˘ˇˆ˙˘˝˛˚˚˜ - The Pioneer...don’t get time to cooperate with the CAG in conducting audit...

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Even as it was targeted that35 per cent of the house-

holds in the State were to begiven water connections by2017 under the rural drinkingwater scheme, only 3.7 percent households were provid-ed the facility by this period.

The Comptroller andAuditor General(CAG) ofIndia revealed this in a reportrelating to the general andsocial sector laid in the StateAssembly recently.

According to the report,while 81.41 lakh householdswere to be given drinkingwater connections, only 3.01lakh households, constituting3.70 per cent, got connections

during the targeted period.Similarly, it was targeted

that to connect 1.58 lakh habi-tations would be covered underthe piped water supply (PWS)by 2017, however, only 0.40lakh habitations were covered,constituting 25.31 per cent ofthe total. During the period,water facility was provided to77.37 per cent schools andAnganwadi centres even as allwere to be covered, said thereport.

In its reply, the StateGovernment said in October2017 that all targets would bemet within a period of two tothree years.

The report further revealedthat while Panchayati RajInstitutions and local commu-

nities have been operating andmaintaining 60 per cent ofrural water drinking watersources and systems since 2006,the State Government has nottransferred funds for mainte-nance to PRIs.

In reply, the Governmentstated in September 2017 thatfunds were not transferrd toPRIs due to lack of manpowerand expertise at panchayatlevel. The reply established thefact of absence of institutionalarrangement.

While it was set that allOpen Defecation Free (ODF)and SAGY villages would beprovided piped water supply ona priority basis, only 633 of2,129 habitations in 924 ODFvillagers 178 of 680 habitationsin 27 SAGY were given PWSby June 2017. To this, theGovernment stated that alluncovered ODF and SansadAdarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY)would be covered with PWS in2017-18.

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The Indian Institute ofTechnology (IIT)

Bhubaneswar, which has com-pletely shifted to its 850-acresprawling new campus inArgul, Jatani, would hold its 7thAnnual Convocation onSaturday.

Secretary, Department ofScience and Technology,Government of India ProfAshutosh Sharma would attendthe event as chief guest whileChairman, Board of Governorsof IIT Bhubaneswar PankajRamanbhai Patel would presideover the function and Directorof the institute Prof RV RajKumar would place his report

and award the degrees to thesuccessful students.

The premier institutewould confer degrees to 19PhD, 91 MTech, 69 MSc and162 BTech students. As this yearthe decennial year of the insti-tute fully operational from thepermanent campus and this

year's convocation is the proudmoment for its graduating stu-dents, their parents, facultymembers, staff members andthe administration. Besides thedegrees, the President of IndiaGold Medal, Director's GoldMedal and Silver Medals forbest academic performance

would be given.Currently the institute has

1,765 students (BTech 1,101,MTech 266, MSC 142, PhD 256) and 129 fulltime faculty mem-bers. The institute has grown tohave seven schools includingthree recently updated Mineral,Metrology and Material

Science, School of Humanitiesand Social Science besidesSchool of Earth, Ocean andClimate Sciences.

"Last year, we earned Rs 60crore by submitting 75 researchprojects from various agen-cies; and we are working in var-ious other projects now," saidthe Director One of the greatachievements of the institute isthe setting up a Centre ofExcellence on Virtual Realityand Argumentative Reality withinitial contribution fromSushmita Bagchi and SubratBagchi of Rs 2 5 crore. Already,half a dozen projects on virtu-al reality have started; and theinstitute is encouraging othersto have new startups and incu-bations from here or elsewhere.

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AICC president RahulGandhi would visit Odisha

in October and then inNovember, informed PCCchief Niranjan Patnaik hereon Friday.

However, he did not revealthe dates of the Congress pres-ident’s visit. Obviously, RahuGandhi’s visits are meant tostrengthen the party in theState by encouraging the partyleaders to work as per theCongress’ broader strategies forthe forthcoming 2019 elections.

Gandhi is expected to spellout the electoral strategies tothe State leaders. Odisha is aprime target for the Congressduring the elections as theparty is out of power in theState since 2000.

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State PlanningBoard Deputy

Chairman andJagatsinghpurdistrict BJD pres-ident BishnuDas, who isadversary of Paradip MLADamodar Rout in the districtpolitics, visited Paradip fortwo days on Thursday andFriday and reviewed the localparty affairs.

On Thursday, Das wasgreeted by thousands of partysupporters on his way toParadip at Rahama, Kujang,Zero Point, Atharabanki and,finally, at Paradip. Noted tradeunion leader Santosh KumarPattanaik welcomed him atKujang and accompanied himto Paradip.

At the entrance of Paradipnear Do Chhaki, the leadersgarlanded the statute ofUtkalgaurav Madhusudan Dasat Atharabanki and the BijuPatnaik Babu statue at the

BadapadiaBus-Standb e s i d e sgarlandingthe statueof NetajiS u b h a sC h a n d r aBose.

Then, Das visited theViswhakarma Puja Mandaps atParadip including the one ofthe Jagatsinghpur DistrictTruck Owners’ Association. Innight, he made halt at theJawahar Guesthouse of ParadipPort Trust.

On Friday morning, Dasmet BJD workers. Local BJDleaders and elected BJD repre-sentatives discussed with himabout the party affairs and thesituation after the expulsion ofDamodar Rout from the party.

This was the first visit ofDas after Rout was removedfrom the party. He expects theparty ticket to contest from theParadip Assembly constituen-cy and is confident of winningthe seat.

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The BJP on Friday severelycriticized the State

Government over variousirregularities revealed in theComptroller and AuditorGeneral of India (CAG) reporttabled in the State Assemblyrecently.

“The CAG report hasbrought the real face of NaveenPatnaik-led BJD Government tothe fore. Many irregularitieshave been revealed in the report.On behalf of people, the BJPwould approach the courtagainst all these irregularities.”said party spokesperson

Pitambar Acharya at a Pressconference here.

Acharya said the CAG haswritten to the Sports and YouthServices department to stopspending on the Biju YubaVahini after the departmenttold the former that it would notcooperate in conducting auditsinto the BYV spending in viewof officials remaining busy forthe upcoming World Hockey

Cup.A c h a r y a

demanded thatd e p a r t m e ntsecretary give areply to thepublic as tohow officialsdon’t get timeto cooperatewith the CAG

in conducting audit while theyfind time in managing the BYV.

He also slammed theGovernment for providingwater connectivity to 3.7 percent households. He said theCAV revelation of the State los-ing Rs 155 corre for wrongDPR in PMGSY has brought tothe fore the State Government’sinefficiency and false allegationof Central negligence.

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The first meeting of HouseCommittee formed by the

State Assembly to probe intojournalist Abhijit Iyer Mitra’santi-Odisha remarks will beheld on Saturday. This wasinformed by Leader ofOpposition NarasinghaMishra, who heads the com-mittee, here on Friday. “Thepanel will make an inquiry asto whether the criticism by anon-Odia against the legislatorsover discussions in theAssembly is breach of privi-lege,” said Mishra, adding,“Whether it will be breach ofprivilege of the House; whetherhe had made such statement orit will be breach of privilege ofthe MLAs (will be consid-ered),” he said.

The committee would sub-mit its report to the House,which would take furthercourse of action later, he added.

Speaker Pradeep Amat hadon Thursday approved a pro-posal of forming the HouseCommittee over Mitra’sderogatory remarks on theKonark Sun Temple, legislators,Odisha culture and LordJagannath.

The committee led byNarasingha Mishra has BJD’sDebi Prasad Mishra, PramilaMallick, Arun Sahoo andSanjay Dasburma and BJPLegislature Party Leader K VSingh Deo as its other mem-bers. The panel would submitits report in the Assembly onfirst day of its next session.

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Cyclone ‘Daye’ weakenedinto a deep depression on

Friday and would furtherdowngrade into a depression,said the Regional Office of theIndian MetrologicalDepartment (IMD) here.

The cyclone had hit thecoast near Gopalpur onThursday night between 12.30am and 1.30 am. Now, it isexpected to keep moving on awest-northwestward trajectory,said the IMD.

The deep depression iscurrently centred near Raipurin Chhattisgarh.

After the cyclone made itslandfall in Gopalpur after mid-night, heavy rain was reportedin the State, especially inMalkangiri district. No casual-ties were reported so far thoughSpecial Relief CommissionerBishnupada Sethi said thataround 150 marooned peoplewere rescued from differentareas of Malkangiri district.

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Hours after a price chart ofAbadha (Mahaprasad) of

Lord Jagannath was found atthe Ananda Bazar inside thetemple, Shree JagannathTemple Administration (SJTA)chief Pradipta Mohapatra onFriday said the rate chart hasnot been officially approved.

Mohapatra told reporters,“The rate chart might havebeen put up by the SuarMahasuar Nijog. But neither Inor the temple managing com-mittee has given approval to thesame. The proposal is stillunder consideration.”

He further said the SJTAhad asked the Suar Mahasuar

Nijog to prepare a rate chartand submit it for the SJTA’sconsideration. The charthoardings, if there are any inthe temple, would be removedsince no official approval hasbeen given for it, he added.

It may be mentioned thata decision to introduce a Thalisystem in the Shreemandir wastaken at a joint meeting of SJTAand Suar Mahasuar Nijog onSeptember 11 to avoid over-pricing of Mahaprasad.

"��;9� /��, -

Grammy andA c a d e m y

Award winningmusician ARRahman would cre-ate the official songfor Odisha HockeyMen’s World Cup-2018, informedChief MinisterNaveen Patnaik onFriday.

While ace lyricist Gulzarwould write the song, Rahmanwould perform it live at theKalinga Stadium here duringthe opening ceremony of themega sporting event. It wouldbe Rahman’s first performancein Odisha.

The State Governmentroped in Rahman for compos-ing the song titled “Jai HindHind, Jai India”.

“Nothing says India morethan our beloved sport hockey.And nothing is more excitingthan the world’s biggest hock-ey tournament happening righthere, on our turf,” Rahman saidin a statement.

“It’s heartwarming to seethe entire nation pledge theirheartbeats for hockey. As anextension of pledging ourheartbeats, Gulzar Sahab and Ihave created the World Cupsong. A song that will exciteand inspire as also get you on

your feet,” added he.CM Patnaik said: “We are

delighted to have Rahmancompose the song for theOdisha Hockey World Cup. Itwill be an honour to have himperform live in Bhubaneswar.He is the voice of India; andnow with this song, the voiceof India is the voice of theworld cup.”

“We are also fortunate tohave Gulzar Sahab add hispoetic magic to the composi-tion. Coming together of thesetwo legends will not onlyinspire the players but willalso get the entire nationtogether to support this won-derful game unfolding inOdisha at the World Cup,” headded. Rahman is also direct-ing the song’s video, whichwould be shot across the hock-ey heartlands of India. Thesong is set for release at theKalinga Stadium inaugurationscheduled for early October.

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As the cyclonic storm ‘Daye’crossed the State triggering

heavy downpour in most parts,the water levels increased inmajor rivers of Malkangiri andBaleswar districts on Friday.

Road communicationswere disrupted at several placesin Malkangiri as water wasflowing on roads. Vehiculartraffic between Malkangiri andBalimela was affected as roadsat MV-11, Korukonda andMV-37 were under water.

The bridges atKangurukonda and Potteruwere submerged, followingwhich vehicular communica-tion was affected betweenMalkangiri and Motu.Korukonda, MV-37, MV-3,MV-50, Poteru, Kankarkondaand Padia villages in Kalimelablock were marooned.

Road communicationsbetween Malkangiri andChhattisgarh was also affectedas the Challanguda bridge wassubmerged.

Water level of the Balimelareservoir increased to 15,015feet whereas its water retainingcapacity is 15,018 feet.

Patients at the Janabaihealth centre faced hardship aswater entered into the hospital.

Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik sanctioned relief forseven days at Rs 60 per day perperson and Rs 45 per day perchild below 12 years anddirected the district adminis-tration to reach out to theaffected and extend all assis-tance.

Similarly, following heavyrainfall since the last 48 hours,the water levels of all majorrivers and their tributaries wereon the rise in Baleswar district.

The water level of theJalaka river, flowing throughBasta block crossed the dangerlevel at Mathani. Against thedanger level of 5.5 metre, thefloodwater was flowing at a

height of 6.20metre.

Road com-m u n i c a t i o nfrom Udala toJayapur andBaleswar was cutoff due to over-flowing offloodwater onthe road atKainsari.

B e s i d e s ,road communi-cation to Nilagiriblock was alsocut off as thef l o o d w a t e rflowed at a

height of about 2 feet on theroad at Ajodhya.

Due to heavy rainfall in theupper catchments, two gateseach of Kala Dam and SuneiDam were opened on Fridaymorning. As a result, the flood-water of Swana river enteredKaansa and Kulapala villages.

Besides, the floodwater ofthe Budhabalanga river alsocrossed the danger mark at theBaruni bridge. The floodwaterwas flowing at a height of 7.30metre against the danger levelof 7.21 metre.

The floodwater of heGangahara river entered thevillages of Sirakoili andGangapura in Remuna block.

"��;9� /��, -

The StateBank of

India StaffAss o c i at ion’s(SBISA) 66thT r i e n n i a lGeneral Counciland the Circle TriennialGeneral Council Meeting of theBhubaneswar Circle would beheld on September 23 at Puri,said All India State Bank ofIndia Staff Federation generalsecretary Sanjeev K Bandlish ata Press meet here on Tuesday.

Bandlish said about 1,500delegates from the eight SBICircles in the country and4,500 members of theBhubaneswar Circle would par-ticipate in the meeting and havediscussions on various issuesregarding recruitment, risingnonperforming assets (NPAs),wage negotiation and others.

He said that after discus-sions, a resolution would bepassed for the bank’s empow-erment and management. Hefurther said the association isalso going to celebrate its 100years and is the only bank staff

association to celebrate its cen-tury celebrations.

He said that though theEleventh Bipartite WageRevision is due sinceNovember 1, 2017, the CentralGovernment had raised hopesof the employees by insisting onthe Indian Banks’ Association(IBA) and the public sectorbanks to conclude the wagerevision well before that date.But the bank employees feeldemoralised and frustratedover the undue delay in settle-ment of wage revision, headded.

Among others, All IndiaState Bank of India StaffFederation president VVSRSarma and SBISA chief secre-tary Rajesh Kumar Tripathyand SBISA Bhubaneswar Circlegeneral secretary SP Beherawere present.

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No development happensanywhere by laying foun-

dation-stones only and by pub-lishing advertisements inmedia. Proper planning andimplementation is needed forthis,” said PCC presidentNiranjan Patnaik in a statementon Friday.

He criticised the adver-tisements being widely pub-lished before inauguration ofthe Jharsuguda Airport andfoundation-laying for theTalcher fertiliser project by thePrime Minister claiming thatdevelopments of India wouldstart from the eastern region.

He said that in last fouryears of Modi’s rule, no devel-opment has been made; only,the BJP and its leaders have

prospered. The BJP’s incomehas risen many fold.

Many villages in the coun-try have no roads, no health-care facilities, no education;and Odisha is lagging farbehind in all these. But theModi Government has spentaround Rs 4,344 crore for pub-licity in four years, Patnaik said.

He said that in 1999, thethen NDA Governmentordered closure of the TalcherFertiliser Plant.

After the UPA came topower in 2004, it took steps torevive the plant in 2009 and itsGovernment’ decision wasannounced in 2012. But afterModi came to power, that pro-posal was withheld.

Now before general elec-tions, Modi, his CabinetMinister Dharmendra Pradhanand the BJP are trying theirbest to take credit by layingfoundation for the plant.

Odisha people are aware ofthe facts and would teach themlesson in proper time, addedPatnaik.

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Aday after the ModiGovernment confirmed

External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj’s talks with her Pakistanicounterpart Shah MehmoodQureshi on the sidelines of theupcoming United NationsGeneral Assembly (UNGA) inNew York next week, India onFriday called off the meeting cit-ing Pakistan’s complicity in the“brutal” killing of three policemenin Jammu & Kashmir as well asthe release of postal stamps glo-rifying Kashmiri terrorist BurhanWani.

Accusing Pakistan and PrimeMinister Imran Khan of “evildesigns” after three policemenwere kidnapped and killed by ter-rorists in Shopian in J&K, Indiasaid talks with Pakistan in such anenvironment would be “mean-ingless”. “The true face of thePakistan Prime Minister has beenexposed in his first few months inoffice,” said Ministry for ExternalAffairs (MEA) spokespersonRaveesh Kumar here on Friday.“The latest brutal killings of oursecurity personnel by Pakistan-based entities and the recentrelease of a series of 20 postagestamps by Pakistan glorifying aterrorist and terrorism confirmthat Pakistan will not mend itsways,” the MEA Spokespersonsaid. He noted that “two deeplydisturbing developments havetaken place” since Thursday’sannouncement of a meetingbetween the Foreign Ministers ofIndia and Pakistan in New Yorklater this month. “In view of the

changed situation, there will be nomeeting between the ForeignMinisters of India and Pakistan inNew York,” he said.

Eyebrows were raised onThursday as India confirmed themeeting even though incidents ofcross-border killings of Indiansecurity personnel did not stopand Islamabad was seen to be set-ting the agenda for the meetingrather than the New Delhi. Indiaon Thursday gave green signal tothe meeting following PakistanPrime Minister’s September 15letter to Prime Minister NarendraModi seeking the resumption ofdialogue between the two coun-tries. On Friday, the MEA said,“After Imran Khan’s letter, wethought Pakistan is movingtowards positive changes, a newbeginning. But now it seemsbehind their proposal were evilintentions.” India is also furiousover the release of 20 specialstamps by Islamabad glorifyingBurhan Wani — the HizbulMujahideen terrorist killed bysecurity forces in 2016 — in theguise of solidarity withKashmiris.

While agreeing to themeeting after Imran Khan’srequest, New Delhi had soughtto clarify on Thursday that itwould be “just a meeting” and“not resumption of dialogue”.“Let’s distinguish betweenmeeting and dialogue. Thisdoesn’t change our stand onterrorism,” MEA spokesman ahad said day before. He said theGovernment has agreed to themeeting but no agenda hasbeen set so far.

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In a significant development,a French media report quot-

ed former French PresidentFrancois Hollande as purport-edly saying that the IndianGovernment proposedReliance Defence as the part-ner for Dassault Aviation in the�58,000 crore Rafale jet fight-er deal and France did not havea choice.

Reacting to Hollande’sremark that is at variance withthe stand taken by the IndianGovernment, the DefenceMinistry spokesman said onFriday, “The report referring toformer French PresidentHollande’s statement thatGovernment of India insistedupon a particular firm as off-set partner for the DassaultAviation in Rafale is beingverified.”

The spokesperson said, “Itis reiterated that neither theGovernment nor the FrenchGovernment had any say in thecommercial decision.”

Dassault Aviation, themakers of Rafale, had chosenReliance Defence as its partnerto fulfill offset obligations of thedeal. The Government has

been maintaining it did nothave any role in selection of theoffset partner.

Hollande’s remark hasescalated the political slugfestover the multi-billion dollardeal. The French media reportquoted Hollande as saying,“We did not have a say inthis...The Indian Governmentproposed this service groupand Dassault negotiated with(Anil) Ambani group. We didnot have a choice, we took thepartner who was given to us.”

The Congress and otherOpposition parties latched onto the report and stepped uptheir attack on the ModiGovernment over the deal.The Congress alleged that theGovernment’s “complicity, col-lusion and conspiracy” to ben-efit Prime Minister NarendraModi’s “crony friend” has beenexposed following Hollande’sreported comments. “Cat’s outof the Bag!!! Complicity,Collusion & Conspiracy ofModi Govt in denying thePSU, HAL a �30,000 crore ‘off-set contract’ to benefit PM’scrony friend exposed!”

Congress’ chief spokespersonRandeep Surjewala tweeted.

Congress leader PChidambaram said, “In theNDA-negotiated Rafale air-craft deal, we have got no air-craft, we have got only lies.What is the new lie that thegovernment will put out inresponse to Mr Hollande?”

“President (Former)Francois Hollande should alsoenlighten us how the pricewent up from �590 crore in2012 to �1,690 crore in 2015per Rafale fighter jet?Escalation of a mere �1,100crore. I am sure the Euroequivalent would not be aproblem to calculate,” Congressspokesperson Manish Tewaritweeted.

Modi had announced theprocurement of 36 Rafale jetsafter holding talks with thenFrench President Hollande onApril 10, 2015 in Paris.

The Opposition has beenaccusing the Government ofchoosing Reliance Defenceover State-run HindustanAeronautics Ltd to benefit theprivate firm.

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Terrorists shot dead threepolicemen shortly after

abducting them from their res-idences in two villages of southKashmir’s Shopian district onFriday for refusing to obey theirdiktat to resign from their posts.

The killings triggered a spree ofresignations of the Special PoliceOfficers (SPOs) even as the offi-cials maintained that no formalresignations have been received.

Sources said four persons,including three policemen, wereabducted from Kapran andBatagund villages of Shopian dis-

trict in the wee hours of Friday.Hours later, bullet-riddled bod-ies of the three SPOs were recov-ered from Lumni Wangam vil-lage in Shopian.

The fourth abductee FayazAhmad Bhat, who was brotherof an SPO, was set free andreturned home.

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Supreme Court-appointedAmicus Curiae Gopal

Subramaniam visited theJagannath Temple here andoffered prayers to the deities onFriday.

Later, he called onJagadguru ShankaracharyaNischilananda Saraswati at theGobardhan Peeth. Wearingpriestly attire and with sandalpaste and vermilion on theforehead, Subramaniam waswelcomed at the Lions Gate at5.30 am and led to the shrine’ssanctum sanctorum by servi-tors for darshan of the deitiesduring the Mangal Arati ofdeities.

After the darshan, he putsome money on the tray (Thali)kept by servitors. He visited theside temples in the shrine andviewed gods and goddesses. Hetoo took blessings of MuktiMandap by donating somemoney there too. It seemed thatSubramaniam’s gesture madeall present around him happy.

Shree Jaganath TempleAdministration ChiefAdministrator Pradipta

Mohapatra, Puri Collector JyotiPrakash Das, SP SarthakSarangi and other officers werepresent. Later, Subramaniamtook a meeting in the templeoffice where Mohapatrainformed him about history,traditions, culture and festivalsobserved in the shrinethroughout a year. The meet-ing lasted for almost an hourafter which Amicus Curiae leftfor Gobardhan peeth to meetthe Shankaracharya.

Sources said he paid allrespect to the Shankaracharyaand held discussions with himon certain issues not revealedto others. But sources said heheld talks on the rituals and

roles of every sect and theGobardhan peeth’s role in theShreemandir. The closed-doormeeting lasted for nearly anhour beginning from 12 pm.

“Nobody feels empty andsqueezed, everybody returnswith due honour and prestige.Sanskar (reform), Sikshs (edu-cation) Suraksha (safety),Rakshy (defence), Dharma(religion), Moksha (salvation)should be given heed in theJaganath Temple,”Shankaracharya told reportersafter the meeting.

Then, Subramanium metthe three-member reform com-mitted led by former SJTAchief Suresh Mohapatra and

judges of Puri. “Discussionswere made basically on old cus-toms, rites and rituals, andlaws and traditions of the ShreeJagannath Temple,” saidSubramaniam.

As per the schedule, theAmicus Curiae would meetChatisha Nijog members andsubsequently hear pleas andgrievances of people onSaturday.

He is also scheduled tomeet Gajapati MaharajaDibyasingh Deb and localMLA and MP separately. He isalso scheduled to hold meetingwith Chief Secretary, LawMinister and Law Secretary inBhubaneswar.

"�� ;9� /��, -

In view of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s visit to the

State on Saturday, theCommissionerate police havedeployed around 15 platoons ofpolice force and 40 police offi-cers in the State capital to pro-vide security during his visit.

Speaking to mediapersons,Police Commissioner SatyajitMohanty said Prime MinisterModi would arrive at city airport at 8.55 am tomorrowand leave for Talcher by helicopter at 9 am. In view ofthis, police have made securi-ty arrangements as per BlueBook.

Sources said Modi willreach Talcher at 9.45 am andlater lay foundation stone forthe Talcher fertiliser plant. Hewould also attend a publicmeeting in Talcher.

The PM would later leave

for Jharsuguda at 11.35 am toinaugurate the much-awaitedJharsuguda airport.

He will also dedicate thenew Jharsuguda- Sardega rail-way line and two coal mines ofMCL and NTPC in Sundargarhdistrict to the nation.

“Around 15 platoons ofpolice force and 40 police offi-cers have been deployed for thesecurity of Modi in the city,” hesaid. Mohanty furtherinformed that a contingencycarcade plan has also beenprepared for patrolling in andaround the meeting venues.

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Amid widespread resent-ment over translocation

of the Royal Bengal Tigress"Sundari”, the StateGovernment on Friday trans-ferred Angul district’s SatkosiaWildlife Sanctuary DFO SMTRehman.

The 27-month-old tigress(T-412), since its relocationfrom Bandhavgarh in MadhyaPradesh in June this year, is notcomfortable in the Satkosiaforest and has been moving thewhole forest without creatingits own territory.

The tigress has killed awoman of Hatibari of Anguldistrict besides preying on sev-eral cattle in the forest villages.

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With the joining of fire-brand tribal leader,

Biramitrapur MLA GeorgeTirkey in the Congress, theparty will definitely be a gain-er in the 2019 elections and atthe same time it may fomenttrouble for Sundargarh BJPMP and Union Minister JualOram, feel political punditshere.

Taking the present politicalscenario and the reasonsbehind the victory of Oram in2014 into consideration, suchan opinion is formed.

Though Oram is a four-time MP of Sundargarh, but forthe first time he won in 2014with a thin margin without anyalliance. Prior to that in 1998,2000 and 2004, he had won

when BJP and BJD hadalliance. Contesting for thefirst time without alliance, hehad lost in 2009.

Despite the Modi wave,he had managed to win with athin margin of 18,000 oddvotes defeating BJD candidateDilip Tirkey. Most interest-ingly, out of seven Assemblysegments under theSundargarh Parliament con-stituency, Oram was either inthe second or third position infive segments, including hishome turf Bonai. Only due tothe wide leading of 20,000 oddvotes in Rourkela segment thathe won the last election.

It was also known to allthat as Dilip Ray is a popularleader in Rourkela and wascontesting in BJP ticket fromthere, it was a blessing for

Oram ultimately. Of course,after winning, Oram had alsoconfessed that it was Ray’ssupport that helped him.

But now the situation haschanged for Oram. First of all,his popularity graph is gettingdown due to his poor perfor-mance and odd statements.For this, he had been in dockon many occasions. Secondly,though he the Union TribalAffairs Minister, but the fate ofthe tribals in his home districthas not improved. This is justthe tip of an iceberg if we con-sider the situation in all India

level.The other odd factor for

him is Ray who is not com-fortable in the BJP and hasembarrassed the top brass overhis criticism of the CentralGovernment for delay in car-rying out two important pro-jects promised by the PrimeMinister before 2014 electionfor Rourkela such as theBrahmani bridge and IGHupgradation to a MCH.Besides, there is every possi-bility for the disgruntled Raynot to contest the 2019 election.Rather, if needed, he may be aninstrument for party’s debaclein the district.

At a time when Oram isalready on the back foot, sad-dled as he is with many nega-tive factors, tribal icon GeorgeTirkey has joined Congress.

This will definitely multiply theproblems for Oram as tribalvotes could be polarised.

According to sources,Tirkey has joined the Congressunder a condition that he getsa ticket for the SundargarhParliamentary seat in 2019.Besides, in Sundargarh, theCongress has definitely certainpocket votes for which in 2014,despite the Modi wave and antiCongress wave, its candidateHemananda Biswal had got2,69,335 votes while Oram hadgot 3,40,508 votes. Tirkey hasdefinitely a good rapport inmany segments of the districtfor which he is not only pop-ular but also for last two elec-tions he is being repeatedly sentto Assembly without any brand,as an Independent candidate.

Though he is popular in

Biramitrapur, he has also pop-ularity in Raghunathpalli andRajgangpur segment as alabour leader. It may be notedhere that in 2004, Tirkey hadfetched a good number of votescontesting Lok Sabha electionas an Independent candidate.

So, if Tirkey manages tobag pocket votes of Congress,his own and anti- Oram votes,then definitely it would be aneasy sailing for him vis-à-visOram in 2019. On the otherside, Oram who had won lasttime with the support ofRourkela and Biramitrapurvoters, would not get the sameadvantage in 2019 asBiramitrapur is Tirkey’s hometurf where he is very popularand in Rourkela, Oram can’texpect the support of Ray as hehad in 2014.

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Trouble deepened for Schooland Mass Education

Minister Badri Narayan Patra’sson Debashis Patra as police onFriday prayed court to take himon remand to interrogate himin connection with two morecases.

Sources said that whileone case is registered in theGhasipura police station, theother is lodged in theRamachandrapur police sta-tion.

Notably on Thursday,Debashis was sent to judicialcustody after his bail petitionwas rejected by the DistrictJudge Court.

He had been produced incourt on the charge of assault-ing one Satyabrata Jena of vil-lage Guhalia under theGhasipura PS.

He was charged underSections 147, 148, 427, 323,294, 324, 325, 307 and 149 IPCand 3(1)(V)(S)SC and ST (PA).He had been nabbed from

Tangi by the Keonjhar policeand produced in court amidtight security. The next hearingof his case is scheduled forOctober 3.

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PARADIP: As the Cyclonicstorm 'DAYE' triggered heavydownpour accompanied byhigh-velocity wind in Paradip,the weeklong Viswhakarma Pujacelebrations in the PPT town-ship has been disrupted withinstances of damages to thePuja Pandals and caving in ofstructures.Normally, hawkersand street vendors, who come toParadip not only from the near-by areas but from faraway places,put up makeshift stalls to selltheir products during celebra-tions. But the inclement weath-er has severely dented theirbusiness.

The Paradip Port Trust(PPT) normally allots openspaces to these people by float-ing tender. The PPT manage-ment, however taking a sympa-thetic view of the circumstances,as a goodwill gesture has decid-ed to refund the money collect-ed from these small stalls andcycle stands, etc. This has givenrelief to the poor hawkers andstall owners, who were otherwisefacing the prospect of losses.

PNS

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The Utkal UniversityTeachers’ Association

(UUTA) has said that it wouldsoon resume its protest againstthe alleged administrative apa-thy towards its genuinedemands.

A UUTA delegation wouldmeet the Governor, who is theChancellor of Universities, andseek his intervention regardingfulfilment of the demands. Adecision to this effect was takenat the association’s general bodymeeting held here on Thursday.

The association had staged

protest for 15 days from July 10and postponed the stir on July25 after the Vice-Chancellor,the Registrar and the PGCouncil Chairman assuredthem to fulfil the demands byAugust 31.

The demands includeimmediate implementation ofCareer Advancement Scheme(CAS), the 7th Pay ScaleRevision Committee recom-mendations, immediate repairof residential quarters, confir-mation of faculty members,advance increment forMPhil/PhD holders, redesig-nation of Readers, recruitmentof Non-Teaching staff, NPSarrears and insurance schemes.

“The university authoritieshave promised to fulfil ourlegitimate demands manytimes. On their assurance, wehad postponed our protest tillAugust 31. We will now meet

the Chanellor and theGovernor and seek his inter-ventions,” said associationmembers.

They too alleged that theVice-Chancellor and other keyofficials have even marred theday-to-day functions of theuniversity. Hundreds of files arebeing piled up in the office ofthe VC and the Registrar forapproval and there is noprogress on critical issues.

UUTA secretary ProfKunja Behari Panda hopedthat the Chancellor, being a for-mer academician, would defi-nitely intervene in breaking theinertia of inaction of the uni-versity authorities. “If needed,I will be on a hunger strike tilldeath from October 2onwards,” he said. The meet-ing was presided over byUUTA vice-president ProfMaheswar Sahu.

BHUBANESWAR: After theJharsuguda Airport, to be inau-gurated by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on September22, three more airports are in theoffing in Odisha. The infra-structures of the three airportsare being developed in Jeypore,Rourkela and Utkela at a totalinvestment of over Rs 100 crore.These airports are expected to beoperational by 2019, informedAirports Authority of India(AAI) Member (Planning) AKPathak.

While the airport inRourkela is likely to be func-tional by October-Novemberthis year, those in Jeypore andUtkela are expected for opera-tions by March 2019, he said.

The Jharsuguda Airport hasbeen built over an area of 909.22acres at a cost of Rs 175 crore,of which the State Government

has contributed Rs 50 crore.The airport has a total of

1,028 acres of land, which isequal to that of the Biju PatnaikInternational Airport (BPIA)in Bhubaneswar. The new air-port can be developed for man-agement of 20 million air pas-sengers in future. Bigger planeslike Airbus 320 and Boeing 737can land at the Jharsuguda air-port, Pathak said. Recently, firsttrial landing of a Boeing flightof Indian Air Force (IAF) on theJharsuguda airport runway wassuccessful. The IAF’s Boeing-737flight made first landing onSeptember 11 ahead of the air-port’s formal inauguration.

Notably, the DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation(DGCA) has granted a 4-C cat-egory licence to the JharsugudaAirport allowing it for operationof bigger planes. PNS

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The Sachetan NagarikaManch of Puri on Friday

filed a complaint in theArakhkuda police stationagainst Chief

Minister Naveen Patnaik,Brahmagiri MLA SanjayDasburma, MinistersMaheshwar Mohanty andPradip Mahaparathy accusingthem of flying over Chilika lakemany times in the past.

Manch convenor PriyaDarshan Patnaik lodged thewritten complaint anddemanded actions againstthem.

Earlier, Patnaik had lodgeda complaint with the Puri SPSarthak Sarangi on Tuesday.

As no action was taken, he re-lodged the complaint at thePS.

“If former MP BijayantPanda is being summoned bypolice, why the CM and others, who have flown over Chilika many times,would not be booked,” wantedto know Patnaik.

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The Energy EfficiencyServices Ltd (EESL) joint-

ly with the InternationalCopper Association India, theUtkal Chamber of Commerceand Industry and the PowerTech Consultants organised aconclave on energy conserva-tion here on Thursday.

Power Tech Consultantssenior consultant BibhuCharan Swain, EESL CGM

(Tech) SP Garnaik, Gridco for-mer Director (Commercial)RC Mohapatra and ICAIManager Abhishek Dhuparattended as guests and spokeon the theme ‘AchievingEnergy Efficiency throughESCO Route’.

Dhupar made presenta-

tions on topics like global poli-cies, regulation and standardson motor efficiency andGarnaik spoke on achievingenergy efficiency through theEESL’s innovative ESCO route.Swain deliberated on impor-tance of achieving energy effi-ciency through power quality

management and harmoniesmitigations.

On the occasion, EESLEngineer Nand Kishore Jhaalso made a presentation onEESL’s national motor replace-ment programme. More than70 members including repre-sentatives of IMFA, Jindal,Nalco, PPL, Linde IndiaLimited, ICAI, EESL, UCCIand CCPPO were present. Aquestion and answer hour wasalso held.

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Unrest prevailed in theKhallikote Cluster

University here on Thursday asstudents locked the main gateof university in protest againstalleged wrong evaluation ofsemester answer papers.

The students alleged thatabout 60 to 70 per cent studentshave got D and F grade in thethird semester examinationdue to wrong valuation by theauthorities.

They also alleged that theauthorities have knowinglymade the students fail as thestudents’ union elections areround the corner.

They also alleged that thestudents have been given failmarks, i.e 6 and 8, in practicalexaminations.

Due to the unrest, the PlusThree third and fifth semesterexaminations were also can-celled.

College Principal Dr TKSatpathy reached the spot and

assured the students of appropriate steps followingwhich the students called offthe protest. However, he saidlater that there were no irreg-ularities in in evaluation ofanswer sheets.

Dr Satpathy also said a

notification would be taken outon Saturday for revaluationand students can apply for it.

Similarly, students ofGopalpur College held protestagainst the wrong evaluation ofthe semester examination anddemanded revaluation.

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In a daring broad daylightrobbery, unidentified mis-

creants looted Rs 2 lakh froma resident of Ajoyodha Nagaron Thursday. Sources said oneAnil Kumar Pradhan had goneto the State Bank of Indiabranch in the medical campusto deposit the money. But dueto some reason, he was unableto deposit it. Later, he went tothe nearby ICICI Bank todeposit the money.

While Pradhan was aboutto enter the bank after parkinghis motorbike, two youths ona motorcycle wearing helmetsapproached and asked him theway to Chhatrapur. When he

was showing him the direction,they snatched the money bagand fled from the spot.

After being informed,Gosani Nuaagaon IICKulamani Sethi and other per-sonnel rushed to the spot andscrutinised the CCTV footageinstalled outside the SBI Bank.Police have ascertained fromthe footage that the miscreantshad followed Pradhan beforelooting him. A case has beenregistered in the BNPur policestation in the connection,informed BNPur IICJaykrushna Patnaik. The inci-dent has sent shockwaves andit is being discussed that loot-ers have again become active inthe city.

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Hundreds of Congressactivists under lead-

ership of AICC secretaryAnil Kumar Chaudhary,PCC working presidentPradeep Majhi andGanjam district presidentDr Trinath Behera on Tuesdayheld a demonstration at theRDC (Southern Division)office here in protest againstvarious irregularities commit-ted by the Central and StateGovernments.

They severely criticised theNarendra Modi Governmentfor the alleged funds irregu-larities committed in buying ofRafale aircrafts.

Raising accusing fingersat the BJD Government,Congress activists lamentedthat Ganjam, the home district

of Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik, has been greatlyneglected. They slammed theGovernment for the allegedOmfed and mines scams andincidents of farmer suicides.

In the end, they submitteda memorandum, addressingthe President, to the RDC(SD). Among others, Congressdistrict working presidentDeepak Patnaik, Pitabas Panda,Bijay Sahu, Nagar presidentPramod Jena, Parshuram Sahu,Swarup Tripathy and MinatiMishra were present.

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Apolitical row broke out onFriday over the University

Grants Commission (UGC)communication to universitiesto observe September 29 as"Surgical strike day" with theOpposition calling it a foulpolitics while Centre insistingthat the moves certainly reflect-ed patriotism and not politics.While Trinamool Congress saidthey would not follow the HRDMinistry's diktat, former HRDMinister and senior Congressleader Kapil Sibal took a jibe byasking whether the UGC wouldcelebrate November 8 thedemonetisation day.

HRD Minister PrakashJavadekar said the UGC direc-tives was not compulsory butan advisory. UGC has asked theuniversities and the highereducational institutions to cel-ebrate the second anniversaryof the surgical strikes on terrorcamps in Pakistan-occupiedKashmir(PoK).

West Bengal EducationMinister Partha Chatterjeecriticised the BJP-led Central

Government for trying to"malign and politicise" theArmy and said educationalinstitutes will not abide byUGC's directive. Counteringhim, BJP State president DilipGhosh said the TMCGovernment has made it apractice to oppose each andevery decision of the Centre.

Javadekar said the UGCcommunication reflected "patri-otism not politics", and it is notcompulsory for the academicinstitutions to organise any suchevent. He rejected the criticismby opposition parties as"absolutely ridiculous and false".

Talk sessions by ex-ser-vicemen about sacrifices by thearmed forces, special parades

by the National CadetCorps(NCC) and visit to exhi-bitions are among the pre-scribed events by the UniversityGrants Commission(UGC) forthe celebration. Colleges havebeen asked to organise paradesby the National Cadet Corps(NCC) and lectures by ex-army officers.

On September 29 in 2016,the Indian Army carried out"surgical strikes" on seven ter-rorist launch pads across theLine of Control(LoC) as aresponse to an attack on itsbase in Uri earlier that month.The Army had said its specialforces inflicted "significantcasualties" on terrorists waiting

there to cross onto the Indianterritory.

"This is an agenda of theBJP and it is trying to pushthis agenda by using the UGCahead of elections. It is amatter of shame that they areusing the UGC to achievetheir polit ical agenda. We won't abide by the direc-tions of UGC," Chatterjeesaid at Kolkata.

"We would have under-stood it had they asked us toobserve the day in the name ofsacrifices made by our soldiers.We have full respect for our sol-diers and their sacrifices." "TheIndian Army has always beenkept above politics and contro-versies. But now we are seeingthat the BJP is trying to malignand politicise the Indian Army.This is not right and we won'tsupport it," Chatterjee said.

Sibal sarcastically askedwhether the UGC would "dare"to celebrate November 8, theday when demonetisation wasannounced in 2016, as 'surgi-cal strike day'. "UGC directsVC's of all universities to cele-brate 29th September as

Surgical Strike Day. Is thismeant to educate or to serveBJP's political ends?" Sibaltweeted.

"Will UGC dare celebrate8th November as SurgicalStrike Day depriving the poorof their livelihoods? Thisanother jumla!" the formerUnion HRD Minister said.

Javadekar told reporters inDelhi the ruling BJP differedwith the Congress as it onlygave advise to institutes to fol-low a programme while theopposition party made its deci-sions compulsory when it wasin power. "Where is politics?This is not politics but patrio-tism," Javadekar said, addingthat students needed to beinformed about the surgicalstrikes, and military and civilworks soldiers do.

He claimed that studentsand institutes had made sug-gestions that the secondanniversary of surgical strikesshould be observed. Askedwhy it was not commemorat-ed last year, he said a good suggestion can be exe-cuted anytime.

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The Union Home Ministryon Friday said no Special

Police Officer has resigned inJammu & Kashmir followingthe killing of three police per-sonnel by banned terror groupHizbul Mujahideen andtermed such reports as "falsepropaganda" by "mischievous"elements.

The Ministry also said thatthe terror groups are rattled bythe action taken by the securi-ty forces against the terroristgroups and as many as 28 ter-rorists have been neutralized inShopian alone this year.

28 terrorists have beenneutralised this year in Shopianalone where the three police-men were killed on Friday."Due to pro-active actions ofJammu & Kashmir police, ter-rorists have been pushed to thecorner and are being driven todesperation," the Home

Ministry said. "Reports have appeared in a

section of media that someSPOs in Jammu & Kashmirhave resigned. The J&K policehas confirmed that these reportsare untrue and motivated. Thesereports are based on false pro-paganda by mischievous ele-ments," the Union HomeMinistry said in a statement.

"Jammu & Kashmir has aprofessional and committedpolice force which is fullygeared up to meet the securitychallenges, including thoserelated to Panchayat and Urbanbody elections," the statementfurther read.

There are over 30,000 SPOsand their services are reviewedfrom time to time. Some mis-chievous elements are trying toproject that those SPOs whoseservices are not renewed due toadministrative reasons, haveresigned. Terrorists are onbackfoot in Jammu & Kashmir,the Home Ministry said.

The three policemen wereabducted from their homes insouth Kashmir's Shopian dis-trict and shot dead in cold

blood by the HizbulMujahideen, the Jammu &Kashmir police said.

Earlier, reports in theKashmiri media suggested thatthe killings had triggered panicin the lower ranks of the policedepartment with at least sixpolicemen resigning from ser-vice. Two of them issued videomessages dissociating them-selves from the police ranks.

"My name is Irshad AhmadBaba and I was working as aconstable in the police. I haverendered my resignation...,"said one of the SPOs in avideo message being widely cir-culated on social media inSrinagar.

Tajalla Hussain Lone,another SPO, said he hadresigned from the policedepartment on September 17and was issuing the video toput to rest any doubts, andthat Hizbul Mujahideen com-mander Riyaz Naikoo hasseveral times warned localpolicemen, especially SPOs, toresign from the force, sayingthat the Government is using them.

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Amid a row between CBIDirector Alok Verma and

the agency's second-in-com-mand Rakesh Asthana, thepublic relations wing of the CBIswung into action to defend thechief and malign his deputy.The CBI spokesperson issued astatement terming CBI SpecialDirector Rakesh Asthana'scomplaint to the CVC againstthe agency chief of his inter-ference in certain cases as"malicious" and "frivolous". Therow between the two officershas raised several eyebrows onthe selection of officers, includ-ing Verma, as the agency chiefand their integrity.

In an unusual move, theCBI issued a statement afterreports about Asthana filing acomplaint before the CentralVigilance Commission alleginginterference in the probesundertaken by the specialinvestigation team under him.The statement comes amidreports that Verma interferedin the investigation of IRCTCtender scam.

This is for the first timethat dirty linen is being washedin the open and two top offi-cials are embroiled in allega-tions of corruption.

"It is unfortunate that base-less and frivolous allegationsare being made publicly with-out proper verification of factsto malign the image of theDirector CBI and intimidatethe officials of the organisa-tion," reads the CBI statement.

The CVC has sought forcertain case files from the CBIon the basis of a complaint filedby the Special Director, CBI,the statement said.

"In its response to the CVCletter, the Chief VigilanceOfficer (CVO) of CBI haspointed out that the complaintis an attempt by the com-plainant to intimidate the offi-cers of CBI who are investi-gating his role in at least half adozen cases. The CBI said thatthe CVC should opine on themaintainability of the com-plaint and consider it maliciousand frivolous in order to pro-tect the integrity of the organ-isation," the CBI said.

Irrespective of the main-tainability of the complaint,CBI has provided most of thefiles as requested by the CVCand the remaining will be sub-mitted soon.

The CBI also claimed thatthere is no substance in themedia reports that CBI is notcooperating in the enquiry.

The allegation of preventingraids against the accused in theIRCTC case is absolutely false.The investigation of the case hasresulted in filing a chargesheetbefore the designated court.This could not have been pos-sible without the explicitapproval of the Director CBI,the agency further claimed.

CBI has pointed out in itsletter to CVC that the issuerelating to the IRCTC casewas raked up earlier also andbrought before the SupremeCourt on two occasions. Thematter was dismissed by theSupreme Court. The peti-tioners were also in posses-sion of information fromhighly confidential internaldocuments, which is a seriousoffence, it added.

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The much-awaited, GlobalFest ival of Spir itual

Sciences (GFFS) 2018 is beingheld in one of Asia's largestmeditat ion pyramids,Pyramid International Valley,at the outskirts of Bangalorefrom September 29 toOctober 4 where you canhave a holistic experience ofwellness and spirituality toenliven your soul.

What's even more advan-tageous is that your queries willbe answered by some of themost admired and influentialmasters and healers in theworld in the ambience of thenature, making the entire event—11th edition of GFSS 2018—even more spiritual.

This spiritual festival fea-tures gurus like Susan Hough,Jasmuheen, Prof Kaya, DrLakshmi Newton andChristiane Muller and manyothers will be speaking on

topics ranging from the'Physics of Consciousness' to'Dream Interpretation &Symbology', from 'IndigenousWisdom of the NativeMedicine Wheel ' to'Connecting Ancient Wisdomwith Quantum Physics' to setyour soul alight.

The festival will also haveactivities like Tai Chi, yogaand meditation sessions

besides dance performancesby Zia Nath, a danseuse andwhirling expert and a soundImmersion session by Aurelio,a sound therapist and livemusic performance by Adam Apollo.

To keep children engaged,the GFSS -2018 will haveinteresting line up of mindfuland fun activities such asKid's yoga, storytelling, organ-

ic gardening, pottery andmuch more.

"It is a celebration of lettingout your negativity and impurethoughts. This year with line-up of global speakers, musi-cians, and yogis one can learnthe power of creating one'sown unique vibe," said PinkyDaga, CEO, Thriive Art &Soul, a state-of-the-art holisticwellness portal and organiserof the event.

This festival is open to allindividuals coming from dif-ferent walks of life like stu-dents, working people andhomemakers.

For those who are new tospirituality, the celebratoryaspect makes it less intimi-dating, explains Pinky Daga."Masters break down esotericsubjects into their basics. So,even those who've never evenheard of spirituality are ableto experience it and thisbegins an inner transforma-tion within them," she added.

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Hitting out at the Centreover the security situa-

tion in Jammu & Kashmir, theCongress on Friday allegedthat the NDA Governmentwas playing with the "crown ofIndia" and treating the peopleof the State like "guinea pigs".

Congress spokesmanAbhishek Singhvi alleged thatthere had been a marked quan-titative increase in ceasefireviolations, deaths of securitypersonnel, civilian killings,and terror incidents in Jammu& Kashmir since the BJP cameto power at the Centre and inthe State.

He blamed theGovernment for the deterio-rating security situation inJammu & Kashmir and citedthe abduction and killing ofthree policemen and thereported resignations by policepersonnel in the State.

The Home Ministry, how-ever, said on Friday that nopoliceman has resigned in thestate following the killing of thethree police personnel by ter-ror group Hizbul Mujahideenand described such reports as"false propaganda" by "mis-

chievous" elements."There is a quantitative

and qualitative change. Thequantitative change is reflect-ed in any of the four parame-ters — ceasefire violations,death of security personnel,civilian deaths, terror inci-dents," Singhvi said.

It is "shocking" that 414jawans have died since the BJPcame to power at the Centreand in the State, he said.Singhvi said, "256 civilianshave died. As I have said on allparametres there is 100, 200,300 per cent increase. In thecase of ceasefire violations,

there is a 500 per cent increase."He said the UPA had

brought the State and its peo-ple in the mainstream, but theNDA Government convertedthat mainstream into "mid-stream". Singhvi also accusedthe Government of treatingJammu & Kashmir like a "lab-oratory experiment" and itspeople like "guinea pigs".

"The Government hasbetrayed each and every part ofJammu & Kashmir andLadakh," the Congress leadersaid. He alleged that to all theincidents of violence and dete-riorating security situation,

there was silence on the part ofthe Government.

Singhvi alleged that muti-lations have been on the risesince 2016 and also cited therecent killing of a BSF jawanwho was found with histhroat slit.

He also slammed theGovernment's decision to agreeto the meeting betweenExternal Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj and herPakistani counterpart ShahMahmood Qureshi on the side-lines of the UN GeneralAssembly in New York.

However, later in theevening, India called off themeeting citing the "brutal"killing of the three policemenin Jammu & Kashmir as well asthe release of postal stamps glo-rifying Kashmiri militantBurhan Wani. Singhvi slammedthe Government's Pakistan pol-icy as a 'No Pak policy'.

"It is knee-jerk, it isepisodic, it is momentary, it istransient, it depends on themood of the moment. ThisGovernment has no moralright to continue. TheGovernment is playing withcrown, with the pride ofIndia," he said.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) attached

immovable properties andbank balances worth �42.88crore derived by accused AmitBhardwaj and his accomplicesin Bitcoin Trading Ponzischeme under the banner ofVariabletech Pvt Ltd Singapore.

These attached propertiesinclude six offices of Bhardwajlocated at Dubai (UAE) and theflats and bank balances of histwo marketing agents HemantBhope and Pankaj Adlakha.

The ED probe has revealedthat Amit Bhardwaj had start-ed a company at Singaporeunder the banner ofVariabletech Pvt Ltd in 2015and through its web-sitewww.gainbitcoin.com, helaunched a ponzi scheme ofBitcoin trading.

Bitcoin is a virtual crypto-currency which is popularamongst a section of theinvestors. Under the saidscheme, Bhardwaj, through histeam of marketing agents, usedto lure the gullible people byasking them to buy Bitcoins outof their investments and theninvest these Bitcoins in hisgainbitcoin scheme by promis-ing high returns.

Through this scheme,Bhardwaj and his marketingagents were able to collectinvestments worth about80,000 Bitcoins. However,instead of paying back thepromised returns to theinvestors in Bitcoins, Bhardwajoffered them returns in his ownnewly launched crypto-cur-rency token MCAP which hadnearly no value on crypto-currency exchanges.

A large numbers ofinvestors in Bhardwaj's firmwere cheated in this way, theED said.

The ED initiated investiga-tion under the provisions of thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act, 2002 resultingin the provisional attachments ofimmovable properties and bankbalances worth �42.88 crore.

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In a move to make upcomingAssembly and Lok Sabha

polls accessible for all, theElection Commission (EC)has decided to train all theelectoral officers and staff toget adequately trained in signlanguage and finger spellingalphabet. During the trainingsession, the election officialswill be given training in elec-tion related sign languagessymbols such as 'election','voter identity card', 'address','polling booth', polling station,political parties, voter slipswith photo, voter guides andother things.

Sources in the EC saidthat the Commission hasdirected all the electoral officersand staff to get adequately

trained in sign language andfinger spelling alphabet. Theelection watchdog has writtento all concerned to hire pro-fessionals to receive the train-ing and also provided hugeposters of sign language andfinger spelling alphabet for thedifferentially abled to be dis-played on all election relatedpremises.

According to EC officials,during the training programmesession, the election officialswill be provided basic knowl-edge as well as election relatedsign languages or fingerspelling symbols such as 'elec-tion', 'voter identity card','address', 'polling booth', polit-ical parties, electronic votingmachines, voter slips withphoto, electronic votingmachines. Finger-spelling (or

dactylology) is the representa-tion of the letters of a writingsystem and sometimes numer-al systems, using only thehands. These manual alphabets(also known as finger alphabetsor hand alphabets), have oftenbeen used in hearing impairededucation, and have subse-quently been adopted as a dis-

tinct part of anumber of signlanguages.

In a commu-niqués' to ChiefElectoral Officersof States andUnion Territories,the EC said, " Itmay be seen thatSeptember 23, hasbeen declared asInternational Dayof Sign Languages

by United Nations. Accordingly,the sign language training ses-sions may be conducted on anyworking day in the week whichis also the "International Weekof Deaf ".

The EC also made it clearthat the training should be con-ducted by sign language expertwith a suitable experience in the

subject. "The idea of this exerciseis to acquaint the officials withthe issues that concern and thequestions that are frequently bysuch voters," said officials of EC.

"During the session, theelection staff will be sensitisedon the needs of the personswith hearing impairment.Under the programme, apolling scenario will be recre-ated to enable the officials andstaff better understand what isrequired of them while dealingwith voters with hearing dis-abilities," said EC officials.

Earlier, the EC has provid-ed training to chief electoralofficials and deputy electoralofficials of states and union ter-ritories wherein the officerswere acquainted with basic aswell as election related sign lan-guages symbols on last week.

Besides, information relatedto basic etiquette while con-versing with persons with dis-abilities was also shared withthe Officials of theCommission and they weresensitised regarding the needsof hearing impaired persons.The training was conductedwith the help of the Indian SignLanguage Research andTraining Centre (ISLRTC) toprepare election officials tocommunicate with voters withhearing disabilities.

For the hearing impaired,the EC had stated that sign lan-guage windows will be provid-ed in all audio-visual trainingand awareness content of thecommission. For the visually-challenged electors, the EC hadstated that it would be issuingbraille voter identity cards.

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New Delhi: The Congress onFriday demanded a probe intothe Narendra Modi-ledGovernment's much vaunted"Skill India", claiming that thescheme was a massive scambenefiting people within the"BJP eco-system". Citing mediareports and RTI replies, Congressspokesperson Abhishek ManuSinghvi alleged that the schemelaunched in 2015 to "train 40crore people" was actually a"shortcut to profitable businessfor the unscrupulous".

"Skill India Mission hasturned out to be a massive scamwith people within the BJP eco-system, its cronies, middlemen,touts and mafia pocketing themoney for the same and listingghost beneficiaries. "The missionof skilling has evolved into amechanism of fast billing forBJP's friends. In the name ofmaking youth employable, ModiGovernment's Skill DevelopmentMinistry seems to have createda shortcut to profitable businessfor the unscrupulous," saidSinghvi.

The Congress also targetedTextile Minister Smriti Iraniover the alleged scam. "Irani,who leaves no opportunity toexert her larynx on variety ofinane issues, is absolutely mumon the rampant corruptionunder her watch, why?" askedSinghvi. He also cited theGovernment-appointed ShardaPrasad Committee that had"criticised the ModiGovernment for setting anunachievable target of skilling40 crore youth". "The commit-tee had further found that theModi Government had beenmissing its targets over the pre-vious two years as far as skillingthe workforce was concerned,"said Singhvi, demanding aprobe into the scam and recov-ery of "crores of people's moneylost due to these irregularities".

IANS

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Three more terrorists ofbanned Lashkar-e-Tayyeba

(LeT) outfit were killed in aprolonged gun-battle in Sumlarforests of north Kashmir’sBandipora district on Fridaytaking the toll of terrorists tofive. Two terrorists were killedin the initial phase of theencounter on Thursday.

A defence spokesman saidthat weapons and war-likestores were recovered from theencounter site. The encounterwas in progress when lastreports came in from the area.

The encounter began onThursday when a joint team ofArmy, CRPF and SpecialOperations Group (SOG) ofJ&K Police launched a massiveoperation in the Shokhbaba,Sumlar area of Bandipora.Security sources said that theoperation was temporarily sus-pended through the night inview of darkness after killing of

two terrorists in the initialphase.

However, the multi lay-ered cordon remained intactand the search operation wasresumed on Friday. They saidthat during the intense searchoperation the contact with thehiding terrorists was re-estab-lished triggering fresh gun-fight. During the ensuingencounter, three more terror-ists were killed.

Security sources said thatthe slain are suspected to be

LeT cadre.Meanwhile, normal life

was affected in Capital Srinagaras the authorities disallowedAshura processions in the maincity. The authorities imposedrestrictions in the jurisdictionof five police stations in oldSrinagar. The Friday congre-gational prayers were notallowed in Grand Mosque ofSrinagar even as the authoritieskept senior separatist leaderMirwaiz Umar Farooq underdetention at his residence.

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In a disclosure which couldhave repercussions across

the political spectrum in thecountry, senior BJP leader andRajya Sabha memberSubramanian Swamy statedon Friday that Sonia Gandhi,the then Congress president, PChidambaram, the then UnionHome Minister and VelupillaiPrabhakaran, the chief of thedreaded Liberation Tigers ofTamil Eelam (LTTE) werehand in glove with each other.

In a message posted on hismicro-blogging platform,Swamy said Chidambaramhad sent a message toPrabhakaran during the 2009battle (which saw the annihi-lation of the LTTE) to awaitIndian Navy to come to rescuehim. “Navy did come but itwas Sri Lankan Navy.Prabhakaran walked out of thejungle into the beach thinkingit was the Indian Navy andhence was killed,” said Swamyin his posting.

He also said that PC(Chidambaram) had sent the

message to Prabhakaran atthe behest of TDK (the abbre-viation usually used by Swamyto describe Sonia Gandhi)during the final days of theMay 2009 war.

He said the Indian Navyship which was expected toreach the theatre of war didnot leave Indian shoresbecause of stiff Oppositionfrom highest authorities.“Prabhakaran could not beinformed by the Congressleadership about the change ofplan,” said Swamy.

Swamy’s disclosure comesimmediately after the visit ofMahinda Rajapaksa, formerpresident of Sri Lanka to NewDelhi at the invitation ofSwamy. Rajapaksa, who wasthe President of Sri Lankaduring the civil war of May2009, had told PrashantTiwari of The Pioneer in anexclusive interview that theGovernments of India andSri Lanka had worked in tan-dem in the 2009 civil war inthe island nation which result-ed in the annihilation of thedreaded Liberation Tigers ofTamil Eelam, a terrorist

organisation.“We had a mechanism

during the war (against theLTTE in 2009) called theTroika, where three officialsfrom both sides (India and SriLanka ) were able to discussany issue, even in the middleof the night,” said Rajapaksa.Experts are of the view that theTroika had played a major rolein scuttling the move to savePrabhakaran.

According to Rajapaksa,three high officials from SriLanka and India were deput-ed for regular exchange ofinformation to facilitate prop-er coordination during theoperation against the LTTEterrorists during the month ofMay 2009. “This was known asTroika System and these offi-cials met even in the middle ofthe night. What we need is asystem like this in our eco-nomic cooperation also,”Rajapaksa had said.

This is in stark contrast tothe claims by the DMK, thenan important ally of the UPAGovernnment led byManmohan Singh.Karunanidhi, the then ChiefMinister of Tamil Nadu hadsaid that the Centre had toldhim that the operation by theSri Lankan Government wasonly to nab LTTE chiefPrabhakaran and India had norole in the military operations.

The AIADMK on Fridaydeclared that it would launcha massive agitation all overTamil Nadu on September 25to highlight how the DMK hadbetrayed Tamils all over the

world because of its “complic-ity” in the civil war.

Karunanidhi in the com-pany of his two wives hadstaged a “two-hour long fast”at Marina Beach questioningthe then Union Government’scomplicity in the civil war inSri Lanka and had called it offfollowing assurances from theCentre that it had no role inthe military operations. TheLTTE had used innocentTamils as human shields tosave the LTTE chiefPrabhakaran and his hench-men from the Sri Lankanarmy.

K P Munusamy , theAIADMK strongman toldreporters at Chennai on Fridaythat the disclosure byRajapaksa proved that theDMK too was engaged in thekilling of Tamils in northernSri Lanka during May 2009.“The Indian Government wasoffering military assistance tothe Sri Lankan Government inthe attack against the LTTE.The DMK is responsible forthousands of Tamils who gotkilled in the war,” saidMunusamy.

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The Bombay High Court on Fridayallowed a 33-year-old woman, who

is in her 30th week of pregnancy, toundergo an abortion as a medical testhad revealed that the foetus has a devel-opmental birth defect.

A division bench of justices A S Okaand A S Gadkari also granted thewoman's request to undergo the abor-tion at a private clinic in Nashik.

On the High Court's direction,doctors at the Government-run J JHospital here had examined her andapproved the abortion at such a latestage, considering the condition of thefoetus.

However, the Government hadopposed her request to undergo abor-tion at the Nashik clinic.

She should be directed to undergoabortion at a Government hospital asthe Medical Termination of Pregnancy(MTP) Act mandates that the proceduremust be performed only at Governmenthospitals or private hospitals recognisedfor this purpose by the Government, itsaid.

In Maharashtra, private clinics andhospitals which perform MTP arerequired to be certified by civic bodies.

The clinic in Nashik is duly certi-fied to perform legally approved med-ical termination of pregnancy.

However, the State Government isyet to complete the process of register-ing and approving private clinics for car-rying out abortions in cases where thepregnancy has exceeded 20 weeks, theGovernment lawyer said.

Advocate Kuldeep Nikam, thewoman's lawyer, said she should beallowed to undergo the procedure at theNashik clinic as the doctors there knewher case history well.

The High Court acceded to therequest, saying that she should not bepenalised because the State had failedto complete registration of clinics.

The petition said that the womanalready has a five-year-old son diag-

nosed with Down's Syndrome.She and her husband approached

the high court last week seeking per-mission for abortion, saying that theywere already caring for a specially-abledchild, and forcing them to continue withthe present pregnancy would causethem much physical and emotionaltrauma.

Giving birth to another child withspecial needs would impose a financialburden on them as the woman is ahousewife and the husband runs a smallbusiness, the petition said.

On September 11, the woman's doc-tor suggested that considering her firstchild's condition, she should undergoa scan to check if the present foetus hadabnormalities.

The scan revealed that the foetushas “Schizencephaly”, a rare develop-mental birth defect characterised byabnormal slits or clefts in the brain.

The condition causes developmen-tal delays. It can also cause seizures andproblems with brain-spinal cord com-munication, the petition said.

The Medical Termination ofPregnancy Act permits abortions after20 weeks only if continuation of thepregnancy poses a threat to the child'sor the mother's life.

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The Opposition Congress in Goa on Friday gavea notice for removal of Assembly Speaker

Pramod Sawant.The party, which has 16 members in the 40-

member Assembly, also gave a 14-day notice for con-vening of a session of the House for undertaking theprocess of removing Sawant from the post.

The move came days after the party staked claimto form an alternate Government, contending thatthe BJP-led ruling alliance had lost majority in theAssembly.

The Government is headed by Chief MinisterManohar Parrikar who is hospitalised in Delhi fora pancreatic ailment.

The notice for removal of Sawant was given under“Rule 243 of Rules and Procedure and Conduct ofBusiness of the Legislative Assembly of Goa, read withArticle 179C of the Constitution of India,” Leader ofOpposition Chandrakant Kavlekar said.

Rule 243 States provision for moving a resolu-tion to ask for permission of the House to discussabout impeachment of the Speaker.

Kavlekar, however, refused to specify on whatgrounds it wants Sawant to be removed as theSpeaker, saying the reasons will be spelt out on thefloor of the House.

The legislators said they propose to move themotion to remove Sawant from the office ofSpeaker of Legislative Assembly at the end of 14 days'notice period.

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The Congress on Friday demanded aprobe into renewal of iron ore min-

ing leases during the previous tenure ofGoa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

All India Congress Committee(AICC) secretary A Chellakumar saidformer BJP Chief Minister LaxmikantParsekar had revealed that renewal ofmining leases, termed illegal by theSupreme Court, was done during thetenure of his predecessor Parrikar.

Parrikar had earlier held the chiefminister's post from 2012 to 2014 and hewas succeeded by Parsekar. Parrikar, cur-rently admitted in New Delhi's AIIMS fora pancreatic ailment, became Goa's chiefminister again in March 2017.

A complaint was filed before theLokayukta alleging the involvement ofParsekar, the then mines secretaryPawan Kumar Sain and current minesand geology department directorPrasanna Acharya in the illegal renew-al of 88 mining leases, which werequashed by the apex court on February7, 2018.

“Today, the truth has come out veryclearly. It is not the Congress, it isnobody but their own party's ex-chiefminister Laxmikant Parsekar (who) hadtold (the Lokayukta) very clearly that itis not him but Parrikar who is the causeof looting of �1,44,000 crore,”Chellakumar claimed.

He sought to know why the StateGovernment was silent over the matterand why no charge sheet had been filed.

The Congress leader said a com-mittee should be formed to investigateParsekar's allegations.

The former Chief Minister, in a writ-ten reply to the Lokayukta last month,had said the policy to renew mining leas-es was framed by his predecessor(Parrikar) on the instructions of the Goabench of the Bombay High Court.

“Parrikar had begun renewing theleases and during his tenure, eight ornine of them were already renewed,”Parsekar had told the anti-corruptionwatchdog. “When I took over, I followedParrikar's track,” Parsekar, who was thechief minister of Goa from November2014 till March last year, had said.

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Six persons, including minor chil-dren, were electrocuted to death

at a village under Rupohi police sta-tion in Assam’s Nagaon district onFriday even as Assam ChiefMinister Sarbananda Sonowalordered an inquiry into the tragicincident.

The incident took place at UttarKhatowal village in Nagaon districtwhen six persons, including chil-dren, got down to a fishery to fishand got electrocuted. “A faulty elec-tric high voltage wire got snappedand reportedly electrocuted the vil-lages fishery. The locals intimatedthis to the local line man of the elec-tricity board. The electricity was cutoff initially and the six people gotdown to the fishery. However, aftersometime, all the six persons died

due to electrocution,” said the police.Assam Chief Minister

Sarbananda Sonowal ordered aninquiry into the electrocution inci-dent which reportedly killed sixpeople at Rupohihat LegislativeAssembly Constituency at UttarKhatowal village in Nagaon district.

The Chief Minister have askedAdditional Chief Secretary andChairman APDCL Jishnu Barua toenquire into the incident. “Theinquiry will primarily be encom-passing within its ambit the cir-cumstances leading to the electro-cution and submit the report to thegovernment immediately,” a state-ment issued by the Chief Minister’soffice said.

Meanwhile, the irate mobattacked and vandalized the houseof local line man holding himresponsible for the incident.

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The Begusarai police is all set to arrestformer Social Welfare Minister

Manju Verma’s husbandChandrashekhar Verma in connectionwith a case filed against him with CheriaBariarpur police station last month forpossessing illegal arms and ammuni-tions. An order to arrest him wasissued by Begusarai PoliceSuperintendent on Friday.

The SP moved following a directiveby the Supreme Court which found thecase against Verma serious and a divi-sion Bench directed the police to inter-rogate him.

The arms and ammunitions hadbeen recovered during a search in theresidential premises of the couplewhose name figured in the infamousMuzaffarpur shelter home rape case.The Minister had to resign when the

name of her husband cropped up andthe CDR of his phone revealed that hewas in constant touch with rape casemain accused Brajesh Thakur whowas running the shelter home. It wasalso alleged that Verma had been vis-iting the shelter home and spendingtime there.

Manju Verma had stoutly deniedthe allegations and claimed that her hus-band visited the shelter home only oncethat too along with her when she wentthere in her capacity as social welfareminister.

The sensational case is being inves-tigated by the CBI and now the apexcourt has decided to monitor it. TheSupreme Court also took notice of thefiring in remand home at Purnea inwhich two people died. The bench ofJustice Madan B Lokur and JusticeDeepak Gupta expressed surprise as tohow weapon reached the remand home.

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As the political uncertaintyadded to infighting and has

hit the fragile coalition inKarnataka, political punditsfeel the President’s Rule loomslarge over the State. The war ofwords between Chief MinisterHD Kumaraswamy, who isstruggling to keep the coalitionintact, and BJP chief BSYeddyurappa for the last fewdays has reached a peak lead-ing to fluid political situation.

In a fit of angerKumaraswamy had asked thepeople to revolt (dange) againstthe BJP for trying to topple hisGovernment but later he saidhis statement was misquoted.Yeddyurappa too charged JD(S)and Kumaraswamy as com-mission agents.

The BJP termed the use ofthe word ‘revolt’ as “seditious”

and appealed to GovernorVajubhai Vala to initiate actionagainst the CM. Soon after theCM’s statement, there was asnap protest by a few Congressworkers at the residence of BJPstate president BS Yeddyurappa.The saffron party has alsothreatened to take legal actionagainst Kumaraswamy.

In a major development onFriday the JDs has called a leg-islature party meeting atHassan on Saturday indicatesthe political fluidity in the state.Chief Minister who looks has-sled went to former chief min-ister Siddaramaiah to discussthe political situation. The cus-tomary cabinet meeting onThursday according to sourcestoo discussed political situationarising out of operation Lotusthreat by the BJP which plansto poach JDs and CongressMLAs. According to sources in

the BJP is planning to take someMLAs to resort in Pune orMumbai. The BJP in the statehas also authorisedYeddyurappa to take suitableaction if need be to form thegovernment.

The BJP accused chief min-ister of sedition and soughtaction over his remark askingpeople to rise in revolt againstBJP for its alleged attempt todestabilise the collation gov-ernment. The party has alsoofficially lodged a complaintwith DGP and said the chiefminister has violated section124(A) and other sections ofIPC. Party workers Holdingplacards and raising slogansagainst JDs supremoDevegowda and his sons,including Kumaraswamy,protested in Bengaluru.

BJP leader ShobhaKarndlaje said the person who

was supposed to protect theConstitution and citizens of thecountry was “provoking” peo-ple. Another BJP MP PrahladJoshi termed the statement asthe “most irresponsible andunpardonable offence” and saidthe chief minister's choice ofwords displayed his state ofmind.

Upset over the alleged top-pling game of the BJP, an angryKumaraswamy had onThursday warned BJP to berestrained in its speech aboutGowda and his family, saying hecan even ask people to rise inrevolt against it if it continuedto disturb Congress-Janata Dal-Secular coalition governmentheaded by him.

Launching a no-holds-barred attack on state BJP chiefB S Yeddyurappa,Kumaraswamy had said: “Ifyou dig too much (into our

affairs), then we too have manythings at our disposal.”“Government is in our hand.Don't I have the authority to dowhatever I can? I caution himto be careful,” he added.

Chief Minister HDKumaraswamy on Thursdayreminded Yeddyurappa on thedenotification case. “Do notinstigate me to lose mypatience. I have my governmentand can take extreme decision,”he said, warning the BJP topleader to stay away from mak-ing wild allegations againstmembers of his family andstop attempting to topple thecoalition government.

In another developmentthe JDs legislatures have com-plained to the speaker aboutBJP’s operation lotus and askedthe speaker to protect theMLAs from horse trading andpoaching.

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In a setback to TelanganaRashtra Samiti, a senior party

leader and former MP RameshRathod has quit the party andjoined the main OppositionCongress party.

Rathod was angry on notgetting the Assembly electionticket from his home con-stituency Khanapur in Nirmaldistrict.

Ramesh along with hiswife Suman joined theCongress party in Hyderabadin presence of AICC secretaryRC Kuntia.

Speculations were rife forquite some time that Rathodewas on his way out from TRSafter his supporters had orga-

nized a big protest demonstra-tion in Khanapur and Rathodissued warning to the TRSleader. A tribal leader Rathodand his family was quite influ-ential in the area.

With this he has complet-ed the round of joining all thethree major parties in the state.He started his career with theTelugu Desam party wherestarting from the grass root he

worked his up to becomeparty’s politburo and was elect-ed to Lok Sabha from Adilabad.

But after his defeat in thelast elections he joined theruling TRS along with anoth-er senior TDP leader TummalaNageshwara Rao and wasworking hard to cultivate theconstituency. However in thelist of TRS candidatesannounced by the ChiefMinister K ChandrashekharRao he failed to find a placeand the ticket was given toRekha Naik.

Rathod was confident thaton Congress ticket will emergevictorious from his con-stituency and the party willcome to power in the next elec-tions.

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Amid lots of hue and cryover the deaths of 11 lions

in the Gir Forest — the lastabode of Asiatic Lions situatedin western Gujarat, the Stateforest department claimed thatthe deaths of big cats were nat-ural and not a single deathoccurred due to viral infectionor other disease.

Many eye-brows have beenraised following deaths of lionsin Dalkhania and Jashadharranges situated in eastern partof Gir Forest. During 12th to19th September as many as 11lions died due to infighting andterritorial war, confirms GKSinha, Principal ChiefConservator of Forest (PCCF)and Head of Forest Force inGujarat.

Reasons including aging,disease, injury, weakness andinfighting for capturing terri-tory are considered as naturalin the case of lion’s death.Hence the State forest depart-ment is considering thesedeaths of Asiatic Lions as nat-ural. Despite the fact, 11 deathswithin a span of eight dayswould be alarming for thestate forest department con-sidering that InternationalUnion for Conservation ofNature (IUCN) listed theAsiatic Lions (Panthera leo

persica) as endangered due toits small numbers and area ofoccupancy.

“Basically lion is a territo-rial animal and stay within itspride. As a result of it wheneverthe leader of a pride becomesweak, mostly due to aging,strong lions from neighbouringprides try to take his place andattack on the weak lion and hisprogenies. In such attacks,stronger lion not only kills theweaker one but his cubs also,”said the PCCF.

Of the 11 lions died due to

territorial war, there were sixcubs, two lionesses and threematured lions. As on Fridayautopsy reports of eight lionshave come and prima facie theexperts are of the opinion thatall eight big cats died of infight-ing. Post Mortem reports ofremaining three Asiatic Lionsare awaited, but mostly thecause of the death likely to bethe same.

With a view to curb moredeaths of lions due to infight-ing, the State forest departmenthas shifted five mature lionsfrom Dalkhania and Jashadharranges to other places in Girforest. According to Sinha,deaths of lions due to territor-ial war were considered as nat-ural phenomena and such inci-dences are occurring time totime. However, such high deathtoll within a short span due toinfighting was alarming, headds.

Generally, in one lion’s ter-ritory up to three lionessesreside and after mating seasoneach lioness would give birth

up to four cubs. Gestationperiod of lioness is around110 days and in normal cir-cumstances lioness becomepregnant after an interval of 20to 24 months. Of the totalnewly born lion cubs, only 25to 30 per cent reach to matu-rity, while 70 to 75 per cent diedue to some or other naturaland unnatural reasons.

As per the last census ofAsiatic Lions in the eight dis-tricts of Saurashtra region, 523big cats were reported thatincluding 109 mature male,201 female, 73 sub-adults and14o cubs (below one year). Onand average every year 210 lioncubs born in Gujarat and ofthese nearly 140 die by the timethey reach up to the age of threeyears. Hardly 70 of them aresurviving and reach to matu-rity. During the year 2017-18 asmany as 69 lions died inGujarat. Of these 51 died dueto natural reasons and 18 dueto unnatural reasons includingaccidents, electrocution andother causes.

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Opposition parties, includ-ing the Left and the BJP,

staged road blockades in vari-ous parts of North Bengal aftertwo students at Islampur inNorth Dinajpur district died ofbullet injuries following clash-es with the police.

The students of DaribhitHigh School in Islampur bor-dering Bihar were allegedlyprotesting against the appoint-ment of Urdu and Sanskritteachers keeping Bengali,History and other departmentsvacant.

Following clashes onThursday a number of peopleincluding students and somepolicemen sustained bullet andother injuries, police said. Outof them one student died onThursday and the other died atSiliguri on Friday leading to

massive protest by the localswho said the police had fired atthe protesting students.

However district SP PunitKumar said the police had notfired at the crowd. “There wasa skirmish and the police hadto use force to control thecrowd but there was no firingas per reports coming now.” Hehowever said the autopsyreports would give a clear pic-ture as to what led to thedeaths.

The SP said some peopleincluding “some BJP support-ers have been arrested for incit-ing the crowd.”

Meanwhile at least 10 otherpeople were admitted to vari-ous hospitals and were under-going treatment.

While the BJP immediate-ly demanded a CBI investigationinto the case and the Left askedfor a judicial inquiry fromKolkata Education MinisterPartho Chatterjee blamed theright wing parties for creatingtrouble in the region.

“We know who are creatingtrouble there. There are reportsthat the BJP is involved. But wecan assure you that no one willbe spared and strict action willbe taken against those who areresponsible,” he said addingthe district inspector of schoolshave been suspended for failingto handle the situation.

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In a move loaded with positive vibes forMamata Banerjee, the Congress on Friday

made some sudden and crucial changes in thePradesh Congress brass by removing Stateparty president Adhir Chowdhury — a pro-claimed anti-Mamata face — and bringing inhis place a more accommodative Somen Mitraa septuagenarian leader.

Chowdhury has been made the chairmanof the election (campaign) committee whileother three senior leaders: AH KhanChowdhury, a South Malda MP, ShankarMalakar and Deepa Dasmunshi have beenmade the acting vice presidents of the Stateunit, sources said.

There was no word from Chowdhury whohas been in favour of a Left-Congress, ratherthan Congress-TMC alliance in the 2019 gen-eral elections as — “Mamata Banerjee hasruined our party organisation after we alliedwith her by engineering defections with bla-tant use of money and muscle power.”

Mitra was the PCC president in 1998.Following serious differences with him

Banerjee the then Youth Congress split theparty to form her own Trinamool Congress.Since then much water had flowed down theHooghly with Mitra himself joining theTMC in 2009, winning from the DiamondHarbour MP constituency before quitting thatparty to rejoin the Congress again.

Chowdhury has earlier went on recordsaying that there would be no alliance withthe Trinamool Congress till he was at thehelm.

When asked to comment on whether hetoo would pursue the same anti-Trinamoolpolicy in respect of electoral alliances, Mitrasaid he was “none to take a decision on theissue. It is for the high command to take adecision on alliances. When they will ask myopinion about the issue I will give it.”

On what his opinion was regarding thelongevity of a Congress-TMC alliance if it real-ly became a reality, he said “as of now if weally with the TMC then definitely we will getsome seats from Bengal. But in the long runwe will lose organizationally as has been seenthrough the past experiences when TMC hasengineered defections in the Congress.”

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Ajudge who had acquitted allthe accused belonging to

Hindu extremist groups inMecca Masjid bomb blast caseearlier this year has decided tojoin the BJP.

In a development, whichhas created a stir in politicaland legal circles in Hyderabadformer IVth AdditionalMetropolitan Sessions JudgeK Ravinder Reddy visited theBJP state office and met thesenior party leader and formerUnion Minister BandaruDattatreya.

Party sources said that hehad come to the office with theplans of formally joining theparty but was asked by theparty leaders to wait for some-time.

In his judgment of April 19he had acquitted all the fiveaccused belonging to Hindugroups including SwamiAseemanand alias NabhaKumar Sircar, a RSS memberciting lack of sufficient proof

and submitted his resignationsoon after pronouncing theverdict.

Nine people were killedwhen a bomb exploded in thecourt yard of Mecca Masjidsoon after Friday congregation.Later the CBI and the NationalInvestigation Agency hadarrested members of variousHindu groups including RSS,Lokesh Sharma and DevenderGupta.

Ravinder Reddy told themedia that he had come to theBJP office to join the party onthe invitation of the BJP lead-ers. “I had come after meetingthe BJP President Amit Shah inHyderabad last week and wasalso in touch with BandaruDattatreya. I had come ontheir invitation to join theparty”, he said.

Sources in the state BJPoffice said that no date wasfixed for his formal joining andDattatreya asked him to waittill a formal communicationfrom the central leadership.Sources said that there was aneed for some more discus-sions with in the party and allthe state leaders including statepresident K Lakshman need tobe taken into confidence.

Defending his decision tojoin the BJP, Ravinder Reddysaid, “BJP is a patriotic partyfree of any dynastic culture. Theparty is committed to check antinational elements and to workfor the national integration”, hesaid. Ravinder Reddy said thathe wants to contest the comingAssembly elections preferablyfrom his home districtKarimnagar or Medak.

When asked whether hismove will not caste aspersionsand raise doubts about hisjudgment acquitting theaccused in the Mecca Masjidblast case, he said, “This hasnothing to do with the judg-ment. I discharged my duties asa judge with integrity and hon-esty and delivered the judg-ment. I am now retired fromservice to serve the country andthe people”.

Though Ravinder Reddysought to rule out the linkbetween the Mecca Masjidblast case judgment and hisdecision to join BJP, there wasa criticism from different quar-ters.

M a j l i s - e - I t t e h a d u lMuslimeen president and MPAsaduddin Owaisi said, “Weknew where he was going.

Now he will be rewarded by theBJP leadership”.

Referring to the retiredjudge’s decision to contest thecoming assembly elections, hesaid, “I am sure Aseemanandand his friends will campaignfor him and I hope the retiredjudge will lose his deposit”.

Civil Liberties Monitoringcommittee (CLMC) hasdemanded the Supreme Courtand the High Court to takenotice of the strange case ofjudge Ravinder Reddy andorder a fresh hearing of theMecca Masjid blast case.

Committee general secre-tary Lateef Mohammed Khan

said that during the hearing ofthe case itself suspicions wereexpressed that the judge wasnot of clear mind. “Now thishas been vindicated by hisdecision to join BJP”. He allegedthat there was a total collusionbetween the public prosecutorwho was a BJP leader andinvestigators and under pres-sure from Hindutva organisa-tions the accused were saved ina pre planned Mannar. “Thisraises a serious question ofinfluence of Hindutva organi-sations on the lower courts andthe Higher courts should takenote of it and take actionagainst such judges”.

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Mohammed Ali Shabbir,leader of Opposition Congressin Telangana LegislativeCouncil said that the judgejoining the BJP exposes thedeep conspiracy behind theacquittal of the accused ofMecca Masjid case. “Therewas a deep nexus behind it.NIA was influenced by theBJP. The prosecutor belongedto the BJP and now the judgeafter his retirement is joiningBJP. This clearly shows that

how even the courts are beingcontrolled and influenced.The doors of justice were alsobeing closed for the people”.He questioned how theaccused could be acquittedeven after giving confession toa judge. “I hold the TRS gov-ernment in the state alsoresponsible. They are inpower. Why they did notchallenge the lower courtjudgment in the High Court”,he asked.

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Acourt in Maharashtra hasrejected a petition to recall a

non bailable warrant issuedagainst the Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister N Chandrababu Naiduand asked him to appear in thecourt on October 16.

Dharmabad court in Nandedhad issued the warrant againstNaidu and 16 other leaders ofTelugu Desam party in connec-tion with a 2010 case of protestagainst Maharashtra’s irrigationproject Babili. They were asked toappear before the court today butonly three of them including a for-mer MLA Gangula Kamlakartoday appeared. The court grant-ed them bail.

Naidu’s counsel G Subba Raomoved a petition to recall the war-rant but the judge rejected it andissued a fresh warrant ordering all

the accused to appear before himon October 16. On the plea of thecounsel that Naidu was not in aposition to come judge remarked,“nobody is above law. Be it a ChiefMinister or anybody else every-body has to abide by he courtorder. It is not possible to give spe-cial treatment to anybody”.

Later the counsel sought somemore time. Chandrababu Naiduafter consulting the advocate gen-eral D Srinivas and other officialshad decided not to appear inMaharashtra court and sent alawyer from Hyderabad to repre-sent him.

Chandrababu Naidu and sev-eral leaders of his party werearrested by Maharashtra police onborder when they tried to enterthe state to protest against Babiliproject. Naidu was then the leaseof Opposition in United APAssembly.

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Bishop Franco Mulakkal, a senior memberof the Roman Catholic clergy in India, was

arrested on Friday night amid mounting pub-lic outrage over allegations of repeatedly rap-ing and sexually assaulting a nun, police said.

The 54-year old Mulakkal was arrested byKerala police after intense interrogation hereover the last three days.

The development came a day after theVatican relieved him “temporarily” of all pas-toral responsibilities as the bishop of theJalandhar diocese of the Missionaries of Jesuscongregation to which the alleged victim alsobelongs.

Bishop Mulakkal had been arrested at 8 pand taken for medical examination, Kottayamdistrict police chief Hari Sankar told reporters.

He would be produced in a magistratecourt in Pala in Kottayam district tomorrow,Inspector General of Police (Kochi Range)Vijay Sakhare told PTI.

The nun had accused the clergyman ofrepeatedly raping and having unnatural sexwith her between 2014 and 2016, a chargedenied by him.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will inaugurate the

Pakyong Airport in Sikkim onSeptember 24, officials said onFriday.

The greenfield airport,located 30 km from here, willput Sikkim on the aviationmap of the country.

The Prime Minister willaddress a public meeting at StXavier’s School ground inPakyong after inaugurating thestate’s first airport, the officialssaid. The Prime Minister isscheduled to arrive at theBagdogra airport at 4.10 pm onSeptember 23 after which hewill board an helicopter fromthere to fly to Gangtok, the offi-cials said.

The Prime Minister will bereceived by the Governor ofSikkim Ganga Prasad and stateChief Minister Pawan KumarChamling after his arrival inthe state, the officials said.

He will stay at Raj Bhawanon September 23 and will inau-gurate the Pakyong airport thenext day.

The PM’s programme atthe airport will begin at around10 am on September 24, a StateGovernment official saidFriday, adding, that the PM willthen address the people at10.30 am at the St Xavier’sSchool ground.

From there he will returnto the Pakyong airport, boarda chopper and fly to Bagdogra.

The Pakyong airport wasapproved by the Centre in

2008 and was constructed at anestimated cost of �350 crore.

The project is being billed asan engineering marvel — it hasbeen built at an height of 4,500feet in an inhospitable terrain.

Once commissioned, it willbe the 100th functional airportin the country.

As on date, Sikkim is theonly state in the country with-out a functional airport.

Low-cost airline SpiceJethas been granted permission tofly to Pakyong from Kolkataunder the Civil AviationMinistry’s regional connectiv-ity scheme.

SpiceJet has already con-ducted a dry run at the airportwith one its Bombardier Dash8-Q400 aircraft successfullylanding there on March 5.

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Fugitive jeweller MehulChoksi, a co-accused in the

Punjab National Bank fraudcase, on Friday moved the spe-cial CBI court here for cancel-lation of a non-bailable warrantagainst him claiming he hasreasons to believe that hisreturn to India might endangerhis life.

On May 22 this year, aftertaking cognisance of the secondcharge sheet filed in the�12,636-crore PNB fraud caseby the CBI, the special courthad issued the NBW againstChoksi.

Choksi, in an applicationfiled Friday through his lawyerSanjay Abbott, said his appre-hensions over his safety arebased upon what transpiredduring a recent television

debate on the fraud.He told the court that he

was “shocked” to watch adebate on a national televisionnews channel where two callersphoned in to share their opin-ion on the fraud.

The callers, Choksi claimedin the plea, “suggested that aspecial team be formed totrack Mehul Choksi down andshoot him to death once he wasbrought back to India”.

Choksi claimed that thecallers said that such treatmentwould send out a strong mes-sage to society and prevent fur-ther cases of frauds and fiscalscams.

The fugitive jeweller alsoclaimed that the news anchorconcerned and the panelists didnot object to the commentsmade by the caller. Instead, theanchor even laughed at thecomments and the same makesit apparent that the anchor andthe panelists too “tacitly”agreed with what the callerssuggested, Choksi said in theplea.

“From the above two callsmade by the callers and thetacit approval given to thesame by the news anchor andthe panelists, it is clear that theaverments made by the appli-cant (Choksi) in the applicationfiled before this court regard-ing a threat to his life and thefear of mob lynching is vindi-cated,” the application read.

Choksi also sent someaudio and video CDs claimingthat they contained the citedfootage from the news channel

debate.He has urged the court to

make his submission a part ofthe court records and, in lightof the same, to cancel theNBW issued against him.

The special court has nowdirected the Central Bureau ofInvestigation to file its reply tothe application by October 3this year, which is the next dateof hearing in the case.

This is the second suchapplication filed by Choksibefore the special court, claim-ing a threat to his life and seek-ing that the NBW be can-celled.

In June this year, he hadfiled a plea claiming that he hadbeen advised bed rest onaccount of his ill health fol-lowing a “heart operation,”and he feared that once inIndia, the probe agencies wouldnot help him secure the kind ofmedical treatment and super-

vision he required.At that time, he had also

said that there existed a “trendof mob lynching” in the coun-try presently, and he feared thatif he returned to India, hemight become a victim of suchlynching.

The CBI charge sheetnamed Choksi, the managingdirector of Gitanjali group, for-mer PNB MD and CEO UshaAnanthasubramanian, thenPNB executive directorsBrahmaji Rao and Sanjiv Sharan,and PNB deputy managerGokulnath Shetty, among othersas key accused in the case.

While urging the court toissue the NBW, the CBI hadargued that its issuance wouldallow the probe agency toapproach the Interpol for issu-ing a Red Corner Noticeagainst Choksi, Nirav Modiand some other personsaccused in the case.

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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Friday urgedMalayalees in the U.S.A to contribute liberally to

rebuild the flood-hit state and said he hoped Rs 150 crorewould be raised from them.

Vijayan made the appeal at his first public functionin New York early Friday after completion of his medicaltreatment.

The Chief Minister, who had left for the U.S for med-ical treatment at Mayo Clinic on September 2, is expect-ed to be back in Kerala on September 24.

Addressing the gathering of Keralites, Vijayan saideveryone should cooperate for revamping the state,which had last month witnessed the worst deluge of thecentury.

He said Keralites willing to contribute should becomemembers of the global salary challenge, which envisageseach participant contributing a month’s salary for the state.

State finance minister Thomas Isaac will visit the U.Snext month to collect the financial assistance, he said.

“Only through your cooperation can a new Kerala bebuilt”, he said, adding his government was expecting a con-tribution of Es 150 crore from the malayalees in US.

At least 493 people had died in the rains and floodsduring the South West Monsoon.

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In the wake of the arrest of five urbanNaxals by the Pune police, Congress chiefRahul Gandhi accused the BJP-ledGovernment of being fascist. This writerdoubts if the Congress president knows

what fascism means; although he is educatedand certainly not an 'anpadh gawar' to use hisparty leader Sanjay Nirupam’s phrase for thePrime Minister.

The expression fascist as a condemnationwas first used frequently in Indira Gandhi’stime. Her grandson is merely following the tra-dition set by her. Surely, other Congress lead-ers know that fascism is not a synonym fordespotism though fascists can be despotic anddespots fascists. The first is a particular ide-ology while the latter is a brutal autocracywhich was equally a feature of Stalinismexterminating the bourgeois and the kulaks;Nazism mass murdering Jews and white

American settlers' brutal treatment of NativeIndians.

Fascism is class collaboration as commu-nism is class conflict and capitalism is (accusedof) class exploitation. Western Europe wasdeeply concerned by the Russian revolution of1917 led by Vladimir Ilych Lenin and feltthreatened. One of the reactions was the inno-vation of a new contrarian ideology, namely,of class collaboration, in order to keep classconflict from taking over society.

Some years ago in the US, there was a cel-ebration to commemorate SwamiVivekananda’s birth anniversary. That was anoccasion when the secular fundamentalistswere provoked to call the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishva HinduParishad, fascists. A meeting presided over bywell-known journalist late Kuldip Nayar washeld to dissuade the distinguished SonalMansingh from going to Washington to givea dance performance in connection with thecelebration. Because, in the view of those at themeeting, the organisers of the commemorationwere fascist. What they did not realise was thatthe word was not the political abuse that theythought it was. Benito Mussolini initiated thefascist movement in March 1919 at Milan andfounded the party called Partito NazionalFascista in November 1921. It ruled Italy fortwo decades. To recapitulate what fascism was,

the word “fascio” means a bundle or a bunchimplying unity. To be effective, the answer hadto be something that would prove attractive tothe peasants, the workers as well as to theirunions. This was discovered in “class collab-oration” as represented by fascism.

Prof Alfredo Rocco, Minister of Justice inthe Mussolini Cabinet, set forth the gist of thisnew ideology in the course of a speech atPerugia in 1925. According to him, society doesnot exist for the individual but the individualfor the society. Economic progress is a socialinterest and all classes of people should com-bine or collaborate to maximise production.The interests of the employers and theemployed are identical. To ensure that this ispracticed, there must be a system of state dis-cipline over class conflicts. Strikes and lock-outs alike were held to be illegal and punish-able by heavy fines, and in certain cases, impris-onment. Wherever possible, the employers andworkers in each industry, trade or profession,were organised together in a syndicated asso-ciation. Where it was not possible to form suchsyndicates, the unions and the employers’ asso-ciations remained separate but combined toform guilds to coordinate and ensure cordial-ity. If collective bargaining could not end sat-isfactorily, disputes were referred to law courtsassisted by experts. This is how class collabo-ration was conceptualised by the Fascist Party

in Italy.In practice, the economy was toned up by

rearmament and public works. Soldiers wererecruited in large numbers and so were work-ers in factories to produce arms. This wouldbring profits to the bourgeoisie who could thenpay the proletariat well. Urban prosperitywould increase demand for agricultural pro-duce. What was left of the under-employedyouth was absorbed by the armed forces. Thepromise to the whole nation was foreign con-quests which would bring economic surplus-es. The Albanian adventure and the invasionof Abyssinia were two efforts to fulfil thispromise until, of course, World War II brokeout. Another example of the practice of fascismor class collaboration, albeit on a much morelimited scale, was in Spain under Gen FranciscoFranco. Neither the Italian nor the Spanishexperience is widely known in great detail inIndia. What the members of the Indian intel-ligentsia are familiar with, however, are thedoings of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. It wasfounded by Hitler and his six comrades inMunich in 1920. The economic deprivation inGermany was much greater than witnessed inItaly. The country paid an exorbitant price forits defeat in World War I. Runaway inflationas well as the world depression ignited by acrash in share prices on Wall Street in New Yorkin 1929 made matters unbearable for Germany.

It was widely believed that the initial attrac-tion of the German people towards Hitler andhis programme of class collaboration was moreor less were on the lines of Mussolini’s Italyalthough on a far grander scale to save theeconomy and bring prosperity which Germanyexperienced in some measure in the 1930sbefore the Nazi racist, authoritarian ideologytook over.

Japan is another example of a fascistexperiment. With the restoration of the Meijiregime in 1850 and the reforms initiated in1868, were sown the seeds of ferment and eco-nomic progress. The gates of Japan opened andforeign contacts began with industrial devel-opment growing, and the number of urbanworkers increased. By 1922, a CommunistParty was founded. In the rural areas, silk farmssprung up and there was a fragmentation offarms. Also, discontent grew among the ten-ants who worked there. Thereafter came theshare market crash which triggered the GreatDepression in 1929.The Japanese economyreceived its share of tremors. One of the reme-dies to relieve the pains of the economic cri-sis was expansion through military conquest.The fact that the Japanese population had morethan doubled since the Meiji restorationmeant that more and more jobs were neces-sary. The ghost of Karl Marx and the scenesof the Russian Revolution were not invisible

to the Japanese mind. War appeared to be apossible panacea which eventually led to the1941 naval attack on Pearl Harbor, theAmerican base of warships on its Pacific coast.This was followed by the land invasion ofBritish and French colonies in South-east Asia.Just before the Pearl Harbor attack, DefenceMinister Gen Tojo Hideki was made thePremier. The war moulded all classes of theJapanese people into one. This was an exper-iment of fascism in Asia.

So much for fascism and its smaller as wellas grander variations. But what is its ugly con-nection with politics in India? India is notEurope. 2018 is not 1920. Communism is dead.There is poverty here but no Great Depressionsparked by a financial collapse of the Wall Streetkind on the horizon. The Indian ethos has norecord of imperialism and, therefore, nopromise of foreign conquests would be cred-ible. If an attempt is being made to compareminorities in fascist states and Muslims ofIndia, it is ridiculous and perverse. No one intheir right mind has accused Muslims ofbetraying India, not even the BJP, whose onlycontention has been that there has beenappeasement of the Muslim community’sclergy and its whims. All in all, to call anyonea fascist in India is to talk nonsense.

(The writer is a well-known columnist andan author)

�� Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Right note” (September21). It augurswell that Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwathas, among other burning issues,including cow vigilantism, clarifiedthe Sangh’s stand on Indian Muslims’status with the heartening message “ifMuslims are unwanted, there is noHindutva”.

This will allay fear of sorts linger-ing on the community’s mind even ashis invocation of Sir Syed AhmadKhan’s words underscores the

monotheistic view as they say “sab kamaalik ek hai”.

But above all, what matters mostis the emphatic translation of thewords into action, failing which hissage advice will fall on stony ground.

Azhar A KhanRampur

�� Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Right note” (September21). It ishard for the Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) to reconcile its goals andcompulsions. Its attempts at openness

and restructuring are futile. RSS chiefMohan Bhagwat’s claim that theorganisation keeps away from politicsis belied by the diktats given to itspolitical arm, the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP).

His claim that Hindutva doesnot exclude Muslims is falsified by theabsence of Muslims in leadershippositions in both the RSS and the BJP.

It is intriguing that Bhagwatspeaks of a Hindu Rashtra and theConstitution in the same breath andfinds no inconsistency. If the RSS isreally against caste discrimination, asstated, it should repudiate the religious

texts that sanctify caste. It is nosecret that the RSS draws its leader-ship from the upper castes.

G David Milton Maruthancode

�� Sir — This refers to the article, “Anopportunity India must not miss”(September 21) by Sanjib Pohit &Pradip Biswas. Union TransportMinister Nitin Gadkari recentlyannounced that the Governmentplans to exempt electrical vehicles(EVs) and other alternative fuel cars

from requiring permits. This argurswell for minimising operating costs.

As a result, the vehicle market willbe encouraged to work in this fieldand new entrepreneurs will come intoplay. As the fourth-largest consumerof natural oils, India is now realisingthat Biodiesel vehicles and EVs are theonly oxygen for keeping transporta-tion alive towards a healthy future. Wemust tap on this.

Shivam SrivastavaUjjain

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People are now heard saying that thecountry’s chowkidar is a thief. This is whatthe people in Rajasthan and elsewhere feel.

—Congress presidentRAHUL GANDHI

I think that the desperation of the clown princeis to attract attention to himself at the cost of

the Prime Minister’s name.—Union Minister

SMRITI IRANI

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The World Bank Grouphas put forward an ambi-tious global goal to reachUniversal Financial Access(UFA) by 2020, as finan-

cial literacy and financial inclusionhas now become the topmost prior-ity for policymakers, regulators anddevelopment agencies, globally. TheUFA goal is that by 2020, adults whocurrently aren’t a part of the formalfinancial system, must have access toa bank account to transact money,which becomes the basic buildingblock to manage their financial lives.

The Prime Minister’s Dhan JanYojana achieved a remarkable feat bybringing 80 per cent of the popula-tion into mainstream banking. Butsubsequently, most accounts haveremained passive, with an average ofthree transactions a year. Thisbecause around 76 per cent of India’sadult population does not under-stand even basic financial concepts.

For increased economic partic-ipation, the spread of financial liter-acy is the primary enabler of finan-cial inclusion — both are twin pil-lars in mitigation of poverty. Only byworking jointly on both aspects canwe herald the next revolution of pros-perity and growth for India in the21st century by enhancing scope forbanking, insurance, mutual fundindustry and housing for all. All fourservices are interlinked to financialinclusion, as also are growth pro-pellers of the economy, which havetheir own multiplier effect in addingclose to a percentage point to thegross domestic product (GDP). Thiscan happen only when people arefinancially literate and begin tomake informed investment choices.

However, financial literacy, thefirst prerequisite for financial inclu-sion, is where India lags behind asmost women remain financially illit-erate. As International MonetaryFund (IMF) chief Christine Lagardesaid: “It’s now a proven fact, whenwomen do better, economies do bet-ter.” There exists an ocean ofuntapped opportunities in India toexpand the scope of financial inclu-sion and financial literacy for womenacross all demographic strata, albeit,

the spread of literary cannot be con-fined to being gender-specific.

My passion towards this trans-formation stems from deep-rootedconvictions based on my workinglife’s experience since I began mycareer in the late 70’s. I was the guineapig of my experiments with money,and through sheer trial and error atan early age, I succeeded in trans-forming simple wages to savings, andsavings to assets. Again, there was nogenius to the idea but just the magicof disciplined savings and the com-pounding power of money. Theskills of compounding money is nowa science, a learning that must beginby including it in school curricula sothat successive generations growinto disciplined investors and ethi-cal borrowers.

Thereafter, financial literacymust be imparted to the millennialswho comprise 34 per cent of ourpopulation, and who, research shows,are credit-oriented and spend moreon lifestyle. So, they need to learn thediscipline and risks of living lifebeyond their income. The middleaged are securely married womenand are educated, yet are uninitiat-ed in finance — just because theyfind its vocabulary too difficult tocomprehend. Then, there aredivorcees and widows, comprising 12per cent of the population, who needto be initiated, as most are under-lit-erate on personal finance. Let’sremember that the ultimate goal ofevery one of us is to own a secureasset in the form of home ownershipalong with building on a savings cor-pus, which provides dignity and insu-lates from future shocks.

Financial literacy is one of themost serious issues in the US, as alsoglobally for women. Women earn 25per cent less than men, and spend anaverage of 11.5 years out of the work-force. Individuals must be competentto make decisions not only aboutassets but also about debts. And debtis pervasive across all income strataand stands at alarmingly increasedlevels, even 10 years post 2008 eco-nomic crisis. This means that wefailed to learn from the perils of over-leveraging. Today, credit is lavishlyavailable and institutions that pro-mote credit to the exclusion of sav-ings, place the poor in deeperbondage, as credit alone cannotsave the poor from poverty.

As Finance Minister Arun Jaitleyexpressed: “If we have growth onlyon the basis of 31 per cent credit offtake, history will record it as growth

due to indiscriminate lending.” Whilethe incidence of indebtedness (IOI),which is a proportion of householdshaving outstanding debt, todaystands at an average of 47.4 per cent,average savings per annum per saverhouseholds was reportedly as low as�17,488 according to the 2018 pan-India National Bank for Agricultureand Rural Development (NABARD)survey. With an abysmally low abil-ity to save and rising levels of debt,how long will it take for the ruralpoor to climb out of poverty?

The Government consequentlyhas a major role to play in policy for-mation so as to mainstream the mar-ginalised into creating an eco-systemconducive to inclusion. The objectiveof the financial literacy and financialinclusion committee is to attempt tospearhead a financial revolutionborne of Niti Aayog’s prioritisationwhich is in sync with the global pri-ority accorded to financial inclusionand financial literacy unanimously bythe World Bank, the EuropeanUnion, G-20, and the Organisationfor Economic Co-operation andDevelopment (OECD).

The goal is to enable shared

prosperity and bring down povertyby changing investment habits ofpeople, and also secure in knowingthat gradual asset creation is withintheir reach too.

An example of how rapidlyfinancial literacy can spread and leadto financial inclusion is by demisti-fying complicated banking jargon bydumbing down financial vocabulary,and thereafter, disseminating learn-ing and getting the masses to getoperational in much the same wayeducationally illiterates in rural Indiacould take to the working of smart-phones, and enjoying the WhatsAppfeature. This must be done throughGovernment-accredited programmesdisseminated through tele-learning,and use of mobile phones to penetratethe spread of financial literacy.

Even the US Department ofEducation reports that 3.8 millionAmerican adult women possess lit-eracy skills below a “basic” level. Also,OECD studies show that womenhave lower financial literacy levelsthan men in both developed anddeveloping countries. Since womenlive longer than men and have short-er working lives in paid employment,

they have lower average incomesfrom which they save for old age.With increasing life expectancy,there is a need to provision forincreasing and inflationary cost ofhealthcare; women need to be suffi-ciently financially literate to befuture-ready for any contingencies.

By being forbidden from inher-itance in many patriarchal societies,though laws are changing, womenown lesser property. And they have-been excluded from decision-makingon deployment of family earningssince millennia, as it has been deemedthe sole prerogative of the ‘karta’ orthe head of the family in India.

Deepening financial literacy andsubsequent inclusion would unleashthe hugely untapped potential at thebottom-of-pyramid leading to areduction in the cash economy, asmore money finds its way into thebanking ecosystem. That would alsoinculcate the savings discipline andincrease capital formation, and thisin turn, would release the availabil-ity of adequate credit to foster entre-preneurial spirit of the masses, asmore people are enabled through theformal financial infrastructure andfreed from dependence onunscrupulous money-lenders.

Thus far it’s a slow progress, asIndia has climbed by just one rankto become 130 out of 189 countriesin the 2018 United Nations HumanDevelopment Index (HDI). Theincrease in rankings is a quantumleap by 50 per cent since 1990, whichreflects that the strides taken by theGovernment have been successful inlifting millions out of poverty — percapita gross national incomeincreased by 266 per cent. However,there still remains a huge gap ofinequality as the gains of equitableeconomic development are yet topercolate to the base of the pyramid.

Those disparities can only beaddressed through increased outlaysin education and vocational training,in prioritising financial literacy, andby increasing women’s participa-tion in the job force, which is at anabysmal 27 per cent currently.Melinda Gates, co-Chairperson ofthe Gates Foundation once said:“When women have money in theirhands and the authority to choosehow to spend it, they grow in con-fidence and power by taking controlof their economic future.”

(The writer, an author & colum-nist, is Chairperson, Committee onFinancial Inclusion and Literacy forWomen, Niti Aayog)

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The Modi Government has revolu-tionised the way subsidies are dis-bursed to beneficiaries by leveraging

technology, especially the use of direct bene-fit transfer (DBT) on the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile platform. This has made a dent on pil-ferage, and gargantuan resources, thus saved,are being used for development and enhancedfunding of welfare schemes for wider and deep-er coverage. But large-scale pilferage still con-tinues. This happens in ways that even escapethe radar of our ever alert Prime Minister.

At the fundamental level, it can besourced to the very existence of controls insectors, such as food, fertilisers, petroleum,oil and lubricants (POL), and power, whichcontinue to guzzle huge amounts despitesavings via DBT. Here, a question arises:How do controls lead to pilferage?

Take, for example, food and fertilisers.To make these affordable to the poor, theGovernment controls their maximumretail price (MRP) at a low level, unrelat-ed to the cost of production and distrib-ution. The differential amount is reim-bursed to manufacturers/agencies as sub-sidy. Whereas, 80 per cent of the popula-tion gets food at a subsidised rate, asregards fertilisers, all farmers have accessto these at low MRP.

Among POL in the case of LPG, evenas oil marketing public sector undertakings(PSUs) sell at full price, beneficiaries receivesubsidy in their account. However, keroseneis sold to them at low (subsidised) price.Retail prices of petrol and diesel are de juredecontrolled, but de facto, the Governmentcontrols them by issuing diktat (albeitunwritten) to PSUs, which account for over90 per cent of the sales.

When the Government orders manufac-turers/suppliers to sell products at a price lowerthan what it costs, it is obliged to fully com-pensate them for the shortfall. This is wherethe rub lies. Assured of full neutralisation, theywon’t have an incentive to cut cost and workefficiently. They are even tempted to claim

higher cost or even make fictitious claims. Under the National Food Security Act

(NFSA), wheat is given to the beneficiaries attwo rupee per kilogram as against the muchhigher cost of supplying it at �25 per kg. Thelatter includes MSP of �17 per kilogram paidto the farmer and eight rupee per kilogram ashandling and distribution charges, reim-bursed to the handling agencies, such as theFood Corporation of India (FCI). The chargesare given on ‘actual’ basis.

These subsume inefficiency and irregu-larities committed by agencies — this waspointed out by the Comptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG). The ‘loaders’ getting away withmonthly salary in lakhs could easily passmuster under a cost-based mechanism. In2016, there were reports of disappearance offood stocks in Punjab causing a loss of over�20,000 crore to the exchequer.

In the 2000s, in fertilisers, the UPAGovernment contracted for import of gas —fuel used in manufacture of urea — at an ‘inflat-ed’ price knowing that the resultant higher costof making fertilizers would be fully reimbursedunder new pricing scheme (NPS). It had alsoimported urea at high price which went up toan exorbitant �50,000 per tonne (2008-09)

against then MRP of only �4,830 per tonne.In a year in the early 90s, payment was madebut not even a grain of urea came.

There were irregularities in payment tomanufacturers too. Under the retention pricescheme (RPS) — earlier incarnation of NPS— some units were allowed inflated retentionprice. There were even allegations of gold plat-ing — a euphemism for showing capacitylower than actual to get higher RP. Since, thesame system continues even today, it is not easyto prevent inflated payments.

There is no rational basis to keep ureaMRP at an exceptionally low level — a mere1/4th to ½ of the production cost. Yet, this wasa golden goose available to dubious traders tomint money by selling to chemical factoriesat high price. True, Prime Minister NarendraModi has brought in mandatory neem coat-ing of urea and claimed that this has stoppeddiversion. However, considering that there are600 million bags to be policed, this seems tobe too good to believe.

In petrol and diesel, lack of competitionallows oil PSUs viz Indian Oil Corporation,Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd andHindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, to getaway with a high price based on import par-ity principle plus fortuitous benefit of importduty. For LPG and kerosene, they enjoy com-plete monopoly as private entities are barredfrom selling subsidised stuff.

In power sector, inflated tariff charged byindependent power producers (IPPs) easilypass muster in the name of subsidised suppliesmade to the farmers and poor households.There are instances of inflated fuel price (via‘over-invoicing’ of coal imports) gettingaccommodated in the tariff, eventually paidby the exchequer. As in fertilizers, here alsoinstances of gold plating have come to light.

This loot of national resources needs tobe stopped. But this can’t be done merelythrough administrative cleaning up. To dothis, the Government should go for policyreforms with focus on removing pricing anddistribution controls. The control on MRPmust go and subsidy to the poor should begiven directly. With this, the very basis forentities claiming inflated cost will disappear.Instead, they will be forced to cut cost andincrease efficiency to stay afloat. While ben-efiting all consumers, this will reduce subsidyoutgo and help fiscal consolidation. When willModi crack the whip?

(The writer is a freelance journalist)

Subsidy sops must stop

Barriers to universal financial accessAs we near the goal of universal financial access, there is a need to bridge the inequality gap. Ensuring financial literacy and

subsequent inclusion can unleash the untapped potential at the bottom of the pyramid, leading to a less-cash economy

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Increasing incidents of Indian aircraft running into trou-ble must ring alarm bells. While flights making emer-gency landings for a variety of reasons have become arecurring phenomenon, the most recent incident whereinan air pressure mix-up led to Jet Airways passengers’being left bleeding and panic-stricken must prompt acomplete audit of all airlines safety practices.

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As the equity marketplunged for the fourth day

in a row, where the BSE bench-mark index plummeted over1,100 points in afternoon tradeFriday, investor wealth wit-nessed an erosion of a whop-ping �5.6 lakh crore in fourdays.

The 30-share indexcracked 1,127.58 points, or 3per cent, to hit an intra-day lowof 35,993.64 on Friday. It, how-ever recovered most of thelosses within minutes of the fall.

There were wild swings inthe market, with the BSESensex finally settling at36,841.60, down 279.62 pointsor 0.75 per cent.

“Nifty and Sensex were

down due to widespread sell-ing that was seen in the finan-cial services sector as credit riskemerged post-ILFS firesale andconcern over its interest repay-ment. Yes Bank added fuel asRBI trimmed the CEO’s term,”said Mustafa Nadeem, CEO,Epic Research.

In four days, the index haslost 1,249.04 points.

Following the weak senti-ment, the market capitalisationof BSE-listed companiesslumped �5,66,187.15 crore to�1,50,70,832 crore on Friday.

From the 30-share pack, 17stocks ended with losses led byYES Bank, which crashed 28.71

per cent, dragging the bench-mark index.

Shares of housing financefirms fell sharply Friday, withDewan Housing Finance tum-bling 42.43 per cent.

“Housing finance compa-nies nosedived on the basis ofrumours of liquidity crunchwhich caused the stocks to fallup to 50 per cent. However, thestocks are fundamentallysound, but herd mentality hadcaused the sudden panic inthese stocks, however, theyhave recovered from their day’slow,” said Jimeet Modi, Founder& CEO of Samco Securities &StockNote .

On BSE, 2,106 stocksdeclined and 586 advanced,while 148 remainedunchanged.

More than 450 stocks hittheir 52-week low levels Friday.

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The BSE Sensex tumbledabout 280 points to close

below the 37,000-mark onFriday after investors were jolt-ed by an over 1,000-pointplunge in afternoon trade.

The 30-share benchmark,which opened on a strongfooting, suddenly tanked1,127.58 points, or 3.03 percent, to hit a low of 35,993.64at 1309 hours, before staging anequally sharp recovery.

The fall came on the backof a massive selloff in NBFCs,led by DHFL which skiddedover 50 per cent on fears of aliquidity crisis.

The Sensex finally endedlower by 279.62 points, or 0.75per cent, at 36,841.60. This isits lowest closing since July 25,when it had finished at36,858.23.

Yes Bank was the worst

performer on the index, losinga whopping 28.71 per cent. TheReserve Bank on Wednesdaycurtailed the term of its found-ing CEO Rana Kapoor andasked the private sector lenderto look for his replacement byJanuary 2019.

The broader Nifty too suf-fered a mid-session plungeand ended at 11,143.10, down91.25 points.

The indices closed withlosses for the third straightweek. The Sensex lost a hefty1,249.04 points, or 3.28 percent, while the NSE Nifty fell372.10 points, or 3.23 per cent,during the week.

Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) remained net sellersand offloaded equities worth�2,184.55 crore while domes-tic institutional investors (DIIs)made purchases worth a net�1,201.30 crore on Wednesday,provisional data showed.

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Fitch Ratings Friday uppedIndia’s growth forecast for

the current fiscal to 7.8 percent, from 7.4 per cent pro-jected earlier.

In its Global EconomicOutlook, Fitch, however,flagged tightening of financialconditions, rising oil bill andweak bank balance sheets asheadwinds to growth.

“We have revised up ourforecast for FY2018-2019growth to 7.8 per cent from 7.4per cent on the back of the bet-ter-than-expected 2Q18 out-turn. India’s growth likelypeaked in 2Q18 (April-June)though,” Fitch said.

The Indian rupee (INR)has been the worst-performingmajor Asian currency so farthis year.

“And despite the centralbank’s greater tolerance forcurrency depreciation, interestrates have been raised by morethan anticipated,” the globalrating agency said in the report.

Fitch also forecast inflationpicking up to the upper part ofthe central bank’s target band (4per cent, plus-minus 2 per cent)within the forecast horizon onrelatively high demand-pullpressures and INR depreciation.

The upward revision ingrowth forecast comes in thebackdrop of GDP expanding8.2 per cent in April-June quar-ter, higher than Fitch’s expec-tation of 7.7 per cent.

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitleyhas proposed additional

cess on select commoditiesunder GST to raise funds tohelp Kerala tide over the dam-ages caused due to floods, astate minister said on Friday.

The proposal of levy of cessis expected to come up for dis-cussion at the GST Councilmeeting on September 28.

“Kerala welcomes the sug-gestion of hon’ble FM for a

national level cess on selectedcommodities for a specifiedperiod to help such states. GSTCouncil to discuss,” KeralaFinance Minister Thomas Isaacsaid in a tweet.

Isaac was of the view thatGST should be made flexible totake care of “unforeseen urgentdemand for resources as in thecase natural calamities”.

The issue regarding addi-tional cess for funding rehabili-tation activities in flood-hitKerala was discussed onThursday during a meeting ofIsaac with Jaitley.

Isaac has also pressed foradditional funds from the Centreto rebuild the state, which is esti-mated to have suffered a loss of�20,000 crore (as per a prelimi-nary estimate) due to the floods.

The Government may haveto amend the GST law to per-mit imposition of a new cess inthe new indirect tax regime.

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Sebi on Friday slapped a fineof �35 lakh on Falcon Tyres

for not providing the informa-tion sought by the regulator ina matter related to preferentialallotment of shares of the firm.

In April 2012, theSecurities and Exchange Boardof India (Sebi) issued varioussummons to Falcon.

One of the summonssought the balance sheet ofFalcon for the financial years2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12.Another summon directed thecompany to confirm whether itsigned any deed of assignmentwith three other entities —Suncap, Regus and Salputri —for assigning a loan of �144.04crore to itself.

In an order, Sebi saidFalcon was informed to furnishrequired documents, but ithad sought extension of time.

According to the order,despite multiple time exten-

sions being granted to the firm,it failed to file its reply whichdepicts an approach to notcooperate with the investigation.

“Thus, for not complyingwith the summons for supply-ing information/ documentssought by the IA (investigatingauthority) during the investi-gations, it is held that Falconhas violated... Sebi Act,” the reg-ulator said.

Noting that Falcon is“liable for monetary penalty”,Sebi slapped a fine of �35 lakhon the firm.

In a separate order, the reg-ulator imposed a penalty of �4lakh on Excel Castronics’ nonexecutive director PayalJayeshbhai Madiyar for disclo-sure lapses.

In August 2014, the hold-ings of Payal in ExcelCastronics increased from3,91,532 shares to 4,20,762shares, which is 5.167 per centof the share capital of the com-pany.

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GOVT. OF MAHARASHTRAPUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

PUBLIC WORKS DIVISION SOLAPUR.Sat Rasta, Near Karigar Petrol Pump, Solapur - 413003

[email protected] Phone No. 0217/2312310

E-TENDER NOTICE NO. 23 FOR 2018-2019 (Online)Sealed online B-1 e-tenders for the following work are invited by the Executive Engineer,

Public Works Division , Solapur (Telephone No. 2312310) from the Contractors Registeredwith Government of Maharashtra Public Works Department in appropriate class.

Sr. Name of Work Estimated Cost No. (In lack)1 Repairs to Barshi Solapur Road S.H. 204 KM 37/200 to 64/800 Rs. 70.00 Lack

Dist-Solapur.2 Repairs to Tandulwadi Musti Dhotri Walsang Achegaon Tilatigate Rs. 65.00 Lack

Kanabas Bankalgi Sanjwad to join road S.H. 213 MDR 44 KM22/00 to 43/00 Dist-Solapur

3 Repairs to Alur Bhurikawathe Wagdari Shirwal Akkalkot Jeur Rs. 80.00 LackKarajagi Mangrul Tadwal Mundhewadi SH 211 road KM 176/500to 221/00 Dist-Solapur

NOTED:- Details of Tender documents will be available and downloaded online directly fromthe Government of Maharashtra e-tendering website http://mahatenders.gov.in& http://mahapwd.com as under.Above Tender Notice is displayed on P.W.D. website www.mahapwd.com Fromdate 21/9/2018.

Sd/-Executive Engineer,

DGIPR/2018/2019/3105 Public Work Division, Solapur.

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As Indiancompanies

take giganticstrides in pene-trating globalmarkets with thecountry havingone of the highestgrowth rates inmajor economies,India must createglobally recognis-able superbrands.

“It is a greatchallenge toIndia with ourtremendous potential, to cre-ate awareness and acceptanceof Indian brands globally.While India has had success increating global awareness forYoga, Bollywood and Cricket,which are great examples ofglobal brand building, weneed many more efforts topopularise Indian brands tobecome global consumerbrands. I think perfection,passion, resources and excel-lence are a must to createbrands at the global level,”Amitabh Kant, chief executiveofficer (CEO) of NITI Aayogsaid. He was speaking atSuperbrands Awards Event inNew Delhi.

Superbrands India paystribute to exceptional brandsacross sectors includingFMCG, Auto, Healthcare,Logistics, Cement and Retailamong. This year 56 brandreceived Superbrands awards.

“Indian branding is con-

tinuously innovating anddigital branding has becomeas important if not morethan conventional branding.Branding in India across sec-tors has been continuouslyevolving and is creating theright noise to reach theirTG. Superbrands India willcontinue to mine out thetop brands in India doingexceptional branding andhonor them withSuperbrands seal,” GeetanjaliAnand,CMD SuperbrandsIndia said.

Superbrands India is al icensee of SuperbrandsWorldwide, that operates in86 countries. It was launchedin India in 2002 by AnmolDar, and has stood its groundas the most respected arbiterof branding through the years.

Superbrands status is givento a brand through a rigorousresearch and selection processwith an impeccable reputation

of fairplay. Entry to theSuperbrands programme isstrictly by invitation.

The brands selected areawarded the SuperbrandsAwards Seal, which can beused to symbolize their super-brand status. Research byNielson has found that con-sumers are 74% more likely topurchase products or servicesdisplaying the SuperbrandsAwards Seal.

The Superbrands CoffeeTable book, is brought outonce in every 18 months and isthe only platform designed totell the compelling stories andrender case histories of theseoutstanding brands that havebeen selected for superbrandstatus. The organisationbelieves that people gain agreater appreciation of the dis-cipline of branding and agreater admiration of thebrands themselves through thecoffee table book.

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RamakrishnaE l e c t r o

Component PvtLtd Group(REC) onFriday launchedVTS (VehicleT r a c k i n gSystem), underUTRAQ brand, which is one ofkind Module that will run onIndian Satellite. UTRAQ is anendeavor to replace the cur-rently in use GPS applicationthat is working on US Satellites.UTRAQ is owned byRamakrishna ElectroComponent & manufacturedby Shanghai Mobiletek.

The launch event wasattended by Antrix (a com-mercial arm of ISRO)Executive Director (operations)Suma DR, Shanghai MobiletekManaging Director Ms SherryXu, along with RamakrishnaGroup Chairman Satish Luthra.

This module is IRNSScompliant for VTS applica-tion. IRNSS is Govt of Indiainitiative under ISRO. IRNSSUser Receiver module is inte-grated with front-end chipsetand embedded high perfor-mance ARM9processor fromleading chipset manufacturer.It has internal S RAM, UART,USB, CAN and 10 Bit ADCs.

U-TRAQ launched twomodels L100 & L110. These areGPS receivers Modules basedon IRNSS supported by

GAGAN/NaviC signals,designed using L5 and S bands.But in our U-TRAQ GPSreceiver Modules are designedfor two RF bands:L5 frequen-cy and L1 frequency, L5 fre-quency which is NaviCFrequency and L1 frequencywhich is GPS/GLONAS fre-quency. Where L100 has dualband patch antennas connect-ed to two RF inputs of theboard which receives the sig-nals from the satellite. AndL110 designed for use withexternal Antenna.

Commenting on thelaunch of UTRAQ, ManagingDirector, Rama Krishna ElectroPvt. Ltd. (REC), Shivang Luthrapointed out that it will bechanging the way of conven-tional tracking that is done inthe past. We are providingcustomers with various featuresof working with L5(IRNSS)band and L1 (GPS and GNSS)band. Major change we areanticipating is that the VTSindustry will be changing theirdesigns as in the coming yearit will be mandatory from GOIto use IRNSS device.

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The Reserve Bank onFriday announced

guidelines for co-origi-nation of priority sectorloans by banks andNBFCs with a view toenhancing flow of fundsto the sector at competi-tive rates.

As per the normsissued by the RBI for allscheduled commercialbanks (excludingRegional Rural Banks andSmall Finance Banks) andNon-Banking FinancialCompanies - Non-Deposit taking-Systemically Important(NBFC-ND-SIs), the sharing ofrisks and rewards betweenthese entities should be in amanner that enables appropri-ate alignment of respectivebusiness objectives, as per theirmutual agreement.

The co-originationarrangement should entail jointcontribution of credit by bothlenders at the facility level.

“Based on the respectiveinterest rates and proportion ofrisk sharing, a single blendedinterest rate should be offeredto the ultimate borrower in caseof fixed rate loans. In the sce-nario of floating interest rates,a weighted average of thebenchmark interest rates inproportion to the respectiveloan contribution, should beoffered,” it said.

It is envisaged that the

benefit of low-cost funds frombanks and lower cost of oper-ations of NBFC would bepassed on to the ultimate ben-eficiary through the blendedrate/weighted average rate, itsaid.

“In this regard,banks/NBFCs shall provide allthe information like loandetails including interest rateand other charges, details ofrisk sharing arrangement, etc.,as and when called for by theReserve Bank of India,” it said.

As per the co-originationmodel whereby bank is notfinancing MFIs (micro financeinstitutions) and NBFCs foron-lending to ultimate bor-rower rather both of them joinat each under-writing and loanlevel thereby sharing the loanamount in agreed percentage.

“The bank can claim pri-

ority sector status in respect ofits share of credit while engag-ing in the co-originationarrangement. However, thepriority sector assets on thebank's books should at alltimes be without recourse tothe NBFC. Further, the loansextended by foreign banksunder the co-originationframework shall be restrictedonly to loans qualifying as pri-ority sector assets,” it said.

With regard to grievanceredressal, it said, any com-plaint registered by a borrow-er with the NBFC/bank shallalso be shared with them; incase the complaint is notresolved within 30 days, theborrower would have theoption to escalate the same withthe concerned BankingOmbudsman/Ombudsman forNBFCs.

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The rupee continued its bull-ish trend for the second

day, rising 17 paise to end at72.20 against the US dollar onsustained selling of theAmerican currency even aslocal equities witnessed a highvolatility.

The domestic currency hitan intra-day high of 71.70before giving back early stronggains swayed by domestic stockvolatility.

The Indian unit brieflytouched a low of 72.48.

Although, forex marketreacted muted to the 'escala-tion' in the US-China tradeconflict with no meaningfulsafe haven bid for the dollar asinvestors adopted a “wait andsee” approach ahead of China'spossible retaliation to the lat-est round of US tariffs.

The dollar's weaknessagainst some currencies over-seas on easing trade war con-cerns also supported the recov-ery momentum.

The home currency hasrecovered a healthy 78 paise inthe last two sessions after plung-ing to life lows early this week.

The Indian currency haswitnessed a massive plunge inthe recent past due to rising

trade and current accountdeficits in the wake of risingcrude oil prices.

The benchmark 10-yearsovereign yield, however,inched up to 8.08 per cent.

Meanwhile, it was anexceptionally volatile day forIndian bourses which wit-nessed their biggest intra-daycrash in the recent past beforewiping out some of the lossesafter a huge fall in mortgagelender DHFL stock triggered aknee-jerk sell-offs in non-bank-ing financial companies andjolted investor sentiment.

The flagship Sensex ended279 points lower at 36,841.60,while broader Nifty shed 91points to 11,143.10.

On the energy front, crudeprices were mixed after fallingin the previous session as USPresident Donald Trump urged

OPEC to lower crude pricesahead of its meeting in Algeriathis weekend.

Benchmark brent crudefutures were at USD 79.53 abarrel in early Asian trading.

Extending its recoverymomentum, the rupee openedwith solid 53 paise gains at71.84 against Tuesday's close of72.37 at the inter-bank foreignexchange (forex) market onsustained dollar unwinding byexporters and banks.

It strengthened to hit anintra-day high of 71.70 beforegiving away its strong gainslargely reacting to stock mar-ket volatility.

After drifting to a sessionlow of 72.48, the local unit final-ly managed to pull back towardsthe tail-end trade and settled theday at 72.20, showing a gain of17 paise, or 0.23 per cent.

The Financial BenchmarksIndia private limited (FBIL),meanwhile, fixed the referencerate for the dollar at 71.8489and for the euro at 84.6830.

In the cross-currency trade,the rupee also gained furtherground against the Japaneseyen to close at 64.06 per 100yens from 64.42 earlier.

The home unit, however,fell back against the BritishPound to finish at 95.28 perpound from 95.07 and alsodropped against the euro to endat 84.96 as compared to 84.50.

On the global front, thedollar was trading slightly high-er against other currencieswhile the Japanese yen waslower as investors eyed tradewar tensions.

The pound slumped amidBrexit uncertainty after theeurozone manufacturing PMIcame in lower than expected.

Against a basket of other cur-rencies, the dollar index is up at93.69.In forward market, premi-um for dollar declined due to sus-tained receiving from exporters.

The benchmark six-monthforward premium payable inJanuary 2019 moved down to113-115 paise from 115-117paise and the far-forward Julycontract also eased to 271.50-273.50 paise from 273-275 paise.

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Th eGovernment

has again decid-ed to increaseduty benefits forexports of milkand certain milkproducts underMEIS scheme toboost their overseas shipments,an official said.

Earlier in July, theGovernment enhanced theduty benefits to 10 per centunder the Merchandise Exportfrom India Scheme (MEIS)for certain agriculture anddairy sector items.

“Now, it has been decidedto increase export incentives onmilk and certain milk productsfrom 10 per cent to 20 per centfor about four months up toJanuary 12 next year underMEIS,” the government officialsaid.

The 28 items coveredunder the enhanced incentivesinclude cheese, whole milk,skimmed milk, milk and milkfood for babies, condensedmilk, yoghurt, butter milk andwhey.

The Department ofRevenue has made additionalfinancial allocation of �21.40

crore to meet the expenditureto be incurred on these incen-tives.

“Notification in this regardwill be released soon by theDirectorate General of ForeignTrade (DGFT),” the officialadded.

The move assumes signif-icance on account of milk cri-sis in Maharasthra. Milk grow-ers had strongly protested insome parts of Maharasthradue to fall in milk prices amidhuge supply.

Commerce and IndustryMinister Suresh Prabhu hadearlier taken up the matter withhis finance counterpart andhad written for increase inexport incentives from 10 percent to 20 per cent.

Although the commerceministry had sought �57.04crore for whole of the year butthe Department of Revenueallocated only �21.40 crore.

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Markets regulator SebiFriday issued revised

KYC norms for foreign port-folio investors, wherein residentas well as non-resident Indianshave been permitted to holdnon-controlling stake in suchentities.

Two circulars pertaining toKYC (Know Your Client)requirements and eligibilityconditions for FPIs have beenissued.

These norms have been putin place weeks after a panelsuggested various changes tothe guidelines proposed earli-er, amid concerns in certainquarters that overseas fundsmight face difficulties in ensur-ing compliance.

NRIs, OCIs (OverseasCitizens of India) and RIs(Resident Indians) have beenpermitted to hold non-con-trolling stake in FPIs. Therewould also be no restrictionon them to manage non-investing FPIs Sebi-regis-tered offshore funds as well

as registered investmentmanagers, according to theregulator.

These entities would beallowed to be constituents ofFPIs subject to certain condi-tions. If single and aggregateNRI/OCI/RI holding is below25 per cent and 50 per cent,respectively, of the assets undermanagement in the FPI, thensuch entities would be permit-ted to be constituents of theFPI.

According to Sebi, FPIscan be controlled byInvestment Managers (IMs)which are controlled and/ orowned by NRI, OCI, or RI. Inthis regard, the conditionsinclude that the investmentmanager is appropriately regu-lated in its home jurisdictionand registers itself with Sebi asnon-investing FPI.

Among others, a non-investing FPI can be directly orindirectly owned or controlledby a NRI, OCI or RI.

“The restriction that NRI/OCI/ RI should not be in con-trol of FPI shall also not apply

to FPIs which are 'offshorefunds' for which no-objectioncertificate has been providedby the board in terms of mutu-al fund regulations,” Sebinoted.

Existing FPIs and newapplicants would be given twoyears from the date of the newnorms coming into force ordate of registration, whicheveris later. In case of temporarybreach, a time period of 90 dayswould be given to ensure com-pliance.

The watchdog said thatFPIs under category II and IIIhave to maintain a list of ben-eficial owners and the same hasto be provided to it.

Further, additional KYCdocumentation requirementsfor beneficial owners have beendone away with for govern-ment-related entities that comeunder Category I FPIs.

Beneficial owners are thenatural persons who ultimate-ly own or control an FPI. TheFPIs have been categorisedinto three classes based ontheir risk profile.

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Crisis-hit Jet Airways onFriday said income tax

officials are conducting a sur-vey of its premises sinceSeptember 19 and the sharesplunged six per cent on thebourses.

The airline, battling withfinancial woes, is already underthe lens of Sebi and the corpo-rate affairs ministry for variousviolations, including allegedcorporate governance lapses.

On Wednesday, sourcessaid the I-T Department isinspecting the books to ascer-tain whether there have beenfalsification of accounts, sus-picious dealings and other pos-sible violations.

In a regulatory filingFriday, the carrier said I-Tofficials are conducting a sur-vey of the premises of thecompany since September 19.

“The company is fullycooperating with the authori-ties and responding to thequeries by the income tax

authorities,” it said.As part of the survey oper-

ation, tax sleuths only visit thebusiness premises of a firm andcheck their books of accounts.

The scrip tumbled 5.96per cent to close at �229.70 onthe BSE.

On Wednesday, sourcessaid the I-T Department isinspecting the books to ascer-tain whether there have beenfalsification of accounts, sus-picious dealings and other pos-sible violations.

In Mumbai, Minister of Statefor Corporate Affairs P PChaudhary said the governmentwould do “whatever is required”after completing inspection ofbooks of Jet Airways.

Last month, the corporateaffairs ministry ordered aninspection of “books andpapers” of Jet Airways.

“The inquiry is not yetconcluded. The inspection (ofbooks) has not been complet-ed... Once it is completed thegovernment will do whatever isrequired,” he told reporters on

the sidelines of an event inMumbai.

He also noted that inspec-tion of books and papers is anormal routine work.

To a query on whether theministry was looking to expandthe scope of inquiry as IncomeTax Department is also carry-ing out a survey at the premis-es of Jet Airways, the ministersaid once the investigation iscomplete, the necessary find-ings would be recorded byofficials concerned.

On the alleged moneysiphoning over �5,000 crore bythe airline's promoter NareshGoyal, he said that would be“subject matter of Sebi” but didnot elaborate on the issues.

Earlier this year, Sebisought information from JetAirways following a complaintof alleged fraudulent practices.

In May, the airlineinformed stock exchanges thatin April the regulator soughtviews of the statutory auditorsand the audit committee oncertain allegations.

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Insurance regulator Irdai hasraised the minimum insur-

ance cover for owner-driver to�15 lakh for a premium of �750per annum, a move to providesome succour to road accidentvictims.

Currently, the capital suminsured (CSI) under this sec-tion for motorised two-wheel-ers and private cars/commer-cial vehicles is �1 lakh and �2lakh, respectively.

However, a few generalinsurers have been offeringadd-on covers under packagepolicies with higher CSI overand above the stipulated onpayment of additional premi-um.

The regulator directed allgeneral insurers to provide aminimum CSl of �15 lakhunder Compulsory PersonalAccident (CPA) cover forowner-driver under LiabilityOnly to all classes of vehicles atthe premium rate of �750 perannum for annual policy.

This rate will be valid untilfurther notice, InsuranceRegulatory and DevelopmentAuthority of India (Irdai) saidin a circular.

“A higher CSI may be pro-

vided over and above�15,00,000 through OptionalCovers under Liability Onlyand under Section lll ofPackage Policies/ BundledCovers on payment of addi-tional premium at the option ofthe insured,” it said.

This move by the regulatorof enhancing the capital suminsured ofc CompulsoryPersonal Accident Cover forowner – driver to �15 lakh is astep in the right direction,Bajaj Allianz General InsuranceMD and CEO Tapan Singhelsaid.

“I believe it's important tohave an appropriate personalaccident cover, for an effectivefinancial support to the poli-cyholders and their familymembers if she/he is disabledor succumbs to injury due to anaccident. This will address theissue of underinsurance tosome extent. We as a companysupport and welcome thismove,” he added.

Insurers may start issuingsuch covers effective from thedate of receipt of this circulareven while ensuring that the fil-ing for these is done under Fileand Use Guidelines on orbefore October 25, 2018, thecircular added.

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Japanese imaging productsmajor Canon is expecting a

robust growth in India, one ofits top five markets for DSLRcameras, on account of itsentry into newer segments andintroduction of advanced tech-nologies, a top company offi-cial has said.

The company is exploringnew opportunities in businesssegments like security camerasthrough its group firm AxisCommunications and in healthsector with its range of diag-nostic medical imaging solu-tions.

“Canon Inc, Tokyo isexpecting very rapid growth ofthe Indian market in terms ofphotography backed by popu-lation growth and economicgrowth and future developmentof the photo industry. Ourexpectation to Indian market isquite significant,” YoshiyukiMizoguchi, Group Executive -

ICB Products Group, CanonInc, told.

Presently, India is amongtop five markets for Canonalong with the US, China,Japan and Germany.

Canon India, which is eye-ing a turnover of ��3,500crore in annual sales by FY2020, is expecting a sustainedgrowth in both B2B and B2Csegments.

According to CanonIndia President and CEOKazutada Kobayashi, thegroup is already present inthe rapidly growing securitycamera market throughgroup f irm AxisCommunications, which isgradually expanding its port-folio here.

“We are covering morehigh end products... Qualitywise, we are a leading player inthe world,” Kobayashi said.

Canon is also exploringopportunities in semiconduc-tor business in India.

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The United States hit aChinese military organisa-

tion with punishing financialsanctions for buying Russianfighter jets and missiles as itstepped up pressure onMoscow over its “malign activ-ities”. It was the first time theTrump administration target-ed a third country with itsCAATSA sanctions, designedto punish Russia for its seizureof Crimea and other activities.

The State Department saidit was applying the 2017 legis-lation against the EquipmentDevelopment Department ofthe Chinese Ministry of Defencefor its purchase of RussianSukhoi Su-35 fighter jets and S-400 surface-to-air missiles.

At the same time, the StateDepartment also announced itwas placing 33 Russian intelli-gence and military-linkedactors on its sanctions blacklistunder the CAATSA rules.

“The ultimate target ofthese sanctions is Russia,” asenior administration official

told journalists, insisting onanonymity. “CAATSA sanc-tions in this context are notintended to undermine thedefense capabilities of any par-ticular country. They are aimedat imposing costs on Russia inresponse to its malign activities.”

CAATSA, or theCountering America’sAdversaries Through SanctionsAct, was passed in 2017 as atool that gives the Trumpadministration more ways totarget Russia, Iran and NorthKorea with economic and polit-ical sanctions.

With regard to Russia,CAATSA arises from the coun-try’s “aggression in Ukraine,annexation of Crimea, cyberintrusions and attacks, inter-ference in the 2016 elections,and other malign activities,” theState Department said.

“We will continue to vigor-ously implement CAATSA andurge all countries to curtail rela-tionships with Russia’s defenseand intelligence sectors, both ofwhich are linked to malign activ-ities worldwide,” it said. The

senior official said EDD and itsdirector, Li Shangfu, were hitwith sanctions because of thepurchases made fromRosoboronexport, Russia’s mainarms export entity already on theCAATSA blacklist for its supportof the Assad regime in Syria.

The sanctions freeze any ofEDD’s and Li’s assets in USjurisdictions. They restrictEDD’s access to global financialmarkets by blocking foreignexchange transactions underUS jurisdiction or any transac-tions in the US financial system.

The Russians named forCAATSA blacklisting have allbeen named previously underother US sanctions regimes.They include private paramil-itary contractor PMC Wagner,and Russian Defense Ministryprocurement group Oboron-logistika, and KNAAP, Russia’slargest aircraft manufacturer.

They also include 25Russians and three Russiancompanies who were indictedover the past year by Russia col-lusion investigator RobertMueller for their involvement

in political meddling and hack-ing during the 2016 election.

In addition, the chief of theRussian military intelligence

body GRU, Igor Korobov, anddeputy chief Sergey Gizunov,

were also hit with the CAAT-SA sanctions.

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Abandoning his previousrestraint, President Donald

Trump challenged by namethe woman accusing hisSupreme Court nominee ofsexual assault on Friday, declar-ing that if the alleged attack wasso terrible she would havereported it to law enforcement.

Trump’s change in tone —and apparent shift in tactics —came as Christine Blasey Ford’slawyers negotiate with theSenate Judiciary Committeeon the terms for her possibletestimony next week in a dra-matic showdown over her accu-sation that threatens Judge BrettKavanaugh’s confirmation.

Trump tweeted, “I haveno doubt that, if the attack onDr. Ford was as bad as she says,charges would have beenimmediately filed with localLaw Enforcement Authoritiesby either her or her loving par-ents. I ask that she bring thosefilings forward so that we canlearn date, time, and place!”

The President previouslyhad avoided naming Ford orplainly casting doubt on heraccount. Ford allegesKavanaugh sexually assaultedher more than 30 years agowhen they were teenagers.Kavanaugh has denied the allegation.

The accusation has jarredthe 53-year-old conservativejurist’s prospects for winningconfirmation, which untilFord’s emergence last week

had seemed all but certain. Ithas also bloomed into a broad-er clash over whether womenalleging abuse are taken seri-ously by men and how bothpolitical parties address suchclaims with the advent of the#MeToo movement — a themethat could echo in thisNovember’s elections for con-trol of Congress.

In another tweet, Trump,who was in Las Vegas for var-ious events, wrote: “Judge BrettKavanaugh is a fine man, withan impeccable reputation, whois under assault by radical leftwing politicians who don’twant to know the answers,they just want to destroy anddelay. Facts don’t matter. I gothrough this with them everysingle day in D.C.”

Ford is willing to tell herstory — but only if agreementcan be reached on “terms thatare fair and which ensure hersafety,” her lawyer saidThursday. She said Ford needstime to make sure her family issecure, prepare her testimonyand travel to Washington.

Nairobi: The death toll in a ferrycapsize in Lake Victoria climbedto 126 on Friday, as Tanzanianrescue workers pressed on withthe search to find scores morepeople feared drowned.

The MV Nyerere may havebeen carrying as many as 200passengers — double the ferry’scapacity — when it capsizedclose to the pier on UkaraIsland on Thursday, accordingto reports on state media.

Witnesses reached by AFPsaid the ferry sank when pas-sengers rushed to one side todisembark as it approached

the dock. The death toll rose to126 by mid-afternoon Friday,according to Tanzania’s trans-port Minister.

“We are sad to report thereare 126 dead,” Isack Kamweletold state television, addingthat a further update would beprovided at 6pm local time.

Mwanza governor JohnMongella had earlier said thenumber of survivors was 40, butit was unclear whether any newsurvivors had been found sincerescue operations resumed withpolice and army divers onFriday morning. AFP

New York: In a first, US sci-entists have used stem cells togrow human oesophagus —known as the food pipe — inthe laboratory, an advance thatwill enable personalised disease diagnosis, regenerativetherapies.

A team from the CincinnatiChildren’s Hospital in Ohiosuccessfully generated fullyformed human oesophagealorganoids — tiny version of anorgan produced in vitro inthree dimensions — usingpluripotent stem cells (PSCs).

PSCs are master cells thatcan potentially produce any cellor tissue the body needs torepair itself. The oesophagealorganoids grew to a length ofabout 300-800 micrometres in

about two months. “Disorders of the oesoph-

agus and trachea are prevalentenough in people that organoidmodels of human oesophaguscould be greatly beneficial,”said lead investigator Jim Wells,from the hospital.

“In addition to being anew model to study birthdefects like oesophageal atresia,

the organoids can be used tostudy diseases likeoeosinophilic oesophagitis andBarrett’s metaplasia, or to bio-engineer genetically matchedoesophageal tissue for individ-ual patients,” he added.

In the study, published injournal Cell Stem Cell, teamfocused on the gene Sox2 andits associated protein — knownto trigger oesophageal condi-tions when their function isdisrupted.

The scientists used mice,frogs and human tissue culturesto identify other genes andmolecular pathways regulatedby Sox2 during oesophagusformation. During critical stagesof embryonic development, theSox2 gene blocks the program-

ming and action of geneticpathways that direct cells tobecome respiratory instead ofoesophageal. The Sox2 proteininhibits the signalling of a mol-ecule called Wnt and promotesthe formation and survival ofoesophageal tissues.

Conversely, absence of Sox2during development process inmice can result in oesophagealagenesis — a condition in whichoesophagus terminates in apouch and does not connect tostomach. Those tests showedbioengineered and biopsies tis-sues were strikingly similar incomposition, team said. Cinci-nnati Children’s scientists havepreviously used PSCs to bio-engineer human intestine, stom-ach, colon and liver. IANS

London: British PrimeMinister Theresa May onFriday issued the EuropeanUnion (EU) with an ultimatumto come up with an alternativeplan for Brexit and treat the UKwith respect in the negotiations.

Her televised statementfrom Downing Street cameafter a day of upheavals inSalzburg at Austria, duringwhich European Council HeadDonald Tusk announced thatthe UK’s Brexit plans wereunworkable.

May hit back at the EUleaders for rejecting her planwith no alternative at this “latestage of negotiations”, saying itwas “not acceptable”. “I will notoverturn the result of the ref-erendum nor will I break upmy country,” a defiant BritishPM said.

“Yesterday Donald Tusk

said our proposals wouldundermine the single mar-ket. He didn’t explain howin any detail or makeany counter-propos-al. So we are at animpasse,” she said.

Her statementfurther noted:“Throughout thisprocess I havetreated the EUwith nothing butrespect. The UKexpects thesame, a goodrelationship atthe end of thisprocess dependson it.

“At this late stagein the negotiations, itis not acceptable tosimply reject the otherside’s proposals without

a detailed explanationand counter proposals.

So we now need to hearfrom the EU whatthe real issues areand what theiralternative is sowe can discussthem. Until wedo, we cannotmake progress.”

She said thetwo sides werestill “a long wayapart” on twobig issues: thep o s t - B r e x i teconomic rela-t i o n s h i p

between the UKand EU, and the

“backstop” for theIrish border, if there isa delay in implement-

ing that relationship.

The two options beingoffered by the EU for the long-term relationship — for the UKto stay in the EuropeanEconomic Area and customsunion or a basic free tradeagreement — were not accept-able, she said. May said the firstoption would “make a mockeryof the referendum”, while thesecond would mean NorthernIreland would be “permanent-ly separated economically fromthe rest of the UK by a borderdown the Irish Sea.”

Reiterating her Brexit standof “no deal is better than a baddeal”, May said the best out-come would be to leave with adeal and the UK had put for-ward a third way — herChequers plan, which Tuskrejected on Thursday on theground that it would under-mine the single market. PTI

United Nations: PresidentDonald Trump will talk aboutprotecting US sovereignty,expanding relations with coun-tries that share similar valuesand call for a halt to the spreadof weapons of mass destructionduring next week’s gathering ofworld leaders at the UNGeneral Assembly, his topdiplomat to the UN has said.

Trump will participate in anumber of UN GeneralAssembly (UNGA) events andbilateral meetings fromSeptember 24-27. Trump willalso hold bilateral meetingswith Secretary General AntonioGuterres, President of GeneralAssembly María FernandaEspinosa Garces, leaders of

South Korea, Egypt, France,Israel, Japan and the UK.

Trump is “looking forwardto talking about the foreign pol-icy successes the US has had overthe last year and where we aregoing to go from here. He wantsto talk about protecting US sov-ereignty,” and expanding rela-tions with countries that sharesimilar values, US Ambassadorto the UN Nikki Haley said.

Haley cited the example ofUS decisions to exit UN’s GlobalMigration Compact and ParisClimate Change Accord, saying“all of these things that we felt likewere mandating things on theUS, those aren’t things we wantto be involved in. We really valuesovereignty of the country.”

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New York: While we havealways heard that sharing iscaring, a new study has shownthat an individual’s tendency tobe generous depends on howmuch people around him orher are sharing.

The findings showed it isnot that people, who like toshare, choose to live with thosehaving same habits. Rather, theyadapt their own sharing ten-dencies so as to match that of thegroup they currently live in.

In other words, sharing,being contagious, is driven bylocal group norms and behaviour and not individualgenerosity.

“We were surprised to find

that people do not have a sta-ble tendency to cooperate andare instead influenced by thosearound them,” said CorenApicella from the University ofPennsylvania.

“If you find yourself sur-rounded by selfish people, youdon’t necessarily have to find anew crowd, but by being gen-erous yourself, you can getothers to be generous as well,”added Kristopher Smith, from

the University of Pennsylvania.The study, published in

Current Biology, is based onHadza hunter-gatherer people inTanzania — also one of the lastpopulations left on the planet.

During the study, the teamvisited 56 camps in Tanzaniaover six years. They asked near-ly 400 Hadza adults to play pub-lic goods game where, insteadof money, they were asked toconsider sharing straws ofhoney, their favourite food.

Each person started withfour straws, which they couldput toward the whole group ornot. The honey straws con-tributed to the group gottripled. IANS

New York: Police say three infants and two adults werestabbed at an overnight day care centre in New YorkCity. All are in critical but stable condition. Authoritiessay the stabbings happened just before 4 am Friday ata home in Queens. They said a three-day-old girl anda one-month-old girl were stabbed in the abdomen,and a 20-day-old girl suffered cuts to her ear, chin andlip. Police said the father of a child at the centre and awoman who worked there were also stabbed.

A 52-year-old woman was found in the base-ment of the home in the Flushing neighbourhood.Police say she had slashed her own wrist and is incustody at a hospital. Police say a butcher knife andmeat cleaver were found at the scene. A motive has-n’t been determined. It isn’t clear whether the daycare center was licensed. AP

Jakarta: Dozens of Indonesianswho served jail time for cor-ruption are set to run for pub-lic office, the country’s electoralagency said Friday, as theworld’s largest Muslim-major-ity nation kicks off campaign-ing at the weekend.

The ex-convicts are amongmore than 8,000 people vyingfor seats in parliament andregional councils with 186 mil-lion registered voters eligible tocast a ballot in national polls onApril 17.

Election campaigningstarts from Sunday. Indonesiais riddled with corruption at alllevels of society and its House

of Representatives is widelyviewed as one of its most graft-riddled institutions.

However, the SupremeCourt ruled last week that 38people previously convicted ofgraft could run for office,despite their criminal records.The decision came afterIndonesia’s electoral agencytried to block their eligibility.

“We were actually againstthis, but since the SupremeCourt gave them the green lightto run, there’s nothing we cando,” General ElectionsCommission head AriefBudiman told AFP on Friday.

AFP

Canberra: Australian scien-tists said on Friday they havedeveloped a nano-filter that canclean contaminated water 100times faster than the currenttechnology, pointing to betteraccess to the crucial resourceworldwide.

The filter removes oils andheavy metals including leadfrom water via an alloy thatcombines gallium-based liquidmetals with aluminium, help-ing to absorb the contami-nants with aluminium oxidecompounds, RMIT Universitysaid in a statement about theinnovation that also involved

researchers from the Universityof New South Wales, reportsXinhua news agency.

Water contaminationremains a significant challengeglobally, with one in nine peo-ple without access to cleanwater close to home, and heavymetal contamination “causesserious healthproblems and chil-dren are particu-larly vulnerable”,RMIT researcherAli Zavabeti said.

“Our newnano-filter is sus-tainable, environ-

mentally-friendly, scalable andlow cost,” said Zavabeti, whoseteam’s findings were publishedin the Advanced FunctionalMaterials scientific journal.

“Previous research hasalready shown the materials weused are effective in absorbingcontaminants like mercury,

sulphates and phos-phates.

“With further devel-opment and commercialsupport, this new nano-filter could be a cheapand ultra-fast solutionto the problem of dirtywater.” IANS

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Moscow: The US’ latest batchof sanctions targeting Russianbusinesses and China under-mine global stability and areakin to playing with fire, offi-cials here said on Friday.

Deputy Foreign MinisterSergei Ryabkov’s commentscame after Washington onThursday imposed a new batchof sanctions, hitting 33 ofRussia’s most high-profile cit-izens with ties to the Kremlin.

Ryabkov said the sanc-tions were aimed at Russiandefence organisations, politi-cians and businessmen.

“It would be good forthem to recall the notion ofglobal stability, which theyrecklessly upset by whippingup tensions in Russian-US

relations,” Ryabkov said in astatement cited by TASS newsagency. “It’s foolish to playwith fire, because things couldget dangerous.”

“We’ve been keeping aclose eye on how the USapplies it sanctions against ourcountry. This seems to haveturned into some sort ofnational sport, with yester-day’s anti-Russian measuresbecoming the 60th since 2011.

“Every new round ofsanctions shows that ourenemy’s previous attempts topressure Russia have failed toyield any result. Numerous USblacklists duplicate each othermore and more. That’s funny,but this is true,” the ministersaid. IANS

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Beijing: An “outraged” Chinaon Friday lodged a diplomat-ic protest with the US forimposing punitive sanctionson its military unit for buyingRussian weapons, warning of“consequences” if the sanc-tions are not revoked.

The US State Departmentsaid on Thursday that the pur-chases of Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets and S-400 sur-face-to-air missiles by China’sEquipment DevelopmentDepartment (EDD) of China’sMinistry of Defence violatedUS sanctions on Russia.

Both the EDD and itsdirector, Li Shangfu, havebeen named in Thursday’ssanctions. It is the first timethe Trump administration

targeted a third country withits Countering America’sAdversaries ThroughSanctions Act of 2017 (CAAT-SA), designed to punishRussia for its seizure ofCrimea and other activities.

Reacting to the US move,Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesman Geng Shuang said,“China is strongly outraged bythis unreasonable action of theUS and lodged stern repre-sentations”.

“What the US has donegravely violated the basisnorms governing the inter-national relations and harmedthe state-to-state and military-to-military relations betweenthe two sides,” he said.

PTI

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She’s sitting pretty on the success of Streeand is looking forward to Batti Gul

Meter Chalu. She hardly cares for the lowsin between and is still gushy about savour-ing a gulaab jamun. And disregarding thegrammar of public appearances, she choos-es to have one then and there. But thenShraddha Kapoor sparkles only because sheis easy-going and enjoys her work in themoment. “I’ve never focussed on results. Hitsand misses are not in your hands. When amovie succeeds, it feels great. At the sametime, I can’t be complacent about it. I thinkit was really difficult when my first two filmsdidn’t do well. Even after that it was nevera cake walk and that’s when I understood thatone should not be dependent on how amovie turns out. One should only focus onhow hard you work and how best you canbe at what you’re doing. Take every chanceyou get in life. I find it shocking yet amaz-ing that Stree has become a blockbuster,” theactor told us.Playing the happy-go-lucky Nauti in BattiGul Meter Chalu, the 31-year-old actor saidshe is glad it comes after Stree. “There wassome kind of mystery which was created formy character. For Nauti, there is no such typeof mystery. She is very vocal and a fun per-son to be with. I think it’s so fascinating thatwith each film, you get to play a differentcharacter and I had a great time playingNauti,” the actress said. Shraddha, who is upfor experimenting with all genres and roles,said, “As an actor, I want to try all kinds ofroles. I do not want to be boxed in even ifit means taking risks. My whole idea is toactually to get out of my comfort zone andmake a determined effort. I want to be a part

of really memorable films.”Each film has its own difficulties,

challenges, preparations, anddemands. The actor said that shewouldn’t classify things like, “thatfilm would be easier or this filmwould be more difficult.” Shewants to keep improving herselfand wants to do better than shewas doing yesterday. She wantsto put her best foot forward.

Shraddha, daughter ofShakti Kapoor, who is betterknown for his villainous andcomic roles in Bollywood, saidthat family references didn’twork for her at all. “I had toaudition everytime and havealso faced so much rejection. Ihave not actually had a quintes-sential star kid debut. I had toearn my part,” added she.

And for somebody who hasgotten linked to co-stars andindustrywallahs consistently,she feels each is to his own. “Ifeel that our society is evolving.Nowadays so many people aregetting married in their lateryears. Living in is legal even inIndia. One must do whatevermakes one happy and notsubscribe to anybody’s expec-tations.”

As for her co-actor ShahidKapoor with whom she hasdone her second film, shesays, “It’s really nice to beback again. When youknow someone, there’s acomfort zone that comesin, and he’s a fantasticactor, sincere and giveshis everything to what-ever he does. It wasreally nice workingwith him again,”Shraddha shared.

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Anushka Sharma and Varun Dhawan’scamaraderie is there for everyone to

see. The champion actors have also becomefriends while working on the much await-ed Sui Dhaaga - Made in India. Anushkaand Varun travelled to Kolkata for the pro-motions and Anushka surprised Varun bygifting him sweets from her favourite sweetshop in the city. Naturally Varun wasthrilled.

“Anushka loves Bengali sweets and shealways orders from a particular shop spe-cialising in traditional and gourmet Bengaliconfectionaries. She bought rabdi, bakedrasgulla and other traditional sweets forVarun and personally gifted him. Anushkahas been fond of Varun for the profession-al actor and co-star that he is and wantedto give this as a sweet gesture to him. Varunwas thrilled with Anushka’s gift and feast-ed on them. He thanked Anushka for thesweets and the amazing co-star and friendthat she has become,” says a source fromthe event team in Kolkata.

Sui Dhaaga - Made in India is set torelease on September 28.

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Grammy and Oscar winningcomposer A.R. Rahman,

along with celebrated lyricist-poet Gulzar, has created theofficial song for Odisha HockeyMen's World CupBhubaneswar 2018.

The Odisha governmentroped in Rahman for compos-ing the song titled "Jai hindhind, jai India", which ispenned by Gulzar.

"Nothing says India morethan our beloved sport hock-ey. And nothing is more excit-ing than the world's biggesthockey tournament happeningright here, on our turf,"Rahman said in a statement.

"It's heart-warming to seethe entire nation pledge theirheartbeats for hockey. As anextension of pledging ourheartbeats, Gulzar sahab and Ihave created the World Cupsong. A song that will exciteand inspire, as also get you onyour feet,” added the musicmaestro.

Odisha Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik said: “We aredelighted to have Rahmancompose the song for theOdisha Hockey World Cup. Itwill be an honour to have himperform live in Bhubaneswar.He is the voice of India andnow with this song, the voice

of India is the voice of theworld cup.

“We are also fortunate tohave Gulzar sahab add his

poetic magic to the composi-tion. Coming together of thesetwo legends will not onlyinspire the players but willalso get the entire nationtogether to support this won-derful game unfolding inOdisha at the world cup.”

The fourteenth edition ofthe prestigious hockey compe-tition is scheduled to takeplace from November 28 toDecember 16.

Rahman is also directingthe song's video, which will beshot across the hockey heart-lands of India. The song is setto release at the KalingaStadium inauguration sched-uled for early October. Rahmanwill also perform it live at theopening ceremony onNovember 27.

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Gone are the bright orange, skin-tighttrousers, multi-coloured shirts andblazers that were inspired by the

hues of the sun. Dressed in a formal blackthree-piece, the only hint of the flashyGovinda of yore are the shiny, black, point-ed shoes that have a self pattern consist-ing of squares. And there is a markedchange in the man. One can see the exas-peration in his face when he realises thathaving spoken non-stop for three hours,he would need to continue the exercise forat least another half-an-hour. However,the irritation does not filter down to hisattitude – a far cry from the tales oftantrums and unprofessional behaviourthat was whispered about earlier.

The actor is straightforward, greets youwarmly with a something special for eachindividual and is philosophical about histake on life in the industry and outside.“You are a very good soul,” he announcesjust as I begin to settle down. The pro-nouncement, he says, was prompted by thefact that he had eyed me patiently waitingmy turn on the side.

The Virar ka Chokra, as he was pop-ularly referred to at one time, has travelleda long distance from his humble originsand tough times while reinventing himselfoften – from an action hero to a roman-tic to one with impeccable comic timing– the last being where he found his mojo.And he credits it all to his mother. “She toldme that you can’t fashion idols from dryearth and that thought worked. The wetearth is connected to nature. If you con-nect your art to nature, you can find a lotof new characters. You can see heroesaround you and you feel that it would beamazing to see them on the silver screen.If you close your fist or your mind, youcan’t express yourself. If you close your ear,then you can’t say the truth. To begin withwe need to open our minds, hearts,thoughts and keep the doors open,” saysthe actor philosophically, looking out inthe direction as if trying to recall a longforgotten story.

The actor, who with his string of come-dies – Raja Babu, Coolie No 1, Hero no 1,Partner, Saajan Chale Sasuraal and more— was at one time practically considereda stress-buster by corporate India. “If I amthe source of entertaining people and tak-ing away their stress, I don’t mind. But asfar as a tag is concerned, it can change ifsomeone does a strong film that compelspeople to accept them in a role. AkshayKumar was a fighting hero, then he start-ed doing comedies and now he hasrebranded himself as someone who doesnationalistic films,” he explains.

An actor, who had a phenomenal 14releases in 1989, 11 in 1988, nine in 1990and 1994, seven in 1997, six each in 1992,1995, 1998, 2000, most of which wereblockbusters or close to it, Govinda has notbeen seen very often. His last outing anaction film, Aa Gaya Hero, in 2017 failedto create much of an impact on the box

office. So it is with two comedies, RangeelRaja and Fry Day, a genre that he is bestknown for, that Govinda returns to the bigscreen. “These are family entertainers butat the same time they are tied to love andhave an element of comedy. They will con-vey many messages in a funny manner.They will definitely have an indirectly seri-ous side to it. Unlike the comedy in con-temporary films, which is very direct, thisis more subtle. Mujhe shobha nahin detawoh,” says the 53-year-old who likesRanvir Singh among the newer lot for hiscomic timing and acting.

Besides comedy, it was his flair fordancing with gay abandon that setGovinda apart from the other heroes.Recalling the video of a university profes-sor who was imitating his steps at a mar-riage, he chuckles. “He was dancing withhis family during a marriage without a cluethat it would become viral. Of the peoplewho imitate me including actors, hecomes the closest. Pahunche huen baaphain woh,” he says with a laugh which isreminiscent of the many films that he hasacted in.

That’s the effect he has had on peoplewith his laugh-out-do-it-loud demeanour.A warmth which translated into a genialworkspace where he worked with severalhit jodis whether it was his pairing withShakti Kapoor in 42 films “which madepeople roll with laughter”, Kader Khan (41films) or his heroines like Neelam and

Karishma Kapoor (10 each). But did anyof his friendships extend beyond themovies? Whatever was written aboutthen, Govinda has now detached himselffrom all the speculation over his equationswith people, men or women. “I couldn’tunderstand the system of friendship —

vidhi, taur tariqe nahin samajh me nahinaate (I do not understand the rulebook ofsocial grace and manners). I just keptworking. I couldn’t afford time for culti-vating relationships. Everyone in my fam-ily was struggling at that time. How we

could move ahead in life was the strugglethat I was faced with. We were trying toextricate ourselves from the tough times.So I had no time. My mother had mademe promise at a very young age when I was13 that I could not get tired or use badwords for anyone. That’s all I did and do,”he says, dispelling doubts that he hadregrets in an industry considered punish-ing if you fell from its grace.

Another place where he briefly dab-bled and then made a quiet exit was pol-itics. He contested elections against RamNaik who was considered invincible andwon the Lok Sabha seat in 2004. “The waypolitics works, you should continue in itonly if you understand it well. There isalways action and reaction there. Oneshould stay away if one does not have thecourage to tolerate things. At that time,mummy had passed away and I was thefather figure of a family where everyonewas very young. I did not want to imposemy burden on the others. If I had contin-ued to do that, it would have been very self-ish for they were suffering because of meand the environment,” says the actor.

His closeness to his family, especiallyto his mother, who he invokes several timesduring the course of the conversation, isapparent. “She is divine. She kept the fam-ily together she sacrificed her entire life forthe family.” And he does not forget hisjourney, which was tougher as comparedto youngsters today. “Now they can show-case their talent even through mobiles.There are more options available. There isno need for films or even Doordarshan toshow that they can act like that or I looklike this. Earlier we used to spend hoursoutside a producer’s office and then youhad to dance in their office. Then theylooked you up and down and told us tolose weight. Now the world’s best faciltiesare available on the phone. You have thetheatre in your palm and can watch themovie as many times as you want. WhenI was young, just to watch a movie, dandekhaane padte the. Ram Ram,” he guffaws.

But there are other places too that havewitnessed a change, content for instance.“It is very nice. With the web, a new medi-um has been found where you can followyour heart. The content is extremelymodern and westernised. It will cut downthe political part of the art,” he says as hesigns off.

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The Partition of 1947 wasn’t just a passing eventin the history of India and Pakistan. It is a mem-ory that is still fresh in the conscience of those

who had witnessed it. And for those who haven’t, therehave been a number of stories and documentaries thattell the tales of that brutal period.

Writer Saadat Hasan Manto’s stories are amongthose that remind the people of the two nations aboutthe struggles of those times.

It took Nandita six years to complete Manto, andfinally get it on the screens. But what is it that took solong? “Now when I watch it again I feel even more thanthis could have also been done,” she says. “When youhave to dig deep like this, you need time to bring allthe fine details to the fore. I wanted to be true andauthentic to today’s period. I wrote many drafts andtook help from many people,” she says.

She created a Lahore in India and searching forlocales that fit the bill was a difficult process. “It hasall been very challenging but also enriching. I believethat Manto is not just a film but an ideology. We cansee whatever is happening around the world and thatwe are being divided on the basis of caste, religion, gen-der and nationality. And Manto through his stories hadalready depicted such discrimination and issues whichwe have been increasingly forgetting today. This wasmy reason for making the film,” says the filmmaker.

Addressing the issues of today through the film, thesubject of which is as relevant in the contemporaryworld as it was in post 1947 India, was the “right thingto do instead of being didactic and polarising about it.”

There were nervousness and second thoughtsabout making a film on such a controversial characteras Manto but Nandita believes, “Controversy is just aterm. He wasn’t a ‘controversial’ character, he was justahead of his time. Today there are journalists and artistslike us, who also feel a bit scared about hurting senti-ments while expressing themselves. We make sure thatwe don’t step on someone’s shoes or offend somebody.Various kinds of censorships have emerged todayincluding self-censorship. People have stopped speak-ing what they feel. But in an era like the 1940s, Mantowas a person unafraid and ‘bebaak’ who didn’t thinktwice to fight for the truth and he wasn’t even a jour-nalist or activist. He was a writer and for him, therewas no difference between passion, work and life. Whatyou believe in is what you do.”

Nandita feels that celebrating such people is veryimportant as is bringing them back into people’s mindsto make people realise that such an inspirational char-acter existed and that ‘itna darr darr ke jeene ka koi mat-lab nahi hai’ (no point of living with fear).”

As inspiring as the subject of the film is, it wasimportant to be made by someone who didn’t put himon a pedestal and instead treated him like a humanbeing with flaws and insecurities. A realist himself, hewouldn’t have wanted to be shown in a glorified light,the director believes.

Talking about religion and caste, how do such filmsbring about a change in people’s mindsets?

“Films don’t create any revolution. We are influ-enced by all the things we are surrounded by, books weread, films we watch, people we meet, and experiencesthat we have witnessed. All such things slowly getabsorbed in us and then we are able to understand theworld around us. Hence, my core values must be thesame since the last 30 years but I am not the same per-son as I was 30 years ago. Why am I changing after all?Because of all these experiences that I’m gaining. I havebeen impacted by quite a number of films. But this does-n’t mean that it will make the whole world changeovernight,” says she.

It was back in 2012 that she felt that a film on Mantohas to be made. She says, “I started reading about it in

2012 — Manto’s stories and works. I felt that ‘Wow...what a person he was.’ He hails from such an old era,but through his words it feels like he’s talking abouttoday. His approach was so modern. When I startedresearching I felt ki iss insaan par toh ek film zaroor bann

ni chahiye, (a film should definitely be created on sucha person). Co-incidently, I received an invite for someevent in 2013 from Lahore and I felt this could be greatchance to meet the family of Manto in Pakistan.”

His family has been supporting her since 2013 tomake the film. She met them and discovered that hisdaughters, who were very young then didn’t remem-ber much. It was Razia, Manto’s sister-in-law, who toldher a number of things which she felt she “couldn’t havehad found in any other book or story even though Iread a number of them written by him. I wanted toknow more about their relationship and Safia, Manto’swife’s, as well.”

Despite the support from his family, the directorwas nervous when screening the film for them. “Whenthis film was shown here for the first time, I really want-ed to invite the family and show them what their par-ents were. I was really nervous because it’s a very per-sonal thing for them as also the movie shows Mantoin a very grey character. As a child, it is difficult tounderstand your parents and their relationship. I hadsent them the script because I didn’t want any false fac-tual elements. Also there is a huge problem betweenboth the countries in terms of getting a visa but to mysurprise, the authorities have also been very helpful,”she says.

Two of Manto’s daughters, the husband of theyoungest daughter, and another person called SaeedAhmed, who had helped her through the years viaemails and calls had come for the screening. When allthe four of them came out of the theatre, Nandita was“relieved to see their expressions.” The middle daugh-ter had almost broke down. It was a “moving experi-ence” for her.

In this age of biopics, sports films or even filmsbased on historical events, Bollywood is increasinglyshifting towards realism. “Suddenly biographies havebecome the flavour of the season,” she says. “When in2012 I started working on the film, it wasn’t the same.Honestly, I wasn’t even thinking of it as a biopic. Mymind just had Manto, the idea not the person. We wantto spread the Manto revolution through this film. It isnot really a biopic. He was a well-known writer and per-sonality. People waited for his columns and essays. Itis a journey of a writer through those times and howthe world viewed such people. Even today there aremany Mantos alive, they just don’t get enough recog-nition. Some of them might be killed, or in jail or musthave been silenced and we don’t even know. This is toremind that there have been people who spoke theirminds — fearlessly, unstoppably. For us they have keptthat freedom and democracy alive,” she says.

Recreating someone’s story and bringing them aliveagain involves the efforts of a number of people. Didshe also encounter in her journey some people whowere not related to Manto in any way but had knownhim? The answer is yes, she did. She shares, “I metIntezaar Husain, who was a writer at that time. I methim in Lahore. He passed away recently. He told mesome fun anecdotes about Manto, which his family had-n’t known about. Meeting people is just a part of gain-ing knowledge but at the end of the day it is all inter-nalised and it is my subjective interpretation of the wayI have imagined his world.”

Indeed, since Manto has penned a number of bio-graphical sketches, poems, more than 300 short stories,and radio commentaries, going through that materialand combining it in a 120-minute film was definitelyan arduous process.

Celebrities including Rekha, Imtiaz Ali, DeeptiNaval, Shabana Azmi and others attended a specialscreening of the film starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui asthe Indo-Pakistani, Urdu author Saadat Hasan Manto.

'��' �� ,��

Actor Abhishek Bachchan hasdefended the decision of the

makers to delete three scenes fromhis latest Manmarziyaan and said thesequences did not impact the storyanyway.

The scenes in question featuringAbhishek and Taapsee Pannu smok-ing had upset a certain section of theSikh community, following whichthey were omitted from the film.

When asked about the issue,Abhishek said, “Each individual isallowed to react the way they have,and they want to. It’s their person-al opinion. For me, it’s not a bigdeal. My film isn’t about anyonesmoking, I have no problem cut-ting that out if someone has takenobjection to it.”

The actor stressed that theintention of the makers wasnot to hurt anyone.

“The intention of the mak-ers is not to upset any commu-nity or ruffle any feathers. Wejust wanted to make a nice love

story and that’s what the film isabout. If by cutting out one or twoshots if it’s going to placate someoneand make them feel better, I’ve noproblem doing that.”

Abhishek was in conversationwith journalist Mayank Shekhar atthe Jagran Cinema Summit here.

When asked if the move sets abad precedent, the actor said one hasto look at the issue in totality.

“You have to look at why andwho is objecting, what’s the purposebehind the objection. If that’s gen-uine, look into it genuinely andaddress it... You need to ask who’sthe loser here? In the situation likewe are in right now, it’s theexhibitors.”

The actor said so many peopledown the cinema chain wouldstand to lose money if one sat ontheir “ego” over certain scenes.

“If there is an objection or aprotest, a cinema hall might getvandalised, shows of the exhibitorsmight get cancelled and that personis going to lose money. If you say it’sa bad precedent, please underwrite allthe loses that people down the chainare going to face. I’ll stand by you.

“That’s my industry as well andI’ve got to think about that. Thoseone or two shots aren’t going tochange the story, so take it out. If it’schanging the narrative or the reasonwhy I’m making the film, then no.Like in ‘Udta Punjab’... But here, I’mnot going to sit on my ego for threebasic shots, which might affect theexhibitors.”

'��' �� ,�� G'/6

While we have always heard that sharing is car-ing, a new study has shown that an individual’s

tendency to be generous depends on how much peo-ple around him or her are sharing. The findingsshowed it is not that people, who like to share, chooseto live with those having same habits. Rather, theyadapt their own sharing tendencies so as to match thatof the group they currently live in. In other words,sharing, being contagious, is driven by local groupnorms and behaviour and not individual generosity.

“We were surprised to find that people do nothave a stable tendency to cooperate and are insteadinfluenced by those around them,” said CorenApicella, University of Pennsylvania.

“If you find yourself surrounded by selfish peo-ple, you don’t necessarily have to find a new crowd,but by being generous yourself, you can get others tobe generous as well,” added Kristopher Smith, fromthe University of Pennsylvania. The study, publishedin Current Biology, is based on Hadza hunter-gath-erer people in Tanzania — also one of the last pop-ulations left on the planet. During the study, the teamvisited 56 camps in Tanzania over six years. Theyasked nearly 400 Hadza adults to play public goodsgame where, instead of money, they were asked to con-sider sharing straws of honey, their favourite food.

Each person started with four straws, which theycould put toward the whole group or not. The honeystraws contributed to the group got tripled.

The results revealed that Hadza individuals liv-ing in certain camps were consistently more gener-ous than others were. Moreover, individuals behaveddifferently over time, modifying their behaviour tomatch the norms of the camp they were currently liv-ing in.

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Whisky has this incorrect, outdat-ed and old fashioned image of

being consumed by lanky old men andpurists in cigar rooms. Instead thedrink is being consumed by well-trav-elled millennials of all genders.Exposure to different cultures andinformation is the key reason for theway the younger generation is drink-ing this alcohol, assumed to go bestwith ice and water, in cocktails too. Inthe US, women now make up to 37 percent of consumers and almost a thirdof whisky drinkers in the UK. Even inIndia, women have shown a rise in theconsumption of the alcohol, be it in theform of a cocktail or on its own.

You don’t really have to be well-travelled as access to global cultures,eating habits and drinking trends arenow so easily available on the internetfor us to play around with. The priv-ilege of having information hasexposed millennials to trends fromaround the globe and it would be cor-rect to say that we are now more exper-imental with our choice of what goesinto our bellies. We in India are nowopening up to drinking whisky incocktails, mixers like apple juice andginger ale which was not the case justa decade ago. This is definitely encour-aging.

While hosting a tasting event at agolf club in India, I introduced theGrant’s & Ginger Ale cocktail to vet-eran whisky drinkers only to find thempleasantly surprised. None of them hadtried it before as most of them enjoyedtheir whisky with water and ice. NowI’m not saying that is not the correctway of drinking whisky but theirreaction and surprise on how wellwhisky goes with ginger ale was just asrefreshing as the drink itself.

A crucial reason why the alcoholis being experimented with is alsobecause the consumers are more dis-cerning and open to experimentationwith their food and drink choices.Access to different cultures has openedup people to variety, be it in theirchoice of fashion, living standard ordrinks and food.

You go to any bar in India and youwill see an equal number of whiskycocktails being served along with

vodka and gin.It is a base spirit with a wide range

of flavours that makes it possible topair it before, with and after dinner aswell. Depending on where the whiskycomes from, it can have a flavour pro-file, ranging from sweet to spicy toearthy smoky notes.

It goes well with seafood, cheese,

chocolates, sushi and a varied range ofIndian delicacies. For instance, whiskywith just a few drops of water, goesvery well with a lot of tandoori foodas it balances the smokiness and acid-ity extremely well.

��0��)*��()�+�� Whisky is produced all over

Scotland but most of the brands thatwe see at bars come from four majorwhisky-producing regions - TheHighlands, Speyside, Islay and TheLowlands. Each region produces a dif-ferent style and character of whisky.

Speyside, which is the undisputedcentre for Scottish whisky, has fruityand sweet characteristics. Think of

icons like Glenfiddich which isrenowned all over the world for itspear, apple and toffee notes.

Highland whiskies are more full-bodied, nutty and spicy in character.This is a big whisky-producing region,so there is a range of varietals. Thinkof notes of honey, spice and heather.If you go to northern Highlands you’revery likely to find whiskies whichwould give you lovely top notes of peatbut an underlying oakiness and fruiti-ness to your whisky.

Lowlands are not one of the biggestwhisky producing regions in Scotlandbut produce a unique type. Most arevery easy on the palate.

Think of the elegant floral noteswith a balance of citrus, honey andcereal topped up with a very smoothand mellow finish.

Islay: Often the victim of incorrectpronunciation, it is actually pro-nounced as ‘eye-lah.’ Peat is the char-acteristic of this beautiful part on thewest of Scotland. Islay malts are morepungent, heavily peated compared toyour speyside or highland whiskieswith notes of smoke, brine, and hintof seal salt that intrigues your palate.

There is no set way of drinkingwhisky and I encourage people toenjoy it the way they like, especially ina cocktail or a mixer like Ginger Aleand Apple. For me, it is the most ver-satile hard drink out there that offersa wide range of flavours. Balancing theflavours with the right mixture in acocktail can make the varied notesstand out.

My cocktail choice depends uponthe time of the day, the occasion andthe place I am at. If I’m home just ona day-off relaxing with my friends, wemake sure we buy some ginger alefrom the local shop and it’s time forG&Gs (Grant’s & Ginger ale) oversome ice.

It really is a great afternoon-evening drink to beat the hot andhumid conditions and best enjoyedwith friends because it is so simple tomake and yet so delicious. If at a barpost 11 pm (which does happen fre-quently with my kind of job), I love myGrant’s old fashioned or a Grant’sBlood and Sand.

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Chelsea maintained its per-fect start to the seasonwhen Brazil forward

Willian scored in a 1-0 EuropaLeague victory at PAOKThessaloniki on Thursday.

Two goals from Ever Banegaand Wissam Ben Yedder ledSevilla, the most successful teamin Europa League history, to a 5-1 thrashing of Standard Liegewhile Eintracht Frankfurt openedits campaign by upsettingMarseille 2-1.

Arsenal, with former Sevillacoach Unai Emery now incharge, defeated Ukraine'sVorskla 4-2 thanks to a doublefrom Pierre-EmerickAubameyang and AC Milanedged past Dudelange ofLuxembourg 1-0.

Sitting atop the PremierLeague with five wins from fivegames, Chelsea rested EdenHazard after the Belgium play-maker registered a hat trick in a4-1 win against Cardiff onSaturday.

Chelsea manager MaurizioSarri made five changes to hisstarting line-up against PAOKand his dominant team shouldhave scored a hatful of goals.

The out-of-form AlvaroMorata wasted several chancesafter captain Willian had finishedoff a speedy counter-attack in theseventh minute following goodwork from Ross Barkley.

"We played very well, were incontrol of the match, and itwould have been difficult for any-body to play against us thisevening," Sarri said.

Also in Group L, BATEBorisov of Belarus won 2-0 atHungary's Vidi.

��++��)��*��Sevilla shook off two recent

defeats to rout Standard Liege 5-1 in its opening group-stagematch of the Europa Leaguefootball championship.

Back in action in a tourna-

ment they have won five times,the Andalusians on Thursdayseized control from the outset atRamon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadiumand opened the scoring in theeighth minute on a curving freekick by Ever Banega into the top-right corner of the goal.

But Sevilla's intensitydropped after French midfield-er Ibrahim Amadou left thegame with an injury in the 15thminute, ceding territory and giv-ing up the equalizer in the 39thminute on a goal by Malianmidfielder Moussa Djenepo.

The home side, however,responded with two scores oneither side of halftime.

Franco Vazquez fired a left-footed blast off the upright andinto the goal in the 41st minutebefore Wissam Ben Yedder, whotallied 10 goals for Sevilla in last-season's Champions League,scored on a cross from Braziliandefender Guilherme Arana in the49th minute.

Ben Yedder then made thescore 4-1 in the 70th minutewhen he scored after Banega hadgained possession of the ball deepin Standard Liege's territory.

Banega then became the sec-ond Sevilla player to score a bracein the 74th minute when he con-verted a penalty that had beenawarded for a foul by ZinhoVanheusden on Vazquez.

��#!��'C��<)!Aubameyang opened the

scoring for Arsenal againstVorskla in the 32nd minutewhen he converted an Alex Iwobicross.

Danny Welbeck headed in acenter from Henrikh Mkhitaryanbefore Aubameyang made it 3-0with a precise shot from outsidethe area.

Substitute Mesut Ozil addedthe fourth goal from close rangebut Vorskla reduced the arrearsthanks to captain VolodymyrChesnakov and VyacheslavSharpar.

For Emery, the Europa

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Top shuttlers P V Sindhu andKidambi Srikanth lost their

quarterfinal matches on Friday,drawing the curtains on India'scampaign at the one million dol-lar China Open BWF WorldTour Super 1000 tournamenthere.

After Srikanth was ousted 9-21, 11-21 by reigning world cham-pion Kento Momota of Japan,third seed Sindhu went downfighting 11-21, 21-11, 15-21 toWorld No 6 Chen Yufei of Chinain a hard-fought contest, whichlasted 52 minutes.

Sindhu had beaten the 20-year-old Chen four times in theirlast six meetings but on Friday shecouldn't curb her errors or find away to break her opponent'ssuperior game plan.

In the opening game, Chenopened up a 6-3 lead. TheChinese produced some stunningstrokes to grab a 11-5 lead with apowerful return which the Indianhad no answers.

After the break, Sindhu tooktwo points but there was a weakreturn at the net and anotherstroke went out. Sindhu's errors,coupled with Chen's superb place-ments, saw the Chinese move to15-7.

Chen dictated the pace andpunished any error from theIndian, who went out a few times.Eventually the Chinese sealedthe game with a sharp smash.

After the change of ends,Sindhu tried to engage her oppo-nent in rallies by varying the paceand it worked, as she led 6-1.

However, mental fatigueseemed to affect her judgementsas Chen showed good reflexes andunleashed quick and precisestrokes to narrow the lead to 5-6.

Chen shot a few shots wide,allowing Sindhu to make it 10-6.But she twice hit the net before athunderous smash earned her a

11-8 advantage at the break.The Indian extended the lead

to 15-10. She tried to boost her-self by celebrating each pointand eventually roared back tocontest when her rival hit longagain.

In the decider, Chen steppedup the pace after an initial burstof points from Sindhu to lead 7-4. Chen maintained the three-point advantage at the breather.

Chen returned with a barrageof strokes on Sindhu's backhandand, aided by the Indian's errors,moved to a 14-8 lead.

Sindhu showed signs ofrecovery, pocketing four straightpoints, which included a crucialvideo referral, but she hit wideagain as the score read 16-12 inChen's favour.

In the end, Sindhu hit a longshot followed by a return at thenet, giving Chen five match pointsand she sealed it with anotherpowerful smash.

Earlier, Srikanth, who had a3-7 head-to-head record againstMomota, couldn't find a chink inMomota's armour and wentdown without a fight against theworld No 2 in a lop-sided contest.

Srikanth had lost to Momotaat the Malaysia Open andIndonesia Open in June and Julyrespectively.

The Indian was no match forMomota, who has been in sen-sational form since making acomeback after serving a one-year ban for visiting an illegalcasino.

Srikanth lagged 1-5 initially.He recovered to 4-5 with threestraight points, but couldn't putup a fight as Momota surged toa huge 19-6 lead before pocket-ing the first game.

The second game was no dif-ferent as Momota moved from 4-3 to 13-3 with nine straightpoints. He continued to dominatethe proceedings to seal the con-test without much effort.

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League is familiar territory, after he guidedSevilla to its three straight titles earlier thisdecade.

Also in Group E, Sporting Lisbon scoredtwice in the second half to sink Qarabag 2-0.

)��'�#�It was a case of David vs Goliath when

seven-time European champion Milan tookon Dudelange, the first team fromLuxembourg to reach the Europa Leaguegroup stage.

Dudelange did well to keep out Milanuntil Gonzalo Higuain struck the only goalof the game in the 59th minute.

Also in Group F, Olympiakos and Betis

drew 0-0.Substitute Luka Jovic struck one minute

from time as German Cup winner EintrachtFrankfurt came back from a goal down todefeat last year's Europa League runner-upMarseille 2-1 in a game played behind closeddoors in France.

Marseille went ahead in the third minuteat the Stade Velodrome as Florian Thauvincrossed from the right for Lucas Ocamposto score.

Frankfurt equalized in the second halfthrough Lucas Torro before Jovic's late win-ner.

In the other Group H match, Laziodefeated Apollon 2-1.

Rangers, managed by former Englandmidfielder Steven Gerrard, recovered fromconceding a first-minute goal to draw 2-2 atVillarreal, while Rapid Vienna beat SpartakMoscow 2-0 in the other Group G game.

In Group I, Genk defeated Malmo 2-0and Besiktas eased past newcomer Sarpsborg3-1.

In Group A, Bayer Leverkusen ralliedfrom two goals down to win 3-2 atLudogorets Razgrad in Bulgaria.

In a matchup between the champions ofScotland and Norway, Celtic beat Rosenborg1-0. Also in Group B, Fredrik Gulbrandsenscored a minute before the end to give lastyear's semifinalist Salzburg a 3-2 victory atLeipzig.

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"�� /�,�*�5;)

Rahul Dravid, the last cap-tain to lead India to a

series win in England, saysthe current side faced unusu-ally tough conditions in therecently concluded five-match rubber and the bats-men must prepare betterbefore embarking on thenext English tour.

"Lets just be honest first.The conditions in Englandwere not easy for batting. Ithink batsmen of both teamsstruggled. If you take outVirat Kohli from the equa-tion, it was not an easy seriesfor the batsmen. I haveplayed in England quite a bit,the conditions can be toughbut it is rare to find five Testmatches which had condi-tions as tough as the one theyfound," Dravid said.

"As I said, we need tolook ahead. The next time wego there, we have to be bet-ter prepared for these kind ofconditions and try and repli-cate conditions as best as wepossibly we can. It was toughout there. Lets face it," saidthe Indian batting great.

The 1-4 series loss inEngland was India's third ina row with batsmen lettingthe team down innings afterinnings.

The performance leftthe Indian fans seething,and coach Ravi Shastri addedfuel to the fire by calling thecurrent team the best travel-ling side of the last 15-20years, even though the results

painted a different picture.India's lack of preparationahead of the series was alsoheavily criticised.

He said India losing 1-4was a case of missed oppor-tunity.

"India surely had theirmoments. They played somevery good cricket in what Ithought were pretty difficultconditions, especially for thebatsmen. They were com-petitive for most part of theseries but I am sure the teamlooks at it as an opportunitymissed. They would feel,having played so well in cer-tain parts of Test matches,they were not able to finishoff games.

"Still there are some pos-itives to take from the series.Our bowling and fielding,especially catching, went onvery good but like I said theteam would feel it had itschances and unfortunately itdid not work out."

Talking about the ongo-ing Asia Cup in UAE, Dravidsaid India need to focus onall teams and not justPakistan.

"Afghanistan is doingwell, I don't know why weare only focusing onPakistan. Bangladesh tooare doing well. Afghanistanalso are a force to reckonwith. If I was in the team Iwould not just be focusingon Pakistan. We are playingvery good white ball crick-et but we have to be carefulof other teams too," Dravidconcluded.

"�� *9� )

Ravindra Jadeja made aroaring return to lim-ited overs cricket with

a four-wicket haul, helpingIndia dismiss Bangladeshfor 173 in a Super Fourmatch of the Asia Cup hereon Friday.

The all-rounder, playinghis first ODI since July 2017,broke the backbone ofBangladesh batting with hisaccurate left-arm spin andended with impressive fig-ures of four for 29 in 10overs.

Bangladesh batsmen fal-tered again, having come acropper in the run chaseagainst Afghanistan onThursday night. The sea-soned pace duo ofBhuvneshwar Kumar (3/32)and Jasprit Bumrah (3/37)too made life tough for theopposition. The saving gracefor Bangladeshwas the 66-runstand for theeighth wicketbetween MehidyHasan Miraz (42off 50) and cap-tain Mashrafe Mortaza (26off 32) before the team wasall out in 49.1 overs.

Bangladesh, who lost toAfghanistan less than 24hours ago and had to takethe 90-minute journey fromAbu Dhabi to Dubai, paidthe price for reckless batting.

They lost their openersLiton Das (7) and NazmulHossain Shanto (7) by thesixth over.

From 15 for two, theexperienced pairing ofShakib Al Hasan (21) andMushfuqir Rahim had atask of rebuilding theinnings but the former fell toa loose shot off Jadeja. Thestar Bangladesh all-rounder,having hit Jadeja for twoboundaries in the 10th over,

went for another one but hissweep went straight intothe hands of ShikharDhawan at square leg.

Jadeja, who was playingVijay Hazare Trophy inDelhi but got a last-minutecall-up to join the nationalteam here in the wake ofinjuries to Hardik Pandya,Axar Patel and ShardulThakur, grabbed the oppor-tunity with both hands.

He removedMohammad Mithun in typ-ical fashion for his secondwicket, darting the ball intothe middle stump to traphim in front of the stumps,reducing Bangladesh to 60for four in the 16th over. Inhis next over, the wily spin-ner sent back Rahim, leav-ing Bangladesh in deeptrouble.

Mahmudullah (25) andMossadek Hossain (12) bat-ted sensibly, sharing a 36-

run stand for thesixth wicket. Theycould have added alot more ifMahmudullah hadnot got a rough callfrom the umpire in

the 33rd over. He wasadjudged leg before wicketoff Bhuvneshwar but replaysshowed he got bat on ballbefore it hit his pads.Bangladesh could notreview the questionable callas they had already used uptheir review.

Much to their relief,Mortaza and Miraz stitcheda much needed partnershipto give their bowlers some-thing to bowl at.

Mortaza, who is wellpast his prime, and Mirazentertained the crowd withsome clean hitting. Theskipper smashed twostraight sixes offBhuvneshwar in the 47thover before getting caught atshort fine leg.

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Hashmatullah Shahidi (97)missed out on his maiden

ODI hundred by just threeruns after skipper AsgharAfghan hit a combative 67 off56 balls as Afghanistan scoreda fighting 257 for six againstPakistan in a Super Four matchof the Asia Cup, here on Friday.

Shahidi needed a boundaryoff the last ball to complete hiscentury but Hasan Ali deniedhim the milestone with aincoming yorker which theleft-hander could not put away.

With his skipper Asghar,Shahidi shared a match-chang-ing 94-run stand for the fourthwicket.

Shahidi shifted gears withease after largely remainingpatient in his unbeaten andcareer-best knock which cameoff 118 balls. He was bowled offa no ball when he was on 76 inthe penultimate over.

Five of his seven bound-aries came during the last 14balls of the Afghan innings.

Asghar had joined left-

handed Shahidi at the creaseafter left-arm spinnerMohammad Nawaz (3/57)removed the top three Afghanbatsmen — MohammadShahzad (20), Ihsanullah (10)and Rahmat Shah (36).

In his 67-run knock,Asghar showed both aggressionand patience and Shahidi wasdetermined, holding one endtight.

Asghar chose right deliver-ies to go for big shots, hittingfive sixes and two fours.

Shahidi and Asghar weretested by the Pakistan paceduo of Hasan Ali and UsmanKhan but they refused to beintimidated by the raw pace.

They were sensible indefending and leaving the ballswhich moved after pitchingoutside off stump. They keptthe scoreboard ticking withpushing and nudging the ballaround.

Breakthrough not coming,Pakistan captain Sarfraz hand-ed the ball back to Nawaz butAsghar creamed off 11 runsfrom his over, hitting a four and

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six, to end the long boundarydrought.

Both the batsmen com-pleted their half-centuries inthe 40th over, bowled byyoung left-arm pacer ShaheenAfridi.

With few overs left ,Asghar started hitting eacheverything thrown at him andwas bowled by Afridi afterbeing dropped by Haris Sohailin the 42nd over.

Earlier on Thursday,Afghanistan beat Bangladeshto emerge as table toppersfrom group B.

˘ˇˆ˙˘˝˛˚˚˜ - The Pioneer...don’t get time to cooperate with the CAG in conducting audit...

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