16
A day after an auto-rickshaw driver and owner were fined a record 45,500 for flout- ing traffic rules, another auto- rickshaw driver was slapped with a huge amount of fine for the same offence on Thursday. The Commissionerate traf- fic police issued a challan of 27,500 against auto-rickshaw owner Rabindra Kumar Sahoo, a resident of Bijipur under the Tamando police station, and driver Kabindra Sahoo of Bolgarh in Khordha district for violating traffic rules. The driver and owner of auto-rickshaw were fined 500 for general offence, 10,000 for violating air pollution, 5,000 for using vehicle without reg- istration and fitness certificate (FC), 10,000 for using vehicle without permit or violating permit conditions and 2,000 for plying without insurance. Auto-rickshaw driver Kabindra Sahoo landed in trouble as he failed to produce valid documents related to the vehicle including FC, pollution certificate, road permit during strict frisking conducted by the motor vehicle officials on the Vani Vihar flyover. This was the second instance in two consecutive days after implementation of the new Motor Vehicles law in Odisha. Not only private vehicles but a Government vehicle was also penalised on the day for flouting rules. A vehicle of the Enforcement Squad of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) was fined 15,000 for flouting traffic norms under the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act, 2019. Concerned police officials intercepted the vehicle, a pick- up truck, at NALCO Square here and asked the BMC staffers to produce documents of the vehicle. Later, a fine of 10,000 for lacking permit and 5,000 for carrying passengers in a goods vehicle was imposed. C hief Secretary Asit Tripathy on Thursday directed Excise and police departments to strictly implement the anti-tobacco laws in the State by form- ing a working group. Chairing a meeting of the State-level tobacco control committee, the Chief Secretary directed the Home Committee to form the working group and review progress of implementation of anti- tobacco laws regularly. According to the laws, sale of tobac- co is prohibited within 100 metre from the schools and all educational institu- tion, tourist and religious campuses are to be declared tobacco-free zones. Shops selling tobacoo would be sepa- rated from general shops and they would have to obtain licence. Health and Family Welfare Secretary Dr Promod Kumar Meherda presented updates for discussion. It was revealed that the number of nonsmok- ing tobacco users is more than smok- ers and 88 per cent of them consume tobacco daily. Among others, DGP BK Sharma, Law Secretary Shashikant Mihsra, NHM Director Shalini Pandit and BMC Commissioner Prem Chandra Choudhury were present. T he State Government on Thursday asked all district Collectors to remain prepared for any possible flood- ing and waterlogging in view of heavy rainfall forecast. The Regional Office of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) here predicted heavy downpours in several districts in the next three days. While a Red Warning was issued for four districts, six districts were issued an Orange Warning by the IMD. “The Collectors of the districts under red and orange warning are directed to keep the administrative machinery fully prepared to meet any possible flood or water-logging, landslide that may arise in the event of intense rainfall,” stated Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Jena in a letter to the Collectors. He asked them to make advance arrangements to evacuate people from vulnerable locations to safe shel- ters and provide adequate food, drinking water, light- ing, health and sanitation facilities. The districts of Ganjam, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Nabarangpur were issued a Red Warning by the weather office. The Met Office issued an Orange Warning for Gajapati, Puri, Koraput, Balangir, Rayagada and Nuapada districts. A Yellow Warning was issued for isolated places in the districts of Gajapati, Malkangiri, Khordha, Nayagarh, Boudh, Subarnapur, Bargarh, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack and Kendrapada till Friday morning. Fishermen were asked not to venture into the sea along and off the Odisha coast and west-central adjoining northeast Bay of Bengal till Saturday. C hief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday reviewed the project of making Puri a world heritage city and approved three pro- jects for the city. The projects are Heritage Security Zone, rebuilding of the Raghunandan Library and con- struction of 600 houses with- in 1.5 km from the Jagannath Temple for rehabilitation of the displaced persons. Under the Heritage Security Zone plan, the 75-metre area from the Shremandir will be renovated keeping in view the importance of traditional tem- ples, and trees and artefacts linked to the Jagannath culture. For this, an expert panel will be formed. “An expert panel will be set up to monitor work on var- ious disciplines such as temple architecture and art, heritage and conservation of architec- ture, art history, arboriculture and Shree Jagannath Culture,” said a CMO release. A road of 15-metre width will be constructed and the rest 60 metre would be renovated. The Raghunandan Library, which was a part of the Emar mutt, would be rebuilt and developed as a research centre of the Jagannath Culture. A total of Rs 95 crore would be spent for constructing 600 houses for rehabilitation of dis- placed people. Each house have an built up area of 520 square feet. Notably, the Government has sanctioned Rs 265 crore under the Abhadah Yojana and another package of Rs 595 crore for development works. Tenders would be invited soon for undertaking projects with the second-phase fund. Among others, Housing and Urban Development Minister Pratap Jena, Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy, Development Commissioner Suresh Chandra Mohaptra and Works Secretary Krishan Kumar were present. F ormer Union Home and Finance Minister P Chidambaram was on Thursday sent by a Special Court to Tihar Jail for 14-day judicial custody in connection with the INX Media corruption case soon after the Supreme Court rejected his anticipato- ry bail plea in the money laun- dering probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar sent Chidambaram to judicial custody till September 19. The court allowed him to carry his medicines to jail and directed that he be kept in a separate cell in the prison as he is a Z-category protectee. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing CBI, assured that there will be ade- quate security for Chidambaram in the jail. The special court also issued notice to the ED on Chidambaram’s plea seeking to surrender in the money laun- dering case lodged by the agency in which the apex court on Thursday dismissed his plea against the August 20 order of the Delhi High Court denying him pre-arrest bail. Chidambaram, 73, was produced before the special court on Thursday after the expiry of his 15-day CBI cus- tody that was granted in five spells after his arrest on August 21 night. Chidambaram’s counsel opposed the CBI plea for judi- cial custody and said that the veteran Congress leader was ready to go into the ED custody for interrogation in the related money laundering case in which the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to grant him pre-arrest bail. Chidambaram was brought to the Special Court hours after he withdrew his petition in the SC challenging the non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against him by the trial court earlier leading to his CBI custody on August 22. Meanwhile, the SC decid- ed on his appeal against the Delhi High Court’s August 20 order in the money laundering case lodged by ED and reject- ed his plea against denial of the anticipatory bail in the case. Hours after the apex court order denying him pre-arrest bail in the ED’s money laun- dering probe, another special court granted Chidambaram and his son Karti anticipatory bail in the Aircel Maxis cases. In the INX Media case, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta represented the CBI and senior advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for Chidambaram. The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambaram’s tenure as the Finance Minister in the UPA Government. Following the CBI’s FIR in the INX case, the ED lodged a money laundering case in 2017. During the proceedings, the Solicitor General informed the judge about the outcome of the Supreme Court’s order in the ED case and also about the withdrawal of his petitions in the CBI case. The CBI told the court that Chidambaram can be sent to judicial custody as he was a powerful public person and should not be set free. Sibal opposed the CBI contention saying there was no allegation that Chidambaram tried to influence or hamper probe. Sibal further said that Chidambaram was ready to go to the ED custody in money laundering case related to the INX Media. Sibal told the court that Chidambaram would sur- render and ED could take him into its custody. “Why should I (Chidambaram) be sent to jail (Tihar)?” he said and pressed that the ED should take him into its custody. “There is nothing found against me. There is no chargesheet. They say I am powerful and influential. But they have no evidence. There is no proof of tampering with evi- dence. Has a witness said any- thing like that?” Sibal argued. The Solicitor General objected to Sibal’s submissions contending that he is arguing for bail. However, Sibal asserted, “The reasons given in the application for judicial cus- tody are non-existent. What do you need me for in judicial custody.” F ormer Finance Minister P Chidambaram has been allowed by the court to take his medicines, spectacles to the Jail No 7. He will be lodged in a separate cell in the Tihar prison as he is a protectee under Z- security. He will be provided western toilet facility. But he will be given jail food com- prising rotis, dal, sabji and rice. Chidambaram has been provided a “wooden takht” without a mattress to sleep on. He will be served breakfast between 7 am and 8 am. In case 73-year-old Chidambaram, reportedly fond of south Indian meals, does not eat food prepared in the jail, then he reserves the right to order snacks cooked in the jail canteen. He can either drink water from a RO plant or purchase packaged bottle from the canteen. “He will have access to the prison’s library and also watch television, just like a normal inmate,” the official added. T he Government seems to be getting ready to consid- er the demand of the auto industry to reduce the GST to revive demand in the sector that has led to massive job loss- es and production cut. Auto sector invites 28 per cent GST. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said he will discuss the demand for GST reduction with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and assured the cri- sis-hit automobile industry of all possible support from the Government. “I will follow it up with the Finance Minister. The sector needs help right now to increase vehicle sales,” Gadkari said on the sidelines of an event attended by automobile indus- try stakeholders in Delhi. Gadkari said with the impending increase of vehicles’ prices and the upcoming BS VI norms deadline, the industry’s suggestions for reduction in tax on petrol and diesel vehicles are appreciable. The next GST Council meeting to be chaired by the Finance Minister is scheduled for September 20 and on agen- da are deliberations on auto- mobiles, tyres, cement, ACs, and large LCD televisions. Automobiles also bear a cess, depending on the size of the vehicle, further increasing the total tax incidence. While announcing that if GST is reduced for some time to help the industry, Gadkari asked automobile companies to have in-house finance compa- nies to help generate sales. Speaking at the event ear- lier organised by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, SIAM presi- dent Rajan Wadhera had asked the Government to consider reducing GST on automobiles to help it overcome the pro- longed slowdown. P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday raised the issue of Zakir Naik’s extra- dition with his Malaysian coun- terpart Mahathir Mohamad as India stepped up efforts to seek the controversial radical preacher’s return to India to face terrorism and money laun- dering charges. Prime Minister Modi, who met Mahathir on the sidelines of the fifth meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) held here, also explained to his Malaysian counterpart the rationale behind India’s decision to revoke Jammu & Kashmir’s special status. “Had a great meeting with Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia. We talked about bilateral ties between our nations and ways to further diversify cooperation,” Modi tweeted. Briefing reporters on the meeting, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said Prime Minister Modi raised the issue of Naik’s extradition from Malaysia during his meeting with Mahathir. “Both the parties have decided that our officials will stay in contact regarding the matter and it is an important issue for us,” Gokhale said. Naik, a 53-year-old radical television preacher, left India in 2016 and subsequently moved to the largely Muslim Malaysia, where he was granted perma- nent residency. He has been wanted by Indian authorities since 2016 for alleged money laundering and inciting extremism through hate speeches. Naik has been banned from all pub- lic activities in the multi-ethnic Malaysia after his remarks against Malaysian Hindus and Chinese on August 8. Gokhale said Prime Minister Modi discussed with Mahathir the “reorganisation” and the developments related to Jammu & Kashmir. The growing threat of ter- rorism also figured in their talks, he said. “Prime Minister Modi explained to Mahathir the rationale behind the reorgani- sation of the state of Jammu & Kashmir, in terms of both giving effective gover- nance and delivering socio- economic justice. And in that context the two leaders dis- cussed the focus was on ter- rorism, on how to combat the growing threat of terrorism,” Gokhale said. “Prime Minister Mahathir acknowledged that terrorism was a global problem and Malaysia is against any form terrorism,” he added.

4YZUR^SRcR^ dV_e e` EZYRc ;RZ] W`c "% URjd

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

����� ���������

Aday after an auto-rickshawdriver and owner were

fined a record �45,500 for flout-ing traffic rules, another auto-rickshaw driver was slappedwith a huge amount of fine forthe same offence on Thursday.

The Commissionerate traf-fic police issued a challan of�27,500 against auto-rickshawowner Rabindra Kumar Sahoo,a resident of Bijipur under theTamando police station, anddriver Kabindra Sahoo ofBolgarh in Khordha district forviolating traffic rules.

The driver and owner ofauto-rickshaw were fined �500for general offence, �10,000 for

violating air pollution, �5,000for using vehicle without reg-istration and fitness certificate(FC), �10,000 for using vehiclewithout permit or violatingpermit conditions and �2,000for plying without insurance.

Auto-rickshaw driverKabindra Sahoo landed introuble as he failed to producevalid documents related to thevehicle including FC, pollutioncertificate, road permit duringstrict frisking conducted by themotor vehicle officials on theVani Vihar flyover.

This was the secondinstance in two consecutivedays after implementation ofthe new Motor Vehicles law in Odisha.

Not only private vehiclesbut a Government vehicle wasalso penalised on the day forflouting rules.

A vehicle of theEnforcement Squad ofBhubaneswar MunicipalCorporation (BMC) was fined�15,000 for flouting trafficnorms under the MotorVehicles Amendment Act, 2019.

Concerned police officialsintercepted the vehicle, a pick-up truck, at NALCO Squarehere and asked the BMCstaffers to produce documentsof the vehicle.

Later, a fine of �10,000 forlacking permit and �5,000 forcarrying passengers in a goodsvehicle was imposed.

������������������

����������� ���������� ������ ����� ���������

�� ������������������ ���������

Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy onThursday directed Excise and police

departments to strictly implement theanti-tobacco laws in the State by form-ing a working group.

Chairing a meeting of the State-leveltobacco control committee, the ChiefSecretary directed the Home Committeeto form the working group and reviewprogress of implementation of anti-tobacco laws regularly.

According to the laws, sale of tobac-co is prohibited within 100 metre fromthe schools and all educational institu-tion, tourist and religious campuses areto be declared tobacco-free zones.Shops selling tobacoo would be sepa-rated from general shops and theywould have to obtain licence.

Health and Family WelfareSecretary Dr Promod Kumar Meherdapresented updates for discussion. It wasrevealed that the number of nonsmok-ing tobacco users is more than smok-ers and 88 per cent of them consumetobacco daily.

Among others, DGP BK Sharma,Law Secretary Shashikant Mihsra, NHMDirector Shalini Pandit and BMCCommissioner Prem ChandraChoudhury were present.

����� ������������� ����� ������������

����������� ��������������� ����������� ����������������������������������

����� ���������

The State Government on Thursday asked all districtCollectors to remain prepared for any possible flood-

ing and waterlogging in view of heavy rainfall forecast.The Regional Office of the Indian Meteorological

Department (IMD) here predicted heavy downpours inseveral districts in the next three days.

While a Red Warning was issued for four districts,six districts were issued an Orange Warning by the IMD.

“The Collectors of the districts under red and orangewarning are directed to keep the administrativemachinery fully prepared to meet any possible flood orwater-logging, landslide that may arise in the event ofintense rainfall,” stated Special Relief CommissionerPradeep Jena in a letter to the Collectors.

He asked them to make advance arrangements toevacuate people from vulnerable locations to safe shel-ters and provide adequate food, drinking water, light-ing, health and sanitation facilities.

The districts of Ganjam, Kalahandi, Kandhamal andNabarangpur were issued a Red Warning by theweather office.

The Met Office issued an Orange Warning forGajapati, Puri, Koraput, Balangir, Rayagada andNuapada districts.

A Yellow Warning was issued for isolated places inthe districts of Gajapati, Malkangiri, Khordha, Nayagarh,Boudh, Subarnapur, Bargarh, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack andKendrapada till Friday morning.

Fishermen were asked not to venture into the seaalong and off the Odisha coast and west-centraladjoining northeast Bay of Bengal till Saturday.

� ������������������������������ ������

����� ���������

Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik on Thursday

reviewed the project of making Puri a world heritagecity and approved three pro-jects for the city.

The projects are HeritageSecurity Zone, rebuilding of theRaghunandan Library and con-struction of 600 houses with-in 1.5 km from the JagannathTemple for rehabilitation of thedisplaced persons.

Under the Heritage SecurityZone plan, the 75-metre areafrom the Shremandir will berenovated keeping in view theimportance of traditional tem-ples, and trees and artefactslinked to the Jagannath culture.For this, an expert panel will beformed. “An expert panel will beset up to monitor work on var-ious disciplines such as templearchitecture and art, heritageand conservation of architec-ture, art history, arboricultureand Shree Jagannath Culture,”

said a CMO release.A road of 15-metre width

will be constructed and the rest60 metre would be renovated.The Raghunandan Library,which was a part of the Emarmutt, would be rebuilt anddeveloped as a research centreof the Jagannath Culture.

A total of Rs 95 crore would

be spent for constructing 600houses for rehabilitation of dis-placed people. Each house havean built up area of 520 squarefeet. Notably, the Governmenthas sanctioned Rs 265 croreunder the Abhadah Yojana andanother package of Rs 595 crorefor development works. Tenderswould be invited soon for

undertaking projects with thesecond-phase fund.

Among others, Housingand Urban DevelopmentMinister Pratap Jena, ChiefSecretary Asit Tripathy,Development CommissionerSuresh Chandra Mohaptra andWorks Secretary KrishanKumar were present.

�������������������� �!���"#$�����%��"

!��"��������������������������#����$��%� ������ � �� ��������������������������������������� � ���� ������������������

����� ����� ��

Former Union Home andFinance Minister P

Chidambaram was onThursday sent by a SpecialCourt to Tihar Jail for 14-dayjudicial custody in connectionwith the INX Media corruptioncase soon after the SupremeCourt rejected his anticipato-ry bail plea in the money laun-dering probe by theEnforcement Directorate (ED).

Special Judge Ajay KumarKuhar sent Chidambaram tojudicial custody till September19. The court allowed him tocarry his medicines to jail anddirected that he be kept in aseparate cell in the prison as heis a Z-category protectee.

Solicitor General TusharMehta, representing CBI,assured that there will be ade-quate security forChidambaram in the jail.

The special court alsoissued notice to the ED onChidambaram’s plea seeking tosurrender in the money laun-dering case lodged by theagency in which the apex courton Thursday dismissed hisplea against the August 20order of the Delhi High Courtdenying him pre-arrest bail.

Chidambaram, 73, was

produced before the specialcourt on Thursday after theexpiry of his 15-day CBI cus-tody that was granted in fivespells after his arrest on August21 night.

Chidambaram’s counselopposed the CBI plea for judi-cial custody and said that the

veteran Congress leader wasready to go into the ED custodyfor interrogation in the relatedmoney laundering case inwhich the Supreme Court onThursday refused to grant himpre-arrest bail.

Chidambaram wasbrought to the Special Court

hours after he withdrew hispetition in the SC challengingthe non-bailable warrant(NBW) issued against him bythe trial court earlier leading tohis CBI custody on August 22.

Meanwhile, the SC decid-ed on his appeal against theDelhi High Court’s August 20

order in the money launderingcase lodged by ED and reject-ed his plea against denial of theanticipatory bail in the case.

Hours after the apex courtorder denying him pre-arrestbail in the ED’s money laun-dering probe, another specialcourt granted Chidambaramand his son Karti anticipatorybail in the Aircel Maxis cases.

In the INX Media case,Solicitor General Tushar Mehtarepresented the CBI and senioradvocate Kapil Sibal appearedfor Chidambaram.

The CBI had registered anFIR on May 15, 2017, allegingirregularities in the ForeignInvestment Promotion Board(FIPB) clearance granted to theINX Media group for receivingoverseas funds of �305 crore in2007 during Chidambaram’stenure as the Finance Ministerin the UPA Government.

Following the CBI’s FIR inthe INX case, the ED lodged amoney laundering case in 2017.

During the proceedings,the Solicitor General informedthe judge about the outcome ofthe Supreme Court’s order inthe ED case and also about thewithdrawal of his petitions inthe CBI case.

The CBI told the court thatChidambaram can be sent to

judicial custody as he was apowerful public person andshould not be set free. Sibalopposed the CBI contentionsaying there was no allegationthat Chidambaram tried toinfluence or hamper probe.

Sibal further said thatChidambaram was ready to goto the ED custody in moneylaundering case related to theINX Media. Sibal told the courtthat Chidambaram would sur-render and ED could take himinto its custody.

“Why should I(Chidambaram) be sent to jail(Tihar)?” he said and pressedthat the ED should take himinto its custody.

“There is nothing foundagainst me. There is nochargesheet. They say I ampowerful and influential. Butthey have no evidence. There isno proof of tampering with evi-dence. Has a witness said any-thing like that?” Sibal argued.

The Solicitor Generalobjected to Sibal’s submissionscontending that he is arguingfor bail.

However, Sibal asserted,“The reasons given in theapplication for judicial cus-tody are non-existent. What do you need me for injudicial custody.”

!���"����"��� �����#����$�������%&����������&�������'�(��� ������)���������� �"� �)���� ��� $��������)�*

#$�������� ����� ��

Former Finance Minister PChidambaram has been

allowed by the court to take hismedicines, spectacles to the JailNo 7. He will be lodged in aseparate cell in the Tihar prisonas he is a protectee under Z-security. He will be providedwestern toilet facility. But hewill be given jail food com-prising rotis, dal, sabji and rice.

Chidambaram has beenprovided a “wooden takht”without a mattress to sleep on.

He will be served breakfastbetween 7 am and 8 am.

In case 73-year-oldChidambaram, reportedlyfond of south Indian meals,does not eat food prepared inthe jail, then he reserves theright to order snacks cooked inthe jail canteen. He can eitherdrink water from a RO plantor purchase packaged bottlefrom the canteen.

“He will have access to theprison’s library and also watchtelevision, just like a normalinmate,” the official added.

������������� ����������� ��������������

���� ������� ������ �� ��������������� ��������� ������������������� ��������������������������� !"������� #�������������!���$���������# ��% ��

�������� ������������# ���#��������� ��������������� �&������ �� �������������� ��������� �����!���$���������# ��% ��

�� ������� ��+�,�������������������������

����� ����� ��

The Government seems tobe getting ready to consid-

er the demand of the autoindustry to reduce the GST torevive demand in the sectorthat has led to massive job loss-es and production cut. Autosector invites 28 per cent GST.

Union Minister NitinGadkari on Thursday said hewill discuss the demand forGST reduction with Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman and assured the cri-sis-hit automobile industry ofall possible support from theGovernment.

“I will follow it up with theFinance Minister. The sectorneeds help right now toincrease vehicle sales,” Gadkarisaid on the sidelines of an eventattended by automobile indus-try stakeholders in Delhi.

Gadkari said with theimpending increase of vehicles’prices and the upcoming BS VInorms deadline, the industry’ssuggestions for reduction in tax

on petrol and diesel vehicles areappreciable.

The next GST Councilmeeting to be chaired by theFinance Minister is scheduledfor September 20 and on agen-da are deliberations on auto-mobiles, tyres, cement, ACs,and large LCD televisions.

Automobiles also bear acess, depending on the size ofthe vehicle, further increasingthe total tax incidence.

While announcing that ifGST is reduced for some timeto help the industry, Gadkariasked automobile companies tohave in-house finance compa-nies to help generate sales.

Speaking at the event ear-lier organised by Society ofIndian AutomobileManufacturers, SIAM presi-dent Rajan Wadhera had askedthe Government to considerreducing GST on automobilesto help it overcome the pro-longed slowdown.

'��(��������������)�������'�����)���� �������

�"��� � ���������

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday raised

the issue of Zakir Naik’s extra-dition with his Malaysian coun-terpart Mahathir Mohamad asIndia stepped up efforts toseek the controversial radicalpreacher’s return to India toface terrorism and money laun-dering charges.

Prime Minister Modi, whomet Mahathir on the sidelinesof the fifth meeting of theEastern Economic Forum(EEF) held here, also explainedto his Malaysian counterpartthe rationale behind India’sdecision to revoke Jammu &Kashmir’s special status.

“Had a great meeting withDr Mahathir Mohamad, PrimeMinister of Malaysia. We talkedabout bilateral ties betweenour nations and ways to furtherdiversify cooperation,” Moditweeted.

Briefing reporters on themeeting, Foreign SecretaryVijay Gokhale said PrimeMinister Modi raised the issueof Naik’s extradition from

Malaysia during his meetingwith Mahathir.

“Both the parties havedecided that our officials willstay in contact regarding thematter and it is an importantissue for us,” Gokhale said.

Naik, a 53-year-old radical

television preacher, left India in2016 and subsequently movedto the largely Muslim Malaysia,where he was granted perma-nent residency.

He has been wanted byIndian authorities since 2016for alleged money laundering

and inciting extremismthrough hate speeches. Naikhas been banned from all pub-lic activities in the multi-ethnicMalaysia after his remarksagainst Malaysian Hindus andChinese on August 8.

Gokhale said PrimeMinister Modi discussed withMahathir the “reorganisation”and the developments relatedto Jammu & Kashmir.

The growing threat of ter-rorism also figured in theirtalks, he said.

“Prime Minister Modiexplained to Mahathir therationale behind the reorgani-sation of the state of Jammu &Kashmir, in terms of both giving effective gover-nance and delivering socio-economic justice. And in thatcontext the two leaders dis-cussed the focus was on ter-rorism, on how to combat thegrowing threat of terrorism,”Gokhale said.

“Prime Minister Mahathiracknowledged that terrorismwas a global problem andMalaysia is against any formterrorism,” he added.

*+����������+������ � �� ���)��������� ����� ��$,-��� �� �

� ����������� �! ��� ���������������������������%������#��� � ������ ��������������������������'���(��� ��(���������� #����)��&��������*#���������# ��% ��

�������������� �����+� �����,�� �!��

���������������� ���� ��!"��#$%����&������.���������� /

������������� ���

�01��2�%�

�������''�(�����)���� �� �(�����*���

��+,�-��#"��#$%����&������$

. �,��(�,� ��&'�/0���� 12/.�����3�����-���4,�������&&���� ��

�3 ��+��%�'��#���� ���� �(��� ����� �����������

��(������� (�����)���������� �5���������6�5���

����&���(�)*+,���������������� �����������

-!�-#����#�.�/�� #0����"��-���+.�12)34��#$���)+��5

���������� ��������������� � �����

1*34314�5������'� 7����8��9����(�**�

6*1�#�%����� �������

����������*�'���

�������� !�������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&'

����������� ������ ������������������� ������������������������� !��������"�� ���#�$!%���&�'��(� !)$&% �&!&�*+(� !)$&% �,%%��$-��(������������./-�����-�������������0/��� ���������1�������������))2%)�������$0�3���$4�������#�5��������6�����"�� ���#�$!%�����6�����(����������7�������6�����(��������7�57�/�����8756�9:&��!:&&)!%�057�;7�<0796��7������6��(�������7����������(���=���(��- �20�-�� ������("�/����2�������������(��>�����4����8�����(��� �"�����9�� "�#�� "�������3����/���#4����$�����&������(���$)����)%%���--��������8�����(*$,�������� ��8540�9��-"����/�$&��,���;��������(��&�$)?!@?��2)?!@@������A��#8�����()��*���������������/�������*�B �7������A��#&& �� �'���������(�%&&$&,) )),�&,) )))�&,) ))%�

���������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ��������������� �� ���������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ����� ��������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������� �!����������������"���������� ���������������������������� �������������������� ���� ��������������������������������� �����������������������������#��������������������������� ���� ����$����%����&�������������������������� ��������������� �����������������������'����������������������������������� ���������������"��������������������(�����������������������������

��"��#�)2�$��-�������$#�����6� 4�)�!�� ����7!�� !#��7���(��8���������%����4��+�+:3�%������3�+%������%3�,�%�����%��,��� ��� �-�����,��,�;����%�����+,�%���&��+������&�++�++��-�/<�-��#+��� ��;��+3-��"���������+,���;�+�%��,����%��+���!�+��)��,3���=1<>������,�#��-������3+��-����%�(�����"�������+,������,�� ��%�;�+��+,�#�,�%�,� �����+�������!�"��������%;�+���%� ���4��+����+&��,����?����3#������!"

"�#�!���9� #0.���"!���"����#� #0�#"� #���������

-������:��8 ����(����#��8�������&��8�+,3%��,+���%�+,���+����,�������3 ����������������������%��������,�� 3,�+�,��������%��!��+������%�*�,��������+�������3�+%��"���+����+����&��-��##�+�����3%��-��%�����%��#�8�����3+8���#&�,�,���+���%�&��@��%�+,�� 3,����,��,��#���,����3+�+,3%��,+���%�,������+�#��!�%�,����������+9�������� ��,���+"�(����#���**����%���%A�+�%�,���+,3%��,+�,�������;�,���%���+����,���-���,�+�3�+�,��+��A��,���#�,������%�,���3-��-���,����##�,#��,+"

-����������!��������-�#"���"�#�!���9� #0��

-������:��8������������+9�����;�+����� ��,�%� ��,���+,3%��,+���,������++�#+������������������3�+%���#�!��-�,������+������+&�������%�&��3%"���� 3,�+�;����&��%�,��������A�&������%��!��+����8���%��9++����%����+�%��,8������+�/B/+,� ��,������A��+���"�(3�,3���&��-��##�+�&��+��,�%� ��+,3%��,+�%�&��,��-�,����������,����,�;��%+,�����,������+"�����+������#���-�#��,�������,�,�%�,���,������+���%�,����+,����#�# ��+�������++�#+�������8������,&3����%����++�#+���%��-��,�������,��������%�;��!���%����,�� 3,����,�;��%+�,��+,3%��,+9��%3��,���"

����� ���������

An ‘Invest Odisha’ delega-tion led by Industries

Minister Dibya Sankar Mishraand comprising officials of theIndustries Department andrepresentatives of industriesin Odisha is currently inGuangzhou, China for aninvestment promotion drive.

As part of its road show, thedelegation visited the NineDragon Paper (Holdings)

Limited at Donguang nearGaunzhou, which has showninterest in investing in Odisha.

A road show was organisedbeing attended by the Chineseindustries representatives andwas facilitated by the IndianConsulate in Guangzhou underthe leadership of Sujit Ghosh.

Minister Mishra said Indiaand China have ancient links;and under the leadership ofChief Minister Naveen Patnaik,the State has come up a longway and is now one of the mostindustry-ready States in Indiawith some of the best parame-ters in infrastructure and skillavailability. He invited the

Chinese industries to visit theState and establish investmentlinks.

IPICOL MD and SpecialSecretary Industries NitinJawale gave a presentation oninvestment climate and oppor-tunities in Odisha. He alsoanswered the queries raised byChinese companies in an inter-action session.

The event was followed bya one-to-one meeting withmembers of the ChinaAssociation of Small andMedium Enterprises (CASME)about bringing industries andsupply chains in different sec-tors in Odisha.

1��������"� �!� �������� ���"� � �%� ����%3+,���+*���+,���*�+���

����-#�!#�7#�

We people cannot livewithout discrimination;

we know it; we disclose it; weconfess it, but we never recti-fy it when it comes to com-paring a girl with a boy.

After a very long time I feltthe weather is cloudy; I am herein womb of my mother. I don’tknow whether I will be able totie a rakhi on my brother’s handor not; I don’t know whetherI will be able to hold myfather’s hand while walking ornot; I don’t know whether I willbe able to see my dream manor not; I don’t know whether Iwill be having my own familiesor not; I don’t know whether Iwill be able to hug my mom or

not; I don’t know whether I willbe able to fight with my sisteror not.

Everybody is expecting tosee me as a boy; no one herewants to see me except mymom. She is fighting for me,crying for me and shouting forme . I am such a baby growingin the womb; I can hear every-one’s wish but why such com-parison between a boy and agirl? We both are the creationof God. I had heard about peo-ple who pray to God for a boy.There is no fault of the peoplewho pray, fault is of the societywhich shows that we girls areburden for the whole world.

There was a true quote,‘Every man needs a mother, awife, a sister; then why not adaughter?’ Daughters are oneof the beautiful creations ofGod ever. At least, give us achance to see the world once.China has a great history ofkilling the baby girls almost2,000 years ago.

In the late 16th Century,some people discovered femaleinfanticide was being started.Newborn babies were seen

thrown into rivers or onto therubbish piles. Buddhists wrotethat killing of young girls wouldbring bad Karma.

A girl child is as importantas a boy in the life of their par-ents. We cannot think of life onearth without a girl child. Themother who killed a girl childshould realise that she shouldfeel proud to be the mother ofa girl as she herself is a womanand no one can understand itbetter than her. But instead ofrealising and giving a chance toa baby, we kill her; we throwher away.

The whole life she suf-fered from pain. The motherbefore killing and throwingshould first realise if her par-ents would have done the sameto her. If you don’t want a girlchild then force your boy tomarry a boy because if every-one will start killing girls thena time will come when therewill be no girl child in theworld; isn’t it? Let’s just imag-ine a world without a girl; easyto imagine hard to realise!Why? A girl always sacrificesher dreams; is it compulsory?

Some of my family memberswere saying to my mom,‘Listen, if a girl child comesthen don’t let her life to be easy;always let her sacrifice; let hercompromise in every situa-tion. Even if you don’t want her,let no one see her. I can feel mymom’s heartbeat. She was verysad after listening to all these,but she didn’t worry. I amhere. I will always be with you;it does not matter what thesociety speaks about me. Ihave also heard that those peo-ple having both girl and boy,most of them let their boy tostudy in an English mediumschool, but in the same situa-tion, their girl studies in Odiamedium.

Are they doing correct? Weonly have to let our boy to beeducated that he can do goodjob, can earn money, live his lifesomewhere happily; and whenit comes to the girl, the usualthinking is she can work insomeone’s house, can earnmoney, can continue her lifelike this.

A man works for eight tonine hours for six days in a week,

but a woman works for 24\7 hrsthe whole year. The man is paidfor his work, but as we see awoman working for 24/7 hrs isnot paid a single rupee. Isn’t it?It is exactly my point.

The doctor uncle wastelling only a few days left formy birth. So excited I am to seethe world! I was wonderingabout; my mom, my dad, mysister and my brother; I justwant to see everyone, but willthey be happy to see me? I willalso become a doctor; I willadvise people not to kill ababy girl. Boy or girl, both areequal.

The time has come up formy birth; just some hours left.The doctor was terrified; hewas telling that it was a verycritical operation. When I cameout, a drop of tears came outand I took my last breath.Today also, the wind is howl-ing like a swirling storm inside;heaven knows I tried.

(The writer is a Class-VII student at theKendriya Vidyalaya No. 1,Bhubaneswar)

��� � ���������

A woman Lecturer of a pri-vate college committed sui-

cide over suspected family feudat Kesura SBI Colony in the citylate on Wednesday night.

The deceased was identi-fied as Asima Nayak. She wasworking as a Lecturer at theGourav College of CommerceManagement and Science here.

Sources said Asima com-mitted suicide by hanging her-self from a ceiling fan in her house.

Later, Asima’s husband res-cued her in a critical conditionand rushed her to the Hi-TechMedical College Hospital,where she was declaredbrought dead by doctors.

Asima had a bitter quarrelwith her husband, followingwhich she took the extremestep, added sources.

Police seized the body andsent it for postmortem whilefurther investigation into thecase was underway.

��� � ���������

In a bid to curb theft of electricity, the CentralElectricity Supply Utility of Odisha (Cesu)

has decided to reward the people who wouldreport such cases to the power distributioncompany.

Cesu Chief Executive Officer (CEO)Arun Bothra said that a 10 per cent of the theftpenalty amount would be given to theinformer of a case. And the identities of theinformers would be concealed, he said.

Bothra further informed that Self-HelpGroup (SHG) members would be allowed tocollect electricity bills soon. Filing of com-plaints by customers on social media platformswould be encouraged, he added.

Notably, the Cesu is the largest of the fourpower discoms in the State having under itsjurisdiction cities like Bhubaneswar andCuttack.

*��� ������ ����������� �� ����

��� � (����(�

APlus Three girl student ofthe Ravenshaw University

here was killed after being runover by a speeding truck infront of the university onThursday.

The girl was reportedly aresident of the Choudwar areanear here.

Reports said that when thegirl, an Economics Final Yearstudent, was going by herscooter in front of the campusin the afternoon; she lost con-trol and fell down. The truckcoming from the rear ran overher, killing her on the spot.

Receiving information, apolice team reached the spotand began an investigation,but the truck driver had fledfrom the spot with the vehicle.

Irate locals questioned as tohow the truck was plying in thecity while restrictions haveearlier been imposed on run-ning of heavy vehicles insidecities in daytime.

-("����" ������$� ����������-("���$��

��� � ���������

To make solid waste managementa part of every body’s life, the

State Government on Thursdaydecided to introduce a related topicin the school syllabus.

Chairing a review meeting on theprogress of solid waste managementin urban areas at the Lok SevaBhawan here, Chief Secretary AsitTripathy advised officials to take stepsin this regard. He asked officials tocreate awareness for implementationof rules relating to the issue at wardand household levels.

Tripathy, too, advised the Forestand Environment and Housing andUrban Development Departments to

ensue maximum use of plastic onconstruction of roads and in cementfactories.

Housing and UrbanDevelopment Secretary GMathivathanan made a presentation

on solid waste management relatingto 114 cities. An average of 2,575tonne of waster materials is beinggenerated from total 2,024 wardsunder the ULBs daily.

Each household generates anaverage of 300 gram waste materials,which is less than national average,he said.

It was decided that women self-help groups would be involved in theprocess of waste management.

Among others, Forest andEnvironment Secretary Dr MonaSharma, Revenue and DisasterManagement Principal SecretaryNijunja Dhal, Panchayati Raj andDrinking Water secretary DeoRanjan Kumar Saingh were present.

��� � ���

Jagadguru Sankaracharya of PuriNischilananda Saraswati said on

Thursday that there is an attempt tosuppress the Gobardhan Mutt.

Saraswati also told that there isa concerted effort since many yearsto undermine the mutt and neglecthim. The top seer of Hindus wasreacting over demolition of unsafemutts around the Jagannath Templeduring visit of Union MinisterDharmendra Pradhan to theGobardhan Peetha on Thursdayevening.

For the first time, after assuming

the Oil Ministry in NDA-2 period,Pradhan went to the Gobardhanpeeth to take his blessings. BJPnational spokesperson Dr SambitPatra was also present in themutt.

Both BJP leaders were in Puri to

attend a meeting on the occasion ofTeachers’ Day where OdishaGovernor Prof Ganeshi Lal waschief guest.

Pradhan talked with Saraswation various issues, including demo-lition of unsafe religious structures

near the Jagannath Temple.Pradhan said beatification of

Puri and the Jagannath Templeshould be made under advice of theJagatguru and the Government peo-ple in charge of it must be carefulabout that.

��� � ���������

The Commissionerate policearrested notorious criminal

Sushant Majhi after anencounter in the K7 area atKalinga Nagar under theKhandagiri police station in thecity in the wee hours ofThursday.

Majhi, a resident ofHatabasta in Nayagarh dis-trict, was on his way to the Statecapital for committing a dacoitywhen a police team, acting ona tipoff about the loot plan,intercepted him in the K7 area.

In a bid to escape arrest,Majhi opened fire at the copsbut sustained gunshot injuriesin his left leg after the policeteam fired back at him in retal-iation.

He was taken to the CapitalHospital here and later shiftedto the SCB Medical CollegeHospital in Cuttack after hiscondition deteriorated. Thepolice seized a 9mm pistol, a

bike and a mobile phone fromhis possession.

Majhi had been wanted inseveral cases of murder andloot in Khordha district. Hewas also involved in the dacoityof �60 lakh from a bank in theTangi area recently.

Locals of the area havewelcomed the encounter by theCommissionerate police. Theysaid the area had become ashub of antisocial elements. Theencounter would act as a deter-rent for other criminals, whovirtually triggered terror inthe area due to lax patrolling bythe local police.

����� ������

Ajoint team of theNirakarpur and Tangi

police on arrested a most want-ed criminal, Jamshed Khan, fol-lowing an encounter nearRameswar in the districtWednesday night.

Acting on a tipoff about themovement of Khan, the policeteam including the Inspectors-in-Charge (IIC) of bothNirakarpur and Tangi policestations raided a place in theRameswar area.

On spotting the cops, Khanhurled a country-made bombat them injuring the two IICsand two other cops. The policeteam fired back in retaliationand subsequently nabbedKhan.

Khan, who sustained bul-

let injuries in his left leg, isundergoing treatment at theAIIMS, Bhubaneswar.

Several criminal cases arepending against Khan at dif-ferent police stations acrossKhordha, Puri and Nayagarhdistricts.

��� � ���������

Recruit Sepoy Badal Behera was onThursday dismissed from service by

OSAP 8th Battalion Commandant UdayaKuamr Rath for his involvement in theheinous offence of sexual harassment anddeath threat to a girl.

Earlier, Behera had been arrested bythe Ganjam police and forwarded to court.

Behera was involved in the crime ofraping the girl. He also repeatedly threat-ened her to murder her, as a result ofwhich the victim committed suicide onAugust 3.

Such a gross misconduct and immoralact has tarnished the image of police inthe eyes of public. DGP BK Sharma hastaken the matter very seriously. He hasdeclared the case as a Red Flag one anddirected the Ganjam SP to expeditiouslyinvestigate the case and submit the charge-sheet, said an official release.

������������������ !""#�$##�%&��""�

�,�,�9+���,��+-�����,�

180C07,����+���%�;�+,�

%����

��� � ���

Launching an attack on theState Government, former

Puri MP Braja Kishore Tripathyon Thursday termed demoli-tion of mutts and religiousstructures as “acts ofKalapahad” and “administra-tive terrorism”.

“It is laughable andhypocrisy to make Puri a glob-al heritage by demolishing cen-turies’ old mutts and monas-teries linking to the JaganathTemple,” Tripathy said, addingthat a 75-meter space is noteven available around theParliament in Delhi, which isunder topmost security cover.

Tripathy stated all these ata Press conference here.Among others, Puri BarAssociation president RudraNandan Mishra, lawyers JyotiPrakash Mishra and KaliprasadDash and Er Sarada PrasadSwain were present. Theyraised questions on veracity ofeviction of buildings and muttswithin 75-meter radius fromthe Shreemandir.

Stating that no securityexpert or Government agencyhas recommended such a gap,Tripathy expressed doubt overthe Municipality Act and theRehabilitation andResettlement Act under whichthe administration is demol-ishing structures and assuringpeople of packages for com-pensation. He too termed theactivities of the Government asviolation of fundamental andhuman rights of citizens.

Criticising the attempt todisplace the Utkalmani statuefrom the Lion’s Gate andCollectorate to Sipasarubali,they all urged the Governmentto revisit the decision. Theyinformed that they would handover a memorandum to theAmicus Curiae and theSolicitor General during theirvisit to Puri on Friday.

�"����� �&'�'��(�#�)��� ��$

�+�#����%�� �,,���:3������;�,������3+ ��%8�����;��-�;����+���,��!�,���4,��#��+,�&8�%%�%�+�3���+

���������������������"������

����-�� �� %��&���.�� �������/�&�.������# �����������$������� $�$ �����

��" ��� ����� �/������� �� ���* "+�,�� #&(����-"���+� �"'�,��.&'�(

��" ��� ������������ �� ��� ��) D##�&�+,��8� �!�

+��@�%

*&������� � #���&� �%�� #������ �����#��

0$������������#��������1���2C07#�,���+&�����,��A����A���� ������3�%������#��,E����?�

�������� $�������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&'

��"��#�-9�����"�������"9����!����!�� ��"�#�!���9� #0��

-����;��8������,�������,9+�(��A��,����������������� ��,�%�,���������+9���������,+�&��#�+�+������3�+%��"�����#�&3��*��(���%����!�������3���%�* ����!��#����%���,,��%�%��+�-3�+,+���%������,�,�%�,����(��71</D�+������,�&&��+�+��3���-�#����,����D0�&�����,����#��!+"�������4���,�%�,���+,3%��,+�,�� �����,��#+��A�+�,�,�!�����,�����#&�,�,�A��;���%���%�+,��%��3,��#��-�,�����+,� ����A��-��3,�������������,��#+��A�+"��#��-��,���+8�+������������&��*��,������%�����7������&���������;����&��+��,"�����+,3%��,+8������3�,3����&��-��##��,���3-��,�����+���,����,��-�&�����#����+8�������%3&�,���,������+"

"�#�!���9� #0�#"� #�#$# �8�52�"�#�!����/�����"#"� �%�<;��8 ������!�+�������%��,����-�%����� ��,�%�������+9���������3�+%��"�(����-3�+,�* ����,�����?��)��%��+��%�,������+�&�����A�,����������+��&��-�,����3,3���-�����,�������,���+����,�"����,�������+���8�,����!�+������+�%�������,�,�%�B<�,������+�����,�����#���,����3+�+��A���+"

�"#"�����$!"��/"��$����"����-9����/��������*��-����;��8 ����)��?�#���-�,���,��-���%���+,���-��++����,�����+-���-�,����-���+��,;�7%����,�,�7��A���;��-�,���,��-���#&�,�,�������������&,�# ���F���%�D����;�����#����,����/0<��,���,�+����#�/1%�+,���,+�;�3�%�&��,���&�,�%"����+�;�+������#�%� ���++����,���&��+�%��,��3#3%�(���%������3������#��,��-�����������3�+%��"�����+��+��%�� �3,�B<��,���,�+����#�)��?�#�%�+,���,�;�3�%�&��,���&�,�"�#��-��,���+8������������38������%����%����+�8�� ���,�8)�-���������!8�6�-��������������%�8��%����,����,��8�������+�#�+��(���%������38���+��3&���������!8�6�-����,������!8���%�&�������3���%���,��6����;����&��+��,"

����� ���������

Sundargarh MLA KusumTete has written to the dis-

trict Collector for implemen-tation of strict traffic rules onthe Sundargarh-Balinga road inview of the rising cases ofaccidents on the route and thepoor road condition.

She has urged the Collectorto take steps to avoid mishapson the road and implement the‘zero-accident’ rule. She hasalso demanded a completestoppage of plying of heavy

vehicles in Kanika village.Tete has suggested that the

speed of coal-laden trucks onthe road be limited to 10 kmph and CCTV camerasbe installed at major locationsto keep a watch on the erringdrivers.

Her other suggestionsinclude a total stoppage ofoverloading, mandatory tar-paulin cover for all coal-carry-ing trucks and regular check-ing of drunken driving. She hasalso called for immediate repairof the potholes on the road.

����� ���������

The Odisha State DisasterManagement Authority

(OSDMA) has bagged the ITExcellence Award, 2019 for itsinnovative IT application called“SATARK” (System forAssessing, Tracking andAlerting Disaster RiskInformation based on DynamicRisk Knowledge) in the field ofdisaster management.

The application, which isused in both web and mobile

phones, provide real timewatch and disseminate alertand warning information fordifferent hazards like heat wave,lightning and agriculture risk(drought), floods, earthquake,tsunami and cyclone/ storms.It also helps the Governmentauthorities in taking preventivemeasures.

It uses different level ofwarnings and issues corre-sponding advisories based onthe event scenario. It sendsmessages in both Odia and

English languages.Express Computer IT

Excellence Awards are given toorganisations / Governmentdepartments that demonstrateinnovative use of IT technolo-gy for distinct benefits to thepublic. The “SATARK” servesthese purposes in a bigway.

OSDMA MD BishnupadaSethi would receive the awardat the Express India’s BombayExhibition Centre at Mumbaion September 18.

#���� !��

The iconic structure has bit-ten the dust. In just two

days, it was barbarically leveled.The thick stone and brick wallswere pulverized by bulldozersand sledgehammers, turningthem into a field of dust. Giventheir way, they would haveprobably also used explosivestoo.

The shocking speed andscale of the destruction of theEmar Mutt was heartbreaking.For nearly eight centuries, ithad been a sentinel, guardingthe gates of the Lord’s temple.

The mutts of Puri have tra-ditionally served as a primaryiocus for the generation andpreservation of Jagannath cul-ture, both material and intel-lectual.

They were not only centersof scholasticism; they werealso centers for the study ofpainting, sculpture, music,dance, chant and ritual. Theywere the repositories of thetreasures of Hindu art andhad libraries of palm leaf man-uscripts and books. As centresof learning, there was anunbroken lineage of‘Gurushisya Parampara’ thatcould be traced back to the

twelfth century India. If cul-tures are a tradition, somethingthat is passed on, the role of themutts was very important. Youhave to go to Puri to under-stand the reverence ordinarypeople hold for the mutts.

The Government’s plansappear to be more about re-jig-ging the area for tourism andeconomic activity.

In wanting to develop thearea, the huge and irreparablecost in terms of underminingcultural heritage seems to besomething that the officials donot fully appreciate.

To the officials, the nega-tive impact by the destructionof this age old mutts appearsincidental. For the adminis-tration, the old customs of themutts were too stubborn thatthey were a hindrance for thenew generation ideas. So, theyneeded to be broken. It is anoutright wiping out of themutts’ ancient practices.

The gross injustice is thatprior to the demolition drive,their voices had apparentlynot been given a fair and con-sidered hearing by the officials.

The primary function andresponsibility of the mutts wasto maintain a daily cycle ofprayer. The monks would live

in Spartan conditions and ledhumble lives, devoting them-selves to the worship ofJagannath and to the care of thesick and poor. Monastic life isbound by ascetical practicesexpressed typically in the vowsof celibacy, poverty, and obe-dience.

Although individualmonks took a vow of poverty,the mutts were usually verywealthy because rich patronsbestowed upon them land andendowments. They were alsogiven royal patronage.

The rules and regulationsof the monastery were set bythe head of the monastery andhis chosen council. The life ofa monk was mainly devoted toprayers; however, they werealso given job titles for their dayto day activities.

They would often act asteachers to boys from localfamilies. Many would farm theland, the cowsheds andorchards.

They would also beengaged in copying out palmleaf manuscripts and books.

Librarians cared for themanuscripts; others were put incharge of feeding and clothingthe fellow monks and to lookafter the ill and poor who

turned up at the gates. In aninventory taken in 1966, theRaghunandan Library had acollection of 44,000 books and3,000 palm leaf manuscripts.Scholars from across the coun-try, especially Sanskritresearchers, would come toPuri for this library.

What was recovered bythe State Archives prior to thedemolition of the library was ameasly 4,500 books and aroundtwo hundred palm leaf manu-scripts, all in advanced state ofdecay. Many of these valuablebooks are termite ridden,book-wormed and beyondrepair. Irretrievable heritagehas been lost.

In medieval times, the pil-grim town of Puri had very fewinns, most of which were tooexpensive for travelers and thepoor to stay in.

The mutts offered thesepoor people a few nights stayfor free.

The mutts also had infir-maries which were used ashospitals for the sick pilgrimsand the townsmen as well.

Monks often experiment-ed with herbs and plants whichthey made into medicines.

The present building whichwas demolished was built

sometime in 1790-1800 duringthe Maratha occupation ofPuri.

It was built on the founda-tion of the earlier building,which had been destroyed bythe marauding iconoclasts. Thepresent mutt had all features ofKalingan architecture.

There were no externaldecorative features except forthe carved doorjambs whichdepicted four sakhas of naga-nagi, puspa, naras and lata. Atthe Lalatbimba there was aGrahalaxmi image seated inlotus.

The doorjambs had beenextensively carved with culticons and Nayika images. Howmany of these valuable pieceswere saved from destruction isnot known. The walls hadfaded murals; which had beenpainted over a multitude oftimes.

The perfectly archedentrances were decorated withanimal, bird and vegetativemotifs. Wooden palkis, alsoknown as Vimanas, were keptin the corners, their curvedbamboo poles struck high upnear the roof.

These and other furniturewere made of the dark andhardy Rosewood, locally knows

as Sissoo, which lasted for cen-turies.

The sanctum sanctorum ofthe mutt had many Asthadhatuimages of varying sizes. Therewere a multitude ofShalagrams, kept in an sequen-tial order that had been fol-lowed for centuries. Ancientwooden chests were used tostore the various habilimentsand ornaments of the deities.

The mutt had huge collec-tion of artifacts, vestiges of thevarious rituals and ceremonies.They has large cooking ves-sels, made of copper and brass,passed on from generations, inwhich food for hundreds ofdevotees was cooked during theRath Yatra and other festivals.

One wonders what hap-pened to all of these, howmany could be saved and howmany were let to crumbleunder the debris.

The fates of the Puri muttsare difficult to predict. In thewake of this wanton destruc-tion, their future remains dark-ly obscure. Something veryvaluable is being lost, no one istalking about it and nothing isbeing done about it.

(The writer is a historyresearcher)

����� 3��������#������# �����������&#����� ����

����� ��*�� ��

In view of the increasing inflow of water into the Hirakud Damreservoir following incessant rains in the upper catchment areas

of Mahanadi river, the dam authorities opened four more gatesto release the excess floodwater on Thursday morning. With theopening of the two sluice gates the floodwater is now being dis-charged through a total of six gates. The water level of the reser-voir stood at 625.75 feet by 10 am on Thursday against its totalstorage capacity of 630 feet.

The average water inflow into the reservoir was recorded at91,349 cusec while the outflow was 53,230 cusec.

Meanwhile, the status of the Rengali reservoir, also inSambalpur district, was steady at 122.45 metre of water againstits total level of 123.50 metre.

����� ���������

Seven years after announce-ment of setting up a com-

mon railway corridor for theTalcher Coalfields, the projectis struggling to take off, thanksto lackadaisical attitude of the officials.

The �5,000-crore project isstill hanging fire, which wasannounced in 2012 for thecoal bearing areas of Angul-

Ta l c h e r - C h h e n d i p a d a , covering 85 km.

Senior officials of Ministryof Coal are worried over suchinordinate delay as the railwaycoal corridor was to cater 15Million Ton Per Annum(MTPA) coal from the Talchercoal blocks. At least 10 coalblocks in Talcher area likeChhendipada, Baitarani West,Machhkund, Utkal CoalBlocks, New Patrapada,

Nuagaon, Telisahi Radhikapurare to be linked with the rail corridor. A recent review bythe senior officials ofGovernment of India revealsthat progress of the railway cor-ridor has been unsatisfactory.

While it was announced in2012, a Joint Venture Companywas formed in 2015 taking theMahanadi Coalfields Limited(MCL), the IndustrialInfrastructure DevelopmentCorporation of Odisha(IDCO),the Odisha MiningCorporation (OMC) and theIndian Railway ConstructionCorporation (IRCON) todevelop the railway corridor.

The Ministry of Railways,

the Ministry of Coal and theGovernment of Odisha joinedhands to develop the railwaycorridor keeping in view theinterest of the State and itsindustrialization in view.

At least 57 major industrieslike Nalco, IMFA, Tata Steeland others were to be benefit-ted from the railway corridor.

Steel, power, and othersector industries were to bebenefitted from corridor.

5,000 acres of land was tobe acquired for the purpose,which was an ambitious projectand it was planned that the railcorridor was to be flanked bythe National Highways 23 and42 along with a State Highway.

However, lackadaisicalapproach of the officersinvolved in the project is com-ing as a bottleneck.

Acquisition of land is pos-ing a problem and coordinationis lacking between the seniorofficials and district authorities.

And there is lack of coor-dination between MCL andState Government officials,resulting in inordinate delay inthe progress of the ambitiousproject. It was expected that therailway corridor will handlecoal traffic of over 100 MTPAin future and it has huge scopefor development. Multipleentry and exit points wereplanned for smooth move-

ment of coal. Flyovers were alsoplanned to avoid cross move-ment in junction stations.

Most modern facilitieswere planned for the railwaycorridor; however things arenot happening as per the plan,rued a senior official.

In order to sort out theissues, the Ministry of Coal hasapproached the StateGovernment to take up thepending issues so that the rail-way corridor can take off in atime bound manner. As thereis inordinate delay in imple-mentation, project cost is ris-ing high for which authoritiesare in a worried state, saidsources.

0� �.(��1�.,.�/(���$��-,������

������� ��#�� �������� ���� ������� ��"��,�� 2����� ���) �"� $����2���������

4��� ��5� �#��$�������������

����� ���*���

Ayouth, his mother and hissister were arrested and

court-forwarded onWednesday on the charge ofkilling the youth’s wife, BarshaRoul for dowry at Puruna Patana village underthe Chhatrapur police stationrecently.

The arrestees were identi-fied as the deceased’s husbandTitu Roul, mother-in-lawSukanti Roul and sister-in-lawManjula. Barsha’s father-in-lawis also an accused in the case.All dowry items have beenseized and handed over toBarsha’s parents, informedChhatrapur PS IIC PriyashRanjan Chhotray.

Chhotray said Barsha withsevere burn injuries had beenshifted from MKCG MedicalCollege Hospital to the SCBMedical College Hospital onSeptember 2. However, shesuccumbed to injuries there.

Barsha’s brother had lodgeda complaint alleging that shewas killed by in-laws for non-payment more dowry. On hiscomplaint, the in-laws havebeen arrested, said the IIC.

/������� %�����.�5#��%���6������

��� � ���������

In view of the number ofdevotees of Lord Jagannath

touching 10-lakh mark duringthe festivals like Rath Yatra andSuna Besha every year, theongoing eviction drive in 75-metre-radius around theShereemandir in Puri is justi-fied for safety and securityreasons, said environmentalistand former MLABidhudhendra Pratap Das onThursday.

“Around 10 lakh devoteescoming from across the coun-try and abroad gather duringRath Yatra and Suna Besha.Over two lakh devotees visit theshrine on other festival days. Inview of this, the Justice BP DasCommission has recommend-ed removal of structures in 75-metre-radius around theShreemandir. Accordingly, theGovernment has directed thedistrict administration todemolish Emar and othermutts. This is very much jus-tified,” said Das in a statement.

Commenting on the

Shankaracharya’s disapprovalto the eviction drive, Das want-ed to know from the seer if anyalternative system can be madefor such a huge number ofdevotees to have smooth dar-shan of Lord Jagannath and hissiblings Lord Balabhadra andDevi Subhadra during RathYatra and other festivals.

Besides, he said theShankaracharya should suggestways for stopping stampede-like situation arising in theShreemandir every day due topresence of 20,000 to 30,000devotees.

Former MLA Das hasdemanded that Xerox scannermachines be installed at thefour gates of the Shreemandirfor inspection of bags of devo-tees for safety of the shrine.

He said though the ShreeJagannath TempleAdministration had paidmoney for purchase of Xerox scanner machine twoyears back, machines pur-chased by the police adminis-tration are of very low quality.

����� ���*���

The Regional TransportOffice, Ganjam has col-

lected a total fine of over �9lakh from 470 vehicles for vio-lation of traffic rules under thenew MV Act in three days fromSeptember 1 to 3, informedRTO Sanjay Kumar Biswal.

On the first day of theimplementation of the newtraffic rules on September 1,fines of �2,78,700 were col-lected from 152 vehicles and�1,94,500 was pending with 19vehicles. On the second day,�3,38,030 was collected from

128 vehicles and �49,000remained pending with 12vehicles. On the third day onSeptember 3, a total of�3,38,900 was collected from146 vehicles and �81,200remained pending with 13vehicles.

Notably, bikers are beingfined for not using helmets andcar riders for not using seatbelts. Besides, fines are alsobeing collected from two-wheeler, auto-ricksha and carriders for not having drivinglicecne, vehicle ownership andpollution certificates and fordrunken driving as well.

1�������"���� �3���&������( ��(���(����&=�����&&�������>�&� � ���������������

�/� "##� ��()'"�*01�'�))� 2�"#��"'����(�$�

�4.������������������������� ��� ���$����'�����"(����"##� �"'

�#%�� �#�7��#!� �(��*���

AJSW iron ore dust andbeneficiation plant pro-

posed to set up atGobardhanpur village ofDeojhar gram panchayat underJoda block of Keonjhar distrctfaced stiff opposition fromlocals on Thursday.

A gram sabha prpposed tobe held for the purpose was tobe cancelled on Thursday inthe face of uproar from thelocals.

According sources, theGovernment had approvedJSW company to set up a plantin 38.59 acres of land whichincludes both forest andGovernment, besides someland owned by local adivasipeople.

But as per FRA-2006 andits amended version in 2012 ,

it is necessary to take the opin-ion of the affected forestdwellers to change the title ofthe forest land to non-forestland.

Accordingly, a Gram Sabhawas to be held at 3 pm onThursday in the club house ofLahanda village of Birikala GP

adjacent to the proposed plantbut dispute stàrted when themeeting place was changed toLahanda village ground situat-ed at a distance of 2 km fromthe original place.

The affected villagersprotested the change of venueand boycotted the

meeting. The villagers shouted slo-

gans against the company offi-cials.

One Devananda Mahanta,who is affected by the project, alleged that knowing full wellthat the villagers are opposingthe company for its anti peopleactivities, the authorities innexus with company officialschanged the venue to get itapproved in a clandestine wayand the affected people did notget the opportunity to highlighttheir grievances.

Their other allegation isthat the company is notacknowledging the outstandingdue of the affected people fromthe Crackers India Pvt LTD, thefounding company whoseownership has changed in thename of JSW Utkal Steel Ltdafter agreement between thetwo.

As the villagers shouted,the Gram Sabha was cancelled.

3��+#���)� �����))+'"�������4�"�.!�')��#��� �����������%

����� (����(�$����

Two persons were killedwhile another suffered crit-

ical injuries in two separateroad mishaps in Banki ofCuttack district and Nimaparaof Puri district on Thursday.

Reports said a person waskilled while another sufferedgrievous injuries after theirmotorbike collided head onwith a private bus nearAnshupa lake under the BankiPS in Cuttack district. Thedeceased was identified asBismaya Kumar Nanda, a res-ident of Ashok Nagar area inAthagarh.

On receiving information,

Saranda police reached thespot and sent the body for post-mortem. Further investigationinto the incident is underway,police added.

In a separate incident, aman died after being run overby a speeding truck on Khelar-Balanga road near Kanrapurvillage under the Nimaparapolice station in Puri district.The deceased was identified asKailash Chandra Biswal.

Sources said Kailash wasriding pillion on the bike whilehis son was driving towardsBalanga.

Later, Kailash’s son tried toovertake a speeding stone-laden truck, when Kailsah’sshirt got stuck with its con-tainer.

The speeding truck laterpulled Kailash down from thebike with its force and latercrushed him to death. He diedon the spot.

��2������������ ������2������ ��� 2*���%��+8�+����3�,������,����#�+��&�����#�&���

�������� ��������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&'

NAYAGARH: CCTV footagecaptured a terrible bike crash infront of the Nuagaon police sta-tion in Nayagarh district leav-ing five persons criticallyinjured on Wednesday. Theincident took place at 12.45 pm.

The video shows a bike bywhich two youth were travel-ling colliding with anotherspeeding bike coming fromthe opposite direction in frontof the Nuagaon police station.Five persons sustained seriousinjuries in the collision.

The Nuagaon policerushed the injured persons tothe District HeadquartersHospital. Of the five, threecritically-injured were latershifted to SCB Medical CollegeHospital in Cuttack as theirconditions worsened. PNS

����� ���*���

Heavy rainfall in the weehours on Thursday left

many low-lying areas ofBrahmapur city waterloggedexposing the lack of preparedness of the BerhmapurMunicipal Corporation(BeMC).

Torrential rain in themorning threw life out of gearin the city with rainwater gush-ing into houses in many areasincluding Gajapatinagar,Tulasinagar, Brajanagar,Subuddhipeta Sahi andLaxminrushinha Sahi.

Water was flowing abovethe main road near De PaulSchool here bringing commu-nication to a standstill.

BeMC CommissionerChakravarti Singh Rathorerushed to review the flashflood situation in the town.

0�������� ����������"�)��

�-#�!#7���!#�"0�� �� ���

The Sadar police on Thursday arrested twohighway looters, who were involved in

hijacking an oil tanker and siphoning oil fromit, and seized two barrels containing 220 litresof diesel in each.

The arrestees were identified as KartikChandra Behera (49) of Gandarda village underthe Sadar police station and Sk Imran alias SkManan alias Sk Munna (29) of Somnathpur vil-lage under the Industrial police station.

The police also seized a pickup van, sixempty barrels and �1.78 lakh cash from theirpossessions. They were forwarded to court afterbeing booked.

Earlier the police had found a hijacked lorrybearing registration number WB-19-J-0486,which was empty, near Bangiriposhi.

According to police, the duo on August 28had hijacked the lorry near Nagram after ter-rorising the driver and helper of the tanker, atgunpoint, which was heading towards Angulfrom Haldia of West Bengal.

They miscreants masked and armed withpistol, took the driver and helper along withthem and left them at the Jamsola check gate.Soon the driver and helper Dharmbir Rai andMangal respectively had informed the owner,Jogindra Prasad Shaw, about the mishap afterthey were let off.

The owner had lodged a complaint withpolice. Acting on the complaint the police tracedthe tanker which was fitted with GPS.

The SDPO said that the crime was com-mitted by professional criminals gang andmore arrest are likely as more five to six wereinvolved in the crime.

����� ���������

The Non-Government Aided and Un-aided College Teaching and Non-

Teaching (+2 and +3) Employees’Association, Odisha observed the Teachers’Day as ‘Black Day’ on Thursday as theState Government didn’t allegedly show anygesture for fulfilling their demands.

Association president Dr Deb BijayiMishra said the employees from across theState staged protest by wearing blackbadges in front of their colleges demand-ing regularisation of the services of teach-ers and other employees of different col-leges, who have joined between June 1, 2008

and November 30, 2013.Dr Mishra said the about 3, 000 teach-

ers and employees have been working sixhours a day since 11 years and have beengiving their biometrics as per theGovernment directions but yet they havenot been regularised.

The association members, alsodemanding service condition along withfull aid, threatened that they would holdmass demonstrations in coming days ifdemands are not made. Among others, gen-eral secretary Abhaya Kumar Pradhan, trea-surer Dibyakant Tripathy, Bimal ChandraNandi and Santosh Kumar Ray were pre-sent.

�!0#�!#����!#7�#� ���������

Thirty-six longyears after its

release across Odisha,“Bhakta Salabega”,the-then immenselypopular Odia moviebased on the life of theMuslim poet who wasan ardent devotee ofLord Jagannath, willbe screened at theJayadev Bhawan hereon Friday by the FilmJournalists’ Forum ofOdisha (FJF).

FJF founder-sec-retary and film historian SuryaDeo informed that this wouldbe the forum’s screening of the17th Odia film under its much-admired Smruti-Chhayaseries, the objective of which isto celebrate the lost glory and legacy of the Odia cinema.

“FJF was launched on thehistoric day of April 28 in2011, the day the first Odia film“Sita Vivah” was released 76years ago. We have cometogether to contribute our bestto the film culture and filmindustry of our State,” Deo

explained.Produced by the Jai

Jagannath Films PrivateLimited by Surya NarayanMohanty and directed byRadha, the film features pop-ular actors Sarat Pujari, UttamMohanty (as Salabega),Dukhiram Swain, BirenRoutray, Byomakesh Tripathy,Anita Das, Aparajita Mohanty,Jayee and Radha Panda, amongothers.

Deo added, “This filmassumes much importance forits association with the thenBombay film industry. While

Gulzar had penned lyrics for it,Manna De lent his voice, Thescreenplay was by Prayag Raj,who worked with popularHindi films like “Amar AkbarAnthony”, “Coolie” and “Mard”.Even its fight master AzimBhai had worked for the icon-ic film “Sholay”.

The screening of the film at6 pm will be preceded byrelease of a monograph on itand felicitation of the cast andcrew that include eminent actorcouple Uttam-AparajitaMohanty and comedy maestroJayee.

��� � ������

After continuous four days’“unlawful and illegal” strike

by transport operators of the IndianFarmers Fertilisers CooperativeLtd. (IFFCO), Paradip, it was calledoff by the strikers after interferenceof the district administration onWednesday.

In these four days of strike, theproduction of the company has notbeen affected but the supply of fin-ished fertilisers to different parts ofthe State and country was affected,said an IFFCO official.

The transport drivers andhelpers were protesting cuttingdown the number of vehicles for fer-tilisers transportation from theplant.

The trouble had started after thechange was effected in the transportcarriers. Earlier IFFCO had engaged

one Kalinga Transport CooperativeSociety for transporting fertilisersfrom the plant to railway siding atRangiagada.

As many as 60 trucks with 160drivers and helpers were engaged fortransporting approximately about6,000 tonnes of fertiliser on dailybasis.

Last year, the society’s agree-ment ended and another agencyParadip Paribahan was awarded forthe work in March.

However,the new transportcompany engaged 50 trucks insteadof 60 for the job. Protesting the deci-sion, all the drivers and helpersresorted to a strike from Sundayaffecting fertiliser transportationfrom the plant.

Meanwhile, apprehendingaggravation of the situation, the dis-trict administration clampedSection 144 outside the IFFCOplant and deployed one platoon ofthe police force on Wednesdayevening to maintain law and ordersituation. At last, the transport dri-vers and helpers without reasonscalled off their strike on Wednesdayevening after discussion withParadip ADM Dr KC Dhir.

����� ���������

As many as 19 students of the DAV Public School,Chandrasekharpur here have been enlisted in the

final results of the National Talent Search Examination(NTSE) conducted by NCERT under the aegis of theHRD Ministry.This is the highest number for any indi-vidual school of the State. The qualifiers are AnuragBiswal, Ashutosh Sharma, Debashis Sahoo, MadhumitaJena, Milan Sahoo, N Subudhi, Omprakash Tripathy,Piyush Patra, Ramya Singh, Shreenija Sahoo, ShreepaliJethi, Sidhant Patnaik, Suraj Pati,M Madhusmita,Kaushik Kumar, SBiswal, SidhantKumar, V Bhabtiaand SharmisthaBehera.

The studentsshall get scholar-ships till completionof their higher stud-ies and researchapart from takingadmissions in reput-ed institutions of thenation. The schoolauthorities congrat-ulated the studentsand teacher in-charge Dr SD Singhfor the remarkableachievements.

����� ���������

Continuing its focus on themost recent and advanced

technology to treat patients suf-fering from Achalasia Cardia, aserious complication of the esophagus, the Institute of MedicalSciences and SUM Hospital herehas so far conducted 25 procedures employing the PerOral Endoscopic Myotomy(POEM) method with great

success.Achalasia Cardia is a disease

in which the patient is unable toswallow food, water or any otherliquid while medicines are noteffective.

Previously, medical expertsconducted balloon dilation whichalso was not able to deal with theproblem. Open surgery, called‘Hellers Myotomy’, was the onlyalternative left which requiredcutting through the chest and

abdomen.“POEM is the most recent and

advanced technology to deal withAchalasia Cardia where thesurgery performed through themouth is extremely effective andis a safe procedure. There is noneed for blood and the patient isable to take food the very nextday,” Head of the Department ofGastroenterology at the IMS andSUM Hospital Prof Manoj KumarSahu said.

����� ���������

The inaugural day of the25th OMC Guru

Kelucharan Mohapatra AwardFestival was held at theRabindra Mandap here onThursday.

The inaugural evening ofthe seven-day festival com-menced with the auspiciouslighting of the lamp by eminentdignitaries, like MLA, BarambaDebi Prasad Mishra, BhajanSamrat Anup Jalota, ChiefGeneral Manager, SBI PraveenaKala, chairman, MGM GroupPankaj Lochan Mohanty anddirector, Srjan, RatikantMohapatra.

The highlight of theevening was the performanceby celebrated Bhajan singerJalota. He dedicated theevening’s music to the leg-endary Odishi GuruKelucharan Mohapatra and asa tribute to Guruji’s immensecontribution to the classical

arts, each rendition was basedon a classical Raag.

Among his notable songswere the celebrated Bhajan AisiLagi Lagan, set to Raag Kirvaniand Jag Mein Sundar Hain DoNaam set to Raag Gurjari Todi.Bringing in a strong classical

touch to his evening’s reper-toire, Jalota was ably accompa-nied by Sushree Koyel Tripathyon the vocals, Rashid Khan onthe violin, Pradeep Ghosh ont h etabla, Himanshu Tiwari on gui-tar.

His recital highlighted hismelodious yet powerful voice,with an incredible range, leav-ing the audience enthralled, fol-lowed by the Odishi dancegroup presentation of GunjanDance Academy, Cuttack led byrenowned Odishi exponent and

disciple of Guru KelucharanMohapatra, Meera Das.

Gunjan presented twodance pieces, Moods ofRhythm and Dashavatar.

In Taala Roopa, or theMoods of Rhythm, Gunjanpresented a pure dance, explor-ing styles and patterns of theOdishi Mardala and creatingmany moods out of these, andcelebrating the idea of romancethrough rhythm.Conceptualised and choreo-graphed by Meera Das, themusic and rhythm compositionfor the presentation was byDhaneswar Swain. In their sec-ond presentation, Dashavatar,while the dance was originallychoreographed by legendarymaestro Guru KelucharanMohapatra, Meera Das adapt-ed it to a group presentationwhile keeping the original com-position intact. Dashavatar isan expressive dance depictingthe ten avatars or incarnationsof Lord Vishnu.

1� �!�+����+�����9-���G��A�����,����

,�������������&�2 $����� 2��� ���������55����������������������6!74���2����� ���8��

����5�'���+"'��'�6���' �##�(")).���������� ������"

,������(� �)������������1���2� �)(���7)����(� �)�����''����*����6����)� ��������

�9� .:������������ ���;����)�<,�*

-7��5��������#�����8(���# �� %�

07(�$4�#& !�'��-�'()���%�����=����(�����&� ��� ���������� ��� � ��$�������� $�

1���2���������$�(���2 ����� �������>?�)��

������� %�������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&'

�#!���"#7���%�-�����"�#�!��?�� #0

��:� �&��E�'��#���(��-��++&��+�%��,���3��)��%�������3�+%���,��!���+;�&���,���+&���,������&&����,+�����������+H���8�,���!��-�,��#�����,����IA����3+� �� +8����+��&��&�-��%���%���-��I�,��,�#�%����#+,���-��"I����������+H����8��,���!�����,��+�����#�;��#��HA������,8��A���,�������+"����,����3%�+�,�����#�����+�����#�%���,����+8�+�#��?�3�����+,+7;�,�7��7�-��%����%�#��&���,�����%A��+����+8�;��+��A����3+ �� +8����+��&��&�-��%����%��-�����+�,�3-�,�#������,���%#�%��#��#3���+,���-��8I���+��%������,;��,"

!� ������"�0�#�#� �����"��/�������"�"�"����:� �&��E��������*���+,�������3�+%����;��%�%���+,�,3,�������#�������=���>�+,�,3+�,����A�&3 ������+,�,3,�+�����3%��-���������A��+�,�8�������+����%3���A��+�,�8����A��+�,������%��� �%8����7*�%��+���%����7�����-&3�"�����%���+����;�+,�!��������;��-������##��%�,����#�%�� ��,���)(���+,�#��,�����,��� �+�+���,����%A�����������#&�;���%�4&��,�(�##�,,��"

����#������%��"����#7������#"������@"����7��:� �&��E������3&��#��(�3�,��3�+%���+��%��,�;����%������4,;��!�;�,����&�,�,����+��!��-%����,����,��,���(��,���,����,���,������A�,�������63+,�����!���3��+����+�,���(�����63+,������,���*�%�������%�+����-�(�3�,"

������$#�������#����#�#�����������"��:� �&��E��� �+���#� �����������;�����++���%�%�,��,���&��-��##������3%��-����+,�47���8� ���%�&������8���%�&��+�����4�#���,���� ��+&������+,%��,��+�;�+���-���+�%����������3�+%��� ��,�����%����(����������,��=�(�>�����,��� �����,���,���?�3�����+,+��++����,�%�;�,�,�����%�����#������++�(��&=��(>���%�,�������#���#�# ��+"����3-����������+��%���%�%�;��%�;����%�,��,�%���������� ����#&��,�����3��%8����?�+��������8�#�%�����%A�+��8��(��+��%"

A/��#��"�#��� �)'B�#7!�������������?��:� �&��E��������,���;�����++�������,�����,��-��� �,+���%��+3���+,���,�A��%��+�#��,+���,��+,��%��%+8�,�&����%��-3��,���'�������+�,�����%� �3,�/"C���!��+3&��A�+��+��A����+&������,;������+8����������,��*���+,������+�����%���+��%������3�+%�����,�����3�����-�������7���-�+��������%�#�++#�%�����#&��-��H��,��-�,��%��H�;�,��,���+��-��E�H�������?��8����,���6��A��H"�

���&��

3 ������� �������(����� ������ ����/���7 �������� ����� ���

As tension prevails betweenIndia and Pakistan after

the abrogation of special statusunder Article 370 for Jammu &Kashmir, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh said onThursday India has never beenan aggressor but it does notmean it will baulk at using itsstrength of defend itself.

He made this statementduring a defence dialogue dur-ing his ongoing visit to SouthKorea and called for a collec-tive international action tocheck perpetrators of terrorism.

He said world politicstoday is in a state of flux andthis has aggravated global andregional challenges to interna-tional peace and security.

He added that new andemerging technologies haveimpacted the regional as well as global security environment.

Delivering a keynoteaddress at the 'Seoul DefenceDialogue 2019' with the theme,'Building Peace Together:Challenges and Vision,' Singh said "of the numeroussecurity challenges that the

world is facing, the gravest isthat of terrorism."

No country in the world issafe from terrorism and Indiahas been actively pursuingcounter terrorism cooperationbilaterally, regionally and glob-ally through UN and otherfora, he added.

"India has never been anaggressor in its history nor willit ever be. But that does notmean that India would baulk at using its strength todefend itself," Singh said, inpresence of South Korea's topmilitary brass.

He arrived in Seoul onWednesday on a three-day visitafter a two-day visit to Japan.He posted a series of tweetsfrom his handle.

In his address, the defenceminister also spoke about theneed for common rules-basedorder in the resource-richIndo-Pacific region.

He said the "order" must bebased on sovereignty and ter-ritorial integrity and equality ofall nations, irrespective of sizeand strength, adding India isfor an open and inclusive archi-tecture for the region.

These observations come

in the backdrop of Chinaexpanding its military presencein the Indo-Pacific region trig-gering concerns in variouscountries of the region.

The US has been pushingfor a bigger role for India in theIndo-Pacific which is seen bymany countries as an effort tocontain China's growing cloutin the region.

Talking about India's'neighbourhood first policy', hesaid New Delhi is engagedwith its neighbours in sub-regional groupings of IORA(Indian-Ocean RimAssociation) and BIMSTECapart from a trilateral maritimecooperation format with SriLanka and Maldives.

Singh also underlinedancient cultural links betweenIndia and South Korea and saidpeople of two countries arelinked through family ties thatcan be traced to the legendary Queen Heo Hwang-ok, who travelled all the wayfrom Ayodhya to marry KingSuro of Gaya in present dayGimhae. These linkages form a strong underpinning for our contemporary ties, he said.

����� ����� ���

The EnforcementDirectorate has arrested

former Jammu and KashmirCricket Association (JKCA)treasurer Ahsan Ahmad Mirzain connection with a moneylaundering case.

Mirza, alleged to be close toformer JKCA chairman andformer Chief Minister FarooqAbdullah, was arrested lastnight under the provisions ofthe Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA).

The ED had questionedFarooq Abdullah in this casefor the first time in July thisyear in Chandigarh.

Mirza is suspected to beprivy to financial dealings ofthe association and as he wasnot cooperating in the probe hewas placed under arrest, officialsaid.

Probe found "clear links" ofdetails of the bank accountsused for misappropriation ofJKCA funds with involvementof Mirza with no satisfactoryexplanation, they said.

He is will be producedbefore a court on Thursday.

The EnforcementDirectorate had filed a moneylaundering case after takingcognisance of a CBI FIR andcharge sheet relating to cor-ruption in the expenditure ofJKCA funds.

The charge sheet was filedin July last year againstAbdullah and three others forallegedly misappropriating overRs 43 crore from grants givenby the Board of Control forCricket in India to the JKCAfor promoting the sport in theState between 2002-11.

The CBI has chargedAbdullah and three others, thethen JKCA general secretaryMd Saleem Khan, Mirza, andJ&K Bank executive BashirAhmad Misgar, under sectionsof the Ranbir Penal Code relat-ed to criminal conspiracy andcriminal breach of trust.

The CBI took over the casefrom the State police in 2015 onorders of a division bench ofthe Jammu and Kashmir HighCourt.

However, Farooq Abdullahand his son Omar Abdullahhad earlier denied any wrong-doing in the case.

�"��� ����� ���

The Supreme Court onThursday ordered that ail-

ing CPI(M) leader Mohd YusufTarigami be shifted fromSrinagar, where he is underdetention at his home, toAIIMS in Delhi without anydelay for better treatment.

A bench comprising ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi andJustices S A Bobde and S ANazeer said the shifting will bedone following consultationsbetween doctors at Srinagar'sSher-i-Kashmir Institute ofMedical Sciences (SKIMS) andthe All India Institute ofMedical Sciences.

The bench also issuednotice to the Centre and the

Jammu and Kashmir adminis-tration on CPI(M) general sec-retary Sitaram Yechury's pleathat there was no order forTarigami's detention.

The bench sought a replywithin one week and posted thematter for further hearing onSeptember 16. "Having perusedthe report submitted by thepetitioner (Yechury) pursuantto the order of this court,dated August 28, we are of theview that immediate stepsshould be taken to shiftMohammad Yousuf Tarigamito the AIIMS, New Delhi.

"The time and mode oftravel of Tarigami will be decid-ed by the State Government inconsultation with the specialistsof SKIMS," the bench said.

�"��� ����� ��

The Supreme Court onThursday allowed former

Jammu and Kashmir chiefminister Mehbooba Mufti'sdaughter to meet her inKashmir, where she is underdetention following the revo-cation of the state's special sta-tus a month ago.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi allowedthe PDP chief 's daughter Iltijato meet her after she submittedin court that she has no prob-lem in going to their Srinagarhome but has not been able tomove freely in the city.

The bench, also compris-ing justices S A Bobde and S ANazeer, noted that there was noproblem in authorities per-mitting Iltija to travel fromChennai, where she is currentlystaying, to Srinagar to meet hermother.

As far as moving around inother parts of Srinagar goes,Iltija can do so subject to thepermission from districtauthorities, the bench said in itsorder.

* ������������=/�.������������8�����"� �)���� ��� $

���##"-���!%""%�(�&�!��'�"����!�'

-������� �1���� ������������ �������-���9:New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Thursday fixed forhearing on September 16 pleasof the Kashmir Times Editorand others on alleged commu-nication blockade in Jammu &Kashmir. Anuradha Bhasin,Executive Editor of KashmirTimes, told a bench headed byChief Justice Ranjan Gogoi

that even after a month ofscrapping of Article 370, jour-nalists were "not allowed tomove freely in the State".

However, Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta told the courtthat editors of Kashmir Timeschose not to publish theirnewspaper from Srinagar.

PTI

5���������� %��������������������#�������������������������� ����� ��

The Union Health Ministryon Thursday issued a

much-awaited notification onthe setting up of tobacco test-ing labs for the purpose of test-ing the nicotine and tar con-tents in cigarettes and othertobacco products.

These labs are being set upin order to strengthen theenforcement of Cigarettes &Other Tobacco Products(COTPA) 2003 to curb tobac-co consumption in the country.

The tobacco testing labs tobe set up in Mumbai, Guwahatiand Uttar Pradesh would checkfor nicotine, ammonia andcarbon monoxide for which theWorld Health Organization(WHO's) TobLabNet hasalready established StandardOperating Precedures (SOPs).

India is one of the fewcountries in the world to havethese labs which will test alltypes of tobacco products inIndia and the only country inthe South-East Asia Region.

Tobacco testing laborato-ries is one of the part of theWHO Framework Conventionon Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) that India is part of.

By setting up of thesetobacco testing labs, India hasshow it commitment to tobac-co control, said a senior officialfrom the Ministry

Tobacco is the only prod-uct that does not contains thecontents and emissions.

According to the WHO,cigarettes contain 7,000 chem-icals of which 70 are carcino-

genic or cancer-causingagents.

In most countries acrossthe world tobacco use is syn-onymous to cigarette smoking.In contrast, tobacco use inIndia is in multiple forms.Broadly there are two types oftobacco products that are com-monly used: smoking tobaccoand smokeless tobacco.Smoking tobacco productsinclude bidis, manufacturedcigarettes, hand-rolled ciga-rettes, pipes, cigars, hookah,water-pipes and some othersmoking tobacco products likechuttas, dhumtiand chillum.Smokeless tobacco is used byeither chewing or , applying tothe teeth and gums, or inhal-ing.

Smokeless tobacco prod-ucts used in India includechewing tobacco items such asbetel quid with tobacco, khai-ni, gutka, paan masala withtobacco.

Smokeless tobacco prod-ucts such as mishri, gul, bajjar,gudakhu, etc. are applied to theteeth and gums, and the snuffis inhaled.

There are almost 267 mil-lion tobacco users in India.Among adults, 28.6 per cent ofthe population currently usestobacco products (men 42.4 percent; women 14.2 per cent).21.4 per cent of adults usesmokeless tobacco (men 29.6per cent; women 12.8 per cent). Among youth(ages 13-15), 14.6 per centcurrently use some form oftobacco, the official added.

- ����� 2��5����"� $�95��� ����� �"��������������)��@#0���������� ����� ��

Five countries in the South-East Asia region (SEARO)

— Bhutan, DPR Korea,Maldives, Sri Lanka andTimor-Leste — may have elim-inated measles, but India con-tinues to grapple with 39,299cases, ranking fourth among194 countries in the number ofmeasles cases registeredbetween July 2018 and June2019.

These are the latest measlessurveillance data released bythe World Health Organization(WHO).

On Thursday, memberCountries of WHO South-EastAsia Region resolved to elim-inate measles besides rubella by2023 as a resolution to elimi-nate the two diseases wasadopted at the Seventy-SecondSession of WHO RegionalCommittee for South-East Asiahere in New Delhi.

With 39,299 cases Indiabagged the fourth spot afterMadagascar (150,976), Ukraine(84,394) and Philippines(45,847). However, on thepositive side, India had the low-est measles incidence rate permillion in the top 10 countries- 29.68.

Member Countries ofWHO South-East Asia Regionhave now resolved to eliminatemeasles besides rubella by2023, to prevent deaths and dis-abilities caused by these high-ly infectious childhood killersdiseases.

Curently, six countrieshave controlled rubella -Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives,Nepal, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste.

"The new target to elimi-nate both the diseases willleverage the existing momen-tum and strong political com-mitment which is beingdemonstrated throughunprecedented efforts, progressand successes in recent years,"said Dr Poonam KhetrapalSingh, Regional Director WHOSouth-East Asia.

The member countrieshave also adopted a "StrategicPlan for Measles and RubellaElimination 2020-2024" thatlays down the road map andfocus areas to achieve the elim-ination targets in the Region.

"Eliminating measles willprevent 500,000 deaths a yearin the Region, while eliminat-ing rubella/ CRS would avertabout 55,000 cases of rubellaand promote health and well-being of pregnant woman andinfants," the Regional Directorsaid.

Measles is particularlydangerous for the poor, as itattacks malnourished childrenand those with reduced immu-nity.

Measles can cause seriouscomplications, including blindness, encephalitis, severediarrhoea, ear infection andpneumonia while rubella/ con-genital rubella syndrome (CRS)causes irreversible birth defects.

�� ������;;1����������������� ���.��< ����� ����� ��

More than 22,000 websiteswere hacked in India in

the 10-month period betweenApril 2017 and January 2018,according official figures withthe CBI. The CBI, which helda two-day conference on cyberforensics here said cited UnionBank of India's SWIFT, a bank-ing messaging for interna-tional transactions, as thebiggest international hack inwhich the hackers siphoned offUSD 171 million dollars usingthe electronic transaction facil-ity.

Addressing the firstNational Conference onCybercrime Investigation andForensics, organised by theCBI, Minister of State forPersonnel Jitendra Singh saidthe study of cybercrime isimportant for India, keeping inmind that the country has ahuge population and the nationis the second-largest internetusers in the world.

Singh further said thenature of crime also evolveswith the evolution of society,which makes it essential on thepart of investigative agencies toevolve their techniques ofinvestigation.

"Speaking about the recentdevelopments in the country,Dr Singh said that we are in thepost-Article 370 abrogationscenario.

He expressed concernover the fact that the cybermanipulators are posing riskto the nation by circulatingfake videos on the socialmedia, which needs to beaddressed," a governmentstatement said.

����� ����� ��

In the last two years--betweenJuly 2017 and June 2019--the

member countries of theUnited Nations Convention toCombat Desertification's(UNCCD) have spent aroundUSD 6.4 billion for rejuvena-tion of degraded land. Asdegraded land loses soil carbonand emits greenhouse gases, itis a major contributor to cli-mate change, according to areport tabled at the 14thConference of Parties on landdesertification being hostedby India.

During a discussion onthe latest report by theIntergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC) at theCOP 14 to UNCCD, expertssaid emissions from agricul-ture, forestry and land use sec-tor make about one-third of thetotal global emissions.

"Land degradation is thedriver of climate change.Degraded land loses soil car-bon and emits green housegases due to deforestation andloss of soil carbon," MinalPathak, one of the authors ofthe IPCC report, said.

According to the report,land degradation adverselyaffects people's livelihoods andoccurs over a quarter of theearth's ice-free land area.

It said that majority of the1.3 to 3.2 billion people affect-ed by land desertification areliving in poverty in developingcountries.

Highlighting the key find-ings of the report, Pathak said since 1990, globally theforest area has decreased by 3 per cent.

"Lower carbon density inre-growing forests compared tocarbon stocks before defor-estation results in net emissionsfrom land use change. Forestmanagement that reduces car-bon stocks of forest land alsoleads to emissions, but globalestimates of these emissions areuncertain," he said.

Cropland soils have lost 20-

60 per cent of their organic car-bon content prior to cultiva-tion, and soils under conven-tional agriculture continue tobe a source of greenhousegases, according to the report,authored by scientists fromover 50 countries.

The member countries ofthe UNCCD have agreed toachieve the land degradationneutrality target by 2030 to mit-igate climate change.

Land DegradationNeutrality (LDN) is a statewhereby the amount and qual-ity of land resources, necessaryto support the ecosystem func-tions and enhance food secu-rity, remain stable or increasewithin specified temporal andspatial scales and ecosystems.

122 countries are workingto achieve the LDN target by2030.

An estimated 7,200 partic-ipants that include ministersand representatives of govern-ments, non-government andintergovernmental organisa-tions, scientists, women andyouth from 197 countries areattending the event which start-ed on September 2 and will endon September 13.

����� ����� ��

The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) is plan-

ning to develop weather fore-casting system at the villagelevel, covering an area of 2-3kilometres, to mitigate the lossof crops and livestock due to cli-mate change. Speaking at theGlobal South Media Briefing onDesertification by the Centrefor Science and Environment,IMD Deputy Director GeneralSD Attri said climate change isthe biggest threat facing theworld and economic lossesform an important part of it.

"To mitigate impact of cli-mate change on crop and live-stock, the IMD is planning todevelop weather forecastingsystem at the village level covering area of 2-3 kilome-tres," he said.

"I also want to clarify thatforecast cannot be 100 percent correct but our targetshould be to reduce loss to theproperty and to the livestock,"he added. He said 20 years ago,the forecast could be given tothe state level but now it hascome down to the district leveland block level, which is about

12 kilometres in area.The IMD issues opera-

tional long range forecast forthe monsoon in two stages. Thefirst stage forecast is issued inmid-April and consists ofquantitative forecast for the sea-son. The second stage forecastis issued by the end of June. Itconsists of update for the fore-cast issued in April, a forecastfor July rainfall over the coun-try as whole and forecasts forseasonal rainfall over broadrainfall homogeneous regionsof India.

Noting that India is warm-

ing up, Attri said though thenumber of cyclones aredecreasing but its fury is

increasing. "Hence, we needmore expertise in learning howto manage it," he said.

����� ����� ��

President Ram Nath Kovindon Thursday said there is a

need for coordination betweenartificial intelligence (AI) andhuman compassion for nationbuilding. Kovind was speakingat an event here to confernational awards to meritoriousteachers from across the coun-try.

"We have abundance ofknowledge and then we havegood values but in the era ofglobalisation and competition,we need to have a coordinationbetween artificial intelligenceand human compassion, a bal-ance between digital levellingand character building fornation building as it will notonly make us knowledgableindividuals but better human

beings," the President said."The world is moving from

information era to knowledgeera. However, knowledge alonewill not be able to ensure thesafety of human civilisation.Along with knowledge, it is alsonecessary to have a conscience.Only when knowledge is com-bined with wisdom, it cansolve human problems," hesaid.

Forty-six teachers, short-listed by the Union HumanResource DevelopmentMinistry from across the coun-try, were conferred the awards.The awards are given to teach-ers to acknowledge their con-tribution and honour theircommitment to better qualityof school education and enriching the lives of students.

� ��������*��!���1�&�����%���� �� ��#������������ � ������������ �� � ����������� �����$ =�- &����*��� ������������������������������� �����&� � %���*��� ����<�&�����!���$���������# ��%� >� <

�������������*�6���5�'�����/"B����B"1��� ������� ���''�(�����5 ����������'�(�����

��� ����)���������5������� ����)�(�������

7!��$������ ���&��������?:=4������ ��#&������������� ���������%�� ��� �

New Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomaron Thursday said that the condition of Kharif (summer-sown)crops is good and the country is likely to have bumper produc-tion of foodgrains. With better monsoon rains in August, thesowing area of Kharif crops has improved significantly. The cropcondition of Kharif crops is "good" and production will be "good",the minister said on the sidelines of global micro-nutrient sum-mit , jointly organised by International Zinc Association (IZA)and Fertilizer Association of India (FAI). PNS

"�������������������C��&���(�;��(���A������ ���&���>������&����(

����&&���&���������1212�121,9������&�=�(�:���������(

�;���(�>����������������C�������&����������� ������������ ���

-� �������������������������� $��)���"��������$�������

(���%���,�������%�%� �,;��������%��3#�����#&�++���������,���� 3��%��-E����+�%��,

���(�������>�7����>����;� ��(8�"���

�� ������;��������&�&�� ��� ��>�������>����������������:���� �'�/������ �

>������������(�����(�#;��&��(��������>�D���������C�

>�������>�������

�(���%��+�+���,��-���(�*����%�������-�#��,����*�����#������-��

�������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&' ������� �

Amaravati: Andhra PradeshChief Minister YS Jagan MohanReddy on Thursday said thatthe State is aiming to achieve100 per cent literacy in the nextfive years.

Addressing a function tomark Teachers’ Day inVijayawada, he called forsweeping changes in the edu-cation system by strengtheningthe Government schools andimproving the enrolment rate.

Noting that the rate ofilliteracy is higher in the State,he underlined the need tomake it zero. “While thenational average illiteracy rateis 27 per cent, our State standsat 33 per cent which is not agood sign and with theGovernment initiatives andyour commitment we can bringdown the rate to zero per cent,”he told the teachers and offi-

cials.He said that teachers play

a pivotal role in shaping thefuture of the children by layinga strong foundation on moraland ethical grounds.

Stating that his govern-ment started many path-break-ing schemes to improve thestandard of education, theChief Minister said the goal canbe achieved only with theactive participation of teachers.

He said ‘Amma Vodia’, feesreimbursement and paying�20,000 annually for hosteland mess charges were some ofthe initiatives from theGovernment to encourageenrolment, but it is the teacherwho has to mould the child asa responsible citizen.

Jagan Reddy said the infra-structure of Government-runschools will be improved inthree years. The Governmentwill make public a pictorialcomparison of the schoolsbefore and after the renovation.

“We have to go in for theactive participation of parentsin the child’s education withperiodic interaction with teach-ers besides converting allGovernment schools intoEnglish medium schools whichwill draw the attention of moreand more parents towardsGovernment schools,” he said.

IANS

Guwahati: Railway ProtectionForce (RPF) personnel ofNortheast Frontier (NF)Railway have seized contra-band items worth about �73lakh during the last fortnight ofAugust, a railway spokesmansaid on Thursday.

The contraband itemsinclude narcotics, foreign ciga-rettes and more than 93 kg ganjawas seized during regularchecks at various stations andtrains, NF Railway SpokesmanSubhanan Chanda said.

During the same period,the RPF also rescued 51 chil-

dren at different stations inAssam, West Bengal and Biharand handed them over to theirrespective guardians, Chandasaid.

The RPF also continued itsdrive against offenders involvedin stealing mobile phones, cashand other belongings of pas-sengers and apprehended fivepersons from Furkating andKatihar railway stations.

During the fortnight, RPFhas also apprehended threetouts and handed them over topolice for necessary action,Chanda added. PTI

Bhadohi (UP): A 25-year-oldman was beaten to death by ahotel owner and its waiters fol-lowing a dispute over a bill ofRs 180 in Uttar Pradesh’sBhadohi district, police said onThursday.

Suraj Singh and VishalDubey were beaten up withsticks and rods on Wednesdayafter they got into an argumentwith Gurmail Singh over theirdinner bill, Superintendent ofPolice (SP) Ram Badan Singh said.

Though Dubey managedto flee, Suraj Singh was caughtand thrashed. He succumbedto injuries, he said.

The incident took place atSardar Dhabha nearMahrajganj and the dispute was over a bill of Rs180, the SP said.

The hotel’s owner, GurmailSingh, and his son SurendraSingh have been arrested, whiletwo waiters of the hotel are atlarge, police said. PTI

Bengaluru: A special courtset up to try public represen-tatives has issued summons toformer Chief Minister H DKumaraswamy and 15 others ina case of alleged illegal deno-tification of land meant for astate government project.

The court askedKumaraswamy and others toappear before it in person onOctober 4.

The matter pertains to thealleged illegal denotificationof three acres and 34 guntas ofland in Halage Vaderahalli vil-lage here. One acre is equal to40 guntas of land.

The land was meant fordeveloping Banashankari fifthstage layout in HalageVaderahalli, whichKumaraswamy had allegedlydenotified illegally.

Petitioner MahadevaSwamy of Chamarajnagar hasalleged Kumaraswamy had ille-gally denotified the BDA(Bengaluru DevelopmentAuthority) land before steppingdown as chief minister in 2007.

Swamy had lodged a com-plaint in 2012 with theLokayukta, following whichthe Lokayukta police regis-tered a case and started inves-

tigation but six months ago,when Kumaraswamy was thechief minister, the police fileda ‘B’ Report in the matter withthe Lokayukta special court.

A ‘B’ Report seeks courtdirections for closure of thecase on grounds of absence ofevidence to prosecute thealleged offender.

Swamy had moved thecourt, opposing the filing of the“B Report” and the specialcourt issued summons toKumaraswamy and 15 otherson Wednesday, after adjudi-cating Swamy’s protest appli-cation in the matter. PTI

Visakhapatnam: As part ofIndian Navy’s OverseasDeployment to South EastAsiaand Western Pacific,Indian Navy ships Sahyadri andKiltan are making a port call atSihanoukville, Cambodia fromSeptember 5 to 19.

The ships are part of theIndian Navy’s Eastern Fleetunder the OperationalCommand of Flag OfficerC o m m a n d i n g - i n - C h i e f ,Eastern Naval Command,based at Visakhapatnam,according to a navy releasehere.

“The port call is a demon-stration of India’s warm tieswith Cambodia,” it said.

According to the release,Sahyadri, under the commandof Capt Ashwin ArvindandKiltan, under Cdr GintoGeorge Chacko, are the latest,indigenously designed andbuilt multi-role Guided MissileStealth Frigate and Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvetterespectively.

The two ships, equippedwith a array of weapons andsensors, can carry multi-role helicopters and represent the ‘coming of age’ of Indias war-

ship building capabilities.During the port call, there

would be professional interac-tions between personnel ofboth the navies, official callsand interaction with digni-taries of the Royal CambodianNavy.

In addition, social engage-ments, visits by local populaceand various sports events arealso planned during the visit.

On completion of thevisit,Indian Navy and RoyalCambodian Navy ships wouldbe undertaking a PassageExercise at sea, to further buildon the levels of interoperabil-ity between the navies toensure peaceful and secureseas for all.

The visit would furtherbolster the strong bonds offriendship between the twocountries and contribute tothe security and stability in theregion, the release added. PTI

Hyderabad: Amid claims ofurea shortage in Telangana, a69-year-old farmer collapsedand died reportedly after suf-fering cardiac arrest whilestanding in queue for buyingthe fertilizer in Siddipet districton Thursday, police said.

G Yellaiah, a native ofAchimayipally village, went tothe Primary AgricultureCooperative Society office atDubbak and stood in the queuebut suddenly collapsed afterwhich he was rushed to thenearby Government hospitalwhere doctors declared himbought dead, they said.

Farmers demanded thatthe state government releaseex-gratia to the bereaved fam-ily.

An agriculture official saidfarmers gathered in large num-bers as the urea stock arrived.

“We gave them tokens tostand in the queue and sud-denly one of them collapsed...,”the official said.

The incident created afurore with the oppositionCongress and BJP hitting out atthe State Government. PTI

Jaipur: Nine people, most ofthem policemen, were injuredhere in violence triggered by afatal axe attack on a hawker,police said.

A mob pelted stones at apolice station and damagedvehicles after a mentally chal-lenged man attacked a hawkerduring an argument in Jaipur’sKhonagorian area, they said.

A former BJP MLA wasalso hurt, police said. But it wasnot immediately clear whetherit was during the violence at thepolice station.

The stone-pelting left sevenpolicemen and a media personinjured.

Rafiq, 45, had an argumentwith Munna Vaishnav, 40, andhe attacked the hawker in a fitof rage, Deputy Commissionerof Police (Jaipur-East) Rahul

Jain said.After the axe attack, a

group of people turned violentand pelted stones at a policestation. They damaged thewindow panes and a vehicle,the police officer said.

Police had to resort tobaton charge to disperse themob.

A case had been registeredagainst Rafiq and additionalforce had been deployed in thearea to maintain law and order,the DCP said.

Jain said some people triedto give the incident a commu-nal colour and efforts are on toidentify them. The situation isunder control, he added.

The officer said the injuredformer MLA Kailash Vermawas admitted to a state-runhospital. PTI

@�� �����!&%�������������� ������-����#�&�����������������# ��%=���������� ��� ��������� �����!&%2��(��� �������#��� �����8�� �����������������8����� ����������6��6�������(��� ��!&���������������)�������� ��

Srinagar: Amid tight securityarrangements, the annualHarmukh Yatra kicked off fromGanderbal district in Jammu &Kashmir on Thursday.

“The annual HarmukhYatra started today. All yatrishave started the ascent to theHoly Lake Gangbal. The districtadministration along with Armyand paramilitary forces havemade excellent arrangements,”Vinod Pandit, Chairman of theAll Party Migrants CoordinationCommittee said in a tweet.

According to district offi-cials, the pilgrimage to theHarmukh-Gangbal lake situat-ed at an elevation of 3,570meters started from Ganderbaldistrict on early Thursday morn-ing after a group of Pandit pil-grims left for ancient Harmukh-Gangbal yatra. IANS

+� ������ ���������� 8*������%5����������

����������4A��� ��� &������6&����� %������5���#�Banda (UP): A case has beenregistered against 43 people forserving non-vegetarian biryanito Hindus at a communityfeast during a ‘urs’ festival inUttar Pradesh’s Mahoba dis-trict, police said on Thursday.

The feast was organisedduring the ‘urs’ of Sheikh PeerBaba, a religious congregationof Muslims, in Salat village inCharkhari area on August 31,they said.

The FIR was registered onWednesday after interventionof BJP MLA BrijbhushanRajpoot, who visited the areaon Tuesday and some villagersraised the matter with him.

“The biryani was deliber-ately served to hurt the senti-

ments of Hindus. Strict actionis needed in the matter,”Rajpoot told reporters.

The FIR was lodged undervarious sections of the IPC,including 153A (promotingenmity between differentgroups on ground of religion),295 A (deliberate and maliciousacts, intended to outrage reli-gious feelings of any class byinsulting its religion or religiousbeliefs), 420 (fraud) and 506(criminal intimidation).

Superintendent of PoliceSwami Nath said it was not truethat people were deliberatelyserved non-veg biryani.

“A probe is on in the mat-ter. No arrests have so far beenmade,” he said. PTI

Ahmedabad: Three persons,including an elderly couple,died and eight others wereinjured when a three-storeyresidential building collapsedhere on Thursday afternoon,said officials.

Since some occupants arestill feared trapped under thedebris of the building, said tobe over eight decades old, firebrigade along with local resi-dents and policemen areengaged in sifting through therubble in search of survivors,said Assistant Fire Officer PSParmar.

Rescue teams have so farpulled out eight persons alivefrom the rubble and referredthem to government run-LGHospital, he added.

Of the total 11 peoplereferred to the hospital, three -an elderly couple and a 36-year-

old woman - were declared as‘brought dead’ by doctors, saidhospital authorities, addingeight others are currently under

treatment.The deceased were identi-

fied as Baldev Suri (84), his wifeVimala Suri (80) and one Asha

Patel (36).According to survivors, 15

to 20 people belonging to dif-ferent families and living as ten-ants were inside the three -storey building when it camecrashing down.

As many as 20 firefightingvehicles were rushed to the spotfor the rescue operation.

Police and local residentsjoined the operation to rescuethe trapped people by remov-ing concrete chunks and othermaterials.

“The rescue operation isstill on as we suspect that fourmore persons are still trappedunder the debris.

“Locals told us the buildingwas around 80 years old andfour to five families were livingthere,” said DeputyCommissioner of Police,Akshayraj Makwana. PTI

�3'���8���� ����� ���"���������!>���2�

*�����)��������"� $������������&'#(�"�(��� ���)��)�#

@��������� �����(�� ����%-� &������ ������� %��#�� ���#��� ������ ���#���������������@������������# ��% ��

'��#���+,��%��-���:3�3�����3����%��+�����

. ������"����������� ������� �������)A���

�&��"���"4&��'��-��$,�8"�!�'���#��((��"��)� ���"� ���

���3������#3!�5�,���!��!+������#�%,�-�,�+��3��,�

�����������+�������������# BC����# ���������#����&������

���������*+��,�������-�. ���������������-/��������-�� ���%012

�������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&' ������� 3

7��"����#��7��� ���)� ��

In a major boost to Indiandefence aviation the

Hindustan AeronauticsLimited(HAL) built LightUtility Helicopter (LUH) suc-cessfully demonstrated highaltitude capability in hot andhigh weather conditions in theHimalayas.

According to a Pressrelease issued here by the HAL,the trials were carried out bythe test pilots from HAL, IAFand the Army from August 24to September 2, 2019.

R Madhavan HAL chair-man and MD has said LightUtility Helicopter (LUH) hascomplied with all the require-ments of the users and with thecompletion of hot and high alti-tude testing, it is close to oper-ational clearance certification.

According to HAL, com-prehensive test plan was exe-cuted at Leh (3300m) in tem-peratures upto InternationalStandard Atmosphere (ISA)+32 degree C which included

envelope expansion, perfor-mance and flying qualities.The LUH then lifted off fromLeh and demonstrated its hotand high hover performance atDaulat Beg Oldie (DBO)Advanced Landing Ground(ALG) at 5000m followed byanother forward helipad(5500m at ISA +27degree C).While these extreme weatherconditions imposed flightrestrictions on all other civiland military aircraft, LUHflights were unhindered as it isdesigned for such operations.

The helicopter embarkedon a 3000km flight fromBengaluru to Leh over a peri-

od of three days traversingmany civil and military air-fields. During the course of fer-rying and trials at high altitude,the chopper revealed high reli-ability without any service sup-port. The composite trials teamincluded designers, flight testcrew of HAL, the Indian AirForce and Indian Army.Representatives of CEMILACand ORDAQA witnessed thetrials for military and civil cer-tification requirements respec-tively.

The flights were complet-ed by an HAL flight test teamled by Wg Cdr (Retd) UnniPillai, CTP(RW) and accom-

panied by Wg Cdr (Retd) AnilBhambani, Gp Capt (Retd)Pupinder Singh, Gp Capt VPanwar, Wg Cdr A Jena, a rep-resentative from the Air ForceGp Capt R Dubey and Lt ColR Grewal from the IndianArmy.

The LUH completed hotweather trials at Nagpur in2018, cold weather trials at Lehin 2019, sea level trials atChennai in 2018 and atPuducherry in 2019.

As the demand for militarychoppers is in peak this desimetal bird would be one moreaddition into IAF’s kitty once itgets operational clearance cer-tificate. According to HAL,the LUH “will be capable of fly-ing at 220 kilometres per hour,with a service ceiling of 6.5kilometres and a range of 350kilometres with a 400-kilo-gramme payload... The heli-copter, with a glass cockpit, canbe deployed for reconnais-sance and surveillance rolesand as a light transport heli-copter”.

7��#���!���#��#���(������

Even as the whole country isupset with reports of thou-

sands of people finding them-

selves out of work following ageneral recession in the econ-omy, Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister EdappadiPalaniswamy has sprang a sur-prise by signing Memorandum

of Understanding (MoU)worth Rs 2,780 crore with USbased industrial giants whichis expected to generate 20,000jobs in the State.

According to officialsaccompanying the ChiefMinister in his official tour toUS, the MoUs signed inManhattan on Wednesday withUS-based companies have thepotential to make Tamil Nadua hub of aerospace, defenceindustries and also the capitalof electrical vehicles manufac-turing in India.

The Central government’sproposed Defence Corridorlinking Salem and Bangalorevia Coimbatore is expected toboost Tamil Nadu’s industrialdreams. Palaniswamy, who isalways under criticism by theLeader of the Opposition M K

Stalin of the DMK has given abefitting reply to the latter byroping in US based industrial-ists like Warren Knapp, MelissaKessler, Mark Johnson andManish Bhandari.

The two day gathering heldat Manhattan in US onWednesday and Thursdayattracted more than 200

prospective investors who werelooking for avenues to invest inIndia. The chief ministerexplained to them that hisgovernment has earmarked8,000 acres of land along theDefence Corridor and alsoannounced details of the single-door window system intro-duced by his government to

make the process of doingbusiness in Tamil Nadu aneasy proposition. A portalexclusively meant for the Tamildiaspora wishing to invest inthe State too was dedicated byPalaniswamy.

As part of his mission to setup a world class dairy unit inhis constituency of Edappadyin Salem, the Chief Ministervisited an animal farm inBuffalo in US on Tuesday.Accompanied by dairy devel-opment minister RajendraBhallajee, the chief ministerenquired with the farm man-agement about the good prac-tices being pursued by the ani-mal farm to increase the out-put as well as the sciencebehind preserving the nativebreeds and how to create breedsthat are resistant to diseases.

����� (������$��(��

The Congress-led UnitedDemocratic Front heaved a

sigh of relief on Friday as theindependent candidate JosephKandathil, a close confidante ofKerala Congress working chair-man P J Joseph withdrew hiscandidature from theSeptember 23 bypoll sched-uled from the Pala Assemblyconstituency.

The decision of Kandathilto withdrew from thebypoll came afterminutes of the return-ing officer announcedthat Jose TomPulikkunnel, who hadbeen fielded by thefamily of late K MMani (whose deathnecessitated the byelection) would beconsidered only as anindependent candi-date and not as a UDFcandidate. Thismeans thatPulikkunnel wouldnot get Two Leaves,the electionC o m m i s s i o napproved symbol ofthe Kerala Congress.

Kandathil, whofiled his nominationon Wednesday, thelast day for filing thenomination, had cre-ated ripples in politi-cal circles, especially

in the UDF camp which wasconfident of winning thebyelection. The last 24 hourssaw the UDF leaders OommenChandi and MullappalliRamachandran (the KPCCchief) going into a huddle toresolve the issue.

“It was like a storm in the teacup which has been blown awayby the concerted effort of theUDF leaders. Now it is time foraction and winning the election,”said a senior Kerala Congressleader owing allegiance to the KM Mani family.

Patna: On Teachers’ Day, thousands of contractual teachersdescended on the streets with their demand of ‘equal work, equalpay’ and raising slogans against the Nitish Kumar Governmenthere on Thursday.

The contractual teachers from across the state reached Patna’sGardanibagh area on Thursday morning and launched theirprotest under the banner of TET, STET passed Teachers’Association.

The president of the Association Markandey Pathak said thatthe government is not ready to listen to the demands of the con-tractual teachers.

The contractual teachers’ demands include equal pay for equalwork and service conditions on par with regular teachers. Thecontractual school teachers also decided to boycott the main offi-cial functions organised on Teachers’ Day. The Association alsoappealed to the teachers who have been selected for awards bythe state government not to receive them.

IANS

Leh: Leh’s first Mobile ScienceExhibition (MSE) van wasflagged off on Thursday byUnion Tourism and CultureMinister Prahlad Singh Patelfrom the iconic Leh Palace here.

The vehicle will hold lecturesand sky observation sessionsfor school students, among otherprogrammes.

According to the officials inthe Ministry of Culture, thevehicle will travel across theLadakh region to promote sci-ence and technology among theyouth. The Ministry will alsoflag-off 24 more such vans fromdifferent parts of the country onThursday. Originally launched in1965 as Mobile Science Museum(MSM), these vans have scienceexhibits and hold exhibitionsthroughout the year at schools inrural areas, except during vaca-tions.

“We had only 23 MSE vanssince 1965. But thanks to Prime

Minister Narendra Modi, todaywe are adding 25 more such vansin one go, taking the total num-ber to 48,” Patel said.

“From today onwards, the24 other vans will also belaunched simultaneously acrossthe country,” he added.

The programmes aim topopularise science and technol-ogy among people.

“Over next 5 years, we willadd 25 new vans every year.Twenty-five vans are beingadded in September 2019, whichis also part of 100-day achieve-ment of this government,” saidNirupama Kotru, Joint Secretaryin the Ministry of Culture. IANS

Thiruvananthapuram: KeralaGovernor-designate ArifMohammad Khan will takecharge of his office on Fridaymorning at the Raj Bhavanhere.

The former UnionMinister arrived here in themorning and was received byState Minister KT Jaleel.

Other State Ministers alsovisited the Governor-designateand exchanged pleasantries.

After inspecting a guard ofhonour, Khan left for RajBhavan, his official residence

for the next five years and met the staff.

“Swearing-in Ceremony ofHonble Governor Shri Arif

Mohammed Khan will be heldat Raj Bhavan auditorium at11:00 am on September 6,” aRaj Bhavan release said.

Khan, who was appointedas the 22nd Governor of thestate on September 1, will beadministered the oath byKerala High Court ChiefJustice Hrishikesh Roy.

Khan, 68, will be replacingJustice (Retd) P Sathasivam,who left for Chennai yesterdayafter being the Governor forfive years since 2014.

PTI

����-�� ������(�� ��������-������'�������

��������#������� �������� ��������������������� ���8��������&����1����������# ��%� ��

*�������������� ��� $ $�B�/�&�������,<

5@D2���������� ��� �����#�����������5��%�

��!6�)�'���"%�#�� ��� ��9!�%���"�2��)#����("))

C '������ ������������ �����������������"����

� ��, �����. ������� �����)��������� ��, ��4�(�+

Great wars are won by conquer-ing small battles. While victo-ry in these encounters needs tobe cherished, it should nevermake one lose focus of the ulti-

mate goal. After all, victory is not achievedovernight and a revolution isn’t triggeredout of nothing. Having said that, it does giveme immense pleasure to ring in a year ofdispelling the criminality tag around homo-sexuality in India. I am equally aware thatit is but a drop in the ocean.

It was September 6, 2018, when theSupreme Court scrapped Section 377,decriminalising homosexuality in the coun-try. Celebrations lasted for months, includ-ing back at our base in New Delhi. But itwas time for us to get out of the festive modeto charter a course for the future. The apexcourt’s verdict could resemble a notificationon the phone — sometimes you read it andfollow through and on other occasions youignore it. But this alert could not beignored. The road ahead for LGBTQIA+rights in India is more personal and com-plicated. It is about acceptance and the fightfor equal rights. The challenge now is tochange individual perceptions. A law orGovernment ruling cannot force the soci-ety into acceptance.

Over the years, in my struggle, I havetried to be a conversation-starter. I havetried to skim a stone on the water in thehope that it will create a ripple effect. Myquest is simple: I am not aiming for the starswhen I say we all want basic civil liberties.The rights and duties that citizens of thiscountry enjoy should be imparted to oneand all.

I want to be a responsible citizen ful-filling my duties and I want the freedom toenjoy my rights. The great Nelson Mandelahad said, “To deny people their humanrights is to challenge their very humanity.”I am waiting for that day when our liber-ties are not curtailed. When an inclusive andequal opportunity society is not a dream buta given. When respect is not a by-productof sexual orientation. If I sound like a pes-simist to some, then I hope to change theperception of the readers by the time he/shereaches the end of this piece.

Take the basic institution of marriagefor instance. Gay couples may no longer beprosecuted by law but they still don’t havethe legal standing to marry in the country.I am happily married today but I could nei-ther go through the ceremony here nor doesthe country recognise my nuptials. Let’s saya couple decides to forego the notion ofmarriage, they still can’t plan a family in ourcountry as it does not permit adoptionwhen it comes to gay couples. Marriage isa beautiful institution and for me, moder-nity is the freedom to choose the right lifepartner, irrespective of gender.

If family life for gay couples is still a far-fetched dream, then basic personal securi-ty is not guaranteed either. We take mat-

ters of insurance for granted butthe same can’t be said for theLGBTQIA+ community. WhenI decided to provide healthinsurance to my queer employ-ees, I was faced with an uphilltask. After intense negotia-tions, ICICI Lombard came onboard for a landmark insurancepolicy. As part of an all-inclu-sive drive, we were able tomake additions to our employ-ees’ health insurance cover. Wenow provide insurance coverfor LGBTQIA+ people andtheir families, adopted chil-dren or those born through sur-rogacy to heterosexual, samesex couples, single parents andalso for sexual reassignmentsurgeries up to �3.5 lakh sinceMay 2018.

I consider the above veryimportant basic civil liberties.But it is shocking that theyaren’t the only rights beingdenied to us. The fight for theLGBTQIA+ community is stillabout survival. Education andultimately employment are stilla pipe dream for most. The lackof these basic rights led us tolaunch our foundation, whosemotto is to embrace, empowerand mainstream the LGBTQcommunity. We have beenworking tirelessly to impartskills that can aid job search.Towards this cause, we provid-

ed scholarships to trans-stu-dents for a diploma programmein food production and bakery.Companies and institutionsneed to open their door andtruly become equal opportuni-ty workspaces.

In a private capacity, wehave provided a platform to thecommunity to express theirconcerns as we work towardsfinding solutions. We alsoorganised RISE, India’s firstjob fair for the LGBTQIA+community, in Bengaluru,which saw healthy participationfrom corporates and communi-ty members seeking jobs. Ourorganisation is home to over100 queer employees and we areworking everyday to increasethis number.

What concerned playerscan do is hold regular work-shops for gender sensitisationand hold therapy sessions tohelp families and individualscome to terms with their trueselves. In fact, to spread themessage on a macro level, wehave put our weight behindshort films like Intezaar, Queen,U for Usha and Sheer Khurma.

As a group, we have workedhard to mobilise various plat-forms to spread the message ofinclusivity and equality. Weutilised the powerful writtenmedium and collaborated with

several content creators tospread the message. I am par-ticularly proud of our bookseries for children, Elphie. It isan attempt to mould the mindsof the younger generationtowards the ideas of respect,equality and inclusivity. Andwhen it comes to inclusivity,how can I not mention aboutour night club that has been theepicentre of the revolution? Itpopularised drag culture, brokestigmas in many ways andhelped people embrace their artand emerge from the closet.Today we have more than 35drag kings and queens, whoperform regularly at our club.

For the record, I am aneternal optimist. I am happythat we are no longer criminalsin our country. I don’t consid-er acceptance among society,friends and family a challengeto be ignored. I don’t want edu-cation, financial freedom, mar-riage equality to be dreams. Weneeded allies, now we needaccomplices. I believe in thiscountry and that’s why I contin-ue to raise my voice for a justand equal society. Because I amwaiting to celebrate again as weconquer frontier after frontier.

(The writer is a hotelier anda prominent LGBTQ+ activistand one among those who filedthe petition against Section 377)

#�)�������������"��������������*������������������������ ������(���������� ������������� ����

����������������������������� �������������������� ������+�����������������������������������������������������������������,�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������&���������������#����������(�����-���������������������������(

����� ����������������� ������������������ �������������(�������������������"����������.��������������������!����%����������������������������������������������������������������.�������������������������������������������������-����%�����&����� ������������������������������������������ ���(��������������������������/�� ���)�����������0�������/���������������������������������������������������� ���������(����������������� ��������������������������� ���������������������������0����������������������������������������������������!����%�����������������������������������#�������-�����������������������/������1�������������������2�����-�������������������3��-������������)������������ ������������������������������/�������������������!����-����-�������� ������/������������)������3��������$��� ��������������������������������������������������������)��������������������� &�������������������������� ����������������������������������-����������������������������0���������)������������������������������������� �����������-�������� �����4����������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������#���������$�����)���+�������)�����������-�����������������+�������������&��������������������������������(����������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������� ������������&���������� ����#������� ��)������(���-���%��������������������������� ������������� ��������������������� ����-�����������)���+������������������������������������������ ������������� ���������.+��� �$�������������������������������-������������������-������������ �-�������+��������-�������,��������������������������-����������������&���� �������������������������������������������#��������)����������+�����0�����5-!)����������1���������!�� �����������������������������01$�/������0����-�����4��������������� ��������)�������� �����������(������������������01$&���� ����������������� ���������������������������-������������������������$���+�������0����������� ������ ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������-�����4������������������������������������������ ������������1 �������� �-�������-�����$�������+�������������������������������������(����������������������������#� �������)����������������!�����������+��� �$����������������� ���-�������������������������(������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������� �����������������

�������� ���������������������������������������-���� ��4�������������� +����������� 6-4�+7�

+��������!���#�����������/����� � ����%������������������������8������(������������ ���������������������(����������$������� ������ ��������������� ����� ��������� ����� ����������4����&������������� ��������������������������������� �����������(������������������������9��������:�������������������������� ��������

���������������)������������������6;<�7������������������� �������������������������� �������� �����������������������(���������������������;<���������������������������������������(��������)�������������������������� ������+�������������(������������ ���������� ����������� ���� ������������������������������� �����������������������#�������������������������� ������������������������������������������#���������������� ����� ��� ������� ���� ������� �� ��������� ����� ����������� �� ��%�������(+���������$�����)������;�� ��� �������������������(��������������������������������������������������������4����������������� ������������������������������������("���������������������������������-����� ���������������(���� ������"���������������� �������������������������� �� ��%��������������� ������������-�������/�� ������+������������������������������������������#���� ����������������������������������������������������� ������������������

-��%����������������������������� ��&�-4�+�������������������������� ����������������������+���������������������=������������8������������ ������������������ ���������� ����� ��������������������������������������������=�����+��������������� ������������������������� �0���������������� �������������������������������� ������ ��������������������������������������������������������/ �������������������������������������������(�����������������4�����4������������������������(����������� �������������������������������������(�����������(��� ���������������������������������������4����������������������������������� ��0��������4�����������#����������������4���������������������������������������������������������������(����������������������(����� �����������������������;�������������8��(�������������������������������������������������0������������������������������������������������������������������ ������������������� �� �������������������4�������������� �������������������������������>?�@������������������� ������������(�� ��������������-���������������������%����������������������������������������� ���������������� ����������������������������

������������

����������

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Do the crime, pay fine”(September 4). TheGovernment’s move to intro-duce stringent laws for those vio-lating traffic rules is historic andwill likely help arrest the risinggraph of road accidents besidesinstilling a sense of discipline inthe road users. Statistics speak forthemselves: India is one of themost accident-prone countries inthe world, accounting for nearly1,50,000 deaths — 10 per cent ofall motor vehicles-related fatali-ties worldwide.

However, the stringent finesimposed by the Government maynot lead to improving safety. Forin most such cases, stringentpenalties have either not beenenforced or have led to briberyand corruption.

Nevertheless, the Act hascertain provisions that are well-intentioned. For instance, it goeson to increase insurance penetra-tion. It provides for an enhancedcompensation of �5 lakh in caseof death of a person in a trafficaccident and �2.5 lakh wherethere is “grievous hurt.” The com-pensation to be awarded follow-

ing hit-and-run accidents hasalso been raised to �2 lakh whena victim dies and �50,000 whenhe/she suffers a grievous injury. It is to be hoped that the publicat large will follow the set guide-lines in the interest of their ownsafety and that of others, too.

Ramesh G JethwaniBengaluru

��� ��������

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Shooting the messenger”(September 4). The video wherechildren were seen squatting onthe floor as they rolled their rotisto have them with a pinch of saltwas damning. It was astonishing

that the Uttar Pradesh policesought to arrest the journalist tocover up its lapses. In a democra-cy, people have the right to knowwhat the Government is doingwith its money. Even NapoleonBonaparte feared for the fourthestate than a thousand bullets.

As per the guidelines, StateGovernments must provide every

child in a Government orGovernment-aided primaryschool one nutritious meal a daywhich must consist of either rotiand vegetables with soybean ortehri (pulao) or roti with dal. Andits not just Uttar Pradesh but thereare many other schools in differ-ent parts of the country who havebeen found guilty of grievous laps-es. Governments must worktowards ensuring the success ofthe mid-day scheme which is vitalfor the future of the children.

Sravana RamachandranChennai

����� �� ���

Sir — In view of the increasingcases of assault on doctors, thedraft Bill introduced by theGovernment, which makes assaultof healthcare professionals a crim-inal offence with an imprisonmentof up to five years and fine extend-ing up to �5 lakh, is welcome. Atthe same time, it must worktowards uplifting the condition ofGovernment hospitals.

RaviVia email

* � * 9 � � 0 3 # : � * � 6 6 3 1 4

---:(��#$+�"���': "����� ��!"��#$%����&��������J ������������������J ��+,�-��#"��#$%����&������$

���������������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&'

5

<�����������������(�����""�

4��� �6��

�����3���-�������,����BCC�;�+���;�,��+��%�#�#��,������%������+,���"��3,�����;�����������,����%�,������&,��������#�+����,�"������������-���+�,������-��&����&,���+

��,���!���?3+,�;��,�%�,����?��#������"���%�,��,�,��!�&����7%������A���&��,��,��-�#�����8� ���3+�����&��,��,��-��,8��;�+��3����-��,"

#����K���+,����,�;��,

��,���!�����,��+�����#�;��#��HA�������,��A���,�������+"����,����3%�+�,���+������#�%���,����+8+�#��?�3�����+,+�;�,������-��%���%�#��&���,������%A��+����+"

��� ���&��(��K��3��)��%��

� 6 � ( " � � #

# � � # � � � � �� & # � # ( � � �

���������� ��������������� ���

����)�A���#��,9+�%���+����,���#��-�#�,��#�?����%���� ��!+���#�+��+���+3�&��+���A���,��3-�����3�%��+,��%+�,��,�+3�����#�A����+� ����,�!�����37

,��3+��� ��,���*���+,������'������"��������%�����+3����+,�&���+� �����4&�����%��+���#���+�,�����3+����&7�,�����,��,��� ��!+��+�,��������#����;��+�+,����-��,��-���#��&��,3������,���#��!�,+"��3�������+,�3�,3�7��-��4����+��;�������&�#���#�+�� �%�����+���%����7&��7���#��-��++�,+� =���+>"�����;������,� ��+3�&��+�%� ��#����+3���&���+������#&��#��,�%�����3,3�����%�+�,��,���%�;�,��,��������&,�����#��-�#�,�%� ��!��-�+�+7,�#+����,�����#��-�����+"

�,����%+�,�� ��+�����+�,����;�:3��!�����%������,�A�7���+3�������#��-�#�,�%� ��!��-���,�,��;����&���,��,����,� 3+���++�+"����;��8����� ��!+�+���������##��� ��!7��-�+��,;���"��,���+�����%+�,�� ��+�����+�,����;�;���,���)�A���#��,�;�������A�����+3���#�##�,�� ��!+�,���+,�3�,3���;�,��3,������,��-��3+,�#��+8��#&�����+8�,�� ��!��-�3�������%��,����+3�����,�,��+"������ �%�,��+3�7���%����,�����+,�3�,3���-���%�+,���-,�����-���:3���#��,8�,�+��3�%���+�� ����,�%�,��,�,���#�A��#����#&��,�,��

�����%��%�������-�&����&,��������4�+,��-��3+,�#��+���%�,���� �����������+��++����,�%�;�,��,����,���;�+��,��%�7,��������%���� ��!��-�+�+,�#"�����A�,�����+���;�����+7+����,�� ���#&��#��,�%�,����+3���,��,��3+,�#��+����#�A�%�,��,�����;���,�,��;�,��3,�,���#����&����%3�����++��+8�;�����;�3�%���+3���,���+#��,��,���+�,�������4�+,��-� ��!+�,��,�����;����+"�

������ ���&��������

�������������(�������������'*���)��'�������(�"�)�5

(��� ���*�5��� ��)����

����(������5 ���������5

��� ����9���������� �)�

�������)���*�5"����*

����� 5�*��������5������

(�� ��������)������)�����(��*��5���������������

(����5�(�)�����*5

������ �

-����%%�# �������������.&�������;������E ��&'���

!� �;����� ���������"<

�&+�,��A���,�����,�7&��&���&���7���+����,���(��-��++8�&��&����?��,�%��,"��6��)�A���#��,+�,�,���(��,�����%������������&��,��-�,���+�#��#�+,�!�+"

-�������>K*���;�,�

,���+���� "� ������� ���)���2� ���������������������� ������������ 2�����������������"������&����������

�� ���������� ������ ��$���� �������� ���������� �)����.���"��)������� �$���� �������������

���,���������3,3��8��������#������A�+�;���� �� ����,���3-��+�#��"���;8���+�+����#� �������-+����,�����#�����+,�����,,���;��9,� ����&��,�%"

��������������K)�����?����-�

<����$���������� � �

����$��"!��$��������"�"����"�#�� ����� �""#����"����#� ���#�!���"�"��#���"!��7��$���� �."���"����������0���"��/�"!����#���# ��������

F/�����������������"���#���!#�����$!

�!���"!�0�G���$!�#� ��!� #�-#�#�H���������//���.���/�#"�����#"���#����� ��-��� �$�"�#� �"!��������0��#���� ���/�����������"'F�����������"��#���#$�"!#7��

;5����6��#�;5���

During Amazon’s second quarter earningsannouncement recently, its ChiefFinancial Officer (CFO) Brian Olsavsky

commented on India’s e-commerce policy andexpressed the hope that the Government wouldprovide a stable and predictable policy for thecompany to continue with its investments in tech-nology and infrastructure. This demand is a newaddition to the e-commerce debate and a novelone given that it is coming from a firm alreadyheavily invested in India.

India must understand which policies in thee-commerce space can create uncertainty forcompanies, as addressing them will help thecountry reap the benefits innovative technolo-gy companies can bring to the table. Amazon ser-vices bring in jobs and investment to localeconomies globally and in India, along with inno-vation and knowledge that will help companiesgrow and improve productivity.

Amazon’s inauguration of its Hyderabad-based office, that is the single-largest till nowglobally, housing 15,000 employees across 1.8million square feet of space, is proof that it con-siders India a viable business environmentdespite the regulatory hurdles faced in tariffs,taxes, stringent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)norms and ever-changing data regulations.

Globally, site selection by large multination-als follows an intensive bidding process, with USstates offering incentives to woo them. Last year,the firm narrowed down its Amazon HQ2 loca-tions, choosing Northern Virginia over NewYork. There were a total of 238 bids for the site.Some states, most notably New Jersey andMaryland, offered multi-billion dollar incentivepackages — $7 billion and $8.5 billion, respec-tively — to Amazon, but did not make it to theshortlist. After taking into consideration the exist-ing availability of skilled workers, the infrastruc-ture, cost of doing business and a stable businessenvironment, the tipping factor which influencedthe location decision was the pushback in theNew York location, in contrast to a warm wel-come from the community in Virginia, despiteits moderate offer of $750 million in incentives.

Governments bid aggressively and offerincentives to attract successful multinationals asthese firms generate economic activity throughsupporting and linked businesses, upskill work-ers and increase the uptake of more structuredmanagement practices, thus improving theoverall productivity of local companies.

Recent research found that such million-dol-lar plants lead to significant increases in man-agement, productivity and employment by theincumbent firm that boosts the local economy.

There is a stronger effect through companieswhich are in sectors where there are frequentflows in managerial labour from the plant’s indus-try, found by comparing incumbent firms in loca-tions, which were the winners of the biddingprocess with the runners-up who narrowlymissed being selected for the site.

Policy uncertainty deters companies frominvesting and hiring. When organisations areunclear about the future economic environment,they hold back on investing until policiesbecome clear. Productivity growth also fallsbecause this pause in activity freezes reallocationacross units. In the medium-term, the increased

volatility from the shock induces anovershoot in output, employment andproductivity. Thus, uncertainty shocksgenerate short sharp recessions andrecoveries.

All this affects long-term invest-ments that are irreversible in natureand for which horizons for cost recov-ery can run into years. This wouldinclude innovation and research anddevelopment investments, venturesinto new markets and infrastructuredevelopment. When there is a lack ofstability and certainty in the futureactions of the Government and regu-lators, enterprises hold back frominvesting in these dimensions. This, inturn, limits the impact of such firmsthat can come from long-term invest-ments, including benefits to employ-ment, wages and growth.

The role of economic and policyuncertainty at the macro-economiclevel has been measured globally andhas recently been highlighted in the2019 Economic Survey. An index iscreated by quantifying newspaper cov-erage of policy-related economicuncertainty mentions in the nationalnewspapers, through combinations ofkeywords related to policy and uncer-tainty. This measure correlates strong-ly with stock market volatility mea-sures, such as the India VIX Index. Thismeasure is used globally to study theeffects of events such as Brexit, the US-China trade wars and so on.

A less understood concept is thatenterprises can also face uncertainty atsectoral, geographical and individuallevels. Industry-level uncertainty canbe measured through surveying firmssampled across sectors, asking themabout expectations of future growthand costs at various horizons. Thoughthis is harder to capture, it is amplyclear that Amazon’s statement alludesto policy uncertainty in the e-com-

merce space. Here are a few of the policies in the

e-commerce space which increaseuncertainty for businesses and thusdeter investment: The draft National e-Commerce Policy rules earlier this year,preventing companies from influenc-ing prices or selling products in whichthey hold stakes, disrupted businessplans for e-commerce firms. It pushedfirms back to the drawing board toensure they can comply with the cur-rent regulations while limiting lossesthat arose from lack of clear directionfrom the start. The final e-commercepolicy has been held back for anotheryear, putting the investments of busi-nesses in this sector in jeopardy dur-ing the interim months.

The recent recommendation by ahigh-level Government panel to doaway with the need for foreign firmsto store a copy of all personal non-crit-ical data in India will help companies,though the decision on data localisa-tion remains to be made.

Under data localisation, foreigncompanies would need to redesigninternal algorithms to access datalocally, pay up for new servers and facecosts to protect data in less-secure envi-ronments. There is also uncertainty asto what constitutes non-critical dataand how it would interact and overlapwith critical data. E-commerce compa-nies still face policy uncertainty whilethe due process of discussions with var-ious Government bodies and stake-holders regarding data localisation iscompleted. We soon expect to hearfrom the Prime Minister’s Office ondata localisation. The announcements,though not final, do offer direction andsome insights into the Government’sthought process.

A related issue is the disclosurerequirement of source code under thedraft e-commerce policy. Amazon

depends highly on data-driven market-ing and heavy use of its item-to-itemcollaborative filtering algorithm forcustomer recommendations.

A code submission requirement isa coercive technique aimed at achiev-ing the transfer of technology and localneeds. Technology transfers happen inan organic and legitimate mannerthrough managers and employeesdeveloping skills and passing themonwards in data communities or bymoving across companies. Whetherthis will come into effect through thefinal e-commerce policy will remainunresolved till mid-2020.

Multiple guidelines can also causedelays in the resolution of uncertain-ty. The RBI’s Report of the WorkingGroup on FinTech and Digital Bankingincludes e-aggregators, Robo advisersand Big Data all under FinTech. E-com-merce firms, which are data-intensiveand provide multiple services, will beincluded under this description. TheMinistry of Finance FinTech SteeringCommittee report remains pendingthat will recommend another set ofguidelines on regulation around tech-nology-enabled activities in India.

For India to reap benefits fromglobal multinationals such as Amazon,we need to provide companies exact-ly what they are asking for — a stableand predictable policy environmentthat can foster investment and infra-structure development.

Early investments from large inno-vative companies will give a headstart to India, enabling it to pick uptechnologies from global leaders andpush domestic innovation forwardfaster as well. This is critical for a cap-ital-scarce country like India, which isaspiring to become a $5 trillion econ-omy in the next five years.

(The writer is faculty, ISI Delhi andFellow at the Esya Centre)

- ���"����� ������ ���������""����������� �������� ���� �)�������"����������� $����"������������������� ����� ���������� ���$)��"�� ����� $

����+��� 2� � � � � � 6 ' �

�'$���-"#)�%"&��'� ����"�<

4���=��; "��#�7##

��#��#���������#��������#+���%���++�+�����A����+�;�������&��3� �,���+��;%�;��#��������

��%����+����%�%����

���� )�����8

'������������������'���'�*�) ���

*� ��������� ���(����

�*�L��8����������������

(�*������������ ���������(��� �

�� �(5������*���

�����(���'����������*���������'����(���

���� ��*���"�� 5

������*����'�*� �)�����������

(�*�������� )����������

�������������8���� ��)������

��(������(��� �)���'�*�) ��� ���������

�������*����(����������'���

'��������� "��������(���(�

'����(����� 7�(�(�(����5� ���

�����8���(����������)�����(�*����M0

�� ����(���*5���������N��'����5���

#��������������)���;������,������6);,�7���������������� ������� ������� �� 4����� #����� ��� ����������4��������6�47�����������������������������������(

�������������������������������������������������������������"���������� ��� &������4���4��������(�� ������������������������������������A����������������);,��������(�����������������������(��� �����9�����������������������������A4������(���������� ���������������������� ����������������������������A:

%����������������������%�����������$������6%�$7������������������������������������������������������� �� �������������� ���������������������������������������%����������������� ������������������������������������������������A*������������%�$�������� ��������������� ����������������������������������4������ �������������������BC������������(� ���������� ��������������������

*����� ���������������������%�$����������������� ������ ������������������������� ��������������������������������������4������������������������������ ����#�������������������������� 4����������������6���������������������������7���� �������6�����,5,7�������������6,3��D�������������7����� ���������������������������������6�����=�������������8��7�

)���� �������������(���������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������(���������0������������������������������������������������������������������������� �

#�������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������� ������ (���$���������������������������������������������������� ����#������ ��(������������������� ��(��������������������������������� �

#�������� ������������������������������� (�����(��������������� ��������4�������������������� �#� ������������������ �������������������� �������������(���������������������������������������������������� ���(�������������������)�������������������������������������8����������������� �������������������������������(������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������/����������������������������������������4�������(�������� �

����������� ������"�����������������*������ �� ��4��������������������� �����������������������������������@C�����������������������������������������-������� �������� =���+�����)������%����6=+)%7��� ���� ������������������������������ ������������� �������������������������������������������������;����������� ���������������������������������E������������������&���������������������������������������������������������������������� ������ ����������6��������������������������������7����� ������� �������������������(������������"���� ���������������������������������� ����������

-����������� ��������������������������� ����������(����������������������������������� ��������#�����=���������������������������������������������������(�������������������� ���������������������� �� ��������#�������������(�� ����������������� ���������������%��������������� ������������������������������������������������ ��������������������������������������������� ����������� �������������������������!����������=����������4�������6=�47��������������������������������������������������������F�������������������$�����-����0����6$-0�7�������"������(�������� �����������������������������������(����������������� ���!�����������������������������������������������������������������������0����������������������� ��������

!��������������� =�����+������ ������-���������������������������������(������������� ����(����������������+���������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������#����� �������4�������&������������������������

6��������������� ����������7

I often understand apologists asdefeatist-optimists. In the 1990s,when I worked as a reporter at

an English daily, one of my assistanteditors explained the 1996 take-overof Afghanistan by the Taliban in thefollowing manner: “They may beextreme in the way they view andpractise Islam, but at least they willget rid of the warlords and the loot,plunder and chaos that these war-lords are causing.”

In Pakistan, between 2007 and2015, when suicide bombings byextremists were killing civilians,cops, soldiers and politicians withreckless abandon, one often sawmen (and some women) on TV talkshows, condemning the killings.

But, at the same time, they were alsoadmonishing the so-called econom-ic and political reasons which weresupposedly making young menblow themselves up amidst crowdsof innocent men, women and chil-dren. They were urging the State andGovernment to “hold negotiations”and “talks” with the extremistsbecause, according to them, theextremists’ grudges against the Stateand society were legitimate. Thoseurging this became known as apol-ogists.

The apologists didn’t necessar-ily hold the same degree of viewsheld by the extremists. Helpless toregulate the extremist narrativeaccording to their own traditional-ist ideas of faith and morality, theybegan to look for ways to rationalisethe violence and, sometimes, evensee a rainbow at the culmination ofa terrorist attack. Therefore,defeatist-optimists.

This was like rationalisingnihilism in an acceptable TV-friend-ly manner and then, perverted asthis may seem, seeing an imaginarysilver lining. Most apologists looked

quite like the ones they were apol-ogising for. But not always. Therewere also those who could speak flu-ent English, were educated in theWest and proudly identified them-selves with the Left or real liberal-ism. Scholar and author Afia S Ziawrites in her 2019 essay Class is dead,but faith never dies that a flurry ofscholarship from Pakistani “activist-academics” (largely based in theWest) emerged from a post-9/11Empire anxiety.

Those who attacked the WorldTrade Center with the two hijackedplanes and killed over 3,000 people,described the act as an attack on USarrogance, imperialism, decadenceand enforced modernity. A weekafter the attacks, an acquaintance ofmine, who was with me in a Left-wing student organisation at collegein the 1980s and till a few years agotaught sociology at a college inBerlin, said: “Even though I disagreewith the ideology of those who car-ried out the attack, this was the onlyway left to rebuff American arro-gance and make them think twicebefore attacking other countries.” So,

this gentleman, who had felt help-less at the fall of Communism in the1990s, saw a rainbow at the end ofthe 9/11 attacks.

Of course, the attacks caused atleast two more full-fledged US inva-sions in Afghanistan and Iraq, anda truly testing period for Muslimsacross the globe. In her essay, Ziawrites that post-9/11 scholarship onMuslim identity became a cashcow. Post-modernism, post-struc-turalism, anthropology, EdwardSaid’s Orientalism, et al, were stillpopular on American and Europeancampuses when 9/11 shook theworld in 2001. In the wake of reac-tions against Muslims after theattack, these academic disciplinesthat had largely been formulated bythe western academia from the1970s onwards and had put to thesword ideas of economic, social andpolitical modernity, were refiguredto fit the idea of the evil West andremnants of modernity in the con-text of the post-9/11 world.

For example, Islamophobia wasa distasteful and discriminatoryreaction by some segments in

Europe and the US. But in anattempt to censure it, the post-9/11scholarship by various West-basedMuslim scholars ended up provid-ing apologia for those who refusedto see anything problematic in thethinking which led to 9/11 andinstead continued to put all blameon the West. Islamophobia wasthus trivialised and shrunk intobecoming an intransigent post-modernist idiom.

Zia critiques this tendency byevaluating the manner in whichmodern Pakistani women acade-mics, operating from universities inthe West, treated the subject ofwomen’s rights in Pakistan. Shewrites that these scholars andauthors identify with the Left orLeft-liberal tendencies but theirthinking is at best, reactionary.

Zia is of the view that they arequicker to attack Pakistani liberalsthan they are Islamists, believing thatthe liberals are elitist. Zia demon-strates that the elite alone were notinvolved in the battle for women’srights in Pakistan. A lot of workdone to improve the economic,

social and political condition ofwomen in the country was alsoundertaken by common everydaygroups of women. According to Zia,the scholars she critiques have casu-ally ignored such groups, many ofwhom were also confronting theIslamists head-on. Instead, sincescholarship based on an anthropo-logical understanding of Muslimidentity became an academic trend,the mentioned scholars began toromanticise and search for rainbowsin the condition of those non-elitewomen who are forced to operate inmasculine concepts of piety.

Book after book appearedexplaining that such common (non-elite) women were taking rationalsteps to use concepts of piety suchas the hijab to become active in thepublic sphere. But Zia questions thisassumption. She asks how could awoman, who accepts a masculineidea of piety and morality, be seenas a challenge to a worldview whichrefuses to accept her as anyone capa-ble of operating outside her kitchen?And what about the elite who areequally involved in this pursuit (e.g.

the upper-crust Farhat Hashmi phe-nomenon, brilliantly examined bySadaf Ahmad in TransformingFaith)? What are they using pietyfor? Zia sees the critiqued scholar-ship as an inadvertent apologia forforces that are an impediment toreform regarding women’s rights inPakistan.

In her book Modernism, Islam& Secularism in Turkey, Turkishsociologist Alev Cinar writes that, inthe 1990s when some women inTurkey defied a ban on the head-scarf, they claimed that wearing thehijab liberates women from themale gaze in public. Cinar writes thatby doing this they acknowledgedthat the public sphere was dominat-ed by the male gaze and will remainso.

This actually defeated the pur-pose of women’s rights, whichshould be to neutralise the publicsphere and make it gender-equal.Therefore, this is a defeatistapproach which still looks for malevalidation for women’s participationin the public sphere.

(Courtesy: The Dawn)

@����"�2��������$�����2D���������������� ����������������������� � ����� ����� ����������� �� ������������������ ����� ������

���������� ���������������������������������������� ������������������� ������

�=��� )����&�

�������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&'

---:(��#$+�"���': "�

-�� +�1 �������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&'

"9��� ������� �

;���<�6@��#�A6�%�)�����������&��� ��������%������� %����-������!�$��D��������������������%���5%�� ���������&� �9'E�$�������� ��& ��#����-(��#��� ������� %����-����� ����������#�� %=������ �� %��������&�������������&���������������3����������������#����� ����������� ��# ����������� �����)����������������D�������� ��=���������&���� ���������/# #)�������� ��#������$ =�- &����*���1 ��������'���-������� ������������������ ��$%

� -������������������������� �-������� ��<� ��F������� %�����������������$�&�������G�� ����������� ��������3�������������������%���#��������� &������ �� -���� ������������� �������������� ��<����@#���� �#���!���$���

$$@���&�&��� ������� ����-� &����8����� ����&���@����������F �-8�@G��� ����������� ���� ���/�����@��� �������-������� �C��;E9C��������$�����#������ ��=� �-8�@���������������������������� ���������������������#�# �����������%����&����� ��# %��������������������������������������=!� %�AEE���������#��� ������������ ���������������� �

@����6�%�@� ��#�# ������&������ ��������%��#����!�����<�����-� ���� �@#���� �#���!���$�������;������A ��-���=�;E9C=�@ �#���9EEE�@� ��#�# �8����� ���������<���� ����� ����������#�� %�� �����������������/*@!$7�-@)=��������&�������#�# �����%�-#����������������$� ���� �H��(8�����*�1I�#&������(+��#��&��$� ���� �����#����!�����<��=����������������������&����J������� ������H� �&��������� ��������@� ��#�# �K=

�"��� ����� ��

Seeking urgent stimulus fromthe government in the form

of GST reduction, the autoindustry on Thursday cau-tioned that if the current slow-down in the sector continued,there would be further joblosses that could have societaland social consequences.

With the industry slated tomove to BS-VI emission normsfrom April next year, automo-bile makers fear that priceincrease amid a slowdownwould further compound theproblem.

The auto industry, throughthe Society of IndianAutomobile Manufacturers(SIAM), has been asking thegovernment to reduce GST onautomobiles to 18 per centfrom 28 per cent.

“I think there are societaland social consequences ofthat. I am sure government willlook at that,” SIAM PresidentRajan Wadhera told reportershere.

He was responding to aquery on what could happen ifthe demand for reduction inGST was not met.

“Let’s say if for some reasonyou go down to such an extentthat lot of people lost jobs, that

is going to create a lot of tur-moil,” Wadhera said.

Expressing similar senti-ments, Mahindra & MahindraManaging Director PawanGoenka said, “My worry is thatif the industry does not turnback on a positive sort ofgrowth for the remaining partof the months of fiscal year, youmay see more layoffs.”

According to SIAM, vehi-cle manufacturers have laidoff around 15,000 temporaryworkers, while dealers havewitnessed around 2.8 lakh joblosses with nearly 300 dealer-ships closing in the past three-four months.

Components makers bodyACMA had also said thataround 1 million jobs could beon the line if the current slow-down persisted.

Goenka further said, “Mybelief is that the employmentlevels that we have todayamongst OEMs (originalequipment manufacturers) andsuppliers is probably more thanwhat the current level of pro-duction will justify.”

Justifying the demand fora GST cut, Wadhera said vehi-cle prices would go up whenBS-VI norms are implemented,and government stands to gainfrom that.

“We are asking them (gov-ernment) if they could reduceand share with us that priceincrease so that demand doesnot fall as a consequence of theBS-VI price going up,” he said.

Citing past instances, hesaid, “Every initiative countsand fiscal stimulus is a very biginitiative. In the past, historytells us that in 2008 and 2014recession when we were hit bydownturn there were taxrebates given by government.That did boost up demand.”

Supporting the call, TataMotors Managing Director andCEO Guenter Butschek said,“In order to get out of the cur-rent crisis and not miss the fes-tive season, we require clarityfrom the government, hereand now, on GST and scrap-page policy.”

Goenka termed the switchfrom BS-VI to BS-IV as “amajor disruption to the indus-try”, as the whole supply chain,inventory and processes atmanufacturing plants goesthrough a change.

“Therefore nobody shouldunderestimate the disruption itcauses. To go into disruptionwhen the industry is in a slow-down mode can become evena bigger disruption,” Goenkasaid.

�"��� *�*���

The National Company LawTribunal Thursday

adjourned the proceedingsagainst the former auditors ofthe crippled IL&FS--Deloitteand BSR Associates, till furtherdirection from the BombayHigh Court.

A division bench of theBombay High Court had onWednesday stayed the pro-ceedings against BSR in theMumbai bench of the NCLTuntil further orders.

The relief to BSR wasgranted on two counts, one thatthe accounting firm was seek-ing relief from Section 140 (5)of the Companies Act underwhich NCLT had passed theorder, and secondly againstcriminal proceedings broughtupon by various governmentagencies.

BSR, a domestic affiliate ofglobal major KPMG, had chal-lenged the constitutional valid-ity of Section 140 (5) in theHigh Court and also theNCLT’s jurisdiction to take upthe case against them.

The court had directed thecorporate affairs ministry andthe Serious FraudsInvestigation Office to file theirreplies within four weeks.

The HC order came after

BSR and N Sampath Ganesh, apartner with the firm, hadapproached last month movedthe court challenging the NCLTgo-ahead to the government toremove as auditors of IL&FSFinancial Services (IFIN) for itsalleged role in financial irreg-ularities in the firm as they areno longer the auditors of thefirm therefore the maintain-ability of the plea.

BSR had resigned fromthe post of statutory auditor ofthe firm in June this year, wellafter the client-IFIN was sentfor bankruptcy, while Deloittehad done so in FY18.

The ministry’s counsel saidthe entire case filed by BSR wasmeant to confuse so that theproceeding against them didnot progress further.

On July 18, NCLT gave thego-ahead to the government toprosecute Deloitte and BSRfor their failure to detect andreport the scams that tookplace across the now bankruptIL&FS Group and 21 otherentities, when they were theauditors of IFIN, on the basisof the findings of the SFIOprobe.

It can be noted that theNCLT is yet to give its view onthe ministry plea to ban themfrom business for five years asa penalty.

�"��� ����� ��

The Government will soontake a call on the recom-

mendations of U K Sinhacommittee to strengthenmicro, small and mediumenterprises sector, UnionMinister Nitin Gadkari saidon Thursday.

The committee set up bythe RBI under the former Sebichief among other things hadrecommended creation of dis-tressed asset fund with a cor-pus of �5,000 crore, insurancecoverage to employees ofMSMEs on the lines ofPradhan Mantri SurakshaBima Yojana (PMSBY) andPradhan Mantri Jeevan JyotiBima Yojana (PMJJBY)schemes, and cash flow-basedlending.

Referring to instanceswhere goods are supplied bymicro, small and mediumenterprises (MSMEs) but aparticular person or entitydoes not make payment aftertaking their delivery on mul-tiple occasions, Gadkari saidstringent action needs to betaken against such habitualof fenders and theGovernment will certainlytake remedial measures inthis regard.

�"��� ����� ��

Iran had agreed to buy the gasproduced from ONGC

Videsh Ltd-discovered Farzad-B field in the Persian Gulf, buttalks got stalled after the USreimposed sanctions againstTehran.

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL),the overseas investment arm ofstate-owned Oil and NaturalGas Corp (ONGC), had in2008 made a significant natur-al gas discovery in the Farsi off-shore exploration block in thePersian Gulf, the company saidin its latest annual report.

The discovery was namedFarzad-B.

“Since April 2016, bothsides negotiated to developFarzad-B gas field under anintegrated contract coveringupstream and downstreamincluding monetization/mar-keting of the processed gas,

however, negotiationsremained inconclusive,” it said.

During 2018-19, theNational Iranian Oil Company(NIOC) proposed the devel-opment of the gas field and“offtake of raw gas by NIOC atlandfall point(s),” it said.

“However, due to imposi-tion of US sanctions on Iranwith effect from 5th November2018, technical studies couldnot be concluded which is aprecursor for commercialnegotiations,” OVL said.

Any company investing inthe Iranian oil field will attractUS sanctions, crippling its abil-ity to access the internationalfinancial system. OVL has pro-jects in 21 countries and can-not risk being cut off frominternational payment system.

The Exploration ServiceContract (ESC) for the over3,500 sq km Farsi block wassigned on December 25, 2002.

����� � ���������

An MoU was signed betweenManish Kumar, MD &

CEO of NSDC, Amit Bhalla andTulaganov RuslanKuchkarovich, a global evange-list in the presence of Presidents,Prime Ministers and Heads offive countries (India, Russia,Japan, Malaysia and Magnolia).

Amit Bhalla, VP, ManavRachna Educational Institutionsis a part of the delegation ofbusiness leaders accompany-ing Prime Minister NarendraModi at the 5th EasternEconomic Forum being held atRussia. PM Modi has beeninvited as the Chief Guest of theForum by Vladimir Putin, thePresident of Russia. This is thefirst visit by an Indian PrimeMinister to the Russian FarEast region.

At the forum, a MoU wassigned between NSDC, ManavRachna and ROBBO (Russiabased global EdTech leader) inthe area of Artificial Intelligence,robotics and skilling. This MoUshall pave the way for the incor-poration of ROBBO classes, aninnovative robotics solution forthe students of India. It is note-worthy that the EasternEconomic Forum focuses on thedevelopment of business andinvestment opportunities in theRussian Far East Region, andpresents enormous potentialfor developing close and mutu-ally beneficial cooperationbetween India and Russia in theregion.

Eastern Economic Forumfocuses on the development ofbusiness and investment oppor-tunities in the Russian Far EastRegion

0,����'E����(8�*���A��������+,�,3,��+�-��*���;�,��3��-���A�3+�����3��!���A���

�"��� 5��)��

The global health and phar-maceutical industry is fac-

ing threat of data breach, asenior official of Russian cyber-security firm Kaspersky said onThursday. The Asia-Pacific(APAC) region in recent yearshas seen a surge in cyberthreats, Kaspersky ManagingDirector (Asia-Pacific) StephanNeumeier told reporters at the5th CyberSecurity Weekendevent in Yangon, Myanmar.

“Attacks against hospitalsand pharmaceuticals have beenhappening worldwide, espe-cially in the West. Recent yearshave, however, seen the threatcreeping towards APAC,” hesaid.

�"��� ����� ��

Solar installations in thecountry declined 14 per

cent to 1,510 megawatts (MW)in the second quarter of 2019,compared to 1,761 MW in theprevious quarter, according toa report by Mercom IndiaResearch on Thursday.

The installations were alsolower on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis and had stood at 1,665MW in the correspondingApril-June 2018 quarter, aMercom India Research state-ment said. In the first half ofthis calendar year, the installa-tions reached 3.2 gigawatts(GW), a decline of 35 per centas compared with 5.1 GW ofcapacity added in the first halfof 2018.

����� ����� ��

Vardhman Special SteelsLimited is proud and excit-

ed to announce partnershipwith Aichi Steel Corp Japan, anaffiliate of Japan’s Toyota MotorCorporation. Aichi Steel Corpwill buy approximately 11.4percent stake in VardhmanSpecial Steels Ltd and providetechnical assistance aiming toestablish a world class, social-ly and environmentally respon-sible special steel company inIndia. Aichi Steel will be post-ing three personnel in Indiawhile additional critical sup-port from the Headquarterswill be provided constantly.

���%�#����&������,���+�&��,���+�;�,��������,����(��&

New Delhi: Rissala ElectricMotors Pvt. Ltd., has launchedEvolet e-scooter in India. Guestof honour Nitin Gadkari,Minister of Road Transport,and Bollywood actor UrvashiRautela were present to launchthe comprehensive range of e-scooters. The range whichRissala introduced includedPolo, Derby, Pony and Warrior.The company forayed in theindustry with various slowspeed, fast speed as well as IoT-enabled models. PNS

#����#-�� ������"�������"�����#���!�

Mumbai: Air India passengerscan soon avail ‘Namaskar Sewa’,a meet and greet service where-in dedicated personnel willreceive the customers at airportentry gate and assist them tillbeing seated in the aircraft. Thedisinvestment-bound nationalcarrier, which is already pro-viding similar services to firstclass passengers, would berolling out the initiative on apilot basis at the Delhi airportthis month, according to an airline official. PTI

#����� �#���"�"��//���A�#�#�7#����#9�#"�#�����"�

������� �������(��'6# ����������"����7�������

-4E'���������A�<�4,��&��� ������ $������"��)�#�������

/�&�������������������-������� ��� ������-�(����� .�/�� ��

������-���%�,�� 3���� �-�+ 3,����+���,���+�+,����%�,��!+

���2���� ���� �%�������������94L���9='�/������#��M# �� .�*��� �

+�������������� �����"�� �����)�� $�����������)������A�/������2)

-�� +�11������������� ������ ����� �!����"#�$%&'

�"��� ����� ��

Owing to the slowdownin the automobileindustry, Mahindra &

Mahindra has deferred itsplanned capex of around�1,000 crore by a year, which,if not reversed within this fis-cal, would lead to more joblosses in the sector, the com-pany’s MD Pawan Goenka saidon Thursday.

The company, which recent-ly underwent a plant shut-downexercise to adjust production,also said that if sales do not pickup in the festive season, it mayhave to undertake the exerciseagain in October.

“At Mahindra & Mahindra(M&M), we probably will endup deferring about 10 per centcapex for auto and tractor(together)... it would come toaround �800-�1,000 crore,”

Goenka told reporters here onthe sideline of SIAM annual con-vention. He was responding toa question on whether the cur-rent slowdown in the autoindustry has forced the compa-ny to postpone investments.

While the company has notslowed down on investments onnew products, it has deferredinvestments on other activitiessuch as capacity enhancementand discretionary capex likerepair and maintenance, Goenkasaid. “The capacity that weexpected to need in two orthree years from now is less ascompared to the year ago, there-fore there will be slowdown incapacity investment as we wouldnot like to invest... probably fora year,” Goenka said.

He said the auto industrywas currently going through achallenging slump which hadalready resulted in mass job loss-

es. “...If the industry does notturn back on to positive growthfor the remaining part of themonths of fiscal year, we may seemore layoffs,” he said.

According to the Society ofIndian Automobile Manufact-urers (SIAM), vehicle manufac-turers have laid off around15,000 temporary workers whiledealers have witnessed around2.8 lakh job losses.

Goenka further said,“Employment levels that wehave today amongst originalequipment manufacturers andsuppliers is probably more thanwhat the current level of pro-duction will justify.”

Referring the the lay off of1,500 temporary workers out ofa total of 30,000 at M&M, hesaid, “That is like 5 per centreduction when volume is downby 20 per cent. We are notremoving (employees) just

because volumes are down, butif it continues beyond a certainpoint then the industry would beunable to carry the extra (work-force)”.

Goenka said there was aneed for support from the gov-ernment to help the auto indus-try come out of the current slow-down in the form of GST cut. Hesaid that in the past, when slow-downs happened, reduction inexcise duties had helped in pick-ing up demand immediately.

M&M, which underwentplant shutdown in August toadjust production, may have toundertake similar exercise againin October if demand remainssubdued, Goenka said.

“Probably in the month ofSeptember, we will produce fullcapacity; and in October, wemay adjust if sale in Navratradon’t go as per expectations,” hesaid.

New Delhi (PTI): Fertiliserco-operative Kribhco on Thursdayreported 26 per cent increase inprofit before tax to �205.54 croreduring the last fiscal andannounced 20 per cent dividendfor the members. Its profit beforetax stood at �162.56 crore in the2017-18 and had declared 18 percent dividend.

“Your society has posted a pretax profit of �205.54 crore and thesociety’s net worth has increasedfrom �3,413.05 crore in the year2017-18 to �3507.88 crore as on31st March ,2019,” KribhcoChairman Chandra Pal Singh saidwhile addressing the 39th annualgeneral meeting.

It has a total membership of

9,462 co-operative societies andpaid up share capital of the soci-ety was �389.11 crore as on March31, 2019, he added.

Kribhco’s urea productionstood at 23.42 lakh tonne andammonia output was 13.65 lakhtonne MT with 106.74 per cent and109.39 per cent capacity utilisation,respectively. “The society achieved

ever highest sales of 53.16 lakhtonnes fertilisers during 2018-19breaking its previous record of48.62 lakh tonnes during 2017-18,”Singh said.

Its subsidiary KRIBHCOInfrastructure Ltd (KRIL), whichoperates eight container rakesunder Category –I license on pan-India basis, reported �186.65 crore

revenue during the last fiscal.“Kribhco’s fertilizer complex

plant in Hazira, Gujarat has main-tained its good performance dur-ing the year. Kribhco is commit-ted to achieve the revised energyconsumption norms of5.5GCal/tonne of urea by March31, 2020 at this manufacturingunit,” Singh said.

New Delhi (PTI): The National Company LawTribunal (NCLT) on Thursday approved the JSWSteel’s �19,700 crore resolution plan for debt-rid-den Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd (BPSL).

A two-member principal bench of the NCLTheaded by President Justice MM Kumar has alsosaid the criminal cases against the promoters ofBPSL for siphoning of the funds from the companywill not to impact JSW Steel as its new promoter.

The tribunal has also said the profits made byBPSL during insolvency period will be distributedbetween creditors of Bhushan Power, in accordancewith the ruling by the National Company LawAppellate Tribunal in the ArcelorMittal case.

The NCLT also rejected the objections raisedby Tata Steel over the bids submitted by JSW andits erstwhile promoters.

In April, the NCLT had reserved its judgementafter concluding hearing from the parties.

Tata Steel had objected the improved financialoffer of JSW Steel before the ResolutionProfessional and the Committee of Creditors’ ofBhushan Power and Steel.

The tribunal had initiated corporate insolvencyresolution process (CIRP) against BPSL on July 26,2017, admitting the plea of its lead lender PunjabNational Bank (PNB).

Mumbai (PTI): Indian equitiesgave up early gains to settle lower onThursday due to sell-offs mainly inbanking stocks after the Reserve Bankdirected banks to link interest rates onall new loans with external benchmarks.Losses on the indices, however, wererestricted by emergence of buying instocks of somewhat relieved auto sec-tor after Union Transport MinisterNitin Gadkari assured the crisis-hitindustry of all possible support.

After rising over 174 points in earlysession, the 30-share Sensex failed tosustain the momentum and gave up allgains to end 80.32 points, or 0.22%,lower at 36,644.42. It hit an intra-dayhigh of 36,898.99 and low of 36,541.88.The broader Nifty, on the other hand,ended 3.25 points, or 0.03%, higher at10,847.90.

Banking and IT stocks were main-ly responsible for bringing the bench-mark indices — Sensex and Nifty —under pressure. A significant rise in therupee value was the reason behind theselling in shares of export-oriented ITcompanies. Top laggards in the Sensexpack included HDFC, ICICI Bank, TCS,HCL Tech, Kotak Bank, Asian Paints,TechM and HUL, dropping up to2.67%. On the other hand, Tata Motors,ONGC, Yes Bank, NTPC, Maruti,M&M, Vedanta, Tata Steel and BajajAuto rallied up to 7.81%. Sectorally, BSEoil and gas, metal, auto, utilities, power,industrials, healthcare and energyindices rose up to 2.47%. While BSErealty, finance and banking indices fellup to 1.77%. Broader BSE midcap andsmallcap indices outperformed bench-marks, rising up to 0.72%.

“The Reserve Bank has made it

mandatory for banks to link their newfloating rate for home, auto and MSMEloans to an external benchmark fromOctober 1 so that the borrowers canenjoy lower rate of interest. However,that triggered a sell-off in bank stocks,especially in private banks, whichclosed in the negative,” Shrikant SChouhan, Senior Vice President (EquityTechnical Research), said.

Market opened in green followingpositive global cues from Asian marketsas withdrawal of a controversial extra-dition bill in Hong Kong and on theback of news that the US and China hadagreed to meet in early October foranother round of trade negotiations,Narendra Solanki, Head FundamentalResearch (Investment Services) - AVPEquity Research, Anand Rathi Shares &Stock Brokers, said. However, the glob-al positive cues failed to sustain momen-tum by noon as domestic sentimentsturned pessimistic following a cut inGDP growth estimates by Crisil, he said,adding that the market seemed lackingdirection by end of day’s trade as itawaits some more policy announce-ments from the government.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hang Seng gaveup all its gains to end a tad lower, whileShanghai Composite Index, Nikkeiand Kospi settled up to 2.12% higher.Exchanges in Europe were also tradingon a mixed note their respective earlysessions.

The Indian rupee appreciated by 28paise to trade at 71.84 per US dollar.Foreign investors continued with theirequity selling spree by pulling out�561.17 crore on Thursday. Global oilbenchmark Brent crude rose 0.23% to60.84 per barrel (intra-day).

+,+���������%����= �� �)�>�)�� �"��������� � �������� ���

!�D���� �&����-��-���2��9C��EE�� � �������� <�#�������� �H�-���

3 �� ��?��������������� ( ���3#���� (����)�����

-��� �;��)��������������>��)���@��������A�&� ��������� ������ ��������@���� �

Script Open High Low LTPIDEA 5.08 5.20 4.98 5.09YESBANK 59.60 62.35 58.90 61.90TATAMOTORS 110.00 119.20 109.50 118.05IBULHSGFIN 458.00 468.20 443.30 447.90LICHSGFIN 410.05 410.05 389.05 394.60RELIANCE 1208.00 1213.75 1193.20 1198.30ICICIBANK 389.70 393.90 388.10 388.90MCX 870.00 894.00 835.10 870.90ONGC 119.10 129.80 119.10 125.20TATASTEEL 345.20 352.00 342.50 345.00MARUTI 5803.30 5995.00 5790.00 5970.30COALINDIA 184.50 196.25 183.80 194.85INFY 827.10 837.00 826.40 834.20HEXAWARE 394.80 394.80 380.00 389.35BPCL 363.90 386.00 361.00 381.50HDFC 2109.90 2109.90 2040.00 2043.70SBIN 275.40 276.30 271.15 273.15IOC 121.10 129.10 120.85 124.70HDFCLIFE 540.00 547.25 527.00 528.60JINDALSTEL 97.00 99.60 95.05 96.05INDUSINDBK 1337.00 1337.00 1303.40 1307.70SUNPHARMA 428.00 433.75 423.80 431.95VEDL 138.60 142.50 138.35 139.05RELINFRA 36.15 38.00 34.80 37.30HINDPETRO 256.80 274.90 255.40 264.85HDFCBANK 2255.00 2272.00 2226.90 2234.70RELCAPITAL 34.20 35.60 33.20 35.10RBLBANK 323.70 327.80 318.50 324.15RPOWER 3.58 3.59 3.45 3.47LT 1315.00 1337.40 1309.00 1320.45BBTC 913.65 980.50 910.00 968.05PNB 61.80 61.95 60.50 61.10DHFL 48.00 48.60 46.80 47.60HEG 980.50 1035.00 980.50 1008.70BEL 107.00 109.50 106.20 107.75SPICEJET 130.45 131.80 128.75 130.15HDFCAMC 2597.90 2656.00 2585.70 2604.75AXISBANK 652.00 659.60 644.50 649.25BAJFINANCE 3289.00 3304.80 3243.80 3295.00GAIL 127.20 132.30 126.05 130.95BOMDYEING 86.10 87.20 82.85 86.00DBL 357.10 385.00 350.30 371.95TCS 2246.65 2253.10 2208.00 2215.80BANKBARODA 93.70 94.15 91.85 93.60DLF 162.95 164.20 156.95 159.30LUPIN 747.50 769.85 742.50 765.55GRAPHITE 268.90 278.85 268.60 270.30NCC 54.85 58.55 54.85 55.90KOTAKBANK 1429.00 1441.00 1405.65 1409.45ITC 242.30 246.85 242.15 244.35ZEEL 355.40 363.15 354.65 360.80ASHOKLEY 62.90 63.55 62.30 63.10ADANIENT 135.00 138.50 133.50 135.55BHEL 50.25 52.45 50.25 51.15JSWSTEEL 217.10 222.25 213.75 216.25MARICO 385.35 385.95 382.00 385.00SHANKARA 261.75 312.60 261.00 312.60NTPC 119.70 129.55 119.70 123.35TITAN 1039.80 1053.05 1036.80 1048.70CANBK 194.70 195.00 190.35 191.60PFC 105.35 108.00 103.05 103.70NBCC 35.40 36.50 33.80 34.75IBREALEST 67.00 67.20 65.25 66.10DISHTV 20.65 23.10 20.40 22.45ESCORTS 460.00 473.20 460.00 470.85L&TFH 93.00 93.95 91.45 91.70WIPRO 259.20 259.25 254.60 255.55BEML 799.90 834.90 793.65 816.00GRUH 253.30 253.30 246.75 248.00DRREDDY 2620.00 2691.85 2620.00 2681.45UJJIVAN 290.30 306.60 286.75 302.80STRTECH 118.60 119.00 113.15 115.00SAIL 32.80 33.25 32.10 32.45RECLTD 144.50 146.60 141.00 141.85TECHM 710.00 710.00 691.10 695.35ICICIPRULI 432.90 432.90 425.30 426.75M&MFIN 330.00 330.00 319.15 320.05SBILIFE 828.00 834.00 821.20 829.00INDIGO 1641.20 1641.20 1616.50 1633.00VIPIND 405.85 412.75 395.50 395.50INDIANB 167.80 169.35 163.40 166.30ASIANPAINT 1537.60 1545.80 1516.00 1518.55ENGINERSIN 106.50 109.95 106.20 107.65TATAMTRDVR 49.95 53.60 49.95 53.30IRB 68.25 71.20 68.10 70.35MOTHERSUMI 95.90 98.00 95.40 97.50IDBI 27.50 27.85 26.35 27.25UFLEX 203.25 208.20 202.00 203.00EQUITAS 110.85 115.80 108.65 114.35AUROPHARMA 598.95 614.45 598.95 612.75ABCAPITAL 91.10 92.55 91.10 91.45TVSMOTOR 365.40 378.60 362.60 371.05EDELWEISS 107.50 107.50 104.25 104.95BAJAJFINSV 7049.70 7090.00 6954.20 6987.00HINDUNILVR 1845.00 1845.00 1818.65 1829.35PEL 1955.85 1967.25 1922.00 1941.35ICICIGI 1155.00 1183.10 1155.00 1182.00BAJAJ-AUTO 2733.00 2776.90 2732.95 2759.65SPARC 150.00 153.65 148.85 150.25HINDALCO 182.00 188.45 181.95 184.60M&M 520.00 520.00 508.15 516.95PIIND 1194.00 1217.25 1186.00 1201.00SUZLON 3.50 3.60 3.50 3.55AVANTI 315.10 340.00 315.10 332.90ITI 67.95 71.75 67.90 70.35HCLTECH 1118.70 1123.20 1103.80 1111.10PETRONET 265.50 266.70 262.90 264.80SUNTECK 445.15 454.60 442.00 450.15

BHARTIARTL 349.95 349.95 340.95 347.20POWERGRID 198.85 203.20 197.40 199.35BRITANNIA 2655.00 2705.00 2648.00 2679.95JUSTDIAL 715.05 717.90 705.75 715.00BIOCON 231.10 233.05 227.65 229.50FEDERALBNK 81.95 82.90 80.55 81.00BANKINDIA 64.15 64.35 62.45 63.60ULTRACEMCO 3900.00 3927.40 3872.75 3892.10NATIONALUM 40.90 42.60 40.90 42.10JAICORPLTD 76.45 78.00 75.60 76.15UPL 560.20 573.50 560.20 569.00UNIONBANK 54.20 54.85 53.15 54.50GUJALKALI 424.90 429.50 417.25 420.80DMART 1534.95 1541.00 1515.80 1521.70ACC 1445.00 1465.60 1437.85 1461.40AMBUJACEM 192.00 193.65 190.60 193.25GODFRYPHLP 1001.00 1006.60 977.45 986.00GRASIM 707.00 707.00 691.95 697.05HINDCOPPER 31.50 34.80 31.50 33.75MGL 844.85 856.00 839.30 853.25INDHOTEL 138.00 138.00 128.00 131.70GULFOILLUB 859.00 865.00 858.00 865.00NAUKRI 2127.45 2205.00 2127.45 2175.10RAYMOND 588.00 588.00 563.50 571.15EICHERMOT 15824.00 15874.70 15560.60 15745.95HAVELLS 638.00 653.80 637.00 653.00SCI 28.50 30.90 28.50 29.80IBVENTURES 168.00 171.00 164.50 165.55BHARATFORG 382.30 397.05 382.30 393.00NOCIL 86.50 86.90 85.00 85.55

INDIACEM 74.50 74.80 73.65 74.25ADANIPOWER 57.00 57.65 56.50 57.10BATAINDIA 1535.40 1551.00 1516.55 1520.20FORCEMOT 1199.30 1211.45 1190.00 1195.00WOCKPHARMA 235.35 239.60 233.05 235.75SWANENERGY 109.10 111.85 109.00 110.00JINDALSAW 70.00 70.45 68.60 69.10TATAPOWER 54.00 55.70 53.90 55.25IDFCFIRSTB 42.70 43.25 42.55 42.70TATAELXSI 615.95 621.45 613.00 618.70MANAPPURAM 120.50 120.60 118.65 119.20OIL 148.00 154.00 148.00 149.60CONCOR 501.25 521.90 499.30 515.75KAJARIACER 459.00 487.75 459.00 485.65RAIN 82.00 84.80 81.40 84.65SRTRANSFIN 983.00 999.00 973.90 974.60APOLLOTYRE 175.85 175.85 173.00 173.70GNFC 175.10 181.75 175.10 177.20FSL 48.15 48.90 48.00 48.30HSCL 77.05 78.15 74.60 74.75CADILAHC 230.50 237.55 230.50 235.90VENKYS 1407.00 1427.00 1392.20 1396.00TATACHEM 574.05 584.95 573.55 577.90ADANIPORTS 366.00 367.25 361.40 366.55OBEROIRLTY 542.45 550.00 512.35 514.30DELTACORP 175.00 176.50 170.50 171.55MRPL 46.95 49.60 45.60 46.45HEROMOTOCO 2570.00 2612.00 2568.50 2605.75SUNTV 427.20 438.00 427.00 435.05NMDC 79.65 82.75 79.45 81.10GODREJCP 584.00 598.60 584.00 598.50PNBHOUSING 647.40 667.60 620.00 631.30ORIENTBANK 66.10 66.85 64.60 65.05HATHWAY 31.75 32.75 30.65 30.95CHENNPETRO 187.90 197.35 187.90 188.40MINDACORP 87.35 96.05 86.00 96.05SONATSOFTW 308.10 308.10 295.05 298.50BERGEPAINT 364.70 365.45 360.70 362.45DEEPAKFERT 80.05 82.00 79.30 80.40STAR 381.80 389.40 379.90 383.85RNAM 280.00 284.00 276.60 277.50CEATLTD 893.00 911.00 885.25 909.55VOLTAS 621.90 632.70 621.90 630.15PCJEWELLER 31.85 32.50 31.55 32.20PHILIPCARB 111.00 113.55 108.25 109.00GUJGAS 168.95 174.25 167.70 173.95CHOLAFIN 269.15 270.20 265.85 268.70WABAG 272.70 281.55 272.45 276.85EXIDEIND 175.00 178.50 173.80 178.00AJANTPHARM 1048.00 1055.95 1034.20 1035.00TATACOMM 439.00 442.80 425.25 426.00J&KBANK 41.00 41.00 39.05 39.45JSLHISAR 60.75 61.50 58.45 58.65CANFINHOME 401.20 404.00 387.00 392.75ADANIGAS 137.20 139.00 136.00 137.00CIPLA 471.00 479.40 470.75 478.35JUBLFOOD 1200.85 1212.00 1191.00 1196.35LTI 1665.00 1671.00 1649.00 1667.60GODREJIND 400.00 402.60 396.10 397.10JAMNAAUTO 35.00 36.00 34.05 35.70KRBL 213.20 220.15 211.00 213.85REDINGTON 115.00 115.00 105.65 109.15

PRESTIGE 301.70 302.35 287.70 293.80GODREJAGRO 454.00 456.35 449.00 450.00JPASSOCIAT 2.20 2.43 2.20 2.43JUBILANT 446.95 454.80 442.05 451.70IPCALAB 958.00 961.90 950.00 960.00HINDZINC 216.90 219.65 214.75 215.65LAKSHVILAS 39.90 40.70 37.85 38.30CROMPTON 230.75 231.45 228.65 230.70DIVISLAB 1663.00 1663.70 1634.90 1637.35MMTC 20.05 21.10 20.05 20.60CREDITACC 566.00 594.20 566.00 585.70REPCOHOME 314.45 315.60 306.25 311.05ASTRAZEN 1876.50 2011.00 1821.55 1992.55TATAGLOBAL 268.35 269.10 263.65 264.55DEEPAKNI 270.65 276.00 269.70 274.50AAVAS 1500.00 1633.10 1500.00 1554.00MINDTREE 684.10 696.50 683.00 694.55TAKE 126.90 131.05 120.80 122.55NESTLEIND 12580.75 12668.70 12515.00 12604.05CENTURYTEX 843.00 851.70 834.70 844.40NATCOPHARM 550.50 567.00 545.00 556.25GSFC 74.65 76.80 74.65 76.15APOLLOHOSP 1498.75 1502.95 1488.55 1496.90GODREJPROP 888.70 888.70 877.95 880.40JKTYRE 61.40 61.75 60.95 61.35ADANITRANS 239.50 239.90 235.60 239.00PIDILITIND 1360.00 1372.60 1357.50 1369.40LTTS 1648.30 1651.10 1618.40 1626.85AEGISLOG 189.90 189.90 182.05 183.00CHAMBLFERT 159.00 164.50 159.00 161.65LEMONTREE 52.00 53.95 52.00 53.10CASTROLIND 120.80 123.45 119.80 120.45MUTHOOTFIN 594.30 596.00 585.75 589.05SOUTHBANK 10.80 10.83 10.40 10.80DCMSHRIRAM 368.35 383.00 368.35 373.40PTC 56.55 57.90 56.50 57.05PAGEIND 17791.50 18140.90 17566.30 17925.20INOXLEISUR 268.05 274.70 268.05 270.20BANDHANBNK 469.00 469.00 446.75 449.00RCF 40.95 41.75 40.60 41.05INFRATEL 249.15 249.50 247.25 248.50BALKRISIND 715.85 728.00 713.30 722.85IGL 327.80 331.50 326.00 329.55RAJESHEXPO 682.00 684.00 675.50 676.65SIEMENS 1167.05 1182.00 1164.50 1169.85DABUR 443.00 445.35 437.45 438.00EMAMILTD 298.70 299.25 295.00 296.00NIACL 104.25 110.90 104.25 107.45DCBBANK 202.10 203.60 196.80 199.55TNPL 188.20 190.30 188.20 190.05UBL 1335.00 1338.85 1313.55 1324.10JETAIRWAYS 39.70 41.55 37.65 39.95BIRLACORPN 539.00 541.00 534.75 537.20GLENMARK 385.00 391.50 385.00 390.00KTKBANK 76.00 76.70 75.30 75.45RADICO 302.40 305.50 300.10 301.85LALPATHLAB 1257.70 1257.70 1236.90 1242.80TATACOFFEE 73.05 74.05 73.00 73.45NIITTECH 1460.00 1468.10 1434.90 1457.00SRF 2744.00 2775.00 2727.95 2734.45BALMLAWRIE 174.40 175.25 172.50 175.25HFCL 18.55 18.65 18.40 18.45ERIS 388.00 395.15 381.30 386.95HUDCO 35.50 36.50 35.15 35.60FRETAIL 408.00 414.00 399.20 400.50VGUARD 228.90 228.90 221.30 221.30GLAXO 1251.80 1258.00 1240.80 1257.00KEC 250.00 250.00 244.00 245.25ASHOKA 95.00 95.65 89.85 91.00CUMMINSIND 563.85 569.00 560.00 565.70COCHINSHIP 342.05 349.95 340.00 341.90SOBHA 540.45 541.00 524.50 529.45TORNTPHARM 1699.70 1732.30 1692.90 1717.50BDL 275.40 295.60 275.00 277.40OMAXE 194.80 196.00 193.35 193.75WELSPUNIND 50.25 51.75 49.55 50.70NHPC 23.50 24.50 23.45 24.30ISEC 215.00 217.00 212.10 213.05HEIDELBERG 197.00 197.00 193.00 194.15AMARAJABAT 630.00 630.00 617.20 622.75RITES 224.85 229.90 224.05 225.95INTELLECT 209.80 210.55 207.80 209.45ZYDUSWELL 1689.65 1700.00 1670.00 1687.00AIAENG 1520.00 1530.00 1484.20 1518.80WELCORP 121.95 126.50 121.95 125.10ALBK 33.50 33.75 33.20 33.20KALPATPOWR 455.95 456.00 440.00 443.65NAVINFLUOR 726.00 726.15 705.95 708.00PHOENIXLTD 669.20 669.20 649.30 660.45ADANIGREEN 44.45 45.75 44.40 45.00TORNTPOWER 272.25 276.30 270.55 271.60MEGH 45.20 46.10 44.85 45.85COLPAL 1250.00 1253.00 1238.45 1240.00BAJAJELEC 377.50 380.95 370.25 370.25VINATIORGA 2175.00 2205.00 2168.85 2200.00RALLIS 155.25 157.45 155.25 157.45PERSISTENT 558.75 563.50 556.00 561.40QUESS 468.40 468.40 456.70 456.70WESTLIFE 276.25 284.50 275.00 275.10NLCINDIA 53.60 55.70 53.30 53.95PVR 1485.00 1508.00 1477.40 1497.75GICHSGFIN 171.50 171.50 167.85 168.45SCHNEIDER 75.15 75.75 74.45 75.20CENTURYPLY 136.30 137.10 132.80 133.65GAYAPROJ 110.75 111.35 108.50 108.55BLISSGVS 106.95 107.25 104.90 107.20LUXIND 1105.00 1158.05 1105.00 1137.60GSPL 215.70 220.50 214.25 219.60WHIRLPOOL 1620.00 1654.00 1620.00 1642.00

THERMAX 1000.65 1009.15 985.50 985.65JISLJALEQS 18.40 19.05 18.35 18.80LAURUSLABS 328.50 337.00 328.05 336.50INFIBEAM 39.40 40.30 39.30 39.70CRISIL 1282.00 1294.20 1255.05 1265.10PARAGMILK 135.00 138.40 131.65 133.80RAMCOCEM 705.15 708.20 695.70 699.55MFSL 421.15 421.15 411.15 412.05MASFIN 602.50 642.85 594.65 622.80PRSMJOHNSN 86.00 87.30 86.00 86.50EIDPARRY 148.30 149.50 148.00 148.50CYIENT 428.20 436.00 424.60 435.00KANSAINER 465.00 466.00 459.75 462.85IFCI 7.05 7.36 7.05 7.11GMRINFRA 14.75 15.00 14.70 14.90MOTILALOFS 574.50 580.45 570.00 570.00MAHINDCIE 154.65 154.65 150.35 150.75PGHL 4046.00 4136.10 4029.00 4043.35TRENT 469.50 470.70 459.25 462.75SUVEN 257.90 259.20 253.35 254.05VTL 885.00 885.00 865.30 874.30TATAMETALI 520.00 523.00 502.20 513.00COFFEEDAY 64.15 64.15 64.15 64.15MOIL 122.55 124.85 122.40 123.50GREAVESCOT 121.55 127.00 120.75 123.30RCOM 0.76 0.76 0.76 0.76GEPIL 775.00 780.05 751.00 758.65MINDAIND 325.50 331.50 322.50 330.00GALAXYSURF 1294.40 1304.50 1290.00 1302.70GICRE 171.30 173.35 170.05 170.05ABB 1329.25 1333.00 1314.00 1314.00MRF 58107.10 58200.00 57600.00 57612.00KEI 475.20 479.45 470.75 474.05FINCABLES 365.95 367.90 364.50 366.50SHREECEM 17787.05 18008.60 17490.00 17590.15RELAXO 465.00 466.75 454.40 462.90FINOLEXIND 501.25 502.75 486.00 500.00MAGMA 61.50 61.50 56.40 56.95HAL 648.75 665.00 646.00 654.35APLAPOLLO 1289.50 1294.00 1267.80 1267.80DCAL 171.85 174.05 169.90 170.25AUBANK 676.00 681.75 669.00 671.60TV18BRDCST 20.25 20.90 20.20 20.80ASTRAL 1304.05 1320.05 1303.55 1310.00GRANULES 92.20 93.00 91.65 92.40GESHIP* 243.00 244.00 238.00 243.00TEJASNET 79.00 79.60 77.95 78.25GDL 100.85 102.00 100.20 101.20PFIZER 2973.00 3030.00 2973.00 2975.85FCONSUMER 26.75 27.00 26.45 26.45MAHLOG 332.00 337.00 330.65 335.00PNCINFRA 175.50 182.00 173.95 178.90GRINDWELL 551.00 562.00 548.00 548.00

IDFC 35.00 35.85 34.50 35.40ENDURANCE 920.45 923.45 906.45 919.15CUB 196.20 198.90 194.50 194.60TEAMLEASE 2750.00 2895.80 2733.15 2835.40UCOBANK 15.00 15.10 14.85 14.95CARERATING 542.00 552.20 539.00 543.30VMART 1963.40 2049.00 1963.40 2049.00ABBOTINDIA 9550.95 9550.95 9420.00 9529.30JSWENERGY 66.85 67.00 66.20 66.25HIMATSEIDE 132.00 133.00 130.75 132.70JBCHEPHARM 380.95 384.45 376.60 380.90ITDC 167.70 175.25 167.40 171.40CENTRALBK 19.00 19.10 18.80 19.00SYNDIBANK 31.90 32.05 31.55 31.85ATUL 3466.40 3517.00 3445.00 3462.35JAGRAN 67.45 68.35 66.25 67.55SHILPAMED 240.00 248.95 233.20 247.70SYNGENE 313.50 318.00 313.50 314.80SREINFRA 11.10 11.15 10.25 10.91ECLERX 480.40 485.40 461.00 462.80ABFRL 192.00 192.00 187.30 187.30ANDHRABANK 20.30 20.30 19.15 19.25TTKPRESTIG 5553.55 5589.90 5514.00 5579.80IBULISL 81.80 87.40 81.80 86.00JMFINANCIL 70.95 72.00 70.20 71.55FLFL 418.25 422.00 413.40 420.75BOSCHLTD 13412.10 13649.80 13412.10 13532.10LAOPALA 181.95 184.05 175.60 177.65MAHABANK 12.06 12.10 11.97 12.07

IOB 10.05 10.25 10.00 10.08MAHSCOOTER 3817.95 3939.50 3800.00 3939.00UNITEDBNK 10.05 10.20 9.76 9.92STARCEMENT 94.00 95.00 92.70 93.00NH 239.00 245.00 237.00 241.80DHANUKA 317.85 318.80 310.95 316.70TRIDENT 56.55 56.95 56.25 56.35DBCORP 132.05 135.95 131.90 133.60FDC 163.00 163.00 161.10 162.70ZENSARTECH 219.00 219.00 214.55 214.55GILLETTE 7225.00 7235.00 7104.45 7130.00CORPBANK 17.65 17.75 17.20 17.30THOMASCOOK 143.90 145.95 142.15 145.00KNRCON 213.80 216.50 212.45 216.50MHRIL 210.50 210.50 205.55 206.00GET&D 157.00 157.00 154.00 156.80SANOFI 6171.05 6264.65 6150.00 6151.00SJVN 24.30 24.90 24.30 24.65NBVENTURES 82.50 84.10 82.10 83.40RATNAMANI 925.15 930.00 894.00 905.00CENTRUM 25.35 25.35 23.90 24.65TIINDIA 331.00 332.45 329.15 329.15ALKEM 1836.45 1850.00 1828.00 1843.00THYROCARE 468.20 468.20 462.00 465.70IFBIND 709.00 712.60 689.00 699.60TVTODAY 298.60 298.60 295.15 297.00TCNSBRANDS 655.25 664.40 655.25 662.15NILKAMAL 987.60 992.00 980.00 983.00NETWORK18 22.65 22.70 22.00 22.10GHCL 196.30 196.40 190.55 190.85CAPPL 424.15 424.15 414.70 417.00GMDCLTD 63.45 64.85 63.40 64.50ESSELPRO 103.75 105.15 102.05 103.60EVEREADY 77.15 78.50 75.50 76.15JKCEMENT 996.90 1006.15 990.00 1000.65TATAINVEST 756.05 760.35 754.20 754.30GPPL 79.30 79.65 76.25 79.65IRCON 342.70 345.40 339.25 343.00SHK 129.65 129.80 127.75 128.65FORTIS 124.60 125.50 123.50 123.50JSL 30.70 30.70 29.80 30.30LAXMIMACH 3560.00 3602.00 3560.00 3578.00AKZOINDIA 1710.00 1717.00 1698.35 1699.85SFL 1200.00 1233.75 1175.00 1205.00SUPREMEIND 1093.20 1097.95 1079.05 1097.00MPHASIS 968.20 970.80 961.00 970.00CARBORUNIV 282.00 283.50 281.50 283.05TIMKEN 690.80 695.00 685.10 694.65OFSS 3041.90 3053.00 3038.05 3040.65COROMANDEL 384.00 385.60 380.50 380.60IEX 133.40 135.10 133.20 133.60HERITGFOOD 361.20 375.70 361.20 374.15EIHOTEL 156.75 158.40 156.10 157.65JYOTHYLAB 139.70 141.80 139.70 140.00TIMETECHNO 59.45 60.00 58.85 59.95PGHH 10093.60 10118.40 10037.80 10100.00SUNDRMFAST 427.20 427.20 423.35 423.60JKLAKSHMI 321.00 321.00 315.25 316.50GSKCONS 7925.00 7925.00 7861.75 7914.65SOMANYCERA 283.10 288.95 282.00 288.95APLLTD 493.35 495.60 491.40 494.45BAJAJHLDNG 3323.00 3326.00 3296.00 3316.40NESCO 529.05 532.90 527.00 527.00TVSSRICHAK 1740.00 1757.95 1740.00 1749.80MAHLIFE 372.50 380.20 372.50 376.70VARROC 427.45 430.25 420.00 420.00MAHSEAMLES 377.30 380.00 373.25 376.00VBL 634.50 638.40 626.10 629.35LINDEINDIA 494.15 503.65 493.50 501.25BLUESTARCO 711.15 720.15 704.80 713.10ALLCARGO 89.75 90.95 89.00 90.55ASTERDM 124.00 124.00 116.00 117.00CHOLAHLDNG 440.80 444.75 432.25 443.55ASAHIINDIA 185.00 187.40 181.55 184.25ADVENZYMES 148.55 151.85 148.00 148.00TRITURBINE 101.55 103.00 100.00 100.20ORIENTELEC 154.35 155.00 153.25 153.30SYMPHONY 1235.90 1240.55 1224.55 1224.55MAXINDIA 60.05 60.25 59.45 60.00MONSANTO 2030.70 2081.00 1927.00 2060.00APARINDS 533.25 544.25 531.00 531.70SKFINDIA 1871.70 1892.25 1868.75 1878.65ORIENTCEM 81.70 82.40 81.30 82.25BAYERCROP 3126.90 3149.20 3082.50 3149.20SHOPERSTOP 410.00 411.65 396.45 396.55INOXWIND 33.25 34.55 33.25 34.35ITDCEM 68.35 68.50 67.40 67.50CGPOWER 12.03 12.03 12.03 12.03SUPRAJIT 160.35 160.80 155.90 158.85SADBHAV 138.50 139.25 136.20 138.70HATSUN 593.95 614.20 593.95 605.50BASF 1023.55 1023.55 1013.00 1013.00BAJAJCON 250.60 252.05 250.15 250.55JCHAC 1640.00 1640.00 1580.00 1597.00CCL 235.00 235.85 233.80 235.85KPRMILL 564.95 564.95 551.35 551.35SOLARINDS 1082.35 1083.20 1071.00 1071.00BLUEDART 2178.05 2197.80 2160.00 2170.153MINDIA 20330.00 20505.00 20275.55 20466.00CERA 2355.90 2473.00 2355.90 2395.00HONAUT 24790.00 24983.75 24666.20 24983.75FINEORG 1423.25 1430.60 1423.25 1423.90INDOSTAR 276.00 280.00 276.00 279.50SCHAEFFLER 4004.75 4050.00 3990.65 4050.00SUDARSCHEM 318.00 320.75 318.00 319.10SIS 768.55 768.55 765.00 765.90WABCOINDIA 6126.00 6135.80 6080.10 6100.00JSWHL 2730.00 2730.00 2705.00 2730.00ELGIEQUIP 244.35 244.35 242.05 242.05

�������

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10860.95 10920.10 10816.00 10847.90 3.25TATAMOTORS 109.75 119.35 109.50 118.35 8.85COALINDIA 183.90 196.40 183.80 195.45 13.30ONGC 119.45 129.90 119.45 125.30 6.30BPCL 363.00 385.00 361.05 380.00 16.45YESBANK 59.70 62.35 58.85 61.80 2.35IOC 120.60 129.20 120.60 124.45 4.10DRREDDY 2636.75 2694.80 2636.75 2684.95 82.25NTPC 119.85 129.65 119.85 123.20 3.75GAIL 126.10 132.25 126.00 131.00 3.70MARUTI 5805.00 5998.00 5791.25 5977.40 146.65M&M 506.85 519.50 506.70 518.00 12.30VEDL 139.10 142.50 138.30 139.30 2.60BRITANNIA 2651.00 2705.00 2640.00 2680.00 44.55INFY 830.10 837.50 826.65 835.10 13.80HEROMOTOCO2574.95 2614.00 2567.15 2609.00 42.90HINDALCO 182.25 188.65 182.25 184.60 2.95UPL 558.30 573.90 558.30 570.00 8.95TATASTEEL 346.00 352.00 342.25 344.55 5.30BAJFINANCE 3286.00 3305.00 3242.80 3298.90 48.65SUNPHARMA 428.00 433.95 423.35 432.70 6.25ZEEL 356.50 363.30 354.30 360.50 5.00POWERGRID 199.00 203.30 197.35 199.40 2.50CIPLA 472.00 479.75 470.60 477.10 5.70LT 1312.85 1338.00 1308.65 1319.85 11.80TITAN 1037.00 1052.90 1036.25 1046.10 8.90BAJAJ-AUTO 2740.05 2775.45 2740.05 2759.00 23.30JSWSTEEL 217.10 222.30 213.50 216.50 1.70ADANIPORTS 365.70 367.75 361.25 367.00 2.65EICHERMOT 15749.00 15879.95 15541.15 15745.15 102.75BHARTIARTL 345.00 349.35 340.95 347.35 1.65ITC 242.00 246.90 242.00 244.30 1.05GRASIM 694.20 705.60 691.60 696.95 2.90ULTRACEMCO 3899.00 3927.45 3872.50 3890.50 14.00AXISBANK 652.00 659.75 644.05 648.60 1.30INFRATEL 248.10 249.70 247.10 248.00 -0.05WIPRO 258.90 258.90 254.50 255.60 -0.45BAJAJFINSV 7050.00 7094.95 6953.60 6993.00 -30.10SBIN 275.00 276.35 271.05 273.50 -1.60RELIANCE 1206.80 1213.20 1193.30 1193.40 -7.75HDFCBANK 2249.00 2272.40 2225.00 2232.00 -15.75INDUSINDBK 1327.00 1335.00 1303.45 1307.00 -10.60HINDUNILVR 1842.00 1843.95 1818.15 1830.00 -16.60HCLTECH 1125.45 1125.45 1103.75 1114.55 -11.10TECHM 710.00 710.00 691.05 695.00 -8.25ASIANPAINT 1537.00 1545.90 1515.25 1516.60 -18.55KOTAKBANK 1431.90 1441.85 1405.45 1409.00 -17.45TCS 2242.20 2253.65 2207.30 2215.95 -29.45ICICIBANK 389.55 394.00 388.00 388.60 -8.90IBULHSGFIN 458.30 468.60 443.05 448.00 -10.30HDFC 2100.00 2100.00 2040.00 2041.00 -59.10

�������

�����������

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 25878.95 26036.80 25853.55 25935.05 134.50ICICIGI 1154.00 1184.00 1151.00 1184.00 38.55LUPIN 745.85 769.90 741.00 766.10 24.15NIACL 105.00 111.00 104.55 107.60 3.05HINDPETRO 255.00 275.00 254.80 264.50 7.30NHPC 23.70 24.50 23.45 24.15 0.65MOTHERSUMI 95.90 98.00 95.35 97.60 2.60HAVELLS 637.00 654.65 636.80 652.10 16.10CADILAHC 232.00 237.70 231.05 236.00 5.75AUROPHARMA 600.10 615.00 600.10 614.00 14.85CONCOR 504.90 521.80 498.35 515.00 12.10GODREJCP 583.50 599.00 577.20 596.10 13.20BHEL 50.50 52.50 50.40 51.15 1.05IDEA 5.05 5.20 4.95 5.10 0.10PAGEIND 17723.20 18140.00 17577.00 17948.00 303.40NMDC 79.50 82.75 79.40 80.90 1.30ACC 1449.00 1465.90 1436.65 1460.65 19.70HDFCAMC 2595.00 2657.60 2583.00 2605.50 31.55BOSCHLTD 13400.00 13661.80 13400.00 13530.20 135.65AMBUJACEM 192.55 193.80 190.40 192.60 1.70BANKBARODA 93.65 96.00 91.80 94.00 0.70SAIL 32.65 33.25 32.10 32.45 0.20SBILIFE 831.55 835.00 820.70 830.15 3.75HINDZINC 217.80 219.50 214.65 215.75 0.95ASHOKLEY 62.60 63.50 62.30 62.80 0.20L&TFH 92.60 94.00 91.40 91.60 0.25PIDILITIND 1361.95 1372.95 1356.05 1364.00 3.35MARICO 385.05 386.00 381.65 384.70 0.55SIEMENS 1173.65 1182.10 1164.05 1168.55 0.75BAJAJHLDNG 3283.95 3326.35 3283.95 3306.40 1.90PGHH 10179.70 10179.70 10031.55 10099.95 -1.90DMART 1534.95 1542.95 1515.00 1523.00 -1.85MRF 57880.00 58260.00 57583.60 57613.15 -78.05GICRE 171.50 173.70 170.00 170.50 -0.40ICICIPRULI 432.00 433.45 425.25 426.05 -1.35ABB 1329.40 1333.00 1313.00 1314.90 -4.70PEL 1949.90 1970.00 1923.00 1941.45 -7.35PETRONET 264.45 266.75 262.90 264.60 -1.05COLPAL 1253.00 1261.00 1238.00 1239.00 -6.25UBL 1329.80 1340.00 1310.90 1322.90 -6.90SHREECEM 17791.85 18039.90 17466.00 17600.00 -111.15OFSS 3057.10 3060.25 3033.00 3040.05 -21.70DABUR 444.45 445.65 437.10 439.00 -3.20INDIGO 1638.00 1642.65 1616.05 1628.75 -12.45BANDHANBNK 454.00 454.00 446.40 448.25 -3.90SRTRANSFIN 986.85 999.65 973.10 976.00 -8.55MCDOWELL-N 610.00 613.80 599.80 605.85 -7.00BIOCON 232.00 232.70 227.70 228.50 -2.80HDFCLIFE 538.80 547.40 527.00 527.95 -7.70DIVISLAB 1660.30 1666.20 1633.60 1638.00 -25.45DLF 163.90 164.25 157.15 159.65 -4.30

:�����1!�������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&'

!�����#��� ���#��#�!�������#�"���#�"�����G-����H8��3����������������+��%�,���(�������+�;�,�%��A��-��������%��������;��%+��+�,������%�,��������+,����+,��3�+%�����,���%�A�+,�,��-�,������#�+���%�!�����-��,����+,�1<&��&��"����,+����%�;�,�;�(�����+,���;��������%�%8�;�,�A�%������,�-��+��;��-�&��&��!���!��-����,���%��!����-3+���-!���7%��&�;�,������,���+,�,�����,�����,������+,������3,�(�������"

7#-���#""#�7�7�������.���#��#����� ���7���&8 ������ ���+3���%����� �# ��-������ 3�������3�+%��!����%����� +��A����#�# ��8���#������+��%������%��,����+,/<���-������A�����+������ 3+�%�&��#�,��������,��,�����3%�+�,������# �++��K�,���+����%+3����,,��!�,��+�;��!3�%��+�����-���-���)�A���#��,�;�����-+�,��,��&����#��������7���� ���%��������%��-��#�����9+����-�+,�;��;�+�#�A��-�%��-���3+��:3��!��"

�7�#��������#�����!)BA������"9���� ��$�"��#�7��C8�����3�,�����!����������3�+%��������+�%����#�&��7,����%�,��,������#���+3+&��,�%�����A��A�#��,����,���%�;���-������-�,�*�/C8��#�%�+&��3��,������#�-�,� ��3+�%������&��+����+;�&�;�,��3++��"��!�������&,3��%����%�#����+�#�!�8���3+�%������-�,��-�����&��73++����+�&���,�+,+8����63��8 3,�����+� ����A�%�,�� ���&��+��������,���+,����,��%�;���-����*�/C"

�#��!�"����-#��0�����$���#�#/"���#""#�7�%��������� 8 ��3,����������+�,�#&�����������+�%��,+�# �++�������-����������;��-A���������-���+,���3,��������� 3+���++�+������&��+�������,,��!+���������-�7�;��%�+,���+���6������+ 3�-8�;�������-������+�����3���%�&���+�,��A��3�,���,+���,�����+����#��3,��������"

��7���#���#�"������#- ��"� �"�����"!����&8���-��3&�������,��������;��,��++�+�;���O%����,�%P�,����3�����1</Q�;������,3����� %3�,�%� ��,�����3,�8������,7���%��-�,��#������,����,�������;���+���+������3%�%���,����A�+�,�,������-���-"�������+���+����-� �������,��A��+���8;�,������-���-�+����-�,���/1;�#���;����!�%��&&�%����#�����,���������+,�,�7�3���+,�3���,����(�����;��������3���+�+,+�,����%����,�%����,�����;�������;���"

!��$�#%�"������"��-����$�# � I�����8���������-��?�*�,�,�#&��8�+�,3�,�%�����������+,��&��A����������!�+,��8��+�,�� �%�A���&�%���%�������,��+�����,��&��-��#+�;���� ��������+�%8#�%�����&��,+�+��%"

������;������;;"#�

London: British PrimeMinister Boris Johnson onThursday suffered yet anotherBrexit blow, this time closer tohome, as his younger brother JoJohnson quit as a Minister inhis Cabinet and also resignedas a parliamentarian of theConservative Party.

In a move reflective of justhow deeply divided the UKremains over its membership ofthe European Union (EU), thebusiness Minister and memberof parliament from Orpingtonsaid that he had been forced totake the step after being tornbetween family loyalty andnational interest. Jo Johnsonwas seen as a popular Tory par-liamentarian. PTI

�"��� �����

The UK on Thursday wentinto what Downing Street

has branded as the first day ofa general election campaign,despite Prime Minister BorisJohnson failing to get hismotion for a snap poll throughthe House of Commons.

Following a night of blowafter blow over Brexit onWednesday, Johnson is deter-mined to get his October 15election date through and hasaccused Opposition Labourleader Jeremy Corbyn of beinga “chicken” for his party’sabstention from the electionvote in Parliament.

The Labour and otherOpposition parties, refused tohand him the two-thirds major-ity he requires to overturn theUK’s Fixed Term ParliamentAct until their own motion toblock a no-deal Brexit by theOctober 31 deadline has passedthrough the Lords and oncourse to become law.

“It is clear the only actionis to go back to the people andgive them the opportunity todecide what they want: Boris togo to Brussels and get a deal, orleave without one on 31October or Jeremy Corbynarriving in Brussels with hissurrender bill begging for moredelay, more dither and accept-ing whatever terms Brusselsimposes over our nation,” aDowning Street spokespersonsaid on Thursday.

“For Jeremy Corbyn tocontinue to avoid an electionwould be a cowardly insult todemocracy,” the spokespersonsaid. The Opposition emergedbuoyed from parliamentaryproceedings on Wednesday,having got their proposed leg-islation to prevent the UKcrashing out of the EuropeanUnion (EU) without an agree-ment in place through its var-ious stages. The bill says

Johnson has until 19 Octoberto either pass a deal inParliament or get MPs toapprove a no-deal Brexit —andafter that he will have to requestan extension to the UK’s depar-ture date to January 31, 2020.

Johnson, who assumedcharge on July 24 after his pre-decessor Theresa May resigned,had branded the motion a“surrender bill”, which in effecthanded power to the EU nego-tiators over the terms of theUK’s exit from the 28-membereconomic bloc.

The UK Government ulti-mately had to drop its attemptto drag on the so-called “sur-render bill” in the Lords late onWednesday night, meaning it isset to pass and go through as lawby Monday. This could meanJohnson attempting to pushthrough another electionmotion again next week becausehe is determined to go back tothe electorate rather than backto Brussels to seek anotherdelay to the Brexit deadline.

“I think the position by theLabour Party, to be so con-sumed by cowardice as to resista general election, is not polit-ically sustainable,” Johnson saidat the end of a marathonCommons session onWednesday. The British PrimeMinister has claimed he isserious about striking a dealwith EU leaders to allow for anorderly withdrawal from thebloc at the end of next monthafter 46 years of membership.

But the EU side has spokenof a paralysis in the talks, withno movement or solutions tothe most controversial aspect ofany divorce arrangement — theIrish backstop. The British PMhad a month’s time to come upwith his proposed alternativearrangements to ensure anopen border between EUmember-country Ireland andUK territory Northern Irelandafter Brexit.

London: An applicant’s Englishlanguage skills are likely to beranked according to levels ofproficiency in a new post-Brexit visa regime beingfinalised by UK home secretaryPriti Patel.

Britain’s senior-mostIndian-origin Cabinet Ministerin the Boris Johnson-ledGovernment commissioned amajor review on Wednesday tokickstart her plans to imple-ment an Australian-stylepoints-based system of immi-gration in a letter to the UK’sinfluential Migration AdvisoryCommittee (MAC).

PTI

#/��� �����

British Prime Minister BorisJohnson’s hardline Brexit

strategy stood in tatters onThursday after a humiliatingweek left him without a work-ing majority but unable to callan election.

His supporters ended anight-long filibuster in theupper House of Lords when theGovernment gave up trying toblock a measure designed tostop a no-deal Brexit by forc-ing Johnson to seek a delay ifhe fails to reach an agreementwith Brussels.

The Opposition said theyshould now be able to pass thebill — which he has branded a“surrender document” —

before he suspends parliamentfor over a month next week.

“Govt commits to allowing(the draft legislation) to com-plete all stages in course ofThurs & Friday — with the billthen going back to theCommons for any further con-sideration on Monday,” themain Opposition Labour Partytweeted in the early hours ofThursday morning.

The Lower House ofCommons fast-tracked the leg-islation on Wednesday andthen blocked Johnson’s call foran early election that he wantsheld on October 15.

Labour said it will onlyback the snap poll once itmakes sure Johnson is unableto follow through on his threat

to take Britain out of the EUwith no deal by the October 31Brexit deadline .

Parliament has now dealtJohnson a rapid series of sting-ing defeats that have left him aweakened leader just six weeksinto his term. The splinteredcountry still stands no closer tofinding out how or when — oreven if — it will leave theEuropean Union more thanthree years after the originalBrexit vote.

Johnson will also faceanother legal challenge onThursday against his decisionto order the suspension of par-liament from next week untilOctober 14 — a move that hiscritics have called a “coup”and a “constitutional outrage”.

#� � ���5�

Global stocks turned higheron Thursday on the news

that US and Chinese officials willmeet in October to try to end atariff war and as British law-makers sought a less chaotic exitfrom the European Union.

The US and China agree-ment on a date for talks camein a phone call conducted bythe chief Chinese envoy, VicePremier Liu He, with US TradeRepresentative RobertLighthizer and TreasurySecretary Steven Mnuchin, theChinese Commerce Ministrysaid.

8-� ����� ����� �������� �� �"���"�#<������5��

=�� �� (����������� �� ���������������� $ $��������

#/��� �����

Iran is set to detail its latest cutto commitments under a

2015 nuclear deal on Saturday,in response to US sanctionsand perceived inaction by otherparties to save the accord.

Iran’s atomic energy organ-isation spokesman BehrouzKamalvandi will hold a newsconference to detail Tehran’sthird round of cuts in itsnuclear commitments sinceMay, the semi-official ISNAnews agency reported onThursday.

Iran and three Europeancountries — Britain, Franceand Germany — have been

engaged in talks to reduce ten-sions and rescue the multi-party deal, which has beenunravelling since the US with-drew in May last year.

But with no apparentagreement in sight, Iran’sPresident Hassan Rouhani onWednesday made good on apromise to take another stepaway from the deal betweenIran and the five permanentmembers of the United NationsSecurity Council powers, plusGermany (P5+1).

“The atomic energy organ-isation (of Iran) is ordered toimmediately start whatever isneeded in the field of researchand development, and abandon

all the commitments that were in place regarding

research and development,”said Rouhani, without elabo-

#/��� ����� �

The EU on Thursday urgedIran to reverse its scale-back

of commitments to the nuclearaccord struck with world pow-ers after the Islamic Republicannounced it was ending curbson atomic research.

European Commissionspokesman Carlos Martin Ruizde Gordejuela told a mediabriefing in Brussels that thedecision was “inconsistent”with the Joint Comprehensive

Plan of Action, under whichthe accord is implemented.

“And in this context weurge Iran to reverse these stepsand refrain from further mea-sures that undermine thenuclear deal,” he said.

Iran has been progressive-ly pulling back from the termsof the 2015 deal as it comesunder intensifying sanctionspressure from the UnitedStates, which exited the accord under President Donald Trump.

'�����������������"���)�"�"�� 86=!� ������>�

������� ���(����������������������6< �+��71�&����%����

�������2��� ���� M#�������������

-�� ����� ������������ ��������<��""�"� ��rating.

Iran’s arch-enemy Israelresponded by calling for more international pressure on Iran.

“This is not the time tohold talks with Iran; this is thetime to increase the pressure on Iran,” said IsraeliPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu.

98�������3�� ����B������;� ���=�� (����"� � ���������

�������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&'

�����,�� ��((������#���(�+��+��,��+�!��"!�7����!#����%�##���7#����� ���-�����,������+���++����,������#���

O���,��!���%������H+�&���7��-� ���-+�����,�������+�7��++����+�����"���������-��%����!��-���,��+8���A�+,��#�����#�+,�����%���� �������,�%�����+8P����%�+��%"

����,;��;���� �+����%�����-����,��+��-�� ������;�������+� ���+��,����,����#����(��+,"�����%����,��%�+��� �+��,��+��&��,����,��#"

����3�,����+��+,��,�����+�#������+,+���%�����,������#������,�+,���+��A��+��,���+��-����,���#�����(��+,8����4��3+�A��%�+,���,���"�

�������#��+�+�,�,� ����A�+3���+&��,��������:3��,�++��,�����,������A��+"�

����+&������+�������-���� �� ���;�+��,,��%�%� ��1<<<������# ���+,3%��,+���%�,����3#����+;���"�

�,�,��+�������-8,���,��#����3%��-,���%����,����,�+���;���8�,����+,�K����3������#�8������+��3#�����3!��8��3+�������%��8��A��������+��,,�8����������+��8������+�������;����&��+��,"

������,������#��+� �+�%����,����������,���������+8�,���+,3%��,+;����#3����#3+�%�,��;�,����,"�������#������+�+�,�%��"�

=�����.����:��� �����/ ����������9�/9�����������.��:�:, � �����>����:�+�:��� �������

�����/9��:��� ? �� �����������-+� ������ � ���� �:,��,�����@��-��������+��� ���������/���,��-�������,�>���:����:��+ ����/��.�,�����,������,��� �������������������������:��.�,��>�� �+ ����� ����� ����:��.�������������� �����, -:����������- �������>4A�9�,��������,��?�9�

*�*����+�1$

=&���,�.0����������/�������� �,� ��4

��������:��4��������������- ���%����/���#���"�� ��+� ��!������;7�-������ ��,��+,����,�&�� ���#�����-���,�&������;��%�+,��%�+&�,��+����-����,��+������#�%��"

�������+�������+,����-��;�����#���,����,�A���� ���+&�����+�����"�����+��+8�O��!��;�;�����H#��#���,� ���;�,��+�#�,���-8���%��

!��;�;�����H#���,"P����+,�������+�,��

���+,��,�&��++3���,� ����!�%����+�����

#�%�������&��,��73��������A�%�#�-��-�����,+���

��3�-�&��&����-3���-��3,�,����

�%��,�,�"O�����=,�����3�-

�%3�,>�����%���-��,,���3-��+�#������+�H+����+8�;�������+ �������,���%���%����-�%���%�,���8,������+�,��,����+,��,��������-�,,��-���!�%"�������+�����,������#7&����-���%�%�+&���7��-8P�+����%%+"

When I greet him by saying, “Hidream girl with bushy eye-brows! (going by his

Instagram bio),” actor AyushmannKhurrana laughs and recalls how at14, he used to call his first girlfriendto talk to her. It was the early 1990sand as those who have lived in thetime know that a single landlinesufficed for the entire family. Thegirl’s father answered the calls and

Ayushmann spoke in a woman’svoice, pretending to be his girl-

friend’s female friend. Thegirl’s father did not suspecta thing when he heard his(turned her) voice andpromptly handed overthe phone to his daugh-ter. “And we used totalk for hours becauseher dad thought thatshe was talking to agirl,” says the actorand bursts outlaughing evenbefore we start ask-ing questions.Well, who knew alittle stint in his

teenage years wouldcome back to him asone of his rolestoday?

For his forth-coming filmDream Girl, this isone of the firstt h i n g s

Ayushmann recallswhen we ask himabout how he estab-lished a commandover the femininevoice he uses to makeprank calls in the film.He also points outthat he has done radiocommentary in thepast, “which enabledme to make prankcalls. That alsohelped. But of course,this was not some-

thing that Iwas used to.I did prac-tise to befluent in it.And mostly,I dubbeda n drecordedmy voicein a studioso that Icould get

multiple takesof it. So now it

sounds so much like a girl that it does-n’t even look like it’s dubbed (laughs).”

The actor believes that this is oneof his “most commercial films,” whichis very different from others. “Thetonality of this film is its masala. Thisis one of most commercial filmsbecause I have been known for my real-istic performances. But this one is outthere. So it has given me the chance toexplore that territory of a commercialfilm. And it’s a lot of fun.”

The trailer of the film has left theaudience anticipating what exactly ithas to offer as Ayushmann is seenessaying roles of Sita and Radha inRamlilas and engaging in sex-talkwith strangers on the phone during hisjob at a call centre. The actor says, “Inour country, most of the actors who areplaying characters of women inRamlilas in small towns are males.There are many men who play the roleof Sita. So this is also a story of one ofthose guys and I am that guy here. Mycharacter has the talent of being ableto speak in both male and female voic-es. So he just explores it to earnmoney. But in the end, it’s not boundto just adult chat or sex-talk but it isalso about how I enable lonely peopleto have fun. They are looking for com-panions. It’s a comedy but it certainlytouches some souls with its humour.”

In one of the scenes in the trailer,Ayushmann is seen playing Draupadiand during the time of her vastra haranor the unveiling of Draupadi in thecourt, he yells, “#MeToo agarMahabharata ke time par hota na, tohsabse pehle tum sab andar jaate (If#MeToo happened during the time ofMahabharata, you all would have beenjailed first.)” It appears to be funny atfirst but strikes as an epiphany laterabout how the film enables a man to

see the world from a woman’s point ofview when he puts himself into hershoes. So what was Ayushmann’s ideaof it? He says, “I feel that empathy isvery important. When you know awoman personally, up close and insideout, as a friend, a brother or a husband,you realise the issues that she is facingin a social set-up. Hence, the film is alsoabout gender fluidity. It says that a manshould not think twice if he wants todress up like a woman. No one shouldbe stopped from doing that. Similarly,no one should stop a woman fromdressing up like a man.” It’s 2019 andthe actor believes that we should havethat liberty as it’s our “prerogative” todo that.

However, Dream Girl, he tells us,is not a film which tries to give a mes-sage. “It’s funny and humorous. Thoughthere are certain lines which willbriefly touch and go. But overall, it isjust for laughs. It is the funniest filmthat I have done till now.” The film isset in Mathura and the best part aboutshooting for it, for Ayushmann, was theweather as it was during the Winter.

The recent films and even webseries are evidence that more interest-ing plots are coming from small townsand middle-class family scenarios inour country, unlike the rich, affluentpeople in metro cities which inhabit atypical Karan Johar film. Some exam-ples being Stree, Badhaai Ho!, LukaChuppi, Jabariya Jodi and more. Why?It’s certainly because of their highrelatability factor and connect with theaudience. And the theme of realism.However, Ayushmann believes that agood story is not place-specific. “Itdoesn’t have anything to do with a smalltown or a metro city. It is also because70 per cent of the nation lives in smalltowns. I am also from one of them.

Even though I have stayed in Mumbaiand Delhi but eventually, I am fromPanchkula, a small city nearChandigarh. So when people from suchplaces go out and watch these films,they connect to them. But there are alsofilms like Dil Dhadakne Do, which givea glimpse of the urban lifestyle, but dofairly well too. So venues don’t reallymatter as long as the stories are good,”says he.

Talking about the realistic portray-al of issues in films today, do films witha message actually create an impact onsociety? A recent example being hisArticle 15, which presented a take onthe discriminatory caste system inIndia. And Ayushmann agrees that itdoes: “The representation of theseissues do make an impact on society.It reaches to a wider audience collec-tively especially to those for whom theissue of casteism doesn’t really exist. Butin the larger realm, it still does. It actsas an eye-opener for most of them.”

It was certainly a film which notonly might have created an impact onthe audience, but provided some “greatlearning” to the actor as well. He tellsus how and what he learnt the mostfrom it. “It was empathy more thananything else. Getting into that char-acter was like knowing the situationsof a society in a country. If you knowthat, it will help you build that empa-thy towards the downtrodden. It wasalso about acknowledging the casteismin our country. Probably, I was moreaware than the character on-screenabout the issue because I come fromthe street theatre background andhave done plays on social issues insmall towns, which really helped meto get into the character. It was the onlydark film that I have done till date andit was quite a learning experience,” headds.

The actor, who is currently livinga dream after his successful threeblockbusters and winning a NationalAward, tells us how he balanced theroller-coaster of a ride his life has beenduring the past year. It was extreme ashe had to balance swinging emotions— his wife’s (Tahira Kashyap) illnessand two back-to-back hits (Andhadhunand Badhaai Ho!). “I have realised thatlife is a great leveller. It gives you some-thing and also takes something awayfrom you. There are equal phases ofsorrow and happiness. There are toughtimes but good times too exist. At thesame time, everybody has a void intheir life and they have to accept it asa part of it. And at the end of the day,they have to keep going with the cir-cumstances. But we just need to be ina happy state to go through the chal-lenges ahead. So that’s about it. I amglad we came out of that,” says he.

However, there certainly comes apressure after being honoured with aNational Award, as it creates a partic-ular benchmark for an actor to not fallbelow it, requires him/her to keepdoing good and not ‘disappoint’ theviewers. “There is nothing like that,”he laughs and adds that it’s a “happypressure, which will give me thecourage to choose scripts which aremore radical. And I always follow mygut and intuition. I have been doingthat for many years now.”

(The film releases on September 13.)

It was here that I decided tobecome a Victorian (literature

student) at a time when it was-n’t at all fashionable. They wereconsidered gauche, kitsch, sen-timental, absurd,” MargaretAtwood says, tracing her life andremembering the times shewould dash back and forthacross the park to take englishclasses on one side and historyand philosophy on the other.

“But the foundations ofwomen’s equality — John StuartMill, those kinds of thinkers —were Victorians and the positionof women was a real hotbedtopic, extending all the wayfrom proper undergarments tohigher education. One of mycherished facts is that womenweren’t allowed into classicalart schools because they mightsee naked women,” she addswith a laugh. “What a shock!”

Atwood is among the world’smost celebrated authors. Justmonths shy of her 80th birthday,the longtime Toronto residenthas otherwise never been morenoticed. She has written theyear’s most anticipated novel,The Testaments, the sequel to herclassic — The Handmaid’s Taleand a Booker Prize finalist.

In December, Atwood willbe honoured in New York by theCentre for Fiction, which hasgiven its first ever on-screenaward to her and to Hulu exec-utives for the Emmy-winningadaptation of The Handmaid’sTale. Hulu and MGM are nowplanning a series based on TheTestaments.

Atwood is a literary writerwho tries not to act like one, tak-ing mock umbrage — “Ofcourse. What do you take mefor?” — when we ask if she hasread The Hunger Games.Whatever the subject —Victorian literature, resistancemovements, Game of Thrones —she is not only knowledgeable,but interesting and funny. Hervoice, like her writing, is leveland pointed, with the slightestinflection turning the moodtowards irony, scandal or fore-boding.

“There is a great wit alongwith the breaking of rules taking

place” in her books, says fellowauthor and Canadian MichaelOndaatje. “And as an individual,she has been a remarkably bravespirit, supporting many causes todo with writers and politics,” sheadds.

She has written more than 40books, novels, stories, essaysand poems and her awardsinclude the Booker Prize for TheBlind Assassin and Canada’sGiller Prize for Alias Grace. Sheis a feminist heroine who in the

introduction to a recent editionof The Handmaid’s Tale definesa feminist novel not as idealisingwomen, but humanising them,with all the variety and charac-ter and behavior that implies. Inher fiction, women are bothkillers and killed, betrayers andbetrayed, rebels and oppressors.

The Handmaid’s Tale reflectsan imagination both expansiveand grounded. As Atwood likesto point out, everything in thenovel either has happened or

could happen. Gilead, she says,is not “invented, but curated”and so rooted in the actual andthe possible that she speaks ofreissuing the book with foot-notes. For instance, the iconichandmaid uniforms of bright redcloaks and white bonnets thatobscure their faces were inspiredby the image on a container ofold dutch cleanser. “Each detailI can tell you chapter and versewho did it when,” Atwood says.

In announcing TheTestaments last fall, she citedreaders curiosity about Gileadand, more darkly, the worldwe’ve been living in. As sheexplains, she wrote TheHandmaid’s Tale in part as aresponse to the anti-feministbacklash of the 1980s. She did-n’t expect to write a sequelbecause she didn’t expect the riseof Donald Trump and the worldbecoming more like the originalnovel. Even before he becamepresident, she was resurrectingGilead. In February 2017, shesent a memo to her literary rep-resentatives that outlined TheTestaments, how it would havethree narrators and would be setaround 15 years after Offred fledto an undetermined future.

Praised by The New YorkTimes as a “compelling sequel,”The Testaments was in the top 10on Amazon a week before itspublication. Atwood has receivedletters from readers saying herbook helped them cope withdepression or make sense of liv-ing in religious communities.Naomi Alderman, who wroteThe Power, says she was a teenag-er and an Orthodox Jew whenshe read The Handmaid’s Tale,which pretty well rearrangedher brain. Woman activistsaround the world have worn thehandmaid outfits, protesting insilence against everything fromanti-abortion laws in Ireland tothe general policies of Trump.

Screen adaptations ofacclaimed novels have a long andoften unhappy history, but TheHulu Project has been embracedby Atwood, audiences and crit-ics. The series has received sixEmmys, including one for leadactress Elisabeth Moss. The writ-

ing of The Testaments ran paral-lel to the making of the series,and was a process of subtlecoordination. Atwood says shetried to avoid interfering orrevealing any plot details beyondadvising the makers. “She’s in theunique position of understand-ing very well how to adapt herbooks to different art forms,”says Miller, noting thatHandmaid’s Tale had previouslybeen made into an opera and afeature film.

Atwood first gained atten-tion as a poet, starting in theearly 1960s with DoublePersephone and reaching anational audience in 1966 withThe Circle Game. Her emphasison poetry wasn’t only artistic, shesays, “poetry was cheaper topublish than f ict ion, andCanadians writers in the 1960swere just beginning to establishthemselves.” Atwood, Nobel lau-reate Alice Munro andRobertson Davies were amongthose who helped Canadian lit-erature become worldwide, withAtwood’s early contributionsalso including such novels asSurfacing and an influential workof criticism, Survival.

“Atwood deserves recogni-tion as a tireless and unselfishcultural ambassador,” saysRussell Brown, co-editor of theOxford University Press’ anthol-ogy of Canadian literature. “Shehas done more to promoteCanadian writing — both with-in Canada and beyond — thanany other writer of her genera-tion.”

Her thoughts may run to themacabre and to disaster, butrarely to despair. Along withtyranny in Gilead, there is resis-tance, and confidence that hateis no more permanent than love.She has called herself a realistwhose outlook is neither betternor worse than the world itself.But she also can’t help believingthat better is always possible.

Brown’s co-editor of theOxford anthology, DonnaBennett, says Atwood’s thinkingis characteristically Canadian.Atwood says it’s characteristic ofher profession.

N�@�

$ ���/� ���%�� ���� ���#��%.����.FC�#�.<<�/#C��.<. �������#.#./ �-,,.4 ���������"���������$� ���������)�� �������(������������������������������� �����������)����)��� �����������������������������������B��9

����� ����'������3���-�,�������3���#��,����� ��������������*�)���������������+���;�;�#���;����9,�����;�%���,��,������++�������,�+�����+%3���-�,���/DQ<+� ���3+��,������3�%��3����,���3%��#�%��+

R)� ����������������������

(�����������������������(��� �������������� �"���(������ ���(����� �5��(��������������

�������������H

�����.������1#�

*�*����+�()�*�1�

�5���=��>������!#"�0������ ● (����#���+,��!+E�/71&����+● (3#���+��%+E�1�,+&● (�����%���+��%+E�1�,+&● �,������+�E�1�&����+● )��������%�#�#E�B�&����+● '��+��*3,,��E�S�!-● ���,E�1�,+&● *��!E�1S��3&+● ��+#�,������E�1��3&+● (��A�E�/<�&����+● '������+��%+E�/�,+&● ����!�&�&&��E�/�,+&

● *����&�;%��E�/S�,+&● ����!����%�#�#E�1�&����+● )���E�B�,+&● �����%����E�2�, +&● �������E�/�&����● �����E�/�/������������������8�● )��-���&�+,�E�B�,+&● �3�#����E�/�,+&● (�+��;�&�+,�E�1�,+&�● (3�%E�2�,+&● )������&�+,�E�/�,+&● �%��������&�;%��E�/�,+&● )���#�#�+����&�;%��E�/&����

��"!� ● ���#�!��,���-���#�#�+���8%������+,�����,���+&���+"�����+�,��+�%��,���+&���+���%���,,��#�����"������,���������,���#�,�#&���,3��8�,���+���,��#�,����#�4��-���%�����%�-���%,��#�������"�●

��#3�,����3+��8;�+��,�� �+#�,��������%�%�����4��++�;�,��"�����,����������%%������,�������,��+�����

%���"● '���#3,,���#�����,���8,�!�������!���-��#�#3,,��8�%%�-��-��7-������&�+,�8,3�#�������%��������&�;%��"������%%���+��;�&�+,�8

-���#�#�+���8��3�%��%�#�4��,�;���"(�A����,�;�,�����%���%�&3,��,���,�������-���,�����������3�"�● �����+����,�����������%%��&������,"

��!���3,�#��,

���#�,��������-���,�����%����;��,�,����#��,�����#,�#&���,3��"����8��%%�+��,����+��+����-"�● ���&����,������%�� ��%%��-�-������%�������,���,"������,��+�+3�������,�����,8��%%,���#�����,�%�#��,"● �,�����%����!�,���#��,��������;�#��3,�+������-�����#�83�,����,��+�����������+,�%"(�A����,�;�,������%���%���,��,+�##����������,�������������3�"�● *���;����8��%%�+�������,�,���#��!���%�#�4��,�;����+�,��,�,���+������������+�+��,+

����3����%����#�����,���#��!"�● �����������,���#3,,���;�,����!�%��������%��%%�,��+������7#��!�#�4,3��"● �%%�����,,���+��,8�����������8�����%������+���%�,����#�����-�-�����A����,"��%%#����&�;%�����%�#�4��,�;���"�● (�A���,������%��;�,��,�����%��%�;��-�,��,�%�;��;�,�+�#�,���-����A�"�(��!��,��,����;����#����������������3�"��,�+� �+,���?���%���,�;�,�+�#��������%��3��������� ��,���+�%�"��# ���%.������-���O#� �����������������/# #� �=

���� �3�-�������+���A����,�������������� ����,���������3�� �,;���7,��7

#����,�#��;�,��%�������,����A�3�+"����#��3������+������� ����������� ������ ������������� ������������ ������%�A����3+���3�,� ���������-�;�,��,��%�,��������%�#��,+"� ���8��������&,�# ���B<"��8�//��#�,��F�&#������8��0<<=&�3+�,�4�+> �����8����� �3�-�8����+��,��8�����3������"

�������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&'

L�# ��� ���-+�,��,�+,����%���+,�A�,�

���#��������;�,�����#��3�%�,���������"��,+��� ���#��3���+�1CA�-�,������%�+��+�K�������� ������ �� ���� ��,���,8!��"�# �����������������3���8�(� �-�� ���������+!�# ������������$�%�������� �����������&&������ ������ ������������3���8���# �����%�+�#�����-�;�,����3�����&�������?��!��3�,����&+���%�A����3+�� ��������%�&��!��+�,��-��;�,��,���#���"��,���+����+�%�++��,+���!���������� ������%�,������������������%����,�;�,������#�������3,�#��!"� ���8���&,�# ��//�"��8�//EB<��#�,��2EB<�&#�=�3���>G�C�&#�,��/<EB<�&#�=%�����>������8�D<<�&���&��+�� =&�3+�,�4�+> �����8� L�# ��8��# ������*���8�)3�3-��#"

� 9 ! 3 * 9 6

��#��*���������+,+�;��,����������3�+%��+���%����

-�A��-��;���BB�&������,�������,��������&���,����-�,+�������,�����A�3��,��%���!+"����8���3�+%��+�"��8�C�&#�����8� ��#��*������8�+��,��BF8����%�"��

�����@@����,��%3��+��,+����+,��%�,������������#�������/<�%��+�;�����;������A�

B<�;���+����#��������3�,���+"�����"�#�������+�;���+��!�����%�A��+�(� ����,��3A�-������#�(����8(��,��3 �#�3��34���#�'�����8���+��)�����������#��&���8���������*����,���%(���%���������#��,���8���%� �����@@�9+��;�������,��9+�;����,��"�������;������+�� ��;����4&��,+����#�A����3+�;������+�;���;�3�%��������;��������,������3�,3��"� ���8�������&,�# ���/< �����8� �����@@�8����,,�-����"

���� ����9�

��-�,�����,�/1,�8��������&,��3��,�%� ����,�����;�����%���������+��!�����,��8������ ���,�+�;�,��,���,���

�����%�%�����#��3���� 3#&3��K������������������!�,�+�8��!+����(���;�%����%����,�!��3#��"�������������!�,�+����%����+��!�����,���;����+��A�������7��3�+��#��3�,��,�,������A�������&,3���+�%"�!+������%���,���;��������,��,��� �A���-��#��3�,��,�;��� ��&����%�;�,��,������%"� ���8���&,�# ���/B���%�/2�����8��20<< =&�3+�,�4�+> �����8� ��*���%���8�)3�3-��#"

In the warm weeks, it is hardto imagine that today’s toma-

toes, corn, peaches and otherlate-summer bounty will soonbe just memories. But wait,they don’t have to be. With a bitof forethought and a bit of time,we can safeguard some of thismagnificent produce and drawupon it all winter long.

When you preserve food,you are using techniques tostop its natural decomposi-tion, killing or preventing thegrowth of microbes. It’s impor-tant to follow experts’ direc-tions closely for safety andfood quality. Four basic ways topreserve late-summer fruitsand vegetables:

/���6��$The simplest and most

accessible way to preserve allkinds of produce quickly. Thetwo most critical things aboutfreezing produce are to freezeit as quickly as possible, and infreeze-grade containers.

Chill food before freezingto fasten the process, saysEugenia Bone, author of booksincluding Microbia (Rodale,2018), James Beard-nominatedWell Preserved (ClarksonPotter, 2009), etc. “The slowerthe freezing process, the larg-er the ice crystals, which cancause the cell walls of the pro-duce to rupture: This is whatmakes defrosted foods mushy,”she says.

To prevent freezer burn,which can affect the taste andtexture of food, use plasticbags, wraps or containersdesigned specifically for thefreezer. If you use a container,leave the right amount of head-space, since the food willexpand when it becomesfrozen. Too much extra spacewill result in trapped air.Freezer-proof, zipper-top bagsare terrific since you can labelthem easily, squeeze out excessair and freeze them flat on atray. Once frozen, they can bestacked vertically or horizontal-ly to save space — and they canbe washed and reused.Consider blanching fruits andvegetables — putting them inboiling water and then shock-ing them in a bowl of icewater — before you freezethem, to enhance their qualityafter they thaw. Fruits withskins can be blanched, pittedand peeled before freezing sothey are ready to use oncedefrosted.

A note on tomatoes: If youfreeze them, their skin will slipoff when they thaw, as if youhad blanched and peeled them.

Try roasting them first.Most vegetables and pret-

ty much all fruits will have asofter texture when thawed,depending on how cold yourfreezer is. The closer to 0degrees Fahrenheit it is, the bet-ter your frozen product will beand the longer it will keep.Frozen fruit should be usedeither in that state in smooth-ies and icy desserts, or, if youare thawing it, in a pie, crum-ble or other baked dessert.

�#����$There are two main ways to

can the produce: boiling waterbath and pressure canning.

The water bath methodinvolves packing glass canningjars with food, leaving adequateheadroom and heating the jarsin a pot of boiling water for aprescribed amount of time.The heat drives any air fromthe jar, sterilising the food andcreating a vacuum that causesthe rubber flange on the lid toseal. This method works bestwith naturally acidic foods likefruits and alkaline foods thathave been acidified, like pick-les. Low-acid foods like vegeta-bles and mushrooms cannot becanned using this methodunless acidified.

The pressure canningmethod requires a pressurecanner (not a pressure cooker),and involves pressurised steamheat, which can reach a high-er temperature than boiling. Atthese temperatures, alkalinefoods can be safely cannedwithout acidification. Pressurecanners should be purchasedbased on the type of stove youhave and the amount of foodyou plan to can. Bone’s bookThe Kitchen Ecosystem, forinstance, has advice on how tochoose a pressure canner.Similar to water-bath canning,the heat pushes air out of thefood and jars, sterilising bothand creating a vacuum seal.

“The best way to test yourseal,” says Bone, “is to wait untilthe jar has cooled totally. Thenremove the band and see if youcan lift the jar by the rim of the

lid. If you don’t spill the con-tents of your jar all over thecounter, then your seals aregood.” Improper canning canresult in the growth of harm-fulzspoilers, so find a reliablesource to follow.

���7���$There are many methods.

You can prepare fermentedpickles, which use salt or saltbrine, and quick pickles, whichuse vinegar. Pickling acidifiesthe vegetables so they can besafely water-bath canned.

You can pickle whole veg-etables, like green beans orokra, or you can make chutneyor relishes with chopped pro-duce plus some seasonings.Most of the techniques andrules of regular canning apply.There are some pickling meth-ods that don’t involve canninglike refrigerator pickles. Thesedon’t have the shelf life ofprocessed pickles and must bekept in the fridge but they willextend the life of the producesomewhat. Refrigerator picklesoffer a fresh flavour and usu-ally have a crisp texture.

�0��$J �!0 �#"��$Whatever food you are

drying should be just ready toeat and not overripe or under-ripe, and without bruises ordings. In some cases, produceto be dried should be pretreat-ed — either blanched, ordipped in solutions to retaincolor and texture.

Again, find specific direc-tions for each food to ensurequality and safety.

Drying methods includeair drying, oven drying andusing a dehydrator. A dehydra-tor is the most reliable. If youthink you will be drying foodsregularly, invest in an electricdehydrator. Bone recommendsone with an enclosed thermo-stat which ranges from 85 to160 degrees Fahrenheit, a fanor blower to circulate air, andtrays made of plastic. Fruits canalso be made into fruit leather.

N@�

�5�5���������=�����4���!#"�0������ ● '��+�������3,�=-��,�%>● ��%����+��#��������,E�0<<-#● (����,��E�1�, +&● (��A�+����-�����E�1● )��-��E�1<�-#● �#��?3���E�/<�#�● (��&&�%�&����&&��E�0<�-#�● �%������E�10�-#● (����3,�;�,��E�/$1��3&● ���������+�3��E�/<�-#● �%�&�&&��E�1<�-#�● ��#�,��+E�1<�-#�● ����+��,E�/�&�����● (����3,����E�/<�#��● (��&&�%�������%��E�/<�-#��"!� ● *�����,�������,+�;�,��+��,

��%���#��?3��������/0#��3,�+"● )�����,��������,+�;�����������3,����"�● (������%�#����,��������,+������!��;�,�����%+���%�#�4���&&�%������8�������%��8+��������+�3��8�-��,�%����+������3,8����&&�%�-��-�����%���&&�%�-�����"�● ���&��,��#���,��-����,,�+8���,�;�,�����+��-��,�%�����3,���%�-�������������3,���"● ���&����,���+��+�� �#�4��-����&&�%�&����&&��8,�#�,��+8������,��8�#��,���A�+8���%�&�&&�����%�����3,�;�,�����%����"�● ���A��,��������3,���+���!�+8�;�,��,���+��+�"��# ���%.�(+��#��&�������/#����� �������)�&���!���$�����$� �=

Usually we hear ofBollywood nights, livemusic and sufi nights at

gastropubs. But how often haveyou heard of one celebratingsalsa and that too at a pub? Doyou wonder if that would createthe right vibe? However, myrecent outing at Dontelmama,South Extension II, put myquestions to rest. The blue lightsall across its walls, the levelled-up dancing floor, jazzed-upmusic, garnet maroon, lapis andnavy blue velvet chaise-loungesaround, would do the same toyours too. Even though thesalsa began late in the night, itadded the charm to the place’salready-vibrant ambience. Thepub was sprawled across threelevels, which gave off a richvibrant feel. And the rooftop,which was further segregatedinto a lower section with a coollaid-back vibe, was comple-mented by the lush green andsoft warm lights. A third ‘bird’seye’ level, gave a 360-degree viewof the city. The smoking area wasperky and exuberant and had aspectrum of colours that lend-ed it a quirky aura.

Well, what could be betterthan enjoying such an evening(and spoiler alert: finger-licking food) with yourmate? The place offersa mix of differentcuisine includingfusion. A staffmember suggestedthat we must beginour meal with their sig-nature chaat platter.As I had it, I realisedthat while the rightamount of flavours in thetikkis left a mark on one’stastebuds, the sweetness of thegol-gappas, on the other hand,might make one not opt for it.They were too sweet. I am oneof those for whom the tanginessof the chaat is intrinsic to thedish and makes me relish it.Nothing like a spicy stuffingmade out of potato-chickpeamash and tangy water, liberallyinfused with mint leaves. Eventhough I tried the gol-gappaswith the tangy water or the khat-ta paani, that too tasted sweet.Or rather, failed to tingle mypalate.

So from Indian, I decided todash across continents and ordertacos, something that I hadbeen eyeing since the verybeginning. However, we could-n’t order it at first as we followedthe chef ’s suggestion. Peas

m u s h -rooms tacos were the ones thatwe opted for. With a name likethat, we expected it to be a mixof the two vegetables, but itturned out to be a thick pastewhere both the ingredients wereblended together. But havingsaid that, it was a delightful mix.And who says tacos are just forTuesdays? These were way toogood to eat just about on any dayof the week.

It was the time to make atrip to the European subconti-nent or rather try the Vilayatisubz pasta. The very first bitemade me wonder why weordered something that sound-ed like a mish-mash in the firstplace. However, gulping it downsomehow improved its flavours.At first, it tasted sweet due to the

thick, butter tomato sauce. It wasonly later that the pepperyflavour hit home.

I wasn’t satisfied and decid-ed to taste another pasta of a dif-ferent flavour. This time I went

with the basil with spinach andcorn sauce. It’s very name wasenough to raise the bar of myexpectations. It was laced withgoodness of spinach, packedwith flavours of garlic and sweet

corn, surely making it the bestdish of the evening. To accom-pany it, I ordered their signaturecocktail — Cinnamon whiskystory. With a base of bourbonwhisky, it was blended withlemon juice and honey and acinnamon stick to top it with.

Moving on to the maincourse, they’ve hit upon a greatidea where they serve combomeals. This obviously saves timeand prevents confusion as mostpeople usually end up orderingonly starters in a pub. We wentahead with Paneer tikka ajwai-ni masala and Dal makhani withLachcha parantha combo. Wewere so full by the time that weasked them to lessen the quan-tity. The paranthas were crispyoutside and buttery soft inside.The deal breaker? Dal makhniloaded with unnecessaryamount of cream and fat. Ofcourse, as the name suggests itshould have a certain amountbut it doesn’t have to be practi-cally drowning in them.However, the Paneer tikka ajwai-ni masala just had the rightamount of everything.

The night ended on a goodnote with people rejoicing andbonding over salsa, tacos andpeppery cocktails. Well, so did

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL 0<,*4�.�. ���������������� ��"����6�@����������������)����� ������������������� ��������)��2��������"$���"�2��)���;����� ���"�����)������������)��.FC�#- �#.��.

�'��?�, ��,+� @#���(('$

��&��+��A�����%�,�+,�&��,+���,3���%���#&�+�,���"���������+�#�

+#��,�,�����:3�+�,��%���,�

*����;�)��%��������+���A�3��,��%���!+�,�*�"���������-�,�&�-+����*��,���

������8�*��,�����++�8����3��8����&�����8�)������%����=/1�5�+>8�����+!���=/<5�+>8�6�#����#8�6�#�+��8�6��!�������9+��%�����,�#�����,����+��� ���&����+" ���8��������&,�# ���B<�"��8�/1��#�,�/1�&#������8��/Q0���;��%+�=&�3+�,�4�+>�����8� ����*����;�)��%��8��?�3��)��%��"

�"����)������

Captain Sunil Chhetri’searly strike went in vain

as India surrendered a one-goal advantage to lose 1-2 toOman in their opening fixtureof the 2022 FIFA World CupQualifiers here on Thursday.

The 87-ranked Oman ral-lied to score twice throughRabia Alawi Al Mandhar inthe last eight minutes of reg-ulation time.

The 35-year-old Chhetri,international football’s secondhighest scorer among activeplayers, pushed India ahead inthe 24th minute with his72nd strike.

However, Mandhar brokeIndian hearts when he flickedthe ball past Gurpreet SinghSandhu to restore parity in the82nd minute. More disap-pointment was in store for the103-ranked India as Mandharcompleted his brace in the89th minute in a stunningturnaround.

India dominated the firsthalf with more shots at oppo-sition goal and also enjoyedpossession.

Ashique Kuruniyan, whoreturned to the team aftermissing the Kings Cup andIntercontinental Cup due toinjury, created problems for

the Oman defence with hispace and trickery in the leftchannel.

Following one such rundown the left flank in the 24thminute, he was fouled byAbdulaziz Al Ghailani andIndia got a free kick on the leftedge of the box.

Brandon Fernandes tookthe set piece, sent a grounderin the middle of the box andChhetri fooled his marker todrill in a left-footer into theOman net, much to the cele-bration of a vociferous crowd.

Before that, India weredenied lead in the 15thminute when Udanta Singh’sshot off a Chhetri pass beatthe Omani goalkeeper but itstruck the crossbar, to the dis-may of the home side. Udantawas also denied a goal in asimilar fashion against theUAE in the Asian Cup earli-er in the year.

There were periods ofincessant Indian attack in thefirst half and central defend-er Sandesh Jhingan sent theball over the bar in a free

header off a corner taken byAnirudh Thapa in the 20thminute.

Oman pressed hard inthe closing stages of the firsthalf and goalkeeper GurpreetSingh Sandhu made a greatsave in the 43rd minute,blocking a Ahmed Kanoheader in a one-to-one situ-ation to keep India’s leadintact.

The visitors made astrong fightback in the secondhalf to leave the home teamdisappointed.

������1%�������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&'

B'DESH QUALIFY FOR 2020 WWT20Dundee: ���-��%�+�������3�+%��� ��!�%��� ��,����� ,��� �#��H+� �1<� ���%� (3&� ,�� �� ���%� ���3+,������ ��4,� ����� ��,��� �������-� ,��� ������ ��� ,��:3�������-� ,�3���#��,�;�,�� �� ��3�7;��!�,�;��� �A��������%"����-��%�+�����+,� �;��%�������%��3,�����F0���1<��A��+���%�,�������+�%�%�;��,���,��-�,����FQ�;�,������ ���+� ,�� +&���� ��� ,��� ���+,� +�#�7������ ��� ,���#��H+��1<����%�(3&�T3�������+"����+�;���� ��,����3�,�� ,�#�� ���-��%�+�� ;���� �� ,�!��-� &��,� ��� ,���#��H+� �1<� ���%� (3&� ��,��� 1</28� 1</Q� ��%1</F"�

SHUTTLERS CAMPAIGN ENDS AT TAIPEITaipei: '��#������#&������3�� �����#��+3�����%��+,���-�,7-�#�� ��++� ,�� ;���%� �3# ��� 1� (��3� ����(���� ��� ,���#��H+� +��-��+� +����%� ��3�%� ,�� %��;�3�,���+� ��� ��%��H+� ��#&��-�� �,� ,��� M0<<8<<<(����+�����&����&���,�3���#��,������3�+%��"����1Q7����7��%���3�� �8�;���;���,�����%��� �%��&����+,�#��,�8�;�+����#�,�������,���,�&7+��%�%�(���8-���-�%�;��/171/8�/<71/������#�,���,��,���+,�%�B<#��3,�+"���3�� ����%���#����,��,���#�,���;�,����17<����%7,�7���%������%��-���+,�(���� 3,�,��,�%�%���,#�,,����+�,������&���+�3,,����+,�#&�%���+��3,����,��,�!���!�,�����%�����3,����,���,�3���#��,"���3�� ��;�����4,� &���� �,� ���,��#� �&��� �3&��� /<<� ��4,� ;��!8 ������ ��#&�,��-� ��� ������ �&��� =��&,�# ��� 1271D>"�

PRAJNESH ADVANCES TO JINAN Q/FJinan: ��&� +��%����?��+��)3���+;����� ��!�%� �+��-��+�:3��,�������� ��,���,� ,���6������&���;�,������%7��3-�,�;����A���(����+�����&��H+��3�-7 ���3�����3�+%��"�������%�������,7���%�����%�,��,�������% ������&��A�����-�Q728�C7Q=B>����,���,���%���3�%����,��M� /Q182F<� ���%� ��3�,� ,�3���#��,"� � ��� ��4,� ����+6�&���+����-�,��+��%�)�����%�8�;���+,��#7�����%(����+�� ��� 3� Q7/� Q71� ��� ,��� �,���� ,���%� ��3�%���,�+,"� *���;����8� ��� ,��� %�3 ��+� �A��,8� ,������%���+� ;���� ���,3��� ��� ,��� ,�&7����� +�#������"� ��&+��%� ��A�?� ������� ��%�*�,,��;� � %��� ��,� ��%?���+,��� ��%� �!���� ���,������ Q7/8� Q72� ��� ?3+,� 20#��3,�+"������;������;�,�!�������3�,�7+��%�%���%���&���������!�,��*��������%�6��A�����%3����@�����8;����A����#������!��*��������%�)����������A�����C70�Q71����,����,����:3��,�������"

NAGAL LOSES IN AON CHALLENGERGenoa: �,� ,��� ���� �&��� (������-��� ��� )����8��%��H+��������-����+���%�%����,������+,���3�%���� �,�+��-��+���%�%�3 ��+"��3#�,���-��8�&�����-���+� ���+,�A��,���,���,�����-���������&���;��������,��!���+�,�����-���'�%����8�+3�����%���/7Q8�07C�%����,�,�������;��%����%�)�3����L�&&����"����,���%�3 ��+8��3��A��?���%���+��3+,�������&��,���� ��+,������;���Q7C=1>8�Q7C=B>�,��'�����%���# ������%��,,��������@+"��,�,��(�++�+� �&��� ��� '�����8� /1,�� +��%� �#!3#���#���,������+,���+�+��-��+�+����%���3�%�B7Q8�17Q,�� )��#���H+� ������� *�+3�"� ��;�A��8� ��� ������%,��� %�3 ��+� :3��,�������� ;�,�� 3++���� &��,����A-���������A+!���;�,��Q728�Q7/�;����A�����3�,��+��%(���,����&��������A����� ���A���%�*�,�?��� ���A"

BAJRANG GETS TOP BILLING AT WORLDSNew Delhi: ��%��H+�,�&�-��&&������?���-��3������+ ���� ���%�%� ,��� ,�&� �����-� ��� ,��� #��H+� Q0!-����+,���� ��,�-���� �,� ,��� ���%� (��#&���+��&+8+��,�%� ,�� �-��� ��� �3�7�3�,��8� ��@�!�+,��� ���#��&,�# ���/2"����%��3# ���������?���-8�;����+���3++�������,������-�����%����,������#&���+��&+8���% �--�%������A��� ��� ,��� ��+,��%�,������%�������@�� ��1</B����Q<!-"�O�������-�� ���%�;�,�������-���,���,�+��+� ���&�%�#�� -��;� �+� �� ;��+,���"� �&�����-� ;�,�+�#�����,��� �+,���#�+����)���-��8�3++�����%������+�#�%��#��#�����;�������#���&&����,+8P�+��%��?���-"��;�7,�#�����#&���#�%����+,��3+�����3#����#���+� ��%��H+������)��%�#�%����+,� �,� ,������%+"�����%����# �%����,�&���� ,���&�%�3#���� ,���1</<�%�,���" @/(!� (-

634'�96

#/��� � ����''��=*��(�����>

Steve Smith marked his return tointernational cricket in imperi-ous fashion with a third hun-

dred of the Ashes series on Thursdayas Australia put themselves in adominant position in the fourth Test.

Smith was 173 not out inAustralia’s commanding 369-5 at teaon the second day of the matchagainst England at Old Trafford.

It was his highest score of aseries during which Smith’s lowesttotal in four innings is 92.

This was also the eighth time hehad passed 150 in a Test and thethird instance against England,although he was reprieved twice onThursday.

Smith and Tim Paine (58 notout), his successor as Australia cap-tain, have now put on an unbeaten145 for the sixth wicket, with thetourists going through the secondsession without losing a wicket.

Despite England’s dramatic one-wicket win in the third Test atHeadingley in Smith’s absence tosquare the five-match series at 1-1,the top-order problems that sawthem dismissed for just 67 in the firstinnings in Leeds remain intact.

And with Australia left-armfast bowler Mitchell Starc looking tomake a mark in his first Test of theseries, England faced a tough taskjust to get back on level terms inManchester.

SMITH DROPPEDBut it might have been a differ-

ent story had fast bowler JofraArcher held on to a Smith caught-and-bowled chance.

Archer, whose bouncer at Lord’sconcussed Smith and ruled him outof the Headingley match, droppedthe world’s number one-ranked Test

�"��� ����� ���

Rookie batter Shafali Verma, all of 15,on Thursday became one of the

youngest to be picked in the Indianwomen’s cricket team, her arrival coin-ciding with the departure of the long-serving Mithali Raj from the T20scene.

Verma, whose ability with the bathas impressed many, including Mithali,has been selected in the Indian team forthe first three games of the upcomingfive-match T20 International seriesagainst South Africa.

Mithali will continue to lead theteam in the three-match ODI series,which will follow the five T20Internationals, where HarmanpreetKaur will captain.

A little over five feet tall, Shafali waschosen following her good perfor-mances in the Women’s T20 challengeearlier and at the age-group level thisyear. The diminutive Haryana-girlplayed under Mithali for Team Velocityin the women’s T20 challenge which washeld during the IPL earlier this year.

The youngster has a strike rate of150-plus in the under-19 and under-23category domestic events.

Besides effectively wielding thewillow, she also bowls off-breaks.

England’s illustrious cricketerDanielle Wyatt has also praised the tal-ented Verma, calling her a “superstar”in the making.

Gargi Banerjee, at 14 years and 165days, remains the youngest to play forthe Indian women’s cricket team.

She played her first ODI againstEngland in 1978 and the first Testagainst Australia in 1984. She represent-ed India in 12 Tests and 26 ODIs.

In recent times, big-hitting sensa-tion Jemimah Rodrigues created quitea flutter when she made the Indian teamat an age of 17.

In the teams announced on

Thursday, Smriti Mandhana will beHarmanpreet’s deputy in the T20s.

Mithali decided to quit T20Internationals after a career spanning89 matches in which she scored 2364runs and 17 half-centuries. She led Indiain 32 T20Is.

The selection committee meetingheld at the BCCI headquarters onThursday was attended by Mithaliwhile T20I captain Harmanpreet andcoach WV Raman connected via tele-conference.

Pooja Vastrakar returns to the T20squad after recovering from an injury.This will be the first T20 assignmentsfor India since Mithali announced herretirement recently.

The T20 series assumes significancefor India as they would look to regainlost ground after suffering defeats intheir last six matches in the format.

The Indian team will conduct apreparatory camp at the NationalCricket Academy in Bengaluru fromSeptember 12.

The T20 series begins in Surat onSeptember 24, while the ODIs kick offon October 9 in Vadodara.

SQUADSODI squad: Mithali Raj (Captain),Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(vice-captain), Punam Raut, SmritiMandhana, Deepti Sharma, TaniyaBhatia (wicket-keeper), JhulanGoswami, Shikha Pandey, Mansi Joshi,Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, DHemalatha, Rajeshwari Gayakwad,Priya Punia.Squad for first 3 T20Is: HarmanpreetKaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana(vice-captain), Jemimah Rodrigues,Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Poonam Yadav, Shikha Pandey,Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar,Radha Yadav, Veda Krishnamurthy,Harleen Deol, Anuja Patil, ShafaliVerma, Mansi Joshi.

#/������ ��

Joachim Loew’s resur-gent Germany side face

their first test withoutManchester City wingerLeroy Sane when theyrenew their rivalry withneighbours theNetherlands in today’sEuro 2020 qualifier inHamburg.

Sane, 23, is one ofseveral German playersmissing through injury,including Julian Draxlerand Thilo Kehrer, after hetore knee ligaments dur-ing City’s CommunityShield win over Liverpoollast month.

The twinkle-toedwinger has been a keypart of the national team’srecovery from theirWorld Cup debacle lastyear, scoring in five ofGermany’s last six games.

Two of those goalshave come against today’sopponents theNetherlands, whoGermany have facedthree times since lastOctober in a resumptionof one of internationalfootball’s biggest rival-ries.

Yet Sane’s team matesinsisted this week thatthey would be able tocompensate for hisabsence.

“Leroy creates a lot ofspace and is very impor-tant for the team, but wehave a lot of quality toreplace him,” saidBorussia Dortmund play-er Marco Reus onWednesday.

Sane is expected to bereplaced by in-form RBLeipzig striker TimoWerner, who is hoping tofight his way back intothe Germany first team.

“Leroy’s unfortunateinjury means there is aspace in attack. I believeI can show the same per-formances here as I havefor my club,” said Werner,who has scored five goalsin three games for Leipzigthis season.

HISTORIC HAMBURGHaving twice failed

to beat the Dutch in theNations League last year,Germany’s 3-2 win inAmsterdam in Marchmarked a change in for-tunes and left them sixpoints clear of their rivalsin qualifying Group C.

Victory in Hamburgwould therefore repre-sent a huge step towardsqualification, addingfurther spice to thecross-border derby.

“Games against theNetherlands are alwaysbig, iconic games. Youstand on the pitch andthink: ‘awesome’,” saidReus.

For the Dutch inparticular, the locationof today’s match is afateful one. It was inHamburg that MarcoVan Basten fired a latewinner past WestGermany to send the

Netherlands into thef inal of the 1988E u r o p e a nChampionships, wherethey won their onlymajor title to date.

31 years later, theDutch are under pres-sure after picking upjust three points fromtheir first two games.

They currently sit inGroup C’s play-off spot,nine points behind lead-ers Northern Ireland,albeit with two games inhand.

Yet at a press confer-ence on Monday manag-er Ronald Koeman dis-missed the notion thatthe match againstGermany was a case ofdo-or-die for his team.

“The game againstGermany is not crucial,”said Koeman, whoplayed in the 1988 semi-final and famously pre-tended to wipe his back-side with a German shirtafter the match.

“We have to gettwelve points in thematches against Estoniaand Belarus and pick upmore points thanNorthern Ireland in ourtwo games with them,”he said.

�"��� ����� ���

The medal winners at the upcomingWorld Championships for men

and women, both to be held in Russia,will get direct berths in the Indian box-ing teams for the first Olympic quali-fying tournaments next year.

Confirming what was first report-ed on July 25, the Boxing Federationof India (BFI) has officially laid downthe selection plan for the qualifiers tothe 2020 Tokyo Games.

“The medallist of AIBA (men’s)World Championship 2019 will be sentdirectly to the first Olympic qualifierto be held in China,” read the minutesof a meeting of a BFI meeting whichattended by its brass, the coaching staff,and the selection committee members.

“Selection criteria (Women): theGold/Silver medallist of AIBA WorldChampionship will be sent directly tothe first Olympic qualifier in China.”

While the men’s event gets under-way in Ekaterinberg from September9, the women’s competition is sched-uled to begin on October 3 in Ulan-Ude, also in Russia.

For the Olympic categories inwhich the Indians fail to win any medalat these events, the federation hasdecided to hold trials between the topfour boxers of that division based onperformance ratings given by therespective head coaches.

The first Olympic Qualifier willbe held in February next year followedby the second and last in May.

For the May event, the medal win-ners from the India Open, to be heldin March, will get direct berths whilethe rest will be selected on the basisof trials.

“The best performer at the IndiaOpen will be selected. In case the sce-nario is not clear, then there will betrials among top two boxers of IndiaOpen, selected by head coaches andselection committee. Selection Trialswill be held around 3rd-4th April2020,” the minutes of the meetingread.

The Tokyo Olympics will featureeight categories for men (52kg, 57kg,63kg, 69kg, 75kg, 81kg, 91kg, +91kg)and five for women (51kg, 57kg, 60kg,69kg, 75kg).

�"�������)� ��

UMumba and Puneri Paltan shared thepoints after their Prokabaddi League

match ended in a tense 33-33 draw at the SreeKanteerava Stadium here on Thursday.

Abhishek Singh clinched a Super 10 (11raid points) for U Mumba as they clawed theirback from being six points down in the finalfive minutes to secure a crucial draw.

The match got off to a slow start with bothsets of raiders cautious of the strong defencesthey were up against.

Nitin Tomar was bullied off the mat in hisfirst raid of the match and that set the tone forthe first half with both sets of defences per-forming admirable tackles.

Sandeep Narwal was in his 'beast mode' forU Mumba, while Pune's Manjeet showed hisversatility as an All-Rounder, pulling offimpressive Super Tackles.

But Mumbai's raiders were slightly betteron the mat and Season Two champions inflict-ed the first All-Out of the match in the tenthminute to open up a six-point lead.

Pune didn't lose their cool after the All-Outthough and ensured they stayed in the gamefor the remainder of the first half. Mumbai ledPune 16-12 at half-time.Pune, coached by for-mer U Mumba star Anup Kumar, kept doingtheir work cleverly in the second half.

@�������"���2G����!��'@��!��'��&'�-��! ���&'$

batsman on 65.Smith was given another

reprieve on 118 when he edgedJack Leach to Ben Stokes at sliponly for replays to reveal the left-arm spinner had over-stepped fora no-ball — a careless error for aslow bowler.

Smith’s innings followed hisscores of 144 and 142 in Australia’s251-run win in the opener atEdgbaston — his first Test sincecompleting a 12-month ball-tam-pering ban — and the 92 he madeat Lord’s, where he was felled byArcher.

Australia resumed on 170-3under sunny skies after

Wednesday’s rain-marred first day andSmith drove Archer off the back footthrough extra cover for a superb four inthe second over to go to 65.

The next delivery, however, sawSmith hammer a full toss straight backat Archer, who dropped the two-hand-ed caught-and-bowled chance, with theball going for four after bursting throughhis grasp.

Broad, however, removed yet anoth-er left-hander this series when a full-length delivery had Travis Head lbw for19.

Leach, who had played a key sup-porting role at No 11 while all-rounderStokes’s superb 135 not out saw Englandto victory at Headingley, lured MatthewWade (16) into a miscued drive toEngland captain Joe Root at mid-on.

Smith then clipped Craig Overton

for a two through square leg that sawhim to his 26th Test century in 160 balls,with 11 fours.

Paine was on nine when, in the firstover after lunch, he edged Broad, onlyfor Jason Roy to drop a catch at secondslip he should have held

Then came Leach’s no-ball, withRoot gathering his team around himafterwards as he issued a rallying cry.

England took the new ball as soonas they could but that did not stop Smithcover-driving Broad for a magnificentfour off the back foot.

England’s woes intensified when,with Stokes briefly off the field with asore right shoulder, substitute SamCurran dropped Paine, on 49, at mid-on following a pull off Archer.

Paine went on to make a stylish 113-ball fifty.

�*���9��2,����((�������0<U��(���

����� ���3� ���+�� �+3�,1BD ���,� 1</C7/F ��CQ *�� �3��� 1</C7/F ���;/<1. *�� �3��� 1</C7/F ���;FB ��%��� 1</C7/F ��/22 ���#��-��# 1</D ��/21 ���#��-��# 1</D ��D1 ��%H+ 1</D ���;/10. *�����+,�� 1</D 7

'��+���'��,3��+

��(��#"���"5���

<� ������ ����� ������ ����� ��� ����������

8�+�"����*� ��*���� �)����������

�������"�2�����*����,B���;���

��'���$)� �=&� !���&'"A&�#�)��'�

�-��,�:���13$�����9�����9�������B�

��--�������$�20%����� ������,

� �������+�����, -���,��������#������������

��������

#/��� ���5��

Canadian Bianca Andreescubecame the first teen USOpen semi-finalist in a

decade, rallying to defeat Belgium’sElise Mertens on Wednesday andadvance to a last-four matchupwith Belinda Bencic.

Andreescu, a 19-year-old fromsuburban Toronto, downed 25thseed Mertens 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 tobook a Thursday clash against fel-low Slam semi-final debutanteBencic, the Swiss 13th seed whobeat Croatian 23rd seed DonnaVekic 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.

“I’m honestly speechless,”Andreescu said. “I need someoneto pinch me right now. Is this reallife?”

Serena Williams, seeking her24th Grand Slam singles title tomatch Margaret Court’s all-timerecord, faces Ukraine’s fifth-seed-ed Elina Svitolina in Thursday’sother semi.

Either Bencic or Andreescu,who have never played each other,will reach her first Slam final onSaturday at Arthur Ashe Stadium,where first-time Slam winnershave been crowned three of thepast four years.

“Semi-final feels great rightnow,” Bencic said. “I was dream-ing about this day coming but younever know. I worked hard forthis. Yeah, very nice feeling.”

Andreescu, a winner this yearat Indian Wells andToronto, is the firstteen in the USOpen’s last foursince CarolineWozniacki in2009.

She couldbecome the first teento win a Grand Slamtitle since Maria Sharapova cap-tured the 2006 US Open and shewould be the youngest US Openchampion since Russia’s SvetlanaKuznetsova in 2004.

“This is honestly so crazy,” said15th seed Andreescu. “A year ago

I was in the qualifying round. Iremember I was suffering from aback injury.”

Mertens had lost only 16games in four matches, butAndreescu, her first seeded foe, hit40 winners to 22 for Mertens.

“I’ve been working a lot on myfitness and mental strength,” saidAndreescu. “It’s a result of all thehard work I’ve been putting in.”

CALM IN BIG MOMENTSBencic knocked out top-

ranked defending championNaomi Osaka in the fourth round,assuring the Japanese star will bereplaced atop the rankings onMonday by French Open champi-on Ashleigh Barty of Australia.

Bencic, who reached the 2014US Open quarter-finals, ensureda return to the world rankings top-10 for the first time since June2016 with the victory.

She sank as low as 328th afternumerous injuries and 2017 leftwrist surgery but the 22-year-oldSwiss began the year 55th and hasclimbed from there, thanks in partto her third career WTA title inFebruary at Dubai.

Bencic went on a 5-1 tie-breakrun to seize a 6-3 edge and tookthe first set after an hour whenVekic swatted a forehand beyondthe baseline.

“I stayed calm in the impor-tant moments,” Bencic said.

Vekic, who had 28 unforcederrors, netted a backhand to sur-render a break and hand Bencic a4-3 edge in the second set. Bencicheld and broke again to close outthe match.

“She was just playing bettertennis,” Vekic said. “I felt like Icouldn’t get three good pointstogether. I didn’t really have a lotof rhythm out there.”

������1��������������������� ����� �!����"#�$%&'

�"��� ���������������*�

Opener Shikhar Dhawan was backamongst the runs with a brisk 52 off

43 balls but it wasn’t enough to get IndiaA over the line against South Africa A ina rain-hit unofficial fourth ODI, ending thevisitors’ losing streak on Thursday.

South Africa A pacemen Anrich Nortjeand Marco Jansen shared three wicketseach, triggering a middle-order collapse tohelp the team win the game by four runsvia Duckworth-Lewis method.

The game, which was extended to areserve day, resumed on Thursday after-noon after another delay to due to rain andwet outfield with India requiring 137more runs in 17.2 overs to secure a fourthsuccessive win, having already sealed theseries.

One big positive from the game wasDhawan being back among the runs aheadof the T20 series against South Africabeginning on September 15.

India A were on course for victorywhen skipper Shreyas Iyer (26) and his

Mumbai teammate Shivam Dube (31)were in the middle.

However, their dismissal in the spaceof two balls by the pacy Nortje (3/36),began the India A slide as the host slippedto 178 for 9.

Dube, who carted three big sixes, waswell caught by substitute Khaya Zondo inthe deep off Nortje’s bowling. Two ballslater, the captain fell to a catch in the deep.

Local star Sanju Samson, from whoma lot was expected, fell to a superb catch bythe ‘keeper Sinethemba Qeshile off rook-ie Lutho Sipamla for 1.

Nitish Rana and M S WashingtonSundar fell while going for big shots andit was left to Rahul Chahar to try and pulloff a win in the company of No 11 IshanPorel.

He tried his best, hitting a six and afour, but couldn’t take the team past the lineas Beuran Hendricks didn’t allow him toscore off the final delivery.

India A lead the five-match ODI series3-1. The final unofficial ODI will beplayed today.

#/��� (�����)��)�

Batsman Rahmat Shah on Thursday became thefirst Afghanistan cricketer to score a Test cen-

tury, helping the minnows start strongly againstBangladesh on the opening day of the one-offmatch.

Shah made 102 and put on a crucial 120-runfourth-wicket stand with Asghar Afghan, battingon 88, to counter the Bangladesh spin attack at theZahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.

Afghanistan were 271 for five at stumps withAfghan and Afsar Zazai, on 35, putting together a74-run partnership in the final session of play.

But it was Shah and Afghan who ensured thatAfghanistan fought their way back in to the con-test after being in trouble at 77 for three at lunch.

Taijul Islam and Nayeem Hasan took two wick-ets each to hurt Afghanistan after the tourists elect-ed to bat first in just their third five-day game.

The top-order batsman, Shah extended his pro-lific run of form as he reached his hundred with aboundary off Hasan, raising his bat to a standingovation from the crowd and the dressing room.

His celebration though was shortlived asHasan got the batsman, who hit 10 fours and twosixes in his 187-ball knock, out on the next ball.

Hasan struck again with his off spin three ballslater in the same over, rattling the stumps ofMohammad Nabi for nought as Afghanistanslipped to 197 for five.

Afghan, who survived a reprieve on 42 afterbeing given lbw out off Mehidy Hasan, struck threefours and two sixes so far in his second Test fifty.

Bangladesh fielded an all-spin attack withoutpicking a single pace bowler while Afghanistanhanded a Test debut to Ibrahim, Qais Ahmed andZahir Khan. Afghanistan skipper Rashid becamethe youngest ever Test captain at the age of 20 years350 days with the toss, overtaking the record ofZimbabwe’s Tatenda Taibu.

�"��� ���)� ���

Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran (102 bat-ting) struck a superb ton to put India Red in

a strong position on day two of the DuleepTrophy final against India Green on Thursday.

India Red were 175 for 2 in 52 overs at closeof play in reply to India Green’s 231 all out in 72.1overs at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.

Stylish right-hander Abhimanyu hit 11 foursand two sixes in his knock, which set the plat-form for India Red to take control of the proceed-ings.

Abhimanyu was involved in a 87-run open-ing partnership with captain Priyank Panchal(33), during which the two played some beau-tiful shots.

India Red are trailing India Green by 56 runswith eight first innings wicket intact.

Earlier, leggie Mayank Markande came toIndia Green’s rescue with the bat with a gutsyknock of 76 not out (121 balls). His 59-run lastwicket partnership with Ankit Rajpoot (30 off 39balls) took India Green to a decent total.

�"��� 6���������)�

Uncapped left-arm spinnerGeorge Linde was on

Thursday named as replacementfor all-rounder Jon-Jon TrevorSmuts in South Africa’s squad forthe three-match T20 Internationalseries against India, startingSeptember 15.

Linde, who is currently play-ing in India in the unofficial ODIseries against India A, was draft-ed in after Smuts was pulled outof the squad for “failing to meetthe required fitness standards”, aCricket South Africa (CSA)release said.

The 27-year-old from CapeTown scored a quickfire unbeat-en 52 in the second game of thefive-match series, and hassnapped three wickets in as manymatches so far.

Linde, who was part of the15-member spin camp that prac-tised in Bengaluru last month, hasplayed 75 T20 matches so far,scoring 611 runs at a strike rateof 139.81. He also snapped 77wickets at a strike rate of 19.3.

The rest of the squad isexpected to depart for Indiatoday.

�"��� �������

South Africa pacer KagisoRabada says his team

will look to use the pastexperience of playing in thesub-continent when theytake on India in the upcom-ing tour beginningSeptember 15.

The Proteas are sched-uled to play three T20s andas many Tests against India.

“You need to figure outwhat you need to do to givethe team a better chance towin — that is what I try tofocus on. When you haveplayed there before‚ youwill have an idea of what to do in certain toughsituations,” he said at South Africa’s trainingcamp here on Wednesday.

South Africa had won the T20 and ODIseries but lost the Tests during their last tourof India.

“The previous tour we were successfulbecause we won the T20 and ODI series but the

Test series was a bit of a shamblesbecause those wickets were just ter-rible‚” Rabada said.

“If I could give an example‚ thefirst Test match it was 200 v 200 infirst innings. If we batted first‚ itwas going to be a different ballgame because we ended up havingto chase the game. We lost 3-0 andwe were truly hammered.”

Asked how they will approachspin bowling during the tour,Rabada said: “On our recent tourto Sri Lanka‚ it was tricky condi-tions. There is a whole lot of talkabout how to approach spin but wewill see how it goes.

“What helps is that there areguys who have played there in the

past and I guess what you can do is to use whatworked and what did not work during the SriLanka tour to have a base.

“When you go there for the first time it’sweird and you don’t know what to do. If youlook at how Faf (Du Plessis) batted in Sri Lanka‚he got good starts‚ which showed that he hadplayed there and knew the conditions.”

#/��� ���5��

Rafael Nadal will playItaly’s Matteo

Berrettini in the USOpen semi-finals afterthe 18-time Grand Slamchampion defeatedArgentine 20th seedDiego Schwartzman 6-4,7-5, 6-2.

Second seed Nadal— a winner at FlushingMeadows in 2010, 2013and 2017 — beat a spir-ited Schwartzman for theeighth time in as manymeetings in a nearlythree-hour match thatf inished early onThursday morning.

Schwartzman put upfirm resistance againstNadal and twice foughtback from double-breakdeficits in the first twosets, but the Spaniardfound another gear atcrucial moments tosecure an eighth semi-final berth in New York.

“Straight sets but bigchallenges especially afterthe first two sets, having4-0 and 5-1 and losingboth breaks in a row, butI know how good he iswhen he’s confident,”Nadal said.

“I’m so happy how Iaccepted the situationand challenge and keptgoing, point after point.Here I am in the semi-finals. I’m super happy, itmeans everything.”

He is the only formermajor champion left inthe men’s field followingthe elimination of RogerFederer and NovakDjokovic, leaving him asthe clear frontrunner inhis pursuit of a 19thmajor title.

Schwartzman, whostands a mere 5ft 7in(1.70m), was bidding tobecome the shortestGrand Slam semi-finalistsince 5-foot-6 HaroldSolomon at RolandGarros in 1980.

“He’s like a lion in themiddle of the jungle. He’sa fighter,” Schwartzmansaid of Nadal.

“He knows how toplay the importantmoments every singletime. I played eight times,and every importantmoment he played betterthan me.”

'GREAT FIGHT'Berrettini, the 24th

seed, became the firstItalian man to reach theUS Open semi-finals in42 years.

He matched CorradoBarazzutti’s run to the lastfour in 1977 after outlast-ing 13th-seededFrenchman Gael Monfils3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7/5) in three hours and57 minutes.

The 23-year-oldBerrettini joinedBarazzutti, 1976 RolandGarros championAdriano Panatta andMarco Cecchinato as justthe fourth Italian toadvance to a men’s GrandSlam semi-final in sin-gles.

“What a great fight. Ithink it was one of thebest matches I maybeever saw — I was playingbut I also saw. I’m reallyhappy I don’t know whatto say,” Berrettini said.

Defeat for Monfilsprolonged France’slengthy wait for a firstmen’s Grand Slam titlesince Yannick Noah wonthe French Open in 1983.

�"��� ������

South Africa batsmanQuinton de Kock doesn’t

want his team to lose sleep overan expected spin threat butwarned the players to “preparefor the worst” during their tourof India this month.

The Proteas will begin theirtour with a three-match T20Iseries, the first of which will beheld at Dharamsala onSeptember 15.

It will be followed by athree-Test series beginning withthe first game at Visakhapatnamon October 2.

“From our side‚ what we aregoing to do is to make sure thatwe prepare for the worst,” saidDe Kock, who will be leadingthe T20 side in the absence ofFaf du Plessis.

“To be honest‚ I don’t knowwhat we are going to get. InT20s I don’t think it will spinthat much because in the IPLthey prepare pretty good wick-ets.

“But Test matches are a dif-

��%�����,����+,�2

*���!�� �������� �������������������������# ��������M# �� ��������������$�����-��� �3����������7- 8���� ��

%������� ����� ����%���+�3� ���#�+����+,�,����-�������%���%��,��������'�3+���-*��%�;+�+�#�+

<����@�� ����#� �����������������������������(������ ������# ��������M# �� ���� ��

<�����<������ ��# ������$����)������# ��������7- 8����M# �� ����� ��

���� ��9���:��� ���,��+ �����

�������� �������������������, ������� ������, 6��� �4��������9�

���� ����� �������

��@����.����! 2>��, ��9�����:/ ��- ��, ������� ����:�����;�������-����� ���� �'�����,�����*�����9� ���, ! ��6�� �����

�, �:�9���/ �, �+�9�� ��6��� ��,�-��������

�9����4��* �����

89@� ���*����! �

�����������(���L*�����������

����)������BB��)���

� �*���*�7'��� K �����*�����������5

��������)�'�����=20>���������

�6�����(�=BQ>�K��������(������� ����'��������5��

'��������)�����*�

*����-������� ������� ���� ���������������#�� ��� ���

*��������������� ������

3���������������������A� ��/�2ferent story and it could end upturning on day one. It is moreof a mental thing and notbeing caught up too much onwhether it is spinning or not‚that is what it boils down to.”

Questions were raisedregarding the quality of sur-faces after South Africa lost 0-3 in the Test series in their lasttour of India four years ago.The Tests at Mohali andNagpur didn’t last five dayswith the South Africa batsmenfalling prey to the Indian spin-ners. In fact, the Nagpur pitchhad received ‘poor’ rating fromthe ICC.

“The last time we werethere‚ guys didn’t really expectthose type of surfaces but thistime around we will have a lit-tle bit of head start aboutthat‚” De Kock said.

“We will keep our eyesopen and make sure that weare a little bit better than lasttime. I am not sure if they aregoing to prepare similar or bet-ter wickets than the last timewe were there.” O#���������1����� �����# ����-@�� �������������� ���

��%�(� "&�����"�+����9+�'��� �

3 ����������������� @�����%#��#��� ���*������������

��� �� ���� ��-9��������! �