16
I n what could be termed as a move to eliminate regional imbalance in people’s repre- sentation between Jammu and Kashmir regions, the Centre is mulling to appoint a new Delimitation Commission. The Commission will redraw the size of Assembly con- stituencies and determine the number of seats to be reserved for SCs and STs in the Valley. According to highly placed sources, the proposed delimi- tation exercise was discussed in a series of recent meetings chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and attended by Jammu & Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Intelligence Bureau Director Rajiv Jain. The high-level meeting decided to explore legal options on the appointment of the new Delimitation Commission, as the Farooq Abdullah Government had in 2002 passed a law in thAssembly to freeze delimitation up to 2026, which enabled the status quo giving greater number of Assembly seats to the Kashmir region. The last delimitation took place in the State in 1993. Currently, of the total 87 elected members of the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly, Kashmir region has 46 seats but more populous Jammu region has only 37 seats. As the State is under President’s Rule, with Governor’s report and Presidential assent, the Centre can bring a new Delimitation Commission and implement same parameters in the entire State, which would result in increasing the number of seats in the Jammu region. Apart from number para- meters, area factor was also tilt- ed in favour of Kashmir region when last delimitation process was undertaken in 1993. The maximum number of voters in the Assembly seg- ments in the Kashmir region is never more than 80,000. Certain Assembly segments like Gurez in the Kashmir Valley is having around only 25,000 voters. But nearly all Assembly segments in Jammu region have more than 98,000 voters each and majority of the seats have more than 1.25 lakh voters. In nutshell, Jammu region has 37 seats with around 38 lakh voters and Kashmir region has 46 seats with more than 40 lakh voters, including more than 1.2 lakh Kashmiri Hindu votes, who were driven out from the Valley two decades ago when terrorism started. Srinagar Lok Sabha con- stituency has 12,94,560 voters and Anantnag constituency has 13,97,272 voters. Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency in the Kashmir region has 13,17,738 voters. The number of voters in Jammu-Poonch and Kathua- Udhampur Lok Constituencies is 20,47,299 and 16,85,779, respectively. If the new Delimitation Commission implements same parameters across both the divisions in the State, the num- ber of seats would raise up to around 50 seats in the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly with total number of 87 seats, leading to the total change in the politi- cal landscape. K ashmiri separatists Shabir Shah, Asiya Andrabi and Masarat Alam Bhat were arrested on Tuesday in con- nection with a terror funding case and produced before a Delhi court which allowed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) their 10-day custodial interrogation. The case relates to alleged terror funding in the Valley and involves Jama’at-ud-Da’wah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind based based in Pakistan. The NIA arrested the trio during in-chamber proceed- ings before Special Judge Rakesh Syal and sought 15-day custodial interrogation, advo- cate MS Khan, appearing for the accused, told PTI. Shah and Andrabi were already in cus- tody in separate cases, while Alam was brought from Jammu & Kashmir on transit remand where he was lodged in jail for alleged terror activ- ities. Both Shah and Andrabi were produced before the court from jail in pursuance to the production warrants issued earlier. The NIA had filed a chargesheet in January 2018 against Saeed, another terror mastermind Syed Salahuddin and 10 Kashmiri separatists in a case of alleged terror funding and secessionist activities in the valley. While Shah was in judi- cial custody in a decade-old money laundering case for alleged terror financing, Andrabi was in jail in a case of allegedly waging a war against the country and delivering hate speeches in Jammu & Kashmir. According to the NIA, Shah had received 10 lakh from hawala operator Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watal, a co- accused in the case. Besides, the money was also sent to the banned outfit Dukhtaraan-e- Milat of which Andrabi was the chief, the NIA said. W ith more than 24 hours gone without any trace of the missing AN-32 aircraft in Arunachal Pradesh, the IAF on Tuesday intensified the search operations by deploying a long- range maritime reconnaissance aircraft of the Navy besides ot- her aircraft. The Army and In- do-Tibetan Border Police (IT- BP) too have joined the mas- sive search operations and are patrolling the area where the ill-fated transport aircraft car- rying 13 on board, including six crew members, is feared to have crashed on Monday. Besides the induction of the P-8I long-range reconnais- sance aircraft of the Navy, the IAF itself pressed into service two MI-17 helicopters, two advanced light helicopters, a C- 130J plane and SU-30s. They carried out sorties in an effort to track down the plane near Mechuka advanced landing ground in Arunachal Pradesh. In fact, the C-130J plane equipped with synthetic aper- ture radars flew throughout Monday night. S enior Congress leader in Maharashtra and former Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Legislative Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil on Tuesday submitted his resig- nation as a member of the Lower House. The development comes amid reports that he will be joining the BJP along with some Congress MLAs and may be inducted in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Ministry. Vikhe Patil’s son Sujay Vikhe Patil had switched to the BJP from the Congress before Lok Sabha Polls. He won with a margin of 2.81 lakh votes from Ahmednagar Lok Sabha constituency. Vikhe Patil had quit as Leader of Opposition in March, days after his son joined the BJP. The Congress leader sub- mitted his resignation as an MLA to Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagade at his office here, an official said. C ome World Environment Day and social media is flooded with posts on green houses gases, global warming, melting of the polar ice caps and what not. Kids do activities in schools, while some people complete the ritual of showing their sincerity towards saving the environment by planting a couple of saplings. However, far from the hullaballoo of social media, a middle aged man from Palamu in Jharkhand is silently spreading the message of keeping the earth green. Meet Kaushal Kishore Jaiswal (52), who has devot- ed his life to plantation and conservation of green cover. The man, who has planted 37 lakh trees in various parts of the country and even neigh- bouring Nepal and Bhutan, has also been recognised and felicitated by more than 34 national and international awards. Born in the year 1957, he was witness to a major famine, which had occurred in 1966. The condition then was such that people were feeding on leaves. This event left a major impact on him and led him to believe that the root cause behind the famine was the reduced forest cover. He took a major progressive step in order to make sure that a condition of this mag- nitude does not repeat itself. He planted saplings in 7.72 hectares of his inherited land and converted it into a lush green forest cover. This step formed the platform for his future endeavours in this direction. Like every good cause, the journey of Jaiswal was also met with much mockery and skepticism. But like a true warrior he overcame every hurdle and did not lose faith in himself. There also came a time when people had start- ed cutting down trees that were planted by him. This led him to launch green cam- paigns in the year 1977. Today, Jaiswal is known for his green campaign, which goes by the name ‘Paryawaran Dharma’ or ‘Environment Religion’. In addition to this he also launched the Van Rakhi Movement in which people tie rakhis to trees. This movement worked won- ders as it led to 95 per cent survival of trees and saplings in the arid Palamu district. The reason behind this is that people developed a sense of brotherhood for trees and thus protected them from any kind of harm. Eventually, people started getting aware of issues pertaining to envi- ronmental conservation, afforestation, perils of defor- estation etc. The two movements have completed 42 years and around five lakh trees have been tied rakhi in light of the Van Rakhi Movement. Jaiswal observed this flair in people for planting trees and launched a campaign in 2000, in which he gave away 15,000 to 20,000 plants in weekly markets free of cost for plan- tation. He formulated a mantra for conservation of forests and tress. “This has 8 elements and includes a plantation on one’s birthday, conservation of flora, fauna, land, nature, water and a forest etc. is included. In addition to this he has done quite a lot work in order to curb pollution by expanding the forest cover in villages and kitchen planting,” said Jaiswal. His work is published in the class eight book of the of the CBSE curriculum as well as in books of the ICSE cur- riculum. However Jaiswal sounds modest about his work on pro- tecting environment. On being asked if he has some greater motive behind this good work, he plainly replied that he works for nature and does not expect anything in return. “The best gift mankind can give nature is planting trees. This not only helps the popu- lation at present but also the future generations,” he said. For World Environment Day 2019, Jaiswal has planned to spread his word through his campaign across different regions of India including north, east, west and north- eastern states which will end at Bhutan. C hief Minister Raghubar Das today said that the government believes in 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas' and it does not treat people differently. “This is the reason our gov- ernment has built a modern and grand Haj house, meeting the old demand of people in the State,” he said speaking after the inauguration of the Haj House in Ranchi. The CM said that every problem has only one solution and that is development. “Our government is constantly work- ing for the development of the State. The government is bring- ing the plans of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on ground. Both governments do not work for any particular religion. Every citizen is important to us. Our fight is against poverty. Everyone has the right to move forward,” he added. Das said that poor and homeless Muslims got the ben- efit of the Prime Minister hous- ing scheme. There is no dis- crimination in giving benefit of schemes. He said that Muslim women are very skilled. The government is working to train them for self-employment. The CM said that the State has taken a pledge to end pover- ty. “We have natural resources, good environment and hard working manpower for the development of Jharkhand. We are all making New India and New Jharkhand,” he said. On the occasion, Minister of Urban Development, CP Singh said that the construction of Haj House was started in the State earlier as well, but the qual- ity was not up to the mark. Today, the state government has built the Haj house and the dif- ference is visible. The Government does not com- promise with quality. Welfare Minister Dr. Louis Marandi said that the Chief Minister had promised to build the country's best Haj house, which is completed now. Every society is getting the benefit of the schemes of our government. The State Government is also taking full care of the facility of passengers going to Haj from Jharkhand T he State Cabinet on Tuesday approved a research survey for guidance in establishing intellectual prop- erty rights and geographical indication of Jharkhand for the same. The Cabinet decid- ed to outsource this work to the National Law School of India in Bangalore for Rs 33.55 Lakh. The survey will be focused on Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), said State Urban Development Secretary Ajoy Kumar Singh, adding that the research will help small enterprises get intellectual prop- erty rights over their products. The MSME centre in Ranchi will function as the nodal office for this survey. “Deoghar’s peda (an Indian sweet), Sohrai art of Hazaribag and many other prod- ucts and art forms of Jharkhand may come under this survey,” said Singh. The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a total of 20 proposals, including a pilot project for introduction of artificial intelli- gence in the functioning of the Jharkhand High Court. A private company, Mancorp Innovation Labs Private Ltd has been out- sourced the work of ensuring design, development, imple- mentation and support of artifi- cial intelligence in the court in a bid to make Jharkhand High Court a Comprehensive Decision Support Smart Court (CDSSC). “The software will rely on artificial intelligence for col- lecting data and finding order copies in the court,” said Singh. In another move towards digitalization, the Cabinet approved Rs.66,33,000 for digi- talization of the Principal Accountant General’s office in Ranchi. The Cabinet on Tuesday also came up with good news for State government employees. It approved an increase in dearness allowance from 9 per cent to 12 per cent with effect from January 1, 2019 for all the state employ- ees and pensioners. This will cost the state exchequer a sum of Rs.364 crore for working employees and Rs.161 crore for pensioners. This increase in dearness allowance was earlier approved by the centre and replicated by the cabinet on Wednesday. Following an order of the Supreme Court, the Cabinet on Wednesday approved the for- mation of a tribunal to look into the claims made by survivors or family of deceased in cases of road accidents. Besides, the Cabinet approved creation of 279 vacancies for teachers in eight polytechnic colleges and sur- render of 145 such posts. For the creation of the 134 new posts, the state will bear a cost of Rs.5 crore 53 lakh annually. The new posi- tions will be created in Simdega, Sahebganj, Jagganathpur and Dumka, while positions will be surrendered in Chandil, Bahragora and Maheshpur. The Cabinet proposed to give Jharkhand Combined Entrance Competitive Examination (JCEC) the author- ity to hold B.Ed exams and all other examinations on Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets. This proposal will go to the State Assembly for approval. The JCEC holds entrance exam- inations for medical and engi- neering in Jharkhand. Besides, the Cabinet decided to forward an annual report of Jharkhand Public Service Commission for year 2016-2017 to the State Assembly.

 · 2019-06-04 · ˇˆ˙˝˛˚˜ ˜! mastermind based based in ˇˆ ˙ ˝ ˛˘˚ ˘ ˘ ˝˜˚˘ ˘ ! ˙"˛˘ ˙# ˘ˆ $˘ ! ˘ ˛ ˙ ˝ ˆ ˝ %˘ ˘# ˛ˆ% ˘ ˝& "

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In what could be termed as amove to eliminate regional

imbalance in people’s repre-sentation between Jammu andKashmir regions, the Centre ismulling to appoint a newDelimitation Commission.The Commission will redrawthe size of Assembly con-stituencies and determine thenumber of seats to be reservedfor SCs and STs in the Valley.

According to highly placedsources, the proposed delimi-tation exercise was discussed ina series of recent meetingschaired by Union HomeMinister Amit Shah, andattended by Jammu & KashmirGovernor Satya Pal Malik,Home Secretary Rajiv Gaubaand Intelligence BureauDirector Rajiv Jain.

The high-level meetingdecided to explore legal optionson the appointment of the newDelimitation Commission, asthe Farooq AbdullahGovernment had in 2002passed a law in thAssembly tofreeze delimitation up to 2026,which enabled the status quogiving greater number ofAssembly seats to the Kashmirregion. The last delimitationtook place in the State in 1993.

Currently, of the total 87

elected members of the Jammu& Kashmir Assembly, Kashmirregion has 46 seats but morepopulous Jammu region hasonly 37 seats.

As the State is underPresident’s Rule, withGovernor’s report andPresidential assent, the Centrecan bring a new DelimitationCommission and implementsame parameters in the entireState, which would result inincreasing the number of seatsin the Jammu region.

Apart from number para-meters, area factor was also tilt-ed in favour of Kashmir regionwhen last delimitation processwas undertaken in 1993.

The maximum number ofvoters in the Assembly seg-ments in the Kashmir region isnever more than 80,000.Certain Assembly segmentslike Gurez in the KashmirValley is having around only25,000 voters. But nearly allAssembly segments in Jammuregion have more than 98,000voters each and majority of theseats have more than 1.25 lakhvoters.

In nutshell, Jammu regionhas 37 seats with around 38lakh voters and Kashmir regionhas 46 seats with more than 40lakh voters, including morethan 1.2 lakh Kashmiri Hindu

votes, who were driven outfrom the Valley two decadesago when terrorism started.

Srinagar Lok Sabha con-stituency has 12,94,560 votersand Anantnag constituencyhas 13,97,272 voters. BaramullaLok Sabha constituency in theKashmir region has 13,17,738voters. The number of voters inJammu-Poonch and Kathua-Udhampur Lok Constituenciesis 20,47,299 and 16,85,779,respectively.

If the new DelimitationCommission implements sameparameters across both thedivisions in the State, the num-ber of seats would raise up toaround 50 seats in the Jammu& Kashmir Assembly with totalnumber of 87 seats, leading tothe total change in the politi-cal landscape.

��������������� �� ���������

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Kashmiri separatists ShabirShah, Asiya Andrabi and

Masarat Alam Bhat werearrested on Tuesday in con-nection with a terror fundingcase and produced before aDelhi court which allowed theNational Investigation Agency(NIA) their 10-day custodialinterrogation.

The case relates to allegedterror funding in the Valley andinvolves Jama’at-ud-Da’wah(JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the2008 Mumbai terror attackmastermind based based inPakistan.

The NIA arrested the trioduring in-chamber proceed-ings before Special JudgeRakesh Syal and sought 15-day

custodial interrogation, advo-cate MS Khan, appearing forthe accused, told PTI. Shah andAndrabi were already in cus-tody in separate cases, whileAlam was brought fromJammu & Kashmir on transitremand where he was lodged in jail for alleged terror activ-ities. Both Shah and Andrabiwere produced before the courtfrom jail in pursuance to theproduction warrants issuedearlier.

The NIA had filed achargesheet in January 2018against Saeed, another terrormastermind Syed Salahuddinand 10 Kashmiri separatists ina case of alleged terror fundingand secessionist activities in thevalley. While Shah was in judi-cial custody in a decade-old

money laundering case foralleged terror financing,Andrabi was in jail in a case ofallegedly waging a war againstthe country and deliveringhate speeches in Jammu &Kashmir.

According to the NIA,Shah had received �10 lakhfrom hawala operator ZahoorAhmad Shah Watal, a co-accused in the case. Besides, themoney was also sent to thebanned outfit Dukhtaraan-e-Milat of which Andrabi was thechief, the NIA said.

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With more than 24 hoursgone without any trace of

the missing AN-32 aircraft inArunachal Pradesh, the IAF onTuesday intensified the searchoperations by deploying a long-range maritime reconnaissanceaircraft of the Navy besides ot-her aircraft. The Army and In-do-Tibetan Border Police (IT-BP) too have joined the mas-sive search operations and arepatrolling the area where theill-fated transport aircraft car-rying 13 on board, includingsix crew members, is feared tohave crashed on Monday.

Besides the induction ofthe P-8I long-range reconnais-sance aircraft of the Navy, theIAF itself pressed into servicetwo MI-17 helicopters, twoadvanced light helicopters, a C-130J plane and SU-30s. Theycarried out sorties in an effortto track down the plane nearMechuka advanced landingground in Arunachal Pradesh.

In fact, the C-130J planeequipped with synthetic aper-ture radars flew throughoutMonday night.

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

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Senior Congress leader inMaharashtra and former

Leader of Opposition (LoP) inLegislative AssemblyRadhakrishna Vikhe Patil onTuesday submitted his resig-nation as a member of theLower House.

The development comesamid reports that he will bejoining the BJP along withsome Congress MLAs and maybe inducted in the DevendraFadnavis-led Ministry.

Vikhe Patil’s son SujayVikhe Patil had switched to theBJP from the Congress beforeLok Sabha Polls. He won witha margin of 2.81 lakh votesfrom Ahmednagar Lok Sabhaconstituency.

Vikhe Patil had quit asLeader of Opposition in March,days after his son joined the BJP.

The Congress leader sub-mitted his resignation as anMLA to Assembly SpeakerHaribhau Bagade at his officehere, an official said.

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Come World EnvironmentDay and social media is

flooded with posts on greenhouses gases, global warming,melting of the polar ice capsand what not. Kids do activitiesin schools, while some peoplecomplete the ritual of showingtheir sincerity towards savingthe environment by planting acouple of saplings. However, farfrom the hullaballoo of socialmedia, a middle aged manfrom Palamu in Jharkhand issilently spreading the messageof keeping the earth green.

Meet Kaushal KishoreJaiswal (52), who has devot-ed his life to plantation andconservation of green cover.The man, who has planted 37

lakh trees in various parts ofthe country and even neigh-bouring Nepal and Bhutan,has also been recognised andfelicitated by more than 34national and internationalawards.

Born in the year 1957, hewas witness to a majorfamine, which had occurred

in 1966. The condition thenwas such that people werefeeding on leaves. This eventleft a major impact on himand led him to believe that theroot cause behind the faminewas the reduced forest cover.He took a major progressivestep in order to make surethat a condition of this mag-

nitude does not repeat itself.He planted saplings in 7.72hectares of his inherited land

and converted it into a lushgreen forest cover. This stepformed the platform for his

future endeavours in thisdirection.

Like every good cause, thejourney of Jaiswal was alsomet with much mockery andskepticism. But like a truewarrior he overcame everyhurdle and did not lose faithin himself. There also came atime when people had start-ed cutting down trees thatwere planted by him. This ledhim to launch green cam-paigns in the year 1977.

Today, Jaiswal is knownfor his green campaign, whichgoes by the name ‘ParyawaranDharma’ or ‘EnvironmentReligion’. In addition to thishe also launched the VanRakhi Movement in whichpeople tie rakhis to trees.This movement worked won-ders as it led to 95 per centsurvival of trees and saplingsin the arid Palamu district.The reason behind this isthat people developed a senseof brotherhood for trees and

thus protected them fromany kind of harm. Eventually,people started getting awareof issues pertaining to envi-ronmental conser vation,afforestation, perils of defor-estation etc.

The two movements havecompleted 42 years andaround five lakh trees havebeen tied rakhi in light of theVan Rakhi Movement. Jaiswalobserved this flair in peoplefor planting trees andlaunched a campaign in 2000,in which he gave away 15,000to 20,000 plants in weeklymarkets free of cost for plan-tation.

He formulated a mantrafor conservation of forestsand tress. “This has 8 elementsand includes a plantation onone’s birthday, conservation offlora, fauna, land, nature,water and a forest etc. isincluded. In addition to thishe has done quite a lot workin order to curb pollution by

expanding the forest cover invillages and kitchen planting,”said Jaiswal.

His work is published inthe class eight book of the ofthe CBSE curriculum as wellas in books of the ICSE cur-riculum.

However Jaiswal soundsmodest about his work on pro-tecting environment. On beingasked if he has some greatermotive behind this good work,he plainly replied that heworks for nature and does notexpect anything in return.“The best gift mankind cangive nature is planting trees.This not only helps the popu-lation at present but also thefuture generations,” he said.

For World EnvironmentDay 2019, Jaiswal has plannedto spread his word through hiscampaign across differentregions of India includingnorth, east, west and north-eastern states which will endat Bhutan.

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Chief Minister RaghubarDas today said that the

government believes in 'SabkaSath, Sabka Vikas' and it doesnot treat people differently.“This is the reason our gov-ernment has built a modernand grand Haj house, meetingthe old demand of people in theState,” he said speaking after theinauguration of the Haj Housein Ranchi.

The CM said that everyproblem has only one solutionand that is development. “Our

government is constantly work-ing for the development of theState. The government is bring-ing the plans of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on ground.Both governments do not workfor any particular religion.Every citizen is important to us.Our fight is against poverty.Everyone has the right to moveforward,” he added.

Das said that poor andhomeless Muslims got the ben-efit of the Prime Minister hous-ing scheme. There is no dis-crimination in giving benefit ofschemes. He said that Muslimwomen are very skilled. Thegovernment is working to trainthem for self-employment.

The CM said that the Statehas taken a pledge to end pover-ty. “We have natural resources,

good environment and hardworking manpower for the

development of Jharkhand. Weare all making New India and

New Jharkhand,” he said.On the occasion, Minister

of Urban Development, CPSingh said that the constructionof Haj House was started in theState earlier as well, but the qual-ity was not up to the mark.Today, the state government hasbuilt the Haj house and the dif-ference is visible. TheGovernment does not com-promise with quality.

Welfare Minister Dr. LouisMarandi said that the ChiefMinister had promised to buildthe country's best Haj house,which is completed now. Everysociety is getting the benefit ofthe schemes of our government.The State Government is alsotaking full care of the facility ofpassengers going to Haj fromJharkhand

#���������������$%�$���� �����������

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

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The State Cabinet onTuesday approved a

research survey for guidance inestablishing intellectual prop-erty rights and geographicalindication of Jharkhand forthe same. The Cabinet decid-ed to outsource this work to theNational Law School of India inBangalore for Rs 33.55 Lakh.

The survey will be focusedon Micro Small and MediumEnterprises (MSME), said StateUrban Development SecretaryAjoy Kumar Singh, adding thatthe research will help smallenterprises get intellectual prop-erty rights over their products.The MSME centre in Ranchi willfunction as the nodal office forthis survey. “Deoghar’s peda (anIndian sweet), Sohrai art ofHazaribag and many other prod-ucts and art forms of Jharkhandmay come under this survey,”said Singh.

The Cabinet on Tuesdayapproved a total of 20 proposals,including a pilot project forintroduction of artificial intelli-gence in the functioning of theJharkhand High Court. A privatecompany, Mancorp InnovationLabs Private Ltd has been out-sourced the work of ensuringdesign, development, imple-mentation and support of artifi-cial intelligence in the court in abid to make Jharkhand HighCourt a ComprehensiveDecision Support Smart Court(CDSSC). “The software will relyon artificial intelligence for col-lecting data and finding ordercopies in the court,” said Singh.

In another move towardsdigitalization, the Cabinet

approved Rs.66,33,000 for digi-talization of the PrincipalAccountant General’s office inRanchi.

The Cabinet on Tuesdayalso came up with good news forState government employees. Itapproved an increase in dearnessallowance from 9 per cent to 12per cent with effect from January1, 2019 for all the state employ-ees and pensioners. This will costthe state exchequer a sum ofRs.364 crore for workingemployees and Rs.161 crore forpensioners. This increase indearness allowance was earlierapproved by the centre andreplicated by the cabinet onWednesday.

Following an order of theSupreme Court, the Cabinet onWednesday approved the for-mation of a tribunal to look intothe claims made by survivors orfamily of deceased in cases ofroad accidents. Besides, theCabinet approved creation of 279vacancies for teachers in eightpolytechnic colleges and sur-render of 145 such posts. For thecreation of the 134 new posts, thestate will bear a cost of Rs.5 crore53 lakh annually. The new posi-tions will be created in Simdega,Sahebganj, Jagganathpur andDumka, while positions will besurrendered in Chandil,Bahragora and Maheshpur.

The Cabinet proposed togive Jharkhand CombinedEntrance CompetitiveExamination (JCEC) the author-ity to hold B.Ed exams and allother examinations on OpticalMark Recognition (OMR)sheets. This proposal will go tothe State Assembly for approval.The JCEC holds entrance exam-inations for medical and engi-neering in Jharkhand. Besides,the Cabinet decided to forwardan annual report of JharkhandPublic Service Commission foryear 2016-2017 to the StateAssembly.

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Ahead of the Eid festival,security has been beefed

up in Dhanbad and Bokaro.Planned mock drills have beenorganized and paramilitarytroops conducted flag march indifferent parts in twin districton Tuesday.

On the direction of high-er-ups, a high alert has beendeclared, cops are instructed totackle all the adverse situationsand keep strong securityarrangements. Patrolling hasbeen intensified to avert anyuntoward incidents, said P

Murugan, SP Bokaro.Forces have been directed

to keep a vigil on anti-socialelements including mobike rid-ers inside the city as well as onthe entry point in the cities.Miscreants would be dealtstrictly and no compromise willbe made in providing securityto the people, he said.

To curb rumours policevowed to take action againstthose who have been spreadingfalse information. Police urgedpeople not to spread rumourson social sites or be influ-enced by them; “stiff actionwould be taken against rumourmongers,” said the SP.

"We have already issued adirective to social mediagroups, WhatsApp andFacebook group administrators

and members, not to spreadrumors, offensive messagesahead of any festival.Administrator of a group onthe social media is liable forprosecution if any rumour orfake news is circulated on it," headded.

"Social media platformsallow a person to create agroup on which members canshare views, photographs orvideos. Misuse of social mediawith fake news, morphed pho-tographs and disturbing videoswith fabricated local narra-tives can easily be circulatedthat can trigger tension andeven communal split," said theSP.

He said, while freedom ofexpression on social media isimportant, it also comes with

a responsibility. “It has beenmade clear that any misleadinginformation or rumour (factu-ally incorrect) on a social mediagroup could result in an FIRagainst the group administra-tor,” he added.

Like the previous yearmore than 23 spots were iden-tified as the most sensitiveplace and cops were asked tokeep special attention in thoseregions. Though peace com-mittee meets were organisedunder several police stations tomaintain harmony during thefestivity. Religious leaders fromall communities, volunteers,Senior citizens, the local busi-nessman, eminent citizens, pro-fessionals, youngsters have alsoparticipated in peace meet-ings.

“Stresses were given onfostering peace and harmonyby bringing people together tofight anti-social elements dur-ing the meet”, informed JVGupta OC of Herla Police sta-tion.

“In a bid to foil any unso-cial activities we will standtogether like a family memberand maintain peace,” saidSamsher member of the com-mittee.

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Planning to book air-condi-tioned cottages at

Makulakocha in DalmaWildlife Sanctuary think twiceas the waiting list for bookinglasts till August. Tourists fromdifferent places have reservedthe four cottages for the nextthree months for spendingquality time in natural sur-roundings this summer.

With monsoon round thecorner, tourists are not takingrisk when it comes to bookingthe facilities. Tourists fromJharkhand, Bengal and Odishaflock the sanctuary 192 sq kmelephant abode during mon-soon to enjoy the flora andfauna.

“We have bookedMakulakocha facility from June9 onwards till the end ofAugust,” a staff at forest rangeoffice in Mango informed. Thetariff for each cottage withattached toilets, a refrigeratorand TV, is �1,100, including�100 for maintenance, pernight. A cafeteria inside thecompound serves vegetarianand non-veg food. Tariff fornon-Ac rooms is Rs 600 pernight.

Dalma range officer R.P.Singh said Dalma like alwaysthey would like to providequality service to the tourists.“ We are happy with theresponse. Dalma is one of thefavourite getaway destinations.People have lot to see here.

The footfall increases dur-ing the rainy season,” he added.

The forest department’sfocus on infrastructure devel-opment has played a key role inincreasing revenue as well asthe footfall this time. TheDalma sanctuary, known for itsscenic beauty and large pres-ence of the elephants has wit-nessed a gradual improvementon the infrastructure frontwith setting up of mud hous-es, cafeteria, watch tower andrest rooms.

Dalma sprawls over anarea of 193 square kilometresand houses 85 villages insidethe enclave and 51 villages inits periphery. Dalma is fre-quently visited people ofOdisha and Kolkata. In fact alarge number of foreigners alsovisited Dalma last year.

An officer said that theefforts taken by the forestdepartment has helped them tospread greater awareness onenvironment conservation too.Tourists from Jharkhand,Bengal, Odisha andChhatisgarh visit Dalma sanc-tuary and prefer to stay at thePinderbera forest guest house.

Inaugurated by late SanjayGandhi in 1975, the sanctuaryis 10 kms from the city, to thenorth of Subarnarekha River.About 6 km from east to west,the sanctuary extends over 193sq km in to the thick forests ofthe Dalma mountain range,which rise to 3000 ft.

Accessible by road, Dalmais famous for its herds of wildelephants, barking deer's, slothbears, leopards, porcupinesand tigers.

���� 67��'7

Aiming to create awarenessand to save the environ-

ment, many organisations atBokaro and Dhanbad tried tomake a difference in a bid tocelebrate World EnvironmentDay.

On the pre-evening of theday several PSUs includingSAIL’s Bokaro Steel Plant(BSL), Dalmia Cement,Vedanta-Electrosteel, BPSCLconducted plantation drivesand organsied rallies to makethe mass aware to mark theoccasion.

A rally was also organizedby CSR and Environmentdepartment of Vedanta-Electrosteel Group at

Bhagabandh. Thousands ofpeople, villagers and studentshave participated in the rally.

Amidst several crusadesincluding tying bands to thetrees, hugging the trees, paint-ing faces and covering bodieswith leaves, few NGOs’ plant-ed trees and organizes meet toprotect and conserve forestand mountains in Bokaro.

Wishes greener and saferenvironment for future schoolstudents observed the day withgreat enthusiasm, “We pro-mote sustainable and saferenvironment by inculcatingthe love for nature among ourstudents.

We endorse greener andcleaner environment by adopt-ing and preserving diverse

flora, promoting less energyconsumption, no use of polybags and recycling of usedproducts, said SandeepAcharya Head of HSEDepartment of Vedanta-Electrosteel.

He urged all to plant atleast one tree in their house.

Expressing concern overthe consistently raising of airpollution Acharya said, inevery region across the world,people are breathing in toxicair which is reducing our age.All possible efforts should bemade to avoid air pollutionsincluding the burning of waste,burning forests and fields. Weshould also make efforts toprevent the diseases caused byair pollution, he said.

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Ranchi DC, Rai MahimapatRay today chaired a meet-

ing to discuss the programmesto be organised on theInternational Yoga Day onJune 21. In the meeting hegave necessary instructionsfor the preparations and suc-cessful execution.

About 50,000 people areexpected to take part in theprogramme thus keeping this

in mind Ray also instructedfor better community man-agement focusing on the avail-ability of security, water, pub-lic toilets and volunteers forhelp.

Ray asked the centralexecutive engineering depart-ment-1 and CentralEngineering department -2for the erection of the stageand the area manifested forthe people to perform yoga onthe set date.

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The allegation of negli-gence in the kidney trans-

plantation of patient RajeshKumar Paswan in MedantaHospital Ranchi has beenfound correct in the depart-mental investigation. Whilereviewing complaints in theweekly review programme ofJansamvad Kendra here onTuesday, Principal Secretaryto CM Sunil Kumar Barnwalordered action against hospi-tal management and return-ing the entire amount takenfor the treatment to thepatient.

The farmers of Murkundavillage of Gumla district didnot receive the sum for cropinsurance insured in the year2016-17, Barnwal directedthe Nodal Officer of theAgriculture Department tosummon the officers of theAgricultural InsuranceCompany of India to makepayment of the insuranceclaimed with interest. Actionagainst the insurance compa-ny was also directed.

Bir ju L a l Roy ofSahibganj, had insuranceunder the Prime Minister'sInsurance Protect ionScheme, in Luckipur branchof Allahabad Bank and afterhis death in the road accidenton October 6, 2015, his fam-ily did not receive the sum.

The Principle Secretaryinstructed action against thebranch manager of AllahabadBank for delaying the matterfor 3 years.

Construction of bridgestarted in 2013 in Noniyatangvillage of Deoghar, but itswork is not completed tilltoday, the Principle Secretarydirected the officers of theRural DevelopmentDepartment to blacklist thecontractor and take actionagainst the Execut ive

Engineer. He also instructedto submit the report about allthe pending and incompleteschemes of RuralDevelopment Departmentacross the State.

In Ramgarh, an accusedof rape with minorRamashish Dubey is notarrested even after one year.On this the Pr incipleSecretary expressed deep dis-satisfaction and ordered toupload report about actiontaken against him inJansamvad portal by arrestingthe accused within a week.

On the complaint ofemployees employed throughoutsourcing at theCommunity Health Center inBhandra, Lohardaga, aboutpending payment since 30thJuly.

The Principle Secretaryinstructed the officials ofHealth Department to releaseallocation within a week.

On the complaint ofNaresh Paharia from Jamtaraabout not being appointedafter the order of D C,Barnwal instructed to appointhim as soon as possible.

In the case related toirregularities in the electionof Deputy Mukhiya, againstthe then Regional Officer LiliElona Lakra, the principlesecretary ordered that actionshould be taken as per theform 'A' in this matter.

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While the temperature inCapital city is touching

42 degree Celsius, a govern-ment report on forest area inRanchi division shows anincrease in the forest cover.

According to the latestIndian State of Forest Report(ISFR) published by ForestSurvey of India in 2018,Ranchi increased its forestarea by 10 sq km since 2015,the highest increase among allthe districts in Jharkhand.This increase happeneddespite rapid urbanisationand development in the city.The Pioneer contacted envi-ronmentalists and govern-ment officials on the issue

ahead of World EnvironmentDay.

“As the data shows, thecity’s forest area has increasedin the last few years. It is theresult of a targeted approachof the Ranchi Forest Division,where we have different man-agement policies for differentkinds of forests,” said SushilOraon, Assistant Conservatorof Forest, Ranchi ForestDivision. As per the report,Ranchi currently has 63 sq.km of ‘Very Dense Forest’, 364sq. km of ‘Moderately DenseForest’, and 737 sq. km of‘Open Forest’.

“We focus on the mainte-nance and improvement ofdense forests, and try toincrease density of the mod-

erately dense forests so thatthey are promoted to thedense forest category. Foropen forests, we push forafforestation, so that the over-all forest cover increases,”Oraon said. He said that thePollution Board is organisingan event on Wednesday tomark World Environment

Day.An initiative was under-

taken recently by the RanchiSmart City Corporation(RSCC) along with JharkhandUrban InfrastructureDevelopment CompanyLimited ( JUIDCO) andLarson and Toubro (L&T) onSunday, where officials from

the three companies planteda lot of saplings to compen-sate for the various ongoingprojects across the State.

However, environmental-ists have continued to showconcern over the matter.Environmentalist NitishPriyadarshi raised the issue ofthe environmental concernsof the loss of trees due torapid construction work inthe city.

He also stressed on theimpossibility of recoveringlost forests. “We cannot cre-ate forests. We can plant trees,but forests are natural thatdevelop over a long period oftime,” he said. “Also, plantingtrees is easy, but protectingand caring for them requirescommitment. Instead of justplanting trees and forgettingabout it, the governmentshould have a long term pol-icy, so that the planted trees

are cared for when they beginto grow in two three years.Planting trees is just a for-mality if the there is no fol-low-up,” he added.

Priyadarshi, who teachesGeology at Ranchi University,dismissed the governmentdata and pointed out the evi-dent ill-effects of deforesta-tion. “The increase in tem-perature, the water crisis, theman-animal conf licts inneighbouring areas are allresults of this increasing lossof forests.” He suggested manyways to combat the problem.“Public awareness, strict gov-ernment policy, cultivationof barren land are all benefi-cial steps,” he said. “We canalso follow the example of thesacred forests of Meghalaya,where nothing is allowed toleave the forest groves due tothe religious beliefs of theindigenous cultures.”

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Chief Minister RaghubarDas today dedicated the

state-of-art Haj House to peo-ple of the State. The Haj Housebuilt at an area of 1 acre of landhas come up demolishing theold structure which existedearlier at the same site. In2006-07, the then UPAGovernment cleared a pro-posal for construction of five-storied Haj House at an esti-mated cost of �5 crore.

The quality of work wasso poor that its walls startedcollapsing during construc-tion itself. In 2009, severallabourers were injured whena portico of the under con-struction building collapsed.After the incident, the thenG o v e r n o rK.Sankaranarayanan orderedfor technical inspections ofthe building. At that timeJharkhand was underPresident’s rule.

Jharkhand StateMinorities Commission chair-man Md Kamal Khan said,

“After the incident, mediastarted highlighting the poorconstruction of Haj House. Asmedia started digging onloopholes of constructionwork at that time newspapershad reports about anomaliesin construction work.” Onpressure of opposition partiesand public, a team of techni-cians comprising engineersfrom BIT Mesra and a privateconstruction company car-ried out the inspection of thestructure.

The committee in itsinspection report declared thebuilding dangerous statingthat it could collapse anytime.The committee in its reportstated that low quality con-struction materials were usedin the construction work andthe agency which had con-structed the structure hadfloated norms in the project.After committee report, in2012 the State Governmentordered a vigilance inquiry.

When the Raghubar DasGovernment came to power in2014, based on vigilance

inquiry and directions fromCourt the State Governmentdecided to demolish the struc-ture as it was fatal for people.The Raghubar Government atthe same time decided tobuild new building with worldclass facilities.

State Urban Developmentdepartment minister CPSingh who too was present atthe inauguration of new build-ing said, “The old Haj Housewhich was constructed during

UPA Government tenure wasin such dilapidated state thatonce I had the chance of vis-iting the building. The care-takers of the Haj House askedme to be cautious as part ofbuilding material can fall atany time. I too was wonderedwith poor construction work.”

“As a public representative(Singh that time was onlyMLA) I decided to meet thenMinority Welfare MinisterHaji Hussain Ansari. I high-

lighted the poor constructionwork of the Haj House, but theMinister was speechless. Later,I came to know that theMinister’s son was involved inthe construction work of thestructure,” he said.

The state-of-art HajHouse is built at an area of onelakh square feet comes up atthe cost of �50 crore. In April2017, then President PranabMukherjee during his visit toState capital laid the founda-tion stone of the building. Thefive-storeyed Haj House isconstructed according toMugal architecture. Around1,000 people can offer Namazat one time.

The Haj House consists oftwo storeyed undergroundparking. It consists of a prayerroom, Visa room, kitchen andVIP room. A total of 150men and 80 women can stayat a time. It is centrally air-conditioned apart from hugeHVLS ceiling fans fitted in thebuilding. Similar type of ceil-ing fans is fitted at MumbaiAirport.

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On the occasion of WorldEnvironment Day,

Central Mine Planning andDesign Institute (CMPDI), asubsidiary of Coal IndiaLimited (CIL) on Sunday,organsied various competi-tions creating environmentawareness for school chil-dren.

The event ranges fromdrawing competition, essaywriting, quiz, slogan writingand others.

The jury of the events wasMeeta Sharan, ManjulaShukla, AlaknandaChakraborty from KasturiMahila Sabha.

The winners in the vari-ous competitions includesAarna Sinha, Mayank, VedVatsal, Arya Sinha, AnkitKumar Mahto, Khushi Ran,Aayonija Chuhan among oth-ers.

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Telco, the integral part ofJamshedpur, has always

been one of a kind. Surroundedby lush greenery, open parksand green meadows Telco hasinevitably appealed the heartsof the masses. Visualized by thefounder, J.N Tata, the plan waslater executed by his sonDorabji Tata, the layout ofTelco has been developed inharmony with its natural sur-roundings. In keeping withthe high and noble traditions ofthe house of Tatas, the man-agement of Tata Motors hastaken the full responsibility oftaking care and structuringthis part of the city.

“The township has its ownidentity. Away from hustle and

bustle of city life, Telco Colonyis well furnished with all themeans essential for a living. Beit schools, markets, clubs, quar-ters and even spots for recre-ation and places of worship forall faith too. Telco Colony isone of those areas in the city tohave the top most schools, ahospital to provide medicalassistance, nearby markets,clubs and centres maintainedby the town administration foravocation. At the heart of thecolony lies the industryresponsible for this magnifi-cent layout and planning TataMotors,” said Rakesh Prasad, alocal resident.

Telco is also one of thoseareas to have the biggest indus-trial outlets of Jamshedpur toname a few Tata Cummins,Tata Lafarge, Tata Power,

Indian Steel and Wire Product(ISWP).

In an effort to keep thebeauty of the natural setting ofthe area, trees, open spaces andfeatures like rocks, outcrops,etc, which punctuate the land-scape have been left, as far aspossible untouched. Asadmirable, as it sounds one canalways feel the warmth and

snug when in Telco Colony.The township got new

identity with establishment ofTata Motors plant. With theplant manufacturing over 200truck variants, ranging frommulti-axle trucks, tractor-trail-

ers, tippers, mixers and specialapplication vehicles, theJamshedpur facility has ledthe company's evolution into amanufacturer of global repute.Besides India, these vehiclesare sold in South Africa,

Russia, Myanmar, the SAARCregion and the Middle East.

The Jamshedpur facilitywas Tata Motors' first, set up in1945, to manufacture steamlocomotives.

It led the company's forayinto commercial vehicles in1954. It has been modernisedthrough the decades, with aparticularly intense scale in thelast 10 years.&��%��&�,�������� )�����������

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The State BJP leadershiptoday lashed out at

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) executive president andformer Chief Minister HemantSoren for his remark againstChief Minister Raghubar Das.State BJP unit, spokesperson,Pravin Prabhakar addressing apress conference at State BJPoffice said, “Hemant Sorenshould mind his language. Heshould think before makingany unsavoury remarks againstDas.”

“The people will State injust concluded Lok Sabha elec-tions have rejected JMM andtheir policies. The people incoming Assembly elections willagain give same treatment toJMM and otherMahagathbandhan parties ifthey fail to understand thepulse of people,” addedPrabhakar.

The BJP leader’s statementwas against Soren where he hadsaid that in coming assemblyelection, the people of State willreject BJP at the same timeJMM will launch an agitationfor ouster of outsider Chief

Minister, Raghubar Das.At the two day working

committee and legislature partymeet, Soren had said that hisparty will launch an agitationagainst outsider (Chhattisgarhi)chief minister. Raghubar Dasfamily who hailed fromChhattisgarh had migrated toJharkhand (then Bihar) morethan six decades back. Dashad done his education andstarted his labour union politicsfrom Jamshedpur before elect-ing to MLA and then becom-ing Chief Minister. But, JMMand other Mahagathbandhanleaders have been attackingDas as outsider.

The BJP leader said thatJMM leader has learn the art ofmaking un-parliamentaryremark against his opponentfrom Congress president RahulGandhi. “Entire country hasseen the fate of Rahul Gandhiafter Lok Sabha election results.The people of country haverejected Rahul Gandhi for hisremark on Rafale andChowidar,” said Prabhakar.

The defeat of Congressparty is such shocking forRahul Gandhi that theCongress leadership had even

put a gag order on hisspokespersons from attendingdebate on television channels.

The BJP said that in com-ing Assembly election the peo-ple of state will reject JMMespecially from Santhal Parganathe traditional bastion of JMM.The defeat of JMM chief ShibuSoren from Dumka is shockingfor JMM but for BJP it wasexpected as the JMM leadershiphad done nothing for welfare ofpeople of tribals.

On the issue of four par-ties—JMM, Congress, JVMand RJD again forming allianceagainst BJP in assembly elec-tion, the BJP spokespersonsaid: “State has seen how fourparties fought each other overseat sharing 9in Lok Sabha.

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Irregular disbursement offunds by the Sarva Siksha

Abhiyan (SSA) is eating intothe State exchequer inJharkhand and causing delay inpayment of honorarium to the67,000 odd para teachers in theState, officials from the SchoolEducation and Literacy depart-ment said on Tuesday.

The para teachersappointed under the SSA pro-gramme of the Centre back in2002, impart education tostudents in rural and semi-urban and rural areas of theState. Some of the schools,hardly a few kilometer fromthe State capital’s peripheryare run by para teachersalone.

These teachers have notreceived their payments forthe month of February, Marchand May this year.

State School Educationand Literacy Secretar yAmrendra Pratap Singh said

that the SSA is yet to sanctionits funding to Jharkhand forthe current fiscal. “Last year,the SSA approved �1,000crore and disbursed only �700crore. We had to manage theremaining �300 crore fromthe State exchequer,” Singhsaid.

He, however, added thatthe payment for the month ofMay is likely to be made tothe para teachers by June 15this year. The para teachershere get a monthly pay of�9,438.

Meanwhile, due to elec-tions this year, the PublicAccounts Committee (PAC) isyet to be formed. The fund tobe allocated to Jharkhandunder SSA will be finalisedonly after PAC’s meeting,officials said.

“We have managed to paythe para teachers for themonth of April. Their pay forthat month has already beencredited to their accounts,”Singh said.

While the para teachershave been up in arms againstthe alleged apathy of the gov-ernment towards them sinceyears, all of them were asked

to go on poll duties during therecently concluded Lok Sabhapolls in Jharkhand. The teach-ers were paid �1,600 to �2,000for their poll duties, theysaid. The latest in a series ofprotests by these teachers wasa strike from November 16,2018 to January 17, 2019.

“We are somehow man-aging our expenses in absenceof pay from the government.Even last year our paymentswere delayed,” said SanjayDubey, a para teacher atHazaribag Basic School inBarhi block. Dubey, who alsohappens to be a member ofthe Jharkhand Ekakrit ParaSikshak Sangh, added that themany teachers were awaitingregularisation of services inorder to get regular pay.

Department off icials,however, said that the num-ber of para teachers is likelyto fall in the state followingtests. The untrained parateachers will no longer servetheir duties after the scrutinylater this year, they added.

The fall in the number ofpara teachers is likely toreduce the financial burdenon the state and the SSA.

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Trashing Union MinisterHarsimrat Badal’s allega-

tions as “atrocious” and “mis-leading”, Punjab ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh on Tuesday said that itwas the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) that wasusing a grave issue like drugsto divert public attention fromtheir own responsibility in the matter.

Reacting strongly toHarsimrat’s charges that hisgovernment had failed to curbdrugs menace in the State, theChief Minister expressedshocked and disgust atHarsimrat’s brazen lies andattempts to cover up the mis-deeds of the previous SAD-BJP government with suchfalsehoods.

Pointing out that this wasnot the first time he hadurged the Prime Minister tocome out with a nationaldrugs policy to tackle themenace, the Chief Ministersaid that Harsimrat’s remarkshad exposed her total igno-rance of the ground realitiesin the State and her despera-tion to regain the confidenceof Punjab’s people, particu-larly the youth whose lives theBadal regime had destroyedby allowing the drugs mafia toflourish under their rule.

“Not only the Congressgovernment has broken thebackbone of the drugs mafiain the State, it has also putmajority of the drug smug-glers and dealers behind bars,while the remaining few hadfled in panic,” the ChiefMinister pointed.

But obsessed as she iswith her own personal inter-ests, Harsimrat had neverbothered to find out howmany drug peddlers havebeen arrested and how manyyouth are undergoing treat-ment in the OOAT clinics setup by his government, hesaid.

He said that Harsimrat’spropensity for spreading dis-information had blindedthem to the fact that the peo-ple of Punjab, who had suf-fered under their misrule for10 years, were no longer will-ing to be fooled by their liesand fabrications.

“Is she (Harsimrat) sodumb that she does not knowthat drugs is an inter-stateproblem, with national reper-cussions? With poppy culti-

vation legal in some states andPakistan also pushing drugsfrom across the borders, any-one with a little sense wouldhave figured out the impor-tance of collective efforts byall states, spearheaded by theCentral Government, to tack-le the menace. But Harsimratis in the habit of shootingfrom her mouth, withoutunderstanding the meaningor implications of her words,”he said.

Responding toHarsimrat’s tweet, in whichshe a lso said that theCongress MLAs were blamingpolice-political nexus, theChief Minister said that hisparty MLAs had also beenbaying for the Badal’s bloodand wanted them to be pun-ished without even a properinvestigation in many cases,including sacrilege and drugs.“So I should listen to themand throw you all behindbars,” Capt Amarinderquipped to Harsimrat.

The Congress MLAs, likethe other people of the state,had suffered under the Badalrule and were angry for havocwreaked by the SAD-BJP gov-ernment on them, and werenaturally reacting to the factthat the perpetrators of thevarious crimes seem to begoing scot free, said the ChiefMinister, asserting that therewas no way he would allowany criminal, howsoever higha position he might haveoccupied in the erstwhile gov-ernment, to escape punish-ment.

“You are all going to payfor your sins,” said the Chief Minister, adding thatmaking such frivolous andbaseless allegations would nothelp save Harsimrat KaurBadal or the rest of the Badalclan from the wrath of thepeople or from being pun-ished under the law for thecrimes committed under theirnose, and maybe at theirbehest.

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Union Minister PrahladSingh Patel, who took

charge of the Tourism Ministryon Tuesday, said his endeavourwould be to take forward thework done in the sector in thelast five years and break thestereotypes associated withBundelkhand region ofMadhya Pradesh and Northeastto promote the regions as trav-el destinations.

Patel, a BJP MP fromDamoh in Madhya Pradesh,who has also managed theparty’s affairs in Manipur, saidmore tourism opportunitiesare now opening up inNortheast region with “insur-gency being reigned in”.

He was interacting withreporters at his office inTransport Bhawan here, aftertaking charge as the Minister ofState for Tourism (IndependentCharge).

“There is this wrong per-ception that people have about

Bundelkhand, that there is a lotof poverty there and migrationis happening, but its rich historyand heritage has not received itsdue. One of my priorities as aminister would be to get theplace its due,” Singh said.

“Northeast too is a big,beautiful region and has somuch more tourism opportu-nities after insurgency has beenreigned in,” Singh said.

Asked about apprehensionbeing raised in the past about“saffronisation” being intro-duced in the name of promot-ing cultural and tourism sites,he said, “Those detractors needto do introspection.”

“When one talks abouttourism, a culturally rich anddiverse country that India is, theelement of celebrating our cul-ture automatically comes in...Look what happened in KumbhMela, the scale with which itwas organised by the govern-ment, and the message that itconveyed to the society and theworld at large,” Singh said.

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Ayear after two north Keraladistricts were hit by Nipah

claiming 17 lives, the diseaseresurfaced in the State with a23-year-old student here con-firmed to be infected with thepotentially deadly virus.

The Government said 311people from various districtswith whom the student hadinteracted were under obser-vation. The student, who isbeing treated at a private hos-pital here, is slowly improvingand his fever subsiding, accord-ing to a medical bulletin.

The results of blood sam-ples of the student, which weretested at the National Instituteof Virology in Pune, have con-firmed Nipah, State Healthminister KK Shailaja said here.

The result came this morn-ing, she added. Earlier, bloodsamples examined at two virol-ogy institutes — ManipalInstitute of Virology and KeralaInstitute of Virology and

Infectious Diseases — hadindicated Nipah.

The Government said fourpeople — three who attendedto the student initially andone person who studied withhim — were suffering fromfever and sore throat.

They were shifted to theisolation ward set up at theKalamassery Medical CollegeHospital here for detailed med-ical examination. Their healthcondition is satisfactory,according to authorities.

Shailaja said the conditionof the student is stable and hewas not put under any supportsystem like ventilator. “Goodcare is being given to thepatient. The patient sometimesbecome restless due tofever...We expect a good result,”she told reporters.

A medical bulletin issuedby the hospital late in the nightsaid he was admitted on May30. “At present, the patient isclinically stable, slowly improv-ing and his fever is subsiding,”

it said. The DMO has supplied

the necessary anti-viral med-ications as soon as the case wasnotified and the hospital wasable to start medicationspromptly, it said.

The hospital is strictlyabiding by all public health pro-tocols as suggested by the dis-trict and State health authori-ties and closely coordinatingwith them in the best interestof patient and community, itadded.

A Government bulletinsaid a list of 311 people, whohave interacted with the stu-dent, has been prepared andthey were under medical obser-vation. The student, hailingfrom North Paravur inErnakulam, is studying in a col-lege in Thodupuzha in Idukkidistrict.

The student, who was suf-fering from fever, had gone toThrissur district with a groupof students to attend a trainingprogramme.

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The pre-monsoon seasonthis year is the second dri-

est in 65 years, with grossrainfall deficiency recorded at25 per cent, said private fore-caster Skymet.

The country witnessed 99mm of rainfall in the three-month pre-monsoon seasonthat ended on May 31, againstthe average of 131.5 mm, it said.

All the four regions of thecountry — Northwest India,Central India, East andNortheast India as well asSouth Peninsula — haverecorded deficit rains of 30 percent, 18 per cent, 14 per centand 47 per cent respectively.

“This has been the seconddriest pre-monsoon season inthe last 65 years, with the low-est being recorded in 2012when countrywide cumulativerainfall deficiency had mount-ed to 31 per cent,” Skymet said.

“In fact, pre-monsoonrains in 2019 have exactly per-formed the same as in 2009.That year too saw similar rain-fall, resulting in 25 per cent lag

in rains.”It also said there was sim-

ilarity between 2009 and 2019as “they have been El Niñoyears. Thus, rains have beenreacting in a somewhat identi-cal pattern”.

El Niño is a sea surfacetemperature situation over thePacific Ocean that is said tohave strong negative influenceon Indian monsoon.

Skymet has expressed con-cerns over the performance ofmonsoon this year, saying the“mere presence” of El Niñocould affect it. “We had seenmild El Niño in 2009, with

Niño 3.4 indices jugglingbetween 0.5 degree Celsius and0.7 degree Celsius. However, itresulted in a severe drought tothe tune of 22 per cent,” it said.

“Coming to 2019, therehas been excessive warming inthe Pacific Ocean and Nino 3.4indices have been settling in therange of 0.7 degree Celsius to0.9 degree Celsius so far. It isalready affecting monsoon sea-son as we expect below normalrains during the onset monthof June by at least 23 per cent.”

Skymet has predicted“below normal” monsoon thisyear to the tune of 93 per centof the long period average(LPA) of 887 mm.

The average or normalrainfall in the country isdefined between 96 per centand 104 per cent of the 50-yearaverage for the entire four-month monsoon season.

It also said that this year thecountry’s southern and centralstates might witness late andweak monsoon and advisedfarmers to postpone the sow-ing of kharif crops to at least thesecond week of June.

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Experts from the IndianMedical Association, Delhi

Medical Association and doc-tors from a private hospitalgathered Tuesday on the eve ofWorld Environment Day toraise awareness about air pol-lution and its impact on health.

The event was in line withthis year’s theme of ‘Beat AirPollution’ and a call to actionfor all citizens to combat thisglobal crisis at an individuallevel as well. Experts high-lighted how much each indi-vidual on average contributesto air pollution and ways toreduce air pollution with col-lective efforts of the society.

Dr Girish Tyagi, president,Delhi Medical Association said,

“Burning waste in the open isone of the factors for increas-ing pollution levels. Organicwaste in landfills release harm-ful dioxins, methane and blackcarbon into the atmosphere.”

The event was held byApollo Hospitals in collabora-tion with the IMA.“Understanding the differenttypes of pollution and how haz-ardous it is to our health andenvironment will help us totake steps towards improvingthe air quality around us.

“Often we can’t even see it,but air pollution is around useverywhere. We can’t stopbreathing, but we certainly cantake small initiatives at our endto improve air quality,” said DrAnil Goyal, Convenor, WorldEnvironment Day, IMA.

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BJP leader Vasundhara Rajedemanded resignation of

Chief Minister Ashok Gehloton Tuesday over rape cases inthe State.

She said the Governmenthas lost confidence of MLAsand Ministers and the ChiefMinister should resign.

“Almost 12 cases of rapesare happening in the statedaily. After Thanagaji rapecase, another big incident ofgang rape came to light in Pali.It is the failure of the AshokGehlot government,” the for-mer Chief Minister said in astatement here.

A woman was allegedlygangraped in Pali and shelodged a complaint against fivemen on Sunday.

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Asoftware engineer, AvinashKuna, 30, hailing from

Vizag city drowned in a UnitedStates lake while he was on aboat ride with his friends tocelebrate his birthday.

Sources said the NewJersey police fished out thebody of Avinash Kuna onMonday. He reportedlydrowned after diving off arental pontoon boat in LakeHopatcong, New Jersey and gotstuck in a weed on Saturday.

After the tragic incident,his friends started an onlinefundraiser to send the bodyback to India for his family andwell-wishers to perform the lastrites. So far $37,000 has beencrowd sourced.

According to sources, Kuna

had rented the boat and invit-ed eight friends from his work-place at the UPS TechnologyCenter in Parsippany, for asunny Saturday afternoon rideon New Jersey’s largest fresh-water lake.

During the boating, Kuna,who loves swimming, jumpedoff the boat. But, he got caughthis leg in the weed, and heseemed to have drowned rightaway, according to his friends.

Avinash was working as asoftware engineer at UPSTechnology Centre inParrsippany and his father KVenkata Rao is a senior fore-man with Visakhapatnam SteelPlant (VSP) here in Vizag city.

Avinash had gone to USA fiveyears back to pursue MS andlater joined UPS Technology assoftware engineer.

Family members and rela-tives of Avinash said that thetragic incident took place twodays after his birthday cele-brations (May 28).

Avinash dived in the waterwhich is only about 6 to 7 feetdeep, but the weeds are around3 feet high. Avinash was caughtin the mire of the lake and hedidn’t resurface. The NewJersey police launched a searchand rescue operation and theyfinally retrieved the body.

Parents and sister of Avinashare in a deep shock after theyreceived the tragic informationfrom their son’s friends andemployer. This is the third inci-dent that a Vizag youth died ofdrowning in the US.

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The Ahmedabad MunicipalCorporation (AMC) is

launching for the first time indecades a massive Sabarmatiriver clean-up campaigninvolving around 20,000 peo-ple on the World EnvironmentDay on Wednesday.

Municipal CommissionerVijay Nehra told reporters hereon Tuesday that the five-daySwachh Sabarmati MahaAbhiyan would be kicked off byChief Minister Vijay Rupani atSubhash Bridge.

“We had invited people’svoluntary participation in theeffort on the first day of the cam-paign. But looking at the over-whelming response, it will be forfive days till June 9,” he said.

“Against the expectationof some 200 to 300 people, wehave received an overwhelmingresponse from some 10,000 to20,000 people during the last 8-10 days,” the MunicipalCommissioner added.

Nehra said the AMC had

contacted religious, social andindustry associations and invit-ed them to participate. “Wehave made elaborate planningand made arrangements todeploy sufficient equipmentand machinery.”

The clean-up drive will betaken in the stretch betweenSubhash Bridge and DadhichiBridge on the first day.

The AMC has madearrangements to provide drink-ing water, butter milk andmedical assistance at 10 pointson the entire stretch in view ofthe hot weather.

Nehra said the campaignhad started by first flushing outthe water in the river to down-stream area by opening thegates of Vasna barrage andalso by deploying heavy dutypumps to clear dead water.

He said the AMC haddiverted waste water lines andprevented dumping of waste inthe Sabarmati on permanentbasis. “Garbage collection driveis the final phase of SwachhSabarmati Maha Abhiyan,which marks the 150thanniversary of MahatmaGandhi,” Nehra said.

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The Indian Navy has for-mulated an environment

conservation roadmap aimed atreducing energy consumptionand diversifying its supply, anofficial statement said.

The Indian NavyEnvironment ConservationRoadmap (INECR), with spe-cific action plans, covers theentire gamut of operations,maintenance, administrationand infrastructure, and com-munity living, the Navy said inthe statement.

The roadmap envisionsreduction in energy consump-tion and diversification of energy supply as key resultareas, it said.

While the existing military,diplomatic, constabulary and

benign roles envisioned in theIndian Navy’s MaritimeDoctrine define the objectivesof its operations, the GreenInitiatives Programme of theIndian Navy has added a newdimension i.e. Social responsi-bility, to it, it added.

Under the INECR, numer-ous policies aimed at reductionof energy consumption andenvironment sustenance have been formulated and dis-seminated to all ships as well asshore establishments, the Navy said.

As a progressive step, theNavy has pledged 1.5 per centof its ‘Works’ Budget towardsrenewable energy generation, itadded. Solar photovoltaic pro-jects have been one of thefocus areas of the Navy sincethe inception of the INECR.

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Green activists on Tuesdaycriticised an action plan

launched here to control airpollution in Agra, one of India’smost polluted cities and hometo the Taj Mahal, for ignoringthe contribution of the Yamunariver to the present mess.

The Clean Air Action Planwas launched with a lot of fan-fare and hype on Saturday butfailed to convince local activistsof its effectiveness and approach.Experts say that air pollution hasstunted the growth of tourismsector in Agra.

“They failed to note that allMughal monuments thatattract the tourists were sitedalong the Yamuna’s banks. Anda dry polluted river cannot onlyfoul up the ambience but provea threat to the survival of theseprecious heritage assets,” agroup of environmentalists saidahead of the World

Environment Day on June 5.Agra is notorious for heaps

of garbage that are openlyburnt, illegal colonies andstructures in reserved forestareas and large-scale con-struction on Yamuna’s floodplains, a meeting held along theYamuna was told by greenactivists.

They said the chief con-tributors to the air pollution inAgra were the dry river bed andthe westerly winds from theneighbouring Rajasthan desertthat bring tons of dust, raising

the SPM (suspended particu-late matter) level in the TajTrapezium Zone, spread over10,400 sq km.

The Saturday launch ofthe action plan was attended byUttar Pradesh Chief SecretaryAnup Pandey, senior officials ofthe union Ministry ofEnvironment and Forest aswell as UN representatives.

A clean Air Action Planwas adopted for Agra.

Pandey admitted that whilenoxious gas emissions wereunder control, it were thealarming levels of SPM andRSPM that were a challenge.

The Action Plan coversvehicle emission control, sus-pension of road dust, emissioncontrol such as biomass, cropresidue, garbage and municipalsolid waste burning, industri-al emissions, air pollution fromconstruction and demolitionactivities and monitoring of airquality among others.

Officials claimed thatAgra’s tourism industry hadbeen hit hard due to high airpollution which had causedhurt to the Taj Mahal.

Green activists RanjanSharma and Shailendra SinghNarwaar told a meeting onTuesday that till the Yamunariver was cleaned and filledwith water, all 12 months, “nostrategy to fight air pollutionwill succeed”.

Devashish Bhattacharya,an environmentalist, blamedthe authorities for failing toprotect the eco-sensitive TajTrapezium Zone’s green coverand water bodies fromencroachment.

“Instead of green, the dom-inant colours all around aregrey and brown. If they are seri-ous about controlling air pol-lution in Agra, they must notonly clean, desilt, dredge theYamuna river but ensureexpansion of the green cover.”

New Delhi: Union Minister forInformation & Broadcastingand Environment, Forest andClimate Change, PrakashJavadekar will plant a sapling atPrayavaran Bhawan Complexin the national Capital onWednesday on the occasion ofWorld Environment Day. Inthis endeavour, he will bejoined by cricketer Kapil Dev,actor Jackie Shroff and folksinger Malini Awasthi.

On Tuesday, Javadekarlaunched a people’s campaign#SelfiewithSapling urging all tojoin and plant a sapling andpost the selfie with the saplingon social media. He stressedthat ‘Jan Bhagidari’ is integraltowards tackling the environ-mental issues and environ-ment protection has to be apeople’s movement. PNS

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The Election Commissionon Tuesday said it will

announce the schedule forJammu & Kashmir Assembly polls after theAmarnath Yatra, which beginsnext month, making it clearthat the electoral exercise couldbe held sometime later this year.

In a statement, the pollpanel said it has unanimouslydecided that “holding ofAssembly elections in Jammu& Kashmir shall be consideredlater in this year”.

Jammu & Kashmir doesnot have an elected dispensa-tion since the PDP-BJP coali-tion Government fell apart inJune 2018.

The State was placed underGovernor’s Rule, as provided bythe Constitution of Jammu &Kashmir, on June 19, 2018,after the BJP withdrew from itscoalition with the PDP.

As mandated by theConstitution, the State wasbrought under President’s Ruleon December 19, 2018.

The term of the CentralRule ends on June 19 which isset to be extended.

“The Commission willkeep on regularly, and on realtime basis, monitoring the sit-uation in Jammu & Kashmir,taking inputs from all necessaryquarters and after the conclu-sion of Amarnath Yatra willannounce the election schedulefor the conduct of Assemblyelection in Jammu & Kashmir,”the statement said.

The 46-day-longAmarnath yatra will begin onJuly 1, the day of MasikShivratri, and would concludeon August 15, the day ofShravan Purnima.

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Last October, I took a bet thatPakistan Prime Minister ImranKhan would be invited for theswearing-in of the new IndianPrime Minister in May 2019.

This was based on the assumption thatterrorist groups based in Pakistan-occu-pied Kashmir and Pakistan would notraise the ante and they would not actautonomously — without sanction fromthe Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).Second, that Narendra Modi would be re-elected as Prime Minister but probablywith a smaller majority in Parliament. Iwas proved wrong on both counts. A localKashmiri, Adil Dar, trained by Jaish-e-Mohammad as a suicide bomber, carriedout Kashmir’s first genuine suicide attackagainst a CRPF convoy (Pulwama) killing40 troopers; and Modi was re-elected witha huge margin.

The electoral success of the retributiveBalakot airstrikes in Pakistan was a game-changer, which led the BJP to shift thefocus of its electoral campaign from thesuccess of its elaborate welfare schemes toimperatives of national security, counter-terrorism and Pakistan bashing. So, underthe altered post-election scenario, invitingKhan became a non-starter. Had Pulwamanot happened, it is conceivable, indeedpossible, that Khan would have been in theforecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan lastweek. The so-called snub to Pakistan wasdelivered using the Bay of Bengal Initiativefor Multi-Sectoral Technical and EconomicCooperation (BIMSTEC) to sideline SouthAsian Association for RegionalCooperation (SAARC), which is like cut-ting your nose to spite your face.

From day one of his election, the khakiPrime Minister Khan has kept talks withIndia his primary foreign policy goal. Hehas not missed any opportunity to urgeIndia to resolve all outstanding issues,including Kashmir, through dialogue.Even at the height of the Balakot conflict,he requested Modi for talks and releasedWing Commander AbhinandanVarthaman as a peace gesture. The Modithreat of launching 12 ballistic missiles onPakistani cities is as big a fantasy as hisavowed intention to use nuclear weapons— in reality, dangerous election rhetoric.

After the terrorist attack on theParliament in 2001 and India’s tepidresponse with Operation Parakram, theVajpayee Government paved the way fora backchannel dialogue to be started in2004 between two civilian interlocutors,which culminated in the 4/5-pointKashmir formula, the closest the twocountries have reached on a political set-tlement on Pakistan’s core issue. India’score concern of terrorism was addressedby Gen Pervez Musharraf, who was thenPakistan’s Army Chief and head of thecivilian Government by putting curbs oninfiltration, which according to the then

Indian Army Chief, Gen SPadmanabhan, reduced by anall-time high of 53 per cent.Only after Musharraf lost bothhis jobs in 2007-08, didMumbai happen. But bothsides had missed an opportu-nity which emerged fromtalks.

The third BJP-led NDAGovernment holds the dubiousrecord of not engagingPakistan in any structureddialogue in all its five years inoffice. Not for want of tryingbut due to imposing avoidableconditionalities such asPakistan interlocutors notmeeting the Hurriyat. The lastrecorded official conversationwith Pakistan was in mid-2012 as the engagementprocess was derailed by thebeheading of an Indian soldieron the Line of Control (LoC)in January 2013. Till then,three rounds of talks wereheld under the new ResumedDialogue, started in 2011 fol-lowing the India-Pakistansummit at Sharm El-Sheikh in2009. Barbarity on LoCbecame the red line for dis-rupting talks under the UPAregime even if it was one sol-dier lost —public opinion hadbecome so powerful.

When Modi tried tobefriend Nawaz Sharif in 2015,

it led to Pathankot and despiteit, Modi allowed an ISI-ledteam to investigate the Jaish-eMohammad attack. Uri andPulwama sealed the fate of anystructured dialogue; thoughthree rounds of Kartarpur cor-ridor have taken place. Giventhe international opprobriumarising from Pulwama,Pakistan’s greylisting at FATF,its dire state of economy andeven China yielding to pres-sure on listing of MasoodAzhar on UN’s 1267 sanc-tions list, it is fair to believe thatISI has put on leash its strate-gic assets, as it had done fol-lowing Mumbai, against con-ducting any high casualty ter-rorist attacks in Jammu &Kashmir and elsewhere inIndia. Mumbai happenedseven years after OperationParakram and Pulwama 10years after Mumbai. The aver-age ‘leash-cycle’ of terrorists iseight years.

Unlike Nawaz Sharif, Khanis untested in his zeal and devo-tion to the peace process. ThePakistan Army’s readiness toovercome its need for an exis-tential threat from India holdsthe key to longevity of any out-come-related dialogue process.That is why it is vital to engagethe Pakistan Army through acreative backchannel. Khan was

right in echoing a long-heldview that a Right-wing BJP-ledHindu nationalist Governmentin India was ‘better’ for peacetalks. Now that the BJP hasreplaced the Congress as India’snatural ruling party, that sce-nario may have come to stay forthe foreseeable future. But thatis only one side of the story. InPakistan, you will need a mili-tary-led Government or at thevery least, a militaryGovernment with a civilianface like the present Khan-leddispensation. When these twoconditions meet, the two cantango.

It was a tad disingenuousto keep Khan out of the Modiswearing-in by saying it wasinviting only BIMSTEC lead-ers and leaders of Mauritiusand Kyrgyzstan, the latterholding the chair of SCO,which Modi will be attendingnext week and where he is like-ly to meet Khan. The snub forPakistan is a snub for SAARC,which is the South Asianregional organisation; where-as Bimstec is the Bay of Bengalsub-regional grouping com-prising five SAARC countries— India, Nepal, Bhutan, SriLanka, Bangladesh and twomembers of Asean —Myanmar and Thailand.

BIMSTEC is no alternative

to SAARC — it can never be.It excludes Muslim-majoritycountries Pakistan, Afghanistanand Maldives which are part ofSAARC. It is described as com-plementing NeighbourhoodFirst with Act East policies.While India is the dominantcountry, China’s shadow is overboth. In SAARC, China has anobserver status and its string ofpearls connects every Saarccountry except India andBhutan. BRI does the same.Similarly, China’s primacy iswrit large over Myanmar andThailand. Both BIMSTEC andSAARC cannot escape China’soutreach.

Last month, India’sAmbassador to the US, HarshV Shringla, said in Washingtonafter Modi was re-electedPrime Minister that India willnot hold talks with Pakistanuntil it gives up its state poli-cy of supporting terrorism.Even though Modi has raisedthe bar for talks, he must seizethe opportunity to pull asideKhan at Bishkek to break theice. You cannot ignorePakistan.

(The writer is a retiredMajor General of the IndianArmy and founder member ofthe Defence Planning Staff,currently the revampedIntegrated Defence Staff)

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Govt alerts draft: Hindi no moremust in school” (June 4). If theModi Government eventuallyexpunged the contentious ‘Hindiclause’ from the draft new educa-tional policy in the face ofOpposition to the trial balloon(the move to impose Hindi), itwas to smooth non-Hindi speak-ing people’s ruffled feathers.

It is not a U-turn or a climb-down, but an attempt to sugar-coatthe three-language policy stillretained in the draft. It needs nogreat intelligence to identify the‘third language’ in the three-lan-guage formula and see through theploy to make Hindi learning com-pulsory through the back door.What is required is not just theomission of ‘Hindi’ from the draftpolicy, but the roll-back of thethree-language policy itself. If theModi Government is so keen on‘greater cognitive development ofchildren’ by means of ‘multilingual-ism’, it can well start with introduc-ing Tamil, Kannada, Marathi orany one of the ‘official’ languagesin Hindi-speaking States.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Nitish’s upper hand” (June 4).It is an accepted fact that in acoalition, allies should not be

taken for granted. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had made itamply clear during his first meet-ing after the election results thathe would take the allies along inthe new Government. It was sur-prising that Bihar Chief Minister

Nitish Kumar refused the BJP’soffer for a single berth in theUnion Cabinet since he felt thatrepresentation of allies in theUnion Government should beproportional to their strength inParliament.

Nitish has been a long stand-ing ally of the BJP. By distancinghimself from the BJP, which heseems to have done with hisdecision to expand the StateCabinet offering a single berth tohis NDA ally, he seems to havereached a dead-end. Continuingwith hate-love relationship doesnot augur well either for the BJPor the Janata Dal (United). It’stime for both parties to walk thetalk and erase bitter differences.

KR Srinivasan Secunderabad

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Sir — Congress president RahulGandhi’s advice to his MPs toensure that the BJP does nothave a walkover in Parliamentwill further erode people’s faithin the party. Instead, CongressMPs must be magnanimous inco-operating with theGovernment, help it pass welfareschemes and offer constructivecriticism when something isgoing wrong.

ShubhamVia email

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Air pollution has become an unwitting partof our daily lives along with its health andeconomic consequences. This, despite

the tremendous efforts being made to bring downthe scale of pollution through path-breaking mea-sures aided by researched scientific studies. Today,the entire world’s attention will be focused on airpollution as it happens to be the theme of thisyear’s World Environment Day, which is beinghosted by China. World Environment Day, cel-ebrated since 1974, is the United Nations day forencouraging worldwide awareness and action toprotect the environment.

Since its inception, the World EnvironmentDay has grown to become a global platform forpublic outreach that is celebrated in over 100countries. Above all, this day has become “peo-ple’s day” for doing something to take care of theEarth. That “something” can be local, nationalor global. This year’s theme of ‘air pollution’ isapt as this issue has been causing immense con-cern to the well-being of humanity across theworld. Globally, it is estimated that air pollutionis responsible for 3.1 million premature deathsworldwide every year and 3.2 per cent of the glob-al burden of disease.

Epidemiological studies revealed that thereis a link between air pollution and diseases withpublic health importance such as cardiovascu-lar diseases for instance, stroke and ischemicheart disease, cancers and respiratory diseases.Respiratory diseases related to air pollutioninclude acute respiratory infections, chronicobstructive pulmonary diseases and asthma.India is one of the main sufferers of deteriorat-ing air quality levels. Though the Governmentis making efforts all-year round to mitigate itsaffects, no noticeable dip in air pollution levelshave been registered. This year, the Ministry ofEnvironment, Forest and Climate Change hasreleased a song titled, ‘Hawa Aane De’ to spreadawareness among the general public regardingair pollution and its adverse effects on the eveof the World Environment Day. Even the trafficpolice has been roped in to create the requiredconsciousness regarding air pollution and asso-ciated problems.

The World Environment Day is also referredto as the ‘Action Day’ when people around theworld are expected to take meaningful action intheir own way possible and do their bit for plan-et Earth. The day symbolises the efforts to savethe environment and is the biggest annual eventfor positive environmental action. However, thecurrent state of dismal air quality levels and with-ering environment is indicative of the fact thatintense and productive action is needed almoston a daily basis to save our ambient air quality.In this regard, perhaps, it is not coincidental thatChina is hosting this year’s ‘World EnvironmentDay’. The country is increasingly being recog-nised by the world for its hard and aggressivedomestic stand on matters pertaining to environ-mental conservation.

China was at the receiving end of severe airpollution levels till recently but concentrated andnon-negotiable policies are slowly turning the tidein its favour. Besides, China is also planning toadopt more efficient and targetted measures dur-ing its continuing campaign against pollution by

not relaxing the targets or easing crack-down on violators. One of the first mea-sures adopted by the ChineseGovernment was to give autonomy toregional pollution control authorities tocurb the production of heavy industriesin their region, depending upon thelocal air quality level. This helped itbring an end to the earlier practice ofimposing nation-wide production curbson heavy industries in response to spikein air pollution levels in some region-al areas. This impacted the economynegatively than actually curbing the pol-lution levels.

The bevy of policy initiatives takenup by China has made the world sit upand take notice. The efforts of China tocontrol the pollution levels are nearly20-year-old and according to a researchconducted by UN Environment and theBeijing Municipal Ecology andEnvironment Bureau (BEE), it is evi-dent how Beijing’s air quality manage-ment programme has evolved andmakes for a sustainable strategy for thefuture. The report by BEE specificallymentions, “This improvement in airquality didn’t happen by accident. It wasthe result of an enormous investmentof time, resources and political will.”

Figures of improvement in airquality speak for themselves. Reelingunder the pressure of ever worseningair quality, Beijing adopted systematicand intensive measures in the begin-ning of 2013. Thanks to unwaveringand concentrated efforts by theGovernment — which was fully sup-ported by the disciplined population —by the end of 2017, fine particulate pol-lution (PM2.5) had fallen by 35 per centand by 25 per cent in the surrounding

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Overthis period, annual emissions of sulfurdioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx),particulate matter (PM10) and volatileorganic compounds in Beijingdecreased by 83 per cent, 43 per cent,55 per cent and 42 per cent respective-ly. Much of this reduction came frommeasures to control coal-fired boilers,provide cleaner domestic fuels andindustrial restructuring. This by itselfis an area of learning for India.

What is the backbone of thisfirm Chinese resolve to bring down airpollution levels? It is definitely not aset of token efforts played mainly foroptics by the Government as in othercountries. In fact, Beijing’s air quali-ty management system is supported bya comprehensive monitoring, evalu-ation, pollution source apportion-ment and emission inventories. It alsocontains wide-ranging legal stan-dards and strict environmental lawenforcement. Air quality work is sup-ported by economic policies, publicparticipation and coordination onair pollution prevention and controlin the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.These robust networks of actionablelaws and policies have helped Chinaachieve something that other nationssuffering from falling air quality stan-dards are still grappling with. Withoutdoubt, Beijing’s efforts, achievements,experiences and lessons in air pollu-tion control over the last 20 years areworth analysing and sharing in orderto progress global environmental gov-ernance.

Beijing has achieved impressive airquality improvements in a short span.It is a good example of how to balance

environmental protection and eco-nomic growth. India is ambitiously tar-getting aggressive economic growth thatmight outpace Chinese economy even-tually. But what will this progress costus? A country that loses its environmentand gains economic prosperity has onlywon in short-term and lost in long-term. Therefore a balance is of outmostimportance. The World EnvironmentDay in India must come to mean thesignificance of this balance.

India must rejig its environmentalpriorities and ensure that the annualWorld Environment Day is utilised forstock-taking and assessment of effortstaken in the last whole year. As a firststep, the new Government must setactionable goals that are time-boundand specify penalties for relevantauthorities for not adhering to the dead-lines. People, too, need to be heldaccountable for the environment andsufficient measures must be envisionedand implemented that seek to awakeenvironmental consciousness of thecommon man and also ensure that will-ful and deliberate polluters of environ-ment are exemplarily punished. Wouldthese measures be harsh for India?Maybe not if one factors in the suffer-ing undergone by the environment andour fragile ecosystem till now.

It is time to quantify the progressmade by us in safeguarding the envi-ronment. Celebration of a specific dayby caring for the planet for that partic-ular day is woefully inadequate. Thishas to be a year-long effort till wereclaim our environment. As China hasshown, this is very much possible.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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)������������(������������������ �������������������������+��������������������������������������������� �� �#��������������������������������������������������������(��������������������������(�����#������������������������������ �����������(�������������������������������� �������������������������������� ��������������#��������������������������������-�� �����������������������������������������������������������������������

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The Congress has gone back to thetried and tested leadership ofSonia Gandhi by once again

electing her as the leader of its parlia-mentary party in its hour of crisis.Calling it “unprecedented crisis”, Soniaherself acknowledged the numerouschallenges confronting the grand oldparty. Claiming that several decisivemeasures were being mulled tostrengthen the organisation, she hint-ed that Rahul Gandhi would continueas the party chief though he hadoffered his resignation to the CongressWorking Committee (CWC) after thedefeat. In one voice, the CWC reject-ed his resignation. By now, it is clear thatneither will the party give up on theGandhi family nor will the family will

give up its power over the 132- yeargrand old party.

Rahul Gandhi should learn a les-son or two from other Opposition lead-ers, who, too, were humiliated in the2019 Lok Sabha polls. Bahujan SamajParty (BSP) chief Mayawati has alreadymade changes to her party to get readyfor the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls. AamAadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal hasasked his party to be prepared for the2020 Assembly polls. West BengalChief Minister Mamata Banerjee hasbegun her street-level fight to preparefor the Assembly polls. So, the fightingpolitician will not sulk as Rahul Gandhidid for the past few days. If the gener-al is demoralised, what happens to thefoot soldiers?

Rahul Gandhi’s pep-talk to hisparty MPs last week sent the right sig-nal that it will fight back in Parliamentand outside as that is what is expectedfrom a responsible Opposition leader.He said, “We are 52 MPs. I guaranteeyou that these 52 MPs will fight againstthe BJP every single inch. We areenough to make the BJP jump every-day.” But to do this, Rahul Gandhishould come to Parliament regularly

and lead from the front. So far he hadbeen irregular in his Parliament atten-dance. If public meetings and ralliesbrings a leader in direct contact withthe people, the Parliament is where theOpposition should take on theGovernment effectively throughdebates and discussions. Sonia Gandhioptimistically predicted that, “In anunprecedented crisis lies an unprece-dented opportunity...Undeterred bythe many challenges that lie ahead, wewill rise again,” she said.

To rise again, the party needs toreinvent itself and strengthen the

organisation. Rahul Gandhi’s first chal-lenge is to show that the Congress is nota spent-force.

Second, he should make efforts tounite the Opposition to function in acohesive manner in Parliament onissues that matter. Now that the NDAhas emerged with 352 seats in the LokSabha, passing Bills will not be a prob-lem for the Modi Government. But thisis where the Congress and otherOpposition parties should be vigilant.An effective Opposition does not neednumbers but members, who can raisethe issues effectively. Did not former

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi facesuch turbulent times in Parliament dur-ing the Bofors scam days, though hehad a brute majority of 415 members?A dozen of Opposition leaders, includ-ing Madhu Dandavate, SomnathChatterjee, Indrajit Gupta, Jaipal Reddyand KP Unnikrishnan not only raisedissues effectively but also saw to it thatRajiv Gandhi lost power in the 1989elections.

Third, the Congress shouldstrengthen the Opposition by winningcooperation of parties like the BijuJanata Dal, YSR Congress Party andTelangana Rashtra Samithi amongothers during parliamentary debatesand discussions.

Fourth, though there is no provi-sion of a shadow Cabinet in the Indiansystem, the Congress can think ofencouraging its MPs to develop exper-tise in certain domains. This will comehandy for the party. After all, it has sev-eral experienced ex-Ministers. Lastly,the party should live in the present andnot in its past glory as no legacy how-ever strong can go on forever.

The role of the Opposition is notto criticise every decision of the

Government but support issues of pub-lic interest. Boycotting the Parliament,stalling business and hitting the streetswill not work. Modi-bashing days areover after the BJP registered a stunningvictory in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Itis time to look ahead. Ideas of secular-ism/fundamentalism have no longerany appeal going by the way the BJP isgrowing. What the Congress needs isto find an identity, appeal and a newnarrative. After all, it has to face sev-eral Assembly elections before thenext Lok Sabha polls in 2024. TheCongress as a credible Opposition iscritical for Indian democracy becausedespite its losses, the party still remainsthe only political force as a counterbal-ance to the BJP’s surge.

The Congress should work towardsbuilding a cohesive Opposition andtake note of what the Prime Ministersaid in a televised address: “Whateverhappened in these elections is in thepast, we have to look ahead. We haveto take everyone forward, including ourstaunchest opponents.” If he is look-ing ahead, so should the Opposition.

(The writer is a senior political com-mentator and syndicated columnist)

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Benchmark indices Sensexand Nifty Tuesday retreat-

ed from their record highsand closed lower as investorsbooked profit in recent out-performers like auto and ITstocks ahead of the RBI mon-etary policy outcome.

In spite of selling pressureacross the board due to high-er valuation of stocks, bothSensex and Nifty managed toclose above the crucial 40,000and 12,000 levels, respectively.

The BSE Sensex closed184.08 points, or 0.46 per cent,lower at 40,083.54; while theNSE Nifty edged 66.90 points,or 0.55 per cent, down at12,021.65.

Top losers in the Sensexpack were Hero MotoCorp,HCL Tech, TCS, AsianPaints, IndusInd Bank andInfosys, shedding up to 3.08per cent.

On the other hand, YesBank, NTPC and Axis Bankemerged as major gainers, ris-ing up to 2.71 per cent.

Of the 30 Sensex con-stituents, 17 stocks ended withlosses and 13 with gains.

Sectorally, BSE IT was thebiggest loser with 1.63 per centdecline. Other major laggardswere by teck (1.5 per cent),healthcare (0.99 per cent) and

oil and gas (0.84 per cent).Overall, market breadth

was tilted in favour of sellers as1,453 stocks fell and 1,109advanced.

In the previous session onMonday, benchmarks Sensexand Nifty had marked their all-time intra-day record as well asclosing highs.

Analysts said thatinvestors booked profits athigher levels after marketssoared to record highs onMonday amid expectations ofan interest rate cut by the RBIon Thursday, especially after adisappointing GDP print forthe March quarter.

Auto and IT countersmainly came under a heavyselling pressure due to profit-booking as stocks of bothsectors had risen in the pre-vious session on hopes of anRBI rate cut and rupee’s sus-tained rise.

“While globally equitiessaw a pullback especially inEuropean markets and USfutures indicating positive start,Indian markets ended in redahead of monetary policy. Thisseems to be a consequence ofsignificant outperformance inIndians equities over globalmarkets in last few days,” SunilSharma, Chief InvestmentOfficer, Sanctum WealthManagement, said.

The Indian rupee was mar-ginally lower at 69.28 againstthe US dollar.

Meanwhile, other Asianbourses ended on a negativenote, while Europe was tradingin the green in opening deals.

Brent crude futures, theglobal oil benchmark, fell 1.53per cent to 60.34 per barrel.

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Mumbai: The Indian rupee Tuesday settled unchanged at 69.26against the US dollar in a lacklustre trade as participants pre-ferred to sit on the fence ahead of the RBI monetary policy out-come on Thursday.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unitopened strong at 69.10 and went on to touch the day’s high of69.00 to the US dollar. The local currency, however, failed to sus-tain the gain and slipped to a low of 69.34 in intra-day deals.

The domestic currency finally closed at 69.26 against the USdollar, unchanged from its last closing.

“Market is already pricing the 25 bps cut in interest rate amidslower economic growth while inflation remains below target levelof 4 per cent,” V K Sharma, Head PCG & Capital Markets Strategy,HDFC Securities, said.

The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is slated toannounce its bi-monthly policy on Thursday.

Indian bonds and Forex markets will remain closed onWednesday on account of Id-Ul-Fitr.

Forex traders said while easing crude oil prices supportedthe rupee, heavy selling in domestic equities and foreign fundoutflows weighed pressure on the local unit.

Foreign funds pulled out Rs 416.08 crore in the capital mar-kets on a net basis Tuesday, provisional data showed.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strengthagainst a basket of six currencies, fell 0.02 per cent to 97.12.

Meanwhile, the 10-year government bond yield was at 7.02per cent on Tuesday, against the previous close of 7.03 per centon Monday.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark,fell 1.19 per cent to trade at USD 60.55 per barrel.

The BSE benchmark Sensex Tuesday retreated from its peaklevel to end 184 points lower as investors resorted to profit tak-ing at higher valuation. The broader Nifty too came off life-timehighs to settle 67 points down.

The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set thereference rate for the rupee/dollar at 69.4338 and for rupee/euroat 77.5622. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixedat 87.7143 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 64.13. PTI

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Having initiated a crack-down on a suspected

coterie of fraudsters in theIL&FS case, the government’sfinancial fraud probe agencySFIO has recommended nec-essary action against the guiltyauditors and also a detailedinternal investigation by theRBI to identify reasons for thedelay in detecting the lapses.

The Serious FraudInvestigation Office (SFIO) hasalso recommended a necessaryaction as per the CompaniesAct by the current managementof IL&FS Financial Services(IFIN) for recovery of the loss-es suffered by the company dueto the fraudulent conduct of thecoterie, officials said.

In its first chargesheet, theSFIO has identified a nine-member coterie behind thehuge financial fraud at IFIN,which it alleged connived withthe statutory auditors and someindependent directors todefraud the company whilerunning it as a personal fiefdom.

The chargesheet has beenfiled after an extensive probeinto the affairs of IFIN, a sub-sidiary of InfrastructureLeasing and Financial Services(IL&FS), while similar probesare underway for other groupentities including the parentfirm that ran into deep finan-cial trouble last year after it wasfound to have amassed hugestressed loans totalling over Rs90,000 crore.

In its three key recom-

mendations, the SFIO has saidthat it was observed that RBI inits inspection reports 2015onwards had repeatedly point-ed out non-compliance togroup exposure norms at IFIN,an NBFC regulated by the cen-tral bank, and also the wrongcalculation of Net OwnedFunds.

However, no penalties wereimposed on IFIN during theperiod and IFIN was allowed tocontinue its operations withoutany corrective action, the probefound.

Further, only in its letterdated November 1, 2017, wasthe issue on classification ofgroup companies in order toarrive at the NOF and CRARas per RBI Act, strongly con-veyed to IFIN, the investigationreport pointed out, whileadding that action at the righttime may have prevented theballooning of the matter.

It has recommended thatthe RBI should conduct aninternal investigation to findthe reasons for the delay andalso take appropriate action.The central bank has also beenasked to take necessary policymeasures to prevent suchfraudulent activities in future.

In its recommendationregarding the auditors, theinvestigation report has saidthat the National FinancialReporting Authority (NFRA)and the Institute of CharteredAccountants of India (ICAI)should take action against theauditors as per the applicableprovisions.

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Boeing said on Tuesday thatit has signed a technical

assistance agreement with theAirports Authority of India(AAI) to jointly develop acomprehensive 10-yearroadmap for modernising airtraffic management in India.

The roadmap is expectedto be developed within 18months and it will be under-taken with a grant from theUnited States Trade andDevelopment Agency(USTDA), Boeing said in astatement.

The AAI owns and man-ages around 125 airports acrossthe country.

“This objective of the

agreement is to develop aroadmap for AAI to use asguidance in the modernizationof the Indian NationalAirspace System (NAS) basedon global and local best prac-tices to optimally utilize air-space capacity, enhance com-munications and invest innavigation, surveillance andair traffic management,”Boeing said.

As part of the project,Boeing said it will also workclosely with Indian aviationregulator Directorate Generalof Civil Aviation (DGCA), air-lines operating in India, airportoperators and other airspacestakeholders like the US-IndiaAviation Cooperation Program(ACP).

New Delhi: Criteo an advertising platform for the open inter-net launched Criteo App Install in India. The app provides adver-tising solutions which helps companies to get thourough infor-mation on their app. Criteo app allows marketers to reach andacquire new, re-engage lapsed, and re-target existing customersall in one simplified platform. PNS

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Google Maps users will nowsee bus travel times from

live traffic across 10 majorIndian cities as well as get livetrain status for Indian Railwaystrains on the platform.

Also, another feature that isbeing introduced will combinesuggestions of auto-rickshawand public transport for users.These “India-first features” willallow users plan public trans-port trips quickly and easily,Google said in a statement.

“We at Google are focusedon building Maps features that

will help deliver a more rele-vant, accurate, and reliableexperience for commuters.Transit navigation is one of themost popular Maps features inIndia, and we look forward tothese new features will bringmore value to users,” GoogleMaps Product Manager TaylahHasaballah said.

As part of its efforts to sim-plify travel, Google Maps willallow users to view bus traveltimes based on live traffic.

The feature uses Google’slive traffic data and public busschedules to calculate delays andprovide accurate travel times.

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Mainstream parties inKashmir on Tuesday

reacted sharply to reports thatthe Centre was planning delim-itation in the State, saying it wasan obvious attempt to "inflictanother emotional partition" onthe State "on communal lines".Earlier on Tuesday, UnionHome Minister Amit Shah wasgiven a detailed presentation onthe situation in Jammu &Kashmir, where the BJP hasbeen pushing for carrying outa delimitation exercise for get-ting more seats for Jammuregion in the State Assembly.

"Distressed to hear aboutGoI's (Government of India)plan to redraw assembly con-stituencies in J&K. Forceddelimitation is an obviousattempt to inflict another emo-tional partition of the state oncommunal lines. Instead ofallowing old wounds to heal,GoI is inflicting pain onKashmiris," former chief min-ister and Peoples DemocraticParty president MehboobaMufti said on Twitter.

Officials said there was nodiscussion on constituting adelimitation commission dur-ing the meeting with Shah.However, they said, againstthe backdrop of delimitationdemands by the State BJP, therewas a possibility of the newCentral Government consti-tuting a delimitation commis-sion to redraw the scope andsize of the Assembly segmentsand determine the number ofseats to be reserved forSchedules Castes.

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If his senior DrHarshvardhan, Union Health

Minister, cycled his way to hisoffice in Nirman Bhawan onthe first day of his takingcharge of the Ministry, AshwiniKumar Choubey, the Ministerof State for Health, boarded theMetro from his residence toreach Udyog Bhawan stationfrom where he walked down tothe Ministry’s headquarter.

Before taking charge, theMinister also performed anelaborate puja and planted five trees in the NirmanBhawan campus.

Choubey has been againgiven the health portfolio in the Modi Government’s sec-ond term.

He said ‘sarve santu nira-maya’ (health for all) is the pol-icy mandate of theGovernment and he will makeall efforts towards realising it.

“The Prime Minister hasvisualised a New India and thusit is our responsibility that wetake a pledge to work towardsrealising this vision of NewIndia, a Healthy India.Environment affects our healthand hence, we should makeefforts to keep it clean andgreen by planting trees,” he said.

He appealed to everyonefor adopting the habit of briskwalking or cycling for at least20-30 minutes each day forgood health.

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Maharashtra to con-duct the final round of counselling for admissions to post-

graduate medical and dental courses in the State for the acade-mic year 2019-20 and complete the process before June 14.

A vacation Bench comprising Justices Indu Malhotra and MRShah passed the order on pleas filed by some medical students seeking fresh round of counselling after re-drawing ofthe merit list for dmissions to PG medical and dental coursesfor 2019-20.

The students approached the top court after the apex courtstayed the State Government’s decision to grant 10 per cent quotato students of economically weaker sections in PG medical anddental courses for the current academic year.

The Bench also directed that no further petition or appli-cation with regard to PG medical and dental admissions inMaharashtra for the present academic year will be entertainedby any other court.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Tuesday issued noticeto Puducherry Chief MinisterV Narayanasamy in the power tussle matter in theUnion Territory.

The Madras High Courthad recently held thatLieutenant Governor KiranBedi “cannot interfere” in theday-to-day affairs of the elect-ed Government there.

A vacation Bench com-prising Justices Indu Malhotraand MR Shah also directed thatany decision having financialimplication, which could betaken in the Cabinet meeting ofJune 7 in Puducherry, shall not

be implemented till June 21.The apex court was hearing

applications filed by the Centreand Bedi seeking that the situ-ation prevailing before the HighCourt’s April 30 verdict berestored in the Union Territorysince the administration therehas come to a standstill.

The Bench soughtresponse from Narayanasamyon the plea, which said theChief Minister should beimpleaded as a party in thematter. On May 10, the apexcourt had sought responsefrom Congress MLA KLaksminarayanan, on the pleasof the Centre and Bedi. PTI

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Union Social Justice andEmpowerment Ministry

has drafted a “new fund-shar-ing formula” wherein the Centrewill shoulder a majority of thefinancial burden of its post-matric scholarship scheme forScheduled Caste students.

As of now, the scheme isbeing run on the concept ofcommitted liability, underwhich a majority of the finan-cial burden was on the states asthey struggled to meet thedemands due to limited budget.

If the draft proposal goesthrough, the Centre will fund75 per cent of the scheme andthe rest would be borne by theState, said Union Minister forSocial Justice andEmpowerment ThaawarchandGehlot, who took charge of theoffice on Tuesday, said

According to sources, theMinistry is likely to move acabinet note over the propos-al which is currently awaitingapproval of the ExpenditureFinance Committee.

Gehlot, who has beenassigned the Social Justice and

Empowerment portfolio for asecond term, said clearingarrears to the tune of Rs 3,000crore under the post-matricscholarship scheme is high onthe agenda of his ministry forthe next 100 days.

“There was a major prob-lem regarding clearing ofarrears and our ministry had tostruggle with the FinanceMinistry throughout the yearto get requisite funds for dis-bursal to states under the post-matric scholarship scheme forSC students.

“When we took charge in

2014, an arrear of Rs 7,500 crorewas due which was clearedover the years. Now, Rs 3,000crore is still due, and clearingthis amount is a priority for usin the next 100 days,” he saidafter taking charge.

Reintroduction of theTransgender Persons(Protection of Rights) Bill,2016, seeking to define trans-genders and prohibit discrim-ination against them, which gotlapsed with the 16th Lok Sabhagetting dissolved, is anothermatter of primacy for theMinistry, Gehlot said.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Tuesday confronted RobertVadra, brother-in-law ofCongress president RahulGandhi, with multiple state-ments of other suspects andaccused reportedly known tohim and voluminous docu-ments gathered during themoney laundering probe relat-ed to purchase of alleged ille-gal assets abroad.

Vadra (50), husband ofCongress leader PriyankaGandhi, arrived at the agency’soffice around 11 am and wasgrilled for over five hours.

The Investigating Officer(IO) of the case presented him

about statements of about halfa dozen of his alleged aides whoare purported to be the “link”between him, absconding armsdealer Sanjay Bhandari,Bhandari’s associates and othersuspects, sources said.

Vadra either denied orclaimed ignorance of havingany dealing or connectionswith Bhandari or others.Vadra’s statement was record-ed by the IO under Section 50of the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) whichstipulates “powers of authori-

ties regarding summons, pro-duction of documents and togive evidence”.

Vadra was also shown anumber of e-mails, bankingand financial transactionpapers that are purportedlylinked to him as part of themoney laundering probe.Property documents pertainingto at least four alleged illegalassets were presented to Vadrabefore his statement wasrecorded, sources said.

Before deposing before theagency, Vadra issued a state-ment on social media saying hewas being subjected to “sensa-tion and unnecessary drama”.He also said he was beingquestioned for the 13th time foralmost 80 hours.

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Thol Thirumavalavan, VCKleader, who was elected to

the Lok Sabha fromChidambaram Constituencyin Tamil Nadu by a margin ofabout 3,000 votes has landedhimself in trouble by declaringthat North Indians were notwelcome in Tamil Nadu.

“They are a danger to theTamil society,” he said whilespeaking at a public meeting inChennai on Monday. Lawyersand leaders of some of thepolitical parties described it asa hate speech and said the VCKleader was trying to divide thesociety in the name of caste and religion.

Thirumavalavan, a strongproponent of Dravidian ruleand describes SanatatanaDharma as a major threat toTamil Nadu , said people fromnorth India should not beallowed to settle down in theState. “The North Indians com-ing to Tamil Nadu and settlingdown here is dangerous toTamil Nadu,” he said whileaddressing a public meetingorganised at Chennai by theDMK to commemorate the96th birth anniversary of formerDMK chief M Karunanidhi.

He accused Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and the pro-ponents of the SanatanaDharma of encouraging NorthIndians to settle down inTamil Nadu as part of theBJP’s designs to get entry intothe State. More and more peo-ple from other States are set-tling here. It is dangerous,”said Thirumavalavan.

The Dalit leader allegedthat the Ganesh Chathurthi fes-tival and imposition of Hindiwere attempts of a cultural

invasion by the north Indiansand ended up in failure.“Having failed in theseattempts, they are makingmore and more people fromother States to come and settlesdown in Tamil Nadu,” he said.

Thirumavalavan alsocharged that people from NorthIndia were given preferenceduring appointments to NeyveliLignite Corporation, Railwaysand other public sector enter-prises. C Unnikrishnan, HighCourt lawyer , who is also aConstitutional expert said thatThirumavalavan has courtedcontroversy by making unsub-stantiated allegations.

“His charge that people ofnorth India were danger toTamil Nadu is violation of IndianConstitution. Thirumavalavancould be dragged into the courtfor impropriety if the reportedcomments are true. His motiveis to create fear and hate amongpeople of the country,” saidUnnikrishnan. The lawyer point-ed out the legal proceedings ini-tiated against Kamal Haassan aswell as Sadvi Pragya Thakore fortheir outbursts.

Narayanan Thiruppati, BJPspokesman, said he was shockedto hear the speech delivered byThiruvalavan. “I shudder whenI think about Tamils settled inother parts of the country. Ifpeople in that States too startthinking in the lines ofThirumavalavan , what is instore for out brethren in thatStates?” asked Narayanan whodisclosed that his party was inconsultation with legal expertsover the course of action to betaken against Thirumavalavan.The BJP spokesman saidThirumavalavan was trying todestabilise thepce prevailing inTamil Nadu by raking up casteand religion.

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Ahead of the proposedCabinet expansion in

Karnataka to douse the fire, theCoalition Government led byChief Minister HDKumaraswamy is in fresh trou-ble as senior Congress leadershave hit out at the leadership.Both the coalition partners —the JD(S) and the Congress —are reeling under defeat anddrubbing in the recently con-cluded Lok Sabha polls by theBJP and the Modi wave.

Senior party leaderRamalinga Reddy hit out at thetop brass, blaming lack of coor-dination between seniors andthe leadership for the humili-ating loss in the State. He tookto Twitter to attack theCongress leadership and spokeagainst the likely induction ofIndependent legislators intothe Cabinet.

Reddy, however, expressed

his disregard at not beingamong the preferred candidatesfor a ministerial berth. “I’m aseven-time MLA but they areneglecting me. This is also thecase for senior leaders like HKPatil, Roshan Baig and others,”he said, adding he was notagainst the induction of newmembers but neglectingseniors while promoting new-

comers was unfair.Reddy lashed out at Rahul

Gandhi, holding him respon-sible for the massive debacle inthe 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

He also blamed seniorMinisters in the JDS-CongressGovernment for the defeatalleging that they have noorganisational vision and pas-sion to take the party forward.

He asked the high com-mand to “set things right” andalso said party must address thefact that seniors have beenignored. He also suggested thatMinisters who failed to deliv-er in the Lok Sabha pollsshould be relegated to organi-sational positions in the party.

As part of the plan to savethe coalition Government theCongress and the JDS havebeen mulling over a Cabinetexpansion in order to induct RShankar and H Nagesh bothIndependents among othersto halt the BJP from increasingits strength in the Assembly.

The supporters of Reddyhave protested in front of theCongress office demanding aCabinet birth for their leader.

After the clean sweep in theLok Sabha polls by the saffronparty, the coalitionGovernment in Karnataka is indeep water. The BJP had alsowon one of the two Assembly

seats for which bypolls wereheld simultaneously. With thatwin, the party has 105 MLAs inthe 224-member KarnatakaAssembly, eight short of a sim-ple majority.

In another major develop-ment, JD(S) State president HVishwanath has resigned fromhis post, accepting moralresponsibility for the defeat. Ina letter to Deve Gowda, he said,“It is my moral responsibility...I have raised issues about thecoordination committee. Thepeople of Karnataka are enjoy-ing the alliance Government.The coordination committee isheaded by Siddaramaiah butboth partners should be a partof it. Even the common mini-mum programme has not beenimplemented.” He directlyblamed Siddaramaiah and sub-mitted his resignation to DeveGowda who had humiliatingdefeat in Tumakuru by theBJP candidate Basavaraju.

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8* ����� �91�� �:� 1���������������317New Delhi: Renowned scien-tist and cyclone warning spe-cialist Mrutyunjay Mohapatrawas on Tuesday appointed asthe chief of IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD), according to aPersonnel Ministry order.

Mohapatra and his team atthe Cyclone Warning Divisionof the IMD have earned praisefor their accurate forecasts oncyclones, its wind-speed andlikely impact on life and prop-erty including during the recentcyclone ‘Fani’, when their time-ly warnings enabled the author-ities to ensure early evacuationof millions of people.

The 54-year-old Scientist‘G’ and Additional DirectorGeneral in the IMD has beenappointed as Director Generalof Meteorology, IMD, for aperiod of five years, the ordersaid. He will assume charge inAugust. The IMD is responsi-ble for weather and climate-related forecasts in the country.It is also mandated to issuewarning to people about severeweather phenomenon likecyclones, dust storms, heavyrain and snow, cold and heat-waves, among others.

Besides strengtheningIMD’s infrastructure, he said hispriority will be to improve dis-semination of weather-relatedinformation — from nowcasts toweather forecasts — focus onsector-related forecast and giveimpact-based prediction in allareas. Through sector-relatedforecasts, IMD intends to givepredictions on specific arease.g. Information for transportsystems like trains. PTI

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Digital marketing and e-learningare two of the most fascinatingconcepts that go hand-in-

hand. From small to big, every organ-isation is hassling to rank on the firstpage of web search results and is seek-ing talented professionals who couldmake it happen.

As per a report by KPMG, theaverage attention period of digital con-sumers dropped down from 12 sec-onds in 2007, to 8 seconds in 2016.And as each year passes by, the atten-tion span of customers scrollingonline gets shorter; the requirementof professional digital marketingexperts goes wider.

To take advantage of the same,more students are enrolling in a dig-ital marketing training. Apart fromincluding the ABCs of the subject,such trainings also come up with aproject that adds value to your resume.The highly engaging concepts, acces-sibility, and affordability are few of theattractions of e-learning.

With the advancement of tech-nology, digital marketing has becomeone of the highest job-generatingindustries to work in. Doing a train-ing in the same, increases your knowl-edge and develops your skills that are

essential today to land top-notchjobs in the digital marketing industry.

Top five trending aspects of dig-ital marketingfor 2019.

�Search Engine Optimisation(SEO): Search engine optimisation orSEO, is a process of optimising con-tent on your website or blog, based onkeywords so that your platformappears on top of search engine rank-ings. As per Marketo, around 67% ofthe total clicks go to the first 5 listingson search results. Thus, it is excep-tionally important for the organisa-tions to rank on top and seek clickswhich will lead to higher conversionsof customers. Learning SEO tacticscan help you fetch great opportunitieswith recognised organisations.

�Email Marketing: As one of themost personalised, interactive, andinformative medium of communica-tion, e-mail always gathers instantattention of the customers. Email mar-keting has experienced exceptionalgrowth in the past few years and thus,employers are looking for smart mar-keters who can hit the bulls-eye withtheir prominent communicationstrategies.

�Content Marketing: There is athin line between promoting and

informing, and content marketing isthe art of building the latter. As per arecent article by Forbes, 82 per centof the customers made an online pur-chase on the basis of the content mar-keting done by that company.

Without content, no digital mar-keting goal can be achieved, thus, pro-ducing informative, educative, and rel-evant content is what businesses aimfor. As it is a pillar of all the otheronline marketing concepts, contentmarketing is a major skill that mil-lennials are inclined towards.

�Mobile Marketing: Mobile isthe only channel of communicationthat sleeps and wakes up with the user.From being in our pockets to sittingwith us on the work desk, mobilephones are everywhere. To ensure thata fine streak of marketing campaignalways keep the audience in touch,companies are working on everythingfrom SMS and online ads to app mar-keting.

A mobile marketing training canassist you in deploying your skills ofconvincing the mobile phone basedaudience through well optimisedwebsites, email, SMS and MMS, socialmedia platforms, and apps.

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With the growth of technologicalconvergence, the availability of jobprospects will certainly go higher inthis specific field. For people who loveexperimenting and following the fastpaced technological waves, digitalmarketing is the perfect sector to divein.

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"������������#The Manav Rachna

International Institute ofResearch invites applicationsfor admissions to its Bachelorof Visual Arts programme forthe session 2019-23.

Duration: Four yearsEligibility: Pass in Class

XII examination/equivalentexamination with at least 50 percent marks in aggregate in fivesubjects including English ascompulsory subject along withfoursubjects with the highestscore out of the remainingsubjects.

How to apply: Log on towww.manavrachna.edu.in.

����'��������#The Manav Rachna

International Institute ofResearch and Studies (MRIIRS)invites applications for admis-sions to its announcedAutomobile programmesincluding BTech — AutomobileEngineering, AutomobileEngineering (Lateral Entry)and PhD — AutomobileEngineering — MRIIRS.

Eligibility: For BTech —Automobile Engineering —candidates should have passedClass XII examination with atleast 50 per cent marks inaggregate in five subjects andeligibility shall be determinedon the basis of percentage ofaggregate marks in: English,Physics Mathematics; one sub-ject out of Chemistry,Computer Science, Biology orBiotechnology; one subject withthe highest score out of theremaining subjects.

For BTech — AutomobileEngineering (Lateral Entry) —50 per cent marks in diplomain engineering in anybranch/discipline of three yearduration, from State Board ofTechnical education, Haryanaor equivalent examination orBSc degree from a recogniseduniversity as defined by UGC,with at least 50 per cent marksand passed XII standard withMathematics as a subject.

How to apply: Log on towww.manavrachna.edu.in.

������#��''�NRAI School of Mass

Communication invites appli-cations for admissions to itsbachelor degree course inBachelor of Business

Administration.Duration: Three yearsEligibility: Class XII from

any recognised board..Last date to apply: June 15,

2019.

��������.����#The Hotel School invites

applications for admission inCommis Chef/ Front OfficeAssociate/Food & Beveragecourses.

This course offers anopportunity to aim a challeng-ing career in the hotel industry.In this course students get tostudy the food ingredients,raw material method of cook-ing, and various cuisines. Thiscourse develops cooking skillsof the individual as per therequired standards of the hos-pitality industry. Students willlearn how every aspect of afood service operation con-tributes to the guest experienceand will explore unique fea-tures of a variety of food andbeverage operations.

Eligibility: Candidateswho have appeared/passedClass XII examination of anyrecognised board.

How to Apply: Log on towww.thehotelschool.com.

Last date to apply: June 29,2019.

'�����#��''�The University of Sheffield,

UK invites applications foradmissions to its MScCybersecurity and ArtificialIntelligence course.

Duration: One yearEligibility: Holders of a

three year bachelor degree witha minimum of 60 per cent orfirst class from a reputableuniversity in a relevant disci-pline (computer science or anumerate discipline with expe-rience of software systemsdevelopment).

How to apply: Log on tohttps://www.sheffield.ac.uk/dcs/postgraduate-taught/cs-ai.

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Applications are openfor AsianDevelopment Bank-

Japan programme fundedby the JapaneseGovernment. In order toapply, you must have a bach-elor’s degree or its equivalentwith a superior academicrecord.

The aim of this interna-tional award is to provide anopportunity for well-quali-fied citizens of ADB’s devel-oping member countries toundertake postgraduatestudies.

Eligibility: Developingmember countries are eligi-ble to apply for free educa-tion. This will be awarded inthe field of economics, man-agement, science and tech-nology, and other develop-ment-related fields at partici-pating academic institutionsin the Asia-Pacific region.

Completed ADB-JSPInformation Sheet, Academicdocumentation, Certificateof Employment, Certificateof Income, Certificate ofFamily Incomeannual/monthly income,Copy of your Passport, ValidIELTS test. Before applyingfor the free study you musthave applied for admission atthe university. You shouldcontact the admissiondepartment to confirm theentry requirements.

Language requirement:Applicants must be profi-cient in oral and writtenEnglish communicationskills to be able to pursuestudies.

How to apply: To apply,the completed applicationform of the institution inwhich you have applied andADB-JSP Information Sheet

must be submitted.Application deadline:

July 19, 2019

The University ofSussex invites applicationsfor taking part in theExcellence Scholarship. Thepurpose of this bursary is toprovide financial help forhigh achievement aspirantsof any nationality who areready to pursue an under-graduate program for build-ing a bright future in theirchosen field.

Students will receive£2,000 cash maintenance astwo identical payments of£1,000.

Eligibility: Internationalstudents are eligible.Participants can pursue anundergraduate degree pro-gram in any subjects offeredby the university. If you arerepeating your first year andpreviously received the excel-lence grant, then you are noteligible to apply. Copy ofacademic transcripts, cur-riculum vitae, and a copy ofthe passport should be sub-mitted. Admission require-ments: You must have A*AAat A level, an overall score of36 in the InternationalBaccalaureate Diploma,D*D*D in the BTEC Level 3Extended Diploma (QCF),and 45 levels 3 credits withDistinctions in the Access toHE Diploma.

Language requirement:Facing the TOEFL andIELTS test and showing theEnglish language ability isessential to learn the pro-gram at the university.

How to apply:Applicants are suggested toregister themselves in anundergraduate degree courseat the university. They will beautomatically awarded forthe fund after registering inthe course.

Application deadline:September 1, 2019

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Shafaque Ahmareen a passing outBTech student of 2019 of IcfaiTech,

Hyderabad is recruited by Ministryof Education, United Arab Emiratesas a Junior Researcher in Internet ofThings (IoT) with an annual salarypackage of 1,92,000 Dirhams.(�36lakhs). Her training at IcfaiTechincluded a special project on advancedtopics.

Two more students of BTech 2019batch of IcfaiTech, HyderabadPuranam Karthik Sai RadhaKrishnaand Mani Chandra Teja Gaddam gotoffer as block chain applications LeadDevelopers from Nvest GlobalEnterprises Inc., Bengaluru with anAnnual Salary of �7.5 Lakhs. “Thesestudents are specialised in block chaintechnology through a special projectwhich is a part of the broad based cur-riculum at IcfaiTech. The training pro-vided to the students in Block ChainTechnology is excellent both throughon campus and internship programsof the institute” quoted Nvest GlobalEnterprises Inc.

Expressing his delight over theachievement, IcfaiTech Director said:“Students at IcfaiTech are trained incritical skills and tools like block chaintechnology, machine learining, IoTand others, IcfaiTech is offering twonew BTech programmes in cuttingedge areas like Mechatronics andData Science and Artif icialIntelligence from this academic year

July 2019 in order to cater to theindustry needs.”

IcfaiTech, Hyderabad: The ICFAIFoundation for Higher Education(IFHE), Hyderabad is a Deemed to-be University established under sec-tion 3 of the UGC Act, 1956.IcfaiTech, a constituent of IFHE offersthe BTech programme which is a four-year, eight-semester, full-time campusbased programme with five disciplinesnamely Civil, Computer Science,Electronics & Communication, DataScience & Artificial Intelligence andMechatronics.

%��������������������Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering

College and MitsubishiElectric India (MEI) have joinedhands and signed their third MOUon March 27, 2019. On this occa-sion, Katsunori Ushiku, MD &Hisahiro Nishimoto, Director,Head — FAID Mitsubishi ElectricIndia, along with their team of offi-cials inaugurated Robotic Cell atMitsubishi Drive & Control Labestablished under AKGEC Centresof Relevance and Excellence(CORE).

This collaboration is expectedto provide a platform for industry-academia interaction and promoterobotic and factory automation tech-

nologies in engineering education andSMEs of the region. This will also helpto fill the gap related to high levels of

youth unemployment and a short-age of job seekers with criticalskills related to multidisciplinaryfield of robotics and automation inIndia. It will facilitate young engi-neers to get the chance to learnindustry oriented skills and havehands on experience with state-of-the-art tools comprising of latestsoftware /hardware provided byMEI to CORE. These facilitiesinclude most advanced PLCs andmotion controllers with touch panelHMIs and networking facility. Thelab also has servo amplifiers, vari-

able frequency drives and the latesthigh speed in its class small six axisarticulated robot.

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)7&$�+��������������� ����������-���Lucknow: Sahara IndiaPariwar, one of the biggestIndian business conglomer-ates, announces its foray intothe automobile sector here onTuesday, under the brandname, ‘Sahara Evols’.

The business venture willcater India’s largest range of elec-tric vehicles (EVs) along withadvanced allied services. Theproduct portfolio of ‘SaharaEvols’ consists of variants ofelectric scooters, motorcycles,three wheelers and cargo vehi-cles. For the first time, theGroup will also be is introduc-ing a network of battery charg-ing cum swapping stations.

‘Sahara Evols’, while startingfrom Lucknow, shall establish itsecosystem in Tier II and Tier IIIcities of India by the end of thisfinancial year, in a phase-wisemanner. Subsequently, in thenext financial year it shall berolling out its products andservices, pan-India.

On the occasion ‘Saharasri’Subrata Roy Sahara said, “weare proud to introduce for thefirst time, a complete ecosystemof electric vehicles in India.Sustainable and environment-friendly modes of transporta-tion are the need of the time aswell as for the benefit of ourfuture generations.

The Sahara Evols range ofelectric vehicles is going to beour contribution in this direc-tion – towards alternate, sus-tainable and eco-friendlymodes of transportation.”

‘Sahara Evols’ vehicles run

on advanced electricmotors &amp; drivetraindesigned and developedby German Engineering.

The technology anddesign of Evols electricvehicles provide instantpick-up, zero noise pol-lution thus soundlesscruise and lower batteryconsumption which leadsto longer driving distanceand also longer batterylife plus 5 times lowermaintenance costs ascompared to convention-al vehicles. The vehiclesare powered by dry lithi-um-ion batteries, whichare lightweight, portable,smart-looking and have alonger life than regularbatteries. These batteriesare fast charging, withup to 40% charging in 1hour which can provideenough power to coverbetween 55 Km – 150 kmdistance in a single chargedepending on the typeand category.

The cost of drivingSahara Evols ElectricVehicles in an averagecan go as low as 20 paiseper kilometre against thecost of Rs 2 per kilome-tre on petrol vehicles,thus entailing direct andsubstantial economicbenefits to the users.

Sahara Evols is alsointroducing a first of its

kind ecosystem for theelectric vehicles, which

along with a wide network ofservice centers across each city,also provides support facilitieslike delivery of a charged bat-tery on call as well as for thefirst time in India, a network of‘Battery Swapping Stations’ forcustomer convenience. TheseBattery Swapping Stationscharge batteries quickly with‘Evols Smart Charge DockingSystem’, or alternately, enablevehicle owners to swap theirdischarged battery with a fullycharged one.

The company has alreadystarted developing the servicesetup at Lucknow District, itsfirst target market with the set-ting up of 57 service centers aswell as providing training to thetechnicians for electric vehicles.Sahara Evols has also handedover keys to 101 inauguralcustomers at Lucknow. SaharaEvols’ vehicles are alsoequipped with Smart Tech fea-tures like GPS tracking systemthrough which the owner of thevehicle, with the help of the freedownloadable ‘Sahara EvolsMobile App’ can trace the loca-tion of their vehicle, as well asask for on-road and off-roadassistance, 24X7.

Users can also analyseonline the performance of theirvehicles and for the first timein India, can even lock the vehi-cle through the mobile app.The vehicles also have DistressAlarm Buttons for women’ssafety and Anti-Theft Alarm toprevent any attempt of break-in.

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The BSE benchmarkSensex Tuesday retreatedfrom its peak level to end

184 points lower as investorsresorted to profit taking athigher valuation.

The broader Nifty toocame off life-time highs to set-tle 67 points down.

Top losers in the Sensexpack were Hero MotoCorp,HCL Tech, TCS, Asian Paints,IndusInd Bank and Infosys,shedding up to 3.08 per cent.

On the other hand, YesBank, NTPC and Axis Bankemerged as major gainers, ris-ing up to 2.71 per cent.

The BSE gauge settled184.08 points, or 0.46 per cent,lower at 40,083.54. The broad-er NSE benchmark fell 66.90

points, or 0.55 per cent, to set-tle at 12,021.65.

Auto and IT countersmainly came under a heavyselling pressure due to profit-booking as stocks of both sec-tors had risen in the previoussession on hopes of RBI rate cutand rupee’s sustained rise.

The broader mood of themarkets remain dampenedwith a report that the pre-mon-soon rainfall in the country wasthe second lowest in 65 years,he said adding that the three-month pre-monsoon seasonMarch, April and May endedwith a rainfall deficiency of 25per cent.

Analysts said that investorsbooked profits at higher levelsafter markets soared to recordhighs on Monday amid expec-tations of an interest rate cut by

the RBI on Thursday, especiallyafter a disappointing GDPprint for the March quarter.

“Markets opened margin-ally lower, but fell later in theafternoon trade as investorsand traders awaited RBI’s mon-etary policy decision amidweak cues from global mar-kets,” said Narendra Solanki,Head Fundamental Research(Investment Services) - AVPEquity Research, Anand RathiShares & Stock Brokers.

The Indian rupee was mar-ginally lower at 69.28 againstthe US dollar.

Meanwhile, other Asianbourses ended on a negativenote, while Europe was tradingin the green in opening deals.

Brent crude futures, theglobal oil benchmark, fell 1.53per cent to 60.34 per barrel.

9��)���% ����������%%�����48���%������New Delhi (PTI): The FinanceMinistry Tuesday assured tradeand industry that input taxcredit accrued on import ofgoods by paying GST in 2017-18 will not lapse even if the tax-payer has not claimed credit inthe same financial year.

Addressing concerns raisedby trade and industry regardingfiling of annual returns for the

first year (2017-18) of Goods andServices Tax (GST) roll out, theministry also advised taxpayersto file the correct data about taxpayment and other details asreported in monthly sales returnsin annual return GSTR-9 byomitting the auto populated data.

The ministry said that manytaxpayers have raised concernthat annual return form GSTR-

9 does not allow a taxpayer toreport details of IGST paid onimports made in 2017-18 butcredit for the same was availed in2018-19.

Issuing the clarification, theministry further said many tax-payers have reported a mis-match between auto-populateddata and the actual entry in theirbooks of accounts or returns.

Script Open High Low LTPRCOM 1.98 2.00 1.93 1.97JUSTDIAL 794.90 797.95 759.55 767.30YESBANK 148.75 153.80 148.60 152.75RPOWER 7.30 7.44 7.00 7.04PCJEWELLER 74.45 78.20 73.00 73.90SPICEJET 150.00 153.20 148.50 149.05RELIANCE 1358.00 1373.00 1347.45 1351.10DLF 195.50 202.55 194.10 195.30SBIN 354.30 357.15 351.35 352.35SUZLON 5.50 5.70 5.40 5.48INFY* 741.95 741.95 733.25 734.70LT 1559.80 1584.70 1559.55 1570.00DRREDDY 2740.00 2797.75 2447.05 2657.80ASHOKLEY 91.95 93.85 91.40 93.00WIPRO 294.40 296.00 290.85 293.90GRAPHITE 408.75 429.90 406.80 421.05RELINFRA 99.20 101.50 96.55 97.00TATAGLOBAL 244.90 258.55 244.65 253.35RELCAPITAL 119.40 126.05 118.65 120.95AXISBANK 807.80 826.40 805.55 821.40NTPC 134.90 136.35 133.65 135.00TCS 2226.00 2226.00 2175.00 2182.45IBULHSGFIN 815.00 819.90 791.85 796.30BANKBARODA 131.95 135.10 131.00 132.60DHFL 114.25 115.65 111.05 111.60ZEEL 360.00 360.00 345.00 346.15TATAMOTORS 174.00 177.00 172.55 173.40PNB 81.95 83.90 81.45 82.30JETAIRWAYS 139.00 143.10 135.25 140.70INDUSINDBK 1663.85 1672.90 1630.00 1636.10ORIENTBANK 97.80 106.85 97.75 101.15BHEL 71.75 73.00 70.60 70.85ITC 279.70 282.15 278.90 279.65ADANIPORTS 423.80 429.60 417.65 425.40HINDALCO 199.85 200.85 196.90 198.25UNIONBANK 77.00 80.85 76.05 77.90IBREALEST 124.15 126.40 122.40 123.55INDIACEM 107.30 109.20 101.50 101.90INDIANB 285.00 292.35 271.55 273.10IDBI 37.00 40.55 36.70 39.70HEROMOTOCO 2838.00 2838.00 2748.30 2754.95ULTRACEMCO 4759.95 4782.30 4680.00 4696.85UJJIVAN 362.00 371.50 360.65 365.00JPASSOCIAT 4.76 4.80 4.70 4.71TATASTEEL 498.85 502.75 492.65 497.15HEG 1696.70 1749.50 1688.50 1700.80MARUTI 7012.00 7075.70 6979.50 7049.60BIOCON 558.00 560.70 539.20 540.70MANAPPURAM 134.50 141.10 134.00 138.90NCC 99.25 100.30 97.20 97.85BOMDYEING 125.00 132.15 124.85 129.65JUBILANT 489.00 489.00 454.50 460.40BAJFINANCE 3510.05 3547.40 3510.05 3532.55SUNPHARMA 416.40 417.95 409.50 411.25PERSISTENT* 575.00 597.50 575.00 594.20HDFCLIFE 443.90 444.70 436.25 442.45COALINDIA 259.75 264.00 258.15 263.25ICICIGI 1220.00 1250.00 1212.20 1244.05AMBUJACEM 236.00 237.85 225.80 227.00ICICIPRULI 400.00 400.00 389.85 394.30HDFCBANK 2457.00 2465.00 2442.05 2454.00MAHLOG 513.00 520.00 490.00 491.95ABCAPITAL 102.35 105.80 102.35 103.90BEL 111.75 114.20 110.95 113.20ICICIBANK 416.00 422.75 416.00 418.95PFC 128.20 131.40 127.60 129.75MOTHERSUMI 114.25 117.75 113.20 115.15CANBK 273.45 280.10 271.20 274.85HINDPETRO 325.00 325.05 317.05 318.00ACC 1711.00 1736.75 1651.20 1658.00NAUKRI 2280.00 2288.00 2201.55 2251.25ASIANPAINT 1459.00 1459.00 1417.55 1421.25VEDL 164.00 167.60 164.00 165.90EDELWEISS 203.60 210.30 198.60 200.45BANKINDIA 95.00 98.50 94.75 96.15UPL 1009.95 1022.60 1002.00 1011.10TITAN 1274.00 1278.35 1243.05 1252.40IBVENTURES 313.10 319.00 303.45 305.60RBLBANK 702.00 705.00 690.30 692.10IDEA 14.05 14.39 13.80 13.84POWERGRID 193.00 195.95 192.50 193.10RECLTD 146.00 151.10 144.95 148.70BATAINDIA 1369.00 1389.90 1365.50 1374.80HDFC 2226.90 2234.00 2208.45 2224.85JISLJALEQS 49.80 50.75 48.65 48.90APOLLOHOSP 1345.10 1356.40 1324.30 1331.85PHILIPCARB 144.50 154.00 143.30 149.60IOC 170.00 170.00 165.00 165.30RADICO 334.60 339.70 329.55 330.60APOLLOTYRE 195.75 201.85 194.65 197.65INFRATEL 273.00 275.40 268.70 273.75ADANIPOWER 49.80 51.25 49.60 50.30GRUH 315.70 323.00 315.10 320.90BALKRISIND 792.55 806.40 785.60 795.00SAIL 51.30 52.20 50.00 50.55CROMPTON 247.90 251.70 243.00 248.50ESCORTS 604.00 612.75 598.50 604.20VENKYS 1941.00 2008.00 1906.00 1948.30L&TFH 136.00 137.85 135.40 136.35J&KBANK 58.70 61.75 58.55 60.95DELTACORP 206.00 213.20 204.65 207.60TVSMOTOR 501.65 511.70 490.00 493.75SUNTV 542.60 543.60 530.50 535.95BHARTIARTL 352.00 355.75 350.05 353.45HAVELLS 771.90 783.85 761.00 778.40INDIGO 1687.00 1703.75 1680.90 1685.70VGUARD 236.75 247.00 235.55 243.00NATIONALUM 50.35 51.00 50.00 50.25DBL 592.00 592.00 551.55 551.55

JSWSTEEL 274.00 275.80 272.50 274.10M&M 656.80 659.50 647.95 650.70HCLTECH 1111.00 1113.55 1079.35 1082.55GODREJPROP 901.00 923.95 861.00 881.85RAIN 112.75 117.45 112.35 115.00GREAVESCOT 154.70 157.25 152.00 153.25JUBLFOOD 1350.40 1369.90 1342.00 1356.20TATACHEM 636.00 644.90 625.60 631.40AUROPHARMA 652.00 659.75 648.55 654.10JINDALSTEL 160.45 162.80 158.15 161.65STRTECH 175.65 177.65 173.00 173.80BEML 999.70 1010.00 981.50 990.90FSL 53.00 54.60 53.00 53.50LTTS 1699.00 1709.40 1663.00 1667.40FEDERALBNK 107.50 109.60 107.50 107.90TATAPOWER 67.45 67.95 66.45 66.75NMDC 104.00 105.25 102.85 103.75EICHERMOT 19997.00 20355.15 19800.05 20075.00SOBHA 543.00 573.20 543.00 553.65HINDUNILVR 1834.00 1844.00 1808.00 1816.10JAICORPLTD 122.00 124.90 121.30 121.50TECHM 758.90 762.70 747.60 748.55ONGC 172.00 173.35 170.00 170.55DISHTV 28.60 29.00 27.20 27.50INTELLECT 261.55 272.45 260.70 269.50IFCI 9.61 9.87 9.50 9.69HFCL 21.80 22.35 21.20 21.30IGL 342.00 346.50 338.35 344.55EXIDEIND 215.00 217.75 213.15 214.80BHARATFIN 1053.60 1053.60 1026.55 1033.60NBCC 62.60 64.45 62.05 63.10PAGEIND 21050.00 21100.00 20035.00 20128.15CENTURYTEX 1060.00 1060.00 1020.00 1024.30CANFINHOME 363.55 368.80 360.05 364.75WOCKPHARMA 400.50 410.00 395.40 405.30WABAG 322.70 343.80 318.60 333.85EQUITAS 141.50 143.00 140.50 141.25KOTAKBANK 1525.00 1539.45 1523.45 1531.30COLPAL 1169.80 1169.80 1123.95 1147.85DEEPAKNI 322.65 329.60 320.00 327.25HERITGFOOD 391.00 412.65 388.00 404.15IDFCFIRSTB 45.35 46.30 45.00 45.45M&MFIN 436.30 441.85 428.20 432.55LICHSGFIN 559.00 568.35 555.00 564.70DIVISLAB 1610.00 1610.00 1581.10 1584.30OMAXE 206.80 206.80 204.50 204.80BAJAJ-AUTO 3031.70 3031.70 2976.95 2989.55CEATLTD 991.55 1016.40 988.00 1012.25SRF 2890.00 2917.00 2843.20 2898.80LUPIN 745.10 753.85 739.80 742.20GRASIM 890.00 903.95 884.50 886.90IRB 123.10 124.60 120.00 121.25ADANIGREEN 44.40 46.10 43.60 45.05RCF 63.15 64.65 62.70 63.55DCBBANK 234.90 239.30 231.60 237.70GAIL 358.00 360.25 355.50 358.50ITI 96.45 98.20 95.65 95.95DMART 1344.00 1355.15 1321.10 1330.60INOXLEISUR 379.00 382.20 364.60 371.40CADILAHC 252.50 259.80 251.20 257.40SYNDIBANK 35.95 37.90 35.65 36.70SADBHAV 260.00 264.30 253.00 257.50TRENT 412.25 424.50 408.70 412.45MPHASIS 987.00 987.00 962.65 969.70VOLTAS 594.50 601.80 591.10 598.30AVANTI 365.10 378.00 362.50 368.25WHIRLPOOL 1497.00 1544.00 1497.00 1531.90SUNTECK 500.05 507.00 492.80 501.00RAYMOND 842.00 859.90 840.75 852.45PEL 2228.00 2280.25 2187.85 2208.65DABUR 409.00 410.00 404.50 405.05BPCL 416.00 416.00 406.55 408.95STAR 433.20 436.40 425.05 432.15BAJAJFINSV 8312.55 8393.90 8304.00 8325.10TATAMTRDVR 84.80 86.55 84.40 85.50JSWENERGY 72.50 74.25 72.50 73.20SRTRANSFIN 1175.00 1187.15 1162.05 1165.75BERGEPAINT 327.10 331.80 322.00 323.55KTKBANK 113.05 115.60 112.40 113.55HEXAWARE 362.00 362.00 347.00 348.60NESTLEIND 11694.00 11694.00 11427.25 11526.00CAPPL 435.00 458.00 425.35 446.80COCHINSHIP 393.00 406.35 390.25 399.30CONCOR 532.85 543.10 530.40 536.45PETRONET 248.00 249.00 245.50 246.85BHARATFORG 465.00 467.75 460.65 463.15PRESTIGE 293.00 293.10 280.80 286.30INFIBEAM 46.00 47.30 45.40 45.75WELSPUNIND 55.25 57.20 55.25 55.90HSCL 104.00 106.85 102.75 106.10TATAELXSI 886.55 886.55 865.00 869.40ISGEC 488.00 488.00 461.50 467.00FDC 204.10 208.90 201.75 203.40ITDC 262.05 289.80 262.00 286.75SIEMENS 1270.80 1278.00 1260.20 1267.10GODREJCP 706.00 712.40 698.80 701.60ALBK 44.50 46.20 44.50 45.10OBEROIRLTY 561.05 571.05 556.00 558.55CGPOWER 35.50 36.60 35.15 35.45WELCORP 144.20 147.80 141.00 142.90SPARC 143.95 145.50 142.20 142.75UBL 1334.00 1361.20 1330.05 1339.00HINDCOPPER 43.50 45.15 43.45 44.20IDFC 37.25 39.10 37.25 38.30JKTYRE 83.40 84.50 81.40 81.90LTI 1770.00 1799.00 1768.25 1775.60ADVENZYMES 216.80 224.50 216.80 222.55MGL 890.80 905.50 884.00 889.25PNBHOUSING 835.75 855.00 829.90 846.10GNFC 289.75 294.40 286.10 287.10

GSPL 197.15 199.95 191.90 194.55MINDTREE 977.85 978.20 967.50 972.05CIPLA 568.00 574.30 562.00 563.25GLENMARK 546.55 554.00 539.30 540.45DCMSHRIRAM 547.90 556.00 521.00 524.90TRIDENT 66.50 68.60 66.20 66.55PIDILITIND 1300.00 1300.00 1274.00 1278.75JAMNAAUTO 56.35 59.10 56.20 57.15GUJGAS 186.10 190.40 184.65 185.25PVR 1771.00 1801.65 1769.60 1780.30MUTHOOTFIN 642.30 656.80 641.80 646.30BLISSGVS 160.90 163.10 159.80 161.75FORCEMOT 1540.00 1564.00 1520.00 1528.80BRITANNIA 2965.00 2985.90 2951.20 2961.00VINATIORGA 2140.00 2216.35 2060.10 2083.95GODREJIND 501.70 503.50 495.00 500.35ENGINERSIN 122.20 122.30 120.50 121.20ASHOKA 147.00 147.00 139.00 145.15GMRINFRA 15.45 15.65 15.25 15.30SOUTHBANK 14.30 14.38 13.92 14.30FCONSUMER 42.70 43.35 42.50 42.70GEPIL 925.00 930.40 895.00 905.00MMTC 25.55 26.70 25.55 26.30SUVEN 270.05 276.75 270.05 273.70PRSMJOHNSN 100.25 101.15 96.20 96.65MERCK 4040.00 4081.60 3945.00 3974.00SHANKARA 512.20 519.05 495.45 502.50ABFRL 218.40 219.00 214.75 217.50SHREECEM 21850.00 22045.45 21118.05 21211.05KAJARIACER 644.00 648.00 639.20 641.80KEI 510.55 517.50 497.95 499.60INDHOTEL 153.90 157.00 151.50 152.55CHOLAFIN 1537.00 1547.15 1514.20 1522.95WESTLIFE 346.35 349.45 342.00 343.05VIPIND 445.65 451.10 441.00 445.05NATCOPHARM 532.00 558.90 524.00 546.95MEGH 66.65 68.25 66.05 66.30ABB 1600.00 1607.00 1554.25 1560.20GHCL 262.15 267.00 260.50 263.50TV18BRDCST 28.30 29.25 27.75 29.00JINDALSAW 89.40 90.35 87.30 87.80PTC 70.85 71.25 69.30 69.95SBILIFE 692.65 700.00 689.10 697.65AJANTPHARM 1051.00 1074.50 1030.00 1033.30HUDCO 43.00 43.95 42.85 43.40NOCIL 134.50 135.50 133.00 133.50CASTROLIND 150.00 151.35 148.75 150.00MRF 56100.00 58279.95 56100.00 57561.65SYNGENE 690.00 690.00 681.65 684.80CHAMBLFERT 183.45 185.45 179.00 180.15OIL 181.50 185.65 180.40 181.60MFSL 449.85 456.00 444.65 450.40BANDHANBNK 599.85 601.05 591.40 592.90NIITTECH 1306.80 1314.70 1299.95 1302.45HINDZINC 248.75 251.80 246.00 246.55CUMMINSIND 769.90 783.10 769.90 778.95MAHABANK 15.45 16.15 15.35 15.95AMARAJABAT 644.00 645.75 635.75 637.75TORNTPHARM 1546.30 1558.70 1524.25 1531.35PNCINFRA 199.00 201.35 195.40 199.35REDINGTON 101.05 104.70 101.05 102.90RAMCOCEM 828.00 828.00 801.55 808.15KEC 321.60 321.80 314.85 315.30EMAMILTD 353.25 353.50 340.30 345.35AARTIIND 1866.00 1870.00 1837.75 1844.65TATACOFFEE 91.00 92.85 91.00 91.55TIINDIA 392.00 397.70 381.00 394.80HEIDELBERG 207.65 213.90 206.45 211.15TORNTPOWER 248.00 248.00 245.10 245.90MARICO 379.80 379.80 374.30 376.30ATUL 4005.00 4057.90 3953.80 3981.95GSFC 105.95 107.70 105.00 105.50TNPL 209.80 209.80 191.00 192.10JBCHEPHARM 373.00 388.50 371.00 381.65CENTRALBK 25.00 25.60 24.95 25.30ISEC 225.50 228.80 223.00 227.05TEJASNET 187.95 189.70 177.10 180.60BBTC 1164.00 1179.45 1147.00 1150.25PIIND 1127.65 1150.00 1127.65 1145.05MCX 821.60 826.80 809.60 815.90EIDPARRY 191.45 193.40 188.20 188.90UFLEX 268.65 276.25 265.00 268.55BAJAJHLDNG 3509.00 3594.45 3491.00 3517.65

JKLAKSHMI 390.00 395.00 377.00 379.20SCHNEIDER 101.00 102.00 98.00 99.05ZENSARTECH 253.95 254.10 250.00 253.85QUESS 647.00 652.35 645.00 647.70SWANENERGY 105.20 106.50 104.20 105.65PHOENIXLTD 676.95 679.60 664.20 667.95SYMPHONY 1489.00 1499.00 1414.00 1439.75BLUESTARCO 809.15 810.00 791.40 798.65SUPPETRO 221.00 229.00 218.85 223.80AUBANK 695.00 706.90 695.00 698.90JMFINANCIL 95.35 95.40 93.45 93.90GODFRYPHLP 918.00 933.00 916.00 922.30RAJESHEXPO 667.00 667.00 654.00 655.20GICRE 230.00 230.15 223.55 224.40GPPL 85.75 86.60 85.00 85.25NHPC 25.00 25.10 24.85 24.95LUXIND 1262.10 1269.60 1230.10 1246.75ADANITRANS 240.00 240.00 231.30 232.00KSCL 536.55 543.90 531.00 534.10NESCO 523.65 529.95 518.00 527.00NBVENTURES 94.25 94.25 91.85 92.05ORIENTCEM 118.50 125.00 117.00 119.00APLAPOLLO 1580.00 1580.00 1557.90 1560.65LAKSHVILAS 74.50 74.75 73.40 73.65TTKPRESTIG 7140.00 7293.95 7131.20 7220.40PFIZER 3110.25 3115.70 3090.00 3107.80JKCEMENT 1054.00 1054.00 1031.00 1034.45OFSS 3439.00 3445.00 3369.05 3378.35BDL 300.75 307.00 298.00 302.85SCI 32.85 33.60 32.70 33.10KALPATPOWR 519.80 520.10 511.00 514.35LEMONTREE 71.30 71.90 70.00 70.40ASTRAL 1345.00 1349.00 1312.00 1323.20TATACOMM 539.90 545.75 533.80 535.50BAJAJELEC 540.65 540.65 530.55 532.40IPCALAB 936.35 938.85 930.10 933.70THYROCARE 478.85 488.90 467.00 475.30SUPREMEIND 1070.50 1075.00 1035.50 1056.20REPCOHOME 397.85 406.00 396.40 400.75DEEPAKFERT 144.25 144.75 140.50 140.90TAKE 151.70 152.60 150.20 150.85AKZOINDIA 1799.95 1799.95 1774.00 1785.05FORTIS 125.85 126.10 123.70 124.15KNRCON 285.80 291.00 283.35 287.25ENDURANCE 1216.70 1227.60 1199.95 1206.35GMDCLTD 79.55 83.00 79.55 79.95IFBIND 752.70 773.00 730.00 739.35HIMATSEIDE 195.00 196.25 192.60 193.65INOXWIND 69.25 69.90 68.10 69.20NAVKARCORP 35.35 36.35 35.25 35.55GODREJAGRO 504.60 513.50 504.60 509.45EIHOTEL 179.40 183.40 178.40 179.90GUJFLUORO 1049.85 1061.45 1045.95 1056.40KANSAINER 464.30 464.30 454.25 457.85CHENNPETRO 225.65 227.00 218.25 218.80IEX 154.80 159.95 152.50 155.60EVEREADY 91.30 92.90 90.00 92.45AIAENG 1795.00 1824.40 1775.20 1815.35ANDHRABANK 24.75 25.20 24.70 24.80MAHLIFE 415.50 435.00 415.50 424.25FRETAIL 457.00 457.00 450.30 453.00CUB 212.05 216.65 212.05 215.40BIRLACORPN 674.45 676.20 647.10 655.50ZYDUSWELL 1307.15 1334.00 1305.55 1314.55NILKAMAL 1273.00 1275.00 1242.25 1251.40UCOBANK 17.55 17.80 17.35 17.60THERMAX 1008.30 1025.00 1002.70 1021.80NIACL 163.55 163.95 160.60 160.85SREINFRA 25.00 25.05 24.20 24.50COROMANDEL 437.05 439.00 430.55 432.45HSIL 286.80 294.00 284.25 284.85LAXMIMACH 5588.85 5588.85 5462.00 5472.40APLLTD 521.95 521.95 510.00 511.45MOIL 155.30 157.05 155.05 155.40GICHSGFIN 268.10 268.10 261.25 262.30LALPATHLAB 1076.00 1076.45 1047.05 1052.45RNAM 221.15 221.15 219.45 219.70MINDAIND 344.40 344.40 336.60 339.70MAHINDCIE 244.95 244.95 241.65 242.45BALMLAWRIE 194.75 196.00 192.10 193.30IOB 12.00 12.22 11.96 12.10KPRMILL 628.50 629.35 609.80 610.50SUNDRMFAST 540.00 546.70 539.00 543.85RALLIS 152.00 152.10 149.20 150.90DCAL 239.80 243.60 238.65 239.50MRPL 63.20 63.50 62.75 62.90GRANULES 110.15 110.90 109.50 109.80SOMANYCERA 449.00 449.00 432.00 434.30CENTURYPLY 173.65 174.25 170.95 171.50TIMETECHNO 99.00 99.85 97.20 97.85CARERATING 984.05 985.10 971.65 975.55SHK 151.75 154.00 151.70 153.25GLAXO 1275.00 1278.00 1265.00 1266.45ALLCARGO 109.00 111.55 109.00 110.10STARCEMENT 121.70 126.40 121.00 125.75BOSCHLTD 17542.30 17661.75 17347.90 17416.45GDL 144.45 149.00 144.45 147.15VBL 938.00 948.00 932.45 939.85SHRIRAMCIT 1553.80 1641.15 1537.60 1614.50GUJALKALI 546.20 556.55 544.00 546.90IBULISL 284.05 294.00 280.00 285.05SJVN 25.30 25.60 25.30 25.35JSL 37.85 38.00 37.15 37.55FINCABLES 455.00 460.00 452.05 453.85CRISIL 1490.30 1514.95 1481.50 1500.75NAVINFLUOR 734.70 735.60 723.20 726.95MANPASAND 46.45 46.45 46.45 46.45CENTRUM 29.00 29.40 28.65 28.90GESHIP 280.80 280.90 276.25 278.05FINOLEXIND 491.60 496.40 487.10 489.25

PARAGMILK 241.00 243.00 241.00 242.40MINDACORP 115.35 119.50 115.35 117.75CORPBANK 24.80 25.50 24.70 25.15HAL 739.95 739.95 723.00 724.15APARINDS 671.00 674.25 658.00 664.10ERIS 517.80 517.80 504.00 505.95DHANUKA 380.00 392.05 380.00 388.70MOTILALOFS 783.40 798.20 781.80 791.90MHRIL 232.00 234.05 228.90 230.45SONATSOFTW 349.75 353.45 349.55 350.15BASF 1380.00 1380.00 1360.05 1366.65GSKCONS 7600.00 7699.95 7562.90 7632.75BAYERCROP 3790.05 3800.00 3681.00 3701.15CERA 3026.00 3026.00 2925.00 2939.75DBCORP 195.65 199.95 194.95 195.75NLCINDIA 66.30 66.35 65.50 65.95JYOTHYLAB 167.65 171.95 167.65 170.803MINDIA 22728.40 23126.70 22522.00 22577.00INDOSTAR 395.00 399.80 390.05 391.00COFFEEDAY 242.10 244.45 241.00 241.45CCL 264.25 265.95 263.05 263.40ECLERX 927.40 937.00 926.15 936.30LAURUSLABS 359.55 360.00 357.30 358.45GET&D 258.50 262.70 257.00 259.00KRBL 345.15 345.40 340.00 342.60JAGRAN 114.15 114.15 112.00 112.20LINDEINDIA 574.00 574.90 563.45 565.55ASTRAZEN 1951.00 1974.10 1922.00 1923.90THOMASCOOK 234.60 238.40 233.80 238.15BAJAJCON 348.50 348.50 336.55 336.85ALKEM 1784.80 1784.80 1753.90 1757.00TATAMETALI 603.20 608.10 596.10 600.45AEGISLOG 220.00 221.65 216.35 217.00LAOPALA 205.00 205.00 196.20 198.15CYIENT 558.25 561.70 557.00 560.00GILLETTE 7380.75 7448.55 7357.40 7409.45ASAHIINDIA 239.00 239.00 233.40 234.85ABBOTINDIA 7811.65 7880.15 7795.00 7850.35GALAXYSURF 1181.20 1191.85 1166.45 1170.20TATAINVEST 890.00 890.00 881.25 883.90MAHSCOOTER 4370.00 4383.75 4305.00 4333.65WABCOINDIA 6220.00 6274.95 6186.00 6198.50TVTODAY 285.05 285.20 281.80 282.45RELAXO 850.35 853.75 844.50 849.75NH 231.00 235.00 227.35 232.65ASTERDM 144.60 146.35 142.20 143.15TIMKEN 697.00 701.00 686.10 699.85JSLHISAR 85.45 85.50 83.70 83.85NETWORK18 31.90 31.90 31.10 31.15UNITEDBNK 10.83 10.95 10.80 10.83CARBORUNIV 376.00 376.75 373.25 374.60VTL 1096.65 1109.95 1081.00 1097.35GRINDWELL 590.90 592.00 582.55 585.70GREENPLY 166.00 169.80 163.20 168.85SANOFI 5465.75 5465.75 5371.50 5389.00ITDCEM 115.70 116.00 114.05 114.35BLUEDART 2682.00 2750.00 2664.00 2678.05SOLARINDS 1195.00 1195.00 1151.00 1161.10ESSELPRO 131.90 131.90 129.65 130.25SUPRAJIT 212.00 212.40 208.05 210.55

HONAUT 26881.25 27050.00 26399.95 26434.80SUDARSCHEM 335.00 337.50 333.65 334.70GAYAPROJ 185.90 187.50 180.00 180.95SIS 929.00 929.00 894.15 897.00SHARDACROP 354.85 364.90 353.30 360.90SHILPAMED 343.55 350.00 343.55 345.50FORBESCO 2088.00 2125.05 2040.00 2065.20FLFL 459.90 462.85 456.55 460.00PGHH 10922.00 10944.80 10780.00 10879.75RATNAMANI 945.00 958.95 936.00 951.55TEAMLEASE 3016.95 3016.95 2950.00 2964.05TVSSRICHAK 2047.00 2086.45 2041.00 2074.15GULFOILLUB 861.00 891.00 861.00 887.55MAGMA 131.55 131.55 128.95 129.65MONSANTO 2434.00 2434.00 2386.00 2411.45ELGIEQUIP 277.20 277.85 271.90 274.90SKFINDIA 1905.00 1905.00 1886.10 1891.70NAVNETEDUL 108.25 110.70 108.25 109.95JCHAC 1816.00 1865.50 1809.65 1818.35MAXINDIA 64.55 64.55 63.55 63.70KIOCL 134.35 137.95 134.35 137.95TRITURBINE 107.50 107.55 106.25 106.85SCHAEFFLER 5014.20 5075.00 5014.20 5073.00VMART 2403.70 2428.10 2395.25 2401.20SFL 1247.00 1278.00 1242.20 1265.75HATSUN 730.00 733.95 722.00 729.65CHOLAHLDNG 492.00 498.90 490.05 498.90SUNCLAYLTD 2583.05 2583.05 2572.00 2576.05SHOPERSTOP 483.40 484.20 481.00 483.65

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 12052.65 12095.20 12005.85 12021.65 -66.90YESBANK 148.80 153.85 148.55 153.35 3.90INFRATEL 268.85 275.00 268.55 274.90 6.15NTPC 133.15 136.35 133.15 135.10 2.00AXISBANK 807.55 827.75 805.50 823.90 11.25COALINDIA 258.80 264.15 258.10 263.70 2.80VEDL 164.30 167.70 164.00 165.85 1.65WIPRO 294.00 295.95 290.80 293.80 2.50MARUTI 7000.00 7099.00 6971.75 7080.65 57.75LT 1561.00 1585.00 1558.00 1572.25 12.85BAJFINANCE 3514.50 3550.00 3509.55 3536.00 24.95EICHERMOT 19994.00 20360.00 19783.50 20047.00 98.85ITC 279.25 282.15 278.80 279.80 1.25UPL 1005.60 1022.85 1001.75 1011.00 3.90KOTAKBANK 1530.00 1540.00 1522.20 1534.00 2.75POWERGRID 192.55 196.00 191.95 193.35 0.30ADANIPORTS 423.40 429.85 417.40 425.10 0.35GAIL 356.00 360.35 355.10 357.50 0.05BHARTIARTL 351.00 355.95 349.75 352.75 0.00TATASTEEL 496.00 502.75 491.90 497.65 0.00HDFC 2220.00 2233.90 2209.00 2229.15 -1.30HDFCBANK 2455.00 2465.75 2441.05 2455.00 -2.10BRITANNIA 2970.20 2985.00 2951.00 2965.00 -5.20JSWSTEEL 274.00 276.00 272.40 273.90 -0.65M&M 654.80 659.40 647.80 651.00 -2.40BAJAJFINSV 8344.95 8388.00 8292.35 8310.00 -38.10RELIANCE 1357.45 1374.25 1348.10 1353.00 -7.20HINDALCO 198.85 200.50 196.85 198.00 -1.40SBIN 354.00 357.20 351.40 352.80 -2.65TATAMOTORS 174.25 177.20 172.40 173.10 -1.40GRASIM 890.00 903.90 883.30 887.50 -7.55ICICIBANK 417.70 422.75 417.50 419.00 -3.90TECHM 756.30 762.70 746.80 750.00 -7.60HINDUNILVR 1831.00 1845.50 1807.10 1821.15 -18.55ONGC 172.90 173.50 170.05 170.35 -1.80BAJAJ-AUTO 3026.20 3029.30 2970.40 2998.00 -36.60INDUSINDBK 1663.00 1672.95 1630.00 1642.40 -20.25CIPLA 564.00 575.00 561.10 561.20 -7.05TITAN 1267.00 1276.85 1243.80 1250.00 -16.25INFY 737.25 739.45 733.15 734.90 -9.75SUNPHARMA 414.80 417.90 409.10 411.25 -5.55IBULHSGFIN 814.35 819.90 791.75 799.50 -11.35ULTRACEMCO 4762.30 4782.00 4675.15 4694.00 -68.30TCS 2224.00 2224.00 2175.00 2188.00 -36.30IOC 170.00 170.00 164.70 165.90 -3.80HCLTECH 1112.40 1113.40 1081.00 1090.00 -25.20BPCL 415.40 415.90 406.75 407.50 -9.60DRREDDY 2750.00 2798.45 2400.00 2657.95 -66.15ASIANPAINT 1455.00 1455.00 1417.05 1422.65 -36.60HEROMOTOCO2833.00 2835.00 2745.00 2759.00 -81.25ZEEL 358.95 358.95 345.00 346.25 -13.30

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28080.50 28218.25 27950.70 27970.10 -172.95MCDOWELL-N 552.15 574.80 548.60 571.00 13.40CADILAHC 253.00 260.25 250.90 258.30 5.45MRF 56026.00 57600.00 56025.00 57130.00 1127.55ICICIGI 1224.80 1250.00 1212.40 1243.65 23.15HDFCAMC 1780.00 1815.00 1780.00 1813.00 28.75MOTHERSUMI 114.00 117.95 113.00 115.40 1.65ASHOKLEY 91.85 93.75 91.35 93.10 1.25CONCOR 527.00 544.30 527.00 538.00 7.10HAVELLS 762.00 786.40 762.00 777.00 7.05PETRONET 247.35 249.20 244.65 247.45 1.95BANKBARODA 131.60 135.10 130.70 132.45 0.90L&TFH 135.50 137.85 135.25 137.10 0.90NHPC 24.80 25.10 24.80 25.00 0.15UBL 1330.00 1362.00 1330.00 1341.10 7.60SBILIFE 690.25 700.00 687.50 699.00 3.40HDFCLIFE 442.50 445.00 435.30 444.50 0.50NMDC 103.85 105.30 102.85 103.80 0.00BOSCHLTD 17419.30 17799.90 17270.60 17397.00 -7.85MARICO 376.05 378.30 374.00 376.95 -0.50COLPAL 1169.70 1170.50 1124.10 1159.20 -1.60BAJAJHLDNG 3480.15 3598.75 3480.15 3496.05 -9.25SRTRANSFIN 1175.00 1187.00 1162.00 1165.90 -3.65DMART 1333.90 1356.40 1326.00 1336.00 -4.30DLF 195.00 202.65 194.30 195.30 -0.85HINDZINC 248.60 251.70 246.00 247.45 -1.10INDIGO 1677.30 1704.60 1677.30 1683.50 -7.85AUROPHARMA 650.00 659.75 648.40 653.70 -3.15PEL 2220.00 2241.75 2182.50 2210.20 -13.10LUPIN 746.70 755.00 738.30 740.75 -4.50DABUR 408.70 410.30 404.20 405.50 -3.30ICICIPRULI 398.50 399.20 389.70 394.95 -3.25PGHH 11047.00 11047.00 10743.00 10870.00 -99.60BHEL 71.90 73.00 70.70 70.90 -0.65SIEMENS 1280.00 1280.00 1260.00 1267.75 -12.30GODREJCP 707.40 711.25 698.05 700.05 -6.80IDEA 14.05 14.40 13.80 13.85 -0.15BANDHANBNK 599.80 600.90 590.50 592.50 -7.25NIACL 162.25 163.80 160.25 161.10 -2.15SAIL 51.25 52.25 49.90 50.55 -0.70PIDILITIND 1292.80 1293.05 1273.50 1277.15 -18.55ABB 1593.35 1609.80 1552.00 1568.00 -25.35OFSS 3415.50 3447.00 3365.55 3373.95 -62.00DIVISLAB 1610.00 1610.00 1580.40 1585.00 -31.25BIOCON 557.30 560.50 540.00 541.05 -12.35HINDPETRO 324.55 324.75 317.00 317.45 -7.30GICRE 230.00 231.40 223.05 224.30 -5.60SHREECEM 21676.00 22080.00 21125.55 21161.95 -715.70ACC 1710.00 1735.85 1650.50 1659.00 -66.20AMBUJACEM 235.25 237.85 226.30 227.70 -9.45PAGEIND 21000.00 21059.45 20000.05 20050.00 -1052.00

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Beijing: China on Tuesdaydefended its army's action atthe Tiananmen Square threedecades ago and lodged adiplomatic protest with the USfor calling for public account-ability, amid calls for intro-spection of the mass shootingwhich left a deep scar on thepsyche of the Communistnation.

The Foreign Ministry'sfurious response came after USSecretary of State MikePompeo's call for publicaccountability of the June 4,1989 massacre.

Hundreds of pro-democ-racy protesters are believed tohave been killed on June 4,1989 in and around Beijing'sTiananmen Square as thePeople's Liberation Army(PLA) launched a brutal crack-down on those demonstratingagainst the ruling CommunistParty of China (CPC).

The US has asked China tomake a full public accounting

of those killed and missing inthe Tiananmen Square mas-sacre even as it alleged that theChinese citizens are beingsubjected to a new wave ofabuses, especially in theMuslim-majority Xinjiangprovince.

Noting that the event 30years ago still stirs the con-science of freedom-loving peo-ple around the world, Pompeosaid that over the decades thatfollowed, the US hoped thatChina's integration into theinternational system wouldlead to a more open, tolerantsociety.

He called on China torelease all those held for seek-ing to exercise these rights andfreedom, halt the use of arbi-trary detention, and reversecounterproductive policiesthat conflate terrorism withreligious and political expres-sion.

"China firmly rejects theallegations and has lodged a

firm representation with theUS. Some in the US are so usedto lecturing others on the pre-text of democracy and humanrights that they interfere inother country's internal affairswhile turning a blind eye totheir own problems," ChineseForeign Ministry spokesmanGeng Shuang told a mediabriefing here.

He reiterated China's offi-cial reference to Tiananmenmassacre as a "political distur-bance" and sought to rule outits recurrence as the Chineseeconomy is on the downhillafter long years of growth rais-ing concerns.

"On that political distur-bance at the end of 1980s theChinese Government hasreached clear conclusion a longtime ago. The tremendousprogress achieved in 70 yearssince founding of new Chinashows that the developmentpath chosen by China is com-pletely right," he said. PTI

*������)������)�����)���-.������4��� ��.;����� �������Hong Kong: Large crowdsturned out for a mass candle-light vigil in Hong Kong onTuesday evening marking 30years since China's bloodyTiananmen crackdown, a gath-ering tinged with symbolism asthe city struggles to preserve itsown cherished freedoms.

The eye-catching spectacle— in which thousands of HongKongers clutched candles, sangsongs and listened to emo-tional speeches — is the onlyplace in China were suchcommemorations can be safe-ly held.

The semi-autonomousfinancial hub has hosted anannual vigil every year sincetanks and soldiers smashedinto protesters near Beijing'sTiananmen Square on June 4,1989 — an illustration of the

city's unusual freedoms andvibrant political scene.

Organised by a group ofveteran democracy activists,the vigil demands justice forvictims and for China to

embrace democracy.But in more recent years

the mass gatherings have takenon an increasingly contempo-rary significance as angst buildsover Hong Kong's future.

Organisers were hopingfor a big turnout for Tuesdaynight's vigil, fuelled by both themilestone of the thirtiethanniversary itself and arenewed furore over defendingthe city from an increasinglyassertive Beijing.

This year's vigil comes at atime of huge controversy overplans by the city's pro-Beijinggovernment to allow extradi-tions to the Chinese mainlandfor the first time.

The proposed law hassparked a backlash from figuresin the legal and business com-munities as well as the largestdemonstrations Hong Konghas seen since 2014, a yearwhen pro-democracy protest-ers took over key intersectionsof the city for more than twomonths. AFP

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Brussels: The EuropeanUnion on Tuesday urgedChina to lift the veil of silenceit has dropped over theTiananmen Square crack-down, saying it must acknowl-edge those killed or impris-oned in the bloody events of1989.

On the 30th anniversaryof the brutal suppression ofpro-democracy protests inBeijing, the EU called for therelease of human rightsactivists detained by theChinese authorities.

The communist govern-ment censored any discussionof the protests and militaryclampdown, which left hun-dreds, possibly more than1,000 people dead, in therun-up to June 4 in a bid toprevent Chinese people everlearning about what hap-pened.

EU diplomatic chiefFederica Mogherini said thebloc "continues to mourn"those killed in the "brutalrepression" at Tiananmen.

"The exact numbers ofthose who died and weredetained on 4 June and in thesubsequent crackdown havenever been confirmed, andmay never be known,"Mogherini said in a state-ment.

"Acknowledgement ofthese events, and of thosekilled, detained or missing inconnection with theTiananmen Square protests, isimportant for future genera-tions and for the collectivememory."

Mogherini's statementcomes as the EU charts a trickybalancing act in its relationswith the Asian giant, seeking topress Beijing to improve itshuman rights record withoutalienating it. AFP

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London: President DonaldTrump touted a "very, very sub-stantial trade deal" between theUnited States and Britain afterBrexit as he met Prime MinisterTheresa May on Tuesday forfraught talks held amid streetprotests.

He joked to the outgoingBritish leader that she should"stick around" and reach amuch stronger economicalliance with the United Statesonce her country finally leavesthe European Union.

"I think we will have a veryvery substantial trade deal. Itwill be a very fair deal," he toldher at a meeting with businessleaders and ministers, adding:

"We're going to get it done."Despite having repeatedly crit-icised May's Brexit strategy,Trump said she had done "afantastic job".

Nearby, left-wing activistsinflated an orange blimp of ababy Trump dressed in a dia-per at a rally outside parliamentthat brought morning rushhour traffic to a halt.

It signalled the start ofwhat are expected to be largeprotests against the presidenton the second day of his three-day state visit.

"Trump baby is just a mas-cot for a massive movementagainst Trump's hateful anddivisive politics," organiser Leo

Murray told AFP.The president's visit

is technically centred aroundWednesday's D-Day 75th anniversary commemo-rations on the south shore ofEngland.

But it comes at an espe-cially chaotic time for Britain.

May will step down asConservative Party leader onFriday over her inability todeliver Brexit despite focusingon little else in almost threeyears in office.

She will stay on as primeminister until her successor isfound among 13 contenderswho must make some difficultchoices before the twice-

delayed Brexit deadline onOctober 31.

Before he arrived, Trumpurged Britain to walk awayfrom the EU without an agree-ment.

He also suggested thatBrexit-backing former foreignminister Boris Johnson wouldbe an "excellent" leader to getit done.

He appeared to try to makeamends for his diplomatic fauxpas on Tuesday.

"I'd just like to congratulateyou on having done a fantasticjob on behalf of the people ofthe United States and its anhonour to have worked withyou," Trump told May. AFP

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Tripoli: Lebanon's interiorminister said a gunman wasworking alone when he wenton a shooting spree that killedfour security personnel in thenorthern city of Tripoli.

Raya El Hassan said theshooting by the man identifiedas a former member of theIslamic State group, Abdul-Rahman Mabsout, is an "indi-vidual case" and the situation isunder control.

She spoke to reporters inTripoli on Tuesday, hours afterMabsout, riding a motorcycle,opened fire on police and armyvehicles in the city, killing two

police officers and two soldiersbefore breaking into a resi-dential building and hidingthere. He later detonated anexplosive belt when confront-ed by troops.

The rare shooting, whichbegan late Monday, shook thepredominantly Sunni Muslimcoastal city on the eve of theEid al-Fitr holiday. AP

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Istanbul: President RecepTayyip Erdogan said on TuesdayTurkey would not withdrawfrom a deal made with Russia tobuy an S400 missile defence sys-tem despite pressure from theUnited States.

"We have made an agree-ment (with Russia). We aredetermined. There is nothinglike backtracking from that,"Erdogan was quoted as saying bythe official Anadolu newsagency. Ankara's desire to buythe Russian S400 system hasbeen a major source of con-tention between NATO alliesTurkey and the United States,which has threatened sanctions.

Last week, a top Pentagonofficial said the consequenceswould be "devastating" forTurkey's joint F-35 fighter pro-gramme and its cooperationwith NATO if the country goesahead with plans to buy theRussian defence system. AFP

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Seoul: Tens of thousands ofperformers in Pyongyang tookpart in the first of North Korea'sspectacular "Mass Games" pro-paganda displays for 2019, butthe show left leader Kim JongUn unimpressed.

The "Grand MassGymnastics and ArtisticPerformance" features enor-mous numbers of people —mostly students and school-children — in precision syn-chronised moves.

Behind them, thousands ofchildren turn the colouredpages of books in sequence tocreate an ever-changing back-drop of giant images ripplingacross one side of the stadium.

But Kim was under-whelmed by the production,titled "The Land of the People".

After the show "he calledcreators of the performanceand seriously criticised themfor their wrong spirit of cre-ation and irresponsible workattitude," the North's officialKCNA news agency reportedon Tuesday.

Noting that artists "have avery important duty in social-

ist cultural construction," Kim"set forth important tasks forcorrectly implementing therevolutionary policy of ourParty on literature and art,"KCNA added.

It was not clear what hadinfuriated the leader.

Kim was accompanied tothe performance by his wife RiSol Ju and his sister and closeaide Kim Yo Jong, KCNA said.

It was the first time it hadmentioned Kim Yo Jong fornearly two months, since theHanoi summit between KimJong Un and US PresidentDonald Trump broke up inFebruary without reachingagreement over sanctions reliefand the North's nuclear pro-gramme.

Among the senior govern-ment officials present was KimYong Chol, KCNA said.

He is the North's counter-part to US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo in the nucleartalks, and South Korea'sChosun Ilbo newspaper lastweek reported that he hadbeen sent to a labour camp afterthe no-deal in Hanoi. AFP

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Washington: A federal judgeon Monday denied a Houserequest to prevent PresidentDonald Trump from tappingDefense Department moneyfor his proposed border wallwith Mexico, saying Congresslacked authority to sue.

Trump's victory is mutedby a federal ruling in Californialast month that blocked con-struction of key sections of thewall. The California case wasfiled by the American CivilLiberties Union on behalf of theSierra Club and SouthernBorder Communities Coalition.

US District Judge TrevorMcFadden, a Trump appointee,wrote that the House's lawsuitwas "about whether one cham-ber of Congress has the 'con-stitutional means' to conscriptthe Judiciary in a political turfwar with the President over theimplementation of legislation."

McFadden said Congressdidn't have authority in this casebut that he didn't mean toimply the legislative body couldnever challenge the president incourt over separation of pow-ers.

"An old maxim in politicsholds that, 'Where you standdepends on where you sit,'" hewrote. AP

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This is the city from wherethe legendary Titanic setsail for New York. So icon-ic events and failed fortunesare part and parcel of the

landscape of the big port town whereIndia start their campaign for theWorld Cup first time under the lead-ership of Virat Kohli, on a ground theylost theTest and the series to Englandmost recently in 2018.

But future, not history, beckonsthe Men in Blue who take on SouthAfrica on a solid front foot of goodrest, a crackling team and a rival suf-fering from two losses on the trot, notto mention dented armour in theabsence of fiery pacers Lungi Ngidiand veteran Dale Steyn who is out ofthe tournament due to shoulderinjury.

But even if the full Protean squadhad been staring down Kohli's boys,the contest would have been interest-ing, what with Team India sporting acarefully constructed band of young-sters adept at living with pressure,spinning well andjudiciously pacingboth the arm and the bat.Besides,theyare botoxed on self-belief, concretedby, as Kohli said, "camaraderie, discus-sions and team spirit." With a passion-ate and yet sorted Kohli on his maid-en leadership assignment in the BigGame with high personal stakes atplay, and veteran World Cup tacticianMS Dhoni looking over from behind,the cause for worry can only be self-constructed.

This will be India's first match inthe World Cup and the delay has beenworth the while. "I am happy to befinally playing. The wait has been a bitof an advantage in terms of under-standing how the games have goneunder the conditions, the pace of play,what the approach of other teams havebeen. We have had a lot to absorb and,thus, have a lot of positives out ofbeing the last to start," Kohli said athis pre-match Press conference.

But then how do you deal withweather as fickle as the smile of a col-icky infant? Only yesterday,Southampton saw all the weather con-ditions it could in a day: Morning wasbright and sunny, the afternoonalmost blew over with a hard and coldwind, then came the rain and yet at9.15 pm it was a bright sun that setinto the high skies. Kohli is aware andwary of this huge condition stumblewhich makes England the final fron-tier of the game."Dynamics willchange from morning to afternoonand bowlers will have to adapt fast,"he warned.

Match day weather is predicted toswing much like the ball does inEngland with variable cloudiness anda passing shower in the day, some-thing not as benign as it sounds whenit comes to strategizing your cricketin the middle. For one, it makes thebat-friendly pitch secondary to atmos-pherics. This, in turn, makes Kohli'schoice between spinners and seamersa difficult and calculatedone.

Good news is that SA is strugglingin the dressing room with skipper Faf

du Plessis acknowledging that itwould be challenging to have such aninjury resized team and that he woulddo his best. Kohli, on the other hand,knows that Proteans are very "talent-ed dangerous even with replace-ments,"Rabada being the danger manrunning in, not to mention the dead-ly guile of Imran Tahir fresh from Eidcelebrations on match eve and RohitSharma being rickety to leg spin.

But, KedarJadhav is in full fitnessand hitting the bowl well. Jadeja, Kohli

says, is outstanding and a guaranteedtemplate of performance. Then thereis Kuldeep Yadav, Chahal and Shankarwaiting in the wings, not to mentionBhuvneshwar rolling his arm in antic-ipation of the wind.

The skipper himself is lookingforward to the challenge with antic-ipation and nerves which is good forany player, he asserted. "Will look atthe pitch but are equipped for all con-ditions," added one of the best bats-men in the game for now. His open-ing game centuries in the previoustwo World Cups are enough to carrythe legacy to Southampton, especial-ly when the skipper is determined todo "whatever it takes to win", num-bers no bar.

Balance, acumen, calm and strat-egy — all of which have been careful-ly hemmed into the squad — willcome in handy when the clock strikes10.30 English time today. Add to thatsolid first 10 overs, rolling partner-ships with the bat and a weatherfriendly choice of bowlers, and theTitanic is sure to reach its destinationthis time, altering history and mould-ing the Cup's journey to Indianshores.

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So, what is England talkingabout in these World Cupdays? Not exactly cricket, if

you please! It’s more about DonaldTrump rubbing shoulders withthe Queen of England as only thethird US President in history tohave been accorded a State wel-come. Then there is Brexit,Theresa May, French Open,Wimbledon and even Baseball ifyou don't mind.

Royalty, howsoever irrelevantin modern times, commandsenough interest for this nation tohook on to news around it and thelikes of Trumps, Melanie or oth-erwise, making it their ultimatestatus symbol to be hosted byBuckingham Palace.

Not that this could makeDonald Trump rise over commonspats with uncommon venom,making England also talk aboutthe President's dirty Twitter warwith London mayor Sadiq Khanover the latter lamenting far-right politics besieging the worldto many a dismay.

Then there is this entiregamut of emotion over Brexit andits major fallout of Prime MinisterTheresa May resigning over theissue amid uncertainty and frayedtempers and apprehension ofstreet violence, protest anddemonstrations. To be holding aWorld Cup amid such woes is anachievement in itself, one wouldsay.

Other than that, there is a lotmore of the French Open on

English imagination than theCricket World Cup where hostsEngland fell to Pakistan just theother day. Flippantly, that 14 runsloss brought the focus somewhatback on a game that boasts ofBritain as its mother country buthas long lost the battle to football,

rugby, tennis and even baseballnow, the first ever match forwhich is being touted as sold outevent already.

Wimbledon, too, is justaround the corner and we allknow how eagerly England awaitsthe strawberries and cream sport-

ing summer in sylvan GrandSlam environs. Cricket, on theother hand, comes as an inconve-nient overlap which will gainprominence in local charts only ifthe hosts reach, or look to reach-ing, the knockout round.

Within the tournament, it’s a

week into the World Cup but the10 teams vying for the top hon-ours are still struggling to findtheir groove in an English sum-mer punctuated by rain, gentlewind and a lot of fickle behaviouron-field, what with South Africalosing to Bangladesh, and

Pakistan defeating the tourna-ment favourites England afterbeing blown out by the WestIndians themselves.

The changed format has seento it that there is even play,intense competition and manychances for the biggies to not beknocked out as any group stageblunder, a ka West Indies 2007.That also makes it the most openCup in the history of cricketwith India, England, South Africa,Australia, Pakistan, New Zealandand others sporting the firstamong equals potency in equalmeasure.

On the eve of India’s openingcampaign in Southampton,against South Africa, news has notbeen so much about the gameitself as about Team India rilingthe media by sending in local netbowlers for an international Pressconference and the event beingboycotted by angry journalists.

Gags, absenteeism, keepingthe media waiting and closingICC interaction windows sum-marily has become a fine art per-fected from the Mahendra SinghDhoni days and it seems now thatit has become a routine, thoughundesired, dressing room tenet.

Seen with a glossed eye, thisNarendra Modi kind of disdainfor the media achieves nothingother than add the much-requiredsyrup to a tournament hungry forfront page bytes, side stories andsome great matches to get goingin real earnest. Over to India vsSA which may bring some juiceinto the proceedings.

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Mohammad Nabiran through apanic-stricken SriLanka top order inthe World Cup on

Tuesday as Afghanistan bowledtheir struggling opponents out for201 in a rain-affected match inCardiff.

Sri Lanka came out of theblocks quickly under leaden skies,reaching 144 for one before thehalfway point of their innings andwere on course for a morale-boosting big score against theunfancied Afghans.

But Nabi, who had earlierremoved captain DimuthKarunaratne for 30, turned thematch in the Welsh capital on itshead, with three wickets in fiveballs as Sri Lanka slumped to 146-4.

"I tried my best to turn on thispitch, loop a lot, and trying my bestto bowl on the good areas," said adelighted Nabi.

"We will try our best to achievethis total and not give away a lotof wickets to the opposition team."

Shell-shocked Sri Lanka kepton losing wickets at regular inter-vals, with 35 extras the second-highest scorer.

The turning point of the matchwas the dramatic 22nd over.

Nabi bowled LahiruThirimanne for 25 before havingKusal Mendis caught by RahmatShah in the slips for two runs.Angelo Mathews was next to go,for a duck, also caught by Shah.

Fast bowler Hamid Hassanthen had Dhananjaya de Silvacaught behind for nought byMohammad Shahzad to leave SriLanka in deep trouble.

Thisara Perera was run out fortwo before Isuru Udana wasbowled by Dawlat Zadran for 10.

Leg-spinner Rashid Khanjoined the party, having openerKusal Perera caught behind byShahzad for 78.

Rain then intervened, forcingthe players from the field, with SriLanka 182-8.

The rain delay meant thematch was reduced to 41 overs aside but Sri Lanka folded quicklyafter the resumption, losing LasithMalinga and Nuwan Pradeep for

the addition of just 19 more runs.Afghanistan need a rain-

revised target of 187 to win.Earlier, Afghanistan captain

Gulbadin Naib won the toss andchose to field, hoping to takeadvantage of the favourable condi-tions for bowlers.

But openers Karunaratne andKusal Perera settled quickly as theyshared a stand of 92 for the out-of-form side.

Both teams were soundly beat-en in their first matches of the tour-nament in England and Wales.

Former champions Sri Lankawere thumped by 10 wickets byNew Zealand on the same groundwhile Afghanistan went down byseven wickets to defending cham-pions Australia in Bristol.

Afghanistan, playing in onlytheir second World Cup, beat1996 world champions Sri Lankasoundly in last year's Asia Cup inthe United Arab Emirates.

Sri Lanka have won only oneof their 10 one-day internationalmatches this year -- against min-nows Scotland.

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Led by Jasprit Bumrah, theIndian attack is the "mostcomplete" of this era but it

must not be compared with thebowling units of 2003 and 2011when the team reached the WorldCup finals, reckons SachinTendulkar. If at all a comparison hasto be made, then the current bowl-ing unit should be compared withthe attacks of this era, he insisted.

Tendulkar, who played sixWorld Cups between 1992 and2011 and has seen different bowl-ing attacks led by Kapil Dev, JavagalSrinath, Zaheer Khan from closequarters, finds it unacceptable thatdifferent generations playing underdifferent rules are compared witheach other.

"I don't like comparisons asthose were different eras, where dif-ferent teams played on different sur-faces under different set of rules,"Tendulkar said when asked tocompare the current unit with theattacks of 2003 and 2011.

For the maestro, who was partof two of three finals that Indiaplayed, the change of rules makesit difficult to compare generations.

"We have two new balls andfielding restrictions in place (fourfielders outside 30-yard circlebetween overs 11 and 40 and onemore in the last 10 overs), it is like100m runners are now running

90m or 80m because laws havechanged.

"It is difficult for bowlers withno reverse swing which single newball offered. So if you want to judgethe current Indian attack, theyshould be judged with rival attacksof this generation only. But yes,when it comes to this era, this is avery good attack," said Tendulkar.

"However I can't take away any-thing from the contributions madeby the bowling attacks of 2003 and2011 World Cup campaign. In2003, that bowling attack (Srinath,Zaheer, Nehra and Harbhajan)took us to the final while we did onebetter in 2011 (Zaheer, Nehra,Harbhajan, Munaf Patel and YuvrajSingh)."

However, with the world's pre-mier pacer Bumrah in its rank, thisattack is as good as it can get, saidTendulkar. "What's the best thingabout this attack is the fact that theyare on top of their game. It is thethe most complete in this era.Bumrah has been world's no 1bowler in this format for some timenow. He has been our 'go to man'providing crucial breakthroughswhenever needed.

"Also the two wrist spinners(Kuldeep and Chahal) operating intandem during middle overs will becrucial as we are expected to getmore wickets in that phase. So over-all, it's a very good attack of thisera," said Tendulkar.

�Do you prefer flat or turning wicket?There was a bit of turn for the spinners

even during the England-Pakistan seriesbefore the World Cup. But a lot will dependon the overhead conditions. Personally, Idon't like rank turners. Bowling on rankturners is also an art. I love bowling on aflat wicket with a bit of bounce. Also, asa wrist spinner you do induce turn irrespec-tive of how the wicket is and I have neverbelieved in looking at tracks for assistance.

You can't bowl fast on a flat wicket. Youneed to give it loop so that the ball takesturn. On a turning wicket, the pace has tobe increased since you are getting a turn.�Does India deserve the favourites tag?

Favourites tag comes from the outside.This is a big tournament and overall if youlook at how we have played over the pastcouple of seasons, we can say that this is astrong team. I prefer the word strong overfavourite. Also, there are quite a few goodteams apart from India and to be honest,a lot will depend on how a team plays onthe day.�How has the journey been from play-ing chess to now leading India's spincharge in the World Cup?

It is like a dream. When I would seeIndia's World Cup games on television, Iwould think that one day I want to be a partof this. When I became a regular in theteam from 2017 onwards, I started to aimfor the 2019 World Cup and looked at beingconsistent with my performances. Today,I feel a dream has been fulfilled. Doing welloutside of India gave me the confidencethat I can compete with the best on theinternational stage.�There is a big chance of rain tomorrowand obviously that might shorten thegame. Do you think that brings you guysin a little bit?

We not going for the weather. We willsee what’s the weather. So if we can reducethe overs it will be much better for us. Wehave potential now so like limited overs, solike everyone knows about Afghanistanbatting lineup, so it will be good.�How do you manage highs and lows?

The more you play together, you get toknow each other and it becomes like a fam-ily. We spend a lot of time off the field aswell and when one of the players has a badday, we as a team look at ways to motivatehim. Say, if I had a bad day and then ifcoaches start scolding you, the morale goesdown further. But in this team, you aregiven confidence and told that you haveproved yourself in the past and you can doit again. There are times when you are aloneand you need some motivation as you areon the go (playing and travelling) and thisteam is really good in this.�We know your love for tattoos...

I always wanted to get piercings andtattoos done from a young age. Got my firsttattoo in 2012 and then I got a Lord Shivaand that made me feel good as I feel con-nected to him and to get to look at his tat-too whenever I open my shirt it gives mea positive vibe. I spend a lot of time think-ing and conceptualizing before I get a tat-too made.

I have Shivansh written ( the name ofmy sister's son). I am a Leo so I also havea lion. I also have a warrior tattoo as thatgives me the spirit to fight when I am onthe field. The pain of getting inked givesme joy.

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Aself-proclaimed Pakistan cricket teamfan, Australias famous Twitter person-

ality Dennis Freedman has trolled Indiachief coach Ravi Shastri on the eve of theiropening game against South Africa byposting a picture of Shastri with twowomen who seem to be excited to be shar-ing the frame with the coach. There isanother person in the frame, but he is notassociated with the Indian team.

Taking to Twitter, Freedman wrote:"India's World Cup preparations appear tobe going well."

Shastri's photo hasn't gone down wellwith fans who commented on Freedman'spost. One fan wrote: "Fielding at fine leg."Another one wrote: "We're playing both onand off thefield."

Anotheruser wrote:"They are soanxious togel in withgori's in UK.This isIndians veryn a t u r a lc o m p l e x(sic)." OnePakistani fanwrote: "Deargirls watchAzhar movieagain if youdont knowwho is Rshastri (sic)."

An Indian fan was clearly notimpressed with the photo as the commentread: "He is better than play boy Warnewho got his mms with 2 girls leaked (sic)."

Dennis also posted the photo onFacebook and the reaction of the fans isn'tsomething that augurs well for the team.One fan wrote: "Hope he creates somethingbetter than Jayasuriya." Another onewrote: "Keep it up dude, you are doingwell."

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The prevalent overcast conditionsin Southampton may force theIndian team management to opt

for an extra seamer against SouthAfrica in the opening World Cup gameon Wednesday, indicated skipper ViratKohli.

While chances of BhuvneshwarKumar's inclusion in the playing XI lookbrighter by the minute, Kohli gave anopen-ended reply to the various ques-tions on possible team combinations.

There are indictions thatMohammed Shami may make the wayfor Bhuvneshwar but there are not anyconfirmation with regards to that. Inthat case, Vijay Shankar will pip KedarJadhav to share the third seamer'sduties with Hardik Pandya.

"We know it is a different situationin England when there is a cloud coverand when there is sun out. With twonew balls, if the pitch has somethingto offer, then an extra seamer comesinto the play big time. But even on agood pitch, on a batting-friendly pitchwith two new balls, I foresee the first10 overs to be challenging if there is

cloud cover," Kohli said, dropping abroad hint on Bhuvneshwar's possibleinclusion.

While Bhuvneshwar is a capablebatsman but seamer-friendly condi-tions may prompt India to drop a spin-ner in case a fully fit Jadhav is includ-ed.

"I think it will definitely be chal-lenging, starting at 10.30 am in themorning for the batsmen and that issomething that we have discussedand we have recognized how to goabout it, what are the plans headinginto being a bit more solid in that par-ticular phase," said the skipper with-out divulging much.

"And from the bowling point ofview as well, even if you play with twospinners, two seamers or three seam-ers, they are going to be in the gamein the first half if you start at 10.30 am.The dynamics will change from morn-ing to afternoon big time and thebowlers will have to adapt very quick-ly to that," he said.

Jadhav's all-round abilities alwayskeeps him in the mix, insisted Kohli.

"Kedar is batting in the nets nowand he is hitting the ball well, so it isalways nice to have him back in themix because of the variety he bringsinto the side. Looking at the pitch, wewill have discussions over what thebalanced combination will be, but Ithink we are equipped to handle allkinds of conditions here," Kohli signedoff.

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�How do you take Bangladesh as anopponent? Is that an advantage that youhave recently beaten them?

I think we’ve played Bangladesh a lotover the last couple seasons, we sort ofknow how they go about things, and recenttournaments, they have obviously playedreally well in the Champions Trophy a fewyears ago, then obviously their game herea few days ago. We know what threats theyhave on their side but hopefully we canstick to the things that we do well and keepgoing on the momentum that we built upa few days ago.�Bangladesh beat South Africa in theirfirst match — Bangladesh shocked SouthAfrica. What do you think?

Bangladesh played a really good gameof cricket. I think the way they went aboutthings in that first innings, to put a good,competitive score on the board and thenobviously apply that pressure with the ball.

They played a fantastic game. They willbe coming in here with a lot of confidenceabout how they went about things againstSouth Africa, so hopefully we can stick toour things that we do well and I guess chal-lenge them all the way.�You had Ajaz Patel bowling to you theday before. Was that a good preparationknowing you’ll face a left-hand spinnerin Shakib?

I think so. It’s always valuable when youhave, I guess, a like for like bowling to inthe nets. We know what sort of bowlerShakib is. He’s had obviously a lot of suc-cess around the world for a long period oftime, and he wasn’t in New Zealand in ourlast home summer series. I think it’simportant that, I guess, we, I guess get usedto a left-arm spinner, and we are certain-ly looking forward to the challenge of fac-ing him tomorrow.�A day/night game today. Are youexpecting that to make much difference?

I’m not 100 per cent sure on that. Youknow, sometimes it does under lights geton a little bit, so that is a fresh wicket outthere. I’m not 100 per cent sure what we’lllook to do, but if the dew does come intoplay towards the end of the evening, I thinkit’s important that we try to adapt to that.We’ve played in conditions like this beforethe ball, I guess skids on or the dew playsa factor. So it's important that we, I guessif it does come, try to adapt with it.�Have you finished your side?

We are going in with the same side. Soyeah, obviously I think the way we playedin the last game, I think, you know, bodesa lot of confidence for the group. I thinkthe way the bowlers went about things, youknow, they challenged the guys, or chal-lenged Sri Lanka much from ball one, andI’m sure the same side is looking to hope-fully repeat that today.�Boult is out to injury and Ferguson —three bowled 150 round. Do you thinkthat in the conditions — some grass willbe there, do you think that is challeng-ing for the batsman or top order?

I think Bangladesh are a quality sidewho I guess can adapt to conditions real-ly well. I think, you know, for our bowlingattack, we are used to bowling on our sur-faces that do offer a little bit in terms of ifthere is a little bit more grass. Hopefully wecan apply that pressure that we are used to,and I’m sure Bangladesh will be coming upwith plans to, I guess, try to counterattackour seam attack, and I'm sure it's going tobode for a good contest.�Early days yet, but what’s been the mostdifficult thing about the World Cup so farfor you?

We’ve only had one game so far. Wemanaged to play a good game of cricketagainst Sri Lanka, but I guess the impor-tant thing about this tournament is you play— we play nine games at nine differentvenues around the country. It’s importantto, I guess, adapt to every surface, everyteam, as quick as possible. The way we usu-ally play a series back home, you play twoor three games against a side and you’re ableto work out the way they go about things.

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South Africa cricketers Hashim Amla andImran Tahir attended Eid prayers at a

Southampton mosque on Tuesday aheadof their team's crucial World Cup clashagainst India.

The two players were warmly greetedby fellow worshippers, with selfie-seekersmaking a beeline to grab a photo withthem.

Both players are veterans in the SouthAfrica side, who have lost their two open-ing matches at the World Cup in Englandand Wales.

The 40-year-old Tahir, a Pakistan-bornleg-spinner, is set to quit one-day-interna-tionals after the tournament.

Top-order batsman Amla, 36, missedthe team's second World Cup game againstBangladesh on Sunday after being hit onthe head by a bouncer in the tournamentopener against England.

Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar, who isstanding at the World Cup, also accompa-nied the South Africa duo for Eid prayers.

Pakistan players visited a Nottinghammosque a day after their dramatic 14-runvictory over tournament hosts England asfans gathered to congratulate them. Thesquad were provided with tight security fol-lowing a March attack on a mosque inChristchurch, NZ. I�<2)

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Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib AlHasan has set his sights on amemorable 200th one-day inter-

national as his side chase a second suc-cessive World Cup win against NewZealand today.

Shakib was the key man whenBangladesh upset South Africa by 21runs in their opening match on Sunday.

His composed 75 helped steerBangladesh to their highest one-dayinternational total of 330 for six beforethe spinner took 1-50 to restrict SouthAfrica to 309-8.

That wicket made Shakib only thefifth player behind Sri Lanka’s SanathJayasuriya, South African JacquesKallis, and Pakistan pair Shahid Afridiand Abdul Razzaq to reach the land-mark of 5,000 runs and 250 wickets inODIs.

The 32-year-old’s next challengecomes at the Oval against a NewZealand side who crushed Sri Lanka by10 wickets in their opening match.

Shakib has experience ofupsetting the Black Caps afterinspiring their five-wicketwin over New Zealand inthe 2017 ChampionsTrophy with the mostrecent of his seven ODIhundreds.

B a n g l a d e s hmissed Shakibwhen a f ingerinjury ruled himout of the ODIseries in NewZealand earlier thisyear, in which theywere routed 3-0by the hosts andthe all-rounderh o p e sBangladeshwill put up atougher fightagainst NewZealand this time.

“Building upto this WorldCup, we knewwhat challenges wemight face. We prepared well, sothat gave us a lot of confidence andbelief. We came to this World Cupwanting to do well,” he said.

“We are up for the challenge butat the same time we are relaxed. We

knew we had the skill to beat bigteams.

“I think that we are in a goodplace, mentally. I think if we can con-tinue in this manner, we can go a longway in the tournament.”

Shakib will become only the thirdBangladesh player to play 200 ormore ODIs, behind skipper MashrafeMortaza (210) and Mushfiqur Rahim(206). But he remains modest abouthis milestone moment.

“I’m very happy the way I con-tributed (in the last game). If I do thatevery time, the stats will take care ofthemselves,” Shakib said.

“I don’t normally look at it (his sta-tistics), but if people are talking aboutit, I obviously feel happy.”

New Zealand showed against SriLanka that they are a well-roundedteam more than capable of going along way in the tournament.

They did not miss pace spearheadTim Southee (calf) and top-orderbatsman Henry Nicholls (hamstring)in their opening game.

Matt Henr y, who replaced

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Pat Cummins wants to avoid fastbowler rotation and play everymatch in the World Cup, and is

confident that his body is up to the test.Once the most injury-prone bowler

in Australian cricket, Cummins has gotthrough the past two years without inci-dent since making his return to Testcricket.

This year's World Cup presentsanother challenge with each team guar-anteed to play nine games in England,as well as the possibility of a semi-finaland final, leading coach Justin Langerto speculate giving his fast bowlers a restduring the tournament might be on thecards. For Australia and England, thetournament leads into a rigorous five-Test Ashes series, with just two-and-a-half weeks between the tournament'sfinal and the first Test at Edgbaston.

Australia have selected two back-upquicks for the one-day tournamentwith Kane Richardson and JasonBehrendorff not playing againstAfghanistan, but Cummins said hedidn't want to spend any time on the

sidelines."I hope to play every game,"

Cummins said in an interview withAustralian cricket website cricke.com.au."That is the aim. It is a fairly big work-load but no different to an ODI serieswhere you might play five in twoweeks. "We have nine spread out overabout five weeks. So, one or two a weekis pretty manageable.

"But obviously, if anything comes upwe will talk about it then but from ourpoint of view we want to play everygame." Australia have opened the tour-nament with a light schedule, with fivedays between their win overAfghanistan and Thursday's clash withthe West Indies at Trent Bridge.

However, the Windies match is thestart of a run of four matches in ninedays, with games against India, Pakistanand Sri Lanka to follow with travelbetween each. "There's one little sectionwhere I think we play four games innine days we might have to look at man-aging our bowlers," coach Justin Langersaid last week. "In a perfect world youkeep the team together for the wholetime. It's probably unrealistic to think

that will happen."We are very clear on our match ups

for different teams. There are obvious-ly some great data around that we haveresearched thoroughly all our opposi-tions." Australia coach Justin Langer isset to name an unchanged lineup for theCricket World Cup match against WestIndies as his team looks to get over its"brutal" last visit to Trent Bridge.

The five-time world championsbeat Afghanistan by seven wickets intheir first game of the tournament andLanger says, "We're going with the sameteam" on Thursday.

They will face a different test com-pared to an Afghan team containingmany spin options, with the Windies'all-pace attack having bounced outPakistan for 105 in their opener.

Langer says Australia's focus hasbeen "almost solely on playing spinbowling" after recent series againstIndia at home and Pakistan in the UAE,so "we have to adapt to West Indies nodoubt." When the Australians lastplayed at Trent Bridge, they were on thereceiving end of a world-record total of481 by England last year.

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Southee, took three wickets in Sri Lanka’s 136all out, while openers Colin Munro andMartin Guptill knocked off the 137 requiredin just 16.1 overs.

World Cup runners-up in 2015, NewZealand can also call on pace bowler LockieFerguson, who took three wickets against SriLanka.

“I guess you want to build that momen-tum early. If we bowl first in the next fewgames we can hopefully continue to do thatand make it difficult for the guys to score,”Guptill said.

“Then if we can come out and play witha bit of freedom like we did this afternoon withthe bat, I think we’ll have a pretty successfultournament.”

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It was a really entertaininggame and Pakistan playedoutstandingly well. I thinkthey were coming off theback of 11 losses in ODIs, so

the way they played was brilliant.England's performance in the

field wasn't quite at the same levelas it was against South Africa.There were a couple of droppedcatches, a few mis-fields, but forthem to not bring their best gameand still lose by 14 runs isn't theworst thing in the world.

I listened to Eoin Morgan'sinterview after the game and hesaid it's very unlikely any team isgoing to go unbeaten in the com-petition although obviously itwasn't ideal to lose.

But we lost our first game inthe Women's World Cup 2017 andstill finished top after the groupstage.

The good thing about the for-mat of the tournament is the bestfour teams will go through.

All the teams will play eachother once, there's nine gameseach before those semi-finals, soI don't think England will be tooworried. They'll learn from thingsthat didn't quite go so well.

I think the way they fielded inthe first match was probably oneof their best fielding performances

they've had, but I guess that's justcricket — one game you're on topof the world performing at yourbest, the next game you don't haveyour best performance.

Sometimes you have one ofthose days in the field wherethings get a little bit contagiousand little things go wrong, but I'msure England will put it down as'one of those days'.

There were a lot of positivesas well. It felt like Joe Root and JosButtler were going to chase downthe target when they were both in,but we lost those wickets and hadto re-build.

When you're chasing thatkind of score, you almost can'thave too many things that gowrong. Things have to go per-fectly for it to happen and

Pakistan took wickets at keytimes.

They got Root and Buttler justafter those two had got their cen-turies, and bowled well towardsthe end, but I think England willmove on quite quickly and put theresult behind them.

That's the thing about tourna-ment cricket, you've always gotthe next game to focus on and

turn your attention to, so I'm surethey will set their sights onCardiff and Bangladesh now.

I watched the Bangladeshgame live at the Oval and it wasan awesome game, the support forBangladesh was amazing and I'msure it will be quite similar inCardiff.

In fact, I'm not sure it will feellike a home game for England andthis result proves that every gameis going to be tough, which mightactually take a bit of pressure offof them.

A few people have suggestedthat England will win it easily, soin a weird way it might actuallytake the pressure off and makeeveryone realise that anyone canbeat anyone. It's going to be a verycompetitive World Cup.

These last two games —England vs Pakistan and SouthAfrica vs Bangladesh — havebeen brilliant, really competi-tive, great atmospheres and that'swhat you want, isn't it?

Competitive cricket for peo-ple to enjoy and the multi-cultur-al nature of the country meansthere will be support for allteams, which is absolutely bril-liant.

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Joe Root urged England to keepcalm and carry on after a surprise14-run defeat by Pakistan on

Monday checked their progress at theWorld Cup.

Both Root and Jos Buttler scoredhundreds but Pakistan still managedto end a run of 11 straight losses incompleted one-day internationals— including a 4-0 series defeat byEngland — with a well-deserved win.

But with all 10 teams playingeach other in the round-robin groupstage, one defeat is by no means theend of England's latest bid to win themen's World Cup for the first time.

Root now expects England, theworld's top-ranked ODI side, tobounce back strongly againstBangladesh in Cardiff on Saturday.

"The most important thing nowfor us as a group is not to panic," hetold reporters.

"We know what works for us asa formula, and as a team, but othersides are allowed to play well andwe've got to make sure we learnquickly and bounce back at Cardiff.

"The temptation is to get a littlebit tense, but one of our greatstrengths as a side is sticking to theway we go about things and be assmart as possible.

"And the beauty of this format isI do believe the best four teams overthe tournament will qualify for thesemi-finals and we've got to make

sure we play some good cricket inour remaining games."

The Test captain insisted: "Onething this side doesn't do very oftenis to make the same mistake twiceand I'm sure the guys will make sureit's a very different performanceagainst Bangladesh."

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Cristiano Ronaldo has ended his inter-national exile to spearhead Portugal'shopes of winning the inaugural

Nations League on home soil this week, butgone are the days when he was the Europeanchampions' only man to fear.

A five-time Ballon d'Or and ChampionsLeague winner, who has delivered leaguetitles to his clubs in England, Spain and Italy,there is little left for Ronaldo to prove.

But after his tears as a teenager whenlosing a home final at Euro 2004, Ronaldocan avenge that defeat by lifting the secondinternational trophy of his career in frontof an adoring Portuguese crowd.

Portugal, though, made it to the finalfour of the first ever Nations League with-out their all-time record goalscorer.

Ronaldo took a break from internation-al football after the World Cup and onlyreturned for Portugal's first two Euro 2020qualifiers in March.

In his absence, Bernardo Silva has cometo the fore with the Manchester City mid-fielder, who was hailed by club boss PepGuardiola as the outstanding player in thePremier League this season, also becomingthe principal creative force for his country.

City may soon have another Portuguesestar on their books with the English cham-pions among a host of clubs chasing JoaoFelix.

The 19-year-old is in line for his inter-national debut in Wednesday's semi-finalagainst Switzerland after a stellar season withBenfica.

Felix scored 20 goals in all competitions,including a Europa League quarter-final hat-trick against Eintracht Frankfurt, withBenfica fearing his 120 million euro ($134million) buyout clause will be activated thissummer.

Switzerland do not possess the same starpower, although Xherdan Shaqiri will arrivein Porto as a newly crowned European

champion at club level with Liverpool.However, Vladimir Petkovic's men

have shown their ability to spring a huge sur-prise just to make it to the last four.

Needing to beat the number one rankedside in the world, Belgium, by two goals intheir final Nations League group game,Switzerland trailed 2-0 before roaring backfor a thrilling 5-2 win.

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Hasan Ali said Pakistancoach Mickey Arthur'songoing faith in the

side was behind a stunningreversal of fortune that sawthem end a long losing streak

with a superb win overEngland.

Pakistan had lost their last11 completed one-day interna-tionals, including a recent 4-0 series defeat by World Cuphosts and favourites Englandthat preceded a woeful col-

lapse to 105 all out in theirtournament opener againstthe West Indies at TrentBridge on Friday.

But on Monday they piledup 348 for eight and then heldtheir nerve in the field despiteEngland hundreds from JoeRoot and Jos Buttler.

"We were very disappoint-ed we lost 11 games in a rowbut one thing is very impor-tant, we believed in ourselves,"

said paceman Hasan who,amid a run-fest, bowled 10overs for 66.

"We needed just a little bitof kick and then we will click.We got that kick. We neededthe win because we are play-ing at the World Cup.”

"But one thing is veryimportant, which is our coachis always backing us. Thatmoment turned us as every-one was confident."