16
A mid hectic political engagements in Uttar Pradesh, Congress general sec- retary Priyanka Gandhi on Friday fuelled speculation about the possibility of her con- testing Lok Sabha polls from Varanasi from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking re-election. While addressing a gath- ering in Ayodhya, Priyanka made a scathing attack on Modi accusing him of neglect- ing his Varanasi constituency and highlighted the lack of development work done there during the last five years. Priyanka told the media, “If the party asks me, I will fight from anywhere.” When a party worker asked her to contest from Rae Bareli, she said, “Shouldn’t I fight from Varanasi?” The Congress incharge of eastern UP has asked party workers to inform the people about the alleged unfulfilled promises of the Modi Government, particularly the problems in Varanasi. While Congress sources too indicated that this could be a surprise last minute decision, party president Rahul Gandhi provided grist to the mill by telling news agency PTI in an interview that it was up to Priyanka to decide if she wants to contest election or not. Referring to her recent visit to Varanasi, Priyanka said she was told about the road from the airport to the city when she asked about “devel- opment” in the area. She claimed only 15 km of a 150- km road sanctioned by the pre- vious Congress Government has been built there, and when people drive away from the air- port it is full of potholes. Claiming Modi did not care about Varanasi, she said, “I was told that in the past five years he has not visited even a single village in his con- stituency though he has been travelling all over the country and abroad.” Priyanka visited the Hanuman Garhi temple in Ayodhya, but kept away from the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site. She said, “The Government’s focus is only on helping the rich, making the rich, richer. They have money for the businessmen, but not for the poor.” Claiming that Modi retained the MGNREGA scheme on coming to power despite criticising it, Priyanka said, “But funds are not being given to the scheme for six months. They are giving the money to contractors... They want to close the scheme.” Priyanaka accused the Modi Government of trying to destroy democracy and con- stitutional institutions. “I have seen the truth in the leaking roofs of the weavers’ houses, in the eyes of the farmer who said that only the rich have a chowkidar (watchman),” she said in an indirect reference to Modi’s “I am a chowkidar too’ campaign. F ormer cricketer Kirti Azad, a sitting MP from Darbhanga, who recently joined the Congress does not figure in the list of grand alliance candidates from Bihar after the RJD refused to give up its claim on the contentious seat of Darbhanga in the heart of the Mithilanchal region. Following this, sulking Congress leaders kept away from the joint Press conference addressed by RJD leader Tejashwai Yadav in Patna to announce the candidate of the Mahagathbandhan. The Congress has announced the name of eight of the nine candidates who will be in the fray from Bihar. Kirti still has a chance of contesting from the State if he is nomi- nated from the Valmiki Nagar seat, which is in the Congress’ kitty and for which the party has not named its candidate. It was clear that despite being in jail, RJD chief Lalu Prasad called the shots in the distribution of seats and nom- ination of the candidates of the grand alliance. The denial of ticket to Kirti Azad is a per- sonal setback for Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is reported to have assured Kirti Azad that he would be fielded from Darbhanga. As per the seat-sharing formula, the RJD has got 20 seats, out of which it is giving up one for the ultra-Left party; the Congress has nine, followed by five for Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP and three each for Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and Mukesh Sahni’s VIP. The announcement of the grand alliance candidates was made by Tejashwi, but absence of senior Congress leaders on the occasion showed the party’s displeasure over arm-twisting by the RJD. RLSP leader and former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha too is reported to be sulking because the RJD wants him to accommodate at least one RJD nominee from his quota. Tejashwi, announced the candidature of his sister Misa Bharti from Pataliputra, Congress’ Meira Kumar from Sasaram and RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui from Darbhanga. Siddiqui is a senior leader and has held important Ministries besides having served as Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly. Also in the con- tention for the seat was Md Ashraf Fatmi, a RJD strongman and a close associate Lalu. Fatmi, who represented Darbhanga in the past, was runner-up in 2014. Tejashwi also announced that the RJD would be fielding Tanveer Hassan in Begusarai, the party candidate who came in second in 2014, a decision that may queer the pitch for CPI’s Kanhaiya Kumar, who is taking on firebrand BJP leader Giriraj Singh. N early a month after India's air strikes on terror camps in Balakot, the Pakistan Army for the first time conducted a media tour to Balakot in an apparent attempt to refute the news of the strikes that caused substantial damage and casu- alties to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The nearly five-hour tour on Thursday saw a team of eight Pakistani journalists shooting videos of the site, which was partially covered by tarpaulin sheets. Sources said the visit was delayed for nearly a month in an attempt to change the nar- rative about damage and casu- alties by repairing the infra- structure there as a cover-up. The team was flown in a special military helicopter. The media persons interacted with nearly 300 children staying in a madrasa run by JeM there. The group had claimed respon- sibility for carrying out a sui- cide attack in Pulwama in Kashmir on February 14 killing 40 CRPF personnel. Sources said here on Friday the site was heavily guarded by the troops of Frontier Corps, a paramilitary unit of Pakistan. The Balakot camp is locat- ed at the tri-junction of Pakistan Punjab, Balochistan and North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). The IAF carried out air strikes reportedly destroying the JeM’s biggest training camp in Balakot on February 26 and Pakistan retaliated the next day by intruding into India in Rajouri sector in an attempt to target military installations there. An aerial combat ensued wherein Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman flying a MIG-21 shot down F-16 jet of Pakistan Air Force. However, his jet was also shot down by Pakistan air defence and he ejected in POK. Abhinandan was captured by Pakistan and released two days later as a “peace gesture”. I n a tragic incident, eight passengers, including a minor and two women, were killed while 30 others sus- tained injuries after a private- ly-operated bus rammed into a tanker on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida on Friday around 5 am. The bus was heading to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district when the inci- dent under the jurisdiction of Rabupura police station. The deceased have been identified as bus driver Mahesh Kumar (48), helper Bandu (25), pas- sengers Vineeta (32), Arun (42), Asad (12), Suman (35) and Vishwanath Tiwari (75). The passengers were from Jalaun, while the driver and helper hailed from Dhaulpur in Rajasthan. Three women and three children were among the 30 injured who hailed from Auraiya, Jalaun, Phaphund and Noida. “Eight people were killed and 30 injured in the incident. The victims were rushed to nearby Kailash Hospital in Jewar. The speeding bus rammed into a tanker which was moving relatively slow,” said Sharat Chandra Sharma, the Circle Officer (CO) of Jewar sub-division. “The exact cause of the incident is yet to be confirmed, but prima facie it appears the driver was a bit drowsy. The tanker was moving slowly and the speeding bus could have comfortably overtaken it, but instead rammed into it,” said Sharma. Condoling the deaths, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tweeted, “I am saddened by the demise of eight people in a bus accident in Greater Noida today. Praying for the peace of the departed souls and strength to their families. Also wishing speedy recovery to the passengers injured in the accident.” Earlier, an official spokesperson in Lucknow said the CM had taken prompt cognisance of the accident and issued directions to top officials to provide immediate relief to the victims. T he Election Commission (EC) on Friday seized 100 kg heroin worth 500 crore from Gujarat. Sources in the EC said Gujarat ATS arrested nine Iranian nationals carrying 100 kg heroin from Gujarat coast. Preliminary enquiry revealed that the consignment was loaded at Pakistan’s Gwadar port by one Pakistani national Hamid Malek. The total seizure of nar- cotics in Gujarat was only 6 crore till Wednesday. The Pioneer had reported earlier that heroin, opium, brown sugar, anti-depressant drugs, other narcotics like opium, ganja, cocaine, denato- nium benzoate, methamphet- amine, heroin, tablets of anti- depressants Alprazolam and Tramadol are being smuggled to influence voters. The arrested Iranians have been identified as Mohammad Aslam Abdil (39), Amin Mohammad (28), Ishak Dilshad (38), Ayub Baloch (39), Wahid Baloch (26), Umid Iranka (20), Tahir Raza (34), Sajid Umar (20), and Dhor Mohammad Nakib Raisi (65). According to the EC, enforcement agencies have seized 255 kg drugs and nar- cotics worth 3,23 crore from Maharashtra; 252 kg from Madhya Pradeesh; 221 kg from Nagaland; 143 kg from Karnataka and 17 kg from Bihar. It has seized drugs worth 103 crore from Punjab; 19 crore from Uttar Pradesh. As per data updated till March 29, authorities have seized 250.18 crore of unac- counted cash from 29 States and UT. As per data, as many as 56.96 lakh litre liquor worth 122.33 crore; precious metals, gold and silver jewellery worth 183.09 crore and other free- bies worth of 22.22 crore have been seized across the country. A n environment panel on Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) has called for a study on likely impact of the vibration of the proposed Ahmedabad- Mumbai Bullet train on the mudflats and adjoining man- groves in Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary, which hosts over 1 lakh flamingoes (Lesser and Greater Flamingo) every year. An Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) in its meet- ing on March 18 sought a study while giving condition- al clearance to the proposed 1,08,000-crore project of the National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRC). The standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) in January had given a go-ahead for the diversion of over 100 hectares from around and three acres from the Thane Creek Flamingo Wildlife Sanctuary, over 110 hectares (forest/non forest land) from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, and over five hectares from the Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary. The mudflats near Thane Creek Flamingos Sanctuary are a rich feeding ground for the Flamingos who arrive in droves from Kutch. There are concerns that the intense vibra- tion due to the Bullet train will disturb ecosystem of the mud- flats which also supports a large number of birds includ- ing stints, grey herons, black- headed ibis, sandpipers, plovers and egrets, who feed on a vari- ety of marine life. The panel headed by Deepak Arun Apte noted that the area is already under stress due to the construction of Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) and Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) and other ongoing projects. Part of the Railway Ministry’s “Indian Railway Vision 2020” that aims at mod- ernisation of the existing con- ventional lines, enhancing capacity and developing high speed railway lines, the Bullet train project involves a dedi- cated track of about 508 kilo- metres including 155.6 kms in Maharashtra, 348.2 kms in Gujarat and 4.3 kms in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The high- speed train corridor was inau- gurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad in September, 2017. It is expect- ed to be ready by 2022. The EAC refused to give in to the NHSRC contention that “there are no studies known and is not possible to predict the impact of vibrations till the work starts.” The Committee also observed that the conservation and management plan for Thane Creek Flamingo pre- pared by Zoological Survey of India is inadequate to highlight the impact of vibration on mudflats and flamingoes. It requires major revision, it noted even as it appreciated the project proponent move to take tunnel route to avoid direct destruction of mudflat or mangrove in the Thane Creek region. However, it disagreed their view that “impacts cannot be studied”. C ongress leader Hardik Patel’s plans to contest Lok Sabha election hit a roadblock on Friday as the Gujarat High Court rejected his plea seeking a stay to his conviction in the 2015 Vispur rioting case. As the last date for filing of nominations is April 4, the Patidar leader has a little time to approach the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling. Patel had started prepara- tions to contest from Jamnagar on a Congress ticket after join- ing the party on March 12. Polling for 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will be held on April 23. Detailed report on P6

ˇ ˆ ˙ ˇ - The Pioneer · as bus driver Mahesh Kumar (48), helper Bandu (25), pas-sengers Vineeta (32), Arun ... As per data updated till March 29, authorities have seized 250.18

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Page 1: ˇ ˆ ˙ ˇ - The Pioneer · as bus driver Mahesh Kumar (48), helper Bandu (25), pas-sengers Vineeta (32), Arun ... As per data updated till March 29, authorities have seized 250.18

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Amid hectic politicalengagements in Uttar

Pradesh, Congress general sec-retary Priyanka Gandhi onFriday fuelled speculationabout the possibility of her con-testing Lok Sabha polls fromVaranasi from where PrimeMinister Narendra Modi isseeking re-election.

While addressing a gath-ering in Ayodhya, Priyankamade a scathing attack onModi accusing him of neglect-ing his Varanasi constituencyand highlighted the lack ofdevelopment work done thereduring the last five years.

Priyanka told the media, “Ifthe party asks me, I will fightfrom anywhere.”

When a party worker askedher to contest from Rae Bareli,she said, “Shouldn’t I fightfrom Varanasi?”

The Congress incharge ofeastern UP has asked partyworkers to inform the peopleabout the alleged unfulfilledpromises of the ModiGovernment, particularly theproblems in Varanasi.

While Congress sourcestoo indicated that this could bea surprise last minute decision,party president Rahul Gandhiprovided grist to the mill bytelling news agency PTI in aninterview that it was up toPriyanka to decide if she wantsto contest election or not.

Referring to her recentvisit to Varanasi, Priyanka saidshe was told about the roadfrom the airport to the city

when she asked about “devel-opment” in the area. Sheclaimed only 15 km of a 150-km road sanctioned by the pre-vious Congress Governmenthas been built there, and whenpeople drive away from the air-port it is full of potholes.

Claiming Modi did notcare about Varanasi, she said, “Iwas told that in the past fiveyears he has not visited even a

single village in his con-stituency though he has beentravelling all over the countryand abroad.”

Priyanka visited theHanuman Garhi temple inAyodhya, but kept away fromthe Ram Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid site.

She said, “TheGovernment’s focus is only onhelping the rich, making the

rich, richer. They have moneyfor the businessmen, but notfor the poor.”

Claiming that Modiretained the MGNREGAscheme on coming to powerdespite criticising it, Priyankasaid, “But funds are not beinggiven to the scheme for sixmonths. They are giving themoney to contractors... Theywant to close the scheme.”

Priyanaka accused theModi Government of trying todestroy democracy and con-stitutional institutions. “I haveseen the truth in the leakingroofs of the weavers’ houses, inthe eyes of the farmer who saidthat only the rich have achowkidar (watchman),” shesaid in an indirect reference toModi’s “I am a chowkidar too’campaign.

�� �� �-.�/-'012,�$���

Former cricketer Kirti Azad,a sitting MP from

Darbhanga, who recentlyjoined the Congress does notfigure in the list of grandalliance candidates from Biharafter the RJD refused to give upits claim on the contentious seatof Darbhanga in the heart ofthe Mithilanchal region.

Following this, sulkingCongress leaders kept awayfrom the joint Press conferenceaddressed by RJD leaderTejashwai Yadav in Patna toannounce the candidate of theMahagathbandhan.

The Congress hasannounced the name of eightof the nine candidates who willbe in the fray from Bihar. Kirtistill has a chance of contestingfrom the State if he is nomi-nated from the Valmiki Nagarseat, which is in the Congress’kitty and for which the partyhas not named its candidate.

It was clear that despitebeing in jail, RJD chief LaluPrasad called the shots in thedistribution of seats and nom-ination of the candidates of thegrand alliance. The denial ofticket to Kirti Azad is a per-

sonal setback for Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi, whois reported to have assured KirtiAzad that he would be fieldedfrom Darbhanga.

As per the seat-sharingformula, the RJD has got 20seats, out of which it is givingup one for the ultra-Left party;the Congress has nine, followedby five for Upendra Kushwaha’sRLSP and three each for JitanRam Manjhi’s HAM andMukesh Sahni’s VIP.

The announcement of thegrand alliance candidates wasmade by Tejashwi, but absenceof senior Congress leaders onthe occasion showed the party’sdispleasure over arm-twistingby the RJD.

RLSP leader and formerUnion Minister UpendraKushwaha too is reported to besulking because the RJD wantshim to accommodate at leastone RJD nominee from his

quota.Tejashwi, announced the

candidature of his sister MisaBharti from Pataliputra,Congress’ Meira Kumar fromSasaram and RJD leader AbdulBari Siddiqui from Darbhanga.Siddiqui is a senior leader andhas held important Ministriesbesides having served as Leaderof Opposition in the StateAssembly. Also in the con-tention for the seat was MdAshraf Fatmi, a RJD strongmanand a close associate Lalu.Fatmi, who representedDarbhanga in the past, wasrunner-up in 2014.

Tejashwi also announcedthat the RJD would be fieldingTanveer Hassan in Begusarai,the party candidate who camein second in 2014, a decisionthat may queer the pitch forCPI’s Kanhaiya Kumar, who istaking on firebrand BJP leaderGiriraj Singh.

�� �� �-.�/-'01

Nearly a month after India'sair strikes on terror camps

in Balakot, the Pakistan Armyfor the first time conducted amedia tour to Balakot in anapparent attempt to refute thenews of the strikes that causedsubstantial damage and casu-alties to Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM). The nearly five-hourtour on Thursday saw a teamof eight Pakistani journalistsshooting videos of the site,which was partially covered bytarpaulin sheets.

Sources said the visit wasdelayed for nearly a month inan attempt to change the nar-rative about damage and casu-alties by repairing the infra-structure there as a cover-up.

The team was flown in aspecial military helicopter. Themedia persons interacted withnearly 300 children staying ina madrasa run by JeM there.The group had claimed respon-sibility for carrying out a sui-cide attack in Pulwama inKashmir on February 14 killing40 CRPF personnel.

Sources said here on Fridaythe site was heavily guarded by

the troops of Frontier Corps, aparamilitary unit of Pakistan.

The Balakot camp is locat-ed at the tri-junction ofPakistan Punjab, Balochistanand North-West FrontierProvince (NWFP).

The IAF carried out airstrikes reportedly destroyingthe JeM’s biggest training campin Balakot on February 26 andPakistan retaliated the nextday by intruding into India inRajouri sector in an attempt totarget military installationsthere. An aerial combat ensuedwherein Wing CommanderAbhinandan Varthaman flyinga MIG-21 shot down F-16 jetof Pakistan Air Force. However,his jet was also shot down byPakistan air defence and heejected in POK. Abhinandanwas captured by Pakistan andreleased two days later as a“peace gesture”.

������������� �-.�/-'01

In a tragic incident, eightpassengers, including a

minor and two women, werekilled while 30 others sus-tained injuries after a private-ly-operated bus rammed into atanker on the YamunaExpressway in Greater Noidaon Friday around 5 am.

The bus was heading toDelhi from Uttar Pradesh’sJalaun district when the inci-dent under the jurisdiction ofRabupura police station. Thedeceased have been identifiedas bus driver Mahesh Kumar(48), helper Bandu (25), pas-sengers Vineeta (32), Arun(42), Asad (12), Suman (35)and Vishwanath Tiwari (75).The passengers were fromJalaun, while the driver andhelper hailed from Dhaulpur inRajasthan. Three women andthree children were among the30 injured who hailed fromAuraiya, Jalaun, Phaphund andNoida.

“Eight people were killedand 30 injured in the incident.The victims were rushed tonearby Kailash Hospital inJewar. The speeding busrammed into a tanker whichwas moving relatively slow,”

said Sharat Chandra Sharma,the Circle Officer (CO) ofJewar sub-division.

“The exact cause of theincident is yet to be confirmed,but prima facie it appears thedriver was a bit drowsy. Thetanker was moving slowly andthe speeding bus could havecomfortably overtaken it, butinstead rammed into it,” saidSharma.

Condoling the deaths,Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath tweeted, “I am

saddened by the demise ofeight people in a bus accidentin Greater Noida today. Prayingfor the peace of the departedsouls and strength to theirfamilies. Also wishing speedyrecovery to the passengersinjured in the accident.”

Earlier, an officialspokesperson in Lucknow saidthe CM had taken promptcognisance of the accident andissued directions to top officialsto provide immediate relief tothe victims.

��! ��������� �-.�/-'01

The Election Commission(EC) on Friday seized 100

kg heroin worth �500 crorefrom Gujarat.

Sources in the EC saidGujarat ATS arrested nineIranian nationals carrying 100kg heroin from Gujarat coast.

Preliminary enquiryrevealed that the consignmentwas loaded at Pakistan’sGwadar port by one Pakistaninational Hamid Malek.

The total seizure of nar-cotics in Gujarat was only �6crore till Wednesday.

The Pioneer had reportedearlier that heroin, opium,brown sugar, anti-depressantdrugs, other narcotics likeopium, ganja, cocaine, denato-nium benzoate, methamphet-amine, heroin, tablets of anti-depressants Alprazolam andTramadol are being smuggledto influence voters.

The arrested Iranians havebeen identified as MohammadAslam Abdil (39), AminMohammad (28), IshakDilshad (38), Ayub Baloch(39), Wahid Baloch (26), Umid

Iranka (20), Tahir Raza (34),Sajid Umar (20), and DhorMohammad Nakib Raisi (65).

According to the EC,enforcement agencies haveseized 255 kg drugs and nar-cotics worth �3,23 crore fromMaharashtra; 252 kg fromMadhya Pradeesh; 221 kg fromNagaland; 143 kg fromKarnataka and 17 kg fromBihar. It has seized drugs worth�103 crore from Punjab; �19crore from Uttar Pradesh.

As per data updated tillMarch 29, authorities haveseized �250.18 crore of unac-counted cash from 29 Statesand UT. As per data, as manyas 56.96 lakh litre liquor worth�122.33 crore; precious metals,gold and silver jewellery worth�183.09 crore and other free-bies worth of �22.22 crorehave been seized across thecountry.

��������! ����� �-.�/-'01

An environment panel onCoastal Regulation Zone

(CRZ) has called for a study onlikely impact of the vibration ofthe proposed Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet train on themudflats and adjoining man-groves in Thane CreekFlamingo Sanctuary, whichhosts over 1 lakh flamingoes(Lesser and Greater Flamingo)every year.

An Expert AppraisalCommittee (EAC) in its meet-ing on March 18 sought astudy while giving condition-al clearance to the proposed�1,08,000-crore project of theNational High Speed RailCorporation Ltd (NHSRC).

The standing committee ofthe National Board of Wildlife(NBWL) in January had given

a go-ahead for the diversion ofover 100 hectares from aroundand three acres from the ThaneCreek Flamingo WildlifeSanctuary, over 110 hectares(forest/non forest land) fromthe Sanjay Gandhi NationalPark, and over five hectaresfrom the TungareshwarWildlife Sanctuary.

The mudflats near ThaneCreek Flamingos Sanctuaryare a rich feeding ground forthe Flamingos who arrive indroves from Kutch. There areconcerns that the intense vibra-tion due to the Bullet train willdisturb ecosystem of the mud-flats which also supports alarge number of birds includ-ing stints, grey herons, black-headed ibis, sandpipers, ploversand egrets, who feed on a vari-ety of marine life.

The panel headed by

Deepak Arun Apte noted thatthe area is already under stressdue to the construction ofMumbai Trans Harbour Link(MTHL) and Navi MumbaiInternational Airport (NMIA)and other ongoing projects.

Part of the RailwayMinistry’s “Indian RailwayVision 2020” that aims at mod-ernisation of the existing con-ventional lines, enhancingcapacity and developing highspeed railway lines, the Bullettrain project involves a dedi-cated track of about 508 kilo-metres including 155.6 kms inMaharashtra, 348.2 kms inGujarat and 4.3 kms in Dadraand Nagar Haveli. The high-speed train corridor was inau-gurated by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and hisJapanese counterpart ShinzoAbe in Ahmedabad in

September, 2017. It is expect-ed to be ready by 2022.

The EAC refused to give into the NHSRC contention that“there are no studies knownand is not possible to predictthe impact of vibrations till thework starts.”

The Committee alsoobserved that the conservationand management plan forThane Creek Flamingo pre-pared by Zoological Survey ofIndia is inadequate to highlightthe impact of vibration onmudflats and flamingoes. Itrequires major revision, itnoted even as it appreciated theproject proponent move totake tunnel route to avoiddirect destruction of mudflat ormangrove in the Thane Creekregion. However, it disagreedtheir view that “impacts cannotbe studied”.

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Congress leader HardikPatel’s plans to contest Lok

Sabha election hit a roadblockon Friday as the Gujarat HighCourt rejected his plea seekinga stay to his conviction in the2015 Vispur rioting case.

As the last date for filing ofnominations is April 4, thePatidar leader has a little timeto approach the Supreme Courtto challenge the ruling.

Patel had started prepara-tions to contest from Jamnagaron a Congress ticket after join-ing the party on March 12.Polling for 26 Lok Sabha seatsin Gujarat will be held onApril 23.

Detailed report on P6

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The lovely month of April isnow upon us and we can-

not escape its charms.Springtime is at its peak and theworld is coming back to newlife after the winter has depart-ed. This is the month for poetsto get fresh inspiration, forlovers to be filled with newhope, for children to come outin the lovely evenings to playand for nature to rejuvenateitself. The poet, William HenryDavies says in his poem “April’s

Charms”:

When April scatterscharms of primrose gold

Among the copper leavesin thickets old,

And singing skylarks fromthe meadows rise,

To twinkle like black starsin sunny skies;

When I can hear the smallwoodpecker ring

Time on a tree for all thebirds that sing;

And hear the pleasantcuckoo, loud and long --

The simple bird that thinkstwo notes a song;

When I go forth on such apleasant day,

One breath outdoors takesall my cares away”

The summer is yet a littlewhile away and God gives usthese April days to be calm andjoyful, to enjoy the delights ofnature and lose ourselves in the

charming days and nights ofthis fourth month of the year.Life reinvents itself everyspring, bringing in a feeling ofoptimism to many who remaindepressed in the wintermonths. Hope and joy seem tobe the inherent elements ofApril besides the splendour ofthe natural world it unfoldsbefore our eyes.

Many pilgrimages alsobegin in April when peoplefind it easy to travel and seekspiritual strength from thesesojourns. It is time to connectclosely with the divine powerwithin our souls. Chaucer’spilgrims in Canterbury Talesalso begin their journey toCanterbury in April. Rain inApril-the April showers- cre-ates a magic that adds to thecharm of the spring season.This rain does not make usretreat within our homes likethe rain in winter does. Itmakes us open up our heartsand receive the April blessingsthat revive our belief in the

colours of life and love.Poets, musicians and

painters all over the world,since ancient times, have cele-brated this season in their art.The English romantic poets aswell as our own Urdu shayars-all of them have created verseto express what this time of theyear means to them. Here Iwould like to quote from thegreat Faiz Ahmad Faiz whooften waxes eloquent about“bahaar” in his poetry. Hisnazm titled “Bahaar aayee”says

“Bahaar aa_ii to jaise ekbaar

lauT aaye hai.n phir adamse

vo Khwaab saare, shabaabsaare

jo tere ho.nTho.n pe marmiTe thhe

jo miT ke har baar phir jiiyethhe

nikhar gaye hai.n gulaabsaare

jo terii yaado.n se

mushk_buu hai.n”

Faiz says that spring hasbrought back all memoriesrelated to love and beauty. It hasrekindled his dreams.

Our Hindi film songs alsofrequently highlight the“bahaar’. Bahaaro phool barsao,aaja aayee bahaar, inn bahaaronmein akele na phiro and aapaaye, bahaar aayee are some ofthese songs.

The concept of springbringing love or the pain ofremembered love is well-known in poetry and music.Hindustani classical musicgives importance to this sea-son by having a special raga bythe name Bahaar. Raga Basantis also sung or played duringthis season. Then there is alsoRaga Basant Bahaar whichcelebrates this time of theyear.

It is the beauty of themonth that evokes creativity inthe human mind and heart.Poetry and music are closely

connected to emotions andwhatever emotion emerges inthe artist’s heart is expressed inhis words or music. Every sea-son thus results in someexpression. However, it isbelieved that creativity flour-ishes in spring as it is nurturedby the fragrances of the seasonand the beautiful music pro-vided by the birds.

As the new flowers bloomon trees and bushes and as thecuckoo calls, a little bud bloomsin the poet’s heart and a smallbird begins chirping there.Words flow out spontaneous-ly and become poems, ghazalsand nazms. Songs find expres-sion and ragas delight both thesinger as well as the listener.Fingers being moving swiftlyon instruments and the entireatmosphere is rendered roman-tic, musical, poetic and in har-mony with the music of thenatural world. Such is thecharm of April. Who wouldwant to escape this charm? Notme!

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After a spectacular marchpast held at Police Training

College, Narendranagar onFriday, 18 DeputySuperintendents of Police(DSP) joined the force. Thepassing out parade ( PoP) atend of 12 months of trainingwas held on Friday. In hisaddress, the Director General

(DG) of state police, Anil KRaturi appreciated the turn outand parade and said that manychallenges are before policeand one should accept thesechallenges to cater the respon-sibility towards the society.

He said that maintaininglaw and order, election dutiesand preventing crime are themajor responsibilities of thepolice officers. Raturi addedthat the officers of the passingout course would be assignedelection duty in the ensuing LokSabha polls. The DGP felicitat-ed Purnima Garg for beingoverall best in all aspects oftraining and internal assess-ments while Shantanu Parashar

was awarded for being first inoutdoor activities.

The officers of passing outcourse would be appointed indistricts of plains for threemonths and mountainous dis-tricts for two months. Afterthat they would be posted atpolice headquarters for a peri-od of one month.

The additional chief secre-tary Radha Raturi, additionaldirector generalAdministration V VinayKumar, Inspector General ( IG)Sanjay Gunjyal, IG A PAnshuman, Deputy InspectorGeneral (DIG) Jagat Ram Joshiand DIG Mukhtar Mohsinwere present on the occasion.

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The Canara Bank OfficersAssociation presented a

cheque for Rs 50,000 to thefamily of martyr Mohan LalRatudi. On February 14,Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) soldier Mohan LalRatudi, a native of Uttarkashi,was killed in the Pulwama ter-ror attack.

Regional secretary of theCanara Bank OfficersAssociation, Dehradun,Shardul Dhaundhial informedthat the association had pre-

sented financial assistance tothe families of all the 40 soldierswho were martyred in thePulwama attack.

Stressing that the nation isproud of the courage and mar-tyrdom of the soldiers, he saidthat association is standingwith the family of martyrs. Theassociation's regional chair-man Sanjeev Maithani andother office bearers includingMS Gharia, IS Parmar, ShikharJoshi and Vijay Maithani werealso present during presenta-tion of the cheque to the Ratudifamily.

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The High Court of Uttarakhandrejected the State Government’s

appeal seeking one year time forestablishment of the National LawUniversity(NLU). Pulling up the StateGovernment for shifting the univer-sity location from Rudrapur toDehradun district, the High Courtobserved that this was contempt of theorder of the court.

In its earlier order the high courthad stated that the national law uni-versity should be established in UdhamSingh Nagar district and that classesshould be started by September 2018.Till the university building is facilitat-ed, the academic work should begin ingovernment of private building, the

court had stated. However, instead ofestablishing the university at the saidlocation, the state government decid-ed to open it in Ranipokhri inDehradun district with the chief min-ister also unveiling the foundation forit. It should be mentioned that the highcourt chief justice is the chancellor ofthe law university.

The high court questioned whatwas the need to shift the location ofthe university to Dehradun districtwhen land had been identified for itin Udham Singh Nagar.

On Friday, the division bench ofchief justice Ramesh Ranganathanand justice Lokpal Singh rejected thestate’s appeal seeking additional timeto act on the past orders of the court.The division bench was also informed

in the case that a contempt petitionis pending in the court.

Earlier, in a public interest litiga-tion filed by Bhupal Bhakuni, the highcourt had directed the government toestablish national law university atParag Farm in Udham Singh Nagardistrict. The court had also directedthe government to complete appoint-ment of faculty and other staff for theuniversity and start classes. However,about six months after these orderswere issued, neither was the said landbeen transferred nor were the class-es started. Following this, Bhakunihad filed a contempt petition, alleg-ing that instead of establishing thenational law university at Parag Farm,the government was attempting to sellthe land.

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For removal of encroachment withoutissuance of notice, the High Court of

Uttarakhand has directed the Haridwar dis-trict magistrate and national highway officerto appear personally in the court on April 2.Earlier, on behalf of the Haridwar district mag-istrate Deepak Rawat, an affidavit had beensubmitted in the court seeking to be excusedfrom appearing personally in the court. Thecourt rejected this appeal and directed the dis-trict magistrate to appear personally in court.The matter was taken up for hearing by thedivision bench of chief justice RameshRanganathan and justice NS Dhanik.

According to the case details, ShishramMemorial Trust, Haridwar had filed a peti-tion in the high court stating that the trustwas involved in working for the welfare andeducation of girls. However, the districtadministration demolished a hostel built onthe trust’s property, viewing it as encroach-ment. It was stated in the petitionthat earlier the high court hadordered removal of encroachmentsfrom government land. Four weeknotice was to be issued to those whohad registry and were occupyinggovernment land. However, thedistrict administration did notserve any notice to the trust. Themunicipal corporation had simplyissued a statement about vacatinggovernment land. The petition alsostated that the trust had been occu-pying the land since 1950. Afterhearing the sides, the high courtdirected the district magistrate toappear in person on April 2.

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The State Commission forProtection of Child Rights

(SCPCR) has demanded CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI)inquiry into murder of a boy inChildren Home Society Bhogpur,Rishikesh. In a letter to the ChiefMinister Trivendra Singh Rawat,the chairperson of SCPCR, UshaNegi said that Basu Yadav, a classVII student of the school wasbeaten to death in the hostel ofthe school on March 10.

She said that the commis-sion conducted an inquiry andfound that Basu was beatenmercilessly by senior studentswhich resulted in his death.Negi said that the school man-

agement tried to cover up theincident by telling the parentsof the poor child that he wasadmitted in the Jolly Grant hos-pital after food poisoning andwhen they reached the hospi-tal from Meerut, they were toldthat their child died due to foodpoisoning. Later the post-mortem of child proved that hedied due to internal haemor-rhage caused by beating. TheSCPCR in its inquiry foundthat though the school claimsto provide education toorphans, about no orphan stu-dent is in the school. Negi saidthat CBI inquiry should beconducted in the incident sothat justice is delivered to theBasu Yadav.

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The 18th Forest ResearchInstitute (FRI) deemed

university annual sports meetconcluded here on Friday.The Sandalwood House wonthe overall trophy.

The concluding day sawfinals of various events includ-

ing 4 x 100metres relayrace forboys andgirls andtug of war.In the 4 x100 metresrelay raceboys cate-

gory, the Teak house was thewinner followed bySandalwood house while in thegirls category, the Sandalwoodhouse was the winner fol-lowed by Sal house was therunner up. In 100 metre boyscategory, Sumit Bhatt andMohit Shukla of Teak housecame first and second respec-tively while Vaibhav Bangar ofSandalwood house came third.In 100 metres girls category,Subhangi of Sal house was first,with Tanya of Teak house insecond position and Ankita ofSal house in third position. Intug of war in boys category thewinner was Sandalwood housewith the Pine house as the run-ner up while in girls categorytoo Sandalwood house was thewinner with Sal house as therunner up.

The overallChampionship Trophy wonby Sandal wood house.Individual championship tro-phy in boys category was wonby Mohit Shukla of Teakhouse and by Anshu ofSandalwood house in the girlscategory. The Indian Councilof Forestry Research andEducation (ICFRE) directorgeneral SC Gairola presentedthe trophies and prizes to thewinners in the presence of FRIdirector AS Rawat and otherofficials.

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After his visit to Uttarakhandon Thursday, Prime

Minister Narendra Modi isslated to visit the state again onApril 5. The Bharatiya JanataParty national president AmitShah will be visiting the state onApril 3 and 8 while before thatUnion Home minister RajnathSingh will address public ralliesin Uttarakhand on April 1.

The BJP State media in-charge Devendra Bhasininformed that the prime min-ister will be addressing a pub-

lic rally in Dehradun on April5. Apart from Modi, the BJPnational president Amit Shahwill be arriving in the state onApril 3 and 8 and addresspublic rallies in Uttarkashi andHaldwani.

Union Home ministerRajnath Singh will also be vis-iting the State on April 1 andaddress four public rallies.Elaborating on the BJP cam-paign plan, Bhasin said thatModi will arrive in Dehradunon April 5 and address a pub-lic gathering at the ParadeGround.

Before that, the party’snational president will addressa public rally in Uttarkashi onApril 3 and later in Haldwanion April 8.

Union Home ministerRajnath Singh will be arrivingin the State on April 1 and

address public rallies inPithoragarh at 11 AM, inGopeshwar at 12 PM, inKotdwar at 1:30 PM and inJhabreda at 3 PM. Further, theBJP national spokesmanShahnawaz Hussain is slated toarrive in the State on April 3.He will address a public rally inSaharanpur at 1130 AM, inDharmpur at 1 PM and inBhagwanpur at 5 PM. Various

other star campaigners of theBJP are also slated to campaignin the state in the near future.Their programmes are beingfinalised, added Bhasin.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that while Modi hadaddressed a large public gath-ering at Rudrapur on Thursday,Shah had addressed partyworkers in Dehradun earlier inFebruary.

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Although former ChiefMinister and sitt ing

Member of Parliament fromGarhwal Parliamentary con-stituency, Major General B CKhanduri (retd) was denied renomination by the BJP for thebattle of 2019 Lok Sabha, theredoubtable leader is contin-uing to hog the electoral lime-light in Uttarakhand.

Call it compulsion of pol-itics or changed narrative, theredoubtable leader is in theepicentre of the electoral strat-egy of both the Congress andBJP. It is interesting to the notethat after entry of ManishKhanduri the son of the B CKhanduri into the Congressparty recently, the party lead-ers of Uttarakhand who tillyesterday were bête noirs ofGeneral Khanduri are singingpaeans for him.

The BJP on the other handis not ready to completelydisown the leader who servedthe state as chief minister ontwo occasions.

Amid speculations thatthe Khanduri senior is all setto join Congress party duringthe rally of Congress PresidentRahul Gandhi slated to be heldin first week of April, the BJPhas appointed the veteran

leader in its election cam-paign committee.

The predicament of theBJP is understandable as thistime the party is contesting theLok Sabha election on theplank of nationalism and itsperceived goodwill generatedacross the country in the after-math of the punitive aerialstrikes deep inside Pakistaniterritory on terrorist camps totake revenge of the Pulwamaattack on the Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF) person-nel. In such a scenario, the saf-fron party don’t want to appearantagonistic to B C Khanduriwho was a top ranking officerin Indian army, particularly ina state like Uttarakhand whichhas a very high percentage ofthe ex -servicemen voters.

It is worth mentioninghere that B C Khanduri has

loomed over the political land-scape of the Uttarakhand,which was carved out of UttarPradesh in the year 2000 likea colossus as he served the asChief Minister on two occa-sions first in 2007 and in theyear in 2011.

His popularity could begauged from the fact in theyear 2011, the party removedthen CM Ramesh PokhariyalNishank and appointedKhanduri in his place so thatthe party can make use of hisclean image in the assemblyelections of 2012.

The party even propagat-ed a slogan ‘ Khanduri haiZaroori’ ( Khanduri is essen-tial). Khanduri is the sittingMP from Garhwal con-stituency which he has repre-sented on five occasions.

It is noteworthy thatGarhwal seatwhich is nowconsidered asp o l i t i c a lcitadel of BJPwas a con-gress strong-hold prior tothe year 1991w h e nK h a n d u r imade his elec-toral debut.I r o n i c a l l y‘Khanduri haiZaroori’ slo-gan of BJP is

now being used by theCongress party.

Many of the Khanduri’sloyalists have joined Congressalong with his son.

Senior Journalist RajendraJoshi said it would be a majorembarrassment for the BJP ifthe Congress manages to bringMaj Gen Khanduri on thestage of rally of Rahul Gandhiat Pauri.

He added that Khandurisenior is annoyed with the BJPas he wanted that his sonshould be made party’s candi-date from his seat.

Hardcore BJP workershowever are annoyed withKhanduri senior for not sup-porting the party which gavehim everything. “ He was noone when the party pickedhim for Garhwal Lok Sabhaseat in 1991.

It made him ChiefMinister and union ministerand even accepted his wish tonominate his daughter RituKhanduri from Yamkeshwarand in the process deniedticket to a very senior leaderlike Vijaya Barthwal. Weexpected that GeneralKhanduri would campaign forhis protégé Teerath SinghRawat but he is more inclinedtowards his son who hasjoined Congress,’’ said a BJPleader.

The spokesperson of thestate unit of the Congressparty, Garima Dasauni saidthat during the rally of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi inRudrapur on Thursday, theBJP refrained from using pic-tures of Khanduri in bannersand posters. She added that thepeople of the state wouldnever forgive BJP andNarendra Modi for removingGen Khanduri from the posi-tion of Chairman of the par-liamentary committee ondefence.

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Independent candidate fromHaridwar constituency,

Manish Verma has filed a peti-tion in the high court chal-lenging the nomination filed inthe constituency by BharatiyaJanata Party candidate and sit-ting MP Ramesh PokhriyalNishank.

The petitioner has alleged

that Nishank has filed his nom-ination which includes incor-rect information.

Taking up the petition, thesingle bench of justice AlokSingh has fixed it for hearing onthis Monday.

As per the case details,

Dehradunr e s i d e n tM a n i s hVerma hasfiled thepetition inthe highcourt stat-ing that inthe affidavitalong withhis nomi-n a t i o n ,N i s h a n khad provid-ed incom-

plete information. According tothe petitioner, the BJP candi-date had not provided infor-mation about the bankaccounts of his daughter whois dependent on him.

In addition to this, he hasnot provided information

about pending dues for the offi-cial residence as former chiefminister.

The petitioner had earlierapproached the returning offi-cer of the constituency withobjections to Nishank’s nomi-nation.

Responding to this, theBJP candidate had earlier stat-ed that his daughter was inde-pendent and not dependent onhim.

He had also providedexplanations to other objec-tions, on the basis of which andafter hearing both the sides, thereturning officer had quashedthe objections. Verma has nowapproached the high courtagainst this and the singlebench has decided to take upthe petition for hearing onMonday.

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The Vice President of theState unit of the Congress

party, Surya Kant Dhasmanahas accused the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for narratingfalse and baseless facts in hisspeech at Rudrapur in UdhamSingh Nagar district onThursday.

Addressing media personshere on Friday, Dhasmana saidthat during his speech PMclaimed that his governmenthas done appreciable work inthe reconstruction ofKedarnath but the fact is thatin last five years Modi govern-ment has not released a singlerupee for Kedarnath recon-struction.

“ Contrary to the claim ofModi, the NDA governmentreleased less than half of thepackage for Kedarnath recon-

struction and rehabilitationpackage declared by formerPrime Minister ManmohanSingh,’’ he said.

The congress leader alsotermed the statement of PM onRishikesh- Karnprayag rail linkas completely misleading. Heclaimed that Rail project wasapproved during the reign ofCongress party and the projecttoday is where it was five yearsago.

He said that Modi didn’tutter a single word on thepathetic condition of thefarmers and unemploymentscenario of the state.

“He made no mention ofRafale, suicides of farmersand condit ion of smal ltraders. In Uham Singh Nagardistr ict where PM wasaddressing on Thursday, sixfarmers have committed sui-cide,’’ he said. Targeting the

PM for terming the state ashaving a fifth Dham, that is‘Sainik Dham’, Dhasmana saidthat absence of pictures ofMajor General B C Khanduri(retd) from the banners andposters in the rally of PrimeMinister and refusal of BJP’sticket to the Colonel AjayKothiyal (retd) shows therespect the party has for theex servicemen. He said thatthe PM portrayed himself asbrave and called the Congressleaders as cowards is laugh-able. “The whole world knowsthat whenever need arisesthe Congress leaders were atforefront and sacrificed theirlives. People can never forgetthe sacrifice of MahatmaGandhi, Indira Gandhi, RajivGandhi and Sardar BeantSingh but it appears as if PMModi’s memory is short,’’ hesaid.

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The Bharatiya Janata Partyhas strongly objected to

criticism by Congress of primeminister Narendra Modi refer-ring to Uttarakhand as SainikDham. Alleging that theCongress leaders seek proof ofthe bravery of soldiers andplay politics on the martyrdomof soldiers, the BJP stated thatthe party leaders have losttheir mental balance.

The BJP state media in-charge Devendra Bhasin saidthat the Congress leaders arerestless due to the success ofModi’s recent public rally inRudrapur.

He said, “The resoundingsuccess of the rally has made itclear that more than a wave- atsunami in favour of Modiand BJP is evident in the LokSabha elections.

Stumped, the Congressleaders are making illogicalstatements regarding theRudrapur rally.

In that rally, the primeminister Narendra Modi hadreferred to Uttarakhand asSainik Dham while appreciat-ing the martial tradition andcourage of the state’s peoplewhich is a matter of pride forthe people of Uttarakhand.However, by criticising it,Congress leaders have made itclear that they have no respectfor such traditions of the Stateand nation.

This is the reason whythey don’t refrain from demor-alising the army from time to

time and even using objec-tionable words for army offi-cers.

Proof of the Congress’character is the fact that whilethe whole nation is appreciat-ing the strike by armed forceson terror camps with evenPakistan and terroristsacknowledging the strike butthe Congress and other oppo-sition parties are demandingevidence of the strike,” saidBhasin.

He further said that theCongress had exposed thistrait even in the past when dur-ing the prime ministership ofAtal Bihari Vajpayee, the bod-ies of martyred soldiers weretransported to their homes incoffins.

However, the Congress hadthen levelled baseless allega-tions of scam, added Bhasin.

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The Pradesh CongressCommittee has alleged that

the Pushpa Bhatt, the wife ofthe BJP candidate from theNainital- Udham Singh Nagarparliamentary seat and statepresident of BJP, Ajay Bhatt isparticipating in the electioncampaign of Ajay Bhatt eventhough she is deputy advocategeneral of Uttarakhand.

The spokesperson of theCongress state unit, GarimaDasauni said that Pushpa Bhattis participating in electionmeetings these days. She saidthat since she holds a govern-ment position she cannot par-ticipate in the election cam-paign.

Dasauni said that the elec-tion commission should sentnotice to Pushpa Bhatt for thisviolation of model code ofconduct.

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Senior Congress leader andformer cabinet minister,

Hira Singh Bisht has said thatthe Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah hasalways neglected Tehri and hasnothing to do with its devel-opment.

Addressing the party work-ers on the occasion of inaugu-ration of office of Congresscandidate from Tehri, PritamSingh at Kalindi enclave inBalliwala Chowk on Friday,Bisht said that Mala RajyaLaxmi Shah has alwaysremained oblivious to thedevelopment of Tehri and thepeople of Tehri would ensure

the end of Rajshahi of theerstwhile royal family of Tehri.

He said that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hadmisled the people by makingfalse promises but now peoplehave understood his ploy. Bishttermed Pritam Singh as a verypopular leader who is wellversed with the problems of theareas and said that clean imageand experience would helphim in the elections.Launching an attack on gov-ernment of Uttarakhand head-ed by chief minister TrivendraSingh Rawat, he said that thegovernment of zero tolerance ishesitating to take action inNH -74 scam.

He claimed that the miningand liquor mafia are steeringthe government and the CMRawat took a U- turn afterpromising to appointLokayukta in the state assem-bly.

The president of theMahanagar Congress LalChand Sharma, Pradeep Joshi,Kamlesh Raman and largenumber of Congress workerswere present on the occasion.

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The coordinator of Rawain EktaManch, Durgesh Lal, who has

also contested the Assembly polls inthe past joined the Bharatiya JanataParty here on Friday. Along with hiscompanions, he was welcomed intothe party by the BJP acting statepresident Naresh Bansal.

Speaking on the occasion,Bansal said that people are contin-uing to join the BJP placing theirfaith in the leadership of prime min-ister Narendra Modi and chief min-ister Trivendra Singh Rawat. Peoplefrom various political parties andsocial organisations are expressingtheir trust in the BJP leadership andjoining the party.

Meanwhile, after joining theparty, Lal said that the honest lead- ership of the prime minister and the chief minister’s policy of zero tol-

erance towards corruption hadimpressed him due to which he hadjoined the BJP.

He would do any work givento him by the party, added Lal.

State minister Dhan SinghRawat, BJP state vice presidentJyoti Gairola, Dehradun mayorSunil Uniyal ‘Gama’, MLAs Vinod Chamoli , Harbansh Kapur and other partyleaders were also present on theoccasion.

It should be mentioned herethat Lal had contested the assem-bly election from Purola con-stituency in 2017 and had received14,000 votes.

He is said to be popular amongthe youth in Rawain region and isactive in the remote Mori area ofUttarkashi district.

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Congress president RahulGandhi on Friday launched

a scathing attack on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi sayingthe PM protects only the richwhile his party will do justice tothe poorest of citizens throughits NYAY scheme.

“The idea for a minimumincome guarantee scheme forthe poorest of poor came fromPrime Minister NarendraModi’s ‘Rs 15 lakh promise’made ahead of the 2014 LokSabha polls,” said Rahul whileaddressing a public rally inHaryana’s Yamunanagar.

Asserting that the 2019polls is a fight between two ide-ologies, the Congress chief said,“On one hand are the BJP, theRSS and Narendra Modi and onthe other is the Congress.”

The Congress chief heldthree public meetings and road-show from Jagadhri(Yamunanagar) to Karnal via(Ladwa, Kurukshetra) duringhis one day tour on Friday togive a big boost to the party’sprospects in Haryana, where theparty had won only one LokSabha seat out of 10 in 2014polls.

Rahul joined the party’songoing ‘Parivartan Yatra’ dur-ing the fourth day in the stateand greeted the party support-ers during the roadshow. SeniorCongress leader Ghulam NabiAzad, who is party’s incharge forHaryana, former Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hooda, stateparty chief Ashok Tanwar, CLPleader Kiran Choudhry, RajyaSabha MP Kumari Selja, MPDeepender Hooda, senior lead-ers Randeep Surjewala, KuldeepBishnoi among others accom-panied him during the road-show.

The Gandhi scion, in the

election rally at Jagadhri, saidunlike the BJP, his party keepsits promise and referred to'Nyay' programme which theCongress plans to introduce ifit forms the government.

He said, his idea for a min-imum income guaranteescheme came from NarendraModi’s ‘Rs 15 lakh promise’made during 2014 polls.

The Congress chief hadearlier this week, promised thatthe Congress, if voted to powerin the Lok Sabha elections, willimplement a minimum incomeguarantee scheme for the poor-est 20 per cent of Indian house-holds. Named as NYAY, thescheme is aimed at providingcash support to 5 crore familiesor 25 crore individuals.

“I watched Narendra Modi’sspeech in which he promised togive Rs 15 lakh to every Indian.He said it two-three times...15lakh, 15 lakh...I thought he issaying the right thing. The idea

is correct that money must gothe bank account of the poor. Igrabbed this idea,” he said.

“After having discussed itfor six months, we have now aplan, NYAY (Nyuntam AayYojana) under which Rs 72,000will be deposited in the bankaccounts of the poorest people,”he said.

The Congress president saidthe NYAY is so powerful that ithas shaken Narendra Modi.

Accusing the PrimeMinister of helping certainindustrialists, Rahul said heprotects the rich while refrain-ing from helping out the debt-ridden farmers, adding “this'Chowkidar' is a thief ”.

“In the last five years, he(PM) had waived off Rs 3.5 lakhcrore of 15 people (industrial-ists) only. Farmers work daylong in harsh weather but whenthey ask for loan waiver, ArunJaitley (Finance Minister) saysthat they won't do it as it is not

their policy,” he said.Continuing his tirade

against the Prime Minister,Rahul said, “He (Modi)promised putting Rs 15 lakhinto every Indian’s bankaccount. Did anyone get any-thing?”

Modi spoke lies aboutputting Rs 15 lakh into everyIndian's bank account. Insteadwhat he did was to do injusticewith farmers, hit small shop-keepers with demonetisation,and brought Gabbar Singh Tax(GST), he said.

The Congress president wasreferring to PM Modi’s 2014election speech when as theBJP’s Prime Ministerial candi-date he promised to bring backblack money stashed in foreignbanks within 100 days of com-ing to power. Modi had also saidthat if all the black money wasbrought back to the country, itwould be enough to deposit Rs15 lakh in every poor person’s

bank account.Rahul also accused Modi

and BJP of spreading hatred andanger and putting real issues onthe backburner.

He also attacked Modi onthe Rafale deal issue allegingirregularities in the procure-ment of jet fighters.

“Narendra Modi’s Make inIndia is such that Rafale contractwas taken from the youth ofIndia. This high technologyaircraft would have been man-ufactured in India by HAL. Itsparts should have been made indifferent states giving employ-ment to lakhs. But NarendraModi said, Made in Franceinstead of Make in India," Rahulalleged.

He also asked party work-ers to fan out in every nook andcorner to apprise the peopleabout the minimum incomeguarantee scheme.

Taking a dig at BJP for itsChowkidar campaign, he said,

“In 2014, Prime Minister Modiused to say I do not want tobecome Pradhan Mantri and Iwant to become Chowkidar. Heused to say ‘Achhe din ayenge’.These days a new slogan is run-ning. ‘Chowkidar chor hai’(watchman is a thief).”

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Rahul Gandhi’s visit inHaryana came at a time whenthe state party leaders are under-taking six-day ‘Parivartan Yatra’to iron out differences and con-nect with the voters ahead ofpolling day on May 12 in thestate.

This was Rahul Gandhi’sfirst visit to Haryana aftertaking over as the president ofthe Congress in December2017.

With Rahul Gandhionboard, the ‘Parivartan Yatra’on its fourth day touched threeLok Sabha constituencies —

Ambala, Kurukshetra andKarnal. All the three parlia-mentary constituencies werebagged by BJP in 2014 pollswith party nominees, RatanLal Kataria (Ambala), RajKumar Saini (Kurukshetra) andAshwini Kumar (Karnal) elect-ed to the Lok Sabha in 2014.

Gandhi addressed threepublic meetings, visited ShriGhantakarna MahavirDevasthan in Karnal and enroute Indri, he had a brief haltat Kamboj Dhaba during theroadshow from Jagadhri toKarnal.

His state visit concludedwith his public address atKarnal, the home turf of ChiefMinister Manohar Lal on Fridayevening.

The voting to 10 Lok Sabhaseats in Haryana will be held ina single phase on May 12.

To put an end to the fac-tionalism in Haryana Congressunit, senior party leaders of fac-

tion-ridden Haryana Congresshad on Tuesday embarked on asix-day ‘Parivartan Yatra’ in aspecially designed bus. Theyatra which began on March 26from Gurugram will concludeat Faridabad on March 31.

Notably, the Congress couldretain only one Lok Sabha seatout of 10 in Lok Sabha polls2014. In assembly polls heldlater that year, the party wasreduced to 15 seats only. Thenumber of Congress MLAs hadlater increased to 17 afterKuldeep Bishnoi’s HJC’s merg-er in the party in 2016.

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After giving a miss to vari-ous party events, Congressleader Kuldeep Bishnoi finallyshowed up on Friday to joinparty’s ‘Parivartan Yatra’.

Bishnoi, son of formerChief Minister Bhajan Lal alsodenied reports of joining theBJP.

While talking to the medi-apersons, Adampur MLAKuldeep Bishnoi said, “I am aCongressman and have said ittime and again.”

“Jaha Rahul honge, wahimain honga, Jaha Rahul nhi,waha main nhi,” he added.

Bishnoi had last weekstayed away from the meetingof coordination committee ofthe Congress under former CMBhupinder Singh Hooda andparty’s workers meeting in NewDelhi. Later, he also stayedaway from party’s ‘ParivartanYatra’ and only showed up dur-ing Rahul Gandhi’s visit onFriday.

Bishnoi had in the pastserved as Hisar MP and is seenas a frontrunner for a Congress’ticket from the parliamentaryseat.

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The three aspirants of BJPticket from Chandigarh—

actress-turned-politician MPKirron Kher, city party chiefSanjay Tandon and former MPSatya Pal Jain –came togetheron a dais on Friday toannounce the commencementof ‘Mein Bhi Chowkidar’ cam-paign.

Eyeing party’s ticket fromthe city to contest the ensuingLok Sabha polls, the three big-shots of city BJP unit have beenholding separate public meet-ings and events to reach out tothe voters ahead of pollingday on May 18 here.

While addressing a jointpress conference, the trio, how-ever, maintained that there areno infighting in the city partyunit and all leaders are work-ing to strengthen the party inChandigarh.

On the occasion, MPKirron Kher officially kickedoff ‘Mein Bhi Chowkidar’ cam-

paign by putting on a specialcampaign cap on party leaderHari Shankar Mishra.

The campaign will be

begin on March 31Kher said people of

Chandigarh have elected herChowkidar and she stands by

every citizen for their securityand welfare.

Lashing out at theCongress, she said, it is ironi-

cal that leaders of oppositionwho are out on bail themselvesuse derogatory language tofalsely accuse our PrimeMinster.

It shows there frustrationbecause they cannot afford tohave such a Prime Ministerwho is vigilant against corrup-tion and works hard for thedevelopment of the country,she added.

Chandigarh BJP chiefSanjay Tandon informed thatBJP is a starting a nationwidecampaign ‘Mein BhiChowkidar’ to convey to thenation that each and every cit-izen of the country who wantsto protect this nation is a‘Chowkidar’.

As part of the programPrime Minister Modi will havea virtual conference on March31. The conference will be dig-itally broadcasted to at least 500places across the nation, ofthese 16 locations will haveinteractive facilities where thepeople will be able to interact

with the Prime Minister live, hesaid.

During this campaign, BJPChandigarh will be holding asmany as 10 programs with dif-ferent sections of society andprofessionals.

These programs willinclude chartered accountants,company secretaries accoun-tants who are ‘Chowkidars’against black money, Doctorswho are ‘Chowkidars’ againstfemale foeticide and makingsure everyone gets best medicalfacilities, Teachers who are‘Chowkidars’ against illiteracyand ensure right to educationfor everyone, Lawyers who are‘Chowkidars’ against the cor-rupt and the criminal. Veteransand ex Servicemen who are‘Chowkidars’ to protect coun-try’s borders, he added.

Tandon further said thatthe campaign will include sev-eral initiatives like candlemarches, Nukkad Nataks andsuch programs to generateawareness among people.

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Lambasting Punjab Congresspresident Sunil Jakhar for

making “irresponsible” state-

ments divorced from reality,SAD’s senior vice-presidentDaljeet Singh Cheema on Fridaysaid that Akali Dal had alwayscautiously drafted its manifestoand had implemented it in letterand spirit.

Jakhar had reportedly con-tested the statement of SADpatriarch Parkash Singh Badalthat it should be legally bindingon the political parties to imple-ment the party manifesto on theirreturn to power. Jakhar had stat-ed that the statement had cometoo late in the day and he shouldhimself have implemented theSAD party manifesto.

Pooh-poohing Jakhar’sadvice, Cheema said that Badalhad promised free power andShagun scheme for Dalit girlsway back in 1997 assembly pollmanifesto and implemented boththe major promises withinmonths of coming to power

notwithstanding financial impli-cation, especially when the out-going Congress had left state’s cof-fers empty.

“Ten years later, SAD again

promised highly subsidized attaand dal to all below poverty line(BPL) families and the schemeunfolded within a couple ofmonths and continued till 2017when the party was voted out,” hesaid.

Cheema pointed that theCongress too had promised todisburse subsidized atta and dalalong with cooking oil to BPLfamilies in its manifesto of 2017assembly polls, but it has sub-stantially curtailed disbursal ofatta and dal too forget about theadditional cooking oil.

SAD leader said that hisparty always ensured that the pollpromised are honoured whetherit is legally mandatory or not.“The Senior Badal has soughtmandatory implementation onlybecause the Congress record onthis account is dismal and it for-gets its promises one coming topower,” he said.

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Raised alarm over worseningsituation of underground

water level in Punjab, thePunjab Ekta Party (PEP) pres-ident and joint candidate ofPunjab Democratic Alliance(PDA) from Bathinda Lok

Sabha seat Sukhpal SinghKhaira on Friday warned thatstate is heading for a life threat-ening water crisis “thanks topoor political leadership”.

Khaira, addressing series of

rallies in several villages ofKhadoor Sahib in support of itsLok Sabha candidate from theseat Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra,said that it was a matter of graveconcern that 18 out of totalblocks of Punjab have beendeclared dark zones whichmeans, the level of under-ground water has gone belowthe desired limit or under-ground water has become unfitfor human consumption.

He added that the UnderGround Water Board has noti-fied that no tube well connec-tions could be installed now. All18 blocks belong to Malwa andDoaba region which alsoreported highest number ofsuicides in last decade, he said.

Excessive use of under-ground water for irrigation andmassive use of pesticides inPunjab were basic reasons butthe political parties like

Congress and SAD, who ruledthe state turn by turn were sole-ly responsible for allowing thesituation to deteriorate.“Former Chief MinisterParkash Singh Badal and pre-sent incumbent CaptAmarinder Singh have failed tosave waters of Punjab both atpolitical and administrativelevel,” he said.

Khaira said that Congressgovernment at Centre wasinstrumental in giving water toRajasthan and Haryana fromPunjab's share in an arbitrarymanner and SAD-BJP govern-ment which was in power forcontinuously 10 years had failedto protect the Punjab's interesteven though SAD and BJPwere partner in BJP-run NDAgovernment and BJP had itsgovernments in Haryana andRajasthan as well.

“Capt Amarinder has

taken no steps to implement aresolution passed by Punjabassembly on November 16,2016, to demands charges forriver waters flowing to thenon-riparian states of Haryana,Rajasthan and Delhi,” headded.

He said that on adminis-trative side, the Congress andSAD governments had failed toimplement crop diversificationand water saving irrigationtechniques promised in thebudget from time to time.

Khaira called upon thepeople of Punjab to defeat thetraditional parties — Congressand SAD-BJP alliance — in LokSabha elections to register theirstrong protest against failedpolitical leadership. “Punjabneeds a strong leadership whichcan fight for state's right with-out compromising for vestedinterests,” he said.

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Liquor and cash amounting toRs 2,80,89,499 (Rs 2.80 cr)

has been seized by the HaryanaPolice and Excise and IncomeTax Department after theannouncement of general elec-tions 2019.

Haryana Joint ChiefElectoral Officer, Inder Jeet onFriday said that the police hasso far recovered cash amount ofRs 75,02,415. Apart from this,

the Income Tax Department hasso far recovered cash amount ofRs 24,05,600.

He said that the police hasso far recovered 62,114 litresliquor, which is worth over Rs1,23,17,754. Similarly, the ExciseDepartment has so far recov-ered 5,724 litres of liquor, whichis worth Rs 7.79 lakh. Thus, atotal of 67,838 litres of liquor hasbeen seized by the Excise andPolice Departments, which costsRs 1,30,96,754, he said.

He further said that 52,999license arms have so far beendeposited by the Haryana Policein order to maintain law andorder in the state. Apart fromthis, the police has seized 143illegal weapons.

He said that the police haslaid nakas at 327 places in thestate to maintain law and orderduring the elections.

Inder Jeet said that thepolice has recovered 57,106bottles of country made liquor,

35,999 bottles of English liquor,6170 bottles of beer, 583 bot-tles of illicit liquor, 839.85 kghemp, 550.38 kg poppy husk,822.15 g heroin, 1.27 kg opium,233.43 gm smack, 670 kglahan, 18 bottles syrup, 1200capsules, 16,114 tablets, 6.24 kgcharas, 1.16 kg sulfa, 119.35 kggreen opium, 17 kg cocainedoda.

He added that fake curren-cy notes of Rs 11,700 have alsobeen seized by the police.

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Congress presi-dent Rahul

Gandhi has notruled out contest-ing the Lok Sabhae l e c t i o nfrom acon-

stituency other than Amethi,saying many party leadershave fought elections frommore than one seat in the pastand a decision on the issue willbe taken by the party soon.

Referring to demands fromparty leaders that his sisterPriyanka Gandhi Vadra shouldcontest, Rahul told PTI in aninterview that she will have totake a call on whether to fightthe polls or not.

Speculation about thenewly appointed Congressgeneral secretary contest-ing grew after she askedpeople in Varanasi onThursday whether sheshould fight the polls fromthe temple town, the con-stituency from wherePrime Minister NarendraModi will seek a re-elec-tion.

Amethi is his “karmab-hoomi” (place where you are

destined to work) and willremain so, Rahul Gandhi said,keeping his options open on

fighting the election from asecond seat amid demandsfrom party units in Kerala andKarnataka that he should befielded from their States.

“Amethi is my ‘karmab-hoomi’ and shall alwaysremain so. I am deeply grate-ful for the love, affection andthe sentiments expressed byour party workers inKarnataka, Tamil Nadu andKerala who have asked me tocontest a second seat fromtheir States,” the Congresschief told PTI in response to aquestion on the speculationover him contesting fromWayanad in Kerala.

“In the past, too, manyleaders from the Congress andother parties, including MrModi himself, have contestedelections from more than oneseat. The Congress party willtake a decision on this issue atthe earliest,” he said.

In 2014, Rahul Gandhidefeated BJP’s Smriti Irani bya margin of over one lakhvotes. Both are pitted againsteach other again from Amethi.Asked about Priyanka Gandhicontesting the election, theCongress chief said candidateselection is an ongoing processand the party has announced

over 300 candidates so far.“As far as Priyanka is con-

cerned, it is up to her to decideif she wants to contest the elec-tion or not,” he said. Onwhether party veterans will befielded by the Congress to putup a strong fight, Gandhi saidthe party has a system of iden-tifying candidates and it goesthrough various processes.

“I have looked at young aswell as experienced candidatesequally because I have believedthat Congress party needsboth. Seniors are fighting elec-tions. We also have many newfaces who will be fighting theirfirst election,” he said.

There has been a clamouramong Congress leaders fromthe south for Rahul Gandhi tocontest from Kerala as well asKarnataka and the State unitshave already passed resolutionson the issue. His mother, for-mer Congress president SoniaGandhi, earlier contested fromthe Bellary seat in Karnatakawhile his grandmother, formerPrime Minister Indira Gandhi,had contested fromChikamangalur in Karnataka.Process of nominations inKerala, which goes to polls onApril 23, started on Thursdayand will end on April 4.

����� �-.�/-'01

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday expressed

confidence that the BJP willreturn to power with “absolutemajority” after the April-MayLok Sabha election, saying thepeople have made up theirmind to ensure victory of theNational Democratic Alliancein 300-plus seats.

He also said people havealready decided in favour of theBJP and are, therefore, notsearching for a “competingface”. In an interview to‘Republic Bharat’ news channel,he also said the timing of thelaunch of the anti-satellite mis-sile was based on “open space”available to carry out the test.

“Call it an adventure or aninitiative, they don’t happensuddenly. You need to tell theglobal community that youwant space at a particulartime in (outer) space to ensurethere is no space traffic or col-lision, you need to ask for anopen space, you need to fixthat space. It is a long process,”he explained.

Modi rejected sugges-tions that the index of oppo-sition unity is high as com-pared to 2014. “If you go

granular, you will find theopposition more scattered nowthan in 2014. Tell me, has therebeen any agreement in Andhra(Pradesh), (West) Bengal? Hasthere been any (agreement)with Communist parties? Hasit happened in Kerala, Odisha,”he said.

He also rejected possibil-ity of opposition joining handsafter elections, saying, “Todaythey are leaving no stoneunturned to put each otherdown. You look at all theirstatements.” He also said thatopposition joining hands postpolls can happen only if peo-ple give fewer seats to him.

“When the people of thiscountry have made up theirmind to give highest numberof seats to Narendra Modi,then what can happen? Theresults are certain. There is nodoubt about that. The peopleof the country have decided tobring in a Government thatenjoys absolute majority. Theyhave made up their mind togive NDA a mandate for a 300-plus Government,” he asserted.

Responding to a questionon ‘Modi Vs who’ in the LokSabha polls, he said the questionmight arise in 2024. “But thereis no such chance in 2019. The

people of this country havemade up their mind about oneside. That is why the people ofthe country are not in search fora competing face. Not at all.”

He said for TRP, newschannels rake up such questions.“It is important for youbecause...See in 2014 you hadManmohan Singh ji. You couldnot have gained TRP by pittinghim against me. So you had toget (Arvind) Kejriwal who didnot have a single MLA, a singlecorporator. But you had to pitchhim as a future Prime Ministerto run your shops,” hequipped.

To a question onunemployment and theopposition’s attack on thegovernment, the PMsaid he is trying tomake new institutionsso that there is a “per-fect system”.

He pointed out thatwhen Atal Bihari Vajpayeewas the Prime Minister, theOpposition had also raised theissue of unemployment.

“After Atal ji’s tenure, therewere statistics that proved thatthere were 6 crore jobs in Atalji’s tenure. And during UPA,there were only 1.5 crore jobsand yet they maligned Atalji’s

Government. The Lutyens’(Delhi) ecosystem kept beatingthe drums,” he said. Referringto efforts by his government togenerate employment, he saidfour crore people have takenmoney from banks via theMudra scheme.

“Four crore people havetaken money for the first time.They must have started someemployment, they must haveemployed somebody. Whatdo I tell you? The registrationsat EPFO, more than 1 crorepeople have registered. Money

has to be givenfor this, it isnot for free,”he said.

�� �� �-.�/-'01

The Election Commission(EC) on Friday rejected the

plea by 21 Opposition partiesseeking 50 per cent samplematching of the EVMs with thecorresponding Voter VerifiablePaper Audit Trails (VVPATs),and said it should be allowed tocontinue with the present system.

Seeking the dismissal of theplea by the 21 Opposition par-ties, the Election Commissionin its response said the plea“does not raise any ground orbase for altering” the existingsystem of sample checking andurged the court that the “pre-sent system ... for the imminentelections be continued ...”

The EC said this inresponse to a notice by the topcourt on the Opposition partiesplea for increasing the sample

matching of the EVMs with thecorresponding VVPATs.

The top court had soughtthe EC’s response on March 25when it had slammed the pollpanel for insisting that there wasno need for increasing the sam-ple matching of the EVMs withthe corresponding VVPATs.

Referring to the grievancesraised by the opposition partiesand the relief sought, the pollpanel has said that “after duestudies and tests it has arrived atthe conclusion that the methodas presently adopted has beenfound to be most suitable”.

The EC has said that it wasopen to any other suggestionthat it might not have consid-ered for the future elections asthe conduct of free and fairelections was the ultimate goal.

Finding nothing new inthe plea by the 21 oppositionparties, the poll panel in itsresponse has said: “...issuesraised in the instant petitions arematters that have already beenconsidered, studied and deter-mined by the ElectionCommission and have since cul-minated in adopting the courseof conduct of the imminentelections in the present manner.”

Pointing to the advantage ofusing EVMs, the EC has said that“EVMs have completely elimi-nated the problem of invalidvotes, which were in many casesmore than the winning marginin the constituency.”

��������! ����� �-.�/-'01�

Endemic to the Himalayas,Kutki (Picrorhiza kurrooa

Royle ex. Benth), a perennialIndian wild medicinal herbcommonly used for treatment ofliver diseases including jaundice,is facing threat from a fungal dis-ease, powdery mildew. The plantis already on the endangered listbecause of over-exploitation forcommercial usage.

“If fungus is not containedin time, this might have adverseimpact on its medicinal prop-erties,” scientists from HNBUniversity have raised red-flags. They noted that this is forthe first time such ever reportof powdery mildew caused byPodosphaera fuliginea on theendemic medicinal plantPicrorhiza kurroa has beenrecorded from India.

The study is published inthe latest edition of reputed sci-ence journal, Current Science.

“A powdery mildew diseasewas observed by the scientistson its aerial parts under poly-house conditions in alpine fieldresearch station at Tungnathand under cultivated condi-tions at Pothivasa, Rudraprayagdistrict, Uttarakhand during

May-September 2016-2018,”said the study.

The disease symptomswere observed on the adaxialsurface as white powdery masswhich later turned brown, andthe plants withered and ulti-mately died. Poor floweringand low seed setting wereobserved in the infected plantsand most of them also with-ered, noted the team of scien-tists, including Ankit Singhand MC Nautiyal from

Uttarakhand’s HNB GarwalUniversity and AK Gautamfrom Abhilashi University,Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

Increasing demand formedicinal herbs in India as inthe world has prompted theGovernment organisations andNGOs in high-altitude villagesin Uttarakhand and farmers toreap benefit from its cultivationand conservation.

“Although the crop is in theinitial stage of commercial cul-

tivation in the high-altitude vil-lages of Uttarakhand, appear-ance of powdery mildew caus-es damage to the crop and dueto this, farmers are getting dis-couraged,” said the study.

The disease needs to becontrolled by fungicides ofbiological origin so that themedicinal properties of theplant are not affected. Researchcan also be initiated to devel-op disease-resistant varieties ofthis plant in near future for theconservation of this valuablespecies for sustainable use, theresearchers suggested.

Grown naturally on rocksand moist slopes in the alpineand subalpine regions between3,000 and 4,500 metres, Kutkihas been used for many cen-turies in various medicinalcultures across India, Greeceand Arabia as a febrifuge,coolant, blood purifier andhepato-protective.

According to ayurvedaexperts, Kutki is most widelyrecognised for its protectiveand regenerative effects uponthe liver, protecting againstlong-term damage and bacte-rial infection that can be influ-enced by chronic drug con-sumption or abuse.

�� �� �-.�/-'01

The main investigating offi-cer (IO), Satyabrata Kumar,

of Enforcement Directorate(ED) probing the fugitive bil-lionaries Nirav Modi and VijayMallya cases was re-instated asJoint Director soon after he wasrelieved of his charges while hewas in London.

Sources said realising thegoof-up, the Mumbai zone ED,revoked its orders. Kumar is inLondon to attend the NiravModi extradition case pro-ceedings and simultaneouslyprobing the Mallya case.

According to ED order,Satyabrata Kumar shall con-tinue to look after the charge ofMumbai zonal office-I, untilfurther orders of the Directorof Enforcement. The order wassigned by Deputy Director(establishment) Rohit Anand.The order was marked to EDdirector; Joint Secretary ofDepartment of Personnel andTraining, Joint Secretary ofDepartment of Revenue andother senior officials of direc-torate.

The order divesting JointDirector Satyabrat Kumar ofthe charge of Mumbai zonalunit-I of the ED was issued byits top officer in the westernzone, Special Director VineetAgarwal, on Friday. As soon asthe news came out, sourcessaid, ED Director SanjayKumar Mishra cancelled theorder in Delhi and restored thecharge to Kumar.

Kumar, an Indian RevenueService officer of the Customsand Indirect Taxes service, wasdivested of his charge byAgarwal on the technicalground and rule that no IO cancontinue at one post beyondfive years and no order for hiscontinuation was issued by theED headquarters.

Special Director Agarwal,in his signed order, relievedKumar from all the investiga-tions, including the USD 2-bil-lion PNB Bank fraud caseagainst Nirav Modi, and hand-ed over the additional charge ofKumar to his immediate supe-rior authority of AdditionalDirector (western region), whoalso sits in Mumbai.

The order, however,allowed Kumar to continueprobing coal blocks allocationcases as he was appointed IO inthis case by the Supreme Courtand no officer can be changedwithout the apex court’s per-mission.

Sensing the controversybeing generated over the abruptremoval of the IO in this cru-cial case being monitored at thetop level of the government, theED headquarters cancelled theorder immediately.

This cancellation will befollowed by an approval ofextension of tenure of Kumarwhich has already been sent forclearance to the Department ofRevenue under the UnionFinance Ministry and theDepartment of Personnel andTraining (DoPT), the sourcessaid. The ED also issued a clar-ification through its Twitterhandle. “Certain media reportshave been appearing that JointDirector supervising investi-gation in the case of NiravModi has been relieved. Thisreport is not correct anddenied,” it said.

�� �� �-.�/-'01

The Amma MakkalMunnetra Kazhagam

(AMMK)-led by TTVDhinakaran has been allottedthe ‘Gift Box’ as the symbolfor its candidates in fray for atotal of 40 parliamentary and19 Assembly seats in theforthcoming by-polls and LokSabha elections of Tamil Naduand Puducherry.

This comes after theSupreme Court on Tuesdayrefused to direct the ElectionCommission (EC) to issue‘pressure cooker’ as a com-mon symbol to candidates

contesting under the AMMKbanner for the upcoming elec-tions. A Bench headed byChief Justice Ranjan Gogoihad instead asked the EC togive them a common electionsymbol from among the freesymbols available.

Post J Jayalathilaa’s death inDecember 2016, the AIADMKhad split with the group led byPalaniswami and Panneerse-lvam joining hands againstDhinakaran and VK Sasikala.Palaniswami and his trusteddeputy O Panneerselvam wereallocated the ‘two leaves’ sym-bol to the faction headed by theEC in November 2017.

New Delhi: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s address tothe nation on the successfultest-firing of an anti-satellitemissile did not violate themodel code of conduct, theElection Commission said onFriday night.

The EC took the decisionbased on the report of a com-mittee of officers which found that the Prime Ministerdid not violate the provisionof ‘party in power’ in the poll code.

“The committee has,therefore, reached the con-clusion that the MCC provi-sion regarding misuse of offi-cial mass media...Is not attract-ed in the instant case,” thecommission said, citing thereport of the committee con-

stituted to look into the case. Model code of conduct is

in place for the April-May par-liamentary election and someState polls. India shot downone of its satellites in space onWednesday with an anti-satel-lite missile to demonstratethis complex capability, PrimeMinister Narendra Modiannounced, making it only thefourth country to have usedsuch a weapon.

Declaring India has estab-lished itself as a global spacepower after the success of theoperation ‘Mission Shakti’,Modi said the missile hit a livesatellite flying in a Low EarthOrbit after it traversed a dis-tance of almost 300 km fromearth within three minutes ofits launch. PTI

�� �� �-.�/-'01

BJP’s Etawah MP AshokKumar Dohrey joined the

Congress on Friday aftermeeting party president RahulGandhi and within hours hewas fielded by the Oppositionparty from the constituency.Dohrey joined the Congressfold days after he was denieda BJP ticket from the EtawahLok Sabha constituency, fromwhere the ruling party hasdeclared former Union min-ister Ram Shankar Katheria.

The 48-year-old Dalitleader met Rahul Gandhi atthe latter’s residence here andwas welcomed in the party.Within hours of joining,Dohrey was nominated bythe opposition party as a can-didate from his constituencyHe had won the Etawah seaton a BJP ticket in 2014.

He was earlier in theBahujan Samaj Party and was

an MLA between 2007 to2012. He also served as aCabinet minister in theMayawati Government. BJP’s

MP from Uttar Pradesh’sBharaich Sadhvi Savitri BaiPhule had also joined theCongress a few days ago.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Friday issued noticeto the Centre and the ElectionCommission on a plea seekinginitiation of contempt pro-ceedings for alleged violation ofthe apex court’s judgmentdirecting all candidates todeclare their criminalantecedents to the poll panelbefore contesting elections.

A Bench comprisingJustices RF Nariman andVineet Saran also soughtresponse from the three deputyelection commissioners, lawsecretary and the cabinet sec-retary for not complying with

its judgment dated September25, 2018. The court was hear-ing a plea filed by lawyerAshwini Kumar Upadhyay.

In September last year, afive-judge Constitution benchunanimously held all candi-dates will have to declare theircriminal antecedents to theEC before contesting polls andhad called for wider publicity,through print and electronicmedia about the antecedents ofcandidates.

On October 10 last year, theEC had issued notificationregarding the amended Form-26, and directions to political

parties and candidates for pub-lication of criminal antecedents.

However, the plea filed byUpadhyay had alleged that theEC neither amended theElection Symbol Order, 1968nor the model code of conduct(MCC) so the said notificationhas no legal sanction.

“On October 10, 2018, theECI issued direction to politi-cal parties and candidates forpublication of criminalantecedents without amendingthe Election Symbol Order &Model Code of Conduct so thedirection has no legal sanction,”the plea had said. PTI

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In a second major offensiveagainst the ‘active’ terrorists

in the last one week, the jointteams of security forces haveagain eliminated six terroristsin the last 24 hours in differ-ent encounters acrossKashmir valley.

After eliminating four ter-rorists in two separate encoun-ters in Shopian and Handwaraon Thursday, two more terror-ists were gunned down by thesecurity forces in Nowgam areaon the outskirts of Srinagar onFriday.

At least five soldiers werealso injured in the gunfight.

According to policespokesman," both the terroristskilled in the operation havebeen identified as Pakistaninationals Ali and Idrees (codenames)". From the incriminat-ing material recovered it isunderstood that they were affil-iated with proscribed terroroutfit Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM). Police had also recoveredarms and ammunition from thesite of gunfight.

Earlier, eight terrorists wereeliminated by the security forcesin four different encounters inBandipora, Baramulla, Shopianand Sopore gun battles betweenMarch 21-22. The securityforces achieved major success-es in the recent days on the basis

of pin pointed informationabout the presence of terroristsin the civilian areas. The mainobjective behind these sus-tained operations is eliminationof maximum number of ter-rorists active in North andSouth Kashmir districts to cre-ate conducive atmosphere forpeaceful polls in the State.

At present the poll cam-paign for the first phase ofpolling is going on smoothly inSrinagar and Baramulla areaswith political rallies of differentpolitical parties attractinghealthy turn out of supporters.

On its part the State policehas also issued a separate advi-sory to the leaders of differentpolitical parties to refrain fromtaking out road shows andorganising public meetingswithout proper sanitisation ofvenues by the security forces.

Meanwhile, in Jammu, Lt

Gen. Ranbir Singh, NorthernArmy Commander, metGovernor Satya Pal Malik at RajBhavan and briefed him aboutthe present security situation inthe State.

Governor and the ArmyCommander discussed certainimportant issues relating toeffective internal security man-agement. In another relateddevelopment, Pakistan Armyviolated ceasefire agreementalong the line of control inMankote and Krishna Ghatisectors of Poonch.

According to Defencespokesman in Jammu, "Pakistanarmy initiated unprovokedceasefire violation by shellingwith mortars and small arms fir-ing from 7.30 a.m". In responseto the fresh provocation, Indianarmy also retaliated strongly andeffectively, Defence spokesmanadded.

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Ahmedabad: Congress leaderHardik Patel's plans to contestLok Sabha election hit a road-block on Friday as the GujaratHigh Court rejected his pleaseeking a stay to his convictionin the 2015 Vispur rioting case.

As the last date for filing ofnominations is April 4, thePatidar leader has little time toapproach the Supreme Court tochallenge the ruling.

Patel had started prepara-tions to contest from Jamnagaron a Congress ticket after join-ing the party on March 12.Polling for 26 Lok Sabha seatsin Gujarat will be held on April

23.Under the Representation

of the People Act and a relatedSupreme Court ruling, a convictfacing a jail term of two years ormore cannot stand for electionunless the conviction is stayed.

Opposing Patel's plea beforeJustice A G Uraizee, the stategovernment had pointed out

that Patel is facing 17 FIRs,including two sedition com-plaints.

He was known for makinginflammatory speeches, the BJPgovernment told the court.

Hardik's lawyers had said ifthe conviction was not stayed,it will cause "irreparable dam-age" as he intended to contestthe Lok Sabha election.

No one had seen Patel beingon the spot of rioting and thetrial court did not examine anyindependent witnesses, theysaid.

After Friday's ruling, Patel'slawyers said they would study itand decide whether to approachthe Apex Court.

In the order, the high courtnoted that a conviction can bestayed only in rare andexcep-

tional cases, and Patel's case didnot fall into that category.

The court noted the gov-ernment's submission that hewas facing 17 FIRs, and said thatlooking at this criminal back-ground, no relief can be grant-ed.

The sessions court atVisnagar in Mehsana districtsentenced Patel to two years'imprisonment last July for riot-ing and arson in Visnagar townin 2015 during the Patidarquota stir which he led.

The high court in August2018 suspended the sentencebut not the conviction.

Patel, expected to be a starcampaigner for the Congress,said in a statement that he wel-comed the judgement.

"I welcome Gujarat High

Court's decision. Elections comeand go. But the BJP is workingagainst Constitutional princi-ples. Why a 25-year-oldCongress leader is beingstopped from contesting polls?

"Many BJP leaders werealso convicted. But it seems thatall the laws are meant only forus (opposition)," he said.

He said he will campaignfor Congress across the countryincluding Gujarat. "My onlyfault is that I did not bow downto the BJP. This is the result offighting against the power," headded.

Gujarat Congressspokesperson Manish Doshialleged the ruling party wasdoing everything to stop theyoung leader from contestingpolls as it was afraid of him. PTI

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Srinagar: An Army jawan waskilled in a landslide when he waspatrolling along the Line ofControl (LoC) in Jammu &Kashmir’s Baramulla district,Army officials said on Friday.

Naik Parvej was leading anoperational patrolling team inBaramulla when a landslidestruck on Thursday, the officialssaid.

They said the soldier fellinto a deep stream flowingalong the route and sustainedgrievous injuries. Parvej wasevacuated to 92 Base Hospitalhere for medical treatmentwhere he died later.

The Army Friday paid trib-ute to Naik Parvej, with CorpsCommander KJS Dhillon lead-ing all ranks in paying homageto him.

"In a show of solidarity,representatives from other secu-rity agencies also paid their lastrespects to the martyr," an Armyspokesman said.

The 29-year-old hailed fromShekhawas village of Rajasthanand he had joined the Army in2009. He is survived by his wife,a son and a daughter, he said.

"The mortal remains of themartyr were flown for last ritesto his native place, where hewould be laid to rest with fullmilitary honours. In this hour ofgrief, the Army stands in soli-darity with the bereaved familyand remains committed to theirdignity and well being," headded. PTI

Bengaluru: In a big relief toJD(S) patriarch and formerPrime Minister HD DeveGowda, Congress sitting MPfrom Tumkur SPMuddahanumegowda on Fridaypulled out of the contest as therebel candidate against him.

Gowda is the joint nomineeof Karnataka's Congress-JD(S)ruling alliance, which was wor-ried over his electoral prospectsafter Muddahanumegowdajumped into the fray defying theunderstanding under which theseat was allotted to the JD(S).

"Angry" at being denied theticket, Muddahanumegowdahad filed his papers both as partycandidate and as an independentbut finally yielded to persuasionfrom the party leadership.

The leadership made sever-al attempts to pacifyMuddahanumegowda, withCongress president RahulGandhi and AICC general sec-retary KC Venugopal interven-ing finally.

Muddahanumegowda toldPTI that he has withdrawn hisnomination, respecting the "per-suasion" made by the Congresshigh command.

"Rahul Gandhi himselfspoke to me (Thursday morn-ing), K C Venugopal spoke tome several times, also our KPCCpresident, deputy chief minister

and also CLP leaderSiddaramaiah started persuad-ing me and said the coalition isat stakebecause of my nomina-tion as rebel," he said.

"Though my people did notagree for withdrawing nomina-tion, somehow I had to, as I did-n't want to become reasonforanything going wrong betweentwo parties," he added.

Muddahanumegowda saidhe was "angry" and "furious" forthereason that the sitting MPwas deprived of contesting elec-tion.

He said he had filed thenomination as constituencyleaders and workers insisted onhis contesting, after his requestto coalition leaders to reconsid-er the decision and field him, didnot yield result.

The Congress leader said hehad gone through "agony andmental torture" after beingdenied ticket despite being"active and performing mem-ber."

Asked about campaigningfor Gowda, he said, "I'm a sen-sitive politician..I will thinkover..I will need some time."

Muddahanumegowda, whohad worked as a judicial officerin the past is the only memberamong ten sitting Congress MPsfrom the State denied ticket, cit-ing coalition compulsions. PTI

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After considerable dilly-dal-lying, the BJP on Friday

nominated former Congressleader, Ranjeetsinh Naik-Nimbalkar, as its candidate forMadha Lok Sabha constituency,after ignoring the claims for aparty ticket made by newentrant to the party from theNCP, Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil.

Five days after Naik-Nimbalkar joined its fold, theBJP preferred him overRanjitsinh Mohite-Patil as itscandidate from Madha con-stituency in westernMaharashtra.

Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil –son of Nationalist CongressParty (NCP) MP and formerDeputy Chief MinisterVijaysinh Mohite-Patil – hadquit the NCP and joined the BJPon March 20 in the hope that hewould be nominated as a can-didate from Madha constituen-cy.

However, after Naik-Nimbalkar joined its fold onMarch 25, the BJP began recon-sidering its earlier decision tonominate Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil as its candidate fromMadha.

What prompted the BJP toweigh its options betweenRanjitsinh Mohite-Patil and

Naik-Nimbalkar was the NCP’sdecision to field Sanjay Shinde,who is the president of SolapurZilla Parishad and brother ofMLA Baban Shinde, as its can-didate. Under the circum-stances, Shinde is really morepolitically influential than sittingNCP MP Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, whom the NCP wanted tore-nominate in the initial stages.

Shinde had recently quit theNCP to contest against BJPcandidate Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil, as he had no hopes of get-ting nominated as a candidateby the Sharad Pawar-led party.Till recently, he was beingwooed by the BJP into its fold.However, Shinde returned to theNCP after persuasion by partychief Sharad Pawar himself.

After considerable deliber-ations, the BJP nominatedNaik-Nimbalkar as its candidatefrom Madha. Miffed with hisparty leadership for its failure tonominate his son Rajeetsinh,sitting NCP MP VijaysinhMohite-Patil has declared thathe would work for whoever theBJP nominates as its candidate.

It may be recalled that on March 11, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had backed out of the contest, setting thestage of the entry of his grandnephew Parth Pawar into elec-toral politics.

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It may not be possible for thecandidates contesting the Lok

Sabha election to visit all thehouseholds in their con-stituencies to solicit votes. Butthe Ettppalli village in Hossurtown that falls underKrishnagiri parliamentary con-stituency in Tamil Nadu is anexception. The candidates inthe fray for the Assembly as wellas Lok Sabha elections havemade the remote villageEttppalli their first port of callduring the campaign.

There are 80 families in thevillage and 270 registered vot-ers. But more than the village,what is important for the can-didates is the residence ofGunde Gowde, the head of ajoint family in Ettppalli whichhas 40 registered voters. This isan address which no politiciansworth his/her salt could ignore.

“There are 60 members inthis family and 40 voters.Twenty members of the familyare of below the age of 18 andare not in the voting age,” saidGowde, (65), a farmer whoheads the family which own 150acres of farming land.

He said six members of thefamily are outside the village.“But all of us take part in theelection and cast our votes

without fail. The members whoare working at places likeBangalore, Mysore andChennai reach here two days inadvance and we make it a realfestival of democracy,” saidGowde.

The single house couldaccommodate all the familymembers that include Gowde’sfive brothers, their childrenand grandchildren, according to

Krishnamma, Gowde’s wife.“When all the family membersare here, I need 10 kg rice and5 kg flour per day,” said the ladyof the house.

The Gowdes do not haveany specific political leanings.“Kindness , compassion andconcern for the welfare of thesociety are r priorities,” saidGowde who disclosed that thefamily members would take a

decision on whom to elect dur-ing the dinner served on April17. “Hossur goes to the poll onApril 18,” said Gunde Gowde.

Munusamy (39), youngerbrother, who accompanies hisbrother like a shadow, saidfarming was no more profitable.“ We cultivate paddy, vegetablesand fruits. Prices of crops liketomato are always crashingwhich cause considerable finan-cial loss. The Government hasbeen not helpful,” saidMunusamy.

“What makes the Gowdefamily unique is the concept ofthe joint family system whichworks on the principle ‘one forall and all for one’. No wonder,even KP Munusamy, theAIADMK strongman who con-tests from the Krishnagiri LokSabha constituency maintainscordial ties with Gowde and hisfamily members,” said Jesuraj,a journalist-cum-social activistin Hossur.

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)*���������#�����������������+�#����� � ���Thodupuzha (Ker): A seven-year-old boy was left with acracked skull and is on venti-lator support after allegedlybeing assaulted by his mother'spartner here, police said onFriday.

The accused, Arun Anand,36, who was arrested, has atleast four cases against him,they said.

Various IPC sections,including 303 (attempt to mur-der), and Juvenile Justice Acthave been slapped against him,a police official said.

The boy, who suffered crit-ical head injuries and bruises allover, is battling for life.

A doctor treating him at aprivate medical college hospi-tal in Ernakulam district, saidthe boy was on ventilator sup-port and there was no responsefrom him.

Doctors are monitoringhis situation and he is underobservation for 48 hours,according to hospital sources.

The boy has a youngerbrother who is four years old.

Police have registered thestatement of the child's moth-er, whose husband died 10months ago after which theaccused began staying withthem.

On Wednesday, theaccused, woke up the boy at 3am, and started kicking andbeating him as a punishmentfor bed wetting by the youngersibling.

The accused allegedlyhurled the child on the groundsmashing his head on an almi-rah and used a walking stick tobeat him up.

Though an emergencysurgery was performed at aprivate medical college hospi-tal at Kolenchery inErnakulam district, his con-dition continues to be criticial,hospital sources said. "His lifeis sustained completely onventilator support now. Thenext 48 hours is critical... As

per the latest scan report, theblood circulation to the brainseems to have stopped," a doc-tor said.

The boy has suffered skullfracture, internal bleeding andlung injury, besides cuts andbruises all over his body.

The incident came to lightafter police and Child Helplineauthorities here received infor-mation about the child's wors-ening health condition from ahospital here, where he was ini-tially taken.

The boy was later shifted tothe hospital in Ernakulam foremergency surgery.

Police said besides the vic-tim, a second standard student,his 4-year-old brother also sus-tained injuries all over hisbody. The younger sibling'sstatement has been recorded.

Meanwhile, Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan Friday soughtan immediate report from theIdukki district authorities onthe incident. PTI

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Bengaluru: Karnataka PWDMinister and JD(S) leader H DRevanna besides local Congressleaders were left red-faced onFriday when Congress workersstraightaway refused to supporthis son Prajwal Revanna in theLok Sabha polls at an event inHassan.

Prajwal, grandson of JDSpatriarch and former primeminister H D Deve Gowda, isthe candidate of the rulingalliance for Hassan, whichGowda was representing.

The embarrassing incidentoccurred in front of Revannawho had come to seek supportfrom Congress workers at a

public event.An ardent believer in astrol-

ogy, Revanna had arrived at thevenue holding seven to eightlemons in his hand to ward offbad omen that could eclipse hisson's political prospects.

Usually Revanna carries atleast one lemon with him.

As soon as he took his seaton the dais holding lemons, theCongress workers created a dinshouting that they would prefervoting for the BJP rather thansupporting the JD(S).

The compere's repeatedpleas to stay silent were in vainas the rebel Congress workerscreated a noisy scene. PTI

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Gorakhpur/Lucknow: In a joltto the SP-BSP-RLD'Mahagathbandhan' in UttarPradesh, the Nishad Party onFriday parted ways with thefledgling anti-BJP alliance andsaid it could "look for otheroptions".

"The Nishad Party is nomore in alliance with theSamajwadi Party," NikkyNishad alias Riteash Nishad,media in-charge, Nishad Party,told PTI in Gorakhpur.

"There was conflictbetween the two parties onMaharajganj seat as NishadParty wanted to contest with itsown party symbol where asSamajwadi Party was not readyfor it," he added.

The party workers were notwilling to contest on the SP

symbol and many of thembegan quitting, he said.

"So, our national presidentSanjay Nishad ji went toLucknow and on late Thursdayit was confirmed that theNishad Party is no more a partof the alliance," he added.

When asked whetherPravin Nishad, MP, will alsoquit Samajwadi Party, he said,"I don't know about it."

The Nishad Party is head-ed by Sanjay Nishad, the fatherof Pravin Nishad who hadwon the Gorakhpur parlia-mentary seat on an SP ticket inthe 2018 by-polls.

The win had been remark-able, as Gorakhpur was con-sidered a bastion of UP CMYogi Adityanath, who had rep-resented the parliamentary

constituency several timesbefore.

A Nishad Party insidersaid that though SP chiefAkhilesh Yadav had said he willmake announcement on seatsfor the party, "They did not putour name on poster/letter oranything. Our party workers,authorities, core committeewere upset."

"So, the Nishad Party hastaken a decision today that weare not with the 'gathbandhan',we are free, can fight electionsindependently and can look forother options as well. Theparty is free now," he said.

When contacted, SPnational spokesman RajendraChowdhury told PTI that hehas no information of any suchdecision of the Nishad Party.

It was just three days backthat the Nishad (Nirbal IndianShoshit Hamara Aam Dal)Party in a press conference inLucknow on Tuesday hadannounced that it will be join-ing the grand Oppositionalliance in the State.

The day the Nishad Partyannounced its decision to jointhe alliance, Sanjay Nishad hadsaid at a press conference that,“Our constitution, youth andfarmers' futures are in gravedanger. People voted for a'jumlebaz' party cause of theirfalse promises. Modi and Yogipromised many things forNishad community but noth-ing was done. The Nishad

community will now givefull support to the SP-BSPalliance in all the State.” PTI

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Chennai: The ElectionCommission has allotted 'giftpack' as symbol for candidatesof the TTV Dhinakaran-ledAmma Makkal MunnetraKazagham for the coming LokSabha elections and assemblybypolls, the AMMK said onFriday.

In a tweet, the party leaderTTV Dhinakaran thanked thepoll panel and termed the sym-bol "wonderful". "Thanks tothe Election Commission ofIndia for allocating the won-derful symbol "gift pack" for all

the 59 candidates as per theorder of the Hon'ble SupremeCourt of India," he tweeted.

While campaigning inArakkonam constituency,Dhinakaran said "Till yes-terday we were sitting at SC'sdoorstep for symbol. Only afterthe SC instructed, EC sent a listof 36 symbols. In that, all the 35were not worth picking,"Dhinakaran said addressing thecrowd. Only one— 'gift pack'—was impressive, and immedi-ately I picked it so as to ensurenot to lose it, he added. PTI

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With the first round ofelections just about two

weeks away, BJP presidentAmit Shah on Friday wentback on the “infiltrators-get-out” plank, telling a huge crowdat Alipurduar in North Bengalthat his party would invoke the‘Citizenship Bill’ if it came topower in Bengal and throw outall the illegal immigrants fromthe State.

Addressing his first elec-tion rally after the polls wereannounced early this month,Shah said his party wouldbring National Register of

Citizens, like in Assam, tothrow out the infiltrators sothat they cannot influence elec-tions in this country.

Like in Assam, “we willintroduce NRC in Bengal oncewe come to power in thisState,” Shah said adding hisparty was determined to get theCitizens’ Bill passed inParliament to settle the infil-trators issue once and for all.

A large section ofAlipurduar electorate comesfrom santhali and Nepali pop-ulation who work in the teagardens. Traditionally theyvoted for the Left but thingsstarted changing after 2011with most TMC making aforced entry into these areasbreaking the traditional votingpattern.

Subsequently the Leftistvoters beaten by an aggressiveTMC shifted rightwards to

swell the BJP which currentlyenjoys a sizeable voting per-centage in this Terrain con-stituency bordering Bangladeshand Assam.

The BJP has fielded triballeader John Burla fromAlipurduar seat.

Shah who was promptlyattacked by the seniorTrinamool Congress leadersfor trying to create a commu-nal divide among the localpopulation without knowingthe secular Bengali culture,however said his statementswere not directed at the “gen-uine (read Hindu) refugees.”

He said that his partywould ensure that the “genuinerefugees who had been forcedto leave other countries to takeshelter in India are not harassedin the process. These people arevery much a part of our pop-ulation.”

Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee has for longbeen fighting against the intro-duction of NRC in Assam that

according to her put the secu-rity and citizenship of morethan 40 lakh of Bengali popu-lation in jeopardy.

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Come April 2, Bengal ChiefMinister will embark on a

long campaign addressing, atleast, 80 rallies in about 40 days.

The Trinamool Congressleaders said the number ofrallies might even cross 100 ifshe decided to concentrate onconstituencies where the BJPwas likely to do well.

Incidentally, April 2 is the

day before Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s twin rallies:one in Siliguri and the other atBrigade Parade Grounds inCalcutta are expected to takeplace.

“She will address abouttwo or three rallies a day in thecoming about one and a halfmonth,” a senior party leadersaid adding the TMC chief willconcentrate more on the newlyemerging saffron belts.

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Aurangabad (Bihar): BJPpresident Amit Shah on Fridaylambasted Lalu Prasads RJDfor giving a ticket to the wifeof mafia don-turned-politi-cian Mohd Shahabuddin,claiming that it showed thepartys intention to bring backthe era of jungle raj to Bihar.

Shah’s hard-hitting com-ment against the RJD camewhile addressing an electionrally here.

Sitting BJP MP SushilKumar Singh is pitted againstMahagathbandhan candidatefrom Hindustani AwamMorcha party Upendra Prasadat Aurangabad seat popularlycalled “Chittorgarh of Bihar”due to overwhelming popula-tion of the Rajputs.

“What did Lalu give toBihar during his long political

career. He gives a ticket to thewife of Shahabuddin, who hasoppressed so many peoplebefore finally going behindbars.

“The development hasmade clear the RJDs inten-tionwhich is to bring back theera of jungle raj. In the eventof the Mahagathbandhancoming to power”, Shah said athis maiden rally in the stateupon announcement of theLok Sabha polls.

The 15 year rule of RJDfrom 1990 to 2005 in Biharhad drawn the moniker “jun-gle raj” on account of large-scale incidents of crime.

A several-term MP fromSiwan from where the candi-dature of his wife HeenaShahab was announced earli-er in the day, Mohd

Shahabuddin has beenaccused of involvement inseveral criminal cases includ-ing the killing of former JNUstudents union presidentChandrashekhar and journal-ist Rajdeo Ranjan.

He is at present serving lifesentence awarded for the mur-der of two Siwan residentsboth of them brothers whowere killed by being dousedwith acid. Another brother ofthe duo, who was an eyewit-ness in the case, was bumpedoff later.

Notably, the BJP candidateOm Prakash Yadav had defeat-ed Heena Shahab in the 2014Lok Sabha polls, which herhusband could not contestsince he had been disqualifiedon account of conviction in themurder case. PTI

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Lucknow: In a major relief tothousands of ‘siksha mitras’ whoappeared for the AssistantTeacher Recruitment Exam 2019,the Lucknow bench of AllahabadHigh court on Friday quashed aGovernment notification fixing65 and 60 per cent as qualifyingmarks for general and reservedcategory candidates respectively.

The order paves the way forthe selection of more ‘siksha

mitras’ due to a 2017 SupremeCourt direction, asking to givethem 25 per cent weightage in thenext two consecutive selectionprocesses. Passing the order, thecourt directed the ExaminationRegulatory Authority (ERA) sec-retary to declare the result of the2019 exam in terms of theGovernment Order of December1, 2018 and an advertisement ofDecember 5, 2018. PTI

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One of the main features of thecampaign for the forthcomingLok Sabha elections is thedeafening silence of all politi-cal parties on the issues of ani-

mal rights and justice. And this despite thefact that a vast array of non-human livingbeings, ranging from neighbourhood dogsand cats and stray cattle roaming thestreets, to the birds seen on nearby trees, areregularly visible to us. Though less frequent-ly seen directly, wildlife in forest and wastelands and the fish in streams and ponds,have become familiar through films, videos,print and electronic media, folklore and dis-cursive, and fictional writings. And, ofcourse, many consume animals as food.

One reason for this silence is that we seenon-human living beings without integratingthem into our moral, emotional and intellec-tual consciousness. We view them like thelamp post, hydrants, two-wheelers, cars andbuses we encounter on the roads, avoidingrunning into — or being run over by — themas we go our own ways. The nature of our livesis partly to blame for this. The rat races werun by choice or under compulsion, the con-sumption dreams and ideals we pursue andthe amusements and pleasures we seek tocompensate for the emotional void within us,leave little time for, and interest in, with any-thing that does not directly concern us.

Also to blame is the nature of the hap-piness we seek. As Erich Fromm points outin The Art of Loving, “Our whole culture isbased on the appetite for buying. Modernman’s happiness consists in the thrill of look-ing at the shop windows, and in buying allthat he can afford to buy, on the idea ofmutually favourable exchange. He (or she)looks at people in a similar way. For the manan attractive girl — and for the woman anattractive man — are the prizes they are after.‘Attractive’ usually means a nice package ofqualities which are popular and sought afteron the personality market.”

Fromm was perhaps over-generalising.There are in our time people who do notbehave like the “modern man” he mentioned,but a majority — if not an overwhelmingmajority — do, and the culture to which theybelong is increasingly defined by the market.To a very great extent, the happiness of a per-son steeped in this culture consists of shop-window voyeurism, possessing, consuming,and fair exchange in romantic relationshipsin terms of desirable attributes. There is noelement of giving and emotional connect.

This is seen in a major way in the sphereof people’s attitude to “man’s best friend”, thedog. The majority — if not the overwhelm-ing majority — of those, who claim to be doglovers, prefer to keep as pets pedigreed dogsagainst Indian street mongrels who, accord-ing to many who know, perhaps constitute themost intelligent, loving and brave breed ofcanines in the world. Anyone, who has hadthem as friends or family members, wouldvouch for this.

Things are changing. InDecember 2008, four stray dogsgraduated from a nine-monthImprovised Explosive Devices(IED) detection course from theCounter Terrorism and JungleWarfare College (CTJWC) inKanker district, Chhattisgarh.These were found capable ofdetecting explosives up to sixinches below the surface and tobe tougher, harder, sharper andmore active than pedigreed dogs— generally Labradors andAlsatians — during the trainingperiod.

In Barrackpore, near Kolkatain West Bengal, Asha, rescued bythe staff of the West BengalPolice Training Academy whenshe was a three-month-old,harassed and ill-treated by localresidents, began to be trained asa sniffer dog. She, too, turned outto be as good, if not better, thanthe foreign pedigreed breeds,including Dobermanns, invari-ably chosen for training. Turningout to be an expert sniffer, shewas far faster and more agile thanthe other canines under trainingand capable of clearing hurdlesabout six feet high, that mostother groupmates could not.

They, however, are excep-tions that may or may notbecome the rule. Besides, theireminence has not preventedother animals, including straydogs, from being ignored. Thisis not just because of our self-absorbed, consumption-orientedlife but also of our conscious andsub-conscious awareness that

our entire existence rests on thekind of exploitation and abuse ofanimals that has no parallel evenin the history of perhaps the mostinhuman colonisers.

Besides consuming them,we subject them to incrediblepain and suffering for medical— and even cosmetics — test-ing. This is an utter shame, par-ticularly since alternatives areavailable. Computer models areused in Britain in physical sci-ences education to show thebiophysical properties of normaland diseased mammalian cells.They use these single-cell mod-els to manufacture anatomical-ly-precise three-dimensionalorgan models, which can accu-rately predict the effect of drugtherapies for a variety of dis-eases. The United States hasbanned the use of live animalsfor medical training. More thanhalf of the medical schools inthat country, including those atHarvard, Stanford, Columbia,Yale and Duke, have adoptedmore humane and superiormethods. Harvard MedicalSchool, for example, brings stu-dents directly into human oper-ation theatres to learn by watch-ing surgeons, anaesthetists andothers performing actual car-dio-vascular bypass surgeries.Devices have been found thatenable students to navigatethrough respiratory cardio-vas-cular and renal physiology andexperiments into differentmajor parameters in a trulyinteractive programme. Medical

education in the West usesmany alternatives like interac-tive videos and computer sim-ulations, in-vitro cell cultures,slaughter-house material anddead animals fromhumane/ethical sources.

Things have improved inIndia but not sufficiently. Theshocking use of animals inunnecessary experiments con-tinues. People often treat ani-mals with horrendous savagery.Jallikattu, which causes intensesuffering to bulls and leads toinjury, and even deaths, amonganimals and people, continuesto be staged. Draught animalsare poorly fed and looked afterand made to carry uncon-scionably heavy loads. Theconstant encroachment intowildlife habitats by roads andother infrastructural projectsand illegal human settlementshas led to rapidly-growingman-animal conflicts that canonly lead to the exterminationof most species of the latter.

Those, who do not want thisto happen, must remember thatelections are, in the last analysis,about numbers. Animals have novotes; animal lovers are not suf-ficiently numerous to matter.To be heard, they must ensure arapid growth in their numbers,which can only be done bylaunching and sustaining a pow-erful movement for animal rightsand justice.

(The writer is ConsultantEditor, The Pioneer, and anauthor)

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “US move on Azhar” (March29). The problem with China isthat it wants to have its cake andeat it too. On the one hand,Beijing wants to contain Indiaand, thus, stand with Pakistanfor the sake of hegemony in theAsian region. On the other, it hasto also withstand the onslaughtof Islamic expansionism in itsown country — an area where itis not on the same page asPakistan.

It is interesting that at leastfor once, a country like China isin the line of fire of human rights’organisations. With the UnitedStates drafting a resolution toblacklist Masood Azhar, it looksalmost certain that it will getthrough with an overwhelmingsupport from other countries,even on the face of veto by oneof the five permanent membersof the Security Council. On thewhole, the development is amoral victory for India.

While it may blowing off thepresent crisis created by theChinese embargo, the worldbody will have to take stock ofthe matter so that such situations

do not occur in the future,where a single country is able tonullify any well-meaning com-bined effort of a large number ofnations. It is in this directionthat it appears essential for theworld body to review its struc-ture in view of the changedworld scenario where somecountries, other than the perma-nent f ive members of theSecurity Council, have also

emerged as world power. Thesooner it is done, the better itwill be for world peace.

BP SrivastavaNoida

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Opp berates PM for Sarab anal-ogy” (March 29). Coming close

on the heels of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s abuse on thenational television channel toappropriate the stupendous sci-entific achievement of theDefence Research andDevelopment Organisation, aninstitution formed and nurturedby his bete noire , PanditJawaharlal Nehru, the new lowin wordplay is disturbing to saythe least. A change in the nature

of political discourse is urgent-ly needed before election cam-paigns get further reduced tocalling opponents cats, dogsand rats.

Appearing at a conferencerecently in Salt Lake City,Kolkata, former US PresidentBarack Obama remarked:“Things like rule of law, democ-racy and, you know, competenceand facts; those things are notpartisan but they also don’t hap-pen automatically”.

He added, “There has to becitizens who insist on it and par-ticipate to make sure it happens”.One can’t help but agree withObama, “Democracy is a gardenthat has to be tended”.

Haridasan Rajan Kozhikode

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Sir — In an article titled,“Contextualising terror” (March29), the name of the writer wasinadvertently credited to PrafullGoradia. Actually, it was writtenby Bhopinder Singh. The erroris deeply regretted.

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Perceived as the league of like-mindeddemocracies converging across theIndian and Pacific Oceans, the Quad,comprising the US, Japan, India andAustralia, is symbiotically linked with

the geopolitically ascending region — theIndo-Pacific. However, there are more questionsthan answers regarding the Quad’s structure,intentions and goals, making it difficult for eachmember to align their combined vision of thegrouping with that of their individual vision ofthe Indo-Pacific. This has led to a debate aboutthe need to re-purpose the Quad. In fact, stop-gap, sub-unions and disengagements at variouslevels in the group have raised questions as towhether it can transcend into a productive mini-lateral arrangement from a forum of inhibition.The other issue is whether the Quad is capa-ble of creating a potent security framework inthe region and if so, then what would such astructure look like?

These questions have primarily cropped upbecause of two reasons. First, while the nationshave committed themselves to the idea of a “Freeand Open Indo-Pacific", the cohesion is stillloosely arranged and has not yet been formalisedat the Ministerial level. One way of looking atit would be that even though the states have aconceptual consensus on the primary ideabehind the Quad, their individual politico-secu-rity considerations in the region vis-a-vis otherplayers subtly vary. Second, while all memberstates in the Quad have a robust strengtheningnetwork of ties with implications in the maritimedomain, including security dialogues and mil-itary exercises, as a unit, the Quad has failed todeliver substantively in terms of achievementsand commitments towards laying a bedrock ofa strong security arrangement in the Indo-Pacificregion. As such, informal promises, somemembers’ increasing apprehension aproposChina and dithering regional resolve fromWashington under President Donald Trumphave not produced the required joint resolve forconcrete deliverables.

India has distinctively carved a space withan emphasis on the principle of freedom of nav-igation and respect for the laws of sea, findingresonance with the central ideas of the Quad.However, India’s increasing tangible cooperationwith the Quad nations, its reservations about amore formalised security structure in the region,while still balancing at home, and its desire toavoid being identified with any particular groupwith regional security implications at the inter-national stage, are compounding complicationsin its vision of the Indo-Pacific and of the Quad.India’s de-hyphenation of the Indo-Pacific andthe Quad not only eclipses clarity but underscoresthe need for a regional security architecture thatemphasises on a strategic continuum rather thangeopolitical fragmentation.

Decoupling the Quad and the Indo-Pacific: While India has engaged with the Quadstates actively in the past couple of years sincethe organisation’s resurrection in 2017 after adecade, it has also subtly emphasised on decou-pling of the purpose of the group with its visionof the Indo-Pacific. New Delhi has drawn con-

ceptual and structural policy demarcationsbetween the Quad and the Indo-Pacific throughactions, inhibitors and statements, that were out-lined in some ways by Ambassador Pankaj Saran.

In the aftermath of two important informalsummits at Wuhan and Sochi with China andRussia respectively, India’s enthusiasm towardsthe Quad appeared to have faded. As such, NewDelhi seeks to place the Quad as one of the manymultilateral frameworks operating in the Indo-Pacific region, not as the regionally consequen-tial one. Enumerating its Indo-Pacific strategyin largely “plurilateral formats”, India not onlyseeks to avoid restricting its Indo-Pacific strat-egy to the Quad at its helm, but also to main-tain its long-cherished principle of strategicautonomy by keeping its options open toengage with Russia in the region, as also by mak-ing conscious decisions to not provoke China.

New Delhi seeks to ensure a nimble-foot-ed balance in the Indo-Pacific between align-ment and autonomy. While it separates the Quadwith the Indo-Pacific in its emerging dis-course, it risks the loss of an opportunity to cre-ate a strategic continuum, in favour of a region-ally fragmented vision. A positive rationale toIndia’s purpose in the Quad is the need to viewthe Indo-Pacific region as a strategic continu-um rather than an assemblage of sub-regional-ly divided goals, partnerships and alignments.The Quad provides India the opportunity to useits geographic centrality in the region to con-nect with the strategic ends on either side of thepeninsula, to enhance its security vision in theIndo-Pacific region, extending from the Gulf tothe other side of the Strait of Malacca.

Inclusivity and minilateralism: At theShangri-La Dialogue in 2018, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi clarified India’s position on theIndo-Pacific by saying that, “India does not seethe Indo-Pacific region as a strategy or as a clubof limited members. Nor as a grouping that seeksto dominate. And by no means do we consid-er it as directed against any country.” While the

Prime Minister made it clear that India’s Indo-Pacific strategy is not about cornering or side-lining China in the region, it also stands for apositive vision of the Indo-Pacific that harps onAsean centrality and emphasises inclusivity withSouth-East Asia as a core area in the region. InIndia’s definition of the Indo-Pacific, it “standsfor a free, open, inclusive region, whichembraces us all in a common pursuit ofprogress and prosperity. It includes all nationsin this geography as also others beyond who havea stake in it.” India has deliberatively marked adefinitive and conceptual distinction in defin-ing the regional scope of the Indo-Pacific, pri-marily through a semantic spin in the word“inclusive.” India’s definitive of “all” stakehold-ers in its Indo-Pacific purpose somewhat dilutesthe Quad’s anti-China purpose. This is, perhaps,both intended and desired by New Delhi as ithelps create comfortable navigating space in theregion to hedge against major powers while stillavoid antagonism.

The Quad is essentially rejuvenated againstthe backdrop of an emerging narrative for a freeand open Indo-Pacific and not much for a pan-regional inclusiveness. This narrative is presum-ably aimed against China as its heavy militari-sation and territorial claims in the South ChinaSea along with its strategic naval outposts in theIndian Ocean region are being primarily heldas the main disrupting force in the region. Whileas a unit, the Quad seeks to balance China insome ways, India has not drawn a clear line vis-à-vis China in the Indo-Pacific. Presently, it ispart of the Quad, which emphasises on balanc-ing Chinese aggression in the region by seek-ing a rules-based order, and at the same time,it is talking of an inclusive region which is notaimed against any particular country.

As such, the limits of “inclusivity” are leftundefined in India’s Indo-Pacific discourse.This narrative establishes the notion that India’svision of the Indo-Pacific isn’t about balanc-ing or restricting China. Rather, the tilt

towards the Quad is only a commitment undershared principles and values. The other issuein India’s Indo-Pacific discourse is an inher-ent dichotomy. India’s vision of the Indo-Pacificand its distinctive inclusiveness in the regionis against the premise of minilateralism thatthe Quad presupposes. Then, the puzzlingquestion is whether a certain degree of inclu-sivity, as sought by India, would make theQuad’s minilateralism powerless? In effect,India’s Indo-Pacific vision has added furtheruncertainty in the regional discourse aroundgrouping and partnerships. And it is the lackof clarity which is largely rendering the Quadunproductive.

Need for a security architecture vision:New Delhi should visualise the Indo-Pacific asa springboard to connect the ends of the twooceans across the maritime expanse of theIndo-Pacific. As New Delhi gradually seeks tobolster its presence in the region and take upthe role of a net security provider, it needs toshed its reluctance to move up to the strait ofHormuz and beyond the Strait of Malacca.While the Quad can be converted into a vehi-cle to provide the much-needed security archi-tecture in the region, its effectiveness woulddepend upon how much clarity India adds vis-a-vis its own regional minilateral engagementsin the Indo-Pacific. India needs to outline aclear stance with respect to its engagements oneither side of the spectrum; the rest of the Quadmembers as well as China. As such, answers toa few questions that could bring clarity to India’soperational strategy in the Indo-Pacific aremuch-needed and in order. Should India con-tinue its strategy of perceiving the Quad andthe Indo-Pacific as decoupled or see the twoas symbiotic? And, to what extent is India’sIndo-Pacific strategy “inclusive”?

(Vivek Mishra is Assistant Professor ofInternational Relations, Netaji Institute for AsianStudies and Udayan Das is Doctoral Candidatein International Relations at Jadavpur University)

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The meteoric rise of China andits assertive influence in theIndo-Pacific region have meant

that India is strengthening its nego-tiating space by forging economic andstrategic ties with the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN).This has been particularly necessitat-ed by the gradual decline in the USposturing in the region while Chinahas been multiplying its dominancewith the creation of an artificialisland in the South China Sea, theunilateral establishment of AirDefence Identification Zone (ADIZ)in the East China Sea and the Belt andRoad Initiative (BRI) connectingAsia to Africa to name a few. This,therefore, makes it imperative upon

the Indian military establishment topitch for the expansion of Quad —the quadrilateral regional alliance ofIndia, Australia, Japan and the UnitedStates — with the objective of coun-tering Chinese supremacy and ensur-ing autonomy over territorial waters.

Why is the Indo-Pacific regionemerging as the new strategic hub?Several trade routes criss-cross thechoppy waters. Experts say morethan 40 per cent of the global sea-borne trade pass through the vitalStraits of Malacca. Moreover, 15.5million barrels of global oil trade passthrough the Gulf of Hormuz; and 11million barrels of oil pass throughMalacca and the Singapore Straits. Sothe tussle is over freedom of naviga-tion, territorial rights, explorationand use of marine resources anddeployment of military forces in theregion by each country to protect itsinterests and resource base.

As top Navy officials of India,US, Japan, Australia and Franceassembled at the Raisina Dialogue inNew Delhi, Indian Navy chief SunilLanba argued for greater coopera-tion by citing the rapid expansion of

the Chinese naval presence in recentyears, particularly in the IndianOcean Region (IOR). Lanba said noNavy had grown so rapidly in the last200 years as the Chinese one and thatat any given time, there are aroundeight Chinese Navy ships in thenorthern part of the Indian Ocean.

Keeping the best interests of allcountries in mind as per the UnitedNations Convention on the Law ofthe Sea (UNCLOS), the Quad’sresponsibility is building a rule-based order to keep an eye onChina’s increasing footprint in theSouth China Sea. The Quad allianceemphasises on improving inter-operability and evolving a commonmaritime awareness template collec-tively with timely Naval exercises.Malabar is seen as a counter toChina’s expansion in this respect. ButChina cleverly cancelled Australia’sbid to join the Malabar naval exer-cise in 2017-18, confining it to anobserver status only.

While the Malabar naval exercisebetween India and the US has beenan annual exercise since 1992, Quadbecame a reality in 2007. However,

it began evolving since 2004, whenthe “tsunami” in the Indian Oceanregion brought together Australia,Japan and the US to launchHumanitarian Assistance andDisaster Relief (HADR)operationswith us.

Over time, navies of the Quadcountries have primed themselves tofight different maritime challengeslike boat terrorism, piracy, drugtrafficking and weapons smugglingand is now moving together tocheck China’s territorial ambitions onwaters by simply developing portsand islands belonging to smallercountries as part of its Belt and RoadInitiative. The Australian ForeignMinister, Marise Payne, too, hasechoed these concerns as she stressedon the expansion of the Quadalliance and called for a strategicpartnership with India, supporting itsrole as a strategic anchor in theregion. She quoted Indian PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s Shangri Ladialogue about India’s Act East pol-icy of stepped-up activity with Aseanand bridging south and SoutheastAsia, highlighting bilateral ties with

Australia. Underlining the need for the cre-

ation of an Indian Ocean RegionalArchitecture (IORA), Payne assuredthat Australia would also supportmulti-lateral mechanisms to safe-guard peace in the Indo-Pacificregion. During his keynote addressat the 2018 Shangri La Dialogue,Modi underscored the global impor-tance of the Indo-Pacific region as acollaborative space when he empha-sised that “India does not see theIndo-Pacific region as a strategy oras a club of limited members. Nor asa grouping that seeks to dominate.And by no means do we consider itas directed against any country.”

Pertinently, in September 2018,India and United States released ajoint statement as part of their 2+2dialogue: “Indo-Pacific is a free, openand inclusive concept, with Aseancentrality at the core and defined bya common rules-based order.”

Given that China is heavingover this concept, the Quad’s chal-lenges with regard to China are tomaintain international law, ensurepeaceful settlement of disputes and

freedom of navigation and allowcommerce in the region, includingthe South China sea, according toglobal practices.

Chinese Foreign Minister WangYi has derided the idea of Quad asnothing but sea foam but Chinashould not underestimate the emerg-ing power equation with the US’ new-found determination to restore a bal-ance of power in the Indo-Pacificregion and further isolate China fol-lowing their trade wars. The US isnow even compelling China todeclare why it is averse to taking astand on global terrorist MasoodAzhar at the UN Security Council. Itis pulling out the worst of China’shuman rights records. In this context,Quad is being viewed as the 21st cen-tury’s security alliance against anaggressive China which now sees theUS as spearheading a new version ofthe Cold War. However, as per topnaval officials, the main objective ofQuad is to maintain a free and openIndo-Pacific region which serves thebest interest of all countries.

(The writer is PrincipalCorrespondent, The Pioneer)

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If the country has to be dis-ruptor to occupy its place

among other developed coun-tries, it has to follow a cultureof ensuring debtors honourcontracts with banks and finan-cial institutions, chief eco-nomic adviser DrKrishnamurthy Subramaniansaid Friday.

“It is extremely importantto respect the moral dimen-sions of the debt contract,” hesaid while delivering hisaddress at the annual regionalmeeting and summit on‘Industry Future Forward’organised here by the tradebody CII.

The debt contract in itselfhas moral essence with theequity holder and the busi-nessman keeps all the goodsand repays the obligations tothe banks. But if things go bad,it is beholden to that contrac-tual obligation, he said.

So far, the country hasbeen having a situation inwhich private profits and loss-es were getting socialisedthrough banks, he said.

This was because whatappears in the deposits are thetax payers’ money, he said.

“So this important changein culture is absolutely para-mount if the nation has to bea disruptor,” he said.

He said the country hastaken an unprecedented step byintroducing bankruptcy there-by ensuring smaller and larg-er borrowers were broughtunder it.

“By ensuring rather thanlooking at who is that man onwhom the rule is being applied,the bankruptcy rule is appliedequally well. But, there is stillsome progress we have to makehere”, he said.

Subramanian, whoassumed office three monthsago, said though the 7.5 percent average GDP growthrecorded in the last five years,it happened primarily becauseof the increase in consumptionin domestic economy.

“Our growth has happenedbased on domestic consump-tion and it makes us moreimmune to sort of some of theshocks that we may experienceand that is a good aspect wemust definitely keep in mind,”

he said.Pointing to the inflation

rates which were in excess of 10per cent between 2014-15,Subramanian said, “Over the lastfive years, the average rate ofinflation has been about 4.5 percent which is a significant changecompared to 10 per cent- plusinflations that prevailed.”

He said the change in infla-tion can be attributed to thestructural change by makingthe Reserve Bank of India aninflation targeter and ensuringthat the rate of inflation is inthe band of four per cent plus-minus two per cent.

“As we continue to debateabout inflation etc, to my mind,at least monetary frameworkhas been an important frame-work in lowering the inflation”,he said.

On the implementation ofGoods and Services Tax whichcame into effect in July 2017, hesaid based on research no path-breaking change achieves per-fection “immediately”.

“In a country like ours,which is large and diverse, it ismore important for us to be tol-erant to the fact that we will notbe able to hit perfection withpolicy changes immediately.But, let’s recognise that GST isan important change which atleast creates India as one mar-ket and not 30- odd markets”,he said.

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The Finance Ministry onFriday said the

Government will borrow �4.42lakh crore in the first half of thefiscal 2019-20.

As per the Union Budget,the gross borrowing waspegged at �7.1 lakh crore for2019-20, higher than �5.71lakh crore estimated for theongoing fiscal.

Briefing reporters on theborrowing programme for2019-20, Economic AffairsSecretary Subhash ChandraGarg said gross borrowing willbe �4.42 lakh crore duringApril-September 2019-20.

Net borrowing would be Rs3.4 lakh crore in the first halfof the next fiscal.

Gross borrowing includesrepayments of past loans.Garg also said the Governmentwill stick to the fiscal deficit tar-get of 3.4 per cent of the GDPfor the current fiscal.

The Government raisesfunds from the market to fundits fiscal deficit through datedsecurities and treasury bills.

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GAIL (India) Limited andBharat Heavy Electricals

Limited (BHEL) have inkeda Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) inNew Delhi for cooperationin development of solarbased p ower projec ts .Santanu Roy, Execut iveDirec tor (Bus inessDevelopment), GAIL and SS eetharaman, Genera lManager (Renewable Energy& Water Business), BHELsigned the MoU in presenceof Manoj Jain, Director(Business Development)GAIL and S BalakrishnanDirector (IS&P) BHEL

GAIL shall be the projectdeveloper and BHEL shallac t as an Engineer ing ,Procurement, Constructionand Project ManagementContractor. BHEL shall alsoprovide Op erat ion &Maintenance services duringthe init ia l per iod uponbecoming successful bidder.

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The Reserve Bank on Fridayset the average base rate to

be charged from borrowers bynon-banking financial com-panies (NBFCs) and micro-finance institutions (MFIs) at9.21 per cent for the first quar-ter of the next fiscal.

The applicable average baserate to be charged by Non-Banking Financial Company –Micro Finance Institutions(NBFC-MFIs) to their bor-

rowers for the quarter begin-ning April 01, 2019 will be 9.21per cent, the RBI said in a noti-fication. The regulator inFebruary 2014 had issueddirections to NBFC-MFIsregarding pricing of credit.

The RBI, on the last workingday of every quarter, comes outwith the average of the base ratesof the five largest commercialbanks for the purpose of arrivingat the interest rates to be chargedby NBFC-MFIs to its borrowersin the ensuing quarter.

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More Hypermarket waslaunched in the Omaxe

Connaught Place, GreaterNoida, a property of OmaxeLtd on Friday.

The newly opened MoreMegastore at will offer grocery,fresh food, home and apparel.More Hypermarket comes witha retail space of around 45,824square foot.

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The country’s currentaccount deficit widened to

2.5 per cent of GDP in the thirdquarter of the current fiscalfrom 2.1 per cent a year ago,primarily on account of a high-er trade deficit though the for-eign exchange reserves con-tinued to soar.

Meanwhile, the datareleased by the ControllerGeneral of Accounts (CGA)revealed that the centralGovernment’s fiscal deficit —gap between expenditure andrevenue receipts — had crossed134 per cent of the whole yearof the revised budget estimates(RE) at February-end.

Releasing the data on bal-ance of payments, the ReserveBank said that in absoluteterms, the CAD or the gapbetween inflow and outflow offoreign exchange in the currentaccount was USD 16.9 billionin October-December 2018,up from USD 13.7 billion in theyear-ago period.

The deficit, however, hadmoderated to USD 19.1 billionor 2.9 per cent of GDP in thepreceding quarter (July-September).

“The widening of the CAD(current account deficit) on ayear-on-year basis was pri-marily on account of a highertrade deficit at USD 49.5 billionas compared with USD 44.0billion a year ago,” the RBI saidin a statement.

CAD increased to 2.6 percent of GDP during the April-December 2018 period, from1.8 per cent in April-December2017 on the back of widening

of the trade deficit. Portfolio investment

recorded net outflow of USD2.1 billion in third quarter of2018-19 – as compared with aninflow of USD 5.3 billion incorresponding period of lastyear – on account of net sale inthe equity market, the RBIsaid.

Another set of RBI datashowed India’s foreignexchange reserves continued tosurge for the third week in arow, adding USD 1.029 billionat USD 406.667 billion in theweek to March 22.

Forex reserves hadincreased by USD 3.6 billion toUSD 405.6 billion in the pre-vious reporting week driven byan increase in foreign curren-cy assets.

For the reporting week,foreign currency assets — amajor component of the over-all reserves — increased byUSD 1.031 billion to USD378.805 billion, the RBI saidFriday.

Expressed in the green-backs, foreign currency assetsinclude the effect of apprecia-tion/depreciation of non-US

units like the euro, pound andthe yen held in the reserves.

The reserves had toucheda life-time high of USD 426.028billion in the week to April 13,2018. Since then, the reservekitty has been sliding as therupee came under pressure.

But since March this yearit has been increasing on theback of rising foreign investors’play in domestic equities.

As regards the fiscal deficitdata for April-February 2018-19, the CGA said it stood at Rs8.51 lakh crore as against therevised estimate (RE) of Rs 6.34lakh crore for the entire year.

In percentage terms, thedeficit was 134.2 per cent of thefull-year RE. Revenue receiptsof the central government were�12.65 lakh crore or 73.2 percent of the revised budgetaryestimate (BE) at February end.In the same period last fiscal,the revenue collection was 78.2per cent of the estimates.

The government’s tax rev-enue stood at �10.94 lakh croreand non-tax revenue was Rs 1.7lakh crore.

Total expenditure incurredby the Government during

April-February 2018-19 wasRs 21.88 lakh crore (89.08 percent of RE), of which �19.15lakh crore was on revenueaccount and �2.73 lakh croreon capital account.

While there are apprehen-sions that the government maybreach the fiscal deficit target,Economic Affairs SecretarySubhash Chandra Garg exud-ed confidence that target of 3.4per cent of the GDP for thecurrent fiscal would be met.

Commenting on the CGAdata, Devendra Kumar Pant,Chief Economist, India Ratingsand Research said slow pace oftax collection would keep pres-sure on fiscal deficit.

A higher GDP numberthan the one used in budgetwill help government movecloser to FY19 fiscal deficit at3.4 per cent of GDP, he added.

The finance ministry alsoannounced the government’smarket borrowing programmethrough dated securities andtreasury bills for the first halfof the next fiscal beginningApril 1.

Gross borrowing in thefirst half of the 2019-20 fiscalhas been pegged at �4.42 lakhcrore.

The remaining �2.68 lakhcrore or 37.7 per cent of thetotal gross borrowing would beraised from the markets byfloating government bonds andtreasury bills during October-March period.

The net borrowing in thefirst half (April-September)would be �3.40 lakh crore.The second half net borrowingwould �1.33 lakh crore due toa buyback of �50,000 crore.

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The National Company LawAppellate Tribunal

(NCLAT) on Friday asked thegovernment and the debt-rid-den IL&FS to submit details ofassets and liabilities of 13 enti-ties of the group.

A two-member benchheaded by Chairman Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya asked theIL&FS group to submit thedetails of four ‘amber’ entities— Hazribagh RanchiExpressway Ltd, JharkhandRoad Project ImplementationCompany Ltd, MoradabadBareily Expressway Ltd andWest Gujarat Expressway Ltd.

It also asked IL&FS to pre-pare a similar list for the restnine ‘amber’ entities of thegroup.

Under its resolution plan,the government has categorisedIL&FS group companies intogreen, amber and red categoriesbased on their respective finan-cial positions.

Companies classified as

‘green’ would continue to meettheir payment obligations,while ‘amber’ category firmscan meet only operationalpayment obligations to seniorsecured financial creditors.

Red category entities arethose which cannot meet theirpayment obligations towardseven senior secured financialcreditors.

In its order Friday, theNCLAT bench said, “Union ofIndia and ILFS Ltd are allowedto submit details of assets andliabilities of each of aforesaidfour entities, including theamount payable to one or otherfinancial creditor and opera-tional creditor.”

The matter with regard tothese four amber entities will betaken up on the next date ofhearing, which is April 8.

“However, in the mean-time, with regard to rest of thenine Amber entities, similarstatus report be prepared andkept ready for taking up theirmatter subsequently,” the ordersaid.

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The Commerce Ministry onFriday underlined the need

for realising huge untappedtrade potential with Europeanand Oceania countries thathave emerged as the majorsources of investment.

India has made efforts inthe recent past to take eco-nomic ties to the next level andthere is a need to take theseefforts to a logical conclusion,it said in a statement.

Quoting CommerceSecretary Anup Wadhawan, itsaid that like most trade nego-tiations between developingand developed countries, tradetalks with the European Unionand Oceania have been pro-tracted.

“India is a developingcountry and EU and Oceaniacountries are predominantlydeveloped and because of this,our ambitions, aspirations andsensitivities are at divergence insome specific areas,” he said.

India and the EU are nego-

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tiating a comprehensive free-trade agreement but no majormovement as happened sinceMay 2013.

He also emphasised on theneed to appreciate each other’sconstraints and try to find away forward which is doablefor all stakeholders.

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Rising for the secondstraight day, the BSESensex vaulted over 127

points while the NSE Nifty fin-ished above the 11,600-markon Friday on heavy buying inauto and metal stocks amidrobust foreign fund inflowsand positive global leads.

The 30-share Sensex start-ed off on a strong footing at38,675 points and touched ahigh of 38,748.54 before wind-ing up at 38,672.91, recording arise of 127.19, or 0.33%.

The 50-share NSE Niftyclosed at 11,623.90, higher by53.90 points, or 0.47%, afterhovering between 11,630.35and 11,570.15.

On a weekly basis, theSensex advanced over 508points, or 1.33%, while theNifty gained 167 points or1.45%.

Analysts attributed the con-tinuing market rally to robustinvestor sentiment driven byforeign fund inflows, strongerrupee and a likely positive out-come of the US-China tradetalks.

In the Sensex pack, Vedantarallied 3.20% on Friday, fol-lowed by Tata Steel, M&M,Tata Motors, ONGC, HindustanUnilever, Maruti, HeroMotoCorp, HDFC, Bajaj

Finance, SBI, HDFC Bank, HCLTech, Coal India, Sun Pharma,Infosys, Reliance and BhartiAirtel, rising up to 2.69%.

On the other hand,IndusInd Bank emerged as thetop loser, dropping 2.08%.

Other major laggards wereITC, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank,Axis Bank, Asian Paints,PowerGrid, NTPC, Kotak Bankand L&T, shedding up to 1.10%.

“Market continued theupward movement supportedby global cues, which rallied inexpectation of US-China tradedeal. However, the market is fac-ing resistance while nearingthe all-time high.

“Investors are lookingahead to get cues from generalelection during which earn-ings growth in Q4 will beinevitable to support the rally,”said Vinod Nair, head ofresearch at Geojit FinancialServices.

Sectorally, the BSE metalindex gained the most at 2.33%,followed by basic materials(2.10%), healthcare (1.37%) andauto (1.22%). FMCG, utilitiesand bankex indices closed in thered, losing up to 0/14%.

Meanwhile, foreign institu-tional investors (FIIs) boughtshares worth a net �3,594.51crore on Thursday, whiledomestic institutional investorswere sellers to the tune of

�2,080.22 crore, provisionaldata available with BSE showed.

The rupee appreciated by 16paise on Friday to close at 69.14against the US dollar on per-sistent foreign fund inflows andheavy buying in domestic equi-ties.

At the Interbank ForeignExchange (forex) market, thedomestic unit opened strong at69.20 but surrendered the gainsto slip to a low of 69.32.However, it clawed back lostground and finally ended at69.14, up 16 paise over its pre-vious close. On Thursday, therupee had slumped 42 paise toend at 69.30.

On the global front, USPresident Donald Trump saidtrade talks with China were pro-gressing “very well”, as topnegotiators from the two coun-tries on Thursday began anoth-er round of meetings to resolvetheir tariff dispute.

Elsewhere in Asia, HongKong’s Hang Seng rose 0.96%,Shanghai Composite Index wassoared 3.20%, Korea’s Kospigained 0.59% and Japan’s Nikkeiended 0.82% higher. In theEurozone, Frankfurt’s DAXgained 0.37%, Paris CAC 40rose 0.61% and London’s FTSEwas up 0.58% in early deals.

Global oil benchmark Brentcrude futures rose 0.44% toUSD 68.12 per barrel.

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Infrastructure giant Larsen& Toubro (L&T) on Friday

announced a new initiative,L&T-Nxt, to focus on new-agetechnologies like artificialintelligence and cybersecurity.

L&T-Nxt will focus on theareas of artificial intelligence,internet of things (IoT), virtualreality, augmented reality,geospatial solutions as well ascybersecurity and leverage theexperience that L&T has gar-nered over the decades.

“Larsen & Toubro hasannounced a new strategic ini-tiative, L&T-Nxt, to define thefuture of the organisation froma fresh perspective. It has beenidentified as a select initiative inL&T’s five-year strategic plan,”the company said in a statement.

The company said it wasideally placed to capitalise onthese huge emerging opportu-nities with its large palette span-ning software to hardcore engi-neering, backed by a strongtechnology base.

The company has deployedIoT, analytics and AI in theindustrial sector by convertingmost operational matters onlinelike finance, human resources,labour, plant, material etc. intosmart, affordable and efficientsolutions.“Disruption hasbecome the new order and as weembrace new and frontier tech-nologies, our businesses areleapfrogging into entirely new

realms powered by the tremen-dous benefits of digitalisationand analytics,” said SNSubrahmanyan, CEO and man-aging director of Larsen &Toubro. Subrahmanyan furthersaid “we are committing signif-icant investments and talentinto this strategic effort and areconfident that this will be anenabler for business”.

Capability development insome of these select verticals hasbeen in the works under a long-term strategic plan and L&T’smanagement is focused on incu-bating and scaling these busi-ness, mapping the landscape,formulating the road ahead,and achieving the stated goalwith go to market solutions, thecompany said.

JD Patil, senior executivevice-president (defence busi-ness) and member of the boardfeels that the era of cyber-phys-ical systems is just beginning.“With the lines between thephysical and digital blurring,Industry 4.0 is being founded,”he commented and added: “Wesee new technology businessesand sunrise enterprises as primeconstituents with the latentupside for rapid and substantialvalue creation.”

Larsen & Toubro is anIndian multinational engaged intechnology, engineering, con-struction, manufacturing andfinancial services with over USD18 billion in revenue. It operatesin over 30 countries worldwide.

New Delhi (PTI): Investors’wealth zoomed �8.83 lakh croreduring 2018-19 fiscal driven bya rally in the broader marketwhere the BSE benchmarkjumped over 17%. The 30-shareSensex advanced 5,704.23points or 17.30% during 2018-19. It rose 127.19 points to fin-ish at 38,672.91 on Friday, thelast trading day of the financialyear. During this time, theindex touched an all-time highof 38,989.65 on August 29,2018.

Led by the rally in stocks,the market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listed companiesrose by �8,83,714.01 crore to�1,51,08,711.01 crore. Investors’wealth had surged �20.70 lakhcrore during 2017-18 fiscal.

“Since the dawn of 2019,Nifty has managed to overcomemultiple hurdles (Indo-Pak ten-sion, concerns of slowdown inglobal economy and risingcrude oil prices),” said PriteshMehta, senior vice president(research) at YES Securities(India) Limited.

March saw Nifty breakingout from a three-month con-solidation period between10,600-11,100, Mehta added.

“Investors are lookingahead to get cues from generalelection during which earninggrowth in Q4 will be inevitableto support the rally,” said VinodNair, head of research at GeojitFinancial Services.

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New Delhi: Online grocery platform BigBasket has raisedabout USD 150 million from South Korea’s Mirae AssetManagement, UK’s CDC Group, and existing investor Alibaba,according to regulatory filings. Bigbasket had raised USD 300million in February last year from Alibaba and others. InNovember, it had said it was looking at raising fresh funds of upto USD 200 million. Mirae has pumped in about USD 60 mil-lion, while CDC and Alibaba have infused USD 40 million andUSD 50 million, respectively, according to documents filed withthe corporate affairs ministry. The grocery segment accounts fora significant portion of the unorganised retail segment in thecountry. With people becoming comfortable buying even milkand bread online, the online grocery market is projected to wit-ness a strong growth over the next few years in India. BigBasket’scompetitors include SoftBank-backed Grofers, Walmart-backedFlipkart, Amazon and a host of smaller players.

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Mumbai: India Inc’s borrowings from foreign markets fell toUSD 2.81 billion in February, down by 9% as compared to theyear-ago month, data from the Reserve Bank of India showed onFriday. The domestic firms had raised as much as USD 3.1 bil-lion through the external commercial borrowing (ECB) route inthe corresponding month of 2018. No firm tapped the rupee-denominated bonds route to borrow capital from foreign mar-kets during February. The entire fund mop-up during the monthwas done through the automatic route of ECB, showed the RBIdata. Among the major borrowers were Oil India Ltd (USD 550million for overseas investment), Indian Oil Corporation (USD400 million as working capital loan), Shriram Transport FinanceCompany (USD 400 million for sub-lending) and Mahindra &Mahindra Financial Services (USD 300 million for sub-lending).Tata Capital Housing Finance raised USD 200 million for on-lend-ing, HPCL Rajasthan Refinery USD 140.71 million for new pro-ject investment, and Barclays Global Services Centre Pvt Ltd USD130.11 million for new project.

!������������ ���� � ��� ���������New Delhi: Drug firm Jubilant Life Sciences on Friday said

its subsidiary had redeemed the outstanding loan of Washington-based International Finance Corporation (IFC) with a one-timesettlement of USD 135 million (over �900 crore). PTI

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Script Open High Low LTPSUZLON 6.51 6.59 6.02 6.15JPASSOCIAT 5.33 5.56 5.26 5.50SBILIFE 616.00 616.00 577.50 579.55IBULHSGFIN 823.80 864.75 806.05 857.20RPOWER 10.77 11.63 10.75 11.36IDEA 17.85 20.45 17.85 18.15YESBANK 277.50 281.30 273.30 275.05IDBI 45.40 47.35 44.75 46.65DHFL 150.20 154.40 149.35 150.50JINDALSTEL 166.00 181.25 166.00 179.55IBVENTURES 318.05 343.95 312.05 325.35SBIN 320.20 322.95 316.70 320.80MARUTI 6632.60 6771.30 6570.00 6671.70SPICEJET 98.95 99.75 96.75 97.75PNB 95.70 97.45 94.60 95.40BANKBARODA 131.00 133.10 127.80 128.80RELINFRA 135.15 140.10 135.15 136.70BHEL 71.80 75.40 71.80 74.90TATAMOTORS 171.00 177.10 171.00 174.30DLF 196.00 206.55 194.00 201.60TRIDENT 68.50 74.00 68.50 71.80ICICIBANK 401.00 402.70 395.15 398.85RELIANCE 1366.00 1376.00 1356.10 1363.05JETAIRWAYS 275.00 280.00 266.60 269.35GRAPHITE 448.00 469.00 444.50 446.85DABUR 413.10 413.60 406.65 409.05TATASTEEL 511.00 524.95 509.00 520.85RELCAPITAL 204.65 207.85 202.60 204.20VEDL 178.10 185.20 178.10 183.75PCJEWELLER 82.30 84.80 81.95 82.50HEG 2121.00 2200.85 2082.40 2094.15ASHOKLEY 89.45 92.20 88.60 91.30INFY* 742.00 747.65 740.00 742.30TCS 2017.90 2024.90 1986.75 2000.40BEML 1010.00 1029.40 1003.40 1013.35RBLBANK 685.00 692.10 677.75 681.35LT 1389.30 1405.00 1380.00 1384.05FEDERALBNK 94.10 97.95 93.80 96.40BEL 94.90 96.10 92.90 93.30INDIACEM 102.35 109.00 102.00 108.20SAIL 51.00 54.40 51.00 53.70ZEEL 444.25 453.45 437.25 444.30HDFCLIFE 373.70 384.30 369.50 378.50MOTHERSUMI 145.50 150.10 144.60 149.25SUNPHARMA 478.80 482.90 472.80 479.25M&M 660.00 675.00 658.40 671.80ONGC 155.40 161.35 155.40 159.55IDFCFIRSTB 54.95 55.60 54.50 55.20BAJFINANCE 2997.20 3035.00 2967.70 3024.85PETRONET 246.00 252.40 244.90 250.50AXISBANK 778.95 780.95 768.15 776.10HINDPETRO 275.10 285.85 275.00 283.50ITC 301.05 302.95 295.80 296.70IPCALAB 965.00 1042.00 959.35 982.60RECLTD 149.00 153.25 148.55 152.85PFC 118.05 124.20 117.70 123.00HEROMOTOCO 2540.00 2578.00 2528.00 2555.25CANBK 295.10 297.55 289.00 291.95NTPC 136.50 140.35 132.85 135.35WOCKPHARMA 432.00 450.00 432.00 443.00APOLLOHOSP 1192.60 1250.00 1190.85 1220.95SIEMENS 1100.00 1139.10 1100.00 1127.95JSWSTEEL 290.00 298.00 289.00 292.85JUBILANT 659.10 673.00 659.00 664.20LAKSHVILAS 64.10 70.50 64.10 70.50SUNTV 606.30 638.25 606.30 627.05AUROPHARMA 770.60 802.00 770.60 786.00IBREALEST 91.85 93.25 90.55 92.20PEL 2710.00 2767.75 2710.00 2754.70HDFCBANK 2305.95 2321.80 2294.50 2316.50HINDUNILVR 1688.60 1710.00 1688.60 1707.80ADANIPOWER 47.40 50.30 46.90 48.20NATIONALUM 53.20 55.95 53.20 55.40PNBHOUSING 834.40 870.00 833.00 865.70L&TFH 153.30 153.30 150.55 152.45NBCC 65.90 66.60 65.50 66.30HDFC 1949.95 1972.00 1936.35 1967.30WIPRO 257.95 259.60 254.35 254.75INDUSINDBK 1812.00 1813.65 1773.00 1782.10BOMDYEING 138.60 139.30 134.15 135.05BANKINDIA 106.00 106.90 103.25 104.30IOC 162.90 165.10 162.20 162.70LTI 1700.00 1718.00 1639.70 1684.20KOTAKBANK 1354.00 1354.00 1331.15 1335.75EDELWEISS 195.95 198.40 192.75 197.00UNIONBANK 97.00 98.25 94.80 95.50JUSTDIAL 619.90 621.05 601.50 603.75UJJIVAN 343.00 352.30 337.10 347.95ABCAPITAL 98.85 99.75 96.40 97.65ESCORTS 804.00 807.55 789.40 796.85TATAPOWER 72.40 74.55 72.10 73.80BAJAJ-AUTO 2950.00 2951.00 2895.15 2915.05WABCOINDIA 6750.00 7082.65 6546.90 6664.85ICICIGI 1006.50 1037.00 994.45 1032.85GRUH 274.95 279.00 267.00 276.00GAIL 357.85 360.00 344.10 347.30BRITANNIA 3117.90 3124.00 3052.00 3081.95BPCL 386.10 398.20 386.10 396.35BANDHANBNK 524.10 528.70 514.00 524.95LUPIN 736.70 745.00 730.00 739.10SYNDIBANK 43.35 43.80 42.50 43.05IFCI 13.64 14.09 13.60 13.77GMRINFRA 20.05 20.35 19.65 19.80ADVENZYMES 172.00 185.00 171.30 182.90INDIANB 280.25 286.60 274.40 278.50NMDC 102.85 105.75 102.20 104.15COALINDIA 237.00 238.90 233.75 236.80BAJAJFINSV 6992.00 7064.95 6940.05 7035.45

INDOSTAR 386.80 426.55 383.80 419.15SCHNEIDER 104.20 117.50 104.10 112.15BALKRISIND 982.05 1023.00 982.05 994.55EXIDEIND 221.40 223.70 217.95 218.65GODREJPROP 852.00 874.30 802.25 814.35TAKE 144.05 151.20 144.05 149.75INDIGO 1435.00 1450.00 1422.20 1427.10ACC 1612.20 1675.00 1602.40 1661.00UPL 935.00 958.90 925.95 956.00ICICIPRULI 351.70 355.95 347.50 349.50HCLTECH 1090.00 1099.00 1069.00 1088.00TITAN 1127.00 1146.00 1112.65 1137.50HINDALCO 204.00 207.80 204.00 205.35JAICORPLTD 118.20 118.50 115.00 115.45BAJAJHLDNG 3604.30 3610.40 3316.80 3418.05ORIENTBANK 114.00 116.35 113.15 115.70CENTRALBK 35.30 36.95 35.30 36.50DISHTV 39.50 39.65 38.20 38.85TECHM 778.00 782.50 771.15 776.20TVSMOTOR 473.10 480.50 470.05 474.45GRASIM 842.85 860.10 829.20 858.20RAIN 102.30 104.40 100.95 102.50AVANTI 420.95 423.75 405.00 407.85PHILIPCARB 178.65 181.30 175.20 176.65UFLEX 216.00 232.25 215.25 227.20DELTACORP 262.05 265.00 253.10 254.70HAVELLS 762.00 779.60 762.00 770.95TATAGLOBAL 199.70 206.00 199.55 203.15ADANIPORTS 382.70 385.90 375.80 378.00SRF 2454.00 2466.60 2353.10 2404.10UNITEDBNK 11.30 11.43 11.01 11.06ALBK 54.75 55.80 54.40 54.65APOLLOTYRE 218.75 223.30 217.90 221.75BHARATFORG 492.00 516.65 492.00 511.60LTTS 1550.20 1592.85 1522.60 1571.10AJANTPHARM 1006.05 1062.25 1006.05 1030.40GODREJCP 698.20 698.20 681.60 687.15STRTECH 220.00 221.90 217.25 218.60AMBUJACEM 232.80 236.00 230.55 235.05PIDILITIND 1245.90 1248.85 1227.50 1242.35M&MFIN 432.50 435.00 419.80 420.95GLENMARK 651.00 667.00 643.05 645.55STAR 467.70 479.25 465.25 471.65JSWENERGY 69.80 73.25 69.05 72.60NOCIL 149.45 149.45 145.60 147.15MERCK 3599.00 3700.00 3580.05 3673.65CANFINHOME 346.00 356.15 346.00 348.55IDFC 46.60 48.05 46.20 46.40BHARTIARTL 331.60 336.00 328.95 332.90ADANITRANS 216.90 227.80 215.85 217.90

JAGRAN 119.95 128.00 116.55 123.45MGL 1039.50 1057.20 1030.40 1046.90CADILAHC 337.95 349.00 337.00 346.60GUJGAS 146.30 152.30 144.85 148.25BATAINDIA 1413.00 1423.70 1402.50 1408.50GNFC 314.95 315.90 305.90 306.90ADANIGREEN 36.00 38.40 35.50 37.25INFIBEAM 42.55 44.15 42.35 42.95RAYMOND 800.00 815.65 799.75 809.45ABB 1327.95 1328.00 1310.00 1319.85MUTHOOTFIN 614.00 624.70 611.00 615.70RAMCOCEM 717.80 739.50 705.60 736.30RCOM 4.14 4.14 4.14 4.14JINDALSAW 86.00 89.20 86.00 86.55FORCEMOT 1707.00 1734.00 1690.00 1700.05BIOCON 610.00 618.90 607.00 611.00KAJARIACER 578.55 597.65 578.50 590.70WELCORP 133.00 136.55 133.00 135.65CIPLA 529.00 531.50 524.35 529.30UBL 1385.00 1401.95 1375.95 1395.15SOUTHBANK 16.60 16.78 16.45 16.54TTKPRESTIG 8640.00 8960.00 8555.00 8696.05CEATLTD 1094.60 1130.00 1091.30 1124.25CONCOR 515.25 528.75 511.00 524.65JUBLFOOD 1459.35 1460.00 1434.00 1442.90CENTURYTEX 911.75 935.00 908.10 932.55SRTRANSFIN 1276.50 1288.35 1253.30 1273.40SPARC 196.40 196.85 190.50 192.00NESTLEIND 11040.00 11225.00 10800.00 10994.25DMART 1480.00 1487.40 1461.05 1470.10ASIANPAINT 1500.70 1507.95 1485.00 1491.90INFRATEL 317.90 317.90 310.95 313.45SOBHA 485.00 523.40 483.00 512.95GODFRYPHLP 1141.25 1176.50 1129.50 1159.55TATAMTRDVR 85.25 87.25 84.70 85.80NCC 111.00 113.70 111.00 112.60MANAPPURAM 126.60 128.60 124.00 124.60DRREDDY 2740.00 2780.00 2733.85 2774.15EICHERMOT 20800.00 20800.00 20448.00 20538.10ABFRL 223.00 223.90 218.00 220.95

VIPIND 485.00 495.00 477.00 486.10HEXAWARE 337.10 346.65 337.10 344.55HFCL 23.00 23.40 22.50 22.80DEEPAKNI 279.00 282.70 273.40 274.60MARICO 340.00 346.95 337.00 345.25OIL 184.60 187.90 182.05 185.35LICHSGFIN 536.25 540.20 528.00 533.45CGPOWER 43.40 44.30 42.35 42.75PERSISTENT* 636.00 650.00 631.10 633.15DIVISLAB 1673.30 1714.70 1673.30 1703.20LALPATHLAB 1075.00 1080.00 1040.00 1054.50JAMNAAUTO 60.20 63.25 59.75 62.75JMFINANCIL 94.95 96.40 92.50 93.95TATAMETALI 655.00 669.00 646.10 648.95EQUITAS 136.50 139.25 135.85 136.70VENKYS 2320.00 2335.05 2245.25 2257.65RNAM 204.45 211.75 204.40 210.05JKTYRE 90.50 92.90 90.05 91.75J&KBANK 55.00 55.50 53.00 53.75HUDCO 44.50 45.85 44.30 44.95MANPASAND 120.00 121.90 114.00 116.95INOXLEISUR 332.55 334.95 323.95 328.80MINDTREE 946.00 952.00 942.00 943.95OBEROIRLTY 530.00 542.00 521.00 527.30JISLJALEQS 58.40 59.50 58.25 58.95GSPL 187.50 191.35 182.10 189.25CROMPTON 218.00 229.50 209.70 225.65TORNTPOWER 251.05 258.00 251.05 257.20REDINGTON 97.10 103.25 96.70 102.35CARBORUNIV 392.00 415.25 380.40 406.15POWERGRID 198.00 200.40 197.10 198.10SADBHAV 246.85 251.00 246.65 249.15DBL 660.00 665.00 640.00 643.45FCONSUMER 45.15 45.35 44.75 45.10VBL 818.75 878.50 818.75 865.15THERMAX 991.75 994.30 968.50 972.25SFL 1234.00 1270.95 1231.00 1258.30TATAELXSI 964.00 970.75 958.85 963.25MCX 804.05 816.85 792.50 806.75TATACHEM 587.00 593.40 580.00 587.50IRB 144.55 147.40 142.25 145.30CUMMINSIND 745.55 757.00 740.00 745.05ULTRACEMCO 3934.00 4018.20 3916.60 3999.05CHOLAFIN 1460.00 1473.20 1441.25 1447.50VOLTAS 634.95 634.95 627.10 630.45NHPC 24.60 24.90 24.60 24.75OMAXE 207.95 207.95 205.30 206.35WESTLIFE 437.60 440.00 425.20 428.70ITI 96.85 97.60 95.10 95.70BLISSGVS 178.30 181.00 176.25 179.95WABAG 328.00 341.35 326.85 331.65NAVKARCORP 40.10 40.60 39.00 39.15MPHASIS 964.00 1000.00 952.45 988.85FSL 48.45 48.45 46.75 47.05JSLHISAR 91.60 94.40 91.50 93.75AARTIIND 1570.00 1595.55 1558.55 1573.10GODREJIND 538.20 539.80 528.65 536.05NIITTECH 1325.00 1351.95 1322.00 1325.05KEC 306.00 306.00 298.00 299.60IGL 309.90 310.00 303.60 304.50INTELLECT 207.50 210.70 202.95 203.60ENGINERSIN 116.10 117.80 115.80 117.00DCBBANK 205.15 208.50 204.00 204.35CHENNPETRO 269.80 275.00 269.80 272.75NBVENTURES 103.00 121.00 102.40 111.75BAJAJELEC 562.25 563.60 552.40 558.85PAGEIND 24700.00 25000.00 24538.00 24897.35MEGH 62.10 62.35 61.10 61.30THOMASCOOK 248.00 259.00 244.00 252.70PVR 1642.00 1671.95 1640.00 1644.15TV18BRDCST 35.20 35.80 34.90 35.50RALLIS 161.00 167.35 159.00 165.10CASTROLIND 165.00 167.55 164.35 166.50SHRIRAMCIT 1803.90 1900.00 1803.90 1859.65HIMATSEIDE 217.00 223.00 208.40 218.15HINDCOPPER 48.90 49.60 48.65 48.95COLPAL 1259.70 1264.50 1251.10 1258.45BBTC 1318.00 1318.00 1275.30 1302.40SUNTECK 463.20 464.95 453.55 460.65JSL 39.70 41.55 39.50 40.55PRSMJOHNSN 95.00 96.60 92.00 95.85INDHOTEL 151.00 155.75 149.50 154.35KTKBANK 131.10 134.55 131.10 133.45GDL 132.20 140.00 129.00 132.55ASTRAZEN 1976.40 2070.00 1970.95 1998.30RAJESHEXPO 698.00 698.00 663.00 666.15COROMANDEL 495.25 506.00 492.25 499.30APLLTD 518.05 548.30 509.00 530.55PARAGMILK 256.70 264.50 255.40 261.50AUBANK 586.00 604.90 573.90 593.30PIIND 1022.05 1038.00 1015.10 1031.30CENTRUM 32.65 32.80 27.00 32.30GSFC 101.95 104.55 101.95 104.25DEEPAKFERT 135.55 136.20 132.00 132.85CUB 201.00 205.65 197.35 204.20HINDZINC 278.60 278.60 274.95 276.40NLCINDIA 69.60 70.10 68.35 69.55KSCL 458.60 465.00 456.25 459.15ANDHRABANK 28.00 28.50 28.00 28.10KANSAINER 449.00 469.90 445.70 457.25MMTC 28.60 28.85 27.85 28.00MOIL 158.40 161.00 157.65 159.00WELSPUNIND 59.45 60.65 59.25 59.65ISGEC 580.00 622.00 560.00 605.00TRENT 366.00 369.40 357.40 359.85RADICO 401.60 401.70 394.50 395.25PFIZER 3292.00 3348.45 3277.00 3320.60SUVEN 264.55 266.90 260.00 260.90RCF 58.85 59.15 58.10 58.50

MINDAIND 336.00 337.80 325.00 326.65MFSL 439.55 440.40 431.00 434.80MRF 56666.00 58250.00 56115.50 58056.30AMARAJABAT 717.00 724.00 717.00 718.95TORNTPHARM 1934.50 1964.00 1932.05 1952.20GICHSGFIN 271.00 276.20 268.65 270.20LAURUSLABS 412.00 412.00 396.10 399.75SUNDRMFAST 569.55 571.55 552.65 565.95GUJFLUORO 1082.30 1111.00 1064.25 1104.70COCHINSHIP 398.00 402.00 389.95 393.95ASTRAL 1160.80 1172.05 1127.75 1158.30HEIDELBERG 181.00 183.05 179.00 180.90BHARATFIN 1137.05 1148.70 1115.15 1131.80GRANULES 115.55 117.20 114.00 114.30PTC 74.15 74.15 73.00 73.55VGUARD 224.05 224.95 219.70 221.40KALPATPOWR 499.00 499.00 465.50 469.50NATCOPHARM* 570.00 578.85 566.25 571.60BOSCHLTD 18050.00 18256.45 17651.00 18165.55COFFEEDAY 298.00 298.00 287.00 289.05GHCL 240.60 249.90 240.60 247.05NIACL 191.00 197.00 190.00 190.75KEI 423.10 428.55 420.10 425.60ASHOKA 131.05 131.10 127.70 128.90SCI 37.55 38.40 37.55 37.95GULFOILLUB 834.45 854.00 824.95 828.80SHREECEM 18250.00 18888.00 17686.95 18634.65HAL 716.30 722.95 706.35 709.80BERGEPAINT 324.35 326.60 322.05 323.65SWANENERGY 108.05 108.20 105.00 107.40INOXWIND 66.75 67.90 66.25 66.90GUJALKALI 499.00 500.25 489.40 493.70BAJAJCON 314.95 315.00 309.00 310.10AEGISLOG 200.30 204.65 198.45 202.95ISEC 242.75 246.25 240.20 242.50CENTURYPLY 199.40 211.10 198.35 207.80CERA 2732.55 3180.00 2730.00 3026.75BAYERCROP 4350.00 4415.00 4325.75 4384.40LUXIND 1345.75 1396.70 1337.85 1376.15FINCABLES 484.05 488.00 473.75 477.35TATACOMM 612.00 617.75 607.65 614.35HSIL 247.00 252.20 245.00 249.95TEJASNET 171.00 173.50 168.00 171.20DCAL 211.00 213.05 207.05 209.40SHANKARA 415.10 417.70 398.00 408.65IFBIND 959.05 986.50 959.05 977.30REPCOHOME 472.65 479.20 460.10 465.55MRPL 74.50 75.45 74.15 74.50EVEREADY 199.70 199.80 192.00 192.65NAUKRI 1872.00 1878.35 1827.20 1842.85MOTILALOFS 600.60 608.60 591.85 600.10NESCO 493.00 494.00 472.40 482.00CYIENT* 670.00 670.00 642.10 647.95DCMSHRIRAM 413.00 420.00 411.20 415.95BDL 282.00 290.00 281.10 283.65SREINFRA 29.45 29.90 29.00 29.80SYNGENE 595.00 596.20 585.00 587.95GODREJAGRO 512.00 512.00 505.00 509.20VINATIORGA 1640.00 1674.00 1613.80 1643.90LAXMIMACH 6028.00 6154.00 5975.00 6093.05UCOBANK 19.05 19.10 18.55 18.75GET&D 276.00 282.00 274.00 274.60OFSS 3400.00 3445.00 3381.10 3387.40GICRE 235.60 243.85 235.60 242.60KNRCON 258.10 267.45 257.70 260.25EIHOTEL 204.00 208.00 198.95 202.55MAGMA 119.50 120.00 115.50 117.50EIDPARRY 204.00 207.00 203.60 205.80PRESTIGE 252.05 254.75 246.00 251.55TATACOFFEE 89.75 91.25 89.70 90.25ECLERX 1150.95 1157.00 1142.60 1151.45EMAMILTD 401.00 402.20 399.00 400.00GSKCONS 7160.00 7274.45 7115.00 7212.60MAXINDIA 71.00 71.00 64.60 66.50TIINDIA 379.60 387.00 376.40 382.10HSCL 117.80 117.90 116.10 117.15FORBESCO 2200.05 2230.00 2175.60 2197.25PNCINFRA 149.35 154.75 148.50 152.45SUDARSCHEM 349.85 351.00 340.50 344.95ALLCARGO 116.50 117.80 114.00 114.55AIAENG 1836.00 1836.00 1781.00 1789.90TATAINVEST 828.75 840.70 826.25 837.30ZENSARTECH 234.85 235.50 226.00 231.65KRBL 342.10 345.70 336.55 337.95JKCEMENT 830.45 868.95 816.10 861.05IOB 14.27 14.69 14.27 14.42ENDURANCE 1149.95 1165.00 1145.80 1159.55GREENPLY 152.00 157.50 151.45 155.35SONATSOFTW 340.00 340.90 335.45 338.20MHRIL 253.00 253.00 238.00 240.05FLFL 489.10 499.90 481.30 485.75ALKEM 1755.00 1764.50 1735.00 1751.80LEMONTREE 81.80 82.30 80.20 80.45MAHINDCIE 233.55 235.00 231.90 233.90TIMKEN 566.00 596.90 566.00 590.05FORTIS 136.25 137.40 135.50 135.80SYMPHONY 1417.00 1417.00 1371.00 1383.95FINOLEXIND 505.00 509.00 486.00 501.40TIMETECHNO 105.90 105.90 102.00 102.80CHAMBLFERT 169.15 170.00 164.35 166.50GRINDWELL 581.00 595.00 575.00 593.45GILLETTE 6695.75 6695.75 6535.00 6564.65MAHABANK 13.98 13.98 13.60 13.69CORPBANK 29.05 29.45 28.55 28.75GREAVESCOT 141.00 142.00 138.95 139.65LAOPALA 220.00 220.10 213.30 216.35IEX 162.50 167.00 160.25 164.40PGHH 10877.95 10950.00 10617.00 10745.90SKFINDIA 1960.00 2050.00 1960.00 2017.85

SUPREMEIND 1097.50 1123.00 1090.00 1113.85FRETAIL 456.85 461.25 452.00 453.60SOMANYCERA 418.00 424.00 411.75 421.70PHOENIXLTD 650.00 667.85 640.20 662.70ATUL 3526.40 3625.00 3500.60 3572.90SJVN 24.15 24.30 23.90 24.20LINDEINDIA 486.00 494.50 485.45 487.95NILKAMAL 1420.50 1444.00 1407.00 1432.00BLUEDART 3600.00 3650.00 3560.00 3582.60SHK 152.95 154.25 151.05 153.45JBCHEPHARM 360.00 362.95 353.60 359.60RELAXO 762.00 780.00 762.00 774.95GLAXO 1300.00 1300.05 1293.05 1299.85SUPRAJIT 243.00 245.00 238.15 243.75GESHIP 281.50 288.80 281.10 282.95NAVINFLUOR 727.25 727.25 704.30 711.15CRISIL 1451.40 1465.00 1450.00 1460.00ORIENTCEM 81.75 83.95 79.25 80.05MAHLOG 513.95 527.00 506.10 522.95QUESS 745.05 759.45 743.00 748.45VTL 1086.70 1106.00 1061.65 1078.80VMART 2706.00 2747.95 2682.00 2695.15GPPL 100.90 100.95 98.55 99.65SUPPETRO 228.95 231.50 217.00 224.05TVTODAY 319.40 320.00 312.00 314.95CCL 287.85 288.05 284.00 284.50CARERATING 1000.00 1000.00 985.00 988.40TRITURBINE 107.35 109.70 106.90 107.40BALMLAWRIE 187.00 187.05 184.80 185.653MINDIA 24000.00 24300.00 23801.00 24067.90WHIRLPOOL 1511.80 1545.00 1504.25 1522.15JYOTHYLAB 185.20 185.90 182.00 182.50JKLAKSHMI 352.90 354.05 345.20 347.65NETWORK18 34.55 35.75 34.55 35.65ASTERDM 152.50 155.90 152.50 154.55BIRLACORPN 520.00 527.00 520.00 525.05SHILPAMED 348.95 349.90 339.00 340.20BLUESTARCO 673.45 682.70 670.00 678.20DHANUKA 404.20 408.00 388.50 392.90SANOFI 5801.60 5909.00 5755.00 5835.15TNPL 209.35 209.95 205.10 205.95SUNCLAYLTD 2813.05 2925.00 2762.95 2897.85APLAPOLLO 1433.25 1450.00 1419.00 1439.70SHOPERSTOP 466.00 478.90 463.00 471.30GAYAPROJ 160.15 163.00 154.40 159.55GMDCLTD 81.70 81.95 81.30 81.50MAHLIFE 360.00 365.75 358.50 359.35SOLARINDS 1060.00 1088.00 1034.90 1076.30ITDC 282.05 283.50 278.35 280.05AKZOINDIA 1785.35 1810.00 1760.00 1788.25JCHAC 2001.05 2090.00 2000.00 2050.25DBCORP 190.55 190.55 185.50 187.45ITDCEM 131.00 132.95 130.20 131.55BASF 1466.45 1495.00 1445.90 1473.75THYROCARE 520.05 533.00 520.05 530.50HERITGFOOD 537.65 549.00 535.55 544.65ESSELPRO 113.00 117.90 113.00 116.75CAPPL 402.00 408.80 400.10 402.35MINDACORP 138.95 139.50 133.40 136.25MAHSCOOTER 3500.00 3550.00 3496.35 3520.65ABBOTINDIA 7300.00 7336.95 7275.75 7296.85GALAXYSURF 1065.00 1077.00 1052.55 1068.70TEAMLEASE 2990.00 3037.80 2950.00 3002.05ZYDUSWELL 1289.00 1313.80 1289.00 1298.45ERIS 625.60 645.00 625.60 644.05FDC 166.70 168.25 165.55 167.50TVSSRICHAK 2231.00 2287.00 2170.00 2195.60SCHAEFFLER 5393.00 5560.00 5386.40 5506.70APARINDS 669.45 675.30 658.05 674.05KPRMILL 579.65 579.65 567.35 573.75SHARDACROP 374.00 378.95 360.80 372.35MONSANTO 2594.60 2600.05 2581.00 2599.90KIOCL 139.65 142.60 139.60 141.65ASAHIINDIA 258.30 262.95 256.40 261.60NAVNETEDUL 108.30 109.20 108.00 108.65ELGIEQUIP 244.00 245.00 241.75 244.45RATNAMANI 904.95 904.95 885.00 894.15STARCEMENT 100.00 100.00 98.45 98.75HONAUT 22151.05 22412.90 22151.05 22248.90NH 214.10 215.90 210.40 213.75SIS 851.00 863.30 845.00 845.85IBULISL 307.65 307.65 307.65 307.65GEPIL 809.65 814.85 806.00 810.80TIFHL 481.00 481.00 476.00 479.00HATSUN 718.85 718.85 703.10 704.65

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11625.45 11630.35 11570.15 11623.90 53.90IBULHSGFIN 824.30 867.30 805.70 860.70 49.55VEDL 178.60 185.40 178.55 184.80 6.75GRASIM 838.80 861.00 828.25 860.00 29.85UPL 930.10 962.90 926.05 958.00 28.95BPCL 387.90 398.90 387.00 397.80 11.95M&M 659.60 675.75 657.75 675.00 19.05TATASTEEL 510.00 525.00 508.05 520.65 14.35ONGC 157.00 162.30 155.50 160.00 4.10DRREDDY 2739.70 2787.95 2733.20 2782.00 64.80ULTRACEMCO 3934.70 4010.00 3913.00 3998.70 89.75TATAMOTORS 171.15 177.05 171.00 173.90 3.35JSWSTEEL 290.30 297.95 288.75 292.90 4.65HINDUNILVR 1695.30 1712.85 1691.90 1706.50 22.60HINDALCO 205.85 207.90 204.45 204.90 2.55BAJAJFINSV 7001.00 7060.00 6941.00 7035.00 82.45MARUTI 6610.00 6775.00 6565.10 6672.00 75.75HEROMOTOCO 2540.00 2577.75 2526.20 2552.10 26.35HDFC 1950.05 1972.25 1936.05 1964.00 19.55TITAN 1134.05 1152.00 1112.00 1145.10 10.85IOC 163.00 165.10 162.20 162.85 1.55BAJFINANCE 3010.00 3034.95 2965.60 3020.50 24.65TECHM 778.95 781.95 771.00 776.40 4.70INFY 743.90 747.95 740.00 742.15 4.35HDFCBANK 2304.60 2325.00 2294.00 2316.00 13.20SBIN 321.10 323.00 316.25 320.55 1.55SUNPHARMA 475.55 482.95 472.30 477.80 2.35BHARTIARTL 331.00 336.35 329.00 331.55 1.60HCLTECH 1090.00 1098.45 1067.65 1087.00 4.10CIPLA 525.75 530.70 524.00 527.45 1.85RELIANCE 1370.05 1376.85 1355.10 1363.05 3.05COALINDIA 236.50 239.30 233.50 236.45 0.35ZEEL 443.50 453.80 437.10 443.30 0.50WIPRO 257.10 259.60 254.35 254.80 0.05TCS 2019.00 2024.90 1983.55 2000.00 -0.30POWERGRID 198.00 200.60 196.75 197.70 -0.55LT 1394.90 1405.00 1380.50 1381.85 -4.85ICICIBANK 402.15 402.40 395.10 399.10 -1.45NTPC 137.15 140.55 132.70 135.25 -0.50ADANIPORTS 383.30 385.90 375.50 379.80 -1.50BRITANNIA 3120.00 3139.00 3045.00 3083.85 -12.70ASIANPAINT 1503.10 1508.65 1485.00 1490.00 -7.00KOTAKBANK 1350.00 1352.00 1329.10 1334.50 -6.25YESBANK 277.90 281.50 273.55 274.50 -1.60AXISBANK 777.00 781.35 767.60 775.20 -5.50ITC 302.00 303.00 295.45 296.55 -3.45INFRATEL 317.50 319.15 310.85 312.60 -4.50BAJAJ-AUTO 2953.00 2953.00 2891.55 2897.00 -51.80EICHERMOT 20795.00 20800.00 20498.00 20516.00 -383.00INDUSINDBK 1812.90 1814.95 1770.35 1781.00 -40.10GAIL 359.05 360.70 344.00 350.00 -8.30

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28019.90 28307.05 27980.25 28281.90 408.85SAIL 51.00 54.35 51.00 53.80 3.10BHEL 71.70 76.35 71.65 75.00 3.45MCDOWELL-N 536.00 558.00 536.00 558.00 25.60HINDPETRO 275.10 286.00 274.80 283.70 11.25DLF 195.95 206.40 193.80 201.80 7.75SIEMENS 1104.00 1137.00 1102.10 1130.00 41.95NMDC 102.40 105.85 102.30 105.00 3.85DIVISLAB 1661.00 1714.90 1661.00 1709.00 54.45ACC 1623.00 1679.85 1601.20 1671.00 53.20PAGEIND 24605.05 25059.45 24511.05 24998.95 751.00MARICO 339.00 347.80 336.45 347.50 9.90CONCOR 513.10 535.00 513.10 526.00 14.80MRF 56300.10 58175.00 56300.10 57900.00 1603.05ASHOKLEY 89.20 92.20 88.60 91.10 2.50MOTHERSUMI 145.00 150.25 144.50 149.80 4.05CADILAHC 337.65 349.20 336.25 345.20 9.25SHREECEM 18160.50 18949.00 17930.00 18750.00 481.15IDEA 17.95 20.45 17.75 17.95 0.45PETRONET 246.70 253.00 244.80 250.50 6.05AUROPHARMA 774.00 802.55 774.00 786.50 17.25PEL 2725.00 2772.65 2715.00 2754.05 60.40ICICIGI 1011.00 1034.95 992.35 1025.45 20.15LUPIN 731.00 745.45 730.00 738.95 14.10PIDILITIND 1234.00 1250.00 1226.50 1248.50 22.55BOSCHLTD 17997.60 18277.10 17629.75 18200.00 313.85HDFCLIFE 372.75 384.25 369.30 377.80 6.25HAVELLS 765.00 780.00 764.55 773.00 12.45UBL 1383.25 1398.85 1376.05 1396.80 21.90AMBUJACEM 234.90 236.20 230.40 235.25 3.40GICRE 239.00 244.75 239.00 242.10 3.40BIOCON 611.50 619.00 606.10 612.00 5.05OFSS 3372.00 3447.05 3365.00 3390.00 27.10HDFCAMC 1520.00 1542.60 1512.00 1533.00 10.35BANDHANBNK 525.00 529.50 514.00 525.60 3.25NHPC 24.60 24.90 24.60 24.75 0.15COLPAL 1252.50 1265.00 1250.70 1258.90 7.00HINDZINC 278.90 278.90 274.65 277.00 1.20ABB 1329.80 1330.00 1310.10 1314.00 -0.90DMART 1479.80 1489.50 1465.00 1469.00 -3.50SRTRANSFIN 1286.20 1289.40 1253.00 1274.95 -3.30PGHH 10829.00 10999.00 10555.15 10799.00 -44.95DABUR 414.30 414.50 407.00 409.00 -1.95ICICIPRULI 351.10 355.55 347.40 350.20 -2.20INDIGO 1433.00 1449.95 1421.50 1427.20 -11.30L&TFH 153.05 153.60 150.50 152.35 -1.25NIACL 191.95 197.25 188.60 190.00 -1.70BANKBARODA 130.95 133.10 127.65 128.75 -1.35GODREJCP 701.85 701.85 680.50 684.30 -9.20BAJAJHLDNG 3570.00 3730.00 3352.10 3402.30 -191.35SBILIFE 614.00 614.00 581.60 582.90 -33.30

Page 12: ˇ ˆ ˙ ˇ - The Pioneer · as bus driver Mahesh Kumar (48), helper Bandu (25), pas-sengers Vineeta (32), Arun ... As per data updated till March 29, authorities have seized 250.18

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Pope Francis on Fridayissued sweeping new sex

abuse legislation for Vaticanpersonnel and Holy See diplo-mats that requires the imme-diate reporting of abuse alle-gations to Vatican prosecu-tors, a policy shift aimed atbeing a model for the CatholicChurch worldwide.

The mandatory reportingprovision of the legislationmarks the first time the Vaticanhas put into law requirementsfor Catholic officials to reportallegations of sex crimes topolice or face fines.

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Turkey’s Foreign Ministersaid on Friday his country

is committed to a deal to pur-chase advanced Russian sur-face-to-air missile defence sys-tem, despite warnings fromWashington that the deal couldput the NATO member coun-try’s participation in the US F-35 fighter aircraft program atrisk.

Turkey’s decision to pur-chase the S-400 air defence sys-tems from Russia has increasedalready tense ties between thetwo NATO allies, includingover the war in Syria.

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British lawmakers on Fridayrejected the Brexit deal pro-

posed by embattled PrimeMinister Theresa May inParliament for the third time,throwing the UK’s divorceplans with the EU into furtherdisarray.

MPs voted in the House ofCommons against the terms ofBritain’s so-called divorce fromthe European Union (EU) by344 to 286.

An approval would havegiven the British parliamenttime until May 22 to get all theaccompanying legislationpassed. The key vote took placeon the day Britain was earlierscheduled to exit the bloc,until the EU leaders grantedmore time.

According to the EU, theUK must present an alternativeproposal to leave the bloc byApril 12.

As the MPs rejected herdeal again, the prime minister,who had offered to resign if herBrexit plan was passed, mustset out a new plan by April 12.

Commenting on the out-come, May told MPs: “Theimplications of the house’sdecision are grave. I fear we arereaching the limits of thisprocess in this house. Thisgovernment will continue topress for the orderly Brexit thatthe result of the referendumdemands”.

She said that MPs woulddebate alternatives next week.

Meanwhile responding tothe vote outcome, European

Council President Donald Tusktweeted: “In view of the rejec-tion of the WithdrawalAgreement by the House ofCommons, I have decided tocall a European Council on 10April.”

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Defending its repeatedattempts to block the list-

ing of Pakistan-based JeM chiefMasood Azhar as a ‘global ter-rorist’ by the UN, China onFriday refuted the US allegationthat Beijing’s action amountedto protecting violent Islamicgroups from sanctions.

US Secretary of State MikePompeo on Wednesdaydenounced China of its“shameful hypocrisy” towardMuslims, saying China abusesmore than a million Muslims athome, but on the other it pro-tects violent Islamic terroristgroups from sanctions at theUN.” Pompeo said it in anapparent reference to China’sfourth move to block India’sproposal at the United Nationsto designate Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Azharas a global terrorist.

Reacting to this, ChineseForeign Ministry spokesmanGeng Shuang told a mediabriefing here that if that is the

case, the country that had putmost holds in the 1267 AlQaeda Sanctions Committee ofthe Security Council shouldhave been sheltering more ter-rorists. At the UN SanctionsCommittee, the practice ofputting technical hold is in linewith the rules of theCommittee, he asserted.

Without directly referringto the US, Geng said, “If a cer-tain country accuses China ofsheltering terrorists by puttingtechnical hold, does that meanall the countries that put suchholds are sheltering terrorists?If this makes sense then shallwe say the country that putmost hold is the biggest shelterof terrorists?”

China has so far blockedthe move four times in recentyears. It recently blocked aUS, UK and France resolutionin the counter terrorism 1267committee with “technicalhold” saying that it providestime and space for the relevantparties to hold talks after thePulwama terrorist attack.

�������������-����������*�������-�����������(���������������"�����Washington: Chinese projectsaround the world, including itsOne-Belt-One-Road (OBOR)initiative, have an element of“national security” and are less

of an economic offer, accord-ing to US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo.

OBOR, also called the Beltand Road Initiative (BRI), is a

multi-billion dollar projectfocused on improving con-nectivity and cooperationamong Asian countries, Africa,China and Europe. PTI

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He swore on primetime tele-vision. He boasted. He

told jokes. He made promises.And the crowd loved him.

President Donald Trumpwas back.

In his first rally since theend of special prosecutorRobert Mueller’s two-yearRussia collusion probe, Trumptook off the gloves to attackopponents, while pushing analmost mythical picture of hisown achievements in office.

The packed arena in GrandRapids, Michigan, where manywore red Trump campaign

baseball caps, responded withchants of “Trump, Trump,”and “four more years!” Trumpbeamed and gave them more.

Over about an hour and ahalf, he questioned whetheropposition Democrats wouldcontinue with “ridiculous bull-shit.”

He claimed that his sur-prise 2016 election win waspossibly the most extraordinaryevent in human experience:“They’ve never seen anythinglike it and nobody has in thiscountry’s history and in mostcountries’ histories.” He citedGod. He warned against social-ists.

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Abipartisan group of fivepowerful US Senators have

introduced a legislation tostrengthen the country’s lead-ership in space, arguing it wasessential in view of the aggres-sive and dangerous Chinesedesigns.

The Space Frontier Act,that was introduced onThursday, would secure fund-ing to continue operations forthe International Space Station(ISS) through 2030, eliminateoverreaching regulations tosupport further development ofthe commercial space sector.

Brussels: The European Unionon Friday, summoned leadersto an extraordinary summit,warning that Britain is now“likely” to crash out of the blocon April 12 without a Brexitdeal.

“In view of the rejection ofthe Withdrawal Agreement bythe House of Commons, I havedecided to call a EuropeanCouncil on 10 April,” tweetedDonald Tusk, the head of theEuropean Council. AFP

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We all have pictured orassociated a certain ani-mal with a particularnation. These animals arelike a trademark that rep-

resents the country. For instance, kanga-roos and Australia, bears and Russia,eagles and Germany, bulls and Spain,tigers and India, and the list goes on. Well,for director Chuck Russell, elephants havealways been associated with India. Hischildhood has been full of elephant sto-ries and fantasies. His house was full ofartefacts and photographs from India,

most of which had elements of elephantsas his mother was a travel agent whoadored the country.

The American director, who is knownfor his several genre films like The Mask, TheScorpion King, Girls Just Want to Have Fun,Arabian Nights, and many more, has grownup reading Tarzan stories and fantasising

about jungles. He watched films like Flaherty’sElephant Boy, and read Rudyar Kipling’s Toomai

of the Elephants. He recalled that such films andbooks made him fantasize about “a child having anelephant as his best friend.”

Russell’s Junglee is the director’s first stint at cre-ating a Hindi, Bollywood film, which not onlyattempts to highlight an important issue, but alsocompletes the director’s childhood fantasies. He wassurprised when he first received the call to create anIndian film. However, he said, “I am always look-ing forward to making something for the globalaudience which is not just restricted to the nation-al viewers. And with India, came only one aspectto my mind — elephants and immense culturalbeauty,” he said (laughs).

For him, it was also about defending thenature, rather than “saving it.” It was opportuni-ty for him to “represent both man and naturetogether. Hence, it is a 100 per cent true Indianstory, with very inspiring and irresistible charac-ters.”

After working with legends like DwayneJohnson and Arnold Schwarzenegger, he realisedthat the audience loves watching valiance, vulner-ability and humour in the hero. “And Vidyut

(Jammwal) was a perfect actor to show that. I justhad to keep his character’s fun part intact. He, Ifelt, is a kind of performer whom I can bring to

the global level. He is very charismat-ic and a brilliant marshal artist. Hereally inspired the characters wespecifically we developed the screen-play for,” he said.

While this was his first stint atmaking a Bollywood film, were therecertain things that challenged himduring the process? He said, “Notmuch.” Well, not even the languagebarriers? He replied, “I had to under-stand the language but I love explor-ing accents and different languages.With my travel, the one thing Iexplore the most are the linguistic dif-ferences and how they shape the eth-nicity of people. It’s fun for me. I justhear them and they somehow makesense to me, no matter how differentthey are. This was opportunity tolearn Hindi as well. We wrote thescript in English, and got them trans-lated to take the script to the nextlevel. Well, this was the most excitingpart about the whole experience ofmaking the film.”

However, he explained that in away, he never really had to learn thelanguage completely to make thefilm. He said, “Since I knew all thedialogues in English, so whenever aparticular scene was being shot, Iknew what was going on (laughs).And the crew was bilingual, so I neverfelt one-sided in terms of the lan-guage.”

Talking about the differencesbetween Hollywood and Bollywoodfilms that he spot during the shoot, helaughingly said, “If this were aHollywood film, there would be CGI(Clinton Global Initiative) elephants,or some Western actor saving them inIndia. If it would have been in English,it wouldn’t have been as entertaining.”

He explained that a film, shot withanimals, seems to convey to peoplethat they have been brought from acertain circus or conservation organ-isation. However, here, they usedreal elephants from a natural habitat

of elephants in Thailand, “and notthose trained elephants from somecircus. We didn’t get any Hollywoodelephant trainers, but just the care tak-ers animal behaviourists. We actual-ly learned the animal behaviour. Weslept and woke according to their tim-ings and observed them.And shotaccording to their moods, didn’tmake them change their schedules atall.”

Well, this was also one of Russell’spersonal accomplishments — captur-ing elephants in their natural habitats,and giving the people a story that theycould take home. “It conveys a mes-sage. People hardly pay attention towhat the nature has to offer. Whenyou go on a holiday, listen to thewhistling trees, adore the fallen,

colourful leaves, look at how differ-ent kinds of species communicatewith each other. Sit and observe. Thisfilm will make them want to relooknature, and as well highlight animportant issue of conservation ofsuch a beautiful creature in India.Why poach elephants for ivory? I amproud that I’m best friends with anelephant rather than being proud ofkilling it and getting its tusk hung onmy wall,” he said.

This film, he said, is much beyondthe ones in which elephants are usedas mere props or for some funny ele-ment. “I wanted to capture personalmoments with them rather than justusing them as objects to pose with,”he said.

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One of the most popularshows, Game of Thronesreturns for its final sea-

son, stoking flames of excite-ment to new heights. This isnot just the time when fans ofthe show are ecstatic, but alsowhen non-fans are surround-ed with Game of Thrones con-versation — at office, home, onsocial media, among friendsand just about everywhere.

If you are already a GOTfan or are a new addition to thatlist, catch-up spree before theseason 8 premieres.

Here is a list of some of themost notable plot twists that leftthe audience baffled: Viserion along with Drogon and

Rhaegal was among the three dragonsthat came to life after Daenerys burnsDrogo’s body along with herself and thethree dragon eggs. Born inthe wastelands and com-manded by QueenDaenerys Targaryen, hewas named after herbrother – ViserysTargaryen. In season 7,Viserion accompanies hismother and brothers asthey embark on a journeyto rescue Jon Snow fromthe White Walkers and thearmy of the dead at theWight Hunt beyond theWall.

While Viserion and his brothersburnt down many of the wights, it was-n’t long before the Night King hurled

an ice spear at him. The helpless drag-on crashed into the frozen lake andsank in water. The spear that hadpierced through his neck did not only

cause a lot of blood andfire to rupture from it butalso became the death ofhim! Or so did the view-ers thought.

Later, his corpse washeaved up from the lakefor the Night King to res-urrect Viserion as an IceDragon with glowing,tinted blue eyes as that ofthe White Walkers –changing everything!

The season endedwith Viserion blasting the

Wall with blue fire, allowing the Armyof the dead and make way into theSeven Kingdoms.

The Red Wedding was a mas-sacre orchestrated by WalderFrey during the War of theFive Kings in season 3. Hefirst skillfully provided RobbStark with a false sense ofsecurity by formally eating outof the same bowl as his guestonly to eventually avenge theviolation of the marriage pactbetween House Stark andHouse Frey. The Starks wereaware of Walder’s intentionsbut to break guest right andstoop so low seemed to be toosacred a pact to be broken,even for him!

During the massacre,Robb, his wife — Talisa, his

mother — Catelyn and most oftheir men were brutally mur-dered. Walder then proudlyrestored the marriage pact bymarrying Edmure Tully andRoslin Frey followed by a feast.

“The Lannisters sendtheir regards.” — RooseBolton to Robb Stark, as hedrove a dagger right throughhis heart.

The fact that TywinLannister was the real master-mind behind the RedWedding who conspired withFrey for him to betray theNorthern Army, while break-ing of the marriage pact wasmerely a cover.

Even though not as infamousas the Red Wedding, thePurple Wedding was one ofthe major plot twists of season4 that the series has to offer.The Lion and the Rose was aceremonial celebration ofKing Joffrey Baratheon’s wed-ding feast to his new queenMargaery Tyrell. The longawaited royal wedding tragi-cally ended with Joffrey’sdeath after drinking poisonedwine at the reception, orches-trated by the Tyrells and PetyrBaelish. The color of Joffrey’sface turned to purple after hisdemise, after which the cere-mony takes its name.

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Melisandre is regarded as a beautifulwoman by many – copper hair, paleunblemished skin and graceful. She isalways dressed in long robes of red fab-ric making her famous as a Redpriestess. Melisandre with the use ofmagic craft preserved her youth andbeauty while the gold choker necklacecontaining a ruby, fitting tightlyaround her neck channeled it. Due toher ability to see visions in the flamesthat she even served Jon Snow as anadviser until she was later banished.

It was only in season 6 thatMelisandre undresses herself, removes

her necklace and reveals her trueidentity of an elderly, fragile woman –many centuries old! While everyoneknew, the role magic played in her pre-serving her vanity but up to such anextent was unforeseen.

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How does Ivar’s disability con-tribute to both the good and badof his character?

Andersen: Ivar has been livinga life with no boundaries, except hisphysical ones. His Mom suffocatedhim with too much love when hewas little since his dad, who ends upbeing the most famous Viking toever live, was not there in his life. He’scrippled in a society and in a timewhere no one really comprehendedwhat was wrong with him or had anytime to help him regardless of hisfamous family name. He wasbrought up by Floki, who was hismentor, which doesn’t add to the“good”, but he’s still figuring out whatmorality means to him. At the endof season four, he goes out on theroad with the boys and with his dad,which is a very valuable experiencefor him. He fights with the brothersabout taking over the army becausehe is always trying to prove himself,which is something that makes hischaracter stand out. Floki also raisedhim to believe in the gods, so he triesto prove himself to them, as well.Ivar’s goal is getting into Valhalla. Hisdisability sets him back physicallyand is a challenge in any goal he setsso he is constantly trying to over-come it.

How long do you think Ivar willsurvive on the show?

Andersen: That’s up to MichaelHirst, our sole writer of the series.We try to stick to history as muchas possible, but we also have to keepin mind that this is a TV show andMichael must keep the drama highto captivate the audience. There area lot of theories about “Ivar theBoneless” and how he got his lastname. Some say it has nothingto do with his brittle bonedisease and some say it isbecause he is super flex-ible, which I favour. Inreality, Ivar would havestruggled to survive, soI try to keep that mind-set in every scene. He’sgetting stronger, butI have to keepthe ele-

ments of the disease front and cen-ter so the audience doesn’t lose sightof his daily struggle. I think Ivar’s dis-ability keeps him balanced in a waybecause without it, he becomesaverage and not as likeable as a char-acter.

During your audition, can yourecall how you showed the painwith your eyes without doing any-thing else?

Andersen: I originally had beenauditioning for Ubbe, Sigurd andHvitserk. All of a sudden they want-ed me to read for Ivar, so I was sit-ting there, trying to learn the linesfor Ivar’s scene, sweating. I remem-ber screwing everything up the firsttwo or three times I read. And theneventually I got it and was offered thepart. I remember asking Michaelabout Ivar and who he was as a char-acter. Michael explained, “Well, he’sin a lot of pain.” And I said, “has hebeen living with this pain for hisentire life?” And Michael said “Ithink so. I think that’s at least whatthe disease is like, you’re born withit.” So in my mind I thought I shoulduse the pain to show the character’sdepth and I did that through myfacial expressions, which was unlikeother actors auditioning for theparty.

In the beginning of seasonfive, you both team up andform an alliance. Can youtalk about how that pro-gresses through the rest ofthe season?

Franzén: They bothknow and understand thatthey lie to one another. But,

they try to balance this out byplotting to kill and scheme

against each other. Andersen: It’s a game

that they both love andagree to play. There’s

a mutual respect forone another inthis madness. It’sa great pleasure

to get to work with Peter. He’s a verytalented performer. Franzén: Whenever we work togeth-er it’s always fun.

Now that Floki is gone, is Haraldgoing to become a mentor to Ivar?

Andersen: I think they’re on thesame team, but in different ways. Ivarwould never accept Harald as a men-tor. Ivar has already proven himselfto everyone and strongly believesthat he is the leader of the GreatHeathen army once he took it overfrom Ubbe. Peter, do you thinkHarald would be my mentor?

Franzén: No. They’re just tryingto make good of each other’s com-pany, and whatever fame Ivar bringsto Harald is welcomed.

How is Rollo coming back going toaffect the dynamic between Ivarand Harald?

Andersen: Rollo’s coming back,that’s the only thing Ivar knows atthis stage. Harald and Ivar made a

deal with Rollo. Rollo leant out hisFrench warriors so they could win.Ivar knows that Rollo needs some-thing in return for this favour, soRollo’s return was to be expected.That will be a tough pill for Ivar toswallow since he is currently sittingon the throne now. It’ll definitely beinteresting to see their dynamicplay out.

How much did you know about theViking period before coming onthe show? What are some goodthings that you see in the Vikingculture?

Andersen: What I’m experienc-ing is that people are changing theirviews of Vikings as more of a progres-sive group. Women were more equalthan a lot of other cultures of thattime. They were also really phenom-enal farmers who expanded andeventually created massive tradingstations around Denmark andScandinavia.

Franzén: I think the Vikings are

about the birth of our tribe. Therewere a lot of kings that took refugefrom Finland because of the skir-mishes in Sweden and Norway, so alot of Viking kings established theirkingdoms in Finland. They musthave mixed blood, and of course it’spart of our nature and heritage aswell. When I see the series, I can real-ly identify with what is going onright now in the world. Historyrepeats itself and we find ourselvesas human beings never learningfrom our mistakes. People disappearand emerge with other cultures, andso forth, so we tend to forget the pastlessons that have been told.

How did this show change you asa person in your real lives?

Franzén: I haven’t been home inthree years so it does change thingswith my family. My son has grown.But as an artist, and as a person whowants to do this as a career, it’s anhonor to be a part of one of thebiggest shows in the world.

Andersen: It’s more about whoI’ve become as a person and how Iput myself into my character. WhatI’m experiencing verses the charac-ter’s experiences. It depends on howyou show up to work and how youwork. It’s difficult because I think it’sultimately about being able to por-tray and become the character. Andonce you go home for the day, hope-fully you can remove yourself fromyour character and go back to beingyourself. We have creative bound-aries in a different way because weare on a tight schedule, and I thinkthat really helps with you walking upto set and being able to just do yourthing. I’m doing my thing verytechnically, and I look at my work asa carpenter. I show up and the moreI know about the cameras and allthese technical things, the better atit I will be. Your true self is alwaysgoing to be a little bit more or lessin the character you portray.

Franzén: I’ve been in the busi-ness for twenty five years and donea lot of different kinds of charactersin movies, and on stage, and ofcourse you bring something withyou all the time. After doing thesecharacters for three years, theyevolve and they go through a vari-ety of emotions. I think at somepoint this begins to affect you as aperson and you get the idea of whatthe character is actually goingthrough. It becomes easy to portraythose real feelings. If you make a

movie, and you have six months ormaybe less time to prepare, that willrapidly affect you and can scar you.Sometimes it hurts to remove your-self from that because it’s so abruptin the effect that it leaves on you.

Have you thought about movingyour families closer to set? Do theycome and visit?

Franzén: Well I’m in a good spotbecause I live in Europe. But a lotof our actors and their families, theylive in Canada, or the United States,and of course it’s a bit harder forthem to visit their loved ones. I canat least go home for a weekend, butwe’re not allowed to go home unlesswe have three days off.

Andersen: I haven’t been homesince the middle of July. Sometimesyou get maybe a week off, and you’reallowed to go home for five days orso. It’s definitely a sacrifice. But itcomes with a price to do what youlove. Luckily friends and family areable to come visit and I have had alot of lovely visits here.

What is your favorite thing aboutcoming on set?

Franzén: Getting to work withthese wonderful people every day. It’san amazing family environment.

Andersen: We have to work inrough conditions sometimes and Ithink that just brings people closertogether naturally. We go throughthe trenches together. Also workinglong hours and memorising lines canbe hard, so you spend a lot of timewith these phenomenal people andcolleagues. That’s the one thing I loveabout being on this show. Getting towork with people inspire me.

As an actor, how does it feel por-traying a great character likeHarald?

Franzén: Harald is a terribleperson in a lot of ways. He’s por-trayed as a ruthless and brutal guy.But, he also has a sensitive side thathe wants to present to the love of hislife, one day. Harald’s character hasbecome this person of release forme. Through him, I am able toshowcase a variety of strong emo-tions. Playing Harald, it’s oftenhorrible to be reminded of some ofthe events that happened duringthis time in history. But as actors,it is our duty to remain true to thecharacter even if it’s not always apleasant outcome.

(The series airs on AXN.)

Actor Ranveer Singh, whoearned plaudits for his

rapping skills with Gully Boy,has come out with his inde-pendent music record label —IncInk.

The actor has teamed upwith filmmaker Navzar Eraneeto launch the label.

“We are first starting withlaunching some really raw,immensely talented, new rapand hip-hop artists who webelieve they will be the nextsuperstars of the scene. Rapand hip-hop are the biggestthing happening in Indianmusic today,” he said.

“We at IncInk want tobring out the real poets of ourgeneration. It literally meanswriting your own story andI’m inspired and thrilled to bestarting this passion projectwhich aims to affect a socialchange. I hope that we canpresent some of the strongest,boldest voices of Indian youthto the world,” added Ranveer,who has become a globalentrepreneur with his musicventure.

Ranveer also took to socialmedia to share the news. Hehas collaborated with rappersKaam Bhaari, Slow Cheetaand Spitfire for the musicventure.

Calling the label as his“passion project”, the 33-year-old wrote, “My passion pro-ject. A manifestation of a cer-

tain vibe. It is an independentrecord label formed by artistesfor artistes to discover, nurtureand promote exciting talentsfrom across India.

“Presenting Kaam Bhaari,Spitfire and Slow Cheeta fromthe different hoods of ourcountry. Let’s show these boyssome love.”

Along with the post, heshared two photographs. Inone of the photographs,Ranveer can be seen posingwith the other rappers and inthe second one, he introducedthe label’s logo to his follow-ers.

“Inclusive. Independent.This is the soul of IncInk,”Ranveer wrote.

His wife and actressDeepika Padukone is “proud”of him. “The sleepless nights...the hours of debate to witnessyour dream become a reality.You have no idea how proudI am of the both of you. Sorry,I cannot be with you all todaybut know that I am with youwith all my heart and in spir-it today and forever,” she said.

Ranveer’s Gully Boy co-star Alia Bhatt also comment-ed on the post, saying “Tutu,epic this is.”

On the acting front,Ranveer will next be seen inKabir Khan’s 83, which isbased on India’s iconic win atthe 1983 Cricket World Cup.

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Is it possible to fall in love withsomeone you have never met?Someone you’ve only knownthrough words but neverheard them in person? Well, actress Pranutan Bahl,

who makes her debut in Bollywoodwith the film, Notebook, feels thatlove is a powerful emotion forwhich there is no wrong definitionas it suits each person differently.

“Kabir (played by Zaheer Iqbal)and Firdaus (played by Pranutan)fall in love through words, withoutmeeting each other, and just througha notebook,” says the grand-daugh-ter of the legendary actress Nutan.

As Notebook tells a story thatdares to be pure and sublime,Pranutan apprises us on her take on

modern relationships and their por-trayal in Bollywood. She says, “Everylove story is amazing in its own way.I don’t want to categorise it asmodern or how it used to be inolden times. Love is an emotion thathas to be felt. It doesn’t matterwhether we say it on whatsapp orthrough letters.”

Ask her about the pressure thatshe might be feeling as the film isproduced under Salman KhanFilms, she responds by saying a bold“no.” She says, “There’s no pressurefrom him but as you know, it’s obvi-ous if such a huge superstar islaunching you in the industry, youfeel like giving your best so that youdon’t let him down in any manner.And because you have got every-

thing working in your favour, youought to give your 100 per cent toit. You cannot afford to fall short atany cost.”

Pranutan, a double-graduate inlaw, has always wanted to be anactor. It has been a part of her child-hood. However, she says, “I didn’tbelieve in not completing my edu-cation. I didn’t want to just finish mygraduation quickly. Instead, I want-ed to be a very educated personbefore starting to act. I thought I canstart my acting career even at the ageof 22 or may be at 25? Why to giveup on your education for that?There’s no need to hurry. I did lawbecause I think it is something thatshapes you inside-out. It makesone confident and know certain

things which are must for every ini-dividual to learn about.”

Pranutan says that she used tospend a lot of time on film sets afterher school. It was like her co-curric-ular activity. “Subconsciously, some-things always influence you. Theydraw you towards themselves. Itmight be because of spending somuch time on film sets that Iaspired to be an actor. Well, actingis in my genes,” she laughs as shesays.

Pranutan tells us that she fellinto the lake from a shikara whileshooting for the film. She says, “Idon’t even know how to swim andIt was two degrees out there.Shikara’s are very dama dol. I was inthe narrowest portion and was get-ting down, the whole shikara tiltedand I fell in the lake. It was damntraumatic.”

The actress says that it was hergrandfather who kept her name asPranutan. “He actually wanted tokeep my name as Nutan but my dad(Monish Bahl) said it’s very awkwardfor me to call out my mom’s namelike that. So he kind of made thisname — Pranutan, which meansnew life.”

Pranutan is a firm believerwhen it comes to destiny and luck.She says, “Everybody has got talentbut somewhere I strongly feel thateverything has been pre written andit’s all destined.”

She feels no competition withother debutantes as she believes incelebrating individuality. She says,“Every one of us, whether its Sara (AliKhan), Janhvi (Kapoor) or Ananya(Pandey), we are so unique in eachand every manner. What you bringto the table, I can’t. So it’s not just thatbecause Deepika (Padukone) is a tallbeautiful girl she suited for Padmavat.She has got inherently those Deepikaqualities in her which the directorneeded for Padmavat. If a filmmak-er wants to cast me for a role, he’ll dothat because I bring somethingunique to the character that he envi-sions. And if anybody can be cast forthat particular role then that’s not thework I want to do anyway. It wouldsimply not excite me.”

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Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuainannounced his retirement from inter-

national football telling critics "I gaveeverything" for the Albiceleste.

He says he can devote more time to hisfamily and more focus on his PremierLeague club Chelsea.

The 31-year-old French-born forwardstands down from national duty with 75caps, the first coming in 2009 when hemarked his debut in a 2010 World Cup qual-ifier against Peru with a goal.

Last year's 2-1 win over Nigeria at the2018 World Cup was to be his last appear-ance for his country. He leaves with a 35-goal haul.

Higuain exits the international stagehaving lost out on World Cup glory in 2014when Argentina fell to Germany in the finaland defeats in the finals of the 2015 and 2016Copa America.

Despite coming so close to a major tro-phy he bows out his head held high.

"To play in three finals and lose themis not a failure," he told TV Fox Sports

Argentina on Thursday.And he had a message for critics of his

performances playing for Argentina."People remember your mistakes, not

what you've accomplished."Those who attacked will have almost

certainly cried for joy when I scored againstBelgium to put us thought to the semi-finals(at the 2014 "World Cup).

"That's football."

����� (3/�-3�

Australia's all-time top goalscorer TimCahill announced his retirement on

Friday, bringing an end to one of thecountry's greatest football careers.

The 39-year-old — who scored 50goals in 108 appearances for the Socceroosand played in four World Cups — said hewill not be looking for another contractfollowing the end of his Indian SuperLeague stint with Jamshedpur.

The former Everton and Millwallattacker, who retired from internationalfootball in November, said he is planninga move into coaching.

"No, I'm an old man now in footballyears," he told Optus Sport television.

"I'd love to keep playing, you know 39,had a great stint for six months in India.

"But I'm interested in TV, going tostart my A (coaching) licence and spendquality time with my family and chill outfor a bit.

"I'll take my time in learning more andgetting coaching hours in." Cahill spent14 years in England with Millwall andEverton, scoring more than 100 goals,before stints in the United States, Chinaand India.

����� �1��1

Roger Federer will make DenisShapovalov's dream come true on

Friday after the Swiss booked a MiamiOpen semi-final against the Canadianstarlet with a ruthless 6-0, 6-4 destruc-tion of Kevin Anderson.

Shapovalov, who beat fellow younggun Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-2 toreach his third ATP Masters semi-final,grew up idolising and studying the 20time Slam-winning Swiss legend whoonce again rolled back the years with asublime show at Hard Rock Stadium.

This will be their first meeting andone the Canadian, who will break into thetop 20 when the rankings are releasednext week, cannot wait for.

"It's a match up I have been lookingforward to my whole life, a high stakesmatch against your idol. It's just a dreamcome true," said Shapovalov.

"I will try and approach it like anyother game, try and enjoy it, give it myall. It will be a difficult match but I amjust happy to have a chance to play him."

Federer may have been the 19-year-old's hero but he's attempted to learnfrom Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovictoo.

"With Roger, I was always looking athis backhand and tried to copy him andbuild my game like his — aggressive,always coming in," said the number 20seed.

With Shapovalov taking on Federerand long time friend and compatriot FelixAuger-Aliassime, 18, facing defendingchampion John Isner in the semis, thetennis stars of tomorrow are beginningto prove their worth on the biggest ofstages.

"It's crazy for me and Felix to bothhave reached the semi-finals," Shapovalovsaid, while Federer called the clash ofgenerations "exciting".

"It's an exciting draw, for John and formyself here, playing these young guys,"Federer said. "They are not just young,but they are very good, as well.

"I practiced with Denis way back, hemight have been 16, 17. He was just hit-ting big. I was, like, 'Wow, it's unbeliev-able. How old is he? How good is hegoing to get? It's going to be tough againsthim."

The Swiss came into the match withAnderson knowing the world numberseven's huge serve could be the differ-ence, just as it was in a dramatic five set,last eight encounter at Wimbledon wonby the South African last summer.

Yet after a whirlwind first set, Federerhad broken the Anderson serve threetimes and "bageled" his opponent, muchto the delight of a packed house on cen-ter court who came to show their appre-ciation for the evergreen 37 year-old ashe chases a fourth Miami title whichwould take his career tally to 101.

It was the first time Anderson, 32, hasever lost a first set at ATP level to loveand although the second was far tighter,Federer was always in control.

Shapovalov, meanwhile, crashedhome 40 winners in an entertaining tus-sle with American Tiafoe on a rain inter-rupted day in South Florida.

������1��1

Simona Halep missedthe chance to return to

world number one as adevastating display fromKarolina Pliskova sealedthe Czech's passage intothe Miami Open WTAfinal 7-5, 6-1.

Romania's Halepwould have reclaimed thetop spot in women's ten-nis if she had reachedSaturday's showpiece fol-lowing current numberone Naomi Osaka's earlyexit and Petra Kvitovafalling to Ashleigh Bartyin the last eight.

But Pliskova, theworld number seven, hadother ideas, rattling off anincredible nine games ina row to blitz Halep andset up an intriguing bat-tle with Australian Barty— a 6-3, 6-3 winner overEstonian Anett Kontaveit.

"It wasn't easy waitingfor so long but I managedto stay aggressive," saidPliskova, who hit 29 win-ners to Halep's 18 in thematch that finished after1 am thanks to a series ofrain delays. "Ashleigh is agood player, but I amexcited for the final.

The South Floridaweather played havocwith Thursday's scheduleat Hard Rock Stadium, nomore so than when therains returned withPliskova on the brink ofa brilliant win.

����� �-.�/-'01�

Young pistol shooters Manu Bhaker and SaurabhChaudhary on Friday clinched a Gold medal

each, their second in the competition, as India con-tinued their domination at the 12th Asian AirgunChampionships in Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei. Manuwon the women's 10m Air Pistol on day three ofcompetitions while Saurabh bagged a team Gold inthe men's event.

Abhishek Verma also won individual Silver inthe men's 10m Air Pistol, rounding off a profitableday for himself after the disappointments in themixed events.

The women's pistol team also won a Bronze tofurther bolster India's tally to five Gold, three Silverand one Bronze medals with half the competitionstill to go.

Manu shot 575 out of 600 to qualify in secondplace and then was involved in a pitched battle withShing Ho Ching of Hong Kong for most parts ofthe 24-shot final, before finishing stronger in theend stages. She shot a score of 239 against Shing's237.9 while UAE's Wafa Alali bagged the Bronze.

In the men's event, all three Indians made thefinals.

Saurabh topped with 587, while Ravinder wasfourth to qualify with 578. Abhishek in fact was thelowest ranked Indian among the eight qualifiers,fifth with 577, but was the only one to land a medal.

Abhishek shot 240.7 and lost out to Korea'sMose Kim by 0.2 points to settle for Silver. Saurabh(198.8) went down to Bronze medalist Taehwan Leeof Korea in a shoot-off to finish fourth whileRavinder was seventh with 136.3 points.

The trio though picked up the team Gold overthe Koreans with a total of 1742, a clear 12 pointsahead of their nearest rival.

����� �-.�/-'01�

Decorated former Australiahockey player Kieran Govers

will be in India next month to con-duct a short camp exclusively forthe strikers.

Govers, an Olympic Bronzewinner and two World Cup Goldmedallist, will conduct a shortseven-to-eight days camp for theIndian strikers from among the coreprobables at the SAI South Centrein Bengaluru.

The camp is a part of HockeyIndia's ongoing developmental pro-

gramme."Kieran Govers will be here

next month for a short camp withthe strikers. The camp is exclusive-ly for the strikers. After the strik-ers' camp, we will also have exclu-sive camps for defenders and goal-keepers," a source privy to thedevelopment said.

"These camps are part of prepa-rations for the Olympic Qualifiers."

A similar camp for strikers ofthe women's team was held underformer Australia player GlennTurner in Bengaluru in Decemberlast year.

����� �-.�/-'01�

Aconstant presence at thecoach's chair during wife

Saina Nehwal's matches, Indianshuttler Parupalli Kashyap sayshe is eager to take up full timecoaching once he retires fromthe game.

But, he said retirement is thelast thing he is thinking rightnow.

A former world number 6,Kashyap has set a target ofqualifying for the TokyoOlympics, though many wouldfeel a tough task for him.

Currently ranked 55,Kashyap on Friday reached asemifinal of a top-tier tourna-ment (Super series or Super 500)

for the first time in close to fouryears by claiming a 21-16, 21-11win over Chinese Taipei's WangTzu Wei.

"I enjoy coaching and wouldlove to take it forward in future,"Kashyap said after recording hisfourth win, a sublime 21-11, 21-13 triumph, over Thailand'sTanongsak Saensomboonsuk toenter the quarterfinals of IndiaOpen.

"But I am not done yet (asa player). I want to perform thisyear and make it to theOlympics again. So, don't countme out of Olympics. I want tobe in contention of a medal andnot just participate," said theHyderabadi, who had reachedthe London Olympics last 8.

����� �-.�/-'01�

Former champions P V Sindhu andKidambi Srikanth stayed on courseto reclaim titles while a vintage

Parupalli Kashyap too regained someform, sealing his place in the men's sin-gles semifinals of the $350,000 IndiaOpen here on Friday.

Sindhu, a 2017 champion and 2016finalist, edged out Denmark's eighthseed Mia Blichfeldt 21-19, 22-20 in aclosely-fought contest to set up a clashwith China's He Bingjiao on Saturday.

"I should have finished it earlier. Imade too many errors. He Bingjiao andshe is a tricky player. I have to be morepatient," Sindhu said.

Srikanth finally snapped his seriesof quarterfinal finishes, outwittingcompatriot B Sai Praneeth 21-23, 21-11,21-19 in a 62 minute pulsating contest,while Kashyap entered his first semifi-nals of a top-tier event (World TourSuper 500 or Superseries) in almost fouryears, beating Chinese Taipei's WangTzu Wei 21-16, 21-11.

Srikanth will face China's HuangYuxiang, while Kashyap takes on formerworld champion and former world No1 Viktor Axelsen.

H S Prannoy couldn't match upwith the second seeded Axelsen, goingdown 10-21, 16-21 in a match that hadsome tight fights in the second game.

Srikanth had made eight quarter-final finishes in last nine tournamentsand the Indian didn't look to make thelast 8 after he lost the opening game nar-rowly and lagged 1-7 in the second.

But a gritty Srikanth saved fivegame points, fighting back from 16-20down before Praneeth staved off thechallenge to take the opening game.

Praneeth managed to grab a 7-1lead to raise hopes of an upset butSrikanth came back strongly and tookthe match to the decider.

In the third game, the GopichandAcademy colleagues split the initial 14points before Praneeth edged ahead to11-8 lead. But a fighting Srikanth againdrew parity at 13-13 and eventuallymanaged to produce those two pointsat 19-19 to seal a semifinal place.

"The turning point of the match wasin the second game when I was 1-7down and I fought back. From there,things changed. At 19-19 in the decider

it could have gone either way. ButI played well in the crucial points.So happy with my performance,"Srikanth said.

On the adjacent court,Kashyap made a confident start,leading 6-3 early on but three suc-cessive returns at the forehandcorner of Wang going out allowedhis opponent to keep pace withthe Indian who enjoyed an 11-8lead at the break.

Wang made it 16-16 withKashyap committing a few mis-takes at the net but hit flat jabs andpunches to the back of the court,pocketing the opening game.

Kashyap took control of thenet and retrieved everything,while Wang looked erratic withhis smashes. Kashyap led 6-3again in the second game.

Wang again clawed back at 8-8 but Kashyap managed to keephis nose ahead at 11-9 at interval.

The Indian marched ahead,varying the pace with his strokes,using angles and measuredreturns, cramming his opponentfor space.

He led 18-11. A smash anddrop took Kashyap closer to sealthe match and he celebrated after

Wang hit one long."I feel good. I didn't think

about semifinal. I had a gooddraw and a good run and I am justhappy. I have fitness issues but Idon't know why my body is feel-ing at ease," said Kashyap, whohad reached the finals at 2017 USOpen and won the 2018 AustrianOpen.

"He is a tricky player. He hasgood skills at the net. He takesrisks and hits some good halfsmashes. I kept retrieving theshuttle and could attack andcounter his strokes."

Men's doubles sixth seedsManu Attri and Sumeeth Reddyeffortlessly won an all-Indianquarter-final clash with PranaavJerry Chopra and Shivam Sharma21-10, 21-12.

They are the last Indian pairstanding at this prestigious tour-nament after the 10-21, 18-21defeat of Ashwini Ponnappa andSikki Reddy to top seeds GreysiaPolii and Apriyani Rahayu.

India's Aparna Balan andSruthi KP too lost 8-21, 11-21 tosecond seeds JongkolphanKititharakul and RawindaPrajongjai.

����� 1,40�

Striker Mandeep Singh continuedhis rich form and scored a brace to

help India thrash minnows Poland 10-0 in their last league match of theSultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tour-nament here on Friday.

Already assured of a place inSaturday's summit clash against Korea,the Indians scored goals almost at will,leaving the Polish players in daze.

Besides Mandeep (50th, 51stminutes), dragflciker Varun Kumar(18th, 25th) also struck twice whileVivek Sagar Prasad (1st), SumitKumar (7th), Surender Kumar (19th),Simranjeet Singh (29th), NilankantaSharma (36th) and Amit Rohitdas(55th) were the other goal-scorers forIndia.

Five-time champions India, thus,maintained their unbeaten streak inthe tournament, collecting 13 pointsfrom five league matches with the helpof four wins and a draw.

With two strikes on Friday,Mandeep became the highest goal-scorer in the tournament with a totalof seven goals while Varun took hispersonal tally to five goals so far.

It was expected to be a one-sidedcontest and it turned out to be so asIndia raced to a 2-0 lead by the sev-enth minute through Vivek and

Sumit's goals.The second quarter saw India

strengthen their attack as they madespace inside the striking circle. In goodform, Sumit earned a penalty cornerfor India which was perfectly convert-ed by Varun.

A minute later, Surender regis-tered his name in the score sheet byscoring from a penalty corner creat-ed by Rohidas.

Though India lost forwardShilanand Lakra to a green card in the24th minute, they secured anotherpenalty corner and Varun was bangon target with a powerful flick to handhis side a commanding 5-0 lead.

Simranjeet then added to theteam's tally when he worked withMandeep after receiving a beautifulassist from Nilakanta Sharma to putthe ball past Polish goalkeeperMateusz Popiolkowski.

With a formidable 6-0 lead at half-time, India continued to dominateafter the change of ends.

India's eighth and ninth goalcame off skilful displays by Mandeep.His first goal was scored after he inter-cepted Michal Raciniewski to take adirect shot on goal, while his secondwas well-assisted by Gurinder Singh.

India's 10th goal was scored afterSurender earned a penalty corner withAmit making a good conversion.

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Ican't afford my coach trav-elling with me," says India

Open defending championZhang Beiwen, who had toswitch her nationality twice topursue her badmintondreams.

Zhang originally hailsfrom Liaoning, China butchanged nationality to becomea Singaporean at the age of 13and went on to win a teamBronze at the 2009 SoutheastAsian Games.

After a fallout withSingapore authorities, sheadopted US nationality in2013 and has been playing forthat country in international

circuit ever since.However, she said she has

not got any help from the USnational badminton federation

and has to rely on self-fund-ing and prize money fromcompetitions.

"I have just one sponsorfrom Hong Kong who pays formy coach's salary," said Zhangwho is currently ranked 12 inthe world. She was in top-10last year.

The 28-year-old, who hadto crowd-fund her trip toWorld Championship lastyear, said she does not getenough training in US wherebadminton is not a big sport.

"The best choice for me istraining in Singapore butsometimes I am out of choice.I don't get time to train much,may be I train for one and halfhour every day when I am in

Singapore and sometimeseven less."

Despite all the constrains,Zhang has done reasonablywell last year by winning theIndia Open, which is a WorldTour Super 500 event, reach-ing the finals at the KoreaOpen and US Open. She alsoqualified for the World TourFinals.

So what is her expectationfrom the tournament.

"Last year I was in samesituation. When I came to thistournament, I didn't expectmuch from myself. I don'tthink I can go to the final anddefend the title as women'ssingles is so competitive,"Zhang signed off.

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Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma feelspace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and flamboy-

ant all-rounder Hardik Pandya keep raising thebar for excellence with every game they play.

Sharma was lavish in his praise for Bumrah,who picked up three wickets, and Pandya, whoscored 32 off 14 deliveries to help Mumbai securefirst win in this year’s tournament.

"I think Bumrah is more than mature now.Yes, his performance keeps growing everyday. Heis a very dedicated individual and takes his gamevery seriously. He is quite regular with his workethics," he toldreporters in thepost-match pressconference here.

B u m r a h ' sthree wicketscame off 20 runswhich provedcucial in restrict-ing RCB six shortof the 187 runsput up byMumbai Indians.

Sharma saidBumrah gave acrucial break-through by send-ing back RCBcaptain Virat Kohli, who was going great gunsalong with AB De Villiers at one point of thematch.

"Bumrah is very smart. We know the class ofVirat and AB (De Villiers) and hence we wantedto break the partnership when they were goingstrong. It (De Villiers) was a crucial wicket at thatpoint of time of the game," he said.

On Hardik Pandya's unbeaten knock towardsthe end of Mumbai innings, Sharma said thoseruns made the difference and such an innings wasneeded from him as he didn't do well in the lastgame against Delhi Capitals.

"...Obviously there was a hunger out there togo and do well. He came out and got those cru-cial runs in the end. He also bowled well in themiddle even though he went for few runs. It wasa much improved performance from last game.He is also stepping up that ladder," he said.

Sharma also said Pandya's form is veryimportant for the team.

"He (Pandya) was out for a bit and didn't playa lot of games. So, he needs time to get into thegroove. He is a crucial member of the team andvery flexible. His form is very important to us,which will do good for us," he said.

Asked about Lasith Malinga, Sharma said hisrole is to cramp batsmen by bowling bouncers andyorkers, besides taking wickets in the middle.

“We expect him to come up here and deliv-er the goods and take wickets, bowl fast, bowlbouncers and yorkers," he added.

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Afurious India and RoyalChallengers Bangalore cap-

tain Virat Kohli asked umpiresofficiating in the IPL to keeptheir "eyes open" after a "ridicu-lous" no-ball howler cost hisside dearly, something whichwas also acknowledged by rivalMumbai Indians captain RohitSharma.

Both Kohli and Rohit crit-icised the umpiring standardduring the match which waswon by Mumbai Indians by sixruns on Thursday.

RCB needed seven to winthe match and Lasith Malinga'sdelivery to Shivam Dube — afull toss- was a no-ball whichwas missed by the on-field

umpire S Ravi.The TV replay showed that

the bowler had overstepped anda free hit should have beenawarded. Had it been a free-hit,AB de Villiers, batting on 70,would have faced it and the

RCB could have won the match."We are playing at the IPL

level. It's not club level, theumpires should have their eyesopen. That was a big no-ball.That is a ridiculous call (lastball). If it is a game of margins,I don't know what is happening.They should have been moresharp and careful out there," alivid Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Incidentally, Ravi is theonly Indian umpire in ICC'sElite Panel for a number ofyears now as none of the oth-ers have been good enough tobe elevated.

Rohit was also critical ofthe umpiring standard duringthe match.

"Honestly, I just go to

know after crossing the ropethat it was a no-ball. Thesekind of mistakes aren't goodfor the game. Wining andlosing does not matter. It(mistake) is not good for thegame of cricket, as simple asthat," the MI captain said.

"Those sort of mistakeshave to be avoided. If we(players) make mistakes, wepay for it. So, it is not good forthe game. Eventually, thegame will start moving indifferent direction if thesethings (umpiring mistakes)keep happening," he said atthe post-match press confer-ence.

He urged the umpires tobe more careful about thesekind of decisions in future.

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Royal ChallengersBangalore spinner

Yuzvendra Chahal said hefelt like Stuart Broad whenMumbai Indians' veteranswashbuckler Yuvraj Singhsmashed three sixes in one ofhis overs.

Yuvraj struck Chahal forconsecutive sixes in the 14thover of the match whichMumbai won by six runs.

"When he (Yuvraj) hitthree sixes, I felt like StuartBroad," Chahal said referringto the six consecutive max-imums in the 2007 T20World Cup that Yuvraj hadhit off Englishman Broad.

However, Chahal man-aged to get Yuvraj off thefourth delivery of his over,caught by Mohammad Sirajin the deep after he hadscored a quick-fire 23 off 12balls.

"You know he is a legendbatsman and I backedmyself. I had to bowl a bit up,might be a chance to get himout because it is a smallerground. So that time, I

thought of bowling my bestdelivery and he got sixes.That you cannot help andhence I bowled a wider goo-gly," he told reporters inpost-match session.

On September 19, 2007,in a World T20 match inDurban, Yuvraj had scripteda carnage by walloping sixsixes off Broad in an overduring a 16-ball 58.

Speaking about thewicket, Chahal said since itwas good for batting, hevaried his pace, especially forthe big-hitting KieronPollard.

"The wicket was notturning. It was good for bat-ting. So, the plan was to varymy pace, like bowling slow-er ones and sometimes slid-ers too," he said.

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Acontroversy-laden firsttwo games at their back,

Kings XI Punjab will look toexploit familiar conditions intheir first home match of theIPL when they take onMumbai Indians here onSaturday.

It has been a roller-coast-er ride for KXIP, having toendure a controversy involvingtheir captain RavichandranAshwin who 'Mankaded'Rajasthan Royals batsman JosButtler in their first match.

In their second gameagainst Kolkata Knight Riders,Ashwin's team was penalisedfor not keeping four men inthe 30-yard circle and AndreRussell made full use of thereprieve to take the gameaway from KXIP.

Ashwin and Co will nowlook to forget al l theseunsavoury happenings of thefirst two games and startafresh in their first match atthe PCA Stadium on Saturday.

With the tournament stillin its early stages and the twoteams having won a gameeach, the balance is not tiltedin anyone's favour and theSaturday's tie is expected to bea keenly fought one.

The two rival sides boastof some star players in theirline-up and each team willhope to its best when it mat-ters.

KXIP, who are yet to winan IPL title, opened their cam-paign this season on a winningnote against Rajasthan Royals.But, the match caught theheadlines more for Ashwin's'Mankading' of Buttler thattriggered a dramatic collapsefor the Royals.

Against KKR, the KXIPlost by 28 runs after chasing amammoth 219 for victoryeven though MayankAggarwal and David Millerimpressed with their batting.

Andre Russell's sensation-al 17-ball 48 and Robin

Uthappa's 67 not out andNitish Rana's 63 left KXIPbowlers in a daze. Even thelikes of Ashwin and speedsterMohammed Shami did nothave an answer to KKR'sblitzkrieg.

For KXIP, opener LokeshRahul is yet to hit his top form,managing just five runs fromprevious two outings, and hewill be hoping to get back tohis best in Mohali.

On the other hand,Mumbai Indians have comeinto this match, havingnotched up a 6-run win overRoyal Challengers Bangalore,with India pace spearheadJasprit Bumrah stamping hisclass.

For Mumbai, RohitSharma (48 of 33) and HardikPandya's 14-ball 32 stood outas they set up a target of 188for RCB to chase.

Bumrah impressed in thegame against RCB, returningwith figures of 4-0-20-3, some-thing most bowlers will envyin this format of the game.

Yuvraj Singh, who startedthe season on a classy note byhitting a sublime half-centuryagainst Delhi Capitals andmanaging 23 against RCB,will be eager to make a markin Mohali, which happens tobe his 'home ground'.

����� 03/-*�)�/

Sanju Samson smashed the first cen-tury of the ongoing Indian Premier

League and together with skipperAjinkya Rahane stitched a century

stand to guide Rajasthan Royals to amammoth 198 for two againstSunrisers Hyderabad here on Friday.

Samson didn't spare a singleSunrisers' bowler and remainedunbeaten on 102 that came off just 55

balls with the help of 10 fours and fourhits over the fence.

It was Samson's second IPL ton.His first century in the T20 tourna-ment came in 2017.

Opening the batting after winningthe toss, Rahane led from the frontwith 49-ball 70 and together withSamson shared 119 runs for the sec-ond wicket to set the base for the totalafter the early dismissal of Jos Buttler.

Introduced into the attack in thefourth over, Rashid Khan (1/24) struckwith only his second ball, cleaning updangerman Buttler around his legs.

Rajasthan's decision to bat firstdidn't go according to plan, at least, inthe powerplay as the visitors struggledagainst Sunrisers' disciplined bowlingto garner just 35 runs in the first sixovers.

After Buttler's dismissal, skipperRahane was joined at the crease bySamson and the duo played cautious-ly without taking any undue risk totake Rajasthan forward.

While Rahane played the anchor'srole, Samson opened up his arms soonand smashed two sixes in consecutiveovers of Shabaz Nadeem and SiddharthKaul to give some momentum toRajasthan's innings.

Rahane soon joined his junior col-league and clobbered Nadeem straight

over his head as Rajasthan reached 75for one at the halfway stage.

After a slow start, Rahane steppedon the accelerator and welcomed VijayShankar with six over deep square legboundary.

Both Rahane and Samson pacedtheir innings to perfection, as afterplaying cautiously initially, they broketheir shackles when needed andnotched up the team's 100 in 11.5overs.

Rahane registered his first fifty ofthe ongoing IPL in 38 balls whileSamson brought up his half-century in34 deliveries as the duo raised 100-runstand for the second wicket in 65 balls.

Rahane finally departed in the 16thover bowled by Nadeem, holed out byManish Pandey at long-on as he wentfor a big shot. He struck four bound-aries and three sixes during his knock.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar's torrid timeat the death overs continued. If it wasAndre Russell in the last match, it wasSamson Friday as the young Keralabatsman too the senior pacer to clean-ers, hitting him for four boundariesand one six to pick up 24 runs from the18th over.

As if that was not enough,Bhuvneshwar witnessed yet anotherforgettable day as he leaked 21 runs inthe last over.

����� �-.�/-'01

Delhi Capitals will be playing on theirhome turf but there is a possibility

that the conditions may turn out to befavourable for the visiting KolkataKnight Riders when the two teams clashin an IPL match here on Saturday.

In the last match too, it was Chennaiwho exploited the slow conditions atKotla better than the home side withtheir spinners taking full advantage ofthe track on which batting became chal-lenging as the game wore on.

KKR also have a world-class spinbowling attack led by India's premierbowler Kuldeep Yadav. The wily SunilNarine, along with Piyush Chawla,makes it a very potent attack.

Both Shikhar Dhawan and RishabhPant have been in good form but itremains to be seen if the Feroz ShahKotla track and the KKR spin trio allowthem to free their arms.

Pant has made aninspiring start this seasonwith blistering knocks (78and 25) in the first twogames and Dhawan too hasbeen in good nick. Both ofthem know the conditionswell and would require touse their knowledge insuitably planning their batting.

But more than anything, the Delhispinners — Axar Patel, Rahul Tewatiyaand Amit Mishra — will have to be ontop form while dealing with the in-formKKR batsmen.

Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, RobinUthappa and Shubhman Gill are allamong runs. Russell, with his incredi-ble power-hitting ability, is the most dan-gerous batsman.

KKR owe both their wins to the

burly West Indian, whohas smacked the bowlersaround. Taming him willbe the key and that is thechallenge for Patel andMishra.

Rana has beenimpressive as an opener

and in the middle order too in the firsttwo games. The performance of youngGill will be watched keenly since he istipped to be a future India star.

Apart from Delhi's spinners, youngSouth African pacer Kagiso Rabada willalso have to take the load of stoppingruns in the beginning.

It will be interesting to see what kindof track Delhi opts for in the remainderof the home matches with the BCCIcurator said to have been withdrawn.

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�2������Delhi Capitals (DC) all-rounder Chris Morris is expected totake on his Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) counterpart Andre Russell intheir Indian Premier League (IPL)game at the Feroz Shah Kotla onSaturday and the South African saidthat he is up for the challenge.

"He (Russell) is an absolute genius.It will be a case of 'if he misses, I hit'.I won't give away too many secrets. Imight look like a duck, but my brainis working overtime and I will look totrust my train-ing.

"We havegot similarroles. He bats alittle higher.Our job is tohit sixes andpick up wick-ets. But maybehe has a littlemore responsi-bility as a batsman than me," Morrissaid on the eve of the match.

Asked if he would take the new ballor bowl at the death, Morris said: "Ihaven't spoken about my role, but I willtake up the all-rounder's role. I don'tthink I will take the new ball, and willprobably bowl at the death. I like tobring a little energy to the squad. I'mreally looking forward to get onto thepark." IANS

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