbollah group. Hesaid the attack targeted theheadquarters of the advisersand a weapons depot.

On August 12, a massiveexplosion at the al-Saqr mili-tary base near Baghdad shookthe capital, killing one civilianand wounding 28 others. Thebase housed a weapons depotfor the Iraqi federal police andthe PMF.

The most recent of theexplosions came Tuesday night,at a munitions depot north ofBaghdad.

There have been weeks ofspeculation in Israel that thearmy is attacking targets inIraq.

In an interview with aRussian-language TV stationon Thursday, Netanyahu indi-cated the speculation is true.

“I don’t give Iran immuni-ty anywhere,” he said, accusingthe Iranians of trying to estab-lish bases “against us every-where,” including Syria,Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.

Asked whether that meansIsrael is operating in Iraq,

Netanyahu said: “We act inmany arenas against a countrythat desires to annihilate us. Ofcourse I gave the security forcesa free hand and the instructionto do what is needed to thwartthese plans of Iran.”

Early Friday, the New YorkTimes, citing Israeli and U.S.Officials, reported that Israelbombed an Iranian weaponsdepot in Iraq last month.

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Sri Lanka has ended the four-month-long state of emer-

gency imposed in the countryfollowing the Easter Sundayattacks that claimed 258 lives.

Officials sources said agovernment gazette whichshould have been issued onThursday to extend the state ofemergency by a further monthwas not issued.

“The president did notissue the gazette to extendemergency,” they said.

President MaithripalaSirisena has been extending theemergency through a gazettenotification every month sincethe bombings on April 21.

Sri Lanka initially imposedthe emergency on April 23 tocrack down on the nine suicidebombers who attacked threechurches and as many luxuryhotels, killing 258 people andinjuring 500 others.

The ISIS terror groupclaimed the attacks, but thegovernment blamed the localIslamist extremist group

National Thawheed Jammath(NTJ) for the Ester Sundaybombings.

The state of emergencygives sweeping powers to thesecurity forces to arrest anddetain people in the aftermathof the attack.

Over 1,000 people werearrested for their links to theNTJ, including five people whowere extradited from SaudiArabia.

The tourism industry hasbeen lobbying extensively to liftthe state of emergency as it sawa surge in tourist cancella-tions.

The government initiatedseveral high level probes toinvestigate the security lapseswhich led to the attacks despiteprior intelligence warnings.

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The fires raging in theAmazon rainforest amount

to an “acute emergency” andChancellor Angela Merkelbelieves it should be discussed byworld leaders when they meet forthis weekend’s G7 summit, herspokesman said on Friday.

“The extent of the fires inthe Amazon area is shockingand threatening and not onlyfor Brazil and the other affect-ed countries, but also for thewhole world,” Steffen Seiberttold journalists in Berlin.

“When the G7 comestogether this weekend, thenthe chancellor is convinced

that this acute emergency of theAmazon rainforest belongs onthe agenda,” added Seibert,saying that Merkel backs FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macron’scall on the G7 to address theissue at the summit in Biarritz.

Macron’s bid at rallyingworld leaders on the issue hadbeen immediately blasted byBrazilian President JairBolsonaro, who accused the G7summit host of having a “colo-nialist mentality”.

Bolsonaro is facing grow-ing criticism over his anti-environment rhetoric, whichactivists blame for embolden-ing loggers, miners and farm-ers in the Amazon.

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Russian President VladimirPutin said on Friday he has

ordered the military to preparea “symmetric response” afterWashington tested a formerlybanned missile.

Putin said he had orderedan analysis of “the level ofthreat for our country createdby the actions of the US and totake comprehensive measuresto prepare a symmetricresponse”.

The US Department ofDefense said Monday it hadtested a type of ground-launched missile that wasbanned under the 1987 INFagreement, which limited theuse of nuclear and conventional

medium-range weapons.Moscow and Washington

ripped up the pact early thismonth after several months ofaccusing one another ofbreaching its conditions.

Russia and China haveboth warned that Sunday’slaunch of the nuclear-capableTomahawk cruise missile witha MK-41 launcher had height-ened military tensions andrisked sparking a new armsrace.

Tokyo: Japanese PrimeMinister Shinzo Abe said SouthKorea’s decision to cancel a dealto share military intelligence,mainly on North Korea, isdamaging mutual trust andvowed Friday to work closelywith the US for regional peace.

Abe also accused SouthKorea of not keeping pastpromises. The intelligenceagreement started in 2016.

“We will continue to close-ly coordinate with the US toensure regional peace andprosperity, as well as Japan’ssecurity,” he said ahead of hisdeparture for the Group ofSeven summit.

South Korea announcedThursday it would terminatethe intelligence deal becauseTokyo’s decision to downgradeSouth Korea’s preferential tradestatus had caused a “grave”change in the security cooper-ation between the countries.AP

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Malta says it will disembark356 migrants aboard a

humanitarian ship in the cen-tral Mediterranean Sea after sixEuropean countries agreed toaccept all of them.

In a series of tweets Friday,Maltese Prime Minister JosephMuscat said the migrants willbe transferred from the OceanViking to vessels of the coun-try’s armed forces before takingthem on shore.

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China and Pakistan were tar-geted for their persecution

of religious minorities, withwestern powers such the US andUK calling out both nations ata UN Security Council meetingfor the oppression faced byChristians, Ahmadis, Uighursand other ethnic minorities.

The Arria-FormulaMeeting of the SecurityCouncil on ‘Advancing theSafety and Security of PersonsBelonging to Religious

Minorities in Armed Conflict’was organised by Poland, theCouncil President for August,to mark the first InternationalDay Commemorating theVictims of Acts of ViolenceBased on Religion or Belief.

Addressing the meeting,US Ambassador at Large forInternational ReligiousFreedom Samuel Brownbackon Thursday said religiousfreedom is essential for achieving peace and stabilitywithin nations and amongnations.

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Ablast from a homemadebomb killed one Israeli

and seriously wounded two ofher family members in anattack near a Jewish settlementin the occupied West Bank onFriday, officials said. Israelisecurity forces were deployedthroughout the area of theattack near the settlement ofDolev, northwest of Ramallah,in a search for suspects.

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Forces loyal to Yemen’s inter-nationally recognised

Government have taken fullcontrol of a key southern cityafter overnight clashes withseparatists there, Yemeni secu-rity officials said on Friday.

Clashes over Ataq, the cap-ital of oil-rich Shabwa provinceerupted late Thursday nightand lasted until Friday morn-ing, said the security officials,speaking on condition ofanonymity because there werenot authorised to talk to themedia.

The city of Ataq was pre-viously divided between thegovernment forces of Saudi-backed President Abed RabboMansour Hadi and a sepa-ratist militia, trained and armed by the United ArabEmirates.

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Page 6: RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ......(POS) installed at 13 RFID toll plazas. Additional six points have been set up in satellite towns of UP and Haryana.

In a democracy, citizens enjoy the priv-ilege of casting their vote to elect rep-resentatives. In India, we elect leadersright from the panchayat level to theParliament. The right to vote is prized

and all of us are taught about it in our schoolsand universities. We are also reminded aboutthis by politicians of all hues before every elec-tion. It is also a well-established fact that theIndian voter is far more mature now andknows about the “power” of his/her vote. Thiswas proved beyond any doubt to one and all— nationally and internationally — in 1977when the citizens unseated Indira Gandhifrom her traditional family fiefdom in UttarPradesh and simultaneously threw her out ofpower at the national level by decimating herpolitical party. A very interesting interlude fol-lowed her defeat. People had high hopes fromthe next Government as it was supposed towork under the astute guidance of JayaprakashNarayan. Those, who inherited power, couldnot manage the Government. They wereassessed unfit by the people and IndiraGandhi was brought back to power withinthree years. People not only pardoned her butalso taught a lesson to those who could notrise above petty personal feuds as they hadnot “learnt to live and work together.” All this,experts say, is the essence of democracy.

Democracy shines when a humble per-son, setting aside all his/her woes, concernsand stress of providing the next meal, entersthe polling booth and puts his/her finger onthe EVM button. Who can read or visualisewhat clouds their minds in the shape of a bet-ter tomorrow for him/her, the family and forthe little world that deserves outside supporton many counts. The voter is still far from thepromises made in the Constitution of India.One more election opportunity and expec-tations soar again. The Indian voter has alsowitnessed how elected representatives haveoften let them down on several counts. Mostof them vanish for five years, take more inter-est in their own welfare than that of the elec-torate, show little concern and connectivityto their electors, give no dignity to them andafter five years, return with folded hands,pleading for “one more chance.” But if oneweighs the performance of elected represen-tatives on Gandhian expectations, one wouldmostly be disappointed.

Winston Churchill never expected thatIndia could manage its independence. He wasconvinced that Indians were unfit to governthemselves and, hence, the British had to stayon to look after them. It was not easy for himor those of his ilk to see beyond the cobwebsof the much-publicised altruistic perceptionthat the British essentially travelled to Indiato “salvage the souls of the savages.” One couldclaim with a sense of pride and achievementthat whether Churchill liked it or not, Indiahas established its credentials in “how to makeits democracy operational in its minutestnuances.” We could do it as it was not newto democratic practices of governance.

The Ganrajyas of Licchavi and Vaishaliare well-known historical instances. Even atthat time, education for preparing young ones

with a focus on “lot learn to livetogether” began in joint familiesthat accommodated four gener-ations under one roof. It was alsoa ground to teaching them torespect different viewpoints andaccommodate the likes and dis-likes of everyone. Respect fordiversity and the realisation howessential it was, were inherent inthe Indian tradition. Indian cul-ture prepares its children for aduty-bound society that respectsrelationships within the familyand beyond.

It will be worthwhile toremember what Churchill said:“Democracy is the worst form ofGovernment, except for all oth-ers”, which invites learned andinformed deliberations even now.He viewed democratic politicsnot only as an “insurance” forfuture, against external dangers,but also against threats “scarce-ly less grave and much more nearand constant” that threaten us all.India, like every other function-al and dynamic democracy, mustremain conscious of the dangersto its democracy that are emerg-ing within the system from thevery functionaries that areentrusted with the task of sustain-ing and strengthening democra-tic values.

We are all aware how tradi-tional democratic values haveconfronted difficult situationsin the era of globalisation andcommercialisation. They standovershadowed by emergingmaterialist values. On severaloccasions, elected representa-

tives, including those holdingpositions of greater politicalpower, find it difficult to main-tain the right balance betweenIndian perception of democrat-ic public life and the lure of powerand pelf — glamour and glitz ina globalised free-market world.

The chinks emerging in theIndian democracy are not unex-pected. Mahatma Gandhi couldenvision in April 24, 1922, that“As we become independent, allthe defects of the system of elec-tions, injustice, the tyranny of thericher classes as also the burdenof running administration, arebound to come upon us. Peoplewould begin to feel that duringthose days, there was more jus-tice, better administration andpeace and there was honesty toa great extent among the admin-istrators compared to the daysafter Independence.”

When I came across this partof Gandhian writing some fourdecades ago, my simplistic queryto eminent Gandhian personal-ities was: How could Gandhijicultivate such serious apprehen-sions about elections when wehad no such experience in India?They were kind enough toenlighten me that Gandhiji hadstudied the British election sys-tem in-depth and could visualisewhat impact the taste of powerproduces on the majority ofelected representatives.

Having elected 17Parliaments and innumerableState Assemblies, district andpanchayat level bodies, the Indian

voter has seen it all. They are wor-ried and are struggling with theincreasing erosion of credibilityof elected representatives, whounfortunately — exceptions apart— could not live up to expecta-tions. They have seen how rep-resentatives coming from hum-ble backgrounds become bil-lionaires. They know for sure thattheir Minister, Chief Minister orDeputy Chief Minister couldspend anywhere from �5 crore to�50 crore to refurbish their offi-cial bungalows. Former ChiefMinisters are given huge bunga-lows for life with support staff.When the High Court ruledagainst this practice, the MadhyaPradesh Government found anew way to bypass the court’sorders. Using discretionary quota,it reallotted the same houses.Such instances could be aplenty.

The youth of today mayfind it difficult to believe that themembers of the ConstituentAssembly did not get any salary,let alone pension. They got anallowance of �45 per day for thedays of sitting. And they were theones who got it reduced to �40per day in consideration of thetough economic condition of thecountry.

An eminent expert on thenuances of parliamentarydemocracy and an internation-ally acknowledged scholar andauthor of Our Constitution,Subhash Kashyap brilliantlyanalysed the “rise” of the Indianparliamentarian at the nation-al level in his latest outstanding

treatise, State of the Nation:Democracy Governance andParliament. Members of theConstituent Assembly weremostly freedom fighters andmen and women knownthroughout the length andbreadth of the country for thesacrifices they made. Theyworked tirelessly to give Indiaits Constitution. They gavethemselves a sitting allowanceof �40 per day. Contrast thiswith their successors. Thesalaries and allowances ofMembers of Parliament Act,1954, fixed a salary of �400 permonth for an MP and a dailyallowance of �21.

After this, there have been29 upward revisions to the Act.There were members, whoseconscience was pricked but theirviewpoint was overlooked by themajority. Nanaji Deshmukh wasone such exception. He raisedthis issue in 2004 and pointedout that “salaries and allowancesof members had gone up 90times during the first 50 years”.But his words made no impact.These upward revisions invari-ably got a full-throated fast-trackapproval from the MPs. Kashyapdescribes the position in itstotality: “At a time when thesalary of a member was only�12,000 per month, Nanaji hadestimated that the direct month-ly expenditure on an MP was atleast �3 lakh per month. Himselfan MP, he knew first hand. Onthat basis, the present monthlycost of an MP must work outclose to �10 or15 lakh permonth or more, which could befew hundred times the per capi-ta income of an Indian.”

Whenever issues related toMPs or State legislatures comeup during discussions, I aminvariably reminded of theGandhian vision that defects ofelections would weigh heavilyon our people. The resilience ofelectors in democracy may haveits upper limits. It is publicknowledge that each candidateis supposed to submit a detailedstatement of the expenditureincurred during election cam-paigns. They also know that itshould always be within the lim-its prescribed by the ElectionCommission of India.

Every Indian voter would bewilling to say “every one spendsmuch more than what they claimto have spent”, exceptions apart.Is this situation acceptable? Maybe, someday, some young elect-ed representative will launch acampaign against this routinepractice and be hailed as a “hero”striving to restore democratic val-ues. This could be done by someyoung person, who remains hon-est, humble and humane as therepresentative of people.

(The writer is the IndianRepresentative on the ExecutiveBoard of UNESCO)

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Chidambaram in a spot”(August 22). Hitherto, hardenedcriminals were known only toplay a cat-and-mouse game withthe law enforcement agencies.Now, a leading politician, who notlong ago was India’s HomeMinister, P Chidambaram, wasallegedly running away from thelaw. But the spectacle surround-ing him finally climaxed with hisarrest by sleuths who hopped overhis plush bungalow’s walls to getto him.

Meanwhile, it is ironical thatChidambaram used to taunt theGovernment how the likes ofVijay Mallya and Nirav Modimanaged to evade the authoritiesand flee abroad. Now, it is theGovernment’s turn to ask himhow he could manage to send theCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI) and the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on a wild goosechase.

While politicians are knownto have gotten away with murdergiven their ability to “influence”witnesses, the case againstChidambaram appears to be rel-atively watertight. A key accused

in the INX Media case, firmdirector Indrani Mukerjea hasdeposed against Chidambaramand his son Karti for floutingrules for approval of up to 26 percent foreign investment in hercompany. The reaction ofOpposition parties was on expect-ed lines.

JS AcharyaHyderabad

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Chidambaram in a spot”(August 22). The spectacle,where officials from the CBI andED arrested former FinanceMinister P Chidambaram fromhis residence, has raised seriousquestions about the conduct of

the investigative agencies.Officials scaled the walls of hisJorbagh residence to arrest him.In a def iant mode,Chidambaram, who is accusedof money laundering and receiv-ing kickbacks in the INX Mediacase, put up a strong defence ofhimself and his family members,saying none of them have beenaccused of any offence by the

probe agencies. Perhaps, it’s best to leave the

matter to the courts. No person,even if he/she has held or isholding a high office, is abovethe law. The investigative agen-cies as well as the courts mustnow follow due processes andensure transparency in the case.

TK NandananChennai

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Sir — It is surprising that despiteIndia having made it amplyclear that no third party inter-vention is needed as far asresolving the Kashmir issue isconcerned, US President DonaldTrump has again offered assistance. He may have therequisite skills to convert a busi-ness deal but when it comes toresolving intractable issuesbetween sovereign countries,it’s a different matter altogether.His negotiations with Kim Jong-un is an example. They haveyielding no results.

ManishaVia email

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When we flip through the world’s busi-ness history, we find that all large mer-cantile communities were great patrons

of the art of philanthropy. They regarded it adivine tradition. The world today is witnessinga growing realisation in enterprises of theimportance of altruism. Hence, a great deal ofmoney has been flowing into the social sector.Like individual citizens who have moral andsocial responsibilities, businesses are being per-ceived as corporate citizens who need to com-mit time, talent and resources for welfare of soci-ety as they draw their sustenance from it. Thisidea has now been corporatised under the appel-lation, Corporate Social Responsibility, betterknown as CSR.

A social responsibility: CSR is a conceptwhereby firms integrate social and environmen-tal concerns into their business operations andis generally understood to be a tool for achiev-ing a balance between economic, environmen-tal and social imperatives, while addressingexpectations of shareholders and stakeholders.

In the global economy, stakeholders includecustomers, suppliers, employees, communities,and financiers — shareholders, bondholders plusbanks and other sources of capital — and theyare all intertwined

CSR is a very broad concept that aims atmanaging a business in a way that it contributestowards sustainable development by deliveringsocial, economic and environmental benefits toall stakeholders. It addresses issues like humanrights, corporate governance, health and safe-ty, environmental effects, working conditionsand contribution to economic development.Whatever the definition is, the purpose of CSRis to drive change towards sustainability.

We are seeing the emergence of a new cropof mega donors who are upending long-estab-lished norms in philanthropy. Not only are theyincreasingly willing to take on hot-button socialand political issues, they also have a problem-solving and impact-making mindset. CSR is nowbeing recognised as a critical component to anorganisation’s values, its operating ethos, its busi-ness strategies and its purpose. Businesses arebeing measured on financial and social metrics.

CSR is often used interchangeably forCorporate Citizenship and is also linked to theconcept of Triple Bottom Line Reporting(financial, social and environmental), which isused as a framework for measuring an organi-sation’s performance against economic, socialand environmental parameters. In essence,CSR is about building sustainable businesses,which need healthy economies, markets andcommunities.

Over the years there have been many voic-es within the business community who believethat companies must break out of convention-al preoccupation with profit and do more toaddress the world’s pressing social needs. Thechorus has been joined by leaders from civil soci-ety, governments, policy think tanks and worldbodies on education, health and rehabilitation.Business leadership has acknowledged thedemand for enlarged corporate responsibility inways which can reflect a profound attitudinalchange individually and collectively.

It is now widely acknowledged that CSR

should be a critical component to an organisa-tion’s operating ethos, its values, and its purpose.CSR existed earlier also, however, well-mean-ing but inappropriate programmes were foist-ed on communities without any dialogue. Thatwas replaced by the writing of blank cheques tofavoured groups, often without an accompany-ing structure. Today, however, enlightenedcompanies engage in extensive dialogue andplanning and are forming partnerships with gov-ernments, NGOs and communities to push awider and deeper agenda.

For a long time, the general sentiment wasthat for businesses, earning a profit should takeprecedence over ideals like acting responsiblyand ethically. Even today, many companies arepaying just lip service.

A legal mandate: India is the first countryto mandate that firms expend at least 2 per centof their net profits on special development pro-jects. Its unique law, Corporate SocialResponsibility Rules in the Companies Act, 2013,came into effect on April 1, 2014.

However, there is a crucial differencebetween the way CSR is implemented in theWest and in India. A generally accepted goldstandard for CSR in the Western world is thatit must be closely integrated with a firm’s busi-ness strategy so that the programmes create ashared value for the company’s shareholders. InIndia, this linkage is explicitly prohibited forCSR; the focus is restricted solely to contribu-tion towards societal welfare.

Experience the world over shows that CSRis more socially relevant when it is driven byaltruistic motives rather than being a mandat-ed policy commanding philanthropy. It is verydifficult to legislate since moral obligations haveto be inculcated, not legislated. Laws can set theminimum standards, but they cannot create anenvironment or ambience for a philanthropicmindset. This is why we see marked aberrationsin the CSR agenda of most corporations. Manybusinesses harbour a variety of secondary aims

and often use CSR for boosting their social pro-file and business markets. Such lack of well-intentioned commitment has been detrimentalto this noble philosophy.

Companies are trying to dress up CSR as abusiness discipline and expecting that every ini-tiative deliver business results. That is asking toomuch of CSR and distracts from what must beits main goal: to align a company’s social andenvironmental activities with its business pur-pose and values. If in doing so, CSR activitiesenhance reputation, mitigate risks and contributeto business results, it is acceptable. But for manyCSR programmes, those outcomes are becom-ing a spillover, not their reason for being.

Challenges for socially responsible com-panies: It is true that since there are so manycauses competing for attention, it may not bepossible for organisations to have a universal-ly inclusive mission. Studies suggest that char-ity leaders have a geographic bias with corpo-rations homing in on projects closer to theirheadquarters. Consequently, more remoteregions where development aid is acutely need-ed are being ignored. Politics can also skew pri-orities, with companies looking to gain politi-cal goodwill by funding government-led projectsrather than initiating more socially relevant ini-tiatives which are thirsty for funds.

Even as annual CSR expenditure is on therise, the impact on the ground remains a mat-ter of debate. CSR has usually been peripheralin most organisations and it is not woven intothe texture of business. Further, it is not alwaysnecessarily transparent or mission-oriented. Itmay be used for enhancing the brand reputa-tion or to provide a cover of moral counterbal-ance for brushing off a besmirched public imageor for camouflaging dark acts. There is alwaysa creative tension between social mission andbusiness goals.

Moreover, a significant amount of any CSRexpenditure comes with strings attached. Thereare terms that dictate exactly where and how

funds must be used. While this may be appro-priate in some cases, it reflects a serious lack oftrust in the non-profit entities and hinders theirability to operate effectively. When donors insistthat their money should go exclusively to thepeople served, there is not enough money leftfor the non-profit entities to focus on buildingtheir own organisations. They are, therefore,unable to invest in talent, technology, systems,or reporting. Reporting requirements are oftenan onerous administrative burden on these smallorganisations which have to devote their scarceskills to educated, English-speaking personnelfor writing reports for the donors rather thanrunning the programmes.

These development agents are the right con-duits for reaching the deeper backwaters whichhave tougher geographical terrains and are cen-tres of social schisms and extremist ideologies.In such regions donors also need to go beyondthe sacred trimurti—sustainability, replicabili-ty and scalability —which should be restrictedto mainland organisations. Too much insistenceon technicalities leaves genuine developmentwork out of the CSR net. A worm’s eye view isas critical as a bird’s eye view to ensure that pro-jects deliver visible and lasting outcomes andleave a larger and lasting imprint.

A more important aspect of CSR thatneeds greater attention is the need for embed-ding CSR values in employees. It is only whenemployees align their social philosophy with thatof their employers that the real benefits of CSRcan materialize. A sincerely and honestly prac-ticed charity always delivers rich dividends inthe long run. That is the lesson we learn fromboth philosophers and business leaders. It is wiseto remind ourselves again of the advice of HenryFord, “A business absolutely devoted to servicewill have only one worry about profits. They willbe embarrassingly large.”

(The writer is Member, NITI Aayog’s NationalCommittee on Financial Literacy and Inclusionfor Women)

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As digital marketing becomesincreasingly important for busi-nesses, they need to start think-

ing about stepping up their strategiesby going beyond conventional SearchEngine Optimization (SEO) tech-niques.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), holdsthe key to the future of digital market-ing. When Google unveiledRankBrain in 2015, users noticed thatthe results to their queries in the searchengine became more useful and rel-evant. The algorithm, which uses AIto analyse and respond to user querieslike a human being would, alsoreturns identical questions asked byother users. With the ability to collect,analyse and learn from data, AI has the

potential to transform your digitalstrategy.

So what exactly is AI? A simplis-tic explanation is that AI is a branchof computer science that deals withbuilding intelligent machines thatcan think and respond like a humanbeing. The trailblazing English math-ematician, Alan Turing, proposedthe Turing test in 1950 to determinethe intelligence of computers and iden-tify if a computer can achieve human-level performance in cognitive tasksthat are sophisticated enough to foolan interrogator.

Although no AI programme hascome close to passing the undilutedTuring test, cognitive and computerscientist John McCarthy observedthat Turing’s philosophy of AI isunlikely to have an effect on the prac-tice of AI research, which has grownby leaps and bounds in the last twodecades.

This brings us to the question ofhow an enterprise can use AI to mar-ket its business. The fact remains thata fifth of all the searches done usingGoogle are voice based. It’s a big num-ber, and digital marketers should

understand its significance and startplanning their marketing strategies tooptimise websites to make the mostuse of voice search, along with tradi-tional text search.

Some of the ways in which digi-tal marketing can be pumped up usingAI are predicting customer behavior,using Accelerated Mobile Pages(AMPs) to reduce load time and AIchatbots to enhance user experience.

Let’s look at how AI helps in pre-dicting customer behaviour.Advancements in predictive analyticsallow marketers to extract more infor-mation from data, and use it to pre-

dict the behavior of customers. Theycan then apply cluster models to groupthem and predict purchase trends.Predictive analysis also helps the salesand marketing divisions with leadscoring, making it possible to scoreleads based on their readiness to pur-chase. Businesses can upsell andcross-sell based on existing data.

If your website’s mobile browserpages are not loading quickly, it canspoil the user experience. That’s whereAMPs come in. The AMP plugin takesweb pages and makes them load fasterby stripping them down to the basics.RankBrain has enabled Google to

understand better what its users arelooking for, and AMP content auto-matically shows up in the top storiescarousel. If you are a business with anAMP page, then you have betterchances of showing up in the top threesearch results in Google.

A lot of businesses already usechatbots, making it possible for theuser to interact with the bot viainstant messaging.

The time is ripe for companiesto start using AI-based chatbots,which are significantly better. Theycan retain customer data, and cus-tomers do not have to repeat them-selves every time. They can handlemultiple customer requests at thesame time, eliminating the waittime. They can also track the pur-chase patterns of customers, allow-ing businesses to revamp their mar-keting strategy and boost sales.

Last, but not the least, companiesneed to scale up content marketing.Content marketing refers to the prac-tice of marketing a brand or a busi-ness by sharing educational, insight-ful, or entertaining articles that addvalue to the lives of readers. Research

has shown that the strategy is moreeffective in attracting and retainingcustomers as it isn’t purely promotion-al. The Natural Language Generation(NLG) engine, Wordsmith, was ableto create more than a billion humansounding articles in 2016. AlthoughAI is still not advanced enough towrite natural sounding articles onevery topic, it is still useful for data dri-ven content such as quarterly reports,market data, and sport matches. Oncethe content is ready, you can scale itup with an influencer marketing plat-form to ensure that it reaches the tar-get audience.

Embracing AI technologies willbenefit your digital marketing strate-gy in many ways. AI will not replacethe jobs of advertisers and marketers,but help them unleash their creativeand strategic potential. Business own-ers need to identify the roadblocksfaced by their marketing campaign orcompany and use insights derivedfrom AI-based marketing to solve theissues.

(The writer is founder, CEO andsearch scientist at a leading AI-powereddigital marketing firm)

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After failing on the diplo-matic front, Pakistan is

bent upon escalating tensionsalong the Line of Control inJammu & Kashmir.

On Friday, Pakistan Armyinitiated 'unprovoked' ceasefireviolation in which one IndianArmy jawan attained martyr-dom in Nowshera sector offrontier Rajouri district.Pakistan Army is regularly tar-geting civilian pockets alongthe Line of Control to disturbpeace in the region.Traumatised local residentshave been staying back insidetheir houses to ensure theirsafety but are worried a lot ason going work on completionof bunkers, sanctioned by theUnion Government is going onat snails' pace.

Since August 17, threeIndian jawans and one civilianhave lost their lives in Pakistanfiring along the Line of Controlin frontier districts of Rajouriand Poonch.

Defence PRO in Jammu,Lt-Col Devender Anand said," Pakistan Army resorted tounprovoked ceasefire violationalong the Line of Control in

Nowshera sector of Rajouridistrict on Friday morning".

He said, in the exchange offire, Naik Rajib Thapa attainedmartyrdom". Hittingback,"Indian Army respondedstrongly and effectively.

Defence PRO claimed,"Heavy damage was caused toPakistan Army posts and casu-alties to Pakistan soldiers havebeen inflicted by the Indianarmy".

Defence PRO said,NaikRajib Thapa, aged 34 yearsbelonged to Village Mechpara,District Jalpaiguri, West Bengaland is survived by his wife,Khusbu Mangar Thapa.

Meanwhile, to take stock ofthe prevailing security situationon ground zero, Lt Gen RanbirSingh, Army Commander,

Northern Command, accom-panied by the White KnightCorps Commander, Lt GenParamjit Singh Sangha visitedforward bases in Poonch andAkhnoor Sector to review theoperational preparedness.

Defence PRO said, "Duringthe visit to the sectors, theArmy Commander was briefedby the commanders on pre-paredness of their formations".

Army Commanderexpressed satisfaction on mea-sures adopted to strengthencounter infiltration posturewith increased alertness anduse of high-end technology. Healso appreciated the aggressivedomination of Line of Controladopted to give befittingresponse to adversarie's CFVsand tactical actions.

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Peaceful protests after theFriday prayers in Soura area

of Srinagar have once againturned violent after a largenumber of local residentsattempted to block entry ofsecurity personnel via bylanesto quell their protests.

According to eyewitness’reports, "after the Fridayprayers, a large number of peo-ple started shouting pro-Azadislogans while passing throughthe streets of Soura area ofSrinagar". To contain them,when security forces attemptedto move in the area, theyoffered strong resistance andstarted pelting stones. Securityforces had to resort to the useof teargassing, pepper grenadesand pellet guns to contain theprotesters. It could not be ascer-tained how many protestersreceived injuries during theprotest demonstrations whichcontinued for about 2 hours inthe area.

According to unconfirmedreports, "large number of resi-dents in the area also joined thesmall group of protesters whowere pelting stones. Those whocould not step out of theirhouses registered their protestby beating empty utensils and

joining the chorus of anti-Indiaslogans".

A twitter handle of KashmirZone police late evening post-ed a message claiming, "situa-tion in the valley has beenpeaceful. No untoward incidentwas reported today".

Meanwhile, worshippersspread across different parts ofSrinagar and other districtheadquarters of Kashmir couldnot offer prayers for third weekin succession inside historicmosques in their respectiveareas. Only small gatherings of

worshippers was permitted invulnerable pockets in downtown areas of Srinagar.

Elaborate security arrange-ments were made to preventmass assembly of people inand around local mosques.Posters had also surfaced in

several areas, urging the localresidents to march towards theoffice of United Nations to reg-ister their protest peacefully.The security forces had raisedbarricades blocking all theroads leading to the office ofUnited Nations.

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Golaghat (Assam): An assis-tant sub- inspector of theBorder Security Force fromAssam and his wife weredeclared foreigners by a tri-bunal without their knowl-edge, his family claimed onFriday.

Muzibur Rahman, the BSFman who is now posted inPunjab, and his wife weredeclared foreigners by theJorhat Foreigners' Tribunal inDecember last year but thefamily was informed aboutthis only last month, theyclaimed.

Talking to reporters atMerapani in Golaghat district,Rahman's father Bapdhan Alisaid except the two, everyonein his family have been includ-ed in the National Register ofCitizens (NRC), the final ver-sion of which will be publishedon August 31.

"I request the governmentto take steps so that he contin-

ues to be an Indian," Ali told anews channel.

He claimed that their fam-ily members have legacy dataand land documents to estab-lish their Indian citizenship.

Ali said, "We are Indians.The name of every member ofmy family is in the NRC butnot of Muzibur who is workingin the BSF in the service of thenation, and his wife."

One person identified asthe lawyer of the family saidRahman was declared a 'D'(Doubtful) voter in July 2018 ofwhich he was not aware andthen the Foreigners' Tribunaldeclared him a 'foreigner' inDecember.

But he did not get anysummon to appear for hearingto present his case, the lawyerclaimed.

The family said their villageheadman informed them onJuly 29 that Rahaman and hiswife were summoned to pre-

sent themselves in the JorhatCircuit House.

As he was away in Punjab,his father and brother-in- lawwent there and they were toldby Government officials thatthe two were declared 'for-eigners' in December 2018.

"Probably those engaged in

the NRC updating exercisehave not done their duty prop-erly. We want an error-freeNRC and will always cooper-ate with the process. I urge thegovernment to ensure that gen-uine Indian citizens are notharassed," Rahman told thechannel over the phone from

Punjab.Earlier, Kargil war veteran

Mohammad Sanaullah andCentral Industrial SecurityForce jawan Mamud Ali werealso declared foreigners by theForeigners Tribunal.

Soon after the Sanaullahincident, Army chief Gen BipinRawat had said no jawan willbe allowed to face any diffi-culties if his name does notcome in the NRC and that theforce will extend all assistancein this regard.

Names of over 40 lakhpeople were not included in thecomplete draft of the NRCpublished last year.

Assam, which had faced aninflux of people fromBangladesh since the early 20thcentury, is the only state hav-ing an NRC which was firstprepared in 1951.

It is being updated nowunder the supervision of theSupreme Court. PTI

6)$� ���� ���)�+��������� ���������������*�� �Kota: Two women fell victim tothe outlawed custom of tripletalaq on the same day in thisdistrict with their husbandsallegedly divorcing them withthe oral diktat.

Kota's Waqf Nagar residentAnisa Khan on Thursday allegedher husband Usman, a residentof Nagar area in Bharatpur dis-trict, divorced her for not bring-ing more dowry and turned herout of her matrimonial home,said police.

In her complaint to Kota'sCity Superintendent of PoliceDeepak Bhargav, Khan said herhusband divorced her after rais-ing the demand and beating herup.

On the SP's direction, anFIR was lodged under theMuslim Women (Protection ofRights on Marriage) Act, 2019against Usman at the Dadabari

police station and the investi-gation was started, said SHOTarachand Bansiwal.

In the second case, a 55-year-old woman, Rehana allegedher husband Sarwar Ansari, aformer employee of Kota'sCommand Area Developmentproject, divorced her by utteringtalaq thrice earlier in the day.

On the woman's compliant,an FIR was registered at theKunhari police station. PTI

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat StateCommission for Women hasasked IAS officer Gaurav Dahiyato appear before it after receiv-ing a complaint from a Delhi-based woman who has accusedhim of bigamy and cheating.

Chairperson of the com-mission Leelaben Ankoliya saidon Friday that the summonswas issued two days ago.

"There is no response fromhim yet," she said.

She did not specify when hewas supposed to appear.

Meanwhile, the com-plainant woman, who had metAnkoliya on August 20 to makea representation, on Friday metGujarat Chief Secretary JNSingh in Gandhinagar.

Addressing a press conferencelater, she reiterated her demandof DNA test of her eight-month-old daughter to establish thatDahiya is her biological father.

Dahiya, a 2010-batchGujarat-cadre officer, was sus-pended by the state governmenton August 14 after the womanaccused him of marrying her in2018 by concealing the factthat he was already married.

"I have all the evidence toprove that Dahiya married meand we have a daughter togeth-er. If he claims he is innocent,he should come forward for aDNA test," she said.

Dahiya has denied that heevery married her, and accusedher of blackmailing him. PTI

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Jaipur: The fourth accused hasbeen arrested in connectionwith the lynching of RakbarKhan on the suspicion of cowsmuggling in Rajasthan's Alwardistrict last year, police said.

Vijay Kumar was caught inMurtikala colony of Jaipur onThursday and taken to Alwar.The fifth accused, Naval Kishore,is still absconding, police said.

The police have alreadyarrested Dharmendra Yadav,Paramjeet Singh and Naresh inconnection with the case andfiled a charge sheet againstthem.

Rakbar alias Akbar wasbeaten severely by a group ofpeople on suspicion of cowsmuggling in Alwar's Ramgarharea in July last year. On thenight of July 20, Khan and hisfriend, Aslam, had allegedlypurchased the cows fromLadpura village and were takingthem to their village in Haryanathrough a forested area nearLalawandi in Alwar when theaccused attacked them.

Aslam managed to flee, butan injured Akbar died at a hos-pital in Alwar. PTI

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Muzaffarnagar (UP): A casehas been registered hereagainst a dentist for allegedlygiving instant triple talaq to hiswife over dowry, police said onFriday. Saira Bano, a residentof Mustafabad village inMuzaffarnagar area, was giveninstant triple talaq by her hus-band in April 16 after thedowry demands were not met,according to a complaint.

A case was registeredagainst Tahir Hasan underthe Muslim Women(Protection of Rights onMarriage) Act at the NewMandi police station onThursday, the police said. Thecouple, who got married inDecember 2015, are dentistsand have a clinic in Deobandtown of Uttar Pradesh'sSaharanpur district. PTI

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Chennai: A group of advocateshas come out in support ofMadras high court judge JusticeS Vaidyanathan who recentlywithdrew his observation thatco-education in Christian insti-tutes was "highly unsafe" for thefuture of girl children and direct-ed the court registry to deletecontroversial paras in his order.

In a representation to theChief Justice, the Advocates ForReform, Chennai, comprisingabout 82 advocates, said while itis open to the legal fraternity tocriticise a judgment on its mer-its, lawyers cannot claim anyright to criticise judges in theirpersonal capacity for the pro-nouncements made by them inthe judgment.

A delegation of 64 lawyersled by senior advocate R Vaigaihad earlier submitted a repre-

sentation urging the chief justicenot to post any cases onChristian missionaries as well aswomen before JusticeVaidyanathan. The delegationhad also requested the chief jus-tice to counsel the judge to recallthe order and delete some moreparas in it. The Advocates ForReform said "When it is alwaysopen to to the aggrieved partiesto file an appeal if they areaggrieved by the judgment, theadvocates have no right todemand the judges to recall theorders passed by them."

Such "unwarranted criti-cism" of the judges for the viewstaken by them in the judg-ments would undermine theindependence of the judiciary,the representation said.

It would clearly amount togross interference in the admin-

istration of justice and "is anattempt to virtually browbeat thejudges for the judgments pro-nounced by them."

Senior advocate Vaigai hadon Wednesday made a mentionbefore the judge in the court tohear the case again for removalof some controversial paras inthe order. When the mattercame up on Thursday, the judgesaid, "The High Court Registryis directed to issue a fresh ordercopy after removing theexpunged paras."

The judge had made theobservations recently whenrefusing to quash a show-causenotice issued to a MadrasChristian College professor fac-ing sexual harassment chargefrom at least 34 girl students pur-suing third-year Zoology courseat the college. PTI

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Aday after its president RajThackeray was grilled by the

Enforcement Directorate offi-cials for more than eight hoursfor his alleged financial involve-ment in M/s Kohinoor CTNL,the MNS on Friday retaliated inan unusual manner by servinga “notice” on the ED for its fail-ure to put up a name board inMarathi in front of its BallardPier Office in south Mumbai.

In a tweet put out throughits official handle, the MNSstated: “The name boards ofGovernment departmentsshould be in Marathi. Perhaps,the ED office has forgotten it. Wehave made a complaint in thisregard to the district collector’soffice. We have sent a copy of thenotice to the ED office. Will theMarathi language departmentcompel the ED office to put itsname plate in Marathi?”.

Raj was grilled for more

than eight hours on Thursdayfor his financial involvement inM/s Kohinoor CTNL which isbeing investigated for allegedirregularities in the IL&FS’sloans-cum- investments case.

Raj, whose questioning bythe ED officials began around 12noon and continued till well past8 pm, emerged out of the EDoffice at around 8.15 pm onThursday.

Raj was responding to sum-mons issued to him last week inconnection with the invest-ments that he had made in M/s

Kohinoor CTNL, a companyfunded by former MaharashtraCM Manohar Joshi’s sonUnmesh Joshi.

After his questioning bythe ED in a loan default involv-ing M/s Kohinoor CTNL, Rajhad said that notwithstandingthe inquiry launched againsthim by the central investigatingagency, he would not shut hismouth but keep speaking againstthe Government.

“You may investigate me asmuch as you can, but I wouldnot shut my mouth. But, Iwould continue to speak (againstthe Government),” Raj had said.

The ED is investigating thealleged irregularities in theIL&FS’s loans and investmentsworth over �860 crore in M/sKohinoor CTNL.

M/s Kohinoor CTNL hasbeen under ED scanner forbeing a prominent defaulter ofIL&FS, amounting to an esti-mated �135 crore.

Unmesh along with sonalong with IL&FS and RajThackeray-owned MatoshreeConstruction had in 2005 joint-ly had made a bid and boughtfor the NTPC’s Kohinoor Mill’s4.8-acre property for �421 crore.

In 2008, the IL&FS renegedfrom the deal and surrenderedits shares for only �90 crore, asagainst an investment of �225crore made in M/s KohinoorCTNL. Following the IL &FS’sexit, Raj also exited from theventure after selling his shares.

In 2017, M/s KohinoorCTNL entered into an agree-ment to sell some commercialand residential properties inthe upcoming Kohinoor SquareTowers to IL&FS to settle out-standing of around �500 crorein loans. Following this, IL&FSextended another �100 crore toKohinoor CTNL on which itdefaulted. Jr Joshi’s company isnow under control of anothercompany.

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Lucknow: BSP presidentMayawati Friday appealed tothe Centre and the Delhi gov-ernment to find a way to recon-struct the Ravidas templewhich was demolished by theDelhi Development Authority(DDA) on the direction of theSupreme Court recently.

Mayawati's appeal came aday after a Delhi court sent BhimArmy chief ChandrashekharAzad and 95 others, arrested oncharges of rioting and unlawfulassembly following violentprotest in Tughlakabad area, to14-day judicial custody.

They were detained onWednesday night after theprotest against the demolitionof a Ravidas temple.

The BSP president, whohad distanced herself from theviolent Dalit protest in

Tughlakabad area, Fridayappealed to both the Centreand the Delhi Government tofind a way to reconstruct thetemple and asked followers ofSaint Ravidas not to take law intheir hands. "Making thedemand yet again from theCentral and Delhi govern-ments to find a middle path toexpedite the reconstruction ofthe temple with governmentexpenditure so that proper jus-tice can be done . It should beremembered that the BSP gov-ernment in UP had done manyhistorical works in honour ofSanit Ravidas," she tweeted. OnAugust 14, Mayawati had askedthe two Governments to find amiddle path to get the templeconstructed with their ownresources.

In another tweet, Mayawati

also appealed to the followersof Saint Ravidas not to take lawin their hands. "It is an appealto the followers of the great saintRavidasji that they should notget angry and take law in theirhands for reconstruction of theancient temple which wasdemolished in Tughlakabad,Delhi. The followers of SaintRavidasji should follow the legalway and path shown by TathagatGautam Budh to serve theirinterests," she said.

On Thursday, she had said,"The incidents of vandalismthat have taken place in Delhi,especially in Tughlakabad, areunfair and the BSP has nothingto do with it. The BSP alwaysrespects the Constitution andthe law. The struggles of theparty are carried out well with-in the ambit of law." PTI

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Vadodara: A lioness gave birthto four cubs, three females andone male, in a wildlife sanctuaryin Gujarat, but two of them diedlater, a forest official said onFriday.

The lioness, Sarita - kept atthe Barda Wildlife Sanctuary inPorbandar district under a liongene pool project - gave birth tothe cubs in the wee hours ofAugust 21, D T Vasavada, chiefconservator of forest(Saurashtra), told PTI over thephone. However, the male cuband one of the female cubs dieddue to weakness on Thursday, hesaid. "Sarita was found to beweak and was not in a positionto feed her newborn cubs for 12hours," Vasavada said.

Veterinary doctors and offi-cials from the Sakkarbaug Zooat Junagadh checked their health

and gave them powdered milk,he said. However, two of themcould not survive, the officialsaid, adding their carcasses havebeen sentto the zoo's hospital forpostmorterm.

The other two cubs are ingood health, he said.

The chief conservator offorest said this was secondtime in less than five monthsthat Sarita has given birth tocubs in the sanctuary. Thelioness had given birth to twocubs on April1, but both ofthem later died, Vasavada said.The sanctuary currently hastwo lions — Avon and Nagraj— and as many lionesses —Sarita and Parvati, he said.Sometime ago, Parvati had alsogiven birth to a cub which waslater shifted to the SakkarbaugZoo, Vasavada said. PTI

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Kolkata: At least three personswere killed and over 25 injuredin a stampede near a temple inWest Bengal's North 24Parganas district on Friday,Chief Minister MamataBanerjee said.

The mishap occured ataround 2.15 am near LoknathDham (temple) at Kachua,around 50 km from the city.

A senior police officer toldPTI that three persons havesuccumbed to injuries andanother three are in a very crit-ical condition and 10 critical-ly injured have been brought toKolkata for treatment.

The three dead have beenidentified as Aparna Sarkar,Tarun Mondal and PoornimaGorai, another senior officer ofWest Bengal Police said.

Lakhs of devotees gather atthe temple every year on thisday to celebrate the birthanniversary of Baba LokenathBrahmachari, an 18th centuryBengali saint who has follow-ers in West Bengal andBangladesh.

Banerjee, who rushed toNational Medical College andHospital in the city wheresome of the injured wereadmitted, told reporters thatthere was a large crowd at

Kachua Loknath temple thisyear and the devotees tried totake shelter in the makeshiftbamboo stalls lining the narrowapproach to it when it rainedheavily in the early hours.These bamboo structures col-lapsed after the heavy rain.

"In the rush to escape fromthe place, a few people fell intothe pond near the stalls. Thiscreated confusion leading to astampede-like situation there,"she said.

Senior ministers have beensent to Barasat Hospital, R GKar Medical College and ahospital at Basirhat, where the

injured are being treated, shesaid.

"The mishap at Kachua isunfortunate and tragic.Occurred after heavy rain. I vis-ited CNMC and SSKM hospi-tals to meet families of thedeceased and injured. Everydeath is a tragedy. But what wecan do is stand by the familiesin their moment of grief,"Banerjee tweeted.

She expressed her displea-sure over the existence of themakeshift bamboo and poly-thene stalls in the the narrowlane leading to the temple.

"They (shopowners) set up

stalls using bamboos and poly-thenes. You will not be able todrive them away because if youdo, it will lead to problems," shesaid.

The senior police officersaid that some pilgrims visitingthe temple in Basirhat policedistrict had slipped due to theslush caused by the heavy rains.

The police rescued themand took them to a health campat Kachua and then to a pri-mary health centre, he said.

"The situation was imme-diately brought under con-trol," he said.

Banerjee announced com-pensation of Rs five lakh to thenext of kin of those killed in themishap, �1 lakh to the critical-ly injured and �50,000 forthose with minor injuries.

State Food and SuppliesMinister Jyotipriya Mallickheld a meeting with the templeauthorities later in the day anda decision was taken to erecttwo entry and exit points to theshrine.

On the stalls, he said thesewere built by locals.

BJP state president DilipGhosh criticised the state gov-ernment for not setting upproper infrastructure to dealwith the rush of pilgrims and

demanded immediate probeinto the mishap.

"There is no point in (theCM's) running from one hos-pital to another now ... Whyshould the CM be going to hos-pitals? ... The state governmentshould have put properarrangements in place keepingin mind the huge turnout onthis occasion. There must be aninvestigation into the mishap,"Ghosh said.

The state government hadprovided adequate securitycover for the Haj pilgrims butwhen it came to providingsecurity and services for Hindupilgrims it turns indifferent. "Ithink there was some laxity inthe arrangements which led tothe loss of lives," he told news-men.

Alleging that the accidentoccured due to indifference andcasual approach of the stategovernment, he said had thestate government providedenough security cover the acci-dent could have been averted.

"We have no problems inHaj pilgrims getting securitycover. But it is absurd that onlyHaj pilgrims get it and otheramenities and the Hindu pil-grims are deprived of it," hesaid. PTI

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Mirzapur (UP): A video ofchildren being served salt androtis in their mid-day meal ata Government-run primaryschool here has gone viral onsocial media, prompting theCongress to attack the UttarPradesh Government.

The video is of SiyurPrimar y School underJamalpur block and it shows awoman distributing rotis andanother woman giving salt tochildren as the mid-day meal.Authorities suspended twoteachers, apparently in animmediate damage controlexercise.

It was shared widely onsocial media on Thursday.

Congress leader PriyankaGandhi Vadra hit out at theState Government on theissue, terming the incident"condemnable" and said thefacilities provided by it werebecoming very poor.

Basic Shiksha Adhikari(BSA) Pravin Kumar Tiwarisaid on Friday, "Report aboutthe incident was taken fromthe Block Shiksha Adhikari,Jamalpur, and two teachersfound to be prima facieresponsible were suspended."

Tiwari said instructionswere to provide the mid-daymeal as per the prescribedmenu and efforts are on toascertain whether seniorswere informed that salt androtis were being served.

Those who have been sus-pended are teacher inchargeMurari and Arvind KumarTripathi, he said, adding thatthe incident could be an out-come of a local rivalry.

Priyanka Gandhi, theCongress general secretary,tagged the video on Twitterwhich showed the children,sitting having roti and salt.

"Students are being servedsalt and rotis in mid-daymeals in a school in Mirzapur.This is the state of affairs of

BJP Government in UttarPradesh. The facilities pro-vided by the Government arebecoming poor and suchtreatment towards children ishighly condemnable," shesaid.

As per norms under theFlagship Nutrition Scheme,pulses, rice, rotis, vegetableswith fruits and milk on certaindays are to be served to school-going children to ensure nec-essary nutrition to them.

The mid-day meal schemeis designed to provide a min-imum of 450 calories perchild per day, which shouldinclude at least 12 grams ofprotein as well. These mealsshould be served to each childat least 200 days a year. PTI

Lucknow: Suheldev BhartiyaSamaj Party chief Om PrakashRajbhar on Friday metSamajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav here, ahead ofthe impending bypolls to 12Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Donning the trademarkyellow scarf associated with hisparty, Rajbhar, a former UP cab-inet minister, drove to the SPoffice and had a meeting withthe Yadav for over half-an-hour,but neither of the sides divulgedthe nature of the talks.

The Assembly by-electionsare due in 12 seats in UttarPradesh as sitting MLAs gotelected to the Lok Sabha in the2019 parliamentary polls.

The 2022 Assembly elec-tions in the state might havecropped up during the discus-sion between the two leaders,an SP leader said.

Rajbhars account foraround four per cent of the totalelectorate in the state. The

community has a sizablestrength in Azamgarh, Mau,Ghosi, Ballia, Salempur,Jaunpur, Lalganj Ghazipur,Deoria and some other seats inthe state.

Rajbhars constitute 20 percent of the Purvanchal popula-tion and are regarded as the sec-ond-most politically dominantcommunity after Yadavs in the

eastern UP.A leader from the Rajbhar

caste — Anil Rajbhar — waselevated as a cabinet ministerfrom minister of stat (indepen-dent charge) during theWednesday's reshuffle of the UPcouncil of ministers.

He was allocated theBackward Class Welfare andDivyangjan Empowerment

ministry -- a portfolio held byOm Prakash Rajbhar earlier.

The SBSP had won fourseats in the 2017 UP assemblyelections, though the partycould not open its account inthe 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Om Prakash Rajbhar wasdumped from the UP ministryby Chief Minister YogiAdityanath just a day after theLok Sabha polls ended for mak-ing embarrassing statementsagainst the BJP. PTI

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Mumbai: The MaharashtraGovernment said on Friday thatit has appointed experts to pre-sent its case before a local coun-cil which has sought to closedown a memorial of Dr BRAmbedkar in north London.

The Chief Minister's Office(CMO) said the Governmentwas taking all the steps toaddress the council's objections.

The Government hasappointed a solicitor and twoplanning experts to present itscase before the council, it said.

The matter will be heard bythe council authorities inSeptember, the CMO said in astatement.

Ambedkar House, a memo-rial of the Dalit icon, is part ofa four-storey residential build-ing at 10 King Henry's Road.

Dr Ambedkar had livedthere in 1921-22 during his stu-dent days at the London Schoolof Economics.

The local council recentlyrejected an application by theIndian authorities to convert theproperty into an official muse-um or memorial.

The property does not havethe permission to be used as amuseum and must be returnedto residential use, the councilofficer's report with reference tothe application said.

"Singhania & Co Solicitorshave been appointed to present

Maharashtra government'scase....Mr Steven GasztowiczQC and planning expert MrCharles Rose have been namedin the committee formed to pre-sent the government's case," theCMO statement said.

"...Efforts will be made at alllevels to complete the memori-al work addressing the issuesraised by the council," it added.

Leader of Opposition inthe Maharashtra Assembly VijayWadettiwar termed the Londoncouncil's decision as "unfortu-nate". "This structure which wasmade holy by Ambedkar's stayis a matter of faith for all. Thegovernment should speak to theUK government to ensure thatthe (building's) memorial tagremains intact," the Congressleader said. PTI

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Expressing his confidence thatthe BJP-Shiv Sena alliance

would recapture power inMaharashtra in the October2019 Assembly with a hugemajority, Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis said onFriday that if voted back topower, his Government wouldmake the State drought-free inthe next five years.

Talking to media persons atDhule in north Maharashtra,Fadnavis said: “During myMahajansandesh Yatra, the peo-ple are expressed confidence andlove in their our government. Iam confident that the rulingBJP-Shiv Sena alliance will get ahuge majority in the forthcom-ing Assembly polls under theleadership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. We will makeMaharashtra drought-free inthe next five years”.

Fadnavis, who launched thesecond phase of“Mahajansandesh Yatra” from

Dhule on Thursday, said:“During the first phase of theyatra, we reached out people in10 districts. During the yatra, weare experiencing overwhelmingresponse from the people. Wehad to suspend the first phase ofyatra owing the flood situationin western Maharshtra”.

“The people believe thatour government has workedfor their welfare and hence theywant us to come back to power.The popular mood is that onlyBJP led alliance should be inpower at the Centre and in thestate. Hence, under the leader-ship of Prime Minister NarendraModi, Mahayuti will get a hugepublic mandate in the stateagain. We will do more workthan we have done in the last fiveyears and will makeMaharashtra drought free,” thechief minister said.

Maintaining that SulwadeJamfal irrigation scheme wasvery important for solvingdrinking water crisis and takingcare of irrigation needs in Dhule

and Sindhkhed talukas ,Fadnavis said that the Centrehad allocated a fund of Rs 2400crore for this scheme. “By com-pleting various irrigation pro-jects alongwith this project, wewill make North Maharashtradrought free and prosperous in

the upcoming days,” he said.According to the chief min-

ister, 504 village water worksunder Jalyukt Shivar had beencompleted. “This year rainshave replenished the waterreserves sufficiently. In Dhuledistrict, 84,000 farmers have

received a loan waiver collec-tively amounting to �471 crore.Nearly 2.12 lakh farmers havebenefitted from PradhanmantriKisan Samman Yojna. One lakhwomen in the district have gotcooking gas connection underUjjwala Scheme”.

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Aday after entering a sub-middleclass household in

the beach town of Digha whereshe personally prepared tea forthe inmates as a part of her out-reach exercise, Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee hasscribbled a poem on what shecalls a “depressing state” ofIndian democracy.

In the poem titled “Thikana”or “Address” where the poetapparently labours hard to findout the lost address of democracythat India used to be, Banerjeewrites how the address ofdemocracy has become unrecog-nisable. Incidentally, the poemcame a day after the arrest of for-mer Union Home Minister PChidambaram.

Though the poet herself hasnot translated the lines intoEnglish, the basic import of theverse is somber as she sadlywrites how “cawing crows havegone dumb and how the spar-rows have stopped pecking at the

grains of rice.”The Chief Minister goes on

to rue how in a forlorn democ-racy “justice has been nimblycurdled like sour milk” won-dering why the “storm that hasrisen is not stopping.” Rights, thepoem says has been “crammedinto a sack” and those whoprotest are in jail.

Despondency creeps in thepoet’s mind even as she helplesslytries to find out her address (readthe address of democracy).“…Can’t find my address”though “everything around is sofamiliar” they seem much“unknown.”

And she ends with an appealsaying, “heart, find my address.”

Incidentally, the ChiefMinister had on Thursday react-ed to the arrest of former FinanceMinister P Chidambaram saying“I am depressed, I am sad” athow things have been done.Without delving much into thelegality of the senior Congressleader’s arrest she said “theprocess of his arrest is sad. It is

bad. It makes me depressed.”Hours after giving her reac-

tion the Chief Minister whoseown party colleagues includingsenior Trinamool leaders arefacing graft charges and CBIprobe wrote the poem.

Meanwhile, in an apparentbid to counter TrinamoolCongress’ reach-out measureslike “Didi ke Bolo” throughwhich the people are asked todial a specific number to let theChief Minister know about theirwoes for immediate reddressalthe State BJP has devised aseries of programmes called“Cha Chakra.”

State BJP president DilipGhosh on Friday said “we aregoing to launch Cha Chakra asa part of our mass outreach pro-gramme.” He said that earlieronly he used to involve people inCha Chakra through which thepeople were engaged in brief teasessions so that they could maketheir problems known. “Butnow the other leaders too willtake part in Cha Chakra.”

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Condemning the blacken-ing and glarlanding shoes

to Veer Savarkar’s bust,installed at the DelhiUniversity’s north campus,Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis on Friday said thatthe miscreants behind theincident would be prosecuted.

Talking to media personsat Dhule in northMaharashtra during the

course of his MahajansandeshYatra, Fadnavis said:“Swatantryaveer Savarkar wasthe Guru and inspiration ofmany revolutionaries. Thesacrif ices made by theSavarkar family for the inde-pendence of the country areunparalleled. They should berespected”.

“Those involved in theincident at Delhi University’snorth campus should cer-tainly be prosecuted. No one

should try to create the issueof law and order in this caseand disturb the social har-mony,” the chief ministersaid.

It may be recalled that apillar with busts of V DSavarkar, Bhagat Singh andSubhas Chandra Bose atopwere installed by the ABVP-led Delhi University Students’Union (DUSU) at theUniversity’s north campus onTuesday.

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Chief Post Master General ofMaharashtra Circle HC

Agrawal on Friday released aspecial postal cover to markthe completion of 130 years ofBandra railway station, in thepresence of Bollywood actorShah Rukh Khan.

Also present on the occa-sion were MaharashtraMinister for School EducationAsish Shelar, WesternRailway’s General Manager AK Gupta, senior Western

Railway, Postal departmentofficials and local corpora-tors.

Western Railway chiefspokesperson Ravinder Bhakarsaid that Bandra Railway sta-tion was notified as a grade Iheritage structure and “ it isone of the finest suburbanrailway stations of Mumbai”.

The century old railwaystation, an excellent architec-tural blend of Victorian Gothicand the Vernacular style,stands out as a prominentlandmark on its site.

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The security agencies onFriday beefed up security

both inside and outside theMumbai Airport, following asecurity breach on Thursdaywhen a ‘mentally ill’ personjumped over a wall and took astroll under a a Spicejet aircraft.

As the Spicejet flight SG-634 Boeing 737 aircraft waitedon the taxiway N1 to enter therunway for a take-off toBengaluru, passengers and crewof the aircraft and others noticedan unauthorized person movingaround on the ground below.

The man in question hadon Thursday afternoon scaledthe perimeter walls of theMumbai Airport, jumpeddown, strolled nonchalantlyaround 50-metres to the taxi-

way, looked at the engine,touched the huge wheels andwent around the undercarriageof the aircraft.

He waved at an airportjeep that reached the place tokeep an eye on him. However,the security personnel did notstep out of the vehicle to avoidgetting too close to the aircraftengine.

Not satisfied, the man inquestion walked to the tail-endof the aircraft. He was laterarrested by the security per-sonnel present, minutes after hecame on the scene. The incidentwas captured on CCTV camerasinstalled in the vicinity, whilesome passengers also shot theevent through mobile phones.

Upon questioning, theapprehended intruder told thesecurity personnel that he had

entered the restricted zone “onlyto see the airplane” at closequarters. He was later identifiedas a ‘mentally ill person aged 24years from Sion in north-centralMumbai. He had been caughtclaimbing atop a stationeryBEST bus at Sion.

His family members toldthe police that he indulged insuch questionable acts when hedoesn’t take his medicines ontime. He is suspected to haveentered the airport by climbingon the mobile toilets lining theairport wall.

The security breach involv-ing the “mentally-ill” personcame two weeks after theCentre’s stringent directives onsecurity matters in the wake ofthe scrapping of Article 370 ofthe Constitution which willremain in force till August 31.

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The rollback of enhancedsurcharge on foreign port-

folio investors is a shot in thearm for the sagging equitymarket and a sentiment boost-er for the Indian economy, ana-lysts said following announce-ment of a slew of measures bythe government.

The decision to levyenhanced surcharge,announced in the Budget, hadspooked the stock markets.

In a post-market confer-ence, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharamanannounced various measuresto prop up the slowing econ-omy.

Giving in to the demandsof overseas investors, the gov-ernment rolled back enhancedsurcharge on foreign portfolioinvestors levied in the Budget.

“Withdrawal of enhancedsurcharge on FPI, is a big pos-itive for Indian markets as itcould reverse the outflowsseen since post budget. Itshould also help INR appreci-ation. Overall a good senti-ment booster for the Indianeconomy,” Rusmik Oza, Headof Fundamental Research,Kotak securities said.

Surcharge on long andshort-term capital gains arisingfrom transfer of equity shareshas been withdrawn, the min-ister said.

“The measures are wideranging and include short termas well as long term remedies.Instant removal of FPI tax is avery short term measure with

long term impact,” BSE MDand CEO AshishkumarChauhan said.

The measures will lead toa change in trend and the out-flows from the equity marketwould be reversed, VKVijayakumar, Chief InvestmentStrategist, Geojit FinancialServices said.

“Withdrawal of the sur-charge on FPIs is a shot in thearm for the sagging market.One can now expect reversal ofthe FPI selling. The market islikely to look up from now on,”Vijayakumar said.

Mustafa Nadeem, CEO,Epic Research said this is a verypositive move for the market.

“The rollback of highersurcharge on FPI as well asdomestic investors is a wel-come move since it was one ofthe factors that put a lot of denton investors sentiment, specif-ically FII and FPIs,” Nadeemadded.

The government’s move isaimed at encouraging invest-ment in the capital market, thefinance minister said.

“These are just the kind ofmeasures which were requiredto boost the economy. In theimmediate term, we can expectthe markets to bounce back onMonday with a gap up open-ing, and continue the rally fora few sessions to come,” AmitGupta, Co-Founder and CEOTradingBells said.

However, AmitMaheshwari, Partner AshokMaheshwary & Associates LLPsaid that FPIs having businessincome would still be impact-

ed.“Surcharge will no more be

charged on short-term capitalgain (Section 111A) and long-term capital gain (Section112A) from the sale of listedequity shares and equity ori-ented mutual funds. However,surcharge chargeability willcontinue to impact the taxa-bility on the income fromderivatives and from unlistedshares,” he said.

“Also it has to be noted thatthis surcharge goes only forcapital gains generated on list-ed shares and not on unlistedshares,” he added.

The government alsounveiled various measures toaddress the slowdown in theauto sector.

The measures to supportauto sector include lifting banon purchase of vehicles bygovernment departments, andallowing additional 15 per centdepreciation on vehiclesacquired from now till March2020.

The revision of one-timeregistration fees has beendeferred till June 2020.

Garima Kapoor,Economist, Elara Capital saidthe main takeaway of today’sannouncements by the FinanceMinister is that they are aimedat restoring confidence andtackle the challenges of weakdemand.

“Withdrawal of surchargeon FPIs and domestic investorswould help in alleviating thetax burden on investors incapital markets. Likewise,quicker transmission of rate

cuts, faster recapitalisation ofbanks and external bench-marking of rates are likely toaid credit off take,” Kapooradded.

She further said that mostimportantly, recognition ofissues in the economy and themeasures to address them isitself a positive signal and willhelp ease concerns on growthslowdown.

“Finally the governmenthas taken measures to boostthe economy and also addressconcerns raised by the taxpayers and investors.Specifically to address theweakness in auto sector, thereare number of steps taken toprovide financing at lowerinterest rates and tax benefits.This should help the saggingauto sector,” Gaurav Dua,Senior VP, Head – CapitalMarket Strategy, Sharekhanby BNP Paribas noted.

Though this will aid thesentiments, it is too early totake a call on the impact of themeasures announced on con-sumer demand, corporateearnings and equity markets,he added.

“In an attempt to providea stimulus to the economy andin turn to the automobile sec-tor. Revision of one-time reg-istration fees deferred till June2020 — This according to us isa very important boost to thesector as this would have hada significant impact ondemand in the short term,”Ashwin Patil, Senior ResearchAnalyst (Auto Sector), LKPSecurities said.

��� (:&�;:,<

In a major relief to the MSMEsector facing liquidity short-

age, the government on Fridayannounced that all their pend-ing GST refunds will be paidwithin 30 days.

Also, in future, all GSTrefunds of micro, small andmedium enterprises (MSMEs)will be paid within 60 daysfrom the date of application,Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman said whileannouncing a slew of measuresto boost growth.

Reacting to the announce-ment, MSME Minister NitinGadkari said clearing GSTdues within 30 days will behighly beneficial for the MSMEsector and will also be instru-mental in increasing job oppor-tunities. The amount of pend-ing GST refunds owed toMSMEs is ‘significant’, he toldreporters here.

A top government officialsaid the average amount of GSTrefund related dues at anygiven point in time is aroundRs 7,000 crore. However, he didnot share the exact amount ofpending GST refunds forMSMEs.

“I would like to thankNirmala Sitharaman. The mea-

sures taken by her will be quitebeneficial for the MSME sec-tor,” Gadkari said.

In a tweet, he welcomedthe decisions taken by theFinance Minister and said “thiswill boost the MSME sectorand will be instrumental inincreasing job opportunities”.

The government wouldalso consider amending theMSME Act to move towards asingle definition.

Gadkari said this wasunder “serious consideration”and a decision will be taken inthe next 10-15 days.

Speaking earlier at a pressconference to announce mea-sures to boost growth,Sitharaman said the decision onrecommendations of the U KSinha Committee regarding easeof credit, marketing, technologyand delayed payments to MSMEswill be taken within 30 days.

She further said that to takeadvantage of liquidity with thepublic sector banks (PSBs) andlast mile customer connect ofNBFCs, the state-run lenderswill fast track collaborationfor loans to MSMEs.

The MSME sector, whichaccounts for about 29 per centof the gross domestic product(GDP), is one of the largest jobcreators in the country.

��� (:&�;:,<

The Government on Fridaysaid it will set up an inter-

ministerial task force to short-list infrastructure projects forits ambitious target of spendingRs 100 lakh crore in the sector.

Announcing a raft of mea-sures to boost the economy,Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman said the issue ofdelayed payments from centralpublic sector enterprises(CPSEs) to project developerswill be monitored by theDepartment of Expenditureand the entire process will be

reviewed by the CabinetSecretariat.

Regarding contractual dis-putes by government/CPSEs,the government has decided topay 75 per cent of the dueupfront, provided arbitration isin favour of the claimant.

On the government’s plansto invest �100 lakh crore fordeveloping modern infra-structure over five years,Sitharaman said “an inter-min-isterial task force is beingformed by Department ofEconomic Affairs to finalise thepipeline of infrastructure pro-jects.”

��� (:&�;:,<

India Inc on Friday cheeredthe slew of measures

announced by the Governmentencompassing a broad range ofsectors and said the impactfulinterventions will shore upconfidence and revive the ani-mal spirits in the economy thathad started showing signs of a‘deep slowdown’.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman said allpending GST refunds to micro,small and medium enterprisies(MSMEs) till date shall be paidwithin 30 days, while futurerefund matters will be sortedout within 60 days.

She also said that all old taxnotices will be decided byOctober 1 or will be uploadedagain through the centralisedsystem.

The finance minister alsoannounced withdrawal ofenhanced surcharge levied onFPIs, restoring the pre-Budgetposition.

“The most importantannouncement was theremoval of the surcharge onFPI & DI profits. Because thiswas strong evidence of a lis-tening capacity&the humility tocourse-correct. More than any-thing else, that should regen-

erate spirits,” Mahindra GroupChairman Anand Mahindratweeted.

He added that holding apress conference and announc-ing a slew of measures insteadof a ‘trickle of tweaks’ wassmart communication.

It garnered global attentionand signalled government’srecognition of the gravity of thesituation and an intent toreignite sentiment and growth,he said.

CII Director GeneralChandrajit Banerjee said the“excellent package” would helpthe economy to leapfrog to thenext level.

The Government alsoallowed an additional 15 percent depreciation on vehiclesacquired from now till March2020 and said it will come outwith a scrappage policy for oldvehicles.

It also said CSR rule viola-tions will only be treated as civilmatter and not as criminalmatter.

“While the increaseddepreciation from 15 per centto 30 per cent and deferment ofincreased registration fees tillJune 2020 will have a positiveimpact, moderation of GSTbase rate from 28 per cent to 18per cent for all categories asbeing requested by the auto

industry for sometime nowwould have been the realdemand stimulant!,” JaguarLand Rover India LimitedPresident and MD Rohit Surisaid.

Assocham President B KGoenka said it is clear that thegovernment is concerned withcurrent economic situation andadded that the industry willrespond very enthusiastically tothese praiseworthy moves.

Ficci President SandipSomany said the measures willgive a major boost to the econ-omy that had started showingsigns of a deep slowdown. Asthese measures take effect, weare sure that these will lift theconfidence of businesses andinvestors alike, he added.

“We thank FM Smt.@nsitharaman Ji for announc-ing key measures which willgive a boost to demand, indus-trial activity&overall growthof the Indian economy.Eagerly wait ing for theHousing industry announce-ments,” CREDAI ChairmanJaxay Shah tweeted.

PNB Housing FinanceManaging Director SanjayaGupta said the measures willsupport growth and ease liq-uidity crunch in the housingfinance sector.

Economists and experts

too said the announcementsmade by the government willhave a positive impact on theeconomy.

MS Mani, Partner atDeloitte India said expeditingGST refunds would signifi-cantly benefit businesses hav-ing refunds in improving theirworking capital in the shortterm.

“Removal of angel tax willgo a long way in buildingtrust and confidence in thestartups and the investors, andshows government’s resolvetowards ease of doing businessin India and encourage entre-preneurship,” Vikas Vasal,Partner & National Leader —Tax, Grant Thornton IndiaLLP said.

“The slacking economyand the slump in various sec-tors including automobiles,housing and MSMEs was agrave concern not just forindustry stakeholders but alsofor the government.

“In a major boost to theslowing economy that comesliterally in the nick of time, theFM today has hit a sixer witha slew of announcements forthe banking and financial sec-tor including NBFCs, HFCsand even MSMEs,” ANAROCKProperty ConsultantsChairman Anuj Puri said.

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�# �� , 8:266,

Early Premier League leadersLiverpool and Arsenal face-

off, while Frank Lampard isunder pressure to deliver hisfirst win as Chelsea boss atNorwich today.

One of the only tworemaining 100 percentrecords in the PremierLeague will go at Anfieldwhere the Europeanchampions will hope tocontinue a fine recentrecord against the northLondoners.

Jurgen Klopp has neverlost in seven previous PremierLeague meetings againstArsenal and his side have beat-en the Gunners 4-0 and 5-1 athome in the past two seasons.

However, Unai Emery’soutfit are hoping a busy summerin the transfer window, whileLiverpool did not strengthen,will have significantly narrowedthe 27-point gap between thesides last season.

Emery could hand a firststart to £72 million ($87 mil-lion) club record signing NicolasPepe, while on-loan RealMadrid midfielder DaniCeballos earned ravereviews by creating bothgoals on his full debutagainst Burnley lastweekend.

However, it isat the backArsenal need adrastic improve-ment and there isan early opportu-nity for veterancentre-back DavidLuiz to make hismark by halting thefree-scoring trio ofSadio Mane,Roberto Firminoand MohamedSalah, who com-bined for all fiveLiverpool goalswhen the sides lastmet.

Arsenal havesome outstanding fin-ishers of their own.P i e r r e - E m e r i c kAubameyang, whoshared the PremierLeague Golden Bootwith Mane and Salahlast season, has scoredhis side’s winner in thefirst two games of thecampaign.

And on the evidenceof Liverpool’s first fourgames of the season acrossall competitions, a defence

that registered 20 PremierLeague clean sheets last seasonlooks far less solid.

Alisson Becker remainssidelined with a calfinjury, meaning Adrian— whose calamitousattempted clearance gift-ed Southampton a goallast weekend — will keephis place in goal.

Whilst Liverpool andArsenal have taken

advantage of a couple of kindfixtures to get their campaignsoff to a bright start, ManchesterCity, Manchester United andTottenham all dropped pointson matchday two.

The roles are reversed thisweekend as United host CrystalPalace, who have yet to scorethis season at Old Trafford, Citytravel to Bournemouth andSpurs seek to dismiss Newcastlewith the ease newly-promotedNorwich did last weekend.

PUKKI TO PILE PRESSURELampard was not handed

an easy start to life asChelsea boss with a trip to

Old Trafford followedby Liverpool in theUEFA Super Cup and

the visit of an ambi-tious Leicester side

to StamfordBridge lastweekend.

However,Lampard, who

had just oneyear’s managerialexperience at Derbyprior to taking overhis old club, needs awin at Norwich toease the questioningof his tactics.

The formerEngland interna-tional has been

accused of being toogung-ho in hisapproach as bothUnited and Leicestercut Chelsea openrelentlessly on thecounter-attack and ifhe cannot tailor hisapproach, Norwichhave a striker in formready to take advan-tage. Teemu Pukki hasscored four times inhis first two PremierLeague appearances,including a hat-trickagainst Newcastle lastweekend.

�# �� �>2 (

Juventus begin their Serie A cam-paign at Parma today looking to

push their record Scudetto run tonine but with a different style of foot-ball under new coach MaurizioSarri, who will miss the opening fix-tures with pneumonia.

Behind, Napoli and Inter Milanare waiting in the wings hopeful thatSarri’s arrival can lead to turmoil inTurin and a changing of the guard inItaly.

Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli have notwon the title since 1990 and open atFiorentina Saturday with AntonioConte’s Inter at home to promotedLecce on Monday.

Like Sarri, Conte last coached atChelsea, and along with three-timesChampions League winner Ancelotti,Serie A have a world class coachingsetup this season.

Juventus start the season withoutSarri however who will miss theParma game and his former clubNapoli in Turin on August 31 withpneumonia. The 60-year-old is stilloverseeing training.

Juventus are targetting a 36th

Scudetto but their main objec-tive remains the ChampionsLeague which they have notwon since 1996.

After splashing out onCristiano Ronaldo last seasonJuventus have again reinforcedwith midfielders Aaron Ramsey andAdrien Rabiot and Dutch defender

Matthijs De Ligt.

'RAISED THE BAR'In Milan, Conte, who led

Juventus to the first three intheir series of eight titles, hasalso been given money to spend

to give Inter a first Serie A title since2010.

Chinese-owned Inter paid 65million euros ($72 million) forManchester United’s Belgian for-ward Romelu Lukaku.

Atletico Madrid defender DiegoGodin has also arrived along withItalian midfielders Stefano Sensi andNicolo Barella.

Behind are Atalanta, a surprisethird last season, followed by ACMilan, Lazio and Roma.

The side from Bergamo play atSPAL with AC Milan at Udinese withRoma hosting Genoa.

Lazio start at home againstSampdoria, now coached by formerRomer boss Eusebio Di Francesco.

Promoted Brescia head forCagliari with new signing MarioBalotelli sitting out a four-match ban,with Verona at home againstBologna.

�# �� ':2, (�

New loans i g n i n g s

Ivan Perisic and PhilippeCoutinho both hope tomake their Bundesligadebuts as championsBayern Munich attempt toreboot a rocky start to the season at Schalketoday.

Perisic and Coutinho, both of whomarrived in Munich on loan this month, willbe in the squad for the first time as Bayernlook to pick up their first win of the newseason against David Wagner’s Schalke.

Coutinho, 27, has been the talk ofGermany since Bayern announced hisarrival on a one-year loan deal fromBarcelona last week.

Bayern sporting director HasanSalihamidzic said the Brazilian would pro-vide “a touch of the spectacular”, and hopesthe former Liverpool player can sprinklesome much-needed stardust on theGerman top-flight.

Bayern announced record engagementfigures on their social media accounts fol-lowing Coutinho’s arrival, but fans mayhave to wait to see him in action.

Coach Niko Kovac confirmed onThursday Coutinho was not yet fit enoughto play the full 90 minutes, and would starton the bench against Schalke.

The Croatian coach said his compa-triot Perisic had better chances of makinga first start for Bayern.

Perisic, 30, joined Bayern on a one-year loan from Inter Milan earlier thismonth, but was forced to sit out the sea-son opener against Hertha Berlin due toa suspension carried over from Serie A.

That game confirmed a bumpy startto the new season for Bayern, as they wereheld to a 2-2 draw and immediatelyslipped two points behind title rivalsDortmund, who had beaten them in theGerman Supercup two weeks previously.

�# �� +�;2 ;

Zinedine Zidane has chal-lenged Gareth

Bale to show why heis still one of theworld’s best playersas he continues hisreintegration at RealMadrid.

Bale was a sur-prise inclusion inthe starting line-upagainst Celta Vigolast weekend, whenMadrid opened withan impressive 3-1win in La Liga andBale was arguablyman of the match.

Zidane said inJuly it would be“best for everyone”if Bale left Madridthis summer but theWelshman has beeneager to stay andappears to be regaining the confidence of his coach.

“What has changed is that the player is going to stay,nothing more,” Zidane said in a press conference onFriday, ahead of today’s game at home to Real Valladolid.

“The important thing is the player wants to stay. It’strue that a lot was said about him, by me as well, but heis going to stay.

“He is a great player, he has shown that before andhe has to show it again. He has to be the player we knowthat he is.”

Bale’s start in Vigo came after Eden Hazard sustaineda thigh injury in training and it remains to be seen if hecan keep his place when the Belgian returns after theinternational break.

��� (:&�;:,<

Drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh is aproud man after having led India to suc-

cess in his maiden stint as captain of thenational team in the just-concluded OlympicTest event in Tokyo.

World No 5 India rested some seniorplayers and fielded a relatively young teamfor the Olympic Test event but still managedto lift the crown, defeating New Zealand 5-0 in the final on Wednesday.

“It was a fantastic opportunity foreveryone involved in the team to showcasewhat they can do. With some experiencedplayers rested for the tournament, we hada fairly younger squad, but it was a greatchance for the youngsters to do well and Iam really pleased with the way everyonestepped up.

“The team performed well against teamslike Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand, andit was an immensely proud moment for meto have led the Indian men’s hockey team forthe very first time,” said the 23-year-oldHarmanpreet, who captained India in theabsence of Manpreet Singh.

Harmanpreet scored two goals in thetournament and both his strikes cameagainst New Zealand — the first in the 1-2loss in round-robin match, while the otherwas in the final.

“Scoring is something that I have real-ly worked on since the junior days. To beable to help the team in scoring some impor-tant goals at crucial junctures in a match issomething that motivates me even further,”Harmanpreet said.

“I have worked on my drag-flicking withthe coaches, and finally it is showing on thefield as well and I am really pleased, but Iwill continue to keep working.”

��� '�7:,

PV Sindhu secured her fifthWorld Championships medalfollowing a stunning come-

back while B Sai Praneeth becamethe first Indian male shuttler in 36years to grab a podium in the pres-tigious event here on Friday.

On a day of double delight forIndia, Olympic Silver medallistSindhu staged a come-from-behindvictory over Chinese Taipei’s TaiTzu Ying, before Praneeth ended anagonising wait with a straight-game win over Indonesia’s JonatanChristie.

Sindhu, who won back-to-backSilver medals in the last two edi-tions of the tournament to go withher two Bronze, edged past worldnumber 2 and Asian Games Goldmedallist Tzu Ying 12-21, 23-21,21-19 in a pulsating contest thatlasted 71 minutes, inching closer toan elusive gold medal at the worlds.

World No 19 Praneeth, who gotthe Arjuna Award this year,notched up a 24-22, 21-14 win overAsian Games Gold medallistJonatan in a 51-minute battle, join-ing Prakash Padukone in the medallist at the tournament.

Padukone was the first Indianto win a men’s singles WorldChampionships medal — a Bronze— in the 1983 edition.

In the women’s singles, Sindhushowed tremendous grit after beingblown away in the opening game,edging past her fancied rival, whoenjoys an upper hand (10-4) after14 career meetings.

“I think in the first game, I hadgiven a huge lead and I couldn’tcover. I was prepared for her decep-tion but my shots were going tomid court. But the second gamewas anybody’s game and I keptfighting and won the second. The

third game went same way, she wasleading but I had hope. At 18-18,I had to be patient and keep theshuttle inside, there were long ral-lies ad I am happy to win this,”Sindhu said after the win.

“We keep playing each other, sowe know each other’s game. Ineeded to be positive. It was a real-ly good match and taking out suchclose matches gives a big boost tothe confidence and I hope I canprepare well and come backstronger tomorrow."

The 24-year-old Indian willtake on the winner of the matchbetween China’s Chen Yu Fei andDenmark’s Mia Blichfeldt onSaturday.

“I don’t know whom I will play.Chen Yufei is doing well in recenttimes and Mia has beaten Sainayesterday. I will be playing themafter a long time. Anything canhappen, I just have to be there andfocus on tomorrow’s match,”Sindhu said.

In the men’s singles quarterfi-nals, Praneeth, who had won theSingapore Open in 2017 and fin-ished runners-up at Swiss Openearlier this year, came into the tour-nament with a 1-2 head-to-headcount against the Indonesian.

But the past record didn’t mat-ter as the Indian came out attack-ing to stave off a stiff challengefrom Jonatan in the opening gameand then blew him away in the sec-ond to find his place in history.

“It feels awesome. It feels greatand I am happy to win today. I stillhave matches, so I have to focus onthat and be fitter for tomorrow. Wecan talk about what medal later on,”laughed Praneeth after the match.

Talking about the match,Praneeth said: “In the first game,

the rallies were going on really longand I was attacking a lot and therewas a lot of pressure and it mademe tired. It was crucial because ifhe would have won then it couldhave been different.

“Later Gopi sir told me not toattack and that changed the rhythmand I think those inputs helped me

a lot.”Praneeth will take on World No

1 Kento Momota of Japan in thesemifinals on Saturday.

“I think everybody is trying tofind a way to beat him. It is not easyhe being the world No 1. You haveto put him under pressure, so letssee how it goes. I will give my best.”

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��� '�7:,�

Indian badminton ace SainaNehwal on Friday slammed

the standard of umpiring in herBWF World Championshipspre-quarterf inal loss toDenmark’s Mia Blichfeldt,terming it “very sick”.

Her husband ParupalliKashyap, who often sits by thecourtside during her matches,also lashed out at the umpire fol-lowing the narrow defeat.

“Still can’t believe 2 matchpoints which the umpire over-ruled in the second game. Andthe umpire tells me in the midof second game ‘let the lineumpires do their job’ and Idon’t understand suddenly howthe umpire overruled the matchpoints..Very sick,” the LondonOlympic Bronze medallisttweeted.

Saina, who had won a Silverat the 2015 World

Championships and a Bronze in2017, put up a gritty perfor-mance before losing 21-15, 25-27, 12-21 to Blichfeldt, seeded12th, in the women’s singlesmatch that lasted an hour and12 minutes on Thursday.

There was no video referralin place for Saina’s match as itwas not held in one of the twocourts with live streaming facil-ity.

“2 match-points snatchedaway by bad umpiring. Andnumerous wrong decisions,”Kashyap, a 2014Commonwealth Games cham-pion, wrote on his Twitter han-dle.

“Unbelievable that there areno reviews on other courts atthe WORLD CHAMPI-ONSHIPS. When will our sportget better ? SICK @bwfmedia@HSBCBWF @NSaina #feel-ingcheated #totalbwfworld-championships2019.”

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�# �� ,::;7

Australia's Josh Hazlewoodtook five wickets as England

collapsed to just 67 all out on thesecond day of the third Ashes Testat Headingley on Friday.

Australia, who will retain theAshes with victory in this Test,then strengthened their grip byreaching tea in their secondinnings on 82-3 — a lead of 194.

Marnus Labuschagne, whosefirst-innings 74 was seven morethan England managed betweenthem, was 13 not out and TravisHead 17 not out.

England, 1-0 down in the five-Test series, had dismissedAustralia for a seemingly modest179, with fast bowler Jofra Archertaking 6-45 on Thursday.

But thanks mainly toAustralia quick Hazlewood's fig-ures of 5-30, England were bowledout inside 28 overs.

Joe Denly, with 12, was theonly England batsman to reachdouble figures.

But whereas Labuschagne, infor concussed star batsman SteveSmith, and David Warner (61)fought hard during their first-innings partnership of 111, fewEngland batsmen were as pre-pared to sell their wickets asdearly.

Indeed, several played keyroles in their own dismissals, forall that Australia bowled well.

By staging both the World

Cup and the Ashes with a shortturnaround between the twoshowpiece events, England haddenied several batsmen properfirst-class preparation for the very

different demands of Test crick-et. By contrast, a number ofAustralians had played for Englishcounty sides — Labuschagne, theonly batsman to so far score

1,000 first-class runs this seasonwas with Glamorgan — or fea-tured on the Australia A tour ofEngland that preceded the Ashes.

But England's batting woes

predate this season.Friday's slump was the latest

in a line of recent Test collapsesthat have seen England dismissedfor 58 by New Zealand (Auckland2018), 77 by the West Indies(Bridgetown 2019) and 85 byIreland at Lord's last month.

But what made this woefuldisplay all the more troubling wasthat the blue and sunny skiesabove Headingley on Friday oughtto have made conditions for bat-ting easier than the gloom ofThursday, when England captainJoe Root won the toss.

Opener Jason Roy took guardhaving made just 40 runs in fourinnings this series.

He fell for nine in familiarfashion when he edged a drive offa wide Hazlewood ball to Warner,holding the first of four catches atfirst slip.

Root walked out to applausefrom his Yorkshire home crowdbut was out for a second ballnought — his second straight zeroafter a golden duck in the secondinnings of the drawn second Testat Lord's — when nicking astraighter Hazlewood deliverythat seamed away to Warner.

Hazlewood had taken twowickets for no runs in three balls,with England 10-2.

All-rounder Ben Stokes cameinto this match following anunbeaten 115 in the secondinnings at Lord's.

But he all but gave his wick-

et away when he carved at a widehalf-volley from fast bowler JamesPattinson he could barely reach,with Warner holding a fast edgehigh above his shoulder.

Denly fought hard only for his49-ball stay to end when caughtbehind following an inexplicablyextravagant drive off Pattinson.

And 45-5 became 45-6 whenJonny Bairstow disappointed hishome crowd by edging a good-length Hazlewood ball, withWarner holding another finecatch.

England were 54-6 at lunchand 54-7 off the very first ballafterwards when Chris Woakeswas caught behind off Cummins(3-23).

Archer hooked a four offCummins before his 'up periscope'attempt to duck a Cumminsbouncer also saw him caughtbehind.

Hazlewood ended the inningswhen he clean bowled No 11 JackLeach.

England did then reduceAustralia to 36-2.

Stuart Broad had Warner lbwfor nought and left-arm spinnerLeach struck with his first ball ofthe match when a sharply turningdelivery out of the rough bowledMarcus Harris.

The struggling UsmanKhawaja was caught in the slipsfollowing a loose drive off Woakesbut Labuschagne kept Australia incommand.

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Trent Boult and Tim Southee ledNew Zealand’s charge against Sri

Lanka on day two of the rain-hit sec-ond Test in Colombo.

The pacemen claimed two wick-ets each as Sri Lanka reached 144 forsix at lunch when rain came down andno further play was possible.

Skipper Dimuth Karunaratnemoved from his overnight 49 to score65 and provided the only bit of resis-tance in the morning session, whichsaw 29.3 overs bowled.

Boult took two early wickets inone over after Sri Lanka resumed theday at 85 for two.

Dhanajaya de Silva on 32 andDilruwan Perera on five were at thecrease.

Southee, like Boult, also delivereda double-wicket maiden as the duo puton a superb display of seam bowlingunder overcast conditions.

Boult got overnight batsmanAngelo Mathews caught behind fortwo to reach a landmark of 250 Testwickets — only the third Kiwi bowlerto achieve the feat.

He trapped Kusal Perera lbw fornought after just three balls as Sri

Lanka slipped to 93-4.Karunaratne also got a lifeline on

61 when Kane Williamson could notgrab a tough chance at short mid-wicket off Ajaz Patel.

But the left-hander, who complet-ed his 23rd Test fifty after resumingthe day on 49, soon fell, caughtbehind off Southee for 65.

Southee struck again in the sameover to send Niroshan Dickwellatrudging back to the pavilion fornought.

Perera then played out the rest ofthe session with de Silva.

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Gujarat Fortunegiants snapped asix-match losing streak in the Pro

Kabaddi League Season 7, with a nar-row 29-26 win over Patna Pirates at theNehru indoor stadium in Chennai onFriday.

In the second match of the night, UMumba defeated Tamil Thalaivas 29-24,ensuring that the latter finished thehome leg without a win (with only a tiegame to show). U Mumba jumped tofourth in the points table with the winwhile Thalaivas slipped to eighth.

Jaipur Pink Panthers sit on top ofthe table with 7 wins from nine match-es for 36 points followed by BengalWarriors and Delhi Dabang KC.

In the Fortungiants-Piratesencounter, Rohit Gulia’s Super 10 turnedout to be the gamechanger as PardeepNarwal’s early heroics went in vain.

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Former South Africa all-rounder Lance Klusener

was on Friday appointed asthe assistant batting coach ofthe national team for thethree-match Twenty20series against India inSeptember.

Cricket South Africa(CSA) also announced thatformer pacer VincentBarnes will serve as theassistant bowling coach.While Justin Ontong willretain his position as theassistant fielding coach inEnoch Nkwe’s Proteas man-agement.

“In terms of the newteam structure the TeamDirector appoints his threeassistant coaches who havespecific skills focus in thethree key disciplines of bat-ting, bowling and fielding,”CSA Acting Director, Corrievan Zyl, said in a statement.

“Former Proteas all-rounder Lance Klusenerwill fill the role of assistantcoach (batting) for the T20

Series only as he is current-ly not available for all for-mats.”

Klusener, consideredone of the best all-roundersof his generation, has col-lected 1906 runs and 80wickets in Tests, as well as3576 runs and 192 wicketsin ODIs.

He took up coachingwith domestic sideHollywoodbets Dolphinsfrom 2012-2016 beforebeing appointed as battingcoach for the Zimbabwe

national team.In July this year, he was

appointed as the head coachof the Glasgow Giants forthe cancelled inaugural edi-tion of the Euro T20 Slamcricket tournament.

“His record as one ofthe best all-rounders in theworld, particularly in whiteball cricket, during his play-ing career speaks for itselfand he also has extensivecoaching experience both atfranchise and internationallevel,” van Zyl said.

Barnes has a long histo-ry with the Proteas, havingserved as the bowling andthen assistant coach from2003 until 2011.

Ontong, who has repre-sented the national side inall three formats, also servedas South Africa's fieldingcoach under Ottis Gibsonbefore the restructuring.

South Africa will trav-el to India for a three-matchT20 series startingSeptember 15. The two sideswill then compete in athree-match Test series.

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Ganguly on Friday hopedthe reappointment of the

familiar Ravi Shastri as headcoach will help India prevail inthe “big games” and break thejinx of not winning a major ICCtournament in recent years.

“Ravi has been around for awhile, five years he’s completedso he’s got an extension for twomore years. Hopefully nowIndia can go all the way in thetwo upcoming tournaments thatare coming up, which is the T20World Cup and the ChampionsTrophy which has now becomea T20 format,” Ganguly said.

“So I hope they do well,they’re doing well, they get to thesemi-finals.

“In 2015 in Australia theystruggled, in 2017 (2016) inMumbai, West Indies got thebetter of them and even in thisWorld Cup. So, hopefully, theywill get to the next step and cre-ate a winning combination.”

India’s last ICC tournamenttriumph was the win in the 2013Champions Trophy.

“Hopefully they can get pastthe big games and win trophiesin the next two years,” said theformer captain who is not thebest of friends with Shastri.

Ganguly urged captain ViratKohli to continue giving the newplayers a longer run to provetheir mettle.

“This is one area whereVirat (Kohli) needs to just be a

bit more consistent — pickplayers and give them a bitmore opportunities consistent-ly — for them to get that confi-dence, rhythm.

“I have said that before.You saw how Shreyas Iyer playedin that ODI series (against WestIndies), you pick him and yougive him the freedom to playthose matches and I think thatneeds to happen with a lot ofplayers and I am sure Virat willdo that,” added Ganguly.

Ganguly was surprised tosee chinaman Kuldeep Yadavand off-spinner RavinchandranAshwin being left out of theongoing first Test against WestIndies.

“Yes, I was also surprised tosee Kuldeep Yadav left outbecause the last Test he playedagainst Australia, he got fivewickets, if you remember inSydney on a good flat pitch, hepicked up five wickets againstAustralia.

“But (Ravindra) Jadeja alsohas been in good form, the sur-face on Thursday at Antiguaneeded three fast bowlersbecause we saw the seam move-ment the fast bowlers got and itwas a question of the spin.

“Ashwin’s record is phe-nomenal to leave him out in theWest Indies, so it’s a decisionwhich Kohli has made and wewill find out in next couple ofdays whether how far Jadejagoes on to pick wickets on thissurface.”

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Ravindra Jadeja and IshantSharma frustrated West Indieswith a timely 60 run-stand for

the eighth wicket, helping India to 297all out at lunch on day two of the firstTest here on Friday.

Jadeja (58 off 112) and Ishant (19off 62) were able to negotiate the threatposed by the potent pace duo of

Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roachafter losing Rishabh Pant (24) in thesecond over of the day.

Jadeja's innings comprised sixfours and a maximum before hebecame the last man to be dismissedin the Indian innings, leading tolunch.

India resumed the day at 203 forsix with Pant (20) and Jadeja being theovernight batsmen.

While Jadeja justified his inclusionin the playing XI ahead ofRavichandran Ashwin with a grittyeffort, Pant could not deliver for theteam.

Roach got his fourth wicket of theinnings when he dismissed Pant witha beauty from around the wicket thatmoved away enough to get the edgeof the young wicketkeeper-batsman.

Pant was guilty of playing the ballwith hard hands as skipper JasonHolder took a regulation catch at sec-

ond slip, leaving India at 207 for seven.It seemed India's brittle tail will

not put up much of a fight yet again,but Jadeja and Ishant batted sensiblyin their 116-ball stand, defying theWest Indian pacers.

While maturity was expectedfrom Jadeja, Ishant impressed with theway he dealt with the express pace ofRoach and Gabriel. He was not afraidto come on to the front foot and wasequally comfortable at tackling the ris-ing ball.

The lanky India pacer, whosehighest score is 31, was finally dis-missed in the 90th over, playing on toa full slower ball off Gabriel.

Mohammad Shami joined Jadejain the middle but his stay lasted onlyone ball as he offered a return catchto off-spinner Roston Chase.

Running out of partners, Jadejashowed urgency to collect some vitalruns and brought up his 11th half-cen-tury with a slap to cover for four. Thefollowing ball, he swept Chase for a sixover deep midwicket, giving theIndian innings a welcome flourishtowards the end.

Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane hadmade a crucial 81 on the opening dayto help India recover from a poor start.

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It’s been two years since he last gota Test hundred but Ajinkya

Rahane didn’t want to be “selfish”thinking about his own milestonewhen the priority was to get histeam out of the woods.

Coming in at a precarious 25 for3 on the opening day of the first Testagainst West Indies, Rahane scored81, an innings he values more thana hundred.

In fact, he knew a questionwould pop about missing out on ahundred, having last scored oneagainst Sri Lanka back in 2017.

“I knew this question was com-ing and I was ready,” he smiledwhen asked at the day end mediaconference.

“As long as I am at the crease, Iam thinking about my team, I amnot a selfish guy. So yes, I am nottoo concerned about the hundred asI thought 81 on that wicket was real-ly crucial as we are now in a decentposition,” said Rahane.

A century would have been nicebut what mattered more was play-ing according to the demands of thesituation.

“See, as long as I am contribut-ing for my team is what matters. Yes,I was thinking about my hundredbut the situation we are in — 25 for3 was tricky. As I have said, I justthought if I could contribute for myteam. I am not too concernedabout my hundred as that willcome automatically,” the 31-year-oldsaid.

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