16
J anata Dal(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy was sworn in as the 25th Chief Minister of Karnataka on Wednesday at a function attended by a galaxy of Opposition leaders and thousands of Congress and JD(S) supporters. Senior Congress Dalit leader G Parameshwara took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister. The unprecedented gath- ering of Oppositions leaders and regional satraps at the function seemed to be a pre- lude to the emergence of a broad-based unity of the Opposition parties to take on the Modi-Shah combine in the 2019 general elections. In addition to UPA chair- person Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, also present on the occasion were NCP leader Sharad Pawar, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chnadrababu Naidu, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Kerala Chief Minister Pinnarai Vijayan, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayansamy, BSP leader Mayawati, Communist party leader Sitaram Yachury, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashvi Yadav, Sharad Yadav, Ajit Singh, Babulal Marandi, HD Deve Gowda, Mallikharjuna Kharge, Jaipal Reddy, Margaret Alva, Veerappa Moily, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kamal Haasan and host of other leaders. The warm exchange of greetings and shaking of hands that the leaders on the stage displayed clearly showed that they were ready to script a new chapter of unity among them- selves ahead of the next year’s crucial political battle. Akhilesh and Mayawati were seen talk- ing amiably with Tejashvi Yadav and Mamata Banerjee, while Sonia Gandhi was smil- ingly reciprocating to Mayawati. In his customary Press conference after taking the oath of office and secrecy, Kumaraswamy justified align- ing with the Congress and said his Government will be stable and last long for its full term. “I have decided to join the Congress alliance for the sake of the nation to keep the BJP away. This is also an effort for the Opposition unity to fight the BJP in 2019 polls”. On the galaxy of leaders attending the swearing-in cer- emony, he said, “The leaders who came here today didn’t just come up to support my Government, they wanted to send a message to the people that they are coming together for 2019 elections.” “Never before in a State Government formation had so many leaders come. This is the first time that it has happened in the country. This is also a challenge for me, every step I take will have to be weighed. The expectation that this will be a model for the country is a challenge. I have to also look at the promises I have made in my manifesto,” Kumaraswamy said. Kumaraswamy succeeds BS Yeddyurappa of the BJP who resigned after three days without proving his majority on the floor of the House. Kumaraswamy is heading a coalition Government for the second time. The BJP boycotted the swearing-in and party workers protested across the State against the “unholy alliance”. In the May 12 election, voters gave a hung Assembly in 222 con- stituencies, with 37 for the JD(S), including one from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), 78 for the Congress and 104 for the BJP, which fell seven short of 111-halfway mark for a sim- ple majority. As part of the coalition agreement, the Congress will get 22 Cabinet berths and Speakers post and the JD(S) will get 12 berths including the position of Deputy Speaker. Congress leader and former Minister Ramesh Kumar will be the Speaker. While Gov- ernor Vajubhai R Vala has given 15 days to Kumaraswamy to prove his majority, the Con- gress leader in charge of Kar- nataka KC Venugopal said the floor test would be on Friday. Meanwhile, intense bar- gaining is underway between the Congress and the JD(S) leaders for ministerial berths. This was the reason why no Minister took oath along with Kumaraswamy. The oath-tak- ing for the Ministers might take place on May 29 after the floor test is over. It is also reported that Congress strongman and Vokkaliga leader DK Shivakumar, who played a key role in “guarding” the Congress-JD(S) MLAs against any “poaching “ bid was upset for not getting the Deputy CM’s post. However, Congress leader Venugopal pacified Shivakumar and assured him that he will be made the State party chief. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the ceremony, Mamata Banerjee said, “We are here to strengthen the region- al parties. We can meet each other, talk to each other. Continued on Page 4 I n a fresh offensive, Pakistani rangers on Wednesday resorted to intensive mortar shelling, possibly aided by Pakistan Army regulars in their forward posts, killing five Indian civilians, including a 10- year-old boy and a woman, and leaving 30 others, including three BSF jawans, injured. Incidentally on May 20, the Pakistan Rangers had request- ed the BSF for ceasefire after the Indian border force’s retal- iation led to massive casualty in Pakistan. In strong retaliatory action, BSF jawans hit hard tar- geting some of the notorious Pakistani posts deliberately tar- geting civilian pockets across Arnia and RS Pura. According to official sources at least one Pak ranger was killed in retal- iatory fire while three others received injuries. The total toll has now gone up to 11, including nine civil- ians and 2 BSF jawans, in the ongoing cycle of border skir- mishes across Jammu frontier. “In a night long shelling/firing from across the border at Jammu International Border Kathua to Akhnoor so far four deaths have taken place and thirty injured. Very sad indeed”, tweeted DGP Dr SP Vaid on Wednesday. One critically injured villager iden- tified as Raghubir Singh later succumbed to his injuries in Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu. Over 50 border outposts scattered along the 198 km long International Border remained active in the last 24 hours while an estimated number of over 50,000 border residents were directly affected by the fir- ing which continued through- out the night from Pansar to Tawi in RS Pura sector. During the day, Pakistan rangers targeted civilian pock- ets across three districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua. Arnia town was the worst hit and wore a deserted look throughout the day. The busi- ness activity in the area has come to a standstill as people from the area have migrated to safer places. According to official sources, two civilians, including a minor boy, was killed in Bainglad area of Ramgarh sec- tor in Samba. Pakistani rangers have been targeting the area for last three days. Both the brothers were playing in their house courtyard while their mother was cooking food around 9.00 am when they were hit by a mortar. Subash Chander, uncle of Krishna said, “Both the children were playing while I was looking after live- stock when mortar landed in the house courtyard.” O ne more person died in police firing on Wednesday, a day after the anti- Sterlite agitation claimed 10 lives at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. The protesters are demanding closure of the Vedanta group’s Sterlite Copper plant over pollution concerns. With agitators back again on Wednesday, the police opened fire to contain violence resulting into the death of one person identified as Kaliappan. Taking cognisance of the large-scale violence, the National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, asking them to submit a detailed report in two weeks, while the Madras High Court stayed the proposed expansion of the plant. In the line of Opposition fire, the State Government constituted a Commission of Inquiry headed by retired Madras High Court judge Aruna Jagadeesan to probe the violence. The Union Home Ministry has, meanwhile, sought a report from the Tamil Nadu Government on the circum- stances leading to the police firing on protesters demanding the closure of the copper plant, which they claim had polluted ground water in the area, offi- cial sources said in New Delhi. Enraged over the Tuesday killings in the police firing, protesters took to streets this morning, attacking police with stones, setting two Government vehicles on fire, and trying to storm into a hos- pital where injured were kept, prompting security personnel to baton-charge them and open fire, officials said. Several people, including police per- sonnel, were injured in clash- es. Seeking to control the damage done due to the police action, the Government announced constitution of the Jagadeesan Commission of Inquiry. “The panel will cover the law and order incidents fol- lowing the siege of the District Collectorate on May 22 by thousands of persons violating prohibitory orders,” an official release said in Chennai. There are reports of fake video messages being circulat- ed to fan the violence. T rying to contain suicides among paramilitary forces and to ensure mental toughness among jawans, the Border Security Force (BSF) has made it compulsory for all its secu- rity personnel to undergo an annual ‘mental health test’ or ‘happiness test’. The test aims at assessing the soldiers’ mental fitness and will also try to bring in corrective measures based on their scores. Based on how they fare in the test, soldiers will be assigned duties and corrective measures taken. Until now only annual physical tests were held to see if soldiers were fit to discharge their duties. The forces’ headquarters here has prepared a multi- point wellness quotient assess- ment test (WQAT) tool that helps “identify stress precipi- tators and physical and mental health issues that need inter- ventions. They also ask field com- manders to undertake yoga, meditation, counselling and have a buddy system (one per- son responsible for the other) to check stress among the per- sonnel. The force has also pub- lished a 62-page booklet titled ‘Happiness and Health: Endeavour towards holistic well being’. The mental health test and other initiatives were designed after an extensive study and a year-long research. These ini- tiatives by the BSF are trying to create a platform for soldiers to share their personal stories and build a mechanism to solve mental health issues. Officials said their research showed that suicides were higher among personnel from poor socio-economic back- ground, and mostly among the 25-35 age group. However, there was not much difference in suicide rates when it came to the mar- ital status of personnel or whether they belonged to nuclear or joint families. P CC president Niranjan Patnaik on Wednesday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announce a special package of one lakh crore for con- struction of irrigation pro- jects in Odisha and tender an apology for the “illegal and arbitrary actions” of the Chhattisgarh Government in blocking free flow of water in the Mahanadi. Patnaik made these demands at a press confer- ence held at the Congress Bhavan here. He said the Prime Minister should make these announcements at his Cuttack meeting. He too demanded that the Prime Minister must ask the Chhattisgarh Government to open gates of Kalma barrage and release adequate water for people of Odisha well before his Odisha visit. Terming the Modid Government as a "regime of lies", he said, “Let Modi announces at Cuttack a stop- page to all constructions till the arbitration process is completed. Let him order immediate release of water that has been illegally stopped by Chhattisgarh.” Alleging that the BJD Government failed to protect Odisha's interest, he added, “It is the job of the Prime Minister to behave like a statesman and not to punish the people of Odisha for the inefficiency of the BJD Government.” Besides, he demanded that Modi announce a special package of one lakh crore in three years for construction of irrigation projects in Odisha. Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Narasingha Mishra said PM Modi had promised a world to India, but he has been able to spread lies across the nation. His claims have been exposed during the last four years,” he said. Mishra said Modi has failed to keep his promises of providing jobs to two crores of people every year and 15 lakh in each citizen’s bank account. “In reality, the Modi Government had delivered 1.35 lakh jobs only,” Mishra said and wanted to know how much of black money was brought back from abroad during the last four years by him. He said the Prime Minister should tender an apology for the illegal and arbitrary construction of bar- rages upstream Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh. F ort the first time, the Odisha Government on Wednesday started refunding money to the small depositors duped by the chit fund companies in the multi-crore chit fund scam in the State. As many as 200 investors were refunded a total of around 13 lakh on the day in Baleswar district. The money was direct- ly transferred to their bank accounts through RTGS. A total of 1,096 out of 2,306 small depositors in the district have been identified for refund and will be getting their money in phases. The refund process is being carried out under the supervi- sion of Baleswar district Collector Ramesh Chandra Rout. “As per the guidelines of the Finance Department we have transferred money to the accounts of 200 small deposi- tors who had deposited less than 10,000. The amount was released after Tehsildars sent certified copies of the indem- nity bonds along with a copy of the bank passbooks of the identified depositors,” informed Rout. Additional District Magistrate Manas Kumar Padhi informed that the money will be distributed to the small depositors after securing indemnity bonds and the amount for this purpose has been released to the Tehsildars. Meanwhile, the Justice MM Das Commission of Inquiry on the chit fund issue submitted four interim reports to the State Government in which it has identified 1, 16,504 small depositors in the State. Initially, investors with deposits of less than 10,000 would get the refund. T he Biju Janata Dal (BJD) would stage peaceful demon- strations against the skyrocket- ing fuel prices in all the 314 blocks of the State from May 28 to 30. Annoouncing this , the party general secretary Sanjay Dasburma in a press conference here on Wednesday said, “We will hold protest near the Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar on May 28 against the rising hike in the prices of petrol and diesel by the Narendra Modi Government”. Dasburma further said, “The Central Government by increasing the excise duty is responsible for the spiraling fuel prices but instead it is asking the State Government to reduce VAT on fuel. The VAT on fuel is comparatively less in Odisha than other States”. From 2018, the Maharashtra Government is charging 26 as VAT on per litre of petrol, plus Rs 9 as additional taxes. The BJP- led Government at the Centre is exploiting the common people by increasing the fuel prices, he alleged. “In February 2015, petrol was sold at 56.49 per litre and diesel at 46.01 a litre, when international crude oil prices were $60.00 per barrel. Petrol now costs 84.99 per litre while diesel sells at 72.76 per litre due to poor policy of the Modi Government,” alleged party spokesperson Sasmit Patra. Former Minister Arun Sahu pointed out that excise duty on petrol which was 9.2 per litre in July, 2014 has increased by 200 per cent to Rs 19.48 per litre as in February, 2018. Continued on page 4

)))* ˇ+, *˙ Acharya, who was arguing the case on behalf of the students. Hota was transferred to the MKCG Medical College in Brahmapur in March this year after it was ascertained

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Janata Dal(S) leader HDKumaraswamy was sworn in

as the 25th Chief Minister ofKarnataka on Wednesday at afunction attended by a galaxyof Opposition leaders andthousands of Congress andJD(S) supporters. SeniorCongress Dalit leader GParameshwara took oath asthe Deputy Chief Minister.

The unprecedented gath-ering of Oppositions leadersand regional satraps at thefunction seemed to be a pre-lude to the emergence of abroad-based unity of theOpposition parties to take onthe Modi-Shah combine in the2019 general elections.

In addition to UPA chair-person Sonia Gandhi andCongress president RahulGandhi, also present on theoccasion were NCP leaderSharad Pawar, Andhra PradeshChief Minister ChnadrababuNaidu, West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee,Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal, Kerala Chief MinisterPinnarai Vijayan, PuducherryChief Minister V Narayansamy,BSP leader Mayawati,Communist party leaderSitaram Yachury, AkhileshYadav, Tejashvi Yadav, SharadYadav, Ajit Singh, BabulalMarandi, HD Deve Gowda,Mallikharjuna Kharge, JaipalReddy, Margaret Alva,Veerappa Moily, Ghulam Nabi

Azad, Kamal Haasan and hostof other leaders.

The warm exchange ofgreetings and shaking of handsthat the leaders on the stagedisplayed clearly showed thatthey were ready to script a newchapter of unity among them-selves ahead of the next year’scrucial political battle. Akhileshand Mayawati were seen talk-ing amiably with TejashviYadav and Mamata Banerjee,while Sonia Gandhi was smil-ingly reciprocating toMayawati.

In his customary Pressconference after taking theoath of office and secrecy,Kumaraswamy justified align-ing with the Congress and saidhis Government will be stable

and last long for its full term.“I have decided to join theCongress alliance for the sakeof the nation to keep the BJPaway. This is also an effort forthe Opposition unity to fightthe BJP in 2019 polls”.

On the galaxy of leadersattending the swearing-in cer-emony, he said, “The leaderswho came here today didn’t justcome up to support myGovernment, they wanted tosend a message to the peoplethat they are coming togetherfor 2019 elections.”

“Never before in a StateGovernment formation had somany leaders come. This is thefirst time that it has happenedin the country. This is also achallenge for me, every step I

take will have to be weighed.The expectation that this willbe a model for the country is achallenge. I have to also look atthe promises I have made in mymanifesto,” Kumaraswamy said.

Kumaraswamy succeedsBS Yeddyurappa of the BJPwho resigned after three dayswithout proving his majorityon the floor of the House.Kumaraswamy is heading acoalition Government for thesecond time.

The BJP boycotted theswearing-in and party workersprotested across the Stateagainst the “unholy alliance”. Inthe May 12 election, voters gavea hung Assembly in 222 con-stituencies, with 37 for theJD(S), including one from theBahujan Samaj Party (BSP), 78for the Congress and 104 forthe BJP, which fell seven shortof 111-halfway mark for a sim-ple majority.

As part of the coalitionagreement, the Congress willget 22 Cabinet berths andSpeakers post and the JD(S)will get 12 berths including theposition of Deputy Speaker.Congress leader and formerMinister Ramesh Kumar willbe the Speaker. While Gov-ernor Vajubhai R Vala hasgiven 15 days to Kumaraswamyto prove his majority, the Con-gress leader in charge of Kar-nataka KC Venugopal said the

floor test would be on Friday.Meanwhile, intense bar-

gaining is underway betweenthe Congress and the JD(S)leaders for ministerial berths.This was the reason why noMinister took oath along withKumaraswamy. The oath-tak-ing for the Ministers might takeplace on May 29 after the floortest is over.

It is also reported thatCongress strongman andVokkaliga leader DKShivakumar, who played a keyrole in “guarding” theCongress-JD(S) MLAs againstany “poaching “ bid was upsetfor not getting the DeputyCM’s post. However, Congressleader Venugopal pacifiedShivakumar and assured himthat he will be made the Stateparty chief.

Talking to reporters on thesidelines of the ceremony,Mamata Banerjee said, “We arehere to strengthen the region-al parties. We can meet eachother, talk to each other.

Continued on Page 4

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In a fresh offensive, Pakistanirangers on Wednesday

resorted to intensive mortarshelling, possibly aided byPakistan Army regulars in theirforward posts, killing fiveIndian civilians, including a 10-year-old boy and a woman, andleaving 30 others, includingthree BSF jawans, injured.

Incidentally on May 20, thePakistan Rangers had request-ed the BSF for ceasefire afterthe Indian border force’s retal-iation led to massive casualty inPakistan.

In strong retaliatoryaction, BSF jawans hit hard tar-geting some of the notoriousPakistani posts deliberately tar-geting civilian pockets acrossArnia and RS Pura. Accordingto official sources at least onePak ranger was killed in retal-iatory fire while three othersreceived injuries.

The total toll has now goneup to 11, including nine civil-ians and 2 BSF jawans, in theongoing cycle of border skir-mishes across Jammu frontier.

“In a night longshelling/firing from across theborder at Jammu InternationalBorder Kathua to Akhnoor sofar four deaths have takenplace and thirty injured. Verysad indeed”, tweeted DGP DrSP Vaid on Wednesday. Onecritically injured villager iden-

tified as Raghubir Singh latersuccumbed to his injuries inGovernment Medical CollegeHospital in Jammu.

Over 50 border outpostsscattered along the 198 km longInternational Border remainedactive in the last 24 hourswhile an estimated number ofover 50,000 border residentswere directly affected by the fir-ing which continued through-out the night from Pansar toTawi in RS Pura sector.

During the day, Pakistanrangers targeted civilian pock-ets across three districts ofJammu, Samba and Kathua.Arnia town was the worst hitand wore a deserted lookthroughout the day. The busi-ness activity in the area hascome to a standstill as peoplefrom the area have migrated tosafer places.

According to officialsources, two civilians, includinga minor boy, was killed inBainglad area of Ramgarh sec-tor in Samba. Pakistani rangershave been targeting the area forlast three days.

Both the brothers wereplaying in their house courtyardwhile their mother was cookingfood around 9.00 am when theywere hit by a mortar. SubashChander, uncle of Krishna said,“Both the children were playingwhile I was looking after live-stock when mortar landed inthe house courtyard.”

����� � �����

One more person died inpolice firing on

Wednesday, a day after the anti-Sterlite agitation claimed 10lives at Tuticorin in TamilNadu. The protesters aredemanding closure of theVedanta group’s Sterlite Copperplant over pollution concerns.

With agitators back againon Wednesday, the policeopened fire to contain violenceresulting into the death of oneperson identified as Kaliappan.

Taking cognisance of thelarge-scale violence, theNational Human RightsCommission issued notices tothe Tamil Nadu Chief Secretaryand the Director General ofPolice, asking them to submita detailed report in two weeks,while the Madras High Courtstayed the proposed expansionof the plant.

In the line of Oppositionfire, the State Governmentconstituted a Commission ofInquiry headed by retiredMadras High Court judgeAruna Jagadeesan to probethe violence.

The Union Home Ministryhas, meanwhile, sought areport from the Tamil NaduGovernment on the circum-

stances leading to the policefiring on protesters demandingthe closure of the copper plant,which they claim had pollutedground water in the area, offi-cial sources said in New Delhi.

Enraged over the Tuesdaykillings in the police firing,protesters took to streets thismorning, attacking police withstones, setting twoGovernment vehicles on fire,and trying to storm into a hos-pital where injured were kept,prompting security personnelto baton-charge them andopen fire, officials said. Severalpeople, including police per-

sonnel, were injured in clash-es.

Seeking to control thedamage done due to the policeaction, the Governmentannounced constitution of theJagadeesan Commission ofInquiry.

“The panel will cover thelaw and order incidents fol-lowing the siege of the DistrictCollectorate on May 22 bythousands of persons violatingprohibitory orders,” an officialrelease said in Chennai.

There are reports of fakevideo messages being circulat-ed to fan the violence.

������������ ������� �

Trying to contain suicidesamong paramilitary forces

and to ensure mental toughnessamong jawans, the BorderSecurity Force (BSF) has madeit compulsory for all its secu-rity personnel to undergo anannual ‘mental health test’ or‘happiness test’. The test aims atassessing the soldiers’ mentalfitness and will also try tobring in corrective measuresbased on their scores.

Based on how they fare inthe test, soldiers will beassigned duties and correctivemeasures taken. Until nowonly annual physical tests wereheld to see if soldiers were fit

to discharge their duties.The forces’ headquarters

here has prepared a multi-point wellness quotient assess-ment test (WQAT) tool thathelps “identify stress precipi-tators and physical and mentalhealth issues that need inter-ventions.

They also ask field com-manders to undertake yoga,meditation, counselling andhave a buddy system (one per-son responsible for the other)to check stress among the per-sonnel.

The force has also pub-lished a 62-page booklet titled‘Happiness and Health:Endeavour towards holisticwell being’.

The mental health test andother initiatives were designedafter an extensive study and ayear-long research. These ini-tiatives by the BSF are trying tocreate a platform for soldiers toshare their personal storiesand build a mechanism tosolve mental health issues.

Officials said their researchshowed that suicides werehigher among personnel frompoor socio-economic back-ground, and mostly amongthe 25-35 age group.

However, there was notmuch difference in suiciderates when it came to the mar-ital status of personnel orwhether they belonged tonuclear or joint families.

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PCC president NiranjanPatnaik on Wednesday

demanded that Pr imeMinister Narendra Modiannounce a special packageof � one lakh crore for con-struction of irrigation pro-jects in Odisha and tender anapology for the “illegal andarbitrary actions” of theChhattisgarh Government inblocking free flow of water inthe Mahanadi.

Patnaik made thesedemands at a press confer-ence held at the CongressBhavan here. He said the

Prime Minister should makethese announcements at hisCuttack meeting.

He too demanded thatthe Prime Minister must askthe Chhatt isgarhGovernment to open gates ofKalma barrage and releaseadequate water for people ofOdisha wel l before hisOdisha visit.

Terming the ModidGovernment as a "regime oflies", he said, “Let Modiannounces at Cuttack a stop-page to all constructions tillthe arbitration process iscompleted. Let him orderimmediate release of waterthat has been i l lega l ly

stopped by Chhattisgarh.”Alleging that the BJD

Government failed to protectOdisha's interest, he added,“It is the job of the PrimeMinister to behave like astatesman and not to punishthe people of Odisha for theinef f iciency of the BJDGovernment.”

Besides, he demandedthat Modi announce a specialpackage of �one lakh crore inthree years for constructionof irrigation projects inOdisha.

Leader of Opposition inthe State AssemblyNarasingha Mishra said PMModi had promised a world

to India, but he has been ableto spread lies across thenation. His claims have beenexposed during the last fouryears,” he said.

Mishra said Modi hasfailed to keep his promises ofproviding jobs to two croresof people every year and�15 lakh in each citizen’sbank account.

“In reality, the ModiGovernment had delivered1.35 lakh jobs only,” Mishrasaid and wanted to knowhow much of black moneywas brought back f romabroad during the last fouryears by him.

He said the Pr imeMinister should tender anapology for the illegal andarbitrary construction of bar-rages upstream Mahanadi inChhattisgarh.

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Fort the first time, the OdishaGovernment on Wednesday

started refunding money to thesmall depositors duped by thechit fund companies in themulti-crore chit fund scam inthe State.

As many as 200 investorswere refunded a total of around�13 lakh on the day in Baleswardistrict. The money was direct-ly transferred to their bankaccounts through RTGS. Atotal of 1,096 out of 2,306small depositors in the districthave been identified for refundand will be getting their moneyin phases.

The refund process is beingcarried out under the supervi-sion of Baleswar districtCollector Ramesh ChandraRout. “As per the guidelines ofthe Finance Department wehave transferred money to theaccounts of 200 small deposi-tors who had deposited lessthan �10,000. The amount wasreleased after Tehsildars sent

certified copies of the indem-nity bonds along with a copy ofthe bank passbooks of theidentified depositors,” informedRout.

Additional DistrictMagistrate Manas KumarPadhi informed that the moneywill be distributed to the smalldepositors after securingindemnity bonds and theamount for this purpose hasbeen released to the Tehsildars.

Meanwhile, the JusticeMM Das Commission ofInquiry on the chit fund issuesubmitted four interim reportsto the State Government inwhich it has identified 1, 16,504small depositors in the State.Initially, investors with depositsof less than �10,000 would getthe refund.

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The Biju Janata Dal (BJD)would stage peaceful demon-

strations against the skyrocket-ing fuel prices in all the 314blocks of the State from May 28to 30.

Annoouncing this , the partygeneral secretary SanjayDasburma in a press conferencehere on Wednesday said, “Wewill hold protest near the RajBhavan in Bhubaneswar on May28 against the rising hike in theprices of petrol and diesel by theNarendra Modi Government”.

Dasburma further said,“The Central Government by

increasing the excise duty isresponsible for the spiraling fuelprices but instead it is asking theState Government to reduceVAT on fuel. The VAT on fuel iscomparatively less in Odishathan other States”.

From 2018, the MaharashtraGovernment is charging �26 asVAT on per litre of petrol, plusRs 9 as additional taxes. The BJP-led Government at the Centre is

exploiting the common people byincreasing the fuel prices, healleged.

“In February 2015, petrol wassold at �56.49 per litre and dieselat �46.01 a litre, when internationalcrude oil prices were $60.00 perbarrel. Petrol now costs �84.99 perlitre while diesel sells at �72.76 perlitre due to poor policy of the ModiGovernment,” alleged partyspokesperson Sasmit Patra.

Former Minister Arun Sahupointed out that excise duty onpetrol which was � 9.2 per litrein July, 2014 has increased by 200per cent to Rs 19.48 per litre asin February, 2018.

Continued on page 4

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History is being created byOdisha on more than one

big count. Politically, it’s themost stable State today. Naveenis the most powerful ChiefMinister, literally invincible asproven several times over in thelast eighteen years.

Critics from most domainshave gone sore in voice or lostwits as to what miracles are hap-pening to the advantage of thesimplest son of the legendaryBiju Patnaik. Vajpayee andAdvani of the original BJP hadexpressed great appreciationand respect for the simple naïvepolitician since the last part ofthe previous millennium untilthe legendary BJP duo remainedin charge of the BJP free of anycommunal bias.

After Vajpayee's departurefrom the BJP due to illness,

Advani was ignored as if he wereof no use and the party turnedfull-blown saffron with count-less communal intentionsincluding cow vigilantebrigades, moral policing outfitsand more, causing huge distressacross the country. All the eth-ical oldies having been method-ically relegated to oblivion, thelikes of Amit Shah took chargeof the BJP which became effec-tively communal in outlookand intolerant of communitiesof non-Hindu faiths.

The Shah-led BJP blun-dered gravely by trying to per-suade the nation to goCongress-free. The world’s mosttalkative Prime Minister Modikept harping on an unfoundedcharge against the Congress,saying the ancient party hadmisruled India for more thansixty years.

He only needed sixty meremonths to undo all damage andturn India a leading nation byushering in fast economic andsocial development. He hadscreamed everywhere to diginto and bring back billions ofdollars stacked away inunknown holes abroad and dis-tribute the huge money amongall the Indians, at least �15 lakh

for every citizen, thereby kick-ing out poverty for good.

Further, he had haranguednonstop to give employment totwo twenty million young peo-ple every year. So by now, at leasteighty million youths shouldhave been employed, whichnever happened nor likely tohappen even if the Modi-Shahduo run the country for anoth-er half a century. They had sim-ply parroted whatever the mar-keting experts had hammeredinto their heads just to make anentry by hook or by crook. Noone had believed the bluff ofabrogating Article 370 of theConstitution. So, no one worriesabout failure on that front.

As history is fresh andknown to all, the coalition withthe BJP was cancelled onlybecause the bosses behaved likeBig Brothers without once gaug-ing self worth and reputationand trying to arm-twist the BJDguys on the seat sharing front.

The saffron class imaginedNaveen survived because of theBJP popularity. BJD mastersknew the truth well. So, theyshowed the fools the door andpounded them to pulp at thepolls. The Congress, the BJD’ssworn enemy at the beginning,

just withered away due to hor-rible leadership. And the suc-cessive Congress heads in thelast twenty years have made surethe party is erased from the faceof Odisha.

Niranjan Patnaik, whoappears and disappears on thescene, has never been consid-ered saint. Prasad, who has justbeen dropped, is a gentlemanwithout money; so, he wasbelittled by the cash-hungryCongress cadres who look toNiranjan for cash and kind to bespent on pleasure, though thebig rumour is Niranjan doesn’tdole out a dime to any. He onlykeeps the central observers toremain in place for longer thandue.

Obviously, the Congresshas ceased to be a threat to theBJD since long. The only foe bydefault is the BJP, which has alsobegun losing ground in Odishalike elsewhere. It has been putto shame in Gujarat, Goa,Manipur and Karnataka.Rajasthan is considered gonebefore the polls. MP,Chhattisgarh and Jharkhandare on ventilator as political ana-lysts declare openly.

Other regional partiesincluding SP, RJD, BSP, TDP,

DMK and AIDMK are all in astate of fear and confusion as thefounding fathers are no more,nearly brain-dead or there isstrong internal feud. Even theAkali Dal and many otherswithout recognisable face orfacade are all dust in thin air.

The only one visibly strongis the Aam Aadmi Party withsome weight and respect butsuffering from constant invasionby the BJP and internal turmoil.The less said about the Leftiststhe better. Thus, trepidation iseverywhere among all big par-ties in power or on the thresh-old of power. No State canboast of getting the incumbentregime back to power again.

Interestingly, it’s onlyOdisha which is gifted with aregime certain to return topower for as long as theadorable boss Naveen desires tostay on. This unique ChiefMinister has been portrayedwith strangest of expressions,magical, enigmatic and invin-cible. He is also equally blastedby the opponents with wordslike callous, casual and Odia-hating. But no one has so farbeen able to make clear on whatcount of development he hasfailed to be flayed.

As per the developmentindices, he scores above all thebackward States and beats manyso-called forward States as well.Naveen, on closer scrutiny,turns out to be a serious pro-people statesman who does notbelieve in beating his owndrums. He has identified agroup of people who can deliv-er. The members of this groupare put on toes round the clockto think, plan and implementprojects and programmes thatbenefit the most deprived andbackward.

The slum land settlementin situ to grant permanent andrightful shelter to the poor inthe urban Odisha is a land-mark, historic step by Naveen’sestablishment, a first-time ini-tiative in India. There are somany schemes which the pooronly recognise the most andjoyously work at getting himback to rule the State.

Lately, Bhubaneswar hasattained the dignity of being thesports capital of India. Odishais also the breeding ground ofhockey players of the country.Tribal children are the bestlooked after in Odisha. Not sur-prisingly, Naveen keeps gettingawards and recognition as the

best CM, administrator and thesimplest politician in power. Itis only he who has done themoat to make Odia a trulyrespectable language with thebest of facilities which manyother so-called Odia champi-ons could not even think of.Without dispute, the law andorder situation in Odisha is oneof the best. The police force isin best of mood. The top copsare all in the best of moods andspirit – mainstream policingincluding crime detection andcontrol, fire services, vigilanceand general police behaviourwith the public. Control of theMaoist movement is one of themost praiseworthy in the coun-try. Impressive countrysideroad communication and elec-trification have made the peo-ple incredibly pro-incumbentso strongly that parties like BJPor Congress are only going towaste time trying to break theBJD bastion in the next tenyears or so.

The latest proposal Naveenmade to the national decision-makers is placing the compo-nent of ‘Ahimsa’ in thePreamble of the Constitution.Nonviolence, he says, is onlyflimsily mentioned or dis-

cussed here and there. WithMahatma Gandhi’s demise, therespect or craving for the prin-ciple or philosophy of nonvio-lence has diminished to nearzero.

That’s why the Indian soci-ety is growing getting violent.The proposal has been hailedas uniquely magnificent bynumerous quality thinkers,writers and planners. Thenational government has toonly work a little to have itincorporated in the Preamble.

Lastly, what ‘magic doesNaveen play’ is the biggestquestion people keep asking!The answer is as simple as ‘hekeeps his politicians undercontrol, meaning no one isallowed to be cheaply populistand make false promises to thepeople and keeping his per-manent administrative func-tionaries on toes to performperfectly by guiding the mas-ters practicably without offend-ing the rulebook.’

That’s what makes Odishaso special politically with a bosswho looks naive but is a hardtask master.

(The writer is a core mem-ber of TransparencyInternational, Odisha)

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Even as the StateGovernment blames Centre

over the fuel price flare-up, theusually hard-hit are the com-mon people. And the dieselprice in Odisha has now risento fifth highest in the country,thanks to a high of around 25-per cent VAT levied on the fuelby the State Government in

addition to the Central Exciselevied by Centre.

No doubt, the diesel pricerise would have a cascadingeffect on the economy andfuel the inflation higher inOdisha.

As per data available, witha levy of around 25-per cent ofVAT on diesel, Odisha hasbecome the fifth State thatlevied high taxes on the fuel.Odisha is behind Telangana

(25.95%), Chhattisgarh(25.79%), Kerala (25.58%) andGujarat (25.53%). Owing to thehigh taxation on diesel, Odishanow earns around �14.50/litrevis-a-vis around �15.33/litrelevied by the Centre on diesel.

The fuel economy revealsthat when the diesel’s post-refining cost is pegged at�39.78/litre, the levying ofCentral taxes (�15.33/litre) andState VAT (�14.50/litre) alongwith fuel dealers’ commissionhave together jacked up thecost to around �73.26/litre,which is now the 5th highest inthe country.

Moreover, how hard-hit-ting it is on the citizenry couldbe gauged from the fact that the

per capita consumption ofdiesel in Odisha is the highestin the entire eastern India(Andaman & Nicobar, Bihar,Jharkhand, West Bengal andOdisha) though in absolutequantity consumption Odishacomes second after WestBengal in eastern India. WhileWest Bengal consumed around2,798 thousand metric tonnesof diesel in 2017, Odisha hadconsumed about 2,703 thou-sand metric tonnes. The percapita consumption for therespective States then workedout at around 18kg and 29 kg.

Interestingly, when theVAT levied by West Bengal ondiesel is around 17.58 per cent,it is around 25 per cent in

Odisha. However, the lowestVAT rates of around 16.5% ondiesel are levied by States likeUP, Punjab and Uttarakhand.Incidentally, all States havefarm-based economy likeOdisha.

It’s not only diesel, theflare-up is also witnessed inpetrol price that touchedalmost �76/litre on Wednesday(May 23). While the cost ofpetrol post refinery stage nowis around �36.93/litre, the deal-ers’ commission of around�3.62/litre along with Centraltaxes worth �19.48/litre andState VAT worth �14.74/litretogether pushed the cost to�75.98/litre. This shows taxestogether account for 45 per cent

of petrol cost, and when theState has a pie of 44 per cent oftaxes collected on per litre ofpetrol, the Centre collects 56per cent. Studies have revealedthat the hike in petrol priceaffects almost around 70 percent of households, whosemonthly budget saw anincrease of nearly 20 per cent.

Interestingly, Odisha hasthe 2nd highest petrol con-sumption per capita afterAndaman & Nicobar in easternIndia. With around 8.3 kg,Odisha is behind A & N with21kg. Even, West Bengal’s percapita onsumption is around4.4kg only. Petrol consumptionin Odisha in 2017 was around597 thousand metric tonnes.

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Concerned over the risingnumber of deaths due to

lightning in Odisha, the StateGovernment is planning todevelop a mobile applicationthat can alert users if they arein a lightning zone.

Information on lightningwould soon be available onsmartphones to help peoplemove to safer places and savetheir lives.

Speaking to mediapersonshere on Wednesday, SpecialRelief CommissionerBishnupada Sethi said, “Usersof the app will receive alert atleast one hour before lightningstrikes in that particular area,

thus helping them move tosafer places.”

Besides, the StateGovernment has decided torope in the USA-based EarthNetwork to install lightningdetection systems in the State.A meeting in this regard wasrecently held under chairman-ship of Chief Secretary APPadhi, informed the SRC.

Users not having smart-phones or internet facilitiescan get the informationthrough SMSs, he said.

“A total of 61 people havelost their lives due to lightningbetween April and May 22,2018. As many as 459 peoplehad died in the State during2017-18,” the SRC added.

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The Jan Ekta-Jan AdhikarAndolan (JEJAA), an

umbrella organisation consist-ing of trade unions, farmers,workers and youths and stu-dents, State and CentralGovernment employees, Dalits,Adivasis, environmentalistsand others, held a demonstra-tion here on Wednesdayagainst the anti-people policiesof the BJP led-NDAGovernment at the Centre.

JEJAA member SureshPanigrahi said the four years ofthe NDA Government has dev-astated the lives of all sectionsof people and none of itspromises to the people hasbeen fulfilled.

He alleged that the NDAGovernment had promised“Sabka Vikas” (development ofall), but the development isonly for a few corporate com-panies.

The crimes againstAdivasis, Dalits and minoritieshave increased during thetenure of the Modi

Government,he alsoalleged.

Panigrahisaid that theBJP hadclaimed top r o v i d eemploymentto two croreyouths peryear, but even

two lakh jobs per year have notbeen created in the last fouryears of its rule.

The protest was held in allthe State capitals followed by aweek-long campaign in whichleaflets would be distributed,cycle and motorcycle rallies andmeetings would be held all overthe country.

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The Orissa High Court hasrestrained SCB Medical

College Urology Departmenthead Dr Datteswar Hota fromsupervising in any examinationof the department and direct-ed the State Government toappoint a new head of thedepartment in place of Hotawithin ten days.

A Division Bench of thecourt headed by Chief JusticeVineet Saran taking up a jointpetition filed by at least ten PGstudents of the medical collegelast week directed the State

Government to remove Hotafrom all administrative duties,including from examinations,in view of serious allegations ofmisconduct levelled againsthim.

Posting the matter to beheard again after summervacation, the High Court askedthe Government to find hisreplacement and appoint thenew HoD within ten days.

“The State HealthSecretary has been directed tocomply with the order,”informed senior advocatePitambar Acharya, who wasarguing the case on behalf ofthe students.

Hota was transferred to theMKCG Medical College inBrahmapur in March this yearafter it was ascertained that he

was engaging his PG studentsto treat patients in his privateclinic located in Cuttack.

It was also alleged thatwhen the PG studentsexpressed their reluctance towork in his private clinic, theywere threatened of gettingfailed in the examinations.

However, despite histransfer, Hota managed toobtain a stay order on histransfer from the StateAdministrative Tribunal hereand continued his stay inCuttack.

Although he had assuredthe tribunal that he would notbe a part of any examinationyet he dabble in these affairs,forcing the students toapproach the HC for hisremoval from the department.

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Ahead of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s May 26

visit to Odisha, the UtkalSammilani on Wednesday putfive posers relating to theState’s interest and urged thePrime Minister to respond tothem during his tour.

Whether it is right to setup a statue of Utkal GouravMadhusudan Das in theParliament premises is the firstquestion put by UtkalSammilani Mancheswar

Industrial Estate presidentDillip Dashsharma.

The second question iswhether the President’s RajyaSabha nominees shouldinclude at least an Odia personor not.

Similarly, Dashsharmawants the Prime Minister tomake it clear whether Odishadeserves Mahanadi water,whether Biju Patnaik shouldget Bharat Ratna, and whetherthe Bay of Bengal along Odishacoast should be renamed asKalinga Sagar.

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The Special ProtectionGroup (SPG) on

Wednesday reviewed thearrangements for PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s visitto the city on Saturday. An SPGteam led by AIG SanjayChouhan reviewed the prepa-rations with the district admin-istration, Commissioneratepolice and all the line depart-ments, including the city civicbody.

The Prime Minister isscheduled to address a publicmeeting at the Killa Padia hereto highlight the achievementsof the NDA Government at theCentre on its fourth anniver-sary on May 26. The Cuttackmeeting is also tipped to be thelaunching of the BJP’s cam-paign for the 2019 generalelections pushing the party’s‘Look East’ strategy.

Political pundits are watch-ing the Cuttack visit of Modiwith keen interest as the partypresident Amit Shah had indi-

cated that the BJP’s golden erawould begin once it formsgovernments in Odisha andWest

Bengal. In view of theKarnataka developments,where the party narrowlymissed chance to regain power,Modi’s speech here will beimportant as he will spell outhis achievements of four yearsin power.

Meanwhile, the StateGovernment has also reviewedthe arrangements, includingthat of the security for theSaturday’s public meeting. Asper the communiqué receivedhere from PMO, the PrimeMinister will arrive atBhubaneswar around 3.25 pmon Saturday and will travel toCuttack by helicopter. From thehelipad here at Naraj, the PM’scavalcade will move towardsthe meeting place, which iseight km from the helipad.

Modi will stay at Cuttackfor about one and a half hours.After addressing the publicmeeting, he will go back toBhubaneswar and leave forNew Delhi at 5.55 pm, officialsources said.

Meanwhile, the State unitof the BJP here has made elab-orate arrangements at themeeting place erecting a mas-sive podium after performingBhumi Puja. Local BJP leadersare expecting that over threelakh people will gather here tolisten to Modi.

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The Odisha Human Rights Commission(OHRC) has asked the Ravenshaw

University authorities to submit a report by June29 clarifying the allegation that students under-went mental trauma and their human rightswere infringed due to an all-of-a-sudden sinedie declared by the university authorities in thenight of May 8.

The commission issued this notice to theRegistrar of the university on May 18 afteraccepting a petition filed by Arati Meher, a grad-uation final year political science student in thisregard.

Meher alleged that while a large number ofstudents, irked at non-response from the Vice-Chancellor to their repeated memorandumsseeking filling up vacancies, creating infra-structure facilities and withdrawing fee hike pro-posals, had gathered in front of the VC officeat 10.30 am to press for fulfilment of theirdemands, the VC didn’t give any response andremained in his office till 9.45 pm keeping stu-dents waiting for long 11 hours. At that time,

the university authorities declared sine die with-out any rhyme or reason and asked hostel board-ers to vacate the hostels by 10 am or else faceaction.

Meher mentioned in the petition thataround 1,700 girls had to vacate the hostels atthat odd hour of the night in a pitiable condi-tion. Surprisingly, the sine die was lifted on May9 and the University reopening was delayed bythree days.

Pointing out that the university authorities’decision caused much mental pain and left thestudents in traumatic conditions and theirhuman rights were infringed, Meher urged thecommission to ask the authorities to pay com-pensation of �10, 000 to her and other boardsof the hostel.

The commission set the next hearing to June29, 2018.

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The Soil ConservationDepartment in Nuapada

district had constructed aWater Harvesting Structure(WHS) in Sargimunda villageof Boden block in 1989.

The structure irrigatedabout 200 acres of crop landand benefited hundreds ofsmall and marginal farmers.But, a three-day continuousrain in 2017 that resulted in aflash flood washed away thesluice and the adjacent bund.

The farmers now are run-ning from the lowest rung ofthe administration to the high-est level with desperation tohave that repaired.

“It was a beautiful structureand was an assured source forirrigation for our farmers.Several small revulets that

drain runoffs from the Patidongar and Chahalia dongar inthe south of our village trans-form into Durkadhap streamnear Kirejhola village. A WHSwas constructed across thatstream and the water wasdiverted through the sluice toa collection tank calledBhalumunda, which was thefeeding point of irrigation,”narrated the villagers.

The farmers have met theCollector twice in the grievancemeeting at Boden and Komnaand requested for allotment offund for the repair.

“The Collector had issueddirections to the concernedofficials to conduct an inquiryand submit a report, but wedon't know what happenedafter that,” said RadheshyamBehera, a farmer.

“Crores of rupees are beingallotted every year under dif-ferent schemes like GGY,MGNREG etc, where the pri-ority areas of expenditure aresaid to be creation of waterbodies, connectivity and elec-

tricity. But a close analysis ofthe expenditure pattern of allthese schemes shows that, amajor portion of all allotmentare spent in connectivity sector.Irrigation sector is the mostneglected one,” said formerKhariar MLA Hitesh Bagartti.

“Bagartti had allotted asmall amount of fund for the

renovation of Bhalumundatank and stone packing alongthe canal, when he was theChairperson of Boden blockand that was the last work donefor the development of this pro-ject,” said Radheshyam.

It is learnt that above 90 percent of the total allotmentunder GGY for Boden block

this year has been forroad improvement.

“The contractorsand corrupt politi-cians make a lot ofmoney from such pro-ject; that’s why theyinsist on maximumallotment for connec-tivity,” said the vil-lagers.

It does not matterto them that repairingof the DurkadhapWHS would assure usof food and educationto our children, theyadded.

Officials of theWatershed depart-ment informed that

they have submitted a propos-al worth �8 lakh to the DRDA,Nuapada, for the WHS reno-vation, which is yet to beapproved.

But the villagers said if it isnot done before the advent ofrain, the rain water will flowthrough the broken bund anddamage the crop.

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Fishermen communities ofKujang and Paradip have

extended their supportto the BJD’s MahanadiSuraksha Abhiyanwhich is being spear-headed by party presi-dent and Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik.

For this, theEastern India KaibartaMahasabha (EIKM)organised a preparato-ry meeting at Kujangon Tuesday afternoon.

The meetingorganised by convenorAbhiram Samal waspresided over by chair-man Dillip KumarBehera.

Terming Mahanadi

as food bowel of fishermen,Behera said all fishermen fam-ilies having population of about60,000 in Kujanga and Paradiparea would join the Mahanadimovement being led by theCM.

Among others, presidentAlekh Chandra Tarai, fisher-men leaders Akshaya KumarSwain, Biswambar Tarai, JaydevSahoo, Gauranga Majhi,

Sunakar Tarai, BabajiMaharath, Mihirkant Sahoo,Jhari Tarai, Ratnakar Panda,Harekrushna Samal, AbhiramBehera, Amulya Tarai, MahaniSamal and Satyananda Beheraspoke.

The leaders decided that allfishermen would attend theChief Minister’s scheduledmeeting to be held at Paradipon May 25.

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The Odisha Governmentshared its best disaster man-

agement practices with all otherStates at the Special ReliefCommissioners’ annual meetingheld in New Delhi last week.

Special Relief Commissionerand Disaster ManagementSecretary Bishnupada Sethimade a presentation on theState’s best practices of handlingcyclone at the meeting.

Union Home Secretary RajivGauba asked all StateGovernments to take the best ofmeasures to contain natural dis-asters, which have killed 2,200persons and caused financiallosses worth about Rs. 60,000crore annually during 2005-14.Most of the damages were causedby floods.

Earlier in April, theD e p a r t m e n t - r e l a t e dParliamentary StandingCommittee (DPSC) on HomeAffairs had appreciated theOdisha Government's efforts

for shifting its focus from miti-gation to management of cycloneof 2013 and 2014 after the dev-astation caused by 1999 SuperCyclone.

In a report, the committeeobserved that various organisa-tions like the National DisasterManagement Authority and theWorld Bank appreciated theefforts of the Government ofOdisha, which had lost manyhuman lives in 1999 SuperCyclone, successfully shifted itsattention from "mitigation" to"management" in 2013 and 2014cyclones.

The committee had com-mended that other disaster-prone States should learn fromOdisha's experience in the mat-ter of preparedness and disastermanagement to meet any even-tuality.

It had also requested thecommittee to share its experiencewith other States its experiencesof disaster management andsaving human lives and proper-ties.

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Maoists on Wednesdayblocked the Baliguda-

Kantamala road near Sudra vil-lage in the Balliguda area ofKandhamal district by fellingtrees on the road.

Vehicular communicationon the road was hit due to theroad blockade.

Posters in the name of theKKBN Division of CPI(Maoist)which were found at the spotthreatened to observe a 24-hour Kandhamal Bandh onThursday to protest the killingof four Maoists in a police

encounter at Sudrukumpa onMay 13.

Notably, SpecialOperations Group (SOG) per-sonnel on a tipoff had swoopeddown on a spot when theultras were planning to launcha major offensive against thesecurity forces.

The police recovered eightrifles including an AK-47 andan Insas Rif le from theencounter site.

Two cadre Maoists whohad a bounty of �5 lakh and 4lakh were among the rebelskilled.

In recent times, it was oneof major successes of the Statepolice in its operation againstthe Red rebels.

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The Mahila Surakhsa andSamman Yatra’ reaches at

Malgam under Chandahandiblock of this district onTuesday. Meetings were heldand awareness plays staged inChandahandi and Jharigamblocks.

Former Balangir MPSangita Singh Deo said, “Therehas been a sharp rise in casesof crimes against women, butthe BJD Government has beensilent on the issue.” The Yatrais aimed at sensitising peopleabout the failure of the StateGovernment in providing secu-

rity to women, she added.Among others, Kalahandi

ZP President and BJP MahilaMorcha State secretary RashmiLekha Das and Morcha districtpresident Prabisa Kallar spokeat the meeting. On Monday, asimilar meeting was held atMantri village underNandahandi block.

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Inaugurating the seminar on“Biodiversity Conservation:

Issues and Challenges” at theCentral University of Orissa(CUO), Vice-Chancellor ProfSachidananda Mohanty saidfor a better world, conservationof biodiversity is the utmostnecessity and it requires peo-ple’s participation and multi-disciplinary approach in solv-ing environmental problems.

The Vice-Chancellor high-lighted the importance of bio-diversity studies and asked thestudents to become environ-mental entrepreneurs.

The seminar was organisedby the Department ofBiodiversity and Conservationof Natural Resources of theCUO to mark the InternationalDay of Biodiversity on May 22.

Prof Sharat Kumar Palita,Dean of the School, welcomedthe guests and presented thetheme paper. He highlighted

the importance of biodiversityconservation and challengesfaced by it.

Director, ICAR Soil andWater Research Institute,Sunabeda and chief guest-cum-chief speaker Dr M Madhuspoke on the importance of soiland water conservation forconserving biodiversity. Hestatistically explained the rootcause of the loss of nutrients insoils and the negative impactsof soil erosion. He gave thruston the basic factors for the lossin biodiversity in terms of agri-culture, forestry and the impactof shifting cultivation on forestresource conservation.

Regional Chief

Conservator of Forest (RCCF),Koraput PK Mallic spoke onthe importance of diverse wildflora and its vanishing trend inthe modern times.

He also emphasised on thestudy of natural forest areas, itsnatural resources and calledupon everybody to makenature the living laboratoryfor the students of biodiversi-ty.

A biodiversity documen-tary film “Koraput: The RootedParadise” prepared by researchscholars was displayed on theoccasion. The dignitaries inau-gurated a “Biodiversity PhotoExhibition” and second issue ofwall magazine “Biome”.

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Acashier named Ashok Doraof the Bijaya Sales

Corporation in Tata BenzSquare here has allegedlydecamped with �16 lakh fromthe company’s collection.

As per sources, Dora wasworking as cashier in the firmsince a long time. But on April10, he took �16 lakh from theoffice and didn’t return theamount.

Later, owner of the com-pany K Nageswar Rao managedto contact Dora, followingwhich Dora had made an agree-ment with Rao assuring him toreturn the money by April 30.

But even after the deadlineexpired, Dora didn’t return themoney. Finding no way out,Rao on Tuesday filed a com-plaint at the BNpur police sta-tion. Surprisingly, BNpur policestation IIC JK Patnaik said nosuch complaint has been made.

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The DRDO’s Integrated TestRange (ITR) located here

has not only proved best due toits performance but also con-tributed significantly towardsthe development and welfare ofthe district.

Under its CSR, besidesundertaking health , sanita-tion, plantation, literacy aware-ness programme, it facilitatedweekly OPD for AIIMS,Bhubaneswar, stated its DirectorDr Binay Das in a press brief onWednesday hosted in the wakeof the establishment baggingtwo most coveted awards by theDRDO Delhi , the Silicon

Trophy and Agni Award forExcellence in Self Reliance forthe year 2016 and 2017 respec-tively for best laboratory andself reliant endeavour.

Das said that the awardsare dedicated not only to theentire staff of ITR but also tothe people of Baleswar. Dasalso said although the unitwas established in 1982 and DrAPJ Abdul Kalam was the firstDirector, the ITR could growand prove as world class rangetoday after its debut stunningtest of Agni missile on May 22, 1989 .

“From nascent stage it hasgrown to adult over the periodof years with a number of tests

round the year and its indige-nous infrastructure is second tonone in the world, he said.

“Though we areone of top ranges ofthe world, yet we arenot the best in allsegments. Still thereis room fori m p r o v e m e n t .C o n s i s t e n timprovement is

required to make it betteramong the best. The dream isto make the range as a researchfacility instead of mere range,”said Das. Additional DirectorB Sucherita, Group DirectorNiladri Roy , CR Ojha , MilanKumar Pal and other seniorofficials SK Behera , AN Panda,Khageswar Sahu and SKMunda were present.

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The father of a deceased 18-month-old baby girl of

Nilgiri lodged an FIR withlocal police on Wednesdayalleging that his daughter diedafter she was administratedwith DPT first booster injec-tion.

She was given injection

JE2 and OPV booster dose bythe ANM of local health cen-tre at Mardarajpur ANM cen-tre. The complainant,Parameswar Mahapatra,alleged that baby fell sick laterafter returning home. Althoughshe was rushed to the DistrictHeadquarters Hospital (DHH),yet she succumbed to the sud-den ailment. Doctors declaredthe baby brought dead. Whilearound 50 kids were givendoses, two more children alsofell sick, said sources.

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The BJP Mayurbhanj unitheld here a massive demon-

stration demanding early dis-tribution of plots of land alongwith Record of Right (RoR)among the landless peoplebelonging to SC, ST and OBCcategory.

The landless people are

now residing in 32 differentwards of Baripada Municipalityand they should be given land

within 30 days, the partydemanded.

The demonstration heldin front of the local Collectoratewas led by the party districtunit president Dr KrushnaChandra Mohapatra. Otherswho took part in the demon-stration include BJP districtgeneral secretary LaxmidharHauda, former MLA KandraSoren, State executive memberChhotela Mohanta and SumanSingh, district vice-presidentsSubash Pradhan, SobhabatiOtta and Paresh Mohanta, BJPtown president Vijay Das, for-mer ZP president PrakashSoren and ZP membersKalicharan Naik and JayantiSingh.

��� � � �����3��

Heavy thundershowers andadverse weather threw

normal life out of gear andaffected train services at vari-ous places in the State on

Wednesday morning.

Due to the bad weatherconditions, a Bhubaneswar-bound flight from New Delhitoo was diverted to Kolkata.

The Vistara UK 785 Delhi-Bhubaneswar flight, which leftDelhi at 7 am and scheduled to

reach Bhubaneswar at 9.05 am,

was diverted to Kolkata due tothe heavy rain here, the airlinesources said.

Overhead wires snapped atsome places in the twin cities.Besides, signalling system wasalso affected, official sourcessaid.

Following heavy rains,Angul-Puri Passenger, Tata-Kacheguda Special,Talcher-Puri Passenger, Bhadrak-Bhubaneswar Passenger, Puri-Cuttack Passenger, Palasa-Cuttack Passenger,S e c u n d e r a b a d - H o w r a hFalaknuma Express, BangaloreCant-Bhubaneswar Express atNirakarpur, Puri-SantragachiPassengers were halted at dif-ferent railway stations.

Similarly, Cuttack-Paradip-Cuttack Passenger, Cuttack-Bhadrak-Cuttack Passengerwere cancelled from both thedirections.The Palasa-CuttackPassenger ran up toMancheswar instead ofCuttack. Cuttack-PuriPassenger originated fromMancheswar instead ofCuttack.

The Bhubaneswar-Brahmapur Passenger ran up to

Balugaon and returned toBhubaneswar as Brahmapur-Bhubaneswar Passenger fromBalugaon to Bhubaneswar.

The Bhubaneswar-Brahmapur- Bhubaneswar pas-senger was cancelled betweenBalugaon and Brahmapur fromboth the directions. The Palasa-Cuttack Passengerand Cuttack-Puri Passenger was cancelledbetween Mancheswar andCuttack.

Train services on Bhadrak-Bhubaneswar-Puri route wereaffected as wires snapped andsignals stopped functioningdue to nor’wester rains, reportssaid.

Many passengers hard atough time at the Bhubaneswarrailway station due to water-logging at the station owing toroof leakage.

The capital city’s low-lyingareas like Acharya Vihar,Jayadev Vihar and Nayapalliand many other places werewaterlogged. Similar situationswere also witnessed in Cuttackand at the Grand Road in Puriwith drain water inundatingthe roads, much to the problemof the devotees and locals.

������� �����3��

The Freethought Party ofIndia (FPI) hailed the

timely intervention of theSupreme Court in theKarnataka affairs and for sav-ing democracy from the uglytrend of horse trading.

The party said that the SCmaintained its independenceand rose to the expectations ofthe people when it did not stopthe scheduled swearing in ofYeddyurappa as CM on May17 on the Opposition plea.

But at the same time, theSC asked the Yeddyurappa- ledBJP Government to showmajority in the KarnatakaAssembly on May 19.

The Governor ofKarnataka had given 15 days’time to Yeddyurappa for afloor test after calling him toform the Government with theBJP getting the single largestmajority of 104 votes.Subsequently, there wereapprehensions of horse trading

by the BJP in the State fromthe JD(S) and Congress MLAsby huge payoffs.

“The SC did show its truecalibre and independence inunderstanding the gravity ofthe situation and wanted thatpolitics in India should not bebereft of ethics and it shouldbe totally freed from themalaise of horse trading orbuying of MLAs.

The “Resort Culture” orkeeping the MLAs in luxuri-ous hotels has become alreadyan unethical or immoral fea-ture in Indian politics.Therefore, the SC insisted thatthe “floor test” be held on May19.

As a result, the BJP couldnot play its dirty game of“purchasing” MLAs from theranks of the JD (S) and theCongress. Therefore, it couldnot muster the support of 112MLAs.

So Yeddyurappa had totender his resignation,” saidFPI general secretary BRamchandra CST Voltaire.

Voltaire also called forimplementation of the mixedPR system of election onGerman model in India beforethe 2019 polls to do away withsuch ugly trends and savedemocracy.

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Two persons of Jharsugudadistrict died in a road

mishap on the Biju ExpressHighway at Jagatgad inSundargarh after a bus ran overtheir bike on Wednesday.

The deceased were identi-fied as Siba Guda (50) and hisnephew Dibya Guda (25) ofDhutra village in Jharsugudadistrict.

As per sources, the duohad gone to Jagatgad village todistribute invitation cards forSiba’s daughter’s marriage.While returning home, a bushit their bike from rear fol-lowing which both of themdied on the spot.Tension pre-vailed in the area as localsstaged a road blockade forabout four hours demandingcompensation for deceased’skin. Sabdega Tehsildar rushedto the spot and provided Rs 15,000 each from the Red Crossfund. Following which theroad blockade was withdrawn.

������� �����3��

Indian women’s hockey teamcaptain Sunita Lakra along

with her teammate Deep GraceEkka met Nalco CMD DrTapan Kumar Chand onWednesday after returningfrom the 5th Asian ChampionsTrophy and briefed him abouttheir achievements in the tour-nament.

Dr Chand appreciatedLakra’s leading the team toachieve the runners up title inthe tournament. The team, ledby defender Lakra performedwell in the tournament, beatingJapan by (4-1), China by (3-1)and Malaysia by (3-2). In thefinals, the team lost to Korea by(0-1).s

Dr Chand said, “We arevery proud of Sunita Lakra forhelping brand Odisha shine inthe sporting arena.” It might bementioned here that Lakra is anemployee of the Nalco.

He said sportspersons likeSradhanjali Samantaray,Debasis Mohanty, Shiv SundarDas, Anuradha Biswal, who arepart of Nalco family, havebrought laurels to the State and

the company as well. With aview to promote sports andencourage the sportspersons of

Odisha, the Nalco is planningto induct more sportspersonsin future, he added.

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In order to bring more effi-ciency in administration and

ensuring good governance inthe State, Himachal ChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur willlaunch ‘Jan Manch’ programmeon May 26.

The Chief Minister Jai RamThakur had in his Budgetspeech announced organizing 'Jan Manch ' programmes acrossthe state. He will launch thisprogramme from Peterhoff inShimla on May 26 in a statelevel function, said aspokesman of the StateGovernment.

He said that the mainobjective of this programme isto bridge the gap between peo-

ple and government and toredress the grievances of thepeople at their doorsteps.

This will reduce the labourand efforts of people of remoteareas who travel long dis-tances to reach district andstate headquarters for gettingvarious services.

Jan Manch programmeswill be organised in remoteareas of every district whereMinisters will be presentalongwith officers of alldepartments.

They will hear the prob-lems of people and try toresolve issues on the spot, hesaid.

This will go a long way infulfilling the commitment andvision of PM Narendra Modi to

ensure 'minimum governmentand maximum governance', thespokesman added.

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������%��'$"��"�����" ����"�,�1�"��&3����*��- Haryana andPunjab continued to reelunder severe heatwaveconditions on Wednesdaywith temperatures recordedin the 42-45 degrees Celsiusmark at several places.

Hisar town in Haryanasizzled at 45.1 degree Celsius,making it the hottest place in

the region. Bhiwani settled ata high of 44.3 degrees, Karnalrecorded 42.2 degrees andAmbala recorded 42.5 degreecelsius. Amritsar city inPunjab recorded a high of41.9 degrees, while Ludhianaand Patiala cities were hotterwith highs of 43 and 43.4degrees respectively. PNS

From page 1Similarly, excise duty on

diesel has increased from �3.46per litre to �15.33 per litre dur-ing the same period. TheCentral Government instead ofgiving a clear cut opinion onthe increasing fuel prices is try-

ing to hoodwink the people.The BJD activists would

stage dharnas in all the 314blocks from May 28 to 30 inthis regard and sensitise thepeople and through the localadministration memorandumaddressed to the Presidentwould be presented,announced, Sahu. Among oth-ers, Biju Chhatra Janata Dalpresident Rana Pratap Patrawas present.

���444From page 1

The Congress is a separateparty, it will do its own thing.We are here at the invitation ofKumaraswamy. His is alsofrom a regional party”.

Responding to Amit Shah’sstatement that Karnatakadevelopment will have noimpact on the BJP, she said, “It

is their prerogative to say whatthey want to say.

We can only say what wehave to say. We are not scarednor will be cowed down. Weare here to strengthen theregional party”.

“If the regional partiescome together, they becomestrong. This should be under-stood by all. Like the farmerssay, ‘whoever fights us willperish’. Regional parties can-not be taken lightly. If theregional parties becomestrong, it benefits the nationas it too becomes strong,” sheadded.

Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister Chandrababu Naiduducked direct questions onunity under Rahul Gandhiand said, “We have come hereto express solidarity withKumaraswamy”.

He said, “We are express-ing our solidarity and also infuture we will work together.Regional parties are all here.We want to express our soli-darity and also this is a verygood occasion and a very goodevent. Kumaraswamy is takingoath”.

To a question on whetherhe is ready to meet Sonia andRahul, he said, “What I am say-ing we are expressing solidar-ity with Kumaraswamy.

What we are doing is topromote more and moreregional parties.

We want to strength-en…that is Mamataji’s missionand even ours.”

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The Indian Government onWednesday summoned

Deputy High Commissioner ofPakistan, Syed Haider Shah, tolodge a strong protest over thekilling of civilians in ceasefireviolations by the Pakistan secu-rity forces. A seven-month-oldinfant died in the unprovokedfirings from the Pak side onMonday in Bhimber Sectoracross the Line of Control inJammu and Kashmir.

“It was conveyed that thedeliberate targeting of innocentcivilians, who are located awayfrom the forward line ofdefences, by Pakistan forcesusing small arms and highcaliber weapons is highlydeplorable and condemned inthe strongest terms. Targeting

of innocent civilians includingyoung children is against allestablished humanitariannorms and professional mili-tary conduct. Pakistan author-ities were called upon to inves-tigate into such heinous acts ofkilling innocent civilians andinstruct its forces to desistfrom such acts immediately,”theMinistry of External Affairssaid in a statement.

“Our strong concerns werealso shared at continued unpro-voked firing and ceasefire vio-lations across the Line ofControl and the InternationalBoundary. More than 1088such violations have been car-ried out by Pakistan forces atthe Line of Control andInternational Boundary so farduring 2018 which have led toloss of 36 lives and injuries to127 persons.

The Pakistan side was alsoasked to end the support beinggiven to cross border infiltra-tion of terrorists, includingthrough covering fire. In 2018,Indian security forces havethwarted attempts by 53 ter-rorists to infiltrate and haveneutralised 5 terrorists at thetime of crossing the Line ofControl,” the MEA added.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Wednesday

reviewed the progress in imple-mentation of the Atal Missionfor Rejuvenation and UrbanTransformation (AMRUT)projects in which projectsworth �65,075 crore are at dif-ferent stages in 500 cities acrossthe country. The review wasmade at his 26th interactionthrough PRAGATI — the ICT-based, multi-modal platformfor Pro-Active Governance andTimely Implementation.

AMRUT is one of theModi Government’s flagshipprogrammes launched withthe aim of providing basiccivic amenities like water sup-ply, sewerage, urban transport,parks as to improve the quali-ty of life for all especially thepoor and the disadvantaged.AMRUT is a centrally spon-sored scheme with 80 percentbudgetary support from theCentre. Formula for Allocation

of AMRUT cities among Stateswas based on total populationand number of statutory urbantowns (50:50).

According to Ministry ofHousing and Urban Affairs,under AMRUT, out of StateAnnual Action Plan(SAAP)size of �77,640 crores, projectsworth �65,075 crores (84 per-cent) are under various stagesof implementation includingprojects tendered and wheredetailed project reports have

been approved. “More than 22 crores

urban population will benefitfrom this mission. Total of�11,945 crores has beenreleased so far. Close to 400projects worth �325 croreshave already been completedand for 2,188 projects worth�40,074 crores, contracts havebeen awarded and are at vari-ous stages of implementation,”the Ministry said.

Further, 895 projects cost-

ing �13,586 crores are undertendering and for 729 projectscosting �10,824 crores DPRshave been approved. Further,8.58 lakhwater tap connec-tions have been provided so farunder the Mission and by con-vergence of other schemes.

Officials said that the dead-line of the AMRUT mission isJune 2020. It is hopeful thatnearly 1.4 crore water taps willbe provided across the country.“As many as 37 lakh street lightshave been replaced with ener-gy efficient LED lights. Around322 green spaces and parksprojects have been completedunder the Mission. A Singlewindow clearance system hasbeen implemented in Delhiand Mumbai for constructionpermits, where only 8 proce-dures and less than 60 days arerequired for all approvals.Online Building PermissionSystems(OBPS) is operationalin 370Mission cities and isunder various stages of imple-mentation in remaining cities,”

it said. According to officials, 25PRAGATI meetings so far haveseen a cumulative review of 227projects with a total investmentof over �10 lakh crore.

Resolution of PublicGrievances has also beenreviewed across a range of sec-tors. In the meeting, the PrimeMinister reviewed the progresstowards handling and resolu-tion of grievances related topost offices, and railways. Hestressed on the importance ofincreasing digital transactionsacross the postal and rail net-works, especially using theBHIM App.

Modi reviewed theprogress of nine infrastruc-ture projects in the railway,road, petroleum, and powersectors. These projects arespread over several Statesincluding Haryana, Rajasthan,Gujarat, Maharashtra, UttarPradesh, Odisha, Bihar,Jharkhand, West Bengal,Telangana, Tamil Nadu andAndhra Pradesh.

��� � ������� �

The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved set-

ting up of 4,072 mobile towersin the Maoist-affected areas of10 States with 4G capacities toimprove telecom and band-width network in remote areas.The project cost estimated is�7330 crore.

Addressing the media here,Union Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad said that this would befunded from Universal ServiceObligation Fund (USOF)maintained with Department oTelecom.

Of the 4,072 mobile towers,1,054 will be installed inJharkhand, 1,028 inChhattisgarh, 483 in Odisha,429 in Andhra Pradesh, 412 inBihar, 207 in West Bengal, 179in Uttar Pradesh, 136 inMaharashtra, 118 in Telanganaand 26 in Madhya Pradesh.This project will be under themonitoring of Home Ministry’sIntegrated Development Planin the Left Wing Extremism(LWE) affected areas.

In the first phase, whichwas completed about two yearsago, 2,329 mobile towers wereinstalled at a cost of �3,167

crore in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,Odisha, Telangana, UttarPradesh and West Bengal. Theadditional towers will strength-en the telecom network result-ing in increased mobile pene-tration in the Left WingExtremism-affected and otherareas facing security challenges,said Ravi Shankar Prasad.

As of now, out of the 90districts affected by the Maoistsproblem, 30 were termed asworst-hit. Union HomeSecretary Rajiv Gauba had saidthat 44 districts in the countryare no longer under the influ-ence of Maoists or have negli-

gible presence and most of theLeft Wing Extremism (LWE) isnow confined only to 30 worst-hit districts.

He had said the geograph-ical spread of the LWE violencehas shrunk significantly in thelast four years due to a multi-pronged strategy involvingsecurity and development-related measures.

Gauba had said significantfeatures of the anti-Naxal pol-icy were zero-tolerance towardsviolence coupled with a bigpush to developmental activi-ties so that benefits of newroads, bridges, telephone tow-ers reach the poor and the vul-nerable in the affected areas.

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The deadly Nipah virus thathas claimed over 13 lives in

Kerala in the last few daysseems to have spread to theneighbouring Karnataka too.Two suspected cases of Nipahvirus infection have beenreported from Mangaluru andKasargod in Karnataka.

The outbreak is likely to hittourism industry in the State aswell as Bahrain has issued atravel advisory asking its citi-zens to avoid visiting theSouthern States while the UAEto urging its citizens in India toexercise caution and abide bythe instructions of the localauthorities.

The Piniyari Governmenttoo has asked travellers toavoid visiting four northerndistricts Kozhikode,Malappuram, Wayanad andKannur, in Kerala, even as theUnion Health Ministry hassaid that the Nipah virus out-break in Kerala is a localisedoccurrence and there is nothreat of its spread,

According to reports, onepatient is a 20-year-old womanfrom Kasargod and the otherpatient is a 75-year-old manfrom Mangaluru in Karnataka.It is suspected that the woman

probably could have beenexposed to the virus when shehad visited the Perambra hos-pital in Kozhikode district ofKerala where a nurse wasundergoing treatment forNipah virus infection.

The woman had been inclose contact with the nurse.The nurse named Lini suc-cumbed to the infection onMonday.

However, the 75-year-old

man has no history of travel. Samples from both the

patients have been sent to theManipal Centre for VirusResearch (MCVR), Manipal.The samples will be sent to theNational Institute of Virology(NIV), Pune if the results fromMCVR turn positive for NipahVirus.

Tamil Nadu, Karnatakaand Puducherry Governmentshave said that there is no need

to panic in these States, but offi-cials have been asked to be onalert in case of any suspectedoutbreak. Meanwhile, the cen-tral team has devised draftguidelines, case definitions,advisory for healthcare work-ers, information to the gener-al public, advisories for samplecollection and transportationand a brief on Nipah virus dis-ease.

In an advisory issued by

Kerala Health Secretary RajeevSadanandan, it was stated thattravelling to any part of Keralawas safe. But if travellers wishedto be extra cautious, they mayavoid the four districts —Kozhikode, Malappuram,Wayanad and Kannur, it said.

The UAE too has urged itscitizens in India to exercise cau-tion and abide by the instruc-tions of Indian authorities fol-lowing the outbreak of theNipah virus in Kerala whileBahrain has issued a traveladvisory

It has asked its nationals toavoid travelling to Kerala untilan outbreak of the rare Nipahvirus is under control, the Gulfstate's consulate in Mumbaisaid on its Twitter account onWednesday.

The virus can cause flu-likesymptoms and brain damage,and the outbreak has alreadykilled 10 people in southernIndia, with at least nine morebeing treated, officials said.

There is no vaccine for theNipah virus, carried by fruitbats and spread through con-tact with bodily fluids, theWorld Health Organisation(WHO) says. Treatment for thevirus, which has a mortalityrate of about 70 per cent, is sup-portive care.

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The CBI on Wednesday reg-istered an FIR against 17

persons, including 10 employ-ees of Sify Technologies Pvt Ltdin connection with the leak ofpaper for graduate level exam-ination of Staff SelectionCommission.

The agency carried outsearches at 12 locations, includ-ing four offices of the SifyTechnologies Private Limited inChennai, Noida, Mumbai andOkhla, New Delhi, besides theresidence of one of its employ-ees, Sant Prasad Gupta inSheikh Sarai area. The CBI hasalso named seven students inthe FIR who had appeared inthe examination on the basis ofthe screenshot of the questionpaper which was allegedlyleaked and became viral onsocial media.

Following the protests, the

Ministry of Home Affairs hasdirected the CBI to probe theleaks in March this year.

According to the CBI, theexamination papers were set insuch a way that an examineegot the questions in a certain‘sequence’ unique to the exam-ination centres, which weretermed as ‘labs’ in this case.Going by the pattern of thequestions leaked, the CBImanaged to locate seven stu-dents who would have receivedthose questions in that partic-ular pattern. These studentshave been named as accusedand their complicity would bedecided during the course ofinvestigation which has begunnow, the officials said.

Earlier this month, a Delhigovernment clerk, suspected tobe the mastermind of a crimesyndicate helping candidatescheat the online examinationconducted by the SSC, was

arrested. With the arrest ofHarpal Singh, on May 4, thetotal number of gang membersarrested in the case had reached10.

Last month, Delhi Policearrested five persons in con-nection with the matter.Another four were arrested inMarch, when the case wastransferred to the crime Branchfrom the north district police.

During interrogation, thepolice found that the syndicateworked as a organised group-ing. The members would hackinto the online system andassist candidates taking theexamination. The candidateswere charged between �5 and�10 lakh. The gang allegedlyhad developed a network withexamination centres and com-puter labs in various cities. TheSSC outsources the conduct ofthe examination to labs such asthese.

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The Ministry ConsumerAffairs, Food and Public

Distribution has moved a draftCabinet note on creating asugar buffer stock of threemillion tonnes and fixing aminimum ex-mill price to helpcash-starved millers clear canearrears which have surged toabout �22,000 crore.

The proposal was firstmooted by sugar mill ownersciting that against the project-ed production of 32 milliontonnes of sugar this year, only25 tonnes will be consumed.Hence, there is an excess ofabout seven million tonnes ofsugar. Though the Governmenthad mandated the mills toexport two million tonnes,there is still an excess of fivemillion tonnes.

This situation has beencreated due to sharp fall insugar prices and record pro-duction. The note follows a let-ter written recently by NCPchief and former AgricultureMinister Sharad Pawar toPrime Minister Narendra Modisuggesting immediate inter-ventions to deal with hugesugar glut in the market.

India’s sugar productionhas touched an all-time high of31.6 million tonne (MT) so farin the 2017-18 season(October-September) on high-er cane output, leading to asurge in cane arrears to �22,000crore, as per the official data.

“After deliberating Pawar’ssuggestions by both the PrimeMinister’s Office (PMO) andthe Committee of Secretaries(CoS), the Food Ministry hasprepared a draft cabinet note

proposing 2-3 interventions,”said a highly placed source.

The Ministry has proposedsetting up of a buffer stock ofup to 3 MT sugar, fixing of aminimum ex-mill sale price ataround �30 per kg, re-intro-ducing the monthly releasemechanism and imposingstock limits on mills by fixingquota for each mill, the sourceadded.

Presently, the average ex-mill price of sugar is in therange of �25.60-26.22 per kg,below the cost of production.Sources said the excess avail-ability of the sweetener hasresulted in a sharp decline inex-factory prices to �24.5 perkg in Maharashtra and �25.5 inUttar Pradesh against �35 perkg a year back.

Pawar in his letter hadsuggested several other inter-

ventions such as increase inethanol price, ban on indis-criminate taxes imposed bystates on movement ofmolasses and on sale of ethanolbesides reduction in GST onethanol from 18 per cent to 5per cent.

The NCP chief had alsosought a package to bail outcash-stressed mills. Sourcessaid that the petroleum min-istry is looking into the ethanolissue, while the finance min-istry on giving a financial pack-age to millers. Early this month,the government approved aproduction subsidy of �5.5 perquintal for sugarcane farmersto help millers clear canearrears.

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With petrol and dieselprices being hiked for the

10th day in a row, theGovernment on Wednesdaysaid it is working on a long-term solution to address thevolatility and frequent revisionsin rates. “The issue of fre-quent hike in fuel price is amatter of debate and concern.The Government is involved inthis whole process, includingthe concern about rise in pricesand also the uncertainty,”Union Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad told reporters here.

He was answering to volleyof questions on this regard dur-ing the briefing of Cabinet

meeting. With geopolitical sit-uation leading to an uncer-tainty over the direction ofinternational oil prices, “a newsense of urgency has devel-oped”, he said.

“The Government is keenthat instead of having an ad hocmeasure, it may be desirable tohave a long-term view whichaddresses not only the volatil-ity but also takes care of the

unnecessary ambiguity aris-ing out of frequent ups anddowns. That process is under-way,” he said.

The Minister refused toelaborate either on the mea-sures being considered or if aduty reduction was on cards.On the question of excise duty,he said proceeds from suchtaxes are used for country’sdevelopment including build-ing of highways, digital infra-structure, electricity to vil-lages, hospitals and education.

“So tax on fuel is linkedwith developmental issues. Weunderstand that there is a com-pelling need for a long-termsolution, structured solution (todeal with the present situa-

tion),” he said.Asked about former

Finance Minister PChidambaram’s criticism ofthe BJP Government raisingexcise duty to take away gainsarising from falling interna-tional prices, Prasad said hegenerally does not comment onthe Congress leader’s tweets“because ever since his partywent out of power, he hasbecome active on Twitter”.

Chidambaram had in aseries of tweets said that the fallin international oil pricesbetween 2014 and early 2016helped the Government save�15 per litre but theGovernment put an addition-al �10 on every litre of fuel.

����� ������� �

The BJP on Wednesday hitout at Rahul Gandhi for

accusing the RSS for the deathof 10 people in police firing inTuticorin, saying the Congresspresident is hiding his “failures”behind the veil of attacking theorganisation and was ignorantof facts .

BJP spokesperson SambitPatra attacked Rahul at a mediabriefing for drawing the RSSinto the incident and said itunderlined his “inexperienceand immaturity”, wonderingwhat future the Congresswould have with such a presi-dent.

“You can inherit presiden-

cy of a party but you cannotinherit wisdom and under-standing,” he said.

Rahul had claimed thatTamils were being killed as theyrefused to “bow” to the ideol-ogy of the RSS.

In an apparent reference tothe anti-copper plant violenceat Tuticorin on Tuesday inwhich 10 people were killed inpolice firing, Congress leadersaid he was with the Tamil peo-ple.

Patra also alleged, citingmedia reports, that seniorCongress leader PChidambaram was a director inthe company, which was at thecentre of the violent protests inthe southern state, and asked

Congress leader to seek clari-fication from him.

Patra said in India’s feder-al structure, law and order is astate subject and the BJP-runCentral Government has noth-ing to do with the police firing,Patra said, asking if Rahulknew that.

He said Congress leader sooften errs by blaming the RSSfor things happening across thecountry and the BJP would liketo gift him Class VI civics bookto learn about India’s federalstructure, Constitution anddemocracy.

What has happened is amatter of sorrow and Rahul istrying to milk a sad incident forpolitical mileage, Patra alleged.

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The Congress on Wednesdaysaid it will mark the fourth

anniversary of the ModiGovernment on May 26 as“Vishwasghat Divas” orBetrayal Day and “expose” theNDA’s failures on various frontsin protests held across thecountry. AICC general secre-tary Ashok Gehlot said theCongress and other like-mind-ed parties would unite to defeatthe Modi Government, whichhe described as “fascist and cor-rupt” and claimed was destroy-ing the country.

“Everyone is full of angstagainst this NDA Government.Be it farmers, youth, Dalits, thecommon man, all are sufferingunder this government,” hesaid. Gehlot also urged thePrime Minister to “stop lying”on issues and to try and createhistory instead of “distorting”it. Along with the party’s com-munications in-chargeRandeep Surjewala, Gehlotsaid the Congress would markfour years of the ModiGovernment with protests inevery district of the country,besides press conferencesaddressed by senior leaders.

The two leaders alsoreleased posters in Hindi andEnglish for its “India Betrayedcampaign” to be launched bythe Congress on May 26. TheModi Government was swornin on this day in 2014.

“On the completion of fouryears of the BJP-ledGovernment on May 26, theCongress has decided to holddharnas, protests in every dis-trict of the country to exposethe BJP for its betrayal of thepeople’s trust. The Congresswill raise all issues due towhich the common man istroubled by this Government,”Gehlot said.

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At his first customary Pressconference, well attended

by a galaxy of Opposition lead-ers, after taking over the man-tle on Wednesday, KarnatakaChief Minister HDKumaraswamy justified hisaligning with the Congressand said his Government willbe stable and last long for itsfull term. He said, “I havedecided to join the Congressalliance for the sake of thenation to keep the BJP away.This is also an effort for theOpposition unity to fight theBJP in 2019 polls”.

On the galaxy of leadersdescending on his coronation,he said they have come tosend a message of unity. Hesaid, “The leaders who camehere today didn’t just come upto support my Government,they wanted to send a messageto the people that they are com-ing together for 2019 elec-tions. He said, “Never before ina State Government forma-tion had so many leaders come.This is the first time that it hashappened in the country. Thisis also a challenge for me,every step I take will have to beweighed. The expectationacross the country that this willbe a model for the country is achallenge. I have to also look atthe promises I have made in mymanifesto”.

“I am a child of circum-stances. There is a strange sit-uation in Karnataka; ordinarypeople are divided about thiscoalition, especially on social

media. The suspicionsexpressed by a section of mediawill be addressed by thisGovernment”, he added andassured the people hisGovernment would last forthe full five term.

“As no party has got man-date, over the past week I haveseen all manner of opinionseven those in letters to papers.For a long time reports had keptharping on a hung assembly andI feel that impacted the people.Already the BJP as largest partywere invited and they also

backed out of trust vote. TheCongress decided to align withJD(S) and BSP with their 78MLAs and 2 Independents, andfor this I want to thank Rahuland Sonia Gandhi, and othersthey have given me a responsi-bility” he added.

Kumaraswamy explainedthe circumstances in which heagreed to form the governmentwith the Congress and said hekeeping his ego he will work forthe welfare of the people andalso to keep the alliance intact.He said he will prove his major-

ity on the floor of the house onthe 25.

“The BJP keep saying it’sunethical, but I don’t know, ifwe discuss it nobody will get aconclusive answer. The questionon all minds is if this coalitionwill last, especially as I was theone who destabilised the 2004alliance. In the 12 years since wehave also fought each other andthe question of whether this willlast”, he added.

He said justifying his stand“It is true I had said in the runup to polls that I wouldn’t joina coalition and would call foranother poll. This is why I saythat I’m a child of circum-stances and I have had to keepmy ego aside. To save thenation, I was advised that it isessential that I join hands withthe Congress”.

On the crucial issue offarm loan wavier he said hewould work with everyone inconsultation. He said “I wantto tell Yeddyurappa thatnobody has to hit the streetsunder this Govt because we willallow everybody to approachus. I have a blueprint for farmloan waiver. I will take every-body into confidence and evenCongress must get credit for it.Today’s oath taking is a pro-gramme of the people, not mypersonal event. This govt willtry to be of the people, by thepeople and for the people”, headded.

Kumaraswamy was veryguarded and cautious inanswering volley of questionskeeping his commitment to thecoalition partner the Congress.

The press conference was joint-ly addressed by Chief Ministerand Deputy Chief Minister GParameshwara. He describedthe attendance of galaxy ofOpposition leaders to hisswearing in ceremony he saidit was a responsibility bestowedon him.

“I have my own dreamsand the programmes I have willhave to match with the mani-festo promises of the Congressas well, and I will also have totake forward the schemes theyhave put forward in the previ-ous 5 years. In the Budget I willput forward all these will beincluded. I did not say I will notwaive loans. I said if my partycomes to power on its own Iwould waive all loans. But nowI’m in a coalition Govt and Ihave to take them into confi-dence”, he added.

Kumaraswamy said hewould tie the Ashwamedahorses of the Modi Shah. Hesaid “I had said after UP resultsthat I’d tie down theirAshwamedha’s horse. Nowthey’d probably have to keep alifeless horse”.

He touched upon the con-tentious issue of Mahadayi(drinking water sharing withGoa to the parched five districtsof north Karnataka) and saidPrime Minister Modi has beenlying in this to mislead the peo-ple and said has to wait for theorder of the tribunal.

Meanwhile former chiefminister and BJP strongman BSYeddyurappa has predictedthat this coalition will fall with-in three months.

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Senior BJP leader and formerUnion Minister Bandaru

Dattatreya’s family has suf-fered a major shock with hisonly son, 21-year-old Vaishnav,passing away due to cardiacarrest in the wee hours ofWednesday. He was third yearstudent of MBBS.

According to the familysources, Vaishnav complainedof chest pain while having din-ner at home in Ramngara arealast night and was rushed tonearby Guru Nanak CareHospital where he died after

midnight.Dattatreya and his family

was left in deep shock by thetragedy. As the news spreadfriends and supporters ofDattatreya started gathering athis residence. Those who vis-ited him include the StateGovernor ESN Narasimhan,several State Ministers, MPsand leaders of various politicalparties.

Prime Minister NarendraModi and Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu spoke to himover phone and conveyed theircondolences. Telangana ChiefMinister K Chndrasekhar Rao

and Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister N ChandrababuNaidu also expressed theirshock over the death ofVaishnav.

“He was the only son andone can understand the griefof a father over such a loss”,Chandrababu Naidu said inhis condolence message.

Vaishnav was cremated atMadannapet Shamshanghatin the afternoon. Dattatreyrepresents Secunderabad con-stituency in Lok Sabha andwas a Minister of State inNarendra Modi Cabinet tilllast year.

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The Opposition NCP onWednesday suffered a set-

back ahead of the MaharashtraLegislative Council polls, as itsMLC Niranjan Dhavkhareresigned from the party andappeared poised to join theruling BJP.

Niranjan, son of late NCPleader Vasant Dhavkhare whowas a close associate of partyfounder-president Sharad

Pawar, sent his resignation toState party president JayantPatil.

Simultaneously, Niranjancalled on State LegislativeCouncil chairman RamrajeNaik-Nimbalkar and tenderedhis resignation as the memberof the Upper House.

Jr Dhavkhare will jointhe BJP formally at a functionto be held on Thursday in thepresence of MaharashtraChief Minister Devendra

Fadnavis.Niranjan was a member of

the Maharashtra LegislativeCouncil from KonkanGraduates’ constituency. Hisresignation comes barely a fort-night ahead of the polls to theUpper House.

Talking to media persons,Niranjan attributed his resig-nation from the NCP to “pettypolitics” at the local level. “Myfather was associated withthe NCP right from the day ofits formation in 199. I havewatched the developmentsin the party from close quar-ters. The NCP was like fam-ily to me. But of late I wasfed up with the local politics..... I am extremely sad that Iam leaving the NCP”.Niranjan’s exit from the NCPcame as a jolt to the partyleadership, considering thathis father Vasant Dhavkharehad been associated withPawar for nearly threedecades.

Sr Dhavkhare passed awayafter protracted illness inJanuary this year. He was a forceto reckon with in Thane districtwhere he had been elected asthe Mayor of the ThaneMunicipal Corporation (TMC)in 1987.

Late Dhavkhare was elect-ed unopposed to theMaharashtra LegislativeCouncil in 1992. Subsequently,he was elected to the StateLegislative Council. He waselected as the deputy chairmanof the State Legislative Councilonce in 1998 and later in 2010.

The BJP is expected tonominate Niranjan as its can-didate for the State legislativeCouncil polls from KonkanGraduates’ Constituency whichis going to polls along withthree local body constituencieson June 8.

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The BJP is trying to fomenttrouble in Bengal so as to

attract Article 356 in the State,the ruling Trinamool Congresshas said, adding, the saffronoutfit’s nefarious designs totrigger social unrest in theState became more evidentduring the panchayat electionsand a few months preceding it.

At least 23 people werekilled and about 500 injuredduring the three-tier rural elec-tions in the State.

“As is their wont the BJPhas been trying to create trou-ble in Bengal by instigatingsocial tension. This approachedmaximized during the pan-chayat elections when ourTrinamool Congress lost mostnumber of workers,” TMC gen-eral secretary Partho Chatterjeesaid, adding their designs werehowever thwarted by the peo-ple of this State.

“The BJP’s main motive isto get the central Governmentto clamp President’s Rule inBengal so that they can easilygrab power. But the politicallyconscious people of this Stateare aware and alert of theirnefarious designs. They willthwart their plans in future asthey have done during thepanchayat elections.”

The TMC won uncontest-ed about 90 percent ZillaParishad constituencies, morethan 80 percent PanchayatSamiti seats and about 70 per-cent gram panchayat seats inthe three-tier elections inblood-smeared election thatapparently broke all the pastrecords of State oppressionprovoking a country-wide crit-

icism as well as judicial repri-mands. Bengal witnessed com-munal tensions in the weeks pre-ceding the elections in severaldistricts of the State leading theTMC to allege “BJP hand behindsuch charged up situations.”

Chatterjee who is also asenior minister in the MamataBanerjee cabinet also attackedthe CPI(M) and the Congressfor surrendering to the saffronparty making their cadres towork for the BJP.

“It is a shame that in Bengalwhich produced tall Marxistleaders like Jyoti Basu, PramodDasgupta and Muzaffar Ahmed,the CPI(M) is allowing its cadresto be sold out to the BJP just toeliminate the TrinamoolCongress. But the people of thishave seen through their designsand they will not allow them tosucceed,” Chatterjee said adding“in spite of strengthening theirown organization the Left is try-ing to play second fiddle to theBJP which is why they havecome down to the third positionin the State.”

Attacking the Congress theTrinamool leader said the partyhad been reduced to “signboard” in the State “because oftheir faulty policy.”

In the Centre they bat forsecularism but in Bengal theyare holding the flags of the BJPwhich was a shame, he saidadding the panchayat electionshave exposed the CPI(M) andthe Congress and more peoplewould leave them.

The BJP had done excep-tionally well in the Jangalmahaldistricts of Purulia andJhargram dominated by tribaland Kurmi voters.

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Five legislators survived a ter-rorists’ grenade attack on

Wednesday afternoon, whenthey were travelling in a con-voy of vehicles under policeescort in Anantnag district ofJammu & Kashmir.

The incident took place at12.30 pm, when terroristshurled grenade at the vehicle inwhich the five MLAs — twoeach from the NCP and ShivSena and one from the BJP —were heading from Pahalgam toSrinagar.

The legislators were on atour to study the Panchayat Rajsystem prevailing in Jammu &Kashmir. “We suddenly heard ahuge sound. The tyres of a onevehicle in our convoy got burst,

while windowpanes of anothervehicle were smashed... Beforelong, we realised that terroristshad hurled grenades on vehicles.Fortunately, all five of us aresafe,” NCP MLA Vikram Kalesaid, while giving details of theincident. Apart from Kale, fourother MLAs who survived thegrenade attack were: DipakChavan (NCP), Tukaram Kate,Kishore Patil (both Shiv Sena)and Sudhir Parwe (BJP),

“After the attack, we pan-icked and sped our vehiclefrom the scene of incident.When we stopped our vehicleafter a distance, we realised oneof the tyres of our vehicle wasburst. We were in all 20 persons,including security personnel, inour convoy when the incidenttook place,” Kale said.

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In a first-of-its-kind initiative,Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay

Rupani on Wednesdaylaunched ‘Boat AmbulanceService’.

The service, aimed to facil-itate fishermen, was launchedwith two boats. In near future10 more boat ambulance ser-vices would be available forthose who are offshore. It isworth mentioning that Gujarathas longest 1600-km-longcoastline and more sizable pop-ulation of the State depends onfishing and related activities.The Boat Ambulance Servicehas been launched aroundseven major fishing ports.Nearly 1.50-lakh fishermenventure out into high sea 8-12days in a row. Each fishing boathas to have one captain, 3assistants/employees and onetrained emergency medicaltechnician.

Meanwhile Rupani and hisdeputy Nitin Patel also

launched launched ‘PlatinumHour’ 108 Mobile Applicationservice with a view to ulti-mately covering all the citizensfor emergency/accident.

Speaking on the occasion,CM Rupani said the PlatinumHour 108-Mobile Applicationhas five modules integrated tovoice-paper works to reachthe spot fast, locating its way tothe nearest medical treatmentout of 4,000 hospitals in thestate, blood banks and otheremergency requirements.

The 108-Mobile

Application helps connect thecaller from the accident spot toEmergency Response Centre,indicating the journey onGoogle map, approximate timeto reach the spot, informationabout blood requirement,informing the relatives of thevictim to reach the hospitalwith address.

He appealed people todownload the application intheir mobile and keep theirmedical history handy, virtuallyin their hand, creating a datafor paperless health facility.

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In what is being termed as anunprecedented shift in polit-

ical dynamics of UP, two bitterrivals — BSP chief Mayawatiand SP president AkhileshYadav — shared the stage forthe first time at the swearing-in ceremony of Chief MinisterHD Kumaraswamy inKarnataka on Wednesday.

The two former UP ChiefMinisters were seated next toeach other and were even seensharing lighter moments.

An unscheduled 45-minutemeeting was held betweenAkhilesh Yadav and Mayawatiat a hotel in Bengluru beforethe oath ceremony. BSP generalsecretary Satish ChandraMishra was also present duringthe talks. This was the secondmeeting between the two lead-ers after Akhilesh Yadav rushedto thank Mayawati in Lucknowafter SP candidates wonGorakhpur and Phulpur LokSabha bypolls with the backingof the BSP in March.

Though the BSP supported

SP candidates in the two bypolls,they did not jointly campaign inthe run-up to the bypolls. Thewin of the SP candidates in thebypolls backed by BSP fuelledspeculations of a pre-poll alliancebeing stitched ahead of 2019 LokSabha elections. Together, thetwo parties make a formidableforce and can damage theprospects of BJP in UP.

SP and BSP are consideredas arch-rivals in Uttar Pradeshand Mayawati shares a very bit-ter past with Akhilesh’ fatherMulayam Singh Yadav.

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Taking the incident of attackon cricketer Ravindra

Jadeja’s wife Riva seriously,the Home Department ofGujarat Government hasissued an advisory for cops ondealing with females.

Minister of State for HomePradeepsinh Jadeja said thatbehavior of the policemen,especially with women woulddecide overall reputation ofpolice department as well asthe Government. In case ofnon-adherence of the adviso-ry, the senior officials willhave power to take all possibleaction against the errant cops.

As per the advisory thecops have been asked to behavecordially with women. The

cops are supposed to takesteps to ensure security offemales. Forget physical attack,but they are not supposed todefame women.

Meanwhile, the police con-stable Sanjay Krangia who hadattacked Riva was released onbail. However, his suspensionwould continue and he will

have to face departmentalinquiry too.

The incident occurred onMonday late in the eveningnear Saru Section area ofJamnagar when Riva’s carslightly touched the constableidentified as Sanjay Karanjia’sbike. Interestingly the consta-ble was riding his motorcycleon the wrong side! Angry withthe damage to his bike, theconstable stopped Riva’s carand instantly started assaultingher.

An FIR has been filedagainst the errant cop andsuspended. Within an hour hewas arrested by the police,” hesaid adding that a case underIPC sections 279, 323, 324and 504 has been registeredagainst the constable.

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An Army Major who shotinto controversial promi-

nence last year for strapping ayoungster to an armouredvehicle was briefly detained bypolice on Wednesday after heallegedly attempted to checkinto a hotel along with a localgirl. Police have ordered a highlevel probe into the incident.

Major Leetul Gogoi, hadbooked a double-bed roomonline on Wednesday using hisown credit card and subse-quently arrived at the hotel sit-uated in Dalgate pocket ofSrinagar in a car. A Kashmirigirl was accompanying the offi-cer. However, as he was fillingup his contact details, the hotelstaff asked him questions about

the girl in his company. Thistriggered a hot word exchangeforcing the hotel managementto call police. Sources said ateam of Khanyar police stationarrived on the spot and whiskedaway the off-duty army officerand the girl. Police later ordereda high level probe into the mat-ter. Before handing over Gogoito his unit, police recorded hisstatement.

"We have ordered a probewhich will be headed by theSuperintendent of Police North,"Inspector General Police,Kashmir Swayam Prakash Panisaid. Police said the girl had goneto meet an army officer in thehotel. However, the owner saidthey raised objection to the sus-picious check-in that led to ver-bal altercation.

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Asecurity guard with localBharatiya Janta Party (BJP)

activist has allegedly decampedwith his service rifle at RohamaRafiabad area of northKashmir’s Baramulla district.

A police statement saidthat Special Police OfficerWaseem Ahmad Malla ofRafiabad area posted at theguard room of the BJP activistMohammad Maqbool War wasreportedly deserted from theresidential guard since MondayMay 21 along-with AK 47 rifleof the security guard. He isreported to have taken awaysome ammunition also.

Officials said it was notimmediately known whetherhe has joined militant ranks buthave also not ruled out such a

possibility.Police have registered a

case and began investigation.Several policemen and somesoldiers of Kashmiri origin havedeserted the security force andjoined militant ranks in the past.

Meanwhile, at least sixcivilians including a womanwere injured after unknownpersons hurled a hand grenade

towards security forces vehiclein Bijbehara area of southKashmir’s Anantnag districton Wednesday.

Sources said suspected mil-itants lobbed a hand grenadetowards security vehicle thatmissed the intended target andexploded on the road side atGuriwan area in Bijbehara townof the south Kashmir district.

They said in the blast atleast six persons including awoman sustained splinterinjuries. The injured have beenrushed to the local hospital fortreatment. Some among injuredhave also been referred toSrinagar hospital for treatment.

The security forces havelaunched manhunt to nab the attackers. No militant outfit claimed responsibilityfor the attack.

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The political feud between thesaffron alliance partners

reached a flashpoint onWednesday evening, as UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath and Shiv Sena pres-ident Uddhav Thackerayexchanged verbal fire in courseof public rallies in the run-up tothe May 28 Palghar Lok Sabhabypolls.

Addressing a large electionrally at Virar in Palghar district,Adityanath charged that theShiv Sena had back-stabbedthe BJP and was doing thingsakin the one indulged in by thearch rival of Maratha warriorChhatrapati Shivaji.

Without naming the ShivSena, Adityanath said: “Thosewho try to distinguish the peo-ple of Uttar Pradesh andMaharashtra cannot be well-wishers of India. These are forceswho are trying to weaken India.They may be taking the name ofChhatrapati Shivaji but are doingthings akin to the one indulgedin Afzal Khan. These kind ofpeople should have no place inMaharashtra which is the land of

Chattrapati Shivaji”.Making no bones about his

displeasure about the manner inwhich the Sena roped in the sonof late BJP MP ChintamanVanga and fielded him as its can-didate, the UP chief ministersaid: “If there were to be unhap-py soul around today, it would bethat of late Shiv Sena chiefBalsaheb Thackeray. Tell me asto whether there was any Indianor a nationalist who does nothave huge respect for lateThackeray. But, late Thackeraynever back-stabbed any one. Hewould fight from the front. Hewould fight and give befittingreply to anti-nationals”.

“Late Balasaheb would loseno opportunity to expose thedivisive and national forces thattried to weaken the country. But,when I see the goings on in theShiv Sena, I have strong tobelieve hat late Balasaheb’s soulwould be most unhappy to seehis party men trying to erodetheir own traditions and defeatthe ideals of Shivaji Maharaj,”Adityanath said, adding that thepeople in the state revered theMaratha and that there werescores of Shivaji statues across

Uttar Pradesh.Castigating the Shivaji for

usurping the legacy of Shivaji,the senior BJP leader said: “Theentire country looks up toShivaji. Chhatrapti ShivajiMaharaj is a leader of the entirecountry.. We have created severalgrand memorials of Shivaji inUttar Pradesh. But, no one partycannot hijack or imprison thelegacy of Shivaji. The People whotake the name of Shivaji andindulge in the acts of AfzalKhan do not any pardon”.

In retaliation, Thackeraydubbed Adityanath as an“import” from Uttar Pradeshwhom the BJP had enlisted tocampaign for a candidatebrought in from another party.“ You hold chintan shibirs in theneighbourhood, Do you havecandidates of your own to fieldin the elections? What has hap-pened to your party? You areimporting candidates from otherpolitical parties... Here is leader(Yogi) who does not have respectfor Chhatrapati Shivaji. He gar-lands Shivaji statue wearingchappals," Thackeray said whileaddressing a public rally at NallaSophara.

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Adead body of a staff nurseposted in Shri Mata

Vaishno Devi NarayanaSuperspeciality Hospital,Kakryal was found under mys-terious circumstances insideone of the hospital labs onWednesday morning.

The dead body was foundin a pool of blood with injurymarks in the neck area.

The local police has start-ed investigations in the case.

According to police, ataround 9.00 a.m, " dead bodyof a female identified as Vishalid/o Ram Lal R/o HimachalPradesh, age 23 years wasfound inside one of the hospi-tal laboratories".

The young nurse was post-ed as staff nurse in the hospital.

Interestingly, one male wasalso found in serious condition

identified as Pavan Chathan s/oSita ram R/o Ghazipur UP, age23 years in the same hospital.He was also posted in thesame hospital and may haveattempted suicide after attack-ing the nurse or he may havereceived injuries during thescuffle.

The police is also scanningCCTV footage of the hospitalto establish the presence of dueinside the laboratory before thecrime was reported.

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In 2003, China’s Central MilitaryCommission approved the concept of‘Three Warfares’, namely: (1) thecoordinated use of strategic psycho-logical operations; (2) overt and

covert media manipulation; and (3) legalwarfare designed to manipulate perceptionsof target audiences abroad.

In recent months, Beijing has beenintensifying the implementation of this mil-itary/civilian doctrine, particularly ‘mediamanipulation’. Take the example of an arti-cle published last week in The South ChinaMorning Post. It speaks of “large-scale min-ing operations on the Chinese side of theborder with India where a huge trove ofgold, silver and other precious minerals hasbeen found.” It argues that it “may create anew military flashpoint with India.”

Though no large-scale mining has yetbeen spotted in Lhuntse County, north ofArunachal Pradesh, the writer connects itwith the Chinese claims in the area: “Peoplefamiliar with the project say the mines arepart of an ambitious plan by Beijing toreclaim South Tibet [the Chinese name forArunachal], a sizeable chunk of disputedterritory currently under Indian control.”

The article mixes the Longju borderincident in 1959, the 1962 war with India,the Chinese claims and the supposedly hugedeposit of rare earths. The sad part of thestory is that the article was immediatelycopied and pasted by PTI and the nextmorning, the entire Indian media report-ed about the issue and linked the happen-ings on the Tibetan plateau with theChinese advances in the South China Sea.

Ironically, a day later, the ultra-nation-alist Chinese tabloid, The Global Times,called the article “a dodgy report disturb-ing the Sino-Indian ties.” It said that the arti-cle had lit a firestorm but remarked that afterIndian Prime Minister’s visit to Wuhan, thetwo countries have achieved major progressin strengthening mutual trust, further it saidChina “has no intention of provoking bor-der disputes”.

The Global Times added that though:“the report severely lacked factual evidenceand was coarse,” the Indian media “wasextremely excited to see such a topic,”adding: “to many Chinese people, their firstimpression is that the report is not credi-ble, given the vague facts, the geopoliticalpoint quoted by a geologist and the denialby the expert.”

Whether it is an orchestrated move byBeijing to first plant a ‘dodgy’ piece, know-ing fairly well that some Indian correspon-dents in Beijing are experts at copy-pastereporting, and later to throw water on thefire, is difficult to know.

It is not the first time that The SouthChina Morning Post has done it. OnOctober 29, 2017, Jack Ma’s newspaperreported that “Chinese engineers are test-

ing techniques that could be used to builda 1,000km tunnel — the world’s longest —to carry water from Tibet to Xinjiang;” againthe Indian media jumped to the bait. Thereis no doubt that India needs to be preparedfor Information Warfare in the comingmonths.

Another favorite topic of the Chinesemedia propaganda has been the 1962 Warwith India. Beijing is keen to rewrite the nar-rative and sell it to lakhs of its citizens vis-iting South Tibet; its idea is to prove thatIndia attacked China in October 1962.

At the end of October 2017, as an off-shoot of the Doklam episode, Sina.com pub-lished an album of photos “to commemo-rate the 55th Anniversary of the Outbreakof the Self-Defense Counterattack.” Notethat for Beijing, it is the ill-equipped andunprepared Indian troops who attacked theChinese, giving China no option but to‘counterattack’, killing hundreds of Indianjawans and officers in the process.

One of the photos, showing the People’sLiberation Army (PLA) parading in frontof the Potala in January 1963, in Lhasalinked the 1962 War with the 2017 stand-off in Bhutan: “The leader of the ChineseCommunist Party, Mao Zedong, once esti-mated that India’s ‘embarrassment’ [of the1962 War] could usher in 10 years of bor-der security and peace. History has provedthat the period of peacetime has been longerthan estimated. Today, 55 years later, Indiaonce again provoked China.” The messagewas clear. At the time of the 1962 War, dis-information already existed.

In his Monthly Report for April 1963,

the Political Officer in Sikkim informedNew Delhi: “Early in the month it wasannounced by the Chinese authorities thatthe Chinese frontier guards in Tibet wouldbe releasing 3,213 Indian prisoners whichincluded amongst others one Brigadier[John Dalvi], 26 Field Grade Officers and29 Company Grade Officers.”

The PO added: “The propagandamachine of the Chinese made out that theIndian prisoners were living in Tibet in astate of idyllic bliss. The detention camp wasdescribed as having been established in pic-turesque surroundings where the prisonersspent their time playing games or fishingand otherwise enjoying themselves. Thefood was supposed to have been so goodthat the prisoners had according to theChinese statement on an average gained1.35 Kgs per head. The nursing carereceived by the sick is supposed to have sooverwhelmed the recipients as to haveinduced them to say that even their parentshad not bestowed more loving care onthem.”

The Indian PoWs reported the oppo-site; they ate only radish and immensely suf-fered during their months of captivity onthe cold Tibetan plateau. Today, the Chinesepropaganda is using the 1962 conflict to itsbenefit.

Che Dalha (alias Qizhala), theGovernor of the Tibetan AutonomousRegion (TAR) recently visited Zhayul,north of the McMahon line in the LohitValley. Some 50 km south in the same val-ley, the famous Battle of Walong took placein November 1962; here Indian troops and

particularly the six Kumaon regiment of theIndian Army managed to stop the Chineseadvances and paid a high price for it; theChinese too suffered heavy casualties.

China has built a Hero Memorial Parkto honour its deaths in Zhayul. During hisvisit, Che told the villagers that the mass-es should always cherish the memory of therevolutionary martyrs; he laid a wreath for447 Revolutionary Martyrs at the WarMemorial.

The story will now be told to thousandsand thousands Chinese visitors, how ‘theIndians attacked our troops’. Incidentally,Che took the opportunity to urge the vil-lagers to watch for strangers or suspiciouspersons (Indian?); he asked them to cross-examine them and send a report to the PLAmanning the Indian border.

Another memorial stands north of theThagla ridge in Tsona County. The ForwardCommand Post of General Zhang Guohua,who commanded the PLA operations in1962, has been reconstituted and opened totourists. It is located in Marmang village,the first hamlet north of the McMahon Line.

This gazetted national-level historicalsite also mentions the ‘Sino-India SelfDefense Counter Attack Battles’, hotels arealready mushrooming to receive the visi-tors. ‘Information’ will certainly be animportant part of any battle of tomorrow.Has India grasped this? Not sure. In themeantime, Indian journalists shouldscrupulously verify the facts when they write.

(The writer is an expert on India-Chinarelations and an author)

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Sir — I was in a state of shock afterreading the report that a Dalit rag-picker was lynched when he andhis wife were picking garbagenear Radadiya Industries locatedin the Gujarat IndustrialCorporation area in Rajkot. Whena crime is committed against aDalit every 15 minutes in ourcountry, must not we admit thatDalits need special legal protectionfor their survival? How can weignore the fact that we have total-ly failed the Dalits? There has beena 66 per cent growth in crimeagainst Dalits during the periodfrom 2007 to 2017.

In such a scenario, must notwe ensure that there should bestringent act to protect them?Must not it be ensured thatthere should be sizeable presenceof Dalits in Government admin-istration, especially in the policeforce so that such laws are prop-erly executed without any hatredtowards them?

Dalits have been exploited andtortured for thousands of years.Now, it is too much to expect thatthere will automatically be enoughpresence of them in public admin-istration. So, reservation is theonly way to ensure their partici-pation and to make the adminis-tration free from caste hatredand caste bias.

As a matter of fact, absoluteequality means no equality at allor just equality of “might is right”in a jungle raj. So, laws have beenenacted to do positive discrimina-tions in favour of some who needprotection for survival.

Sujit DeKolkata

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Fuel shock” (May 22). Extremelyhigh prices of fuel in India are acause of concern not just for thecommon man but also for theeconomy because chances are highthat it may give rise to inflation dueto high transportation costs. Today,fuel is but a necessity and not a lux-ury. The Government has beenearning revenue by imposing taxes(excise and VAT) on fuel. Whencrude oil price in the internation-al market was $142 dollar a barrel,then the cost of petrol was �50.62per litre in India. Today, whencrude price is $80 a barrel, the costof petrol is �76.57.In fact, inMumbai and Bhopal, the cost ofpetrol is nearly �85 per litre. TheGovernment must bring down theprices of fuel. This will put themoney in the pockets of con-sumers and ultimately lead to thegrowth of the nation.

Devendra KhuranaBhopal

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Sir — One wonders why the BJPwas in a hurry to make BSYeddyurappa the Chief Minister ofKarnataka. How could they nothave been aware of the fact thatthey would be flagrantly violatingthe code of ethics? Yeddyurappa’shasty resignation, perceptibly tosave face for the BJP, was a mock-ery of democracy.

JitendraVia email

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As a father who has investedmuch of his personal time(and not just money)

upbringing of his children, I can tellthat it is extremely painful to evenimagine one's child getting caughton serious charges of wrongdoing.No parent would ever want that tohappen. But if it still happens, it isa moment of reckoning for parents.

As a parent, we all wish well forour children. More than theirbecoming successful, we want ourchildren to lead a decent, happy andwholesome life. This doesn't happenon its own. Parents have to worktowards it and most parents do.

Indeed, my personal and pro-fessional life is organised aroundgiving my children a decent start inlife. As a professional, it was so easyfor me to have continued staying ona single track and keep soaring inmy profession. And I liked it thatway. But reality warranted some-thing else.

Being a father of two school-going kids, I had to think beyondmy narrow self-interest to focus onmy childrens’ upbringing. Morethan money, the children neededmy time. I consciously switchedgears to maintain a fine balancebetween personal and professionallives.

In addition to parental guid-ance, schools play an important rolein a child's upbringing. Goodschooling is as much about impart-ing academic knowledge and skillsas about instilling moral and civicvalues of honesty, truthfulness, dis-

cipline, conduct and so forth.Similarly, putting children in sportsis as much about their physical fit-ness as about their learning life’sskills.

Likewise, cultivating hobbies isas much about making them cre-ative as about turning them intosensitive human beings, havingappreciation for other aspects of life

such as art and culture.It is often said that getting your

child into a good school is only halfthe battle won and the other halfrests on parenting. I have come torealise that good parenting is most-ly about leading by example. Thereis so much that the kids learn fromtheir parents, subconsciously. Iwonder how much the kids who endup going to boarding schools areable to imbue from their parents.

I still have a few more years togo before my children finish theirschooling. Some of my friends whoare much ahead in this game,inform me that once a child is firm-ly in a professional groove, the pro-fession itself will catapult them ina career trajectory. Therefore, agood parenting and schooling now,will hold them in good stead later.

While I would like to believe inwhat my friends say, I gaze intofuture with some trepidation. More

so, when I think of persons hailingfrom decent families and havinggraduated from India's levy leagueinstitutions, getting chargesheetedfor money laundering or cheatingtax authorities or duping the gen-eral public of their hard-earnedmoney.

A few of them are even coolingtheir heels in Tihar jail. When I hearof lack of integrity and ethicsamong professionals — be itbankers, auditors, accountants,medical doctors and so forth — writlarge. I think something went amisssomewhere in the process of theirgrowing up. Could it be the resultof their parents own conduct? Or,could it be their schooling thatfailed to ingrain moral values forlife? Probably, both.

(The writer is a developmenteconomist, formerly with the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation and theWorld Bank)

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Before the altar of democracy,all vanity must necessarilyburn itself, bowing to the willof the people. Sadly,Government formation in

Karnataka reflected anything but the willof the voters. In the eventuality of frac-tured mandates, the winners do not takeit all but the losers stand tall.

When “We the People” vote for ‘aparty with a difference’, expectations arehigh and its leaders uphold the highestprinciples of personal and Constitutionalmorality in governance, judiciary, civilsociety and media. And most important-ly, these separate functionaries adhere tothe ‘separation of powers doctrine’, as laiddown in the Constitution.

When that fails to happen, there isan erosion of trust in ruling regimeswhen they are seen to overpower demo-cratic institutions which are best insu-lated from political power. Like theElection Commission, the judiciary,the office of the Comptroller andAuditor General (CAG), and mostimportantly in the recent event of yetanother hung assemblies, the office of theGovernor. An anachronism in today'sdemocracy, the post of the Governoronly assumes importance as politicalombudsman, albeit a very crucial func-tion, in such eventualities.

There are multiple observationspost-Karnataka, which in hindsightwas a half-victory for the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP); an immoral victoryfor the Congress in retaining power bypropping up the Janata Dal (Secular)(JDS); and a piggyback-victory for HDKumaraswamy's party, which was notthe mandate given by the people to theparty. That leaves the voter bewilderedbecause his choice of franchise is notreflected in the opportunistic coalitionthat elbowed its way to power.

Secondly, gubernatorial optionsnow need to be clearly codified to avoidambiguity by defining a descendingorder of hierarchy which the Governormust adhere to, in repeated instances offractured verdicts. Doing so wouldminimise the scope of discretionarypowers or subjective interpretation ofpoll verdicts.

On this score, the worst prece-dence was set by the Congress whichrepeatedly invoked Article 356 atwhim to impose Central rule, sacked88 State Governments since 1952, andwas the most complicit in misusing itsappointee-governors who acted atthe behest of the Central high com-mand in repeated instances. A readyreckoner was formatted by theSarkaria Commission which listed outa protocol for the Governor to followwhen an absolute majority eluded.

While the Constitution allows thePresident or for the Governor to use hisdiscretion to decide whom to invite tobecome the Prime Minister or theChief Minister in the event of a fracturedmandate, the Sarkaria Commission's rec-ommendations are yet to be transformedto conventions.

In its impetuousness to wrest power,the BJP no longer retains its patent ofprincipled politics post-Karnataka, espe-cially after including the tainted Reddybrothers, the Governor's partisan role,or the foiled attempt at buying time andsupport to prove a majority before thefloor test.

As BJP will be incumbent in nation-al elections and the three State electionsin December, Prime Minister NarendraModi goes into battle with the cynicaltag that “all political parties are the same”,making corruption a non-issue with thevoter but handing a huge talking pointfor the Opposition to trumpet.

With a tally of 104 seats, the BJPcould have only won a majority on thefloor of the House through moneypower. And, this in itself annihilatesPrime Minister Modi's signature reformof demonetisation intended to weed outcorruption and the parallel economy.Because either way, wresting power inthe absence of a simple majority, whetherthrough the office of governor orthrough horse-trading, is an act ofpolitical impropriety.

When governors display partisanpreferences, while it is not corruption inthe popular sense of the word, it is anact of nepotism and an aberration fromconstitutional morality. This was seenpost-Goa and Manipur elections whenthe Governor swore in post-electioncoalitions organised by the BJP in pref-erence to the largest single party in hungassemblies and, thereafter, rejigged theirstance in Karnataka.

The post-Karnataka effect definite-ly galvanises an unwieldy Federal Frontcoalescing with the Congress as its part-ner, though averse to accepting Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi as its naturalleader, even as it gives a fillip to State-level pre-poll alliances. The most formi-

dable one in the offing is SamajwadiParty-Bahujan Samaj Party-Congress(SP-BSP-Congress) combine in UttarPradesh.

With a higher Index of OppositionUnity, the projected loss to the BJP in theHindi heartland itself could shrink itsstrength from 73 seats to as low as 24 to37 seats. The other ‘high- denomination’States that pose a challenge to the BJPare West Bengal with 42 seats, Bihar with40 seats where the Front will ally withthe Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) andMaharashtra where the NationalistCongress Party (NCP) would join thebandwagon. As history would tell,power- sharing formulae are opportunis-tic bonhomies which are short-lived,founded as they are on ideological dis-similarities.

However, with bipolar series in theoffing in the BJP-ruled States ofRajasthan, Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh, though the party isincumbent, the task is equally chal-lenging for the Congress in theabsence of a third player in these Stateswith whom they can form pre or post-poll alliance. Because Congress’s polit-ical model has now become increas-ingly dependent on local parties orlocal leaders, as the Grand Old Partyagrees to cede political space toregional players as they did in Gujaratby clubbing issues with local leadersor playing second fiddle to JDS inKarnataka, JD (U) in Bihar and SP inUttar Pradesh.

On the other hand, the BJP hadpeaked nationally in 2014 and hasbeen serially peaking in State elections,ruling 67 per cent of India. To makeup for the potential losses in the BJP-ruled States by making inroads intopolitically virgin territories in theSouth, Odisha and West Bengal are

indeed huge challenges. Besides, historically, no Prime

Minister has been able to repeatthumping mandates as “India now hasthe highest anti-incumbency votingtrend amongst democracies”. That’sbecause ‘waves’ don’t recur with thesame intensity and fervour after theirinitial ‘crest’ and the novelty of per-sonal charisma wanes with time.However, hardcore Hindutva and theModi appeal have continued to deliv-er incremental votes upto a point, asit always has, when the star campaign-er Narendra Modi descends in the lastlap of campaigning. Besides, theCentral Government is expected toimprove its performance by the timethese States go to polls in Decemberthrough increased Goods and ServicesTax (GST) collections and the rolloutof its ambitious Modicare healthscheme, which could be a vantage tothe BJP.

For now, what all this means isBJP president Amit Shah going backto the drawing board to reassess andrevise “Mission 350” that seemedwithin striking range in 2017. Becausein 2019 it will be “BJP vs Congress,CPI, SP, BSP, NCP, RJD, TMC, JDS,DMK, AAP, Liberals, Activists, Pidis...”And if the BJP gets even one seat lessthan 272 in 2019, a Sonia Gandhi-dri-ven proxy Government will be back.Pledge that it doesn’t happen!”

Post script: Unapologetically, I putmy neck on the block in penning twoof the likeliest happenings: ExpectModi to be back with a diminishedmajority for a second term. And sec-ondly, get geared for General Electionsend 2019. Modi never fails to stunwith the unexpected.

(The writer is an author and columnist)

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The Cabinet on Wednesdayapproved promulgation of

an ordinance to amend the 16-month-old Insolvency andBankruptcy Code (IBC), whichproposes to classify home buy-ers as “financial creditors” atpar with lenders to help themquickly get refunds fromdefaulting companies.

The amendment comesmonths after a new Section29A was added into the bank-ruptcy code in November,introducing four layers of inel-igibility for potential bidders.

The present amendment isbased on recommendations ofa 14-member Governmentappointed committee that hadlast month suggested a slew ofmeasures, including addressingwoes of home buyers and mak-

ing recoveries easier forlenders.

Briefing reporters after themeeting of the Union Cabinet,Minister for Law and JusticeRavi Shankar Prasad said, “it'sa new legislation...The Cabinethas approved it”. He, however,refused to divulge furtherdetails citing constitutionalprovisions.

Asked if the Cabinet hascleared some relief measuresfor home buyers as per the rec-ommendations of the panel,Prasad said, “An Ordinance, tillit is approved by the President,I cannot speak about thedetails”.

The Insolvency LawCommittee had last monthrecommended to the Ministryof Corporate Affairs, that homebuyers should be treated asfinancial creditors, which will

allow them to equitably par-ticipate in an insolvency reso-lution process.

The panel has also sug-gested relaxations for micro,small and medium enterprises(MSMEs) under the IBC.

With realty firms, such asJaypee Infratech, facing insol-vency proceedings, the ordi-nance, once approved byPresident Ramnath Kovindand promulgated, will providerelief for home buyers facinghardships due to incompletereal estate projects.

Under the code, financialcreditor implies any person towhom a financial debt is owed.The financial debt can includemoney borrowed for interest.

The panel had suggestedthat the Government shouldexempt MSMEs from applica-tion of certain provisions of the

code. “Illustratively, since usual-

ly only promoters of an MSMEare likely to be interested inacquiring it, applicability of sec-tion 29A has been restrictedonly to disqualify wilfuldefaulters from bidding forMSMEs,” it had noted.

Section 29A of the Codepertains to ineligibility criteriafor bidders.

Besides, the panel had sug-gested that only those who con-tributed to defaults of the com-pany or are otherwise unde-sirable should be ineligiblefrom bidding for stressed assetsunder the Code.

For withdrawal of resolu-tion application in exception cir-cumstances, the panel has sug-gested that in such cases, thereshould be approval from theCommittee of Creditors (CoC)

with 90% of voting share.“In order to facilitate suc-

cessful implementation of theresolution plan by the suc-cessful bidder, it has been pro-posed to allow one year time toobtain necessary statutoryclearances from central, stateand other authorities or suchtime as specified in the relevantlaw, whichever is later,” thecommittee said.

In January, the IBC wasamended to prevent unscrupu-lous persons from misusing thelaw. Wilful defaulters and thosewhose accounts have been clas-sified as non-performing assets,among others, are barred frombidding for stressed assets.

The IBC, which came intoforce on December 2016, pro-vides for market-determinedand time-bound insolvencyresolution process.

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With petrol and diesel pricesbeing hiked for the 10th

day in a row, the Governmenton Wednesday said it is work-ing on a long-term solution toaddress the volatility and fre-quent revisions in rates.

The BJP-led Governmenthad in June last year junked a15-year old practice of revisingrates every fortnight and intro-duced daily revisions whichworked well except periodsimmediately preceding an elec-tion.

There was a 19-day freeze inrevising rates before Karnatakawent to polls, and since the timethe hiatus ended on May 14, rateshave gone up by �2.54 a litre incase of petrol and �2.41 in diesel.The 10-day relentless priceincreases built pressure on theGovernment for cutting exciseduty to give immediate relief toconsumers but after a meeting ofthe Union Cabinet headed byPrime Minister Narendra Modi,

Law and IT Minister RaviShankar Prasad offered littleinsight if a reduction in tax wascoming.

“(The) issue of frequent hikein fuel price is a matter of debateand concern. The Government isinvolved in this whole process,including the concern (about risein prices) and also the uncertain-ty,” he told reporters here.

With geopolitical situationleading to an uncertainty overthe direction of international oilprices, “a new sense of urgencyhas developed”, he said.

“The Government is keenthat instead of having an ad hocmeasure, it may be desirable tohave a long-term view whichaddresses not only the volatilitybut also takes care of the unnec-essary ambiguity arising out offrequent ups and downs. Thatprocess is underway,” he said.The minister refused to elaborateeither on the measures beingconsidered or if a duty reductionwas on cards.

On the question of excise

duty, he said proceeds fromsuch taxes are used for country'sdevelopment including buildingof highways, digital infrastruc-ture, electricity to villages, hos-pitals and education.

“So tax on fuel is linked withdevelopmental issues. We under-stand that there is a compellingneed for a long-term solution,structured solution (to deal withthe present situation),” he said.

Asked about formerFinance Minister PChidambaram's criticism ofthe BJP Government raisingexcise duty to take away gainsarising from falling interna-tional prices, Prasad said hegenerally does not comment onthe Congress leader's tweets“because ever since his partywent out of power, he hasbecome active on twitter”. “ButI want to tell my media friendsthat they should tweet toChidambaram and ask if hismathematics was so strongthen how did his Governmentgo out of power,” he asked.

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Pfizer Inc has recalled over1.80 million vials of

piperacillin and tazobactam,that were manufactured inIndia, from the USA market.

According to a notificationof the US Food and DrugAdministration, the productwas manufactured by HospiraHealthcare India PrivateLimited, a Pfizer company, at itsplant at Irungattukottai nearChennai for Apotex Corp to besold in the USA.

The combination ofpiperacillin and tazobactam isused to treat different infectionscaused by bacteria “Piperacillinand tazobactam have beenfound to contain elevated lev-els of impurities that may resultin decreased potency. Theaffected product is manufac-tured by Hospira Inc., a PfizerCompany and distributed inthe US market by ApotexCorp,” the notification said.

Apotex Corp. Has notifiedwholesalers and distributorthrough a letter to arrange forthe return of any recalled prod-uct.

Similarly, AuroMedicsPharma LLC, an Aurobindopharmaceutical subsidiary, hasalso started voluntary recall of77,400 vials of piperacillin andtazobactam.

The products have beenfound to contain particulatematter, visible only after recon-stitution that was confirmed tobe glass within the vial, theFDA said. As on May 14,AuroMedics Pharma LLC hasnot received reports of anyadverse effect or identifiablesafety concerns attributed tothe product, it said.

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Homegrown auto majorTata Motors on

Wednesday reported 49.82%decline in consolidated netprofit at �2,176.16 crore forthe March quarter with itsBritish arm JLR continuing toface challenges in the UK andEurope, in addition to onetime impairment charge.

It had posted consolidat-ed net profit of �4,336.43crore in the correspondingperiod of last fiscal, TataMotors said in a BSE filing.

Its consolidated incomefrom operations in the fourthquarter of 2017-18 was�91,279.09 crore. It was at�78,746.61 crore in the year-ago quarter.

The company said anexceptional debit of �1,641.38crore was provided after itreviewed product develop-ment programmes in capital-work in progress and conse-quently provided for impair-ment during the quarter.

The two figures are notcomparable due to GSTimplementation from July 1last year, after which revenuefrom operations is reported

net of GST.During the quarter under

review, Jaguar Land Rover's(JLR) net revenue grew by 4%to 7,555 million pounds. Itswholesales were up 2.2%.

While it has done well inglobal markets like China andNorth America, JLR facedmajor challenges of currencyfluctuation and Brexit issue inthe UK besides the uncer-tainty over diesel engines as itfaced in Europe.

JLR will invest 4.5 billionpounds in 2018-19 on newmodels and technologies.

Tata Motors which hasbeen on a turnaround journeyfor its domestic business saidthat in 2017-18 consolidated

net profit was at �9,091.36crore as against �7,666.56crore in the previous fiscal, up18.58%.

Consolidated incomefrom operations for 2017-18was at �2,95,409.34 crore. Itwas at �2,74,492.12 crore in2016-17.

Tata Motors Chairman NChandrasekaran said in astatement, “In FY18, JLRdelivered profitable growthdespite challenging marketconditions... In near terms, thechallenges of market, tech-nology and geo-politicaluncertainties are likely to per-sist.”

He further said: “In thedomestic business, the‘Turnaround’ results are clear-ly visible. We gained marketshare in both CV (commercialvehicles) and PV ( passengervehicles) with strongimprovement in profitabilityand positive cash flows.”

During the year, JLR'sretail sales grew 1.7% year-on-year to 6,14,309 cars, withdemand up in China (19.9%),North America (4.7%) and inoverseas markets (3.4%).

“These regional increasesoffset lower figures in the UK

(decline of 12.8%) and Europe(down 5.3%), where sales wereimpacted by consumer uncer-tainty surrounding dieselmodels,” the company added.

On a standalone basis,Tata Motors Ltd (TML) saidits net loss in the fourth quar-ter narrowed to �499.94 crore.The net loss was at �805.93crore in the same quarter ayear-ago.

Standalone revenue fromoperations for the quarter wasat �19,779.32 crore. It was at�15,080.56 crore in the year-ago-period.

For the year 2017-18,standalone net loss was at�1,034.85 crore.

It was at �2.42.9.60 crorein the previous fiscal, thecompany's filing said.

Standalone revenue fromoperations for the year was at�59,624.69 crore. It was at�49,054.49 crore in 2016-17.

TML on a standalonebasis delivered positive cashflow of �1,339 crore in 2017-18 after five years.

In FY18, wholesales,including exports grew 17% to6,36,968 units with broadbased growth across the entireportfolio, it added.

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Aday after the State Bank ofIndia reported a record

loss, the Government onWednesday said one or twoquarters of “pain upfront isokay” when the lenders arecleaning up books, but theworst for state-run banks isover.

Financial ServicesSecretary Rajiv Kumar saidthe Government will providecapital support to public sectorbanks (PSBs) and not allow anyone of them to default.

“Banks books are gettingcleaned up and NPAs are alsobeing recognised in a trans-parent manner. In the process,even if there is a (higher) pro-visioning requirement or evenif there is a loss for one or twoquarters, it is okay... We areready to take this,” Kumar toldreporters on the sidelines of anevent here.

The worst, he said, is over.“Whenever you do the clean-

ing part, a bit of dust, a bit ofpain upfront is okay. One ortwo quarters is not a problem.The future and the road map(for state-run banks) is onlythat worst is over and it is onlythe positive which can takeplace now,” he said.

Most public sector banksreported losses in the quarterended March 31 after makinghigher provisions for non-per-forming assets (NPA) or badloans. State Bank of India, thecountry’s largest lender, yes-terday reported a net loss of�7,718 crore due to doubling inprovisions for NPAs. SBI pre-dicted earnings will start toimprove this financial year,buoyed by loan recoveriesunder a revamped bankruptcylaw.Scam-hit Punjab NationalBank had posted a net loss of�13,416.91 crore for the Marchquarter. In private sector, ICICIBank last month reported halv-ing of income in the quarter,while Axis Bank posted itsfirst-ever loss.

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Diversified global naturalresources giant Vedanta

Resources on Wednesday report-ed a 27% surge in operating prof-it to $4.1 billion for 2017-18 onhigher output and increase inprices.

The LSE listed company,which produces aluminium,copper, zinc, lead, silver, iron ore,oil and gas and commercialenergy, had registered groupEBITDA (earnings before inter-

est, tax, depreciation and amor-tisation) of $3.2 billion in thefinancial year 2016-17, it said ina statement.

Its revenue increased by 33%to $15.4 bn driven by firmercommodity prices and volumeramp-ups. The gross debt at$15.2 bn saw a reduction of $3billion in 12 months whichincluded repayment of $1.2 bil-lion of temporary borrowing atZinc India, the company said.Vedanta Resources Plc ChairmanAnil Agarwal said: “..Increased

volumes and prices under-pinned a 33% increase in rev-enues to reach $15.4 bn, as wellas a 27% growth in EBITDA to$4.1 bn.” Agarwal said the Group'sfocus on all-round improvementwas complimented by improvingmarkets and commodity prices.He added: “We reached recordproduction levels at several of ourbusinesses...It remains well posi-tioned to capitalise on India'sgrowing resources demand. Ilook forward to another strongyear for the company.

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Benchmark Sensex plum-meted more than 306 pointson Wednesday while the

broader Nifty finished below the10,500-mark as stubborn fuelprices and renewed geopoliticalconcerns sparked a safe-havenflight among investors.

State-owned oil companiessuch as HPCL, BPCL, IOC,ONGC and OIL plunged on wor-ries that the government may askthem to share the burden of high-er petrol and diesel prices.

Metal stocks were the session’sworst performers, led by Vedantawhich lost 6.23% after protestsagainst its copper plant inTuticorin turned violent, leadingto nine deaths.

A weakening rupee and lack-lustre fourth quarter results fur-ther weighed on sentiment, bro-kers said.

On the global front, marketswere caught off-guard after USPresident Donald Trump castdoubts over the proposed summitwith North Korea and alsoexpressed dissatisfaction with lastweek’s trade talks with China.

The 30-share BSE Sensex,which opened higher at 34,656.63,witnessed selling pressure in after-noon trade. The sell-off suddenlypicked up pace towards the end ofthe session, leading the index to

the day’s low of 34,302.89. Thebenchmark finally ended at34,344.91 — showing a loss of306.33 points, or 0.88%. This is itsweakest closing since April 19,when the gauge had finished at34,427.29.

Likewise, the 50-stock NSEbarometer Nifty finished at10,430.35, down 106.35 points, or1.01%. Intra-day, it shuttledbetween 10,417.80 and 10,533.55.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolioinvestors (FPIs) sold shares wortha net �1,651.63 crore, whiledomestic institutional investors(DIIs) bought equities to the tuneof �1,496.83 crore on Tuesday, asper provisional data.

“Market edged lower amidpessimism on global trade talksand below par fourth quarterearnings. Metals sank while PSUbanks outperformed and pre-vented the market from a nosedivecorrection. Investors expect thatthe worst is over related to PSUbanks NPAs with adequate provi-sions and expectation of recapi-talisation from government.

“On the other hand, rupeecontinued to fall and the fear ofinflationary pressure may leadthe market to consolidate,” saidVinod Nair, head of research,Geojit Financial Services.

Among Sensex components,Tata Steel topped the losers’ list byfalling 6.57%, followed by ONGC

at 4.75%.Other losers were IndusInd

Bank 2.80%, ITC Ltd 1.92%, AdaniPorts 1.80%, RIL 1.58%, HDFC Ltd1.43%, Bharti Airtel 1.41%, BajajAuto 1.26%, HDFC Bank 1.22%,Kotak Bank 1.14%, Coal India0.95%, Hero MotoCorp 0.78%,Infosys 0.70%, Maruti Suzuki0.68%, Wipro 0.68%, HUL 0.66%,Axis Bank 0.56%, Asian Paints0.55%, TCS 0.31%, Sun Pharma0.23% and Yes Bank 0.06%.

However, SBI emerged as thetop gainer, spurting 3.56%, fol-lowed by NPTC 0.82%, L&T0.55%, Tata Motors 0.49% andM&M 0.05%.

Sector-wise, metal index tum-bled 3.93%, oil and gas 3.45%, real-ty 1.26%, infrastructure 1.06%,PSU 0.96%, FMCG 0.71%, auto0.54%, teck 0.48%, healthcare0.37%, bankex 0.31%, IT 0.20%and power 0.08%.

The broader markets too dis-played a weak trend, with thesmall-cap index falling 0.47% andmid-cap index shedding 0.24%.

In the Asian region, Japan’sNikkei fell 1.18%, China’s ShanghaiComposite index lost 1.41%, whileHong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated1.82%.

European shares were down aswell, with Frankfurt’s DAX declin-ing 1.47% and Paris CAC 40 los-ing 1.04% in early trade. London’sFTSE too fell 0.65%.

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Homegrown auto majorTata Motors on

Wednesday reported 49.82 percent decline in consolidated netprofit to �2,176.16 crore for thefourth quarter ended March 31,2017-18. It had posted netprofit of �4,336.43 crore in thecorresponding period of 2016-17, Tata Motors said in a BSEfiling.

It consolidated incomefrom operations during thequarter under review stood at�91,279.09 crore. It was at�78,746.61 crore in the year-ago quarter. The two figures arenot comparable due to GSTimplementation from July 1 lastyear, after which the revenuefrom operations is reported netof GST.

On a standalone basis, thecompany said its net loss in thefourth quarter narrowed to�499.94 crore. It was �805.93crore in the same quarter ayear-ago. Standalone revenuefrom operations for the quar-ter was at �19,779.32 crore. Itwas at �15,080.56 crore in theyear-ago-period.

For the entire 2017-18,consolidated net profit was at�9,091.36 crore, as against�7,666.56 crore in the previousfiscal, up 18.58 per cent.

Consolidated income fromoperations for 2017-18 was at�2,95,409.34 crore. It was at�2,74,492.12 crore in 2016-17.

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Aditya Birla Group firmGrasim Industries onWednesday reported a consoli-dated net profit of �853.62 crorefor the fourth quarter endedMarch 2018.

The company had posted anet profit of �1,063.62 crore dur-ing the January-March period ofthe previous fiscal, GrasimIndustries said in a regulatory fil-ing.

Total income during thequarter under review stood at�17,691.80 crore. It was�11,409.41 crore in the corre-sponding period of the previousfiscal.

Meanwhile, the companysaid its result was not compara-ble as the consolidated result ofthe company also included thefinancial results of cement plantacquired by UltraTech, a sub-sidiary of the company fromJaiprakash Associated.

“Hence, the results of thethree months and year endedMarch 31, 2017 are not compa-rable with the correspondingperiods of previous year,” thecompany said. Its total expens-es were at �15,893.34 crore.

Grasim Industries’ revenuefrom cement business during thequarter was �9,420.76 crore. Itwas �7,923.80 crore in the cor-responding quarter a year ago.

“During Q4FY18 and FY18the consolidated sales volume

registered an increase of 15 percent and 20 per cent on YoYbasis. The input costs continuedto rise in Q4FY18, due to high-er pet coke and coal prices andthe ban on pet coke usage inTPP,” said Grasim Industries ina statement.

Viscose staple fibre (VSF)was at �2,332.45 crore as against�2,115.10 crore. “The VSF busi-ness reported its highest eversales volume of 508KT in FY18,led by growth in the domesticmarket with intense marketdevelopment efforts,” it added.

For the entire 2017-18,Grasim Industries’ net profitstood at �3,687.62 crore. It was�4,245.61 crore in 2016-17.

Total income of GrasimIndustries stood at �58,328.43crore as against �41,194.93 crorein 2016-17.

Over the outlook, the com-pany said that VSF businesswould continue to focus onexpanding the market in India.“However, the new capacitieslikely to come on stream inChina may impact the globalVSF prices in the near term,” itsaid. In cement, government’sspending on infra projects, ruraland affordable housing will bethe key demand drivers.

In a separate filing, GrasimIndustries said that its board ina meeting held on Wednesdayrecommended 310 per cent div-idend i.e. �6.20 per equity shareof face value �2/- each for theyear ended March 31, 2018.

New Delhi (PTI): State-owned Hindustan PetroleumCorp Ltd (HPCL) on Wednesday reported 4 per cent dropin its March quarter net profit on lower refining marginsand inventory gains. Net profit in the January-March quar-ter of the fiscal year 2017-18 at �1,748 crore compared witha net profit of �1,819 crore in the year-ago period, HPCLChairman and Managing Director Mukesh K Surana toldreporters here. “The profit decline was because of lowerinventory gains compared to the previous quarter,” he said.

HPCL, which operates oil refineries at Mumbai andVisakh in Andhra Pradesh, earned USD 7.07 on turningevery barrel of crude oil into fuel in the fourth quarter ascompared to a gross refining margin of USD 7.99 per bar-rel a year ago. Also, the company had lower inventory gainof �157 crore in the three months ended March 31, 2018,as against �460 crore last year, he said.

Inventory gains happen when a company buys crudeoil at a particular price but by the time it is able to ship itto India and refine it into fuel, the rates have gone up. Sincefuel prices are decided on the basis of prevailing interna-tional rate, the resultant gain is classified as inventory gain.There occurs an inventory loss when the reverse happens.

While sales rose 13 per cent to �66,351 crore, the firm’srefineries processed 4.63 million tonnes of crude oil dur-ing the January-March quarter. For the full fiscal 2017-18,the company posted its highest ever net profit of �6,357crore on a turnover of �2.43 lakh crore.

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Bajaj Electricals’ standalone net profit plunged 81 percent to �7.31 crore for the quarter ended March due toimpairment of its investments in joint venture companyStarlite Lighting Ltd. It had registered a net profit of �38.42crore in the January-March period of the previous fiscal2016-17. The company reported exceptional expense of�89.36 crore due to impairment of its investments. Its totalincome in the fourth quarter of 2017-18 was �1,628.82 crore.It stood at �1,289.45 crore in the year-ago period. The com-pany also announced elevation of Anant Bajaj, son of cur-rent Managing Director Shekhar Bajaj, as its new ManagingDirector with effect from June 1, 2018. Anant Bajaj is at pre-sent joint managing director of the company.

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Rohingya militants massa-cred Hindu villagers during

last year’s uprising inMyanmar’s Rakhine, AmnestyInternational said onWednesday in a report thatsheds fresh light on the complexethnic rivalries in the state.

The killings took place onAugust 25, 2017, the reportsaid, the same day that theRohingya insurgents stagedcoordinated deadly raids onpolice posts that tipped thestate into crisis.

Myanmar’s militaryresponded to the insurgentraids with harsh reprisals thatforced some 700,000 RohingyaMuslims out of the mainlyBuddhist country where theyhave faced persecution foryears.

The UN says the armycrackdown amounted to “eth-nic cleansing” of the Rohingya,with soldiers and vigilantemobs accused of killing civil-ians and burning down villages.

But the Rohingya mili-tants have also been accused ofabuses. Those include the masskilling of Hindus in the farnorth of Rakhine, where themilitary took reporters —including AFP —to witness theexhumation of putrid bodiesfrom a grave in September.

The militants, known asthe Arakan Rohingya Salvation

Army (ARSA), denied respon-sibility at the time.

But Amnesty Internationalsaid today that a new investi-gation had confirmed the groupkilled 99 Hindus “execution-style” — mostly children — inthe Kha Maung Seik villagecluster in northern Maungdaw.

“Our latest investigationon the ground sheds much-needed light on the largelyunder-reported human rightsabuses by ARSA during north-ern Rakhine state’s unspeakablydark recent history,” said TiranaHassan, crisis response direc-tor at Amnesty International.

“Accountability for theseatrocities is every bit as crucialas it is for the crimes againsthumanity carried out byMyanmar’s security forces innorthern Rakhine state,” sheadded.

Citing interviews witheight survivors, the rightsgroup said dozens were round-ed up, blindfolded andmarched out of town bymasked men and Rohingyavillagers in plain clothes.

“They slaughtered themen. We were told not to lookat them... They had knives.They also had some spades andiron rods,” 18-year-old RajKumari told Amnesty.

He said he hid in the bushand watched as his father,brother and uncle were killed.

The report said that in aseparate village nearby called YeBauk Kyar, 46 Hindu men,women and children disap-peared on the same day. It citedinformation from local Hinduswho believe they were killed byARSA.

Moscow: Syria’s Deputy ForeignMinister said on WednesdayDamascus did not envisage Iranand Hezbollah participating inthe withdrawal of foreign forcesfrom the war-torn country asannounced last week by Russia.Asked whether the removal ofIranian and Hezbollah forcescould end Israel’s strikes on

Syria, Faisal Mekdad told RIANovosti State news agency that“this topic is not even on theagenda for discussion.”

“All these forces opposeterrorism. They are not makingan attempt to violate the sov-ereignty and territory of Syria,”he said in comments translat-ed into Russian. AFP

Beirut: Lebanon’snew parliament onWednesday electedspeaker Nabih Berrito a sixth consecutiveterm, making himone of the longest-serving parliamentary heads inthe world.

His election came after thecountry’s May 6 parliamentarypoll, the first in nine years afterthe deeply divided legislature,

elected in 2009, repeat-edly extended its ownterm.

Today, the bodymet for the first timesince the poll, to electits speaker to a four-

year term. Few expected anysurprises: the only candidatewas incumbent Berri, a savvypolitician from the country’ssouth who has held the posi-tion since 1992. AFP

Karachi: The body ofa 17-year-old femalePakistani exchangestudent killed in thelatest mass shootingincident in the USwas on Wednesdaylaid to rest.

Sabika Sheikh was among10 students and staff who werekilled on Friday at Santa Fe HighSchool in Texs. The allegedshooter is 17-year-old DimitriosPagourtzis, who is being held oncapital murder charges.

She was today laidto rest at the Azimpuragraveyard in Shah FaisalColony after funeralprayers were offered atKarachi’s Hakeem SaeedGround, Dawn Newsreported.

The body of the teenagerarrived at cargo complex ofKarachi airport this morningfrom Houston, Texas. The bodywas received by family mem-bers and officials of USConsulate at the airport. PTI

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Chinese President Xi Jinpinghas said with the entry of

India and Pakistan, theShanghai CooperationOrganisation (SCO) has gainedmore potential for cooperationand more expectations fromthe international community.

In his address to the rep-resentatives to the 13th meet-ing of Security CouncilSecretaries of the SCO here onTuesday, Xi said maintainingregional security and stabilityhas been the top priority of thebloc since it was founded.

“The SCO members havefought the ‘three evil forces’ ofterrorism, separatism andextremism; prevented the over-flow of negative effects fromhot issues; and made importantcontributions to keepingregional peace, developmentand prosperity,” Xi was quotedas saying by the state-run ChinaDaily.

Xi pointed out that whenthe SCO accepted Pakistanand India last year as newmembers, it gained morepotential for cooperation andmore expectations from theinternational community.

Deputy National SecurityAdviser Rajinder Khanna,Pakistan’s NSA Nasser KhanJanjua along with top securityofficials of the SCO membercountries called on Xi after theconclusion of their two-day

meeting here yesterday.The security officials met

ahead of the SCO summit inthe Chinese city of Qingdao tobe held on June 9-10. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi isscheduled to take part in thesummit. It will be the first sum-mit of the SCO after India andPakistan were admitted into thebloc last year.

The SCO, in which Chinaplays an influential role, iscomprised of China,Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan,India and Pakistan.

Khanna, who is also theSecretary of the NationalSecurity Council Secretariat,today called on Xi along withother Secretaries of NationalSecurity Councils attendingthe meeting.

In his address to the SCOsecurity officials, Xi said themember countries haveexpanded areas of cooperationand enriched their experiencein cooperation.

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China is a “strategic com-petitor” to the United

States, while Russia poses achallenge to America’s strategicinterests globally, Secretary ofState Mike Pompeo said onWednesday.

Appearing before aCongressional panel, Pompeotold lawmakers that PresidentDonald Trump is committed todiplomacy as the primarymeans of achieving the US’ for-eign policy objectives.

Pressing the House ForeignAffairs Committee to approveUSD 39.3 billion annual budgetof the State Department, Pompeosaid that the US must exert a pro-portional financial commitmentin the pursuit of goals shared bythe international community.

“It is time for other nations– especially those with highgross domestic product (GDP)– to assume greater responsi-bilities and devote greaterresources toward commonobjectives, whether it’s crush-ing terrorists, stopping Iran’smalign behaviour, strengthen-ing the NATO alliance, eradi-cating infectious diseases, andso much more,” he said.

The Trump Administrationexpects greater burden sharingfor its allies and partners, theformer CIA chief said.

Russia, he also told the law-makers, “poses a challenge to

our strategic interests” and thesecurity of US allies.

“This is evident from thechemical weapons attack inthe UK, for which we imposedconsequences in concert withseveral partners and allies.We’ve been clear with Russia, itmust honour its commitmentsunder the Minsk Accords ifpeace is to prevail in Ukraine,”he said.

As a guarantor of the regime,Russia has a responsibility to bea constructive actor for stabilityand peace in Syria, whichincludes stopping the regime’suse of chemical weapons, he said.“We are holding Russia account-able to its commitment to theGeneva process.”

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Washington; The UnitedStates has disinvited Chinafrom participating in annualmaritime exercises in thePacific because of its “contin-ued militarisation” of theSouth China Sea, the Pentagonsaid on Wednesday.

“China’s continued mili-tarisation of disputed featuresin the South China Sea onlyserve to raise tensions anddestabilise the region,”Pentagon spokesmanLieutenant Colonel ChrisLogan said. AFP

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OJSWI TRADES INVESTMENT AND FINANCE LIMITED Kh. No. 300, Gopi Ram Building, Sultanpur Village, New Delhi- 110030

Tel. No.09810836602, Fax No. 0124-4699333 CIN: L67120DL1990PLC042059

Website: www.ojswi.com Email Id: [email protected]

Notice of Board Meeting

In Pursuant to Regulation 29 of SEBI (Listing Obligation and DisclosureRequirement), 2015, notice is hereby given that the meeting of the Boardof Directors of the Company is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, May30, 2018 inter alia, to consider and take on record the Audited FinancialResults of the Company for the Quarter and year ended on March 31, 2018.

The said information is also available on the website of the Company atwww.ojswi.com and may also be available on Stock Exchange websiteat www.msei.com

By order of the Board,For Ojswi Trades Investment and Finance Limited

Sd/-Place: New Delhi Sandeep GargDate: May 23, 2018 Director

Washington: Days after helisted out a set of 12 demandsto Iranian regime includinggiving up its nuclear weaponsambition, US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo said meetingthese “simple requirements”would benefit the Iranian peo-ple to an enormous extent.

In his first major foreignpolicy speech, Pompeodemanded that Iran give up itsnuclear weapons ambition, stop

its alleged destabilising behav-iour in the region, and stopuranium enrichment, amongother demands. He also soughtthe support of European allies.

“These are a set of simplerequirements that the Iranianregime could quite easily com-ply with, and it would benefit theIranian people to an enormousextent,” Pompeo told reportersat a State Department newsconference yesterday. PTI

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It was a fusion like no other. Notof the nuclear variety though. A

huge crowd gathered in the heart ofDelhi, Connaught Place, to catch aglimpse of their favourite stars,John Abraham and Diana Pentywho arrived in an open, black jeepon a hot summer evening whentemperatures were soaring up to 44degree Celsius. But they showed nosigns of discomfort as they wavedand smiled and also posed for self-ies with their fans while happilygoing around the inner circle of CPin a bid to promote Parmanu: TheStory of Pokhran among the masses.

What was called the ParmanuPride Parade — a clever promo-tional strategy by the makers inorder to attract eyeballs as well asconnect with the masses — wasaimed at saluting the contributionsand the joint efforts made by theIndian army, scientists, intelligenceagencies and bureaucrats, whocame together to make India anuclear superpower in 1998.According to a source, “As opposedto the notion of people taking tothe streets only for protests orappeals, for once, John and hisfilm’s team wanted India to walkthe streets for the simple reason ofbeing proud of our nation. Johnappealed to everyone, especially theyouth of the country, to be a part ofthis parade through his socialmedia handles.”

The actor himself revealed thatthe motive behind this parade wasto instill a sense of self-pride, some-thing which is considered not wor-

thy of talking about. “I am glad tosee people carrying banners whichinculcate the feeling of nationalism.We have reached a point where wecan be a superpower in the world.It feels great to be among peoplewhere so many of them are stu-dents and the national flag behindme adds up to it. It’s a proudmoment for me.” Said Diana, “Thenuclear test which India conductedin 1998 is a matter of pride for meand the country. We are happy tocelebrate it with all these peoplearound us. A huge crowd hasshown up, supporting us in thisendeavour and our fans whorespect us have made sure to be apart of this parade.”

The stars were followed by anarray of bikers with the majority ofthem carrying banners and placardswhich had messages including JaiJawaan Jai Vigyan, Parmanu-TheBattle Without Bloodshed, A MissionThat Made India Proud and manymore. Even though the Delhi Policehad closed a section of the innercircle for the parade, fan frenzy wasseen when several pedestrians start-ed running and walking alongsidethe star’s jeep to capture them withtheir smartphones.

It is of course another story thatthe said fans had to be controlledby the bouncers when they got tooclose to the vehicle of John andDiana in order to ensure the safety.Owing to an unmanageable crowd,the parade took a round of theinner circle before heading back tothe hotel on Ashoka Road.

Actress Kareena KapoorKhan, who will soon be

seen in Veere Di Wedding, saysshe is not a feminist andbelieves in equality. Kareena,along with co-actors SonamKapoor, Swara Bhasker andShikha Talsania, directorShashanka Ghosh and pro-ducers Rhea Kapoor and EktaKapoor, were at the Veere DiWedding music launch.

Asked about the idea offeminism, Kareena said: “Ibelieve in equality. I wouldn’tsay I am a feminist, I would sayI am a woman and above all, Iam a human being. I am also asproud to be known as Saif AliKhan’s wife, as I am to beKareena Kapoor. So that is justthe way I am.” Veere DiWedding is a female buddyfilm about four girls living in anurban setting and their strug-gles in life.

Kareena has always beenvocal about her personal life,but in this film, she playing acharacter which is commit-ment phobic. Asked about herrole selection criteria, she said,“I think what made me take upthis part is that for me, as acommercial mainstream actorwho is always used to workingwith mainstream actors, be itShah Rukh Khan or SalmanKhan... For me, it was very dif-ferent to be part of a film withfour girls.”

“I think the story is some-thing I got completely obsessedwith and I thought it was real-ly cool. And I think who bet-ter than this entire team to putthis film together. I think thiswas the reason I wanted to doVeere Di Wedding. As far as mycharacter Kalindi is concerned,I think she is really cool andthere is a reason why she iscommitment phobic, whichwill be revealed in the film.”

Kareena is known forworking with A-list actors inBollywood, but this time she ispaired with Sumeet Vyas. Onthis, she quipped: “I think Ihave chosen A-Lister heroinesthis time.”

Sharing her funniest mem-ories from the film’s set, theactress said: “I think it wouldbe throwing Sumeet Vyas offthe moon in the film. That was

quite funny because I havenever done that in my career.I never had the opportunity tothrow a hero off from a moon.So thank you everyone, for giv-ing me this chance, I am sureit will go down in history.”

Meanwhile producer RheaKapoor has denied any troubleso far with the Censor Boardalthough the film was yet toreceive any certificate ahead ofits June 1 release. Dismissingreports making rounds thatbecause of cuss words andlanguage used in the film,Veere Di... has received an Acertificate, Kapoor, who was atthe music launch along withthe entire cast and crew, rub-bished all the rumours. “So farwe have had no problem withthe Censor Board. I don’t wantto talk more about it becausewe still have not gotten theCensor (certificate) in ourhands. Once we get it, we willissue a proper press release,”she said. Kapoor said that vet-eran actor Anil Kapoor, herfather, had accompanied her topresent the film to the CensorBoard. “And let me tell you,...One can be certain that if wecan make a film for which myfather can come along, thenclearly, as women none of usshould be ashamed of thefilm.”

Ekta Kapoor, who is alsothe co-producer of the film,added that the film hadalready covered its cost andthey are looking at a clean run.“Actually, I love this film. I

trust the producer and I havefour stellar leading women inthe film. I have always pickeda script which was not a hit onpaper but on release becamesuper successful,” said Ekta.

To prove her point shementioned her controversial,yet hit film, Dirty Picture. “I wastold this film is a flop. How canyou make a film with VidyaBalan playing a heroine thattoo, as an item number girl?When the film released mymom hugged me and told methis is an outstanding film.Even this movie has clearedmost of its cost and we’re look-ing at a great clean run. I thinkI am one happy producer,”Ekta said.

Actress Swara Bhaskar said:“It has been 105 years since ourfilm industry came into exis-tence, and this is the first timewe are making a film in main-

stream cinema about fourfriends — it is their life storyand none is falling in love withthe same guy. So this is mostspecial and unique.”

Ekta has made anotherexception for Veere Di Wedding,which she feels will be remem-bered for being a film that tellsthe audience to “just be.” As shetweeted, “For the first time ineight years keeping a personalscreening of my film! I neverdo! The last time I kept ascreening was for The DirtyPicture. Sometimes the journey,intent, joy (and) attempt haveto take over. Even thoughfinancially the film has a morethan safe pre-sale thanks to oursuper partners ZEE, the out-come cannot always define theexperience. I am super proudof Veere Di Wedding. Yearslater... a generation will remem-ber a film came that told uswith absolute irreverence thatit’s ok to be! Be divorced,unmarried, overweight, under-sexed (and) oversexed! JustBe.” Power producers EktaKapoor and Rhea Kapoor andNikhil Dwivedi joined the castin celebrating the music of thefilm , an eccentric mix of uptempo, bhangra and soulfulmusic with something foreveryone. A film for girls andtheir boys too, Veere DiWedding highlights the bondsof friendship, love and the tri-als and complications thatcome along with this thingcalled life!

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Around 400 years after it was constructed,the Taj Mahal continues to grab eyeballsof global visitors and never ceases to amaze

them, becoming the sixth of the top ten internati-nal bucket list compiled by a travel site.Meanwhile, Angkor Wat in Cambodia continuedto top the favourite list. Five Indian landmarkseven made it to the Asia list — Taj Mahal (#2),Amber Fort (#9), Harmandir Sahib (#10),Swaminarayan Akshardham (#13) andGurudwara Bangla Sahib (#14).

The award winners were determined usingan algorithm that took into account the quanti-ty and quality of reviews and ratings for land-marks worldwide, gathered over a 12-month peri-od. This year’s Tripadvisor awards recognised 759landmarks across 68 countries and eight regionsacross the globe. On the domestic India list, theTaj was followed by Amber Fort, steadfast at num-ber 2, a position it has held since 2015. HarmandirSahib makes its way to number 3 from seventhposition last year. There were representatives frommore recent construc-tions as well.S w a m i n a r a y a nAkshardham in Delhistood at number 4

while Delhi’sGu r u d w ar a

Bangla Sahib stood at number 5. Another con-struction by Emperor Shahjahan made it to thecountry list with Agra Fort in Agra coming upsixth. Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, QutubMinar and Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi and theBandra Worli Sea Link in Mumbai were the oth-ers that made it to the top 10 in India.

The Taj came in at number 6 in the world listof landmarks. It was preceeded by Angkor Watat Siem Reap, Cambodia; Plaza de Espana inSeville, Spain; Sheikh Zayed Grand MosqueCenter in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; StPeter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Italy and MezquitaCathedral de Cordoba in Cordoba, Spain. In theAsia list, it stood at number 2 where the top spotwas occupied by the world leader, Angkor Wat.The other monuments that featured in top fiveincluded the Temple of the Reclining Buddha

(Wat Pho) in Bangkok, Thailand;Mutianyu Great Wall, Beijing,

China and Fushimi Inari-taishaShrine in Kyoto,

Japan.

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All human beings are born free andequal in dignity and rights.

Seventy years ago, the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights(UDHR) was adopted embodyingthis spirit.

Protecting the rights of olderpeople is one of the urgent challengesfacing the world today, along withthose of refugees and migrants.

According to the UN, there aremore than 900 million people agedsixty and over in the world today andthis number is expected to reach 1.4billion by 2030. Many governmentsare struggling to respond to the sud-den changes in social structurebrought about by rapidly decliningbirth rates and ageing demographics.

This was one of the issues dis-cussed at the eighth session of theopen-ended Working Group onAgeing held at the UN in July 2017.It was pointed out that the enjoymentof all human rights diminishes withage, in spite of the declaration of allpeople’s equal dignity and rights in theUDHR, due to negative images of theelderly as less productive, less valuableto society, a burden to the economyand to younger generations.Participants agreed that such structur-al discrimination and prejudice canlead to the social exclusion of olderpeople and must be combated.

International discourse on thisimportant subject only began todevelop in earnest with the ViennaWorld Assembly on Ageing, held in1982.

The Assembly resulted in theadoption of five UN Principles forolder persons in 1991, comprisingindependence, participation, care,self-fulfillment and dignity. Whileindependence (respecting the will ofthe individual), care (safeguardinghealth and daily living) and dignity(ensuring protection from discrimi-nation and abuse) are of course core

rights of older people, it is crucial toremember that on their own they areonly a starting point.

I am reminded here of the dia-logue I conducted with Dr. ErnstUlrich von Weizsacker, Co-Presidentof the Club of Rome. One of the top-ics we discussed was how to bring asense of purpose and fulfillment to thelives of older people. Dr. Weizsackerstressed that it would benefit societyas a whole to create the conditions bywhich they could continue working ifthey so desired.

I fully agree; it is my firm beliefthat being able to contribute in someway to the happiness of others and theworld, be it through work or in someother capacity, brings one joy and ful-fillment in life. In that sense, the othertwo UN Principles participation and

self-fulfillment-are indispensable inenabling older people to experiencemeaning and satisfaction in theirlives.

To be treated well is, of course,essential to a person’s experience ofdignity. But even more important isbeing looked to by others as an irre-placeable source of spiritual support.It is this that brings our dignity to aneven brighter luster. The significanceof such bonds remains unchangedeven by grave illness or dependenceon others for nursing care. Being sur-rounded by people who derive joy andhappiness from your presence is itselfa source of dignity.

The need for an international legalinstrument for the protection of therights of older people was discussedat the Open-ended Working Group ofAgeing. In this regard, I strongly hopethere will be an early start to negoti-ations on a convention on the rightsof older persons.

This should be based on the UNPrinciples referenced above. Further,it should include provisions for whatis known as “ageing in place,” where-by people are enabled to continue liv-ing with dignity and a sense of pur-pose in their long-accustomed com-munities. Protecting the humanrights of older people is integral to thecreation of a culture of human rightsthat will not brook any form of dis-crimination.

The seventieth anniversary ofthe adoption of the UDHR providesan important opportunity for govern-ments to intensify efforts to protectthe rights of older persons, towardsocieties where the dignity of allpeople radiates it full potential.

(Daisaku Ikeda is founder ofSoka University and the Toda PeaceInstitute. This article draws on themesfrom his 2018 peace proposal: Towardan Era of Human Rights: Building aPeople’s Movement.)

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Cordlife and Delhi Gynecologists Forum (DGF) organised a fashion showdedicated to Pregnant Ladies: Saheli-DGF Gorgeous Moms 2018.To celebrate the spirit of International Mother's Day Cordlife in collabo-

ration with Delhi Gynecologists Forum (DGF) organised a unique fashion showSaheli-DGF Gorgeous Moms 2018 fashion show. In the first round of the showabout 150 pregnant ladies walked on the ramp, led by their 60 odd gynecolo-gists, in the presence of a selectgathering of 500 audiences fromwhich jury member selected thefinalists. At the fashion showsinger Shibani Kahsyap alsoenthralled the audience by hersweet voice in the musical evening.The finalists were gynecologistsPooja Jian, Nimmi Rastogi, IlaGupta and their pregnant patientNidhika Khatri, Daisy, MehzabeenHussain, Jasmeet Kaur, KhushbuSethi and Bhawna Dua were selet-ed as the finalists by the jury members and they came on the ramp at the endof the show.

Towards this, Barun Das, CEO of Mydia100, said, “Delhi gynaecologistForum and Saheli have come together to celebrate International Mother’s dayin a most unique way. Pregnancy is a beautiful experience for all mothers, andthis event is an effort from our side to help these moms-to-be to make this timeeven more delightful and memorable.’’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid thefoundation of 1000 MW Pakal Dul.

The Project being implemented by ChenabValley Power Projects Ltd, a joint ventureof NHPC Ltd (49 percent), JKSPDC Ltd(49 percent) and PTC Ltd (2 percent) onMay 19 at Zorawar Singh Auditorium,University of Jammu

.During the address the PrimeMinister appreciated the initiative takenby Govt of J&K and NHPC to form a jointventure company to harness the untappedhydro-potential of the State.

Pakal Dul Project is of strategicimportance to India as well as J&K as thisis the first project that shall utilise the per-missible storage under Indus Water Treaty.The precious water of our rivers whichwere earlier going unutilised to Pakistancan now be utilised for water supply andirrigation purposes in the region. This willimmensely benefit the local population.

Pakal Dulis on River Marusudar, atributary of River Chenab at districtKishtwar J&K and it will be the biggestHydroelectric Project in J&K. The projectshall be completed in 66 months at an esti-mated cost of �8112 crore and generate3330 MU of electricity annually. The pro-ject envisages construction of 167 m highconcrete faced rock-fill dam, the highestdam of its kind in India besides two HeadRace Tunnels of 9.6 km each, four TailRace tunnels of 125m each and a under-

ground power house of four units of 250MW each (1000 MW).

The project is included in PrimeMinister’s Development Package (PMDP)and Govt. of India has sanctioned a grantof �1192 crore to meet the equity contri-bution requirement of JKSPDC, one of thepromoters and a sub-ordinate loan of�2500 crore. Carrying interest rate of oneper cent.

Interests of the project affected peo-ple shall be taken care through proper

implementation of comprehensive rehabil-itation and resettlement plan approved byGoJK. The cost of land for house andhouse construction assistance, scholarshipto children of project affected families,training program for skill development etc.has been included in the plan. Also, a pro-vision of �40 crore has been kept in theplan for infrastructural development in theaffected areas to improve the socio eco-nomic condition of the people.

Local Area Development Fund(LADF) shall be established after commis-sioning of the project as per the Hydro pol-icy of the Govt. of India and an amountof �28 crore per year shall be available forimplementing welfare schemes for theProject affected people on a continuousbasis over the life of the project. ExtensiveCSR activities has also been taken up inthe region for the development of local area.

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The concept of ContractFarming (CF) refers to asystem of farming in

which bulk purchasers includingagro-processing/exporting ortrading units enter into a con-tract with farmer(s) to purchasea specified quantity of any agri-cultural commodity at a pre-agreed price. Although variedforms of contract farming exist-ed in pockets in the country, theformal contract farming is not,however, widespread in India.By and large, cultivation of com-mercial crops like cotton, sugar-cane, tobacco, tea, coffee, rubberand dairy have had some ele-ments of informal contract farm-ing for a long time.

In order to protect the inter-ests of producers and sponsorsof Contract Farming, theMinistry of Agriculture FWdrafted Model APMC Act, 2003,which provided provisions forregistration of sponsors, record-ing of agreement and dispute set-tlement mechanism.

Due to conflict of interest ofcontract farming sponsors withthe APMCs, which were the des-ignated registering, agreementrecording and dispute settle-ment authority the atmospherewas not facilitative. It did notprovide adequate confidence tothe farmers and incentive to thesponsors to enter into a contract.Thus, the formal contract offarming could not pick up at theground level as expected. In

some states like Maharashtra,Haryana, Karnataka, MadhyaPradesh, limited formal contractfarming has been in practice.This warranted for develop-mental, holistic and progressivelaw on contract farming. Further,though there exists IndianContract Act, 1872, it is felt notvery conducive for agriculture. Itconsiders the two parties to theagreement as equals, while farm-ers are weaker vis-à-vis thesponsor-company.

In the above context andwith a view to integrate farmerswith bulk purchasers includingexporters, agro- industries et alfor better price realisationthrough mitigation of marketand price risks to the farmersand ensuring smooth agro rawmaterial supply to the agroindustries, Union Finance

Minister in the budget for 2017-18 announced to prepare aModel Contract Farming Actand circulate the same to theStates for its adoption. In pur-suance, the Union AgriculturalMinister constituted aCommittee under theChairmanship of Dr AshokDalwai, CEO, NRAA inFebruary, 2017 to draft a holis-tic, facilitative and promotionalModel Contract Farming Act. Jtsecretary (marketing), advisor,NITI Aayog, and principal sec-retaries, in-charge of agricultur-al marketing of Maharashtra,Karnataka, Odisha, Punjab andMadhya Pradesh are amongstthe members.

The committee held fivemeetings; and held wider consul-tations with experts, academics,professionals, contract farming

companies/firms, trade associa-tions and food value chain oper-ators apart from undertakingfield visits.

The final Model Act TheState/UT Agricultural Produceand Livestock Contract Farmingand Services (Promotion andFacilitation) Act, 2018 has beenapproved by the CompetentAuthority and was released onMay 22 at Vigyan Bhawan byRadha Mohan Singh, UnionAgriculture Minister.

The details of the act werepresented by Dr Ashok Dalwai,CEO, National Rainfed AreaAuthority. This was followed byopen house discussion. Therewas unanimity among the Statesto adopt the Model ContractFarming and Services Act so asto ensure assured market at pre-agreed prices.

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One of contemporary cricket'sgreatest batsmen, AB deVilliers, on Wednesday called

time on his illustrious internationalcareer, claiming to be "out of gas" after14 years in the top league.

The 34-year-old former SouthAfrican skipper said his jaded bodywas no longer in a position to take therigours of international cricket aftera staggering 420 matches acrossthree formats with over 20,000 runsand 47 hundreds. He averaged over50 in both the Tests and ODIs.

"I have decided to retire from allinternational cricket with immediateeffect. After 114 Test matches, 228ODI's and 78 T20 Internationals, it istime for others to take over. I have hadmy turn, and to be honest, I am tired,"De Villiers announced through avideo message on social networkingsite Twitter.

"This is a tough decision, I havethought long and hard about it andI'd like to retire while still playingdecent cricket. After the fantasticseries wins against India andAustralia, now feels like the right timeto step aside," De Villiers' decisionepitomised the age-old truth of sport— quit when people ask "why" ratherthan "why not".

While he remains a sought afterplayer in leagues across the world andcould have played the shorter formats,the affable Proteas dasher didn'twant to pick and choose.

"It would not be right for me topick and choose where, when and inwhat format I play for the Proteas. Forme, in the green and gold, it must beeverything or nothing.

"I will always be grateful to thecoaches and staff of Cricket South

Africa (CSA) for their supportthrough all these years. The mostimportant thank you goes out to allof my teammates throughout mycareer, I wouldn't be half the playerthat I am without the supportthroughout the years," said De Villiers.

"It's not about earning moresomewhere else, it's about running

out of gas and feeling that it is the righttime to move on. Everything comesto an end. To the cricket fans aroundSouth Africa and the world, thankyou for your kindness and generos-ity, and today, for your understand-ing."

In fact, de Villiers said that he did-n't plan to play overseas, which

means that he will not be seen in RCBcolours in the IPL next season.

"I have no plans to play overseas.In fact, I hope I can continue to beavailable for the Titans in domesticcricket. I will continue to be thebiggest supporter of Faf du Plessis andthe Proteas."

De Villiers holds the records for

the fastest 50 (16 balls), 100 (31 balls)and 150 (64 balls) of all time in OneDay Internationals. The swahbucklingbatsman is a three-time ICC ODIplayer of the year, clinching the tro-phy in 2010, 2014 and 2015.

De Villiers succeeded GraemeSmith as ODI captain after the 2011World Cup. He later took over the

Test captaincy from Hashim Amla.However, he stepped down fromleader of the five-day format in 2016due to an elbow injury.

Cricket South Africa president,Chris Nenzani, paid tribute to theinnovative batsman.

"AB is one of the all-time greatsof South African cricket who has

.��� �9��9�

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthurbelieves his "fearless" side have

everything to gain when they facean "under the pump" England in thefirst Test at Lord's on Thursday.

England will be looking forsome much-needed home comfortafter recent winless Test tours ofAustralia and New Zealand extend-ed their poor away record in crick-et's longest format to 13 matcheswithout a victory.

Pakistan, by contrast, enter thistwo-match campaign on the back ofa morale-boosting five-wicket winover Test debutants Ireland atMalahide last week.

"We haven't come here not towin," Arthur told reporters at Lord'son Tuesday.

"It's a changing room full ofvery, very skilled cricketers, veryyoung cricketers, fearless crick-eters. If we get the breaks and thingsgo our way, they will certainly putEngland under pressure."

England, in their first Test sinceEd Smith became their new headselector, continue to have doubtsover a batting order where captainJoe Root has been promoted tonumber three, wicket-keeper JonnyBairstow to five and Jos Buttlerrecalled at seven.

And with Jack Leach injured,England could give a Test debut tohis fellow Somerset spinnerDominic Bess.

"In their home conditions,England are a different team toEngland abroad," said Arthur. "We've had a look obviously atButtler, he adds an attacking side toEngland."

Two years ago, England wereheld to a 2-2 home draw by Pakistanin a four-Test series.

Since then veteran batsmenMisbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khanhave both retired, with Pakistan

hoping the likes of Azhar Ali andAsad Shafiq can fill the void.

But it is Imam-ul-Haq, thenephew of Pakistan selection chiefand former Test batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq, who has made three fiftiesfrom as many games this tour —including a match-clinching inningsagainst Ireland.

"He's a totally different charac-ter to Inzi," said Arthur of Imam, a22-year-old left-handed opener,who is somewhat quicker betweenthe wickets than his celebrateduncle.

"He played beautifully for us,under pressure, against Ireland inhis Test debut."

E3��*��$�������������DArthur believes Pakistan are

fitter now than when he tookover two years ago and moreaggressive with it.

"We are an incredibly fit unit.The guys have trained unbelievablyhard, not that we weren't coming in2016 but that was the start ofalmost the fitness regime," he said.

"The brand of cricket we areplaying is certainly more attacking.

We felt we needed to change withthe times and get another bowlerin," the former South Africa andAustralia coach explained of a sidecaptained by wicket-keeper SarfrazAhmed.

Much could depend on Pakistanleft-arm quick Mohammad Amir,who has enjoyed Test success and aChampions Trophy triumph inEngland, as well as a 2017 CountyChampionship title with Essex,since his career was almost ended byhis involvement in a spot-fixingscandal at Lord's during the 2010tour.

If the 20-year-old Bess plays hewon't be the youngest slow bowlerin the match, with 19-year-oldPakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khanreplacing the injured Yasir Shah.

England appear set to decidebetween seam-bowling all-rounderChris Woakes and injury-pronefast bowler Mark Wood for the lastplace in their XI, with one of pace-men Rahat Ali or Hasan Ali droppedfrom Pakistan's 12-man squad.

"There will be an Ali playing!"joked Arthur.

Meanwhile Buttler was wellaware of the threat posed byPakistan, whose last Test at Lord'ssaw them beat England by 75 runs.

"They've lost some experience,but as we saw in the ChampionsTrophy, Pakistan are a very strongside," he said.

England will field a trio of Testveterans in opener Alastair Cookand the new-ball duo of Stuart Broadand James Anderson.

"With all that comes a lot ofresponsibility and accountability,"said Arthur. "A couple are under thepump.

"Our guys don't fear that at themoment. They are looking to grabthe opportunity with both hands.

"I just hope they do because ifthey do it solidifies exactly what wewant to do with Pakistan cricket."

.�F��� �9��9�

Neymar was back in train-ing on Tuesday to give

Brazil a big boost ahead of theWorld Cup.

Neymar has been side-lined since February afterhaving surgery on his rightfoot but spent an hour train-ing on the main pitch atBrazil's Granja Comary train-ing ground in Teresopolis,outside Rio de Janeiro.

The Paris Saint-Germainstriker was joined byManchester City duo GabrielJesus and Danilo as he tookpart in drills, using his recov-ering foot to dribble conesand shoot from long andclose range.

Neymar was cleared totake part in training afterundergoing a medical examsearlier Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Brazil's goal-keeping coaches have no hes-itation in anointing Alisson asthe team's No 1 for the WorldCup, and are even comparinghim to Germany's ManuelNeuer.

Goalkeeping coachClaudio Taffarel, who playedthree World Cups for Braziland won the trophy in 1994,said Alisson has developed"amazingly" at Roma this pastseason and deserves to start inRussia even though it will behe his first tournament.

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Argentina's World Cup preparations suf-fered a blow on Tuesday as goalkeeper

Sergio Romero was ruled out of the tourna-ment with a knee injury, the ArgentinaFootball Association(AFA) said.

The ManchesterUnited goalkeeperinjured his rightknee during train-ing in Buenos Aireson Tuesday.

"Romero will beremoved from thelist of 23 playerswho will participatein the 2018 WorldCup in Russia," theAFA said in a state-ment.

Romero, 31, is the most capped goalkeeperin the history of the Argentina national teamwith 83 appearances and represented the coun-try at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

��� �9��9��

Arsenal hired Unai Emery as ArseneWenger's successor on Wednesday

in the Premier League club's firstmanagerial appointment in 22 years.

The 46-year-old Spaniard will notenjoy the same authority as Wengerbuilt up at Arsenal, being handed thetitle of head coach rather than manager.

Arsenal backed off from a gambleon former player Mikel Arteta, who ispart of Pep Guardiola's coaching staffat Premier League championManchester City. Instead, Arsenalopted for an established coach - andone who has constantly delivered tro-phies at Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain.

"Several things stood out during hisinterview and the entire process; hisfootball knowledge, energy, determi-nation and love of the game," Arsenalowner Stan Kroenke said. "His famil-iarity with our club and our players, thePremier League and the game inEurope were all very impressive. Heshares our vision to move forward, to

build on the platform created byArsene Wenger and help this club enjoygreater success."

Emery has the task of restoringArsenal to the Champions League - andto ultimately deliver the club's firstPremier League title since 2004.

But he picks up at London team ata low after finishing sixth in the league- the lowest in Wenger's reign.

.��� �����

Gareth Bale's relationship withZinedine Zidane will come

to a crossroads when RealMadrid play Liverpool in theChampions League final onSaturday. The pair have not seeneye-to-eye for some time, eversince Zidane jettisoned theWelshman for Real's last 16 firstleg game at home to Paris Saint-Germain in February.

With their La Liga challengeall but over, Zidane's reputationhinged on a run in Europe anddropping Bale delivered aresounding message about a lackof trust when it mattered most.

But breaking point arrived inApril, in the quarter-finals, in thesecond leg at home to Juventus.Bale had scored three goals in hisprevious three games, six in fiveincluding matches for Wales,and he was rewarded with a startat the Santiago Bernabeu.

Zidane, however, hauled himoff at half-time, with Real trail-ing Juve 2-0. At best, it seemedthe Frenchman was apportioningblame to Bale. At worst, itseemed like punishment by pub-lic humiliation.

"It was not to punish Garethbut something had to change,"Zidane said after the match. "Iwas not happy with theapproach." Bale felt harshly treat-ed, he became noticeably downaround the squad and his inten-sity dropped in training. Sourcestold AFP that Bale and Zidanewere barely on speaking termsaround this period.

Three days after Real scrapedpast Juventus, via CristianoRonaldo's last-gasp penalty, theyfaced a lengthy trip to Malagaand several key players, includ-ing Bale, were left out.

Real insisted they were restedbut while the likes of Ronaldo,Toni Kroos, Luka Modric andMarcelo returned for the week-end's game against Athletic Bilbao,Bale again found himself sat on thebench. By the time he had beenoverlooked for both semi-final legsagainst Bayern Munich, the 28-year-old had started only one ofhis last five matches.

"It is always going to happenin a side like ours," Zidane said.

"There are players in goodform and in the team, who areplaying well."

Bale scored against Villarrealon Saturday to make it five goalsin his last four starts.

.��� �����

Former Bayern Munich man-ager Carlo Ancelotti is set to

take over as Napoli coach,according to reports in Italy onTuesday.

Ancelotti, who was sackedby the Bundesliga championslast September, was reported tobe holding talks with Napolipresident Aurelio De Laurentiisin Rome on Tuesday night.

The 58-year-old Ancelottiand Italian film producer DeLaurentiis are finalising detailsof a three-year contract.

Corriere dello Sport report-ed that everything was now inplace for Ancelotti to take overthe southern side, but only ifMaurizio Sarri decides to leavethe club.

Contact between DeLaurentiis and the former ACMilan and Real Madrid coachhas been ongoing for weeksamid the indecision of Sarri, whohas a contract with Napoli until2020. Sarri indicated last Sundaythat he was ready to leave theSerie A side he joined in 2015after finishing runners-up for thesecond time in three seasonsbehind Juventus.

Ancelotti, who also hadspells in charge of Chelsea,Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, has three ChampionsLeague titles to his name as acoach. He has also won theleague in Italy, France, Germanyand England.

He was reported to haverecently turned down the oppor-tunity to coach the Italiannational side to stay in club foot-ball.

Sarri, meanwhile, has beenlinked with English side Chelsea.

The 59-year-old formerbanker was also reported tohave been contacted by ZenitSaint Petersburg, with theRussian club able to pay hiseight-million-euro (USD 9.4million) release clause.

Elsewhere, Spanish clubCelta Vigo has hired Argentinecoach Antonio Mohamed on atwo-year contract. Mohamedreplaces Juan Carlos Unzue,who left after team failed to qual-ify for a European competitionnext season.

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thrilled spectators around the worldwith his sheer brilliance, coupled tohis ability to innovate and takemodern day batting in all three for-mats, but particularly in the whiteball ones, to new levels.”

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Skipper Dinesh Karthik and AndreRussell revived Kolkata KnightRiders with magnificent batting as

the hosts recovered from a disastrousstart to post a challenging 169 for the lossof seven wickets against RajasthanRoyals in the Indian Premier LeagueEliminator match, here at the EdenGardens stadium on Wednesday.

Sent in to bat first, the Knight Ridershad their worst start of the season withKrishnappa Gowtham (2/15 in threeovers) and Jofra Archer (2/33) reducingthem to 46/3 inside the powerplay.

But Dinesh Karthik continued hissublime form to lead them to safety witha 38-ball 52, containing four fours andtwo sixes.

After Karthik's departure, Russellcame up with his destructive 29-ballunbeaten 49, studded with three bound-aries and five sixes.

The sixes however were a rarity in thefirst half of the Knight Riders’ inningsand it was only in the 14th over thatShubman Gill hit the first shot over theropes in his crucial fifth wicket partner-ship with Karthik.

Karthik and Gill added 55 runs in 38balls as the Under-19 World Cup winningyoungster Gill impressed with his stroke-making skills en route his 17-ball 28 (3x4,1x6).

From being 63 for 4 midway into theinnings, Kolkata brilliantly stepped on

the gas in the second-half, scoring 106runs in the last 10 overs with Russell incharge of the proceedings.

Jaydev Unadkat, who leaked 33 runsfrom his two overs, was a big letdownfrom Rajasthan's perspective as theAjinkya Rahane-led side could not chokethe hosts despite a a sound start.

Starting the proceedings forRajasthan, Krishnappa Gowtham leftKolkata in tatters with a twin blow ofSunil Narine (four) and Robin Uthappa(three) in his first two overs beforeBarbadian pacer ensured their lowestpowerplay score of the season — 46/3 —dismissing Nitish Rana (3).

Narine smashed Gowtham's throughcovers for a boundary to start off the pro-ceedings in his signature style but the off-spinner fired in a quicker one next up andthe Trinidadian was beaten and stumpedin the second ball.

In the first ball of his next overGowtham plucked a smart return catchoff Robin Uthappa's top-edge for a softdismissal while Archer reduced Kolkatato 24/3 inside four overs.

There was more misery in store forKolkata as opener as an under-pressureChris Lynn did not survive long as theirtop four batsmen folded for 51 in eightovers.

Just when their ship looked to sinkin front of a shell-shocked capacityEden crowd, Karthik continued to hissublime form and found a fine ally in Gillto revive their innings.

����� ������

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was soaking in every-thing with his usual calm demeanour before

attributing Chennai Super Kings' seventh IndianPremier League final appearance to "dressingroom atmosphere", a far cry from the awe that wasbest summed up by a popular teammate's groovytribute.

Coming back after a two-year ban, two-timechampions CSK last night pulled off a thrilling two-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad to make thefinal of the cash-rich league, with Faf du Plessis lead-ing the chase.

"We have been a very good team over the pastten seasons, but it's more about the dressing roomatmosphere," Dhoni said at the post-match pre-sentation ceremony.

The two-time World Cup winning captainadded, "And you can't do that without the playersand the support staff. And if the atmosphere is notgood, then players go to different directions. Butsomehow, we have managed to keep our boys ontrack."

All-rounder Dwayne Bravo celebrated the vic-tory with a dance in the dressing room. A video ofthe same was posted on Twitter by Chennai SuperKings, in which Bravo and Harbhajan Singh are seendancing in front of skipper Dhoni.

"Always happy when we win. Being in the toptwo gives you that liberty to have one more game.Faf 's innings, is where experience counts. It's noteasy when you don't play a lot of games but I alwayssay you need to train your mind as well. That's whereexperience comes in. You visualise what your roleis, how you can contribute and Faf has been bril-liant," Dhoni said.

"If we would've lost, you still give yourself a sec-ond chance. They bowled very well, and there wasa bit for the fast bowlers. Bhuvi bowled well, backedup well by Rashid. We kept losing wickets, and sowe had to push ourselves. Losing three-four wick-ets in the middle always puts you on pressure. Plus,they have a mystery bowler,” the former India cap-tain pointed out.

It's good to win a game like this, but what's moreimportant, is knowing how we can improve."

"Our bowling combination is the best we have,”the Chennai-skipper continued,“and from thebeginning I've been using different players at dif-ferent stages to test them.”

“You have to keep shuffling to know who cando what for you, and at what time. It may hurt yousometimes, and the best bowlers are playing thesegames,” Dhoni signed off.

����� ������

Coach Stephen Fleming says Faf duPlessis, who single-handedly guid-

ed Chennai Super Kings into the finalof Indian Premier League's 11th edi-tion, was played in the first qualifierbecause of an injury to Sam Billings.

Coming back after a two-year ban,two-time champions CSK pulled off athrilling two-wicket win over SunrisersHyderabad on Tuesday to reach theirseventh final of the cash-rich league,with du Plessis' unbeaten 67-run knockleading the chase.

"Sam got hurt in the last game. Hefell awkwardly on his hip and it hasbeen quite bruised. He probablycould've played if he was pushed but hewas uncomfortable.

"So we just took that opportunityto keep Faf in the side, having intro-duced him in the last game. We've gotdifferent combinations that we can useand today I'm very happy that Faf wasable to contribute the way he did,"Fleming said after the match.

Chasing a modest target of 140,CSK were down in the dumps at 92 forseven before Du Plessis (67 off 42 balls)engineered a stunning comeback.

"The player today who hasn'tplayed that much came out on a big-ger stage of the tournament today andfor Faf to do that is testament to hisskills set and his mindset as well.

"Sometimes dumb luck... You justpick the guys at the right time and they

just play and innings for the team thatmeans so much and we saw one ofthose today," the former New Zealandskipper explained, adding, "Sam'sinjury made it pretty clear that Faf at1 and Rayudu at 4 was the way to go."

The Qualifier 1 against the tabletoppers was only the fifth game that duPlessis played this season.

The South Africa captain grabbedthe opportunity with both hands.

"The game obviously has its upsand downs and turns but we have hada season where we have won fromunwinnable positions. Today was oneof those, it seems. It's been individualplayers who have got us out of troubleand different players all the time. Of

course, MS (Dhoni) is a usual culprit,"Fleming noted.

The former New Zealand captainalso heaped praise on young SouthAfrica pacer Lungi Ngidi, who returnedfigures of 1-20 and accounted for rivalopener Shreevats Goswami.

"He (Ngidi) has provided a spear-head for MS and it's improved the firstsix overs. So we're getting wickets in thefront, Deepak Chahar is also swingingthe ball.

"The two of them have providedopportunities to take wickets andthat's allowed our other bowlers tocome into the game a bit more, so he's(Ngidi) been quite instrumental, cer-tainly reducing the scores we're chas-ing," added Fleming.

Fleming described his team's per-formance as just about good.

"We were okay today, Ngidi wasgreat, (Ravindra) Jadeja was very goodbut it was an okay performance. Wehave been better, so I guess that's whatwe'll look at over the next four days,"he said.

E�, $� ��������� #,��5Chennai Super Kings head coach

Stephen Fleming admitted that slowover rate has been a problem this IPLand blamed the hot and humid weath-er for teams taking too much time toget things moving.

"We can all feel how humid it is.Late season games in Mumbai andChennai are going to be longer, because

the players do suffer. If a player bats,say for a period of time, they are undersome stress," Fleming said.

Speaking about the South African,Fleming said, "And Faf (du Plessis) islike a Ferrari car, he needs a lot of atten-tion. So, it is always going to take timewhen he is over there."

Quite a few teams and captainshave already been fined for slow overrate this season.

"But it can be sped up, there is timewasting in cricket in general, but that'sa separate discussion. Slow over ratesare killing the game, from Test crick-et down. So it does have to be policedbetter, and players have to oblige a bitmore," said Fleming, a former captainof New Zealand.

The Super Kings coach saidTuesday was the only time in the sea-son that his team was slow in the over-rate front.

"We're pretty good. That is proba-bly the only game where we've been abit slow. It's just a question for ourteam, because I felt we were off men-tally. And when you're wanderingaround without purpose, you takemore time."

"We were seven minutes down atthe drinks break and it was enough forme to crack the whip a little.

“So we were just off a bit today.And that contributes to the slowness ofthe game. We don't want to do that andwe certainly want to improve," Flemingsaid.

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Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper KaneWilliamson has defended his deci-

sion to use Carlos Brathwaite at thedeath overs and praised his bowlersafter a two-wicket defeat to ChennaiSuper Kings in the first qualifier ofIndian Premier League.

"Yeah, certainly we backed Carlos(Brathwaite) with his death bowling.That's why he's in this side, as anoth-er death option.

“When you're under pressure,sometimes, life gets a little bit tough,"Williamson said at the post-matchpress conference on Tuesday.

The New Zealand batting maestroadded, "Credit to the way Faf batted —he batted beautifully."

Brathwaite, playing in only his sec-ond game of the season, conceded 20runs in the 18th over.

With 43 needed off last threeovers, Chennai’s South African inter-national Faf du Plessis, who opened thebatting, launched into Brathwaite's18th over and smashed him for 20runs.

"It's obviously very tough to swal-low because we certainly back ourdeath bowling to close games outfrom that point. We have been on theright side a number of those resultsthroughout this league and today was-n't to be," he added.

Chennai Super Kings will now play

the final on May 27 while SunrisersHyderabad will play against the win-ner of the Eliminator between KolkataKnight Riders and Rajasthan Royals inQualifier 2 on Friday, May 25.

Williamson said, "The bowlerswere outstanding today. A few ballshere and there, and at the death I think,when it's a low scoring game, a coupleof edges — you know.

"It's such a fine line. It was just ashame. We always backed ourselves toclose games out from that point. Butsaying that, there are a number of otherareas that we would like to touch ongoing into our next game."

The captain then went on to con-cede that his Sunrisers side fell shortby 15-20 runs with the bat.

"It took a little bit of turn, but it wasprobably a 160 wicket, so we were a lit-tle bit short with the bat,” he confessed.

“With the bat, we could havetaken some better options in order toget maybe another 15/20 on that sur-face,” Willamson added.

"I think we could've taken a fewsmart options to get a bit more on theboard," said the New Zealand andHyderabad skipper.

"Death bowling is our strength, buttoday Chennai Super Kings played welland showed their depth with the bat.

“Frustrating, but we're up againstKolkata Knight Riders next and it'simportant we show some signs ofimprovement there," he signed off.

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England cricket director AndrewStrauss is to stand down temporarily

for the season while his wife Ruth con-tinues her treatment for cancer, with AndyFlower filling in while the former Testcaptain is on leave.

"My wife was diagnosed with cancerin December," Strauss told reporters atLord's on Tuesday.

"We are very lucky she has been verywell up to now although she is starting anew treatment on Friday which is goingto be more challenging for her and as suchI am going to be stepping back from myday-to-day duties while that treatment isgoing on."

He added: "On a day-to-day basisAndy Flower is going to be stepping infor me over the course of the (English)summer."

Flower was England's coach whileformer opening batsman Strauss enjoyeda successful spell as national captain thatincluded a 2010/11 Ashes series victoryin Australia.

The former Zimbabwe batsman hasremained in the England and WalesCricket Board set-up and is currently thecoach of England's second-string Lions.

"We all know about his qualities andhis experience of both England andEnglish cricket and he will fill in my shoes

very adequately," said Strauss."I look forward to returning and grab-

bing the reins again but at this period oftime my focus has to be on supportingRuth and my family at a challenging timefor us."

England face Pakistan at Lord's onThursday in the first of a two-Test seriesfollowing a miserable 2017/18 tour thatsaw them fail to win any of their sevenTests in Australia and New Zealand.

Strauss has since appointed a newnational selector in Ed Smith, a formerEngland batsman.

On Tuesday he revealed the estab-lishment of a scouting network made upof six former England players in MarcusTrescothick, Glen Chapple, Steve Rhodes,Richard Dawson, Chris Read and JamesTaylor to assist Smith.

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