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Aweek after North-eastDelhi’s deadly communal

violence, the situation in riot-hit areas was peaceful buttense on Sunday as four morebodies were fished out fromdrains in Gokalpuri and ShivVihar and heavy policedeployment continued.However, it is yet to be ascer-tained if they are linked to theriots and authorities have notupdated the death toll figure.

The heavy presence ofpolice in the riot-hit areas hashelped in bolstering the confi-dence of residents and morepeople and vehicles were seenon main roads on Sunday.

In parts of North-eastDelhi, people complained ofcash crunch as several bankbranches and ATMs haveremained closed in the after-math of the riots.

Delhi Police officials saidthey have registered 254 FIRsincluding 41 cases pertaining toArms Act and have arrested903 people till now. The policesaid they did not receive anyPCR calls of rioting in the lastfour days. The two SpecialInvestigation Teams (SITs) ofthe Crime Branch have fasttracked the probe and morepeople could be arrested, saidsources.

“Autopsy on bodies of 32 of38 bodies has been performedand bodies have been handedover to the family members.Three of the six bodies stillremain unidentified,” a senior

police official said.Till Saturday, at least 42

people had lost their lives andmore than 200 people have sus-tained serious injuries.Moreover, properties worthcrores of rupees have beendamaged in the communalviolence.

While 38 deaths werereported at the GTB Hospital,three were reported at LokNayak Jai Prakash Hospital. Atthe GTB Hospital, 28 victimswere brought dead while 10died during treatment.

The GTB Hospital offi-cials said it has admitted 271

injured patients since February24, of which many were criti-cal. “At present, only 40 victimsremain at the hospital. Only 32victims with minor injurieswere brought to the hospital inthe last 24 hours. Out of the 32injured people that were admit-ted at the GTB hospital, 31 peo-ple have been discharged whileone injured person is beingtreated,”, an official of the hos-pital said.

Meanwhile, acting DelhiPolice Commissioner SNShrivastava visited DCP AmitSharma, undergoing treatmentat a hospital in Patparganj aftersuffering serious injuries dur-ing the violence in Gokulpurion February 24.

Also, the National HumanRights Commission (NHRC)

deputed a fact-finding team toinvestigate the cases of violence.In a statement, the NHRC saidit had asked its DirectorGeneral (Investigation) todepute its fact-finding teamfor on-spot enquiries into vio-lation of human rights duringthe violence.

Soon after taking charge onSaturday, acting Delhi Policechief SN Shrivastava said hispriority is to restore peace andensure communal harmony inthe national Capital, whichearlier this week witnessed itsworst riots in three decades.Shrivastava was given the addi-tional charge of Delhi PoliceCommissioner with effect fromSunday, following AmulyaPatnaik’s retirement.

Police have also started amassive outreach programmeand senior officers have beenmeeting and speaking withpeople from every communi-ty in order to build confidenceamong them.

Art of Living founder SriSri Ravi Shankar visited someof the riots-hit areas, includingBrahmapuri, and consoled thepeople disturbed by the worstviolence in three decades inDelhi.

The situation in Shiv Vihar,among the worst hit areas, is yetto improve. Even days after theviolence, the lanes in the areawere deserted and almost allthe houses locked. InMustafabad, people were waryof stepping out of their homesin narrow bylanes.

Continued on Page 4

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Hundreds of saffron-cladBJP workers raised “goli

maaro…” slogans as theymarched down close to thevenue of a massive rally whereHome Minister Amit Shahinsisted that “come what may”Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) will not be taken back.

Scores of workers marcheddown the streets towardsSaheed Minar, the venue of therally, repeatedly shouting “deshke gaddaron ko … goli maaro…” (shoot country’s traitorsdead)” even as a helpless policeforce stood a mute spectator inabsence of appropriate orders.

On his arrival at the airporton Sunday, Shah faced protestby the Opposition partieswhose cadres greeted him with“go back” slogans. Hundreds ofprotesters of the Left Front andCongress, holding black flagsand anti-CAA posters, demon-strated outside gate number 1of the Netaji Subhash ChandraBose International Airport.

Addressing a well-attend-ed BJP rally, Shah attackedChief Minister MamataBanerjee for misleading thepeople on the controversial

Act. “It is a law to provide cit-izenship and not to take it awayfrom any citizen. Mamata Didiis misleading the Muslimbrothers and sisters that theircitizenship will be taken awayif this Act is implemented,” saidShah. Linking violent anti-CAA protests in Bengal and theDelhi riots that claimed 42lives, Shah accused the ChiefMinister for letting her State toburn for several days in thewake of the enactment of theCAA.

He said from today ourworkers will take part in “aarnoy annyay” drive which willbe a door-to-door outreachcampaign to tell the peopleabout our strong resolve thatBengal’s days of woes are com-

ing to an end. Accusing theChief Minister of “patronising”rioters who torched trains tooppose the controversial law inDecember last year, he said theChief Minister instigated theviolence and added “in spite ofall her opposition the CAAcannot be stopped. It will notbe taken back.”

Playing to the refugeegallery, Shah said lakhs ofHindus, particularly those fromthe Matua (SC) communitywho had to leave Bangladesh inthe face of persecution will nowget Indian citizenship. “MamataDidi is trying to stall the effortof the Central Government toprovide citizenship to theMatuas.

Continued on Page 4

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In an ambitious project aimedat boosting self reliance in

defence manufacturing, thepublic sector aerospace majorHindustan Aeronautics Ltd(HAL) has worked out adetailed proposal to produceattack helicopter in the 10-12tonne category by 2027, fiveyears ahead of the Indian AirForce’s planned phase out of thebulk of the helicopter fleetcomprising the Mi-17 by 2032.

The proposed copterswhen realised will be compa-rable to medium-lift militarychoppers like the Apache of theBoeing.

Chairman and ManagingDirector of HAL R Madhavansaid the aim of the mega pro-ject is to stop import of militaryhelicopters, worth over �4 lakhcrore, for the three services inthe coming years.

This is the biggest projectundertaken by the HAL afterdevelopment of the Tejas mil-itary aircraft and the move is inline with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s vision to min-imise dependence on import ofmilitary hardware.

In an interview to newsagency PTI, Madhavan said theHAL has completed the pre-liminary design of the heli-

copter and that initial plan is toproduce at least 500 units withthe first prototype set to beready by 2023 if theGovernment gives the go aheadto the project this year.

“One major project we arefocusing on is to produce ahelicopter in 10 to 12 tonnescategory to replace the Mi-17fleet. It will be an indigenousplatform with the potential tomanufacture around 500 heli-copters. It will stop import ofmore than �4 lakh crore worthof platforms from foreigncountries,” he told the agency.

A fund of Rs 9,600 crorewill be required for formulationof the design and production ofthe prototype of the helicopter,the HAL chief said.

“If we get the approval in2020, we will be able to man-ufacture the first chopper by2027. We are looking at pro-ducing at least 500 helicoptersof the variant. It will be a majorproject we are working on,”Madhavan said.

Continued on Page 4

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The sprawling Indira GandhiNational Centre for the

Arts (IGNCA) is likely to beshifted to Janpath hotel by July2020 as part of the CentralVista Redevelopment project.

Top sources said thatCentral Works Board of theMinistry of Housing and UrbanAffairs has approved a proposalto renovate and upgrade hotelJanpath, so IGNCA buildingcould be shifted under theCentral Vista Redevelopmentproject.

Janpath is currently shotdown awaiting renovation.IGNCA will be eventuallyshifted to Jamnagar House plotby 2024.

According to sources, the

retrofitting of Janpath hotel isnecessary as the structure isover 50-year-old.

The renovation will startfrom March and it will com-plete in July.

In the first phase, four outof 10 blocks or buildings havebeen proposed to be con-structed. Out of these threeblocks will come up in the plotof IGNCA.

The IGNCA, established inthe memory of former PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi, may beshifted near Jamnagar House,where around 15-acre-landcurrently used by hutments arelikely to be removed.

Ahmedabad-based firmHCP Design Planning andManagement is designing themaster-plan for the new

Central Vista. The total cost of renovation

of Janpath is estimated to be

�74 crore. The hotel spread in4.4-acre-plot will be used asGeneral Pool Official

Accommodation (GPOA). A committee of secretaries

headed by cabinet secretary PK

Sinha, set up last year to workout details such as land usageand how the hotel propertyshould be used, has approvedthe proposal to develop the 4.4-acre-plot as GPOA.

According to the proposedplan, the IGNCA and othernine buildings, including

Udyog Bhawan, NirmanBhawan, Shashtri Bhawan, vicepresident residence, are likelyto be demolished to pave theway for the construction of acommon Central Secretariat tohouse various Ministries.

As a part of the ambitiousplan, being executed through

the Central Public WorksDepartment of the UnionHousing and Urban AffairsMinistry, a new Parliamentbuilding near the existing cir-cular heritage structure hasbeen proposed.

The triangular buildingwill have a Lok Sabha chamberbig enough to accommodate900 MPs usually, in view of anyfuture increase in the numberof seats, and up to about 1,300for a joint session ofParliament.

Two MPs would share one1,300 mm bench, which wouldbe enough to accommodate athird MP during a joint session.

The triangular buildingwould have a spire, though thematerial it would be made of isyet to be decided.

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The second half of theBudget session of

Parliament is expected to starton stormy note on Mondaywith the Opposition parties setto raise the issue of riots inDelhi and demand the resig-nation of Union HomeMinister Amit Shah for the“failure” to control the law andorder in the Capital.

The Congress, TrinamoolCongress, NCP, CPI(M), CPIleaders told media on Sundaythat they will give adjournmentnotice demanding the debateon the communal violencewhich resulted in 42 deaths andlapses from police machinery.

Reacting to Opposition’sdemand, Arjun Ram Meghwal,Minister of State forParliamentary Affairs said theGovernment is always fordebates and it should not beused to “play politics.”

Congress’ leader in LokSabha Adhir RanjanChowdhury said the party willstrongly raise the issue of riot-torn Delhi and ask why the vio-lence happened. “TheGovernment has miserablyfailed to maintain law andorder. I think there must besome sort of a nexus betweenthe rioters and a section ofpolice officials which resultedin gruesome killings and arsonthat has tarnished our imageacross the globe. This is a mat-ter of serious concern for us,”he said.

“We will continue to raisethe demand of Shah’s resigna-tion on the floor of the House,”Chowdhury added.

Trinamool Congress as

well as the CPI and the CPI(M)will also raise the issue in theLok Sabha and Rajya Sabha,and demand answers from theHome Minister. “Left partieswill strengthen the voice of theOpposition in Parliament andraise the issue of Delhi violencein both the Houses. I havegiven a notice under Rule 267to the Rajya Sabha chairman todiscuss the issue in the House,”CPI(M) MP KK Ragesh said.

CPI general secretary DRaja said his party will demandthat Shah answer for the “inac-tion” of the Delhi Police, whichcomes under the Ministry ofHome Affairs . “The violencein Delhi will be raised inParliament by our party. Wewill also reach out to other par-ties on the issue. We will alsoraise the issue of hate speech-es by BJP leaders and questionwhy they have not been arrest-ed. Also, Shah needs to be heldaccountable,” he said.

Continued on Page 4

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One suspected case of coro-navirus was reported at the

Mumbai airport on Sundayeven as the outbreaks spread tonew territory globally, Pakistanwill seal it border withAfghanistan, and New Delhigot in touch with Iran to facil-itate the return of Indians whoare struck in that virus-hitcountry.

Reports said since January19, a total of 59,654 passengershave been screened at theChhatrapati Shivaji MaharajMumbai International Airportfor suspected exposure to thecoronavirus (Covid-19). One ofthe passengers is believed to beinfected with the virus.

Meanwhile, reports saidthat the Modi Governmenthas received reports of Indiansincluding fishermen stuck inIran due to the coronavirusoutbreak and the embassy inTehran is in touch with localauthorities on the issue,Minister of State for External

Affairs V Muraleedharan saidon Sunday.

Indian envoy to IranGaddam Dharmendra had onSaturday said the authorities areworking to facilitate the returnof Indians who wish to go backhome and discussions were underway with authorities.

“Received reports onIndians including fishermenfrom Kerala stuck in Iran dueto #COVID19. Our Embassy inTehran is making an assess-ment of the situation and is intouch with local authorities,”

Muraleedharan said in a tweet.Iran’s Health Ministry on

Sunday reported 11 new deathsfrom the novel coronavirusand 385 infections, bringing theoverall number of lives lost to54 and cases to 978.

“In view of COVID19,working to facilitate the returnof those Indians wishing to goback home. Discussions under-way with concerned authoritiesto work out arrangements. Willkeep you updated (sic),”Dharmendra had said onTwitter.

Continued on Page 4

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The top body of RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS)

which is to meet at Bengaluruon March 15 will, amongother key issues, deliberate oncommunal violence in Delhiand protests against the newcitizenship (Amendment ) Actduring its three-day discus-sions.

The annual meet of ‘AkhilBharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha ‘,the highest decision makingbody of RSS, will be held fromMarch 15-17 in Karnataka’sCapital. The Pratinidhi Sabhameets once a year to take stockof RSS work and lays downplan for future and also navi-gates its cadre on the ideo-logical and policy issues .

BJP president JP Naddaand the party’s general secre-tary (organisation) BLSanthosh are expected to attendthis all-important meeting.

The recent violence inDelhi, protests against the CAAare among the issues likely todominate the brain-stormingsessions during the meeting.

Top Sangh leader BhaiyyajiJoshi had this week soughtGovernment to establish peacein the violence hit areas ofNorth-East Delhi. Over 44people have been killed in thecommunal violence in thenational Capital with rulingBJP and opposition partiesblaming each other for insti-gating it by high-pitch provoca-tive statements.

`Inaction` by the Delhipolice which is under controlof union home ministry andalso seen to be partial in favour

of one community in thebeginning has been widelycriticized by the oppositionparties.

RSS Delhi unit may beasked to come up with adetailed presentation on theviolence, according to sources

The annual meet will alsodiscuss ways to take Sangh toareas and people where it is yetto reach.

Planning for expansionand consolidation of theSangh’s work, includingimproving Shakhas (centres)

and increasing the number oftraining camps, will be dis-cussed in the meeting. Morethan 1,400 representatives willparticipate from all over thecountry and also pass resolu-tions on important issues.

RSS representatives work-ing in its different outfits havebeen invited to share theirexperiences and inputs on dif-ferent issues of national impor-tance. Representatives fromRSS women wing ‘RashtraSevika Samiti’ will also attendthe three-day meet.

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The Congress has claimedthat the Central force was

being used for “politicalvendetta” like other investiga-tive agencies.

Describing CRPF-assistedIncome Tax raids inChhattisgarh as retaliatorymeasure to the StateGovernment’s probe intoalleged corruption under theprevious BJP Government ,the Congress on Sundayclaimed that the central forcewas being used for "politicalvendetta" like other investiga-tive agencies.

Describing it as "coerciveand insecure centrism",Congress chief spokespersonRandeep Surjewala alleged that"fly-by-night midnight opera-tions" and "cover-up corrup-tion" raids were being con-ducted in Chhattisgarh todestabilise the ongoing inves-tigations in corruption cases.

The I-T teams were assist-ed by central paramilitary forcein the raids in Raipur and a few

other locations.Over the last few days, the

Income Tax department con-ducted searches at multiplelocations linked toChhattisgarh government offi-cials and others. The searchesare being conducted to probecharges of alleged tax evasionby these people who includethe family of a senior IAS offi-cer in Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel-led Congress govern-ment in the state.

"The Modi Government’sso called alliance with centralinvestigative agencies in non-BJP states has now beenextended to include the CRPF,"Surjewala said.

He said that the way inwhich I-T department and theCRPF carried out raids in thelast four days, without inform-ing the police and the democ-ratic government in the state,shows that the Centre is run-ning scared.

"A PDS scam worth Rs36,000 crore broke out inChhattisgarh earlier. The diarythat came into police posses-

sion by chance, which gaveinformation about the scam hasbeen put forth in front of themedia by Congress party lead-ers like Bhupesh Baghel, T SSingh Deo and myself," hesaid.

Surjewala said that theraids have been conducted in aclandestine, cloak-and -daggermanner without any informa-tion being provided to thestate government or to thestate police.

"This deployment of acentral force to assist in moti-vated income tax raids under-mines almost every line of DrAmbedkar’s caveat and theconstitutional scheme laid outin List II of the SeventhSchedule of the Constitutionwhich places law and orderunder the state’s exclusiveremit," he said.

Surjewala also said that itis not surprising that the raidsbegan only after the econom-ic offences wing of the stategovernment launched an inves-tigation into alleged acts of cor-ruption that took place under

the purview of the previous BJPGovernment.

The Congress leader stat-ed that the CongressGovernment of Chhattisgarhwill take this as a "sign ofencouragement" that their owninvestigations are proceeding inthe right direction.

a "We as a country havebecome familiar with thesetactics over the alast five and ahalf years.

But Modi-Shah duo, intheir zeal and desperation tointimidate, have done thenation a huge disservice,"alleged Surjewala.

"When we say thatConstitution is a federalConstitution, it means that theProvinces are as sovereign asthe Centre. In other words, bar-ring the provisions which per-mit the Centre to override anylegislation that may be passedby the Provinces, which have aplenary authority

to make any law for thepeace, order and good govern-ment of that Province," theCongress leader said.

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Rapidly changing climateand inadequate urban plan-

ning is causing water insecuri-ty in the Hindu KushHimalayan (HKH) region, anew study said on Sunday.

The study covering 13towns across four countries -Bangladesh, India, Nepal, andPakistan shows that the inter-linkages of water availability,water supply systems, rapidurbanisation, and consequentincrease in water demand (bothdaily and seasonal) are leadingto increasing water insecurityin towns in the HKH region.

"This water insecurity isattributed to poor water gov-ernance, lack of urban plan-ning, poor tourism manage-ment during peak season, andclimate-related risks and chal-lenges," said the study con-ducted by the InternationalCentre for Integrated MountainDevelopment (ICIMOD), anintergovernmental knowledgeand learning centre, based inKathmandu, working on behalfof the people of the HKH

region.The study said that com-

munities are coping throughshort-term strategies such asgroundwater extraction, whichis proving to be unsustainable.

"There is a lack of long-term strategies for water sus-tainability in urban centres, andthis requires the special atten-tion of planners and local gov-ernments," it said.

"Urbanisation has pulledpeople from rural areas in theHKH region into nearby urbancentres. Although only threeper cent of the total HKHpopulation lives in larger citiesand 8 per cent in smaller

towns, projections show thatmore than 50 per cent of thepopulation will be living incities by 2050," it said.

This will naturally placetremendous stress on wateravailability, it added.

The study shows that thewater demand-supply gap ineight of the surveyed towns is20-70 per cent.

"There is a high depen-dence on springs (rangingbetween 50 and 100 per cent)for water supply in three-fourths of the urban areas.

Under current trends, thedemand-supply gap may dou-ble by 2050," the study said.

%� �� �68��6+79

The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) on

Sunday said a formation offresh western disturbance islikely to affect WesternHimalayan Region from thenight of March 3, and plains ofnorthwest India from March 4.This will cause widespreadrainfall and snowfall accom-panies by thunderstorm andlightning over westernHimalayan region and overPunjab, Haryana, Chandigarh,Delhi and Uttar Pradeshbetween March 5 and 7.

The IMD said that due toconvergence in easterlies, lightrain at isolated places withisolated thunderstorm likelyover Southern Karnataka andKerala next 2 days.

According to the IMD, thesoaring mercury levels aretouching new highs asFebruary 2020 is recorded asone of the hottest second

months in the last decade. In February 2020, the aver-

age minimum temperature hasbeen recorded at 14.2 degreesCelsius. In the past 10 years,according to the IMD data, thehighest minimum average tem-perature was recorded in 2010at 14.7 degrees Celsius.

In 2013 the minimumaverage temperature wasrecorded at 14.3 degreesCelsius, and in 2016 it was 14.6

degrees Celsius. According to Skymet

Weather, a private weatherbroadcaster, an upper Troughwhich currently lies overMadhya Pradesh would beshifting east/northeastwardsand start affecting the easternparts of the country. "Thus,during the next 24 to 36 hours,a light spell of rain and thun-dershowers along with gustywinds may occur in Bihar,

Jharkhand, West Odisha and inone or two parts of WestBengal. Places like Gaya,Aurangabad, Patna,Daltonganj, Ranchi,Jamshedpur, etc, are likely towitness rainfall activities," itsaid.

"Due to increased moisturelevels along with the formationof a Cyclonic Circulation overSub Himalayan West Bengaland adjoining region, the rain-fall activities may increase inthe northeastern states for thenext few days. These weatheractivities are expected to bemore in Arunachal Pradesh ascompared to other states ofNortheast India," Skymet said.

Meanwhile, the IMD’s earlyearly trends suggest, the sum-mer months of March, Apriland May are likely to bewarmer than normal acrossmost parts of India. Forecastssuggest warmer-than-normaltemperatures over northwest,west and central India and

some subdivisions from south-ern India from March to May2020. Moreover, the seasonalaverage mean temperatures areexpected to remain more than1°C over few northwesternparts like Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand and westRajasthan, resulting in a swel-tering summer this year.

Average seasonal tempera-tures of 1°C above normal canmean a rise of several degreesabove normal on extremelyhot days of the season. For tem-peratures, the normal value isconsidered to be the average oftemperature values from 1981to 2010. As per the IMD fore-cast, both maximum and min-imum temperatures are likelyto remain 0.5 to 1°C warmerthan the long period averageacross western coast, northwestas well as central parts of Indiathis summer. Only parts ofeastern and southeastern statesare likely to witness near-nor-mal temperatures.

��*+�� ���*+,��� ���+����,*����� ��%� �� �68��6+79

Congress MP Manish Tewarihas written to Lok Sabha

Speaker Om Birla suggestingconstitution of a permanentParliamentary StandingCommittee on comprehensiveadministrative reforms. Tewarihas suggested that the com-mittee be headed by Lok SabhaSpeaker individually or jointlywith Rajya Sabha Chairperson

The senior Congress leadersaid that time has come forParliament to set up a perma-nent Standing Committee onthe issue of comprehensiveAdministrative Reforms, whichshould be headed by theSpeaker or jointly with theChairman of the Rajya Sabha.

"It should consist of 30members just like any otherStanding Committee ofParliament with the mandate to

examine reports of both theprevious administrative reformcommissions, take evidence,hold broad-based consulta-tions with the experts andcome up with detailed recom-mendations as to how India’sarchaic administrative systemcan be holistically overhauled,"he stated in the letter

"Despite twoAdministrative ReformsCommissions set up earlier,there has been no attempt oreffort in the past seven decades

to reform the ‘colonial admin-istrative paradigm bequeathedto us by our erstwhile ImperialMasters’," he said.

Tewari said that govern-ments irrespective of theirpolitical colour have been"completely inept" at taking anyinitiative in this regard.

"The government maystrongly resist any such pro-posal to set up a permanentStanding Committee. There isalso a huge vested interest,ably led by the bureaucracy,that will go to any length tostymie any such effort," Tewarisaid.

The second half of theBudget Session of Parliamentwill begin on Monday.

The Government is expect-ed to push its legislative agen-da that includes Bills relating tosurrogacy and resolution of dis-puted tax.

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The CRPF, the lead counter-terrorism and anti-insur-

gency paramilitary, hasembarked on a mission to pre-pare a doctrine of the Force andcodify a Unique selling propo-sition so as to capitalise on thestrengths and replicate thesame for repetition of success-es in different operational areas.

Director General ofCentral Reserve Police Force(CRPF) AP Maheshwari hasarticulated to senior officials ofthe Force that there is a need toprepare strategies and set agen-da for the next year and wherethe paramilitary wants to seeitself in the next two-threeyears.

While operating in multi-ple operational theatres, theCRPF has recorded a fair share

of success stories andMaheshwari has sought a sys-tematic study of the achieve-ments to bring out the USP ofthe paramilitary, identify inad-equacies, if any and measuresto overcome them.

"The findings should bedocumented, duly codified, sothat we can capitalize onstrengths of the organizationand replicate then to pave theway for repetition of such suc-cess stories," reads an orderissued by the CRPF recently.

The CRPF is not only thelargest paramilitary with over300 operational battalions butalso the oldest Force in thecountry and is engaged incounter-terror operations inJammu and Kashmir and anti-insurgency roles in theNortheast as also fighting theNaxals in the affected States.The anti-Naxal force Combat

Battalion for ResoluteAction (CoBRA) has inthe last few monthsrecorded significantachievements againstthe ultra-Left extremists,officials said.

Maheshwari hasserved in the CRPF asInspector General(Operations) in the pastand the move is aimedat streamlining the pro-fessional approach tominimize casualties inthe operations, officialssaid.

As part of the pro-posed overhaul, there is a needto revive the existing trainingprocedure by incorporatingthe latest equipment and tech-nology.

The aim of the formulatingthe doctrine of the Force is toenhance operational synergy,

revitalize organisational struc-ture and combat preparedness.

The last vision documentof the CRPF was preparedover two-decades back.

While Standard OperatingProcedure of the Union HomeMinistry has laid down that the

paramilitary forces will chalkout their own operationalstrategies but the same is oftenignored by the CRPF officerson the ground and they followthe deployment strategy of thelocal police, a senior paramil-itary official said.

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The Supreme Court will onMonday consider ‘in cham-

ber’ the curative plea of one ofthe four death row convicts,Pawan Kumar Gupta, in the2012 Nirbhaya gang rape andmurder case, a day before theirscheduled hanging.

The curative petition willbe considered by a bench ofjustices NV Ramana, ArunMishra, RF Nariman, RBanumathi and AshokBhushan in the chamber ofJustice Ramana.

Pawan, 25, against whomthe death warrant has beenissued for execution on March3 along with the three othercondemned prisoners, hasclaimed juvenility to seek com-mutation of sentence to lifeimprisonment.

He has filed the curativeplea through lawyer A P Singhseeking setting aside of the apexcourt’s earlier verdicts on

appeals and review petitions inthe case.

Advocate A P Singh saidhe has filed an application inthe apex court registry onSunday seeking an oral hearingon Pawan’s curative plea in theopen court.

Pawan is the last death rowconvict in the case to move thetop court with his curativeplea, the final legal remedyavailable to a person.

A 23-year-old physiother-apy intern, who came to beknown as ‘Nirbhaya’ (fearless),was gang raped and savagelyassaulted in a moving bus inSouth Delhi on December 16,2012. She died a fortnight later.

Pawan and another con-vict Akshay Singh also moveda trial court here on Saturdayseeking stay on the executionof death warrants. The trialcourt has issued notice to TiharJail authorities on the pleas,directing the officials to filetheir response by Monday.

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RAIPUR | MONDAY | MARCH 2, 2020chhattisgarh 03

STAFF REPORTER nNEW DELHI/RAIPUR

The Congress has launched anattack on the Union

Government over Income Taxraids in Chhattisgarh for the past4 days and termed it as"Coercive & Insecure Centrism".

The Congress saidConstitution has been tram-pled, federalism demolishedand democracy attacked.

"Over the last four days,multiple raids on various loca-tions have been carried out bythe Income Tax Department inChhattisgarh. Unfortunately,for the Modi Government, theclumsy method, manner andtiming of these raids haveexposed their mal-intentionsand designs before the entire

nation," alleged Congressspokesperson RandeepSurjewala.

The meticulously plannedraids began on February 27early hours and were contin-ued till date. Reports said thatabout 300 officers are engagedin the raids in which paramil-itary CRPF troopers weredeployed at the raid siteswhile state policemen wereentirely kept out.

The raid was conductedon bigwigs linked to the stategovernment. It began just aday after Congress-ruled stategovernment’s EconomicOffences Wing (EOW) regis-tered an FIR against formerprincipal secretary AmanSingh, the long-time top asso-ciate of BJP leader and former

chief minister Raman Singh.Those prominent figures

who have been raided includeformer chief secretary VivekDhand, who is presentlychairman of Real EstateRegualtory Authority(RERA), tainted IAS officerAnil Tuteja, Raipur mayorAijaz Dhebar, liquor baronPappu Bhatia, former MLAGurumukh Singh Hora anddeputy secretary in CM’s sec-retariat Saumya Chaurasia.

Dhand, Tuteja, Chaurasiaand others hold considerableclout in Chhattisgarh govern-ment and speculation was rifein state capital Raipur thatraid was directly linked to`political funding’ though ITdepartment has not made anystatement so far.

Surjewala alleged that theIncome Tax raids inChhattisgarh were carriedout after the Bhupesh Baghelgovernment launched aninvestigation into irregulari-ties of the previous BJPregime in the state.

"Is this a Cover-upCorruption exercise byUnion BJP Govt? Can theModi-Shah governmentshare the basis on whichthese raids are being con-ducted?" asked Surjewala.

"Unsurprisingly, andmost importantly, the raidshave begun only after theeconomic offences wing ofthe State Governmentlaunched an investigationinto alleged acts of corrup-tion that took place under the

purview of the previous BJPGovernment. The personstargeted are also chosen tosend a clear message to theState Leadership." saidSurjewala.

"We as a country, whichhave become familiar withthese tactics over the last fiveand a half years. But Modi-Shah duo, in their zeal anddesperation to intimidate,have done the Nation a hugedisservice," alleged Surjwala.

"When we say thatConstitution is a FederalConstitution, it means thatthe Provinces are as sovereignas the Centre. In other words,barring the provisions whichpermit the Centre to overrideany legislation that may bepassed by the Provinces,which have a plenary authori-ty to make any law for thepeace, order and good gov-ernment of that Province," thecongress leader reminded.

‘Federalism demolished, democracyattacked’, says Congress on IT raids

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

President Ram Nath Kovindarrived here on Sunday on

a two-day visit toChhattisgarh during which hewill take part in the convoca-tion ceremony of a centraluniversity in Bilaspur.

Governor AnusuiyaUikey, Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel, ChiefSecretary R P Mandal and

other senior officials receivedthe President at the SwamiVivekanand airport in thestate capital Raipur after hearrived at around 11.30 am, agovernment official informed.

Soon after his arrival,Kovind left for Bilaspur dis-trict by helicopter.

The President will meetChief Justice and Justices ofthe Chhattisgarh High Courtin Bilaspur in the evening over

high tea, the official said.On Monday, Kovind will

address the convocationceremony of the GuruGhasidas University inBilaspur at 10 am. After thefunction, he will return toRaipur and leave for Delhiaround noon.

Multi-layered securityarrangements have been madefor the President's visit, apolice official said.

President Kovind arriveson a two-day visit to state

STAFF REPORTER nBILASPUR

Agirl law student who waschosen for gold medal at

the convocation ceremony ofGuru Ghasidas CentralUniversity scheduled onMonday, went missing whichcreated widespread anger inpublic in state’s second mostpopulous town.

President Ram NathKovind will be the chief guest

of the function.Parivesh Tiwari, Station

House Officer Civil Lines, toldThe Pioneer over phone thatparents of the student,Rameshwari Rao Maratha hadlodged a complaint withpolice on Sunday. Theyalleged that their daughter hadprobably been abducted.

Meanwhile, brother of thegirl student also tweeted onthe issue and sought help fromchief minister and home min-

ister to bring her back safely.Home Minister

Tamradhwaj Sahu has assuredthe family of all possible help.

In a tweet the HomeMinister said “Chhattisgarhpolice is always there to protectour people. As soon as I gotinformation about the missing,I spoke to Bilaspur SP andordered him to take necessarysteps to bring Chhattisgarh’sdaughter Rameshwari backhome safely”.

Girl goes missing beforeconvocation ceremony

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chhattisgarh governmentis planning to launch

‘Reading Campaign’ soon inall the schools from primaryto higher secondary.

As part of it, a state-levelorientation workshop washeld for District Missioncoordinators, assistant projectofficers, district programmersat Samagra Shiksha stateproject office on Sunday.

To ensure bettermonitoring and implementa-tion, district and block-levelnodal officers will be

identified.Additional to it in each

primary school, 5 educatedwomen will be selected. Yuva

Club will be activated for it.All the teachers will be pro-vided ‘The Teacher App’through which they will haveto complete the reading basedcourse work.

Each teacher of state willbe linked with telegramthrough which differentvideos and study materialswill be shared, for whichthese will be uploaded on thewebsite.

In each Primary School,the available books will beclassified in two categories.Details of each book will beuploaded on the website.

‘Reading Campaign’soon in all the schools

IT raids issue to beraised in ParliamentParliament, which isreconvening on Mondayafter a recess of 19 days inthe Budget session isexpected to be stormy. TheOpposition is set to raisethe issue of IT raids inChhattisgarh. TheCongress will also raise theissue of income tax raidsin Chhattisgarh, which itsays happened without theknowledge of the stategovernment and under theCRPF protection. TheCongress on Sundayalleged the governmentsteps were "coercive".

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

BJP national vice president andformer chief minister Raman

Singh strongly refuted the chargeslevelled against him by the AICCSpokesperson Randeep SinghSurjewala at a press conferencecalled in New Delhi on Sunday tocondemn IT raids in the state.

``It was the BJP, not the incum-bent government which initiatedprobe into the Nagrik AapurtiNigam (NAN) scam inChhattisgarh,’’ he said in a clear rebutto Congress charges.

``The Baghel government aftercoming to power constituted aSpecial Investigation Team (SIT)which has now took over the caseand the truth will come to fore soon,’’he said.

``The raids were ‘normal routineprocess’ in which locations of someofficials were raided. It is reallyperplexing how come thegovernment becomes destabilisedwhen a few officials are raided”, theBJP leader wondered.

Raman further stated “Just waitfor a couple of days, IT officials willprovide all details and recovery

made during the raid,’’.Commenting on the allegation

of attack on federal structure of thegovernment, the BJP leader further

said the state government by theirnon-cooperating behaviour to the ITofficials are themselves violating thefederal structure.

CGBSE examsfrom todayRAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Board ofSecondary Education (CGBSE) mainannual examination for high and highersecondary school will commence fromMonday, March 2, across the state.

As many as 3,92,068 candidates forhigh and 2,77,475 candidates for highersecondary are appearing in the exami-nation.

CGBSE secretary Professor V. KGoel while giving details said that a 38-page answer booklet will be providedfor higher secondary school subjects ofmathematics and physics students whilefor remaining subjects it will be 30pages.

Additional to these answer books,no other supplementary papers will notbe provided to the students.

He urged the students that keepingin view of specific number of pages,they should answer the questionsaccordingly so that they do not feelshortage of pages. The rough workshould be done on the last page ofanswer booklet. Later, they have to drawa cross line to cancel the page.

He urged that students can take upeasy questions first and then tougherquestions if they want to score highermarks.

Raman hits back at Cong

STAFF REPORTER nMAINPAT

Surguja district administra-tion organised a 30 km

long state-level bicycle racecompetition on Sunday as apart of Mainpat Mahotsav.The event was held for thefirst time with theme of envi-ronment conservation andneed to maintain fitness.

District Panchayat deputychairman Rakesh Gupta,Deputy Superintendent ofPolice Chanchal Tiwariflagged off the race whichbegan from Ghadi Chowk. Itconcluded at Navapara Kala.

Around 110 men and 14female participated in thecompetition.

Elizabeth of Bagicha areaof Jashpur district won the

cash prize of `5000 as winner,Anusuiya Kanwar of Katghoraarea of Korba district stoodsecond and was given `3000and Durgeshwari also fromKatghora bagged `2000 cashprize as she came third.

Fourth place was won byReena Patel of Katghora(`1500) and fifth place AchalaTanwar winning `1000 ascash prize.

In male category,Indelram Rajwade was win-

ner, Ashok Xalxo runner upfrom Ambikapur, RahulKumar Singh of Pratappurwas third, Mithilesh ofAmbikapur was fourth andPratappur’s Chola RamRajwade was fifth.

Mainpat hosts state-level bicycle race

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Mumbai: Of the 125 people quarantined inMaharashtra so far for possible exposure to novel coro-navirus, 121 have tested negative and test reports offour are awaited, the state health department said onSunday.

It said that so far as many as 61,939 travellers havebeen screened for the infection at the Mumbai inter-national airport.

Passengers arriving from 12 Covid-19 affectedcountries/regions- China, Hong Kong, Thailand,Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Nepal, Indonesia,Vietnam, Italy, Iran and Malaysia- are being screenedat the Mumbai airport.

As many as 125 travellers who had arrived fromCovid- 19-affected areas were quarantined in hospi-tals across the state, but 121 of them tested negativefor the virus as per the National Institute of Virology(NIV) reports, it said in a statement.

Those who are suspected to have contracted thedeadly infection are sent to isolation facilities fortreatment. However, no case of coronavirus infectionhas come to light in the state so far, it added. PTI

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The Army has set up smartclassrooms in a higher sec-

ondary school in Bagga villageof Jammu & Kashmir's Reasiunder its Operation Goodwillinitiative, a defence spokesper-son said on Sunday.

The school was identifiedfor renovation and technology-aided learning as part of theArmy's effort to revive educa-tion standard in the far-flungareas, he said.

The spokesperson said theinitiative include complete ren-ovation of two classrooms intosmart classrooms, improve-ment of aesthetic layout of theschool, procurement of books,stationery and a printer.

The inauguration event ofthe renovated school onSunday was attended by Armyofficials, the principal, teachersand students, the spokespersonsaid adding a total of 268 stu-dents and locals attended theevent.

��������������� �#��.9

As he released the names oferstwhile mill workers who

have been allotted 3,894 flatsconstructed on closed milllands, Maharashtra ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackerayon Sunday made a ferventappeal to them not to sell theirflats allocated to them andmove out of Mumbai.

Interacting with the flatallottees chosen through com-puterised draws at the state-runMaharashtra Housing & AreaDevelopment Authority(MHADA) at Bandra in north-west Mumbai, Uddhav said:“Instead of delivering a speech,I would like to converse withyou as a family head. Myrequest to you is: please do notsell the flats allotted to youthrough lots today and go outMumbai. I have come here toexpress my gratitude to you.You call me to your rightfullyallotted homes for a tea, I willcome. Please live happily at

your newly allotted homes”.State Housing Minister

Jitendra Awhad and TourismMinister Aditya Thackeraywere prominent among thosepresent on the occasion.

The flats have been allottedto 720 ex-workers of BombayDyeing Mill, 2630 ex-workersof Bombay Dyeing PrintingMills and 544 ex-workers ofShrinivas Mills. The one-room-hall-kitchen flats admeasure225 square feet with modernamenities.

Sunday’s was fourth drawthrough which flats were allot-ted. Earlier on June 28, 2013,the first lots were drawnthrough which 6,925 peoplewere allotted flats. In the sec-ond drawn held on June 9,2016, 2634 people were allottedflats. In the third draw, anoth-er 2634 people were allottedflats. “So far MHADA hasallotted 11,976 flats. Of the totalallottees, 8,490 are ex-millworkers,” a senior state gov-ernment official said.

Jaipur: Twenty-one farmers,including fivewomen, buriedthemselves neck-deep in theground inR a j a s t h a n ' sNindar village onSunday to protest against thealleged land acquisition by theJaipur Development Authority(JDA) for a housing project.

The farmers have beendemanding that their lands beacquired as per the amendedLand Acquisition Act and com-pensation awarded according-ly.

They had first held the'Zameen Samadhi Satyagrah' inJanuary but called off theprotest after four days as thestate government assured themthat it would address theirconcerns within 50 days.

“Twenty-one farmers,including five women, havetaken Zameen Samadhi onSunday. The protest will esca-late on Monday with 51 farm-

ers takingt h eSamadhi.We willcontinueto protesttill farm-ers gett h e i r

rights,” Nagendra SinghShekhawata, a leader of theNindar Bachao Yuva KisanSangarsh Samiti, said.

The farmers had also helda protest in October 2017against the acquisition of morethan 1,300 bighas of land by theJDA, with some of them evengoing on a hunger strike.

The JDA has taken pos-session of 600 bighas of land sofar and deposited Rs 60 crorein a local court as compensa-tion. The villagers have refusedto accept the amount, claimingthat it is not commensuratewith the prevailing marketrates. Around 10,000 houseswill be built under the housingscheme which was announcedin January 2011. PTI

Indore: Working president ofthe Vishwa Hindu Parishad'sRam Janmabhoomi Nyas, RamVilas Vedanti, on Sunday saidhe felt that the basic structureof the Ram temple in Ayodhyawould be ready before the2024 general elections.

He was speaking toreporters here.”After the for-mation of the (Ram temple)trust by the Centre, the processof building the grand templehas begun. I feel that the basicstructure of the temple will bebuilt before the 2024 elec-tions,” he said.

“Sixty-seven acres of landat the birth place of Lord Ramcampus will prove to be inad-equate as it would be thebiggest temple in the world andan international tourist place aswell,” he added.

“It is possible that the gov-ernment-formed trust will haveto acquire more land fromaround for building the grandtemple,” the former BJP MP

said.Vedanti reiterated that as

per the wishes of the saints andseers, the temple should be1,111-feet high.

“The Ram temple inAyodhya should be so high thatit is visible in Islamabad,Colombo and Kathmandu. Inconsonance with our wish,Home Minister Amit Shahannounced that the Ram tem-ple will be sky-high,” he added.

Asked why leaders associ-

ated with the Ram templemovement have not found aplace in the trust, he said thatthose against whom cases arebeing heard in courts and whohad fought elections on partylines have been kept out of it.

“I had myself fought LokSabha elections twice,” headded.”The trust set up by thegovernment is good. The peo-ple who represent it want to getthe temple built as per ourwish,” he added. PTI

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Kohima: Along with the restof the country, Nagaland StateCommission for Women(NSCW) on Sunday organ-ised a “Night-Walk campaign”to popularise and promotewomen safety.

Thousands of women fromdifferent walks of life and tribesparticipated in the night-walkthat started from TCP Gatejunction.

The march culminated atOld MLA Hostel junction.Theparticipants comprisingwomen, children and youngladies from different Nagatribes and non-Naga inhabi-tants of the state capital heldplacards during the march.

Some placards read - “keepyour sisters/girl child/motherssafe everywhere”, “mutualrespect emits women safety”and “safety isn't expensive, it'spriceless”.

The main objective of thewalk was to emphasize on safeenvironment for women atpublic places sans time and tonormalise women's visibility in

public places, the Chairpersonof NSCW, Khrienuo Tache,said, while addressing the cam-paigners.

The safety of women 24x7in public spaces is essential and

important for wholesomegrowth of societies across theworld, she said.

The situation here is unlikeother parts of the country butNaga women are in solidaritywith the rest of the womenfolkwho have been facing unwant-ed situations, Tache said, whilereplying to a query from mediapersons on whether the com-mission feels Naga girls andwomen are not safe. PTI

Rajamahendravaram(AP): A 35-year-old Physicallychallenged man allegedlysexually assaulted a three-year-old girl, his neigh-bour, while she was playingnear her house atPitapuram in EastGodavari district, policesaid on Sunday.

The accused KuradaNageswara Rao is abscond-ing, they said adding theincident occurred onFriday.

The accused sexuallyassaulted the girl when

she was playing behindher house.

On hearing the girl'scries, her mother alongwith the neighboursrushed to the spot andrescued the girl.

However, the accusedescaped, they added.

The girl was immedi-ately shifted to a privatehospital.

A complaint waslodged with the police onSaturday night followingwhich a case was registeredunder POCSO Act. PTI

Tezpur (Assam): Seven boys,who had appeared for theirclass 10 board examinations,were apprehended on Sundayfor allegedly raping and killinga 12-year-old girl in Assam'sBiswanath district, police said.

The girl was hanged froma tree after the crime.

The incident happenedon Friday in Chakla villageunder the jurisdiction ofGohpur police station, theysaid.

A senior police officertold PTI that the culprits, all of

them High School LeavingCertificate (HSLC) examinees,were on the run, but werenabbed by a police team.

The accused after theexamination had called thevictim to a house on the pre-text of organising a party andraped her, the officer said.

It is suspected that the girlwas raped on Friday night andthen hanged from a tree in aforest near the house, thesenior police officer said.

The body was found onSaturday. PTI

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A26-year-old man was arrestedon Sunday from suburban

Vikhroli in Mumbai for allegedly sex-ually harassing a 20-year-old collegestudent and her friend, policesaid.According to a police official, theaccused Sachin Bhoye and his friendshave been harassing the complainant,who is pursuing B.Com course at a night college, and herfriends.

The latest incident occurred onFebruary 27, when Bhoye rode hismotorcycle close to the woman andher friend near the college, he said.

“As the women asked him tobehave, Bhoye threatened and abusedthem,” the official added.

A case has been registered undersection 354 (Assault or criminal forceto woman with intent to outrage hermodesty) of the Indian Penal Code(IPC).

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From Page 1“We have done the preliminary design. We have also been in dis-

cussion with the Air Force and the Navy. The 10-12 tonnes categorywill have two basic structures on similar platforms. The naval ver-

sion will have different dimension compared to the one for the Army and the Air Force,” Madhavanrevealed on the proposed project.

“Like the LCH (Light CombatHelicopter) we developed from theDhruv platform, a similar variant of 10-12 tonnes category can be produced tomake it an Apache equivalent,” saidMadhavan.

The proposed helicopter will boastof twin engines and will feature bladefolding option for ship deck operations.The planned roles for the helicopterwill be to support aerial assault, airtransport, combat logistics and combatsearch and rescue. The chopper willalso have a superior weapons packageas per the requirement of the stake-holders.

Once realised, the helicopter willhave a huge potential for export,Madhavan said. The Russian-origin Mi-17 helicopters are mainstay of theIAF’s helicopter fleet and these areplanned to be phased out by 2032.

The HAL’s product range includesa number of helicopter like the LCH(Light Combat Helicopter) and multi-role ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter)and Chetak choppers.

���� ����From Page 1

“Though there ispolice presence, ten-sion is lingering. We celebrated Eid,Holi, Diwali togeth-er. I have never facedsuch a situation inmy life.

There is grief,mistrust, disbelief.Those who indulgedin violence did notbelong to the area, they came fromoutside,” saidMohammad Yunus,45.Yunus, who

owns a garmentstore in Shiv V i h a r ,said he was saved byhis Hindu neigh-bours during the vio-lence and they torethe shop name-board outside to savethe businessfrom rioters.

����� From Page 1A PTI report from

Islamabad said that Pakistanwill close its border withAfghanistan for seven daysfrom Monday to prevent thespread of novel coronavirus,the Interior Ministry said onSunday, as the authoritiesramped up efforts to stop thenew cases of infection.

The announcement came aday after two more people test-ed positive for the coronavirusin Pakistan, taking the totalnumber of infections in thecountry to four. The border atChaman in Balochistan willremain closed for seven daysfrom March 2 “in order to pre-vent the spread of coronaviruson both sides of the border inthe best interest of the peopleof the brotherly countries,”said a statement issued by theMinistry of Interior.

A report by news agencyAP datelined Tokyo said infec-tions and deaths continued torise across the globe on Sunday,

emptying streets of touristsand workers, shakingeconomies and rewriting therealities of daily life.

Panic-buying of dailynecessities emerged in Japan,tourist sites across Asia, Europeand the Mideast were deserted,and Governments closedschools and banned big gath-erings. Amusement parks havebeen shuttered and concertscancelled.

In Paris, the LouvreMuseum closed its doors andpriests stopped placing sacra-mental bread in worshippers’mouths.

While the new coronavirushas extended its reach acrossthe world, geographic clustersof infections were emerging,with Iran, Italy and SouthKorea seeing rising cases. TheUnited States, meanwhile,recorded its first death, a manin his 50s in Washington whohad underlying health condi-tions but who hadn’t travelledto any affected areas.

“Additional cases in theUnited States are likely, buthealthy individuals should beable to fully recover,” PresidentDonald Trump said at aSaturday briefing, where offi-cials announced heightenedwarnings about travel to certainregions of Italy and SouthKorea as well as a ban on trav-el to Iran.

China on Sunday reporteda slight uptick in new cases overthe past 24 hours to 573, thefirst time in five days thatnumber has exceeded 500.They remain almost entirelyconfined to the hardest-hitprovince of Hubei and its cap-ital, Wuhan.

South Korea reported 210additional cases and two moredeaths from the virus, raisingits totals to 3,736 cases and 20fatalities. South Korea has con-firmed the second largest num-ber of virus infections outsidemainland China, with most ofthe cases reported in the south-eastern city of Daegu

3������*���*�����4���555From Page 1

Congress’ seniorspokesperson and Rajya SabhaMP Abhishek Singhvi also saidthe Congress will take up inParliament in the strongestpossible terms the “wantondestruction of democratic val-ues” in this country with the“active approbation” and, fre-quently, the selective“Nelsonian blind eye” of thegovernment.

“The manner and form ofprotest inside or out ofParliament is a matter of coor-dinated strategy and not anissue to be publicly aired. Butthe country is assured that wewill discharge our responsibil-ities vigorously and withoutfear, despite extreme and ille-gal intrusion and harassment,”he said.

The Budget Session ofParliament commenced onJanuary 31 and continued tillFebruary 11. After a break, itwill again commence on March2 and continue till April 3.

���������

From Page 1“I want to ask Mamata Didi —

why are you hurting the interestsof our refugees? You only careabout infiltrators. Refugees arebeing misled and scared... Hinduswho fled our neighbouring coun-tries who were raped and threat-ened and killed... should they notget citizenship?” he asked.

Saying that the no one couldstop the BJP from coming topower in Bengal in 2021, Shah saidMamata used to say that the BJPwill not get single seat and it willeven lose its deposit. But we got 18out of 42 seats. Now I want todeclare that the BJP will come topower in 2021 by getting absolutemajority, he said.

He said from today our work-ers will take part in Aar noyAnnyay drive which will be adoor-to-door outreach campaignto tell the people about our strongresolve that Bengal’s days of woesare coming to an end…

“Aar noy (no more) tolabaji

(extortion), Aar noy (no more)appeasement, Aar noy (no more)infiltration, Aar noy (no more) vio-lence... this is the slogan that willchange the Government ofBengal,” he said.

Launched along the lines ofTrinamool Congress’ Didi ke bolo(tell it all to Didi) the BJP’s schemewill come with specific phonenumbers. Saying that the people ofthe State had given chances toCPI(M), TMC, Shah asked for “onechance for the BJP so that we cancraft a golden Bengal for you.”

The State was “lagging behindin terms of development underMamata Banerjee’s leadership and‘Sonar Bangla’ cannot be formedunder her watch,” said Shah.

Meanwhile, Left and theCongress leaders attacked the ChiefMinister for allowing Shah to landin Kolkata saying “MamataBanerjee has allowed a personwhose hands are soaked in bloodto land in Kolkata … and now wewant her to arrest these people who

raised the ‘goli maaro’ slogan or elsethe people of Bengal will under-stand that her anti-CAA and anti-communal campaign is nothingbut a sham.

Though TMC MP andMamata Banerjee’s nephewAbhishek Banerjee immediatelytweeted, saying Bengal is better offwithout bigotry and hatred that BJPis trying to spread, CPI(M) centralcommittee member and LeftLegislature Party Leader SujanChakrabarty said, “MamataBanerjee had earlier said that shewill not allow Shah to land inKolkata. But we saw her gossipingwith him at Bhubaneshwar. Nowhis men are raising communal slo-gans in Kolkata and still the policeare keeping silent. As the ChiefMinister and Home Minister weexpect her

to get these people arrested.”Congress MLA Manoj

Chakrabarty asked theGovernment to “immediately iden-tify these people from the videofootages and arrest them or elsethis communal germ will spread inBengal and burn it.”

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Beijing: China’s coronavirusdeath toll climbed to 2,870 with35 new deaths, while the con-firmed cases increased to79,824 even as the infectionsoutside the worst-hit Hubeiprovince dropped with onlythree positive cases reported ina single day, continuing thetrend of slowdown in the restof the country, health officialssaid on Sunday.

The National HealthCommission (NHC) said itreceived reports of 573 newconfirmed cases of novel coro-navirus infection and 35 deathson Saturday from the Chinesemainland.

Among the deaths, 34 werein Hubei and one in HenanProvince.

COVID-19, which at onetime started spreading rapidlyall over China, showed adeclining trend with three newconfirmed cases reported out-side Hubei on Saturday.

Of the 573 confirmedcases, 570 were reported fromHubei and its capital Wuhan,which remained a battleground for the virus ever sinceit originated from there inDecember last year.

Meanwhile, 132 new sus-pected cases were reported, itsaid, adding that the number ofsevere cases decreased to 7,365.

Among the 79,824 con-firmed cases, 2,870 people havedied, 35,329 patients are stillbeing treated while 41,625 havebeen discharged after recovery.

However, some recoveredpatients are showing relapse of

the virus. The commission added

that 851 people were still sus-pected of being infected withthe virus.

The commission said51,856 close contacts were stillunder medical observation.

By the end of Saturday, 95confirmed cases including twodeaths had been reported inHong Kong, 10 confirmedcases in Macao and 39 inTaiwan, including one death.

Meanwhile, an officialreport on Coronavirus Disease2019 (COVID-19) releasedjointly by the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) andChina’s National HealthCommission identified theinfection as a zoonotic virus,meaning an infectious diseasecaused by bacteria, viruses, orparasites that spread from ani-mals to humans. PTI

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L ondon: British healthauthorities on Sundayannounced 12 more con-firmed cases of the new coro-navirus, bringing the country’soverall tally to 35.

The government’s chiefmedical officer, Prof. ChrisWhitty, said one of the newpatients “had no relevant trav-el and it is not yet clearwhether they contracted itdirectly or indirectly from anindividual who had recently

returned from abroad.”Whitty said medical work-

ers were still investigating thecause of that one infection.

Three of the new COVID-19 patients were contacts of anexisting patient.

Of the remaining eightnew cases, six infected peoplehad recently traveled from Italyand two had arrived from Iran,both countries hard hit by thecoronavirus that emerged latelast year in central China. AP

7-���������3����8�*��������!�!�����'������ Tehran: Iran’s health ministry

raised on Sunday the nation-wide death toll from the newcoronavirus to 54 as the num-ber of infected cases jumpedovernight to 978 people.

The ministry’s spokesmanKianoush Jahanpour said newcases were confirmed in anumber of cities, includingMashhad, which is home toIran’s most important Shiiteshrine that attracts pilgrimsfrom across the region.

Calls by Iran’s civilian gov-ernment to clerics to close such

shrines to to the public havenot been uniformly followed.The shrine in Mashhad isamong those that haveremained open.

The new figures repre-sent 11 more deaths thanreported on Saturday and awhopping 385 new cases ofinfections. The new numbers,however, bring down the per-centage of deaths to infec-tions from 20 per cent toaround 5.5 per cent. Still, thatis much higher than othercountries, suggesting the num-

ber of infections may also bemuch higher. Jahanpour said inhis daily briefing that the num-ber of cases is “still inclining”across Iran. Also on Sunday,Iran’s state broadcaster said allflights to the city of Rasht, thecapital of nothern Gilanprovince, had been suspended.

It gave no reasons why.The area of Gilan has some ofIran’s highest number of infec-tions after the capital, Tehran,and the holy city of Qom, theepicenter of the virus out-break in the country. AP

���� ��������#����*�����������Sydney: A 78-year-old manevacuated from the coron-avirus-stricken DiamondPrincess cruise liner in Japandied at a Perth hospital onSunday, becoming Australia’sfirst fatality from the disease,officials said.

His 79-year-old wife wasalso infected with the diseaseduring the cruise and remainsin a Perth hospital, a spokes-woman for the WesternAustralian state healthdepartment told AFP.

The couple were amongabout 160 Australians evacu-ated from the DiamondPrincess last month and theytested positive for the coron-avirus during their flighthome.

They were immediatelytransferred to isolation unitsin the Perth hospital onFebruary 21 while the rest ofthe evacuees were quaran-tined in a former miners’camp near the northern cityof Darwin. AFP

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Seoul: South KoreanPresident Moon Jae-in said onSunday the Government waswaging “all-out responses” tocontain the novel coronavirusas the country added 586more cases, taking the total to3,736.

South Korea has thelargest national total in theworld outside China, after itsaw a rapid surge in the num-ber of coronavirus cases inrecent days. Scores of eventshave been cancelled or post-poned over the contagion,while the country’s centralbank has warned of a minusgrowth in the first quarter forthe world’s 12th-largest econ-omy, noting the epidemic will

hit both consumption andexports. “The Govt is nowwaging all-out responses afterraising the crisis alert to thehighest level,” Moon said at anIndependence Movement Dayceremony, scaled down due tothe outbreak.

“We will be able to over-come the COVID-19 out-break and revive our shrunk-en economy,” he added.

Samsung Electronics sus-pended operations at itsdomestic smartphone plant inGumi — 200 kilometres (210miles) southeast of Seoul —on Saturday for the secondtime in a week, after a thirdemployee tested positive forthe virus. AFP

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Johannesburg: South Africawill evacuate 151 citizens fromthe coronavirus-hit Chinese cityof Wuhan within days, thehealth minister said Sunday, asthe death toll and number ofinfected worldwide mounted.

The virus has spread tomore than 60 countries aroundthe globe — killing nearly 3,000people and sickening 87,000 —prompting the World HealthOrganization to raise its riskassessment to its highest level.

The decision to airlift thetrapped South Africans cameafter President Cyril Ramaphosaon Thursday directed the repa-triation of those who have asked

to return home.“We were asked by the pres-

ident to start the process imme-diately — (so) within seven to 10days (the evacuation team) musthave completed the task,” HealthMinister Zweli Mkhize said.

The minister told a newsconference at the country’smain OR Tambo Internationalairport that there were 201South Africans in Wuhan —the epicentre of the virus, andthat “151 have indicated theywant to be repatriated”.

The group will be kept inquarantine for 21 days at a siteauthorities have refused todisclose. AFP

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Islamabad: Pakistan will closeits border with Afghanistanfor seven days from Monday toprevent the spread of novelcoronavirus, the InteriorMinistry said on Sunday, as theauthorities ramped up efforts tostop the new cases of infection.

The announcement came aday after two more people test-ed positive for the novel coro-navirus in Pakistan, taking thetotal number of infections in thecountry to four.

The border at Chaman inBalochistan will remain closedfor seven days from March 2 “inorder to prevent the spread of

coronavirus on both sides of theborder in the best interest of thepeople of the brotherly coun-tries”, said a statement issued bythe Ministry of Interior.

“During the period, neces-sary measures will be taken tosafeguard the health of thepeople of both countries,” itsaid.

The authorities have shutschools in the southernprovince of Sindh, including inKarachi where the first case wasreported, and the southwesternprovince of Baluchistan, whichborders Iran, The ExpressTribune reported. PTI

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Kuala Lumpur: MahathirMohamad called Sunday for anurgent sitting of Malaysia’sParliament to contest theappointment of a former ally asprime minister under a Malay-majority coalition that could fur-ther split the nation followingthe collapse of Mahathir’s mul-tiracial reformist alliance.

Muhyiddin Yassin, a sea-soned politician who oncefamously quipped that he isMalay first and Malaysian sec-ond, was sworn in as the newleader at the palace Sundayafter getting the support of sev-eral opposition parties.

Among the supporters wasthe corruption-tainted UnitedMalays National Organization,which was ousted by Mahathir’sAlliance of Hope in a historicvote in 2018.

Muhyiddin, 72, pulled hisBersatu party out of the alliance

on Monday, triggering its col-lapse. Mahathir resigned asprime minister in protest of theplan that would bring UMNOback to power. After a week ofpolitical turmoil, the king saidSaturday that he believedMuhyiddin had the majority

support of lawmakers andnamed him the new leader.

But Mahathir’s camp hascontested that assertion, sayingthe 94-year-old two-time primeminister has the backing of 114lawmakers to return as premierfor a third time, surpassing the

112 votes needed for a simplemajority. Mahathir said Sundaythat the palace had refused tohear him out.

He called for an urgent sit-ting of the lower house ofParliament to test Muhyiddin’sclaim of majority support. Thehouse is due to resume March 9,but Mahathir said it could bedelayed. “People on our side maybe offered to be ministers. Theymay be offered other things,” hesaid. “We feel we have 114, butafter the actions taken by thesevery rich and very powerfulpeople, we may not have the114,” he said.

“So the test of the puddingis in the eating; hold theParliament sitting now.”

Already, two of the law-makers among the 114 havedenied supporting Mahathir.

Mahathir said he feltbetrayed by Muhyiddin’s move

and warned that UMNO lead-ers including ex-Prime MinisterNajib Razak, who is facing trialon corruption charges, may getoff the hook. UMNO is thebiggest party in Muhyiddin’snew coalition. “The court mayfind it embarrassing to takeaction against the government,”Mahathir said.

“We have seen this happenbefore during Najib’s time whenhe was able to manipulate thecourt, change the charges and toa certain extent, influence thedecision of the court. I believe ifthe new government is installednow with Najib in it, this is whatis going to happen.”

Attorney General TommyThomas, who oversaw a slewof graft charges against Najib,his wife, Rosmah Mansor, andseveral UMNO leaders afterhis appointment by Mahathir,has quit. AP

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Virginia Beach (US): BernieSanders’ presidential campaignsaid Sunday that it raised morethan USD 46.5 million inFebruary, a show of financialstrength after the Vermont sen-ator finished a distant secondbehind Joe Biden in SouthCarolina’s primary.

Sanders’ team alsoannounced that it was makingtelevision ad buys in nine morestates: Idaho, Michigan,Mississippi, Missouri andWashington, which vote onMarch 10, and Arizona, Florida,Illinois and Ohio, which vote aweek later. The campaign saidit is “currently on the air in 12out of the 14 states” that are vot-ing on Super Tuesday, in twodays.

“The senator’s multi-gen-erational, multiracial workingclass coalition keeps fuelling hiscampaign for transformationalchange a few bucks at a time,”Sanders’ campaign managerFaiz Shakir said in a state-ment. He said that, of the morethan 2 million donationsreceived this month, more than1.4 million were from voters inSuper Tuesday states.

The eye-popping haul fol-lows an already impressiveJanuary that raised more than25 million. Sanders’ campaignimmediately said it would usethe January funds to purchaseUSD 5.5 million in televisionand digital advertising in 10Super Tuesday states.

That investment could still

be paying off at a time whensome rivals in a Democraticfield that remains crowded maystruggle to raise money afterdisappointing finishes in earlystates. Most other White Househopefuls haven’t yet releasedupdated fundraising totals, butMassachusetts Sen.

Elizabeth Warrenannounced Sunday that shecollected USD 29 million inFebruary — potentially soften-ing the blow of her fifth-placefinish in South Carolina.

Both she and Sanders con-tinue to demonstrate the for-midable power of attractingsmall, online donations nation-wide and then can’t ask againwithout the intervention of anoutside political group. AP

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Kabul: As US troops prepare toleave Afghanistan, opening thedoor for a potential Talibancomeback, women across thewar-torn country are nervousabout losing their hard-wonfreedoms in the pursuit ofpeace.

The militants were in powerfor around five years until theUS invasion of 2001. They ruledAfghanistan with an iron fistthat turned women into virtu-al prisoners under a strict inter-pretation of sharia law.

The Taliban’s fall trans-formed women’s lives, muchmore so in urban areas likeKabul than in conservative ruralAfghanistan.

But across the country,women remain wary of theinsurgents, desperate to see anend to the violence, but fearfulof paying a heavy price.

Under the Taliban, womenwere barred from seeking edu-cation or work -- rights thatAfghan female professionalsare fiercely protective of today.

In the western city of Herat,saleswoman Setara Akrimi, 32,told AFP: “I will be very happy

if peace comes and the Talibanstop killing our people.” “But ifthe Taliban come back topower... With their old mental-ity, it is a matter of concern forme,” the divorced mother ofthree added.

“If they tell me to sit at

home, I will not be able to sup-port my family,” she said.

“There are thousands ofwomen like me in Afghanistan,we are all worried.”

Akrimi’s anxieties areechoed by Kabul-based veteri-narian Tahera Rezai, who

believes “the arrival of theTaliban will affect women’s rightto work, freedom and inde-pendence”. “There has been nochange in their mentality,” the30-year-old told AFP. Passionateabout her career, Rezai said shewas pessimistic about herprospects if the insurgentsreturn to government, even ina truncated capacity.

“Looking at their history, Ifeel less hopeful... I believe thesituation will get harder forworking women like me,” shesaid. In the run-up to the USdeal, the militants made a vaguecommitment to respect women’srights in line with “Islamic val-ues”, prompting warnings fromactivists that the pledge wasmere lip service and open tobroad interpretation.

The Taliban control largeswathes of Afghanistan and

while they now allow girls toattend primary school in someareas, occasional reports of flog-gings and even the public ston-ing of women persist, fuellingfears they will turn back theclock if they return to power.

Many ordinary Afghans arestruggling to balance their desirefor peace with their dread of theinsurgents.

“Every family here is griev-ing because they have lost theirchildren, sons, husbands, broth-ers in the war,” government offi-cial Torpekay Shinwari toldAFP in eastern Nangarharprovince, which witnessed fiercebattles between the Taliban andthe Islamic State group’sAfghanistan affiliate.

The 46-year-old said shewas praying for peace, but wasincreasingly concerned that“women would be looked upon

as the second sex and sup-pressed” if the militants gainground. But in Kandahar, thebirthplace of the Taliban,schoolgirl Parwana Hussainistruck a rare optimistic note.

“I am not worried. Who arethe Taliban? They are our broth-ers,” the 17-year-old told AFP.

“We are all Afghans andwant peace.”

Furthermore, she added:“The young generation haschanged, and will not allow theTaliban to enforce their oldideology upon us.”

For those who bore thebrunt of the insurgents’ merci-less rule, however, there is littledoubt that a Taliban comebackwill bring anything other thana repeat of “dark and painfulmemories”. Factory workerUzra, from the mainly ShiiteHazara ethnic minority, sobbed

as she recounted life as a youngmother, alone at home with herchildren when the Sunni-fun-damentalist Taliban arrived inher village.

“I still vividly remember theday... They massacred all themen, and then came to myhouse,” the 40-year-old said, toofrightened to give her full name.

The militants threatenedto behead her then three-year-old daughter, she toldAFP from her home in centralBamiyan province. The fami-ly survived and f led toPakistan, but her husband wasdisabled and traumatised bythe brutal beatings he suffered.“To this day, when the word‘Taliban’ comes up, he startscrying,” she said. “Everybodywants peace, but not if theTaliban returns. I don’t wantthis so-called peace.” AFP

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Kabul: Afghanistan’s presidenton Sunday said he will not freethousands of Taliban prisonersahead of all-Afghan power-sharing talks set for next week,publicly disagreeing with atimetable for a speedy prison-er release laid out just a day ear-lier in a US-Taliban peaceagreement.

President Ashraf Ghani’scomments pointed to the firsthitch in implementing the frag-ile deal, which is aimed at end-ing America’s longest war aftermore than 18 years and gettingrival Afghan factions to agreeon their country’s future.

Still, the US has said aplanned US troop withdrawalover the next 14 months islinked to the Taliban’s counter-

terrorism performance, not toprogress in intra-Afghan talks.

Washington’s Peace Envoy,Zalmay Khalilzad, who servedas America’s first ambassador toAfghanistan after the 2001 U.S.Invasion, spent the past 17months running on-again, off-again talks with the Taliban tohammer out the agreement.

The US-Taliban deal signedon Saturday in the MiddleEastern State of Qatar envisionsthe release of up to 5,000Taliban prisoners by the Afghangovernment ahead of talksbetween Afghan factions meantto begin March 10 in theNorwegian capital of Oslo. TheTaliban would release up to1,000 prisoners.

Ghani told a news confer-

ence in the Afghan capital ofKabul on Sunday that this was-n’t a promise the United Statescould make. He said the releaseof any prisoners was a decisionfor his government to take andthat he wasn’t ready to releaseprisoners before the start ofnegotiations.

“The request has beenmade by the United States forthe release of prisoners and itcan be part of the negotiationsbut it cannot be a precondition,”Ghani said.

The US-Taliban deal is seenas a historic opportunity toextricate the United States fromAfghanistan, a nation con-vulsed by conflict since theSoviet invasion in December1979. AP

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Kastanies (Greece): The UnitedNations migration organizationsaid Sunday that at least 13,000people were massed on Turkey’sland border with Greece, afterTurkey officially declared itswestern borders were open tomigrants and refugees hoping tohead into the European Union.

Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan’s decision toopen his country’s borders withEurope made good on a long-standing threat to let refugeesinto the continent. Hisannouncement marked a dra-matic departure from the cur-rent policy and an apparentattempt to pressure Europe.

The UN’s InternationalOrganization for Migration

said Sunday that by the previ-ous evening, its staff workingalong the land border “hadobserved at least 13,000 peoplegathered at the formal bordercrossing points at Pazarkuleand Ipsala and multiple infor-mal border crossings, in groupsof between several dozen andmore than 3,000.”

Greek authorities fired teargas and stun grenades throughSaturday to prevent repeatedattempts by a crowd of morethan 4,000 people massed at theborder crossing in Kastanies tocross, and fought a cat-and-mouse game with groups cut-ting holes in a border fencealong the border to crawlthrough. AP

Beirut: Turkish forcesdowned two Syrian war planesover northwest Syria Sunday,a war monitor said, afterAnkara announced a cross-border military operationthere.

The Syrian Observatoryfor Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the twoSukhoi jets fell in regime-held territory, likely afterbeing targeted by Turkish F-16 planes.

Syrian state news agencySANA said Turkish forces“targeted” two of its planesover northwest Syria.

Since December, Russia-backed regime forces haveled a military offensive againstthe last major rebel stronghold

of Idlib, where Turkey sup-ports some rebel groups.

Turkey’s defence ministryalso reported the downingsSunday, but did not confirmwho was responsible.

“Two SU-24 regime planesthat were attacking our aircrafthave been downed,” it said.

Youssef Hammoud, aspokesman for the NationalSyrian Army — a pro-Turkishgroup — said two Sukhoi 24planes were brought down,also without saying who wasresponsible.

The downings come afterTurkey announced a militaryoperation in northwest Syriaafter regime air strikes onThursday killed over 30Turkish soldiers. AFP

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Damascus: The Syrian militarySunday threatened to downany aircraft over northwestSyria after Turkish dronestrikes killed dozens of pro-regime forces in the embattledregion. “Syrian military highcommand announces the clo-sure of the airspace for planesand any drone above north-western Syria and especiallyabove the Idlib region,” statenews agency SANA reported amilitary source as saying. AFP

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The outbreak of Coronavirus thathas stymied economic activityacross China and the rest of theworld, including neighbouringSoutheast Asia, has gradually

been brought under control, at least inWuhan, its epicentre. The viral outbreak,now termed as “COVID-19” by the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO), has dis-rupted manufacturing supply chains acrossthe world, crippled tourism and tradeindustries and sharply reduced consump-tion of oil, gas and coal as economic activ-ity has come to a shuddering halt. Weirdlyenough, this may not be a bad thing indeed.However, there are a couple of threads thathave emerged due to the spread of thisvirus. It relates to the way China has tack-led COVID-19 back home. This will beworth exploring.

Its initial response was actually praise-worthy. Once the Chinese Central leader-ship was made aware of the ramificationsand the impact of this virus on its popu-lation, it acted speedily and in a way thatonly a nation-State with such a centralisedcommand structure can do. Informationspread was controlled, medical workers andthe armed forces mobilised in a way thatfrankly only China, which counts amongthe world’s largest nations, can do. Back inIndia, if we were to face such a situation,one can only imagine television anchorsgoing hammer and tongs against the pan-elists. Political parties, too, would not desistfrom giving a communal angle to the viraloutbreak. The speed at which it construct-ed hospitals and quarantine centres in thecity of Wuhan and central Hubei provinceis noteworthy.

That said, the second issue is one thatthe Chinese leadership ought to be con-cerned about. Almost no nation on theplanet trusted the statements/informationcoming out from China about the epidem-ic. Nor did anyone believe the statistics putout by it. Such fuss about a viral fever thathas a low fatality rate. According to offi-cial data, Coronavirus infected less than ahundred thousand people in the fourweeks it was around. Xinhua, the officialpress agency of the People’s Republic ofChina, put these statistics on Twitter. Butit likely failed to see the irony of using asocial network banned in China. More peo-ple have died from the common flu in theUS in the past year than have officially diedfrom the COVID-19 virus in China and therest of the world.

Going by the average toll of 400deaths per day, in the past month alone,more people must have died on Indianroads. As far as official statistics releasedby China, the infection and fatality rates arelower than previous major outbreaks,even other flu outbreaks in the past thathave emerged such as SARS.

So why this panic and a near war-likeemergency in cities across China to con-

tain the outbreak? Is China hid-ing something? The Chineseauthorities claim not to behiding anything but then, whyis everyone talking about theCOVID-19 outbreak? People inIndia and across the worldbelieve that China is hidingsomething. Is it true?

Videos, purportedlyemerging from China, showedhow authorities over there areforcibly detaining people andputting them into detentioncamps. The Chinese authoritieswere ham-fisted in the waythey dealt with Li Wenliang, thedoctor who first warned aboutthe possibility of an outbreakand ultimately died of the newcoronavirus. Some bloggers,too, have been documentinglife in the worst-hit provinces.Supposed presentations byChinese conglomerates havebeen leaked into the wild,which claim that the real num-ber of deaths is many multiplesof the official numbers, whichat the last count stood ataround 2,500 and the numberof confirmed cases may possi-bly be in millions.

Here is the thing: AllGovernments lie — whether itis the Chinese or theAmericans and even our own.Lies are propagated to cover upincompetence than to hide

malafide intentions. Well, dur-ing the Cold War, theAmericans and the Soviets liedwith malafide intentions. Butthat’s another story for anoth-er day. Politicians and bureau-crats lie more often than not tocover up their incompetenceand ineptitude.

The problem with lies, asalmost everyone knows, is thatthe web just gets bigger andbigger. But when matters ofpublic health and safety areinvolved, at least a degree oftruth will be of help even ifbeing economical with thetruth is essential to maintainpublic order. It was, therefore,almost amusing to see how theChinese Government sudden-ly sent its Ambassadors on apublic relations offensive evenas access to information wasrestricted not only for foreigncorrespondents but also for itsown journalists.

Of course, coming back tothe first point, the ChineseGovernment must be applaud-ed for its initial response to theoutbreak, once they realised theseriousness of it all, even if fewGovernments across the worldhave the necessary informationabout it, officially at least. Buteven with a new public rela-tions outreach, it should beapparent to the Chinese

Government that almostnobody, with the exception ofPakistan Prime Minister ImranKhan, trusts China. One sus-pects that in private, even he isskeptical of the Chinese stance.

What does this say aboutChinese President Xi Jinpingand China, a country thataspires to stand next to the USas a superpower? Forget otherGovernments, citizens in othercountries have lost faith inChina, a trend that seems to beaccelerating over the past fewyears. The Communist Party ofChina (CPC) ought to intro-spect why this is the case andhow the COVID-19 outbreakhas made matters worse on thetrust front.

There are lessons for otherGovernments as well, includingIndia, because “trust” is impor-tant. Whether one likes thePress or not, engagement withboth the local and global mediais vital. We have moved aheadfrom an age of information tothat of affirmation. It is impor-tant that this changes soon.Otherwise, we run the risk ofa complete and total break-down in “trust” with gover-nance across the world, thiscontagion having being startedby a real-life one.

(The writer is ManagingEditor, The Pioneer)

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Sir — In times when the BJP, oneof the ruling alliance partners inBihar, is treading cautiously andkeeping an eye over the fast-changing political developmentsin the State, Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar’s meeting withRashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)leader Tejashwi Yadav on thesidelines of the ongoing BudgetSession twice within a weekmust have triggered jitters in theparty.

But then, in its singular pur-suit of electoral AshwamedhaYagna (horse sacrifice), the BJPmay not be inclined to introspect.In its journey thus far, it has rid-den roughshod over institutionsand ignored the innate inclusiveethos of a nation with hoary tra-ditions. It has never known to beany different.

After cutting a very sorryfigure in Maharashtra, where itsoldest ally snapped ties with it,the BJP was decimated yet againin Delhi, thanks to its overbear-ing attitude and pure disdain foropponents and allies alike. Now,it faces a similar situation inBihar. If the Shiv Sena and theCongress, two parties as differ-

ent as chalk and cheese, couldmerge in the west, can the eastbe an exception? More so whenthe BJP worships rigidity in theway it does politics?

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Markets get the f lu”(February 29). The Coronavirusspread rapidly outside China, in

countries such as South Korea,Italy and Iran among others dueto the lax screening and isolationmethods followed by thesenations. India, where three caseswere reported from Kerala, couldsail the tide because we followed

due processes of screening, iso-lation, tracing and followed uprigorously. Thus, we could pre-vent the spread of the virus. Allaffected nations must follow theguidelines of the World HealthOrganisation to prevent furtherspread of the virus and also limitthe death toll.

Sweta SankrityanNoida

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Sir — Even if for a minute webelieve that there is merit in theGovernment’s argument thatJustice S Muralidhar’s transferwas routine and that thePresident’s approval was soughta month back, one fails tounderstand why did it have toissue a late-night notification,especially when the judge was inthe midst of a hearing? Thereappeared to be no urgency. Thetiming of the Government’sdecision has raised apprehen-sions of bias, amounting to“obstruction of justice.”

Anurag SangarVia email

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Public spending on healthcare in the countryis among the lowest in the world at just a lit-tle over one per cent of the Gross Domestic

Product (GDP). Hence, the healthcare system isbeset with various problems that include shortageof workforce, infrastructure and dismal quality andavailability of services.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanannounced a set of measures to stimulate and boostthe healthcare sector as an industry in the UnionBudget, 2020-21 and allocated �69,000 crore for it,which also includes �6,400 crore for the AyushmanBharat-Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). In the last Budget, the appropriation was�62,659 crore. Though there has been an increasein the allotment, the fact remains that it is quiteinsignificant when adjusted to inflation. Moreover,�69,000 crore amounts to barely one per cent of theGDP — a far cry from the National HealthPolicy’s much-talked about target of increasing thehealth budget to 2.5 per cent of the GDP by 2025.

There is quite a slack in the pace of increase inthe budgetary allocations for healthcare and willresult in India finding it difficult to achieve someof its objectives, like reducing infant mortality. Indiaranks 12 out of the 52 lower-middle income coun-tries with a high infant mortality rate. Even thoughthere has been a gradual increase in allocation, thedismal percentage of the GDP spent on healthcareis a concern, and will remain so for a long time,unless the Government makes some drastic changesin the future.

However, Mission Indradhanush, covering 12new diseases including five new vaccines, is defi-nitely a boon as it will provide the people of thecountry the much-needed relief and care.

Setting up of hospitals on the Public PrivatePartnership (PPP) model, along with medical col-leges to address the shortage of doctors and open-ing up DNB and FNB certificate courses is a stepin the right direction. Large hospitals runningResidency programmes will also provide a train-ing platform for medical professionals.

However, private hospitals which venture intoPPP projects should be assured of all help by theGovernment and reimbursement for patients treat-ed in them must be done within a month of thetreatment/completion. This is because long delaysin reimbursement will affect the volume of workdone by hospitals and will not encourage privatehospitals to come forward and join this genuineattempt to help the needy.

With 2020 being celebrated as the InternationalYear of the Nurse and the Midwife by the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO), the Finance Minister’sannouncement of bridge courses for nurses andother healthcare professionals to match internation-al standards, by allotting �3,000 crore for skill devel-opment, is a good incentive.

Skill development of Physician Assistants andparamedical personnel through courses should alsobe done and these courses must be recognised byregulatory bodies and other associations such asthe Indian Medical Association, the MedicalCouncil of India and so on. This is prevalent theworld over but is still not implemented in the coun-try and recognition of these courses will enhancethe services provided by the healthcare sectorimmensely. Last year, the AB-PMJAY was able tocover over 6.9 million treatments. However, theworld’s largest Government-funded health insur-

ance scheme’s budgetary allocation for thisyear is the same as last year, i.e. �6,400crore. So are the allocations for thescheme this year sufficient to make AB-PMJAY a success? There is a possibilitythat the payments would be delayed, lead-ing to insurance companies not being apart of it actively. Currently, over 20,000hospitals are empanelled in this scheme.Many hospitals, especially in smallertowns, are yet to be covered. The plan toset up 150,000 health and wellness cen-tres by 2022 and fund them through thebudgetary allocation for AB-PMJAYseems to be insufficient in regards toachieving this initiative. In order toaddress the shortage of hospital beds andenhance healthcare accessibility throughPPP, innovative business models will becrucial. Also, cognizance about preven-tive healthcare and the habit of routinescreening and monitoring could reallyreduce the liability from the entire ecosys-tem.

Even in the present economic sce-nario, India imports over 70 per cent ofits medical devices, with a fourth of themcoming from the USA. While the inten-tion to impose a five per cent health cesswas to strategically redistribute suchearnings to set up tier-II and tier-IIIhealthcare facilities, it does not resolve toboost the local medical devices industry.A legitimate certification authority forsuch devices would aid in use and adop-tion of equipment and devices made inIndia. Sadly, start-ups in medical devices,indigenous research and innovative prod-ucts such as bioprosthetic valves and ven-tricular assist devices are not beingencouraged and the attitude of the regu-latory bodies in this country has to bereviewed. We have just one medical sci-

ence park in the country with SpecialEconomic Zone approval. However, dur-ing the last eight years no progress hasbeen made to start research units like inthe Biopolis in Singapore. But, this is notdue to the lack of talent in the country.Many attempts are being hindered by theattitude of financial institutions such aspublic sector banks and so on. Hence,loans for these intuitions should be at parwith NABARD rates or the Governmentshould give grants rather than taking theentrepreneurs to Debts RecoveryTribunals, the National Company LawTribunal and so on. Also, medical researchshould be identified separately rather thanclubbing it with commercial ventures.

While healthcare services are on thenegative list of the Goods and Services Tax(GST) for provision of services, the basicinput costs of creating such services havehad an upward tax implication with GSTand hence increased the overall consumercost of such services, with the inability ofhealthcare services to offset such coststhrough input credit. Clarification in thisregard would have ideally balanced thecost outcome and kept rising costs incheck. With a huge focus on the Internet-of-Things, Machine Learning, ArtificialIntelligence and analytics, it is believedthat the Budget will provide a boost to thecountry’s digital economy. However a dig-ital incentivisation plan is completelymissing. While 2019 saw various frame-works initiated such as the NationalDigital Health Blueprint, guidance andadoption remains unaddressed and thefact remains that budgetary guidance forfurtherance and utilisation can go a longway.

This being said, the fact remains thatthe Government has a holistic vision of

healthcare that translates into wellness ofcitizens. The Finance Minister proposeda viability gap funding window for settingup hospitals which is a good move.

The Budget also declared that thegeneric medicine retail outlets JanAushadhi stores would be availablethrough expansion to every district.Apart from medicines, these stores in par-ticular would also stock up on more sur-gical necessities. Currently the JanAushadhi stores sell 154 surgical instru-ments, which will now be expanded toabout 300. This will result in a positiveoutcome for both SME pharma manufac-turers and small domestic medical devicesmakers. While a lot of schemes and poli-cies have been initiated, there are no clearroadmaps to see these through till the end.Proper channels and information centresshould be set up, where potential bene-ficiaries can seek details and makeinformed decisions. A system or a specialtask force should be set-up to monitoreach scheme. A robust feedback mecha-nism from the masses about the samewould also help in their realisation andimprovement.

There is a dire need for theGovernment to stress on R&D in basicmedical sciences and medical research,which will pave the way for growth andprogress of indigenous technology. Inaddition, special provisions should bemade under the ‘Make in India’ initiativefor manufacturing, which will in turncontribute to India becoming a frontrun-ner in medical technology and innovationacross the globe.

(The writer is a Padma Sri awardeeand cardiothoracic surgeon credited withIndia’s first bypass. He is Chairman andCEO of Frontier Lifeline Hospital)

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The horrific mass molestation ofstudents at Gargi College —where over 30 men forcibly

entered the women’s college — issymptomatic of an atmospherewhich is permissive of sexual intim-idation. No doubt, sexual harassmentis a universal phenomenon, thoughit may differ in its manifestation,depending upon how a society takesit. Sexual harassment of women ineducational institutions is one of themost common and largely underre-ported forms of gender-based vio-lence, often inflicted by male col-leagues, teachers or perpetratorsfrom outside. In a significant num-ber of cases, women adopt a cultureof silence as they have learnt to

“ignore” certain forms of predatorybehaviour of men, like passing lewdcomments, wolf-whistling, staringand so on.

Sexual harassment infringesupon the fundamental right of awoman to gender equality underArticle 14 and her right to life withdignity under Article 21 of theConstitution, which includes theright to a safe working environment.

Before the Vishaka Guidelinescame into existence in 1997, sexualharassment at the workplace wasdealt with under Indian Penal CodeSection 354, (assault or criminal forceto woman with intent to outrage hermodesty) and Section 509, punish-ing the guilty for using a “word, ges-ture or act intended to insult themodesty of a woman.” However, theinterpretation of the provisions on“outraging a woman’s modesty” wasleft to the police officer.

On the basis of the VishakaGuidelines, the Sexual Harassment ofWomen at the Workplace(Prevention, Prohibition andRedressal) Act, 2013 was enacted toensure safe working spaces for them.

Consistent with the Vishaka judg-ment, the Act provides a civil rem-edy to women and is in addition toother laws that are currently in forceto pursue a criminal case.Consequently, any woman who wish-es to report sexual harassment at theworkplace has the right to takerecourse to both civil and criminalproceedings.

While there is no denying theimportance of legal protectionagainst sexual harassment, its pub-lic health aspects and their therapeu-tic interventions are no less impor-tant. They need to be examined andaddressed to restore the physical andmental health of the victim and gointo the reasons for the deviantbehaviour of the perpetrators. Eventhough, environment is significant-ly responsible, what is of pressingconcern is the reason why some peo-ple and not others, go on to exploitthat permissive atmosphere andcommit sexual crimes.

By nature, some people are morehostile, authoritarian and sexist,which might make them more proneto becoming an aggressor. The com-

plexity of the interaction between anaggrieved woman and the perpetra-tor needs to be understood and thepersonality profile of the aggressorrequires to be examined in depth toevolve effective measures to preventthe occurrence and reduce the preva-lence of sexual harassment at theworkplace.

Psychological studies show thatsexual predators lack a social con-science; they are callous about theirsocial commitments and have a ten-dency to exaggerate the situation.They justify their misdeeds andlegitimise their aggression, particu-larly against women when it is relat-ed to the endorsement of sexually-coercive behaviour.

Studies also show that the psy-chopathic traits of exploitation ofothers and lack of empathy, areboth commonly associated withrapists, stalkers and molesters. Whensexual harassment escalates, it posesa potential risk of a more serious sex-ual crime like rape. This link high-lights the fact that sexual harassersare potential rapists and to preventrapes, those indulging in harassment

need to be treated for their deviantbehaviour.

Sexual harassment not onlyresults in strained interpersonal rela-tions and an hostile working environ-ment, it adversely affects the produc-tivity of the organisation, leading tofinancial losses. But more than any-thing else, it affects the mindset of thevictims, causing a wide range of men-tal health issues. And as physicalhealth and emotional well-being areinter-related, victims often suffer lossof appetite, headaches, weight fluc-tuations and sleep disturbance. Thecommonly-reported negative effectsincluded fear, concerns for safety, andpost traumatic stress disorder.

No other form of discriminationhas such a wide impact on the phys-ical and mental health of the victims.Sexual harassment has emerged as amajor public health problem withlong-term physical and mental healthconsequences for the victims.However, the impact is not restrict-ed to their health and seeps into thevictim’s social and professional life.This aspect often gets ignored andvictims mostly remain preoccupied

with legal remedies. Clinicians havedescribed case histories, symptomprofiles, stress factors and attemptsat intervention. Theoreticians work-ing in the fields of women’s develop-ment, cognitive functioning andgender-based trauma have generat-ed a parallel body of relevant infor-mation, applying their theories to thefield of harassment.

Sexual harassment presents sig-nificant challenges to a victim’s inter-nal and external stability. Primarilyrecognised as a legal or organisation-al management issue, it belongs to aclinical continuum with other gen-der-based abuses. If untreated, it cancause psychiatric illness and long-term negative changes in the victim’sinternal perception of self, others,and the world and severely hinderher potential. Appropriate clinicalinterventions for both, the victimsand the perpetrators, can provide anopportunity to assess the seriousnessof the crisis and make the workplacefree from sexual harassment.

(The writer is Professor ofPsychiatry at Hamdard Institute ofMedical Sciences and Research)

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Guwahati: The BJP on Sunday assert-ed that the agitation against theCitizenship (Amendment) Act hadstarted in Assam with Oppositionparties “emotionally influencing”people claiming that Bangladeshiswould enter the State in droves andharm their culture following the pas-sage of the CAA.

However, people have now real-ized that nothing of that sort is goingto happen and the agitation hasweakened, Assam BJP presidentRanjeet Kumar Dass told reportershere.

“An attempt was made to influ-ence people emotionally and they gotaffected. A large number of people hasasked me why we were trying to bringin Bangladeshis. Our people are veryemotional,” he said.

Dass said he along with other topleaders of the party toured 12 con-stituencies of Upper Assam and metover 2,400 booth committee presi-dents and elected representatives.

“We asked them about their sen-timent on the situation since

December 10. We all know that a mis-information campaign was going onclaiming that over one croreBangladeshis would come and attackthe culture, language and identity ofthe Assamese people,” the BJP leadersaid.

Dass said he asked the boothpresidents how many Bangladeshishave come and they replied that none has reachedthere.

“They confessed that people weremade emotional, but now they haveunderstood the situation. There is noimpact of anti-CAA campaign andthe agitaion has been weakened,” headded.

Opposition parties and variousorganisations started agitation againstthe Citizenship (Amendment) Billfrom Decenber 10, a day after it waspassed in the Lok Sabha. The Billseeks to grant Indian citizenship tominority community people ofBangladesh, Pakistan andAfghanistan who fled religious per-secution and entered India beforeDecember 31, 2014. PTI

Mangaluru: The country is fac-ing a huge challenge with thenegative politics being playedout by the ruling BJP at theCentre and the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) is aploy to implement their agen-da of divide and rule, notedhuman rights activist TeestaSetalvad said on Sunday.

Delivering a speech on thetopic 'Understanding our times:People's struggle and Stateresponse,' organised by theCitizens Forum for MangaluruDevelopment and 'We thePeople,' she said there was anurgent need to break awayfrom the vicious politics of theruling party.

Setalvad said it was wrongto assume that the CAA wouldaffect only Muslims.

The amended law wouldadversely affect the interests ofdalits, advivasis, tribes, migrantlabourers and other sections ofsociety.

The attempt to target acommunity to reap politicalgains has been happening inthe country for long, shealleged.

The people have nowdescended on the streets as theBJP's hidden agenda has beenexposed.

This is a welcome trend,she said adding the protestsshould be held in a systematicway to fetch desired results.

She accused the govern-ment of using brute force tocrush peaceful anti-CAAdemonstrations at many places,which was a “clear violation” ofhuman rights.

A large section of peoplewould be denied the right tovote if citizenship was givenbased on documents underthe proposed NRC as hap-pened in Assam.

They also would not getbenefits under governmentwelfare schemes which would

amount to a civil death, sheclaimed.

While one cannot opposethe census process which isrequired to count the totalpopulation, the new columnsfor parents' addresses are meantto create a divide by portrayingrefugees as 'infiltrators' whichis objectionable.

Setalvad said the entireNRC exercise, if taken up,would cost the country dear asit would have to spend at leastRs 55,000 crore for the process.

The government wasspending the money while fail-ing to address the unemploy-ment issue in the country.

People should continuous-ly put pressure on elected rep-resentatives and the state gov-ernments through theirprotests against the CAA. Adecisive movement of themasses against the Centresmove to divide and rule is theneed of the hour, she said. PTI

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In smart city Jammu con-tractors engaged by the BJP-

ruled, Jammu MunicipalCorporation (JMC) are turningout to be one of the biggest “jobproviders” (on temporarybasis) for Rohingyas, illegalimmigrants from Myanmar.

According to Rinku Gill,President of the SafaiKaramchari Union, JammuMunicipal Corporation, “anestimated number of around200 Rohingyas have beenengaged by the contractors toclean big and small drainsacross the municipal limits ofJammu city”.

In return for their day-longlabour, these illegal immigrantsare paid �400 per head to runtheir kitchen fires.

In contrast to this, localsanitation workers/sweepersengaged by the contractors ofJammu Municipal Corporationare paid a paltry sum of �225per head. The glaring dispari-ty is already causing lot of fric-

tion among the work force.Not only this, JMC con-

tractors have also deployed afleet of transport vehicles onground zero to ferry theseworkers at work in time. Beforeheading to work, these work-ers mark their attendance in theoffice of local JMC supervisor.

Ironically, local State BJPleaders and even the top brassof the ruling party in centrenever shy away from makingloud statements claiming theyremain committed to identifyand deport Rohingyas to theircountry as per the internationallaw.

Most recently, UnionMinister Dr Jitendra Singh hassaid that Rohingyas living inJammu & Kashmir will bedeported since they do notbenefit under the CitizenshipAmendment Act enacted bythe Centre in November lastyear. He also added that theRohingyas will not be able tosecure citizenship by “anymeans”.

Speaking at the inauguralceremony of a three-day work-shop on General Financialrules in Jammu on January 3,Singh said there were “no ifsand buts” over CAA’s imple-mentation in the Union

Territory.“Its immediate implication

would be in relation toRohingyas here. We have asizeable population ofRohingyas here. They have togo,” Singh said.

In the last oneyear,Union HomeMinister Amit Shahhas repeatedlymade these state-ments at electionrallies and also clar-ified stand of theUnion Governmenton the floor of thehouse insideP a r l i a m e n t .Responding to thequestion in theRajya Sabha on July17, 2019, AmitShah said that itwas the NRC basedon which theBharatiya JanataParty (BJP) came topower after the2019 Lok Sabhaelections.

“It is a very good question.The NRC is part of the AssamAccord and was also in (BJP's)election manifesto based onwhich the Government hascome to power. TheGovernment will identify ille-

gal immigrants living on everyinch of the country's soil andwill deport them as per theinternational law,” Amit Shahsaid.

Referring to the statementsof Union leaders, Rinku Gillmaintained on one hand thegovernment says, theseRohingyas pose a securitythreat and on the other handthey have been roped in by theJMC ignoring local work force”.He demanded local workersshould be engaged first andprovided with the opportuni-ty to earn their livelihood thanthese illegal immigrants.

When contacted, Mayorof Jammu MunicipalCorporation Chander MohanGupta said, “after the passageof Citizenship Amendment Billin the Parliament, the entirecountry is witnessing chaos.The way union governmentremain committed to deportRohingyas and all other illegalimmigrants, we are also goingto deport them from Jammu”.

JMC, Mayor also claimedwe have not engaged anyRohingya as daily wager tocarry out works. We checkcredentials of workers and evenNGO's engaged by JMC keeprecord of theirworkforce.According to aHome department reporttabled in the state assembly onFebruary 2, 2018, “a totalnumber of 6523 Rohingyaswere found camping across 39different locations spreadacross five districts of Jammuand Kashmir”.

According to the Homedepartment report, “6461Rohingyas were staying inJammu division and 62 inKashmir division.

However, local activistsand politicians, spearheadinga campaign in support of theirdeportation often contest thesefigures claiming large numberof these illegal immigrants arescattered and even their biometrics have not been collect-ed by the security personnel

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The Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA), the root cause of the Delhi

riots, is having a major impact in TamilNadu. A shocking development of the Actis not the resentment against theGovernment of India but the communalpolarisation that has set in the State, knownfor communal harmony and revolution-ary social justice.

The rallies and demonstrations stagedagainst the CAA by members of theMuslim community are being sponsoredby extremist Islamic organisations like theSocialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI),Popular Front of India (PFI) and TamilNadu Thowheed Jamaat (TNTJ). “Thereare 23 Islamic organizations in Tamil Naduwhich finance and lead the rallies stagedin regular intervals. What is causing con-cern is the kind of slogans raised duringthese gatherings. We can understand thekind of sloganeering against the CAA andthe Government of India. But most of theslogans are provocative and inflammato-ry. They are all against one particular com-munity,” said an intelligence official.

Kolakala Srenivasan, author andcolumnist, said a line of divide is clearlyvisible in the relations between Hindus and

Muslims in Tamil Nadu. “This is the firsttime we are seeing a demarcation betweenthe two communities. The anger againstthe CAA has led to communal polariza-tion,” said Srenivasan.

Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode,Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram, districtswith considerable Muslim populationsubstantiate fear expressed by Srenivasan.The social gatherings which used to fea-ture both communities have become athing of the past. The ‘we’ and ‘they’ divideis clearly visible. T Palanivelu, a business-man based in Chennai who has commer-cial interests in these districts says thatmembers of the Muslim community areshowing apprehension in dealing withHindus. “I blame the political parties forthe same. This is not the way to fight anykind of draconian laws,” said Palanivelu.

Krishna Pillai a farmer fromTirunelveli says the division is complete inhis district as well as in Kanyakumari. “Wehave decided to boycott shops owned byMuslim community. The Islamic hardlin-ers are encouraging their communitymembers not to have any kind of dealingswith Hindus. What else do you expectfrom us?” asked Pillai.

Even as Hindus have launched an un-declared social and business boycott of the

Muslim community, the Sangh Parivarorganizations are in the process of settingup small kirana shops in areas where theHindus do not have any provision storesor super markets. “In course of time, wewill have our own super market chainstoo,” said Arjun Sampath, president,Hindu People Party.

Sampath said this is a reaction to the“blockade” enforced by the Muslim com-munity on the Hindus.

Though the Centre claims that Delhiriots have subsided and the region is limp-ing back to normalcy, situation in TamilNadu is in the reverse process. “Till nowthe agitations remained peaceful. Butwhat next is a major question,” saidMalan, political commentator.

Indications are that the agitationsagainst CAA would continue in TamilNadu in days to come. Thamimun Ansari,Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi, anextremist Islamic organization in the fore-front of the agitation declared atCoimbatore that the agitation would con-tinue till the Centre repeals the CAA.

“If the Centre and the Tamil NaduGovernment continue to ignore us, we willlaunch a jail bharo agitation across theState,” said Gulam Dasthakir leader, TamilNadu Thowheed Jamath.

Srinagar: Two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants werearrested in Srinagar and armsand ammunition seized fromtheir possession, police said onSunday.

They have been identifiedas Vakeel Ahmed Bhat alias AbuZarrar and Omar Ismail Das,both residents of Bijbehara,area of South Kashmir'sAnantnag district. On a credi-ble input, security forces inter-cepted a car on Barzulla-Chanapora road on Saturday, apolice spokesman said.

He said while checking thevehicle, officers recovered armsand ammunition from the twopersons. According to policerecords, the two are active mil-itants affiliated with proscribedoutfit LeT, the spokesman said,adding, both have been arrest-ed and shifted to police stationwhere they remain in custody. PTI

Kolkata: The ruling TrinamoolCongress in West Bengal onSunday slammed Union HomeMinister Amit Shah for attack-ing the State Government overlaw and order situation, sayinginstead of preaching he shouldapologise for failing to saveinnocent lives during the Delhiviolence.

Senior TMC leaderAbhishek Banerjee also saidWest Bengal is better off with-out bigotry and hatred that, healleged, the BJP “is trying tospread”.

“Rather than coming andpreaching #Bengal @AmitShahyou should have explained andapologised for failing to savemore than 50 innocent lives in#DelhiViolence right underyour nose,” Abhishek, nephewof Chief Minister MamataBanerjee, said in a tweet.

At least 42 people werekilled and over 200 injured asfrenzied groups of people

torched houses, shops, vehicles,a petrol pump, and pelted localpeople and police personnelwith stones earlier this week,the worst riots in Delhi in overthree decades.

Delhi Police is under theUnion Ministry of Home.

“Mr Shah, Bengal is betteroff without bigotry and hatredthat BJP is trying to spread,”Abhishek said in thetweet.

Shah, who was in the cityto address a rally, exuded con-fidence that the Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP) will form thenext government in the Statewith two-third majority afterthe 2021 Assembly polls andexpressed anguish over the“worsening” law and order sit-uation in Bengal.

With an eye on 2021Assembly polls in the state,Shah also launched the BJP's'Aar Noi Annay' (no moreinjustice) campaign andaccused the TMC Governmentof not allowing “central welfarepolicies to be implemented inthe state”. PTI

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Shirdi: Amidst protests against the newCitizenship law, Maharashtra BJP chiefChandrakant Patil on Sunday accusedthe “Leftists, urban and rural Naxals”of trying to destabilise the country andmislead people over differentissues.

The former Maharashtra Ministeralso said that as the Government hascrushed the Naxals in the last five years,“silent Naxalism” has started and mis-leading people was part of it.

He said the Congress, NCP and theMuslim community should realisethat the Leftists were trying to disturbthe country's peace and push their ownagenda.

Patil was addressing a press con-ference during his visit to the SaibabaSamadhi in Shirdi town inAhmednagar district of Maharashtra.

“Muslims in the country, Congressand NCP are not able to understandthat Leftists, Maoists, urban Naxals andrural Naxals, who are on the rise, wantto destabilise the country. Urban Naxalsare trying to mislead the people on var-ious issues,” he said in response to aquery on the forces behind the anti-

CAA protests.“I appeal to our opponents

Congress and NCP that elections andrunning a Government are differentthings. Sometimes you win, sometimeswe. But they should take note of theincidents that are destabilising thecountry,” he added.

Patil said members of the Muslimcommunity should tell in a debate whattheir problems are (concerning theCAA).

“It is being fed in your mind thatyou have a problem. Anywhere it isbeing said that (PM Narendra) Modijiis going to build a jail in Delhi andMuslims from across the country willbe put there. Is it possible? So how doesthis get into the minds of Muslims?” headded.

“In this, Muslims are harmingthemselves...Disturbing the long-estab-lished brotherhood. This disturbancewill make life difficult. They don'trealise that they are being trapped.

“Congress, NCP don't realise thatthey are opposing the CAA in favourof Muslims, but the Leftists are bene-fiting from it. They want to disturb the

country. It is not about any politicalparty. It is all the agenda of theLeftists,” he said.

“For years, despite using guns, theydid not get success through ruralNaxals. The government completelydrove them away. In five years, theNaxals were finished. Now 'silentNaxalism' has started and misleadingpeople is part of it,” he alleged.

When asked whether the use ofabusive language allegedly by BJPleader Narayan Rane and his politiciansons against Chief Minister UddhavThackeray and Shiv Sena leader SanjayRaut suits the party's culture, Patil saidhe hasn't noticed anything likethis.

“The BJP believes in culture, but itdoes not mean that we are cowards.Everyone has a different personality. Ifanyone says anything wrong, then theparty will act against it. I have notnoticed anything like it,” he said.

“If Shiv Sena does whatever itwants, and if Raut writes whatever hewants in the editorial of 'Saamana'(Sena mouthpiece)...Does it suit theirculture?” he asked. PTI

Bengaluru: The area outside the SirPuttana Chetty Town Hall, the venue ofmany pro and anti-CAA protests over thelast few months, will be out of bounds toany stir as the city civic body has bannedany such activity, citing dip in bookings andtraffic congestion.

The Bruhat Bengaluru MahanagaraPalike council passed a resolution to thiseffect at its meeting on Saturday, sourcessaid. Opposition parties protested againstthe resolution, noting that the subject wasnot even part of the agenda.

Defending the move, Mayor GauthamKumar said that protests in front of SirPuttana Chetty Town Hall had led to a dipin bookings by event organizers, affectingBBMP's revenue and was also causing traf-fic congestion in the area.

BBMP has also communicated its deci-sion to the city police chief and have saidthat protesters can state demonstrations atthe Freedom Park and Mourya Circle.

The Opposition has termed the reso-lution as 'undemocratic' and done torestrict anti-CAA protests and threatenedto stage protestsin front of Town Hall itselfto revoke it. PTI

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Mumbai: Maharashtra deputy ChiefMinister And senior NCP leader AjitPawar on Sunday said the new citizenshiplaw, the proposed NRC and the NPR willnot take away anybody's citizenship andflagged “misinformation” on the issue.

Addressing the convention of theNationalist Congress Party (NCP) here,he also ruled out any need to bring a res-olution against the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) and the NationalPopulation Register (NPR) in the stateLegislative Assembly.

“The CAA, NRC and NPR will nottake away anyone's citizenship,” he said.“It is unnecessary to pass a resolutionagainst the CAA and the NPR in theMaharashtra Assembly,” the deputy CMsaid.

He said some people were spreading“false information” about the CAA, NRCand NPR by referring to a resolutionpassed in Bihar, and called for moreawareness on this issue.

The Bihar Legislative Assembly lastmonth unanimously resolved that therewas no need of NRC in the state and that

the NPR exercise be done strictly accord-ing to the 2010 format.

Notably, NCP chief Sharad Pawar hadsaid in last December that like eight otherstates, Maharashtra should also refuseimplementation of the new citizenshiplaw, which he feared would hurt the reli-gious and social harmony ofIndia.

NCP leader and state minister NawabMalik had last month said the NRC willnot be implemented in Maharashtra.

The Congress, another constituent inthe Shiv Sena-led government, haddemanded that a resolution against theNPR and the CAA be brought in theAssembly.

After meeting Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in Delhi last month, ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray had said thatno one needs to fear about the CAA. Hehad also said that the NPR was not goingto throw anyone out of the country.

Earlier, Thackeray had said that hisgovernment will not allow the proposedNRC to be implemented as it wouldimpact people of all religions. PTI

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Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sundayappealed to the External AffairsMinister to take necessary stepsand arrange for safe return of hun-dreds of fishermen, includingKeralites, trapped in Iran followingcoronavirus scare.

In a letter to External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar, he said thestate government has receivedinformation that more than hundredpeople, including around 60 fromKerala, were trapped in Azalur inIran.

"When contacted by state gov-ernment officials, it has been statedby the persons trapped in Azalur thatmore than hundred persons arethere out of which around 60 arereported to be from Kerala," Vijayansaid in the letter.

He said it was learnt that they

were unable to return to India onaccount of the COVIT19 spread.

"...I request you to direct the(Indian) Embassy officials (in Iran)to take necessary steps and arrangefor the safe return of these persons,"Vijayan wrote.

Earlier, the Fisheries Minister JMercykutty Amma had said the stategovernment will take all necessarysteps to bring fishermen from thestate stranded in Iran.

She said the state governmentwill collect details of Keralitestrapped in Iran and coordinate withthe Indian embassy there throughNoRKA (Department of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs).

A video of the Kerala fishermenseeking help was forwarded to thefamilies of the fishermen and mediahouses in the state.

One of them is heard saying in

the video that they were unable tomove out of their rooms due to therestrictions imposed by the Iran gov-ernment due to the coronavirusscare.

"Like us many people are fromIndia are stranded here. We are shortof food. We tried to contact oursponsor. But he asked us to contactthe government authorities," theman said.

The fishermen were in Iran,working for a fishing company forlast many months.

Most of the Keralites are fromPozhiyur and Vizhinjam areas inThiruvananthapuram.The TamilNadu government had on Fridaytaken up with the Centre the issueof over 300 stranded fishermenfrom the state in Iran and soughtsteps for their immediate evacuation. PTI

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Amid speculation that asenior party MLA may

soon jump ship to the BJP, JDSpatriarch and former PrimeMinister HD Deve Gowda onSunday said he was not both-ered by such developments asthey would have no impact.

"If someone goes or comeagain, I will not get disturbedby it, if someone goes.. Nothingwill happen.

GT Devegowda had in thepast gone to BJP and comeback, he had even becomeMinister here. Now he mayagain go back (to BJP). Whyshould I bother?" Gowda askedin response to a question.

Senior JD(S) legislator GT Devegowda, who has beenmaintaining distance fromJD(S) for some time now hasreportedly met the BJP nation-

al secretary recently, triggeringspeculations.

Speaking to reporters inHassan, the JD(S) supremosaid, "I will not fear such things.I have spirit to build this party.I may be 87-years-old, but myspirit won't go down.." headded.

According to sources,JD(S) leadership is even con-sidering issuing notice to G TDevegowda for his recentactions and it is likely to be fol-lowed by expulsion.

JD(S) state President H KKumaraswamy on Saturdaysaid, he will warn G TDevegowda.

"If he (GTD) wants toremain loyal to the party, hecan stayhis certain statementshave embarrassed the party.

Let him take a clear stand,let him not stay here and speakin favour of someone else," he

said, adding that we are watch-ing his conduct some of whichamounts to indiscipline, we areyet to issue him any notice.

G T Devegowda had sev-eral times in the recent pastopenly expressed his differ-ences with leadership, and hadpraised BJP leaders.

He had also allegedly votedin favour of BJP during therecent legislative councilbypolls, despite JD(S) legisla-ture party in its meeting decid-ing not to take part in voting.

Responding to a question,without naming GTDevegowda, BJP leader andDeputy Chief Minister CNAshwathnarayan on Sundaysaid if someone wants to join theparty believing in its ideologyand principles, we are ready towelcome happily.

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Rashmi Thackeray, wife of ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray,

replaced him as the editor of the ShivSena’s official mouth-piece“Saamana”, a Marathi daily newspa-per, on Sunday.

The change in guard in“Saamana” set-up was expected asUddhav had quit as the editor of theparty’s official mouth-piece aftertaking over as the Chief Minister ofMaharashtra three months ago.

Uddhav Thackeray had takenover as the Editor of “Saamana” afterthe death of Shiv Sena chief and hisfather Bal Thackeray on November18, 2012. After having been its edi-tor for eight years, Uddhav resignedas the editor of Saamana , before tak-ing the oath as the Chief Minister onNovember 28, 2019. So much so thatUddhav’s name had disappearedfrom the print line of the newspaper.

In a public notice issued in thenewspaper by publisher of“Saamana” Madhukar Bhagwatunder the Regulations of Newspaperson Sunday, Rashmi Thackeray wasnamed as the Editor of the Sena’s offi-cial mouth-piece.

“Saamana” began its publicationon January 23, 1988, with lateThackeray as its founding editor.'Dopahar Ka Saamana', a Hindiafternoon edition of “Saamana” waslaunched by the Shiv Sena onFebruary 23, 1993.

In her capacity as the editor of“Saamana”, Rashmi Thackeray willalso be the Editor of 'Dopahar KaSaamana'.

Rashmi’s position of the editor of“Saamana” is more of a titular natureas the Thackeray family’s closeconfidante Sanjay Raut and RajyaSabha Member will continue to be itsexecutive editor and will pen edito-rials and write weekly columns in theMarathi newspaper.

Nashik:A man who was quarantined in Nashikin Maharashtra for possible exposure to novelcoronavirus after his return from Italy, has test-ed negative, officials said on Sunday.

The man, who hails from Chandrapur dis-trict, had returned to the country on February26 from Italy, where he had gone for studies, anofficial said.

"He came directly to his sister's place inNashik. As he suffered from cough, cold andfatigue, the health officials of the NashikMunicipal Corporation (NMC) conducted amedical check-up on him and got him admittedto the civil hospital here," district civil surgeonDr Suresh Jagdale said.

"He was quarantined as a precautionary mea-sure as he showed symptoms of coronavirus. Hissamples were sent to Pune for testing," headded. A Maharashtra health department offi-cial later confirmed that he was found negativefor the infection. PTI

Patna: Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar on Sundayasserted that the ruling NDA isand will remain united in theState, dispelling "confusions"that had arisen in the wake ofhis recent meeting with RJD'sTejashwi Yadav followed bysome opposition GrandAlliance leaders beckoning himto cross over.

Addressing a 'karyakartasammelan' of the Janata Dal(United), of which he is thenational president, Kumarexhorted party workers tostrive towards ensuring theNDA's win in "more than 200seats" when elections to the243-member Bihar Assemblyare held this year.

Disapproving of political"controversies" around theCitizenship (Amendment) Act(CAA), which his party hadsupported in Parliament,Kumar called for "patience" asthe matter was sub judice.

Anxieties in some sectionsof society, particularly amongthe minorities, have beenaddressed with a resolutionpassed by the Bihar assemblyagainst the National Register ofCitizens (NRC) and insertionof contentious clauses inNational Population Register(NPR) forms, he said.

The JD(U) chief also reit-erated his commitmenttowards ensuring justice and

welfare of all, including minori-ties, and slammed the opposi-tion Congress-RJD combine,which keeps attacking himover his alliance with the BJP,by recalling the Bhagalpur riotsof 1989 that had claimed over1,000 lives.

"It is well known who wasin power when the riots tookplace and how justice eludedthe victims for 15 years there-after. We brought the guilty tobook and justice was ensuredto the victims. I am more con-cerned about working for theminorities than getting theirvotes," said Kumar as he high-lighted the various schemesbeing run by his Governmentfor minority communities.

The chief minister, whospoke for close to an hour anda half, also dwelt at length onhis Government's accomplish-ments with regard to improv-ing law and order, and bring-ing in all round development.

Kumar asked party work-ers to apprise the common peo-ple about the same and debunkthe opposition's propaganda.

On allegations of deterio-ration in law and order levelledby opposition parties and theconcern expressed of late byally Chirag Paswan, who headsthe Lok Janshakti Party, thechief minister quoted NationalCrime Records Bureau statis-tics to suggest that the crime

rate in Bihar, when taken intoaccount in proportion to thepopulation, was among thelowest in the country.

Sore over widespread crit-icism of the poor health andeducation scenario in the state,Kumar highlighted his gov-ernment's success in reducingschool dropout rates and men-tioned the adulation fromMicrosoft founder Bill Gateswho, during his visit to Patnalast year, had praised the state'sefforts towards "fighting pover-ty and disease".

The chief minister, whowill aim at a fourth consecutiveterm in power in the assembly

elections due by November,urged his party's workers todraw inspiration from theNDA's stupendous perfor-mance in the Lok Sabha pollslast year when the BJP, theJD(U) and the LJP had togeth-er won 39 out of the 40 seats inBihar. Indirectly referring to hisone-to-one meeting withTejashwi Yadav inside hischamber at the Bihar Assemblycomplex, which had promptedGrand Alliance leaders likeformer chief minister JitanRam Manjhi to "welcome" himto the opposition formation,Kumar said, "There is no scopefor confusions. We met over the

NPR and the NRC debate, andthe matter has been settled witha unanimous resolution passedby the assembly".

"Now there should bedhairya (patience) as the CAAis before the court. Stirring acontroversy is not proper," saidthe JD(U) chief in a veiledadmonition to the opposition.

He also pointed out thatthe law providing for citizen-ship to refugees fleeing adjoin-ing countries out of religiouspersecution was conceptualisedwhen Atal Bihari Vajpayee wasthe prime minister.

Flaying the RJD-Congresscombine for their agitations

over the citizenship law, Kumarsaid, "I was a member ofParliament then. And, what Iam saying can be verified fromthe records of the proceedingsof the time. Leaders like PranabMukherjee, Manmohan Singhand Lalu Prasad all were infavour of such a legislation backthen."

He also spoke of the "JalJeevan Hariyali" campaignwhich aims at combating cli-mate change through environ-ment preservation andexpressed delight over theenthusiastic public participa-tion in the human chain thatwas formed in its support inJanuary.

Kumar also asserted thatprohibition, brought in forcefour years ago, has had manypositive social and economicefforts and reiterated his com-mitment to securing specialcategory status for Bihar which,he holds, is necessary for accel-erated development of a statethat has been historically back-ward.

The Chief Minister paidtributes to Valmiki Nagar MPBaidya Nath Prasad Mahto,who died in Delhi earlier thisweek. Condoling his deathbefore he commenced hisspeech, Kumar winded up hisaddress by making the crowdsobserve silence in the memoryof the departed leader. PTI

Jalna (Maha): Maharashtra LegislativeAssembly Speaker Nana Patole on Sundaysaid he would support the demand of OBCleaders to boycott the exercise to conductthe General Census 2021 if a caste-basedenumeration is not allowed.

Speaking at an event here, the Speakersaid leaders cutting across the party lineshad demanded that a delegation be sent tomeet Prime Minister Narendra Modi andUnion Home Minister Amit Shah forallowing the caste-based Census to find thepopulation of people from Other BackwardClasses (OBCs).

"OBC leaders have decided that if thecaste Census is not conducted they wouldboycott the General Census (exercise) andI would support them.

"If a government does not follow thenorms of the Constitution, then an indi-vidual has the freedom to boycott (anyexercise mandated by the government). Wewill follow the mantra of MahatmaGandhi," he said.

Patole said since the prime ministerbelongs to a backward community (OBC)

he should understand the pains of the peo-ple.

The Maharashtra Legislative Assemblyon January 8 unanimously passed a reso-lution urging the Centre for a caste-basedCensus to find out the population of OBCsacross the country.

The resolution was moved suo moto("on its own") by the Speaker. Referringto that resolution, Patole said the state gov-ernment can examine if a separate Censusexercise can be undertaken in Maharashtralike the demands made in Tamil Nadu andBihar.

Patole also said a "right" decisionwould be taken on the Citizen AmendmentAct (CAA) in the state legislature which iscurrently in session.

Patole, a former BJP MP, had quit thesaffron party following differences with thePrime Minister on agrarian issues, andrejoined the Congress in December2017.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) gov-ernment in the state comprises the ShivSena, the NCP and the Congress. PTI

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Patna: Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar on Sunday saidmigration of people from oneState to another should not beseen as a problem as he assert-ed that the "nation is one" andpeople are free to move fromone place to another.

The Janata Dal (United)chief 's reaction came afterelection strategist and formerparty national vice-presidentPrashant Kishor and CPI'sKanhaiya Kumar flagged theissue of migration of youthsfrom Bihar to other states andunemployment recently.

Recounting a conversa-tion that he had withRaghunandan Lal Bhatia, whoserved as the governor ofBihar in 2008-09, Kumar said,"He asked me why was it thatPunjab had started getting sofewer migrant workers fromBihar. Similar was the obser-vation of the then Punjabdeputy chief minister SukhbirSingh Badal."

He said, a fall in the num-ber of migrant workers fromBihar was also the commonrefrain in Bhutan when he vis-

ited the Himalayan kingdom.

"Those who are interestedin knowing the facts can cometo us. We will provide themwith exact figures of the num-ber of vacancies filled by thestate public service commis-sion and other bodies entrust-ed with recruitment of man-power. They will be also givenan exact idea of how muchthings have changed since thepreceding regimes," Kumarsaid.

He, however, also said "ekgandi cheez shuru ho gayi haimigration ke naam se (a badthing has started by way of thisdiscourse over migration)."

"The nation is one andbelongs to all. People from allparts of the country are andmust be free to travel to anyother part. Has Bihar not ben-efitted from the services ofnurses from Kerala since longback? Are people from otherparts of the country not con-tributing to the states growthby making use of their talentshere?" the Chief Minister asked. PTI

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Holding the BJP cent percent responsible for the

riots in Delhi, NCP chiefSharad Pawar on Sundaycharged that having realised inthe run-up to the recentAssembly polls it was notreceiving public support andwould not come to power, theruling party at the Centre triedto derive political mileage bycreating a communal divide inthe national Capital.

Launching an all-out attackagainst the BJP at party work-ers at Somaya grounds atChunnabatti north-centralMumbai, Pawar said: “The BJPis 100 per cent responsible forthe recent riots in Delhi. TheNarendra Modi governmenthas miserably failed in pre-venting in riots in Delhi and inthe process failed to maintainlaw and order fin the nationalCapital”.

Pawar also accused PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andformer BJP president AmitShah of fomenting communaltension during the Assemblypolls in the national Capitalthrough their vitriolic speech-es.

“One could realise from thespeeches of Narendra Modi, hewas triggering controversieson religious issues. It was wor-risome that Modi — as thePrime Minister of India —wasresorting to this of election-eering. Instead of making effec-tive use of power in hand at thehand for the benefit of people,the BJP leaders used ‘Golimaro” language in their speech-es”.

“Having all lost all electionsin the recent times, the BJPrealised that the mood that wasin its favour during the LokSabha polls was suddenly goingagainst it. No wonder the BJPwas creating a divide in the

society in an effort to derivepolitical mileage in the DelhiAssembly polls.

The speeches made byModi, Shah, Union Ministersand party leaders in their elec-tion rally appeared to be break-ing social and communal amityin the society,” the NCP chiefsaid.

Underscoring the dire needto unseating the BJP frompower at the Centre, Pawarsaid: “There is serious concernin all sections of the societyacross the country about whathappened in the national cap-ital. Apart from preventing recurrence of thesituation witnessed in Delhi inany other parts of the country,there is a need to keep all suchforces which are threateningunity and integrity of the coun-try. It time for us to think aboutalternatives (to the currentGovernment at the Centre)”.

Taking objection to lan-guage used by Modi in his pub-lic speeches, Pawar said: “Modisaid that there was no need toinvestigate as to who were theopponents of the BJP and itsGovernment at the Centre.This, he said, was because onecould recognise the people bythe headgears they were wear-ing. It is a matter of seriousconcern that the PrimeMinister of the country wasmaking such statements whichdrive a wedge in the society.The ̀ Goli Maro..’ statement bya union minister was aimed atcreating an atmosphere of ter-ror in the society”.

Slamming the Modi gov-ernment for the prevailing eco-nomic crisis in the country,Pawar said: “Our industry indire straits. There is phenom-enal rise in unemployment inthe country. The government atthe Centre does not seem tobother about the future of the

country. A party (BJP) that wonmore 300 seats in the LokSabha polls is not in power inmany states. The people areregretting as to why they re-elected BJP — a party that doesnot have the country's interestin the mind—to power at theCentre”.

Pawar said that the NCPwould play prominent part infighting the forces which weredividing the country on reli-gious and casteist lines. “Wehave shove aside forces thatwhip up communal passionand engineer riots in their dia-bolic design to win elections,”he said.

Dismissing speculationabout the possibility of collapseof MVA government inMaharashtra, Pawar said: “TheMVA government is commit-ted to resolving the issues of thepeople. This Government willcomplete its full five-yearterm”.

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The government on Sundaysaid it has collected �1.05

lakh crore as GST revenue inFebruary, up 8 per cent over thesame month last year.

The collection from Goodsand Services Tax (GST) inFebruary was, however, lowerthan the �1.10 lakh crore col-lected in January 2020.

"The gross GST revenuecollected in the month ofFebruary, 2020 is �1,05,366crore of which CGST is �20,569crore, SGST is �27,348 crore,IGST is �48,503 crore andCess is �8,947 crore," theFinance Ministry said in astatement. The total number ofGSTR 3B returns filed for themonth of January up toFebruary 29 stood at 83 lakh —same as last month.

The government has set-tled �22,586 crore to CGST and�16,553 crore to SGST fromIGST as regular settlement.

"The total revenue earnedby Central Government andthe State Governments afterregular settlement in the monthof February, 2020 is �43,155

crore for CGST and �43,901crore for the SGST," the state-ment added.

The GST revenues duringthe month of February fromdomestic transactions hasshown a growth of 12 per centover the same month last year.

"Taking into account theGST collected from import ofgoods, the total revenue duringFebruary, 2020 has increased by8 per cent in comparison to therevenue during February,2019," the statement said.

During this month, theGST on import of goods hasshown a negative growth of (-) 2 per cent as compared toFebruary 2019, it added.

Meanwhile, Deloitte IndiaPartner M S Mani said with themonthly collections now sta-bilising at over Rs 1 trillion permonth, the GST authoritieswould now go all out toenhance the March collectionsso that the deficit is reduced tothe extent possible.

"These numbers indicatethat the GST collections arebecoming stable, with newchanges like e-invoicing andnew returns slated for next

month, more stability is expect-ed in future," he said.

EY Tax Partner AbhishekJain said one possible signifi-cant reason linked to reason-able collections is the differen-tial liabilities discharged bybusinesses in reference to theobservations in GST Annualreturns and audit for FY 2017-18, which was due in January2020.

PwC India Partner &Leader Indirect Tax Pratik Jainsaid while the GST collectionagain looks impressive consid-ering the overall economic sce-nario, one will have to see howmuch of it is due to restrictionand blockage of input creditswhich has been happening inthe last three months or so.

"The issue of blockage ofinput credit from the backend(on account of alleged differ-ence between credit claimedand that disclosed by vendors)is becoming a concern for theindustry and the GST Councilshould look into this.Otherwise, we may see lowercollections later, when the cred-it is actually utilized," Jainadded.

6-1�� ����� !����7��8�����!�9�� %���� �68��6+79

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Sunday

asked civil accounts officers tofocus on bringing in more effi-cient and adaptive technologiesto further smoothen the work-ing of the Public FinancialManagement System (PFMS).

Speaking at a function hereto mark the 44th CivilAccounts Day, she said there isso much more to be accom-plished and officers need to beresponsive to the changes.

The minister further saidthe officers are not only com-petent accounts persons, butalso competent technology pro-fessionals.

"Even as we are talking oftechnology, that itself is a chal-lenge. Everyday it changes,newer versions come in, rapidchanges are happening andtherefore to keep on top of it isa big exercise. You have to con-stantly keep changing the mile-post, bring in more and moreefficiency and adaptive tech-nology," Sitharaman said.

She also said that theyhave "revolutionised" technol-ogy-driven PFMS and it hasempowered India to beaccountable, responsive andtransparent.

"Today all over the worldDBT (direct benefit transfer)and GST (Goods and ServicesTax) are being talked about asone of the silent revolution thatdemocracy can show off to theworld," the minister added.

She said the officers haveshown that public finance is notopaque, but efficient andresponsive to the public.

"This is biggest revolution.The �1 lakh crore you havesaved through DBT, these arenot just symbolic. The �1 lakhcrore being saved for the pub-lic (is) by efficient use of tech-nology without making anyonefeel sorry," she said.

Through efficient use oftechnology, this service hasproven that corruption andwrongdoing can be removedfrom the system, she added.

PFMS is designed to helpthe Government agencies forprocessing payments, track-ing, monitoring, accountingand reconciliation.

It tracks funds disburse-ment and ensures that state

treasuries are integrated withthe Centre to ensure money issent as and when required.

Speaking at the function,Expenditure Secretary T VSomanathan said integration ofPFMS with railways, defenceand postal service needs to betaken forward and the officersshould expeditiously imple-ment further ongoing initia-tives so that it realises its fullpotential.

"I would like to draw yourattention to huge volumes ofdata PFMS have within itwhich can be effectively use toimprove the quality of expen-diture," he said.

He added greater attentionis required to ensure timelypayments.

Expenditure payments andtax refunds should be paidpromptly without any kind ofunnecessary delay, he said.

"I am aware that in most ofthese systems, there are multi-ple agencies involved and youare often at the tail end and thedelay can be for various reasonsbeyond your control, but thereis one element of the systemwhich is in your control andwhat I would like you to do isto make sure that, that elementof system is never a source ofdelay or complaint," he added.

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Tata Motors, Mahindra andMahindra (M&M) and MG

Motor India on Sunday saidthey are facing challenges interms of component supplyfrom coronavirus hit-China.

M&M has reported a 42per cent decline in total sales at32,476 units in February.

"...Because of the unfore-seeable challenges on the parts-supply from China, our BS VIramp-up has been affected,"Veejay Ram Nakra, Chief ofSales and Marketing,Automotive Division, M&MLtd said in a statement.

This has resulted in highde-growth in billing volume forFebruary and dealer inventoryis now under 10 days, he said.

"Going into March, weanticipate the challenge onparts-supply to continue foranother few weeks, before weget back to normalcy," headded.

Mayank Pareek, President,Passenger Vehicles BusinessUnit, Tata Motors Ltd said theoutbreak of Covid-19 in China

and a recent fire incident at oneof its strategic vendors affect-ed the vehicle production andwholesale volumes.

MG Motor India tooreported lower retail sales of1,376 units in February, hit bycomponent supply constraintsfrom China and other loca-tions.

"The MG ZS EV hasreceived a stupendous responsein its debut month, with over150 units delivered to our cus-tomers already," MG Motor

India Director - Sales RakeshSidana said in a statement.

The unforeseen coron-avirus outbreak has severelyaffected the company'sEuropean and Chinese supplychains, disrupting its produc-tion and impacting sales inFebruary, he added.

The disruption in saleswill continue through March,Sidana said.

"We are working towardsstabilising the situation and arehopeful that reasonable nor-malcy will be restored by theend of March," he added.

However, major automo-bile manufacturers MarutiSuzuki, Hyundai and ToyotaKirloskar Motor do not see anyimmediate impact on theirproduction schedules due todisruption in supply of com-ponents from plants located inChina.

The companies, however,said they continue to monitorthe situation closely, especial-ly the operations of their majorsuppliers, in order to face anyadverse situation that may cropup in the future.

��� �� �#��.9

The gloom in the Indianequity markets might be

short-lived as a number ofglobal and domestic stimulusinducing factors are expected togive a boost to investors' sen-timents. Supporting such amove is a technical fact thatFIIs have net shorted 156,261futures contracts on the Nifty.

A similar movement wasseen in September 2019 whena slump was followed by aspurt, however, with a lag ofsome 20-30 days.

If the overall patternrepeats itself, then an up moveis imminent.

"We witnessed shortrollovers from the Februaryseries and further shorting wasseen on the first trading sessionof the March series. FIIs aggres-sively shorted index futures inthe last couple of weeks and asa result, their 'Long Short Ratio'in index futures reached tobelow 13 per cent, which islowest since April 2018," saidJay Purohit, technical andderivatives analyst at MotilalOswal Financial Services.

"Technically, strong sup-port for Nifty is placed in thezone of 11,000-11,100 points.The overall data clearly indi-cates that the market is hover-ing in oversold territory and abounce towards 11,450-11,500levels cannot be ruled out incoming weeks. However, sus-tenance at higher level wouldbe a challenge for the Bulls,"Purohit added.

According to EdelweissProfessional Investor Research'sChief Market Strategist SahilKapoor, reversal signs such asthe US Fed's signals of anupcoming rate cut along withthe EU's expected fiscal sup-porting measures might givethe much needed boost to theglobal and Indian markets.

On last Friday, fears ofwidespread disruption to eco-nomic activities due to coron-

avirus caused a massive stockmarket crash. Dalal Street mir-rored global stocks and head-ed for its worst week since the2008 financial crisis.

The benchmark Sensex lost1,448 points in a broad basedsell-off which saw none exceptFMCG major ITC withstandingthe carnage. The 'Fear Index' orvolatility index jumped by 30per cent to settle at 22.87 asfresh cases of coronavirus infec-tion surged outside China.Domestic investors were alsocautious ahead of the 3QFY2019-20 GDP data release onthat day. The growth rateremained subdued.

Nifty Metal index plum-meted 7 per cent, the mostamong the 11 Nifty sectoralindices. It was followed by IT,media and PSU Bank index.The pivotal banking and finan-cial service sectors index closedover 3 per cent lower.

The Wall Street's bench-mark index Dow JonesIndustrial Average closed(down 4 per cent) with recordlosses on Thursday. China'sShanghai SE Composite Indexwas trading 3.71 per cent lowerwhile Japan's Topix tumbled 3.6per cent. Hong Kong's HangSeng plummeted over 3 percent. Besides, the futures mar-kets pointed at no near-termrelief for investors. FTSE 100Index Futures pointed at arough start. The index wasdown 3.44 per cent, NASDAQ100 Future also traded lower by1.29 per cent.

The coronavirus outbreakis likely to be declared a pan-demic and focus is now shift-ing from China to South Korea,Iran, Italy and Japan wherecases are escalating fast. EvenGermany, Brazil and severalother nations have joined thelist, Moody's said on Friday.

The World HealthOrganization (WHO) has saidthat the coronavirus outbreakhas reached a "decisive point"and has "pandemic potential".

%���� �68��6+79

The "test checks" as promisedby the Government on

AGR-hit telecom companies'dues assessment could start thisweek for large telcos, accordingto a senior DoT official.

The government also wantsVodafone Idea to expedite itsself-assessment, and TelecomSecretary Anshu Prakash isbelieved to have communicat-ed DoT's views in this regardto VIL, CEO and MD RavinderTakkar during a recent meetingon Friday evening.

A DoT official said that"test checks" of AGR calcula-tion for a sample year wouldcommence shortly and it couldbe as early as this week at leastfor large telecom companies.

On Saturday, telecomoperator Bharti Airtel said ithas made payment of Rs 8,004crore towards adjusted grossrevenue (AGR) dues to the gov-ernment, an amount over andabove �10,000 crore it hasalready paid.

The amount of �8,004crore includes �3,004 croretowards full and final settle-ment on AGR dues based onself assessment, and a depositof buffer �5,000 crore to coverDoT's reconciliation differ-ences.

"Based on the aforesaidpayment we have now com-plied with AGR judgementand the directions in the orderof the Supreme Court datedOctober 24, 2019," Airtel saidin a regulatory filing.

According to theDepartment of Telecom (DoT)estimates, however, Airtel owesnearly �35,000 crore.

DoT is also asking threetelecom companies Bharti

Airtel, Vodafone Idea and TataTeleservices to provide sub-stantiating documents to sup-port their claims on AGR arith-metic.

Once substantiating docu-ments are filed by the compa-nies, the telecom departmentwill initiate random 'test checks'on the AGR calculation in atime-bound manner.

The 'test check' will bedone for any one year (of tel-cos' dues) to examine the devi-ation between telecom com-panies' assessment and thegovernment's own calculationof AGR liabilities.

In all, 15 entities owe thegovernment �1.47 lakh crore inunpaid statutory dues —�92,642 crore in unpaid licencefee and another �55,054 crorein outstanding spectrum usagecharges.

Of the estimated dues thatinclude interest and penalty forlate payments, Airtel andVodafone Idea account forabout 60 per cent.

These dues arose after theSupreme Court, in October lastyear, upheld the government'sposition on including revenuefrom non-core businesses incalculating the annual AGR oftelecom companies, a share ofwhich is paid as licence andspectrum fee to the exche-quer.

The Supreme last monthrejected a plea by mobile car-riers such as Bharti Airtel andVodafone Idea for extension inthe payment schedule andasked companies to deposittheir past dues for spectrumand licences.

Since then, telecom firmsand the telecom ministry hadbeen doing separate maths onthe actual dues.

%���� �#��.9

Bank credit growth declinedto 8.5 per cent in January

from 13.5 per cent in the year-ago period led by a sharp slow-down in loans to the servicessector, according to RBI data.

Growth in advances to theservices sector decelerated to8.9 per cent from 23.9 per centin January 2019.

Bank loan growth to non-banking financial companies(NBFCs) slowed to 32.2 percent in the reporting monthfrom a growth of 48.3 per centa year-ago. During the month,personal loans segment grewby 16.9 per cent.

Within personal loans,credit to housing segment grewby 17.5 per cent from 18.4 percent, while education loanshowed a negative growth of3.1 per cent as against a nega-tive growth of 2.3 per cent inJanuary 2019, RBI data showed.

Advances growth to agri-culture and allied activitiescontracted to 6.5 per cent from7.6 per cent rise last year.

Credit growth to industrydecelerated to 2.5 per centfrom 5.2 per cent. Withinindustry, loan growth to paperand paper products, rubberplastic and their products andconstruction accelerated.

“However, credit growth totextile, food processing, chem-ical & chemical products, basicmetal & metal products, allengineering and infrastructuredecelerated,” RBI said.

According to the latestquarterly statistics on depositsand credit of banks, bank loangrowth decelerated to 7.4 percent in the October-December,2019 from 12.9 per cent theyear-ago quarter. During thequarter, loans by public sectorbanks grew by 3.7 per centwhile credit from private sec-tor banks saw a growth of 13.1

per cent. In the fortnight endedFebruary 14, 2020, bank cred-it grew by 6.3 per cent to�100.41 lakh crore, from�94.403 lakh crore in the year-ago fortnight. Deposits grew by9.2 per cent to �132.35 lakhcrore in the fortnight comparedto �121.19 lakh crore, the RBIdata showed.

In February, the ReserveBank Governor ShaktikantaDas had said that slowing cred-it growth is the biggest chal-lenge the banking industry isfacing.

"The most critical chal-lenge today for banks, not justin India but also elsewhere, isslowing credit off-take. It affectsthe profitability of banks," Dassaid a media event.

Rating agency Crisil, in arecent note, said credit growthis likely to be around 6 per centin this fiscal but is expected toaccelerate to 8-9 per cent inFY21.

%���� �68��6+79

In a bid to address weakness-es in cooperative banking

sector, the Parliament is likelyto clear a Bill to amendBanking Regulation Act tobring multi-state cooperativebanks under effective regula-tion of RBI during the BudgetSession.

The proposed legislationwill help prevent a repeat ofPunjab and MaharashtraCooperative Bank-like crisis,sources said.

There are 1,540 coopera-tive banks with a depositor baseof 8.60 crore having total sav-ings of about �5 lakh crore.

The Union Cabinet head-

ed by Prime Minister NarendraModi last month gave approvalto amend Banking RegulationAct.

The Bill in this regard islikely to be passed during thesecond leg of Budget sessionstarting Monday. The sessionends on April 3.

Having undertaken a slewof measures, including clean upof public sector banks (PSBs),private sector banks, financialinstitution like IL&FS, non-bank financial corporations(NBFCs), housing finance cor-porations (HFCs), auditors,rating agencies, this is the laststep in making the entire finan-cial ecosystem almost impos-sible to be gamed, with securi-

ty of depositors' money beingparamount.

To further bolster the con-fidence of customers, theGovernment has increaseddeposit insurance cover byfive-fold to �5 lakh to ensuresecurity of public money inbanks.

In the last couple of years,the Department of FinancialServices has taken several stepsto promote responsive andresponsible banking.

As part of clean bankinginitiative, project cash flowswere ring-fenced, enforcementof terms of loan agreementsand prior validation of back-ward and forward linkageswere made integral to lending

processes.Besides, the number of

banks in loan consortium wascapped, reducing borrowers'ability to play one lender offagainst another.

This was accompanied bydata driven risk scoring andscrutiny, comprehensive dili-gence across data sources andstrengthened credit assessment.

To ensure financial healthof public sector banks (PSBs),recapitalization of �4 lakh crorewas undertaken in the last fiveyears.

Provision coverage ratioreached a record high of 77 percent. NPA and slippages aredeclining with improved assetquality.

%���� �#��.9

Companies are increasinglyentrusting recruitment

tasks in the hands of profes-sional organisations for quali-ty talent acquisition even associal media platforms andjob sites are still one of the keyhiring channels, says a study.

According to a study byCIEL HR Services, that focusedon the latest trends in Indiantalent market, companies arenow resorting to recruitingcompanies for quality talentacquisition across junior, midand senior-level positions.

Titled, 'CIELWorks 2020:Latest Trends in Indian TalentMarket 2020' the study notedthat social media platformsand job sites were still relevantat hiring candidates, however,an increasing number of com-panies now prefer to gothrough employment agencies.

"The main reason behindcompanies shifting gradually torecruiting companies is becausethese firms are cutting downtheir work and time by screen-ing and selecting relevant andquality talent," Aditya Narayan

Mishra of CIEL HR Servicessaid.

The study that coveredover 200 senior to mid levelexecutives across sectors fromDecember 2019 till January2020, noted that though jobopportunities were robust butsecuring quality talentremained a challenge during2019.

It further noted that entry-level roles were filled in lessthan 30 days, mid-level in lessthan 60 days and senior-leveljobs roles saw positions fill inmore slowly at around 180days.

The key factors thatattracted candidates and

retained them at the juniorlevel were salaries and careerdevelopment, while at the mid-level the trend was dominatedby designation, job security,salary and development oppor-tunities.

At the senior-level, the keyfactors that drove employeehiring and retention were cen-tered on the role within theorganisation, the variable pay,the study noted.

Other major factors thatinfluence senior-level hiringinclude financial health of thecompany, work culture,employer brand and long termvision of the organisation, itnoted.

%���� �68��6+79

The government has decid-ed to pump �200 crore

into IFCI, the country's oldestterm lending institution,through the preferential allot-ment route next fiscal to shore up its capital andenhance operations, sourcessaid.

Government of India hold-ing in the non-banking financecompany, which stood at 56.42per cent at the end ofDecember 2019, wouldincrease after the capital infu-sion.

"The (�200 crore) provi-sion is for equity support toIndustrial Finance Corporationof India (IFCI) keeping in viewthe business programme andcapital requirement," as perthe Budget documents pre-sented in Parliament lastmonth.

For the current fiscal aswell, the government has ear-marked �200 crore capital infu-sion for IFCI, as per theRevised Estimate.

%���� 6<616''

As Vistara took delivery ofits first wide-body

Dreamliner 787-9 aircraft at theBoeing facility here to start longhaul operations, the airline'sCEO Leslie Thng said therecent coronavirus outbreakwould have a short term impacton the aviation industry andthat airlines need to remainflexible and nimble while deal-ing with the situation.

The recent novel coron-avirus outbreak has killed near-ly 3,000 people across the world,with 2,870 deaths in China alone.On February 26, Vistaraannounced 20 flights betweenDelhi and Bangkok, 26 betweenMumbai and Singapore and eightbetween Delhi and Singaporewere cancelled for March inresponse to weak demand due tothe virus outbreak.

Standing in the airline'sfirst Dreamliner 787-9 aircraft,which was officially acquiredon Friday, Thng toldreporters,”The coronavirusdoes indeed have a short-termimpact.”

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Pune: Telcos are citing freevoice calls to duck action onpoor quality of service, but thatwill not pass regulatory muster,Trai Chairman R S Sharma saidon Sunday, assuring users thatthe issue of call drops remainson its agenda.

The Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (Trai) headsaid the watchdog's earlier pro-vision for a penalty on telcomfirms for call drops was suc-cessfully challenged in theSupreme Court, but the regu-lator will continue to work forimproving the quality of service.

"Most of the telcos areoffering voice free, their argu-ment is that if something is free,how much can you (Trai) pun-ish me because I am not gettinganything for that, which maynot be correct because they areessentially cross-subsidising,"Sharma said at the AsiaEconomic Dialogue here. PTI

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Liverpool manager JurgenKlopp warned his side thePremier League title is not

won yet after a 44-game run with-out defeat in the league came to acrashing end as Watford beat theEuropean champions 3-0 onSaturday.

Klopp's men still enjoy a 22-point lead at the top of the table,but their sluggish return from atwo-week winter break earlier thismonth was finally punished.

Ismaila Sarr’s quickfire doubleand Troy Deeney’s strike 18 min-utes from time ended Liverpool'shopes of romping to a first leaguetitle in 30 years with an unbeatenseason.

“What the boys did so far isexceptional but it is not over,” saidKlopp.

“We did not expect the num-ber of games we won. It was nevereasy and it will never be easy, sonow let’s carry on.”

After single-goal victories overstruggling Norwich and West Hameither side of a Champions Leaguedefeat at Atlet ico Madrid,Liverpool were comprehensivelybeaten at Vicarage Road.

A 55-point gap separated thesides before kick-off, but the out-of-sorts visitors failed to mustereven a single effort on goal in thefirst 45 minutes.

“You break records becauseyou are 100 percent focused oneach step you have to do,” addedKlopp. "For that you have to per-form. Tonight we were not goodenough.”

Watford’s bright start threat-ened to be blown off course whenGerard Deulofeu had tostretchered off with a nasty look-ing knee injury that seems certainto end his season.

Andy Robertson’s driven effortfinally forced Ben Foster into a

save early in the second half,but just as Liverpool werebeginning to build up a head ofsteam, they were stung by twoquick strikes by Sarr.

C�������%����C�Firstly, the Senegalese beat

Robertson to AbdoulayeDoucoure’s low cross to stabhome at the near post.

Six minutes later, Sarr hadtoo much pace for a flat-foot-ed Liverpool defence as heraced onto Deeney's throughball and showed fantastic com-posure to lift the ball over theadvancing Alisson Becker.

Sarr also had a big part toplay in Watford’s third as hepounced on a short passbackand had the vision to pick outDeeney, who lofted the ballnonchalantly over Alisson tomake it 3-0.

“It’s not acceptable we lose3-0 here,” said Liverpooldefender Virgil van Dijk. “Wewant to strike back straightaway.”

Watford had thrown away alead in three of their last fourPremier League games to fallback into the bottom three.

But they never looked inany danger of doing so again asthey moved back out of the rel-egation zone on goal difference.

“It’s such an important winfor us. But it is one win,” saidWatford boss Nigel Pearson.

“It’s in our own hands, andwe have to deliver that perfor-mance week in, week out."

Sarr should even have hada famous hat-trick with hisfinal touch as he curled widewhen one-on-one with Alisson.

However, that was the onlygloss missing from a gloriousnight for Watford as Liverpoolremain four wins away from thetitle.

��%�� +4��.�56+6�

World No. 2 RafaelNadal captured

his first title of 2020,easily defeatingunseeded Taylor Fritzin straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, in the final of theATP Mexico Open onSaturday.

The 33-year-oldNadal, playing in hisfirst tournament sincelosing in the quarter-finals at the AustralianOpen last month, did-n't drop a set all weekand improved to 19-2all-time at this event.

He nabbed his

third Mexico Opentitle to go with victoriesin 2013 and 2005.Nadal wasted no timefiguring out Fritz'sgame in the first careermeeting between thetwo.

The 19-timeGrand Slam winnermade eight unforcederrors and needed justone ace but it came inthe final game of thesecond set to get tochampionship point.

Nadal closed it outwith a blistering servethat handcuffed Fritzand gave Nadal his85th career title.

Nadal ceded theworld number oneranking to NovakDjokovic after theAustralian Open,where the Serb won arecord eighth title.

Nadal could haveregained the top spotwith a win in Acapulco,but he also neededDjokovic to fail toreach the final in thisweek's Dubai event.

Nadal won thefinal eight points totake the first set. Heseized control bybreaking Fritz's servein the ninth game togo up 5-4. He then

served for the set, win-ning four straightpoints.

On set point hehammered a servewhich Fritz barely gotback. That set up anoverhead smash forNadal which he putaway nicely.

Nadal broke Fritztwice in the secondset, including the fifthgame to go up 3-2. Hebroke Fritz again totake a 5-4 lead andthen served out thematch.

Nadal has nowwon a title 17 consec-utive years.

%���� �68��6+79

Indian men’s hockey team coachGraham Reid on Sunday said

they need to be “consistent acrossmatches and in all quarters” if theyare to stake a claim for a podium atthe Tokyo Olympics.

Reid was happy with his team’sperformance in the recently-con-cluded FIH Pro League matchesagainst the Netherlands, worldchampions Belgium and Australia.

"One of the takeaways from theFIH Hockey Pro League was that we

have proven that we can producegood results against the best in theworld. It’s a step forward in build-ing self-belief,” he said.

“Also it shows that the things wehave been focusing on is working.But we still need to be more consis-tent not only across matches but alsoacross all quarters,” expressed Reid.

Hockey India on Sunday nameda 32-member core probable groupfor the men’s national camp whichbegins at the Sports Authority ofIndia in Bengaluru on Monday.

The coach minced no words in

expressing that the camp will be agood foundation ahead of the 2020Tokyo Games.

“The four-week camp will bringfocus back on our skill — tackling,goal shooting, trapping. We alsoneed to work on our attacking abil-ities, especially to move the ballfrom attacking 25 into the circle.

“After this camp, we will go toGermany and England to playwhich we help us further assessimprovements required as we worktowards 2020 Olympic Games,”stated Reid.a

��% � �#�.9

Novak Djokovic set his sights on anoth-er marathon run of invincibility after

capturing his 79th career title on Saturday.The world number one claimed the

Dubai Championships for the fifth time,defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 in thefinal.

Djokovic is now on an 18-0 winning runthis season, and 21-0 overall since late 2019,as he ended an eight-match win streak forhis Greek opponent, champion last weekendin Marseille.

Djokovic claimed his third trophy of2020 after helping Serbia to the ATP Cup andwinning an eighth Australian Open.

It is the seventh time that the 32-year-old Djokovic has won more than 20 match-es on the trot.

His record is 43 set in 2010 and 2011with a run of 28 his next best, achieved ontwo occasions in 2013-14 and 2015.

“This has been one of the best starts ofall seasons I’ve had. I feel great on the court,”said Djokovic.

��%�� �47.

Aryna Sabalenka won hersixth career title on Saturday

when she swept past formertwo-time Wimbledon championPetra Kvitova 6-3, 6-3 in theQatar Open final and dedicatedvictory to her father who died lastyear.

The Belarusian ninth seed’swin over the eighth-seededCzech, who was Qatar champi-on in 2018, will see her rise to 11in the world rankings onMonday.

The 21-year-old said thememory of her father Sergey,who died in November, wasvery much in her mind on

Saturday.“It was a long journey here

and I put everything on tennis,”Sabalenka toldwww.wtatennis.com as shedescribed the influence of herfather.

“I was actually only playingtennis and focusing on tennisand nothing else. And I think Igave everything for tennis. AndI just lost my dad in the pre-sea-son and he was my biggest moti-vation, and I’m doing it forhim.”

Sabalenka fired seven acesand 21 winners past Kvitova whowas playing in her 37th WTAfinal.

“Aryna played an amazingmatch,” said Kvitova.

“She didn’t give me anythingfor free, I had a chance once inthe second set to break herserve, but I just couldn't make it.”

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Kylian Mbappe scored twice andgrabbed an assist as runaway

Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germaincoasted to a 4-0 win over Dijon onSaturday despite the absence of thesuspended Neymar.

Pablo Sarabia struck the openerinside three minutes at the Parc desPrinces, as PSG played withoutNeymar who was serving a one-match ban after his red card in lastweek's win over Bordeaux.

Dijon, who beat PSG 2-1 athome in November, are hovering justabove the relegation play-off place butheld out for 70 minutes before PSGadded a second through Mbappe.

The France international then setup Mauro Icardi for a third goal justmoments after the Argentine came onas a replacement for Edinson Cavani.

Mbappe bagged his second andPSG’s fourth in stoppage time asThomas Tuchel’s side preserved their13-point lead over Marseille at the topof the table.

“It was a good match. We wereable to score quickly which settled usdown,” said PSG captain Marquinhos.

PSG travel to Lyon on

Wednesday for a French Cup semi-final and play Strasbourg next week-end, with the return leg againstBorussia Dortmund in theChampions League on March 11.

“The group absolutely wants toshow against Dortmund that it’scapable of taking this step forward,"

said Tuchel.“They’re having a very consistent

season with lots of wins and strongperformances. We can’t lose confi-dence in this team. The playershave shown this week they want toplay that game, and they did againtoday.”

The hosts were already withoutMarco Verratti due to suspensionand injured skipper Thiago Silva, andlost Angel Di Maria to a thigh prob-lem early in the first half.

Tuchel said he was confident DiMaria would make a swift recovery,adding the decision to take him offwas one of precaution.

By that point PSG were alreadyleading through Sarabia’s ninth goalof 2020— and PSG’s second quick-est of the campaign — after he redi-rected a mishit shot fromMarquinhos.

Dijon goalkeeper AlexRunarsson produced a number ofsaves to keep the visitors in touch,but he was eventually beaten againwhen Mbappe rounded the Icelandinternational following a slick ballthrough from Julian Draxler.

Mbappe turned provider whenhe helped the ball across for Icardito apply a sharp finish on 74 minutes.He then increased his league-bestgoals tally to 18 in stoppage timeafter a scramble in the area.

Marseille strengthened their gripon second place on Friday as DarioBenedetto scored a hat-trick in a 3-2 win at lowly Nimes.

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Defending championsBengaluru FC registered a

narrow 1-0 win over ATK in thefirst leg of their Hero IndianSuper League semi-final clash atthe Sree Kanteerava Stadium hereon Sunday.

Deshorn Brown's opportunis-tic strike (31st minute) proved tobe the difference in what was aclosely-fought first leg battle.

ATK’s dangerous duo, RoyKrishna and David Williams,combined well to put the ball intothe net in the 17th minute.Krishna found his teammate witha well-timed lob in behind theBlues defence. Williams handledthe ball as he brought it down andstruck it brilliantly past GurpreetSingh Sandhu, but the goal waseventually disallowed due to thehandball.

The hosts continued to putpressure on the ATK defenceand their effort bore fruit aminute after the half an hourmark.

Gurpreet’s punt from his own

half ended up at the feet of Juananwhose shot from inside the boxwas hit straight at ArindamBhattacharya. The ATK custodi-an messed up the save and spiltthe ball into the path of DeshornBrown, who broke the deadlock.

Bengaluru suffered a late blowwhen Nishu Kumar was sent off

for a tug on Krishna. The Fijianstriker was brought down outsidethe box by the full-back and thelatter's last-man challenge waspunished by the referee.

ATK, however, were unable toforce an equaliser and now haveto come from behind in thereverse leg in Kolkata next Sunday

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Raul Jimenez boosted Wolves'bid to qualify for the Champions

League as his late winner capped thevisitors' dramatic fightback in their3-2 victory at Tottenham on Sunday.

Nuno Espirito Santo's sidetrailed twice in north London, buthit back from 2-1 down thanks tosecond half goals from Diogo Jotaand Jimenez.

Wolves moved two points aboveTottenham into sixth place in thePremier League.

As it stands, finishing fifth couldlead to a Champions League place,owing to second placed ManchesterCity's European ban, against whichthey are appealing.

Sitting level on points with fifthplaced Manchester United and justthree behind fourth placed Chelsea,Wolves are firmly in the hunt for anunexpected berth in Europe's eliteclub competition

They fell behind to StevenBergwijn's first half opener, butMatt Doherty equalised and evenSerge Aurier restoring Tottenham'slead couldn't knock Wolves out oftheir stride.

It was a bitter blow for injury-hit Tottenham, who suffered threeconsecutive defeats in all competi-tions for the first time this season.

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Everton manager CarloAncelotti was sent off afterapproaching the referee as yet moreVAR controversy contributed to afiery finish in a 1-1 draw withManchester United.

Goalkeeping errors by bothUnited's David De Gea andEverton's Jordan Pickford were cen-tral to the outcome at GoodisonPark.

But Everton thought they hadwon the game in stoppage timewhen a shot from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who had opened the scoring,deflected off United's Harry Maguireand into the net.

The goal, however, was ruled outby the video assistant referee with

the offside Gylfi Sigurdsson, lying inthe path of De Gea, deemed to haveobstructed the view of the keeper.

Veteran Italian managerAncelotti was as unhappy as thehome crowd on Merseyside, with theToffees boss sent off after approach-ing referee Chris Kavanagh on thefield.

The draw saw fifth-placedUnited miss the chance to cut thegap to Chelsea in fourth to a singlepoint in the Premier League table asEverton stayed in 11th position.

It took Everton just three min-utes to break the deadlock with abizarre goal that delighted theGoodison Park faithful.

There seemed little danger as DeGea dwelt on a clearance.

But his eventual kick downfieldwas blocked by the charging Calvert-Lewin, with the rebound flying intothe unguarded United net.

De Gea did make amends inpart by denying Calvert-Lewin a sec-ond goal by tipping a shot widewhile, at the other end of the pitch,Nemanja Matic hit the crossbar asUnited sought an equaliser.

Another goalkeeping errorhelped United draw level in the 31stminute when England number onePickford, with national managerGareth Southgate watching from thestands, failed to cover BrunoFernandes' speculative, if well-struck, effort from long range.

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India’s top-order frittered away agolden chance with another shod-dy batting show as New Zealand

regained complete control of thesecond Test after Mohammed Shamiand Jasprit Bumrah’s hostile fast-bowling spell had given the visitorsa slender first-innings lead here onSunday.

Shami (4/81 in 23.1 overs) andBumrah (3/62 in 22 overs) were bril-liant in their execution, dismissingNew Zealand for 235 in 73.1 overs asthey showed why they are one ofdeadliest fast bowling pair in Testmatch cricket.

However, India’s top-order failedmiserably once again as New Zealandbounced back, reducing India to 90for six in their second innings atstumps on day two as a third day fin-ish is on the cards.

India is now effectively 97 runsahead with only four wickets in handand it will take a herculean effort toavert another series whitewash afterthe ODIs.

Trent Boult (3/12 in 9 overs) gotMayank Agarwal (3) and CheteshwarPujara (24) with conventionalinswingers that tails into right-han-ders.

Prithvi Shaw (14) was out infamiliar fashion, fending a short ballfrom Tim Southee, while skipperVirat Kohli's (14) indecisive footworkbrought his downfall once again.

Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane,who was hit on the helmet, paid theprice for an ugly shot, while UmeshYadav expectedly didn’t survive arampaging Boult after he was inex-plicably sent in as nightwatchmanwhen nearly half an hour was left.

A target of 250 in the fourthinnings could well be a challenge forthe Black Caps as there is still some-thing in the track for the speed mer-chants despite batsmen getting avalue for their shots.

India would have ideally hopedthat skipper Kohli would end hisdreadful tour of New Zealand withone big knock but it was not to be asColin de Grandhomme trapped himleg before with an off-cutter.

No wonder Trent Boult washappy having kept Kohli quiet.

In the morning, the first two ses-sions belonged to Shami and Bumrah,who were nothing short of brilliantwith their precision length, sidewaysmovement and an occasional heavyball that was slipped in between.

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Amaiden international centu-ry by Heinrich Klaasen set

up a 74-run win for South Africain the first one-day internation-al against Australia at BolandPark.

Klaasen hit 123 not out in aSouth African total of 291 forseven. Australia were on targetmidway through their reply butlost their last seven wickets for 43runs to be bowled out for 217 onSaturday.

Steve Smith and MarnusLabuschagne put on 84 forAustralia’s third wicket after theearly loss of opening batsmanAaron Finch and David Warner,both dismissed by Lungi Ngidi,who finished with three for 30.

Smith (76) and Labuschagne(41) hit only three boundariesbetween them as scoring proveddifficult on a slow pitch and a bigoutfield.

When they tried to acceler-ate Labuschagne was caught atlong-on off left-arm spinnerKeshav Maharaj.

Mitchell Marsh helpedSmith add 41 for the fourth wick-et but Marsh was bowled byNgidi and three balls later Smithwas trapped leg before wicket byAnrich Nortje.

It was always going to be dif-ficult for new batsmen to getestablished and the innings sub-sided.

By contrast Klaasen andDavid Miller (64) put on 149 forSouth Africa’s fifth wicket andwere not parted until Miller wasout in the 49th over.

Klaasen said he felt “pureemotion” when he reached hiscentury after a difficult recentperiod when he lost his place inthe team and had to fight his wayback. He gave credit to Miller andnew cap Kyle Verreynne, whomade 48 and helped Klaasen add78 for the fourth wicket afterSouth Africa had been 48 forthree after winning the toss.

Verreynne, 22, made animpressive debut which includ-

ed three catches in the outfieldby a player who keeps wicket indomestic cricket. Two ofVerreynne’s catches were spectac-ular, one to dismiss Warnerwhen he dived forward frompoint and late in the inningswhen he ran in from long-on anddived to take a steepling catchfrom Pat Cummins.

Quinton de Kock was phleg-matic after a topsy-turvy fewweeks when South Africa havehad good wins interspersed byheavy defeats. “It’s a matter ofbeing consistent in what we doand then we will be alright goingforward,” he said.

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Australian great IanChappell on Sunday reck-

oned Indian batsmen need tostrike a balance between cau-tion and aggression, his viewscoming in the wake of theirstruggles in the Test series inNew Zealand’s testing condi-tions.

Chappell’s opinion was incontrast to the view shared byVirat Kohli after the drubbingin the first Test. The India cap-tain had said, in part, “I don’tthink being cautious or warywill help because you mightstop playing your shots.”

Known for his sharpcricketing mind, Chappell’sline of thinking is a bit differ-ent from that of Kohli.

“New Zealand, much like

England’s seaming surfaces, isa place where caution isrequired more often than inAustralia, where most pitch-es are extremely true,”Chappell wrote inESPNcricinfo.

“Whatever the cause, atthe Basin Reserve it was anabysmal batting effort fromthe No. 1-ranked Test team,who failed to reach 200 ineither innings,” he added.

“Placing a batting order isnot playing a game of "pin thetail on the donkey”. It’s impor-tant to get the balance rightand to place players in posi-tions where they are comfort-able and hence more likely tosucceed.”

While he defended theobdurate Cheteshwar Pujara,who had the lowest strikerate in Wellington, Chappellsaid he should be carefulabout not going into a shell.

“It’s hard to be critical ofa No. 3 who was heavilyinvolved in India beatingAustralia in 2018-19 withsome lengthy stays at thecrease anchoring the innings.

“Pujara normally batsbehind (Rohit) Sharma andMayank Agarwal and ahead ofKohli. That’s an adequateamount of strokeplay sur-rounding Pujara, and as ajudicious shot maker he’s idealat No. 3 for balance.

“Mind you, Pujara needsto be careful he doesn’t slipinto net-practice mode andforget that the object in amatch is to score runs regu-larly.

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Laura Wolvaardtsmacked a crucial 53 as

South Africa whippedPakistan to make only theirsecond women’s Twenty20World Cup semi-finalsSunday, where they werejoined by former champi-ons England who sweptpast the West Indies.

Proteas captain Danevan Niekerk won the tossand opted to bat on a slowtrack at SydneyShowgrounds, with herteam making a competitive136 for six, boosted byWolvaardt’s late fireworks.

In reply Pakistan,missing captain BismahMaroof who was ruled outof the tournament onSaturday with a brokenthumb, could only manage119 for five.

England, 2009 champi-ons and runners up at thelast tournament, securedtheir place with a comfort-able 46-run win over theWest Indies, courtesy offine bowling and a battling57 from Natalie Sciver.

The dangerous LizelleLee, who smashed a centu-ry against Thailand, imme-diately went on the attackas she opened the South

African innings.But pace spearhead

Diana Baig bowled a beau-tiful outswinger and shegot an edge to Sidra Nawazbehind the stumps in a bigbreakthrough for Pakistan.

Baig struck again withvan Niekerk gone for threeto leave South Africa at 17for two.

Mignon du Preez (17)and Marizanne Kapp (31)steaded the ship, thenWolvaardt played whatproved to be a criticalknock. She carved out ahigh-quality 53 from 36balls, including fours offthe final three deliveries.

Pakistan made a briskstart, whacking a quick 18before Shabnim Ismailremoved Muneeba Ali in arare T20 wicket-maiden.

Omaima Sohail lastedjust three balls before beingrun out in a comical mix-up with stand-in skipperJaveria Khan, then the dan-gerous Nida Dar departedfor three.

A desperately unluckyKhan was batting beauti-fully in her 100th T20when she was run out for31.

Needing 58 off the lastfive overs, Aliya Riaz (39not out) and Iram Javed(17 not out) did their bestbut were denied by tightbowling.

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Ishan Porel complementedAnustup Majumdar’s

unbeaten century with a five-wicket haul to put Bengal incommand against a star-stud-ded Karnataka in their RanjiTrophy semifinal here onSunday.

After Majumdar’s 149 notout propelled Bengal to 312

after being down at 67for 6 at one stage, the21-year-old Porelsnared 5 for 39 as thethree-pronged Bengalpace attack dismissed

the batting-heavy Karnatakafor a paltry 122 in 36.2 overs,their lowest total this season.

India opener Rahul, whowas adjudged man-of-the-series in their 5-0 T20I white-wash of New Zealand recent-ly, looked out of sorts andscored a forgettable 67-ball 26(2x4s).

Spinner KrishnappaGowtham (31) top-scoredfor Karnataka in a quick 56-run (46 balls) eighth-wicketstand with AbhimanyuMithun (24) to helpKarnataka avoid the follow-on but only to concede a mas-sive 190-run first inningslead.

A total of 15 wickets

tumbled on day two as Bengalwere 72 for 4 at stumps withSudip Chatterjee (40 not out)giving Majumdar (1 not out)company, extending the hosts’overall lead to a sizeable 262-run.

���� ����������%RAJKOT: Sheldon Jacksonstruck a gritty hundred beforethe bowlers shone asSaurashtra gained the upperhand on the second day oftheir Ranji Trophy semifinalagainst Gujarat here onSunday.

Jackson's knock of 103

helped Saurashtra post 304and then the home teambowlers wreaked havoc onGujarat's batting line-up toreduce them to 119 for six.

Resuming on overnight217 for five, through SheldonJackson and Chirag Jani (29),Saurashtra negated the earlychallenge posed by the oppo-sition bowlers.

Jackson got a reprieve on82 when skipper ParthivPatel dropped a catch offpacer Arzan Nagwaswalla.He made the most of this bynotching up his 19th first-class hundred and third thisseason.

Jackson and Jani werelooking good before Gujaratbounced back with medi-um-pacer Roosh Kalariasending both the batsmenback to the pavilion.

He first trapped Jani infront of the wicket and thengot Jackson to edge to Parthivas Saurashtra slipped to 266for seven.

Jackson and Jani added103 run wicket for the sixthwicket.

Prerak Mankad (15) andDharmendrasinh Jadeja (15)ensured the hosts didn't loseany further wicket till lunch.Saurashtra took lunch at 290 forseven.

After lunch, Gujaratbowlers wrapped up the tail asSaurashtra lost three wickets forseven runs.

Pacer Arzan Nagaswalla(5/81) grabbed a five-for, whileAxar Patel took three wicketsand Roosh Kalaria baggedtwo.

However, Saurashtra pac-ers reduced Gujarat to one for2 after Unadkat sent PriyankPanchal (0) in the first over andin the second over ChetanSakariya cleaned up SamitGohel (1).

Then, Dhruv Raval (35)and Bhargav Merai (13) triedto steady the ship, but the lat-ter was dismissed when heoffered a sitter to Jackson offPrerak Mankad, as the visitorsslipped to 37 for three.

Raval, too, was unable toconvert his start as he becameUnadkat's second victim withGujarat in deep trouble at 58for four.

Dharmendrasinh Jadejathen struck twice and got theprize wicket of Parthiv (27) asGujarat had lost half the sidefor 95. It soon became 97 forsix when Jadeja sent backChirag Gandhi for a zero.

Rujul Bhatt (27 not out)and Axar Patel (7 not out)made sure that there were nofurther losses before stump.

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Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silvasmashed half-centuries as Sri Lanka

posted 307 in the third one-day interna-tional against West Indies on Sunday.

Mendis top-scored with 55 while DeSilva hit 51 after Sri Lanka— enjoying anunbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-matchseries — elected to bat first in Kandy.

Paceman Alzarri Joseph claimed fourwickets as Sri Lanka were bowled out in50 overs.

Avishka Fernando and skipperDimuth Karunaratne gave the hosts abrisk start with a 60-run opening standbefore the West Indies struck.

Joseph got Fernando caught behindfor 28, and spinner Roston Chase caughtand bowled Karunaratne for 44.

Kusal Perera, who made 44, andMendis then rebuilt the innings duringtheir 89-run stand to take the attack to theopposition.

The in-form Mendis, who hit a cen-tury in his team’s thrashing of WestIndies on Wednesday, completed his17th ODI fifty before falling to Joseph.

Fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell bowledformer captain Angelo Mathews for 12,but the rest of the batsmen kept up thecharge.

De Silva, who completed his fifty injust 45 balls with a boundary off JasonHolder, and Thisara Perera put on 64 runsfor the sixth wicket.

Joseph broke the stand with thewicket of De Silva and sent T. Perera backto the pavilion for 38, but the damage hadalready been done.

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Acentury from Liton Das and a clinical bowl-ing effort helped Bangladesh thrash

Zimbabwe by 169 runs in the first ODIbetween the two sides on Sunday. Liton’s 126off 105 balls helped Bangladesh set up a totalof 321/6. In response, Zimbabwe folded for 152in 39.1 overs in Sylhet.

The visitors lost their first wicket in the sec-ond over with Mohammad Saifuddin bowlingover Zimbabwe opener TinasheKamumhunkamwe. They lost a total of fourwickets within the first 15 overs after whichWesley Madhevere and Sikandar Raza held thehosts off for nearly 10 overs. Their fifth wick-et stand of 35 was the highest for Zimbabwe andwas broken when Raza got a top edge to a shortdelivery from Mustafizuir Rahman that flewstraight into the hands of Bangladesh captainMashrafe Mortaza.

Zimbabwe’s last four wickets added 48 runswhich helped them reach150.

E a r l i e r ,opener Liton ledthe way with hissecond ODI tonas theBangladesh toporder got the hostsoff to a flier.However, thehumidity even-tually got to himand he had toeventually retirehurt at 126 in the37th over.

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