ˇ-˙ ’./...most Minister in his Cabinet during his absence. The senior-most Minister in...

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G oa plunged into a major political uncertainty after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was admitted to AIIMS on Saturday night. The BJP has sent a three- member team of general sec- retary (Organisation) Ram Lal, joint secretary BL Santosh and Goa-incharge Vijay Purnaik to Panjim to take stock of the situation and deal with demand from the allies to resolve the leadership crisis in view of Parrikar’s prolonged illness. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is expected to join them in Goa on Monday. The BJP has decided to take pre-emptive measures as the Congress has swung into action to capitalise on the sit- uation saying it is ready to explore formation of a party- led Government. Parrikar has been ailing for eight months, but the BJP has been forced to take a look at the leadership issue after Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) chief Deepak Dhavalikar said Parrikar can remain the Chief Minister but he should hand over the charge of Chief Minister to the senior- most Minister in his Cabinet during his absence. The senior- most Minister in Parrikar’s Cabinet happens to be the MGP chief ’s elder brother and PWD Minister Sudin Dhavilkar. On whether his brother should be Parrikar’s replace- ment as Chief Minister, the MGP chief said, “I don’t know...let them tell who is the senior most. I am just saying that whoever is given charge should be the senior most.” The Goa Chief Minister, who has been suffering from pancreatic ailments, has been in the AIIMS old private ward under the supervision of Dr Pramod Garg from the Gastroenterology Department. Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited AIIMS to enquire about Parrikar’s health on Sunday. Parrikar, 62, had returned from the US in the first week of September, days after which he was admitted to hospital at Candolim in north Goa. Earlier this year, he had undergone a three-month-long treatment in the US. The BJP team reached Panjim on Sunday afternoon and held talks with allies as well independent MLAs, whose support is must to keep the BJP-led Government afloat. “They will be holding a series of meetings on Sunday and Monday with BJP leaders and also the alliance partners — the Goa Forward Party, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Independents,” BJP State chief Vinay Tendulkar told reporters. The BJP Central observers also met the party’s legislators as well as Goa unit chief Vinay Tendulkar and Member of Parliament (South Goa) Narendra Sawaikar at a city hotel. Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, after the meet- ing, said that he had given his views about the current polit- ical situation and it was now for the party to take a decision. Rane, however, refused to divulge details of the meeting. “We have briefed them about the facts. Each one of us has our own views and we briefed them about it. It is not right to come out in public with what we discussed,” said the Goa Health Minister. While the BJP has asked the GFP and MGP to merge their parties with the saffron outfit, both of them have refused to take the bait. BJP leader Michael Lobo, who is the Deputy Speaker of the Goa Assembly, had said on Saturday that the party emissaries will suggest the allies that they should become part of the saf- fron party and only after that there would be discussion on the next Chief Minister. The BJP currently has 14 legislators in the 40-member Assembly while the GFP and the MGP have three MLAs each. The national party is also supported by three Independents. The Opposition Congress has 16 MLAs while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has one legislator. Meanwhile, the Congress on Sunday said it was watching the developments and may explore the possibility of form- ing a Government in Goa but “not by compromising the State’s interest.” “Our stand is very clear. We will definitely explore all possibilities but that does not mean that we will do it by com- promising the ideology or the interest of Goans,” All India Congress Committee secre- tary A Chellakumar, who is also Goa in-charge of the party, said. “We are not in a hurry to capture power by compromis- ing the interest of the people of Goa. The Congress is account- able to the people,” Chellakumar added. A cting arbitrarily, a DIG of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is compelling personnel under his command to pledge organ donation for seeking leave. CRPF DIG BD Das posted at Silchar (Assam) has formu- lated a long and complex leave form asking for details like fil- ing of electoral form, link bank account with Aadhaar, certifi- cate of annual firing practice besides pledging organs among others for granting leave. The leave form has a check list of 20 items including details of dependent cards, joint salary account with next of kin, PAN and Aadhaar cards of the per- sonnel along with that of the next of kin, details of any pending court of enquiry and nomination in bank accounts besides courses undertaken among others. The leave of the Central Civil Services, including CRPF is governed by Central Civil Service Rules (Leave), 1972 which do not provide for mandatory organ donation. In fact, the Union Home Ministry has expressly said that nobody should be com- pelled to pledge organ donation and person should be allowed to change decision even after committing organ donation. CRPF DIG (Intelligence) and chief spokesperson at CRPF headquarters M Dinakaran confirmed the pro- visions made by Das, but sought to downplay it. The CRPF personnel are faced with serious difficulty in availing their leaves under the circumstances. “They are stressed and restive and the sit- uation is becoming explosive,” said a source. According to an anonymous complaint to the Director General of CRPF, Das weighs 120 kg but has been put in Shape I category which is the best health standard in the Force. The allegations were enquired into by DIG SS Gohar from IG Office, Northeast Sector of CRPF at Shillong, sources said. Chief spokesperson at CRPF headquarters M Dinakaran said he would revert back about these allegations, but did not oblige. T he three-day lecture series of the RSS — expected to be attended by dignitaries rep- resenting political, economic, social, academic, religious, diplomatic sphere and experts from other key areas — will commence at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi on Monday. The conclave seen as an RSS outreach programme will be addressed by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. The lecture series titled “Future of Bharat: An RSS perspective” will start in the evening. The third-day would be an interactive ques- tion-answer session. The event representing “all shades of opinions” would dis- cuss the kind of India the RSS envisages in the 21st century. The RSS has understand- ably sent invites to almost all the senior political leaders. Diplomats of around 60 coun- ties are understood to be in the list of invitees. The meeting is taking place amid the controversial com- ments made by Congress pres- ident Rahul Gandhi during his recent foreign tours over the role of Nagpur outfit and its hold over the ruling BJP. RSS chief Bhagwat is expected to answer questions from the invitees and clear “misgivings” over the aims and objectives of the 93-year-old organisation. “The preparations for the event has been on for last six- months and it has no relation to the recent debates raked up around the organisation,” sources said denying that Rahul’s comparison of RSS with Islamic extremist outfit ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ is prompting the Nagpur organ- isation to clear the air. Last month at the “International Institute of Strategic Studies” in London, Rahul said, “The RSS is trying to change the nature of India… RSS’s idea is similar to the idea of Muslim Bortherhood in the Arab world.” Sources in the RSS main- tain Rahul is “only trying to hit the RSS to eventually take on its political rival the BJP.” The official view of the RSS is that Rahul who has not understood India yet cannot understand the RSS. I n a letter to the Chief Minister and the DG Police, advocate RP Pattanaik com- plained that due to the most inefficient and corrupt forest administration under Forest Minister Bijayshree Routray and the PCCF, human- tiger conflict took place in the most Maoist affected Satkosia sanc- tuary area of Angul. The Maoists are very much active in Satkosia Sanctuary area. After a lot of efforts by the police, surrender of two hard- core Maoists named Khusbu and Sukuram, who operated in Satkosia area was possible in December, 2017. The police along with the district administration and many pro-people activists are trying to win the confidence of the people to combat the Maoist activities in the most sensitive area. But, without taking into confidence the police admin- istration and the people, the forest administration started the tiger relocation programme ignoring the public safety. And, the result was that a woman was killed by a tigress translocated from MP at Hatibari which later triggered massive public protests and violence, told Pattanaik. Pattanaik further said that it is due to Angul SP Mitrabhanu Mishra who rushed to the Satkosia area immediately after the incident and assured the people of shift- ing the hostile tigress that the agitated people are now keeping calm. Even after the spot assur- ance of the SP, who is leading the force against the extremists, Forest Minister Routray mind- lessly gave statement that the tigress will not be shifted. Meanwhile, Additional PCCF Dr S Panda has given a Press note that a WII team has reached Angul to asses a safe place to capture the tigress. Pattanaik said this elabo- rately expresses how the Minister is functioning. On the other hand, the mindless activ- ities of the Minister and his few confidant officials have done enough damage to the Satkosia Sanctuary and the tiger con- servation plan, he charged. Many top forest officials, both from the State and the NTCA, are worried about the way the NTCA protocol has been violated in translocation of the tigress. Now, the schools are closed in the Satkosia Sanctuary area for fear of the tigress. People have lost their livelihood. People’s representatives belong- ing to the BJD are not visiting the area, he told. T he Supreme Court- appointed Amicus Curiae Gopal Subramaniam will visit Puri on September 20 to hold discussions with Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati and Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingha Deb over Shreemandir reforms. He would hold discus- sions with the Gajapati and the Shankaracharya on September 21 and meet Chhattisha Niyog and SJTA officials on September 22, informed Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator PK Mohapatra. The Amicus Curiae will give special focus on the SC’s proposal of abo- lition of hereditary appoint- ment of servitors, prohibition of collection of donations among 12 proposals made by the apex court. Continued on page 4 E ven after cancellation of the proposed water aero- drome project at Chilika, a sea- plane landed on the lake water on Saturday leaving everyone in the locality confused and stunned. The villagers around the lake were panicked after hear- ing a loud noise coming out from the seaplane flying in the sky and then landing on the water of the lake at its Nanganashi sea mouth in after- noon. Arakhkuda and Sanapatna villagers and fisher- men were frightened after the plane landed. Sources said that neither the local administration nor police had been informed about the seaplane landing and te purpose behind it. Tourism Minister Ashok Panda told reporters on Sunday that he learnt about the sea- plane landing only from the media reports. He would talk to the Forests and Environment Department about it. Seaplane landing in the Chilika must be stopped to protect the lake’s biodiversity, he added. “The seaplane landed at 1.30 pm and it was creating loud noise,” said Rabi Narayan Behera and Pradip Behera, residents of Arakhkuda. However, the plane took off after 10 to 15 minutes of stay- ing on water in a floating posi- tion, they added. All this happened even though the Central Government recently dropped the water aerodrome project at the Chilika after drawing flak from various quarters, includ- ing environmentalists. Continued on page 4 E ven as the population of Bangladeshi infiltrators and refugees in Odisha, particular- ly in coastal districts, are reportedly rising day by day, it is disappointing that the State Government has no record in this regard. It is so evident from the fact that the State Government has not been able to furnish information in the State Assembly for long regarding the numbers of Bangladeshi infiltrators entering Odisha illegally and refugees settled and availing Government pro- visions even though MLAs have wanted to know in this regard many times putting questions. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been giving a one- line reply, “Information is being collected’ to questions asked by MLAs starting with the then MLA Arun Dey in 2005 to Kailash Chandra Kulesika on September 10 during the ongo- ing session. In his question, Kulesika wanted to know the number of Bangladeshi infiltrators and refugees residing in Odisha, the places they are living and the steps being taken by the State Government to combat possi- ble threat to the country’s sov- ereignty by them. He also wanted to know if the Government has received any complaint that infiltrators are involved in Maoist and terror- ist activities and whether media reports are true that many infiltrators have been issued ration, voter and Aadhaar cards. To so many important and sensitive questions, the Chief Minister replied, “Information is being collected”. It may be noted that news- papers have reported many times that Bangladesh infiltra- tors have come into and settled in coastal areas of Kendrapada and Baleswar districts and even in capital city of Bhubaneswar. Some of them have also report- edly been involved in many nefarious activities like ganja, opium and country liquor trades. Intellectuals have demand- ed that the State Government make a detailed survey and check Bangladeshi infiltration at the earliest for security of the State and the country.

Transcript of ˇ-˙ ’./...most Minister in his Cabinet during his absence. The senior-most Minister in...

Page 1: ˇ-˙ ’./...most Minister in his Cabinet during his absence. The senior-most Minister in Parrikar’s Cabinet happens to be the MGP chief’s elder brother and PWD Minister Sudin

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Goa plunged into a majorpolitical uncertainty after

Chief Minister ManoharParrikar was admitted toAIIMS on Saturday night.

The BJP has sent a three-member team of general sec-retary (Organisation) Ram Lal,joint secretary BL Santosh andGoa-incharge Vijay Purnaikto Panjim to take stock of thesituation and deal with demandfrom the allies to resolve theleadership crisis in view ofParrikar’s prolonged illness.Union Minister Nitin Gadkariis expected to join them in Goaon Monday.

The BJP has decided totake pre-emptive measures asthe Congress has swung intoaction to capitalise on the sit-uation saying it is ready toexplore formation of a party-led Government.

Parrikar has been ailing foreight months, but the BJP hasbeen forced to take a look at theleadership issue afterMaharashtrawadi GomantakParty (MGP) chief DeepakDhavalikar said Parrikar canremain the Chief Minister buthe should hand over the chargeof Chief Minister to the senior-most Minister in his Cabinetduring his absence. The senior-most Minister in Parrikar’sCabinet happens to be theMGP chief ’s elder brother andPWD Minister SudinDhavilkar.

On whether his brothershould be Parrikar’s replace-ment as Chief Minister, the

MGP chief said, “I don’tknow...let them tell who is thesenior most. I am just sayingthat whoever is given chargeshould be the senior most.”

The Goa Chief Minister,who has been suffering frompancreatic ailments, has been inthe AIIMS old private wardunder the supervision of DrPramod Garg from theGastroenterology Department.Home Minister Rajnath Singhvisited AIIMS to enquire aboutParrikar’s health on Sunday.

Parrikar, 62, had returnedfrom the US in the first weekof September, days after whichhe was admitted to hospital atCandolim in north Goa. Earlier

this year, he had undergone athree-month-long treatmentin the US.

The BJP team reachedPanjim on Sunday afternoonand held talks with allies as wellindependent MLAs, whosesupport is must to keep theBJP-led Government afloat.

“They will be holding aseries of meetings on Sundayand Monday with BJP leadersand also the alliance partners— the Goa Forward Party, theMaharashtrawadi GomantakParty and Independents,” BJPState chief Vinay Tendulkartold reporters.

The BJP Central observersalso met the party’s legislators

as well as Goa unit chief VinayTendulkar and Member ofParliament (South Goa)Narendra Sawaikar at a cityhotel. Goa Health MinisterVishwajit Rane, after the meet-ing, said that he had given hisviews about the current polit-ical situation and it was now forthe party to take a decision.Rane, however, refused todivulge details of the meeting.

“We have briefed themabout the facts. Each one of ushas our own views and webriefed them about it. It is notright to come out in public withwhat we discussed,” said theGoa Health Minister.

While the BJP has asked

the GFP and MGP to mergetheir parties with the saffronoutfit, both of them haverefused to take the bait. BJPleader Michael Lobo, who is theDeputy Speaker of the GoaAssembly, had said on Saturdaythat the party emissaries willsuggest the allies that theyshould become part of the saf-fron party and only after thatthere would be discussion onthe next Chief Minister.

The BJP currently has 14legislators in the 40-memberAssembly while the GFP andthe MGP have three MLAseach. The national party isalso supported by threeIndependents.

The Opposition Congresshas 16 MLAs while theNationalist Congress Party(NCP) has one legislator.

Meanwhile, the Congresson Sunday said it was watchingthe developments and mayexplore the possibility of form-ing a Government in Goa but“not by compromising theState’s interest.”

“Our stand is very clear.We will definitely explore allpossibilities but that does notmean that we will do it by com-promising the ideology or theinterest of Goans,” All IndiaCongress Committee secre-tary A Chellakumar, who isalso Goa in-charge of the party,said.

“We are not in a hurry tocapture power by compromis-ing the interest of the people ofGoa. The Congress is account-able to the people,”Chellakumar added.

������������#��� �78�,79:�

Acting arbitrarily, a DIG ofthe Central Reserve Police

Force (CRPF) is compellingpersonnel under his commandto pledge organ donation forseeking leave.

CRPF DIG BD Das postedat Silchar (Assam) has formu-lated a long and complex leaveform asking for details like fil-ing of electoral form, link bankaccount with Aadhaar, certifi-cate of annual firing practicebesides pledging organs amongothers for granting leave.

The leave form has a checklist of 20 items including detailsof dependent cards, joint salaryaccount with next of kin, PANand Aadhaar cards of the per-sonnel along with that of thenext of kin, details of anypending court of enquiry andnomination in bank accountsbesides courses undertakenamong others.

The leave of the CentralCivil Services, including CRPFis governed by Central CivilService Rules (Leave), 1972which do not provide formandatory organ donation.

In fact, the Union HomeMinistry has expressly saidthat nobody should be com-pelled to pledge organ donationand person should be allowedto change decision even aftercommitting organ donation.

CRPF DIG (Intelligence)and chief spokesperson atCRPF headquarters MDinakaran confirmed the pro-visions made by Das, butsought to downplay it.

The CRPF personnel arefaced with serious difficulty inavailing their leaves under thecircumstances. “They arestressed and restive and the sit-uation is becoming explosive,”said a source. According to ananonymous complaint to the

Director General of CRPF, Dasweighs 120 kg but has been putin Shape I category which is thebest health standard in theForce. The allegations wereenquired into by DIG SS Goharfrom IG Office, NortheastSector of CRPF at Shillong,sources said.

Chief spokesperson atCRPF headquarters MDinakaran said he would revertback about these allegations,but did not oblige.

����� �78�,79:�

The three-day lecture seriesof the RSS — expected to

be attended by dignitaries rep-resenting political, economic,social, academic, religious,diplomatic sphere and expertsfrom other key areas — willcommence at Vigyan Bhawanin Delhi on Monday.

The conclave seen as anRSS outreach programme willbe addressed by RSS chiefMohan Bhagwat. The lectureseries titled “Future of Bharat:An RSS perspective” will startin the evening. The third-daywould be an interactive ques-tion-answer session.

The event representing “allshades of opinions” would dis-cuss the kind of India the RSSenvisages in the 21st century.

The RSS has understand-ably sent invites to almost allthe senior political leaders.Diplomats of around 60 coun-ties are understood to be in thelist of invitees.

The meeting is taking placeamid the controversial com-ments made by Congress pres-ident Rahul Gandhi duringhis recent foreign tours over therole of Nagpur outfit and itshold over the ruling BJP.

RSS chief Bhagwat isexpected to answer questionsfrom the invitees and clear“misgivings” over the aims andobjectives of the 93-year-oldorganisation.

“The preparations for theevent has been on for last six-months and it has no relationto the recent debates raked uparound the organisation,”sources said denying thatRahul’s comparison of RSSwith Islamic extremist outfit‘Muslim Brotherhood’ isprompting the Nagpur organ-isation to clear the air.

Last month at the“International Institute ofStrategic Studies” in London,Rahul said, “The RSS is tryingto change the nature of India…RSS’s idea is similar to the ideaof Muslim Bortherhood in theArab world.”

Sources in the RSS main-tain Rahul is “only trying to hitthe RSS to eventually take onits political rival the BJP.”

The official view of the RSSis that Rahul who has notunderstood India yet cannotunderstand the RSS.

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In a letter to the ChiefMinister and the DG Police,

advocate RP Pattanaik com-plained that due to the mostinefficient and corrupt forestadministration under ForestMinister Bijayshree Routrayand the PCCF, human- tigerconflict took place in the mostMaoist affected Satkosia sanc-tuary area of Angul.

The Maoists are very muchactive in Satkosia Sanctuaryarea. After a lot of efforts by thepolice, surrender of two hard-core Maoists named Khusbu

and Sukuram, who operated inSatkosia area was possible inDecember, 2017.

The police along with thedistrict administration andmany pro-people activists aretrying to win the confidence ofthe people to combat theMaoist activities in the mostsensitive area.

But, without taking intoconfidence the police admin-istration and the people, theforest administration startedthe tiger relocation programmeignoring the public safety.

And, the result was that awoman was killed by a tigress

translocated from MP atHatibari which later triggeredmassive public protests andviolence, told Pattanaik.

Pattanaik further said thatit is due to Angul SPMitrabhanu Mishra whorushed to the Satkosia area

immediately after the incidentand assured the people of shift-ing the hostile tigress that theagitated people are now

keeping calm.Even after the spot assur-

ance of the SP, who is leadingthe force against the extremists,Forest Minister Routray mind-lessly gave statement that thetigress will not be shifted.Meanwhile, Additional PCCFDr S Panda has given a Pressnote that a WII team has

reached Angul to asses a safeplace to capture the tigress.

Pattanaik said this elabo-rately expresses how theMinister is functioning. On theother hand, the mindless activ-ities of the Minister and his fewconfidant officials have doneenough damage to the SatkosiaSanctuary and the tiger con-servation plan, he charged.

Many top forest officials,both from the State and theNTCA, are worried about theway the NTCA protocol hasbeen violated in translocationof the tigress.

Now, the schools are closedin the Satkosia Sanctuary areafor fear of the tigress. Peoplehave lost their livelihood.People’s representatives belong-ing to the BJD are not visitingthe area, he told.

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The Supreme Court-appointed Amicus Curiae

Gopal Subramaniam will visitPuri on September 20 tohold discussions withShankaracharya SwamiNischalananda Saraswati andGajapati MaharajDibyasingha Deb overShreemandir reforms.

He would hold discus-sions with the Gajapati andthe Shankaracharya onSeptember 21 and meetChhattisha Niyog and SJTAofficials on September 22,informed Shree JagannathTemple Administration(SJTA) Chief AdministratorPK Mohapatra. The AmicusCuriae will give special focuson the SC’s proposal of abo-lition of hereditary appoint-ment of servitors, prohibitionof collection of donationsamong 12 proposals made bythe apex court.

Continued on page 4

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Even after cancellation ofthe proposed water aero-

drome project at Chilika, a sea-plane landed on the lake wateron Saturday leaving everyonein the locality confused andstunned.

The villagers around thelake were panicked after hear-ing a loud noise coming outfrom the seaplane flying in thesky and then landing on thewater of the lake at itsNanganashi sea mouth in after-noon. Arakhkuda and

Sanapatna villagers and fisher-men were frightened after theplane landed. Sources said thatneither the local administrationnor police had been informedabout the seaplane landing andte purpose behind it.

Tourism Minister AshokPanda told reporters on Sundaythat he learnt about the sea-plane landing only from themedia reports. He would talkto the Forests and EnvironmentDepartment about it. Seaplanelanding in the Chilika must bestopped to protect the lake’sbiodiversity, he added.

“The seaplane landed at1.30 pm and it was creatingloud noise,” said Rabi NarayanBehera and Pradip Behera,residents of Arakhkuda.

However, the plane took offafter 10 to 15 minutes of stay-ing on water in a floating posi-tion, they added.

All this happened eventhough the CentralGovernment recently droppedthe water aerodrome project atthe Chilika after drawing flakfrom various quarters, includ-ing environmentalists.

Continued on page 4

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Even as the population ofBangladeshi infiltrators and

refugees in Odisha, particular-ly in coastal districts, arereportedly rising day by day, itis disappointing that the StateGovernment has no record inthis regard.

It is so evident from thefact that the State Governmenthas not been able to furnishinformation in the StateAssembly for long regardingthe numbers of Bangladeshiinfiltrators entering Odishaillegally and refugees settledand availing Government pro-visions even though MLAshave wanted to know in thisregard many times puttingquestions.

Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik has been giving a one-line reply, “Information is beingcollected’ to questions asked byMLAs starting with the thenMLA Arun Dey in 2005 toKailash Chandra Kulesika onSeptember 10 during the ongo-ing session.

In his question, Kulesika

wanted to know the number ofBangladeshi infiltrators andrefugees residing in Odisha, theplaces they are living and thesteps being taken by the StateGovernment to combat possi-ble threat to the country’s sov-ereignty by them. He alsowanted to know if theGovernment has received anycomplaint that infiltrators areinvolved in Maoist and terror-ist activities and whether mediareports are true that manyinfiltrators have been issuedration, voter and Aadhaarcards.

To so many important andsensitive questions, the ChiefMinister replied, “Informationis being collected”.

It may be noted that news-papers have reported manytimes that Bangladesh infiltra-tors have come into and settledin coastal areas of Kendrapadaand Baleswar districts and evenin capital city of Bhubaneswar.Some of them have also report-edly been involved in manynefarious activities like ganja,opium and country liquortrades.

Intellectuals have demand-ed that the State Governmentmake a detailed survey andcheck Bangladeshi infiltrationat the earliest for security of theState and the country.

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Page 2: ˇ-˙ ’./...most Minister in his Cabinet during his absence. The senior-most Minister in Parrikar’s Cabinet happens to be the MGP chief’s elder brother and PWD Minister Sudin

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Last week when Samoy waswaiting for a train at a

Bhubaneswar platform, he wasprobably the only person whowas wearing a wristwatch. Noone asked him the time as therewas no need for it with a huge

digital timepiece in the railwaystation.

There was a period whentime experts were there in vil-lages to tell you the time. Insmall towns, the bell from theTreasury, jail or church used totell us the time.

Now, you find watcheseverywhere even in burningghats and temples! A few oldpeople were there who wouldtell you the time just by look-ing at their internal clock or thesky; not any more. People arevery conscious of time but arenot punctual in India! No onelooks at your wristwatch; nei-ther asks you the time or theprice.

Samoy thought peopleneed two more supportinggadgets in their mobile, arevolver and a siren system for

emergency. Most of Samoy’swristwatches have stopped dueto exhausted battery. Use-and-throw-type of nice wrist-

watches are available for fifty tohundred rupees; so, why pur-chase a battery for 65 rupees?The shopkeeper would ask

original or duplicate? Most ofus know that both are same, butto show our status we go for theoriginal. Nowadays, thieveshave stopped snatching wrist-watches! Giving a wristwatch asa gift is a total wastage. Earlierdays, a wristwatch was in thedemand list of the bridegroom,but it’s now replaced with asmart phone. Venders andsome old people at times askyou time if they see you wear-ing a wristwatch, which leadsto good conversations. Now,even a dead man wears a wrist-watch!

To some people, watchesare simply antiquated acces-sories that told us the timebefore our iPhones took over.Samoy had his first AngloSwiss wristwatch from a shopin Calcutta at the age of 19

years when he entered a med-ical college. That was amechanical watch still in work-ing condition even after 53 longyears. At the twilight of his life,Samoy still has the old habit ofputting a pen in his chestpocket and wearing a wrist-watch before he steps out of hishouse.

Watches have always beenstylish and will continue to be.A lot of famous people throughhistory had worn them.Watches are a timeless and clas-sic accessory that quicklyimproves any man’s appear-ance. Where will things windup? Only time will tell. For nowat least, it's clear that the wrist-watch industry can take a lick-ing and keep on ticking.

(The writer, a doctor,lives in Bhubaneswar)

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Even though many parts ofcity still continue to be

plagued by drinking waterwoes, massive corruption,nepotism and political interference have hamperedan effective functioning of thePublic Health Department(PHD) much to the chagrin ofcity residents.

To make the matters worse,some officials who have beenposted in the same post foryears or are holding addition-al charges, thanks to theirpolitical godfathers, haveslowed down the

implementation of variouspilot projects being implemented by the variousdivisions of the PHD in the

city.Take for instance, the PH

Department Division I DeputyExecutive Engineer Guru Das,who is in charge ofSamantrapur Sub-Division isalso holding additional chargeof the PH Division II in VaniVihar.

Recently, an engineer wasposted as the ExecutiveEngineer of Division –II, butDas managed to get the ordercancelled allegedly with thehelp of his political links.Sources said Das has beenholding multiple responsibilities not because ofhis efficiency but due to hiscloseness to local Ekamra MLAand Minister Ashok ChandraPanda.

Similar is the case of

Assistant Engineer NC Sahooposted in the Samantrapur PHSub-Division, who has been inthe same post for the last 10years.

PH Division III ExecutiveEngineer PK Swain, who waspromoted to theSuperintendent Engineer postis also having the additionalcharge of Executive Engineerpost , which has been vacant forthe last three months.

It is no surprise that BJBNagar, Rental Colony and par-ticularly Old Town and BhimaTangi areas suffer from acutedrinking water shortage.

However, due to the polit-ical clout they enjoy, the PHhigher authorities includingthe Urban DevelopmentMinister are reluctant to touchthese officials through manyirregularities includingfinancial bunglings continuedto be rampant in the aforesaiddivisions.

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Union Petroleum MinisterDharmendra Pradhan on

Sunday suggested that theOdisha Government reducetaxes on fuel in order to bringits prices under control acrossthe State.

Pradhan said, “Many Stateshave reduced taxes on fueland the Odisha Governmentshould follow in their foot-steps.”

“If the rate of crude oilincreases in international mar-ket, the States actually get thebenefit. In 2014, the OdishaGovernment was collecting

less than Rs 3,000 crore taxfrom fuel and now it hasincreased to Rs 7,000 crore.Therefore, the State should cutthe tax on fuel,” Pradhan added.

In reaction to Pradhan’ssuggestion, State FinanceMinister Sashi Bhusan Beherasaid, “The base price of fuel iscontrolled by the Centre. Apartfrom excise tax, the Centre iscollecting three other taxes.Therefore, the Centre shouldconsider reducing the tax onfuel first before asking theState to do so.

Behera further said,“Entrusting the responsibilitywith the State to reduce fuelprice shows callousness of theCentre. People are sufferingdue to the hide-and-seek gameof the Centre.”

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Following the UnionMinistry of Health and

Family Welfare imposing a banon drugs three days back, theState Government has asked alldrug manufacturers, druggistsand chemists to stop manufac-ture, stock or sale of fixed-dosecombination (FDC) drugs.

Notably, the Centre had onWednesday banned 328 FDCdrugs with immediate effectfollowing recommendationsfrom the Drugs TechnicalAdvisory Board (DTAB).

The DTAB had said these328 FDC drungs should bebanned because there is notherapeutic justification forthem and they may be risky forpatients.

The list of the banned drugcombinations, among others,

includes: Aceclofenac +Paracetamol + Rabeprazole,Nimesulide + Diclofenac,Nimesulide + Cetirizine +Caffeine, Nimesulide +Tizanidine, Paracetamol +Cetirizine + Caffeine,Dicyclomine + Paracetamol +Domperidone, Nimesulide +Paracetamol, Paracetamol +Phenylephrine + Caffeine,Diclofenac+ Tramadol +Paracetamol, Diclofenac +Paracetamol + Chlorzoxazone+ Famotidine, Paracetamol +Diclofenac + Famotidine,Omeprazole + Paracetamol +Diclofenac, Nimesulide +Paracetamol injection,Paracetamol +Pseudoephedrine + Cetrizine,Paracetamol + Mefenamic Acid+ Ranitidine + Dicylomine,Nimesulide + Dicyclomine,

Glucosamine + Methyl

Sulfonyl Methane + VitaminiD3 + Maganese + Boron +Copper + Zinc, Paracetamol +Tapentadol, Lornoxicam +Paracetamol + Tramadol, ,Lornoxicam + Paracetamol +Serratiopeptidase, Diclofenac +Paracetamol + MagnesiumTrisilicate, Paracetamol +Domperidone + Caffeine,Aceclofenac + Paracetamol +Famotidine, Azithromycin +Cefixime, Amoxicillin +Dicloxacillin, Azithromycin +Levofloxacinm, Azithromycin,Secnidazole and Fluconazolekit, Azithromycin + Ofloxacin,Amoxycillin + Tinidazole,Ofloxacin + Metronidazole +Zinc Acetate, Metronidazole +Norfloxacin, Metronidazole +Tetracycline, Azithromycin +Ambroxol, Paracetamol +Promethazine, Cetirizine +Diethyl Carbamazine, 108Metformin + Bromocriptine,Metformin + Glimepiride +Methylcobalamin, Metformin(SR) 500mg + Pioglitazone5mg, Flunarizine +Paracetamole + Domperidone,Rabeprazole + Zinc Carnosine,

Ranitidine + Magaldrate +Simethicone, Furazolidone +Metronidazole + Loperamide,Rabeprazole + Diclofenac +Paracetamol, Ranitidine +Magaldrate, Norfloxacin+Metronidazole + Zinc Acetate,Thyroxine + Pyridoxine + FolicAcid, Nimesulide + Loratadine+ Phenylephrine + Ambroxol,Azithromycin +Acebrophylline, Enrofloxacin +Bromhexin, Roxithromycin +Serratiopeptidase Paracetamol+ Phenylephrine +T r i p r o l i d i n e ,Dextromethorphan +Cetirizine, Cetirizine +Dextromethorphan +Ambroxol Ketotifen +Cetirizine, Acetaminophen +Guaifenesin +Dextromethorphan +C h l o r p h e n i r a m i n e ,Levocetirizine + Paracetamol +Phenylephirine + Caffeine,Paracetamol + Levocetirizine +Phenylephirine + ZinkGluconate andDextromethorphan +Paracetamol + Cetirizine +Phenylephrine.

BHUBANESWAR: In view of afresh cyclonic circulation overeast-central Bay of Bengal, theRegional Office of the IndianMeteorological Department(IMD) here on Sunday forecastheavy rainfall for coastal andsouthern parts of the State innext 24 hours.

Heavy rain accompaniedwith lightning and thunder-storm is most likely to occur inthe districts of Mayurbhanj,Khodha, Cuttack and Nayagarhand other parts of coastal andsouthern Odisha, a latest forecastof IMD said.

Sources informed the cir-culation is likely to turn into alow pressure system over thenorth-central Bay of Bengal bySeptember 18. Due to its effect,several places of the State arelikely to receive heavy rain whilelight to moderate rainfall alongwith thunderstorm is likely tocontinue at most places of theState till September 22. PNS

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The SCB Medical CollegeHospital here turned a

place for reuniting two men-tally ill youths with their par-ents after years.

It was a tale of twoanguished families after theirmentally ill sons had gonemissing for long periods oftime. Finally, the parents gottheir boys on Saturday at theMental Health Institute of thispremier medical institutewhere they were undergoingtreatment.

Babula Das of Nilgiri inBaleswar district and 22-year-old Paban Kumar ofChhattisgarh were missingfrom their homes 20 years andsix months ago, respectively.The families were unaware oftheir whereabouts. Even, theyhad lost hope of their sons’aliveness.

Babula returned to hishome on Saturday. His familywas overwhelmed when they

came to know about him thathe is alive and undergoingtreatment at the SCB. Babulahad gone away in 1998 after helost his mental balance. Despitefrantic search, his family failedto find him.

A member of the Baleswar-

based NGO who admittedBabula to the SCB after rescu-ing him three years back.Babula’s family membersrushed to the hospital to bringhim back home after they gotinformation about him.

Similarly, Paban Kumar,

who was suffering from men-tal illness, had suddenly dis-appeared from home sixmonths ago.

His family thought that hewas no more.

However, his fatherreached the SCB Hospital to

take him home after knowingabout his aliveness a few daysback.

Both the patients madetheir way back homes withcooperation from MentalHealth Institute Director ProfDr Sarada Prasanna Swain andother doctors.

Presently, total 81 helplesspatients suffering from variousmental diseases are undergoingtreatment at the SCB MentalHealth Institute.

Mostly the patients arecoming to the hospital afterbeing rescued from differentlocations while several familiesare dropping the patients herefor without following anyadmission procedure, said DrSwain.

As these patients are notbeing rehabilitated properly,their number is increasing dayby day. It’s high time the districtadministrations as well asNGOs were concerned aboutrehabilitation of such patients,he added.

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Rabi Maharana of Dhauli inBhubaneswar has been

appointed as the Odisha Stategeneral secretary of theInternational Human RightsOrganisation (IHRO) for theyear 2018-19.

“The IHRO Board is con-fident that with your back-ground, experience, expertiseand keen interest, you wouldjustify your job for the justcause of safeguarding humanrights as per the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights,

1948,” IHRO chairman DrNem Singh Premi said in the

nomination letter sent toMaharana last week.

“We hope that you willexercise your responsibilitieswith honesty and dignity forthe best interest of humanity.We welcome you to the IHROand look forward to a long andfruitful collaboration with you,”the letter added.

The IHRO is a voluntary,nonprofit organisation estab-lished in 2009. Maharana washonoured with the NationalAward for WomenEmpowerment for the year2014-15.

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Police on Sunday arrestedtwo persons for allegedly

attempting to abduct a con-tractor and for vandalising hisSUV late on Saturday night.

The arrestees were identi-fied as Soumya Ranjan Beheraof Sisupalgarh and PratikPanigrahi of Mancheswar. Thecontractor was identified asRajesh Patra, a resident ofDumuduma.

According to reports, agroup of nearly 20 youths way-laid Patra near ITER Collegesquare under the Khandagiripolice station and tried toabduct him. But when theyfailed they badly damaged hisMahindra XUV 500 SUV.

Meanwhile, theKhandagiri police, reached thespot and seized two SUVs anda number of lethal weaponsfrom the spot. Though thecops managed to nab twoyouths, other involved in theattack managed to elude thepolice dragnet.

As per preliminary inves-tigation, Patra, a local contrac-tor along with his friends washaving a booze party where thearrestees along with some oth-

ers were also having booze.However, an altercation

ensued between both thegroups over some issue andPatra with his friends alleged-ly beat up the other group,which was outnumbered atthat time.

But the matter did not endthere as the assaulted youthsregrouped with others andstarted following Rajesh. Theyouths then intercepted hiscar and vandalised it, sourcessaid.

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The Akhila Odisha YogaSikshaka Mahasangha on

Sunday demanded that theState Government introduce‘yoga siksha’ at all levels, fromsecondary schools to universi-ties, at the earliest.

“Nudity, violence againstwomen, corruption, liquor con-sumption, terrorism and sui-cides are now destroying thesociety. If men and womendevelop their mental attitude,no such violence activitieswould occur. Yoga is the onlymeans that would help people

and society in this direction,”said Mahasangha convenorYogacharya Dr BishwaranjanRath.

Citing a sermon of theGita, he said Yoga has thepower to keep body, life, mind,wisdom and soul balancedand, thus, yoga and moral edu-cation need to be introduced inall levels of education from sec-ondary schools to universi-ties.

Mahasangha president DrRajesh Manik expressed strongresentment over non-imple-mentation of Yoga in educa-tional institutions in the State

while foreign countries arepromoting yoga educationrapidly now.

He said the Mahasanghawould be forced to create cam-paign for promotion of Yoga.

The organisation demand-ed that regular Yoga Teachersbe appointed in place ofPhysical Education Teachers inall schools and colleges andYoga be taken as a compu-losory subject at Plus Twolevel. The organisation alsodemanded Yoga Departmentopened at all universities andyoga treatment provided at allmedical college and hospitals.

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While the StateGovernment is harping

on development of road infra-structure in rural areas, spend-ing in rural development sec-tor has gone down drastically,which is a major cause of con-cern for the officials.

The latest expenditurereport prepared by theDepartment of Finance saysthat up to August 31, 2018, theDepartment of RuralDevelopment (DoRD) hasspent �1,340 crore, which is lessthan �1,000 crore spent duringcorresponding period of 2017.

By August 31, 2017, theDoRD had spent � 2,366 crorefor which the StateGovernment could acceleratecompletion 7,000 km roadunder the PMGSY. And Odishatopped the list in the countrymaking highest length of the

PMGSY roads getting pat on itsback from the Union Ministryof Rural Development.

This year there is a targetof completing 8,000 km roadand with such a poor spending,it is unlikely to be achieved, feelofficials.

The Department of Workshas spent �1, 332 crore byAugust 31, 2018, which is less14 per cent. The Department ofWater Resources (DoWR) hasalso lessened its speed ofspending with an expenditureof �3,004 crore by August 31,2018.

While the DoWR hadspent �4,077 crore by August31, 2017, it has also spent�1,000 crore less as comparedto last year, said an officeradding that this year Budgethas gone up by more than�10,000 crore, which is an alltime high.

However, the Departmentof Housing and UrbanDevelopment (DoHUD) hastopped in spending in infrastructure sector with over38 per cent.

The DoHUD over theyears has improved its spend-ing capacity and with a budgetof �5,181 crore, it has spent �1,890 crore by August 31.

Similarly, given the infra-structure need for the WorldMen’s Cup Hockey, spendingby the Sports and Youth Affairshas topped the list of all thedepartments and organisationswith a spending of a whopping714 per cent in expenditure,which is an all time highrecord.

Latest expenditure state-ment of the State Governmentreveals that by August 31, 2018,overall spending by all thedevelopment departments was�36,835.48 crore, which hasregistered an increase of 12 percent.

And, the Sports and YouthAffairs is on the top as it hasalready spent �193 crore out of�341 crore.

Earlier, the sports sectorwas never a priority area andnow, it gets top attention. Itreceived �200 crore extra in2018-19.

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In yet another instance of leopard sight-ing, the people in Balangir saw a leop-

ard at Mahima Chowk near Gulmi forest,50km from here, on September 14.Consequently, there is panic in the local-ity.

According to reports, people saw theleopard sitting on a concrete structure ofwater pipes.

Notably, the cement structure is nearthe water project at Dumerbahal fromwhich water is supplied to the ordnancefactory at Badmal through large pipes.While going through the road towardsBalangir from Titilagarh, people saw the

leopard sitting over a cement structure onthe day of Nuakhai. Staying a few minutes,the leopard vanished.

According to sources, there are aroundeight leopards in Titilagarh forest range.

A good deal of thearea comes underthe jurisdiction ofordnance factory,Badmal. As there iswater source ofDumerbahal projectand protection dueto the boundary ofthe ordnance facto-ry, leopards areoften sighted here.There is no incidentof any attack byleopard so far.

H o w e v e r ,Titilagarh range officer J Nanda rubbishedthe report of leopard sighting. “We don'thave any reports of leopard sighting in ourarea,” he said even as there were confirmedsources of the sighting.

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As many as four personshave been killed in road

accidents in two districts of theState.

Two persons lost their livesafter a car by which they weretravelling fell off theLuhasankha bridge in the Jatniarea of Khordha district late onSaturday night.

The deceased were identi-fied as Narendra Guru andJitendra Nayak, both residentsof Salia Sahi in Bhubaneswar.The duo was returning toBhubaneswar by a ToyotaInnova after watching theGanesh Mahotsav at Jatni. Ataround 11.45 pm, the driver of

the vehicle lost control over thewheels, following which it fellfrom the bridge into a drain.

While Narendra andJitendra drowned in the drain,the driver, identified asAbhimanyu Behera, managedto save himself coming out ofthe drain, after which he sought

the help of locals to come to therescue of the others. Beinginformed by the locals, FireServices personnel reached thespot and recovered the deadbodies from the drain. Thevehicle was later dragged out ofthe drain using a crane.

In the other incident, two

persons died after a motorcy-cle by which they were travel-ling collided head-on with aBolero SUV at DulukibandhaChhak in the Dharmagarh areaof Kalahandi district. Whileone of them died on the spot,another succumbed to injurieson the way to hospital.

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Adoctor was allegedlythrashed by relatives of a

deceased patient at the Banpur

hospital in Khordha district onSunday.

According to reports, onePrashant Sahu (22) ofKhuntapalli village under the

Banpur police limits had inmorning received electricshock at his house.

He was taken to the Banaprhospital, where the concerneddoctor declared him broughtdead.

Tension gripped the hospital premises after the inci-dent as the family members ofthe deceased allegedly beat thedoctor claiming that the youthwas still alive.

A complaint in this regardwas lodged by the doctor withpolice. In order to avoid anyfurther untoward incident,police force was deployed in thehospital premises. Investigationinto the matter was underway.The dead body was sent forpostmortem.

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Illegal encroachment is thebiggest problem in Sonepur

and Tarbha township area dueto which there is perpetual traf-fic jam and parking worry.

The shopkeepers and ven-dors have encroached uponmost of the drains and foot-paths of the State Bank road inSonepur and Tarbha mainroad, leaving the pedestriansand commuters unsafe.

Even as the authoritieshave failed to act against theencroachers, the residents ofthe area too are to be blamedfor the problem.

The shopkeepers havecome over to the footpaths inthe main markets with smallvendors selling their wares onthe roads.

Councillor- cum -activistof Sonepur Tapas Beuraclaimed that illegal parkingand encroachment of road is anever ending problem in theentire Sonepur town.

It is now highly necessaryfor the civic administration tolift the encroachment, he said.

Santosh Kumar Mishra, alocal, attributed the problem toever increasing vehicles.

Rather than taking actionagainst the violators, themunicipal authority is seen asprotecting the interest of theencroachers, he charged.

Active member of FriendsRecreational and CultureCentre (FRCC) Prabir Sahusaid afraid of losing their vote

bank, local leaders haveopposed the evacuation drivefrom time to time. They haveno concern for the inconve-nience of the common people,he lamented.

Tarbha Citizen Committeesecretary Rabindranath Thakursaid that the local police andNAC officials should monitorthe situation and take necessaryaction.

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The Department of Sanskrit,Central University of

Orissa (CUO), Koraput, organ-ised a seminar on ‘Tradition ofSanskrit Kavyas’ at its Sunabedacampus on September 13.

The programme was inau-gurated by CUO VC ProfSachidananda Mohanty, whilethe seminar lecture was deliv-ered by former Professor andHead, PG Department of

Sanskrit, Utkal University,Bhubaneswar, Prof RaghunathPanda. Dr Kumuda PrasadAcharya, Department In-Charge, Department ofSanskrit, delivered the wel-come address.

Prof Mohanty in his inau-gural address explained theglory of Sanskrit and appealedto the students to speak inSanskrit and spread the lan-guage to others.

He said if someone wantsto know about India and Indianculture, he must know Sanskritfirst.

The conducts of everyhuman being purify with thestudy of Sanskrit, Prof Mohanty

told. Prof Panda elaboratedthe relationship between theWestern literature and Indianliterature with special referenceto Sanskrit and emphasized thetradition of Kavyasashtra andalso gave an idea about theKavyaprakasha of Mammataand Gitagovinda of KaviJayadeva.

Dr Kumuda PrasadAcharya, Lecturer, Departmentof Sanskrit presented a paperon Naishadhiyacharitam andDr Birendra Kumar Sadangi,Lecturer, presented a paper onKiratarjuna MahakavyeVidyamadhava Comentri.Students also presented paperon Sanskrit Kavyas.

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AClass-X student drownedin a pond during immer-

sion of an idol of Lord Ganeshin Angul district on Sunday.The deceased was identified asChandan Parida (15) ofKhandarbahal village underthe Nisha police limits in thedistrict.

According to reports, someteachers and several students ofthe Nisha High School,

including Chandan, had goneto a nearby pond in morningfor immersion of the idol,which had been worshipped inthe school on the occasion ofGanesh Puja.

During the immersion,Chandan slipped into deepwater. The teachers and hisfriends rescued him in anunconscious condition andtook him to the DistrictHeadquarters Hospital, wherehe was declared brought dead.

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The National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) has

asked for an action-takenreport (ATR) from the OdishaState Human RightsCommission (OSHRC) in con-nection with the eviction ofsome tribal people from aforestland in Angul district.

The NHRC passed theorder taking cognisance of apetition filed by civil societyorganisation Human RightsWatch secretary Sangita Swain.

In her petition, Swainalleged that victims BabuliSahoo, Chakradhar Sahoo,Nirakara Sahoo, BidhanBehera, Maheswara Sethy,Bauri Sethy, Tanaka DharaSahoo, Sridhara Sahoo, GulapSethy, Lipun Garnaik, SibaDalei along with other 50 villagers and their families ofSaanda, Bankuli, Hensala,Magarmana, Jaganathpur villages under the Khamarpolice station in Angul districtwere illegally evicted from theforest land and severely tor-tured by the police and admin-istrative authorities under polit-

ical influence.Interestingly some victim

villagers also availed housesunder the Indira Awas schemeon the same forest land alongwith the electricity and waterconnection. Swain alleged thatthis is violation of humanrights and prayed the commission to take criminalaction against the responsiblepolice and administrative offi-cials liable for the illegal evic-tion of the victims and theirfamily.

She requested for com-pensation of Rs Rs.10 lakhs tobe paid to the victims, provideland according to the ForestRights Act and protect themfrom the rowdy police andadministrative officials imme-diately.

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Orissa High Court Justice SK Mishra inau-gurated the new building of the JMFC and

Civil Court at Barbil in Keonjhar district onSunday.

Besides chief guestMishra, High Court JusticeCR Dash and Justice JPDas graced as guests. TheDistrict Judge and membersof the bar associations ofKeonjhar, Champua andAnandapur also attendedthe function.

Barbil JMFC AlokPanda, Sub-Collector ParulPatwari, SDPO Rahul Jaina,Barbil civic body ChairmanDilip Kumar Mishra, BarbilPS IIC Jagannath Mallik,

Ranger Padmanav Rout, other Government offi-cials, representatives of the Essel Mining,Rungta, Ariyan Steel and others were present.

Barbil Bar Association president ChinmayaKumar Barik and secretary Pratap KumarPresident coordinated the programme.

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Brahmapur boy GurudattaPanda is in a team of tech-

nologists who privately builtthe first communication satel-lite for the ISRO.

The satellite will belaunched from a space stationin the US in November.

Gurudatta is the son of DrPrana Chandra Panda andManisha Dash of the AnantaNagar, 5th Lane area. He isworking in a telecommunica-tion firm in Hyderabad.

The satellite will give infor-mation during the naturalcalamities. The information

can be accessed in far flungareas through walkie talkiesets. It’s a small sized satellite,whose life span is minimumtwo years.

According to Gurudatta,

the ISRO has started outsourcing private firms for manufacturing satellites andthese selected firms are gettingfunds from different sourceslike FDI, private organisations,ISRO and under Startup Policyof the Central Government.While the InternationalAmateur Radio Union (IARU)has approved the project, theUnion Information andBroadcasting Ministry hasallotted frequencies.

Notably, Gurudatta wasthe only Radio Operator tohave worked during Phailin inthe disaster communicationsector in south Odisha.

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Page 4: ˇ-˙ ’./...most Minister in his Cabinet during his absence. The senior-most Minister in Parrikar’s Cabinet happens to be the MGP chief’s elder brother and PWD Minister Sudin

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The much-awaited inquiryreport pertaining to the

Brahma Paribartan fiasco dur-ing the 2015 Nabakalebar Yatra,which is pending in the ShreeJagannath TempleAdministration (SJTA) office,would be out in October.

As per sources, an interimreport would be submitted atthe temple managing commit-tee towards end of September.As per recommendation of thesub-committee, actions wouldbe slapped on servitorsinvolved in the BrahmaParivartan mess.

The root of suspense is thecontent of the probe reportafter long three years andaction on the erring Daitapatis,who are still scot-free.

Since most of the culpritsare allegedly supporters of the

ruling BJD, the BJP chargedthat the report is nothing buteyewash ahead of 2019 polls.The Government is shieldingits people involved in theBrahma Parivartan disturbances, charged BJPspokesperson Sajjan Sharma.

“Naveen Patnaik is a great

enemy of Lord Jagannath. Tobreak old customs and tradi-tions of Jagannath is his onlymotive.

He has no knowledge ofOdia culture.

The sooner he goes away,the better for Odisha,” saidSharma when asked about hisreaction over probe report notbeing made public. Sharmaquestioned, “Has any enquiryreport come during NaveenGovernment?” charging thatthe Chief Minister knows onlyto constitute inquiry commis-sion and spare hard-earnedmoney of the poor.

“What actions the CM hastaken on the offenders in somany enquiries,” asked Sharma,saying it is a disabledGovernment.

It may be recollected thaton June 15, 2015, Daitapatiservitors had delayed estab-lishing the souls into the newlybuilt wooden idols due to in-fighting among them, unleashing a hue and cry.

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The National Cadet Corps(NCC) cadets of the

Vikramdev AutonomousCollege here organised anawareness drive on Saturday tosensitise citizens of Jeyporeand nearby villages aboutcleanliness to mark the obser-

vance of the Swachhta mission.The cadets performed a

street play ‘Health is Wealth’ atGodapadar panchayat and sen-sitised the villagers to washtheir hands before taking any-thing into the mouth. They alsourged the villagers to keep thearea clean and green.

Col Saroj Mati of Jeypore

NCC also urged the people tokeep their surroundings cleanand live a healthy and happylife. He said that the NCCCadets are helping the peoplein providing a better space forthem by making their homeclean and sensitising them ondifferent deadly diseases causeddue to unhygienic conditions.

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The detailed project report(DPR) prepared to

implement a new seweragesystem in the silk city in col-laboration with the GermanGovernment would be sent tothe Central Government soonfor approval, informedBrahmapur MunicipalCorporation (BeMC)Commissioner ChakravartiSingh Rathore.

Rathore said the projectcost has been estimated at�488 crore by a joint team ofthe Odisha Water Supply andSewerage Board (OWSSB) andthe German Government during the latter’s visit to thecity a few months back.

Sources said more than

80, 000 houses in the city haveno sewerage facility to releasewastewater.

Hence, all householdwaters are discharged to thedrains, which ultimately lead towaterlogging and artificialfloods in nook and corner ofthe city.

It may be noted thatthough the proposal for thesewerage system in the city hasbeen prepared many times,they have not yielded any resultduel funds crunch.

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The Diabetes and EndocareClinic, Brahmapur, organ-

ised the second south Odishathyroid symposium here onSunday.

Brahmapur MLA cumchairman, Ganjam DistrictPlanning Committee, DrRamesh ChandraChyaupatnaik was the chiefguest with Dean and Principal,MKCG Medical College ProfRadha Madhab Tripathy,Superintendent, MKCGMedical College Prof CharanPanda, former Head, Dept ofGeneral Medicine, MKCGMedical College Prof Dr P CSahu, former Head,Department of GeneralSurgery, MKCG Prof Dr N CPadhi, IMA, Berhampur pres-ident Prof Prasanna Padhy andChairman, BDA SubashMaharana as the guests.

Dr Sunil Kumar Kota,

Consultant Endocrinologistfrom Diabetes and EndocareClinic, presided.

MLA Dr Chyaupatnaikhighlighted the rising preva-lence of thyroid disorders and

called for enhancing the skillsof practitioners to deal with theproblems. Prof PC Sahu

advised the audience to bewatchful of thyroid disordersby diagnosing them early fol-lowed by timely initiation oftreatment.

Prof NC Padhi and ProfPrasanna Padhy opined thatthese scientific symposia wouldhelp updating the knowledge oftreating physicians on thyroiddisorders. There were 10 dif-ferent topics on thyroid disor-ders delivered by eminentspeakers from Brahmapur,Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

In total around 250 doctorsfrom Ganjam, Gajapati,Kandhamal, Boudh, Rayagada,Koraput attended the work-shop. Dr Kota revealed hisplans of undertaking thyroidblood testing for general pub-lic from different sectors todetect the undiagnosed cases.

Prof K T Subudhi laudedthe efforts by Dr Sunil to educate both doctors and gen-eral public.

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The State Governmentwould soon formulate a

policy on the Defence andaerospace sectors.

Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik told a delegation ofFrench investors while meetingthem in the State Secretariat onSaturday.

The Chief Minister urgedthe delegation to invest in air-craft, food processing and med-ical equipment sector also.

In fact, the Make in Odisha(MiO) initiative of the StateGovernment received a boostwith France evincing interest toinvest in Odisha in hotel, steel,electronics and energy sectors.

This was hinted by aAmbassador of France to IndiaAlexandre Ziegler who led thedelegation which met the ChiefMinister.

According to a release fromthe Chief Minister’s Office,Patnaik requested the Frenchinvestors to invest in the Stateand participate in the secondedition of ‘Make in Odisha’scheduled to be held inBhubaneswar from November11 to 15.

“A socio-economic andcommercial bond can be estab-lished between India and

France with investments inOdisha,” the CM told the del-egation.

The Chief Minister saidOdisha is a minerals-rich Stateand has the distinction of beingthe aluminium capital of SouthAsia with 54 per cent of totalproduction. Similarly, thecountry’s 25 per cent steel isproduced in Odisha makingthe State a steel hub, he added.

The Chief Minister saidOdisha has its Vision-2030 forthe development of down-stream and ancillary industriesin the metal sector.

Ziegler and members ofIndo-French Chamber ofCommerce also appreciatedthe suitable environment inOdisha for investment, saidsources.

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On Sunday, Petroleum andNatural Gas Minister

Dharmendra Pradhan soughtpublic support, as the PrimeMinister will lay foundationstone for renovation work ofdefunct FCI fertilizer plant inTalcher at a cost of �13,000crore on October 22.

Besides, Pradhan revealedthat the work of LPG supplythrough pipes will reach toAngul and Dhenkanal towards

the end of October. That will behis Laxmipuja gift to the peo-ple of two districts.

Moreover, Pradhan

expressed grave concern fornon-co-operation of the StateGovernment for theNTPC at Gajamara and for

completion of water supplyprojects to nine villages andJoranda Gadi shrine, even though the ONGC is pre-pared to spend �20 crore forthe water supply project at Joranda.

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On the second day ofSwachhata Pakhwada with

theme “Swachhata Sambad”,the East Coast Railway (ECoR)organised a seminar on“Sanitation and upkeeping ofrailway stations” atBhubaneswar railway stationhere on Sunday.

ECoR Chief HealthDirector Dr JP Panda, KhurdaRoad Senior DivisionalMedical Officer Dr PrabhatKumar Pattnaik, Senior PRONirakar Das attended as guestsand spoke on various aspects ofcleanliness and sanitation.

RK Satapathy and RCMahapatra of the PipiliSankrutika Sangha,Bhubaneswar Station DirectorChittaranjan Nayak, Assistant

Health Officer Subrat Mandaland Bimal Misra of the BharatScouts and Guides also spokeon the occasion.

On the occasion, paintingand poster competitions oncleanliness were also heldwhere 75 schoolchildren ofrailway employees took part.ECoR Chief Personal OfficerDr Prabhat Kumar organisedthe competition and ChiefHealth Inspector Alok Singhcoordinated the programme.

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Petroleum, Natural Gas, SkillDevelopment and

Entrepreneurship MinisterDharmendra Pradhan took

stock of the preparations at thefield at Talcher where PrimeMinister Narendra Modi wouldaddress a public meeting onSeptember 22. The PM will layfoundation for the defunct FCI

plant renovation project at�13,000 crore, besides layingfoundation stone for a NTPCexpansion project in Talcher.

The FCI plant renovationproject is a pride for Talcher and

the whole State, said Pradhanon the occasion. Pradhan alsoheld meeting with officials ofvarious public sector units(PSUs) for making the PM’svisit to the area a success.

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From Page 1The Chilika

Development Authority(CDA) had informed themedia, saying the AirportsAuthority of India (AAI)cancelled the project in thelake citing the reason that “ifimplemented, it will nega-tively impact the ecosystemand the surrounding humanpopulation”.

In June, the AAI hadannounced to set up aero-drome projects in Odisha,Gujarat, Maharashtra, AndhraPradesh and Assam.

Chilika in Odisha was thepreferred site. A team ofexperts from the Centre hadvisited the area and conducteda study after the Civil AviationMinistry gave its nod to theChilika proposal.

From Page 1In June, the Supreme Court

had directed the SJTA to imple-ment the 12 proposals as a partof disciplinary reforms in theShreemandir.

Based on the suggestions ofthe stakeholders, the AmicusCuriae would submit the finalreport to the Supreme Court.

����������� ������ +++

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Page 5: ˇ-˙ ’./...most Minister in his Cabinet during his absence. The senior-most Minister in Parrikar’s Cabinet happens to be the MGP chief’s elder brother and PWD Minister Sudin

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will visit his parlia-

mentary constituency Varanasion Monday on his birthday. Hewill reach Varanasi for a two-day visit on Monday after-noon. The Prime Minister willvisit Narur village, where hewill interact with children of aprimary school, aided by non-profit organisation "Room toRead". Later, he will interactwith students of KashiVidyapeeth and children assist-ed by them on the premises of

Diesel Locomotive Works(DLW).

On Tuesday, Modi willinaugurate or lay the founda-tion of various developmentprojects, cumulatively worthmore than �500 crore, accord-ing to a statement by the PrimeMinister's office (PMO). Theevent will be held at theamphitheatre of Banaras HinduUniversity (BHU).

Among the projects to beinaugurated by Modi areIntegrated PowerDevelopment Scheme (IPDS)for Puraani Kashi and an AtalIncubation Centre at BHU.Among the projects for whichthe foundation stones will belaid is the RegionalOphthalmology Centre atBHU. The Prime Minister willalso address a gathering, thestatement said.

���������"���� �78�,79:�

Despite heavy rains afterthe second half of August

and first week of September,which caused floods acrossBihar, Kerala, Assam andGujarat, and also in Bengaluru,as many as 254 districts arefaced with drought like situa-tion this monsoon.

According to IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD), the rain deficiency isrecorded 9 per cent tillSeptember 16. The rain defi-cient is expected to go up in thecoming days when the south-west monsoon will start with-drawing from the next week.The monthly deficit hasincreased from 5 per cent inJune, to 6 per cent in July and7.6 per cent in August.According to agriculture min-istry, if 20-40 per cent of theState receives deficient rainfall,it will be declared as "deficientyear". If it goes beyond 40 percent, it will be declared a "large-ly deficient year".

The States like Jharkhand,Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,Meghalya, Bihar, westRajasthan, Gujarat, North-Eastand parts of Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu and Karnatakahave witnessed below normalrains.

"As against a normal rain-fall of 819.7 mm, the countryhas received 743.8 mm rainfall,thereby registering a rainfalldeparture of minus 9 per centtill September 16," according toIMD officials.

The IMD data showsArunachal Pradesh recordedrain deficiency up to 30 percent; Assam 20 per cent;Meghalaya 38 per cent;Manipur 54 percent; Tripura 20percent; West Bengal 19 per-cent; Jharkhand 24 per cent;Bihar 20 per cent; Haryana 20per cent; Punjab 18 per cent;Gujarat 23 per cent; Saurashtra& Kutch 29 per cent;

Marathwada division 15 percent; Vidarbha 7 per cent;Andhra Pradesh 11 per cent;Rayalseema 45 per cent; TamilNadu 14 per cent; Puducherry20 per cent and NorthKarnataka 26 per cent. Thedata shows more than 40 percent districts in South Indiawitnessed deficient rainfall thismonsoon season. Of the 125districts in the region, 54reported deficient rainfall andanother two were "largely" defi-cient. The worst hit State bydeficient rainfall in South Indiawas Tamil Nadu. Of its 32 dis-tricts, 20 received deficientrainfall while one reported

large deficiency.In West Bengal, rain defi-

ciency is recorded 56 per centin Dakshin Dinajpur;Darjeeling 18 per cent; KoochBihar 41 per cent; Malda 39percent; Murshidabad 51 per-cent; Hugli 27 per cent; Nadia20 per cent; South 24 Parganas15 per cent and Uttar Dinajpur39 per cent.

In Bihar, of the 38 districts,24 witnessed rain deficient thismonsoon. As per data, raindeficiency in Arariya recorded21 per cent; Arwal 30 per cent;Begu Sarai 26 percent; Bhojpur33 per cent; Darbhanga 28 percent; Jehanabad 33 per cent;

Jamui 31 per cent; Katihar 34per cent; Khagria 36 per cent;Muzzaffarpur 41 per cent;Patna 27 per cent and eastChamparan 32 per cent.

The rain deficiency inDevbhoomi Dwarka recorded42 per cent; Jamnagar 29 percent; Kachchh 62 per cent;Morbi 51 per cent; Porbandar28 and Rajkot 30 per cent inSaurashtra and Kutch subdivision. Similarly, rain defi-ciency in Ananthapur,Chittoor, Cuddapah andKurnool in Rayalseemarecorded 33 percent, 41 percent, 60 per cent and 46 percent respectively.

In Assam and Meghalyasub division, districts likeBaksa, Barpeta, Dhubri,Bongaigaon, Goalpare havefaced rain deficiency up to 20to 40 per cent till date.Interestingly, some parts ofthe Assam is faced floodswhich affected 1,42,335 peoplein the State. ArunachalPradesh, which was once tout-ed as India's hydroelectric pow-erhouse, has also been leftwanting more. The State wit-nessed the highest deficit of 34per cent rainfall, recording936.3 mm rainfall (actual)against the normal average of1,423.8 mm. Anjaw (-10 percent), Changlang (-15 per

cent), East Kameng (-50 percent) West Kameng (-44 percent), Tirap (-66 per cent) andlohit (-44 per cent) are amongthose districts which receivedless rain this year.

In Manipur, deficiency ofrain in Churachandpur isrecorded 66 per cent, Chandel( -66) Imphal East (-30 percent), Senapati (-47 per cent),Tamenglong (-74 per cent)and Champhai (-45 per cent).

Out of total 36 sub-divi-sions, as many as 24 have wit-nessed normal rains, while 10continue to remain rain-defi-cient and two sub division hasrecorded excess rains. In otherwords, of the total 681 districts,254 have witnessed less mon-soon or rain deficient while 319have recorded normal rains.There are 76 districts whichrecorded excess rains while 13recorded large excess rains tilldate. July and August, therainiest months of the season,together account for nearly 70per cent of monsoon rainfall,and are crucial to the rain-fedagricultural areas.

IMD officials said that theMet Department mandate is tosay whether the rainfall is nor-mal or deficient. "Interpretationis the job of the StateGovernment," said IMD offi-cials.

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The Congress on Sundayalleged that there are dis-

crepancies in the Telanganavoter list and sought the inter-vention of the ElectionCommission (EC) in the"strongest possible manner".

Addressing the media,Congress spokespersonAbhishek Singhvi said, therewere around 70 lakh discrep-ancies in the voter list inTelangana. "The problem ofduplicates, deleted votes and dis-qualified voters is far moreacute in Telangana than couldhave been imagined, " he said.The party might move court to

ensure that the alleged discrep-ancies and anomalies in theelectoral rolls are correctedbefore any election is held in theState.

The Congress has alreadymoved a petition in theSupreme Court on alleged dis-crepancies in electoral rolls inRajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,where polls are due this year-end. Singhvi alleged that out ofthe total 70 lakh discrepancies,names of over 30 lakh voterswere duplicated and 20 lakhdeleted on the pretext that theyhave left for Andhra Pradesh.The same have not been addedto the voter list of AndhraPradesh, he claimed.

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Days after Congressleader Digvijay Singh

said the party will construct"Ram Path" in MadhyaPradesh if voted to power,the BJP has dared him toannounce support inParliament to the construc-tion of a Ram temple inAyodhya.

BJP national vice-pres-ident Prabhat Jha told PTIBhasha the Congress' lovefor Lord Ram is just for thesake of elections.

"Digvijay Singh is him-self a member of the RajyaSabha and senior leader ofthe Congress. Instead oftalking about non-issues,he should promise support

in Parliament to the con-struction of a Ram temple inAyodhya," he said.

Jha said the Ram templeissue is sub-judice and thecourt will decide on it, butMuslims and Hindus canalso resolve the mattermutually.

He said theGovernment has startedwork on the RamayanCircuit project, estimatedto come up at a cost of �266crore.

The Government plansto develop Ramayana-basedtourist centres as part of theRamayana Circuit. It is oneof 13 circuits the TourismMinistry is planning todevelop as part of itsSwadesh Darshan Scheme.

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Fifteen patients suffering due to"faulty" hip implants of Johnson

and Johnson have approached the cen-tral expert committee, days after it wasformed by the Union Health Ministryto determine the quantum of com-pensation to be provided to them.

Sources in the Union HealthMinistry said the panel has so farreceived representations from 15affected patients from across thecountry and it will have its firstmeeting on September 18 to scrutiniseeach of them.

The Centre constituted the five-member expert committee to deter-mine the quantum of compensationto be given to patients who have"faulty" hip implants, manufactured byDePuy International, a subsidiary ofJohnson and Johnson.

Apart from the central panel, theUnion Health Ministry has also askedstates and union territories to consti-tute separate committees so that they

can receive such complaints fromaffected patients.

"We have received 15 such repre-sentations via mail since the expertcommittee was formed. The centralexpert committee will meet onTuesday to discuss each of the cases,"a Health Ministry source said.

The source said that after pre-liminary scrutiny, it has been foundthat there are one or two cases that arenot related to the matter involvingJohnson and Johnson.

An earlier expert panel, consti-tuted by the Union Health Ministry toinvestigate complaints about faultyarticular surface replacement (ASR)hip implant devices, said in its reportthat the pharma giant "suppressed"facts on the harm of surgeries after-wards which was conducted onpatients in India using the "faulty" sys-tems.

It had also suggested that the com-pany pay compensation of around �20lakh to the affected patients.

The new five-member central

committee is being chaired by R KArya, director, Sports Injury Centre,Safdurjung Hospital.

Others in the committee includeC S Yadav, department ofOrthopaedics, AIIMS in New Delhi;Vineet Sharma, Head of Departmentof Orthopaedics, King George'sMedical University in Lucknow; BikasMedhi, professor pharmacology,Postgraduate Institute of MedicalEducation and Research (PGIMER),Chandigarh; and Bhushan Tilak Kaul,professor of law in Delhi University.

The sources said the ministry issoon going to make amendments inthe medical devices rules in whichthere will be a provision for payingcompensation to such affected patientsin case it is proven.

Patients and family members ofthose affected by Johnson andJohnson's faulty hip implants hadgathered in Delhi recently, demand-ing they be directly involved in theprocess of ascertaining the compen-sation.

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Tribals account for 30 per cent casesof malaria in India and non-com-

municable and lifestyle diseases arenow major health problems facingthem, according to a Governmentstudy.

The comprehensive analysis oftribal health by an expert committeeconstituted by the Ministries of Healthand Tribal Affairs in 2013, also revealedthat an "unacceptably high" number oftribals suffer from malnutrition.

The health status of ScheduledTribes has significantly improved overthe last 25 years, and "yet, it is the worstwhen compared to other socialgroups", it said.

The committee, which submittedthe report to the Government recent-ly, was tasked to review the existinghealth situation in tribal areas, for-mulate strategic guidelines for Statesand make recommendations on therequirement of additional resources.

It said there is a near completeabsence of data on the health situationof different tribal communities. In theabsence of a comprehensive health pic-ture of tribal health in the country, pol-icy measures and Government pro-grammes are often ad-hoc.

The panel relied on data from the2011 Census, National Family HealthSurvey (NFHS), National SampleSurvey Organisation (NSSO), studiesconducted by civil society, and a studyby the National Institute of Researchin Tribal Health.

"Geographical isolation, poorimplementation of policies and lack ofadequate resources have been respon-sible for the poor health status of thetribal population," the 12-memberpanel, headed by Magsaysay awardeeand rural health expert Dr AbhayBang, said.

The committee found that tribalpeople, who constitute 8.6 per cent ofthe country's population, suffer froma triple burden of diseases.

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Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh on

Sunday asserted India is fullof cultural diversity and itis unbreakable. It is beingdeveloped as a tourist des-tination.

Singh was speaking onthe inauguration of the sec-ond edition of 'ParyatanParv', being held across thecountry to promote touristsites, especially amongdomestic travellers.

The event is beingorganised by the TourismMinistry with the objectiveof drawing focus on thebenefits of tourism, show-casing the cultural diversi-ty of the country and rein-forcing the principle of"tourism for all".

"Indian culture is veryrich. Its rich civilisation is

discussed across the world.Its the only country wherefollowers of all the impart-ed religions are found.

"There are a great num-ber of languages, dialectsand dresses. Its a countryfull of diversity. Still, it isincredible and unbreak-able," Singh said.

He said that thetourism will help people tounderstand the country.

"The country is full oftraditions and customs. It isbeing developed as a touristdestination. TheGovernment is trying toincrease tourism's contri-bution in the GDP fromseven to 10 per cent," he said.

Speaking at the occa-sion, Union Minister of Statefor Culture and Tourism, KJ Alphons, said that thecountry was largest growingin the tourism industry.

According to theMinistry, 'Paryatan Parv'will have three main com-ponents — 'Dekho ApnaDesh', 'Tourism for All' and'Tourism and Governance'.

The event will focus ondomestic tourists especial-ly to sensitise youth, theMinistry said that Indiahas a huge variety of desti-nations many of which areyet to be promoted.

Thirty-two States andUnion territories, alongwith different departmentsof the Government, are col-laborating with the Ministryto organise 3,150 activitiesacross India as part of theprogramme, it said. Whilecelebrations will be heldacross the country with thehelp of State Governments,at Rajpath in the nationalCapital, activities will con-tinue for 12 days.

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Even as India is yet to acquireSpike anti tank guided mis-

siles fired from shoulder fromIsrael, the Defence Researchand DevelopmentOrganisation(DRDO) is con-ducting tests on indigenouslydesigned Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPAT-GM). The second flight test ofthe missile was successfullyconducted on Sunday at theAhmednagar range inMaharashtra.

The missile can be fired byan infantry soldier from hisshoulder to destroy enemytanks at ranges varying fromthree to four km. The Armydesperately needs them toreplace the older Milan andKonkur missiles.

The indigenously devel-oped MPATGM is a third gen-eration system and if it meets allparameters specified by theArmy will be inducted intoinfantry and parachute battal-ions. The DRDO has developedthe system in collaborationwith an Indian private sectordefence unit which is supplyingsub-systems, sources said here.

The official statementissued after the test said all themission objectives were metduring trial and the two mis-sions on Saturday and Sundayhave been successfully flight

tested for different rangesincluding the maximum rangecapability. Defence MinisterNirmala Sitharaman congrat-ulated the DRDO, IndianArmy and associated Industriesfor the twin success of MPAT-GM weapon system.

Equipped with fire and for-get mechanism with lock beforelaunch, the missile has an effec-tive range of more than 2,500metres. The warhead on themissile can penetrate 750mm to850mm and the system is dualmode with the capability of dayand night imaging infra redseeker. The total weight of theportable missile system is about19kg, sources said.

With the Army needingmore than 50,000 such systems,efforts are on to buy a limitednumber of Spike missiles from

Israel through government togovernment route to plug crit-ical gaps as the DRDO missilewill take at least three to fouryears before declared opera-tionally ready, sources said.

As per earlier plans theArmy wanted to buy morethan 8,400 Spike systems in adeal worth over one billion dol-lars. However, the governmentdecided to scrap the plan andopted for the indigenous mis-sile system. Since it will takesome time, the Army has urgedthe government to allow it buyabout 4,500 Spike systemsworth over 500 million dollarsas a stop gap arrangement andthe Government is favourablyinclined, they said. The Spikesystem has longer range thanthe indigenous system and canhit a target beyond five kms.

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The CBI is likely to file anoth-er chargesheet within a

month in the bank fraud per-petrated by liquor baron VijayMallya. Many senior bank offi-cials who had dealt with loansgiven to Mallya's KingfisherAirlines may be named asaccused in the chargesheet.This would be first chargesheetin the case pertaining to loansof over �6,000 crore given toKingfisher by a consortium of17 banks led by State Bank ofIndia (SBI) which alone had anexposure of �1,600 crore.

The agency has alreadyfiled a charge sheet againstMallya last year in connectionwith a separate case related to�900 crore pending loan givenby IDBI Bank in which senior

officials of the bank wereallegedly involved.

The CBI had registered twocases against Mallya related tothe IDBI loans in 2015 and con-sortium loan in 2016.

Refusing to give names ofthe officials, the sources said thefirst phase of probe into loansgiven by a consortium of banksis almost complete and thechargesheet may be filed with-in a month while keeping theinvestigation open.

Both serving and retired

senior officials of the banksincluding the SBI who hadhandled Kingfisher Airlinesloans may be named as accusedin the chargesheet as the agencyhas gathered enough evidenceagainst them on misuse of offi-cial position, they said.

The top brass of erstwhileKingfisher airlines includingMallya, its CFO A Raghunathanand other former senior execu-tives will also be named asaccused in the case, they said.

They said the agency isalso looking into the role ofFinance Ministry officials whocould have influenced the deci-sion of the bankers but their roleis still be evaluated.

During the probe, theagency has gathered enoughevidence to show that Mallyaallegedly diverted the loan funds

from the purpose for which theywere given, they said.

The agency in its FIR hasalleged that State Bank of Indiaand its consortium banks hadadvanced various credit facilitiesto Kingfisher Airlines Limitedduring the period between 2005and 2010, they said.

During 2009-10, the com-pany failed to meet its repay-ment commitments to the bankfrom which it had availed thecredit facilities and KingfisherAirlines did not keep its accountwith the consortium banks reg-ular which became NPA, theFIR states.

The consortium banks,therefore, recalled the creditfacilities and also invoked cor-porate guarantee of UBHL andpersonal guarantee of Mallya, italleged.

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After a long wait, finally, theseat sharing between BJP

and JD(U) has been finalisedand this was announced noneother than Chief Minister andJD(U) president Nitish Kumar.On Sunday addressing the Stateexecutive meeting at his officialresidence, Nitish said the for-mal announcement could bemade any day.

But he cautioned the par-tymen particularly all thespokesmen not to discuss thistopic with media. “I am notdisclosing how many andwhich seats JD(U) is gettingbecause I have been advised bythe BJP leadership not to revealit before the formal announce-ment,” he said and added he hasnot informed anybody in hisparty.

The caution and careshowed by Nitish in disclosingthe details indicated that theBJP leadership has possibly

not taken into confidence isother allies LJP and RLSPabout this seat sharing.

The JD(U) leaders includ-ing Nitish had been saying forover a month that all the talkson seat sharing had been madeon highest level and soon itwould be announced.

First it was expected by theend of August but it could notmaterialise due to the demiseof former PM Atal BihariVajpayee.

Then Bihar JD(U) presi-dent Bashistha Narain Singhhad sated that it would beannounced by September 15and accordingly the party had

scheduled its sgae executivemeeting on September 16.

Sources in the NDA saidthat JD(U), which was not anally of NDA in 2014 polls,would get an honourable shareand possibly be given 12 seatswhich included a few seatswhich BJP or its allies had won.In 2014 JD(U) had contested allthe seats and won only two.

Speculations were rife inJD(U) circles that Nitish closeconfident and Minister RajivRanjan Singh Lalan was verykeen to contest from Munger,the seat currently held by LJP’sVeena Devi. She had alreadyexpressed her antipathytowards Nitish and Lalan andhinted to quit LJP and join RJD.Also, the JD(U) is likely to getDarbhanga seat which waswon by Kirti Azad of BJP. ButAzad is no longer in BJP andlikely to join Congress and con-test. JD(U) is likely to fieldSanjay Jha from Darbhangawhich he lost time.

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Prashant Kishor, who emergedas a successful poll strategist

in 2014-15 but failed miserablyin 2016-17 while dealing withelection strategy of differentparties, plunged into active pol-itics and joined the JD(U). Hejoined the Nitish Kumar-ledparty on Sunday just before theState executive meeting of theJD(U) at the CM residence.

There was no official wordon what will be the role ofKishor in the party but inpolitical circles there has beenbuzz that he might contestparliamentary election from aconstituency of his choice. The41-year-old Kishor, who hailsfrom Buxar in Bihar, is alsolikely to be remain as party’schief strategist on talks forseat sharing with allies andselection of candidates.

A visibly excited Nitish tolda news channel, “He is thefuture (of politics), I am tellingyou.” All the senior leaders ofJD(U) hailed his decision to jointhe party and said JD(U) wouldimmensely benefit from him.

This is the first timePrashant Kishor, also called

PK, has joined any politicalparty even though he served aspoll strategist of Narendra Modi,then CM of Gujarat, in 2014Lok Sabha polls which elevatedhim to the office of PrimeMinister but parted ways withhim after the formation of NDAgovernment at Centre andinstallation of Amit Shah as BJP

chief. In 2015 Assembly electionin Bihar he became poll strategist of Nitish Kumar, thena bête noire of Modi, who hadstitched alliance with LaluPrasad’s RJD. The victory of thegrand alliance helped Nitishretain his post.

Nitish was so impressedwith Kishor’s modernized elec-

tion campaigning that heappointed him as an adviserwith ministerial status. But in2017 and better part of 2018 heremained off the scene. He alsofailed to make a mark in UP andUttrakhand assembly electionswhen he had ben roped in bythe Congress.

Recently in Hyderabad hesaid he would no longer workas poll strategist for any partyand might enter electoral poli-tics.

Nitish’s right hand andJD(U) general secretary RCPSingh said Kishor was not newto politics but his associationwill definitely help the organi-sation. When reminded that hefailed as poll strategist forCongress, he said, “No pollstrategist can help if the partyhas no support base.”

Kishor’s critics said the vic-tory of BJP in 2014 and that ofgrand alliance in Bihar in 2015had nothing to do with pollstrategy but because of publicmood and support. Reacting onhis decision to join JD(U),senior RJD leader Abdul BariSiddiqui said, “Nitish is boundof lose even if 100 PrashantKishors come to help him.”

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During the two-day longMonsoon Session of

Gujarat Assembly starting fromTuesday, the BJP-ruled GujaratGovernent will table a Billwhich would pave a way foreasy redevelopment of old anddilapidated buildings in theurban areas.

Apart from the Bill relatedto redevelopment, four otherBills including the formation ofthe commissioner for munici-palities, the law against chainsnatching cases, revision inGST tax rates, the formation ofBiotechnology Universit wouldbe tabled in the session.

Sources in the state UrbanDevelopment department said

that the idea to amed the Billpertaining to redevelopment –The Gujarat Ownership Flats(Amendement) Bill, 2018 wasaimed at simplifying the processof redevelopment of the delap-idated apartments. The Bill willsuggest amendment in GujaratOwnersip Flat Act, 1973 ane therequire consent from housingunit owners will be made 75 percent instead of 100 per cent.However, buildings to be rede-veloped should be 25 or moreyears or else the tenure of 25 ormore years should have beencompleted after the develop-ment permission given by com-petent authority.

Moreover a certificate fromthe competent regarding thedelapidated condition of the

building would also requiredfrom the competent authority.

Amendment in article 379of IPC through a Bill wouldmake the laws against chainsnatchers more stringent. TheRupani government will alsobring the bill to establish a ded-icated biotechnology universi-ty on the outskirts ofGandhinagar. Another Bill sug-gest amendment in the GSTAct in lines with the change inslabs of the taxes decided by theGST Council recently. TheGujarat Municipalities (Amendement) Bill, 2018 to betalbed by the state govern-ment would replce the systemof directorate of municipalitiesby Commissioner ofMunicipalities.

The Opposition Congress inGujarat Assembly has

demanded 25-day longMonsoon Session instead ofonly 2-day session accusing theruling BJP party of not bring-ing important issues in theHouse for discussion.

Gujarat Congress in-chargeRajiv Satav alleged that Gujaratwas the only State in the coun-try which holds mere 2-dayMonsoon Session of theAssembly.

Satav went on to say that

ruling party doesn’t have faithin democratic processes andonly believe in avoiding healthydiscussions related to people’sissue in the House.

Congress party wanted todiscuss issues of unemploy-ment, farmers and poorpeoople, said the Congressleader, but in couple of days Assembly session itwouldn’t be possible. “Howcan 180 plus MLAs raise issuesof their constituencies in twodays,” he said. PNS

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It’s dramatic political devel-opments which haunt fragile

coalition Government of theJD(S) and the Congress inKarnataka led by Chief MinisterHD Kumaraswamy. Congressis threatened with a majorrevolt by powerful Jarkiholebrothers from Belagavi and theCongress netas were waiting forformer Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah who was awayholidaying in Europe.

After his 12-day sojournended on SundaySiddaramaiah is the crisis man-ager for the Congress to dousethe fire. Many Congress lead-ers which include AICC gen-eral secretary and Karnataka incharge KC Venugopal made abeeline to meet Siddaramaiahwho is behind the crisis to takecontrol over the party.

Apart from Venugopal,KPCC president Dinesh GunduRao, party’s working presidentEshwar Khandre and DeputyChief Minister G

Parameshwara metSiddaramaiah at his officialresidence Cauvery, to take stockof the Belagavi impasse. Theydiscussed many issues includ-ing the revolt which has threat-ened the HDK Government.Jarkihole brothers,Municipalities MinisterRamesh Jarkiholi and formerMinister Satish Jarkiholi, havethreatened to raise a banner ofrevolt following their feud withparty MLA Laxmi Hebbalkarand Water Resource Minister DK Shivakumar.

The party has confided inSiddaramaiah to trouble shootthe problem as Jarkihole broth-ers are close associates of himand who can certainly controlthem against breaking away.

Amidst speculation thatthe Jarkiholi brothers (whohave made several demands)might defect to the BJP with afew MLAs, the duo have main-tained that they would notpose a threat to theGovernment. During the meet-ing, Siddaramaiah is learnt to

have to have taken exception tohis name being dragged in tothis controversy.

Venugopal who was rushedto Bengaluru to meet up withSiddaramaiah to trouble shootthe problem, blamed BJP of try-ing to destabilise coalitionGovernment in Karnataka. Hesaid after the meeting thatthere is no problem and thecoalition Government willcomplete its full term. He said“The Jarkiholi brothers aren’tposing problems. It is a districtissue — the State leaders haveresolved it. There may be somedifferences. But this will notaffect the Government. There isno threat to the Government —it is 100% safe. The BJP is play-ing games. It is trying to toppleGovernment with black money.But we trust our MLAs,” headded.

State Congress chief DineshGundu Rao took exceptiontaking Siddaramaiah’s name inthe crisis. He said not to dragSiddaramaiah who is not tryingto destabilise the Government.

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Aday after announcingschedule for the conduct of

Municipal polls in Jammu andKashmir, the State ElectionCommission on Sundaydeclared that Panchayat elec-tions would be held in theembattled region betweenNovember 17 and December11 in 9 phases on non-partybasis.

The announcement wasmade despite two prominentmainstream parties in Kashmir,the National Conference (NC)and Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) decided to stay awayfrom the polls in protest againstlinking their conduct with apending litigation in SupremeCourt regarding the specialstatus of Jammu and Kashmirunder Articles 35A and 370 ofthe Indian Constitution.

Chief Electoral Officer(CEO) Shaleen Kabra toldreporters that the Panchayatelections would be held in 9phases on November 17, 20, 24,27, 29 and December 01, 04, 08and 11. The dates for issuanceof gazette for each phase, mak-ing nominations, scrutiny,

withdrawal, poll and countingdates were issued with relateddetails of panchayat elections.

Kabra said the elections toaround 4500 Panchayat Halqasin over 35000 panchayatConstituencies will have over58 lakh electors in year 2018 asper the draft roll. He said thefinal rolls will be completed bythe end of September.

He said ballot boxes wouldbe used during the forthcom-ing Panchayat polls and postalballot will be provided to theKashmiri migrant voters at allplaces within and outside State.The polling will be held from8 am to 2 pm.

He said district wise phas-ing of Panchayat elections hasbeen done in both Kashmirand Jammu division coveringthe 22 districts of the State. Hesaid in the process of finalizingthe election schedule, all rele-vant aspects have been takeninto consideration that includesholidays, festivals, examina-tion dates and the usual weath-er patterns and migratorymovements during the monthsof October to December.

The CEO said that stateGovernment has planned

secure security environmentfor the forthcoming Municipaland Panchayat elections in theState. With the announcementof this schedule, the ModeCode of Conduct (MCC) hascome into force with immedi-ate effect. All the ongoingdevelopmental works shall con-tinue. However, no new sanc-tion or allotment shall be madeduring MCC period. All theprovisions of MCC will applyto all the Panchayat Halqas(rural areas) and will be applic-able to all the candidates, polit-ical parties and the state andcentral governments.

The last time electionswere for village panchayatswere held in 2011 after a gap of10 years through secret ballot.The panchayats elected in year

2011 completed their tenure inJuly 2016. On Saturday, the SECannounced to hold Municipalbodies’ elections in four phas-es on 08, 10, 13 and 16 Octoberthis year.

The Commissionannounced poll schedulesdespite the decision of twomain political parties NationalConference and People’sDemocratic Party to stay awayfrom municipal and Panchayatpolls. National Conferenceand PDP have alreadyannounced to boycott theupcoming panchayat andmunicipal polls in the State.

This is for the first timethat most influential main-stream political parties are onthe same page with the sepa-ratist groups on the conduct ofelections. The separatist JointResistance Leadership (JRL)has announced complete boy-cott to the polls while as HizbulMujahideen outfit has threat-ened voters and campaignerswith consequences should theycame out to vote. The outfitsaid that the voters and candi-dates would be attacked withsulphuric acid and hydrochlo-ric acid.

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Terrorists on Sundayattacked an Army vehicle in

South Kashmir’s Shopian dis-trict triggering a cordon andsearch operation in the volatilearea. Reports said ultrasattacked the Army party andattempted to blow up a bullet-proof Army vehicle byImprovise Explosive Device(IED) followed by firing atHeff village in Shopian districtof south Kashmir.

The security forces cor-doned off the area and manhuntwas launched to nab the attack-ers. This is second such attack inthe area in a month’s time. Lastmonth an armoured vehiclewas attacked in Chitragam vil-lage of the region. In anotherincident, at least nine personssustained burn injuries aftermassive fire engulfed a comme-rcial complex in north Kashmir’sUri tehsil in Baramulla district.Nine shops were also gutted inthe fire incident.

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After National Conferenceand Peoples Democratic

Party (PDP) now displacedmigrant community too hasmade up its mind to boycott theupcoming civic and Panchayatpolls in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to prominentKashmiri pandit leaders thedecision was taken after namesof around 1 lakh voters,residingin Jammu, were found missingin the freshly prepared voters listfor municipal polls in the State.

Various Kashmiri panditleaders and organisations havealready labelled this act as noth-ing less than ‘constitutionallynching’.

“We are at the receiving endunder BJP rule in the State. Wehad never expected this scenario.Our names have been deletedfrom the voters list even afterpaying our regular taxes andparticipating in the previousMunicipal polls in 2005”, sever-al kashmiri pandit leaders said

echoing similar sentimentsagainst the lopsided decision.

One of the senior mostleader of Panun Kashmir, aprominent organisation of dis-placed Kashmiri pandits, DrAjay Chrungoo said, “it is a sin-ister plot against the members ofthe displaced community”. Theywant to write off our names evenfrom electoral records. He said,“We are being penalised for crit-icising working of BJP ledGovernment. He said by ‘delist-ing’ around 1 lakh voters with-out their consent theGovernment is committingbiggest human rights violation.

Questioning the logic

behind the decision Kashmiripandits said, “in 2005 when lastMunicipal polls were held in theState we had participated in largenumbers in Jammu region. Evenone of our candidates SheelaHandoo was elected from ward no 64 in Jammu. But this time even her ownname has been deleted from thevoters list”.

Migrant Kashmiri panditsclaimed when we are living inJammu for past 28 years andpaying our regular taxes to dif-ferent State Government depart-ments how can we go toKashmir and participate in thepolls from Kashmir valley.

The kashmiri pandits hadsubmitted their representationsto Chief Electoral Officer of thestate and had even demandedthat the Government must allowthem to cast their votes on thebasis of electoral rolls of 2012 or2016 when their names existedin the list else they would be leftwith no other opportunity but toboycott the polls.

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Union Minister JitendraSingh on Sunday hit out at

the National Conference and thePeoples Democratic Party fortheir decision to boycott theupcoming local bodies and pan-chayat polls and accused theirleadership of trying to “shovetheir decisions” on Jammu.

“The leadership of theKashmir-centric parties (NCand PDP) have announced boy-cott of the polls and are tryingto shove their decisions onJammu. If Jammu-based leadersof these parties have slightest ofself-esteem left, then they canapproach the BJP,” Singh, theminister of state in the PrimeMinister’s Office, said.

He was addressing theworking committee meeting ofthe state unit of the BJP here.

Singh said the people, espe-cially the youth, need to decidewhether they are with the“Prime Minister NarendraModi model of development,

the family model of theCongress or the boycott modelof the NC and the PDP”.

State BJP presidentRavinder Raina welcomed thedecision of the government tohold urban local bodies andpanchayat elections and said itwould further strengthen thepower of the common man andhelp in strengthening thedemocracy at the grassrootslevel in the state.

He said the BJP was fol-lowing the policy of develop-ment for all and appeasementto none.

“Whereas the previousgovernments were completelyfilled up with the scams, on theother hand, the Modi govern-ment has given a severe blow toterrorists and their sympathis-ers,” Raina said. Meanwhile,BJP state spokesperson andformer minister Priya Sethisaid municipal and panchayatpolls would deal a “blow to pol-itics of blackmail” by theKashmir-centric parties.

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Rajasthan Chief MinisterVasundhara Raje on

Sunday said her Governmentleft “no stone unturned” inserving the people of the Stateand sought from them anoth-er term, during ‘RajasthanGaurav Yatra’ at her home turfin the Hadouti region.

While coming down heav-ily on Congress, Raje, on thethird day of the fourth phase ofher Gaurav Yatra in Hadouti,called upon the people to re-elect her Government in theupcoming Assembly election“to continue the pace of

progress and development.She addressed public meet-

ings at Mangrol town in Barandistrict, and Itawa and Deegodin Kota district and highlight-ed the achievements of her gov-ernment in the last four-and-a-half years.

“At least 175 Gaurav Pathshave been constructed inMangrol,” Raje said at a publicmeeting in Krishi Upaj Mandiground in Mangrol town,claiming with an expenditureof Rs 13 crore, her governmenthas made Baran–Mangroleflood-free. The chief ministerclaimed that her governmentprovided facilities for drinking

and irrigation water round theyear for Jhalawar and Baran.

“We are working our bestto prove the people’s trust inour government,” Raje said inItawa and asserted that 47schools were upgraded in thearea and an ITI college set upby the state government.

“The pace of progress anddevelopment should not bederailed,” the chief ministersaid and called upon the pub-lic to re-elect her government.

Raje addressed her thirdpublic meeting late in theevening in Deegod village ofSangod assembly constituencyin Kota.

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Gujarat Chief Minister VijayRupani Sunday picked up

a broom and cleaned a portionof a civic body-run hospitalhere as part of the Centre’s“Swachhata Hi Seva” campaign.

Rupani visited the V SHospital and cleaned a portionof the Ahmedabad MunicipalCorporation (AMC)-run hos-pital with a broom, joining thefortnight-long cleanlinessdrive launched by PrimeMinister Narendra Modilaunched Saturday.

The ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’movement aims at generatinggreater public participationtowards Swachhta (cleanliness).It is being organised in the run-up to the fourth anniversary ofthe Swachh Bharat Mission, onOctober 2 2018, which will alsomark the commencement ofthe 150th birth anniversarycelebrations of MahatmaGandhi.

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The Bengal BJP has strong-ly reacted to Chief Minister

Mamata Banerjee’s commentsthat India was witnessing superemergency under NarendraModi Government.

State party president DilipGhosh said before making suchcomments the Chief Ministershould herself look at how shewas running Bengal where“the ruling party wins 30 per-cent of panchayat seats withoutcontest, where the Oppositionworkers are forced to join theTrinamool Congress either atgunpoint or by power ofmoney, where the Oppositionparty offices are forcefullyoccupied by the ruling party.”

Banerjee had on Saturdaycalled upon the like-mindedparties to unite against thesaffron dictatorship saying“India is going through a superemergency.”

She said on the Twitter:“today is International Day ofDemocracy. (but) It anguishesme that our country is cur-rently going through a Super

Emergency,” and called uponall the anti-BJP forces to joinhands to throw out the “dicta-torial regime.”

She wrote “all the like-minded parties should cometogether in 2019 to restore thedemocratic institutions of thisgreat nation.”

Her statement came hoursafter she said the BJP would failto reach anywhere near its2014 feat when it got 31 percentof votes winning 283 seats inthe Lok Sabha elections thatyear and reminded how the saf-fron outfit had “failed in allrespects.”

Attacking Ghosh for point-ing fingers at TMC’s allegedrigging in this year’s panchay-at elections senior TMC leader

and Minister Sadhan Pandeysaid the BJP leader shouldhave looked at the panchayatelection results of Tripurabefore accusing the TMC as“the BJP has won 96 percentpanchayat seats and all the 18district board seats uncontest-ed in that State.”

Meanwhile, the ChiefMinister on Sunday morningleft for a 12-day trip toGermany and Italy to bringinvestments, sources said. Shewas being accompanied byFinance Minister Amit Mitra,Chief Secretary Malay Deyand Finance Secretary HKDwivedi.

Banerjee who was likely toreturn on September 28 saidshe had been invited by topindustrialists and businessmenfrom those countries.

She was likely to visitFrankfurt and Milan.

“I am going to Frankfurtand Milan to bring more busi-ness and industry to the State.We will be holding two meet-ings (in the two cities),” she saidbefore leaving for Germany viaDubai.

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Amajor fire broke out inKolkata’s Burrabazar

area engulfing the multi-storey Bagree Market inthe small hours of Sundaybringing back the horriblememories of the NanadramMarket and Stephen Housefire about a decade ago.

Though there was noreport of any casualty — tillreports last came in — the firethat was threatening to leap onto the adjacent buildings —about 16 hours after it broke out in Asia’s secondlargest whole-sale facility —continued to rage triggering a series of high-intensity blasts perhaps in gas cylindersor air-conditioning machinesto cause numerous cracks onthe walls of the 150 year oldstructure, sources said.

Though 30 fire engines had been pressed intoservice to douse the leaping

inferno that had licked upalmost all of the 400 wholesalemarkets destroying articlesworth crores ahead of the busyDurga Puja season the con-gested road made the task ofthe firefighters all the more dif-ficult.

“We have been trying touse the hydraulic ladder butthere is no way to let them inas this part of the Canning Street is so narrow,” asenior Fire official said informing most of the shopsdealt in medicine and per-fumes.

The fire broke out in theground floor first at about 2.30am on Sunday, before climbingon to the higher storeys sourcessaid.

“Chief Minister MamataBanerjee who went abroad ina business summit this morn-ing was very concerned aboutthe fire and had asked all theofficials and ministers to use allmeans to bring the fire under

control,” senior minister ParthoChatterjee said on Sundayevening.

The Chief Minister said“we have taken complete infor-mation. No one is trappedinside. I have instructed theofficials and ministers to doeverything possible to arrest thefire.”

Kolkata Mayor and StateFire Minister Sovan Chatterjeesaid, “we are trying our best todouse the fire but the area is sonarrow that fire engines cannotbe maneuvered freely,” not rul-ing out a complete collapse ofthe seven-storey building incase the fire lingered for anoth-er few hours.

Experts who had in 2008taken part in fighting theNandram Market fire about 200 metres away fromthe present site said the fire was unlikely to be arrestedbefore 24 another hours as ithad engulfed the back portionsof the gigantic building too.

Large portions of north-western Kolkata includ-ing Strand Road,

Mahatma Gandhi Road andwitnessed hours of traffic jamand the mess was expected to

rise on the first working day of the week on Monday, police said.

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Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath

Sunday paid rich tributes toformer Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee here, sayingthe BJP stalwart inspired peo-ple by dedicating his life for allIndians without any discrimi-nation.

Speaking at Atal SmritiKavyanjali programme,Adityanath said, “The workand personality of Atal ji is asource of inspiration for all ofus, as he had dedicated his lifefor all Indians without anydiscrimination. His heart wasthat of a poet, which workedselflessly for all.”

“He (Vajpayee) was awayfrom public life for the last 11years, but children who were born during these yearshave immense respect for himand they paid heartfelt tributesto him.

After his death, almost allparties showed respect for himand common people came onstreets to express their feelingsfor him, which is indeed a bigthing,” Adityanath said.

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The Vishwa Hindu Parishadon Sunday expressed hope

that a grand Ram temple willbe built in Ayodhya.

“We are hopeful that agrand Ram temple will be builtin Ayodhya,” secretary gener-al of Vishwa Hindu ParishadMilind Parande told reportershere.

He added that Bajrang Dal,Durga Vahini and Matri Vahinihad began a membership driveon September 15.

On October 5, a meeting ofseers on Ram Janmabhoomiissue is likely to take place in Delhi, further there will be a ‘Dharm Sansad’ inAllahabad during the Kumbhon January 31 and February 1,he said.

Milind Parande on theoccasion urged the StateGovernments to take steps tostop religious conversion,which are offered to people inlieu of lucrative offers.

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Under fire for his commentsthat the rise in petrol and

diesel prices doesn’t botherhim as he is a Minister, RamdasAthawale Sunday regretted hisremarks and said he had nointention of hurting the senti-ments of the common man.

In a statement issued inMumbai, Athawale, a BJP allyand the Union Minister of Statefor Social Justice, said that heunderstands people are gettingaffected by the rising fuel prices.

“I do understand the feel-ings of people who are gettingaffected by the rising fuelprices. I had no intention of

hurting the sentiments of thecommon man,” he said.

Athawale, who heads afaction of the Republican Partyof India (RPI), made the con-troversial remarks at a press

conference at Jaipur Saturday.“I am not suffering from

rising fuel prices as I am aMinister,” he had said, referringto the allowances he gets.

“I may suffer if I lose myministerial post,” he had said.

Athawale was asked if hewas personally affected by therising fuel prices.

However, at the same pressmeet, the minister acknowl-edged that others are affectedmore by the rising prices ofpetrol and diesel.

The price of fuel can bereduced if the states cut the taxon it. The Centre is seriouslyworking on the issue, he had saidat the Press conference.

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The Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) will be compelled to

go it alone if it does not get a“respectable” number of seatsin the anti-BJP alliance that isshaping up before the 2019 LokSabha polls, former UttarPradesh Chief MinisterMayawati said Sunday.

The BSP chief also said thatinstances of mob lynching inthe name of cow protectionwere a “blot on democracy”and accused BJP Governmentsin various States of being indif-ferent to the problem.

At a Press conference, heldfor the first time in her newaccommodation here after shewas forced to vacate her sprawl-ing bungalow on SupremeCourt orders, Mayawati madeclear her party might be com-pelled to go it alone if it doesnot get a “respectable number”of seats in the anti-BJP alliance.

“Our party is not againstthe alliance, but our stand isvery clear that we will ally witha political party only if we geta respectable share of seats.

Otherwise, our party feels itbetter to contest the electionsalone,” she said.

On the 2019 Lok Sabhaelections and the upcomingAssembly elections in certainstates, Mayawati said, the effortof the Opposition parties willbe to stop the BJP from com-ing to power at any cost.

Maywati targeted the BJPclaiming that its Governmentsin the Centre and states had“worsened” the condition of thepeople by showing them falsedreams.

“These Governments havedone no good to people barringa few industrialists,” she allegedadding that “both the NDA andthe previous UPA Gove-rnments were equally respon-sible for shielding the corrupt”.

Mayawati also said the“increasing tendency” of mobsindulging in lynching in thename of cow protection in the“BJP-ruled States” was a blot ondemocracy. Yet theGovernments (in these states)are exercising laxity and arebeing indifferent to it, sheclaimed.

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Aspecial drive for voters’enrolment is being held at

all the designated polling sta-tions in the State by theElection Commission.

The Special campaign withBooth Level Officers at pollingstations, began Saturday andcontinued Sunday for voters’enrolment.

Similarly, eligible votersseeking to make corrections inentries in existing rolls or thosewho have shifted to anotherpolling areas can apply formaking required changesthrough forms or by availingonline services, officials said.

Awareness rallies wereorganised in different parts ofthe city and the state for votersenrolment, they said.

A bike rally on voterawareness and enrolment “BeBold-Come out and vote” wasorganised by the GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) here.

The Election Commissionis holding polling booth-wise

revision and verification ofelectoral rolls in 32,574 pollingstations and booth level officerswere made available foraddressing issues related tothe voters’ list (on Saturday andSunday).

Telangana Chief ElectoralOfficer Rajat Kumar saidFriday that preparations forAssembly polls in the Statewere underway, and EVMsand VVPAT machines hadstarted to arrive.

He had said over 52,000ballot units, around 41,000Central Units and 44,000 VoterVerifiable Paper Audit Trailmachines were expected toreach various districts beforeSeptember 20.

The CEO said booth level officials would be available at all polling stationsto take up issues related to thevoters’ list.

A preliminary level inspec-tion of EVMs will be conduct-ed to detect manufacturingdefects in the presence of polit-ical parties to remove doubts ifany, he had said,adding

VVPATS will be used for thefirst time in the ensuingAssembly elections.

Earlier, the ElectionCommission had stopped allactivities relating to Specialsummary revision of photo electoral rolls with reference to January 1, 2019and said the final electoralrolls list will be published onOctober 8.

He decision for a revisedschedule was taken in the wakeof dissolution of the TelanganaAssembly on September 6, offi-cials had said.

As per the revised sched-ule, the integrated draft elec-toral roll was published onSeptember 10.

The period for filing claimsand objections is from Mondayto September 25 while the dis-posal of claims and objectionsis by October 4.

The updating database andprinting of supplement will becompleted before October 7and the final publication ofelectoral roll will be on October8, it said.

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The baby cradle centres inKerala, aimed at providing

shelter for children abandonedby their parents, are set to beupgraded by using latest tech-nologies to make them moresecure and accountable. The S-tate Government has also pla-nned to more than double thenumber of “Ammathottil’, as thecentres are known in localparlance, from existing 14 to atleast 30.

An initiative under theKerala State Council for ChildWelfare (KSCCW), the cradlecentres provides care and ser-vices for abandoned children.

It has been planned tomake the centres hi-tech byupgrading the existing alarm,which is sounded when a babyis placed in the cradle, and tak-ing a photo of the child andrecording its weight and send-ing the details to officialsthrough mobile phone, a seniorKSCCW official said.

Launched on November14, 2002, ‘Ammathottil’ seeks toprovide better life conditionsfor the destitute, abandoned

and relinquished childrenrather than being abandonedon way sides or other places.

As soon as the babies areleft at the cradle, an automat-ic alarm would be sounded andofficials would come and col-lect the child.

The babies, received at thecradles, would be brought up atthe council’s child care centres.

At present, the state has 14baby cradle centres and theplan was to increase it at leastup to 30 in one year besidesseveral of the existing centreswould be shifted to ideal loca-tions, KSCCW general secre-tary Deepak S P said.

“The Government hasdecided to increase the numberof Ammathottils as part of itschild-friendly policy,” Deepaktold PTI. The existing facilitieswould be upgraded using sen-sor technology and leveragemobile telephony to make thecentres more secure and thewhole process more account-able, he said.

A number of complaintshave cropped up recentlyregarding private child careand adoption centres, he noted.

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The MaharashtraGovernment has issued

notices to co-operative sugar mills in the State whichhave defaulted on repaymentof loans worth over �1,200crore taken by them, an offi-cial said.

Some district centralcooperative (DCC) banks inthe state are facing a financialcrisis due to non-repayment ofloans given to cooperativesugar mills controlled by lead-ers from the oppositionCongress and the NCP, hesaid.

State Finance MinisterSudhir Mungantiwar has alsodirected the co-operativedepartment to come up witha ‘white paper’, listing theloans taken by these cooper-ative institutions and theamounts re-paid so far.

A senior official from theco-operative and marketingdepartment told PTI that fiveDCC banks are in a financialcrisis after lending money to11 cooperative sugar millscontrolled by “big” leadersfrom the Congress and theNCP.

These banks are inSolapur, Wardha, Nashik,Buldhana and Osmanabaddistricts.

“Sugar mills have notrepaid loans worth �1,223.93

crore taken from the DCCbanks.

These banks are now hav-ing liquidity issues and evenfaced action from the ReserveBank of India,” the officialsaid.

He said the departmentwill publish a white paper, giv-ing details of how muchmoney these cooperative insti-tutions have taken as loans andshare capital and the totalamount paid back.

“There are several suchcases. When we came to knowabout this tactic, we paid restof the share capital to all co-operative sugar and textilemills. Now we have startedasking them for repayment,”the official added.

“Sugar and textile millshave taken soft loans from theState Government and notpaid them back. The Congressand the NCP ruled the statefor maximum number ofyears. They also controlled thecooperative sector and delayedrepayment of the loan amountand its interest.

People should know thetruth how they have lootedstate funds,” Mungantiwarsaid.

However, Congressspokesperson Sachin Sawantsaid the decision to publish thewhite paper shows desperationof the BJP as its governancehas “failed” on all fronts.

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Mahathir’s spoke in the Chinese jugular www.dailypioneer.com

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At 93, Mahathir Mohamad’s politicalcareer has spanned over 70 years andthe wily nonagenarian has returned asthe Malaysian Prime Minister after anitchy retirement lasting 15 years. The

statesman, credited with transforming Malaysiafrom an agrarian to an industrial powerhouse inhis first term of 22 years, has ostensibly returnedto ‘save’ his country from the wrath of the multi-billion ‘1MDB’ scandal, substantial parts of whichwere linked to the Chinese involvement. Mahathir’ssuccessful electoral campaign, pitched against the‘great-grandmother-of-all-scandals’, was seen as apossible roadblock to the growing portents ofSinosphere under the previous Najib Razakregime, who had started courting mammothChinese investments into Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the Chinese have been on a relent-less prowl to hook cash-strapped countries withits gargantuan Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to

create uninterrupted routes, connectivity and infra-structure along both land and seaways. TheChinese juggernaut towards this proposed solid-ification of interlinkages has led to infamous bel-ligerence and appropriations in the South ChinaSeas and the ‘String of pearls’ ports that dot alongthe life-sustaining maritime passages. Theapproach of the Chinese efforts varies from thesimple ‘cheque-book diplomacy’ of fundinginvestments (eg Philippines), coercion (eg Doklamin Bhutan) to surreptitious ‘debt-traps’ (egHambantota port in Sri Lanka).

A lethal and irresistible combination offinancial, military and diplomatic muscle is lever-aged to ensnare and ensure the requisite Chinesefootprint. Often, this Chinese footprint initiallycomes under the guise of civil facilities and infra-structure, which later morphs into the dual-usage(civil and military) platforms, as was done recent-ly at the mouth of the strategically placed Djiboutibase of the Chinese Navy. The sophisticated pat-tern of patiently luring the bait follows the gen-erous doles of ‘unpayable’ Chinese investments,which are, thereafter, settled with certain compro-mises in the form of invaluable bases, arrangementsand irretrievable alignments. Recently, this had ledthe old warhorse and one-time critic of the West,Mohamad Mahathir, to presciently forewarn of theChinese tact as a new version of colonialism.

Malaysia and the southern tip of the IndianIslands of Andaman and Nicobar overlook and

physically dominate the most sensitive and vul-nerable chokepoint of Chinese nightmares in theMalacca Straits. This ultra-narrow straits host thebusiest shipping lanes in the world with over100,000 ships plying nearly 30 per cent of the glob-al trade. From a Chinese perspective, it sustainsthe ‘Chinese Dream’ fueled by trade and an unend-ing appetite for energy sources. A potentialdoomsday scenario of a ‘choke’ in the MalaccaStraits has led to two strategic actions: First, toattempt creating alternate corridors like theChina Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) orrail-linkages with the Eurasian nations, all dove-tailed under the BRI initiative. Second, to investdisproportionately in the Strategic PetroleumReserves (SPR) to create adequate energy bufferstocks to withstand any unforeseen disruption inthese regime-sustaining seaways. However, giventhe best economic viability of the seaways asopposed to overland routes, the essential prefer-ence remains on ensuring the uninterruptednessof these seaways by way of establishing strongChinese footprints all along the route.

Given that only India and Malaysia have themaritime real-estate around these vulnerableMalacca Straits (as narrow as 1.5 nautical mileswide at the Philips Channel) both from a sover-eign and military perspective, any untoward pres-ence of the Chinese could upset the applecart ofpower balance. Currently, this area is relatively freefrom overt militarisation, given that the tradition-

al Chinese naval muscularity is restricted furtherup in the South China Seas and the IndianAndaman and Nicobar Tri-Services Commandhas also adopted a defensive posture and build-up. However, the presence of Chinese warshipscould undo the equations as they are threateningto do so in the Maldives, or in the Hambantotaport in Sri Lanka, where the Chinese haveacquired port control for a 99 year lease. Till therecent change in the Malaysian regime, amongstvarious investments that the Chinese were dan-gling was to invest $7.2 billion in the redevelop-ment of the Malaysian Malacca Port to a deep seaport (capable of handling aircraft carriers), apromise that could rival Singapore port facilities.This had the signature Chinese debt traps writ-ten all over it, which could ultimately lead toChinese presence in these calm waters.

The sagacious Mahathir had to walk the tightrope of calling the bluff of Chinese investments,as also recognising the importance of maintain-ing cordial relations with its biggest trading part-ner. His first port of international call after assum-ing prime ministership was Beijing, where he wasfeted and honoured with the disconcerting real-isation that Mahathir had personified the anti-Chinese sentiment and had to be charmed forfuture acquiescence. However, age hadn’t witheredthe blunt Mahathir who lost none of his chutzpahin declaring on Chinese soil, “We are not againstChinese companies, but we are against borrow-

ing money from outside and having projects whichare unnecessary, and which are very costly”, afterhe had announced the cancellation of three majorChinese contracts for an East Coast Rail Link andtwo gas pipelines, arguing the cost was inflated andthe terms weren’t favourable to Malaysia. TheChinese are not known to take sleights of colo-nialism very easily but are cognizant of the factthat Mohamad Mahathir at 93 will be resolute onsovereign pride, independence and legacy thatcould militate against Chinese ambitions and debt-imperialism.

With a spiralling debt of $250 billion, declaredconcern on Chinese intent and non-issues withthe existing infrastructure around Malacca Straits,Mohamad Mahathir may have inadvertentlyeased India’s own concerns on Chinese presencearound the Malacca Straits. Even his remark that“free trade should also be fair trade” had unmis-takable pointers of correcting the ‘China-first’approach that dominated the Malaysian narrative.Mahathir will be welcomed into comity of theSino-wary nations in the Asean region and willfind alternate trading partners in the Japanese,Indian and Australian markets, who have their ownlong-term concerns and apprehensions with theformula of initial Chinese benevolence and its sub-sequent aftermath.

(The writer, a military veteran, is a former LtGovernor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands andPuducherry)

�������������� �Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Nohope, no help” (September 15). It ispathetic and heart-rending to learnthat a 19-year-old Haryana girl, whotopped the CBSE Board examinations,was brutally gang-raped while she wasreturning home from her coachingclass. This incident has, once again,portrayed the dastardly act of cruel-ty and barbarity.

It is an indubitable fact that theincident of sexual assault uponwomen, like rape, molestation andmurder, are increasing unabatedly all

over the country. Views of the civilisedglobal community, that our country isnot safe for women, appear justifiable.

In this case, the Har yanaGovernment must take expeditioussteps to track down the tormentorsinvolved in the savage and barbarousact and arrest them without grantingbail till the disposal of the case. It’shigh time that fast-track courts areconstituted to dispose these rapecases within the shortest possibletime frame to at least satisfy andappease the victims.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

��������� ����Sir — This refers to the short take,“Avoidable row” (September 10).Serena William’s behaviour at the USOpen at the Flushing Meadows wasthe most unfortunate — not only fortennis but any other sports. At the ageof 18, Serena won her first Grand Slamin the same US Open, to sadly detractfrom her image at the same venue, 19years later.

Let’s say if she had taken umbrageat the umpire, pulling her up for sim-ilar misdemeanours, then her standwould have been not only understand-

able but commendable. But Serena has so grown to be a

tennis diva since her winning of 23Grand Slam titles till date — to standtall at a pedestal so high, tantrumsnotwithstanding — that even hervictorious opponent Naomi Osakacannot cease to worship her.

Champions are defined as muchby their superb skills as by their poiseafter a win and magnanimity after adefeat. Serena, sadly, did not step upto the plate at a time when good gracewould have uplifted the spirit of thegame far more than her personal aura.

Throwing tantrums is a com-

mon phenomenon that comes withfame-dom.

However, a dignified demeanouron and off the field is a must. That thefamed cognoscenti in the stadium wasreduced to roadside spectators has lefta deep scar in the minds of the peo-ple in and around the world. Theentire episode would, perhaps, takesome time to get erased from people’sminds.

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

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The Congress-led UPA Government hadraised and protected Mallya. He enjoyed

close links with the Gandhi family —Union Finance Minister

ARUN JAITLEY

BJP is not corruption-free, neither is CBI.They are probe-free because they want

to be accountability-free.—Congress spokesperson

RANDEEP SUJREWALA

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Should I till the land, lease it orleave it barren? Or resort tothe extreme step? These werethe questions that prevailedon the minds of farmers until

the Modi Government took to powerin 2014. Prime Minister NarendraModi addressed the apathy towardsthe agriculture sector by introducinga slew of measures: Schemes like SoilHealth Card, Pradhan Mantri FasalBima; initiatives like production ofneem coated urea, e-Nam; policies likeprice support scheme for pulses andoilseeds; and market interventionscheme for non-MSP crops, amongothers. Announced in the UnionBudget 2018-19, the ModiGovernment’s Minimum SupportPrice (MSP) policy of assured pro-curement or price support for 23 noti-fied crops at cost (A2+FL) plus 50 percent margin is of historic significance.

Out of the 23 MSP notifiedcrops, 59 per cent and 39 per centagricultural households grow justpaddy and wheat respectively in 40per cent of gross cropped area. Whilegreen revolution incentivised only thegrain community, MSP policy willincentivise the agrarian. MSP policyprompts the Government to instan-taneously plunge into procurementoperation; unlike the current systemof delayed approval process with therequest originating from States.Distress sale would have caused dam-age with delayed decision-making.Earlier, MSP was different for everyState. Now, since MSP is same across,States can declare bonus if the cost ofcultivation of the crop is relativelyhigher in a particular State.

MSP policy a practical instru-ment; input support a political one:The Telangana Government this yearannounced an investment supportscheme with great fanfare. The pro-gramme aims to give �8,000 an acreeach year during the kharif and rabiseasons so as to shield the farmersfrom the clutches of private moneylenders and their exorbitant rates. Theintended end use is to purchase agri-inputs and hire labour. But is there afizz in it? The giveaway is neutral tothe landholding of the farmers and,thus, large farmers reaped windfall

gains without even getting onto fieldfor the kharif season.

Also, the scheme does not recog-nise tenancy and sharecroppingarrangements. A fifth of 72 lakh farm-ers in Telangana are tenant farmers.To add to the injury, a report by RythuSwarajya Vedika revealed that, in thelast four years, 75 per cent of farmersuicides were committed by tenantfarmers. Apparently, the State machin-ery from Minister-in-charge to MROand Secretary to Sarpanch have beendeployed to distribute input supportcheques to farmers, but the agendagets hijacked by land owners. Thesame reach out and a tiny fraction ofthis corpus fund suffices to providekisan credit cards and, thus, institu-tional credit to avoid private moneylenders. The other fraction of the fundcould be utilised for interest subven-tion.

MSP policy, unlike investmentsupport, is agnostic to agriculturalproduction arrangements. A mone-tary benefit analysis of MSPannounced for Kharif MarketingSeason (KMS) 2018-19 for Ragi, as anexample, fetches more than �4,000,compared to MSP for KMS 2017-18.A good economic policy or schemeshould be linked to stages of produc-tion and MSP policy is one such. Incomparison, investment supportscheme mirrored the design of uni-versal basic income. Agriculture, as astate subject, is classified as econom-ic service; whereas input supportscheme treats the same as a welfareprogramme. The agrarian communi-ty is not seeking alms; rather they areaspiring for an amount commensu-rate to the cost of cultivation, toppedup by a profit margin as with any eco-nomic service.

WTO peace clause, procure-ment strategy and inflation pressure:Since India is a signatory to WorldTrade Organisation (WTO), its pub-lic stockholding of foodgrains fromprocurement operations drew sharpcriticism from WTO members. Theyhave alleged it as trade-distorting.Though India secured adequate pro-tection in the 2013 Bali summit, it wasduring Modi’s regime that the coun-try secured a permanent protectionfrom the penal provisions under thepeace clause. This ensured peacefuland perennial procurement fromthe peasants.

Minimum support price works asa tool to stabilise production and con-trol consumer prices. Accordingly, theprevious regimes notified prices forMSP crops so as to contain the price

rise and, thus, a check on inflation.Even their trade policies and procure-ment operations followed suit. To ful-fill its manifesto promise of a pro-farmer stance, the Modi Governmentannounced the MSP policy, ie, costplus 50 per cent returns in the 2018-19 Union Budget and subsequentlynotified prices for 23 crops. This pol-icy implementation will ensure theinterests of both the farming and con-sumer communities.

Policy implementation will takethe form of either procurement orprice deficiency payment as in the caseof Madhya Pradesh or through mar-keting structures to match supply anddemand. The procurement strategywill follow Reserve Bank of India’s(RBI) open market operations for rais-ing financial resources for theGovernment of India. In the process,RBI ensures interest rates are not arti-ficially elevated. Similarly, theGovernment’s procurement willensure no spillover effect on consumerprices and, thus, inhibit inflation.

Detour in cropping pattern,doubling income and decreasedimports: India is the largest produc-er and consumer of pulses in theworld but 25 per cent of the pulsesconsumed are imported. There havebeen multiple attempts to increasepulse production in the past but none

fructified. Since the ModiGovernment assumed office in 2014,crop diversification programme andtargeting rice fallows have helpedimprove production of pulses andoilseeds considerably but not to thedesired levels, owing to lack of pro-curement and low MSP. A 100-day toilis not aimed at hunting for honorar-ium but a honest and fair price.

With MSP policy, crop diversifi-cation and targeting rice fallows willpick up pace to the extent of consid-erable reduction in import of pulsesand oilseeds, which constitute a sig-nificant share of agri-import basket.Significant economic gains will be wit-nessed — saving FX reserves andhigher agricultural contribution toGDP growth. Not only will there bechange in temporal cropping patternbut also spatially. Intercropping tech-niques, like row, strip, among others,will gain momentum if any of the cul-tivated crops is MSP notified. Netresultant of the changes in temporaland spatial cropping patterns is costreduction, increased yields and high-er incomes aiding the cause of dou-bling farmer’s income.

FPO establishment — a firstorder effect: A majority of potentialentrepreneurs do not move beyondthe idea or conception phase for wantof market assurance or access. As the

income stream starts to flow into thenew enterprise, post the marketentry, enterprises tend to either inno-vate or establish efficient proceduresor expand or a combination thereofsubsequently. A case in point is thatof a turmeric farmer from Nizamabaddistrict who decided to producehigher quality crop as he witnessed ahigher realisation for his produce withthe introduction of E-NAM in theNizamabad APMC. Similar was thedetermination of a cotton farmer atKarimnagar APMC.

With insulation and, thus, assuredincome for their produce under MSPpolicy and different market condi-tions, farmers will explore efficientmethods of production and yieldimprovements. One policy that willattract the attention of farmers is thesetting up of Farmer ProducerOrganisations (FPO), which with aturnover upto �100 crore, have beenprovided tax exemption for a periodof five years in the Union Budget2018-19. Apart from the extrinsic taxbenefit, innumerable intrinsic bene-fits flow to FPO structure, like avail-ing institutional credit as well asprocuring quality and high yieldingvariety of seeds and fertilisers atwholesale prices.

Other intrinsic benefits includeawareness and, hence, availing

Government schemes, training andexposure visits, technical assistance,sharing and implementing good agri-cultural practices, renting out orsharing machinery across farmingoperations, combined transportationof harvest for transacting at marketsand, not the least, processing andvalue addition of produce. The cumu-lative effect of intrinsic benefits willconsummate as cost reduction, high-er price realisation and, thus, higherincomes mustering the PrimeMinister’s mission of doublingfarmer’s income. Green revolutionwas largely confined to the northernbelt as well as to no more than twocrops. On the other hand, the MSPpolicy will be a pan-India phenom-enon percolating to, not just two, but23 notified crops. If green revolutionachieved the nation’s food security,MSP policy will provide incomesecurity to the farming community.In effect, India will be advancing intoan era of Extended Green Revolutionwith farmer’s welfare ingrained. Asthe farming community realisesincome stream from MSP policy, thenation will witness another MSP —minimal suicides of peasants.

(The author is State Co-Convener,Election Commission Cell, BJPTelangana and Masters in Financefrom Cass Business School, London)

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AHaryana girl has once again madenational headlines. Karishma, bornthrough a caesarean section on August

15, 2018, in a Government hospital in Karnal,became the first beneficiary of ‘Modicare’, theworld’s largest Government-funded healthinsurance scheme. The Pradhan Mantri JanArogya Yojana programme had been hailedas the pièce de résistance of Union FinanceMinister’s 2018-19 Budget speech but manyexpressed apprehensions if the scheme wouldbe off the blocks anytime soon.

Besides the splendid pace, there has beena rich sprinkling of innovation in its implemen-tation. Automatic enrolment, beneficiary ver-ification in public meetings, IT system-basedmonitoring of progress, creation of silver andgolden records are few of the trailblazing nov-elties adopted so far. Flexibility provided toStates in co-branding with their existingschemes, deciding implementation model andpackage rates, reserving packages for publichealth facilities and continuous consultationwith the States have helped in allaying appre-hensions about the scheme. Consequently, 29States and Union Territories are already onboard and a few more are likely to join.

National Health Agency and State HealthAgencies have been set up to implement thescheme. Over 12,000 hospitals have beenempanelled for providing cashless treatment.About 1,350 medical packages, coveringsurgery, medical and day care treatments, havebeen defined. An integrated software has beendeveloped for beneficiary identification, hos-pital empanelment, transaction managementand merger with State schemes. Issuing e-reg-istration cards after the creation of silver andgolden records of the beneficiaries has start-ed. Ayushman mitras, volunteers for verifica-tion and authentication of beneficiaries andassisting them at empanelled hospitals, arebeing identified and trained. Pilot launch ofthe scheme has been done by 19 States.

In a nutshell, the Union Health Ministryand State health departments seem to be gearedup for nation-wide rollout of the scheme onSeptember 23, the birth anniversary of PanditDeen Dayal Upadhyay.

However, the euphoria created, and thecompetition generated among the States to beatothers in implementation of the scheme,should not blindside them by frauds and fail-ure to reach intended beneficiaries. Fraudstersare watching this mega scheme with hawk eyes.Their nefarious designs have already startedsurfacing. The Maharashtra Governmentrecently filed a police complaint against peo-ple soliciting premium from beneficiaries toget them benefits of the scheme.

Another challenge will come from hospi-tals empanelled to provide services. Experiencetells us that hospitals adopt malpractices likeconversion of an OPD patient into an IPDpatient, deliberate blocking of higher pricedpackage, treatment of diseases for which a hos-pital is not equipped for, doctors performingunnecessary procedures and hospitals charg-ing fees even though it is a cashless scheme.Impersonation in connivance with card-holders and hospital too have been reported.

Many States have a preferred assurancemodel over insurance for implementing thescheme. In this model, States will bear thefinancial risk of excessive claims. This is fraughtwith danger given that health insuranceclaim percentage is increasing, and public sec-tor companies are incurring heavy losses.

Just providing health insurance or assur-ance won’t bring succour to the poor, especial-ly for those living in rural and tribal areas.Access to quality health facilities and availabil-ity of manpower will be critical. India is shortof three million hospital beds and is facing over50 per cent shortage of doctors. People in ruralareas bear the brunt of this shortage. Thismeans that nothing much is going to change

for them, at least in the short run. With a widebase of over 50 crore insured people, health-care providers are more likely to go for a skim-ming strategy, harvesting gains from existingfacilities than investing in new ones.

Package rates for various proceduresfixed under the scheme are being perceivedas too low by private players. This will deterquality providers from participating in thescheme. Low rates will also impact the much-desired investment in health infrastructure inremote areas. States have reserved several pack-ages for public health facilities only. This isintended to guard against private providersenticing beneficiaries for routine procedures.However, it would mean the same level of ser-vices for the poor people unless public facil-ities are quickly upgraded. Moreover, there willbe a cut from their entitled five lakh rupeebounty of health insurance even for procedurewhich should be available free in public facil-ities. The proposal to share a percentage ofmoney earned by Government hospitals withthe team performing the procedure alsoneeds a close watch for potential malpractices.

The scheme is entitlement based, with eli-gibility dependent on deprivation status of afamily established by Socio-Economic CasteSurvey of 2011. Survey data is not just old butlacks vital information to identify households,especially the shifting and migratory popula-tion in urban and semi-urban areas. Thus, sev-eral deprived families could be left out.Additionally, the scheme hedges against in-patient care only. Out-patient healthcareexpenses, which are a cause of higher econom-ic burden and financial catastrophe for poorfamilies, are out of its ambit.

The health of the populace is not just treat-ment of ailments but also hinges on multipledeterminants as well as preventive and pro-motive strategies. While the national and Statehealth agencies are working on health insur-ance and assurance models, the departmentof health at the Centre and the State must workon improving public healthcare infrastructure,availability of health manpower, public healthmeasures and lifestyle changes to reduce mor-bidity and mortality. The success of PradhanMantri Jan Arogya Yojana is critical toimprove access to quality, affordable health-care and putting a brake on a vicious cycle ofimpoverishment. It will also be instrumentalin achieving universal health coverage, healthrelated sustainable development goals and inbuilding a new India by 2022.

(The writer is a senior IAS officer)

Half-baked healthcare reform

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MSP: Minimal Suicide of PeasantsThe Modi Government has undertaken deeper structural reforms for the agriculture sector. Its MSP policy promises

remunerative prices to farmers and if implemented rightly, holds the potential to alleviate agrarian distress

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Hyderabad’s first-ever exclusive pet park has put anend to the hue and cry about cities not being pet-friendly. A dedicated park having a dog pool, play areaand an amphitheater is soon to be filled with joyousbow-wows in the tech capital. While most parks have a“No pets” signboard, this comes as a respite to petowners and allows our furry friends a day in the sun.

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COMMENT & ANALYSIS

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Page 9: ˇ-˙ ’./...most Minister in his Cabinet during his absence. The senior-most Minister in Parrikar’s Cabinet happens to be the MGP chief’s elder brother and PWD Minister Sudin

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Despite India being majorfood producing countries

in the world, only 10% foodgets processed and there is a lotof wastage, according to UnionMinister of Food ProcessingHarsimrat Kaur Badal.

While inaugurating thefirst SIAL Food India exposi-tion at Pragati Maidan onSunday, she said, “With mod-ern technology in food pro-cessing coming to India foodwastage will reduce substan-tially.”

Participants from 109 coun-tries exhibited thousands ofproducts, showcasing the scopeof food processing industry.

Harsimrat said, “The exposhows that the world hasrealised the opportunities thatIndia presents in food pro-cessing. As the number of foodshows increases, it will result inmore modern technology andtie-ups of companies with ourlocal farmers and producerswhich will result in greateropportunities and moreemployment for the youth asfood processing is an employ-ment generating sector.”

The Minister visited vari-ous stalls and encouragedwoman entrepreneurs to availseveral benefits and subsidiesavailable for women. She alsoencouraged the exhibitors tosource raw materials from ruraland tribal areas.

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The government has startedthe process of de-activating

the identification numbers ofnearly 21 lakh directors ofcompanies as they failed tocomply with KYC norms,according to a senior official.

The Director IdentificationNumbers (DINs) — a uniquenumber allotted to individualswho are eligible to have direc-torship on the boards of regis-tered companies — are beingde-activated. They will be re-activated after a fee payment of�5,000 along with the requisiteform and the individuals con-cerned might also face action.

The latest move by theCorporate Affairs Ministry alsocomes at a time when the gov-ernment has intensified thecrack down on shell compa-nies, which are suspected to beconduits for illicit fund flows.

In June, the ministry decid-ed to carry out KYC (KnowYour Customer) process for alldirectors, including those whohave been disqualified.

The last date for complyingwith the new norms by way ofsubmitting form ‘DIR-3 KYC’without fee ended onSeptember 15.

The senior ministry officialsaid that out of 33 lakh activedirectors, only around 12.16lakh directors completed theKYC process. The balance ofaround 21 lakh individualsfailed to comply with therequirement.

“The process of deactivat-ing the non-compliant DINs isin progress and is likely to becompleted by September 17,2018,” the Ministry said in acommunication on its website.

After the deadline ofSeptember 15, the MCA 21 sys-tem would mark all approvedDINs — allotted on or beforeMarch 31 this year — againstwhich DIR-3 KYC form hasnot been filed as “de-activated”.The reason for de-activationwould be ‘non-filing of DIR-3KYC’, as per the ministry.

MCA 21 is used by stake-holders to submit requisite fil-ings to the Ministry.

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Tata Steel has launched anambitious project to sig-

nificantly extend the opera-tional life of one of the twohuge blast furnaces of its UK’slargest steelworks at Port Talbotin South Wales.

The plant’s giant BlastFurnace 5, which has beenrunning for the past 15 yearsproducing almost 30 milliontonnes of iron, is now beingdrained so vital engineeringwork can be carried out inside,extending its life by five toseven years, Tata Steel saidFriday.

“This is the biggest singleinvestment we have made at thePort Talbot site for more thanfive years and demonstrates ourcommitment to building astronger and more sustainablesteelmaking business in theUK now and in the future,” saidBimlendra Jha, CEO of TataSteel’s UK business.

Once the heart of the fur-nace, which is normally morethan 1,200 degrees Celsius,has cooled, skilled engineerswill begin work to replaceparts of the heat resistant inte-rior and vital structural parts,it said.

The project, costing tens ofmillions of pounds and expect-ed to take several months, willalso see the waste gas and dustextraction system beingreplaced.

Alan Coombs, Chair ofthe Port Talbot multi-unioncommittee, said: “This invest-ment in Port Talbot is a hugevote of confidence in the work-force, and follows some othermajor investments which willhelp sustain the steel industryin the UK.”

Tata Steel said BlastFurnace 5 life extension projectis a critical part of the compa-ny’s long-term strategy tostrengthen its operations inthe UK and will underpinimprovements throughout itsUK supply chain.

Confirmation of the invest-ment came at the same time as

the announcement in June ofdefinitive agreements beingsigned by Thyssenkrupp andTata Steel to form a joint ven-ture of their European steelbusinesses.

On Friday, project engi-neers began what is known asa salamander tap of the fur-nace. This involves a number ofholes being drilled throughthe base of the furnace to fullydrain it of liquid iron. Theoperation is carried outremotely and it is expected itcould take more than a day toremove all the remaining iron,the company said.

Tata Steel is one of Europe’sleading steel producers, withsteelmaking in the Netherlandsand the UK, and manufactur-ing plants across Europe.

The company supplieshigh-quality steel products tothe most demanding markets,including construction andinfrastructure, automotive,packaging and engineering.

In June, it had announceda historic 50-50 joint venturewith German steel giantThyssenkrupp, creatingEurope’s second-largest steel-works after NRI steel magnateLakshmi N Mittal-ledArcelorMittal.

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Making a strong case forrevival of the cooperative

sector in the country, ReserveBank of India Director SatishMarathe said that increasingminimum support price ofagriculture produce alone willnot improve the plight of thefarming community.

The cooperative sector, headded, was essential to improvefood processing industry andensure that the farmers get dueprice of their produce.

“We only process 20 percent of the farm produce,while in developed countriesand in South East Asiannations as much as 80 per centof the agriculture produce areprocessed,” he said, addingthat “increasing in MSP alonewill not improve the lot offarmers. We need to encouragecooperative sector..Reactivaterural cooperatives”.

Marathe said this whiledelivering the secondSopanStep DevelopmentLecture on ‘Reforms in coop-eratives, imperative to spreadrural prosperity’ here on

Saturday.Patron of Sahakar Bharathi

was appointed as part-timedirector on the board of theRBI last month along with SGurumurthy, co-convenor ofRSS affiliate Swadeshi JagranManch.

Marathe further said thatefforts were needed to per-suade the Centre as well asstate governments to amend alllaws and rules in line with the97th ConstitutionalAmendment, which, besidesother things, made the right toform cooperative a funda-mental right.

The 97th ConstitutionalAmendment was aimed atfreeing cooperatives frombureaucratic control andensuring democratic andautonomous functioningthrough regular elections.

One of the big problemsbeing faced by the cooperativesector is lack of data, Marathesaid, adding “one does notknow the contribution of thecooperative sector to the GDP.This data is not there withCentral Statistics Office(CSO)”.

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Property brokerage firm 360Realtors’ revenue more than

doubled to �104 crore last fis-cal year by facilitating sales ofover 4,000 housing and com-mercial units, its top officialsaid Sunday.

With signs of revival inhousing demand, theGurugram-based firm, havinga sales force of more than 1,000people, has set an aggressive tar-get of facilitating deals of about7,500 units this fiscal year.

360 Realtors competes withthe likes of PropTiger.Com,ANAROCK and Square Yardsin the organised property bro-kerage business, which hasnow come under the ambit ofnew realty law RERA.

“We sold 4,023 units worth�2,682 crore during 2017-18,which was more than doublefrom the previous fiscal,” thecompany’s founder and MDAnkit Kansal told. In the2016-17 fiscal year, he said thecompany had sold 1,732 unitsworth �1,221 crore.

Its brokerage income alsomore than doubled to Rs 104crore from Rs 46 crore during

the review period.Asked about the current

fiscal, Kansal said: “We haveachieved a good number in thefirst quarter and sold morethan 1,300 units valuing �1,100core.”

The target is to sell 7,500units worth �5,000 crore in theentire current financial year, headded. “We expect our revenueto cross �200 crore in 2018-19,”Kansal said.

The company has morethan 50 offices across India andoverseas for facilitating prop-erty sales on behalf of real estatedevelopers. It helps buyers tochoose right property in rightlocations.

“We only work with reput-ed developers having goodtrack record of execution. Theleads are generated boththrough online and offlineroutes,” he said, while empha-sising the increasing impor-tance of technology in realestate.

As the name of the com-pany suggests, Kansal said it istrying to provide 360-degreesolution to customers by offer-ing services like home loansassistance, legal and interiors.

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Markets watchdog Sebi is“well within its rights” to

regulate auditors with respect toactivities under its regulations, asenior government official saidamid chartered accountants’apex body ICAI raising concernsabout the proposal.

Corporate Affairs SecretaryInjeti Srinivas also said thatthere will be no “cross cuttingregulations”.

His comments come againstthe backdrop of Sebi proposingstricter norms for fiduciaries,including chartered accountants,cost accountants, company sec-retaries and valuers, in the secu-rities market. The proposedchanges to the Sebi Regulationsare likely to be discussed at theregulator’s board meeting onSeptember 18.

“Sebi is well within its rightsto have a regulatory controlover auditors with respect of cer-tifications which are required bySebi under their Act and theirregulations,” Srinivas told in aninterview.

Asserting that there is a“clear demarcating line”, he saidthat in every legislative frame-work, the corresponding regu-lators would regulate. “There will

be no cross cutting regulations,”he noted.

The Corporate AffairsSecretary is also part of the Sebiboard. The Institute of CharteredAccountants of India (ICAI),which comes under theCorporate Affairs Ministry, hasraised strong objections to Sebi’sproposal to consider auditors asfiduciaries.

In its submissions on theconsultative paper on proposedamendments to the norms forfiduciaries, the ICAI had saidthat there is no specific statuto-ry provision under the Sebi Actto act against auditors of listedcompanies, according to asource. Another submissionfrom the ICAI was that takingaction against an individual forthe same offence thrice under theICAI Act, Companies Act andSebi Act, is against the constitu-tional provisions.

However, Sebi has main-tained that it is empowered toexercise jurisdiction over personsassociated with the securitiesmarket, the source said.

The amended norms forfiduciaries would be applicablefor entities that undertake third-party fiduciary duties, assign-ments and engagements underthe securities law.

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Aconsortium of handsetmaker Micromax and tele-

com major Reliance Jio hasbagged a �1,500-crore orderfrom the ChhattisgarhGovernment to distribute 50lakh smartphones to womenand students in the state.

Under the project, 45 lakhsmartphones are being given towomen and the remaining willbe distributed to college stu-dents in the state, Micromaxco-founder Vikas Jain told.

“About 10,000 camps arebeing organised under the pro-ject and deliveries have alreadystarted. Every beneficiary, cho-sen by the State Government, ishanded the device personallyafter activating it with RelianceJio connection. The authenti-cation of the beneficiary isdone using Aadhaar,” he said.

Jain said the project cov-ered a large part of the popu-lation and the companyreserved space in 15 ware-houses across the state toensure timely distribution ofthe handsets to people.Chhattisgarh had a population

of over 2.5 crore as per the 2011census.

The deal was signed earli-er this year with distributionstarting end of July. “For car-rying out the project, we hiredabout 2,000-2,500 temporarystaff... We expect to completedeliveries to all beneficiaries inthe next few weeks,” he added.

Jain explained that the pro-ject “doesn’t appear to be polit-ically motivated”, given that ithas taken months of planningand execution for all involvedparties. The project was giventhrough a tender process.

“Micromax has partneredwith Chhattisgarh Governmentin launching the SancharKranti Yojana (SKY)... Theircommitment towards SKY ini-tiative has helped us reach outto women of urban BPL fami-lies, rural house and youth con-sumers by providing them aworthwhile digital experiencethrough their smartphones,”Chhattisgarh InfotechPromotion Society CEO AlexPaul Menon said.

He added that the initiativewill help make Chhattisgarh adigitally empowered State.

New Delhi: Tech Mahindra hassacked the employee, who hadbeen accused by a former employ-ee of harassing and discriminatingagainst him on grounds of sexu-al orientation, according to atweet by the IT major. “@gau-ravpramanik, arising out of aninvestigation carried out in thematter, the concerned employeehas been separated from theemployment of the company withimmediate effect,” Tech Mahindrasaid in a tweet late Saturday.

It further added that thecompany believes in diversityand inclusion, and condemns“discrimination of any kind inthe workplace”. This tweet wasre-tweeted more than 400 timesand liked over 900 times.

Pramanik, in a statement,said: “The path to my vindicationhasn’t been easy over the pastweek. I have been abused, threat-ened, maligned and my charac-ter been questioned. But I knewit would have been this way allthis while, and I was prepared forit to rain on me...However, I had-n’t realised how mentallyexhausting all of this was. Thankyou to all who have supportedme steadfastly”. PTI

����� �78�,79:�

Hybrid vehicles should beconsidered as key aspect in

India’s journey to future mobil-ity, Niti Aayog member VKSaraswat said Sunday.

Moving towards electricvehicles directly from internalcombustion engine (ICE) needproper infrastructure, and itwill take time, Saraswat furthersaid.

Introduction of EV tech-nology should begin with two-wheelers and three-wheelersfor short-haul journeys, headded.

“There is a sequence inwhich activity has to go.Sequence is today, you have 100per cent system working oninternal combustion engine(ICE).

“You are introducing a bat-tery technology directly today.It will take time for the batterytechnology because it needssupporting infrastructurecapacity,” Saraswat told.

����� 9 (!��8

Allaying fears about thesugar industry, Uttar

Pradesh Cane DevelopmentMinister Suresh Rana said bet-ter management by the YogiAdityanath government hasresulted in the state accountingfor 38 per cent of the entiresugar production in the coun-try.

The state produced 32 mil-lion tonnes of sugar in the2017-18 season (October-September), which comes to 38per cent of the entire sugar pro-duced in the country, the min-ister told PTI Sunday.

“It is a matter of pride forthe state that Uttar Pradeshaccounted for 38 per cent of thetotal sugar produced in thecountry,” he said in an inter-view.

Stressing that the sugarindustry in the state is on theright path with the YogiAdityanath government initi-ating all-round steps for thewelfare of the sugarcane grow-ers, Rana said that crushing bythe mills has gone up consid-erably under the BJP govern-ment.

����� �78�,79:�

Stock markets would con-tinue to be guided by move-

ment of the rupee, trade issuesbetween the US and Chinaand oil prices in a holiday-shortened week ahead, sayexperts.

The equity market wouldremain closed Thursday forMuharram.

With the rupee plumbingnew lows against the dollar, thegovernment Friday announcedan array of steps, includingremoval of withholding tax onMasala bonds, relaxation forFPIs, and curbs on non-essen-tial imports, to contain the

widening current accountdeficit and shore up the

domestic currency. “Despite sharp fall in

rupee and consolidation indomestic markets, we are out-performing other emergingmarkets. The reasons for thisare revival in domestic earn-ings growth, better economicdata and softening of CPI.

“However, some risk fac-tor like surge in oil prices,strengthening of dollar andescalation of trade wars arecreating headwinds for themarkets. Considering this,market is expected to bevolatile in the near term,” saidVinod Nair, Head of Research,Geojit Financial Services.

Global developments willkeep the market on edge,experts added.

“All eyes will be on crudeoil movement and INR as thatis a point of concern for bullsgiven a continuous deprecia-tion in INR. Trade tariffs willbe in the front seat and Asianmarkets opening on Mondaywill set the tone,” said MustafaNadeem, CEO, Epic Research.

Over the past week, the30-share BSE Sebsex fell byover 299 points. Markets wereclosed last Thursday forGanesh Chaturthi.

7:�� ���-���-���2����������� ������ *��� ���

����� �78�,79:�

As the Country goes into theSwachchhata mode prior

to Gandhi Jayanti with thelaunching of the ‘SwachchhataPakhwara’ on Sunday, theNorthern Railway is observing“Swachchhata Hi Sewa”Pakhwara from 15th Sept-02ndOct, 2018 with unparalleledenthusiasm and gusto. Livingup to its motto of being secondto none, all the NR employeesrose to the call by the PM tomake cleanliness a part of ourdaily routine.

The day started withMinister of Railways, PiyushGoyal setting the tone and thepace of the celebrations. Thepassengers and the staff includ-ing the Sahayaks (Coolies) wereextremely happy to see him atthe station. Goyal came to theDelhi Junction Railway stationearly in the morning and firstsaw the level of cleanliness at thestation and in surroundingareas. As is characteristic of thedynamic Minister, Goyalwatched the entire speech of thePM on giant TV screens whichwere put up at the station. Suchis his charisma that the cooliesspontaneously gathered nearhim to watch the PM’s speech.

To the utter surprise and delightof these Sahayaks, Goyal invit-ed them to sit next to him in thechairs put up for the visitors towatch PM’s speech.

Goyal himself read out andadministered the Pledge ofcleanliness to all the officials andpersons standing on the railwaystation. He then interacted withthe staff, passengers and officersexplaining to them the vision ofthe PM on Swachchhata andexplained the importance of thesame and urged them to makeit an integral part of their dailyroutine. He, along with theVishwesh Chaube, GeneralManager, NR and RN Singh,Divisional Railway Manager,Delhi Division and other offi-cers went around the stationpremises minutely inspecting

every nook and corner. He then went out of the sta-

tion area to drive home the mes-sage of cleanliness to the peopleliving in the surrounding areasof the station. On seeing the dirton the roads just outside the sta-tion, he nonchalantly picked upa broom, donned the gloves andstarted cleaning the road.Looking at his down to earth atti-tude, several officers and near-by people too picked up broomsand started cleaning the dirt onthe road. Not to be left behind,his personal staff and officers fol-lowed their Minister withouthesitation. Chaube GeneralManager, NR and MaheshKumar Member Engineering,Railway Board, were seen deeplyengrossed in furthering the workbeing done by the Minister.

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Boston: Prehistoric humanshad a thirst for craft beer andwere brewing such beverages atleast 5,000 years earlier thanthought, say scientists whohave found evidence of alcoholproduction in the EasternMediterranean.

Archeologists from theStanford University in theUS and University of Haifain Israel analysed threestone mortars from a13,000-year old Natufianburial cave site in Israel.

Their analysis con-firmed that these mortarswere used for brewing ofwheat/barley, as well as forfood storage. The study, pub-lished in the Journal ofArchaeological Science:Reports, suggests that beerbrewing practices existed inthe Eastern Mediterranean

over five millennia before theearliest known evidence, dis-covered in northern China.

“Alcohol making and foodstorage were among the majortechnological innovations thateventually led to the develop-ment of civilisations in theworld, and archaeological sci-

ence is a pow-erful

means to help reveal their ori-gins and decode their contents,”said Li Liu, from StanfordUniversity.

The earliest archaeologicalevidence for cereal-based beerbrewing even before the adventof agriculture comes from theNatufians, semi-sedentary, for-aging people, living in theEastern Mediterraneanbetween the Paleolithic and the

Neolithic periods, follow-ing the last Ice Age.

The Natufians atRaqefet Cave collectedlocally available plants,stored malted seeds, andmade beer as a part of theirrituals. “The Natufian

remains in Raqefet Cave neverstop surprising us,” said DaniNadel, from the University ofHaifa, who was also an exca-vator of the site. PTI

Wellington: Researchers havedecoded a genetic variant thatenables new understanding ofwhy some people are at risk ofgout, a painful and debilitatingarthritic disease.

Gout is caused by persis-tently elevated levels of urate inthe blood, which causes severejoint pain and swelling, espe-cially in peoples’ toes, knees,elbows, wrists and fingers.

It can be treated usingdrugs that lower urate levels.But if left untreated, it can causeserious damage to joints, kid-neys and quality of life.

A team from the Universityof Otago in New Zealand,characterised the genetic vari-ant that lies not inside, but justnext to a gene called PDZK1 —which helps excrete urate

through the kidney and gut. In this way, PDZK1 con-

trols the amount of serumurate which, when high, formcrystals that cause gout.

“We found that the genet-ic variant doesn’t affect thePDZK1 protein, but causeschange in the amount of thePDZK1 gene produced,” saidJulia Horsfield, AssociateProfessor at the varsity.

“Unexpectedly, the effect ofthe genetic variant in humans is in the gut as well asthe kidney.

“Our results have identifieda new molecular pathway forgout, enabling new under-standing of why there is goutrisk in patients with this par-ticular genetic variant,”Horsfield said. IANS

Washington: Researchers atthe Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (MIT) are buildinga device that uses machinelearning, and is similar to a Wi-Fi router, to tract breathing,heart rate, sleep, gait, just by sit-ting in one spot.

The device can help peopleliving with conditions likeParkinson’s, Alzheimer’s,depression, and pulmonarydiseases and enable their physi-cians to wirelessly monitortheir health.

According to MIT profes-sor Dina Katabi, the noveldevice will be able to replace

the array of expensive, bulky,uncomfortable gear we cur-rently need to get clinical dataabout the body.

It transmits a low-powerwireless signal throughout aspace the size of a one- or two-bedroom apartment (eventhrough walls), and the signalreflects off people’s bodies.

The device then usesmachine learning to analysethose reflected signals andextract physiological data.

The device takes advantageof the fact that every time wemove — even if it’s just a teeny,tiny bit, such as when we breathe— we change the electromag-netic field surrounding us, Katabisaid, at the recently held MITTechnology Review’s EmTechconference in Cambridge,Massachusetts. IANS

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Horror stories of childbirthshared by new mothers on

online forums and social mediaplatforms like Facebook couldbe driving the rise in toko-phobia — a pathological terrorof pregnancy and childbirth —leading to more C-sectionrequests and abortions, a mediareport said.

“You just have to Googlechildbirth and you’re met witha tsunami of horror stories,”BBC Health quoted CatrionaJones, a lecturer at theUniversity of Hull as saying.

If you go to any onlineforums, “there are womentelling their stories of childbirth- ‘Oh, it was terrible’, ‘it was abloodbath’, ‘this and that hap-pened’. I think that can be quitefrightening for women toengage with and read about,”she added.

Tokophobia is a mentalcondition defined as a severefear or dread of childbirth. Itaffects around 14 per cent ofwomen, and can be seriousenough to lead to requests forcaesarean sections, and abor-tions, the Guardian reported.

According to Professor

Louise Kenny of the Universityof Liverpool, that tokophobiawas seriously under-researchedand there was little literature onthe condition.

“(Stories) shared in safeenvironments can be quitehealing and informative butsome women are predisposedto developing a phobia due tostories taken out of context orexperiences that are graphic,”she noted.

Kenny added that the maincauses of the condition varieddepending on whether youwere pregnant with your first orsecond child.

Washington: President DonaldTrump is going ahead withplans to impose new tariffs onabout $200 billion of Chineseimports, The Wall Street Journalreported on Saturday.

Both sides were preparing tohold new talks on their tariff dis-pute. Last week Trump toldreporters such a move couldcome “very soon.” The Journalcited unnamed people familiarwith the matter who said the tar-iff level will likely be set at about10 per cent, below the 25 percent announced earlier this year.

The two Governmentshave already imposed 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion ofeach other’s goods. Beijing hasissued a list of another $60 bil-lion of American products forretaliation if Trump’s next tar-iff hike goes ahead.

White House spokes-woman Lindsay Waltersdeclined comment on the tim-ing of a possible announcement,but said: “The President hasbeen clear that he and hisadministration will continue totake action to address China’s

unfair trade practices. Weencourage China to addressthe long standing concernsraised by the United States.” TheChinese foreign ministry said itwas invited to hold new talks.Envoys from the two countrieslast met Aug. 22 in Washingtonbut reported no progress.

Beijing has rejected pres-sure from the United States toroll back plans for state-leddevelopment of Chinese glob-al champions in robotics, arti-ficial intelligence and otherfields. AP

Islamabad: A London-boundPakistan International Airlines(PIA) flight was delayed forover three hours after a phys-ical brawl between the pilot anda steward.

According to a source,flight PK-757 Lahore-Londonwas ready for departure at 9p.m. on Saturday when sud-denly pilot Anwaar Chaudhryasked the other crew membersto make steward AwaisQureshi, whom he called anotorious smuggler, leave theaircraft, Dawn news reported.

PTI

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New Bern: A killer storm that left up to 13 peo-ple dead weakened to a tropical depression onSunday, but US authorities warned the devas-tation it caused — including catastrophicflooding — is far from over.

Most of the fatalities from Florence, whichmade landfall Friday as a Category 1 hurricane,have occurred in North Carolina, where officialsconfirmed 14 victims. They included three whodied “due to flash flooding and swift water onroadways,” the Duplin County Sheriff ’s Officereported. A woman and her baby were amongthe first casualties when a tree fell on their house,contributing to a death toll that US media saidhad reached 13-10 in North Carolina and threein South Carolina, according to CNN.

The National Hurricane Centre (NHC)downgraded Florence to a tropical depression on

Sunday morning, adding that “flash flooding andmajor river flooding will continue over a signif-icant portion of the Carolinas.” As of 5.00 am (localtime) on Sunday, maximum sustained winds hadweakened to near 56 kms per hour, the NHC said.

On Saturday, some residents tried to returnhome, driving through flooded highways andarmed with chainsaws to clear fallen pine treesthat covered the road. North Carolina GovernorRoy Cooper warned against such behaviour asroads became increasingly dangerous.

“All roads in the state right now are at riskof floods,” he said. Hurricane Florence made land-fall Friday in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina,after stalking the coastline for days. Tornadoesremain a threat, with the NHC saying that “a fewtornadoes remain possible across North Carolinaand eastern South Carolina.” AFP

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Hong Kong/Beijing: TyphoonMangkhut barrelled into south-ern China, killing two people,on Sunday after lashing thenorthern Philippines withstrong winds and heavy rainthat left at least 64 people deadand dozens more feared buriedin a landslide.

More than 2.4 million peo-ple had been evacuated insouthern China’s Guangdongprovince by Sunday evening toflee the massive typhoon andnearly 50,000 fishing boatswere called back to port, statemedia reported.

State broadcaster CGTN

reported that two people werekilled in Guangdong provincewhich is located close to HongKong where over 200 peoplewere injured.

Work has been suspendedat more than 29,000 construc-tion sites and 632 tourist spotshave been closed.

Earlier, more than 400flights at two airports in China’ssouthernmost island Provinceof Hainan were cancelled andall coastal resorts and schoolswere closed.

South China regionsincluding Guangdong, Hainanand Guangxi Zhuang

Autonomous Region wereaffected by strong gales andheavy downpours on Sundaymorning.

The gambling enclave ofMacau closed casinos for thefirst time and the Hong KongObservatory warned people tostay away from the VictoriaHarbour landmark, wherestorm surges battered the sand-bag-reinforced waterfront.

Hong Kong’s RTHK broad-caster cited experts as sayingMangkhut was expected to bethe strongest typhoon to hit thecity in decades.

The Hong Kong

Observatory issued its strongeststorm warning for 10 hours onSunday, just slightly shorterthan the record time of 11hours set by Typhoon York in1999, the South China MorningPost reported.

Groceries flew off theshelves of supermarkets in theprovincial capital ofGuangzhou as residentsstocked up in anticipation ofbeing confined at home by thetyphoon, China’s officialXinhua News Agency said.

Hundreds of flights werecancelled. All high-speed andsome normal rail services in

Guangdong and Hainanprovinces were also halted, theChina Railway GuangzhouGroup Co. Said.

In Hong Kong, a videoposted online by residentsshowed the top corner of an oldbuilding break and fall off,while in another video, a tallbuilding swayed as strongwinds blew.

The storm also broke win-dows, felled trees, tore bambooscaffolding off buildings underconstruction and flooded areaswith sometimes waist-highwaters, according to the SouthChina Morning Post. Agencies

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Mountains in front of you,a large cup of coffee onthe wooden tray, a slight

nip in the air and laptop on thegrassy knoll — office spaces canlook like this if you want. All thosewho find being forced to head towork for a fixed number of hourseveryday at a specific place incred-ibly stifling, the GIG (GlobalInter Grid) economy holds outhope with flexibility to work outof anywhere provided you are adot on the communication

matrix.In this open-ended online

system, temporary, flexible jobsare commonplace and companieshire independent contractors andfreelancers instead of full-timeemployees. And the trend is pick-ing up as millennials eventuallytake up freelancing jobs throughonline portals or work for theirown start-ups. A paradigm shiftin work culture has already start-ed taking place with even experi-enced senior employees movingtowards the GIG economy. As pera recent report by Ernst & Young(EY), published in collaborationwith FICCI and NASSCOM, titledFuture of Jobs in India: A 2022Perspective, Indian freelancersaccount for a 24 per cent share ofthe global online gig economy.The report also reveals that Indiais the world’s third largest onlinelabour market.

Tapping into the need, portalshave sprung up that connectpotential employees and entrepre-neurs to bring productivity evenoutside office spaces. With prop-er background checks, skill devel-opment training provisions, workalignment and hiring on the basisof project management, theystrike off the restriction of work-ing for fixed hours on employees.

Players like Wishup.co, Jobsforher,Upwork and others have envi-sioned the need to align the sys-tem and connect such individu-als with prospectivecorporates/SMEs in a systematicmanner.

Wishup.co has been a hopefor many flexi operators. Twofriends from IIT Madras, NeeleshRangwani and Vivek Gupta,realised that business ownerscould be connected to smartassistants through online plat-forms for work without thembecoming a liablity. The duoaligned the system to connectsuch individuals with prospectivecorporates in a systematic manner.The two friends are now aimingto expand their venture and tak-ing it to the US and Europe.

Rangwani reveals the originsof the idea, “Vivek and I have beenfriends for the last 12 years sincewe were at IIT Madras. We alwayswanted to start something togeth-er. But at that time we weren’t real-ly clear of what and how. We wentour separate ways where he com-pleted his MBA from IIMAhmedabad and I moved toGermany. But that thought wasstill alive and we zeroed down onsomething related to the internetspace. We thought that this iswhere we will definitely excelbecause we know and under-stand it well.”

He adds, “We chose an ideawhich at that time was known asa ‘chat-based assistant.’ It was aconsumer idea which we scaledup pretty fast. We reached up to20,000-25,000 users within sixmonths but at that point I start-ed questioning whether this wasthe only growth that internetcould offer or if we could gener-ate revenue with a proper business

model? Also, is this what the inter-net is all about? Or it has a sideyet to be explored?”

It was in early 2015 thatRangwani and Gupta started tothink if “with the same set-upcould we generate revenue aswell as add value or make a dif-ference to somebody’s life?”

After talking to a number oftheir regular users, they realisedthat most of them used it for theirprofessional services rather thanpersonal. Also, most of themwere found to be budding entre-preneurs who had given up theirjobs.

Rangwani says, “That iswhere the idea of a ‘virtualemployee’ and a ‘virtual assistant’birthed. They are always requiredas a resource for every start-up.We thought of changing it tech-nically where it would be like amarketplace where people couldfind others to assist them online.”

The Wishup platform receivesthe payment that comes from the

virtual employers and “then thevirtual assistants are paid a full-time salary from our side. In away, rather than the employers, wehire them.”

According to the Ernst &Young report, the future of jobs in2022 in India will be determinedby the country’s response to theinevitable impact created by theinterplay of three primary forces— globalisation, demographicchanges and the adoption of‘Industry 4.0’ exponential tech-nologies by Indian workplaces andexpansion of the gig economy.

So what does the term ‘gig’signify? Rangwani has an answer.“Gig, as a word, originated fromthe creative professionals like acomedian or a musicican. It wastheir way of saying that I have agig here or there. A small projectwas called a gig. It is a slang butthen it probably changed andstarted to be used for the internetspace where creative freelancersoffered their services online. They

offer content, design services andmore. We, however, do not call ita gig economy because eventhough they are virtual assistantsfor others, for us they’re full-timeemployees. We are making theonline employers understand andtrust that these employees are gen-uine and productive since oftenphysical presence is appreciatedand acknowledged more.”

Both individuals and corpo-rates are moving to the gig econ-omy and agreeing that it is as rel-evant as any other type of employ-ment. Now that millennials tendto switch jobs quickly and are pastthe typical 9-5 ‘job’ shifts,Rangwani says that they usuallyhire a person who has five yearsor more of experience.

One such is also JobsForHer,a connecting portal for womenwho wish to restart their careersafter a break, be it after materni-ty leave, marriage or other person-al reasons. Neha Bagaria, CEOand Founder of JobsForHer, says,

“Gig workers can juggle multipleprojects and still have flexibilityand control over their time.There’s less risk of getting stuck inmundane jobs as it affords indi-viduals the opportunity to buildtheir skills through diverse pro-jects across multiple industriesand organisations.”

But what about the freshersthen? They also need to startsomewhere. Rangwani believesthat work comes with a promiseand responsibility. “I was also onthe other side a few years ago. Butnow, being on the employer’sside, I have realised that freshersare full of enthusiasm and ener-gy and are always ready to exploreand shift. They find it challengingto be stable at an early stage. Thisis the reason why youngsters areencouraged to do internships,just like in the US. They expandand gain experience and profes-sional knowledge through intern-ships and then enter a stablework field.”

They say the best things happen to you whenyou are not looking. That certainly holds

true for television actor Kritika Kamra. Herdebut film Mitron happened when she wasnot actively chasing a role. “I have beenauditioning for films for a very long timeas it’s a natural step to diversify from tele-vision. But for a long time things werenot falling into place, sometimes thefilm didn’t take off and at other timesI got roles that I was not convincedabout. So it was difficult to strikethe perfect balance. I didn’t wantto do films just for the heck of itor to be known as one-filmwonder. I don’t want to be awashout, so I was extra carefulbefore choosing my first film andthis one happened by chance.”

As the name suggests, thefilm directed by Nitin Kakkarcelebrates friendship and love.But many would say that in con-temporary times the title takes usback to all the speeches of our PM.Kritika says, “People say love is thebasis for everything but I thinkfriendship is the secret to any longrunning relationship. This is whatthe audience should expect fromthis film. It is a quirky name andwe are very much aware of thefact that our PM also uses it. Also,the film is set in Gujarat, the statewhere he comes from. But that isthe only common ground.Mitron is otherwise a universalword for friends.”

Since Kritika has been apart of TV shows like KitaniMohabbat Hai, Reporters, KuchToh Log Kahenge, one wonderswhat has her journey of tran-sition from the small to thebig screen been like? Whatare the commonalities andthe differences between thetwo that she spotted whileshooting for her first film?She answers, “Films needa lot of detailing as com-pared to television. Serialsinvolve a huge volume ofwork in a day but it is agood learning ground. Ithas taught me a lot ofthings but I felt that ifyou do something for along time, a pointcomes when you burn

out. After acting for so many years in televi-sion, you tend to get a bit mechanical.” By

this term she implies, “You start using yourhead instead of your heart. A real perfor-mance is when you feel it and then act. Ifeel that acting is also about reacting orat least making it look like you are notacting. If you start playing a sport and

practising it everyday, you will even-tually get better at it after a while butat the same time, it will also feel very

mechanical.”Kritika was, therefore, taken in

when Mitron opened a door of newopportunities for her. “I had neverexperienced this style of workingyet. The director never limitedme from doing something orforced his own opinions on me.It was very real, natural and con-versational.”

Kritika has played a vari-ety of characters during her

stint on TV, being, in her words,“shamelessly selective.” If you askabout her take on how tough or easybeing a journalist is as she has beena part of a show named Reporters,she says, “I tried to choose rolesthat were a little away from themainstream and Reporters wasone of those niche shows with aniche audience. I started respect-ing journalists as I understoodhow difficult and competitivethis profession is. Additionally,you have to be really passion-ate about it and have a greatpresence of mind. I reallyenjoyed playing a journalistand I hope that I get morechances to play charactersthat have a professional life. Iwant to explore that side of awoman because in today’sworld there’s more to justbeing achi beti (a good daugh-ter) or a perfect bahu (daugh-ter in law). There’s more to

women today.” So what genre of films is she comfortable

in, real world or biopics? Pat comes the reply,“It’s all fiction. Even biopics are all dramatised

and adapted. This holds true for our film toowhich is based on this real couple whom wemet. I’m happy to bid goodbye to the loud

over-the-top kind of cinema because I enjoysubtle realism more. All stories need to be adapt-ed beautifully as at the end of the day, any film ismeant for entertainment only.”

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The history of modern political systems islargely a global evolution towards democ-

racy. That is why democratic systems are gen-erally regarded as the most legitimate and eth-ically fair form of government. It is easy tounderstand the reason as democracies are onan average richer than non-democracies, lesslikely to go to war and have a better record offighting corruption. More fundamentally,democracy lets people speak their minds andshape their own as well as their children’sfutures.

Commonly, in any two party or multi-party democratic system of government, oneof the political parties, which constitutes themajority, is generally called the ‘Ruling Party’and is the party in power that holds the author-ity, whereas the other major party is known as‘The Opposition’. This nomenclature, it may bepointed out, unnecessarily generates wrongattitudes in the minds of people. The majori-ty party, because of this terminology, becomesconscious, or gets reminded of its being in con-trol of the levers of power and authority where-as the other parties feel that their primary tasknow is to oppose everything that the rulingparty proposes or does. These two conflictingattitudes build up an atmosphere in which onefinds more of confrontation or criticismand lack of co-operation between thetwo sides. In the process, thespirit of brotherhood, loveand the goal of welfareof the whole soci-ety is lostw h i l eh u m a nenergy andendeavour isspent on the fulfil-ment of narrowerinterests. In thisatmosphere, each

party tries to proveitself better and inthis attempt,denounces the other.Each makes anendeavour to grabthe credit for theirachievements and forthis, indulges even inpopulist activitiesand overdoes certainthings. It thus createsnarrow kind ofgroup-conscious-ness, leading to divi-sions and lack of loy-alty to wider inter-

ests. This leads also, in many cases, to the ten-dency of non-cooperation in certain areas ofwork.

Even if a better nomenclature was used,things will not improve because in this system,lust and rivalry for office and power will alwaysremain as the main motivating forces. One alsofinds that in countries where a republic has thename of a particular religion included in itsnomenclature, its policies inherently harbourprejudice, partiality and an attitude of unequaltreatment towards those who profess any reli-gion which is different from the state religion.And, where there is military rule or legalisedmilitary dictatorship, there the stress is on therule of the brute force.

To be brief, one finds that, even though theConstitution of many countries speaks of theircommitment to justice, equality, fraternalfeelings, freedom, human rights and public wel-fare, yet many systems have an in-built tenden-cy to incorporate one or the other kind of neg-

ative traits which are opposite to whatthe declared objectives are. It is, there-

fore, time that social scientists, con-stitutional experts, political the-

orists and leaders andexperts on values make

an endeavour toarrive at a sys-

tem thatg e n e r -ates co-

operation,goodwill, love

and brotherhoodand caters to thewider interest of

the whole society.

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What’s the truth about thefrozen world of Antarctica?From lost civilisations to

numerous shipwrecks, secret battlesand divine glaciers, extreme weatherconditions and polar habitats, this con-tinent continues to intrigue as it isreplete with a sack of unsolved myster-ies. Even though life on planet’sextreme polar regions could be incred-ibly difficult, these seemingly bizarrebut breathtaking icy landscapes are thehabitat of a range of wildlife species anda world that is incredible. Have youever imagined what life or even trav-elling to such a place would be? Andwhat is the extreme climate like?Would the weather conditions let yous u r v i v eeven for aminute withoutappropriate clothing?

Portraying the great wilder-ness of the Arctic and the Antarctic,Frozen Planet is back with its seasontwo on Sony BBC Earth. Produced byKathryn Jeffs and narrated by natural-ist Sir David Attenborough, the show

takes new technology to the mostextreme and remote parts of the Earthto enable the viewers to experiencethem up close. Different camera teamscapture ground-breaking views as theydive deep into the magical world of icygiants, plunge into the erupting polarvolcano and ultimately fly towards theSouth Pole across the Antarctic ice cap.Shares Kathryn, “Our world is a beau-tiful place but sadly people don’t knowthis. The show gives theman insight into howwondrous and breath-taking this planet is.People have diveddeep into the frozenoceans to capturephotographs. Itmakes the audi-ence look

beyond their imagination of how suchextreme places are. It documents thelives of polar species very closely andhow they survive at such high altitudes.Our team has captured detailed pic-tures of polar bears.”

Ask her about her experiences, sherecalls staying at a small island formonths and learning about the ‘HolyGrail’ of shipwreck, the British mysteryof Endurance that lies at the bottom ofan ice shield and remains the biggestunsolved and toughest nut to crack tilldate. They learnt about the giant shipwhich was discovered in the Weddellsea of Antarctica.

“Also, we could actually feel climatechange and shrinking glaciers closely.We could almost feel it taking place,”

she says.However, what should

people expect from such a show? Isthere a message that it gives about thebiodiversity or climate change?Kathryn has an answer. “There is nomessage as such. These are very inex-plicable places and the ones probablyhumans would never discover or trav-el to. Our aim is to show a world thatis close to being bereft of any form ofhuman life. It is a world of the Adeliepenguins, seabirds, polar woolly bears,even caterpillars which becomemoths within months of hatch-ing, giant albatrosses whichonly appeared in stories, killerwhales, Arctic wolves, sealsand so on...”

Highly fascinated bypenguins, she says that it

was an absolutevisual feast to

look at these flightlessbirds so closely. Ofcourse, she campedduring the six-monthperiod of darkness.The show will takeyou on a journeythat explores it all— from

Greenland ice caps, to colossal icebergscalving (breaking) into the sea, frozenrivers and glaciers, giant sea spiders,penguins building their nests, matingand huddling together in their crech-es, the sun never setting during sum-mer, cubs taking their first swimminglessons with their polar bear mother,the effect on wildlife and their livingpatterns when the first blizzards strikethe area.

One can witness the spectacle of ariver frozen for six months releasingfreshwater in the Arctic Ocean andfuelling the mass migration of fishes,birds and whales. Or hold your breatheas you see storm petrels darting aroundthe waves lapping against the sides ofan iceberg. Or witness the human-like behaviour of the beluga whaleas it uses the gravel on thebeach as a loofah.

(Frozen Planet pre-mieres September 24 at 9PM on Sony BBCEarth.)

If recent projections by the BostonConsulting Group are anything to go

by, then half of India’s internet users willbe rural, 40 per cent of which will bewomen, by 2020.

The digital gender divide is a hardreality and bridging the gender gap inmobile ownership and digital literacywill help empower women across thecountry. Interestingly, cheaper and eas-ier availability of mobile handsets, thespread of wireless data networks beyondtowns and cities, and the evolvingconsumer behaviours and preferenceswill all drive rural penetration andusage. They will transform the way ruralconsumers, a sizeable chunk of whichis women, interact with companies.

��$�����D$�"D�"��4��"���Appreciating the direct link

between telecom penetration and ruraluplift, the Centre has sought to augmentfinancial inclusion, including that ofwomen, via its Digital India mission.Financial inclusion received a big fillipwith the launch of the Pradhan MantriJan Dhan Yojana(PMJDY) in 2014, trig-gering the opening of millions of zero-balance bank accounts in rural areas. Ofthe 310 million-plus PMJDY bankaccounts opened till date, around 53 percent belong to women.

Additionally, in tandem with theCentre's National Rural LivelihoodMission, more than 1,500 BankingCorrespondents (BCs) were enrolled inthe villages of 13 financially-strappedstates, under the World Bank’s NationalRural Livelihood Project. Since less than10 per cent of the nation’s 6,50,000-plusvillages have bank branches, a digital-ly-enabled channel is the best mode ofpromoting greater financial inclusion.Taking all these factors into consider-ation, female BCs in villages need to belauded for overcoming their early,inherent fears of digital technologywhile gaining familiarity with the finan-cial ecosystem. Significantly, female BCsare better placed for acting as role mod-els and encouraging village women toopen bank accounts.

Fortunately, the rise of internet pen-etration in villages has generated greaterawareness about the benefits of mobiletechnology. Rural women owningmobile phones are not only connectingwith relatives in various places but also

using them to undertake financialtransactions and managing bankaccounts. Undoubtedly, the digital rev-olution has fostered a sense of confi-dence among rural women and is play-ing a huge role in empowering them.The number of women with access tothe internet, mobile phones and man-ageable bank accounts has risen over thelast few years, primarily because of theModi government’s initiatives aroundDigital India and WomenEmpowerment. The tone has been setbut there is still a long way to go.

�����#���#��������������To facilitate nationwide communi-

cations, the Centre’s Bharat Net projectplans to provide broadband connectiv-ity to all gram panchayats in India. TillFebruary this year, more than 1,10,000gram panchayats were provided opticalfibre connectivity in the first phase. Theremaining 1,50,000 gram panchayatswill receive connectivity in phase twowhich is scheduled for completion by

March 2019. Furthermore, private entities are

also active in advancing digital penetra-tion.

Consider the Internet Saathischeme, meant to empower ruralwomen, including their communities,by enabling them to use the Internet andenjoy its benefits daily. Launched inpartnership, by Google India and TataTrusts, the scheme has covered morethan 1,40,000 villages. A digital litera-cy initiative, it is seeking to plug themale-female, rural-urban divide even asit imparts information on milk process-ing, better farming means, entrepre-neurship and so on. Apart from Internetusage training, the women are trainedin acting as local agents offering servicesvia digital devices. This includes actingas local distributors for selling mobiles,SIMs or data packs; even becomingagents for financial services and help-ing villagers in accessing governmentschemes and benefits through Internet-based devices.

Using the Internet has helped ruralwomen entrepreneurs in eliminatingmiddlemen and reaching customersdirectly. Numerous new and renownede-commerce platforms are helping suchwomen sell high-quality handmadeproducts at robust prices, facilitatingfinancial independence and augment-ing their skills too.

Meanwhile, as broadband penetra-tion grows across India, digital trans-actions are on the rise. But cash still con-tinues to remain the main medium oftransaction in villages. As more womenbecome first-time bread winners inrural families, being part of the formalbanking system is imperative to safe-guard their earnings. During thisprocess, the benefits of digital transac-tions versus cash gradually becomeapparent.

Yet, replacing the centuries-oldtradition of cash dealings with digitaldeals requires the assurance of securedigital transactions. Therefore, ruraldigital infrastructure needs upgradingto support secure cashless transac-tions, thereby encouraging more peo-ple to transact on non-cash online plat-forms. Once these conditions are ful-filled, digital payments will emerge asthe new game-changer in 2018, whereintense competition between nationaland international players may emergeas the new norm.

Digital revolution can empowerwomen and ensure increased financialindependence and respect for womenin the rural areas. A study on mobilephone ownership and usage by womenin India, using 2004-2005 NationalFamily Health Survey cross-sectionaldata, found that households wherewomen had mobile phones reportedlower tolerance for domestic violenceand higher women’s autonomy inmobility and economic independence.It can in turn ensure more women par-ticipation in the workforce, therebymaking a positive impact on the GDPof the country.

Indeed, the steady transition fromfear to familiarity with digital transac-tions is already underway. This willcarve the path for a new India that willemerge as a global superpower.

— The author is co-founder anddirector of a mobile phone-based pay-ment system and digital wallet.

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Portuguese star CristianoRonaldo scored his firstcompetit ive goals for

Juventus on Sunday, with a sec-ond-half double by the Portuguesestar giving the Italian championsa 2-1 Serie A win over Sassuolo tomake it four victories from asmany games.

The 33-year-old tapped infrom barely a yard out after agoalmouth scramble on 50 min-utes, and added a second 15 min-utes later following a counter-attack orchestrated by Emre Canas the defending seven-time cham-pions moved three points clear ofNapoli.

"I'm happy. I worked hardand I knew that the goals wouldcome," said Ronaldo.

"I thank my teammates whoreally helped me andallowed me to adapt toItalian football."

Ronaldo showed hisfrustration, however, kick-ing the post as he missedtwo more chances.

"This is football. The impor-tant thing is that the team wins. Iwas a little tense with all the talkafter my move from Real Madridand not scoring, so there were a lotof expectations, but I thank myteammates for supporting methroughout."

Senegalese striker KhoumaBabacar pulled a goal back forSassuolo in injury-time as theside from Modena fell to their firstdefeat of the season.

Juventus are the only unbeat-en side this term after Napoliinflicted a first loss on Fiorentinaon Saturday with a 1-0 win aheadof next week's Champions Leaguetrip to Red Star Belgrade.

Sassuolo are now third withseven points.

Juventus winger DouglasCosta was sent off late on afterbeing caught on camera spitting atSassuolo's Federico Di Francesco,and could face a lengthy ban.

Five-time Ballon d'Or winnerRonaldo was the star signing of thesummer transfer period, arrivingamid great pomp and ceremonyfollowing a 100-million-euro($117 million) deal from RealMadrid.

Bolstered by five-time winnerRonaldo, Juventus begin theirquest for a first Champions League

title since 1996 at Valencia onWednesday.

The Turin giants also won theEuropean title in 1985, but fin-ished runners-up twice in 2015and 2017 under current coachAllegri.

"The Champions League ismy favourite tournament," saidRonaldo.

"It's a very difficult group, weknow that we can do well and Juvemust focus on being the best."

$���������"����Roma threw away a two-goal

lead as tailenders Chievo snatcheda 2-2 draw at the Stadio Olimpicoon Sunday to dent morale before adaunting midweek trip toChampions League holders RealMadrid.

Stephan El Shaarawy andBryan Cristante put Roma, who lostto AC Milan before the interna-tional break, firmly in command bythe half-time interval.

But Chievo, beaten 6-1 byFiorentina last time out anddeducted three points by the Italianfootball federation for falseaccounting, battled back in the sec-ond half.

Valter Birsa pulled a goal backafter 52 minutes with Polish strik-er Mariusz Stepinski sealing apoint for the club from Veronaseven minutes from time.

"This was a game we had undercontrol, we should have closed itdown. This can't happen againstReal," Roma coach Eusebio DiFrancesco told broadcaster DAZN.

"In games like this you have toscore four goals. This didn't hap-pen, and it kept Chievo alive."

The Roma coach added: "We'llbe going out to challenge RealMadrid on Wednesday. We must-n't lose our heads, even if theseresults destabilise us."

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Indian football team lacked con-sistency and disappointed itself by

going down in the SAFF Suzuki Cupfinal against Maldives, said chiefcoach Stephen Constantine.

Seven-times champions Indialost 1-2 to Maldives in the final onSaturday. India comprising under-23players except for one, had been theonly unbeaten side in the tourna-ment. They had got the better of SriLanka, Maldives and Pakistanenroute the final.

"We didn't play the game accord-ing to our potential and that's wherethe lack of experience matters. Weweren't able to replicate our perfor-mance from the semifinal (againstPakistan) and that's what seems tohappen when you play with youngerboys," Constantine said at the post-match press conference in Dhaka onSaturday.

"They don't have the consisten-cy and the experience to play at thesame level every game but they'lllearn from this. I think we didn't dis-appoint anyone else but ourselves. Wedidn't do enough to win the game butwe move on from here," he added.

However, the coach said he wasproud of his team performance in thelast two weeks.

"The way they performed anddelivered in the last 10-12 days, I'mextremely proud of them. They arethe future of India football for thenext six-eight years. I'm extremelyproud of the boys and it's going to bea good learning experience for them."

Asked whether there was a tingeof complacency amongst the boyshaving won over the same opponentsin the group stage, coach brushed itaside.

"I don't think there was a ques-tion of underestimating Maldives atany point of time. Maldives had ourfull respect but we couldn't do whatwe were capable of doing. Maldivesdeserve the credit for sitting back andkeeping on frustrating us in the way

we play.""We were impatient a few times

and lost the balls quite a few timesto lose the control of the game.Moreover, two silly mistakes cost usheavily as they fired two decisivegoals. That's football and we learnfrom this", he added further.

Moreover, the coach said theboys' movements were 'fantastic'against Pakistan in the semifinal butit was unfortunate that they were notable to replicate the same in the sum-mit clash.

"Our movement against Pakistanwas fantastic but not against Maldives(in the final). Although some of theplayers were good, others were not.Had our movement been goodenough, we could have won thegame", the Englishman said.

Lallianzuala Chhangte, whoappeared to have added more flairin the attacking third in the groupstage, as well as semifinals, was sus-pended in the final owing to themarching orders that he receivedagainst Pakistan.

Coach referred to the incident,saying: "After beating Pakistan, wewere not going to change the teamand he would have only started at thebench. But, would he be able to addsomething more? Absolutely. We didmiss him but I would say again, hewas not going to start the game."

Along with congratulatingMaldives for their achievement,Constantine said had India scored 15minutes sooner, the complexion ofthe game might have been different.

"We scored 8 goals in 4 gameswhich I don't feel is bad. Yes, wecouldn't score enough tonight. Hadwe scored 15 minutes sooner, maybe,that could have been a differentgame. Maldives defended well till theend and went on to win the trophy.I would like to congratulate them onachieving this.

"I would like to take this oppor-tunity to thank the BFF and SAFFfor being such a nice host to us,"Indian coach said.

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Lewis Hamilton won the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday in dom-inant fashion to increase his Formula One championship lead over

Sebastian Vettel to 40 points with just six races remaining.The Mercedes driver led from pole to chequered flag, with Red

Bull's Max Verstappen more than eight seconds behind and Ferrari'sVettel a distant third.

"Great job everyone, what a weekend," said Hamilton on team radioimmediately after winning at the Marina Bay Street Circuit for thesecond year running. "Keep pushing — we've got this guys."

A unique set of challenges makes the steamy track in the heat andhumidity of Singapore's tropical climate the toughest physical test ofthe season.

The duration of the race, with each of the 61 laps of the 5.063 kilo-metre track having 23 bends and 80 gear changes — more than anyother on the Formula One calendar — means that drivers and machin-ery are worked to breaking point.

"I'm spent. It felt like the longest race of my life so I'm glad it'sover," said Hamilton when interviewed on track after hugging his crewin celebration. "Max put up a great fight as well — but what a day,

what a weekend."Hamilton got the

perfect start from poleposition as Verstappenwas slower away fromsecond on the dirty sideof the grid and saw hisRed Bull come imme-diately under pressurefrom Vettel.

The German four-time world championused his superior Ferrari

power to outdragVerstappen down Raffles

Boulevard and just managed to nip past the Dutchman before the safe-ty car brought a temporary halt to hostilities on the first lap for thethird year in succession in Singapore.

The championship leader had stretched his lead to around threeseconds when, on lap 14, Vettel was first to pit for ultrasoft tyres, butit soon looked an ill-judged move as he rejoined behind the slowerForce India of Perez.

Hamilton responded immediately and pitted on the next lap, buthe crucially opted for the soft compound that had been predicted tolast until the end.

Vettel's frustration increased as Hamilton rejoined in front andthen boiled over as Verstappen jumped him when he too pitted forsofts. When the last of the front-runners Daniel Ricciardo took onultrasofts on lap 27, it left the top six back in grid order: Hamiltonleading, Verstappen second and Vettel third.

Hamilton withstood a challenge from Verstappen as the pairthreaded their way through some back markers.

But after that Hamilton cruised to victory, despite reporting thathe had to push hard "to keep temperature in these tyres".

Valtteri Bottas guided his Mercedes to fourth place, KimiRaikkonen's Ferrari came home fifth and Daniel Ricciardo was sixthin the second Red Bull.

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The seasoned M C MaryKom (48kg) collected her

third Gold medal of the yearwith a display of tactical bril-liance while Manisha (54kg) set-tled for a Silver in the 13thSilesian Open BoxingTournament for women inGliwice, Poland.

Five-time world championMary Kom, returning to thering after recovering from someniggles that kept her out of theAsian Games, prevailed 5-0against Kazakhstan's AigerimKassanayeva to pick up India'slone senior category Gold at theevent on Saturday.

Her other two Gold medalsthis year came in the inaugur-al India Open in Delhi and theCommonwealth Games in GoldCoast. She also won a Silver atthe prestigious StrandjaMemorial Tournament inBulgaria.

The 35-year-old formerOlympic Bronze-medallist wasin her elements against a talleropponent, displaying a brilliantcounter-attacking strategy. Thenimble-footed Indian showedsharp reflexes and did not allowa clear shot to Kassanayevathrough the bout.

"Mary was terrific in exe-cuting her strategy, it was a flaw-less performance," India coachRafaelle Bergamasco said fromGliwice.

The Manipuri, a 2014 AsianGames Gold-medallist, took

full advantage of her rival'shesitation and went full throt-tle in the final three minutes tostrike some good body blows.

Her strong right handworked well for her and shenever allowed the southpaw tosettle.

Manisha was next to takethe ring against Ukraine'sIvanna Krupenia. The Indianwent down 2-3 even though shecame across as the more aggres-sive of the two boxers.

"Manisha was very good inthe bout and in my opinion, shedeserved to win," saidBergamasco.

India also won four Bronzemedals in the senior categorythrough former world champi-on L Sarita Devi (60kg), RituGrewal (51kg), LovlinaBorgohain (69kg) and PoojaRani (81kg).

In the youth competition,Jyoti Gulia (51kg), a formerworld champion and India'sonly boxer to have qualified fornext month's Youth OlympicGames in Argentina, was India'slone medallist with a Gold.

In the junior competitionthough, the Indian team pro-duced a terrific performance tosign off with 13 medals — sixGold, six Silver and a Bronze.

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Turning out to play the dead fourth rub-ber, N Sriram Balaji lost to Pedja Krstin

in straight sets as India ended the DavisWorld Group Play-off tie against Serbiawithout a single win, losing 0-4, here onSunday.

Since the tie was already decided infavour of the hosts, who had taken an unas-sailable 3-0 lead, India fielded Balaji in placeof Ramkumar Ramanathan.

Serbia also changed the nomination,playing Krstin in place of Dusan Lajovic.

Balaji, who is more focussed on the dou-bles, lost 3-6, 1-6 in 66 minutes on indoorclay courts at the Kraljevo Sports Venue.

The two sides agreed not to play the fifthrubber.

"It was not a bad match for me. In everyservice game I had game points but I wasnot sharp enough to take them. Even most

of the return games were close. The score-line look easy for him but we had longgames," Balaji said.

"Before going into the tie, we thoughtwe had a chance of beating them. But theycame up strong in every match."

Serbia did not have multiple Grand Slamwinner Novak Djokovic and injured FilipKrajinovic in their line-up but still Indiacould not take advantage of it.

India now have lost four out of fivemeetings with Serbia, whom they haddefeated way back in 1927 when the coun-try was Yugoslavia.

Since new Davis Cup reforms have beenintroduced, India will not have to go backto the Asia/Oceania Group immediately.

Instead, India will compete in a 24-teamqualifying event (home and away format)in February next year to qualify for the 18-team Davis Cup Finals. The year-end eventto crown Davis Cup champions will be heldeither in Madrid or Lille from November 18-24, next year.

The 12 winners will qualify while foursemi-finalists from the 2018 season will getdirect entry. The ITF will award two wildcards for the inaugural Davis Cup finals.

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Japan's Kento Momota out-gunned Thai rival Khosit

Phetpradab 21-14, 21-11 ina one-sided final to capturethe Japan Open badmintontitle on Sunday.

The 24-year-old sankto his knees after a toweringsmash completed a com-fortable win, kissing theJapanese badge on his shirtas he took another steptowards redemption follow-ing a gambling scandal thatthreatened to ruin his career.

"I was just so over-whelmed at winning and thesense of what I achieved,"said Momota after becomingthe first Japanese player towin the men's singles crown.

"I kept telling myself 'acouple more points, a cou-ple more points' -- and thenfinally it was over. The homesupport was a massive help."

Momota, who wasbooted off the Japanese teamfor the 2016 Rio Olympicsand banned for over a yearfor visiting an illegal casino,had been furious with him-self after crashing out of theAsian Games at the semi-final stage last month.

But having beatenChina's two-time Olympicchampion Lin Dan in theTokyo quarter-finals andtop seed Viktor Axelsen inthe last four, Momota's runto the Japan Open title wasfully deserved as he domi-nated his matches with hisattacking style.

"I played loose at theworld championships," saidMomota, who became thefirst Japanese man to win theworld title earlier this year.

"But today when I couldsee the finish line my handswere shaking. That's howmuch I wanted it. This vic-tory is for all the people whohave stood by me througheverything."

Olympic champion

Carolina Marin retained herJapan Open women's singlestitle by beating localfavourite Nozomi Okuhara21-19, 17-21, 21-11.

The Spanish triple worldchampion broke her oppo-nent's brave resistance witha barrage of smashes thatfinally brought an end to anabsorbing contest.

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Seamer Usman Khan picked upthree wickets in an over asPakistan dismissed minnows

Hong Kong for a paltry 116 in a groupA match of the Asia Cup ODI tour-nament here on Sunday.

Usman (3/19) was the highestwicket-taker, while Shadab Khan(2/31) and Hasan Ali (2/19) snappedtwo wickets apiece and Faheem Ashrafaccounted for one as Pakistan thor-oughly exposed the weakness of HongKong, who won the 2018 Asia CupQualifier to make it to the tourna-ment.

Kinchit Shah (26) and AizazKhan (27) were the main scorers forHong Kong, while skipper AnshumanRath contributed 19 as they couldn'tnegotiate the top quality bowlingfrom Pakistan.

Electing to bat, Hong Kong failedto put up a resistance, losing wicketsin regular intervals to end up with alowly score.

It started with a run-out asNizakat Khan (13) walked backto the pavillion after failing tomake ground with ShadabKhan knocking the stumps offfrom point in the 5th over.

Skipper Anshuman Rath(19) was the next to go when he wascaught behind by wicketkeeper SarfrazAhmed off Faheem Ashraf as HongKong slipped to 32 for 2 in the ninthover.

Hasan Ali then got into action,removing Christopher Carter (2)cheaply in the 14th over. Looking tochip it over extra cover, Carter endedup giving an easy catch to Imam-ul-Haq as Hong Kong lost their thirdwicket.

Leg-spinner Shadab Khan thenstruck twice in three balls -- dismiss-ing Babar Hayat (7) and Ehsan Khan(0) -- as Hong Kong lost half their sidein 16.3 overs.

Hayat couldn't pick up Shadab's

googly and was stumped by a hugemargin by Sarfraz when the batsmandanced down the pitch. One balllater, another googly earned Shadabanother wicket as Ehsan was trappedin front of wicket.

Kinchit and Aizaz then shared acrucial 53-run partnership for the sixthwicket to take Hong Kong closs to the100-mark.

In the 31st over, Usman Khanpicked up three wickets in five deliv-eries, removing Aizaz, SS Mckechnie(0) and Tanwir Afzal (0) to furtherreduce Hong Kong to 97 for 8.

Last specialist batsman Kinchit toowas back to the hut after he hit a Hasan

Ali ball to Shadab at backward point.Ehsan Nawaz (9) and Nadeem

Ahmed then took Hong Kong past the100-run mark before the former wasrun out to be bundled out for 116.

����������!����After losing to Bangladesh by

137 runs in their first game, Sri Lankawill face tough Afghanistani challengeon Monday to remain alive in con-tention for their sixth Asia Cup title.

While Sri Lanka will come intothis game on the back of brutalthumping by Bangladesh in tourna-ment opener. Their opponentAfghanistan will aim to surprise Sri

Lanka and boost up their chances ofmaking into the next round of the sixnation tournament.

While it’s a must win game for1996 World Champion side too keephopes alive, Afghanistan can stillmake into last four in the last gameagainst Bangladesh on Thursday.

But to avoid if ’s and but’s chances,Asghar Afghani led will look to put upa brilliant performance and come upwith strong message.

For Sri Lanka, the baggage will beon Lasith Malinga, who stars with theball in the first game, while Afghanfans will hope ace spinner RashidKhan to deliver in the big match.

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Tamim Iqbal batted, gotinjured, visited a hospital,

returned with a wrist fractureand batted again - this timewith one hand, his act of brava-do receiving instant applause inthe real and virtual world.

A couple of hours afterbeing told by doctors that hisAsia Cup was over because ofa fractured left wrist, Tamimwalked out to bat with onehand after the fall of ninthwicket.

He hung on with centuri-on Mushfiqur Rahim andhelped add 32 for the finalwicket, lifting his side to 261.The end result was a massivewin for Bangladesh over SriLanka in the tournament open-er.

"There was a lot of pres-sure, losing lost two wicketsearly and Tamim couldn't bat.But decision to bat (again) wasmade by him. If he didn't wantto bat, no one could push him.Credit goes to him for the deci-sion,' Bangladesh skipperMashrafe Mortaza said after thegame on Saturday.

The dashing opener miss-ing out will be a "big blow" forBangladesh, according to thecaptain, who called Mushfiqur'sinnings one of the best by acricketer from his country.

"Mushfiqur played one ofthe best ODI innings by aBangladeshi. The wayMushfiqur finished the inningswas very good.

"The crowd the way theysupported us from the first ballwas really good. Nice way tostart the Asia Cup. I think it wasmore than Mirpur. Big stadium,crowd was full."

Sri Lanka skipper AngeloMathews, too, lauded Tamimwhile lamenting his team'sheavy defeat.

"Batting was the maindownfall today. Lasith wasabsolutely brilliant. Three wick-ets for three runs, and we letthem off the hook. We droppedsome crucial catches.

"Still 260 was a chaseabletarget on this wicket. It playedvery well. We made some baddecisions while batting.

"We are under pressure.We only have one lifeline. Wehave to win it. It's a do or diegame for us. We have to learn

from the mistakes from thisgame."

Mathews said, "Tamimshowed a lot of guts. I thoughMushfiqur batted really well.Mushfiqur was out there and he(Tamim) came in to bat. Andthat 20-30 runs also made thedifference. It was a really badperformance from the battingunit.

They showed a lot of guts.Credits goes to Bangladesh,they outplayed us in all threedepartments of the game."

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Skipper Mithali Raj's career-best knockof 125 not out went in vain as Sri

Lanka women shocked India women bythree wickets in the inconsequentialthird and final One-day International,here on Sunday.

India had already sealed the seriesby winning the first two ODIs but in the3rd match they could not defend thetotal of 253 for five, built around Raj'sunbeaten 125 and opener SmritiMandhana's 51.

They had shared a 102-run stand forthe second wicket after young JemimahRodrigues (0) made an early exit.Mithali's seventh ODI hundred and firstin 14 months, came off 143 balls with14 fours and a six.

Sri Lanka skipper ChamariAttapattu's century though counted asher 115-run knock and a gutsy 101-runstand with fellow opener Hasini Perera(45) set the tone for the chase.

There were a few hiccups after thetwo batswomen returned to the pavil-lion as Indian bowlers made in roads buttail-ender Kavisha Dilhari held her

nerves to push her side to the finish linewith one ball to spare.

Sri Lanka needed six runs from thefinal over. Coming out to bat at num-ber nine, Kavisha smashed a four in thepenultimate ball of the match off DeeptiSharma to earn a consolatory win for thehosts.

The five-match Twenty20 seriesbetween the two teams will begin onWednesday at the same venue.

����� �78�,79:�

India need to sort out theirinadequacies in batting

before standing up to an"extremely strong" bowlingattack later this year DownUnder, feels former Australiacaptain Ian Chappell.

Virat Kohli's India willhope for redemption inAustralia after Test seriesreverses in South Africa andEngland.

"India now have to look onrehabilitating their reputationin the highly anticipated seriesagainst Australia but the bat-ting inadequacies have to beaddressed," Chappell wrote in'ESPNcricinfo.Com'.

"While Australia's battingis questionable, with their twobest players, Steven Smith andDavid Warner, missingthrough suspension, the bowl-ing attack is still extremelystrong."

India are slated to tourAustralia for three T20 inter-nationals, four Test matches

and three ODIs fromNovember 21 to January 18.

"If Mitchell Starc, JoshHazlewood, Patrick Cumminsand Nathan Lyon remain fitthen the Indian batsmen will bein for a challenging time. InEngland it was movementthrough the air and off theseam that created regular prob-lems for them - apart fromVirat Kohli - but it will be the

extra bounce in Australia thatsorts the men from the men."

Chappell further said, "Aconfident and in-form RohitSharma would be an idealplayer to bolster the batting inAustralia. His authoritativehorizontal bat shots are per-fectly designed to cope with thetesting extra bounce, but sadlyRohit has never really come togrips with batting in Test crick-

et. Selecting him for the tourwould be a gamble."

The batting great termedIndia's 4-1 loss to England a"missed opportunity"

"India should view theirdisappointing 4-1 series loss toEngland as a missed opportu-nity. They were highly com-petitive in the series - apartfrom a disastrous loss at Lord's- but the squad had enoughability to do better than justcompete.

"The batting was disap-pointing and especially theway they played spin bowlingin Southampton. A greatopportunity went beggingwhen their failure to be moreproactive against Moeen Alimeant a chance to level theseries was squandered.

Apart from CheteshwarPujara, no player was pre-pared to alter the offspinner'sflight path by leaving his crease.The series loss is even more ofa wasted opportunity when youconsider how well the Indianfast bowlers performed."

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Batsman Ambati Rayudu is looking up to"everybody's go-to man" Mahendra Singh

Dhoni for inspiration and guidance as a ViratKohli-less India gear up for the Asia Cup here.

India reached UAE without Kohli, who hasbeen rested by the selectors owing to excessworkload.

"Obviously he (Virat) is a big miss and lossto the team. However, we still have enoughquality in the team to go out and win. He(Dhoni) has been India's captain and alwaysbeen the go-to man for everybody in the team,"Rayudu said at a media conference on Saturday.

"He (Dhoni) has helped me a lot in termsof how I recovered this season."

With India yet to settle their middle-orderconundrum with less than a year left for theWorld Cup, there is a chance for players suchas Rayudu to cement their places in the team.

"To be very honest, (I) haven't thoughtabout it (middle-order) or looked at it as a com-petition. It's just an opportunity to expressmyself and (I) don't want to put more pressureto my game by thinking about these," he said.

The 32-year-old, returning to the team aftera long injury-induced layoff, added, "I don'tthink anybody is actually thinking about theWorld Cup. We are in for the Asia Cup and Idon't think anybody is thinking about it rightnow."

India's opening match in the tournamentis against Hong Kong on September 18, a daybefore they take on traditional rivals Pakistan.

"I don't think it will be a disadvantage. Itwill be definitely tough and I'm sure we will dobest possible things to recover and go out freshto play the next game."

He said that it was frustrating to miss outon the limited overs leg of the England tourdespite a stellar Indian Premier League season

for Chennai Super Kings. Rayudu failed to themake the Indian team after flunking the yo-yotest in his first attempt.

"Obviously it was frustrating to miss outon the England tour. But I'm happy that I cancome back and give the test and get picked toplay in the Asia Cup.

"This year I played well in the IPL. Themain thing is that I feel age doesn't matter aslong as you are fit."

After clearing the yo-yo tests at the secondattempt, Rayudu played for India A in the Tri-Series involving Australia A and South AfricaA, and tasted success.

His 62 not out against Australia A in a low-scoring affair in Bangalore turned out to be aMan-of-the-Match performance. Against SouthAfrica A at Alur, he made 66.

����� �78�,79:�

Rishabh Pant's fearless batting hasimpressed chairman of selectors

MSK Prasad, who now wants theyoungster to complement it withquality glovework at the highestlevel.

The 20 year became the firstIndian wicket-keeper to score a hun-dred in England during the Oval Testbut was shoddy behind the stumps inthe three Tests he played.

''I am really happy the way Rishabbatted in the last Test in England. Infact we never had any doubts abouthis batting skills. My only concern isabout his wicket-keeping,'' Prasadsaid.

However Prasad, a former Indiastumper himself, wants a trainingmodule to be created for Pant, where-in he improves his skills under spe-cialist keeping coach.

''Now that he (Pant) has the expe-rience of three Test matches under hisbelt, he would have understood theareas that he needs to work on.

''We are also trying to put himunder wicket keeping specialist coachfor sometime. Along with Rishabh wehave identified few more upcomingwicket-keepres who need to betrained under a specialist coach. Iexpect Rishabh to serve Indian crick-et for a long time,'' Prasad said, lay-ing out his plans.

The performance of the Indianopeners was disappointing through-out the series save KL Rahul's 149 butPrasad pointed how even the Englandopeners struggled.

''Yes, it is definitely a cause of con-cern. If you look at it whenever wehave got that good start we went onto win the Test match. Having saidthat openers of both the teams strug-gled in this series due to tough con-ditions,'' he said.

''After playing 160 Tests, a play-er of Alastair Cook's calibre hasfailed throughout the series except thelast Test. In his interview, Cookopenly said that this was one of thetoughest conditions he played in hisentire career.

''So we should be a bit more con-siderate about our players,'' he added.

However, he assured that bothPrithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwalwill get their due for stupendous showat the national and A level.

''Yes I do agree that MayankAgarwal & Prithvi Shaw have beenconsistently performing well atdomestic and India A levels. They willget their dues.''

There has been a lot of criticismabout Hardik Pandya's all roundskills and the chairman of selectorsfeels that the flamboyant Barodacricketer needs to be a bit more con-sistent.

''Hardik Pandya is an all rounderin the making. He scored a centuryagainst Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. Hebatted well against South Africa in theCape Town Test and performed wellboth with bat and ball againstEngland in Nottingham. This clear-ly shows that he can perform in allconditions.”

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