16
T aking forward their strate- gic partnership to new heights, India and France on Saturday signed an agreement to provide reciprocal logistics support to each other’s armed forces. The two nations will not only open their naval and air force bases to warships and air- crafts from each other for docking, refueling, mainte- nance and replenishment but also allow each other access to their military facilities. The agreement assumes significance given that it will boost India’s security control in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and help check the growing influence of China and its ter- ritorial ambitions in the region. In addition, 13 more agree- ments — including one on “Industrial Way Forward” between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and EDF, France, to pave way for the implementation of the long-delayed Jaitapur nuclear power project — were signed. This apart, the two sides released a joint vision for space cooperation, and a joint strate- gic vision in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The “Agreement regard- ing the provision of reciprocal logistics support between the Armed Forces” was signed fol- lowing the delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron. Terming the agreement of the reciprocal logistics sup- port between the two armies as a “golden step” in the history of bilateral Defence cooperation, Modi said, “From ground to sky, there is no subject on which India and France are not working together.” He pointed out that the two countries have very intense and deep Defence relations and India considers France as one of its “most trusted” Defence partners. “Regular discussions and training exercises are conduct- ed between all wings of our military forces. We have strong relations in Defence equip- ment and manufacturing. We welcome the commitment of France for Make in India in the Defence sector,” the PM said. Later, Macron in his media statement said that the Defence cooperation between the two countries now has a new signif- icance with the new agreement. “A strong part of our security and the world’s stability is at stake in the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean, like the Pacific Ocean, cannot become a place of hegemony,” he said. With Saturday’s deal, India now has reciprocal logistics support deal with two countries of the P-5, after having signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) with the US in 2016. Technically, this agreement will facilitate the reciprocal provision of logistic support, supplies and services between the armed forces of the two countries during authorised port visits, joint exercises, joint training, humanitarian assis- tance and disaster relief efforts. Turn to Page 4 A s victims of major terror attacks, both India and France on Saturday urged the international community to do more to stem terrorism financing even as the two nations resolved to launch a new cooperation effort to pre- vent and fight radicalisation, particularly online. In their joint statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron called upon all the countries to work towards rooting out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks, and halting cross-border move- ment of terrorists like al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e- Tayyeba, as well as other ter- rorist groups threatening peace in South Asia and the Sahel region. Both the leaders also said that in addition to pursuing “excellent cooperation” between the elite intervention forces — India’s National Security Guards and its French counterpart GIGN — and the investigation agencies, they will enhance operational coop- eration between the Indian and French counter-terrorism agencies. The two sides have also decided to intensify coop- eration in cyber security and intelligence sharing. The two agreed to strengthen counter-terrorism in multilateral fora such as UN, GCTF, FATF and G20 and called upon all United Nations’ member countries to imple- ment the UNSC Resolution 1267 and other relevant reso- lutions designating terrorist entities. The leaders also agreed to work together on early adop- tion of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) in the UN. With regard to civil nuclear cooperation, an agreement for which was signed in 2008, the two leaders expressed satisfac- tion over the conclusion of the Industrial Way Forward Agreement between India’s NPCIL and French EDF for the implementation of six nuclear power reactor units at Jaitapur, Maharashtra. The two leaders reiterated the goal of com- mencing works at the Jaitapur site by the end of 2018, and encouraged NPCIL and EDF to accelerate the contractual dis- cussions in that respect. Once installed, the Jaitapur project will be the largest nuclear power plant in the world, with a total capacity of 9.6 GW. One of the major sticking points of the project was India’s rules and regula- tions on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages applicable to the Jaitapur project on which the two sides have now reached an understanding. Turn to Page 4 T he police on Saturday claimed to have solved the murder of retired Indian Air Force officer GK Nair (62) and his wife Gomati (60) after arresting a former servant of the couple. The police exhibited the knife used in the crime, but did not come out with the jew- elleries that were claimed to have recovered from him. While talking to media per- sons here on Saturday, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Dharmendra Choudhary said, “We have arrested Raju Dhakad (32) for the killing of GK Nair (70) and his wife Gomti (68). He was employed with them. He was arrested from Gopal Nagar slums and has confessed to have committed the crime.” The couple was found dead in their Narmada Green Valley residence, with their throats slit, by neighbours on Friday morning. “Raju has confessed to the murders and the main motive appears to be a dispute over returning money that he had taken for his sister’s marriage from the Nair couple. We are investigating whether anyone else was also involved in the murder,” the DIG said. Choudhary said that Raju, who used to work for the Nair cou- ple, had borrowed money from them for his sister's marriage and was not returning it. “Later, Nair had removed him from the job and also from a PSU company where he was working as a contract labourer. Enraged, Raju killed them on the night of March 8,” the DIG said. The accused fled the scene after stealing a gold chain and eight yellow bangles, all of which were recovered, police said. Officials said that they had obtained crucial evidence in the form of the Raju’s blood-stained clothes. A case under section 302 (murder) and 394 (volun- tary causing hurt in committing robbery) of the IPC was regis- tered against him, he added. The DIG categorically denied the angle of any illicit relationship in the crime. However, he said that police are still investigating to find out what could other reasons be behind the murder. R escue operation to save a four-year-old child who fell into a 40-foot deep open borewell in Dewas district, continued since Saturday after- noon. The incident was reported from Umriya village, where the child Roshan, son of farm labourer Bhim Singh, fell in the bore-well. Locals said the boy fell into the borewell around noon while he was playing in the area. Villagers who heard his cries for help, informed the authorities about it. A rescue team with doctors and an ambulance was sent from the district headquarters Dewas, which is around 110 km away. The bore-well where the boy fell had been dug in the farm of one Hiralal few weeks ago. The digging had not been completed and the water level had not been reached. A large crowd quickly gath- ered around the site where the rescue mission was in progress. Police have also been deployed in the area to the control crowd and ensure smooth rescue operation. The rescue opera- tions stared around 1 pm. The rescue team has also placed a pipe deep into the bore-well to pump oxygen to enable the child to breathe normally. Another pipe to supply water to the child was also lowered into the bore-well. Three poclain machines are being used to dig near the bore-well. Collector Dewas Ashish Singh, who was on the spot, said they had sought help of military and state disaster response force to rescue the child. “A rescue team of military led by a major is on way to Dewas from Bhopal. A team of SDRF is also on way to Dewas. RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008 C M Y K C M Y K

in Dewas district, continued since Saturday after- ... rescue mission was in progress. Police have also been deployed in the area to the control crowd

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Taking forward their strate-gic partnership to new

heights, India and France onSaturday signed an agreementto provide reciprocal logisticssupport to each other’s armedforces. The two nations will notonly open their naval and airforce bases to warships and air-crafts from each other fordocking, refueling, mainte-nance and replenishment butalso allow each other access totheir military facilities.

The agreement assumessignificance given that it willboost India’s security control inthe Indian Ocean Region (IOR)and help check the growinginfluence of China and its ter-ritorial ambitions in the region.

In addition, 13 more agree-ments — including one on“Industrial Way Forward”between Nuclear PowerCorporation of India Limitedand EDF, France, to pave wayfor the implementation of thelong-delayed Jaitapur nuclearpower project — were signed.

This apart, the two sidesreleased a joint vision for spacecooperation, and a joint strate-gic vision in the Indian OceanRegion (IOR).

The “Agreement regard-ing the provision of reciprocallogistics support between theArmed Forces” was signed fol-lowing the delegation-leveltalks between Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macron.

Terming the agreement ofthe reciprocal logistics sup-port between the two armies asa “golden step” in the history ofbilateral Defence cooperation,Modi said, “From ground tosky, there is no subject onwhich India and France are notworking together.” He pointedout that the two countries havevery intense and deep Defencerelations and India considersFrance as one of its “mosttrusted” Defence partners.

“Regular discussions andtraining exercises are conduct-ed between all wings of ourmilitary forces. We have strongrelations in Defence equip-

ment and manufacturing. Wewelcome the commitment ofFrance for Make in India in theDefence sector,” the PM said.

Later, Macron in his mediastatement said that the Defencecooperation between the twocountries now has a new signif-icance with the new agreement.“A strong part of our securityand the world’s stability is atstake in the Indian Ocean. TheIndian Ocean, like the PacificOcean, cannot become a placeof hegemony,” he said.

With Saturday’s deal, Indianow has reciprocal logisticssupport deal with two countriesof the P-5, after having signedthe Logistics ExchangeMemorandum of Agreement(LEMOA) with the US in 2016.

Technically, this agreementwill facilitate the reciprocalprovision of logistic support,supplies and services betweenthe armed forces of the twocountries during authorisedport visits, joint exercises, jointtraining, humanitarian assis-tance and disaster relief efforts.

Turn to Page 4

����� �.���."1-

As victims of major terrorattacks, both India and

France on Saturday urged theinternational community todo more to stem terrorismfinancing even as the twonations resolved to launch anew cooperation effort to pre-vent and fight radicalisation,particularly online.

In their joint statement,Prime Minister Narendra Modiand French PresidentEmmanuel Macron called uponall the countries to worktowards rooting out terroristsafe havens and infrastructure,disrupting terrorist networks,and halting cross-border move-ment of terrorists like al-Qaeda,ISIS, Jaish-e-Mohammed,Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, as well as other ter-rorist groups threatening peace in South Asia and theSahel region.

Both the leaders also saidthat in addition to pursuing“excellent cooperation”between the elite interventionforces — India’s NationalSecurity Guards and its French

counterpart GIGN — and theinvestigation agencies, theywill enhance operational coop-eration between the Indianand French counter-terrorismagencies. The two sides havealso decided to intensify coop-eration in cyber security andintelligence sharing.

The two agreed tostrengthen counter-terrorismin multilateral fora such as UN,GCTF, FATF and G20 andcalled upon all United Nations’member countries to imple-ment the UNSC Resolution1267 and other relevant reso-lutions designating terroristentities. The leaders also agreedto work together on early adop-tion of the ComprehensiveConvention on InternationalTerrorism (CCIT) in the UN.

With regard to civil nuclearcooperation, an agreement forwhich was signed in 2008, thetwo leaders expressed satisfac-tion over the conclusion of theIndustrial Way ForwardAgreement between India’sNPCIL and French EDF for theimplementation of six nuclearpower reactor units at Jaitapur,Maharashtra. The two leaders

reiterated the goal of com-mencing works at the Jaitapursite by the end of 2018, andencouraged NPCIL and EDF toaccelerate the contractual dis-cussions in that respect.

Once installed, the Jaitapurproject will be the largestnuclear power plant in theworld, with a total capacity of9.6 GW. One of the majorsticking points of the projectwas India’s rules and regula-tions on Civil Liability forNuclear Damages applicable tothe Jaitapur project on whichthe two sides have now reachedan understanding.

Turn to Page 4

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The police on Saturdayclaimed to have solved the

murder of retired Indian AirForce officer GK Nair (62)and his wife Gomati (60) afterarresting a former servant ofthe couple.

The police exhibited theknife used in the crime, but didnot come out with the jew-elleries that were claimed tohave recovered from him.

While talking to media per-sons here on Saturday, DeputyInspector General (DIG)Dharmendra Choudhary said,“We have arrested Raju Dhakad(32) for the killing of GK Nair(70) and his wife Gomti (68). Hewas employed with them. Hewas arrested from Gopal Nagarslums and has confessed tohave committed the crime.”

The couple was found deadin their Narmada Green Valleyresidence, with their throats

slit, by neighbours on Fridaymorning.

“Raju has confessed to themurders and the main motiveappears to be a dispute overreturning money that he hadtaken for his sister’s marriagefrom the Nair couple. We areinvestigating whether anyoneelse was also involved in themurder,” the DIG said.Choudhary said that Raju, whoused to work for the Nair cou-ple, had borrowed money from

them for his sister's marriageand was not returning it.

“Later, Nair had removedhim from the job and also froma PSU company where he wasworking as a contract labourer.Enraged, Raju killed them onthe night of March 8,” the DIGsaid.

The accused fled the sceneafter stealing a gold chain andeight yellow bangles, all ofwhich were recovered, policesaid. Officials said that they hadobtained crucial evidence in theform of the Raju’s blood-stainedclothes. A case under section302 (murder) and 394 (volun-tary causing hurt in committingrobbery) of the IPC was regis-tered against him, he added.

The DIG categoricallydenied the angle of any illicitrelationship in the crime.However, he said that police arestill investigating to find outwhat could other reasons bebehind the murder.

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Rescue operation to save afour-year-old child who

fell into a 40-foot deep openborewell in Dewas district,continued since Saturday after-noon.

The incident was reportedfrom Umriya village, where thechild Roshan, son of farmlabourer Bhim Singh, fell in thebore-well. Locals said the boyfell into the borewell aroundnoon while he was playing inthe area. Villagers who heardhis cries for help, informed theauthorities about it.

A rescue team with doctorsand an ambulance was sentfrom the district headquartersDewas, which is around 110km away. The bore-well wherethe boy fell had been dug in thefarm of one Hiralal few weeksago. The digging had not beencompleted and the water level

had not been reached. A large crowd quickly gath-

ered around the site where therescue mission was in progress.Police have also been deployedin the area to the control crowdand ensure smooth rescueoperation. The rescue opera-tions stared around 1 pm. Therescue team has also placed apipe deep into the bore-well topump oxygen to enable thechild to breathe normally.Another pipe to supply water tothe child was also lowered intothe bore-well. Three poclainmachines are being used to dignear the bore-well.

Collector Dewas AshishSingh, who was on the spot, saidthey had sought help of militaryand state disaster response forceto rescue the child. “A rescueteam of military led by a majoris on way to Dewas fromBhopal. A team of SDRF is alsoon way to Dewas.

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What’s loaded most inthis No 4 of thisperennial bums and

boobs show? Yes, the boobs andbottoms as always, but this timethe dialogues too are on acontinuous nonsensical botox,thereby giving the film aconstant high — and dry —syndrome.

Too much here is really toomuch and despite all the bare-breasted heaving, and theweaving of an attemptedsuspense murder revengedrama into this bee-stung lipand thigh show, there is verylittle you can cling on to.Neither the music nor thesuspense is worth any of yourmoney and even if libidinousmen and women turn you on,this one leads you to a limpdead-end without much actionin the middle.

The Hate Story series, as itis old and boring after threeepisodes so the fourth oneneeded to show up more thanthe passion writhing body of abuxom Urvashi Rautela who

must have spend tons on make-up and her lips are so heavingmade up that they kind of saginto the chin. Then there arethe eyes – meant to lure – butthe wide-eyed beauty that ismeant to be portrayed turnsinto a nightmarish phatee-aankh look that puts you off.The one or two places whereUrvashi comes across as anormal woman (sister at that!),are a welcome relief from thepancake foundation and rougepacking that all the body partscome from.

The story? Two brothersfall for the same women andmeet their end as she playsthem along. Well, like RohitShetty kicks up a storm withouteven a modicum of a storylineto his amazing blockbusterkitsch one after the other, thisone too has no story to talk ofbut no gimmicks either to pullthrough a hollow revenge saga.

That even Urvashi’s bodyparts fail to stir the body fluidsis the ultimate slap on the faceof this done to death andovercooked, over fleshed (youknow what I mean) blunderwonder. Don’t step into thisparlour – at all!

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All those people who say thatBollywood doesn’t make filmswhere the story is king should

go and watch this one. It doesn’t havethe usual Bollywood masala nor thesong-dance sequences. So a movie notfor the masses.

Going by the title of the movie — 3Storeys — one might be misled that itis yet again a run-of-the-mill kind offilm. But it throws in a lot of twists thatare interesting. Not just the twist butthe way the film progresses iscaptivating as well.

Then there is acting by RenukaShahane who needs a special mentionhere. She is back on the big screen aftera very long gap and it appears that thebreak has done wonders for her. Notonly does she need to be applauded forher brilliant performance, whoever hasdone her make-up needs a pat on theback for a job well-done too. RichaChadda, Sharman Joshi, MasumehMakhija — all have done their partcontributing towards a movie thatwalks on the lines of the brilliant art ofstory-telling with a mystery woven in,something that few in Bollywood havemasters.

Watch this one for RenukaShahane’s great performance.

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From Angelina Jolie in the first one to AliciaVikander in the 2018 edition, the Tomb Raidershave not moved too many paces, certainly not

at all from their original calling. Granted that thefranchise allows them to follow only a rigidly set pathwhich has to lead to some tomb raiding in someremote part of the world, mostly to save the worldfrom unmitigated evil (this time an infectiongenocide), but sometimes variety does help, especiallywhen it is not the kickass Angelina Jolie taking thebattle to 70 mm bigness.

Yes, Vikander brings her own brand ofathleticism to the proceedings and yes it is quite abecoming thought that a movie with a female leadhas stood its own for 17 years, but Vikander doesnot have that splashy oeuvre of Jolie that can carrya movie on the shoulder of a female lead with styleand class.

Vikander, a rich father’s girl who lost her daddyto an unknown, unexplained, unfound expeditioninto the deeps of Japan, is an uninterested heiressof billions as signing the papers would mean sheaccepts that her missing daddy of seven years is dead.And that leads this Lara Croft into awater/island/spirit expedition into a sinister part ofthe land of cherry blossom from where she returns“not that kind of Croft”.

The film is interesting, mildly so because youalmost known what you are hurtling into and howscathed or unscathed you will emerge with Lara fromthis expedition. The slight niggle is that theadventure this time is not as grand, as unexpectedand as sinister as you would have liked Lara to returnsuccessful from.

Also, Vikander has some acting inertia whatwith emotionalism not being her forte even thoughthere are certain scenes in which the father-daughter interaction needed her to be vulnerable andintense, much beyond the muscular, athletic mouldshe befits.

Overall, it is a viewable raid, especially this week.

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Rob Cohen is used to beingfast and furious so he doessome amount of justice to

the insane speed of the hurricanein which he wraps this heist at afederal facility in America thistime round. Carefully chosen tocoincide with the storm hittingthe coastal city with all its ferocity,the burglars want to achieve theimpossible – taking away millionsof dollars from a shreddingfacility.

All is well with the film formost part of the heist story, whatwith a conscientious lady troopertrying to save the millions bychanging the code and thusnullifying the hackers and theirevil intentions to drone into thesystem to open the loaded cache.

However, not she, but theferocious hurricane is the befittinghero of the film, as also thebrilliant camerawork capturingthis rolling annihilating monster.It blows you away without gettingblow away itself.

A geo-truck, a meteorologist,a mechanic brother called nothingless than Breeze and the lady coptogether take you through acapsule of action which keeps youmildly engaged.

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In the hustle-bustle ofChandni Chowk, MurariLal, famous for his lehenga

shop Murari Lal Ki Dukan, isbusy attending to customerswhile Pancham aka Jijaji standswrapped in a lehenga tellingthem how good it looks. Leavingno single opportunity to pull theleg of Pancham, Elaichi- MurariLal’s daughter and the love ladyof Pancham — plays pranks andteases him. They take a rickshawdecked up in colourful frills andhorns and go to gorge the spicyfare at the famous Natraj KiTikki shop in Chandni Chowk.

From shopkeepers andcustomers to passersby,everybody came out to see andgreet the starcast of Jijaji ChhatPe Hai who recently visitedChandni Chowk to give aglimpse of the show and interactwith the fans.

“It feels good when peoplecall you by your character nameand come out to greet you. Theyremember your scenes anddialogues. You literally becomea household name. For actors,the biggest achievement andsatisfaction is to make a space foryourself in the heart of theaudience through yourperformance. We get a lot of loveand appreciation when we comeout to shoot live in real location.Because of their love, we actorsdo shows and films otherwise wewould have been doingsomething else," AnupUpadhyay, who plays Murari Lal,says.

For Hiba Nawab, to getinto the shoes of a typicalChandni Chowk girl is fun butshe took time to get it right."Sometimes I behave like atypical Chandni Chowk kiGundi but in person, I ampolite and not at all a prankster.Instead, I become the victim ofall the pranks. The only time shespeaks confidently is when shelies to someone. To portrait asrealistic as possible, I spoke tomy friends from Delhi tounderstand the typical lingo andbody language. I feel ChandniChowk girls are different fromthe rest of the Delhiites,” Nawabsays.

Gorging some tikki andchaat, Nawab reveals that her

main purpose to come toChandni Chowk is to eatand shop. “I am fromKanpur and used tocome to ChandniChowk with myfamily when I wasa child to shopwhenever therewas a wedding.You get amazingIndian clothesand jewellery at avery reasonableprice, it is the bestplace for women toshop. I am a big foodietoo and love the chaat,tikki and much more,” Nawabsays.

For Upadhyay, going backto Chandni Chowk was likereliving the memories ofobserving different charactersand eating street food. “WhenI was pursuing theatre in Delhiat Rangmanch, we used to go toChandni Chowk quite often to

eat and also observed i f f e r e n t

charactersfor the play. When I

got to know that show is basedout of Chandni Chowk, I wasvery excited as you get to see alot of colours in one place andwe try to bring all the essenceof the place as close to reality.We have created ChandniChowk in Mumbai where we

shoot,” Upadhyay says. When celebrities come out

of their sets for the promotionalactivity, mob attack is commonbut the actors come well-prepared. When Upadhyay wasshooting in Kanpur, heexperienced something similar.

“We were shot in Kanpur atthe popular shop — Thaggu KeLaddoo. There were many policeofficers for our security. Thoughthey managed to control thecrowd, they couldn’t stop themfrom screaming and every timethe director would say ‘silenceand action’, the public wouldmake so much of noise that wecould not hear each other’sdialogues. Every time we said aline, the crowd would cheer. Wefinally decided not to speak outthe dialogues but lip sync. Wecould add the voice later. WhenI saw the footage while dubbing,I couldn’t hear a thing except forscreams and shouts,” Upadhyayrecalls adding that though hewas a bit nervous andapprehensive looking at thehuge crowd, he was sure he wassafe and would not be harmedby the public.

Recalling her experience ofthe mob, Heeba says: “Once wewere shooting at Banaras’ mainRailway Station for anothershow. More than 10,000 peoplegathered there. The crowsbecame a bit unruly andunmanageable and we had tostop the shooting.

The crows just would not letus shoot and some misbehavedas well. I don’t appreciate thiskind of behaviour even if theyare my fans. The situationbecame scary and we sat insidethe car for two hours,” Nawabrecounts.

It is this fear that leads toactors wanting to shoot on thesets. “I like to shoot on the setsas it is more comfortable and asecure place to work. At reallocations, the crowd is difficultto manage. We can shoot fortwo-three days but not more.People from smaller towns don’tget to see celebs and that is whywhen a shoot takes place they areexcited to see celebrity. Butwhen the crowd becomesuncontrollable, it is a sign ofdanger,” Nawab tells you.

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Leader of Opposition in theState assembly Ajay Singh

said Minister of PublicRelations Narottam Mishrahas facilitated advertisementsto his close ones at massivescale and to evade this he ispropagating the point whichwas not witnessed in theAssembly proceedings.

Ajay Singh in a statementalleged that if government ishonest in advertisements, thenlist of agencies and organisa-tions outside Madhya Pradesh,which have been providedwith advertisements of �140crore, should be made public.

In the name of media, theBJP has provided advertise-

ment to outsiders and RSS topropagate their hidden agen-da, he said, adding thatNarottam Mishra, in the nameof medi, has obliged thosewho have worked to achievehis vested interest.

The information given inthe State assembly regardingexpenditure of �640 crore inthe past four years in not trueand real expenditure of adver-tisements has been revealed asthe real expenditure is around�3500 crore in the past 4years.

He said that he had said onthe Governor’s address that theamount spent over publicity ifused for welfare of farmers andpoor would have changed thecondition of the state.

In the present scenario, thegovernment employees arecompletely dissatisfied.

Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan said in thestate assembly that one comesout with request only with afeeling that his demand wouldbe fulfilled, but the request isoutcome of annoyance of theemployees, he added.

Singh further said thatwhen teachers tonsured theirheads in protest, lamps ofblood were lit, are willing tocommit suicide, taking oath ofnot to vote for BJP and sloganslike Kamal ka Phool HamariBhool are raised means that itis not request, but it is theheight of dissatisfaction onthe verge of explosion.

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The lake city of Bhopal willshine bright as the city

readies to host its share of the8th Theatre Olympics, thelargest international theatrefestival being held in India forthe first time.

The Bhopal chapter ofTheatre Olympics 2018 isorganised by National Schoolof Drama under the aegis ofMinistr y of Culture,Government of India in col-laboration with CultureDepartment, Government ofMadhya Pradesh.

The fest will be held atRavindra Bhavan at 7:30 pmand Bharat Bhavan at 5:30pm.

Talking about the megafest to the media persons onSaturday, Manoj ShrivastavaPrincipal Secretar y ofDepartment of Culture,Madhya Pradesh said, “It is an

honour for the state tobecome a part of the world’slargest theatre fest ival .Madhya Pradesh has a uniquecultural lineage and this fes-tival gives us a platform toshowcase what we have.”

He further said that thismega fest will bring Bhopalon the global map of art andculture. The people ofMadhya Pradesh are knownfor their rich culture and her-itage. The state is home to folktheatre forms such as Maach,which is also being stagedduring the Olympics.

The biggest theatricalextravaganza in the worldwill provide the people ofBhopal to watch 28 stimulat-ing world class performances,including folk productions,six specially invited playsfrom renowned theatre mae-stros and eight internationalproductions. Bhopal will alsowitness a host of allied activ-

ities such as ‘Living Legend’and ‘Master Class’ during theevent.

Even, artists like AshutoshRana and Govind Namdev areexpected to be a part of theevent in Bhopal. Besides,tTheatre artists from France,Italy, Australia, Spain, Israeland India will perform inBhopal.

The schedule for Bhopalchapter of the TheatreOlympics includes speciallyinvited plays TumharaVincent (Satyabrata Rout), AStraight Proposal (HappyRanajit Sahoo) and more.

Besides, theatre lovers inthe city will get a chance towitness foreign productionssuch as The Lonely Room(Eloise Carles and FlaviaBertram, France), UnderConstruction (FyodorMakarov, Losha Gavrielovand Vitaly Azarin, Israel) andmore.

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Revenue, Science andTechnology Minister

Umashankar Gupta said thatone may converse in any lan-guage, but basic thoughts comeonly from one’s mother tongue.

He was speaking at theconclusion of two-day work-shop on ‘Technical educationin Hindi and scientific writing,translation and publication’.He said that the situation ofHindi language in the currentscenario in the country is notfavourable, hence there is needto work more actively in thisdirection. The Minister saidthat the conclusions at theworkshop should be promptlyimplemented. Gupta proposedthe importance of Hindithrough various examples.

Vice-Chancellor ofInternational Hindi University,Wardha Gireshwar Mishra saidthat the society wants its ‘vani’.He said that in order to makeknowledge accessible to all, itis essential to impart educationin one’s mother tongue. It isdangerous to give too muchrespect to English. ViceChancellor Rajiv GandhiProudyogiki VishwavidyalayaSunil Gupta said that mothertongue is a person’s identity. Hetold that the University hasboth Hindi and English asmedium of study.

Director General MadhyaPradesh Council of Science andTechnology Navin Chandrasaid that due to English, hard-ly 15 percent talent is being uti-lized. But in case of Hindi asmedium of study 100 per centtalent is utilized. ViceChancellor of Atal BihariVajpayee HindiVishwavidyalaya RamdevBharadwaj also expressed theirthoughts.

Representatives of variousstates expressed their viewsduring the workshop orga-nized by HindiVishwavidyalaya. Rita Singhfrom Himachal Pradesh wel-comed the guests wearing aHimachal hat.

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Marking the seventh dayof the Niramaya

Festival, film screening, sem-inars and poets meet wereheld at Bharat Bhavan here onSaturday.

The day began with theseminar. In the morning ses-sion, the first seminar wasconducted by Odissi dancerBindu Juneja. She addressedher view points on dancetherapy. She said that musicand dance share a very closerelationship with one’s men-tal and physical health.

She further stressed onfitness of mind and bodythrough dance. She said thatthere are few steps in classi-cal dance form which actual-ly relives a person from stress.

Later, Pandit KiranDeshpande talked aboutMusic Therapy. He said thatthrough music mind and soulfind peace. He further said

that music relaxes the body,mind and soul, through musicone releases all the negativevibes from the mind andbody and hence, it heals everykind of disease.

He also gave examples ofmusic therapies that are con-ducted across the world.

A film screening of themovie A Beautiful Mind washeld at Bharat Bhavan. It is a2001 American biographicaldrama film based on the lifeof John Nash, a NobelLaureate in Economics. Thefilm was directed by RonHoward, from a screenplaywritten by Akiva Goldsman.It was inspired by a best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-nomi-nated 1998 book of the samename by Sylvia Nasar.

The film stars RussellCrowe, along with Ed Harris,Jennifer Connelly, PaulBettany, Adam Goldberg,Judd Hirsch, Josh Lucas,Anthony Rapp, andChristopher Plummer in sup-porting roles. The storybegins in Nash's days as agraduate student at PrincetonUniversity. Early in the film,

Nash begins to develop para-noid schizophrenia andendures delusional episodeswhile painfully watching theloss and burden his conditionbrings on wife Alicia andfriends.

Later, in the evening

poets meet was held. Poetslike Ashtrabhuja Shukla,Ashutosh Dubey, PremranjanAnimesh, JitendraShrivastava, Manoj KumarJha, Sangeeta Gundecha andothers recited their soulfulpoems.

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Bhopal: From the next acade-mic session onwards, storieswill be used to make educationin Government primaryschools more effective, inter-esting and informative. RajyaShiksha Kendra is collectingstories in local languagethrough district project coor-dinators in all 51 districts.

The collected stories will beused in the school syllabus. Inthis connection Director RajyaShiksha Kendra Lokesh Jatavhas written to the district coor-dinators to send the collectionof stories by March 15 manda-torily to the state office. RajyaShiksha Kendra has told thedistrict coordinators to makespecial efforts in every districtto make maximum use of themother tongue to make teach-ing more interesting. Attentionshould be paid to collection ofstories in local language anddialect in the districts.Assistance of DIET should alsobe taken in collection of stories.

It is told that the selectedstories will be used in teachingthrough audio-video tech-nique. In order to ensure that

the stories are properly under-stood by the children, localdialects and languages likeUrdu, Bundeli, Sahariya, Bhili,Korku, Malwi, Nimadi, Goudi,Baiga and Bagheli will be used.

Recommendation has beenmade in the whole country tomake primary level classesmore interesting in the NationalCurriculum. Use of mothertongue should be maximized.The collection of stories in thestate is being undertaken underDepartment of SchoolEducation’s ‘Padhe Bharat-Badhe Bharat’ programme. Asmany as 45.60 lakh children arestudying in 83,890 governmentprimary schools in state. SR

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Ayouth discussion pro-gramme ‘Yuva Charcha’

was held at SwamiVivekananda Library here onSaturday. The youth discussionwas held on topic ‘Budget2018-19’.

The programme was orga-nized by Swami VivekanandaLibrary in collaboration withPragya Yatra. In this discussion,six youngsters shared theirviews on various aspects of thebudget. The programme waschaired by Finance MinisterKantilal Chatar, who was theAdditional Director of SpecialGuest Planning and AdditionalDirector of the Department,Shri Radheshyam Rathore.

Vasudev Chauhan,Excellence College's EconomicsGraduate talked on Modi Care.He said that Modi Care is infact, not a tactical plan but theWelfare Speciality Scheme. Thisis nothing but an alternativeplan to cover up the workswhich government has not

been able to do. In the budget,no plan has been mentioned, sopeople still do not know whatthe premium of this plan willbe and where the governmentwill bring money from.

Such schemes had beenlaunched in China and USA,but the only difference was thatthe budget of those countrieswas more that the total budgetof India.

Manish Kukreja Head ofAkoneglobe Community spokeabout Agriculture sector. Hesaid that the budget has beenexpressed in the budget to makefarmers' income gross, but it isnot clear what will be includedin the cost of the farmer.

Manas Baulchandani lawstudent of BarkatullahUniversity talked about indus-try. He said that in order to pro-mote the industry, this budgethas been given a discount of 5percent in the tax rate, whichwill be donated by 99 percentof the country's poor people,which will encourage theindustrial sector.

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The CPI(M) on Saturdaydecided to withdraw its

candidate from the March 12election in Charilam Assemblyconstituency in Tripura after itsappeal to postpone the pollswas not considered by theElection Commission. Theparty alleged that the situationhas deteriorated in Charilam inthe last two days after the violence unleashed against its party cadre allegedly by theruling BJP.

The polling in Charilam(ST) Assembly seat wasdeferred to March 12 followingthe death of CPI(M) candidateRamendra Narayan Debbarmadue to cardiac arrest whilecampaigning on February 11.

Tripura’s erstwhile royalfamily’s scion JishnuDebbarma, who was recentlysworn in as the Deputy ChiefMinister of the new BJP-ledTripura Government, is theBJP candidate for Charilamseat. In the 60-memberAssembly, the BJP-IPFT com-bine has 43 seats while the CPI(M) has 16 seats.

A CPI(M) delegation ledby party general secretarySitaram Yechury on Saturdayvisited many post poll violence-hit areas in the State.

Yechury said that the attackon the party offices in Tripurais beyond torching buildingsand damaging furniture.

“It is an attempt by theSangh Parivar to crush ideas anddestroy basic Constitutionaltenets. Lalit Bazar, Jirania sub-division, a bustling market wasterrorised. People who exercisedtheir franchise and not voted forthe BJP were attacked. This isBJP’s democratic politics, whichwe will continue to resist,” hetweeted.

In a letter to the Chief

Electoral Officer, Tripura, theTripura Left Front Committeestated that it has decided towithdraw their candidate fromthe Charilam constituency elec-tion as the ElectionCommission (EC) has “notconsidered” its appeal for post-ponement of the election to theconstituency due to variousincidents of pre-poll violence.

In the letter to the CEO,Tripura, Bijan Dhar, Secretary,CPI(M), Tripura StateCommittee and convener,Tripura Left Front Committee,stated that on March 8, 2018,it had sought postponement ofthe election.

Alleging that several officesof the Left Front were ran-sacked in the constituencyprior to the election, Dharsaid, “In our earlier memoran-dum submitted to you onMarch 8 last, we had categori-cally mentioned the names of11 party offices of CPI(M)and RSP which were either ran-sacked, looted, occupied or seton fire.”

Dhar also alleged, “We alsomentioned about forcible occu-pation of two TMSU (TripuraMotor Shramik Union) officesin that constituency. In addi-tion, the memorandum had alist of 58 names of CPI(M) andother Left party leaders, cadresand supporters whose houseswere attacked, ransacked andlooted.”

Dhar also stated that 19Left leaders and cadres werereported to be physicallyassaulted in the March 8 mem-orandum.

The letter further statedthat “Any election held in sucha situation would be nothingbut a one-sided exercise and weare sure, it would be a mock-ery in the name of democracy.”The election campaign wasover at 4 pm on Saturday.

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In his bid to amicably findsolution to the ongoing seal-

ing drive in the national Capitaland provide relief to the dev-astated trading community,Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal has written a letterseeking time from both PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andCongress president RahulGandhi for a meeting.

This came a day after theCM announced to go onhunger strike if the sealingdrive is not stopped by thismonth-end.

Kejriwal in his letter toNarendra Modi pressed forbringing a Bill in Parliament toremove ‘anomalies’ in the pre-

sent laws which are consideredas the reasons behind the seal-ing of commercial establish-ments. “The traders are on theverge of starvation and eachshop is means of livelihood formany people. If all of them arerendered unemployed (due tosealing) then it may impact law

and order situation.”Seeking an appointment

with the Prime Minister,Kejriwal demanded that a Billshould be brought inParliament immediately to stopthe sealing drive.

The CM tried to persuadethe Central Government byexplaining that the unemploy-ment caused by the drive couldcreate a possible law and ordersituation in the national Capital.

“The reason behind sealingis anomalies in the law. It is theresponsibility of the CentralGovernment to remove theseanomalies,” said Kejriwal.

“Traders earn their liveli-hood honestly and pay tax. But, they are suffering due to

sealing. There is only one solu-tion now.

A Bill has to be brought inParliament to remove anom-alies in the law and save tradersfrom unemployment,” he said.

While in his letter to RahulGandhi he urged to rise abovethe politics for resolving theissue. Seeking an appointmentwith the Congress president hereiterated that the sealing ofcommercial establishments isdriving lakhs of people unem-ployed.

“A solution to this problemshould be found by risingabove politics. This issue needsto be strongly raised inParliament and pressure shouldbe exerted on the Centre to

bring a Bill over it,” Kejriwalwrote to the Congress presi-dent.

Traders in the nationalCapital are hit hard aftermunicipal corporations hadstarted sealing of businessestablishments and commercialproperties for non-payment ofconversion charges, encroach-ment, and illegal constructionat the instance of the SupremeCourt-appointed monitoringcommittee.

In the drive, thousands ofshops have been sealed sincelast December with no sigh ofrelief to the trading communi-ty despite all the alleged effortson part of concerned stake-holders.

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From Page 1As for cooperation in the

field of Space, the two sidesreleased a “Joint Vision” doc-ument which spells out theconcrete areas of future coop-eration in this area. Modi andMacron acknowledged, in par-ticular, the ongoing coopera-tion between their space agen-cies to realise the third jointsatellite mission --- TRISHNA,meant for eco-system stressand water use monitoring andalso accommodation of Frenchinstrument on India’sOCEANSAT-3 satellite.

With regard to coopera-tion in educational, scienceand technology, cultural andpeople to people exchanges,both Modi and Macron wel-comed the signing of a bilateralpartnership agreement onmigration and mobility, whichwill facilitate student and pro-fessional mobility betweenFrance and India by simplify-ing the conditions for entryand long-term stay in the twocountries. They underscoredthe necessity of greater youthexchange programmes for pro-motion of understanding ofeach other’s cultures and wel-comed the launch of the“France-India Programme for

the Future”, a French initiativeaimed at fostering youthexchanges. The leaders alsoencouraged universities toincrease the number of studentexchanges, with the aim ofreaching 10,000 students by2020.

Modi and Macron alsonoted the strong upsurge intourist exchanges between thetwo countries. A target of onemillion Indian tourists inFrance and 3,35,000 Frenchtourists in India by 2020 hasbeen set.

With an already robusteconomic partnership betweenthe two countries, and growingbilateral trade, the two leadersfelt that this momentumshould be sustained with theaim of raising trade in goodsto 15 billion Euros by 2022.

As Strategic Partners, thetwo countries share convergingviews on key regional andglobal issues and continue toconsult and coordinate close-ly with each other on mattersof common interest. Francereaffirmed its support forIndia’s candidature for a per-manent membership of theUN Security Council. Modithanked Macron for France’sleadership that led to India’s

membership of the WassenaarArrangement and support formembership of the AustraliaGroup.

On global issues, the lead-ers agreed that North Korea’scontinued pursuit of nuclearand ballistic missile pro-grammes and its proliferationlinks poses a grave threat tointernational peace and secu-rity. They called for the com-plete, verifiable, irreversibledenuclearisation of the KoreanPeninsula, which has beenendorsed by DPRK. Both sidesstressed the need to holdaccountable those who supportor have supported DPRK’snuclear and missile pro-grammes.

The leaders also reiteratedtheir support to the IndianOcean Rim Association(IORA) and shared their com-mitment to proactively con-tribute towards the priorities ofIORA. With the aim of broad-ening the canvas of such like-minded convergences, it wasagreed to initiate regular expertlevel official dialogues on EastAsia, as well as on the MiddleEast. An annual Policy andPlanning Dialogue was alsoinstituted between the twoForeign Ministries.

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From Page 1On the larger perspective,

while the agreement providesNew Delhi a higher level ofconfidence in terms of dealingwith the bigger and powerfulnations like the US and France,it also provides India a betterability to operate on the highseas.

Sources said India’s range ofoperations and ability to moni-tor hijacking, trafficking, smug-gling and terrorism goes up by100 per cent due to this pact.“The agreement is symbolic ofthe strategic depth and maturi-ty reached in India-FranceDefence ties,” the two leaderslater said in a joint statement.

India and France will alsointensify their cooperation inseveral other areas, includingcounter-terrorism, space and inthe IOR. Following the talks,the two sides also releasedjoint strategic vision for IORwhich mentioned joint Navyexercises and maritime sur-veillance as an important aspectof their growing strategic part-nership. The navies of the twocountries will also jointly workin the IOR to combat maritimeterrorism. Both sides affirmed

their intention to enhance thelevel of joint military exercis-es and maintain the operationalquality-level of these exercisesin the future.

During their discussions,Modi and Macron “noted withsatisfaction” the on-scheduleprogress in the implementationof acquisition related agree-ments, including the Rafaleaircraft agreement that wassigned in 2016. Both leaderssaid they looked forward tocontinue their discussions toexpand and deepen the ongo-ing Defence manufacturingpartnerships. It was agreedthat through “Make in India”initiatives, the Indian andFrench Defence enterprisescan enter into arrangements forco-development and joint pro-duction of Defence equipmentin India, including transfer oftechnologies.

Later, while congratulatingIndia for getting membershipof the missile export controlregimes, Macron committedFrance’s support to buildingconsensus among regimes’members on the issue of India’smembership of the NuclearSuppliers Group.

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Groups of people raisedpro-freedom slogans at an

event of Art of Living founderSri Sri Ravi Shankar onSaturday and left midway alleg-ing that they were tricked intoparticipating in the pro-gramme.

As Ravi Shankar wasspeaking at Paigham-e-Mohabbat (message of love)function at the Sher-i-KashmirInternational ConferenceCentre (SKICC) lawns, peoplestarted to leave the venue,forcing the spiritual leader tocut short his speech.

The people alleged theydid not know that RaviShankar was to speak there andwere invited to the programmeon different pretexts.

"We reached here early inthe morning. We were told thatwe will be given jobs andsome management company isgiving training here," a groupof youths from Pantha Chowkarea of the city said.

Another group from cen-tral Kashmir's Budgam districtsaid they were told some reli-gious scholar was to shed light

on Islam."We would not have par-

ticipated in this event had weknown who was to speak. Wewere tricked by the organisers,"

they claimed.A group of students alleged

that they were promised crick-et kits by the organisers.

"We were promised crick-

et kits and money. But we havenot been given anything, noteven a glass of water," JavedAhmad, a student fromBaramulla district, said.

The people raised pro-freedom slogans at the event,but dispersed peacefully later.

Asked about the people'sallegations, Ravi Shankar saidit was he who was invited toKashmir and he had not invit-ed those people but would beavailable to hear whatever theywant to say.

Earlier, the Art of Livingfounder in his speech said hewanted to see Kashmir as theSwitzerland of Asia.

"I want to see an atmos-phere of beauty, peace and lovehere, for which we all have towork together… If we thinkabout past only, then we willremain sad. We should lookforward. We have the courageand power to be resilient andthink about our future," hesaid.

Later, talking to reportersat another location, RaviShankar said he had come toKashmir to hear the people.

"I will be meeting severaldelegations, including victimsof violence. I will hear themover the next two days and Iwant to create a wave of hap-piness and an atmosphere oflove in Kashmir," he said.

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Tennis player TerezaMihalikova of Slovakia won

the trophy of singles match atthe $ 15000 International TennisFederation (ITF) Women’sTennis Tournament. The semifinals of singles were playedbetween Emily Webley Smith ofGreat Britain and TerezaMihalikova of Slovakia here onSaturday at Arera Club court 1.

The $15000 ITF WomenTennis Tournament SinglesFinal started with brief intro-duction of player to B.P SinghChief Secretary of MadhyaPradesh and President of AreraClub, Bhopal. He was presentas the Chief Guest of the tour-nament.

To begin with the match,the toss was won by EmilyWebley Smith (Great Britain)and she chose to receive theserve. Tereza Mihalikova(Slovakia) took the first set andraced to 5-0 points when Emilyheld her serve and showed herpresence in the score board.Tereza held her next game andclinched the set by 6-1 points.

Emily started the second byholding her serve and gameswent on serve till the scorereached 4-3 points, when Emily

broke Tereza and lead by 5-3points. Tereza broke back andheld her serve and score became5-5 points. Emily held her serveagain broke Tereza to win thesecond set by 7-5 points.

The Final set started withEmily being broken in the very

first game and Tereza took thefull command in the set andwon by 6-0 points.

Notably, the InternationalTennis Federation (ITF)Women's Circuit is a second-tier tour for women's profes-sional tennis. It is organized by

the International TennisFederation and is a tier belowthe Women's TennisAssociation (WTA) Tour. TheITF Women's Circuit includestournaments with prize moneyranging from $15,000 to $100,000.

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Despite massive traffic jamsand heavy air traffic, there

is no proposal of metro railconnectivity to airports inBangalore, Kochi, Ahmedabad,Pune, Noida and GreaterNoida. Interestingly, Bangalore,Kochi, Ahmedabad and Puneare part of future smart cities.At present, only Delhi andChennai have metro connec-tivity with airports whileMumbai, Lucknow and Nagpurhave made provisions in itsDPRs to airport connectivity.

A parliamentary standingcommittee on Ministry ofHousing and Urban Affairs hasasked the Ministry to pursue andinsist vigorously for inclusion ofairport connectivity in thesecities as well in addition to thedetailed project reports of ongo-ing projects already approved.

"It is an unfortunate reve-lation that in important citieslike Bangalore, Kochi,Ahmedabad and Pune whichare part of the future SmartCities, there is no provision forairport connectivity in theirDetailed Projects Reports

(DPRs). Since Metro Rail is forthe next several decades fromnow, and is meant to cater toour future generations too,the planning done now shouldbe really futuristic," the reportsaid.

According to InternationalBusiness Machines Corpreport, Bangalore is the secondmost congested city after Delhi.According to Housing andUrban Affairs Ministry offi-cials, the traffic problem bothin road and air is increasingwith every passing day in citieslike Pune, Kochi, Ahmedabadand Noida. "There is an urgentneed to plan metro connectiv-ity to airports in these cities,"said officials.

The report said that theBudget Estimate and RevisedEstimate in the year 2017-18was �18,000 crore. The actualexpenditure incurred tillDecember 31,2017, was�12142 crore, that is 67.45percent of the total outlay.Interestingly, the Budget allo-cation for the year 2018-19 formetro rail networks across thecity is �15,000 crore. There isa reduction of �3000 crore thisyear as compared to last year.

According to report, thefirst and last mile connectivi-ty of metro rail has always beena concern of this committee. Ithas been apprised that DelhiMetro has a fleet of 242 busesas on February 01, 2018 beingrun on 40 routes in addition toauthorised e-rickshaws ser-vices in NCR towns.

In Chennai, electric bogeyservice has been arrangedfrom airport metro station tothe airport. Bicycle schemehas also been arranged frommost metro stations as lastmile connectivity. In Kochi,steps are being taken for invit-ing feeder aggregators in allthe stations.

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Panaji, Pune and Rajkot, three Indiancities of the BJP-ruled States, have

been selected as national finalists in the2017-2018 edition of World WildlifeFund's (WWF) One Planet CityChallenge (OPCC). These are amongstthe 40 finalists out of the 118 citiesacross 23 countries that participated inthe global challenge this year.

The One Planet City Challenge, pre-viously known as the Earth Hour CityChallenge, invites cities in participatingcountries to report ambitious and inno-vative climate actions and plans in dif-ferent sectors including energy, transport,housing and waste, on the internation-al carbon Climate Registry platform.

Panaji, Pune and Rajkot are alsoamong the 99 cities under theGovernment's Smart City Mission. Astatement from the WWF said thatPune is working to address climate-related challenges by enhancing itssustainable mobility landscape, pro-moting energy efficiency measures,

increasing green cover, and improvingwaste management infrastructure.

One of the significant actionsundertaken by the city include reduc-ing emissions by developing a multi-modal, integrated mobility plan toimprove public transport and trafficmanagement as well as emphasizecycling, walking and non-motorizedtransportation. The city has also estab-lished a dedicated Energy Saving Cell

to focus on resource conservation mea-sures, according to a statement here byWWF.

Similarly, Panaji is taking strongaction to improve waste managementand aims to be a landfill-free city. It isalso working on enhancing the renew-able energy capacity, and improving thesustainable mobility landscape by imple-menting an "Intelligent TransportationSystem" to improve traffic management,

accessibility to public transportation andpedestrian mobility.

Rajkot has taken comprehensiveactions to improve uptake of renewableenergy, provide better waste manage-ment practices and expand the city'ssustainable mobility infrastructureincluding public transportation. Rajkothas also demonstrated promising com-mitment for reducing emissions, alongwith multiple initiatives for increasingenergy security, said the statement.

Dr TS Panwar, Director, ClimateChange and Energy Programme, WWFIndia said, "Given the increasing urban-ization in India, cities have a significantrole in providing solutions for mitigat-ing carbon emissions as well as prepar-ing for climate resilient development.

"Platforms such as OPCC bringtogether multiple stakeholders as wellas common citizens to inspire and sup-port cities to become climate smart andsustainable solution hotspots in areassuch as energy efficiency, renewableenergy, sustainable transport and over-all low carbon development."

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Bhaiyyaji Joshi was onSaturday re-elected as RSS

general secretary for anotherterm of three years by its officebearers from across the country.

Joshi, who has been holdingthe post since 2009, will now con-tinue in the position till 2021. Hewill be the second Sarkaryawah ofthe Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) to serve such a long stint

after H V Seshadri who had heldthe post from 1987 to 2000.

The Sangh’s general secretaryis its executive head who looksafter the day-to-day affairs of theorganisation.

“The election of seh karyavah(general secretary) was todayheld peacefully and Shri SureshBhaiyyaji Joshi was re-elected foranother term,” RSS PracharPramukh Manmohan Vaidya toldreporters here. He was speaking

on the sidelines of the sangh's all-important triennial meeting"Pratinidhi Sabha" here.

Joshi's re-election also puts anend to speculation that joint gen-eral secretary Dattatreya Hosabalecould replace him as the Sangh'snew general secretary. Sharing thedetails of the election process,Vaidya said that Ashok Soni, RSShead for central India, was thereturning officer and he initiatedthe election process.

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Failing to comply with anorder of the Punjab and

Haryana High Court to makespecial provisions for differ-ently-abled students in theClass 10 and 12 Board exami-nations this year has landed theCentral Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE) in a spot.Slapped with contempt of courtnotices, the Board rushed to theSupreme Court on Friday. Theappeal has got admitted andwill be heard after a week.

On February 23, a DivisionBench of the Punjab andHaryana High Court directedthe Board to allow differently-abled students to take their10th and 12th Class Boardexams in the schools wherethey studied and not at theexamination centres allocatedby CBSE. The order followed apetition filed by the one JyotiSehgal, mother of a different-ly abled minor studying in

Class 10, suggesting that dif-ferently-abled children havedifferent disabilities that couldbe visual, physical, or mental.Since they are familiar with theplace where they are alreadystudying, the CBSE must pro-vide an exception for such stu-dents to take up examinationsat their respective schools.

Since examinations weredue to start in the first week ofMarch, the HC directed CBSEto expeditiously implementthis order across all schools inPunjab, Haryana andChandigarh. Similar directionswere also issued to the respec-tive State boards. On March 6,when the matter was nextheard, the petitioner informedthe HC that its order was not

complied. Furious over theattitude of the CBSE, the benchsummoned the RegionalDirector and Director of CBSEand issued contempt of Courtnotices on them. In addition,notices of contempt were alsoissued to Controller ofExaminations, CBSE.

Realizing that things couldturn for the worse by the nextdate of hearing in HC, theCBSE came to the SupremeCourt seeking protection.Additional Solicitor General(ASG) Maninder Singhinformed the bench of JusticesSA Bobde and LN Rao that theBoard was not at fault as theprocess of examinations startswell in advance and cannot bedisturbed at the last minute.

According to the CentralBoard, there are 205 different-ly abled students studying inClass-10 in different schools inthe States of Punjab, Haryanaand Union Territory ofChandigarh, affiliated with theCentral Board and the corre-sponding figure for Class 12 is170. Haryana Board had sub-mitted to the HC that it has 348differently abled studentsstudying in Class 10 and 71 inClass 12 in schools affiliatedwith it. With regard to Punjab,the Punjab Education Boardsubmitted a list of 420 differ-ently abled students studyingin Class 10 and 251 in Class 12.

The apex bench issuednotice to the respective statesand the petitioner before theHigh Court and directed list-ing of the case after a week. Inaddition to allocating examcentres to differently abledstudents, the HC directedCBSE to prepare a database ofall such students across allschools in Punjab, Haryanaand Chandigarh. IN addition,the HC even required theCentral Board to devise a uni-form pattern of syllabus,teaching pattern and ques-tion papers, common to alldifferently-abled studentsstudying in any school acrossthe country.

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Responding to Islamabad’sbid to raise the Kashmir

issue for a second day onFriday at the UN HumanRights Council meeting inGeneva, India denouncedPakistan as a “failed State”where terrorists thrive andOsama Bin Laden receivedprotection, and demanded thatit bring the perpetrators of theMumbai, Pathankot and Uriattacks to justice.

“Even as terrorists thrive inPakistan and roam its streetswith impunity, we have heardit lecture about the protectionof human rights in India,"Mini Devi Kumam, a SecondSecretary at the India's UNMission in Geneva, said.

"We await credible actionby the Government of Pakistanto bring all those involved inthe 2008 Mumbai attack andthe 2016 Pathankot and Uriattacks to justice," she said.

"The world does not needlessons on democracy and

human rights from a countrywhose own situation is chari-tably described as a failedState," she added.

Kumam was responding toTahir Andrabi, Pakistan's UNDeputy PermanentRepresentative in Geneva, whoearlier on Friday invokedJawaharlal Nehru to make hiscase for a plebiscite in Kashmir.

Andrabi said that at theheart of the Kashmir problemis the right to self-determina-tion which was conceded by"the first Prime Minister ofIndia, one of the foundingfathers of India" and by the UNSecurity Council through aplebiscite.

Kumum said, "Pakistankeeps referring to UN SecurityCouncil Resolutions on Jammuand Kashmir. However, it veryconveniently forgets its ownobligation under these resolu-tions to first vacate the illegaloccupation of PakistanOccupied Kashmir. It has alsoblatantly disregarded its othercommitments, be it under the

1972 Simla Agreement orLahore Declaration ofFebruary 1999."

Instead, "they continue tosupport cross-border terrorismin India," she said.

In the Simla Agreementsigned by Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi and then-Pakistan President ZulfikarAli Bhutto, the two countriesagreed that the Kashmir issueis a bilateral issue that has to beresolved without third partyinvolvement.

The Lahore Declarationby Prime Ministers Atal BihariVajpayee of India and NawazSharif of Pakistan commitsthe two nations to avoid anuclear arms race.

"It is extraordinary that theState which protected OsamaBin Laden and shelteredMullah Omar should have thegumption to play the victim,"she said.

In "gross violation" of aCouncil, the UN-designatedterrorists like HafizMohammed Saeed are "freely

operating with State support,and the UN designated entitiesare being politically main-streamed in Pakistan," sheadded.

Andrabi also accused Indiaof "crimes against humanity" inKashmir and of escalatingceasefire violations along theline of control and the borderwith his country as a diver-sionary tactic.

On Thursday, he said thatthe Office of the Human RightsCommissioner "must not fal-ter in documenting humanrights abuses by India andrecognise that root of the prob-lem is illegal occupation ofJammu and Kashmir."

But "the real problem inthe State of Jammu andKashmir is terrorism, whichhas constantly received suste-nance from Pakistan and ter-ritories under its control,"Kumam said in reply. "Weurge the Council to call onPakistan to end cross borderinfiltration; to dismantle spe-cial terrorist zones, safe havens

and sanctuaries.""Terrorism is the grossest

violation of human rights,"Kumam added.

She listed the varioushuman rights violations againstminorities in Pakistan anddemanded remedies for them.

She said there should be"procedural and institutionalsafeguards to prevent misuseof blasphemy law; to endforced conversions and mar-riages of minorities, includingHindu, Sikh and Christianwomen, to prosecute all suchcases; to stop targeting polit-ical dissidents and legitimatecriticism in Sindh, Balochistanand Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; tostop torture, enforced disap-pearances and unlawfulkilling; including that of jour-nalists and activists by itssecurity agencies and prose-cute all perpetrators; to stopsectarian violence, systemicpersecution and attacks onMuslim minorities, such asShias, Ahmadiyas, Ismailiaand Hazaras."

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday told law-

makers that working for devel-opment in most backward dis-tricts would be a step towardssocial justice and that “hard-core politics” of struggle andagitation was no longer as rel-evant as it used to be.

Addressing a NationalLegislators Conference on "Wefor development" atParliament's Central Hall, hespoke about social justice in thecontext of all-round develop-ment of 115 most backwarddistricts identified and dubbedby his Government as "aspira-tional".

If all children go to schoolsand all households get elec-tricity, then it would be a steptowards social justice, the

Prime Ministertold the gatheringof CentralMinisters, MPsand legislatorsfrom States.

Asserting thatshortage of bud-get or resourceswere not the rea-sons for lack ofdevelopment butgovernance was, Modi saidgood governance, effectiveimplementation of schemesand focussed activities wereneeded for development.

"There used to be a timewhen hardcore politics, round-the-clock politics involvingagitations and struggle wouldwork. Time has changed.Whether you are in power orin Opposition, what matters iswhether if you come to people's

help," he told parliamentariansand legislators from States.

Things like how much agi-tation you did, how many'morchas' you took out andhow many times you went tojail would matter to your polit-ical career 20 years back, butthings have changed now, Moditold the lawmakers and askedthem to work towards fulfillingdevelopmental targets in theirregions.

The Prime Minister saidthat though he cannot askthem to leave hardcore politics,but changes in society willmake them do so.

A discussion on social jus-tice is often confined to socialconditions but there are moredimensions to it, he said,adding that if there is electric-ity in one home or one villagebut not in the neighbouringhome or village, social justicedictates that they too get elec-tricity.

In India, the phrase 'socialjustice' is loaded with politicalmeaning as political parties,especially those from 'JanataParivar', have used the plank torally backward castes and otherweaker sections of societyaround them.

The BJP under Modi hasinjected a narrative of devel-

opment into this and often suc-ceeded in winning over a largesection of these communities inone election after another.

The Prime Minister saidlawmakers who get electedrepeatedly, were often thoseidentified with somethingbeyond politics by their con-stituents.

Recalling that icons likeJawaharlal Nehru, B RAmbedkar and Sardar Patel satin the Central Hall ofParliament to prepare theConstitution, he likened thelawmakers' presence in thehall today to a pilgrimage andpitched for development.Speaking on the occasion,Speaker Sumitra Mahajan saidlawmakers should think col-lectively how India can devel-op and become a strong coun-try by 2022.

New Delhi: A day after gettingrelief from arrest by theEnforcement Directorate,Karti Chidambaram filed acaveat in Supreme Court inanticipation of a possibleappeal by the enforcementagency against the Delhi HighCourt order protecting himfrom ED arrest till March 20.

In the caveat filed byKarti's lawyers in the apexcourt on Saturday, the son offormer Finance Minister PChidambaram has requestedthe Court to hear him beforepassing any order in the eventan appeal is filed against theDelhi HC order of March 9.Karti, is being probed by bothCentral Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) and EDfor alleged bribes receivedfrom INX Media company asa quid pro quo in lieu of theForeign InvestmentPromotion Board (FIPB)approval granted to it at a timewhen his father was theFinance Minister.

At present, Karti is in thecustody of CBI. The ED toohas lodged a enforcement caseinformation report (ECIR) totrack the money trail in theINX Media case.

PNS

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The all-powerful GSTCouncil on Saturdaydecided to rollout the

requirement of carrying anelectronically generated billfor transporting goodsbetween states from April 1 butfailed to arrive at a consensuson simplification of tax return-ing filing procedure for busi-nesses.

With states divided on thesimplification of return filingprocedures, the present filingsystem was extended foranother three months. AGroup of Ministers will workon model for further simpli-fication of returns.

Finance Minister ArunJaitley said that while taxofficials from the Centre andthe states wanted that thereturn should be simple, theyalso wanted that it shouldcheck evasion.

“There was a detailed dis-cussion. The Council felt thatthere should be single returnevery month, it should besimple, not prone to evasion.The existing system has beenextended by three months,” hesaid after the Council’s meet-ing.

Accordingly, businesseswill continue to file summa-

ry sales returns GSTR-3B andfinal sales return GSTR-1 tillJune.

Jaitley said from April 1,

e-way will be implementedfor inter-state transportationof goods. However, therewould be phased rollout of e-way bill for intra-state move-ment of goods beginningApril 15 and all the stateshave been divided into fourgroups.

Wary of system collapsinglike it happened when the e-way bill was first introducedon February 1, the Councildecided to rollout the require-ment of carrying the permitfor intra-state movement in astaggered manner.

The first group of states toroll out of intra-state e-waybill from April 15 will bedecided on April 7. All thestates will have the system inplace by June 1. The e-waybill, which would be requiredto be presented to a GSTinspector if asked for, is beingtouted as an anti-evasion mea-sure and would help boost taxcollections by clamping downon trade that currently hap-pens on cash basis.

With E-way bill roll out,from April 1, transporters ofgoods worth over �50,000will have to generate an e-waybill.

Besides, the GST Councilalso decided to implement e-wallet scheme for giving

refunds to exporters underGST by October 1, 2018 – thedate till which exporters cancontinue to claim tax exemp-tions given by the Council inits October 6 meeting.

Accordingly, merchantexporters can pay a tax at therate of 0.1 per cent on goodsprocured for export purposesand obtain a refund for thesame.

Also, domestic procure-ment made under AdvanceAuthorisation, EPCG andEOU schemes are being recog-nised as ‘deemed exports’ withflexibility for either the sup-pliers or the exporters beingable to claim a refund ofGST/IGST paid thereon.

The Council also sus-pended till June 30 the provi-sion for deduction of TDSand collection of TCS, as wellas implementation of thereverse charge mechanism.

Besides, the GST imple-mentation committee has beentasked with the work ofredressing grievances caused totaxpayers arising out of ITglitches.

Deloitte India SeniorDirector Saloni Roy said, “Theproposal of introducing intra-state e-way bills in a staggeredmanner is a more pragmaticapproach”.

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The Asian DevelopmentBank (ADB) and the

International Solar Alliance(ISA) on Saturday signed acooperation arrangement topromote solar energy deploy-ment in Asia and the Pacific.

The cooperation envisagessolar power generation, solarbased mini-grids, and trans-mission systems for integratingsolar energy into grids, amongothers.

The ISA and the ADBwould also cooperate onknowledge sharing and devel-oping technology roadmapsfor the promotion of solarenergy, the multilateral lendingagency said in a statement.

They would also developfinancing instruments to sup-port solar energy deploymentand conduct studies and con-sultations to explore mobilisa-tion of concessional financingthrough trust funds or specialfunds administered by ADB.

ISA interim director gen-eral Upendra Tripathy andADB vice-president for knowl-

edge management and sus-tainable developmentBambang Susantono signedthe pact in the presence ofFinance Minister and ADBGovernor Arun Jaitley.

“ADB’s energy policy com-mits $3 billion per year by 2020for promoting clean energy,including solar energy pro-jects in its developing membercountries,” said Susantono. ‘Weare happy to work with ISA tomobilise additional invest-ments to meet ISA’s goals forthe massive deployment ofaffordable solar energy.’

ISA, headquartered inGurgaon near here, is now a

treaty-based intergovernmen-tal organisation that was estab-lished following the ParisDeclaration as an alliance ded-icated to the promotion ofsolar energy among its mem-ber countries.

The ISA’s major objectivesinclude global deployment ofover 1,000 gigawatt (GW) ofsolar generation capacity andmobilisation of investment ofover $1 trillion into solar ener-gy by 2030.

India has set an ambitioustarget of installing 175 GW ofrenewable energy, including100 GW from solar by 2020 asannounced by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi at the jointlaunch of the ISA with then-French President FrancoisHollande on November 30,2015.

ADB, based in Manila, isdedicated to reducing povertyin Asia and the Pacific throughinclusive economic growth,environmentally sustainablegrowth, and regional integra-tion. Established in 1966, it isowned by 67 members – 48from the region.

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No-frills airline SpiceJeton Saturday inked $12.5

billion deal with French MajorSafran Group for CFM aircraftengines.

At current exchange rate,the deal is worth more than�81,000 crore and is one of thebiggest in the aviation sector.

SpiceJet and Safran Group,have nowfinalised thepurchase ofL E A P - 1 Bengines topower a total of155 Boeing 737MAX planes,along withspare engines tosupport the fleet.CFM enginesare manufactured by CFMInternational, a joint venturebetween Safran and GeneralElectric. The deal was inked atthe Indo- French EconomicPartnership signing ceremonyhere on the occasion ofFrench President EmmanuelMacron visit to India.

The airl ine has a lsosigned a ten-year Rate perFlight Hour (RPFH) agree-ment with CFM Services thatcovers all LEAP-1B enginespowering SpiceJet’s 737 MAXplanes.

RPFH agreements are partof CFM’s portfolio of flexibleaftermarket support offerings.Under the terms of the agree-ment, CFM guarantees main-tenance costs for all SpiceJet’sLEAP-1B engines on a pay byhour basis, the release issuedby the airline said.

“We are looking forwardto introducing the newLEAP-1B into our fleet. From

what we haveseen so far, theLEAP-1B isliving up to itspromises forefficiency andreliability.

“We hopethey provideus unmatched

service reliability while keep-ing our costs in check toensure profitable operations,”SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singhsaid.

Safran CEO PhilippePetitcolin said it has beenexciting to watch this airlinegrow over the years and believeit has a very bright future. “Weare proud to be such a big partof the SpiceJet team over thelong term,” he added.Currently, SpiceJet operates afleet of more than 38 CFM 56-7B-powered Boeing 737 NGfamily aircraft.

NEW DELHI: President RamNath Kovind on Saturdayappointed Suresh Prabhu as thenew Civil Aviation Minister, astatement said.

A commu-nique from theR a s h t r a p a t iBhawan saidCommerce andI n d u s t r yM i n i s t e rPrabhu will takeadditional charge of theMinistry of Civil Aviation.

The announcement cametwo days after P AshokGajapathi Raju stepped downas the Aviation Minister fol-lowing the Telegu DesamParty's quitting the NDA gov-ernment.

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It is the right time to consid-er a holding company for

Indian public sector banks tomanage the country’s fraud-hitand cash-strapped financialindustry, former RBI DeputyGovernor S S Mundra said.

Mundra, however, said thatconditions were not right forprivatisation of state-runlenders due to the socio-eco-nomic situation of India.

“Time is ripe now to holddiscussions on a holding com-pany for banks. Let the bankholding company start with thegovernment majority and itshould have a majority in indi-vidual bank,” Mundra said at

the State Bank of India-spon-sored Mint Asia GlobalBanking Conclave here onFriday.

In step two, the govern-ment should do away with themajority in the holding com-pany.“I think that should be theroad map and this might take15-20 years,” said Mundra.

He agreed with SBI chair-man Rajnish Kumar that con-ditions were not right for pri-vatisation of the Public SectorBanks (PSBs). “Clearly pri-vatisation (of PSB) is nopanacea; that is quite clear,”added Mundra at the conclaveattended by some 200 mem-bers of the Indian businesscommunity here.

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China is set to scrap the two-term limit for the presi-

dency and vice-presidency onSunday, giving Xi Jinping thelicence to rule the country forlife. With China’s largely cere-monial parliament stampingthe proposal by theCommunist Party, the MiddleKingdom could well be head-ed for a one-man rule.

Fearing the repeat ofexcesses of power if anyoneagain was allowed to rule Chinaindefinitely like Mao Zedong,country’s revered leader DengXiaoping slashed the term limitfor President and vice-presi-dent to two — 10 years.

It is the same restriction,which nearly 3,000 lawmakers— called deputies of theNational People’s Congress —

will lift when they vote onSunday to amend the country’sConstitution in a highly chore-ographed fashion.

Never has China’s parlia-ment said no to a diktat by theCommunist Party, the country’sreal boss. The Party is above all.But it would be interesting to seehow many vote against the pro-posed amendment.

Xi, who came to power in2013, has emerged as the mostpowerful leader in China afterMao. He is the GeneralSecretary of the CommunistParty and the Chairman of the

Central Military Commission— the top nodal body of theChinese Army.

Although the post ofGeneral Secretary is more pow-erful than that of the Presidentin China, the latter is used todeal with the outside world.

Mao set up the President’soffice in 1954 and quit the postafter five years, giving it to LiuShaoqi, handpicked by him. Liuwas a puppet President and fellout of favour during Mao’sCultural Revolution.

Mao did away with thePresident’s post in 1975 only tofor it be revived by Deng in1982 with a two-term cap afterhis death. With the term-limitgone, Xi, who already has alarger than life image in China,can rule the country of 1.4 bil-lion until he retires, dies or istoppled.

Kabul: An Afghan official saysat least 15 security forces havebeen killed in an attack byTaliban fighters in westernFarah province. FaredBakhtawar, head of the provin-cial council, said Saturday thatseven army commandos andeight police are among those 15killed in Bala Buluk district.

Bakhtawer said three othersecurity forces are missing andmore than 30 insurgents werekilled in the battle. Gen DawlatWaziri, spokesman for theDefense Ministry, confirmedthe attack but said only foursoldiers were killed and twowounded.

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Britain offers wealthy Russiansmany attractions: the great

city of London, the bucoliccountryside, exclusive schools,and a global financial hub. Butfor some former spies and otherfoes of President Vladimir Putin,it has become lethal.

The latest victims neardeath’s door are 66-year-oldSergei Skripal — a formercolonel in Russia’s militaryintelligence service, then aturncoat helping British agents— and his 33-year-old daugh-ter Yulia. Both were foundcomatose on a public benchSunday in the medieval Englishcity of Salisbury.

British officials say theywere exposed to a rare nerveagent of undetermined origin. Their prognosis isunclear; officials have not saidif they have suffered irreversibledamage.

Some in Britain say thenerve agent attack fits a patternof suspicious Russian-relateddeaths in the U.K. and in theUnited States, and are callingfor a high level police investi-gation into whether Britainhas become a killing ground forthe state-sanctioned elimina-tion of foes of the RussianGovernment.

The brazen assault has notbeen formally blamed on theRussian government, but it israising hard questions on howto deal with Russia’s increas-ingly aggressive stance — even as officials in the US aretrying to determine how torespond to Russian interferencein US elections.

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Vladimir Putin says he does-n’t care about alleged

Russian interference in the USpresidential election becausethe actions weren’t connectedto his government.

In an interview with the USTV network NBC, the Russianpresident was asked if he con-doned the interference by 13Russian nationals and threeRussian companies detailed ina US indictment.

“I do not care at all, becausethey do not represent the gov-ernment,” he said, according tothe interview transcript postedSaturday by the Kremlin.

“Maybe they are not evenRussians but Ukrainians, Tatarsor Jews but with Russian citi-zenship, which should also bechecked; maybe they have dualcitizenship of a green card;maybe the US paid them forthis. How can you know that? I do not know either,” he said.

Beijing: An elderly woman inChina on Saturday vandalisedthe stall of a fortune tellerwho wrongly predicted herdeath, according to a mediareport. The fortune-teller toldthe 70-year-old womaninMianyang in southwesternSichuan province in Marchlast year that she would not live

to see 2018. The woman, iden-tified only as Wang, then spentthe year in fear and preparedfor her death, Hong Kongbased South China MorningPost reported.

“I was terrified when thefortune-teller told me I would-n’t be able to live till the end oflast year. I worried every day,”

Wang was quoted as saying.But she remained in good

health, despite the fears. WhenWang ran into the fortune-teller in the park this week, shetook her anger out on his stall.

A police officer intervenedand asked the fortune-teller toapologise to Wang for causingstress. PTI

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From their home, a tent hasti-ly erected in a grassy field,

the young Muslim Rohingyacouple can see the village theyleft behind last year, fleeingattacks by Buddhist mobs andMyanmar security forces. Theyarrived in a no man’s land, oneof the small, ill-defined areasthat exist at the cloudiest edgesof the borderlands, places thatseem to be neither Myanmarnor Bangladesh.

While nearly every otherRohingya refugee who crossedthe border has sought protec-tion in the immense camps afew miles deeper intoBangladesh, these people saythey will go no farther.

“My ancestors’ graves arethere,” said Abdul Naser, ges-turing toward his village, lessthan 100 meters (yards) away.“Sometimes, I walk close to the

barbed wire fence and touchmy land, and I cry in thedark.” But a few weeks agothings changed. Myanmardeployed more soldiers to theborder, some of whom begancoming to within 10 meters(yards) of the refugees’ homes.

They shout insults at theRohingya, the refugees say, theythrow empty whiskey bottles.They have set up speakers thatblare announcements, insistingpeople go further intoBangladesh. Because toMyanmar, no man’s land does-n’t exist at all. “We cannot acceptthe term ‘no man’s land’ becausethat is our land,” said NyanMyint Kyaw, Myanmar’s deputycommander of the border police.Shifting rivers may have washedaway some border markers, hesays, and fences may not havebeen erected everywhere.

But he insists the 6,000 or soRohingya who think they live

between the two countries areactually living inside Myanmar.It is easy to get confused on theborder, where many areas arenot marked at all and where it’ssometimes unclear if a fencemarks someone’s personal land,or if it demarcates the frontier.Making things more complicat-ed, Myanmar places its borderfences 150 feet from the actualboundary line.

While Myanmar insists allthe hazy territory is their land,its security forces as well asBangladesh security forces arealso very careful to avoid enter-ing places seen as a no man’sland, presumably fearing acci-dental clashes and diplomatictrouble. Myanmar says theadditional soldiers weredeployed to stop possiblecross-border attacks byRohingya militants, though nosuch attacks are known to haveoccurred.

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In a surprise move, severalmembers of Syria’s armed

opposition have been evacuat-ed from rebel-held EasternGhouta late on Friday, sourcestold Al Jazeera. The evacuationcomes as the Syrian armyintensified its operations inthe central part of the besiegedDamascus suburb, state televi-sion reported on Saturday.

Jaish al-Islam, one of themain rebel groups in EasternGhouta, announced it hadagreed to the evacuation of sev-eral Hayat Tahrir al-Shamfighters – previously part of al-Qaeda-linked Al Nusra Front –who were detained by thegroup in Eastern Ghouta.

According to Syrian statemedia, 13 fighters were evacu-ated with their families throughthe al-Wafeedin passage andbussed to Idlib province.

The agreement for theevacuation was reportedlyreached with the help of theUnited Nations and severalinternational entities, in addi-tion to civil society members.

The evacuation deal cameafter Jaish al-Islam sent a letterlast month to the UN vowing to facilitate theevacuation of the former al-Qaeda members.

Split down the middleSyrian state TV reported

that the army is close to cuttingthe enclave in two.

The Syrian Army wasadvancing near Mesraba andMudeira, two small townswhich represent the last linkbetween the northern andsouthern halves of the enclave,which is located near to theSyrian capital, Damascus.

Jaish al-Islam and Failaq al-Rahman, another large rebelgroup in Eastern Ghouta, saidthey have staged counter-attacks in recent days thatretook some lost positions.

The ferocious three-weekassault on the last major rebelstronghold near Damascus hascaptured about half its area andkilled 960 people, according toa war monitor. The Britain-based Syrian Obser-vatory forHuman Rights also said onSaturday that warplanes, heli-copters and artillery were usedin bombardment of the areaovernight. Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad and Russia, hismain ally, say the campaign isneeded to end rebel shelling ofDamascus and to end the rule ofrebels over the area’s civilians.

The offensive follows thepattern of previous assaults onrebel strongholds, deployingmassive air power and tightsieges to force rebels to accept“evacuation” deals. Theseinvolve rebels surrenderingterritory in exchange for safepassage to opposition areas innorthwest Syria, along withtheir families and other civil-ians who do not want to comeback under Assad’s rule.

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Aday after the stunningannouncement that

President Donald Trump hasagreed to meet North Koreanleader Kim Jong Un, the UnitedStates appeared to be puttingout mixed messages on Fridayon the likelihood of the historicmeeting taking place.

Doubts came to be sowedwith White House PressSecretary Sarah Sanders tellingreporters repeatedly that ameeting will be held only afterPyongyang takes “concrete andverifiable actions” on denu-clearization. “We’re not going tohave this meeting take placeuntil we see concrete actions

that match the words and therhetoric of North Korea,”Sanders said.

But, hours later on Fridaynight, Trump himself tweetedto say that a deal withPyongyang is “very much inthe making”. Without settingany similar precondition,Trump noted: “The deal withNorth Korea is very much inthe making and will be, ifcompleted, a very good one forthe World. Time and place tobe determined.”

One aspect on whicheveryone appeared to be on thesame page in the Trumpadministration, from thePresident downwards, was thatthe US will continue with itsrigorous sanctions-driven“maximum pressure” campaignon Pyongyang till the time anagreement is reached.

US media reports said thatTrump made the decision tomeet Kim without consultingkey figures in his administra-

tion, but Secretary of State RexTillerson, away on an officialtrip to Africa, said Trump’sdecision was not such a big sur-prise as was being made out.“This is something that he’s hadon his mind for quite some time,so it was not a surprise in anyway,” Tillerson said in Djibouti,adding: “I spoke to him veryearly this (Friday) morningabout that decision and we hada very good conversation.”

At the White House mediabriefing, Sanders, fielding abarrage of questions on themeeting, said that a result of theTrump administration’s “max-imum pressure campaign”,

North Korea has made promis-es to denuclearize, and to stopnuclear and missile testing.

Asked if Kim can be trust-ed as a negotiating partner,Sanders commented, “Look,we’re not in the negotiationright now. We’ve accepted theinvitation to talk, based onthem following through withconcrete actions on the promis-es that they’ve made.”

As to why Trump accept-ed the invitation without set-ting any preconditions, Sanderssaid, “Let’s be very clear: TheUnited States has made zeroconcessions. But North Koreahas made some promises. And,again, this meeting won’t take place without concreteactions that match the promis-es that have been made byNorth Korea.”

Asked if Trump was notgiving Kim exactly what hewants in terms of respect on theinternational stage, Sandersshot back, “Not at all. I think

that the President is gettingexactly what he wants. He isgetting the opportunity to havethe North Koreans actuallydenuclearise.”

Pointing out that “nothingis changing from the UnitedStates' position”, the spokesper-son said Washington will con-tinue with the maximum pres-sure campaign by working withits allies and partners. “If wecan get to a place where NorthKorea is denuclearising, that isa massive step and it’s some-thing that will make the entireglobe much safer.”

While the projectedTrump-Kim meeting will be thefirst time that a US president isslated to sit down with a NorthKorean ruler, active negotiationsover denuclearising the KoreanPeninsula were held by the BillClinton administration and theGeorge W Bush administrationbut, after recording considerableprogress, the efforts collapsed onboth occasions.

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Beijing: The day China’s rulingCommunist Party unveiled aproposal to allow President XiJinping to rule indefinitely asMao Zedong did a generationago, Ma Bo was so shaken hecouldn’t sleep.

So Ma, a renowned writer,wrote a social media post urg-ing the party to remember thehistory of unchecked one-manrule that ended in catastrophe.“History is regressing badly,”Ma thundered in his post. “Asa Chinese of conscience, I can-not stay silent!” Censorssilenced him anyway, swiftlywiping his post from the inter-net. As China’s rubber-stamplegislature prepares to approveconstitutional changes abol-

ishing term limits for the pres-ident on Sunday, signs of dis-sent and biting satire havebeen all but snuffed out.

The stifling censorshipleaves intellectuals, youngwhite-collar workers andretired veterans of past politi-cal campaigns using round-about ways to voice their con-cerns. For many, it’s a fore-shadowing of greater politicalrepression ahead.

The result has been a sur-real political atmosphere lacedwith fear, confusion, and evenmoments of dark comedy thatundermines the picture ofswelling popular support for themeasure being peddled relent-lessly by state media. PTI

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Without a mobile phone, a com-puter, or even a palace for ahouse that some might expectan author of his stature to bein, Ruskin Bond lives in a

quaint, little cottage in Landour, Mussoorie.One has to see it to know that the author doesreally live the kind of simple, thoughtful,adorably slow-paced and toytownish life thathis stories and novellas often paint with words.The 83-year-old author still writes manuscripts.He tries to walk half the way to the CambridgeBook Store at the Mall Road in Mussoorie tomeet fans every afternoon. He still follows hisfather’s advice of “paddling his own canoe”.And like regular people, struggles to get out ofbed, which is positioned to get just the rightamount of heat and light from the sun.

Till the Clouds Roll By and Looking for theRainbow are two of his latest releases. Andanother one is set to release. In a conversationthat was marked by his very natural sense ofhumour, he told us: “As a boy, I had no senseof humour. I was very serious. It has grown asI have grown older. I find life getting moreridiculous all the time. Earlier, I didn’t laughat myself much. But it has grown over theyears.” Here’s more from the chat:

������������ ���� ���������������A simple conversation with the author can edu-cate one about the history of our nation. His lifeis very deeply intertwined with it. He told us,“In 1947, I was 12-13 years old, and I was inboarding school in Shimla. I remember that thethen Viceroy or Governor General, who hadhanded over the reigns of power, wasMountbatten. And, of course, we used to seequite a bit — Shimla was then the summer capi-tal. So, a lot of things happened there. I remember the flag being hoisted onSpringfield. In fact, a year or two later, as theschool prefect, I hoisted the flag. But shortlyafter the celebrations, the riots had begun inNorth India and that included the hill stations.And in my school — Bishop Cotton — aboutone-third of students were from what becamePakistan. So, they were all evacuated overnightin Army trucks. Suddenly, our school wasreduced in numbers. And it took two or threeyears for it to recover. And then, when I came

home in the winter holidays, to Dehradun —my mother was there — it was just recoveringfrom a good deal of communal rioting. But bythe time, things were getting back to normal in afew months. But then, Gandhiji was assassinatedin January 1948. I was in Dehradun; it was thewinter break. I was in one of the cinema halls inDehradun when they stopped the movie andtold us what had happened. I remember I waswatching an English movie called Blossoms inthe Dust, starring Greer Garsen. It was about acouple who started adopting orphaned children.I only saw the first 15 minutes of the film, and Istill haven’t seen the rest of it. I was a greatmovie-goer. But it hasn’t come across my wayagain. After Gandhi’s assassination, everythingshut down for a week — no cinemas, nothing.”

���� ������ �������� ��Bond wanted to be an author. His mother want-ed him to take the then traditional route andjoin the Army. “I would have been anotherBeetle Bailey. I would not have been of muchuse to them,” he said, adding, “I was shuntedoff, to be permanently there (England). Therewere relatives there. I moved to London becauseI wanted to write, too. And I took various jobsbecause I didn’t have any money. But the urgeto come back was always there. And then I gotmy first novel — The Room on the Roof —accepted. In those days, the standard advancewas 50 pounds. But the fare back to India was40 pounds. So, when I got down at Bombay, Istill had 10 pounds to get to Dehradun.”

������������������������“I was still at school when I decided that I wasan author. I had written a little novella in myschool exercise book. Most of it was describingschool activities; teachers in particular. I hadwritten some nasty things about some of theteachers. The exercise books fell into the handsof my class master, and I got into trouble. Inthose days, you used to get caned. And it wasthe first time I was getting canned. So myfriends advised me: ‘Bond, you stuff a couple oftext books down your trousers when you getwhacked, and you won’t feel it.’ I did so, but notvery convincingly. At the first whack, my house-master said, ‘You’ve got something there, take itout.’ And since I am literary person, it was AsYou Like It by William Shakespeare. Then,another whack, and he said, ‘This side? Take itout from this side.’ And (Robert Louis)Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and MrHyde fell out. I got three or four more. And theytore off my exercise book. That was the end ofmy very first novel. It wasn’t a very auspicious

beginning. But it wasn’t a masterpiece either. Idon’t regret it. My old school had a good library.And I was incharge of it for three to four years.So, if I had to skip the morning PT, I would usethe incharge keys to the library and slip off.”

���������������������“My interest in nature is natural, but has alsogrown over the years. It wasn’t as much whenI was a boy/young man. I took everything forgranted. It probably changed when I came tolive in the hills, and came closer to nature.When I first came to Mussoorie, I stayed foraround 10 years in a small cottage near theforest. And that made me very aware of thenatural world around me. In the past, it hadbeen in the background, but now it became atheme/subject in itself,” he shares.

����������������������Digressing, like many celebrated authors, ispart of most of his narratives. Talking aboutthe coming of Western brands to India, heended up sharing a funny story from his per-sonal life. He said, “Coca Cola came to Indiaduring World War II; the American soldiersbrought it. We used to have a drink calledVinto before that, a raspberry flavoured softdrink. It went out of business, I think, but itwas a kind of bottled fizzy drink. There weresnacks in the school tuck shop, such as jalebisand samosas. There wasn’t any plastic to beginwith. So, you didn’t get any packets. If you didget anything, it would be in paper. Envelopesmade out of old exercise books.

“I’ll tell you a funny story — when one ofmy first children’s books was published by theCBT (Children’s Books Trust) in Delhi in theearly 60s, I had a few copies at home. Therewas a boy down the road whose father ran alittle ration shop. He came one day and sawthe books and asked me: ‘Can I have one ofthose, uncle?’ I wanted to encourage him toread. So, I said, ‘Sure,’ and gave him one ortwo. He went off very pleased. A couple ofdays later, I was passing by his shop. I walkedin as I wanted to buy some peanuts. He packedthem very nicely; just that the envelopes weremade out of the paper from the pages of mybook. So, that was an end to my author’s ego.He put it to very practical use!”

������� ��������������Purana Quila, Qutab Minar, Connaught Place— these were dear to Bond as his father,whose absence is probably one of the biggestreasons he started writing, had introducedhim to the city. In fact, he chose Mussoorieover other hill stations because the hilly townis close to the National Capital. Telling us whyhe just couldn’t bear to write or live in Delhidespite the attachment, he said, “Delhi is a lit-tle more interesting now than it was then. Inthe 60s, Delhi was very dull. There was noth-ing happening there — just bureaucracy andthe Government. On the other hand, businessto some extent and entertainment was con-fined to a few cinemas in Connaught Place.And again, if you wanted to eat out, there wasjust Connaught Place. But now, the whole ofDelhi seems to be eating out, putting onweight, and living the good life! So now, if Iwere living in Delhi, I could find things to do.The air quality has gone down, they say. Buteven in the 60s, we used to get dust stormsthere. It would come in from Rajasthan. So, it was not the best place to be at. Even as an adult, when I would return to the city, I would go for walks in Lodhi Gardens. Onetime, I tripped over young lovers on the grass.I can be rather absent-minded; I was lookingat the birds above and not the birds below. I was very apologetic as it was my fault; I must look where I am going.”

��������� �������� �������“I am a backward person; I actually don’t usea computer or laptop. I don’t have e-mail. If Ihave a cellphone in my hand, I might hold itupside down. Even this doesn’t work (pointingto a landline kept by the chair on a side table).I am used to writing with a ballpoint pen.Actually, I have three abandoned typewriters.In the old days, I used to type. But it isuncomfortable now. Also, my eyesight isn’t allthat good for the computer screen. I am morecomfortable writing by hand — I have a neathandwriting. My publishers then send me aprintout, which will be full of mistakes and Ihave to correct them. Everybody else in thehouse has got expensive cellphones and kidshave got laptops. Even laptops are out of date;now they do everything on the phone. Evennovellas instead of novels — by nature I am alazy person. Why should I write a 500-pagebook if I can do the same in 200?

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As a self-avowed Italophile, Inever realised when thisstrange infatuation and yearn-ing started. It was heartbreak-ing to have planned the trip

twice, only to then cancel it. It was a grad-ual revolt by the heart and mind againstme that lead to a resolve to visit Italy. Beinga tourist is a sort of inner quest; to under-stand, seek, and embrace the rich cultur-al experiences that the world has to offer.Travel bestows a new vigor to the mind,body, and soul. And sure, Italy doesn’t dis-appoint you on any of these counts.

Italy can be very expensive, but a niftysearch on various options can save you alot of money. Rome extends its courtesyto the traveller in more ways than one.The flight via Doha to Rome was anenjoyable one. Armed to the teeth withresearch and information, and exhaustivereading of the voluminous guide books,an overpowering sense of anticipation andalacrity surrounded me and I couldn’twait for the touchdown.

Spontaneity is so undervalued. Weseldom visit places with a studied mind-fulness and indulgence. Most often, we arecaught up rushing, busy ticking the‘places-I-visited’ boxes. Isn’t it liberatingto experience the places by surrenderingto their own unique flow and rhythms?

A gloriously sunny afternoon greet-ed us as the aircraft landed at FiumicinoAirport (located 30 km to the southwestof Rome). The airport is efficient and youare out with your baggage within no time.Taking a shuttle bus instead of an Expresstrain to reach Roma Termini, the city cen-tre, turned out to be a better idea. It isutterly thrilling to sit by the window ofa bus and see the city life gently unfoldlayer by layer in front of your eyes.

Rome is where time surrenders itself.Rather, the concept of time collapsesentirely. Unlike other places, Rome seeshistory not in the rear-view mirror butsquarely in front of it every single day, forthe past 2,500 years. Setting foot inRome — which was established around753 BC — seemed to have an electrify-ing effect. Disregarding the tiredness aftera long flight, I sprinted out to roam thestreets of ancient Rome, armed with acamera. By now, night had set in.

Rome glows in the night. Walking pastthe cobbled streets of downtown ancientRome, you witness the magnificentColosseum, an iconic Roman architectureand awe-inspiring amphitheater built inAD 80 by emperor Vespasian for stagingdeadly gladiatorial combats and wild ani-mal fights for public viewing. It could eas-ily hold 55,000 people at a time, who wouldbe seated as per their social rank. A deftrestoration work is underway here.

Towards the right, an imposing Archof Constantine stands between the

Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It is thelast remaining arch in Rome from theancient period. An inscription bears thewords “Inspired by the divine”.

Rome is remarkably walkable, withhistory being the main protagonist andcountless monuments, piazzas, foun-tains, and town squares acting as itscentral props. A few yards away, theRoman Forum delicately soarsabove in the night sky. It was thecentre of ancient Romans’ dailylife. Today, what you would seeare the ruins and fragmentsof the architectural past,nonetheless an imposingand evocative sight.

Headed next to thesupremely artistic spec-tacle called Fontana diTrevi (Trevi Fountain),

Rome’s largest and most famous fountain.The visual assault that ensues numbsone’s senses. For once, a thought cross-es the mind: If it is ever possible to cre-ate such masterpieces by sheer humanimagination and craftsmanship? Youcan just gaze at the beauty of it for hoursand hours, sit and relax and enjoyamidst pouring tourists, trying fortheir best selfies or Instagram one

perfect bragworthy photo.As the night descends, you can

enjoy the wonderful pockets ofcalm and stroll past the ancient

Roman streets, while enjoyinga delicious pressed sandwichof spicy grilled eggplant withfresh mozzarella and basil ora splendid gelato. Food ischeap and you find manyrestaurants in the business

districts that cater to low and high endof food connoisseurs. Budget travellersshould try and avoid shops at the elegantneighbourhoods and hunt for morebargain-friendly shops slightly awayfrom the touristy zones.

The amazing thing is that just like itsinnumerable water fountains, that are“free” and “fit” to drink from, much ofthe priceless ancient history in Rome alsocomes free, of course, barring a fewexceptions, like Colosseum, SistineChapel, and The Pantheon being a recentaddition to the list.

An impulsive night-time strollaround Rome finally turned out to be amagical one. Day two, walking past thestreets of Rome, every street turns outto be a treasure trove of history of somesort. The task of conservation andrestoration is a mammoth one here andmust be quite a painstaking effort too for

the Government officials, who seem tobe performing it quite judiciously.

Rome has some of the greatest featsof urban engineering. The Pantheon,believed to be built in the 1st century AD,is the single largest span dome in theworld located at the heart of the Rome’sbusiness district, at Piazza Navona. It isa masterpiece of perfect proportions, isextraordinary, and perhaps the best pre-served monument. An engineering mar-vel, the concrete used by Romans to buildthis has remained a puzzle to this day. Itis incredible to see how much was accom-plished in the 2nd century without anymaterial and technical advances.

A few streets away, you reachAltaredella Patria, an unmissable whitemarble memorial to the first king of Italy,Vittorio Emmanuele II.

Rome is remarkably walkable, withdelights — art, ancient ruins, and greatfood — at every turn. Spend the day witha bit more of aimless wandering and youwill discover masterpieces of every archi-tectural era — from Etruscan to ClassicalRome, from Renaissance to Baroque —as you walk through the streets.

The hard, uneven cobblestones ofancient Roman streets would graduallystart to take a toll; your legs could go soreand heels may ache. To ensure that a walk-ing trip in Rome is an enjoyable one, youmust carry some good comfy shoes.

Sweeping vistas of Villa BorghesePark can provide a soothing effect to thefrayed nerves. It’s a beautiful garden of 80hectares, built by Cardinal ScipioneBorghese for his estate. The park was thefirst-of-its-kind in Rome, its formal gar-dens divided by avenues and gracedwith statues. The best way to explore theBorghese Gardens is to walk or you couldeven rent a bike for the day.

Visitors to Rome can sample bothtraditional and creative cuisines, classic architecture, avant-garde gal-leries, and endless nightlife options. The food exemplifies the tastes of thepeople in that place, their tradition and culture. No wonder that people will walk a kilometre to reach theirfavourite gelato shop! Roman restau-rants favour noise and light, a touch ofchaos, and bold, lively flavours.

The city reminds visitors that thereare more than 2,500 years of history allintertwined. Do yourself a favour and visitthis eternal city of Rome; you will be backfor more in no time!

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Idream about people who havelong gone. Sometimes, thereare repetitive dreams, too. The

ones that are scary are not ofmonsters but are anxiety dreams.My most recurrent dream is that Iam staying in a very expensivefive star hotel in Bombay or some-where, invited there by a publisheror somebody very important whosays, ‘Stay here, you are my guest,you don’t have to pay anything. I’llcome and join you in two days.’And, he doesn’t turn up! A weekpasses, two weeks pass. Ofcourse, I have all the luxury of afive star hotel, but who is goingto pay the bill since nobody isturning up? Fortunately, I wakeup just before the bill arrives. It’sa feeling of insecurity, I think.Because as a writer, all my life Ihave never known how much Iam going to earn in the comingmonth or the coming year.”

�����������“I was a good football player; Iwould have loved to play forArsenal or Manchester United. Butthe only thing is, at the age of 83, Iam still writing stories. Playingfootball would not have been veryeasy. I wouldn’t make a living fromit. In those days, the big team wasArsenal. Boys usually supportedthe top team,” he says.

In one of his latest releases,Till the Clouds Roll By, Bondwrites that as a boy, he wentstraight from comics to adult fic-tion. He never read children’sbooks. Elaborating on that, hesaid, “I found that a lot of myearly stories, although written foradults, were thought suitable forchildren, too. I was in my 20s,and my stories were finding theirway into school books. It wasonly when I was in my 40s that Istarted writing stories specificallyfor children. Up to that time, I

was just writing stories and somewere found as children’s stories.Now when I write, I have ayoung reader in mind. I remem-ber that there was a novella I hadwritten and submitted to a pub-lisher in England. He said, ‘It istoo short to publish as a novel.So, if you could make it evenshorter, we can make it a chil-

dren’s book.’ And I worked on ita little more and redesigned it. Itwas one of my first children’s sto-ries that was published — AngryRiver. It’s still in print. After that,I wrote The Blue Umbrella.”

������� ����� ��“Although people think nobodyhas the time to read anymore,

actually there are more readerstoday for the simple reason thatthere are more educated people,particularly in the middle class.So, the potential readers arethere. And readers have alwaysbeen a minority. In my schooldays, in a class of say 35, only twoto three of us were the ones whoread books. Others would read

comics and go to the movies oncea month. Also, you didn’t have allthese technological distractions.Today, three out of 30 read, atbest. But because of the vastincrease in the number of peoplewho can read, that small minori-ty in terms of actual numbers isvast. That’s why the publishersare doing quite well. There are

young writers who are makingmoney. You keep hearing ofChetan Bhagats and RavinderSinghs whose books are doingwell. And there are all kinds ofwriters. Some are very smart;they write for a particular reader-ship. Marketing is also important.Even I get dragged off now toattend a lit fest or a book fair —things we never had earlier. Thefirst book fair that Delhi had wasin 1969-70 on a small patch ofwasteland near the RegalCinema. Of course, now you havethe World Book Fair. Literaturefestivals are a fairly recent phe-nomenon. Earlier, you had abook published, you were luckyto find it in a book shop, andmaybe it would get reviewed. Ifthey got popular, writers wereknown by their names. Theywere not recognised as theywould be today.”

Bond had to leave in themiddle of autographing books atthe recent Book Fair in Delhi ashe had got mobbed. He told us,“I had to be escorted out; I wasonly able to sign one book therefor some poor lady who had allher hair pulled in various direc-tions. Well, I was very kindlytaken out, and because of mypoor eyesight, I don’t notice halfof these things anyway.”

��������� ��� ��������� “I did have an uncle calledJames. He is a dentist and wasn’ta secret agent. On his grave inthe old Mussoorie cemetery, Iwrote: ‘Strangers approach thisspot with gravity. James Bond isfilling his last cavity.’”

Telling us if he has beenasked the quintessential questionabout when he was getting mar-ried, he said, “When I lived inDehradun, after I came backfrom England, the landlady whohad lent me a couple of rooms

used to pester me. She was deter-mined to get me married. Shewould produce from nowhere allsorts of attractive women whowere 10 years older than me. Thevery opposite of what I wouldhave wanted to get married to.This game used to carry on. Sheused to try very hard. I called herBibiji. Even years later, when Iwas in my 50s and she was dyingin Delhi, she was very old, thefirst thing she would say when Icame to meet her would be:‘Shaadi kab kar raha hai,Ruskin?’ She hadn’t given up.”

Describing the kind ofwoman he would have married,he says, “Thinking of the onesthat I did want to, I’d say placiddemure, good humoured, andpretty, of course. They didn’thave to be readers. I’ve been inlove before and none of themwere interested in my books orwriting. Even none of myadopted family members haveread anything that I write. I likeit that way. I don’t want any-body telling me I could havedone this better. Regardingmarriage, people have asked me.I tell them I wasn’t luckyenough. In those early years, Ididn’t have much money, so Iwasn’t a very attractive catch forthem. I didn’t have anyone whowould arrange a marriage forme, apart from Bibiji. I meanparents or anybody like that. Iproposed two to three girls, butthey all turned me down. Therewas a Vietnamese girl inLondon; she made excuses.There was a girl in Delhi, butshe was much younger than me,so her parents wouldn’t hear ofit. But no regrets. So, I mighthave been married, and I canwrite about all these girls.However, had I married them,they wouldn’t have allowed meto write about them.”

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Fine art and literature have thepower to capture and captivatehuman minds. Sartre, the father

of modern philosophy, rightly envi-sions the role of a writer in societyand calls for “commitment literature”wherein he discusses the responsibil-ity of an author towards the society.The writer needs to be careful withthe form and content of literature asit will show the readers a world theyare familiar with in a more obser-vant, more humane light. By this, inno way do I mean that all literatureshould be didactic or art for art sakeshouldn’t exist.

Ayse Kulin, a renowned Turkishwriter, dons the mantle of a “com-mitted” writer to take a plunge intothe human psyche to explore boththe humanity and brutality of thehuman race. Her Last Train ToIstanbul (2002), written originally inTurkish and translated in English byJohn W Baker in 2006, is a historicalnovel which depicts the atrocitiesinflicted on the Jews across Europeby Nazis and Turkey’s role in savingas many Jews as they could. It is anarrative of loss and hope simultane-ously. It is based on real life accountsnarrated over several conversationsin person as well as over phone bythe Turkish diplomats who wereinvolved in saving the Jews particu-larly the ones in France. The writeralso spoke to the members of theunderground French Resistance cellwho had a major hand in saving theJews from Germans in France.

The novel is set in the times ofWorld War II and focuses on Germanoccupation of France, persecution ofJews by Nazis across Europe and theneutral stance of Turkey during thewar. The writer specifically concen-trates on the role of Turkish govern-ment in protecting the Jews ofTurkish as well as non-Turkishnationalities living in France at thetime of German occupation of France.

What is most fascinating aboutthis novel is the author’s successfulattempt at knitting the narratives ofwar with those of love. The centralcharacters of the novel, Selva andRafael fall in love with each other.Selva is a Turkish Muslim girl where-as Rafael is a Turkish Jew boy. Theywish to marry each other but facestrong opposition from their respec-tive families because of their differentreligious faiths. They decide to getmarried against all odds and leavetheir country (Turkey) to live in Paris.

That is where the problems begin.They start living in the occupiedFrance and have to flee again (firstfrom their family and their country toescape any bitter confrontation withtheir families; then to escapeGermans to save their lives). Theyhead to Marseilles in the South ofFrance which wasn’t occupied by theGermans then. But, the anti-semiticattitude travels there too and the twostart living in fear of their lives. Selvastarts to be extremely cautious andsits on the stool next to the windowmost of the times, to keep an eye onthe Gestapo who could show up any-time and rob the Jews of their dignity,their lives. It is through Selva’s eyes,we see several episodes of violenceagainst the Jews during the world war.

Along with Selva, Tarik who is ayoung Turkish government official,Ferit who is an important member ofthe underground French Resistancetake up the responsibility of trans-porting the Jews in France (Turkish aswell as non-Turkish) to Turkey in the“last train” mentioned in the title ofthe novel. All three of them are brave,sensitive, empathetic and intelligent.This novel, then, is not just a story ofthe plight of Jews during the war butit narrates stories of several charac-ters. Kulin is effectual in drawingeach of these characters with suchfinesse that they stay with us longafter reading the novel. Even thecharacters who appear for a shortwhile leave their mark.

Selva’s is a strong character whofirmly believes in liberal ideas andthere is no disjunction between herthoughts and actions. The writer laysbare for her readers the price one hasto pay for being a bold, liberal andassertive woman in a conservativesociety. Her father is instrumental ineducating his daughters to empowerthem. He wishes to unveil for them analternative reality through educationand bring them out of their closetedworld. However, he never envisions,

even in his dreams, his favouritedaughter, Selva would become soenamoured by the ideals she imbibesthrough education that she would doanything to bring parity between herbelief system and her actions. As aresult, he disowns her which empha-sises the fact that her father could notcome to terms with the strength ofhis daughter’s personality. It becomestoo overpowering for him. Hebelieves, women should be educatedbut obedient, liberal but within cer-tain acceptable limits. Kulin throughthe character of Selva’s father hints atthe willingness of the society tochange their approach towardswomen. But, the journey from theoryto practice is a long struggle and

there is hope for such an end. Overall, the novel presents a pic-

ture of the sorry state of the Jews atthe time of war. Kulin, through fic-tion, has been able to present a per-sonal history of the holocaust. Shedelves into the psyche of the victimsand those around them with perfec-tion. Their sufferings torment thereaders because many of these char-acters have been individualised.What we read in schools comes alivewith characters we know and canrelate to. We, as readers, become theparticipants in the novel who wishto help the victims to escape theirhorrifying reality.

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With the chasm betweendystopia and reality nolonger as wide and deep as it

once was, the immediacy of fiction asportend appears irrevocably height-ened. Decidedly, ours is a strangeworld where many of the certaintiesmost of us were born with do nothold. Liberty, freedom, democracy,rights, these are no longer what theywere. Gone, too, is the rootedness ofidentity, the localised contours ofbelonging, the specificities of what itmeant to be social. Man himself, thespecies, the organism, is not what hewas. With technology, with medicineand science, what it meant to behuman has now changed forever.

In this world, in this context, frag-mented as much by violence as byprosperity, MG Vassanji’s Nostalgia isa provokingly disturbing read. Locatedin an undefined but not unrecognis-able future where the world is dividedinto enclaves of extreme privilege andextreme poverty, where the bound-aries of mortality have been breached,and where near-totalitarian govern-ments seek to control not just citizens’bodies but also their hearts andminds, Nostalgia is the stuff night-mares are made of. It is a futurewhich, measure by measure, our chil-dren may well be born into.

Curiously, what makes Nostalgiabelievable is its measured avoidance ofnostalgia, of the intense, monochro-matic sentimentality which is a tiringstaple of much science fiction, literaryand cinematic. Vassanji’s dystopia isnot too dissimilar from our own divid-ed world, his characters torn by urges

not entirely unrelatable. Frank Sina,noted neurophysiologist at theSunflower Centre for HumanRejuvenation in Toronto, cannot buthelp indulge his pathetic desire forJoanie, a young and wholesome ‘BabyGen’. Joanie, apparently in love withFrank, is still opposed to GN-new gen-eration-persons cheating death andholding on to privilege and power byremaining young. Holly Chu, well-heeled reporter with XBN News, can-not help visit the depressed parts ofMaskinia to narrate the sufferings ofits people. Presley Smith, the patientwhose case changes Frank’s life, isguided by some unknown, unutterableinstinct to hide himself from the gov-ernment, from the gaze of the perva-sive and powerful Department ofInternal Security.

In all of this, it is to Vassanji’scredit that he steers clear of extremi-

ties. His world may be divided andshrill, but it still has semblance ofdemocratic dialogue and civil opin-ion. The so-called Long Borderdivides the enclaves of privilege fromthe sick and decaying parts and pop-ulations of the earth, but refugeesstill attempt to cross the barriers.Society’s elite can choose to escapememory and death, but fringe reli-gious groups still have enough free-dom to publicly protest against thissubversion of god and nature. WithinToronto, within the Long Borderitself, there are pockets of depriva-tion, neighbourhoods as deprived asMaskinia and Bimaru — the sickcountries on the other side. Sprayedgenerously with these many shades ofgrey, Vassanji’s world is a pastiche ofthe real and unreal, a quietly headycanvas of what may well come to be.

Of course, what lends a distinctly

uncanny hue to this narrative is thecentral trope of memory. For a specieswhich is often stuck in the womb oftime and which spends as much timelooking back into the past as towardsthe future, Vassanji conjures an epochwhere history itself-lived and shared-may cease to hold. With psychosomat-ic rejuvenation, the privileged few canbe born again as their own healthier,happier fantasies. The mind can beworked upon, all trace of memoryerased so that a psychic tabula rasacan be achieved. Nostalgia, the irra-tional yearning for what once was, issuppressed as Leaked MemorySyndrome, an aberration to be dealtwith swiftly and surely. Frank Sina,the novel’s protagonist, is an expert inprecisely this process, in ensuring thehydra head of memory does not rearup to threaten the lives and fictions ofnew generation persons.

It is the interplay of memory, identi-ty, and longing-nostalgia-amongstFrank, Presley, and Holly which makesthe narrative thrillingly engaging. Thelarger question emergent from theseevents and the embedded network ofkinship from which they emerge, how-ever, is not as much if such a dividedworld can come into being as whetherthe human mind has something irre-pressible, something untouchable whichwill resurface despite all attempts to culland cut it. While Vassanji’s answer hereseems to be indicative of humanity’sinherent resilience and strength, his clo-sure-calm, quiet, reflexive-is perhapsthe most ominous of his imaginings.Humanity may resist, the human heartmay yearn, but it will always be watchedand worked upon.

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South Asia is the least connect-ed region in the world andwhatever connectivity was

established during the colonialperiod, were disrupted in the past.Connectivity is one area of cooper-ation between India andBangladesh. Currently, both coun-tries are working to restore road,rail and coastal shipping links thathad existed in the pre-Partitionperiod. At the same time, new landports and better infrastructure arebuilt to facilitate greater trade.

Building a bridge over Feniriver, the establishment of rail connectivity between Akhaura andAgartala and the development ofRamgarh-Subroom may look likesmall steps but those will be ‘gamechanger’, which will directly con-nect the North-East Indian Stateswith the Chittagong port. We haveopened up new inter-country busroutes between the cities to connectthe North-East with West Bengal.

Both Governments are current-ly working on the restoration ofeight railway links between WestBengal and the North-East Indiawith Bangladesh which weresnapped during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war. Our people haveachieved much higher purchasingpower and, hence, air connectivitybetween Bangladesh and othernorth-eastern cities should be con-sidered on a top priority basis. Thiswill definitely facilitate people-to-people contact between the twocountries.

Leadership from both thecountries have been very keen onstrengthening Bangladesh-Indiabilateral ties as a catalyst forregional and sub-regional integra-tion, progress and stability. The

main component of the three Lineof Credits (LoC) extended by Indiahas been utilised in connectivityand power sector.

The projects under first Line ofCredit (LoC-1) have been alreadyutilised, while implementation ofvarious projects under the SecondLine of Credit (LoC-2) is under-way. These credits have enhancedcapacities in vital areas such asroads, railways, bridges, inlandwaterways connectivity. Recently,under the third Line of Credit(LoC 3), the Indian Governmenthas given $4.5 billion toBangladesh. In the meantime,infrastructural development ofLand Customs Stations/Land Portsis continuing to boost smootherexchange of goods.

Bangladesh and India share 54common rivers and the issue ofwater sharing during the lean sea-son has been a sensitive and deli-cate issue which has a directimpact on food production andquality of life of our teeming mil-lions. Ganges water sharing agree-ment was signed duringBangladesh Prime Minister SheikhHasina’s first term. After theassumption of power in 2009, shetook the initiative to break thedeadlock on the Teesta water shar-ing issue during the lean period.

The two countries had alsoworked out a solution for an inter-im water sharing agreement in2011 but it could not be concludeddue to last minute objection raisedby the West Bengal Government.Since then, the Union Governmenthas been undertaking internal con-sultations with the Government ofWest Bengal and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has assured that

the agreement will be finalisedduring his current term of office.Bangladesh is eagerly looking for-ward to an early conclusion of theagreement as it will open up neweropportunities for cooperation.

We are also trying to improvethe trade balance between the twocountries. Bangladesh’s yearlyimport from India is roughly $5.5billion and export to India is $690million. We are trying to collabo-rate with India for substantialinvestment to broaden ourexportable base. The most practicalcause of action will be to set upseries of ‘buy-back’ projects, whereIndian big companies will set uptheir industries in Bangladesh andthe produces will be exported toIndia. To this end, several Indianmega companies like Hero Moto-Corp, Tata group and CEAT haveset up such projects in Bangladesh.These are small projects but theymark the beginning of a much-needed process.

Last but not the least, is peo-ple-to-people contacts. There is noalternative to peoples’ camaraderiein any bilateral relation. People-to-people contact has increased mani-fold over the past years because ofimproved connectivity. We havestarted new bus services, we haverelaxed our visa policy, we areincreasing the Integrated CheckPosts (ICPs) and we are expandingour missions. As a result, people-to-people contact has increasedmanifold over the past years.

We have already upgraded ourmission in Agartala to AssistantHigh Commission level andopened new Assistant High Com-mission in Guwahati. Earlier, weopened a Deputy High Commis-

sion in Mumbai with a view tofacilitate the issuance of visa andother consular services. Now weare going to open a new Mission inChennai soon to strengthen ourcooperation with the southernStates. To ensure greater mobilityof people between the two coun-tries, visa regime has been relaxedby issuing five years multipleentry-exit visas for senior citizens.

Besides, Bangladesh and Indiaalso regularly hold film festivalsand book fairs in Dhaka, Kolkata,and Delhi. Recently, Akashvanistarted its ‘Moitree’ programme.Exchange of cultural delegationshas been made between the twocountries on almost regular basis.India regularly participates inAsian Art Biennale in Bangladesh.Cultural teams from Bangladeshand India frequently participate inthe cultural programmes arrangedby each other’s Government andnon-Government organisations.

The Maitre Hall of BangladeshHigh Commission in New Delhi, aswell as the Indira Gandhi CulturalCentre in Dhaka, regularly organisevarious cultural events to mark thedeath and birth anniversary of ourlegendary writers, poets, and singers,as well as to mark our national daysand other significant occasions.

The developments in the recentyears have taken our bilateral rela-tions to a new multi-dimensional,multi-faceted and comprehensiveplatform and it is expected thatAbdul Hamid’s visit and his meet-ings with the highest political levelin India will give a new impetus toour ever-increasing bilateral ties.

(The writer is the High Commis-sioner of Bangladesh to India)

(Concluded)

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The Trump Administra-tion has just made itmore difficult for

companies and individualsto get H-1B work visa. Indi-an techies and IT companieswill feel the impact the mostbecause they are the biggestusers of this visa.

In a memo on H-1B’s,the United States Citizenshipand Immigration Services(USCIS), on February 22said that its officers will startseeking more documenta-tion and more evidencefrom companies to establishwhether they have specificassignments or not. It willalso look into job duties if it

qualifies as a specialty occu-pation or not.

Since 2001, immigrantsfrom India have held amajority of H-1B visas eachyear. In some years, theyhave made up over 70 percent of the total H1-B visaholders. Due to the latestrestrictions, even if one getsa visa this year, it may not befor a full period of threeyears, as is the practice now.Shorter durations may evenmake the transition from H-1B to a green card almostnext to impossible.

It is a fact that Indian H-1B workers help fill anunfortunate shortage of

American workers for sci-ence and engineering jobs.

According to the NewAmerican Economy, anorganisation of business andGovernment leaders, in2016, colleges and universi-ties in the US produced only5,68,000 graduates withdegrees in science, technolo-gy, engineering and mathe-matics. Whereas, there wereabout three million more sci-ence, technology, engineer-ing and math jobs open thanworkers with the skills to fill.

At a time when the Unit-ed States needs to investmore in STEM (Science,Technology, Engineering,

and Mathematics) educationand training and attracthigh-skilled talent fromaround the world, it is mak-ing laws which will deterpeople from applying as theright match. It will be hardto find and it will be so diffi-cult to find an entire three-year commitment upfrontwithout testing the candi-date’s skills.

Indian-American popu-lation has emerged as one ofthe most successful sub-groups in the United States.Therefore, USCIS is basical-ly trying to curb that trend.However, it could have ahuge backlash and may end

up having a disastrous effecton the US economy. Overthe past year, the TrumpAdministration has madethe process of H-1B exten-sion more difficult — com-pelling Indian IT companiesto tell employees on H-1Bsthat they may have to returnearlier than anticipated.

Due to these unwarrant-ed restrictions, the US ispreparing the applicationsmore carefully than in theearlier years with detailedreviews of the Labor Condi-tion Applications as well asjob duties, categories andskill levels of the specialityoccupations.

In the Silicon Valley, Ithink the US is hurting thevery task force that madeAmerica the tech giant of theworld. New rules will hurtAmerica and India both as itwill be very hard for Ameri-ca to stay competitive in theglobal economy for long.America can benefit by re-evaluating its policies as theUS has a shortage of STEMworkers and measures on H-1B can end up hurtingAmerican firms that aretoday being served by IndianIT companies.

(The author is Attorneyat Law, Supreme Court of theUnited States of America)

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India-Vietnam relations scaledanother height with the suc-cessful three-day visit of

Vietnamese President Tran DaiQuang to India from March 2 to 4,2018, during which some impor-tant agreements were inked. Evenbefore Quang landed in India, ithad transpired that defence andtrade were to top agenda. This wasQuang’s first visit to India asPresident. He was accompanied byan 18-member delegation, includ-ing Deputy PM and ForeignMinister Pham Binh Minh as wellas the ministers for trade andindustry, planning and investment.Coming little over a month afterVietnam’s Prime Minister NguyenXuanPhuc’s visit to New Delhi inJanuary as one of the chief guestson Republic Day, Quang’s visitdemonstrated an upswing in thestrategic partnership between thecountries, at a time India seeks toexpand foothold in periphery ofChina and Vietnam confrontingChinese advance in the SouthChina Sea. The visit also markedthe landmark MoUs in civilnuclear cooperation and portdevelopment, showing how muchHanoi cherishes defence partner-ship with India.

In view of China’s aggressiveposturing in the South China Sea,both India and Vietnam haveidentified maritime security as oneof the major areas in which theyshould cooperate. Three majoraccords were inked, including oneon nuclear cooperation.Agreements were reached onenhancing trade and agriculturalresearch. A MoU on Cooperationbetween the Global Centre forNuclear Energy Partnership(GCNEP) and the VietnamAtomic Energy Institute(VINATOM) was also reachedafter talks between Modi andQuang. The purpose of the MoUis to strengthen the technicalcooperation in the field of atomicenergy for peaceful purposes. Anagreement on civil nuclear cooper-ation was signed in 2016 and theMoU reached this time shallenhance training and research col-laboration possibilities.

South China Sea is a majorflashpoint with potentials to pre-cipitate a major conflict. WhileChina claims this part of the

Ocean space almost in its entirety,there are several other claimants inthe region in certain parts of theSea falling within their exclusivemaritime zones. Though India isnot directly involved on the issueof sovereignty claims, it is con-cerned more about China’s attemptto control this ocean spacethrough which trillions of dollarsof trade pass through every year.India has also its own economicstake as it has joined Vietnam onits invitation for joint explorationof oil and gas reserves off the coastof Vietnam in the South ChinaSea. India’s ONGC Videsh Limitedhas partnered with Vietnam’s PetroVietnam (PVN) in this project.India would not be sitting idle andnot intervene to defend its eco-nomic interests if those comeunder attack by a third country,which is why both India andVietnam find common ground tocooperate. The joint statement saidthat Quang”welcomed Indianbusinesses to expand their oil andgas exploration and exploitationactivities on land and in the conti-nental shelf and ExclusiveEconomic Zone of Vietnam”.

China objects without anylegal validity to India’s oil and gasexploration activities. In January2018, Chinese Foreign Ministryreacted to the invitation byVietnamese ambassador to Indiafor more joint exploration projectsin areas it claims. China cautionedIndia that its involvement in pro-jects must not be used as an“excuse to infringe upon China’slegitimate rights and interests inthe South China Sea and impairregional peace and stability”. Inview of the seriousness of theissue, Modi said that India andVietnam would not only strength-en bilateral relations in oil and gasbut also would “work along with

other nations on trilateral possibil-ities” on the maritime domain. It ispossible to speculate that Modihad Japan in mind in view of con-vergence of interests between thesethree countries on regional securi-ty issues. It was therefore bothModi and Quang expressed theircommitment to ensure upholdingrespect for sovereignty and inter-national law. This was clearly anindirect reference to China’s con-tinued attempts to browbeat itsneighbours, especially Vietnam, inmatters concerning the SouthChina Sea. For India, Vietnamenjoys an important place in itsframework of Act East policywithin the overall rubric of India’srelations with the 10-nation blocof Asean nations.

The discussion between Modiand Quang showed that they builton previous statements on mar-itime security in the Indo-Pacificregion, and reiterated the impor-tance for free and open sea lanes.

Though no agreement wassigned in the field of defencecooperation, both are expected to

continue to work on fulfillingIndia’s $100 million Credit Linecommitment to Vietnam, some ofwhich has been used for procuringOffshore Patrol Vehicles (OPVs),while talks continue on AkashSurface to Air Missile systems (SR-SAMS) and Dhruv advanced lighthelicopters. Vietnam has also fromtime to time expressed its desire topurchase BrahMos supersonicmissiles from India. Both Modiand Quang also agreed to enhanceexploring the possibility of co-pro-duction and opportunities intransfer of technology in defencemanufacturing. Military-to-mili-tary cooperation between the ser-vices is also going on. The twocountries also agreed to strengthenrelations in different sectors suchas renewable energy, agriculture,textiles and petroleum.

The two countries also signeda MoU on economic and tradecooperation aimed at establishinga framework for enhancing eco-nomic and trade promotion.Interms of trade, both are striving tobring bilateral trade to $15 billion

by 2020. In the fiscal 2016-17,bilateral trade stood at $6.24 bil-lion, an increase of 40 per centfrom the previous year. From hisside, Quang underlined his coun-try’s commitment to creatingfavourable conditions for business-es in areas ranging from informa-tion technology to infrastructure.In a joint statement issued, bothsides agreed to hold the next meet-ing of the Joint Sub-Commissionon Trade in Vietnam’s capital cityof Hanoi in 2018 at the earliest.The joint statement stated: “Inorder to realize potential to bothincrease the volume of trade anddiversify its composition, they(Modi and Quang) requested therelevant ministries and agencieson both sides to explore substan-tive and practical measures toachieve the trade target of USD 15billion by 2020 including but notlimited to utilising establishedmechanisms, strengtheningexchanges of trade delegations,business-to-business contacts, reg-ular organisation of trade fairs andevents”. Both sides urged leaders of

business and industry of bothcountries to explore new trade andinvestment opportunities in iden-tified priority areas of cooperation.

A work plan for the years2018-2022 between the IndianCouncil of Agricultural Researchand Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development of Vietnamwas also signed between the twocountries. The purpose of thiswork plan is to promote coopera-tion in the transfer of technologyand exchange of visits of technicalexperts in the field of agriculture.India requested Vietnam to con-sider signing the FrameworkAgreement of the InternationalSolar Alliance to strengthen coop-eration in the renewable energyspace. Vietnam agreed to examine.

When Modi visited Vietnamin 2016, the “strategic partnership”was elevated to a “special strategicpartnership”. Quang committed tofurther deepen this partnership. In2016, Modi had announced agrant of $5 million for the con-struction of an Army SoftwarePark at the TelecommunicationsUniversity in NhaTrang. A Line ofCredit of $100 million is alreadybeing used for eight off-shorepatrol vessels to Vietnam. Thearmies of the two countries con-ducted joint military exercise inFebruary for the first time.Vietnam also buys defence equip-ment for its navy and air force.Also, though Vietnam has shownan interest in buying the Brahmossupersonic missile from India, notmuch headway been made.Negotiations on terms and condi-tions are under way.

The fact that a business dele-gation of 65 businessmen from 34Vietnamese companies visitedIndia with Quang and had interac-tion with prominent Indian busi-nessmen shows that Vietnam is

keen to deepen economic andbusiness ties with India. As regardsthe composition of trade, whileVietnam exports a lot of manufac-turing products such as mobilephones, machineries and comput-ers, India’s export basket to theVietnamese market includesmachineries, textile materials, seafood and medicines. Despite theenthusiasm shown by both sides,the trade volume has not reachedthe expected level.

India continues to be amongVietnam’s top ten largest tradingpartners. Though overall bilateraltrade volume is below the desiredlevel, it has increased 16 per centper annum on average in the pastdecade and this is an achievement.Many major Indian firms haveestablished and expanded theirfootprints in Vietnam. The growthtrajectory cannot be overlooked.What also cannot be overlooked isthe fact that India has given priori-ty to Vietnam in developmentcooperation and education andtraining and focused on areas suchas science and technology, infor-mation and communication.

Investments from India inVietnam are still very low. Indiaranks 28th among the 126 coun-tries and territories investing inVietnam in 2017 with 168 projectsand total registered capital of $756million. Many major Indian cor-porations, including Tata group,ONGC and Essar, have soundbusiness in Vietnam. Vietnamexpects more investments fromIndia, so that the target of $15 bil-lion in bilateral trade by 2020 canbe realised. India’s strength inrenewable energy, manufacturing,IT, infrastructure, could be attrac-tive for Vietnam. Both need tostrengthen bilateral and regionalconnectivity as well as infrastruc-tural connectivity such as air links,roads and maritime links, and dig-ital connectivity. Under Modi’s ActEast thrust, these areas are the pre-ferred projects and shall contributeto a win-win situation when ener-gies of both sides are unleashed.Quang’s visit should be viewedfrom this perspective.

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The politics of the Oppositionparties can be compared to theshare market; it goes up andcomes down on a daily basis,and chaos follows almost

every big or small incident. A Congressveteran made this astute observation,and said that after the good show inGujarat, the party was on cloud nine.When the party won the byelections ofRajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, its‘stock’ went higher. However, after facingdefeat in the North-East, the stock of theCongress has gone down again. Headded that if the Congress performs wellin Karnataka, its stock will rise again.

It seems that almost all theOpposition parties are being guided bythe ideology of how power should beretained and, if not in power, how tosnatch it. That is why perhaps MamataBanerjee called the Shiv Sena supremoUddhav Thackeray. As soon as the resultof the N-E was announced, right fromMamata to K Chandrashekhar Rao, MKStalin, Asaduddin Owaisi, HemantSoren, and Uddhav became active. All ofthem talked with someone or the other,and started pondering over the possibili-ty of a third front. Interestingly, theSamajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party,and the RLD came together.

However, the Congress is of theopinion that there is no use of such rest-lessness; everything will be decided afterthe results of Karnataka. Even the datesof the Lok Sabha and Assembly Electionswill be finalised after the Karnatakaresults. If the BJP wins the election inKarnataka, then there is a possibility thatthe Lok Sabha polls will be held at theend of this year. Along with that, almostone dozen States will also go into polls.

That is why the Congress leaders arein the mood to wait. They are sayingthat Mamata often gets carried away andstarts taking the initiative of either athird front or some other front. In fact,this is Mamata’s own worry. AfterTripura’s results, she has become afraidof the BJP. In West Bengal, there is max-imum chance of polarisation. So, it isobvious that there is some other motivebehind Mamata’s initiative. TheCongress leaders are confident thatMamata will have to come to them atlast to give shape to any of the fronts.

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The BJP Chief Ministers are expected toadvise on the issue of holding the Lok

Sabha and Assembly Elections simultane-ously. On February 28, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and party chief Amit Shahmet all BJP CMs in Delhi and sought theiropinion on the matter. Probably, this wasalso in the agenda of the meeting, but noconcrete advice was put forward. So, nowall the CMs of the BJP-ruled States arepondering over the matter. In Jharkhand,CM Raghubar Das has announced settingup of a committee of senior ministers.This committee will look into issues, such as what preparations will have to bemade to go into simultaneous polls, andthe benefits, if any. In the same manner,the Madhya Pradesh Government hasalso formed a committee. Almost allStates are looking into the matter.

In fact, it will be interesting to seewhat various States think. Many CMs arenot ready for early elections. TheGovernments of Jharkhand, Haryana, andMaharashtra will be ready for polls. InBihar, the JDU is also ready. But in UP,Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,and the North-Eastern States — where theBJP recently came into power — mightnot be as prepared to face early elections.So, the decision will not be an easy one.

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West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjeerecently called Telangana’s CM K

Chandrashekhar Rao; he was delightedand said he was ready to lead thealliance. Now the big question is willMamata give the command of the thirdfront to KCR or is her motive somethingelse? In fact, she has tried to hit two tar-

gets with one stone. A few days ago, KCRhad sought the support of the Left par-ties. He had met CPM General SecretarySitaram Yechury and told him to launcha third front, keeping the same distancefrom the BJP and Congress.

It is said that Mamata was upsetwhen she heard the news of the meetingbetween KCR and Yechury. She doesn’twant the Left to get any space in the pic-ture. That is why she made her movebefore any concrete deal was finalisedbetween the Left and KCR. She promptlycalled KCR and proposed a third frontunder his leadership. Soon after that,Asaduddin Owaisi, the leader of AIMIM,praised Rao and said he could play a bigrole in the next elections.

So, KCR is foreseeing his role in thenext elections, but Mamata’s real motiveis to keep the Left away from the

alliance. Her second ambition could bethis: If any front is formed under herleadership, it must include kshatrapasfrom the South. In fact, the BJP’s victoryin the N-E and the defeat of theCongress everywhere have ignitedMamata’s ambitions. Now she thinksthat the parties can be united under herleadership instead of the Congress, andthe party would also come under hercommand. That is why the TMC MPDerek O’Brien gave a statement sayingthis year, Modi would be giving his lastspeech from the Red Fort.

On one hand, Mamata is worriedabout the Left, and on the other, she isafraid of the BJP’s growing clout. That iswhy she has become active again to forma federal front. KCR has named it LokMorcha or People’s Front. Mamata wantsto keep the Left away from the front atany cost. That is why wherever the Leftgoes, Mamata is quick to follow.

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi isagain on the target of the Opposition.

Not only this, his probable alliance part-ners are also targeting him. Though heworked hard for the election campaign inthree N-E States and has started a cam-paign in Karnataka also, it seems hechose an odd timing for his foreign tour.Senior leaders of the Congress feel thatRahul should have stayed in Delhi to lookafter the preparation of the BudgetSession, to keep an eye on the Kartiepisode, and to personally monitor theresults of three N-E States.

Rahul was well aware that March 3had been fixed for the results of threeStates of the N-E. Though the Congresshad an idea of the results, the people arenot appreciating Rahul’s decision to goabroad to meet his granny. Social mediais full of jokes on Rahul’s decision. Peopleare saying that even before the results,“Rahul ko naani yaad aa gayi!” This mustbe noted that it was Rahul’s father Rajivwho had attacked the Opposition withthis jibe: “Naani yaad dila dunga.”

However, Rahul is said to have moni-tored the results from Italy, and sentAhmed Patel to Meghalaya sensing agood trend. Some Congress leaders didnot approve of Rahul’s decision, sayinghe should have cancelled his tour.

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ALondon art adviser has spentmore than £110m bulk buying13 works of art by Picasso on

behalf of unnamed wealthy clients.Harry Smith, executive chairman andmanaging director of the art advisoryfirm Gurr Johns, bought four Picassoworks, including a 1937 portrait of theartist’s lover Marie-Thérèse Walter for£49.8m, at a Sotheby’s auction inLondon on Wednesday night.

The purchases came a day afterSmith bought nine of the Spanishartist’s works at a Christie’s auction —all the Picasso lots available. In totalSmith spent £113m on Picasso piecesthis week. Smith declined to commenton the identity of the client for whomhe bought the works but said the artworld was in the midst of a fresh loveaffair with Picasso. Interest in theartist, who died in 1973 at the age of91, has also been boosted by TateModern’s forthcoming show Picasso1932: Love, Fame, Tragedy, the gallery’sfirst solo exhibition of the artist’s work.

“Picasso is a giant of 20th centuryart, and his work appeals to collectors

and art lovers from all over the world,”Smith said. “The picture of Marie-Thérèse is a masterpiece portrait byPicasso. Its appeal lies in the subject,the date, the condition, the prove-nance, and the fact it’s completelyfresh to the market having been in thefamily for so long. The art market hasa fairly regular supply of Picassos, butit’s rare to see a painting as special andas fresh to the market as this one.”

The Rolling Stones have beenrocking together for a half cen-tury but the legendary tensions

between Keith Richards and MickJagger look to be very much alive.Richards has apologised to his band-mate after the guitarist suggested thatthe fecund frontman needed a vasec-tomy. “Mick’s a randy old bastard,”Richards told the Wall Street JournalMagazine. “It’s time for the snip —you can’t be a father at that age. Thosepoor kids!”

Jagger in December 2016 becamea father for the eighth time at the ageof 73. His son, Deveraux Jagger, wasborn to his girlfriend MelanieHamrick, a ballerina in New Yorkwho is four decades his junior.

“I deeply regret the comments Imade about Mick in the WSJ whichwere completely out of line,” Richardswrote on Twitter, saying he also apol-ogised to Jagger in person.

The Stones have endured despitedecades of hard living and internaltumult. In 2010 Richards published amemoir, Life, in which he openly

derided Jagger as a needy primadonna and said the other bandmatesmocked Mick as “Her Majesty”.Richards even cast doubt on Jagger’sprivate parts, saying the swaggeringsinger had a “tiny todger”.

The latest incident comes justafter the Stones — some of the high-est-earning musicians on the live cir-cuit — announced a new tour leg ofEurope to begin on May 17 in Dublin.

Sir Elton John stormed off stageafter a fan — one of a numberwho had been invited to join him

round the piano — tried to touch himas he performed. The singer had invit-ed a group from the audience on tothe stage at his Las Vegas residencyshow while performing SaturdayNight’s Alright For Fighting.

In a video clip circulated online,John is seen becoming irritated asone of the fans near his piano repeat-edly leans over and tries to touchhim and the keyboard. John, 70,

appears to shout an expletive at thefan before getting up from his seatand walking off the stage.

After the song finished, and themembers of the audience hadreturned to their seats, John cameback on stage. Before performing hisnext song, Circle Of Life, he told theaudience: “No more coming on stageduring Saturday Night.” It is believedthe person who tried to touch thesinger was swiftly escorted from thevenue. A representative for John hasbeen contacted for comment.

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ANew Zealand business owner postedsecurity camera photos of

thieves who broke into hispremises along with a unusualmessage for them — a job offer.Tim Smith, owner ofSmith Crane &ConstructionLtd. in theHarewood areaof Christchurch,posted images toFacebook of thethieves who brokeinto the businesson Saturday and stolenumerous items,including power tools.

“TO THETHIEVES: we thoughtyou might like tocome and work forus? Maybe make anhonest living insteadof thieving off us?”Smith wrote. Thepost listed the job-ready qualities the

thieves displayed during the crime.“1)You are good at early starts and gettingout of bed on time (or staying up late)2)You know your power tools well3)You know your way around our yard4)You may have good reliable transport toget to work on time (a brand new 2017silver Hilux Ute was taken from our site amonth earlier — was that you?)5)You relate well to others as I see youhave a mate/colleague/partner with you.

Please ask him to apply as well.We notice he still has his balaclava

on so he must have slightlymore intelligence than you.”The post calls upon the thievesto turn themselves in — or,rather, to “apply in person.”

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Something stinks in one southeast-ern New Mexico town and resi-

dents want police on the case. KRQE-TV in Albuquerque reports skunksmell is plaguing the town ofHagerman, New Mexico, thanks to amild winter that is bringing out the

smelling mammals early.

Viola Badcock, theowner of Hagerman Township AnimalShelter, says the annoying animals arehanging in town and generally are nothealthy. She says their stink appears tobe a growing problem.

Hagerman Police Patrolman AdamChavez says officers are settling up trapsaround town and in nearby Lake Arthurand Dexter. Chavez says healthy skunkscaught in traps will be relocated on theeast side of town near a river.

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Aman said he won a $200,000 SouthCarolina Education Lottery jackpot

by playing numbers from an unusualsource — a fortune cookie. The NorthCarolina man, who said he crosses theborder into South Carolina to buy lot-tery tickets each week, said the PalmettoCash 5 ticket that won him a $200,000jackpot on Valentine’s Day was pur-

chased using the numbers from theback of a fortune cookie.

“My wife eats the fortune cookies,”the winner said. “And I save our for-tunes.” He said the numbers from thisparticular cookie were 6, 8, 20, 26, and31. The man said he often uses fortunecookie numbers to play. He said hesometimes finds himself diggingthrough the trash to find slips his wifethrew out. The winner said his wife willbe rewarded for eating so many fortunecookies. “She’s going to retire soonerthan she thought,” he said.

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Agarishly appointed Ohio mansionthat heavyweight boxing champion

Mike Tyson once called home and sub-sequently fell into disrepair is being con-verted into a house of worship. TheLiving Word Sanctuary Church has beencleaning up the property in TrumbullCounty’s Southington Township, roughly72 km southeast of Cleveland, since the25,000-square-foot mansion was donat-ed to the church several years ago.

“The property had been untouched

for 10 years,” Living Word PastorNicholas DeJacimo told the WarrenTribune-Chronicle . “You had somuch grass you could have sold itfor hay. The mansion is a consider-able step up; the church hasbeen holding services at aYMCA. The sanctuary thechurch hopes to haveready by year’s end is anarea where Tyson andhis guests splashed in anindoor pool. A four-baygarage is being turned intoyouth classrooms and anursery. Tall steel cageswhere Tyson kept fourtigers have been dismantledfor a pavilion.

The second-floor mastersuite featured mirror-coveredwalls and ceiling, a whirlpoolspa and two bathrooms.

“We heard there weresome crazy parties here,”DeJacimo said. “We will turnthis into a room wherewomen can get ready for awedding.” Church officesand meeting rooms are

being built on the second floor.It’s unclear which of the mansion’s

design features can be attributed toTyson or the previous owner. It wasbuilt in 1979. Tyson bought it at sher-

iff ’s sale in 1989 for $300,000 andsold it 10 years later for $1.3

million to Paul Monea, aninfomercial entrepreneur

best known for marketingTae-Bo exercise videos.

Monea was sentencedto 13 years in federal prison

in 2007 for money launderingcharges. The mansion was

bought at sheriff ’s sale in 2010for $600,000 and then donatedto the church for a tax write-off. The church’s up-front

investment was $50,000 to clearback taxes. Tyson returned to themansion in 1995 after serving timein Indiana for rape and lived therewhile training at promoter Don

King’s camp in nearby Orwell,according to the newspaper. Tysonbefriended neighbours during

training runs and played basket-ball with kids on his court.

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On one hand, India offersone of the most tiresomeconditions in the worldfor business — if doneethically. Yet on the other

hand, the loose set of ever-changingrules and massive market opportunitymakes it easy to play on the loopholesand profit immensely. This is the brit-tle structure many Indian corporatesare built on today. They have lookedout for loopholes in the law, at timesmay or may not have taken advantageof the weak regulatory oversight, andcapitalised on the enormous Indiandemographic dividend. It is a riskygame they play, but the rules are soweak that the game becomes easy. Butwhen crisis occurs, then the weakorganisational coherence, both inter-nally and in the external regulatoryenvironment, does not hold up, lead-ing to institutional accidents. As aresult there is a heightened risk of thecollapse of the various parts that hadheld the corporation together.

It is by no means am I maligningcorporations, or saying that beingastute in raking in profits is a badthing. Instead, my point is that for profits to be conducive for economic development, the manner in which profit is earned and distrib-uted needs to be fair.

Fair distribution of profits canonly happen when economic develop-ment is not just driven by the whimsof individuals but instead is balancedwith institutional checks and balances.Why? Because without the appropriatechecks and balances, first, the gains

will be concentrated in few groups,while the losses will be diffused amongmany, as a result of which, the numberof people becoming poorer in the soci-ety will only increase; second, it pro-duces nouveaux riches who are oftenimperfectly adjusted to the existingorder and who will keep wanting morepower and social status commensuratewith their new economic position,which then widens the socio-economicgap between rich and poor; third,eventually increased literacy, educa-tion, and exposure to mass media, willallow people to recognise the wideningwealth gap, and make society frustrat-ed and lose hope.

At the crux of it, just as democra-cy is as ineffective as a dictatorship ifit does not represent consensus, legiti-macy, and justice, similarly all we are

left with is a disastrous form of cronycapitalism, if the people — both atcorporates and government — imple-menting the checks and balances arenot ethically mindful. Indeed in cor-porations, just as is the case in poli-tics, it is not just the form of gover-nance, but the degree of governancethat is important.

Ultimately governments and cor-porations are made of people, whocan neglect or pay lip service toethics, compliances, and regulationsin a mechanical way without evenapplying their mind. The dwindlingcapacity of each of us to think, evalu-ate, and choose, affects our values,ethics, emotions, and volition. If oureducation — at home, school, andsociety — forbids us to think for our-selves, then we end up being fakereplicas of one another, trying tomimic but failing, as it is impossibleto be entirely like another person. Sowe become second-handers, allowingourselves to be run by the others, inour eternal quest to be like the other.But we will be constantly told that weare still not good enough, making uswork harder to resemble the proto-type. This is the dysfunctional utopiathat corporations thrive on.

By the time we join as executivesin an organisation, our facultyof reasoning is so rustedthat we cannot assesshow we truly feel aboutwhat we do. That, whichwas supposed to be arather basicactivity

of earning a currency to barter for thegoods we ourselves cannot produce,now governs our life. We ferociouslychase career choices that the majorityaround us desire, each one in thecrowd quite not knowing why theywant it so bad. We are ready to makegreat sacrifices — choosing where tolive, what to do with the major chunkof each day of our lives — according tothe dictate of corporations.

Similar to religion, a corporate‘job’ has usurped the highest moralconcepts of our language — placingthem outside this earth and thus outof our reach. Because it is supposedlyour moral duty to offer our obeisanceto God and the boss, with a height-ened reverence that can be attributedonly to the divine and the employer.We blindly follow what the others do,and cannot apply our minds to appre-ciate gender, cultural, and other diver-sity around us. We are unable to deci-pher the direction of our moral com-pass inside of us, when confrontedwith matters of ethical dilemma. Wesimply reproduce the mannerisms ofothers around us, or merely andthoughtlessly do what gets us quickerto our goal, so that we can all fit in tobecoming one homogenous blotch ofnothingness. It is this highest level ofour emotions that has to be redeemed

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Anews item reporting a recent shootout at aFlorida school in the US that killed 17 peopleproved once again that all is not well with the

fancied American society. If children go to schoolswith the fear of being murdered by gunmen on thelunatic fringe, there is something terribly wrong withthat society. It was in the month of February this yearthat a gunman opened fire with an AR-15 styleassault rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas HighSchool in Parkland, Florida and killed 17 people.And it is no stray incident. Such incidents are takingplace at a nagging frequency. In fact it is estimated bya general interest news site Volks.com that firearmskilled more 15 to 19 year olds than cancer, heart dis-eases and diabetes combined in 2016. And 2018 hasjust begun. What do we call such a society wherethese things are happening? Championing humanrights in other countries is different and makes head-lines and also helps those champions score browniepoints. But what about protecting human beings inyour own country? There is something terriblywrong with your societies which proclaim to beadvanced, liberal and, yes, world leaders. But letthem look inwards. Are they? The US society is acase in point. Too much openness and a heavy doseof liberalism seems to be the problem leading to suchugly scenarios. Rightly are the people waking up tothe ills effects of unbridled freedom that the liberalsocieties permit? The issue is the subject matter of amajor debate as one parent of an 18-year-old daugh-ter killed in the indiscriminate shoot out puts it.“How many schools, how many children have to beget shot? It stops here, with this administration andme, because I’m not going to sleep until it is fixed”.Many such parents are questioning President DonaldTrump with anguish and rage. The intensely emo-tional debate veers around the question how torespond to such gun massacres in American schools.And who knows it may well be the parks, the marketplace, and the public congregation. It definitely callsfor some serious and ingenious solution. Merelywishing that if the teachers of the school had con-cealed weapons they would have shot the gun manmakes little sense. Rather, it is utter nonsense. An eyefor an eye ends up making the whole world blind. Orat best, leaves in the end one man with one eye. Asociety that throws values to the wind in its mad racefor material prosperity will in the end come to grief.That perhaps is the lesson that can be learned fromthese shoot outs. But there is need to go deeper intothe problem. Why is there so much of hatred andanger that explodes in indiscriminate firing. Whydoes violence become a means to vent pent-up feel-ings. There is a need to find answers to all such ques-tions. Violence begets violence and, more violencemore so. Only peace and non-violence can win overviolence as was demonstrated by the apostle of peaceMahatma Gandhi. There is need to create a culture ofpeace and non-violence if America wants to be theworld leader and the land of opportunities. Theyneed to learn peace and non-violence from Gandhi.People going on a shooting spree in schools are signsof sickness of a society. Vulgar consumerism andexcessive consumption leads to such sickness.

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bliss which permeates us thatwe do not want to be distractedfrom that rapturous state bypetty thoughts of others. We areso far removed from the triflesthat people become involved inthat we do not recognize them.Criticizing others in ourthoughts only pulls us awayfrom the state of happiness thatunion with God brings. Sinceour thoughts will be filled withdivine love of God, our wordswill become sweet and loving.We will not say anythingunkind to anyone. People whocome within our sphere willfind only words love and kind-ness. Even if some short wordescapes our lips accidentally, wewill feel the pain we causesomeone else and will immedi-ately apologize and set the rela-tionship right. We will becomesensitive to the hearts of othersand will wish them no harm.Finally, we will never do any-thing to physically harm any-one. We will not become violentwith anyone. We will even haveregard for the life of animals.This is why people who areserious about treading the pathGod-wards become vegetarian.They do not wish to take thelife of any other creature,because they see God’s Lightshining within all creation.

When this unity is attained,the divisions that separatehuman beings from one anoth-er will fall away. Whether wepray in a temple or a mosque,we will all realize that each per-son, irrespective of the religioninto which he or she was born,is praying to one God. We willrecognize that God is one,whether he is called God, Allah,Jehovah, Wahiguru, Parmatma,the Oversoul, the creativepower of the universe, or any

other name. We will see unityin the diversity of life. It will notmatter to us whether someoneis Hindu or Muslim, Sikh orJain, Christian or Jewish,Buddhist or Parsi. We will rec-ognize God’s Light in eachbeing, whether their outer skinis black, white, or tan. We willknow that God resides in everyperson, whether born in Asia,Africa, Australia, Europe, NorthAmerica, or South America. Wewill realize that the same Lightof God is in each of them. Wewill appreciate the differencescaused by tradition and cul-tures, but realize there is a unityin all living beings.

Through meditation, wecan transform ourselves intoambassadors of God’s love andLight on earth. There are manygoals which people worktowards in life. But the highestaim to which we can devoteourselves is human unity. Thepath towards unity begins witheach of us. We must first attainour union with God. Then,human unity will become anatural by-product. We willspread the fragrance of unitywherever we go. Others will beinspired by our example andwill begin to emulate us. Oneby one, step by step, all humanbeings will find that they canattain true happiness and per-sonal fulfillment by mergingtheir souls with God throughthe process of meditation. Inthis way, we can bring aboutpeace and unity on our planet.We have already spent much ofour lifetime involved in thepursuit of worldly goals andattainment. We can think aboutwhether we have eliminatedsuffering, pain, and hardshipfrom our lives.

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Many noble-heart-ed souls havebeen calling forhuman unity.This trend has

gained in momentum over thelast few decades. Yet, despite thepopular growth in movementsfor unity, we still find conflictand discord in the world.Speeches and conferences aremotivated by high ideals. Theyinspire the participants to turntheir attention to the goal ofoneness. But unity comes aboutonly at the personal level, wheneach one experiences it for one’sself. When we merge in Godand see the Light of God inevery being, we have truly real-ized unity. It then becomes easyfor us to love all, because we seeour own self in each being. If wetruly wish to achieve humanoneness, we must first experi-ence it ourselves. Just imaginewhat a beautiful world wewould have if every person sawGod’s Light in every other formof creation!

There would be an atmos-phere of peace and tranquility.Gentleness would flow from ourlips. Tenderness would exudefrom our actions. Sweetnesswould pour from our eyes. Allwho came within our ambitwould feel serenity and joy. Ifanyone has been lucky enoughto have spent some time in thecompany of great spiritualteachers, he or she would havefelt a tremendous love andpeace in their company. Anytime we go to spiritual adeptswith a troubled heart, we feelthat our pain has been relievedand our burdens lifted. Theyspeak to us lovingly, theyembrace us affectionately, andthey care for us from the depthsof their heart and soul. The

world and its troubles disappearwhen we are in their presence.We feel as if we are living inmoments of eternity. Timestands still, and our difficultiesvanish. This is the result ofbeing in the company of some-one who has merged with Godand who loves all creation as ifthey were a part of one largefamily. What they have attainedis possible for each of us toattain. Wouldn’t it be wonderfulif we felt this love radiatingfrom everyone we met?

The world was meant to bea garden of Eden and a haven ofbliss. To attain such a paradiseon earth, each of us has to makea contribution. Peace and unitybegin within each one of us. Wecannot expect others to radiateharmony and oneness if we our-selves are not prepared to seetheir fruition in our own lives.Each of us must do his or herown small part to bring aboutthe fulfillment of this nobledream. We can attain this con-dition by the process of medita-tion that leads to self-knowledgeand God-realization.

When we begin to have lovefor all, a transformation occurswithin us. Our whole behaviortowards others changes. Webecome nonviolent in all ourdealings. We begin to haveunderstanding and compassiontowards the idiosyncrasies andhabits of others. We stop criti-cizing people in our minds.First, we realize that they arebound by the shrouds of igno-rance and illusion of this world.We know that deep within themis the soul, a part of God, that itis only their mind and theirstate of spiritual ignorance thatcauses them to behave the waythey do. Secondly, we are sosteeped in God’s love and the

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Then, why is most everyone lament-ing? Are we so helpless? We don’thave to be if we do what the system

requires. What is this system? Read on.We, souls, are capable of doing only threethings. These are: desiring, deciding andenjoying or suffering as a consequence.For the rest, we have to depend uponmaterial nature and God. You don’tbelieve it. What happens when we areborn? Can we take care of ourselves? No,we can’t. Our parents and others do so. Bythe way, our bodies and of others are alsoparts of the material nature. These aredifferent from us souls, though we falselyidentity ourselves as material bodies only,which we are not. Who provides all ourmaterial needs like food; clothes; livingquarters; opportunities like jobs, business,etc; and help from others like doctors,nurses, etc.? In short, we depend for ourall material needs upon the materialnature, which is separate from us; thesame material nature, which gives us ourbodies. But we need much more thanfood, living quarters, clothes, etc. Theseare our basic requirements in order just tosurvive. We are not animals; we arehuman beings. We need much more than

basic requirements for maintaining ourbodies. We have minds, which get dis-turbed; we fear, worry, etc. who can helpus in this regard? In the ultimate sense,only God can. Yes, some problems getsolved but some remain unresolved likewhat will be our future like. In thisregard, only God can help, because ourfuture depends upon what we have donein our past, which we call ‘prarabdha’. Weare not fully aware of this, because a lotpertains to our previous lives. And thismust come to fruition. This is the law ofthe material nature. This is the reason forour anxiety. This is where we need God’shelp, and He is quite willing to extend it.He being the master of the creation hasjurisdiction over the material nature —His creation. If we approach God theright way, as instructed by Him, he doeshelp out. An example will clarify. A cou-ple is poverty-stricken due to past mis-

deeds. However, both of them voluntarilyserve at a local temple in their spare time.They are blessed with a boy, who excels inlife and takes his parents out of their mis-erable existence. It is not that we don’tseek God’s help; we do almost routinely,all of us. When? When there is no otheroption like a child is seriously sick andthe doctors are not very hopeful of hissurvival. God helps if approached. ThenGod also helps us in obtaining desirablematerial objects, where special abilitieslike scientists seeking to invent some-thing. God, if merciful, empowers suchpersons. God is pleased on persons, whoare good people, who follow dharma asinstructed by Him. Then, we need protec-tion. Who can protect better than the all-powerful God. Similarly, we need shelter,which is not transitory like money, power,etc. God is the real shelter. Those whohave sought it can tell how peaceful and

satisfied they become. Aren’t we confusedmany times in our lives, not knowingwhat to do? If prayed, God guides,because being omniscient He knows whatis good for us. Similarly, God gives usproper knowledge, which helps us to livea quality life. Such beneficiaries do notget illusioned like most of us do facedwith ‘maya’ with its many harmful attrac-tion/temptations. These days people havebecome very lonely. First, the joint familyconcept went out of the fashion. Noweven the nuclear family concept is notfinding great favour. People are preferringto either live alone or live together with-out getting married. This so-called free-dom has its price — loneliness, pets andelectronic gadgets are very poor replace-ment for a human being. Here again Godcan fill the vacuum, if properlyapproached.What, then, is the conclu-sion? It is simple: we don’t have to behelpless at all, lamenting about our inabil-ity to help ourselves; God is always avail-able. We just need to make a good con-nection with Him by doing prescribedspiritual practices suitable to us.

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Someone forwarded a news articleto me. It dealt with the causes ofdepression and abnormal mental

traits in in adult life. It was forwardedby a person who recently played a sui-cidal drama, purposely staged to attractthe attention of his so called love mate,who of late seemed to be getting dis-tanced from him. Though stage man-aged, but the person did injure himself.Now that the melodrama is past, hefeels guilty. So, he is trying to figureout why after all he got into such amisadventure. This person had unsuc-cessfully made suicidal attempts earlieralso. The question is, why a repeat? Onthe advice of a dear friend, he got intouch with a therapist, who ascribedthe cause to imprints of traumaticchildhood. That needed to beaddressed for once and for ever.

The said article acknowledges thetherapist’s observation, belying earlierbelief of west-based experts that depres-sion is a result of chemical imbalance inone’s brain. I am happy that though late,and still limited to the ongoing life, butat least the western world has begunseeing life in continuity. This truth oflife is an accepted fact in Indian philo-sophic perception. In fact, it stretches

far beyond the ongoing life. It sees lifein continuation stretching through suc-cessive birth-death cycles, as would the-ory of reincarnation suggest.

Here, it will be interesting to look atthe difference between the functionalitiesof a human being and animal species.The difference lies in the choice optionexclusively available to human beings,which is duly aided by the faculty of dis-criminate intelligence. The animals doalso have mind, but it works on instincts.It can’t make a choice nor discriminatewhether its action is right or wrong.They are bound by nature driven livingpattern due to them, with no scope formaking any exception. But remember,whenever there is choice, it carries equalprobability of use and misuse. And there is nothing like a free lunch in thisworld. So, bearing with the consequencesof the choices made becomes imperative.That binds a human being to a circuitousweb of cause-effect chain, and whichstretches on to successive births. In this scheme of things what happens as on date is culmination of doings in thepast. And how you attend to the callingsof the present moment, sets the terms ofhow future would unfold.

Mind it; whatever way you conduct,

its impressions make an inroad intoyour memory. This may find reflectionin future in a self-automated mode, asand when congenial ground becomesavailable. This is how mind’s chemistryworks. Going by ancient Indian philo-sophic perception, a being’s existence isstructured in three layers — gross,astral, and causal bodies. On death, it isjust the gross body that gets dysfunc-tional and then disintegrates. The astraland causal bodies that are pure energyplatforms vital to a being, do not meettheir end as would the law of conserva-tion of energy stand. Causal body isbelieved to carry a blueprint of the past,which finds reflection through the astralbody, which supposedly conducts themental functions. So, going by this per-ception, mind has an extra-cerebralexistence. Here a question naturallyarises: What is that unseen factor, whichdrives all these subtle functionalities.Going by vedic perception, at the rootof all these intangible functionalities liesthe all-pervading eternal consciousnesselement. But the gross body would beanyway needed for manifestation of themind functions with due support of theconsciousness element.

Carrying along all the memoryimprints picked up during live exis-

tence, the astral and causal bodies setthe ground for reincarnation to acquirea fresh gross body. All the memoryimprints carried over from the past setthe terms of one’s mind and psyche thatplay out involuntary when congenialground becomes available.

These acquired memory imprintsare of course subject to further add onduring the ongoing life, with relatedbearing in the emerging time. Thosewho believe in only one life may debatethe above concept. But they can’t ignorethe fact that every being is born unique,each reflecting varying individual spe-cific traits. Even twins born out of sameparents and brought up under similarconditions have often been found tocarry dire opposite traits. After all,what makes this difference?

For a plausible answer, a look intoancient India’s philosophic perception iscalled for, but for which, the working ofmind and psyche can’t be understood inperspective. Continued.

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