16
I ndia’s largest public sector bank, State Bank of India (SBI), leads the list of banks who have written off huge loans of big borrowers, most- ly during the last three years. As per an RTI query, the SBI wrote off 76,600 crore of bad loans of 220 defaulters, who owed more than 100 crore each as on March 31, 2019. The RTI query gave the list of scheduled commercial banks with break up of loan waiver in two categories — 100 crore and more, and 500 crore and more. The total comes to a staggering 2.75 lakh crore. The Reserve Bank of India provided this information to CNN-News18 in response to a RTI query that also revealed that 37,700 crore waiver belonged to just 33 borrowers, with loans of 500 crore and more. The RTI response also showed that the debtors who were given loans of 500 crore and more defaulted on 67,600 crore of loans. Ironically, while banks go to any extent to recover small loans from farmers, forcing them to even commit suicide, they have been found to be extra generous in dealing with big time borrowers and cor- porates. The waiver has impact- ed the books of these banks and affected their lending capacity, which, in turn, impacted the credit offtake and led to liq- uidity crisis in the system. According to the RTI response, the RBI enlisted 980 borrowers whose debt of more than 100 cr each was written off by the banks. The SBI topped the list with 220 such accounts. The average write-off stood at 348 crore. The waiver has brought down the gross NPA from the peak of 11.5 per cent in March 2018 to 9.3 per cent in March 2019. The rate of accretion of fresh NPAs came down to 3.7 per cent in March 2019 com- pared with 7.4 per cent the pre- vious fiscal. The bad debts have impacted the corporate lending and virtually led to the collapse of Yes Bank and Punjab National Banks, clearly show- ing that the crisis has hit both the private sector and public sector banks. The menace refused to end as was shown in the result of the Indusind Bank on Thursday for the second quar- ter. The shares of the bank col- lapsed even though year-on- year the consolidated profit was 52 per cent more. But it was the higher provisioning that spooked the market reflecting the investors sensitivity on the nature of lending. P akistan on Thursday said no date has been fixed so far for the inauguration of the much-awaited Kartarpur cor- ridor, even as it assured that it will be open “on time” on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak Dev on November 12. The statement came nearly a month after a senior official heading the cor- ridor project announced that Pakistan will allow Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the holy Kartarpur Sahib from November 9. Addressing a weekly press briefing here, Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said, “Work on the Karatarpur corridor will be completed on time as committed by the Prime Minister (Imran Khan). It will be inaugurated on time, but I can’t give any date for its opening as no date has been fixed so far.” He assured that the corri- dor will be open on the occa- sion of the 550th birth anniver- sary of the Sikh spiritual leader on November 12. The proposed corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims, who will have to just obtain a permit to visit Kartarpur Sahib, which was established in 1522 by Guru Nanak Dev. Pakistan is building the corridor from the Indian bor- der to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, while the other part from Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district up to the border will be constructed by India. On September 16, during a maiden visit of Pakistani and foreign journalists to the pro- posed Kartarpur Corridor in Narowal, some 125 km from Lahore, the project director, Atif Majid, said 86 per cent of the work on the corridor has been completed and it will be opened to pilgrims on November 9. The Foreign Office spokesman said former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been formally invit- ed for the inaugural ceremony. He also said Pakistan will con- tinue to highlight the plight of Kashmiris at world forums. Last week, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had said that Manmohan will be part of an all-party jatha through the Kartarpur Corridor, which will be opened next month, to the Darbar Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan to mark the 550th birth anniver- sary of Guru Nanak. However, the Chief Minister made it clear that neither he nor the former Prime Minister would be participating in any event organised by Pakistan to mark the formal inauguration of the corridor on November 9. T he Enforcement Directorate approached the Delhi High Court on Thursday seeking cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti in the Aircel- Maxis case, claiming that there is likelihood of tampering with the evidence. The plea has been listed for hearing before Justice Suresh Kait on Friday. The ED has challenged the September 5 order of the spe- cial court granting relief to Chidambaram and his son. Chidambaram is lodged in jail after being arrested by the CBI on August 21 in the INX Media corruption case. The trial court had also granted anticipatory bail to the father-son duo in the Aircel Maxis case filed by CBI. A s India pulls out all stops to roll out a grand welcome to Chinese President Xi Jinping in this ancient seaside temple town, China has said the two countries pose no threat to each other and greater coop- eration between the two Asian giants would inject positive energy in ensuring peace and stability in the region and beyond. In an exclusive interview to PTI, Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong said a “new set of consensus” including “guiding principles” on the develop- ment direction of India-China ties are expected to emerge from the two-day informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Xi beginning Friday. The envoy said as the largest developing countries and emerging economies of the world, China and India have a responsibility to inject positive energy into a “complicated world”. “We believe that the Summit will take bilateral rela- tions to a higher level and have a major and positive impact on regional and world peace, sta- bility and development,” Sun said. T he idea was to rekindle romance in marriage on a train journey through the deserts of Rajasthan but the Indian Railways plan for a special “Karwa Chauth” train service came a cropper with only two couples signing up, sources said. The result: the Majestic Rajasthan Deluxe, which was launched to provide a “dream holiday” to couples for a five-day tour of the State, stands cancelled, officials said. They said only two couples booked tickets on the train which has 78 seats. Only married couples were allowed on the train, which came with special touches like a shower cubicle and a foot massage, although the IRCTC had made special arrangements for children, the officials said. The train, part of the IRCTC promotional offers, was to depart from the Safdarjung station in Delhi on October 14 and visit his- torical sites in Rajasthan like Jaisalmer Fort, Patwon ki Haveli, Gadisar Lake, Mehrangarh Fort, Jaswant Thada, Amber Fort and City Palace till October 18. “Only two couples have booked tickets on it so it is as good as cancelled. We cannot run a train like this without occupancy,” an official said. In its promotional mes- sage, the IRCTC said, “This Karwa Chauth, give your wife a special gift which she will remember for ages.” Officials said the low turnout could be because of the high fares — 1,02,960 per couple in AC-I and 90,090 per couple in AC 2 Tier. B ungalow number 11-A on Balwant Rai Mehta Lane in Lutyens’ Delhi resembles a rav- aged structure. Forced to leave the official accommodation, former parliamentarian from Bihar Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, chose to take away the doors and windows of the house besides razing the “illegal” structure erected to house people coming to meet him from his constituency. Yadav’s OSD Ajay Kumar alleged that the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) dismantled the structure, but the latter said the bungalow is still with the former MP, who has not handed over it to the Estate Department despite repeated reminders. Electrical equipment, floor tiles, lawns, paint, bathrooms, windows, brickwork, tempo- rary structures and the walls were damaged. The office located at the entry point of the gate was also found damaged along with doors and win- dows. The furniture was also found in ruined condition. The bungalow was used by the people coming from his constituency Madhepura for various works in Delhi. Yadav was running “Subhash Chandra Bose Sewa Ashram” from his residence. The sewa ashram had capacity to accom- modate 400 people at a time. He had put a banner carrying a slogan “Logon ka ghar sabka ghar”. Yadav is currently in Bihar to help flood-hit victims in Patna. According to Yadav’s OSD, bungalow will be hand- ed over to CPWD after his arrival. On the other hand, offi- cials of the CPWD said that they have already given a report to the Lok Sabha Secretariat about the bungalow’s condi- tion. Yadav is currently the pres- ident of Jan Adhikar Party. He had lost the Lok Sabha elec- tions in May. His wife Ranjeeta Ranjan, who was allotted bun- galow at 7 Balwant Rai Mehta Lane, too lost Lok Sabha polls. She had also been given notices to vacate her accommodation. The Estate Department under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has recently forcefully evicted three other ex-MPs while giv- ing a 3-day notice to three oth- ers to vacate their Government accommodations. With many ex-MPs yet to vacate their accommodation, newly elected MPs were forced to stay in various State bhavans or guests houses. The Ministry has also served notices on the squatters is in he process to forcefully evict the occupants from bungalow or flat number 185 at South Avenue; flat 185 at North Avenue and 11 Mahadev Road. W ith an eye to Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday constituted a Coordination Committee headed by her close aide Ahmed Patel and consist- ing of senior party leaders Jairam Ramesh, Anand Sharma, Madhusudan Mistry, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Manik Tagore. Patel has convened its first meeting on Friday to strategise coordination of the party activ- ities for the upcoming Maharashtra and Haryana polls. A senior AICC leader said Patel has been assigned the new responsibility considering his acceptance amongst all the party leaders, old and young, and also within the Opposition leaders. Congress and NCP are alliance partners on equal number of seats in Maharashtra and NCP is headed by Sharad Pawar who enjoys a good rap- port with Ahmed Patel. "While Scindia headed the Screening Committee for Maharashtra, the onus is now with Patel to keep intact the flock till the end of elections. The overarching Patel led committee has been mandated to monitor the election coor- dination committee, pradesh election committee, campaign committee, publicity and pub- lication committee, media and communications committee, transport and accommodation committee, protocol committee and discipline committee till the end of the polls in both the crucial States. Gurgaon: A Bajrang Dal member was on Thursday injured when alleged cattle smugglers opened fire at vigi- lantes chasing their mini-truck, police said. The gang members sped off after hurling four cows from the vehicle during the high-speed chase caught on video by the vigilante group. The police have booked five men, named by the Bajrang Dal members. No arrests were reported till the evening. The incident took place around 3.45 am when Bajrang Dal members were tipped off about the cattle smugglers, an office bearer of the right-wing organisation said. The vigilantes intercepted the vehicle in Gurgaon’s sector 10. Sushil Chaudhary, Bajrang Dal’s regional convenor, told PTI that the vigilantes chased the truck in their SUV. “During the chase, one of the smugglers opened fire and a bullet hit our Manesar unit convener Monu,” he said. Manjeet Singh, an office bearer of the “gau raksha department” of Vishwa Hindu Parishad''s Haryana unit, said Monu, 26, was admitted at a private hospital in Gurgaon. His condition was stated to be out of danger after an oper- ation. “He is still in the ICU for observation,” Singh said. A video clip of the chase, apparently shot by the vigi- lantes, later surfaced on social media. It showed the mini- truck speeding past a police barricade during the chase. “There were four cows in their pick-up van and during the chase the smugglers threw them out one by one in order to deter the vigilantes,” Gurgaon police spokesperson Subhash Bokan told PTI. “Five people have been named in the FIR and a search is on for them. They have been identified as residents of Mewat region of the district,” he added. The FIR has been filed under Indian Penal Code sec- tions 279 (rash driving), 307 (attempted murder) and 336 (act endangering the life of others) and under the Arms Act, police said. They have also been booked under the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015, which prohibits cow slaughter, trafficking and consumption of beef in the state, police added. Agencies T he Chief Election Commissioner, Sunil Arora on Thursday played down the differences in the three-mem- ber poll panel saying, “We are on the same page.” The CEC and the Commissioners ealier reviewed the poll preparedness in Haryana for the October 21 Assembly polls. When asked to comment on the difference of opinion between him and Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa during the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year, Arora said, “There is nothing like this…we are on the same page.” Lavasa was appointed Election Commissioner on January 23, 2018, after he retired as the Union Finance Secretary the previous year. His difference of opinion, with regard to the implemen- tation of the model code of conduct (MCC), with Sunil Arora and Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra was reported during the par- liamentary election 2019. The rift within the three- member Election Commission had came into the open after a letter by Lavasa in May, where he had opposed clearances that the poll panel gave to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in complaints of code of conduct violations. A mid questions over his continued absence from the national political scenario, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has decided to campaign in the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections. But he will only address one rally in Haryana on October 14. Sources in the party said that in Haryana, Rahul Gandhi will start his campaign with a road show from Karnal town, the home constituency of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who is seeking re-election for the seat.

˙ ˇ˝ ˛ ˚ ˇ ˘ ˇ ˆ ˆ - The Pioneer · massage, although the IRCTC had made special arrangements for children, the officials said. ... Pawar who enjoys a good rap-port with

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India’s largest public sectorbank, State Bank of India

(SBI), leads the list of bankswho have written off hugeloans of big borrowers, most-ly during the last three years. Asper an RTI query, the SBIwrote off �76,600 crore of badloans of 220 defaulters, whoowed more than �100 croreeach as on March 31, 2019.

The RTI query gave the listof scheduled commercial bankswith break up of loan waiver intwo categories — �100 croreand more, and �500 crore andmore. The total comes to astaggering �2.75 lakh crore.

The Reserve Bank of Indiaprovided this information toCNN-News18 in response to aRTI query that also revealedthat �37,700 crore waiverbelonged to just 33 borrowers,with loans of �500 crore andmore. The RTI response alsoshowed that the debtors whowere given loans of �500 croreand more defaulted on �67,600crore of loans.

Ironically, while banks goto any extent to recover smallloans from farmers, forcingthem to even commit suicide,they have been found to beextra generous in dealing with

big time borrowers and cor-porates. The waiver has impact-ed the books of these banks andaffected their lending capacity,which, in turn, impacted thecredit offtake and led to liq-

uidity crisis in the system.According to the RTI

response, the RBI enlisted 980borrowers whose debt of morethan �100 cr each was writtenoff by the banks. The SBI

topped the list with 220 suchaccounts. The average write-offstood at �348 crore.

The waiver has broughtdown the gross NPA from thepeak of 11.5 per cent in March2018 to 9.3 per cent in March2019. The rate of accretion offresh NPAs came down to 3.7per cent in March 2019 com-pared with 7.4 per cent the pre-vious fiscal.

The bad debts haveimpacted the corporate lendingand virtually led to the collapseof Yes Bank and PunjabNational Banks, clearly show-ing that the crisis has hit boththe private sector and publicsector banks.

The menace refused to endas was shown in the result ofthe Indusind Bank onThursday for the second quar-ter. The shares of the bank col-lapsed even though year-on-year the consolidated profit was52 per cent more. But it was thehigher provisioning thatspooked the market reflectingthe investors sensitivity on thenature of lending.

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Pakistan on Thursday said nodate has been fixed so far

for the inauguration of themuch-awaited Kartarpur cor-ridor, even as it assured that itwill be open “on time” on theoccasion of the 550th birthanniversary of Sikh faithfounder Guru Nanak Dev onNovember 12. The statementcame nearly a month after asenior official heading the cor-ridor project announced thatPakistan will allow Indian Sikhpilgrims to visit the holyKartarpur Sahib fromNovember 9.

Addressing a weekly pressbriefing here, Foreign Officespokesman Mohammad Faisalsaid, “Work on the Karatarpurcorridor will be completed ontime as committed by thePrime Minister (Imran Khan).It will be inaugurated on time,but I can’t give any date for itsopening as no date has beenfixed so far.”

He assured that the corri-dor will be open on the occa-sion of the 550th birth anniver-sary of the Sikh spiritual leaderon November 12.

The proposed corridor will

connect Darbar Sahib inKartarpur with Dera BabaNanak shrine in Gurdaspurdistrict of Punjab and facilitatevisa-free movement of Indianpilgrims, who will have to justobtain a permit to visitKartarpur Sahib, which wasestablished in 1522 by GuruNanak Dev.

Pakistan is building thecorridor from the Indian bor-der to the Gurdwara DarbarSahib in Kartarpur, while theother part from Dera BabaNanak in Punjab’s Gurdaspurdistrict up to the border will beconstructed by India.

On September 16, during amaiden visit of Pakistani andforeign journalists to the pro-posed Kartarpur Corridor inNarowal, some 125 km fromLahore, the project director,Atif Majid, said 86 per cent ofthe work on the corridor hasbeen completed and it will be

opened to pilgrims onNovember 9.

The Foreign Officespokesman said former IndianPrime Minister ManmohanSingh has been formally invit-ed for the inaugural ceremony.He also said Pakistan will con-tinue to highlight the plight ofKashmiris at world forums.

Last week, Punjab ChiefMinister Amarinder Singh hadsaid that Manmohan will bepart of an all-party jathathrough the KartarpurCorridor, which will be openednext month, to the DarbarSahib gurdwara in Pakistan tomark the 550th birth anniver-sary of Guru Nanak. However,the Chief Minister made itclear that neither he nor theformer Prime Minister wouldbe participating in any eventorganised by Pakistan to markthe formal inauguration of thecorridor on November 9.

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The Enforcement Directorateapproached the Delhi High

Court on Thursday seekingcancellation of anticipatory bailgranted to former FinanceMinister P Chidambaram andhis son Karti in the Aircel-Maxis case, claiming that thereis likelihood of tampering withthe evidence. The plea hasbeen listed for hearing beforeJustice Suresh Kait on Friday.

The ED has challenged theSeptember 5 order of the spe-cial court granting relief toChidambaram and his son.Chidambaram is lodged in jailafter being arrested by the CBIon August 21 in the INX Mediacorruption case.

The trial court had alsogranted anticipatory bail tothe father-son duo in the AircelMaxis case filed by CBI.

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As India pulls out all stops toroll out a grand welcome to

Chinese President Xi Jinping inthis ancient seaside templetown, China has said the twocountries pose no threat toeach other and greater coop-eration between the two Asiangiants would inject positiveenergy in ensuring peace andstability in the region andbeyond.

In an exclusive interview toPTI, Chinese Ambassador SunWeidong said a “new set ofconsensus” including “guidingprinciples” on the develop-ment direction of India-Chinaties are expected to emergefrom the two-day informalsummit between PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and

Xi beginning Friday.The envoy said as the

largest developing countriesand emerging economies of theworld, China and India have aresponsibility to inject positiveenergy into a “complicatedworld”.

“We believe that theSummit will take bilateral rela-tions to a higher level and havea major and positive impact onregional and world peace, sta-bility and development,” Sunsaid.

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The idea was to rekindleromance in marriage on a

train journey through thedeserts of Rajasthan but theIndian Railways plan for aspecial “Karwa Chauth” trainservice came a cropper withonly two couples signing up,sources said. The result: theMajestic Rajasthan Deluxe,which was launched to providea “dream holiday” to couplesfor a five-day tour of the State,stands cancelled, officials said.

They said only two couplesbooked tickets on the trainwhich has 78 seats.

Only married couples wereallowed on the train, whichcame with special touches like

a shower cubicle and a footmassage, although the IRCTChad made special arrangements for children, theofficials said.

The train, part of theIRCTC promotional offers,was to depart from theSafdarjung station in Delhion October 14 and visit his-torical sites in Rajasthan likeJaisalmer Fort, Patwon kiHaveli, Gadisar Lake,Mehrangarh Fort, JaswantThada, Amber Fort and CityPalace till October 18.

“Only two couples havebooked tickets on it so it is asgood as cancelled. We cannotrun a train like this withoutoccupancy,” an official said.

In its promotional mes-sage, the IRCTC said, “ThisKarwa Chauth, give your wifea special gift which she willremember for ages.”

Officials said the lowturnout could be because of thehigh fares — �1,02,960 percouple in AC-I and �90,090per couple in AC 2 Tier.

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Bungalow number 11-A onBalwant Rai Mehta Lane in

Lutyens’ Delhi resembles a rav-aged structure. Forced to leavethe official accommodation,former parliamentarian fromBihar Rajesh Ranjan, aliasPappu Yadav, chose to takeaway the doors and windows ofthe house besides razing the“illegal” structure erected tohouse people coming to meethim from his constituency.

Yadav’s OSD Ajay Kumaralleged that the Central PublicWorks Department (CPWD)dismantled the structure, butthe latter said the bungalow isstill with the former MP, whohas not handed over it to theEstate Department despiterepeated reminders.

Electrical equipment, floortiles, lawns, paint, bathrooms,windows, brickwork, tempo-rary structures and the wallswere damaged. The officelocated at the entry point of thegate was also found damagedalong with doors and win-dows. The furniture was alsofound in ruined condition.

The bungalow was used bythe people coming from his

constituency Madhepura forvarious works in Delhi. Yadavwas running “SubhashChandra Bose Sewa Ashram”from his residence. The sewa

ashram had capacity to accom-modate 400 people at a time.He had put a banner carryinga slogan “Logon ka ghar sabkaghar”.

Yadav is currently in Biharto help flood-hit victims inPatna. According to Yadav’sOSD, bungalow will be hand-ed over to CPWD after his

arrival. On the other hand, offi-cials of the CPWD said thatthey have already given a reportto the Lok Sabha Secretariatabout the bungalow’s condi-tion.

Yadav is currently the pres-ident of Jan Adhikar Party. Hehad lost the Lok Sabha elec-tions in May. His wife RanjeetaRanjan, who was allotted bun-galow at 7 Balwant Rai MehtaLane, too lost Lok Sabha polls.She had also been given noticesto vacate her accommodation.

The Estate Departmentunder the Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs (MoHUA)has recently forcefully evictedthree other ex-MPs while giv-ing a 3-day notice to three oth-ers to vacate their Governmentaccommodations.

With many ex-MPs yet tovacate their accommodation,newly elected MPs were forcedto stay in various State bhavansor guests houses.

The Ministry has alsoserved notices on the squatters is in he process toforcefully evict the occupantsfrom bungalow or flat number185 at South Avenue; flat 185at North Avenue and 11Mahadev Road.

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

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With an eye to Maharashtraand Haryana Assembly

elections, Congress presidentSonia Gandhi on Thursdayconstituted a CoordinationCommittee headed by her closeaide Ahmed Patel and consist-ing of senior party leadersJairam Ramesh, AnandSharma, Madhusudan Mistry,Jyotiraditya Scindia and ManikTagore.

Patel has convened its firstmeeting on Friday to strategisecoordination of the party activ-ities for the upcomingMaharashtra and Haryanapolls.

A senior AICC leader saidPatel has been assigned the newresponsibility considering hisacceptance amongst all theparty leaders, old and young,and also within the Oppositionleaders.

Congress and NCP arealliance partners on equalnumber of seats in Maharashtraand NCP is headed by SharadPawar who enjoys a good rap-port with Ahmed Patel. "WhileScindia headed the ScreeningCommittee for Maharashtra,the onus is now with Patel tokeep intact the flock till the endof elections.

The overarching Patel ledcommittee has been mandatedto monitor the election coor-dination committee, pradeshelection committee, campaigncommittee, publicity and pub-lication committee, media andcommunications committee,transport and accommodationcommittee, protocol committeeand discipline committee tillthe end of the polls in both thecrucial States.

Gurgaon: A Bajrang Dalmember was on Thursdayinjured when alleged cattlesmugglers opened fire at vigi-lantes chasing their mini-truck,police said.

The gang members spedoff after hurling four cowsfrom the vehicle during thehigh-speed chase caught onvideo by the vigilante group.

The police have bookedfive men, named by theBajrang Dal members. Noarrests were reported till theevening.

The incident took placearound 3.45 am when BajrangDal members were tipped offabout the cattle smugglers, anoffice bearer of the right-wingorganisation said.

The vigilantes interceptedthe vehicle in Gurgaon’s sector10. Sushil Chaudhary, BajrangDal’s regional convenor, toldPTI that the vigilantes chasedthe truck in their SUV.

“During the chase, one ofthe smugglers opened fire anda bullet hit our Manesar unitconvener Monu,” he said.

Manjeet Singh, an officebearer of the “gau rakshadepartment” of Vishwa HinduParishad''s Haryana unit, saidMonu, 26, was admitted at aprivate hospital in Gurgaon.

His condition was stated tobe out of danger after an oper-ation. “He is still in the ICU forobservation,” Singh said.

A video clip of the chase,apparently shot by the vigi-lantes, later surfaced on socialmedia. It showed the mini-truck speeding past a policebarricade during the chase.

“There were four cows intheir pick-up van and duringthe chase the smugglers threwthem out one by one in orderto deter the vigilantes,”Gurgaon police spokespersonSubhash Bokan told PTI.

“Five people have beennamed in the FIR and a searchis on for them. They have beenidentified as residents ofMewat region of the district,”he added.

The FIR has been filedunder Indian Penal Code sec-tions 279 (rash driving), 307(attempted murder) and 336(act endangering the life ofothers) and under the ArmsAct, police said.

They have also beenbooked under the HaryanaGauvansh Sanrakshan andGausamvardhan Act, 2015,which prohibits cow slaughter,trafficking and consumption ofbeef in the state, police added.

Agencies

����� 4+�=-2+!4

The Chief ElectionCommissioner, Sunil Arora

on Thursday played down thedifferences in the three-mem-ber poll panel saying, “We areon the same page.”

The CEC and theCommissioners ealier reviewedthe poll preparedness inHaryana for the October 21Assembly polls. When asked tocomment on the difference ofopinion between him andElection Commissioner AshokLavasa during the Lok Sabhapolls held earlier this year, Arorasaid, “There is nothing likethis…we are on the same page.”

Lavasa was appointedElection Commissioner onJanuary 23, 2018, after heretired as the Union FinanceSecretary the previous year.

His difference of opinion,with regard to the implemen-tation of the model code ofconduct (MCC), with SunilArora and ElectionCommissioner Sushil Chandrawas reported during the par-liamentary election 2019.

The rift within the three-member Election Commissionhad came into the open after aletter by Lavasa in May, wherehe had opposed clearances thatthe poll panel gave to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andAmit Shah in complaints ofcode of conduct violations.

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Amid questions over hiscontinued absence from

the national political scenario,Congress leader Rahul Gandhihas decided to campaign in theupcoming Haryana Assemblyelections.

But he will only address onerally in Haryana on October 14.Sources in the party said that inHaryana, Rahul Gandhi willstart his campaign with a roadshow from Karnal town, thehome constituency of ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattar,who is seeking re-election forthe seat.

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Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Thursday

said all the departments of theState Government as well as theorganising partners must workwith close coordination andclear perception to make theGlobal Investor's Meet slatedfor next month at Dharamshalaa big success.

Presiding over a meeting ofhigh-power committee fororganising Himachal PradeshGlobal Investor's Meet, he saidall officers concerned mustadopt professional approachso that the event could be amajor success not only in termof organisation but also is facil-itating the investors to invest inHimachal Pradesh. He saidthat this meet would be a newbeginning in the state to openvistas of progress and prosper-ity for the State and its people.

Thakur said PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,Home Minister Amit Shah andother Central Ministers wouldgrace the mega event. In addi-tion to this, business tycoonsand Ambassadors from sever-al countries would also be pre-sent during the event.

The Chief Minister saidthat inspired by the PragatiPortal launched by the PrimeMinister, the state governmenthas also developed Him Pragati

for online monitoring, trackingand speedy facilitation ofinvestors. All the MoUs signedso far have been uploaded onthis portal. The state govern-ment has adopted a multi-pronged and holistic approachfor attracting investment, so asto make Himachal Pradesh aninvestment hub of the country.He said that till date 570 MoUsworth Rs. 75,776 crore havebeen signed in different sectors.

He said exhibition spacewould be provided to PSUs andother departments during thisevent, adding that emphasisshould be laid on creative,innovative and futuristic ideasand models so that they could

catch attention of the PrimeMinister and other dignitaries.

He said United ArabEmirates has confirmed to bethe partner country for hold-ing this event. In addition tothis, Ministry of Commerceand Industry, Ministry ofTourism and EconomicDiplomacy and States Division,Ministry of External Affairshave given their consent to bepartner Ministry of this megaevent, he added.

Chief Secretary ShrikantBaldi said that as many asnine committees have beenconstituted for ensuring suc-cessful organisation of thisMeet. He said that a reviewmeeting would also be held atDharamshala on October 16and spot visit and review ofarrangement would be done.He said that full proof arrange-ments would be made to make

the occasion a success.Principal Secretary to Chief

Minister Sanjay Kundu assuredthat the officers would workwith utmost dedication andcommitment to make the eventa historic one. AdditionalChief Secretary, IndustriesManoj Kumar gave a detailedpresentation on variousarrangements made by thedepartment for making thisevent. He said that several sec-toral committees have be con-stituted for each and everysession of the Global Investor'sMeet. Additional ChiefSecretaries, PrincipalSecretaries, Heads ofDepartments, Representativesof National Partner-CII, MediaP a r t n e r - S q u a r eCommunications, KnowledgePartner-EY and Event Partner-ICE were present on the occasion.

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Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)on Thursday asked the

Congress-led PunjabGovernment to releaseDearness Allowance (DA) ofthe State Government employ-ees which was due sinceJanuary 2017, within one week.Besides, the Akali Dal demand-ed from the Government todisburse their salaries for thismonth by October 26, in viewof the Diwali festivities.

“It is shocking that thePunjab Government was refus-ing to release DA arrears toemployees and owed themmore than Rs 5,000 crore inarrears. In direct contrast, theCentral Government hadannounced a five percentincrease in Dearness and Reliefallowances from July 1 this yeargiving an additional Rs 16,000

crore to 50 lakh central gov-ernment employees and pen-sioners,” said the former min-ister Maheshinder SinghGrewal.

“The Punjab Governmentshould also hike DA allowanceby five percent from July thisyear on the central patternand release arrears,” he added.

Asking the CongressGovernment to take these stepsimmediately, Grewal said thatthe employees were forced toobserve a Black Diwali last year.“They should be given arrearsdue to them this year beforeDiwali,” he said.

Akali leader also demand-ed that the report of the sixthPay Commission should besubmitted immediately andthe same should be imple-mented as quickly as possible.

The Akali leader alsodemanded that 27,000 con-tractual employees should beregularised and that the gov-ernment should put a stop tothe practice of keeping newrecruits on probation for threeyears by paying them basic payonly.

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Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)president Sukhbir Badal on

Thursday urged the people ofDakha assembly constituencyto reward performance by sup-porting the party and snub“opportunism” by rejecting theCongress which had fielded an“outsider”.

Sukhbir, addressing a num-ber of rallies in favour of SAD-BJP combine candidateManpreet Singh Ayali, saidthat the Akali leader wasknown for ushering in a wave

of development in the con-stituency while the Congresscandidate was an OSD of theChief Minister and was direct-ly responsible for denying duebenefits to Punjabis.

“You must ask this OSDwhy he has denied SC scholar-ships to youth, cycles to girl stu-dents, mid day meals to schoolchildren, Shagun to under priv-ileged brides, jobs to youth andeven sugar cane dues to farm-ers,” said Sukhbir.

Taking on the ChiefMinister Capt Amarinder,Sukhbir said that someone,who had taken a false oath inthe name of the holy GutkaSahib, could not be expected tofulfil any promise made to thepeople.

“Nothing could be expect-ed from a Chief Minister whohad visited his office twice ina span of more than two yearsand had not even found it fit tovisit Sri Darbar Sahab after

being sworn in as the ChiefMinister,” he said.

Stating that it was CaptAmarinder who had commit-ted the biggest sacrilege by tak-ing a false oath on the sacred‘charn’ of Guru Gobind Singh,Sukhbir said that the ChiefMinister was following in thefootsteps of the Congress partywhich had always oppressedthe Sikhs.

“We can never forget howthe Congress party attacked SriDarbar Sahib and how it engi-neered the massacre of thou-sands of Sikhs in Delhi in

1984,” he said,adding that indirect contrast,SAD had workedto propagate andpreserve Sikh cul-ture and built mon-

uments like theVirasat-e-Khalsa,Fateh Burj, Chhotaand VaddaGhallughara.

Saying that thedrug menace hadincreased dramati-

cally in Punjab under Congressrule, Sukhbir said that themain reason for this was the“open shelter being given todrug traffickers by Congresslegislators. Things have come tosuch a pass that home deliveryof drugs had started in Punjab”.

Ayali, who has been localMLA, said that Aam AadmiParty’s (AAP) former legislatorHS Phoolka had betrayed thepeople’s trust after being givena massive mandate in 2017.“Phoolka stood for election inthe hope of becoming the ChiefMinister, but when this did notcome about, he ran away,” hesaid. “Now similarly, anotheroutsider – Sandeep Sandhu –had been fielded by theCongress party. SandeepSandhu did not know whichway went where. He does notknow names of 10 villages. Youhave to decide - to choose apnaor begana,” he made a voteappeal.

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Claiming to be carrying for-ward their political legacy,

10 members of the famoustroika of Lals of Haryana pol-itics -- Devi Lal, Bansi Lal andBhajan Lal -- are in the poll frayfrom different parties or asIndependents amid declining

influence of these clans over thelast five years.

While two members of theChautala family (ChaudharyDevi Lal) are Jannayak JanataParty (JJP) candidates, oneeach is contesting on ticketsfrom Indian National Lok Dal(INLD) and the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP), while one iscontesting as an Independent.Five from the other two fami-lies are fighting on Congresstickets.

Following the 10-year ruleof the Congress underBhupinder Singh Hooda and

the emergence of BJP as amajor player in 2014 Assemblyelections and 2019 Lok Sabhaelections, the influence of thethree families has been con-fined to their pocket boroughsnow.

For decades, Haryana pol-itics was synonymous with thefascinating power struggle

among three Lals --Devi Lal, Bansi Laland Bhajan Lal.However, the youngergeneration of the Lalclans, who are in thefray for the 90Assembly seats inHaryana, are upagainst not just eachother, but a new chal-lenge the Modi factor.

Most of the BJPcandidates inHaryana are not well-known faces but arein contention due tothe popularity ofPrime Minister

Narendra Modi. On the otherhand, the dynasts are seekingvotes in the names of theirgreat-grandfathers, grandfa-thers and fathers. BJP has takenon the dynastic politics in theState.

Former Deputy PrimeMinister Devi Lal's numerousgrandsons, great grandsonsand other family members arealso in politics, such as AdityaDevi Lal, Dushyant Chautalaand his brother DigvijayChautala as well as their cousinArjun Chautala.

Five members of the fam-

ily of Devi Lal are in the pollfray this time. The youngest toenter the poll fray is 31-year-old Dushyant Chautala, formerHisar MP who is contesting onJJP ticket, a breakaway of theINLD which witnessed spilt in2018 following a feud in theChautala clan, from UchanaKalan against sitting MLAPrem Lata, wife of formerUnion minister ChaudharyBirender Singh.

Dushyant's mother NainaChautala is contesting fromBadhra constituency on JJPticket. In 2014 assembly elec-tions, Naina, wife of Ajay SinghChautala, had won fromDabwali seat on INLD ticket.INLD leader and sitting MLAAbhay Singh Chautala is in thefray from Ellanabad again.Ajay and Abhay are sons of for-mer chief minister Om PrakashChautala and grandsons ofDevi Lal. Aditya SinghChautala, son of JagdishChautala who is one of the foursons of Devi Lal, is fightingfrom Dabwali assembly con-stituency on BJP ticket.

Ranjit Singh Chautala, 73,son of Devi Lal, has entered theelectoral fray from Rania asIndependent after failing tosecure ticket from theCongress.

Devi Lal who was deputyPrime Minister of India in1989–91 in the governments ofPrime Minister VP Singh andPrime Minister ChandraShekhar, had served as ChiefMinister of Haryana twice,first in 1977–79 and then in

1987–89. Devi Lal also comesfrom a prolific political dynastyof Haryana as his elder broth-er Sahib Ram Sihag was thefirst politician from the fami-ly who became Congress MLAfrom Hisar in 1938 and 1947.

This clan, once dominantat the State level and now indecline due to divisions andinternal family squabbling inthe large clan, is struggling torevive their statewide holdwhile still retaining some pock-ets of influence in Hisar andSirsa area. The INLD foundedby Devi Lal, split in 2018 aftera bitter power struggle betweenhis two grandsons AjayChautala and Abhay Chautala.The feud saw Ajay Chautalaand his sons Dushyant andDigvijay being expelled fromthe party by Om PrakashChautala.

Three family members offormer Chief Minister BansiLal are in the poll fray this timeas Congress nominees from

three separate seats in Bhiwanidistrict. His son 75-year-oldRanbir Singh Mahendra is con-testing from Badhra seat onCongress ticket.

Mahendra, who is a formerpresident of the Board ofControl for Cricket in India(BCCI), is facing JJP nomineeNaina Chautala as his mainrival. Bansi Lal's daughter-inlaw Kiran Chaudhary, who issenior Congress leader, hasfiled her nomination fromTosham seat. Chaudhary is thewife of Surender Singh, whodied in helicopter crash in2005. The Congress has alsofielded Somvir Singh, son-in-law of Bansi Lal, from Loharuseat.

Bansi Lal served three sep-arate terms as Chief Minister ofHaryana from 1968–75,1985–87, and 1996–99. Lalwas considered a close confi-dante of former Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi and her sonSanjay Gandhi during the

Emergency era of 1975-1977.

He also served asthe Defence Ministerfrom December 1975to March 1977, andhad a brief stint as aMinister withoutPortfolio in the Uniongovernment in 1975.He also held theRailways and Transportportfolios. He set upHaryana Vikas Partyafter parting ways withthe Indian NationalCongress in 1996.

Bhajan Lal, who was thelongest-serving Chief Ministerof Haryana, handed over hispolitical legacy to his sonKuldeep Bishnoi, who is seek-ing re-nomination from theirtraditional Adampur Assemblysegment. His elder sonChander Mohan has beenfielded by the Congress fromthe Panchkula Assembly seat.Chander Mohan is a four-timeMLA from Kalka seat and for-mer deputy chief minister ofHaryana.

Bhajan Lal was firstbecame the Chief Minister in1979, again in 1982 and onceagain in 1991. He also servedas Union Agricultural Minister,Environments & Forest port-folios during Rajiv Gandhi’sadministration. After IndiraGandhi came to power inJanuary 1980, Bhajan Lal wasJanata Party's CM in Haryana;he immediately defected witha huge chunk of Janata Party'sMLAs to Congress and con-

tinued as CM. This brazen actmade him notorious as anexemplar of ‘Aaya Ram GayaRam’ culture in which oppor-tunist politicians show no loy-alty. He consolidated non-Jatvote in his Jat-dominated state,and was the last non-Jat CM ofthe 20th century. Full 18 yearswere to pass before BJP'sManohar Lal Khattar becameHaryana's first non-Jat CM of21st century in 2014.

Dr Anand Kumar,Associated Professor, Instituteof Integrated and HonoursStudies, KurukshetraUniversity said that the threeLals of Haryana, Bansi Lal,Bhajan Lal and Devi Lal, ruledthe state for nearly threedecades. Three-time chief min-ister Bansi Lal ruled for 13years. Former deputy PrimeMinister Devi Lal’s two termsas CM lasted four-and-a-halfyears. Two-term CM BhajanLal, a non-Jat leader, who madeheadlines in 1980 when he asCM of the Janata Party gov-ernment walked over to theCongress along with his cabi-net, ruled the state for 11 years.

He further said, “Duringthe first 33 years after Haryanawas carved out of Punjab in1966, its three Lals ruled for 28years. From 1968-99, BansiLal was known to be tough andefficient while Devi Lal, whowas rustic but awe-inspiringand Bhajan Lal, who almostalways had his way; became thechief ministers of Haryana.The three Lals were never greatadherents of principled politics.

Rather, they were well-versedwith the Haryana model ofrough and ready politics.”

“The charisma of the threeLals has diminished and thingshave come to such a pass thatthe three families could find itdifficult to save their ownbackyard from the BJP thistime,” he said, adding todaytheir clans fight their toughestbattle for survival with theassembly elections in October.The rise of the BJP after its firstsolo victory in the 2014 assem-bly elections and the win in all10 Lok Sabha constituencies inthe State this May show justhow the descendants of thethree families have beenpushed to the margins.

Kumar further the namesof these leaders continue tohave their sway on particularsections of the electorate, whichhas been providing poll lever-age to their progeny as well.Despite putting Prem Lata,wife of former Union Ministerand Rajaya Sabha memberBirender Singh from UchanaKalan in Jind district, the BJPcontinued to target dynasticpolitics in the State. The BJP’snarrative seems to be working,which has weakened the polit-ical power of the three Lal fam-ilies. To counter the BJP’s nar-rative, political parties need tochange their tact. Though for-mer CMs enjoyed respect andinfluence in their respectivesegments, their legacy can berevived by highlighting theirideals instead of projecting thefaces of their families, he added.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on

Thursday lashed out at theCongress over its dynastic pol-itics. "What else would be a bet-ter example of dynasty in theCongress than this...when pres-ident left his post, he had tofind a new president and couldnot find anyone outside theGandhi family and finallySonia Gandhi was given thereins of the party," Khattarsaid.

Slamming the previousCongress Government in thestate from 2004 to 2014, he saidjobs were sold in previousGovernments, due to which theconfidence of the youth waslow. "But after the formation ofour Government, the sameyouth are moving towards thecoaching centre and library,"Khattar said who is contestingthe polls from the KarnalAssembly segment.

Khattar claimed thatCongress will be reduced tofour seats in the Assemblyelections.

He reminded the tenure ofCongress and the INLD by stat-ing how the non-BJPGovernments during the last 48years gave jobs to the youththrough favouritism, spread-ing corruption in the State.

Khattar said that he himselfhas held rallies for 25 assemblyconstituencies so far whileCongress leaders are yet to start

electioneering. The ChiefMinister said that Congress hasreplaced its president before thestart of political war in theState. He accused the CongressParty of selling tickets in croresof rupees as its former presi-dent Ashok Tanwar revealedrecently.

The Chief Minister in hisaddress appealed to the peopleto vote only after analysing thetenure of previous govern-ments and the tenure of thepresent BJP Government.

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The Police Department andExcise and Taxation

Department of Haryana andneighboring Punjab will workin close coordination to keep acheck on flow of unaccountedmoney, illicit liquor and otherillegal gratification, in view ofthe Haryana Assembly polls.

Besides, the PunjabGovernment has assured theElection Commission todeclare ‘dry day’ for a day ortwo before polling in Haryana,scheduled to be held onOctober 21. Byelections to fourassembly constituencies inCongress-ruled Punjab is alsoscheduled to be held on thesame day.

“Following the inputs fromsenior officers of CivilAdministration and PoliceDepartment in Haryana, theEC has approached the PunjabGovernment, which hasassured to work in coordina-tion with concerned enforce-ments agencies in Haryana tokeep a check on flow of liquor,cash and drugs in its territoryin view of Haryana Assembly,”said Chief ElectionCommissioner of India, SunilArora on Thursday, whileaddressing a press conferencehere.

The CEC alongwithElection Commissioners ofIndia, Ashok Lavasa and SushilChandra was on a two-day visit

to Chandigarh to review thepoll preparations in Haryana.

On the seizure of liquor,cash and drugs since the StateAssembly polls have beenannounced in the state, SunilArora said that the illegalinducements worth Rs 9.67crore has so been seized inHaryana.

The EC have held a meet-ing with Excise Commissionersof both Haryana and PunjabGovernments and have direct-ed them to work in close coor-dination and share inputsregarding any suspicious move-ment, he said.

Political parties in Haryanahave demanded that ‘dry day’should also be declared inneighboring state of Punjab, 48hours prior to polling day i.e.October 21. Following this,the EC had held talks with thePunjab Government, whichhas assured to declare ‘dry day’either for 24 hours or 48 hoursbefore the election day, Arorasaid.

During the meeting withECI team a day before, thepolitical parties had demand-ed that ‘dry day’ be declared inentire Punjab to keep a checkon smuggling of liquor intoHaryana on the polling day.

As per the ElectionCommission’s directive, duringthe 48-hour period before theend of the polling in any con-stituency, the collector issues anorder prohibiting the sale anddistribution of liquor, intoxi-

cants, or any such sub-stances in hotels, restau-rants, bars, or other shops.

The data with theElection Commission stated,“So far, Rs 9.67 crore(9,67,05,130) illegal induce-ments have been seized inHaryana after theannouncement of elections.This included cash worth Rs2.68 crore (2,68,17,419),liquor worth Rs 3.35 crore(Rs 3,35,11,508) and drugsworth Rs 3,63 crore (Rs3,63,76,203).

The CEC also said thatthe Director General ofNarcotics Control Bureauwill also be asked to shareinputs with the concernedenforcement agencies inHaryana.

The EC is committed toensure free, fair and trans-parent election, Aroraadded.

The election to 90-memberassembly in Haryana will beheld on October 21 while theresult will be declared onOctober 24.

During the first visit of thefull Commission for two dayshere, the Commission held aseries of review meetings withthe state chief electoral officers,officers of the PoliceDepartment, nodal officers andthe representatives of variouspolitical parties.

The Commission onThursday held review meetingswith nodal officers of Income

Tax, Excise and TaxationDepartments and State LevelBankers Committee, the dis-trict election officers, superin-tendents of police, divisionalcommissioners and range offi-cers regarding the poll pre-paredness. Later on, theCommission also reviewed theelection arrangements with theChief Secretary Keshani AnandArora, DGP Manoj Yadavaand other senior officers.

Political parties demandCCTVs at all critical and vul-nerable polling stations

During the meeting with

the ECI, the political parties inHaryana have demandedinstallation of CCTV camerasat the critical and vulnerablepolling stations in the state.

The political parties haverequested for the deploymentof adequate number of para-military forces in the electionsespecially in those areas whichhas the maximum number ofpeople belonging to economi-cal weaker sections of the soci-ety so as to ensure their par-ticipation in the elections.

As per the EC data, thereare 19578 polling stations in thestate including 153 auxiliary

polling stations. The CivilAdministration and PoliceAuthorities have identified 83polling stations in 60 loca-tions as ‘critical’ and 2,923polling stations in 1,419 loca-tions as ‘vulnerable’ for the elec-tions. The Chief ElectionCommissioner said that web-casting of all critical polling sta-tions will be done.

On the use of social media,the CEC said that the socialmedia platforms have assuredus to follow the voluntary codeof ethics during State Assemblypolls.

Expressing disappointment

over the percentage of vot-ing during Lok Sabha polls2019 in Haryana, the CECsaid that around 70 percentvoting was registered duringthe Lok Sabha election whilearound 76 was registeredduring Vidhan Sabha polls2014 in Haryana. The CEO,Haryana has been directedto make efforts to increasethe voting percentage duringthis election, he said.

After the meeting withpolitical parties, theCommission has directedthe district magistrates andPolice Officers to carefullylook into law and orderconcerns. AdditionalCentral security forces havebeen provided as per therequirement of the state.The officers were also askedto identify expenditure sen-sitive constituencies and

make effective arrangementsfor the same, Arora said.

He added that for the firsttime in the entire state,VVPATs will also be used at allpolling booths along with theEVM machines, he said.

Action to be taken againstthose seeking votes at reli-gious functions

Responding to a question,the Chief ElectionCommissioner said that inview of festive season, the rep-resentatives of various politicalparties are allowed to attend thereligious functions but they

cannot seek votes from peopleon such occasions. The EC willtake strict action against anyviolation in this regard, hesaid. The EC has also assuredthe political parties that strin-gent action will be takenagainst those who seek vote inthe name of caste and religion,he added.

PR officers to be trans-ferred

Following the complaintssubmitted by political parties,the Election Commission hasordered transfer of 10 PRO andAPROs in Haryana. TheCommission has also directedthe Chief Secretary to ensurethat the action is taken as perthe EC's policy regarding thetransfers of the officers. SunilArora said that we have orderedtransfer of 10 PROs andAPROs in the state and askedthe district authorities to ensurethat the officers work as anumpire and not a team playerduring the election.

On complaint submitted bypolitical parties regardinglaunching of new developmentworks during election season,the CEC said that the worksalready in progress during theannouncement of election canbe continued while no newdevelopment works can be ini-tiated during the code of con-duct. We have received com-plaints about new projectsbeing launched and we arelooking into it, Arora added.

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Attacking former ChiefMinister Bhupinder Singh

Hooda who has been appoint-ed as legislative party chief andOpposition leader in theAssembly by the Congress,former Haryana Congress chiefAshok Tanwar on Thursdaysaid the party in Haryana hasturned into "Hooda Congress"as those who worked againstthe party's interests in the lastfive years have been givenprominence over those whoslogged to strengthen the party.

He said that Congress hasbeen going through “an exis-tential crisis, not because of itspolitical opponents but becauseof serious internal contradic-tions” Tanwar also claimedthat the ticket distribution inthe party was faulty and that ithad ignored its workers whoworked for over a decade andgiven to those who gave moneyin crores during the ticket dis-

tribution. "There were hugeirregularities in ticket distrib-ution. As per information,around 22 tickets were sold incrores of rupees in Haryana,"Tanwar alleged, adding that hewill not spell out any detailsright now but if needed he willgive adequate proof to thepeople. Congress will not wina single seat from all the 90Assembly Constituencies ofthe State, he added.

Tanwar said that he hadresigned from the party afternewly formed election com-mittee had refused to allotticket to a candidate backed by him.

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Punjab State would get6,192 kilolitre non-subsi-

dized kerosene oil on theoccasion of celebrations of550th prakash purb of GuruNanak Dev. Informing this, thestate Principal Secretary (Food,

Civil Supplies and ConsumerAffairs) KAP Sinha said thatPunjab Government’s requestto the Union Ministry ofPetroleum and Natural Gas(MoP&NG), for allocation ofnon-subsidized kerosene forspecial needs for the year 2019-20, has been considered andthe State has been allocated6192 kilolitre non subsidizedPDS kerosene for the year.

Sinha said that a numberof religious activities like kir-tan, katha, prabhat pheri, lan-gar and educational activitiessuch as seminars, workshops,lectures, etc are being orga-nized to mark the year longcelebrations of 550th prakashpurb.

“All such activities attracthuge gathering of sangat or

general public for which lan-gar is prepared on a grandscale. For the same, a hugequantity of cooking fuel isrequired. Since large scaleburning of wood would causepollution as well as damagethe fragile green cover of theState. So, to facilitate the san-gat or general public in cele-bration of the occasion of550th year of Guru NanakDev’s prakash purab in a befit-ting manner and on a grandscale, as envisioned by theGovernment, the UniojMinistry, GoI through its dis-cretionary quota, has allocat-ed non-subsidized PDSkerosene,” he said. The reli-gious activities like kirtan,katha, prabhat, pheri and lan-gar would be conducted byGurudwaras, religious associ-ations, Sukhmani societiesand other religious institu-tions like SGPC, Guru GobindSingh Study Circle, SikhMissionary College, etc. Inaddition to this, educationalactivities such as seminars,workshops, lectures, etc wouldbe organized at various pri-mary and secondary schools,colleges, universities etc.

Since, in the allocation ofnon subsided PDS kerosene,there is no element of subsidy,thus the distribution of thiskerosene shall be done direct-ly from the existing wholesaledealers to the institutions andthe like, said Sinha.

He said that the rationdepots, which serve the basicpurpose of distribution ofsubsidized commodities, shallnot be associated in thisprocess. The lifting shall bedirect ly from PSU OilCompany Depots by thewholesalers.

The role of DFSCs andother field functionaries ofdepartment of Food Supplyshall be limited to directingthe requests or queries madeby religious and educationalinstitutions to the wholesale dealers.

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Chandigarh: A day afterPunjab policemen were bru-tally attacked by villagers inHaryana, the opposition partiesin Punjab have lashed out at theCongress-led PunjabGovernment for decliningstandards of the esteemedpolice force. While the Shiromani AkaliDal (SAD) demanded a probeinto the incident, Aam AadmiParty (AAP) has described theincident as“unfortunate”. PNS

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The BJP on Thursday hit outat the Congress over its

"shameful shenanigans" anddemanded an explanation afterBritish Labour Party leaderJeremy Corbyn said he dis-cussed the human rights situ-ation in Kashmir with "UK rep-resentatives from the IndianCongress Party".

"A very productive meetingwith UK representatives fromthe Indian Congress Partywhere we discussed the humanrights situation in Kashmir.There must be a de-escalationand an end to the cycle of vio-lence and fear which hasplagued the region for so long,"Corbyn tweeted.

The BJP slammed theCongress, which had notoffered any comment as a rowerupted following Corbyn's

tweet.The Labour Party leader,

whose stand on Kashmir hasnot gone down well with theIndian Government, alsotweeted a picture of the meeting.The picture includedKamal Dhaliwal, who heads theoverseas Congress in the UK.

"Appalling! Congress owesit to the people of India toexplain what its leaders aretelling foreign leaders aboutIndia. India will give a befittingreply to Congress for theseshameful henanigans!" the BJPsaid in a tweet.

The saffron party's foreignaffairs department in-chargeVijay Chauthaiwale said, "This is Congress seekingadvice from the UK LabourLeader — they might as well goto their masters directly inPakistan."

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On the eve of ChinesePresident Xi Jinping’s visit,

the Congress on Thursdayasked why does Prime MinisterNarendra Modi not say thatIndia is watching the muzzlingof pro-democracy movementin Hong Kong when Xi says heis watching Kashmir.

Congress slammed theModi government for failingto stop China from targetingIndia's internal matters. "XiJingping says he is watchingKashmir. But why does notModi government issue astatement that India too iswatching pro-democracyprotests muzzled in HongKong. The government mustsay we are are watchinghuman rights violations inXinjiang and the continuedoppression in Tibet as along

South China Sea," Congressspokesperson Manish Tewarisaid.

The former Union minis-ter also dared India to askChina about Aksai Chin whichhas been "illegally ceded" byPakistan to the country, whenit keeps raising the issue of PoKand talks about taking it back.Tewari asked why India doesnot raise the issue of humanrights violations in Xinjiang theway China keeps raising theKashmir issue.

"All are blow hards inNDA/BJP talk about takingPoK & Gilgit-Baltistan backfrom Pak but none of themhave gumption to say that wewill take Askai Chin back fromthe Chinese that was illegallyceded to it by Pakistan in 1963.Will @PMOIndia raise returnof Askai Chin with Xi," theCongress leader tweeted.

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Hitting out at RSS ChiefMohan Bhagwat for his

comments that the word"lynching" was "alien" to theIndian tradition, the CPI onThursday said mob lynching isa reality and has become a "newnormal".

"RSS, instead of condemn-ing the mob lynching, gives aspin saying that lynching isalien concept and a conspira-cy to tarnish Hindu culture.Mob lynching is a reality andhas become a new normal. Thecountry knows who are thelynchers," said CPI generalsecretary D Raja in a statement.

The Left party leader wasreacting to the RSS Chief 'scomments that that the word"lynching" was "alien" to theIndian tradition. In his Dussehraaddress in Nagpur, Bhagwathad said isolated incidents ofsocial violence should not belabelled with foreign words, likelynching, to defame the country.

Touching on various aspectsof Bhagwat's speech, Rajaaccused RSS-BJP "trampled"upon every right of the peoplewon through relentless struggles.The Left party appealed to all theleft, democratic, secular forces to"strike together, while marchingseparately" and raise their voic-es against the shutdown inJammu & Kashmir.

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BJP working president JP Naddahas been brought under 'Z' cat-

egory security and he will be guard-ed by the commandos of the CentralReserve Police Force (CRPF) roundthe clock, officials said on Thursday.

BJP president Amit Shah who isalso union home minister is alreadyunder 'Z' plus security cover with asmany as 50 security SWAT (SpecialWeapons and Tactics) teams posi-tioning around his new residence6A, Krishna Menon Marg, wherelate prime minister Atal BihariVajpayee earlier lived.

The decision to extend 'Z' cat-egory security to Nadda has beentaken by the Union Home Ministryafter reviewing the increased threatperception to him following hisappointment as BJP working presi-dent.

The BJP working president hasbeen accorded with the 'Z' categorysecurity in an all India basis, a homeministry official said.

A total of 35 commandos of theCRPF will guard Nadda on a rota-tional basis and at any given time,eight to nine commandos will givehim proximate security. Naddawill be given the 'Z' category pro-tection wherever he travels withinthe country.

In addition to the proximatesecurity, CRPF personnel will also beposted to guard Nadda's residencehere, another official said.

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The prevalence of blindness in India hascome down by around 47 per cent since

2007, according to the National Blindness andVisually Impaired Survey (2019) released onThursday, indicating that the country is closeto achieving the WHO's goal of reducing itto 0.3 per cent of the total population by 2020.

However, the data reflects that reductionrate has surpassed the target of 25 set by theWHO. The WHO Global Action Plan forUniversal Eye Health (2014-19) aims toreduce the prevalence of avoidable visualimpairment by 25 per cent by 2019 from thebaseline levels of 2010.

In absolute numbers, people sufferingfrom blindness have reduced from 12 millionin 2006-07 to 4.8 million in 2019. However,cataract still remains to be the most commoncause of blindness (66.2 per cent) followed bycorneal blindness (7.4 per cent). Besides this,the proportion of blindness due to compli-cations of cataract surgery (7.2 per cent) hasalso increased, said the survey which wasreleased by Union Health Minister Dr HarshVardhan.

"The prevalence of blindness in India hascome down by around 47 per cent since thelast survey conducted in 2006-2007 and thefindings of the current survey are for blind-ness as defined to be vision of less than 3/60in the better eye," Vardhan said adding thecountry is close to achieving the WHO's goalof reducing it to 0.3 per cent by 2020.

The current survey was conducted overa period between 2015 and 2018 by DrRajendra Prasad Centre for OphthalmicSciences of the AIIMS in collaboration withthe Union Health ministry, covering 93,000people aged 50 years using Rapid Assessmentof Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) method in31 districts of 24 states and Union Territories.The aim of the survey was to know the exactnumber of people who suffer from blindnessand causes that lead to the condition.

India changed its over four-decade-olddefinition of blindness in 2017, bringing it inline with the WHO criteria.

According to the new definition, a per-son who is unable to count fingers from a dis-

tance of three metres would be considered"blind" as against the earlier stipulation of sixmetres, which was adopted in 1976.

The aim of revising the definition is alsoto be able to generate data which can be com-pared with global estimates and achieve theWHO goal of reducing the blindness preva-lence in India to 0.3 per cent of the total pop-ulation by 2020.

The previous survey was done in 2006-07, and showed blindness prevalence of about1 per cent in country's population.

"Even though the definition of blindnesswas changed recently and we made use of thenew definition to calculate the numbers, thereis still a significant improvement in the num-bers. If you look at the 50 plus population,3.6 per cent people were found to be blindduring the earlier survey and now the num-ber has come down to 1.99 per cent," saidprincipal investigator of survey, Dr ParveenVashist, professor, RP Centre, AIIMS.

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India on Thursday said itwas "deeply concerned" over

the "unilateral military offen-sive" by Turkey in northeasternSyria and asserted that the action can underminestability in the region as well as the fight against terror-ism.

On Wednesday, Turkishjets and artillery targetedKurdish-controlled areas inSyria, forcing thousands ofcivilians to flee their homes.

Reacting to the develop-ment, Ministry of ExternalAffairs said-"We are deeplyconcerned at the unilateralmilitary offensive by Turkey innortheast Syria."

Turkey's actions can under-mine stability in the region andthe fight against terrorism, itsaid.

The action also has thepotential for causing humani-tarian and civilian distress, theMEA said in a statement.

"We call upon Turkey toexercise restraint and respectthe sovereignty and territorialintegrity of Syria. We urge the peaceful settlement ofall issues through dialogue anddiscussion," the MEA said.

New Delhi: The Indian mis-sion in Kuwait is working tofacilitate the return of an Indianwoman "trapped" there becauseof placement agents and hassafely accommodated her at afemale shelter home.

This assurance was givenby External Affairs Minister SJaishankar in response to a callfor help on Twitter."

@DrSJaishankar Hon'blesir, look into the matter of RAJIjohn Stephen female trapped inKuwait, she belongs toGurdaspur (Punjab) because ofagents, she (was) molestedthere. Her family approachedme. Hope and wish for actionto bring her back home," theTwitter user said.

Raji John has been safelyaccommodated in the femaleshelter by the Indian Embassyin Kuwait, Jaishankar said.

"We are working with thelocal authorities to facilitate herreturn home," he said.

In another call for help, aperson requested Jaishankarto facilitate the return of themortal remains of Indianwoman killed in an accident inPhuket. PTI

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The Congress on Thursdayhit back accusing the BJP of

making "malicious statements"to distract people from its fail-ures, after the saffron partyasked it to explain BritishLabour Party leader JeremyCorbyn's tweet that he dis-cussed human rights situationin Kashmir with "UK repre-sentatives from the IndianCongress Party".

The UK unit of the IndianOverseas Congress claimed ithad met Corbyn to condemnthe Kashmir resolution passedby his party and reiterate tothem that Jammu and Kashmiris an internal matter and

no intervention will beaccepted. "Our meeting withJeremy Corbyn was held tocondemn the Kashmir resolu-tion passed by his Party and toreiterate that J&K is an internalmatter and outside interventionwill not be accepted. BJP'smalicious statements are anoth-er attempt to distract peoplefrom their failures," the IndianOverseas Congress said in a

tweet.The Congress also tweeted

that the BJP has failed toanswer questions on econom-ic slowdown, unemploymentand banking crisis and isresorting to spreading liesinstead. "The BJP has failed toanswer a single question on theeconomic slowdown, risingunemployment, banking crisisand even the irregularities inthe Rafale deal. Therefore theyhave to resort to spreading liesto evade the truth. They can'thide behind their propagandaanymore," the Congress tweeted.

Following his meeting,Corbyn had tweeted: "A veryproductive meeting with UKrepresentatives from the IndianCongress Party where we dis-cussed the human rights situ-ation in Kashmir. There mustbe a de-escalation and an endto the cycle of violence and fearwhich has plagued the regionfor so long,"

The Labour Party leader,whose stand on Kashmir hasnot gone down well with theIndian government, also tweet-ed a picture of the meeting.Thepicture included KamalDhaliwal, who heads the overseas Congress in the UK.

Corbyn has been underpressure from Indian diasporagroups in Britain since theLabour Party passed a resolution against the IndianGovernment's August 5 decision to revoke Article 370to withdraw the special statusaccorded to the State of Jammu& Kashmir, perceived as anti-India with its call for international intervention inthe region.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt has sought responsefrom DMRC on a reportby Environment PollutionControl Authority (EPCA)which has flagged the issueof "last mile connectivity"and lack of adequate park-ing for taxis, auto-rick-shaws and cycle-rickshawsat metro stations.

A bench of JusticesArun Mishra and DeepakGupta has issued notice toDMRC on EPCA's reportwhich also said that lackof demarcated parking fortaxis, three-wheelers andcycle-rickshaws at placeslike metro stations andinter state bus terminals.

The report, which wasfiled in the top court, saidthat last mile connectivi-ty is a "critical agenda" forDelhi as connectivity, par-ticularly from metro sta-tions and other multi-transport points, wouldgreatly reduce the need forprivate transport in city. PTI

New Delhi: Taking seriousnote of the delay in communi-cation to medical studentsfrom foreign countries as wellas from the Northeast regard-ing admissions to governmentuniversities, he has directed theCentre to be informed aboutthe State before August 15,every year, giving them time tojoin. .

The higher court notedthat the last admission date inthe first year of courses isAugust 31, while (MEA) hasintimidated students from I ran, Bhutan and Nepal on theiradmissions on the eleventhhour, on August 30, whichresulted in the denial of seatsfor them.

A bench of justices LNageshwara Rao and HemantGupta, which allowed the stu-dents from foreign countriesand the north-eastern states totake admission in the MBBScourses, said that a similar situation arose even last yearand the court had to come tothe rescue of students.

"In a similar situation thatarose last year, we had tocome to the rescue of the stu-

dents who were intimatedabout their admission in them e d i c a lcolleges at the eleventh hour.To avoid inconvenience beingcaused to the students whoare sponsored by other coun-tries & the State Governmentsand the Union Territories inwhose favour seats are allo-cated, we direct theGovernment of India to inti-mate the concerned authori-ties of the State Governments,the Union Territories andother countries about theapproval of admissions tocandidates whose names aresponsored, at least 15 daysbefore the last date of admis-sion," the bench said.

The bench was hearing aplea of students includingthose from foreign countriesand north-eastern states, whowere granted admission fromthe central pool in theGovernment colleges but dueto delayed communication bythe MEA, the last date ofadmission had already passedas they reported to the colleges onSeptember 1 & 2. PTI

New Delhi: Records of notesheets on awarding president'smedals to police officers are nota privileged communicationbetween the prime ministerand the president havingimmunity from disclosureunder Article 74(2) of theConstitution, the CentralInformation Commission hastold the home ministry.

The Commission, thehighest adjudicating body inRTI matters, was hearing apetition of activist NutanThakur, who had sought copiesof records, including the notesheet and the communicationsin cases — when President'sPolice Medals forDistinguished Service wereawarded and when they wererejected in spite of clearancefrom state governments.

The Union home ministryhad denied the note sheet stat-ing that the same cannot beprovided because it containsexchanges of advice and opin-ion between the prime minis-ter and the president, which areprivileged under Article 74(2)of the Constitution.

Thakur strongly refutedthe claims, saying no provisionunder the 2005 RTI Actrestricts a public authorityfrom disclosure of communi-cation between the prime min-ister and the president underArticle 74(2).

She said denial of infor-mation under the RTI Act cantake place only under its pro-visions.

Citing the Supreme Court

judgments in S P Gupta and SR Bommai cases which hadexamined and interpretedArticle 74(2), ChiefInformation CommissionerSudhir Bhargava noted that thedisclosure of the note sheet isnot barred by Article 74(2)."

The Commissionobserves that the informa-tion sought for, namely a copyof the note sheet and com-munications of various officesof the Ministry of HomeAffairs related to cases inwhich PPMDS were grant-ed/not granted by MHA forthe period since January 01,2010 till date is not barred byArticle 74(2) of theConstitution of India," hesaid.

Bhargava directed the homeministry to decide on disclosureor withholding of informationon the basis of applicability ofexemption clauses of in Section8(1) of the RTI Act. PTI

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Fast growing diabetes is leading to blind-ness and visual impairment due to poor

blood sugar control among patients.According to the diabetes and diabeticretinopathy survey by the AIIMS conduct-ed between 2015 to 2019, one in eight per-sons above 50 years in India is a diabetic.

One in every 46 diabetics is blind andone in seven diabetics has some form ofimpairment in their vision due to high bloodsugar levels

Of 56, 771 persons over 50 years of ageassessed in 21 districts, up to 11.8 per cent(6,717) were found to be diabetic. Of these,144 persons were blind and 923 personswere visually impaired.

"Prevalence of blindness among dia-betics was 2.1 per cent and visual impair-ment was 13.7 per cent," states the report.

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The gruesome murder of a schoolteacher, his wife and minor son in

Murshidabad acquired political overtoneson Thursday with the BJP and WestBengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar hit-ting out at the Mamata BanerjeeGovernment over the killings, and the RSSclaiming the teacher was its supporter.

Dhankhar said the incident “puthumanity to shame”, and castigated theState machinery for alleged lack ofresponse.

The governor told PTI he has alsosought a report from the State government“on an urgent basis” on the incident thathas sent shock waves across the country.

The State’s ruling Trinamool Congresshit back, accusing Dhankar of “speakingselectively” and acting in a manner thatdoes not “behove a governor”.

“The incident puts humanity to shame.A teacher, his pregnant wife, and son arekilled in a barbaric manner.No responsefrom the state machinery. This cannot becountenanced,” the governor said.

Bandhu Prakash Pal, the 35-year-oldteacher, his pregnant wife Beauty and 8-year-old son Angan were found lying inpools of blood in their house at Jiaganj inMurshidabad district on Tuesday whenDurga Puja festivities were on.

The three were killed by unidentifiedmiscreants, police had said on Wednesday.

According to police, it has comeacross a page of a diary which suggested“likely strained relations” between the vic-tim couple.

“The investigation is on. We are look-ing into all the angles. But we have no cluewhether he is a member or supporter ofany organisation or political outfit,” asenior police official told PTI, adding threepeople have been detained for question-ing.

Reacting sharply to the governor’sstatement, senior TMC leader Tapas Royaccused Dhankar of “speaking selective-ly” on incidents of violence in the State.

“When a TMC worker is killed inPaskura in East Midnapore, he doesn’tmake a statement. He assumed officerecently and has already started speakingselectively. This doesn’t behove a governor,”he said.

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Taking cognizance of the murder ofan alleged RSS worker and his wife

and son at Jiaganj in Murshidabad dis-trict the National Commission forWomen has reportedly written to theState Government seeking report on thematter.

An annoyed NCW chairpersonRekha Sharma earlier said that she waswriting letters to Chief Minister MamataBanerjee and State Director General of Police regarding the “horriblecrime” as “nothing has been done by authorities to stop such inci-dents.”

A 35-year-old school teacher BondhuPaul, his wife Beauty and an eight-year-old son Arya were found dead on VijayaDushmi Day inside their house at Jiaganjin Murshidabad some 250 km north ofKolkata.

Soon the RSS claimed that Paul wasone of their workers who had joinedtheorganisation about a year ago.

All the three victims wererepeated-ly stabbed, sources said. Soon after themurder was discovered State BJP leaderssaid “this is the way how the ruling party

Trinamool Congress has been trying to stop our politicaladvance. But they will not be able to stopus.”

Though the police had not been ableto arrest anyone in connectionwith themurder inside sources said they were“looking into all theangles,” includingcross-border planning. An official also said that they were also“analysing the family angle” because“there was sometension between thecouple.”

The district police had recovered adiary from the house which containedsome jaw-dropping clues, sources said.“We are weighing every angle and willsoon be able to catch the culprits,” an officialsaid.

Meanwhile senior BJP leader SambitPatra questioned the law and order situ-ation of Bengal and tweeted “this (inci-dent) has shaken my conscience..a RSSworker Bandhu Prakash Pal, his eightmonths pregnant wife and his kid were brutally slaughtered in WestBengal’s

Murshidabad Not a word by the lib-erals. Not a letter by 59 liberals toMamataNauseating Selectivism.”

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After the Pujas it is carnivaltime in the City of Joy.

Come Friday, Kolkata will cel-ebrate yet another DurgaCarnival a la Rio. A brainchild of Chief Minister MamataBanerjee the festivities willtake place at historic Red Roadwith an Independence Daylike procession of about 80idols from top Durga Pujapandals and along with aminiature of the Themes uponwhich they were organised.

The two giant standsshaped and designed after ter-racotta work of ancientBishnupur temples has beenerected on two sides of thebroad street to accommodateabout 15,000 spectators includ-ing 1,500 foreign dignitaries

and media personnel, sourcessaid.

Organised by the StateInformation and CultureDepartment, the event is beingheld for the fourth consecutiveyear and will highlight Bengal’s

traditional folk culture.Though sitting arrange-

ments for 15,000 people hasbeen made a number of giantLED screens have been erect-ed to accommodate about onelakh visitors who are likely to

come to witness the grand fes-tivities.

The Puja committees willcarry tableaux of their respec-tive Themes to Red Roadshowcasing Bengal’s creativityto the whole world. The ChiefMinister has already gone onrecord saying “going by thecrowd it draws Durga Puja isthe biggest carnival on earth,”drawing several crore people ina matter of 3-4 days.

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Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee is likely to take a call on whether the arterial Tallah Bridge in the city would be demolishedor strengthened for the time being following rec-ommendations of a team of experts to rebuild thestructure, a senior official said.

The report submitted to State chief secretaryRajiva Sinha by the Mumbai-based team onWednesday recommended demolition and recon-struction of the 57-year-old bridge, reaffirming anearlier report submitted by consultancy firm RITES.

“The Mumbai-based firm has submitted its reportand recommendations on the Tallah bridge and theChief Minister will hold discussions on the fate ofthe bridge on October 12. She will take a call on thebest possible option,” the officer said.

Secretariat sources said that discussions were heldby the chief secretary with other senior officials andpolice officers about the options of building a new bridge or strengthening the existing one.

PTI

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The BJP leadership in West Bengalhas sought reports from its

district units and State level leaderson the party’s mass outreach pro-gramme especially on the contentiousissues of the National Register ofCitizens and the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill during the DurgaPuja festival.

According to State BJP sources,the party had asked its leaders andcadres to enhance outreach forspreading the party’s ideology andpolicies by using the platform of thefestival.

The saffron party this time hadset up more than 10,000 stalls outside

puja pandals to display books on itsideology and makingpeople aware of the NRC and theCAB.

“We have sought detailed reportsfrom all the districts and state levelleaders about how the festival wasutilised to increase the party’s massconnect. We are hopeful of getting afull report by early next week,” BJPstate general secretary PratapBanerjee told PTI.

A senior BJP leader on conditionof anonymity said, the inputs onissues such as the NRC and the CABwere necessary as the proposedimplementation of the NRC in WestBengal has created panic among themasses.

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The Jammu & Kashmiradministration on

Thursday reportedly releasedthree politicians who wereunder detention since August 5.

According to mediareports, Shoib Lone, formerMLA and Congress leader,Yawar Mir, former PDP MLAand Noor Mohammad ofNational Conference werereleased by the State adminis-tration.

According to officialsources, the State administra-tion has started an elaborateexercise to review detention ofpoliticians in the State andafter reviewing individual casesthey are expected to releasemore leaders in the days tocome.

In another related devel-

opment, J&K HomeDepartment late Wednesdayevening issued a fresh orderinviting tourists to visit theState as it has withdrawn itsprevious order, restricting stayof pilgrims/tourists, issued onAugust 2.

The order issued by thePrincipal Secretary, HomeShaleen Kabra stated, “theSecurity Advisory requestingtourists visiting J&k to curtailtheir stay in the Kashmirvalley, issued on Aug 2nd, ishereby withdrawn. The

tourists desirous of undertak-ing visit to the State shall beprovided all necessary assis-tance and logistical support”.

Meanwhile, situationremained peaceful in differentparts of Kashmir valley onThursday. The degree collegesthrown open by the Stateauthorities on Wednesdayremained open with scantystudent population.

Local hoteliers, trans-porters, tour operators and allothers dependent on tourismindustry are all looking forwardto welcome fresh arrival oftourists in Kashmir valley inthe coming days.

The biggest concern, how-ever, remained absence of com-munication services and con-tinued shut down during peakbusiness hours in Kashmir valley.

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At least two civil-ians received

injuries in heavy mor-tar shelling by thePakistan Army alongthe Line of Control inPoonch late Thursdayevening.

In response, theIndian Army is retal-iating strongly andeffectively. The line of controlhad earlier witnessed heavyexchange of mortar shelling lateWednesday evening in whichthe Pakistan Army may havesuffered fatal injuries.

According to groundreports, “The Pakistan Armyviolated ceasefire agreementon Thursday by resorting toheavy mortar shelling on the

civilian areas of Kari Karmara,Shahpur, Qasba and Kerni inPoonch. Large number of localresidents, could not step out oftheir houses due to heavyshelling in the forward area.

In the heavy exchange, twocivilians identified as 75 yearold Noor Husaain of Karmaraand 35 year old Shamim Akhtaof Shahpur received injuries.

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As many as 1,382 candidateshave filed their nomina-

tions for the BlockDevelopment Council polls,beginning October 24, inJammu & Kashmir.

Chief Electoral Officer,Shailendra Kumar said, “a totalnumber of 1382 candidateshave filed their nominationpapers in 22 districts of theState for 310 BDCs for whichthe elections will be held onOctober 24”.

He said elaborate securityarrangements have been madeto ensure peaceful conduct ofthe polls.

Out of 1382 candidates,751 filed nomination papers inJammu, 515 in Kashmir and116 in Ladakh.

According to officialsources , “the frontier districtof Kupwara in North Kashmirtopped the list with maximum

number of candidates comingforward to contest the BDCpolls.

A total number of 131candidates filed their nomi-nation papers in Kupwara followed by Baramulla wherepoll authorities received 110nominations”.

In Jammu division, thehighest number of nominationswere received in Jammu districtwhere 105 candidates are in thefray.

In Ladakh division too,Kargil district outnumberedLeh in terms on total nomina-tions. Official sources said, 68candidates joined the electoralcontest in Kargil district, while48 candidates filed their papersin Leh.

Meanwhile, a day after theState Unit of the congress partydecided to boycott the BDCpolls, the State BJP Chief,Ravinder Raina, Thursdayalleged that Congress party is

carrying forward nothing butthe agenda of Pakistan throughits BDC poll boycott call.

Raina, also said that regis-tration of Congress party becancelled with immediate effectfor its repeated acts to weakenthe institutions of democracy.

Ravinder Raina, allegedthat Congress party does everything here, which isrequired as per the destructiveforeign policy of rogue state ofPakistan.

He said that Pakistan wantsthe election to be boycottedhere, which is being imple-mented by Congress partyalong with NC and PDP inIndia.

He said that the Congressparty has carried forward theagenda put forth by Hurriyat,separatists, and the enemies ofthe Nation, through its actionsand hence proved itself to be atraitor by bringing bad name tothe Nation.

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With its decision to boycottthe Block Development

Council (BDC) elections inJammu & Kashmir, theCongress party has placed itselfin an unenviable position ofbeing on the right side of theseparatists.

For over 30 years since theongoing separatists violencestarted in the State, the separatists have been askingpeople and the political parties to boycott what they call“the Indian electoralprocess”.

Ironically, the Congressparty that fought for the coun-try’s independence andanchored itself firmly for over65 years through the length and breadth of India isnow seen to shift its politicaltrack.

“Since its establishmentthe Congress has been seen asthe only political party that hadroots and supportfrom Kashmir toKanyakumari.

“As fate would have it, theparty now decides to boycottelection in J&K,” said AliMuhammad, 75, who is stillcalled ‘Ali Congressi’ in hisnative village in NorthKashmir.

G.A. Mir, President of thestate Congress has said that theparty cannot fight the BDCelection as its leaders belong-ing to the valley are still underdetention.

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Congress leader RahulGandhi, who had been

abroad for few days, onThursday appeared before amagisterial court here andpleaded not guilty in a crimi-nal defamation case filedagainst him for his “why do allthieves share Modi surname”remarks.

Gandhi appeared beforethe court of Chief JudicialMagistrate BH Kapadia and

pleaded not guilty when askedby the court whether he acceptsthe charges, levelled againsthim by BJP legislator from Surat-West, PurneshModi.

After Gandhi’s plea wasrecorded, his lawyers moved anapplication seeking permanentexemption from personalappearance. When Modi’slawyers raised objection to theexemption plea, the court saidit will decide on the plea onDecember 10.

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Samajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav slammed the ruling BJP in

Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, sayingthere is not “Ram Raj” but “NathuramRaj” in the state, a day after he visit-ed the family of a youth killed in apolice encounter over alleged illegalsand mining.

“Besides mob lynching, now thereis also police lynching which can beseen here,” the SP chief told newsper-sons.

Police said Pushpendra Yadavwas killed in an encounter on Sundayafter he opened fire on a patrol team.But his family members have allegedthat he was killed in a staged gunfightafter he refused to pay bribe to thepolice station in-charge and threat-ened to expose him.

The initial statements of JhansiSSP and the SHO on the encounterwere inconsistent.

The SP chief visited PushpendraYadav’s family on Wednesday andassured them help.

On Thursday, he said, “There aremany loopholes in the police story.”

Akhilesh Yadav said he has “notrust” in the police and the adminis-tration. “Which Ram Raj is going onin UP? This is not Ram Raj butNathuram Raj. With mob lynching,police lynching have also started in

the state,” he said at a press conference.Jhansi Senior Superintendent of

Police O P Singh had told reporterson the night of the encounter that theSHO was returning alone in his pri-vate vehicle from vacation when theexchange of fire took place, but theStation House Officer involved said hewas on patrol duty with two consta-bles.

Police have also claimedPushpendra Yadav, who ran a sandmining business, was shot dead afterhe opened fire on the police officerwho had seized his truck a few daysearlier.

Pushpendra Yadav’s family allegedthat the area police officer in-charge,Dharmendra Chauhan, was demand-ing Rs 1.5- lakh bribe to release histruck.

“I want justice. My husband...Hehad given money earlier but was askedfor more. When he did not give it myhusband was shot dead. I want jus-

tice,” his wife Shivangi said, sobbingbefore visiting mediapersons.

They had married just threemonths ago.

“We demand a probe by a sittinghigh court judge. It’s not an encounterbut a murder,” Akhilesh Yadav said.

“Not much should be expectedfrom the police force of a State where the Chief Minister open-ly asks them to ‘thok dalo’ (shoot)those taking law in their own hands,”he said.

“The BJP Government of the Stateis equally responsible for the killingalong with the local administration.The Government has forgotten that itis the image of the administrationwhich creates the right image of theGovernment,” Akhilesh Yadav said,adding the deceased’s brother, a CISF jawan inDelhi, has also been made an accusedin the case and was on duty that night.

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The indefinite strike by unionsof Telangana State Road

Transport Corporation (TSRTC)continued for the sixth day onThursday with the agitatingemployees staging protests acrossthe State.

With nearly 48,000 employeesboycotting their duties and state-run buses staying off roads,theRTC said alternative arrangementswere made to run bus servicesfrom its own fleet.

Around 11,000 vehiclesincluding buses were being oper-ated.

In a related development, thevacation bench of the TelanganaHigh Court posted to October 15the hearing on a petition that

sought to declare the strike as“illegal.”

The Government also sub-mitted before the court a reportinforming it aboutthe alternative arrangementstaken.

However, the court asked thegovernment and TSRTC to file adetailed report before it by October15.

On Sunday, the court haddirected the Government to sub-mit a report by today, on the alternative arrangements made inview of the ongoing strike, besidesordering issuance of notices to twounions of RTC.

The RTC unions through theircounsels submitted that as per lawthey had given strike notices to theGovernment.

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BJP State president SatishPoonia on Thursday

demanded that the CongressGovernment should expediteassessment of crop loss damagedue to heavy rainfall inRajasthan “Crops were dam-aged due to heavy rainfall inseveral districts of the state. Ivisited many districts wherecrops have been damaged and farmers are in distress and theGovernment should expedite

the assessment work so thatfarmers can get compensation,”Poonia told reportershere. He also called forGovernor Kalraj Mishra’s inter-vention in the matter. “Ourdelegation is meeting the gov-ernor today to demand hisintervention. The Governmenthad asked the officials to pre-pare the girdawari (harvestinspection) report by October 15 but the assessmentwork is going on very slow,” hesaid.

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From traditional welcome toglimpses of South Indian art

forms and decorative arches,Chinese President Xi Jinpingwill be treated to a grandreception as he lands here onFriday for the second informalsummit with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi at the nearbyancient coastal town ofMamallapuram.

The seaside town near hereis swarming with police andSpecial Protection Group personnel and the officialmachinery is fully equipped forthe summit.

Bulletproof makeshiftstructures have been put nearthe shore temple for the twoleaders to hold talks.

Top police and

Government officials complet-ed assessing the security pre-paredness and fine tunedarrangements related to ameni-ties for the leaders both hereand at Mamallapuram.

Chief Minister KPalaniswami inspected thearrangements at the coastaltown this evening.

Entry to the group ofancient monuments have beenblocked and barricades havecome up around them.

A grand ornamental archto welcome the two leaders hasbeen prominently put up at theentrance to Mamallapuramfrom the East Coast Road.

Traditional arches madeof banana trees and sugarcanehave been put in front of theITC Grand Chola Hotel whereXi Jinping is scheduled to stay.

On his arrival, Xi will bewelcomed by traditionalpeformances including ‘tappu’folk drum art display at the air-port by about 500 artistes.

Also, a string of other cul-tural events have been lined upincluding Bharatanatyam andKathakali peformances.

Apart from the culturalprogrammes on schedule at theShore temple on Fridayevening, makeshift platformshave come up in several loca-tions including here andMamallapuram for brief, cul-tural shows. According to thetentative schedule made avail-able to the media, the foreignguest is scheduled to arrive at2.10 pm and he is set to exit theairport through the fifth VVIPgate and proceed to the near-by hotel.

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Large-scale rebellion is notnew to Maharashtra during

the elections. With the possi-bility of the saffron alliancereturning to power in the Statebeing strong, the ruling BJPand Shiv Sena are facing themaximum brunt of rebels inthe State Assembly polls,scheduled for October 11.

Two days ahead of thewithdrawal of nominations,chief minister DevendraFadnavis had last week sent outstern message to message torebels to opt to opt out of thefray and said that there wouldbe no place for rebels in theBJP-led “Maha-Yuti” (grandalliance). On his party, ShivSena president UddhavThackeray — at his annualDussehra rally — subsequent-ly apologised to those partyworkers who have been deniedtickets, in an effort to defuserebellion within the party ranksover the distribution of tickets.

Both Fadnavis and Uddhavhave not succeeded in reiningin the rebels. There are an esti-mated 45 to 50 BJP-Sena rebels

spread over 288 Assembly con-stituencies in the State.Though there are a very fewrebels contesting against theirparty’s official candidates, themaximum rebellions have hap-pened within the saffronalliance. In essence, there aremany instances where the BJPcandidates are contestingagainst the Shiv Sena’s officialcandidates or the vice versa.

Of the total 288, the BJP iscontesting 150 seats, while theShiv Sena has fielded candi-dates in 124 constituencies.Their allies are contesting theremaining 14 seats.

For instance in Vidarbharegion, Shiv Sena’s SantoshDawale is contesting as arebel against BJP ministerMadan Yerawar in Yavatmalconstituency, while local BJP

leader Sanjay Deshmukhis taking on Sena minis-ter Sanjay Minister inDigras constituency.Sena’s former ministerAshok Shinde is contest-ing as a rebel againstBJP’s sitting MLA SamirKurniwar. In Ramtek,Shiv Sena’s former MLA

Ashsish Jaiswal is making mat-ters difficult for the BJP’s BJP’ssitting MLA MalinkarjunReddy.

In north Maharashtra, ShivSena’s rebel Vilas Shinde is tak-ing Seema Hire in Nashik(west) constituency, whileSena’s Jalgaon district presidentChandrakant Patil is contestingas a rebel against senior BJPleader Eknath Khadse’s daugh-ter Rohini Khadse inMuktainagar constituency. Inthe neighbouring Jalgaon(rural) constituency, Sena’sminister of state Gulabrao Patilis facing a BJP rebel GulabraoPatil. There are two BJP rebelsin Sakri and Shirpur in Dhuledistrict.

There are rebels in Vasmat,Aurangabad (west), Nanded(south), Osmamabad ande a

few other constituencies inMarthwada.

In Mumbai, Shiv Sena’sRajul Patel has rebelled againstBJP’s official candidate BharatiLaveka in Versova constituen-cy, while Shiv Sena’s sittingMLA Trupti Sawant hasrebelled against Sena’s officialnominee and Mumbai MayorVishwqanath Mahadeshwar inBandra (east). In Andheri(east), BJP man Murji Patel hasrebelled against shiv Sena’sofficial candidate RameshLatke.

In Konkan region, the shivSena is contesting officiallyagainst BJP’s Nitesh Rane, sonof former chief ministerNarayan Rane. BJP’s sittingMLA Manda Mhatre, is takingon a rebel in Shiv Sena citychief Vijay Mane, in Bela con-stituency. BJP’s GanpatGaikwad is facing seriousthreat to his candidature fromSena leader Dhananjay Bodarein Kalyan (east). JP legislatorfrom Chinchwad LaxmanJagtap is fighting out againstSena rebel Rahul Kalate. InSawantwadi, BJP’s Rajan Telihas turned a rebel.

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Mumbai: Congress leaderRahul Gandhi will campaign inthe city on Sunday for theMaharashtra Assembly elec-tions.

It will be his first campaignevent in the State ahead of theOctober 21 elections.

Mumbai Congress chiefEknath Gaikwad said Gandhiwill address a rally at Dharavi

here on Sunday evening.Gaikwad’s daughter and

Congress secretary VarshaGaikwad is seeking re-elec-tion for a fourth term fromDharavi.

During Rahul Gandhi’stenure as party chief, VarshaGaikwad was AICC secretaryfor Gujarat and MadhyaPradesh Assembly polls. PTI

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Asserting that the BJP-ShivSena alliance will return to

power in Maharashtra with an“unprecedented” mandate,Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis on Thursday saidhis Government worked forthe weaker sections of thesociety and tried to transformtheir lives.

He also criticised theopposition Congress and NCPfor “not doing anything”except giving “false and mis-leading” promises during the15 years of their rule before theBJP-Sena Government cameto power in 2014.

As part of the electioncampaign, Fadnavis addressedpublic rallies at differentplaces in Solapur district onThursday.

While addressing a rally atMangalwedha, he said,“Congress and NCP did not

do anything for 15 years exceptgiving false and misleadingpromises.

But after our Governmentcame to power five years back,we worked for the poor, down-trodden, tribals, minorities,farmers, OBCs and women,and tried to bring about a transformation (intheir lives).”

The BJP-Shiv SenaGovernment stood behind thefarmers in the last five yearsand gave the biggest farmloan waiver, which benefited50 lakh farmers.

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Amravati: Electioneering forthe eight Assembly seats inMaharashtra’s Amravati willgain momentum from Fridaywhen BJP president Amit Shahand Shiv Sena chief UddhavThackeray will address separaterallies in the district located inVidarbha region. Shah willaddress a public gathering inMelghat constituency, a tribalbelt where the BJP has fieldedRamesh Mavaskar, a freshfresh, in place of sitting MLAPrabhudas Bhilavekar. PTI

Mumbai: The BJP onThursday expelled four rebelswho are contesting against theofficial nominees of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliancein theOctober 21 assembly elections.

A BJP release said CharanWaghmare (Tumsar-Bhandaradistrict), Geeta Jain (Mira-Bhayandar, Thane district),Balasaheb Ohwal (Pimpri-Chinchwad) andDilipDeshmukh (Ahmedpur-Latur district) have beenexpelled from the party. PTI

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Disgruntled JD(U) leaderAjay Alok on Thursday

said he was prepared to resignfrom the primary member-ship of the party, if it sodesired.

His reaction comes a dayafter a party communicationinformed media outlets thatAlok had ceased to be a partyspokesman and his utterancesmust be taken as his “person-al opinion” and not the “officialline” of the party.

Several media outlets hadbeen airing Alok’s views, whichwere causing embarassment tothe JD(U). Alok has of late beenadopting a stance in line withBJP hardliners.

The party communicationwas issued by JD(U)spokesman Rajiv RanjanPrasad on Wednesday shortlyafter Alok had come out witha tweet in which he ended upberating the JD(U) while stress-ing the need for the NDAremaining intact.

“For the BJP it is not of

great consequence to remain inpower in Bihar. But, thisalliance must remain intact inthe interests of Bihar and inview of the JD(U) proclaimingto be the big brother in thecoalition, the onus is on us,”Alok had tweeted.

He was reacting to therecent acrimony witnessedbetween the coalition partnerswhich was followed by leadersof the saffron party skippingthe Dussehra festivities orga-nized at the Gandhi Maidanwhere the Chief Ministershared the dais with oppositionleaders like state Congresspresident Madan Mohan Jha.

Once considered to be afavourite of Chief MinisterNitish Kumar because of thecombativeness he brought onthe table at on-screen debates,Alok seems to have fallen outof favour with Kumar, whoalso heads the JD(U).

However, stung by therelease issued by Rajiv RanjanPrasad, Alok again took to themicro-blogging site to statethat he has felt slighted.

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Aday after he ridiculedRahul Gandhi “for having

gone on a holiday to Bangkok”fearing the Congress’ defeat inthe State Assemblypolls, Maharashtra ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavislikened NCP chief SharadPawar to Asrani’s character asa jailer in film “Sholay” andsaid the latter in reality was leftwith no supporters behindhim.

Addressing an electionrally at Phalton in Satara dis-trict of western Maharashtra,Fadnavis took a dig at Pawar bysaying: “Sharad Pawar’s con-dition is like that of Jailer infilm ‘Sholay’.. Aadhe ider jaon,

Aade Uder jao, baki merepeche aao. Like in the film,there is no one behind Pawar”.

Alluding to veteranCongress leader Sushil KumarShinde’s comment that “we(Congress and NCP) are tired.Both the parties need tomerge”, Fadnavissaid: “Shinde understands as

to what is in store for theCongress-NCP in the elec-tions.

The two parties will findthemselves such a pitiable sit-uation after the Assembly polls that both the parities will nothave enough numbers to stakeclaim for the post of theOpposition leader in the StateAssembly”.

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Infiltrators will be made toleave the country and the

National Register of Citizens(NRC) will be implemented forthe purpose, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah said onThursday.

The BJP chief made theannouncement at a campaignrally here for the October 21Maharashtra Assembly elec-tions.

“Before we come to ask forvotes in 2024 (General elec-tions), let me assure you thatthe BJP Government will makesure every infiltrator is thrownout of the country,” Shah said.

“We will throw out every-one residing illegally in ourcountry. Congress and NCPhave opposed NRC as such res-idents form a vote bank forthese opposition parties,” Shahsaid.

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It is not uncommon to notice thedeath of irony in international diplo-macy. Most countries, which are ina position to influence internation-al or regional orders, have skeletons

in their own cupboards but they desist frompeeping into their own closet. Instead, theylook at those of others. The US’ intoleranceover human rights elsewhere is noticeable,except when it comes to its role in the larg-er West Asian region.

Last month, when a US drone strikereportedly killed numerous farmers in theKhogyani district of Nangarhar provincein Afghanistan, it hardly grabbed interna-tional attention. This international impuni-ty complex — a default appendage of beinga major power — is fast catching up withChina, too. India’s international positionas a benign and reluctant regional majorpower and its grey ground between a mid-dle and major power provide appositegrounds to whet its impunity complex forChina. What fuels the Chinese statebehaviour with India is its sense of mili-tary superiority, emanating from its his-torical upper hand in the 1962 war, its giantleap in technology, manufacturing-ledexports and defence sector. The resultantasymmetry in bilateral relations betweenthe two is structural in nature, which callsfor India to strengthen its key areas liketrade, defence and most importantly (asrecent events have shown), internation-al diplomacy.

As China consolidates its seat on theglobal high table, irony is being strangledeven tighter each day, particularly on issuesof human rights, sovereignty and territor-ial control. Most prominent examples areChina’s repression of the Uighur Muslimsin Xinjiang, its dominance in the SouthChina Sea, sensitivity over Tibet and themost recent unrest in Hong Kong. Further,its attempt to raise the Kashmir issue at theUnited Nations (UN) and the open supportit provides to Pakistan on issues like cross-border terrorism, Nuclear Suppliers Group,UN expansion, the Financial Action TaskForce (FATF) and listing of terrorists in theUN do not augur well for bilateral relationswith India.

On October 4, Chinese Ambassador toIslamabad, Yao Jing, raked up the Kashmirissue again and said, “We are also workingfor the Kashmiris to help them get theirfundamental rights and justice. Thereshould be a justified solution to the issueof Kashmir and China will stand byPakistan for regional peace and stability.”This statement is overridden with impuni-ty complex for, if one were to replace“Kashmiris” with “Uighurs”, it would bereflective of China’s own domestic situa-tion, which is only worse.

Yao’s statement, coming just before theChinese Premier’s visit to Mamallapuram inSouth India, cannot be read without context.This is part of the broader Chinese strate-

gy that precedes most State vis-its to India and is carried out inadvance to strengthen groundsof negotiations during the visit.

The delay in confirmingXi’s informal visit to India wasa subtle pressure tactic thatfinds resemblance in the lastinformal visit by Xi to India in2018, which, too, was confirmedonly in the last five days.Another common streak thatprecedes China’s State-level vis-its to India is the latter’s unto-ward yet shy nature of beingdirectly hostile. In 2014, Chinesesoldiers intruded into Indian ter-ritory in Chumar area of Ladakhwhile President Xi was in thecountry on a three-day visit. Theincursion by the People’sLiberation Army (PLA) hap-pened even as Modi and Xi metin New Delhi.

Recent satellite images haveconfirmed claims of road con-struction by China at Bishing vil-lage in Upper Siang district ofArunachal Pradesh, days beforethe scheduled visit.

Additionally, Chinese “civil-ian” protests in the Demchoksector on the occasion of theDalai Lama’s birthday, ChineseForeign Minister China WangYi’s mention of the Kashmirissue at the UN and the scufflebetween Indian and Chinese sol-diers on the bank of the PangongTso lake in eastern Ladakh inSeptember, all send out wrongsignals to New Delhi for a res-olution to outstanding disputes

on border and for the larger goalof establishing bonhomie inbilateral relations.

Furthermore, Xi’s meetingwith Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan on October 8 andhis reiteration of Beijing’sstrong support to Islamabad onthe issue of Kashmir —splashed across Chinese media— belies any semblance ofchange of heart on the part ofChina in dealing with India.This was very well sensed fromChinese Foreign Ministryspokesman Geng Shuang’srecent statement where he tac-itly said that the Kashmir issueshould be resolved bilaterally.When compared with China’searlier actions where it raisedthe Kashmir issue in the UNand also called a closed-doorUNSC meet, Geng’s statementlooks facile and does contradictChina’s intentions.

India has rightly drawn theline with an official statementstating, “It is not for other coun-tries to comment on the inter-nal affairs of India.” A diplomat-ically careful and nuancednation would not have allowedsuch media coverage, even ifsuch assurances were given toPakistan in a bilateral conversa-tion. The intent behind lettingout such hostile news coverageon the eve of a supposed “reset”is as much a direct communica-tion for New Delhi as it isreflective of Beijing’s stand on aninternal matter of India.

As opposed to what Beijingclaims vis-à-vis its stand onKashmir, there is a lack of con-sistency in China’s Kashmirstand. India, on the other hand,has done well to be consistentin its stand on internal mattersof other states, irrespective ofthe issue, avoiding any impuni-ty complex. As recent Chinesebehaviour has shown, largerinternational role and respon-sibility necessitates revisionistattitudes in state behaviour.This may not be a bad cue forIndia to take from Beijing tostrengthen its pursuit of playinga larger global role.

Nevertheless, Xi’s visit toIndia provides an opportunityfor both countries to strength-en mechanisms to prevent oppo-sition from turning into openhostility between the two. Assuch, the visit would be as muchan opportunity as a challenge.China would be aware that itsshedding of reluctance in oppos-ing India in international foraand its outright support toPakistan are bound to meetwith India’s new-found realismin conducting inter-state rela-tions. While Chinese Statebehaviour is known for idealismwithin and calculated realismoutside, India has moved recent-ly to address some of the lack ofrealistic assessments in dealingwith China. The Chinese wouldbe cognisant that their owndiplomatic transition from latentto blatant vis-à-vis India has had

the latter take a few reciprocalsteps in the recent past, primar-ily in strengthening defence andpreparedness near the Line ofActual Control (LAC).

The ongoing war exerciseby the Indian Army, ‘HimVijay’, in Arunachal Pradesh atan altitude of 14,000 and 100km from the LAC, its IntegratedBattle Groups and raising theQuad group to Ministerial levelrecently in New York are con-crete steps that can strengthengrounds and provide strongcounter-optics to China.

The unique thing aboutIndian diplomacy is thatdespite infusing incrementalrealism in its engagementwith China, there is a gooddeal of idealism that persistsfrom the past to instill a senseof balance. Informal summitsare frameworks on the ideal-ist line. If the Wuhan informalsummit in 2018 between thetwo countries was successfulin cooling tempers post-Doklam and fostering engage-ment, the Mamallapuramsummit provides anotheropportunity to bring a balanceto both sides’ realistic scoresabove the other.

Xi’s visit should be used byIndia to convey to China inclear terms that it shoulddecouple its India policy fromits sympathies for Islamabad.

(The writer is ResearchFellow, Indian Council of World Affairs)

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Modi-Xi expectations”(October 10). Though a bitdelayed, the informal summitbetween Chinese President XiJinping and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi is finally on. Theatmosphere, however, is not soideal as both nations remain farapart on core issues. If India isgrappling with terrorism andeconomic crisis, China has sov-ereignty and trade issues to con-tend with. Xi may also not be asassertive as he was during the firstinformal summit at Wuhan, givenChina’s debilitating trade warwith the US and its dilemma overHong Kong’s future.

For India, however, the bug-bear has been Pakistan and itssurreptitious behaviour. Beijing’sunstinted support to Pakistanon the Kashmir issue has stressedrelations between New Delhi andBeijing. Clearly, it cannot have itboth ways — supporting Pakistandespite it being a state sponsor ofterrorism and at the same timetrying to explore India’s vastmarkets. It has to take a call.

Srishti Mathur Ujjain

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “We will speak” (October 9).It is heartening to know that theBihar Police has ordered the clo-sure of a sedition case filedagainst 49 noted personalities,who had written a letter toPrime Minister Narendra Modi,raising concern over the grow-

ing incidents of mob lynching inthe country. That Chief JudicialMagistrate Surya Kant Tiwariaccepted the complaint bySudhir Kumar Ojha, aMuzaffarpur-based advocate,without having checked theveracity of the legal charges, isindeed perplexing.

In times when even notedpersonalities are slapped withFIRs for raising genuine con-

cerns about secularism, one canonly understand the plight of thecommon man, who raiseshis/her finger against the estab-lishment on issues that matter.

The strength of a democra-cy is assessed by how freely itscitizens can express their viewsor thoughts. Healthy criticismmust always be welcomed.

Bidyut Kumar ChatterjeeFaridabad

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Welcoming the Rafale”(October 9). With the advent oftechnology, there has been a par-adigm shift in the way wars arefought. It is, therefore, essentialthat India, too, remains preparedfor any eventuality. With nationsrising to the occasion to equipthemselves with the latest tech-nology, India, too, must procurestate-of-the-art arms and ammu-nition to ensure decisive results inthe battlefield.

The purchase of Rafale jetswill come as a shot in the arm ofthe Indian Air Force. But what isworrisome is the IAF’s depletingsquadron strength. As many as 26fighter planes have gone down,killing 12 pilots and other crewmembers. As it is we have analarming shortage of fighters.The Rafale jets could not havecome at a more opportune timeand are just the first step in solv-ing the issue at hand. We mustimprove our fleet.

Bal GovindNoida

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When Reema turned 14, her motherdecided to get her married. The teenag-er was then studying in Class VIII at the

Kalli Paschim upper primary school in Lucknowdistrict, Uttar Pradesh (UP), but her mother wasconfident that her dutiful daughter would hon-our her wishes. She was right and Reema did notreject the proposal.

If this story sounds all too familiar, it isbecause a majority of young girls in UP and manyother States face the same fate. UP is among the13 States where over 80 per cent of child mar-riages take place in rural India, according to arecent study by the National Commission forProtection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and YoungLives. The National Family Health Survey(NFHS-4) found that 21 per cent of the 8.5 crorechildren in UP still fall prey to child marriage.

In fact, one in every five girls in UP is a childbride and every 10th underage pregnancy is fromthere. Out of the 44.67 lakh teenage pregnanciesreported annually from India, over four lakhcases are from UP alone (NFHS-4).

But Reema was about to script a change inher story thanks to Meena Manch, a club for ado-lescent girls in UP Government schools. Not onlyhad the youngster learnt about the pitfalls of earlymarriage through the club, she also knew the eco-nomic reasons behind her mother’s decision. So,along with a few members of the club, she per-suaded her mother and her prospective in-lawsto allow her to continue her studies after mar-riage. They also agreed not to force her into liv-ing with her husband until she turned 18.

The initial concept of using “Meena” — anine-year-old fictional girl who overcame allobstacles to go to school and illustrate the neces-sity of education for girls — was developed byUNICEF. Created to change perceptions thathamper the survival, protection and developmentof girls, the initiative, developed as part of theInternational Year of the Girl Child in the 1990s,was adapted under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA), the Government’s flagship education pro-gramme.

The innovative Meena club was formed tomotivate girls to continue their education anddevelop leadership and life skills with the helpof a series of Meena story books, flip charts andactivity sheets. Each club, comprising 20 girls inthe age group of 11-14 years, discusses the sto-ries. Meena Cabinets, comprising two childrenfrom Classes III, IV and V, help to resolve issuesclub members may have with the aid of theSugamkarta — a female teacher from the schoolwho acts as the facilitator.

At present, over 36,000 such clubs exist inupper primary schools in UP but soon, all upperprimary schools in the State will have them. Thiswas announced by the UP education departmentrecently.

This is not surprising, considering theimpact the manch is having. Thirty-year-oldAnju’s experience is a prime example of thechange effected by members of the MeenaManch. When she stopped Rani, her 13-year-olddaughter from going to school, the girl’s class-mates marched to her house and demanded toknow why she had dropped out. “Why isn’t Ranicoming to school? Don’t you know how happyshe was there? We won’t leave until you give us

a written promise that you will sendRani to school from tomorrow.”

The group of diminutive girls, allmembers of the club, didn’t stop there.For the next two hours, they explainedto Anju how important it was for Ranito continue her education.

The turning point came when oneof them asked the mother whether shewanted Rani to be like her and not beable to write her own name. This iswhen Anju put her thumb impressionon the letter the girls had brought,promising to send her daughter back toschool. The girls of Meena Manch hadscored again.

In fact, teachers of the upper pri-mary school in Sarojini Nagar,Lucknow district, have no qualms inadmitting that their club memberswere the driving force in bringing backdropouts, both girls and boys. “Eversince Meena Manch was formed, wedon’t have to worry about children notcoming to school. The members, springinto action as soon as they learn aboutany missing student,” says Aarti, asenior teacher and a manch facilitator.

Thirteen-year-old Shanno Sharmasays elders in her village Parsauli,Kanpur Dehat district, know she is amember of the club. “Our group is well-known because we have managed tostop marriages where dowry wasdemanded”, she says.

Shama Awasthi, another member

of the same group, reveals that after oneboy of her village was almost beaten upby club members for eve-teasing, therest of the boys fell in line.

Even Meena Ki Duniya, the radioprogramme introduced in UP in 2010,has increased the levels of awarenessand knowledge among children andteachers on issues related to educationof girls, child rights, adolescent healthand hygiene, life skills, the perils of childmarriage and gender roles.

The 15-minute programme,designed by Sesame India is broadcastthrough All India Radio (AIR) inschools across UP six days a week.

Students tune into radio sets pro-vided by the Government in the after-noons, Monday through Saturday. Thebroadcast fee for the programme isborne by the UP Government and eachepisode has a story, a song and a gamedesigned to entertain schoolchildrenwhile encouraging them to think.

The International Day of the GirlChild, celebrated every year on October11, has become a good platform to turnthe spotlight on the manch engender-ing schoolchildren and teachers.Government school teachers have alsobeen trained on how to use MeenaRadio as a teaching aid.

With the education departmentissuing a directive to schools to enablestudents to listen to the radio at the pre-scribed time, Meena has become a pop-

ular character among school children.One of the critical objectives of the

radio programme, a partnershipbetween UNICEF, the UP Governmentand AIR, is to focus on motivating chil-dren between the ages of 11 and 14 tocontinue their education. Studies haveshown that children in this age groupare prone to drop out of school. Anassessment report found that in UP, thedropout rate in primary school is 20 percent and rises by about 10 per cent inupper primary school.

This is where the club and radioprogrammes are making a difference,especially since more girls drop out ofschool than boys. Since the programmeis in Hindi, the messages are easy tounderstand and reach the students,community and parents they are meantto target.

More importantly, with many of thegirls already a part of the MeenaManch, they identify and want to be liketheir role model Meena, a confident andeducated girl.

While Archana wants to be a policeofficer, Manju wants to become a doc-tor, Muskan aspires to be an educationofficial, Rukmini, a social worker andFrancy, a journalist. And like Meena,they are no longer afraid to be seen andheard. Ordinary girls in rural areas aredaring to dream and are on the thresh-old of making their dreams come true.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

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Mental health is a state ofemotional, psychologicaland social well-being in

which the individual realises his/herown abilities, copes with the stress-es of life, works productively andpossesses the ability to contribute tosociety. It is an integral part of healthand not just the absence of mentalillness. Mental well-being can beaffected by a number of factors andevery person is vulnerable to prob-lems, irrespective of age, gender,socio-economic status and ethnicbackground.

Every fourth person in theworld suffers from some mental orneurological disorder, which leads toa poor quality of life, decreased pro-

ductivity and lower earning poten-tial.

Around 450 million peopleacross the globe currently sufferfrom some kind of disorder, makingit one of the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide.

According to the World HealthOrganisation (WHO), 6.5 per centof Indians suffer from some form ofserious illness like schizophrenia,with an equal distribution amongrural and urban populations. TheNational Mental Health Survey(NMHS) concludes that 10.6 percent people in India suffer fromcommon disorders like depression,anxiety and substance abuse.

About 56 million people in thecountry suffer from depression andits severe form may lead to suicide,a major cause of death in the agegroup of 15-39 years. Suicide deathsin India have drastically increasedsince 1990 and around 230,314were recorded in 2016. Incidents ofstudent taking their lives are also onthe rise and close to 26,000 studentsdied between 2014 and 2016.

Given the continued trend, Indiawon’t be able to achieve theSustainable Development Goal(SDGs) of the United Nations toreduce the global suicide rate by one-third by the year 2030.

According to the NMHS,approximately 150 million Indiansneed professional care but only asmall proportion of them is able toaccess mental health services. Nearlytwo-thirds of people with knowndisorders never seek professionalhelp, resulting in a huge treatmentgap.

This could be because of sever-al reasons such as stigma associat-ed with mental illnesses, lack ofawareness, lack of resources, poorinfrastructure and apathy on the partof policy makers to counter theseproblems.

In fact, stigma is a significanthindering factor in Indian societyand prevents patients from reachinghealth facilities, resulting in neglectin the care of the mentally ill. It hasbeen found that the attitude of doc-tors, other than psychiatrists and

other healthcare professionals, con-tributes to the stigma due to theirlimited knowledge and awarenessabout psychiatry and mental healthproblems. In many cases people arenot even ready to acknowledgethese problems.

Because of stigma, mental illnessis often discounted and the affectedperson is discouraged from seekingtreatment. S/he is often advised to bestrong and snap out of the condition.People in need of help should beencouraged to seek expert adviceand those undergoing treatmentshould be urged to regularly visittheir psychiatrist and comply withthe instructions.

The mental health workforce inIndia is extremely low consideringthe prevalence of disorders — thereare 0.3 psychiatrists, 0.12 nurses, 0.07psychologists and 0.07 social work-ers for 100,000 people. The availableprofessional manpower is much lessthan the laid down WHO standards.

Stigma and inadequate man-power, combined with lack of ade-quate infrastructure for mental

healthcare, worsen the situation.The solution lies in training

other healthcare professionals inmental health and utilising their ser-vices to treat common disorderswhich could be easily treatable bygeneral healthcare providers.

Integration of mental healthwith the general health services is theobjective of the National MentalHealth Programme (NMHP)launched in 1982.

The District Mental HealthProgramme, started in 1996 underthe NMHP, had aimed at the inte-gration of psychiatry services withgeneral health services as one of itskey goals.

However, it has largely remaineda psychiatrist-oriented programmeand the desirable transfer and inte-gration of care from psychiatrists togeneral medical practitioners has notbeen achieved. Treatment and cureare of utmost importance and ignor-ing or neglecting disorders canescalate the issue pretty exponential-ly.

There is much to be achieved

and progress needs to be made inalmost all aspects of the mentalhealth framework. Adaptation oftherapeutic techniques to Indiansub-cultures, temperament and cog-nitive biases needs to be addressedto stay ahead of the challenges pro-fessionals are currently facing. Policymakers should promote availabilityof and access to cost-effective treat-ment of common disorders at theprimary health care level.

An environment needs to be cre-ated which promotes healthy livingand encourages people to adopt anactive lifestyle. Mental health promo-tion will now receive more focus,with its inclusion in the SDGs thatneed to be addressed through com-prehensive strategies for promo-tion, prevention, treatment andrecovery in a whole-of-Governmentapproach.

Introduction of the MentalHealthcare Act, 2017 protects therights of and enables citizens todecide the ways they wish to be treat-ed if they fall prey to a mental illness.The Act promises to provide men-

tal healthcare and services and toprotect, promote, and fulfil therights of such persons during deliv-ery of mental healthcare and ser-vices. However, the Act remainssilent on the services provided in thecommunity.

Suicide prevention, which wasthe theme of this World MentalHealth Day, is highly relevant in viewof the fact that close to 800,000 peo-ple kill themselves every year acrossthe globe and 17 per cent of thesedeaths are in India. One person com-mits suicide every 40 seconds andbehind every death there are 20 sui-cide attempts.

Suicides are preventable andmuch can be done to prevent themat the individual, community andnational level. It is time for us tospread awareness about mental dis-orders, their management and pre-vention. It is time also to reflectupon some of the challenges we faceas a society in India.

(The writer is professor at theHamdard Institute of Medical

Sciences and Research)

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Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitaraman on

Thursday assured the accountholders of the crisis-hit PMCBank that she would speak tothe RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas once again, convey their“sense of urgency and distress”and request the latter to “expe-dite” grant of permission forwithdrawal of money deposit-ed by them in the bank.

After scores of affectedaccount holders of PMC Bankstaged a protest a protest infront of the State BJP head-quarters in Mumbai, Sitaraman— who was in Mumbai to cam-paign for the State Assemblypolls, delayed her interactionwith the media, spoke to a del-egation of protesters andassured them that she wouldtake up their issue with theGovernor

Talking to media personslater her meeting with theTMC Bank’s account holders’delegations, Sitaraman said: “ Ihave been talking to the RBIGovernor. On my return toDelhi, I shall once again talk tohim (RBI?governor) thisevening and convey the senseof urgency and distress that theclients of PMC have expressedbefore me and I shall requesthim to expedite the clearing ofor giving permission for with-drawal of their monies whichare deposited”.

It may be recalled that onSeptember 24 placed Punjab &Maharashtra Cooperative(PMC) Bank Ltd under regu-latory restrictions, thus barringthe bank from carrying outroutine and major financial

transactions, including with-drawal of cash exceeding�1,000 by each of the deposi-tors, for a period of six months.The RBI subsequently raisedthe cash withdrawal limit to�10,000 per account and has

now scaled up the withdrawallimit to �25,000 per account.

The RBI had said that thedirections imposing majorrestrictions on the PMC Bankhad been "necessitated" becauseof account of "major financial

irregularities, failure of internalcontrol and systems of thebank and wrong/under-report-ing of its exposures under var-ious Off-site Surveillancereports to RBI that came to theReserve Bank’s notice recently".

Sitaraman, who was greet-ed by angry protesters on herarrival at the BJP headquarters,explained that the Financeministry had nothing to dowith the RBI’s decision toimpose regulatory instructionson the PMC Bank.

“Multi state cooperativebanks like the PMC Bank areregulated by RBI. But ruralcooperative banks’ registrationis done by the rural develop-ment ministry but they are reg-ulated by the RBI. Similarly theurban cooperative banks areregistered by the urban devel-opment ministry but are regu-lated by RBI,” she said.

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Mumbai: Union FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanon Thursday said the govern-ment is giving sector-specificsolutions to fight the slowdownin economic growth.

She, however, parried aspecific question on whetherthe government accepts if thecountry is in the midst of aneconomic slowdown.

India’s GDP expansion hasslowed to a six-year low of fiveper cent for the June quarter.This has led to a rash of down-

ward revisions in expectations,including from the RBI whichnow expects GDP growth tocome down to 6.1 per cent inFY20.

The Government has takena slew of measures, including amassive cut in corporate taxesto revive economic growth,even at the cost of sacrificingrevenues.

Hinting at other measureslike steps to improve exports,easing credit, making moremoney available by early repay-

ments to vendors and front-loading of banks recapitalisa-tion, Sitharaman said the gov-ernment has been working on sector-specificmeasures.

“We are giving relief to allsectors who need help,”Sitharaman said.

Her comments came hoursafter global ratings agencyMoody’s Investors Servicesharply cut its FY20 GDPgrowth forecast for India to 5.8. PTI

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With the Goods andServices Tax (GST) col-

lections dropping sharply to a19-month low in September,the government has constitut-ed a committee of officers tosuggest measures to augmentcollections, expand the taxbase and check evasion.

The panel comprising ofstate-level GST commissionersand centre government officialshas been asked to suggesturgent measures to arrest thefall in tax revenues and suggeststeps to be taken to improverevenue collection.

“The committee shouldconsider a wide range ofreforms so that a comprehen-sive list of suggestions mayemerge,” an official order said.

It has been asked to con-sider a wide range of reformsso that a comprehensive list ofsuggestions may emerge. Thepanel has been asked to lookinto “systemic changes in GSTincluding checks and balancesto prevent misuse.” Also, ithas been tasked to suggestmeasures to improve voluntarycompliance as well as policymeasures and changes in lawneeded.

Its key mandate is to sug-gest “measures for expansion oftax base” and make recom-mendations on “improvedcompliance monitoring andanti-evasion measures usingbetter data analytics,” the order

said.GST collections dropped

sharply to a 19-month low ofRs 91,916 crore in September,mirroring a widening slow-down in the economy triggeredby shrinking consumerdemand. This was the secondstraight month of decline inGST collections, which fromJuly 1, 2017, amalgamated 17different central and statelevies, including excise duty,service tax and VAT.

The fall in tax collections isseen as a reflection of economicactivity and a decline in col-lections indicated a downturn.

India’s GDP growth slowedto more than six-year low of 5per cent in April-June, prompt-ing the government to take anarray of steps to boost the econ-omy, including the steepestcut in corporate tax rate which would cost Rs 1.45lakh crore.

The panel constituted onThursday comprises state GSTcommissioners of Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal and Punjabbesides central governmentofficials including PrincipalCommissioner of GST andJoint Secretary (Revenue).

States have been asked togive suggestions in writing aswell as join the panel.

“The Committee may co-opt or seek assistance fromsuch officers from Centre/Stateas may be deemed necessary,”the order said.

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Moody’s Investors Serviceon Thursday slashed its

2019-20 GDP growth forecastfor India to 5.8 per cent from6.2 per cent earlier, saying theeconomy was experiencing apronounced slowdown whichis partly related to long-lastingfactors.

The projection is lowerthan 6.1 per cent that theReserve Bank of India (RBI)had forecast just last week.

Moody’s attributed thedeceleration to an investment-led slowdown that has broad-ened into consumption, drivenby financial stress among ruralhouseholds and weak job cre-ation.

“The drivers of the decel-eration are multiple, mainlydomestic and in part long-last-ing,” Moody’s said in a report.

It expected the growth topick up to 6.6 per cent in 2020-21 and to around 7 per centover the medium term.

“Although we expect amoderate pick-up in real GDPgrowth and inflation in the nexttwo years, we have reviseddown our projections for both.Compared with two years ago,the probability of sustainedreal GDP growth at or above 8per cent has significantlydiminished,” it said.

Last month, the AsianDevelopment Bank and theOrganisation of EconomicCooperation and Developmentlowered 2019-20 growth fore-cast for India by 50 basis pointsand 1.3 percentage points to 6.5per cent and 5.9 per cent,respectively.

Last week, the RBI alsoslashed its growth projectionfor the economy to 6.1 per centfrom an earlier estimate of 6.9per cent.

Rating agency Standard &Poor’s has also lowered itsIndia growth forecast to 6.3 percent from 7.1 per cent.

In June, Fitch cut India’sgrowth forecast for the current

fiscal for a second time in a rowto 6.6 per cent. It had earlier inMarch lowered the growthestimate for 2019-20 to 6.8 percent, from 7 per cent project-ed earlier, on weak momentumof the economy.

Moody’s said the drivers ofthe deceleration are multiple,mainly domestic and in partlong-lasting.

“What was an investment-led slowdown has broadenedinto consumption, driven byfinancial stress among ruralhouseholds and weak job cre-ation,” it said adding a creditcrunch among non-bankfinancial institutions (NBFIs),major providers of retail loansin recent years, has com-pounded the problem.

“While we expect a mod-erate pick-up in real GDPgrowth and inflation over thenext two years supported bymonetary and fiscal stimulus,we have revised down our pro-jections for both. We forecastreal GDP

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Asharp drop in demandacross consumption seg-

ments pulled down corporaterevenue, excluding that ofbanking, financial services,insurance and oil companies,by 3 per cent in the secondquarter of FY20, according toa Crisil Research estimate.

It’s first time in 14 quartersthat revenues have declined. Inthe previous four quarters,between Q2FY19 and Q1FY20,aggregate revenue had grown11-12 per cent on average.

The estimate is based on ananalysis of 430 companies,which account for 65 per centof the market capitalisation,excluding financial servicesand oil firms, of the NationalStock Exchange.

Says Prasad Koparkar,Senior Director, CrisilResearch, “Automobiles, one of

the key sectors driven by con-sumption spending, continuesto reel under demand slow-down. Aggregate revenue oflisted automobile players isestimated to have dropped 25per cent in the second quarter.

“In a rub-off, revenue ofautomotive component makersis estimated to have fallen 14-16 per cent amid productioncuts. As for FMCG, weakenedrural consumption and a highbase are expected to havecaused moderation in growthto 6-7 per cent compared with8.7 per cent in the previous fourquarters.

Brokerages also outlinedweak corporate earnings forQ2.

Reliance Securities alsosaid the September quarterwas marked by weak operatingtrends discernible in slowdownin revenue growth across sec-tors.

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Shares of telecom compa-nies on Thursday rose up to

6 per cent in the wake ofReliance Jio deciding to levycall connect charges on cus-tomers, a move that is likely tobe followed by rivals.

Bharti Airtel shares jumped7.19 per cent to touch a 52-weekhigh of �385 apiece on theNSE. It closed 4.35 per cent upat �375.05. Similar trends werewitnessed on the BSE too. Duringthe day, the scrip rallied 6.65 percent to hit a 52-week high of Rs384.85 apiece. After sheddingsome gains, the stock settled 5.05per cent higher at �377.40.

Vodafone Idea closed 5.82per cent higher at �6.18 on theBSE and 5.13 per cent up at�6.15 on the NSE.

Unlisted Reliance JioInfocomm is part of RelianceIndustries, whose shares gained2.76 per cent to settle at

�1,362.40 on the BSE. On theNSE, the scrip went up 2.67 percent to close at �1,360.15.

According to a KotakInstitutional Equities researchreport, Bharti Airtel andVodafone Idea can take this asan opportunity to becomemore competitive. The reportnoted that Jio’s move woulddilute the pricing architecture,one of the most critical changesJio brought to the industry.

“If Jio gets �15 ARPU(Average Revenue Per User)uplift, we believe Airtel andVodafone Idea could see a Rs8-odd and �6-odd ARPUuplift, respectively, as well,”the report said.

In a research note, UBSsaid it remains to be seenwhether Bharti and VodafoneIdea would follow Jio in intro-ducing similar charges for offnet calls, “although we seehigh chance that they follow Jio”.

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Apple on Thursday removedan app criticised by China

for allowing protestors in HongKong to track police, as Beijingsteps up pressure on foreigncompanies deemed to be providing support to the pro-democracy movement.

The tech giant’s pulling ofHKmap.Live was blasted asbowing to China and comes ashigh-profile brands, includingthe NBA and its HoustonRockets franchise, come underpressure from communistauthorities over perceived sup-port for democracy demonstrations in the financial hub.

Chinese state media thisweek tore into the app, whichcollates information on policelocations submitted by users,charging that it was helping“rioters”.

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Gold exchange-traded fundsgarnered Rs 44 crore in

September, making it the sec-ond straight month of inflows,as trade conflicts, signs of aglobal slowdown and decline inequities made investors bet bigon the safe-heaven asset.

This comes on the back ofa net infusion of Rs 145 crorein gold exchange-traded funds(ETFs) in August. It was thefirst inflow since November lastyear, when Rs 10 crore wasinfused in such instruments.

Prior to this, gold ETFs hadseen a net inflow of Rs 20 crorein October 2016 and before

that, an inflow of Rs 5 crore waswitnessed in such funds inMay 2013.

According to the latest dataavailable with the Associationof Mutual Funds in India(AMFI), Rs 44 crore waspumped in gold-linked ETFslast month as compared to anoutflow of Rs 34 crore inSeptember 2018.

“Sudden rally in gold pricesmainly due to uneasy tradenegotiation between the USand China, and lower thanexpected global GDP growthare the key reasons for theinflows in gold ETFs in recenttimes,” said Omkeshwar Singh,head of mutual fund distribu-

tion business at Samco.Himanshu Srivastava,

senior analyst managerresearch, MorningstarInvestment Adviser India said,“Like in the month of August,gold ETFs continued to witnessnet inflow in the month ofSeptember as well, although thequantum of net inflow waslower than the previous month.The slowdown in flows couldbe attributed to profit bookinggiven the surge in gold pricesin the recent times.”

The fears of a slowdown inglobal market has helped goldfind its safe-haven appeal backwhich has triggered a sharprally in its prices this year, thus,

catching investor’s fancy, hesaid.

“Gold also adds a differentlayer of diversification in aninvestor’s portfolio, which hascome in full play this year withgold witnessing one of its bestyears after 2011,” Srivastavaadded.

Assets under management(AUM) of gold funds stood atRs 5,613 crore in September-end as compared to Rs 5,799crore at the end of August.

Over the last few years,retail investors have beenputting in more money intoequities as compared to goldETFs, mainly on account ofstrong returns.

Gold ETFs have witnessedan inflow in just five months inlast six years.

Investors pulled out Rs571 crore from gold ETFs in2018, making it the sixth con-secutive year of outflow fromsuch products. In comparison,they pulled out Rs 730 crore in2017. Gold ETFs had seen anoutflow of Rs 942 crore, Rs 891crore, Rs 1,651 crore and Rs1,815 crore in 2016, 2015, 2014and 2013, respectively.

In 2012, they saw an inflowof Rs 1,826 crore.

Gold ETFs are passiveinvestment instruments thatare based on price movementsand investments in the metal.

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Equity benchmark BSESensex plunged 297 points

on Thursday, dragged by heavylosses in banking, auto andmetal stocks amid muted earn-ings outlook.

After sinking 375 pointsduring the day, the 30-shareSensex ended 297.55 points, or0.78 per cent, lower at37,880.40. It hit an intra-daylow of 37,802.93 and a high of38,130.23.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty fell 78.75 points, or 0.70per cent, to close at 11,234.55.

Top laggards in the Sensexpack included IndusInd Bank,Yes Bank, Tata Motors,Vedanta, ICICI Bank, SBI,HDFC Bank and Tata Steel,falling up to 6.15 per cent.

On the other hand, BhartiAirtel, RIL, HUL, HCL Tech,PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, AsianPaints and Bajaj Auto rose upto 5.05 per cent.

Weak earnings outlookweighed on domestic investorsentiment, traders said.

Kicking off the earningsseason, IndusInd Bank’s Q2consolidated net profit jumped52.2 per cent, but gross non-performing assets rose to 2.19per cent of gross advances as onSeptember 30, 2019, from 1.09per cent in the same period ayear ago.

Meanwhile, Moody’sInvestors Service on Thursdayslashed its 2019-20 GDPgrowth forecast for India to 5.8per cent from 6.2 per cent ear-

lier, saying the economy wasexperiencing a pronouncedslowdown which is partly relat-ed to long-lasting factors.

According to a MotilalOswal report, the second quar-ter earnings season will betepid and uneventful.Underlying demand slowdownin the domestic economy andweak global commoditiesprices are expected to take a tollon earnings.

Echoing the outlook, SunilTirumalai, Head of Researchand Strategist, Emkay GlobalFinancial Services, expectsgrowth trends to weaken fur-

ther from Q1 levels, with thedecline led by auto, telecom,power, IT services and pharmasectors.

Elsewhere in Asia,Shanghai Composite Index,Hang Seng and Nikkei settledon a positive note, while Kospiclosed in the green.

Equities in Europe weretrading higher in early sessions.

Meanwhile, the Indianrupee appreciated marginally to71.04 against the US dollarintra-day. Brent crude futures,the global oil benchmark,declined 0.74 per cent to USD57.89 per barrel.

&���������3�� �����?���>�����������$��6�New Delhi (PTI): Gold prices remained almost unchanged atthe bullion market here on Thursday amid muted spot demand.

The yellow metal was trading marginally higher by Rs 3at Rs 39,375 per 10 gram. On Wednesday, gold had closed atRs 39,372 per 10 gram, according to data from HDFC Securities.

Silver, however, was trading marginally lower by Rs 24 atRs 47,120 per kilogram as compared with Rs 47,144 per kilo-gram, its previous closing level.

“The two day trade talks between the US and Chinese nego-tiators will start from today. Market will eye any comments ortweets regarding any development in the next two days,” HDFCSecurities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel said.

International gold prices on Thursday held firm on tradetalk worries and economic growth concerns after reports thatChina has scheduled back the meeting to single day from twodays earlier, he said. “Gold prices traded steady on Thursdaywith COMEX International spot gold prices gaining to USD1,510 amid US-China trade talk uncertainty,” Patel added.

Gold prices are expected to trade higher in the near termwith uncertainty over US-China trade talks, Brexit concernsand weak economic data, with COMEX gold finding supportat USD 1,490 and resistance at USD 1,520, he said.

Script Open High Low LTPIBULHSGFIN 228.05 240.00 187.50 195.00RELIANCE 1328.00 1368.00 1322.55 1362.40INDUSINDBK 1311.00 1320.50 1220.10 1228.95BHARTIARTL 361.55 384.85 361.55 377.40YESBANK 41.85 42.70 40.20 40.95TCS 2028.00 2039.00 1998.85 2004.40HDFC 2007.80 2007.80 1971.80 1987.75SBIN 259.00 259.00 252.70 254.05MARUTI 6719.90 6739.95 6560.00 6610.15IDEA 6.42 6.87 5.78 6.18AUROPHARMA 474.95 474.95 436.65 465.15RBLBANK 307.25 307.25 283.60 288.45ICICIBANK 431.70 431.70 420.30 423.70PEL 1368.00 1399.20 1315.50 1364.35ASHOKLEY 68.10 70.70 67.75 68.90CASTROLIND 132.90 134.40 131.70 132.00NCC 52.30 52.80 49.00 49.20HDFCBANK 1225.40 1225.50 1197.30 1199.95TATAMOTORS 120.00 120.00 116.25 116.90BPCL 491.00 493.80 484.10 489.80BAJFINANCE 4020.00 4020.00 3932.95 3948.45TATASTEEL 332.60 334.50 328.00 329.70AXISBANK 681.90 681.90 665.45 672.90COCHINSHIP 331.25 341.70 331.25 335.00HINDUNILVR 1951.00 1982.50 1936.50 1979.50KEC 267.00 272.00 265.25 269.60GRASIM 677.00 723.30 677.00 695.20JINDALSTEL 97.00 97.85 94.70 95.70BANKBARODA 90.30 90.30 87.30 87.80TATAPOWER 61.75 62.20 60.50 61.50LT 1423.10 1432.00 1407.80 1426.65INFY 783.50 794.50 777.10 782.90BATAINDIA 1712.20 1749.00 1691.20 1705.00TORNTPHARM 1580.00 1708.95 1554.65 1690.10MARICO 387.00 388.20 381.00 384.65PNB 58.40 58.40 56.20 56.45DLF 146.00 146.50 139.50 142.40CENTURYTEX 925.00 925.00 863.50 881.90ESCORTS 604.00 615.50 600.35 601.75TITAN 1280.00 1280.00 1220.00 1235.00ADANIPOWER 60.95 63.15 59.00 62.60JUSTDIAL 620.00 624.90 597.50 610.50ITC 247.15 247.35 242.55 242.95SPICEJET 117.80 125.40 115.00 123.90ZEEL 245.00 248.10 242.45 244.95BHEL 43.85 44.75 42.80 43.05SBILIFE 823.30 848.00 804.00 826.80KOTAKBANK 1600.00 1606.55 1566.65 1585.85SUNPHARMA 384.90 389.80 378.90 386.15MOTHERSUMI 98.80 98.80 94.40 96.00BERGEPAINT 452.15 476.20 447.10 469.60VEDL 145.50 145.50 140.55 141.35M&M 578.10 578.10 559.80 566.70ASIANPAINT 1770.00 1793.25 1758.85 1778.45BIOCON 232.10 243.00 232.10 240.20JSWSTEEL 212.40 214.90 209.10 213.10NMDC 96.50 97.75 94.50 95.70RAJESHEXPO 673.50 680.00 672.00 673.30GRAPHITE 270.90 283.70 268.30 271.25PIDILITIND 1337.00 1369.00 1287.25 1357.15VOLTAS 690.00 695.00 671.00 673.70HDFCAMC 2715.00 2761.20 2714.45 2723.35HDFCLIFE 579.00 589.00 576.05 583.60ADANIENT 137.90 139.00 135.35 136.80CANBK 183.80 183.80 176.80 177.95OMAXE 191.55 193.20 189.60 190.35WOCKPHARMA 237.95 260.40 231.35 250.40IDFCFIRSTB 38.30 38.40 36.55 36.95SIEMENS 1588.00 1600.00 1565.30 1565.30HINDPETRO 312.85 316.20 307.65 311.00HEROMOTOCO 2585.00 2634.70 2581.65 2601.95BRITANNIA 3048.00 3058.30 3000.40 3037.45BAJAJFINSV 8300.00 8346.00 8175.00 8216.35MCX 951.15 1014.25 951.15 1008.75IOC 148.75 149.70 146.65 148.10BANKINDIA 61.50 61.50 59.30 59.85GSKCONS 8304.00 8477.80 8280.00 8464.00M&MFIN 331.75 334.30 324.40 325.55TATAELXSI 630.80 633.05 615.15 619.10PIIND 1319.55 1319.55 1281.00 1281.55ADANIPORTS 398.95 400.75 395.80 399.95NATIONALUM 44.75 45.35 41.40 41.95HEG 895.15 944.00 892.00 913.75SRTRANSFIN 1116.50 1118.25 1074.25 1079.40ULTRACEMCO 4060.00 4076.90 3950.00 3975.30NTPC 117.90 117.90 116.35 117.10L&TFH 83.40 83.40 80.15 81.45LTTS 1579.00 1589.35 1525.00 1537.00SAIL 32.25 32.50 31.60 31.75AJANTPHARM 976.10 990.00 974.00 974.00COALINDIA 185.75 185.90 183.70 184.50RECLTD 124.30 127.85 124.30 125.95OBEROIRLTY 500.00 506.00 490.50 494.35BEL 104.75 106.45 103.90 105.60IGL 365.00 374.65 363.45 370.65OFSS 3119.00 3130.00 3054.55 3082.00ACC 1460.20 1462.00 1418.00 1422.65ONGC 126.50 127.00 125.10 125.40WHIRLPOOL 2051.00 2145.35 2040.40 2091.00JUBLFOOD 1300.10 1330.00 1295.85 1322.00ADANIGREEN 71.85 74.50 70.70 73.70LUPIN 681.75 698.25 676.95 691.75HCLTECH 1052.00 1065.70 1042.00 1063.50DMART 1819.95 1838.40 1812.80 1820.90ICICIPRULI 454.00 454.15 443.60 446.05BANDHANBNK 481.00 510.75 478.05 506.95INDIGO 1786.00 1813.15 1779.75 1786.50GAIL 131.95 131.95 126.45 127.40

DISHTV 18.30 18.30 17.00 17.15TECHM 710.00 718.45 703.60 710.85STAR 311.00 324.00 302.95 316.85EDELWEISS 72.90 75.05 70.70 72.20LICHSGFIN 379.15 380.90 367.85 369.00HINDALCO 185.10 185.10 181.95 182.60ADANIGAS 138.80 142.80 136.90 138.35APOLLOHOSP 1440.00 1440.00 1405.20 1418.30INFRATEL 255.00 265.80 251.55 257.10CIPLA 423.45 427.30 418.80 422.25HAVELLS 674.70 674.70 652.10 661.85PFC 94.55 95.60 92.05 92.55SUNTV 468.50 480.55 464.90 467.45NAUKRI 2396.85 2406.15 2267.25 2281.30TTKPRESTIG 6150.00 6150.00 5959.00 5986.00UNIONBANK 51.70 51.90 48.80 49.05IBVENTURES 105.20 114.90 98.20 99.60DBCORP 140.00 147.35 139.50 144.00DHFL 24.60 25.40 23.45 23.45EICHERMOT 18225.00 18225.00 17851.00 18100.00GLENMARK 293.00 298.70 288.35 289.80UPL 575.05 588.80 575.00 583.30BAJAJ-AUTO 2881.50 2931.00 2864.00 2899.20BEML 930.60 940.00 895.00 904.35NBCC 33.80 34.55 33.00 33.60SRF 2740.00 2786.20 2723.85 2733.85FEDERALBNK 86.30 86.30 83.50 84.40DELTACORP 168.00 174.00 164.50 172.30RNAM 273.30 273.30 263.00 264.10NESTLEIND 13813.15 13866.00 13700.00 13842.50DRREDDY 2667.10 2668.00 2612.40 2648.30ENGINERSIN 109.60 113.00 109.60 110.30UJJIVAN 301.00 303.40 295.85 297.85COLPAL 1498.00 1502.55 1482.85 1499.00VENKYS 1629.00 1655.65 1610.00 1642.25SUNTECK 402.00 407.95 391.20 401.65WIPRO 237.55 239.50 236.00 239.15RAYMOND 602.00 605.70 581.00 583.80GUJGAS 178.65 178.65 168.50 169.30MGL 917.00 927.05 909.90 917.50JUBILANT 488.00 488.85 463.20 469.50POWERGRID 197.50 199.60 196.55 199.30DIVISLAB 1619.10 1678.90 1619.10 1665.20IBREALEST 44.40 45.25 40.95 41.35MANAPPURAM 140.00 140.00 137.45 137.95TEAMLEASE 2996.55 3172.40 2979.00 3097.45TVSMOTOR 395.15 395.50 382.25 384.95GRUH 262.50 274.40 261.00 272.75JISLJALEQS 16.00 16.00 13.20 14.10EQUITAS 100.40 103.55 95.10 96.15SCI 41.50 44.25 41.50 43.25PVR 1800.00 1810.10 1766.00 1776.40GNFC 197.65 211.60 193.05 200.10RITES 260.60 276.60 258.95 272.25IDBI 29.95 30.40 29.40 29.60HFCL 17.65 17.70 16.75 17.00CHOLAFIN 295.20 295.20 282.60 283.30INDIACEM 81.00 82.00 80.50 81.30ICICIGI 1166.45 1199.50 1164.95 1194.00PETRONET 258.90 260.00 257.00 259.00TATAMTRDVR 53.50 53.50 51.35 52.00STRTECH 143.00 146.75 141.60 144.05RELCAPITAL 21.35 21.50 19.55 19.95LALPATHLAB 1380.00 1399.85 1345.70 1366.95RELINFRA 25.20 25.70 23.25 23.65AMBUJACEM 191.00 191.40 186.95 187.95APOLLOTYRE 169.95 169.95 164.95 165.95BHARATFORG 429.15 433.10 422.30 423.75GMRINFRA 17.45 17.60 17.05 17.20TATAGLOBAL 269.95 272.25 265.25 266.30UBL 1299.00 1304.25 1270.55 1275.20BOMDYEING 70.05 70.75 68.10 68.80FRETAIL 375.00 383.00 360.70 382.10CEATLTD 936.05 936.45 915.10 920.00CONCOR 562.00 571.00 562.00 565.00DABUR 443.55 444.00 436.80 439.75GODREJCP 675.00 682.00 672.50 681.00SPARC 116.25 118.00 113.25 115.70MUTHOOTFIN 685.25 685.45 663.00 667.00MINDTREE 726.05 734.25 720.05 720.60RPOWER 2.31 2.34 2.20 2.23ABBOTINDIA 11140.00 11140.00 10799.95 10968.25AMARAJABAT 693.60 699.35 677.90 679.95NOCIL 100.00 103.90 98.10 103.10CANFINHOME 389.80 400.90 387.85 388.00PHILIPCARB 111.25 116.00 110.45 113.25PAGEIND 21600.00 21600.00 21000.00 21302.90FORTIS 139.55 141.30 139.30 141.05RVNL 23.00 23.60 22.75 22.95SWANENERGY 106.70 106.70 100.20 104.65HEXAWARE 368.00 368.00 355.20 357.55

BALKRISIND 735.35 749.15 727.00 744.65OIL 145.75 148.40 144.00 147.45NAVINFLUOR 699.00 722.95 690.45 722.95EXIDEIND 190.70 190.70 182.20 184.05TORNTPOWER 282.20 284.10 280.45 281.50GODREJPROP 995.45 995.45 973.35 975.00BBTC 1092.00 1097.50 1056.70 1068.15HSCL 77.25 77.80 75.50 75.80PCJEWELLER 31.50 31.55 30.35 30.85TATACHEM 589.85 590.85 577.00 578.50MRF 61040.15 61244.00 60777.70 61100.00CUMMINSIND 570.00 574.00 562.60 565.20LTI 1500.50 1500.50 1471.00 1474.10ABCAPITAL 79.70 81.25 79.05 79.20HINDCOPPER 28.55 30.45 28.55 29.70PNBHOUSING 546.45 553.00 521.00 530.50INDHOTEL 154.25 156.00 150.50 151.60AAVAS 1601.95 1672.80 1600.55 1655.00INTELLECT 181.00 183.70 179.50 181.90JAICORPLTD 75.10 77.15 74.25 75.40ITI 82.25 84.60 81.60 83.70DEEPAKNI 294.05 304.80 293.20 303.60BOSCHLTD 13258.65 13400.95 13221.90 13329.00CROMPTON 259.00 259.85 256.00 256.10KAJARIACER 557.25 578.00 543.00 560.15RCF 44.75 45.55 44.20 44.40INDIANB 117.00 117.40 112.30 113.55NHPC 22.85 22.85 22.00 22.50DBL 374.05 383.90 368.45 374.25GRANULES 101.55 102.80 99.05 102.45PFIZER 3152.85 3153.00 3069.40 3101.00SOUTHBANK 10.43 10.49 9.95 10.19CADILAHC 235.30 236.50 231.50 231.85MPHASIS 948.75 948.75 901.25 910.00MAHLOG 358.60 367.00 350.25 366.90MFSL 416.50 417.05 402.75 407.25BALRAMCHIN 153.50 155.50 150.60 151.40DCBBANK 181.40 186.15 180.00 182.20DEEPAKFERT 89.35 95.10 89.00 90.80GODFRYPHLP 988.00 988.00 960.00 974.95HEIDELBERG 183.50 186.95 181.90 182.20ABB 1486.00 1490.00 1455.70 1466.00KANSAINER 505.45 519.50 504.00 516.60ABFRL 208.00 208.00 203.75 204.25VIPIND 454.00 459.70 447.00 449.50SUVEN 260.50 262.50 248.80 251.10KEI 535.00 538.90 525.00 532.55BLUESTARCO 816.95 822.25 803.05 809.10UFLEX 208.10 209.65 206.25 208.20FSL 46.50 47.20 46.00 46.70SOBHA 454.95 454.95 427.50 429.75COFFEEDAY 44.05 44.05 41.50 41.75NIITTECH 1345.00 1380.05 1340.00 1365.15GLAXO 1353.35 1390.10 1338.00 1361.00RAIN 86.60 88.50 85.60 85.85RCOM 0.79 0.80 0.77 0.79CYIENT 454.95 462.80 453.40 460.00KTKBANK 72.00 72.00 70.40 70.90IRB 66.30 67.05 64.10 64.40FCONSUMER 23.05 24.30 22.75 23.80PARAGMILK 153.00 162.50 151.95 158.75SUZLON 2.41 2.41 2.30 2.33IPCALAB 862.00 862.80 844.20 857.60PTC 55.30 55.55 54.65 55.00KALPATPOWR 448.00 454.60 446.10 452.00INOXLEISUR 325.20 332.20 325.00 328.25ADANITRANS 226.80 227.65 222.10 222.75FORCEMOT 1091.95 1105.70 1085.00 1096.45CHAMBLFERT 147.35 148.60 146.50 147.30SHREECEM 18400.00 18498.00 18149.10 18290.10MEGH 50.00 51.90 49.65 50.05JPASSOCIAT 2.34 2.35 2.17 2.19RADICO 293.40 299.70 293.05 294.20ALBK 26.55 27.25 26.15 26.40GODREJIND 381.20 388.55 377.00 380.15TRENT 505.00 505.00 494.00 497.15BLISSGVS 104.00 105.05 101.85 104.00JINDALSAW 83.20 84.45 81.05 81.05ORIENTBANK 53.35 54.00 52.50 52.80JAMNAAUTO 35.45 35.65 34.80 34.80REPCOHOME 301.15 304.00 296.40 297.40J&KBANK 32.20 32.20 31.55 31.85BALMLAWRIE 166.60 167.45 165.40 165.40POLYCAB 665.60 673.75 656.10 657.70GSFC 74.90 77.50 74.80 77.30THYROCARE 500.00 532.80 499.40 527.05GSPL 206.50 209.00 204.00 206.65RAMCOCEM 704.20 708.60 698.50 708.60CUB 220.00 222.15 217.00 219.90AVANTI 355.00 362.30 350.80 355.10GREAVESCOT 137.50 138.55 136.00 136.50TRIDENT 55.60 56.00 55.15 55.35HINDZINC 206.05 207.30 204.00 204.50BAJAJELEC 373.25 386.20 373.25 382.00GDL 97.50 99.10 95.50 96.15WELCORP 125.50 130.00 124.85 128.80VINATIORGA 2171.00 2197.40 2139.40 2154.00SCHNEIDER 69.50 70.60 68.45 69.05CHENNPETRO 164.00 165.20 160.45 161.55CAPPL 399.00 406.50 395.00 404.50MAHSCOOTER 4476.00 4524.90 4437.75 4524.90CREDITACC 662.50 662.50 636.00 640.55HUDCO 32.85 32.85 32.25 32.25MOIL 134.60 134.60 131.30 131.80HAL 694.00 700.10 637.00 700.00SHANKARA 280.00 284.10 275.90 278.90MASFIN 688.00 720.05 684.35 693.00EMAMILTD 299.10 301.05 295.65 300.05TIMKEN 790.45 797.45 775.00 775.25

RALLIS 169.05 171.25 166.65 168.00GALAXYSURF 1480.50 1492.15 1460.20 1487.00NATCOPHARM 555.00 555.00 545.35 550.00SUDARSCHEM 378.05 382.20 369.00 372.603MINDIA 20070.05 20074.25 19760.00 19800.00JBCHEPHARM 364.45 365.80 355.00 355.00JSWENERGY 61.80 62.10 57.75 61.25SONATSOFTW 295.00 296.05 288.95 294.00DALBHARAT 774.30 794.00 762.30 773.80VMART 1928.00 1986.85 1910.00 1947.05REDINGTON 109.25 110.60 107.75 108.05MMTC 15.55 15.55 15.00 15.15INFIBEAM 39.70 39.85 39.15 39.75JKTYRE 67.65 67.65 66.00 66.10TATAMETALI 515.00 536.20 514.75 522.00CCL 232.00 244.55 226.00 239.10GUJALKALI 401.90 423.60 395.00 422.20SANOFI 5791.75 5831.00 5700.00 5700.00GESHIP* 288.00 297.85 286.60 292.20ITDC 249.00 249.55 236.30 237.95PGHL 4433.60 4466.00 4350.00 4380.00CENTRUM 23.45 23.90 23.00 23.80BAJAJHLDNG 3555.05 3611.10 3555.00 3581.00VGUARD 224.55 226.70 221.80 225.55WABAG 250.00 250.00 244.20 246.10HATHWAY 19.00 20.05 18.80 19.75WABCOINDIA 6179.45 6179.45 6121.20 6138.00NESCO 561.00 571.00 561.00 561.20SUNDRMFAST 451.25 455.90 449.50 455.90AEGISLOG 164.70 170.65 163.45 166.40TV18BRDCST 22.50 22.65 22.05 22.05HERITGFOOD 342.00 343.50 330.45 334.90TATACOFFEE 73.70 75.45 73.70 74.90ASTRAZEN 2200.70 2244.25 2137.45 2137.45BIRLACORPN 526.15 532.35 511.00 512.60RELAXO 492.00 498.00 486.40 492.00IRCON 359.05 370.00 359.05 369.95ATUL 3950.00 3950.00 3880.05 3920.00MRPL 50.30 50.90 50.00 50.60BAYERCROP 3324.55 3339.60 3242.00 3310.00ISEC 265.00 274.35 262.90 270.75LINDEINDIA 514.70 518.35 508.60 512.00COROMANDEL 406.35 406.35 400.55 404.30IDFC 31.00 31.30 30.95 30.95GICRE 213.75 213.75 207.00 210.00FLFL 409.10 421.80 405.90 418.05CGPOWER 14.23 14.36 13.51 13.77NIACL 102.65 102.65 97.50 97.50QUESS 467.25 474.85 463.05 472.60TAKE 100.70 103.90 100.10 101.15UCOBANK 12.10 12.30 12.05 12.12APLAPOLLO 1362.60 1369.50 1350.70 1350.70FINOLEXIND 579.40 585.75 566.00 581.00WELSPUNIND 49.70 50.10 49.35 49.75AUBANK 640.00 648.50 636.70 639.70ASHOKA 97.95 98.00 96.30 97.55AKZOINDIA 1826.00 1865.00 1750.10 1821.15

DCMSHRIRAM 387.20 390.40 375.40 383.00JAGRAN 59.95 60.00 55.75 56.00SYNDIBANK 25.60 25.60 25.20 25.25ITDCEM 45.40 45.40 41.05 41.30PHOENIXLTD 711.35 711.35 695.00 699.70CENTURYPLY 164.00 165.80 160.90 162.00ASTRAL 1190.50 1193.45 1152.75 1166.35MINDACORP 87.15 87.15 82.20 85.00ALLCARGO 98.00 99.50 97.80 98.60MINDAIND 343.05 346.40 339.00 339.50SOLARINDS 1036.55 1093.40 1036.55 1075.15ORIENTCEM 87.90 89.00 86.00 86.35MAHINDCIE 149.75 150.00 143.95 145.80GODREJAGRO 478.00 480.00 470.20 471.65ADVENZYMES 151.15 152.00 147.35 148.45IFCI 6.84 6.93 6.55 6.60MAHABANK 10.80 10.80 10.34 10.36JSLHISAR 64.35 66.05 63.20 63.85JKLAKSHMI 286.70 287.40 282.15 282.15MOTILALOFS 588.30 599.45 582.95 589.55GILLETTE 7063.20 7066.80 7015.00 7015.00TATAINVEST 792.00 795.50 779.00 781.30SOMANYCERA 178.00 189.05 177.40 185.00FINCABLES 363.70 363.80 355.00 358.90NILKAMAL 1171.70 1200.65 1169.75 1178.25LAXMIMACH 3309.05 3340.00 3306.70 3315.00

BASF 985.50 1000.80 975.00 976.20PGHH 11311.90 11397.15 11204.00 11204.00MAHLIFE 428.25 438.30 428.25 434.10FINEORG 1720.00 1720.25 1680.60 1683.00NLCINDIA 53.70 54.00 53.55 53.95TEJASNET 81.95 82.75 80.00 80.40LAKSHVILAS 25.65 25.65 25.65 25.65MAXINDIA 66.50 67.20 65.00 65.00SUPREMEIND 1211.00 1211.00 1188.00 1190.50NETWORK18 20.40 20.55 19.10 19.65IOB 9.58 9.65 9.40 9.49BLUEDART 2277.30 2313.35 2260.25 2260.25THERMAX 1137.85 1142.90 1109.90 1114.15SYNGENE 300.05 310.00 300.05 309.00ZYDUSWELL 1574.85 1590.00 1561.90 1585.75MHRIL 210.00 213.65 209.75 210.00PNCINFRA 171.00 175.00 169.20 170.00THOMASCOOK 143.15 145.00 138.00 139.80CARBORUNIV 290.00 292.70 285.15 289.00CARERATING 517.30 524.50 507.00 521.50VBL 614.35 622.20 606.80 607.25CERA 2500.00 2500.00 2464.40 2464.40LUXIND 1161.80 1177.65 1155.00 1177.65IEX 124.45 126.40 122.50 124.15SJVN 24.00 24.20 23.95 24.05APLLTD 535.00 546.40 532.00 536.15CENTRALBK 17.35 17.35 16.95 17.05BAJAJCON 242.50 242.50 239.05 239.60HONAUT 27700.00 27799.85 27700.00 27799.85JKCEMENT 1040.00 1060.00 1028.85 1034.50ESSELPRO 116.00 120.00 114.75 119.85EIHOTEL 167.40 174.00 166.45 174.00WESTLIFE 311.50 318.50 311.50 314.50SREINFRA 8.85 8.85 7.70 7.91KRBL 217.00 217.10 215.00 216.30ALKEM 1880.55 1965.95 1880.55 1916.00LAOPALA 168.00 168.10 164.90 166.05VSTIND 3730.00 3757.15 3729.00 3729.00JMFINANCIL 71.10 72.50 70.85 70.85SUPRAJIT 177.00 178.30 174.00 175.30KNRCON 228.00 228.05 219.35 224.45BDL 284.85 285.15 282.05 282.05HIMATSEIDE 141.35 142.60 141.00 141.10TIINDIA 371.25 371.35 363.25 364.15SADBHAV 128.00 132.25 128.00 130.65VARROC 435.45 445.55 435.45 439.55JCHAC 1962.00 1962.00 1907.10 1921.65EVEREADY 42.00 43.35 40.65 42.05GEPIL 738.00 738.00 715.00 715.05LEMONTREE 56.25 56.60 55.45 55.65DCAL 156.60 158.45 153.95 155.25RATNAMANI 905.00 953.00 901.00 931.05PERSISTENT 569.95 574.55 565.20 568.90CRISIL 1286.00 1297.05 1280.00 1295.95MAGMA 49.00 49.00 45.00 46.40PRSMJOHNSN 76.45 77.80 75.40 77.50GICHSGFIN 136.05 138.00 134.70 135.65TNPL 181.00 185.00 180.45 181.65ENDURANCE 971.00 983.00 953.85 953.85KPRMILL 555.15 559.60 546.05 558.05GHCL 210.00 211.00 207.45 208.05ERIS 424.20 425.95 409.00 415.50VTL 912.00 918.15 906.65 911.85GPPL 81.10 81.30 79.40 79.90EIDPARRY 155.80 156.35 152.10 153.80ZENSARTECH 204.30 204.30 200.00 200.00APARINDS 505.90 520.00 502.00 502.00SYMPHONY 1272.50 1290.10 1261.00 1274.10AIAENG 1643.00 1652.85 1601.50 1645.00UNITEDBNK 7.67 7.75 7.45 7.70JYOTHYLAB 159.00 160.35 157.65 157.75ECLERX 392.50 399.60 392.50 397.55ANDHRABANK 16.95 16.95 16.10 16.15NH 237.95 237.95 234.00 235.90CORPBANK 14.95 14.95 14.10 14.30GMDCLTD 58.00 58.30 57.55 58.05ORIENTELEC 164.90 164.90 157.80 159.70CHOLAHLDNG 472.00 478.50 467.00 476.90MAHSEAMLES 356.00 356.20 354.10 354.20SCHAEFFLER 4122.25 4154.00 4088.00 4119.00PRESTIGE 277.20 281.60 275.70 276.15JSL 34.70 35.10 33.75 34.25TCNSBRANDS 732.35 736.10 719.45 720.00TVSSRICHAK 1735.00 1760.00 1725.35 1730.05INDOSTAR 213.60 216.80 210.00 210.25TIMETECHNO 56.85 57.50 55.95 57.10LAURUSLABS 330.00 330.60 328.60 328.90GET&D 171.00 172.70 169.75 172.45IFBIND 660.05 662.10 639.35 639.35SHK 129.45 129.50 127.30 127.50NBVENTURES 76.05 76.75 75.65 75.65INOXWIND 33.45 33.50 31.90 32.20STARCEMENT 92.00 92.00 90.25 91.20ASTERDM 120.95 120.95 116.45 118.35DHANUKA 315.00 315.00 303.00 307.00TVTODAY 303.00 309.55 301.85 309.30SKFINDIA 2101.45 2115.55 2075.60 2085.05SHOPERSTOP 412.20 415.00 400.60 400.60SIS 846.10 849.00 830.85 834.15GRINDWELL 593.00 600.00 593.00 600.00SHILPAMED 260.90 265.00 260.00 260.00GULFOILLUB 850.00 856.70 845.00 852.45IBULISL 95.40 95.40 95.40 95.40FDC 166.40 167.30 162.80 162.80JSWHL 2751.00 2751.00 2751.00 2751.00CHALET 325.00 325.00 316.15 316.90GAYAPROJ 105.35 106.60 105.00 106.60TRITURBINE 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00SFL 1270.00 1270.00 1270.00 1270.00

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11280.50 11293.35 11208.55 11234.55 -78.75BHARTIARTL 362.90 385.00 362.00 375.05 15.65GRASIM 680.00 726.85 680.00 695.00 24.60RELIANCE 1325.00 1369.00 1321.00 1360.15 35.40HINDUNILVR 1948.00 1982.50 1935.60 1980.00 32.00HCLTECH 1051.05 1066.10 1041.40 1064.00 12.90POWERGRID 197.90 199.60 196.50 199.20 1.50TITAN 1231.20 1242.45 1220.00 1238.00 7.70SUNPHARMA 385.00 389.80 378.70 386.05 2.10INFRATEL 257.40 265.60 251.55 257.25 1.40WIPRO 237.75 239.60 235.80 238.50 0.75BAJAJ-AUTO 2881.00 2932.00 2865.00 2898.00 6.15ASIANPAINT 1765.00 1793.00 1756.50 1776.00 2.55ADANIPORTS 397.80 401.60 395.60 400.80 0.35JSWSTEEL 211.30 214.90 209.10 212.95 0.15UPL 578.00 588.80 574.70 582.00 0.30LT 1423.00 1432.00 1407.05 1426.00 -0.25NTPC 117.20 117.50 116.35 117.20 -0.05IOC 148.20 149.65 146.60 148.10 -0.10ONGC 125.85 127.10 125.10 125.75 -0.10CIPLA 423.10 427.30 418.55 422.95 -0.40INFY 785.40 794.70 776.60 782.50 -1.15NESTLEIND 13857.00 13857.00 13680.00 13836.00 -22.30HEROMOTOCO2604.35 2635.00 2581.15 2599.40 -4.95TECHM 708.05 718.85 703.50 709.10 -1.95COALINDIA 185.00 185.90 183.70 184.70 -0.65ZEEL 245.55 248.15 242.40 244.95 -1.00DRREDDY 2626.15 2666.90 2612.05 2648.00 -15.40BPCL 490.00 494.00 484.10 489.50 -3.35BRITANNIA 3060.10 3061.00 3001.00 3037.80 -20.70HDFC 2000.00 2000.00 1971.00 1987.20 -14.80TCS 2028.00 2039.05 1997.10 2002.80 -17.30EICHERMOT 18195.00 18195.00 17851.75 18082.00 -157.35BAJAJFINSV 8280.00 8345.00 8175.00 8202.00 -116.25MARUTI 6700.00 6742.10 6558.25 6624.00 -95.55KOTAKBANK 1599.90 1607.35 1567.00 1588.15 -24.20ITC 247.00 247.65 242.65 243.10 -4.00ULTRACEMCO 4047.50 4080.00 3947.05 3977.00 -66.55AXISBANK 680.00 684.30 665.35 674.90 -11.40M&M 576.00 576.00 559.25 566.55 -10.00BAJFINANCE 4013.65 4015.00 3931.00 3952.00 -71.90HINDALCO 184.45 185.95 181.80 182.55 -3.50HDFCBANK 1221.80 1225.95 1197.20 1203.00 -25.15TATASTEEL 332.90 334.55 328.00 329.45 -7.00SBIN 258.00 258.00 252.60 254.15 -6.80ICICIBANK 430.00 431.50 420.50 424.50 -12.20VEDL 143.90 145.50 140.50 141.00 -4.70TATAMOTORS 119.30 119.70 116.20 116.80 -4.10GAIL 131.40 132.10 126.40 127.30 -4.80YESBANK 41.70 42.70 40.15 40.90 -2.35INDUSINDBK 1310.00 1321.00 1220.00 1229.55 -79.10

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 26575.80 26684.00 26421.40 26492.85 -167.45BANDHANBNK 482.00 511.00 477.00 509.00 28.45IDEA 6.40 6.90 5.75 6.15 0.30BERGEPAINT 450.80 476.45 447.05 466.90 17.00ICICIGI 1165.90 1200.00 1165.90 1198.65 32.75BIOCON 233.00 243.20 233.00 239.80 6.30PIDILITIND 1336.00 1369.45 1323.00 1358.00 21.45LUPIN 680.00 698.80 676.85 690.55 8.45DIVISLAB 1645.00 1680.00 1641.00 1669.80 19.20GODREJCP 672.00 682.60 671.65 680.00 7.00HDFCAMC 2712.90 2760.90 2710.00 2729.25 20.90BOSCHLTD 13280.00 13398.00 13200.10 13355.00 85.10MARICO 382.95 388.35 380.90 385.75 2.15PETRONET 257.25 260.05 257.00 258.90 1.35HDFCLIFE 577.50 589.00 575.00 583.35 2.85COLPAL 1494.95 1503.65 1483.55 1500.00 1.30DMART 1818.95 1838.40 1813.15 1821.00 0.60OFSS 3088.80 3140.00 3054.00 3095.00 -4.85UBL 1278.00 1304.75 1270.00 1279.45 -2.10ASHOKLEY 68.50 70.75 67.55 68.90 -0.15NHPC 22.60 22.70 21.95 22.55 -0.10INDIGO 1790.00 1814.30 1780.30 1787.15 -9.30PAGEIND 21494.85 21494.85 20990.00 21351.50 -143.35SHREECEM 18350.00 18549.65 18116.00 18350.00 -132.75NMDC 95.90 97.80 94.45 95.80 -0.70CONCOR 561.55 571.35 561.15 566.00 -5.00ICICIPRULI 449.80 454.25 443.45 445.50 -4.25BAJAJHLDNG 3623.00 3623.00 3580.00 3580.55 -35.45DABUR 443.40 443.45 436.45 439.30 -4.50HINDZINC 206.85 208.00 204.00 204.50 -2.40PGHH 11275.00 11422.00 11224.95 11230.00 -133.00MOTHERSUMI 97.15 97.85 94.50 96.00 -1.15MCDOWELL-N 622.30 631.55 611.75 614.15 -7.35SBILIFE 835.20 848.00 805.70 827.20 -10.05SIEMENS 1586.00 1598.70 1554.20 1566.90 -21.30HINDPETRO 314.00 316.55 307.60 310.30 -4.20HAVELLS 669.80 669.80 652.05 660.10 -11.35CADILAHC 235.40 236.70 231.50 232.25 -4.30AMBUJACEM 191.30 191.70 186.85 188.75 -3.60GICRE 213.90 213.90 206.80 210.20 -4.35PFC 94.45 95.65 92.10 92.30 -2.30L&TFH 82.95 82.95 80.15 81.30 -2.15AUROPHARMA 474.00 474.00 436.65 461.80 -12.60ACC 1459.80 1462.80 1418.10 1424.45 -42.65PEL 1361.00 1398.75 1316.00 1352.00 -43.00PNB 58.05 58.20 56.20 56.55 -1.90DLF 146.50 146.90 139.50 142.40 -5.35BANKBARODA 89.90 89.90 87.25 87.75 -3.30SRTRANSFIN 1116.00 1116.00 1073.75 1077.85 -45.70NIACL 102.25 102.80 97.00 97.25 -4.90IBULHSGFIN 229.00 240.75 185.30 193.60 -46.20

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French multinational Safran,the manufacturer of the

M88 state-of-the-art enginesfitted in the Rafale fighter jetsacquired by India, says it askedthe Indian government not to"penalise" the company on taxand customs matters.

During Defence MinisterRajnath Singh's tour of theengine assembly plant nearParis on Wednesday, companyCEO Olivier Andries spoke ofSafran's major investment plansfor India but expressed a wishfor the Indian tax system not tobe "terrorising".

However, in what appears

to be a case of lost in transla-tion, the company later stressedthat there had been a "misun-derstanding" as the CEO wasspeaking out against a penalis-ing tax and customs regimewhich was allegedly mis-heardas terrorising.

"For us it is obvious that weshould have a maintenancerepair and overhaul shop inIndia to serve our Indian air-lines customers.

But for that, we need tomake sure that the tax systemand custom system is notpenalising us," noted the com-pany statement, quoting theCEO.

"We would like to discuss

this point with the governmentto make sure that it makessense for us, versus an MRO(maintenance, repair and over-haul) shop that would be out-side of India. Frankly speaking,we would like to develop thisshop in India," the statementadded.

At the conclusion of histhree-day visit to France onWednesday, Rajnath Singh hadtaken specific note of any taxconcerns that foreign investorsmay have and told a gatheringof top CEOs of defence man-ufacturing industries that theIndian government was opento any further rationalisationthat may be required to facili-

tate the Make in India pro-gramme.

"For Make in India indefence if there is need for fur-ther tax rationalisation, it maybe considered suitably,” he said,as he extended an invitation forFrench companies to partici-pate in the DefExpo 2020 beingheld in Lucknow next year.

Singh on Thursday leftFrance at the end of a three-dayvisit, which he said had beenextremely productive andwould further strengthen bilat-eral defence ties.

The minister, who tookformal charge and flew a sor-tie of the first of 36 Rafale com-bat jets to be inducted into the

Indian Air Force (IAF) duringthe tour, left with a message forFrench companies to makeIndia their base for production of defenceequipment.

"Thank you France! Merci!This visit has been extremelyproductive," he said in afarewell message on Twitter.

"The outcomes of this visitwill further strengthen thedefence cooperation betweenIndia and France. My gratitudeto President EmmanuelMacron, (Armed Forces)Minister Florence Parly and thegovernment of France for their hospitality,” hesaid.

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For the first time, formervice president and

Democratic presidential fron-trunner Joe Biden has calledfor President Donald Trump’simpeachment, saying theWhite House occupant is a“threat to American democ-racy” and has “violated” hisoath of office.

His party has launched animpeachment enquiry overclaims that Trump pressuredUkraine’s PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky in a July25 phone call to look into whatthe US leader said were cor-rupt business deals involvingBiden.

Democrats say that Trumptried to coerce Zelensky byholding back US military aidto Ukraine. Trump has deniedwrongdoing and has dismissed

the probe as a “witch hunt”.Speaking at an election

rally in New Hampshire onWednesday, Biden, 76, said,“No President in Americanhistory ever dared engage insuch unimaginable behaviour.With his words and with hisactions, President Trump hasindicted himself. By obstruct-ing justice and refusing tocomply with the congression-al inquiry, he has already con-victed himself.”

“In full view of theAmerican people, Trump hasviolated his oath of office,betrayed this nation, and com-mitted impeachable acts.

To preserve ourConstitution, our democracy,and our basic integrity, heshould be impeached,” saidBiden as for the first time hepublicly supportedDemocratic leaders in the

House of Representatives toimpeach Trump.

“And that is not onlybecause of what he has done.The answer to whether he hascommitted acts sufficient towarrant impeachment is obvi-ous,” he said.

“We see it in Trump’s ownwords. We see it in the textsfrom the State Departmentofficials that have been madepublic. We see it in his pullingmuch of the United Statesgovernment into his corruptscheme,” Biden said.

“But we must rememberthat impeachment isn’t onlyabout what a president hasdone. It is also about the threata president poses to the nationif allowed to remain in office.One thing about this presidentis absolutely clear - he sees nolimit on his power,” said theformer vice president.

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They’ve skipped the high-profile Sunday TV shows

and avoided driveway chat ses-sions with reporters. Few whoare typically eager to defend thepresident have appeared at allon television this month.

White House officials closeto President Donald Trump arepulling off a disappearing act,remaining largely absent frompublic view — in the middle ofthe storm over impeachment.

“We invited the WhiteHouse on to answer questionson the show this morning,”CNN’s Jake Tapper explained tohis viewers on Sunday’s “Stateof the Union.” ‘’They did notoffer a guest.”

It’s a well-worn strategy inthe Trump White House:Senior officials conveniently

manage to be elsewhere whenmajor controversies engulf thebuilding.

The frequent absences ofJared Kushner, the Republicanpresident’s son-in-law andsenior adviser, and presidentialdaughter Ivanka Trump duringmoments of consequence havelong been a running jokeamong their detractors.

Their detours included atrip to Florida during the par-tial Government shutdown.Plenty of others have jumpedtown during tense moments.

As Trump struggled withmounting Republican defec-tions over his decision todeclare a national emergency topay for the stalled border wall,acting White House chief ofstaff Mick Mulvaney wasn’t atthe Capitol cajoling his formercolleagues or in the West Wing

making calls. Instead, he was inLas Vegas for an annual friendsand family getaway.

More recently, embattlednational security adviser JohnBolton scheduled a trip toMongolia while Trump becamethe first sitting U.S. President toset foot in North Korea, a ges-ture that didn’t sit well withBolton, who would leave theadministration a few monthslater.

Indeed, knowing “when tobe out of town” was one of thetop nuggets of advice thatKevin Hassett, the president’sformer top economic adviser,said he’d received from a pre-decessor and had to offer hissuccessor.

The White House did notrespond to questions aboutthe tactic Wednesday. But evenwhen they’re in Washington,

many of the White House’smost visible officials have beenstaying out of public view, let-ting the president’s indignantTwitter feed and his frequentcommentary drive the publicconversation.

That includes White Housespokesman Hogan Gidley, afrequent guest on Fox Newsshows and the gaggles withreporters that often follow onthe White House driveway. White House counselorKellyanne Conway, an aggres-sive defender of the president,has not made an appearance onthe driveway since a highlycontentious Sept. 27 gaggle inwhich she berated reportersand dismissed a question aboutwhether the

The White House wasorganising an impeachment war room.

Seoul: North Korea threatenedagain on Thursday to resumenuclear and long-range missiletests, accusing the US of hav-ing instigated some membersof the UN Security Council tocondemn its weapons tests.

The warning byPyongyang’s Foreign Ministryfollowed the weekend break-down of North Korea-USnuclear negotiations inSweden, the first such talksbetween the countries in morethan seven months.

North Korea said the talkscollapsed because the US did-n’t have any new proposals,and whether it maintains aself-imposed moratorium onmajor weapons tests was up toWashington.

Some observers say NorthKorea’s threat may be a tacticto pressure the US into mak-ing concessions as a restart ofnuclear and long-range missiletests would likely derail nego-tiations, deepen its interna-tional isolation and further

dim prospects for rebuildingits moribund economy.

A ministry statement tookissue with condemnationTuesday by the Europeanmembers of the UN SecurityCouncil of North Korea’srecent ballistic missile andother weapons tests, includingits first underwater-launchedmissile launch in three yearson October 2. North Koreasaid those tests were of the self-defense nature.

North Korea also accusedthe US of being behind theEuropean condemnation of itsweapons tests after having“begged for working-levelNorth Korea-US talks” inSweden.

On Tuesday, the UNcouncil discussed the North’slatest underwater-launchedmissile test and its Europeanmembers urged Pyongyang toabandon all weapons of massdestruction and engage in“meaningful negotiations”with the US. AFP

Washington: Two notoriousIslamic State jihadists dubbed“The Beatles” who were held bySyrian Kurds are now in UScustody and have been movedout of the country, PresidentDonald Trump said on earlyThursday.

Turkey has launched anassault on the Syrian Kurdishforces —with which the USpartnered to combat IslamicState militants —sparking fearsthat the offensive could lead tocaptured fighters they heldescaping and reconstitutingthe group.

“In case the Kurds orTurkey lose control, the UnitedStates has already taken the 2ISIS militants tied to behead-ings in Syria, known as theBeetles, out of that country and

into a secure location con-trolled by the US,” Trumptweeted.

“They are the worst of theworst!”

The pair were part of anextremely violent all-Britishfour-man cell that kidnappedand tortured foreigners, includ-ing journalists, at the height ofthe Islamic State group’s powerin Syria and Iraq.

A US defense official hadearlier confirmed they hadtaken custody of two “high-value” IS individuals from theKurdish-led Syrian DemocraticForces (SDF) that held thecaptured jihadists.

“They have been movedout of Syria and are in a securelocation,” the official said, with-out identifying where. AFP

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Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan warned

the EU on Thursday thatAnkara would allow millions ofrefugees to head to Europe ifthe bloc criticised Turkey’smilitary offensive in Syria.

“Hey EU, wake up. I say it

again: if you try to frame ouroperation there as an invasion,our task is simple: we willopen the doors and send 3.6million migrants to you,”Erdogan said in a speech to hisparty.

Turkey launched an oper-ation into Syrian territory onWednesday, aimed at combat-

ing Kurdish militants tied toinsurgents in its own territory.

Erdogan said 109 “terror-ists” had been killed so far inthe operation, which wouldsoon cover ground fromManbij in northern Syria to theIraqi border some 350 kilome-tres (220 miles) east.

“God willing, we will crush

these snakes’ heads quickly,” hesaid.

“What we are trying to dois prevent the establishment ofa terrorist State on our south-ern border. This cannot hap-pen,” Turkey currently hosts 3.6million refugees from the eight-year conflict in Syria -- thehighest number in the world.

Under a 2016 agreementwith the EU, Turkey agreed toprevent refugees from leavingtowards Europe in exchange forsix billion euros and visa-freetravel for its citizens, but hasfrequently criticised the lack ofassistance from Brussels.

“You have never been sin-cere,” Erdogan said, addressing

the EU.“Now they say they will

withhold three billion eurosfrom us. Have you ever keptany promise you gave us so far?No.”

One aim of the militaryoperation is to establish a “safezone” in which at least one mil-lion Syrian refugees can be

repatriated, after the long-termpresence of refugees became anincreasingly political liability.

“For those who want toreturn to their country butdon’t have a home left anymore,we plan to build settlements forone million people, with inter-national financing,” Erdogansaid.

He also sought to assuageconcerns regarding IslamicState prisoners currently heldby Kurdish forces.

“Those that need to be keptin jail we will keep in jail. Wewill return foreigners to theirhome countries if they acceptthem back,” he said.

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Beirut: Turkey’s president saysthat there have been 109 “ter-rorists killed” — a reference toSyrian Kurdish fighters — sinceAnkara launched an offensiveinto Syria the previous day.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan didnot elaborate and the reports onthe ground did not indicateanything remotely close to sucha large number of casualties.

Erdogan also warned theEuropean Union not to callAnkara’s incursion into Syriaan ‘invasion,’ and renewedhis threat of letting Syrianrefugees flood Europe.

AP

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Abipartisan group of USsenators said on

Wednesday they have agreedon far-reaching sanctions to beslapped on NATO ally Turkeyif its forces do not withdrawfrom neighbouring Syria.

Republican SenatorLindsey Graham said he andDemocrat Chris Van Hollenare introducing legislation thatwould freeze all US assets ofTurkey’s political leadership -- including President RecepTayyip Erdogan, his vice pres-ident and the defense minister.

It would also impose sanc-

tions on entities that do busi-ness with Turkey’s military, orwith oil and gas companiesthat service its armed forces.

Graham and several otherUS lawmakers are furious overPresident Donald Trump’s sud-den military withdrawal frompositions in northern Syria,blasting the move as a betray-al of Kurdish forces who foryears have helped fight Islamicmilitants, and as an effectivegreen light for Turkey tolaunch its long-planned offen-sive.

“While the Administrationrefuses to act against Turkey, Iexpect strong bipartisan sup-

port” for the measure, Grahamsaid on Twitter.

Sanctions would be leviedimmediately upon enactmentof the bill, which requires apresidential signature.

It would remain in effectunless the administrationcertifies to Congress thatTurkey is not operating aloneand has withdrawn its forcesfrom areas occupied duringoperations that beganWednesday.

“These sanctions will haveimmediate, far-reaching con-sequences for Erdogan and hismilitary,” Van Hollen said onTwitter.

Moscow: Russian ForeignMinister Sergei Lavrov saidon Thursday that Ankara andDamascus should discuss theissue of Kurdish forces innortheastern Syria directly,calling Turkey’s cross-borderassault a product of US policies.

“We will strive for thenecessity of dialogue betweenTurkey and Syria,” he said.

Turkey has “legitimate con-cerns about the safety of itsborders” but had not been ableto properly raise them withDamascus as this was “madedifficult by the actions of theAmericans and the coalition”east of the Euphrates river, he

said.“We have warned for many

years about the danger of theexperiment that the Americanswere staging there in an effortto pit the Kurds against Arabtribes,” Lavrov told journalists.

“We warned against play-ing the Kurdish card because itcan end badly,” he said.

Kurdish forces controllingparts of north Syria said theyrepulsed Turkish ground attackson Wednesday and Thursday,but the Turkish defence min-istry insisted its “OperationPeace Spring” would go aheadto curb the power of Kurdishinsurgents. AFP

Washington: US PresidentDonald Trump has said that hehoped Turkey would “act ratio-nally” as the country launchedan operation to invade theKurdish-controlled North Syria.

Warning of actions againstTurkey’s economy, Trump saidthat he would consider movestougher than sanctions ifAnkara does not do the oper-ations in northern Syria in ashumane a way as possible.

“I will wipe out (Turkey’s)his economy if that happens,”Trump told reporters at theWhite House when asked if heis concerned that the TurkishPresident Recep TayyipErdogan will try to wipe out theKurds.

Turkey has launched abroad assault on Kurdish-con-trolled areas in northeasternSyria, with intensive bombard-ment paving the way for aground offensive.

The operation was possibleafter the White Houseannounced on late Sunday thatTurkey would soon carry out amilitary operation in northernSyria and that US troops will nolonger be “in the immediatearea”. Trump said he hopedTurkey President Erdoganwould act rationally in terms ofthe operation in northern Syria.

PTI

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Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky

denied on Thursday thatDonald Trump tried to black-mail him by withholding mil-itary aid to Kiev in a phonecall between the two leaders.

“There was no blackmail,”the comedian-turned-politi-cian told a news conference. Atranscript of the phone con-versation showed Trumpasked Zelensky to investigatehis political rival Joe Biden.

The US president’s requestthat Zelensky probe the activ-ities of Joe Biden’s son Hunterhas sparked an impeachmentprobe in the US, with theDemocrats looking intowhether Trump used adelayed aid package as lever-age.

Trump wanted Kiev toinvestigate Hunter Biden’sactivities in Ukrainian gasfirm Burisma.

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Can you recall your childhood dayswhen you would stare at the sky, lying

down silently in the lawn, imagining dif-ferent shapes of the clouds or trying tocount the stars? Well, little did we knowthat this would become a muse for adesigner someday. With climate changehaving come into focus, nature hasbecome an inspiration for designers too,as it triggers ideas for some of the mostbeautiful forms of art. So is the case withdesigners Samant Chauhan and RimzimDadu, who showcased their collection atFDCI’s Lotus Make-up India FashionWeek day 1. While the former drew inspi-ration from the Milky Way galaxy, the ideaof movement and fluidity of the oceaninspired the latter.

Samant said that his recent trip to SpitiValley reminded him of The Starry Night,Dutch post-impressionist painter VincentVan Gogh’s masterpiece. His vision wasto translate the famous artwork into hisdesigns, which is clearly evident from hisall-black collection adorned with silverpatches. He said, “When Van Goghmade the painting, perhaps he predictedthat it would be difficult to see the starsin the coming years. We would have totravel 600 km for two days for such a view.It is going to be rare.”

Light music, images of dark midnightblue and purple and the sparkling stars,decorating the sky, on the screen at theback, gave the audience the tranquil vibeof sitting under a starry sky. The design-er, known for his obsession with mono-chromes, usually plays with white but thisis the second time he has tried his handson black. He said, “In the first one, I show-cased how I view black from the prism ofnostalgia. And this collection shows howI see and perceive black now.” It wasimportant for him to showcase his cur-rent definition of black as he said, “a tripto the picturesque valley in HimachalPradesh has changed my definition ofblack.”

In this cut-throat competition, everydesigner wants to come out with the best.They want to lead the market, be it withtheir distinctive colours or designs. ButChauhan is not bothered about this com-petition. He said, “We don’t follow a trendor the forecast. We focus on bringingnewness and freshness in our collection.”

The collection which had 37 looks,ranged from bell sleeved silk embroideredgown with a trail, peplum with embroi-dered trousers, corset with denim andembroidered organza cape, embroideredballoon sleeve jacket style gown and manymore. The fabric “ranged from sheer silk,cotton linen, organza to sheer,” saidChauhan. He added that the embroidery,which was a combination of handmade

and machine, was not woven on the typ-ical tussar silk but into his stapleBhagalpuri.

It was constant in almost all his col-lections, and was too heavy to make wayfor jewelleries. The embroidery gave aglimpse of nature as it had leaves, flow-ers, uncarved branches and silver patch-es all around resembling the stars. Themodels had similar hairstyles — a neatbun tied with a Victorian-style bow.

Another show was of Rimzim, whois known for presenting her styles in aunique manner. Her shows always havean element of surprise, be it using virtu-al reality on the ramp or creating a life-size maze in the show. Even this time, shedid not miss on the surprise element.

We have often seen the ramps dec-orated with trees, flowers, wooden and sil-ver artworks or a play of light and shad-ows for sure. But have you ever seensculpted steel sculptures hanging in midair? This naturally ignited the curiosityamong the audience.

The spirals and movements on thescreen throughout, clearly indicatedtowards her commitment to her experi-mentation. She said, “I am inspired by allkinds of movements, be it frozen in timeor sculpted in a material. They have asense of fluidity and this attracts me themost.”

Rimzim used her signature materi-als like steel wires and metallic cords tocreate structured yet fluid garments.Though the clothes appeared rigid from

far because of the wires butwere actually malleable andsoft to wear.

The collection depictedsculpted fluidity in the formof silhouettes. It ranged fromwhite floral shirts with blackfoil trousers and black beltbag to powder blue Nehrujacket with diamond shirtand white laptop bag towave skirt paired with wave off-shoulder blouse and emeraldbag. The collection was colour-ful as it was intended to give afestive touch. There were jeweltones of gold, bronze, emer-ald and teal.

Even the footwear of themodels were made of steelwires which totallymatched with their outfits.They had straight andsimple hairstyles withglitter all over it to giveit a shine.

The designer alsolaunched her first evermenswear collectionwith metal bomberjackets, texturedNehru and sherwanijackets aiming to filla gap in the pro-gressive menswearfashion genre.

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Aesthetics is a deeply individualistic thing, buteven then there are certain things, cars, build-

ings, watches and gadgets that fit into the pretty orugly categories. You can debate endlessly aboutAdrian van Hooydonk’s new massive snouted BMW4-series coupe, but the Maruti-Suzuki S.Presso isone of those cars that fails the test. Particularly, therear-end, with its articulated shock-absorber, andtyres that seem awfully small and looks horrible.But history has taught us that when people find acar which has a lot of value attached to it, they donot care about its looks. The success of the origi-nal Hyundai Santro being a case in point. This isparticularly true at the entry-level of the market.It is not as if there cannot be attractive small hatch-backs, the Daewoo Matiz was a smart looking carbut its Korean rival smashed it in the sales charts,even Maruti’s A-star, which was an attractive designflopped.

Looks therefore, one can safely assume, is notthe most important thing for entry-level car buy-ers. Practicality is and, frankly, on that front Marutidelivers. The S.Presso is based on Suzuki’s Heartect-K platform, the ‘K’ standing for Japan’s small ‘Kei’cars, which got tax benefits. It has been modifiedto make it slightly longer and wider, but much likethe old WagonR. This is a narrow albeit tall car. Andas a result of that, Maruti’s designers (for this is avehicle like the Vitara Brezza that was designed withIndian designers and engineers at the heart of theprogramme) have effectively made a proper suc-cessor to the old WagonR, since the new third-gen-eration WagonR is bigger and wider than everbefore. So one can say that the new WagonR is actu-ally a Swift in an ugly suit. And like the old WagonR,the S.Presso has oodles of space. Maruti’s design-ers have made a spacious cabin with lots of stor-age cubbyholes and a large boot given the car’s size.The tall-boy stance also makes ingress and egressvery easy although while Maruti claims this to bea five seater but two large guys willtake up all the space at theback. The steering col-umn is not adjustableand the central-mounted instru-ment cluster takesa bit of gettingused to, but theoverall layout ispretty good. Thesteering mount-ed controls are ahuge plus,although the shinyplastic trim on thetop variants reflectsoff the windscreen and if you findyourself driving with the setting sun

behind you, like I did, this is extremely irritating. How does this drive? Well, Maruti’s K10B petrol

engine that does service on several of Maruti’s othersmall cars finds its way onto this one as well, andas far as small, naturally-aspirated engines go, it isthe best in the business. I am not sold on theAutomated Manual Transmission (AMT) on thiscar, or any other for that matter, but with the man-ual gearbox this one is peppy off the line and cango plenty fast, all the while returning great fuel econ-omy.

Now, that ‘tall’ stance makes one assume thatthe shock-absorbers have a lot of travel, whichmeans ride over bad roads and rough surfaces ispretty good. After all, Maruti is marketing this asa ‘mini-SUV’ and it even has a front grille inspiredby the Brezza. But, great ride is compromised bypoor handling, particularly at speed. The S.Presso,as we have stated time and again, rides very high,and after two decades of evaluating cars, one canlook at a car and immediately determine that tak-ing a corder hard on a vehicle is a dangerous propo-sition. I’m not staying it takes corners really badlyas there are several other cars that are as bad but Iwould brake and take a corner at a reasonable speedwith the S.Presso. Modern Marutis have been a hootto drive for the Baleno and the Swift are immensefun around corners and you can really push themthrough sweeping turns. But at city speeds and onIndia’s fairly straight highways, you would not noticea thing.

This is in essence an urban car, spacious andeconomical, perfect for a young couple as long asthey don’t have to look at it and when you are insidethe car you really do not have to look at it. That said,the ‘special edition’ variants where the cars have abit more plastic cladding and contrasting colours,particularly the ‘Energetic’, make it look muchsmarter and considering that most dealer kits makecars look worse, this was a pleasant surprise. It is

a very practical car and while it may notgive you the caffeine shot that

the name promises, it mightjust do that to Maruti-

Suzuki’s moribundsales of late.

Certainly, the joy of reading is adeeply personalised experience,depending on the associative

imagery and perception it creates in themind. But storytelling connects you toothers, the sound and rhythm of wordshelping you construct a picture that youcan share with others and even takesomething from them.

Author Shaguna Gahilote, co-direc-tor of the Kathakar Storytelling Festival,looks at it this way — it is one thing tobe reading a story and another to visu-alise the same story and experience italong with personal references andanecdotes told live. “If you read some-thing and hear the same story in anopen space, you’d feel about it so differ-ently. This festival is all about that andso unique. You will understand what themagic of storytelling is,” she says,adding that listening to the story in thatparticular ambience and absorbing thatvibe makes it worthwhile. “This is alsoa reason why we have chosen an oldvenue this time” — Sunder Nursery, a16th-century heritage park complexadjacent to Humayun’s Tomb.

The festival’s 12th edition this yearhas some new elements. She says, “Wehave added an element of music to sto-rytelling this time, a throwback to thetradition of the bard. Of course, the ideahas originated from Mohit Chauhan,our patron. We have invited a few sto-rytellers who tell stories through music.They have flown from Australia, Swedenand Poland. Then there are enchantingBuddhist monks and a disciple ofTaufiq Qureshi.”

A bunch of professional and pas-sionate raconteurs from all over theworld will also be present. With 17 ses-sions in total post-sunset, the festivalwill also feature morning segments ina string of Delhi schools. “The morn-ing sessions facilitate the participationof children from Delhi’s municipal,

government, private, community andcivil society school. The sessions aredivided in primary and secondary levelwhere children from the age group ofeight years onwards listen to stories,”says she.

There will be a focus on India’s rareart forms and native folktales, who willrub shoulders with those from Romania,Mongolia, Lithuania and the UnitedKingdom. So how did she and Prathana,sister and co-director, first conceptualisethis festival? They started it in 2010when the Right to Education was intro-duced and in every annexure mentionedthat all schools should have a librarywith books and newspapers. “As part ofUNESCO, we had been buildinglibraries in schools for underprivilegedchildren but not many of them wouldpick up the books or read them fond-ly. Someone had to read out the booksto them to help them understand it bet-ter and find it interesting. This realisa-tion hit us.

We brainstormed and came toanother realisation that there was a timewhen no written text was there for peo-ple to experience stories. They onlyheard them. And they travelled fromone person to another and across gen-erations. Even we have only heard so

many stories that were really ancient,”says she. The sisters thought that sucha festival would not just revive ancientfolklores but also preserve them. Thefestival was hence launched under theaegis of UNESCO as part ofGhummakkad Narain, a travelling liter-ature festival in memory of ThakurVishva Narain Singh, the first Brailleeditor in India.

Well, little did they know that start-ing out from a handful of people, about250 of them, they would host a footfallof more than 10,000 people per day dur-ing the three-day event.

This generation’s growing depen-dence on technology and the easyavailability of things in the comfort ofone’s home have changed the idea of sto-rytelling greatly. With digital media andonline content, there has been a declinein people’s physical movement or liveexperiences. However, Shaguna believes,“We don’t do this festival everyday orevery month. Even though you can lis-ten to or watch or read stories sitting in

the comfort of your homes, such thingsare worth experiencing once in a longtime. It’s different. There, you live thestory.”

Over the years, the festival hasdrawn celebrities too, like spiritualspeaker Sadhguru, filmmaker Imtiaz Aliand a few Dastangos. While Imtiaz willbe hosting the closing show, Kissey,Kahani aur Cinema, telling his storiesof filmmaking, this is the first time thefestival will see Buddhist chanting byGrammy awardee monks from theSherabling Monastery, HimachalPradesh. There are other first-timers too— performance of two Polish story-tellers, one of whom, Emilia Raiter, isa renowned harpist and sings Polish bal-lads. Uncle Larry Walsh, an Australianaborigine storyteller, will be travellingwith Ron Murray, a didgeridoo player,to tell tales of the indigenous people.“This will be the first time that anindigenous storyteller will perform inIndia,” says Shaguna when we ask herabout how the team has chosen the sto-

ries, which can also be targeted toinspire the youth and develop theirsocial awareness. She adds, “Every sto-ryteller has a long list of stories to telland they’re usually with a moral, some-thing that relates to the audience.”

UK-based Emily Hennessey willperform Indian folktales of Kali and theMahabharata. “Even though she couldhave told the tales of English epics orculture, we have specifically asked herto narrate Indian folklore. She has per-formed a lot on some aspects andepisodes of Mahabharata even in theUK,” says Shaguna.

Kerala’s traditional Tholpavakoothupuppeteers will enchant the audiencewith their famed shadow theatre basedon the theme of Tamil epic KambaRamayana. Theatre artist DanishHussain will be presenting “a self-directed adaptation” of Qissebazi: AMultilingual Storytelling Orbit.

“We also have actor Manoj Bajpayeeperforming as a storyteller along withMohit,” she adds.

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It was while walking through the cor-ridors of The Imperial hotel that Icame across a small, dark and an

almost secret entrance that teleportedme to Chiang Mai with its Thai sculp-tures. For it was The Spice Routerestaurant, designed to reflect the jour-ney of spices from the Malabar Coast inKerala through Sri Lanka, Malaysia andIndonesia to Thailand and Vietnam,where I was dining. The place is an over-whelming visual depiction of the art andculture that also travelled with thespices through these regions.

Coming to the reason that I washere, the restaurant was celebrating thefirst-ever Asian Market with the aim toexplore the best of South-East Asian cui-sine. This is essentially the food that isfound not in the restaurants but in thehouses of the locals. Chef de CuisineVeena Arora has carefully crafted themenu to delve into the expanse of South-East Asian cuisine.

No sooner had I sat down that thevery first dish was brought to the table.Khao Tang Naa Tang, a crispy rice cake,was served with a creamy and savourydip, made with coconut milk and sprin-kled with corns too. It reminded me ofthe good old sabudana papad (sago pap-padum) as it was super crispy. The driedcrackers are usually paired with shrimpsauce but here, the creamy dip was anexceptional alternative for vegetarianslike me. The dish was accompanied bytheir signature drink — Green Velvet. Itook a sip, smacked my lips and uttered,“Sprite,” for that was the taste that seepedthrough. Though it seemed to be awashin the colour of the bottle that the drinkis packaged in. It was dark green. I couldeasily make out the ingredients —mint, khus syrup, lemonade and Sprite,of course.

Local food culture not only inspiresus in our daily lives but helps us stay con-nected with our roots, believes the chefwho was born and brought up inThailand. Her biggest dream has always

been to expose the Indian palate to thetraditions of her place of birth. WithAsian Market, she is delighted to bringforth the local exotic dishes whichhave not been explored earlier or beena part of the restaurant’s menu, ever.

Chef Veena elaborated, “People inSouth-East Asia, just like Indians, do notsegregate their meals into appetisers ora main course. Everything is eatentogether. Because Thai food is spicy, weneed a soup along with it to balance theflavours as well as snacks to go with themeal.”

Next up was Malaysian assortedvegetables with curry where the gravyhad a hint of sweetness and was filledwith corns, mushrooms and broccoli. Itwas served with jasmine rice and PhakBunk Man-Korn, which is wok friedmorning glory with garlic and chilliesflavoured with Thai soya bean paste. Thestem of morning glory is thick but hol-low inside. This combined a crunchytexture and juiciness at the same time.

And flavouring it with Thai soya beanpaste elevated the taste to the next levelwhile making it super convenient foranyone to cook them.

Chef Veena apprised us, “Morningglory is something that is found in Indiaas well but people are not really awareof it. You can cook it in Thai or Indianstyle. And it hides a secret, that it is full

of iron. People in India think that onlysome leafy veggies such as spinach, let-tuce and fenugreek contain it. Morningglory can be cooked in the exact samemanner just like all of the above. Onecan make pakoras with it too.”

Amidst the endlessly appetisingfare, laughter and conversations, chefVeena also did a live cookout for herspecial — the noodle soup, where sheadded a range of spices — fennel, cin-namon, cardamom, star anise and gin-ger — in the boiling water which madeit seem just right for the approachingwinter. Noodles, roasted garlic, brownshallot, coriander, bean sprouts, soysauce, crushed peanuts and chilli flakessprinkled on the top further enhancedthe taste and made it look appetising.

The expanse of flavours and tex-tures that different regions in South-East Asia have to offer are immense andthis is what the Asian Market attempt-ed to showcase — the diversity inindigenous cuisine.

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THAI WAY OR MY WAY

We all love getting kitchentips as those little tricks

help us become better cooks. Butsometimes we need to introspectand stop doing certain things. It’stime we unlearn and learn.

NOT READING THERECIPE ALL THE WAYTHROUGH

Before you start cooking,make sure you have all theingredients, you think throughthe timing of the steps and lookup for directions that might beconfusing. This way, you don’tfind yourself staring at therecipe in dismay when thewords marinate overnight orchill for at least four hours popup.

USING TOO SMALL A TOOLHave you ever tried blend-

ing dough in a small bowl ortransferring a casserole into atoo-tight baking dish or chop-ping a pound of spinach on atiny cutting board or using aparing knife to dismantle asquash? Well, bigger is betterwhen it comes to kitchen prepa-ration. It means less mess, lessoverflow in the oven and, often,more safety.

WORKING WITH A DULLKNIFE

Sharp knives are safer thandull ones that slip and slide. Ifyou don’t have a knife-sharpen-ing tool, “There are lots ofstores and services that canhelp you out,” says Alison Cayne,founder of Haven’s Kitchencooking school in New YorkCity. “You are not expected toknow how to sharpen yourself.”Many kitchen stores, likeWilliams-Sonoma or Sur laTable, will sharpen knives, andyou can look for other placesonline. You might even be ableto get your knives picked up anddropped off.

OVERCOOKINGRemember to account for

“carry-over cooking” — the fact

that when you take food fromthe heat, it will continue to cook.Carry-over cooking is oftendiscussed with meat, sincemeat’s internal temperature willcontinue to rise even after youpull it from a hot pan. Porkchops can go from just done andjuicy to dry and tough. Butcarry-over cooking also appliesto lots of foods, including bakedgoods and vegetables. Roastedasparagus that comes out of theoven tender can get too softupon sitting, so pull it out a fewminutes before it’s reached thedoneness you are looking for.

CUTTING MEAT BEFOREIT HAD A CHANCE TOREST

Allowing meat and poultryto sit for a while after it isremoved from the stove, grill oroven not only lets it finishcooking but ensures that thejuices stay inside, where theybelong. When meat cooks, itsprotein fibers contract, and ifyou cut into it right away theywon’t have had a chance to relaxand reabsorb the juices. This iswhy you might cut into a steakright off the grill and see it per-fectly cooked to a beautiful rareor medium rare, and then a fewminutes later it seems to havelost its rosy hue, and all its juicesare on the cutting board. Letthick steaks rest 8 to 10 minutesbefore cutting. Big roasts orwhole birds should rest between20 and 30 minutes before carv-ing. This may seem like a longtime, but rest assured the meatwill still be warm.

GETTING DISTRACTEDDana Cowin, editor in chief

of Food and Wine Magazine forover 20 years, and author of“Mastering My Mistakes in theKitchen,” says that after workingwith numerous chefs andexperts, “Here’s what I learnedNOT to do: Don’t get distract-ed. Don’t answer your email,help your kid with homework orcatch up on the news. When

you’re distracted, that’s when thepine nuts burn, the butter black-ens, the caramel hardens, thechicken dries out, the meal getsruined.”

SEASONING THE DISHONLY ONCE

Don’t just salt the onionsyou are sauteing for the sauceand call it a day. Conversely,don’t make the whole saucerecipe and add salt at the end.Add a bit of salt, and adjust otherseasonings as you build thedish, tasting as you go, if possi-ble.

FORGETTING TO SALTTHE COOKING WATER

Add salt to the water —whether for pasta, vegetables,poaching shrimp or chicken —until it actually tastes salty. Yourfood won’t absorb all this salt bya long shot, but it will becomeseasoned and more flavorful.For pasta, grains or some veg-etables like potatoes, this reallymakes a difference, as the starchis absorbing the salted water asit cooks.

SKIMPING ON THE TIME ITTAKES TO FULLY PREHEATYOUR OVEN

The beep indicating youroven has reached the desiredtemperature is probably a bitpremature, says DorieGreenspan, author of the cook-book “Everyday Dorie: TheWay I Cook.” Says Greenspan:“An oven repair person once toldme that when the light on myoven indicated that it hadreached temperature, I shouldwait another 15 minutes beforeputting in whatever I was bak-ing. The oven needs that time tobe truly at temperature, and tobe able to hold its temperaturewhen you open the door. Thisis particularly important withcookies because they bake forsuch a short time.” She adviseskeeping a thermometer in youroven.

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Opener Mayank Agarwalstamped his authority on astruggling South African

attack with a second successivehundred as India cruised to 273 forthree on the opening day of thesecond Test here.

Play was stopped in the 86thover due to fading light.

The 28-year-old’s rich vein ofform continued as he looked incomplete command for his 108 off195 balls, having made a sublime215 in the series opener inVisakhapatnam last week.

The first day of the secondmatch panned out similar to theway the first Test went as India,leading 1-0 in the series, looked toout-bat the Proteas on a good sur-face.

Along with Cheteshwar Pujara(58), Agarwal added 138 runs forthe second wicket with minimumfuss, despite India losing RohitSharma's (14) wicket in the firsthour itself.

In the final session, skipperVirat Kohli (63 batting off 105balls) was in his element, hittingyet another Test half-century andadding 75 runs for the unbrokenfourth wicket partnership withAjinkya Rahane (18 batting off 70balls). Kohli hit some flowing dri-ves during the final hour and had10 fours to his credit.

The highlight of the day how-ever was Agarwal’s approachagainst both pace and spin, bothof which, he tackled with ease. Hisknock comprised 16 fours and twosixes.

The opener raced to his sec-

ond Test hundred hitting left-arm spinner Keshav Maharajdown the ground for consecutivesixes and then played an intention-al back-cut off Vernon Philanderto complete the coveted mile-stone.

Agarwal’s scoring chart wouldindicate that his innings was a per-fect blend of caution mixed withaggression. He got 74 runs off 18balls in boundaries and theremaining 34 runs came off 177balls.

Among South African pacers,Kagiso Rabada (3/48 in 18.1 overs),hit better lengths during the courseof the day and was easily the mostpotent bowler on view.

Rabada bowled a beautifuldelivery that pitched on length andmoved only a shade to kiss the out-side edge of Rohit’s bat beforegoing into wicketkeeper Quintonde Kock’s gloves.

Rabada was unlucky to missout on a second wicket — of Pujara— when Temba Bavuma, at shortleg, missed a reflex catch. The bats-man was yet to get off the mark atthat stage.

He finally got Pujara, caughtat first slip but not before the IndiaNo.3 had scored his 22nd Test half-century.

During the first hour,Agarwal was all cautiousagainst Philander and Rabadawho bowled a probing firstspell.

He was smart enough towait for the third seamer inrookie Anrich Nortje (0/60 in13 overs) to be introducedinto the attack.

Nortje, with his pace, was

guilty of bowling fuller deliveriesat a drivable length outside the off-stump.

In fact, Dale Steyn’s “use thatshort leg” advice on Twitter, wasmeant for Nortje, advising him toalter the length.

In one of his overs beforelunch, Agarwal hit an off-drive fol-lowed by two cover drives.

In the post lunch session,Nortje tried to hit the back oflength but Agarwal had alreadycompleted his half century andwas well set. The moment Nortjepitched it short, he went back andacross to play a couple of pullshots.

On the other hand, Pujarabegan on a cautious note and itwas only after left-arm spinnerKeshav Maharaj (0/89 in 29 overs)was brought into the attack, theSaurashtra right-hander uppedthe ante.

In his very first over, he usedhis feet to come to the pitch of theball, hitting two elegant on-drives.A third on-drive also came alongthe way off Rabada’s bowling.Watching Pujara use his feetagainst Maharaj, Agarwal got theconfidence in the post-lunch ses-sion in which he got around 50runs.

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K’TAKA BEAT MUMBAI DESPITEDUBE’S HEROICSbengluru: +� ���J�� � 711� ��� ���9�����?��"��� =���� ����� ��� "���&� ��� �������� ����������@������������������������� ����9��� ������� � ������ *������� ��� ����<����� 2���� +� ������ ��� ���� H�I��� 4�J��'��������'������(�������������������������@ ����������� ?������� ���&� *�����������������������670C/����������������������������� @������ ���� ��� 616� ��� .:(7� �"��&����� ����� +��������� @������ $69.1%� ����������*�2�������$69,7%����� ����������9����(#�� *������&� ������ =�"����������� ���� ��� ���� �� ����� ����� ����� /;���� ��� :,� �����&� ����� � 71� ����� ���� ���G(������� ���� ���� ������ � ������ *� >!����� $,:%� ���I���� 76/� ���� ��� ���� ���������(

PUNDUCHERY SURGE AHEAD ;C’GARH REMAIN INFRAYdehradun: +��� *���������� ��� ��������:8� ��� � ��������� �������� +������������������������������������'������������������ ���� ������ 2���� ������� �� ��� ���H�I���4�J���'�����������������9������������������(+������� ������M�� ��������� ������ ����� ��� �� ������ ������� ��� .6� �"���������� ��� ���� ��������� �������� ��� ����������������������7/;����.0(6��"���������+��������� �����+������(!�����=��������9������ ���+�������������������� �� ./9����.1� ������ ���������� A"���� +����� ����6;(@������ ����� +������ !�I�"� �����������6C.0&� ������ "������ H����� *���&� ?����*��������?� ��A��������������������������������������������������( �� �� �

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India skipper Virat Kohlion Thursday achieved

another feat when he sur-passed Sourav Ganguly tobecome the second Indiancaptain after Mahendra SinghDhoni to lead the side in 50or more Test matches.TheIndian run-machine was tiedat the second spot with formerskipper Ganguly (49 Tests) inthe list of leading the nation-al side before the start of thesecond Test against SouthAfrica here onThursday.Kohli, whoremained unbeaten on 63 asIndia rode on MayankAgarwal's 108 to post 273/3 atstumps on Day 1, became onlythe second Indian captain tothe landmark of 50 Tests afterDhoni, who had led thenational team 60 times inTests between 2008 and 2014.

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World champion shuttler PV Sindhu on Thursday

said she will pick and choosetournaments to stay fit aheadof next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

The Olympic qualifica-tion period started on April 29with the Badminton WorldFederation (BWF) consideringthe rankings list published onApril 30, 2020, to allocate

spots. Since last year, the BWF

has also made it compulsoryfor the world’s top 15 playersin the singles events and top10 pairs in the doubles disci-plines to play a minimum of12 out of 15 tournaments ofthe World Tour or face apenalty.

“Since it's the Olympicsyear, each and every tourna-ment is important. You need

to be mentally and physicallyfit and maintain your fitnesslevels and give your 100 per

cent in every tournament,”Sindhu said. “Definitely, I willchoose tournaments since youhave to be injury-free and give100 per cent which is veryimportant...” she added.

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Kenya’s Olympic and worldchampion Eliud Kipchoge

said Thursday he was confidentof busting the mythical two-hour barrier for the marathonthis weekend, an achievementhe ranks with man's first land-ing on the moon.

The 34-year-old will makethe attempt on Saturday inVienna in a huge park wherethe path has been specially pre-pared to make it as even as pos-sible. Two years ago he tried,and failed narrowly, at Monza,Italy

Kipchoge already holdsthe men’s world record for thedistance with a time of 2hr01min 39sec, which he set inthe flat Berlin marathon onSeptember 16, 2018.

But now, on a surface part-ly retarred and prepared withother features such as a bankedcorner that can save time andavoid injury, he is aiming to seta new mark. He will be aidedby pacemakers, who are takingturns to support him.

Because of way the run isbeing set up and paced theInternational Association ofAthletics Federations will not

validate the time as a worldrecord.

“Vienna is (about) runningand making history in thisworld, like the first man to go

to the moon,” Kipchoge toldreporters Thursday at a pressconference in the Austriancapital, adding he wanted toshow that "no human is limit-

ed”.“The course is extremely

good. I'm happy with thecourse,” he said, adding hewas trying to “stay as calm as

possible” for Saturday.The 42.195-kilometre

(26.219-miles) stretch has beenprepared so that it should takehim just about 4.5 secondsmore than a computer-simulat-ed completely flat and straightcourse, according to an analy-sis by sports experts at ViennaUniversity.

��� ��� ��� ��In total, he will only have

to descend 26 metres in alti-tude down and climb 12metres, the experts said.

Kipchoge attempted thefeat in May 2017 on the MonzaNational Autodrome racingcircuit in Italy, finishing in atime of 2hr 00min 25sec.

He says he is mentallystronger now and he is “confi-dent” that he can get it “the sec-ond time”.

“My training has been thesame, my coach has been thesame, my management, every-thing has been the same. Nowthe thinking is different," hesaid.

“I feel more prepared. I feelmore ready.”

Kipchoge will begin hisrun between 5:00 am (0300GMT) and 9:00 am — theexact time will only be setFriday -- amid favourableweather conditions: very lowwind speed, temperatures of 5to 9 degrees Celsius (41-48Fahrenheit), and no rain,according to organisers.

The founder of the mainsponsors, Ineos, British billion-aire Jim Ratcliffe, is taking apersonal interest in the chal-lenge because he himself com-petes in Ironman triathlons.

The world marathonrecord has, for the past 16years, been contested unique-ly between athletes from Kenyaand Ethiopia. The two nationsare also fierce rivals for dis-tance medals on the track.

Kipchoge's record wasalmost beaten last month in theBerlin marathon by Ethiopia'sKenenisa Bekele, who ran2:01.41, just two seconds shortof the world mark.

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An experimental Germanyteam leaked two second-half goals as a weakened

Argentina side, minus superstarLionel Messi, earned a 2-2 draw ina friendly in Dortmund.

Germany flew into a 2-0 leadthanks to first-half goals by SergeGnabry and Kai Havertz, but LucasAlario turned the game in the sec-ond-half when he came on forArgentina on Wednesday.

The Leverkusen striker pulleda goal back, then set up LucasOcampos for the late equaliseragainst a German team whichincluded four debutants.

Freiburg pair, defender RobinKoch, a late call-up on Monday whowas thrust into a makeshift backthree at the last-minute, and strik-er Luca Waldschmidt started.

Leverkusen forward NadiemAmiri and Schalke midfielder SuatSerdar came on to make their sec-ond-half debuts.

The Germans had already beenforced into a hastily re-arrangeddefence as Koch replaced centre-back Niklas Stark, who pulled outbefore kick-off with a stomachbug.

Despite 13 withdrawals due toeither illness or injury, Germanyimpressed early against anArgentina team missing Messi,Sergio Aguero and Angel di Maria.

With Messi suspended for com-ments made at the Copa America,Juventus' Paulo Dybala partneredLautaro Martinez up front forArgentina.

This match was a repeat of the2014 World Cup final, yet

Argentina's Manchester Uniteddefender Marcos Rojo was the onlysurvivor when the Germans won inRio de Janeiro.

He partnered Manchester Cityveteran Nicolas Otamendi in anArgentina defence which crumbledearly on.

A week after scoring four goalsfor Bayern Munich at Tottenham,Gnabry put Germany ahead on 15

minutes.The winger used his pace when

Atletico Madrid's Angel Correalost possession to get in behind thedefence to stab the ball pastArgentina goalkeeper AugustinMarchesin.

When Rojo then lost the ball toWaldschmidt, Gnabry turnedprovider, using his pace to presentHavertz with a simple tap-in on 22

minutes.Argentina let their frustrations

show as Otamendi and Rodrigo dePaul were booked for clatteringJulian Brandt and Gnabry respec-tively.

It should have been 3-0 whenBrandt just failed to connect witha Niklas Suele header with the goalat his mercy as it stayed 2-0 at thebreak.

However, the South Americanshad the best of the second-half,starting when Argentina coachLionel Scaloni put Alario on forDybala on 62 minutes.

The Leverkusen striker showedhis strength in the air to head pastBarcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andreter Stegen four minutes later.

The visitors equalised whenAlario set up Sevilla's LucasOcampos, a second-half replace-ment for Correa, to blast past terStegen five minutes from time.

The match was preceded by aminute's silence in memory of thetwo people shot dead in theGerman city of Halle earlierWednesday in an anti-Semiticattack.

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Former Indian footballcaptain Bhaichung Bhutia

on Thursday said that the for-ward line of the current teamis heavily dependent on SunilChhetri and the other play-ers need to step up and scoregoals.

Bhuita said that theteam’s defence has alreadyshowed a good account ofitself in the last two WorldCup qualifier matches andthe onus is on the strikers todeliver against Bangladesh onOctober 15 here.

“Our main concern hasbeen defending and if theycan maintain that it's okay.Now this Bangladesh game isgoing to be a big test for thestrikers. It’s not the defencebut the forward line whichwill have to deliver," Bhutiatold PTI in an interview.

“I think against Qatar (inthe drawn match), Indiadefended well. We definitelyrequire more goal-scoringstrikers. We need to improveour striking zone as it's onlySunil who's able to score. Ifhe's not playing or does notscore it becomes very, verydifficult.”

The draw against Qatarin Doha in their last matchgave India their first point inround two of the World Cupqualifiers after they had tast-ed a 1-2 defeat against Omanin their Group E openingclash in Guwahati.

India need to beatBangladesh here to keep theirhopes of qualifying for thenext round alive. Bangladeshare currently ranked 187th,83 places below India.

"The way they haveplayed the last two games, itshould come easy for Indiaand they should win it com-fortably," the former captainsaid.

He also spoke aboutIndia’s spirited display againstQatar, especially by the defen-sive unit led by goalkeeperGurpreet Singh Sandhu whothwarted a barrage of attacksto come out on a clean slate.

“It’s been great and fan-tastic last two matches, one ofthe best that India haveplayed. But it has to go on.You have set a standard nowthat has to be kept. The con-sistency and the performancethe way they played the lasttwo matches has to continue.

“Defensive, formation,discipline and keeping it tightwere the biggest takeways.They played compact foot-ball. Gurpreet is one of thefantastic goalkeepers. I was inthe committee of ArjunaAwards, I knew whatGurpreet has done,”" he saidon Gurpreet who wasbestowed with the ArjunaAward recently.

Talking about centreback Sandesh Jhingan, Bhutiasaid, “He is one player whogives everything on the pitch.That’s been from day onewhen I first saw him as a 17-year-old boy at UnitedSikkim.”

The footballer-turned-Hamro Sikkim Party leader,who is contesting theGangtok bye-elections onOctober 21, also said that theIndian team should playmore often in Kolkata wherethe crowd normally turnsup in large numbers.

“It’s the Mecca of Indianfootball and it's nice andinteresting to play at theSaltlake Stadium. I feel thatIndia should play more oftenin Kolkata,” Bhutia said.

India last played inKolkata on November 16,2011 in a friendly matchagainst Malaysia when theywon 3-2 with Chhetri settingup the win with a brace.

The ticket sales are on ahigh with 34,000 already soldout for the match at Saltlakethat last hosted a marqueegame in the U-17 WorldCup summit clash betweenEngland and Spain inOctober 2017.

“It’s unfortunate that it'ssomehow taken eight yearsfor Kolkata to host an Indiamatch. I'm sure the footballfans in Kolkata will alsoenjoy,” Bhutia said.

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Roger Federer lookedunusually flustered as he

reached the quarter-finals ofthe Shanghai Masters onThursday with victory overBelgium’s David Goffin.

The 13th-seed Goffinsquandered five set points inthe first set before the Swisssuperstar pulled through 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 in just under twohours. The 38-year-old playsGermany’s Alexander Zverevor Andrey Rublev in the lasteight.Third-ranked Federerand Goffin had played one

another 10 times before, withthe Belgian winning onlyonce. But he had the 20-timeGrand Slam winner rattled

and shaking his head in thefirst set.

Federer, regularly sere-naded by chants of “Roger,

Roger, go go go” by local sup-porters, had a rare inelegantmoment in the 12th game,slipping on some of his ownsweat.

The Swiss fell awkward-ly to the court and was thenbroken by Goffin, 14th in theworld.

Federer was 3-1 down inthe first-set tie break andGoffin had another set pointat 6-5, but he put his returnwide as his nerve failed him.

Federer needed no invi-tation to take full advantageand carried that momentuminto the second set.

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Neymar became the youngest play-er to make 100 appearances for

Brazil on Thursday but the Paris Saint-Germain forward had to settle for a1-1 draw as he failed to score in afriendly with Senegal in Singapore.

Roberto Firmino opened thescoring for the Copa America cham-pions with a stunning lob after aCoutinho lay-off in the eighth minute.

As the half progressed, the liveli-er Senegal became, driven on by theircaptain Cheikhou Kouyate.

Famara Diedhiou levelled fromthe penalty spot just before half-timeafter Sadio Mane was dragged downin the area.

Neymar, who was not in the sidethat won the Copa America in June,had a relatively quiet game but wentclose with a 67th minute free-kick.

He then teed up Richarlisonwhose shot from the edge of the boxflashed wide. Ismaila Sarr and Maneboth had chances to snatch the game

for the Lions of Teranga.Although he failed to get on the

scoresheet, it was still a big day for the27-year-old, who became one ofseven Brazilians to reach 100 caps.

He has scored 61 goals for theSelecao, making him the third high-est scorer in the history of his nation-al team.

Neymar is one behind Ronaldobut needs 16 to catch Pele who onlyplayed 92 matches. He has also pro-vided 41 assists.

He won an Olympic gold medalin Rio de Janeiro in 2016 but has expe-rienced many disappointments for hisnational team, particularly at theWorld Cup.

In 2014, in Brazil, a back injuryin the quarter-finals against Colombiaprevented him from being on the fieldfor the 7-1 semi-final thrashing fromGermany.

He scored twice during the tour-nament in Russia four years later, butBrazil were dumped out at the quar-ter-final stage by Belgium.

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New England coach ChrisSilverwood says his priority is to

help Test captain Joe Root as they tar-get a successful Ashes campaign inAustralia in two years’ time.

The 44-year-old was this weekpromoted from fast bowling coach toreplace World Cup-winning headcoach Trevor Bayliss, who steppeddown last month at the end of hiscontract.

Silverwood will take charge of thetour of New Zealand, which includesa five-match Twenty20 series, start-ing on November 1, and two Tests.

“I think (there's a good) relation-ship between myself and the two cap-tains (Root and Eoin Morgan), andI’ve got a strong relationship with allthe players and backroom staff,"Silverwood said at his unveiling pressconference on Thursday.

“I understand how the systemworks, how the team works. That con-tinuity is key.”

Silverwood said improving thefortunes of the Test team underRoot's captaincy would be his top pri-ority.

England won the 50-over WorldCup in July for the first time but failedto wrest back the Ashes fromAustralia, who retained the urn aftera 2-2 draw.

Their next Test tour of Australiais in 2021-22.

“Job number one is helping Joe —we’ve got a lot of support around Joe,but to keep moving forward so thatin two years’ time we can go toAustralia and make a real impact,” hesaid.

England’s aim is to become themost successful team in internation-

al cricket across all formats.Silverwood said the Test team

would have to learn to bat for longperiods, build on their bowling suc-cess and become more consistentaway from home.

Ashley Giles, managing directorof England men’s cricket, explainedwhy he labelled Silverwood "thestandout candidate".

“His character, his values, he’s awinner,”said Giles. "You can onlyprove that in the environment you'rein and he's proven that in the domes-tic game.”

Silverwood, who played six Testsand seven one-day internationals forEngland between 1996 and 2002,coached Essex to the CountyChampionship title in 2017 beforejoining the England set-up.

“The job he did at Essex was fan-tastic and we're still seeing that lega-cy now. I think the sign of a goodcoach is leaving the club better thanyou found it and that seems to be inevidence,” Giles said.

“The relationship, the knowl-edge of what we’re doing — we’ve gotan exceptional bloke who cares deeplyabout what we're doing.”

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American teenager Coco Gauffreached her maiden WTA quarter-

final on Wednesday, assuring herself ofa place in the world top 100 for the firsttime. Gauff, currently ranked at 110, was4-6, 6-4, 2-0 ahead when Ukrainianopponent Kateryna Kozlova retiredfrom their Linz second round clash witha left leg injury.

At 15 years and 214 days, she is theyoungest player to reach the last-eightat a WTA event since January 2005 whenSesil Karatancheva made the quarter-finals at the Gold Coast, aged 15 yearsand 153 days.

“I know her, oh wow," Gauff toldwtatennis.com. “It’s a good accom-plishment, and hopefully I can contin-ue to push that to the semi-finals.

“I guess that I’m used to being theyoungest to do a lot of things, and I hopethat I can continue to do that and enjoymy youth years, because as everyone tells

me, it doesn't last long.” Gauff, who elec-trified Wimbledon by coming throughqualifying on her way to the last-16 andthen made the third round at the USOpen, only secured a place in the maindraw in Austria as a ‘lucky loser' whensixth seed Maria Sakkari withdrew.

She made the most of her lateopportunity by beating Stefanie Voegelein the opening round on Tuesday.

Gauff was 685 in the world at the

start of 2019 and admitted that makingthe top 100 by the end of the season wasone of her major ambitions.

“It’s been a goal of mine. In Januaryof this year, I sent a message to my friendsaying I wanted to finish Top 100, andat the time I was ranked, like, 800, so itwas a far-fetched goal, but I'm glad thatI was able to accomplish it,” she said.

“My other goal was to get in themain draw of two Grand Slams, and thathappened, so I’m glad that I accom-plished everything that I wanted thisyear. “A lot of my points came from theSlams and this tournament really pushedme inside, and it’s crazy because I’m alucky loser... And now that this has hap-pened, I hope to get as high as possible.

“I don’t really think too muchabout ranking, but you have to havesome stepping stones to reach for.”

Gauff will face either top seed KikiBertens of the Netherlands or Belgium’sAlison Van Uytvanck for a place in theLinz semi-finals.

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