ˇ - The Pioneer...Delhi, he said the first reason is the Government has done good work in Delhi....

16
P riyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday used her first pub- lic rally after assuming charge as Congress general secretary to launch a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his home turf over “unkept promises and spread of hatred” in the country. Congress president Rahul Gandhi too slammed the Modi Government in his concluding speech, but focus of the day was definitely on Priyanka. “Our institutions are being destroyed. Wherever you see, hatred is being spread,” Priyanka said amid a round of applause from the massive crowd. “Nothing matters more to us that you and I protect this nation, work for it and move forward together,” the Congress leader said in the presence of her sibling, Rahul, and moth- er, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, at the rally near Adalaj village in Gandhinagar. Priyanka said the Modi Government did not fulfil its promises of providing jobs to crores of people in the country and advised people to be vigi- lant, treat their vote as a “weapon” and ask right ques- tions. With this mega rally, the Congress sounded its poll bugle for the April-May Lok Sabha elections. “I am saddened by what is happening in our country today. I want you all to be more aware. That is the best sign of patriotism. Your vote is your weapon. You are not supposed to harm someone with that weapon. But it will make you stronger,” she said. In her address, she asked people not to fall prey to “meaningless issues” and asked them to broach the right ques- tions. “You are going to decide your future in this election. Don’t fall prey to meaningless issues. Focus on issues that will make you grow, like how youth will get jobs, how women will feel safe and what should be done for farmers,” she said. Launching an attack on the Modi regime in the Prime Minister’s home State, Priyanka said it did not “fulfil” its promises of providing jobs to crores of people. “You need to take decisions wisely. Question those who made tall promises. Ask what happened to the promise of creating two crore jobs. What happened to the promise of depositing 15 lakhs in your bank accounts?” she said. On the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, Priyanka said people should raise the right issues and take wise decisions. Rahul accused the Prime Minister of corruption in the deal for 36 Rafale jets with France and said the PM gave 30,000 crore to his “friend” Anil Ambani. With Lok Sabha polls due in a month now, the Gandhi scion said the party has decid- ed to do something historic in 2019. “If they can give all the money to rich, we can give money to the poor. I want to assure everyone, we will form the Government in 2019 and will implement minimum income guarantee,” Rahul Gandhi said. Continued on Page 4 Related report on P6 A mid speculation that there could be a “respectable” place for the Congress in the Uttar Pradesh Mahagathbandhan, BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday made an emphatic assertion that that her party would not have any elec- toral tie-up with the Congress in any State for the Lok Sabha polls beginning April 11. In a statement released on Tuesday, Mayawati said, “It is being made clear again that the BSP will not have any electoral alliance with the Congress in any State.” Her remarks came on a day when the highest policy-mak- ing body of Congress — Congress Working Committee (CWC) — met in Ahmedabad and gave a clarion call to oust the Modi Government. Referring to her party’s pre-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party in UP, Mayawati said it is based on “mutual respect” and “honest intentions”. She went on to add the SP-BSP alliance was perfect enough to defeat the BJP, especially in Uttar Pradesh. The SP and the BSP stitched together an alliance in UP recently, keeping the Congress out, though the two parties decided not to field any candidate in Rae Bareli and Amethi — the stronghold of the grand old party. Of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP, the SP would contest 37 and the BSP 38, leaving three for Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). The BSP would be fielding its candidates mostly in west- ern UP, including Saharanpur, Bijnore, Nagina, Amroha, Meerut, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. Besides, it would contest Aonla, Shahjahanpur, Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Misrikh, Mohanlalganj, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Farrukhabad, Akbarpur, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Fatehpur, Ambedkarnagar, Kaiserganj, Shrawasti, Domariyaganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Lalganj, Ghosi, Salempur, Jaunpur, Machhlishahr, Ghazipur and Bhadohi. Addressing party leaders from various States in New Delhi, Mayawati said while several parties were eager for an alliance with the BSP, her party would not do anything for mere electoral gains as it could harm the BSP movement. The election will pit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) against a com- bination of Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Left and several regional forces, with the latter still trying to stitch up a grand alliance to minimise the division of votes against the ruling combine. Continued on Page 4 I t was a day of defections. On Tuesday, over half a dozen politicians, including former Trinamool Congress MP Anupam Hazra and Sujay Vikhe Patil, son of Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Congress MLA Dulal Chand Barar and CPI(M) MLA Khagen Murmu joined the BJP while Patidar leader Hardik Patel joined the Congress. Hazra had won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Bolpur in West Bengal. Along with him, Bgada legislator Dulal Chandra Bar of the Congress and Habibpur MLA Khagen Murmu of the CPI(M) joined the BJP in presence of party’s general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya. The TMC leadership had expelled the Bolpur MP for anti-party activ- ities on January 9. Besides these three leaders, various members of a minority com- munity from Bengal joined the BJP. In a major embarrassment for the Congress, Sujay Vikhe Patil, son of the Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, joined the BJP in Maharashtra in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai. Reportedly, the development comes after NCP chief Sharad Pawar, whose party is in alliance with the Congress in the State, rejected Sujay’s request to contest the polls from Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat. Continued on Page 4 W est Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday released the list of party candidates for all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the State. The TMC has sent out a message to the women elec- torate earmarking 41 per cent seats for them. Among other features of the TMC list are five faces from Bengal cine world. Besides, the party has dropped five sitting MPs from its candidates’ list. Among the MPs dropped or who have opted out are Jadavpur MP Sugato Bose who is also the grand nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, South Kolkata MP and State TMC president Subrato Bakshi, Basirhat MP Idris Ali, Midnapore MP and veteran Bangla actor Sandhya Roy, and Uma Soren. Among the new faces are veteran party leader and State Panchayat Minister Subroto Mukherjee ( Bankura), actress Nusrat Jehan (Basirhat) and Bangla matinee idol Mimi Chakrabarty, who is likely to take on CPI(M)’s Sujan Chakrabarty from Jadavpur. Continued on Page 4 A am Aadmi Party (AAP)’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday ruled out possibility of any electoral alliance with the Congress in the national Capital and announced that his party will contest all the seven Lok Sabha seats on the issue of full Statehood for Delhi. Kejriwal launched a scathing attack on the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said the BJP has no intention of giving Delhi full Statehood. Modi needs to explain why he did not fulfill his promises, Kejriwal told the media persons. Accusing the PM of not fulfilling his promise made in BJP’s 2014 manifesto to grant full Statehood to Delhi, he said his party will take up this issue in the coming days. “The people of Delhi have made up their mind that the way people of Telangana, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and other States achieved Statehood through relentless struggles, the people of Delhi will follow a similar path for full Statehood and will not rest till they achieve their goal,” he said. Stating the party’s internal survey, he said the AAP will be winning with huge majority on all seven seats. Listing four reasons for winning Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, he said the first reason is the Government has done good work in Delhi. Secondly people in Delhi are very eager to see Delhi get full Statehood and they can see that AAP is serious about it, he said. He said thirdly, according to the party internal survey, 56 per cent of the people believe that the conduct of the BJP in the conflict between India and Pakistan has portrayed the party in a “negative” light. Listing out the fourth rea- son, he said, “The Congress did not put the country first and refused to form an alliance. Therefore Hindus were anyway not going to vote for the Congress,” He said according to survey Muslims had some doubts but now even they have come in support of the AAP. Kejriwal said the Lok Sabha elections are extremely important for the people of Delhi. “The people of Delhi kept voting for different parties in the Lok Sabha elections, but all Central Governments deceived them and people of Delhi during last 70 years got nothing except exploitation and humiliation,” he said Kejriwal said father of India’s Constitution, Baba Sahib Bhimrao Ambedkar had famously stated that every voter has a single vote and the value of each vote will be equal, irrespective of the State, reli- gion or caste of the voters. “Today, however, the coun- try is witnessing blatant con- tempt of the Constitution; the value of voters of Delhi has been reduced to half. People of Delhi have been subject to step-motherly treatment since last 70 years,” he added. Delhi is the State which gives second highest tax col- lection to the Central pool. People of Delhi pay close to 1.5 lakh crore in Income Tax, and in return, Delhi gets only a paltry 325 crore, he said. Kejriwal said for a small State like Goa, which has a pop- ulation of only 15 lakh, the Centre provides 3,200 crore, 1.5 lakh crore for Uttar Pradesh. For Delhi, which has a population of over two crore, Centre provides a paltry sum of 325 crore each year for the last 20 years. Had Delhi been a full State, police would have been accountable to the elected Government, he asked. “We promise that when Delhi will be a full State, women will be able to step out of their homes without fear even in night,” he said. The ruling party has declared names of candidates on six of the seven seats in Delhi. A senior AAP leader said the name of the seventh candidate for the West Delhi seat would be announced only after BJP and Congress declare the names of their candidates. T he Congress on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “cynically exploiting” the issue of nation- al security to divert attention from his “colossal failures” and “persistent falsehoods”. The strong attack on the Prime Minister came in a party reso- lution passed at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) which was chaired by party president Rahul Gandhi and attended by all senior leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. “Congress party expresses its strong disappointment that the Prime Minister is cynical- ly exploiting the issue of nation- al security, on which we are all united, to divert attention from his colossal failures, bogus claims and persistent false- hoods,” the resolution passed by the CWC said. The CWC sends a “stern and unequivocal” message to India’s enemies that the coun- try stands united and resolute as one to confront and defeat their nefarious agenda, it said. India is a resilient democracy, proud of its brave armed forces. It shall never be defeated by forces of violence and terror, the resolution said. Continued on Page 4 C hristian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scam case, claimed in a Delhi court on Tuesday that former CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana met him in Dubai and threatened to “make his life hell inside jail” here if he did not toe the line of the agency. The statements were made by Michel before Special Judge Arvind Kumar, who allowed the Enforcement Directorate to interrogate him inside Tihar Jail in Delhi on Wednesday and Thursday. “Sometime back Rakesh Asthana met me in Dubai and threatened that my life would be made hell in the jail and that’s what is going on. My next d o o r inmate is (gangster) Chhota Rajan... I don’t understand what crime I have committed to be put along with the ter- rorists and those who have killed several people,” he said. Michel, who was brought before the court in pursuance to production warrant issued against him, also told the judge that he was put in the prison with 16-17 Kashmiri separatist leaders but it was denied by the jail authorities which said he was shifted to high-risk prison considering threat to his life. Continued on Page 4

Transcript of ˇ - The Pioneer...Delhi, he said the first reason is the Government has done good work in Delhi....

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Priyanka Gandhi Vadra onTuesday used her first pub-

lic rally after assuming chargeas Congress general secretaryto launch a scathing attack onPrime Minister Narendra Modiat his home turf over “unkeptpromises and spread of hatred”in the country.

Congress president RahulGandhi too slammed the ModiGovernment in his concludingspeech, but focus of the day wasdefinitely on Priyanka.

“Our institutions are beingdestroyed. Wherever you see,hatred is being spread,”Priyanka said amid a round ofapplause from the massivecrowd.

“Nothing matters more tous that you and I protect thisnation, work for it and moveforward together,” the Congressleader said in the presence ofher sibling, Rahul, and moth-er, UPA chairperson SoniaGandhi, at the rally near Adalajvillage in Gandhinagar.

Priyanka said the ModiGovernment did not fulfil itspromises of providing jobs tocrores of people in the countryand advised people to be vigi-lant, treat their vote as a“weapon” and ask right ques-tions. With this mega rally, theCongress sounded its poll buglefor the April-May Lok Sabhaelections.

“I am saddened by what ishappening in our countrytoday. I want you all to be more

aware. That is the best sign ofpatriotism. Your vote is yourweapon. You are not supposedto harm someone with thatweapon. But it will make youstronger,” she said.

In her address, she askedpeople not to fall prey to“meaningless issues” and askedthem to broach the right ques-tions. “You are going to decideyour future in this election.Don’t fall prey to meaninglessissues. Focus on issues that willmake you grow, like how youthwill get jobs, how women willfeel safe and what should bedone for farmers,” she said.

Launching an attack onthe Modi regime in the PrimeMinister’s home State, Priyankasaid it did not “fulfil” itspromises of providing jobs tocrores of people.

“You need to take decisionswisely. Question those whomade tall promises. Ask whathappened to the promise ofcreating two crore jobs. Whathappened to the promise ofdepositing �15 lakhs in yourbank accounts?” she said.

On the ensuing Lok Sabhapolls, Priyanka said peopleshould raise the right issues andtake wise decisions.

Rahul accused the PrimeMinister of corruption in thedeal for 36 Rafale jets withFrance and said the PM gave�30,000 crore to his “friend”Anil Ambani.

With Lok Sabha polls duein a month now, the Gandhiscion said the party has decid-

ed to do something historic in2019. “If they can give all themoney to rich, we can givemoney to the poor. I want toassure everyone, we will formthe Government in 2019 andwill implement minimumincome guarantee,” RahulGandhi said.

Continued on Page 4Related report on P6

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Amid speculation that therecould be a “respectable”

place for the Congress in theUttar PradeshMahagathbandhan, BSP chiefMayawati on Tuesday made anemphatic assertion that that herparty would not have any elec-toral tie-up with the Congressin any State for the Lok Sabhapolls beginning April 11.

In a statement released onTuesday, Mayawati said, “It isbeing made clear again that theBSP will not have any electoralalliance with the Congress inany State.”

Her remarks came on a daywhen the highest policy-mak-ing body of Congress —Congress Working Committee(CWC) — met in Ahmedabadand gave a clarion call to oustthe Modi Government.

Referring to her party’spre-poll alliance with theSamajwadi Party in UP,Mayawati said it is based on“mutual respect” and “honestintentions”. She went on toadd the SP-BSP alliance wasperfect enough to defeat theBJP, especially in Uttar Pradesh.

The SP and the BSPstitched together an alliance inUP recently, keeping theCongress out, though the twoparties decided not to field anycandidate in Rae Bareli andAmethi — the stronghold ofthe grand old party.

Of the 80 Lok Sabha seatsin UP, the SP would contest 37and the BSP 38, leaving threefor Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya LokDal (RLD).

The BSP would be fieldingits candidates mostly in west-ern UP, including Saharanpur,Bijnore, Nagina, Amroha,Meerut, Gautam Buddh Nagar,

Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Agraand Fatehpur Sikri. Besides, itwould contest Aonla,Shahjahanpur, Dhaurahra,Sitapur, Misrikh, Mohanlalganj,Sultanpur, Pratapgarh,Farrukhabad, Akbarpur, Jalaun,Hamirpur, Fatehpur,Ambedkarnagar, Kaiserganj,Shrawasti, Domariyaganj, Basti,Sant Kabir Nagar, Deoria,Bansgaon, Lalganj, Ghosi,Salempur, Jaunpur,Machhlishahr, Ghazipur andBhadohi.

Addressing party leadersfrom various States in NewDelhi, Mayawati said whileseveral parties were eager for analliance with the BSP, her partywould not do anything formere electoral gains as it couldharm the BSP movement.

The election will pit theBJP-led National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) against a com-bination of Opposition parties,including the Congress, theLeft and several regional forces,with the latter still trying tostitch up a grand alliance tominimise the division of votesagainst the ruling combine.

Continued on Page 4

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It was a day of defections. OnTuesday, over half a dozen

politicians, including formerTrinamool Congress MPAnupam Hazra and SujayVikhe Patil, son of Leader ofOpposition in MaharashtraAssembly Radhakrishna VikhePatil, Congress MLA DulalChand Barar and CPI(M) MLAKhagen Murmu joined the BJPwhile Patidar leader HardikPatel joined the Congress.

Hazra had won the 2014Lok Sabha elections fromBolpur in West Bengal. Alongwith him, Bgada legislatorDulal Chandra Bar of theCongress and Habibpur MLAKhagen Murmu of the CPI(M)joined the BJP in presence ofparty’s general secretaryKailash Vijayvargiya. The TMCleadership had expelled the

Bolpur MP for anti-party activ-ities on January 9. Besidesthese three leaders, variousmembers of a minority com-munity from Bengal joinedthe BJP.

In a major embarrassmentfor the Congress, Sujay VikhePatil, son of the Leader ofOpposition in MaharashtraAssembly Radhakrishna VikhePatil, joined the BJP in

Maharashtra in the presence ofChief Minister DevendraFadnavis in Mumbai.Reportedly, the developmentcomes after NCP chief SharadPawar, whose party is inalliance with the Congress inthe State, rejected Sujay’srequest to contest the pollsfrom Ahmednagar Lok Sabhaseat.

Continued on Page 4

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West Bengal Chief Ministerand TMC chief Mamata

Banerjee on Tuesday releasedthe list of party candidates forall the 42 Lok Sabha seats in theState. The TMC has sent out amessage to the women elec-torate earmarking 41 per centseats for them.

Among other features ofthe TMC list are five faces fromBengal cine world.

Besides, the party hasdropped five sitting MPs fromits candidates’ list. Among theMPs dropped or who haveopted out are Jadavpur MPSugato Bose who is also thegrand nephew of Netaji SubhasChandra Bose, South KolkataMP and State TMC presidentSubrato Bakshi, Basirhat MPIdris Ali, Midnapore MP and

veteran Bangla actor SandhyaRoy, and Uma Soren.

Among the new faces areveteran party leader and StatePanchayat Minister SubrotoMukherjee ( Bankura), actress

Nusrat Jehan (Basirhat) andBangla matinee idol MimiChakrabarty, who is likely totake on CPI(M)’s SujanChakrabarty from Jadavpur.

Continued on Page 4

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’snational convener and

Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Tuesday ruled outpossibility of any electoralalliance with the Congress inthe national Capital andannounced that his party willcontest all the seven Lok Sabhaseats on the issue of fullStatehood for Delhi.

Kejriwal launched ascathing attack on the BJP andPrime Minister NarendraModi. He said the BJP has nointention of giving Delhi fullStatehood. Modi needs toexplain why he did not fulfillhis promises, Kejriwal told themedia persons.

Accusing the PM of notfulfilling his promise made inBJP’s 2014 manifesto to grantfull Statehood to Delhi, hesaid his party will take up thisissue in the coming days.

“The people of Delhi havemade up their mind that theway people of Telangana,Uttarakhand, Jharkhand andother States achieved Statehoodthrough relentless struggles,the people of Delhi will followa similar path for full Statehoodand will not rest till theyachieve their goal,” he said.

Stating the party’s internalsurvey, he said the AAP will bewinning with huge majority onall seven seats.

Listing four reasons forwinning Lok Sabha seats inDelhi, he said the first reasonis the Government has donegood work in Delhi. Secondlypeople in Delhi are very eagerto see Delhi get full Statehoodand they can see that AAP isserious about it, he said.

He said thirdly, accordingto the party internal survey, 56per cent of the people believethat the conduct of the BJP inthe conflict between India and

Pakistan has portrayed theparty in a “negative” light.

Listing out the fourth rea-son, he said, “The Congress didnot put the country first andrefused to form an alliance.

Therefore Hindus were anywaynot going to vote for theCongress,” He said according tosurvey Muslims had somedoubts but now even they havecome in support of the AAP.

Kejriwal said the LokSabha elections are extremelyimportant for the people ofDelhi. “The people of Delhikept voting for different partiesin the Lok Sabha elections, but

all Central Governmentsdeceived them and people ofDelhi during last 70 years gotnothing except exploitationand humiliation,” he said

Kejriwal said father ofIndia’s Constitution, Baba SahibBhimrao Ambedkar hadfamously stated that every voterhas a single vote and the valueof each vote will be equal,irrespective of the State, reli-gion or caste of the voters.

“Today, however, the coun-try is witnessing blatant con-tempt of the Constitution; thevalue of voters of Delhi hasbeen reduced to half. People ofDelhi have been subject tostep-motherly treatment sincelast 70 years,” he added.

Delhi is the State whichgives second highest tax col-lection to the Central pool.People of Delhi pay close to�1.5 lakh crore in Income Tax,and in return, Delhi gets onlya paltry �325 crore, he said.

Kejriwal said for a smallState like Goa, which has a pop-ulation of only 15 lakh, theCentre provides �3,200 crore,�1.5 lakh crore for UttarPradesh. For Delhi, which hasa population of over two crore,Centre provides a paltry sum of�325 crore each year for the last20 years.

Had Delhi been a full State,police would have beenaccountable to the electedGovernment, he asked.

“We promise that whenDelhi will be a full State,women will be able to step outof their homes without feareven in night,” he said.

The ruling party hasdeclared names of candidateson six of the seven seats inDelhi. A senior AAP leadersaid the name of the seventhcandidate for the West Delhiseat would be announced onlyafter BJP and Congress declarethe names of their candidates.

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The Congress on Tuesdayalleged that Prime Minister

Narendra Modi was “cynicallyexploiting” the issue of nation-al security to divert attentionfrom his “colossal failures” and“persistent falsehoods”. Thestrong attack on the PrimeMinister came in a party reso-lution passed at the CongressWorking Committee (CWC)which was chaired by party

president Rahul Gandhi andattended by all senior leaders,including Sonia Gandhi,Manmohan Singh, AhmedPatel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, andPriyanka Gandhi Vadra.

“Congress party expressesits strong disappointment thatthe Prime Minister is cynical-ly exploiting the issue of nation-al security, on which we are allunited, to divert attention fromhis colossal failures, bogusclaims and persistent false-

hoods,” the resolution passedby the CWC said.

The CWC sends a “sternand unequivocal” message toIndia’s enemies that the coun-try stands united and resoluteas one to confront and defeattheir nefarious agenda, it said.India is a resilient democracy,proud of its brave armed forces.It shall never be defeated byforces of violence and terror,the resolution said.

Continued on Page 4

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Christian Michel, the allegedmiddleman in the

AgustaWestland chopper scamcase, claimed in a Delhi courton Tuesday that former CBISpecial Director RakeshAsthana met him in Dubai andthreatened to “make his life hellinside jail” here if he did not toethe line of the agency.

The statements were madeby Michel before Special JudgeArvind Kumar, who allowedthe Enforcement Directorate tointerrogate him inside TiharJail in Delhi on Wednesday andThursday.

“Sometime back RakeshAsthana met me in Dubai andthreatened that my life wouldbe made hell in the jail and

that’s whatis going on.My nextd o o rinmate is(gangster)C h h o t a

Rajan... I don’t understandwhat crime I have committedto be put along with the ter-rorists and those who havekilled several people,” he said.

Michel, who was broughtbefore the court in pursuanceto production warrant issuedagainst him, also told the judgethat he was put in the prisonwith 16-17 Kashmiri separatistleaders but it was denied by thejail authorities which said hewas shifted to high-risk prisonconsidering threat to his life.

Continued on Page 4

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A42-year old dhaba ownerallegedly murdered his 15-

year-old son, 12-year-old daugh-ter and then ended his life. Thegory incident took place inNoor Nagar area on Monday.Preliminary investigation hasrevealed that Sunder Pal, whoran a dhaba to earn his liveli-hood, had suffered losses.

According to police, SundarPal, who lived in Noor Nagar ar-ea was running a dhaba in Ma-nali (Himachal Pradesh). “Hewas under financial stress as itwas off season in Manali andtourist traffic has almost driedup there. He was with his fatherwho is a retired gardener fromGhaziabad Municipal Co-rporation,” said the police offi-

cial. “On Monday at about11:00 pm Sundar Pal’s wifeShashi along with their sonNaman went to first floor bed-room while their second sonTushar (15) and daughter Mahi(12) remained on the groundfloor room. “Till late night hewas seen well playing with thechildren. His father BhagwanDass who had woken up torelieve himself, saw Sunder Palhanging from the ceiling fan ofhis bedroom. The two childrenwere lying on dead,” said thepolice official.

“A call was received regard-ing the incident at 3:30 am fol-lowing which a team rushed tothe spot. Bodies were sent tohospital. During search, policefound a 15-page note purport-edly written by Sunder Pal. The

note contained statement of hisbank account. The concludingpart reflected huge loss in thebusiness. He had mentionedthat he was suffering losses inhis dhaba business. He tried tocompensate the loss by drivingcabs but could not tide over it.He was forced return to hisfather’s house in Ghaziabad.Where, he committed suicideafter killing to children,” said thepolice official. “It seems headministered some poisonoussubstance in the ice cream andgave it to Tushar and Mahi. Afterthat he committed suicide byhanging himself. The three deadbodies have been sent to post-mortem. The investigation isbeing conducted in the case”said Sanjay Pandey InspectorSihani Gate police station.

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Hundreds of Tibetanactivists, who took out a

protest march as part of the60th anniversary of theirNational Uprising Day, weredetained by the Delhi Police onTuesday.

Around 200-300 Tibetanprotesters took out the marcharound 10 AM from TeenMurti Marg and were headedtowards the Chinese Embassy.

“They were detained ataround 11.30 from nearChanakyapuri Police Station,”said a senior police official.

Tibetan Uprising Day isobserved on March 10 tocommemorate the 1959Tibetan uprising against thepresence of the People’s

Republic of China in Tibet.An activist said as part of

the the National Uprising Day,three day protest march hadbeen planned.

Earlier on Sunday, theymarched from Central districtto Jantar Mantar and onMonday, they marched fromKhan Market to the office ofUnited Nations India in LodhiRoad and submitted a memo-randum.

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A36-year-old man, whocheated several business-

men and traders from AmarColony area and was abscond-ing from past three years, wasarrested by the Delhi Police onTuesday. The accused was want-ed in four criminal cases ofcheating and breach of trust.There are 14 civil cases of chequebounce also registered againstthe accused. The accused hasbeen identified as ManishKaushik, a resident of South-eastDelhi’s Ranjeet Nagar.

According to ChinmoyBiswal, the DeputyCommissioner of Police (DCP),Manish used to work in a private

company but in order to meethis needs, he planned to cheattraders. “In the year 2015-16,accused Manish Kaushik alongwith his associate GauravChaudhary opened two separateoffices on rent at East of Kailash,Amar Colony. Both the officeswere opened in the name of“The Buyers” and “KunalTrading Company”. The duopretended themselves as direc-tors cum owners of the allegedcompanies. They used to pur-chase laptops/computer items,RO water purifiers, clothes,handloom, bed sheet and otherarticles from gullible merchants,”said the DCP.

“Accused persons used togive token amount as advance

for the articles to the traders andissued cheques to them for bal-ance payment, which eventual-ly bounced. After cheating sev-eral traders, they vacated theiroffices and absconded. Fourcases were registered at AmarColony Police Station,” said theDCP. “During investigation ofthe case, police team scanned thebank details and conductedfresh raids at all possible hide-outs of the accused persons. Theefforts of the police team paid offand on March 10 at around 5pm, accused Manish Kaushikwas arrested from Ranjit Nagar”,said the DCP.

“During interrogation, theaccused disclosed that they usedto sell the above consignment oflaptops, computer parts, clothesetc at cheaper prices to receiversand junk-dealers. They havecheated more than 25 victims tothe tune of �1 crore. The accusedalso disclosed that at present hewas looking forward to opennew office and company andcheat more persons,” said theDCP. “Further investigation ofthe cases is in the progress andmanhunt has been initiated bythe police to nab the abscond-ing associate of the accused” theDCP added.

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With an aim toincrease the

penetration of renew-able energy and tohelp its consumers toreduce their electrici-ty bills, Power discomBSES Yamuna PowerLimited (BYPL) hascommissioned foursolar micro grids withLithium-ion based batteries ineast Delhi which will help inreduction of carbon emissionand provide backup power incase of outages.

The BSES Rajdhani PowerLimited (BYPL) will also intro-duce such solar micro grids insouth and west Delhi areas cov-ered by BSES Rajdhani PowerLimited (BYPL), a BSESspokesperson said.

In east Delhi locations,BYPL has installed rooftopsolar plants varying between 5KW and 7 KW and energy bat-tery storage between 7kWhrand 10 kWhr. The micro gridscombine these solar plantswith storage batteries, he said.

The initial results showthat the discom used only 8 percent of grid power and balance

92 per cent was generatedthrough rooftop solar plantsand the micro grid system,including the storage batteries,the official said.

“Around 1,245 litres ofdiesel and 0.24 million units ofelectricity amounting to aroundRs 20 lakh can be saved on anannual basis by the solar micro-grids, besides reducing car-bon dioxide emissions ofaround 205 tonnes,” he said.

Its benefits also includepower availability in case ofany outages, reduction in car-bon footprint and energy bills,he said. The micro grids havebeen setup at BYPL offices ineast Delhi. The energy gener-ated through rooftop solar isbeing used for catering to theinternal power requirements of

office loads and tocharge the batteries.

At currentprices, the cost ofsetting-up of arooftop solar systemis around Rs 40,000per KW and aroundRs 80,000 per KWfor an energy storagesystem, he added.

Commenting onthe development aBSES spokesperson

said, “BSES is going-higher inthe renewable energy valuechain. The installation of microgrid applications as part of itsgreen division initiative wouldact as a showcase for our cus-tomers to adopt and help inpreserving environmentthrough a reduction in carbonfoot print,”

The official said that thecosts for establishing a microgrid are competitive and arelikely to further go-down as themarket trends suggest. “At pre-sent, the cost of setting-up aroof-top solar system is aroundRs 40,000 per KW and aroundRs 80,000 per KW for an ener-gy storage system. This costmay further go down as thenumber of consumers increase,he added.

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The Delhi High Court onTuesday directed the Centre

to not take coercive steps, tillMarch 25, against a Pakistani

woman who has been asked bythe Government to leave thecountry in view of adverse secu-rity reports against her.

The interim order by abench of Chief Justice Rajendra

Menon and Justice AJ Bhambanicame on the woman’s husband’sappeal against a single-judgedecision upholding theGovernment’s direction.

Issuing the interim order,the Bench observed that theconfidential security report,based on which action wastaken against the woman, “doesnot inspire confidence”.

The court also directed theCentre to file its response to theplea and listed it for furtherhearing on March 25.

“Till the next date of hear-ing no coercive action be takenagainst the petitioner’s wife. Sheshall report to the nearestpolice station on every alternate

day and she shall not be keptwaiting there for more than onehour,” the Bench said.

It observed the long-termvisa held by the woman since2007 did not appear to be can-celled till date. To this, CentralGovernment standing counselAnurag Ahluwalia, appearingfor the Ministry of HomeAffairs, said once she was askedto leave the country, it amount-ed to cancellation of her visa.

Ahluwalia also argued thatgrant and cancellation of a visawas a sovereign right and thewoman had no right under theConstitution to approach thecourt, seeking permission to beallowed to stay here. However,the Bench said, “Nothing can bedone arbitrarily”.

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A24-year-old womanallegedly jumped on the

tracks at Dwarka Mor metrostation on Tuesday morning tofetch her money which had fall-en there, leading to brief dis-ruption of services on the DelhiMetro’s Blue Line. However, thewoman, a resident of JharodaKalan in the city, did not sus-tain any injuries.

According to a seniorpolice official, the incident tookplace around 10.40 am. “Thewoman was rescued and sent toa hospital by DMRC officials.She had jumped on the tracksto fetch her money which hadfallen on the tracks,” said thesenior police official.

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Twenty-one people havebeen nominated as mem-

bers of the Court of JawaharlalNehru University.

The members have beennominated by President RamNath Kovind. While 10 personshave been nominated undercategory of persons represent-ing learned professions, includ-ing professor VeerendraKumar, KA Badrinath ofFinancial Chronicle, six per-sons, including KVIC chief VK Saxena, have been nominat-ed representing industry,labour, commerce and agri-culture and five persons havebeen nominated under cate-gory others.

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The Southern PeripheralRoad (SPR) is all set to get

a makeover as three flyoversand two underpasses at majorjunctions will be built on thestretch. The project plan isprepared by the GurugramMetropolitan DevelopmentAuthority (GMDA). A DetailProject Report (DPR) of theproject has already been pre-pared.

The main points to berevamped include, the stretchfrom the Delhi-Jaipur Road toVatika Chowk and the ensuingdistance from Vatika Chowk toGhata village in Sectors 55-56.

According to traffic sur-veys conducted by the GMDA,over 3,600 vehicles use thisstretch every hour, putting ithigh on the GMDA’S priority.

In addition, the SPR is setto get two underpasses, one atVatika Chowk and the other atthe Sector 55-56 intersection.

There are also plans for threeflyovers to ease traffic conges-tion at Rajesh Pilot Chowk,Tigra Mod, and the four-laneintersection between Sectors49-50 and 65-66.

The estimated cost of theprojects will be around Rs281.86 crore. These develop-ments are part of the GMDA’Slarger plans to turn the SPRinto an arterial road and easethe flow of traffic on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway.

“The flyover and under-pass would bring relief to tensof lakhs of commuters who struggle currently throughunending traffic jams on thestretch which traffic cops finddifficult to manage,” said aGMDA official.

Recently, a meeting washeld between the multipledepartments to demarcate landfor construction of a cloverleafto connect the SPR with theDwarka Expressway.

“The project will help thedevelopment of both residen-tial and commercial real estateprojects along the SPR. Theareas to benefit from thisinclude commercial sectors 74 and 75, residential sectors63A to 67, and sectors 49 to 66,”he said.

A senior member of theGMDA said, “The idea here isto develop both the SPR andNPR (Northern PeripheralExpressway, also known asDwarka Expressway) cumula-tively. The development worksin these areas have delayed forlong due to the lack of basicinfrastructure.”

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Following the directions of theElection Commission

regarding removing or coveringof such hoardings, civic agenciesin the national Capital swunginto action and started a drive toremove all these banners andhoardings from their jurisdic-tions.

Officials of the all threecorporation confirmed that theyhave received the instructionsfrom the Election Commissionand work has begun on remov-ing or covering of such hoard-ings. Taking swift action, SouthDelhi Municipal Corporation(SDMC) has removed morethan 13,000 hoardings bannersand posters in its all four zoneskeeping in view implementationof code of conduct immediate-ly after announcement of 2019general elections in the country,a senior SDMC official said.

In the drive, all publicitymaterial related to political mat-ters/ elections are beingremoved, he said.

The official said that underNajafgarh zone, 1610 hoardings

and posters have been removedand accordingly disposed off asper standard procedure.

He said “137 hoardingswere removed from areas comesunder West zone. While the offi-cials of South zone of SDMCremoved 2246 6927 posters,banners and hoardings. UnderCentral zone, 2051 posters, 449banners and 434 boards wereremoved,”

A senior official of the BJP-ruled North Delhi MunicipalCorporation said that aninstruction was received onMonday regarding removing allpublic hoardings carryingimages of party leaders, gov-ernment schemes or any polit-ical references in accordancewith the model code of conductand work has begun to complywith the order.

“All public hoardings car-rying images of party leaders,government schemes or anypolitical references have beenordered to be removed or cov-ered up in accordance with themodel code of conduct,” Delhi’sChief Electoral Officer RanbirSingh said.

Another senior official saiduse of any imagery of armedforces or invoking references toair strike on posters, hoardingsor any other publicity platform“would amount to violation ofthe poll code of conduct”.

Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal’s pictures onMohalla Clinics establishmentsor on hoardings put up for thefourth anniversary of the AAPgovernment are also beingremoved or covered in keepingwith the model code of conduct.

Kejriwal government’s‘Chaar Saal Mein Hua Kamal’themed hoardings still dot var-ious public places and DelhiMetro station buildings.

Kailash Colony metro sta-tion in south Delhi till Tuesdaycarried advertorial hoarding onthe station’s building till lateafternoon. “The licensees put upadvertisements in metro premis-es as per the laid down guide-lines from time to time and aremandated to abide by them. Andthey take measures accordinglyto ensure adherence to themoral code of conduct,” aDMRC official said.

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Delhi University has askedstudents to desist from

playing Holi in a rowdy man-ner with wet colours, balloonsor pistons in any of its institu-tion and decided to set up con-trol rooms in north and southcampus to receive complaintsfrom students during the festi-val.

The university in its advi-sory said anti-ragging and anti-eve-teasing provisions wouldbe applied in case students areharassed during the festival,which falls on March 21.

“The principals, head ofthe departments and Provost ofhalls and hostels may formcommittees of teachers, stu-dents and ‘karamcharis’ to pre-vent the entry of outsiders intothe colleges and departments.

“Security guards should beposted at the gates to check theidentity cards of visitors andstudents,” the varsity said.

Control rooms jointlymanned by Delhi Police and

DTC authorities and the uni-versity officials at North andSouth Campus would functionto deal with any untowardincident, the varsity said.

All anti-ragging and anti-eve-teasing provisions wouldbe made applicable in case ofharassment caused to any stu-

dent during the period, itadded. “All are requested todesist from playing of Holi ina rowdy manner and with wetcolours/balloons/pistons in anyeducational institution. Entryto colleges/ departments/cen-tres/halls/hostels would be reg-ulated through identity cards

during the festival days,” theadvisory said.

The varsity has directedprincipals, Dean of Faculties,head of the departments andprovost of halls and hostels tobe available to take care of anyincidence.

In case they have to go outof their respective institution,a senior person should bedeputed to be present duringtheir absence in the premises ofthe institution, the varsity said.

DU has approached theDTC and Metro authorities tocheck any harassment of girlstudents in the buses and Metroespecially during ‘Holi’ week.

“DTC drivers have been

instructed to take the buses tothe nearest police station incase any hooliganism or harass-ment of students is noticed inthe buses, especially any inci-dent targeted at girls,” the var-sity said.

Special check on entry ofguests in the hostels and hallsduring these days be enforcedin order to prevent entry ofunwanted outsiders, it said.

The varsity said it has beenassured full cooperation bythe police authorities in main-taining law and order andstrict action against eve-teasing.

Police force is beingdeployed at various strategicpositions around the colleges.

Mobile patrolling is alsobeing deployed and the uni-versity has requested the policeauthorities to deploy force inuniform and in plain clothes inthe buses going to various col-leges.

The police has beenrequested to intensify patrollingoutside institutes, colleges, andhostels, the varsity said.

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With Delhi going to thepolls in the sixth phase of

Lok Sabha Elections on May12, the Delhi BJP leadership hasgot time to decide on its can-didates for the sevenParliamentary constituencies.While the names of celebritieslike Gautam Gambhir,Virender Sehwag and AkshayKumar have been doing therounds as potential BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) candidates,there has been no confirmationtill now.

This has left the BJP withno choice but to repeat its sit-ting Members of Parliament(MPs). However, grievancesput forward by party workersagainst the sitting MPs hadraised concerns of the HighCommand which has decidedto again seek feedback frompublic and party cadres beforefinalising its candidates.Sources said, the BJP is likelyto field new candidates in atleast three Lok Sabha con-stituencies.

Former cricketer 37-year -old, Gambhir may contest the

Lok Sabha electionfrom MeenakshiLekhi’s constituency.Gambhir, a residentof Rajinder Nagar wasrecently awarded‘Padma Sri’. Gambhirwas a high profilecampaigner forUnion Minister ArunJaitley in 2014 inAmritsar district ofPunjab.

Gambhir may getthe nod New DelhiConstituency as hehas been quite active on socialmedia on contemporary poli-tics and his recent tweets onPulwama terror attack.Gambhir the former Indianopener has offered education-al support to the children of themartyrs.

Sources in Delhi BJP alsosaid that besides his publicimage, Gambhir can become afresh face for BJP as he hasbeen extremely critical ofArvind Kejriwal, Delhi ChiefMinister and the Convener ofAam Aadmi Party (AAP).

“Delhi political dynamicshave changed after the

emergence of AAP as it has managed to wean awaysizeable number of Purvanchali votes from theBJP,” said an office bearer ofDelhi BJP. “It is s three - waycontest with AAP and theCongress, joining the fray”said a political watcher.

Citing a recent survey anda video conference of partyhigh command with boothlevel workers, old guards in theDelhi BJP office feel the visiblecommunication gap amongthe workers with the sittingMPs.

This is going to be an

ov e r r i d i n greason tofield freshfaces on cer-tain seats.

“Partyhigh com-mand haslearnt fromthe surveythat sittingMPs arereluctant tomeet thegrievances oflocals , more-

over 15 to 20 booth level work-ers also submitted their com-plaints for non - cooperativeapproach of the MPs inaddressing public issues,”sources added.

Realising that AAP is goingwhole hog over full statehoodissue, Manoj Tiwari the presi-dent of Delhi BJP unit said,“Kejriwal has strongly damagedthe cause of full statehood bytrying to stop the January 26thParade.”

Echoing the popular sloganHar Har Modi, Ghar GharModi, Tiawri fumed and said,Delhi people confident to see

Narendra Modi again theirPrime Minister.

“Delhi people gave massive mandate but hebetrayed people’s trust but thereality is different from papers, Kejriwal has failed tofulfill his promises on CCTV,free Wi-Fi, potable water andcontrolling pollution n Delhi,”said Tiwari.

Union minister of state forPlanning & Statistics,Vijay Goelalso slammed Kejriwal over theissue of full statehood, and saidthat there was no possibility ofstatehood owing to antics anddrama of Kejriwal.

Goel, a former Delhi BJPpresident, said, “I will holdHolika Dahan (ritual bonfirebefore Holi) at Jantar Mantar,and torch a tower made ofnewspaper advertisements ofKejriwal Government. Placardslisting unfulfilled promises ofArvind Kejriwal will also betorched.” Meanwhile, BJP lead-ers are keenly watching thedevelopments surrounding the possible AAP Congress alliance that would help theparty finalise its poll strategyaccordingly.

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Delhi in the past threedecades has undergone a

demographic change withmigrants pouring in fromacross the country, particular-ly from Bihar and UP. And withthe Lok Sabha elections datesannounced, all three majorparties Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) and Congress are tryingtheir best to win hearts andminds of voters.

Following the delimitationof constituencies in 2008, Delhihas seven Lok Sabha con-stituencies — Chandni Chowk,North-East Delhi, East Delhi,New Delhi, North-West Delhi(Reserve), West Delhi andSouth Delhi. Each of theseconstituencies has 10 Assemblyseats. The contest in the nation-

al Capital has largely beenbetween the Congress and theBJP, and its forerunnerBharatiya Jana Sangh, till theadvent of the AAP in 2013.

The AAP’s prominence inDelhi politics is at the cost ofthe Congress party; at leastthat’s what the statistics suggest.In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, theCongress had clinched all sevenDelhi Lok Sabha seats, and gotover 57 per cent of the voteshare. The BJP had polled 35per cent vote share.

In the 2013 Assembly polls,the AAP not only ousted theCongress from power butreduced it to a party with only24 per cent vote share. The BJPhad polled 33 per cent voteshare and won 31 Assemblyseats. A year later, in the 2014Lok Sabha polls, the BJP wonall seven seats. While the BJP

polled over 46 per cent voteshare, the AAP got 33 per centof the vote share. But theCongress was reduced to mere15 per cent vote share.

For Congress 2015 was theworst. “In the Assembly polls,the AAP clinched 67 seats andover 54 per cent share. TheCongress scored a zero andpolled less than 10 per cent.Even though the BJP won onlythree seats, it was barely able tomaintain its vote share, andpolled little over 32 per cent,”said S P Arora, a senior polit-ical analyst and an expert ofDelhi poilitcs.

“In short, the BJP’s voteshare has remained constant-roughly between 33 and 35 percent. Even during NarendraModi wave, it managed to getonly 46 per cent vote share -less than what Congress Party

polled in 2009,” said Arora. The Congress party has

pitched for an octogenarianSheila Dikshit under whoseleadership the party won the1998, 2003 and 2008 assemblypolls, and 2004 and 2009 LokSabha polls.

“Now after Sheila Dikshitwas announced as DelhiCongress President, the voteshare of Congress which hadshifted to AAP in last electionswill be back. People stillremember the work done bySheila Dikshit in Delhi. Her re-entry will be profitable forCongress,” said Arora.

“Though AAP had alsodone work in Delhi. Water,electricity and education havebeen AAP government prior-ity. But they might lose voteswhich were transferred fromCongress to AAP. Secondly

that time there was AnnaHazare movement which hadsparked this party to rise,” saidArora.

For four decades, the pol-itics of Delhi was between thePunjabis and the Vaishyas,with both parties having theirshare of leaders belonging tothese communities. In case ofthe BJP, and the BJS, the pres-ence of the Vaishyas andPunjabis was more pro-nounced.

“After ruling out alliancebetween Congress and AAP inDelhi, it seems difficult forCongress and AAP to win allseats. Whereas, BJP vote sharehad remained constant in pasttwo elections other than Modi-wave,” said Arora.

“Today, BJP is bereft of anytall Punjabi leader, discountingArun Jaitley as a Delhi leader.

The Vaishyas have the presentchief minister from their com-munity, thus their loyalty isdivided between the AAP andthe BJP. In Manoj Tiwari, theBJP has para-dropped aPurvanchali face, whoseacceptability within the rankand file is not beyond himbeing a good crowd entertain-er,” said another political ana-lyst who wished not be named.

“On the other hand,Kejriwal’s party, both in 2015Assembly elections and 2017municipal polls, f ieldedPurvanchali candidates inample numbers and they deliv-ered too,” he said.

“If we see recent Municipalelections results, the Congressvote share has seen a rise andAAP had witnessed a downfall in vote share.Whereas BJP vote share had

remained constant. I will say no alliance between AAP andCongress will be profitable forCongress but all seats will notbe won by BJP. Congress willgive a tough fight,” saidSidharth Mishra, President,Centre for Reforms,Development and Justice.

However, from the hightide years of 2014-15, the AAPhas been consistently losing itsnational appeal across the elec-tions and that too at a very fastpace. Thus, the presence of alarge number of AAP membersin the East Delhi MunicipalCorporation and MLAs fromEast Delhi may not transferinto a vote for their likely can-didate Atishi (Marlena) Singh.

Coming to the Congress,their more than one-term MPsand former party presidentsAjay Maken and JP Agrawal

have already started cam-paigning in their respectiveformerly represented seats ofNew Delhi and North-EastDelhi. So has their former MPfrom West Delhi, MahabalMishra, who is also the party’sPurvanchal face.

The party, as of now, how-ever, has a problem of naturalchoice on the other four seats- Chandni Chowk, as seniorleader Kapil Sibal, who has rep-resented the seat for 10 years,may opt out; South Delhi,where the absence of localstrongman Sajjan Kumar, whois now in jail in the anti-Sikhriot cases, would be greatly felt;East Delhi seat, where theabsence of Sandeep Dikshit, theformer two-term MP and sonof Delhi Congress chief SheilaDikshit, has set the tongueswagging.

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The Bharatiya Janta Party(BJP) hit back at the ruling

Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi overits demand for full Statehood tothe city on Tuesday, with UnionMinister of State for Planning& Statistics Vijay Goel saying hewill lit a symbolic bonfire of“unfulfilled promises and fail-ures” of the KejriwalGovernment.

Goel also slammedKejriwal over the issue of fullstatehood, and said that therewas no possibility of statehoodowing to antics and drama ofKejriwal.

Goel, a former Delhi BJPpresident, said, “I will holdHolika Dahan (ritual bonfirebefore Holi) at Jantar Mantar,and torch a tower made ofnewspaper advertisements ofKejriwal Government. Placardslisting unfulfilled promises ofArvind Kejriwal will also be

torched.” Meanwhile, BJP lead-ers are keenly watching the developments surrounding thepossible AAP Congress alliancethat would help the partyfinalise its poll strategy accord-ingly.

Earlier Tuesday, Kejriwalcharged BJP and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi of“betraying” people on the issueof full statehood to Delhi. Hesaid he and other senior partyleaders will burn the BJP man-

ifesto which promised full state-hood to Delhi, at AAP office onWednesday.

Another BJP leader, itsDelhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari,said that Kejriwal has “strong-ly damaged” the cause of fullstatehood by “trying to stop” theRepublic Day parade in 2014and by repeatedly “attacking”constitutional institutions.

During his “dharna” nearRail Bhawan in January 2014,Kejriwal had threatened toflood Rajpath, the venue ofRepublic Day parade, withlakhs of protesters, on the issueof women safety.

Tiwari also hit out at AAP,saying the ruling party talkedabout women safety when sev-eral of its MLAs were chargedwith crimes against them.

Both Tiwari and Goelcharged the AAP with raising thefull-statehood issue to hide “fail-ures and unfulfilled promises” ofits Government in Delhi.

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Delhi Chief Minister andNational Convener of Aam

Aadmi Party (AAP) ArvindKejriwal on Tuesday said thattheir party is in talks for analliance with Shiromani AkaliDal (SAD) Taksali in Punjabfor the Lok Sabha elections.

The AAP chief said thefinal decision on whether analliance with the SAD (Taksali)would be formed or not wouldbe taken in a couple of days.

“Bhagwat Mann (conven-er of AAP Punjab) is in talkswith the Akali Dal (Taksali)over an alliance and a decisionwould be taken soon,” Kejriwaltold reporters here.

The move came after talksfor an alliance between theSAD (Taksali) and the PunjabDemocratic Alliance (PDA)failed over the sharing of seats.

Earlier, the SAD (Taksali)had been holding talks with thePDA that comprises formerAAP leader Sukhpal Khaira’sPunjab Ekta Party, BahujanSamaj Party (BSP), Lok InsaafParty and the Punjab Manch.

The SAD (Taksali) wantedto field its candidate, BirDevinder Singh, fromAnandpur Sahib seat, while the

PDA insisted to give thisassembly seat to the BSP.

The SAD (Taksali) wasformed by MP Ranjit SinghBrahmpura and former MPRattan Singh Ajnala and SewaSingh Sekhwan after they wereexpelled from the Akali Dal forrevolting against party chiefSukhbir Singh Badal.

Punjab has 13 parliamen-tary constituencies.

The ruling AAP in Delhihas already announced its candidates on six of the sevenseats in Delhi. A senior AAP leader said the name ofthe seventh candidate for theWest Delhi seat would beannounced only after theBharatiya Janata Party andCongress declare their candi-dates.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

president Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday also met a delegation of Communist Party of India (CPI) to discussthe political situation in thecountry especially in Delhiand discussed ways to defeatthe BJP.

CPI leader D Raja said thedelegation discussed withKejriwal how the saffron partymust be defeated in the upcom-ing Lok Sabha elections.

Kejriwal, responding toquestion earlier on Tuesday onhis recent decision to formalliances with other politicalparties, said the “the Modi-Amit Shah duo is dangerous forthe country and the wholecountry should unite to removethem”

He said “in this direction whatever has to bedone would be done”. Noting that the country isimportant, Kejriwal said noparty or leader is small infront of the country.

“There are two types ofpeople in the country - one areModi bhakts and another arethose who want Modi to lose.The number of Modi bhakts islower than that of the peoplewho want to defeat Modi,” hetold reporters earlier.

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With the model code ofconduct in place for

the ensuing Lok Sabha elections in Delhi on May12, the issuance of licences for fire arms and theirpossession have been banned innational Capital.

“Committee was formedbefore the elections dates wereannounced. The process of scru-tinising the list of people whohave fire arms has been initiat-ed in every district by the policeand license holders of fire arms in Delhi shall be deposited with the jurisdictional police sta-tion.

Instructions have been issued by Delhi Police forthis purpose,” said Sharat Sinha, the DeputyCommissioner of Police (DCP),Headquarters. The ban will bein force till May 27, after the endof vote count on May 23.

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Shimla/Dharamshala: Manaliand Kufri recorded sub-zerotemperatures on Tuesday fol-lowing snowfall in the higherreaches of the state and light tomoderate rainfall in other partsthe previous day, theMeteorological Department(Met) said.

At 30 cm, Kothi recordedthe highest snowfall from 5.30pm on Monday to 8.30 am onTuesday, followed by 24 cm inKalpa, 15 cm in Keylong, 10 cmin Khadrala, 9 cm in Manali, 6cm in Pooh, 3 cm in Kufri and2 cm in Dalhousie, the Metcentre in Shimla said.

However, a sunny morningbrought relief to some parts ofthe State on Tuesday, it added.

The minimum tempera-ture in Manali and Kalpa was

recorded at minus 3.8 andminus 3.6 degrees Celsiusrespectively, it said.

Keylong continued to bethe coldest place in the statewith a low of minus 8 degreesCelsius. The minimum tem-perature in Kufri was minus 0.5degrees Celsius, whereas theminimum temperature inDalhousie and Shimla was 2.1and 3.3 degrees Celsius respec-tively, the Met centre said.

There was light to mediumrainfall in most parts of thestate throughout Monday.

The highest amount ofrainfall was recorded inChamba at 42 cm, followed by35 cm in Banjar, 22 cm in Solanand 20 cm each in Shimla,Mashobra and Bharmaur, thedepartment added. PTI

New Delhi: Congress generalsecretary Priyanka GandhiVadra tweeted for the first timeon Tuesday, over a month afterjoining Twitter. She put out twotweets in quick succession —one on Mahatma Gandhi’sSabarmati Ashram and the otherquoting the Father of the Nationagainst violence.

“In the sim-ple dignity ofSabarmati, thetruth lives on,”she said in herfirst tweet postedover a monthafter she joinedTwitter onFebruary 11.

Her second tweet was aquote from Mahatma Gandhi,“I object to violence becausewhen it appears to do good, thegood is only temporary; the evilit does is permanent.”

Priyanka Gandhi, who was

appointed AICC general secre-tary in-charge Uttar PradeshEast, had garnered a massiveresponse on joining Twitter,attracting over one lakh follow-ers on the social media platformwithin 10 hours. Comparingher first-day popularity on themicro-blogging website to that ofTamil superstar Rajinikanth,

senior Congressleader ShashiTharoor had hailedher as a “new super-star on social media”.

Currently, shehas over 2,33,000followers. As ofnow, she followsseven accounts,

including the Congress’ officialhandle and those of her broth-er and party chief RahulGandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia,Sachin Pilot, Ashok Gehlot,Randeep Singh Surjewala andAhmed Patel. PTI

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India on Tuesday groundedBoeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in

light of the Ethopian Airlinescrash, in which 157 peoplewere killed.

SpiceJet has around 12 ‘737Max 8’ planes in its fleet, whileJet Airways has five.

“DGCA has taken the deci-sion to ground the Boeing737-MAX planes immediately.These planes will be groundedtill appropriate modificationsand safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations,”the Ministry of Civil Aviationsaid in a tweet.

“As always, passenger safe-ty remains our top priority. Wecontinue to consult closelywith regulators around theworld, airlines, and aircraftmanufacturers to ensure pas-senger safety,” it added.

On Sunday, a 737 MAX 8aircraft operated by Ethiopian

Airlines crashed near AddisAbaba killing 157 people,including four Indians.

This was second such crashinvolving the 737 MAX 8 air-

craft in less than five months.In October last year, an aircraftoperated by Lion Air crashedkilling over 180 people inIndonesia.

Chandigarh: If election can-didates serve a cup of tea anda samosa to their supporters,the snack must cost them atleast Rs 18, Punjab’s electionoffice has determined.

As part of its poll expen-diture monitoring process, thestate poll panel has approvedthe rates for 171 items and ser-vices, including tea (Rs 8 percup) and samosas (Rs 10apiece), so that the politicalparties or their candidates don’tquote a lower price while sub-mitting their poll expenditurebills, said officials.

“There is a need to deter-mine the expenditure by can-didates,” Punjab’s chief electoralofficer S Karuna Raju said. Forthis standard rates for itemsused during elections have tobe fixed, he added.

He said the views of therepresentatives of all politicalparties were taken before final-ising these rates.

A Lok Sabha candidate ispermitted to spend up to Rs 70lakh as poll expenditure.

The Election Commissionof India deploys senior IndianRevenue Service officers tomonitor the poll expenditure so

that the candidates don’t crossthe limit. The rates have beenfixed by a committee under thechairmanship of JalandharDivisional Commissioner onthe directions of Punjab’s chiefelectoral officer, a spokespersonfor his office said.

The rate list, rolled outTuesday, included prices ofvarious other eatables too,including ‘burfi’ at Rs 200 perkg, biscuits at Rs 150 per kg,bread pakoras at Rs 10 a piece,sandwiches at Rs 15 a piece and‘jalebis’ at Rs 140 per kg.

The monthly charges forrenting offices in rural andurban areas have been fixed atRs 5,000 and Rs 10,000.

The poll panel has also fixedthe prices of other widely-usedpoll-related materials like fabricand papers for banners andposters. The rate list has fixedprices of all possible material,including fabric banners at Rs 8per square feet, standard clothflags at Rs 30 a piece, woodencutouts at Rs 30 apiece, medium-quality flex frames at Rs 50 persquare feet, flower badges at Rs15 per piece, hoardings with ironframe at Rs 15 per sq ft and flagswith rod at Rs 9 per piece. PTI

Chandigarh: Punjab ChiefMinister Amarinder Singh saidon Tuesday former PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh was“never in the reckoning”, reject-ing reports that the Congressmay field him from Amritsar inthe Lok Sabha polls.

He also denied any alliancetalks with the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) or any other partyfor the polls in the State.

“The Congress did notneed any alliance in Punjab,nor was it in talks with anyparty on the same,” he said.

Earlier in the day, AAPsupremo Arvind Kejriwal saidin Delhi that his party and abreakaway outfit of theShiromani Akali Dal (SAD) arein talks for an alliance inPunjab for the Lok Sabha polls.

Amarinder Singh, whoturned 77 on Monday,described his meeting with theformer prime minister in Delhias a courtesy call, during whichhe briefed him about Congress’plans in Punjab.

“Former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh was never inthe reckoning for candidatureas he had made it clear that hewas not interested in contest-ing elections,” the chief minis-ter said here.

He along with party’s in-charge for Punjab affairs AshaKumari and state Congresschief Sunil Jakhar had metManmohan Singh in NewDelhi on Sunday and accord-ing to some reports, they urgedhim to contest the Lok Sabhaelections from Amritsar.

PTI

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From Page 1The BJP has worked out a

seat-sharing formula with itsnew allies and old partners --by making concessions to themin states like Bihar -- while theopposition parties were yet toarrive at a deal in several States.

While the saffron allianceunder Prime MinisterNarendra Modi hopes to make

history by returning to powerfor a second term, theOpposition was hopeful ofunseating the Government byraising questions on its per-formance on a host of issues,including economic growth,employment, corruption andsocial harmony.

Meanwhile, reports con-firmed that the BSP is sticking toold-fashioned electioneering,shunning fancy ‘raths’ and holo-grams, and keeping away frompublic relations companies that

offer such high-tech options.Instead, the party would bank onpublic meetings by supremoMayawati and booth-level cam-paigning by its workers.

BSP leaders said instruc-tions have been given on lay-out of hoardings and banners.The candidate’s photo shouldnot be bigger than those ofparty founder Kanshi Ram orMayawati. Kanshi Ram’s photoor a picture of the BSP pollsymbol has to be put next toMayawati’s on the poster.

From Page 1The court took note of

Michel’s submission allegingmental torture inside the jail anddirected Tihar jail authorities toproduce the CCTV footage andreports by Thursday based onwhich he was shifted to a high-security ward.

The court said a jail officialwill remain present andMichel’s lawyer will also beallowed limited access duringinterrogation for half an hourin the morning and in evening.

While seeking to quizMichel, the ED’s special publicprosecutor NK Matta told thecourt that after the accused wasremanded in judicial custody,certain subsequent facts anddevelopments came to theknowledge of the ED throughexamination of witness andprocurement of certain docu-ments.

“It is thus necessary for theED to interrogate and record

the statement of the saidaccused u/s 50 PMLA, who iscurrently in the custody ofthis court, and/or to confronthim with the documents/state-ments so recorded. The samewould enable the ED to ascer-tain and unearth the relevantaspects of the case under inves-tigation,” ED’s lawyerSamvedna Verma told thecourt.

The court had soughtMichel’s presence before it afterhis lawyer alleged mental tor-ture inside the jail. “It is perti-nent to mention here that at thehigh risk cell in the jail num-ber 1 there are two policeguards always watching theapplicant 24 hours. He is notallowed to neither interact norwalk around in the prison.The liberty of the applicant iscompletely curtailed by thejail authority without any rea-son,” the accused told the court.

The jail authorities denied

the allegations made by theaccused and told the courtthat he was put in high securi-ty jail because there was seri-ous apprehension of attack onhim. “He has been providedwith each and every facilitygiven to others. He is put in aseparate cell because he mightbe attacked if he remains withothers,” the authorities said.

Michel was arrested by theED on December 22 last yearafter his extradition fromDubai. The court previouslylashed out at the jail authoritiesfor failing to justify the shiftingof Michel to a high-security cellin isolation, saying it will startan inquiry if it does not get aproper response.

Michel is among the threealleged middlemen beingprobed in the chopper scam byED and Central Bureau ofInvestigation. The others areGuido Haschke and CarloGerosa.

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From Page 1“An atmosphere of fear and

insecurity is all pervasive par-ticularly among women, stu-dents, academics, writers andthe business community; thereare deliberate attacks on theconstitutional and other safe-guards for Scheduled Castes,Scheduled Tribes, OBCs andminorities; and there is subver-sion of all institutions of gover-nance,” the strongly wordedresolution said.

The Congress said it willapproach the people of Indiawith humility to seek theirsupport in the general electionsfor itself and its allies in dif-ferent States.

The party said it seeks a“mandate for better gover-nance and accountability, torepair the grave damage causedto our democratic polity, econ-omy and society by the ModiGovernment, a mandate forchange to restore the health ofthe Indian economy, for job

creation, social justice and har-mony”.

Briefing reporters after theCWC meeting, senior partyleader Anand Sharma said theCongress is committed torestoring the health of theIndian economy which hasbeen collapsing due to the“monumental mismanage-ment” under Prime MinisterModi and his Government.“The working committee hasmet in the backdrop of terrorattacks. The nation has spokenin one voice. The PM is seek-ing to divide the nation. ThePM is questioning the com-mitment and patriotism of hisand the BJP’s political oppo-nents ahead of the elections,”Sharma said.

The Prime Minister isexploiting the emotions andsentiments of the people todeflect attention from his failureand non-deliverance of promis-es made in 2014, he alleged.Congress president RahulGandhi has said the party willnot allow Prime Minister Modito once again “mislead andbefool” the people, Sharma said.

������������ 333From Page 1

He also recalled how Modiannounced notes ban withoutany discussion. “And in one dayhe broke the spine, the entre-preneurial spirit of Gujarat.He made crores of people job-less, and he did so while laugh-ing. And he said he was doingto wipe out black money. Didyou see any one with blackmoney in those lines? It was thecommon people, mothers andmazdoors,” Rahul Gandhi saidin over Modi’s demonetisationannouncement

Without naming the fugi-tive billionaires like VijayMallya, Nirav Modi and MehulChoksi and others, RahulGandhi said while Modi canwaive Rs 3.5 lakh crore debt of15 individuals but cannot waivefarmers’ loans. “Arun Jaitley(Finance Minister) says it is notour policy. Farmers pay insur-ance premium and only those15 people benefit,” he men-tioned also taking on Jaitley.

On the choice of Gujaratfor the CWC meeting and firstpublic rally of Priyanka, RahulGandhi said the party choseGujarat because India is wit-nessing a fight between twoideologies and you’ll find bothof them here.

“On one side, there isGandhiji, who gave everythinghe had to make this countrywhat it is today. MahatmaGandhi and Gujarat has madethis country. And today thereother powers trying to weakenthe country,” he said. He alsoraked up the issue of unem-ployment and said is at a 45-year-high.

%����&��333From Page 1

After joining the party, Sujaylauded PM Narendra Modi andBJP president Amit Shah fortheir leadership and also thankedCM Fadnavis for giving him achance to serve the BJP. He saidthat youth and women supporthis decision to join the BJP. Headded that the decision to leaveCongress had been difficult as hisfamily has been associated withthe party for a long time.

“I am impressed with PMModi’s leadership. We cancount on BJP,” Sujay said whileaddressing reporters after join-ing BJP. He said, “I’ve taken thisdecision against my father’swishes. I don’t know how muchmy parents will support thisdecision, but I’ll try my best tomake my family proud byworking under the guidance ofBJP. The CM and other BJPMLAs were supportive andhelped me take the decision.”

Meanwhile, Patidars leaderHardik Patel who led a move-ment for reservation inGovernment jobs and education

for Patidars in Gujarat, joinedthe Congress party in presenceof its president Rahul Gandhi.Hardik Patel’s outfit PatidarAnamat Andolan Samiti, whichwas at the forefront of agitationfor reservation benefit inGovernment jobs and collegeadmissions, had declared itssupport to the Congress party inthe local body elections in 2015and Assembly polls in 2017. TheBJP has called him an agent ofthe Congress since the begin-ning of the quota agitation inJuly 2015.

Patel has indicated that hewants to contest the Lok Sabhaelection 2019 from theJamnagar seat. The 25-year-oldleader’s plans to contest the LokSabha election, the schedule ofwhich was announced by theElection Commission of Indiaon Sunday, may be possibleonly if he clears legal hurdles.He has been convicted and sen-tenced to two years in a riotcase connected to the 2015Patidar quota agitation, whichbars him from contesting polls.

As many as four Congresslegislators - Jawahar Chavda,

Parshottam Sabariya, VallabhDharaviya and Ashaben Patel- have resigned from the grandold party and joined the BJP inthe past month, suggestingthat Operation Lotus is head-ed to retain all 26 Lok Sabhaseats in Gujarat.

In fact, Manavadar CongressMLA and Ahir strongmanChavda was inducted into theVijay Rupani Cabinet hours afterhe joined the BJP on March 8this year. Chavda is a four-timeMLA from Manavadar con-stituency and a prominent leaderof the Ahir community. He hadresigned as MLA as well asfrom the Congress and joinedthe BJP. Congress MLA fromDhrangdhra Assembly con-stituency Sabariya joined the BJPon Monday as did Dharaviya -Congress MLA from JamnagarRural. Former MP from Naginain Uttar Pradesh, Yashvir SinghDhobi of BSP, former UPMinister Vansh Naraya Pateland Gotiyari Lal of BSP, joinedthe BJP. Congress MLAChirumarthi Lingaiah fromNakrekal, also joined theTelangana Rashtra Samiti.

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From Page 1The TMC has five actors in

its list. Bangla superstar Deb,Birbhum MP Shatabdi Royand Bankura MP Moon MoonSen will contest for second,third and second time in that

order. Sen will be fielded fromAsansol against BJP leader andMinister Babul Supriyo.

While releasing the party’scandidates’ list on Tuesday,Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee said her party haddecided to field candidates inAssam, Jharkhand, Odisha andBihar. When asked as towhether this could pose prob-lem for anti-BJP parties,Banerjee said TMC being anational party reserved its rightto contest from anywhere

adding “if the Congress cancontest from multiple Stateswhy can’t the TMC. We willcontest in a manner that it willnot harm other parties”.

TMC will contest fromJamshedpur, Rajmahal, Ranchiand Dhanbad in Jharkhand,Karimganj, Silchar, Dhubri,Kokrajhar, Barpeta andGuwahati in Assam, Bhadrakand Bhubaneshwar in Odishaand Kishanganj andMaharajganj in Bihar, she said.

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Mumbai: NCP chief SharadPawar on Tuesday said theBJP may emerge as the singlelargest party in the Lok Sabhaelections, but Prime MinisterNarendra Modi is unlikely toget a second term in office.

He was talking to reporterson the sidelines of a functionhere. “BJP may emerge as thesingle largest party post par-liamentary elections and willhave to seek support of allies (toform the Government). In thatscenario, PM Narendra Modi isunlikely to get a second term,”Pawar said.

The former UnionMinister said he will meetsome regional parties across thecountry on March 14 and 15 in

New Delhi, where further strat-egy of ‘mahagathbandhan’(grand alliance) will be dis-cussed.

When asked about someregional parties going awayfrom the Congress and NCPalliance in Maharashtra, Pawarsaid, “I appreciate the PWP forextending support to the NCPin the Lok Sabha election.NCP has also held talks withthe Swabhimani ShetkariSanghatna (SSS) for seat-shar-ing, but the farmers’ front hassome expectations from theCongress as well. It will bedecided by these two parties.”

On Monday, Pawar hadsaid he will not contest nextmonth’s Lok Sabha election.

The 78-year-old veteran politi-cian had said as two membersof his family are going to con-test the polls, “somebody hadto step back.”

However, Pawar had earli-er announced that his partyworkers wanted him to contestfrom Madha constituency inSolapur district, currently rep-

resented by NCP leaderVijaysinh Mohite Patil.

Reacting to Pawar’sannouncement of not contest-ing the Lok Sabha polls,Fadnavis had said the NCPleader “sensed the change in theair”, and decided to rethink onplans to contest Lok Sabhapoll from Madha LS seat.

On the CM’s remarks,Pawar said, “It is childish to callmy decision as defeat as I havewon elections 14 times, includ-ing the Assembly and LokSabha elections that I contest-ed so far. On the other hand,late Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee and (BJP veteran)LK Advani had tasted defeat.”

PTI

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Amaravati: The ElectionCommission was on Tuesdayurged to stop the release ofTelugu movie “Lakshmi’s NTR”on the ground that this couldimpact the coming Lok Sabhaand Assembly elections inAndhra Pradesh.

In his petition to the pollpanel, Devibabu Choudhary, aworker of ruling TDP, soughtorders to stop the controversialmovie of well-known film-maker Ram Gopal Varmawhich is slated for release onMarch 22. Choudhary lodgeda complaint against the filmwhich is based on events thatoccurred in party founder andformer Andhra Pradesh CMNT Rama Rao’s life after hissecond marriage.

He complained the filmhas portrayed N ChandrababuNaidu in negative light and thiscould influence the voters anddemanded that the film’s releasebe stopped till April 11. IANS

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Describing Congress standagainst terrorist as dubi-

ous, Union Finance MinisterArun Jaitley on Tuesdayclaimed that the Oppositionparty’s leaders had played intothe hands of Pakistan duringthe recent Indian Air Forcestrike at Balakot in Pakistan.

In a blog, Jaitley said theCongress party is one with theGovernment on condemningPulwama terror attack resultingin death of 41 CRPF jawans,but is disturbed about airstrikes in Balakot, Pakistan.

He said the Congress hasrepeatedly rubbished the sur-gical strikes of September 2016and contends that they haveeither taken place in the pastalso or alternatively they nevertook place under PrimeMinister Modi.

“On the air strikes, theirconduct is even more dubious,”the minister said.

While giving “lip sympa-thy” to the Indian Air Force forthe first two days, the Congressstarted a multi-pronged attackand questioned the success ofthe strikes.

“This was a self-goal by theCongress in domestic politics.This was also playing into thehands of Pakistan where state-ments of Congress leaders,including Rahul Gandhi, were

played out on television chan-nels in Pakistan.

“Pakistan Governmentcited these statements to bolstertheir own falsehood,” Jaitleysaid in the blog titled ‘Agenda2019 - Part - 2: Prime MinisterModi’s Evolving NationalSecurity Doctrine’. He said theCongress had no structuredplan during ten years of UPAon how to deal with the prob-lems of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Prime Minister NarendraModi inherited this as a lega-cy issue. He experimented theconventional method of tryingto soften the relationship withPakistan in a hope that wisersense would prevail, butPakistan responded withPathankot, Uri and Pulwama.

“He encouraged the main-stream political parties of theValley to be a part of thenational coalition in Kashmir

but unfortunately the doubletalk of support from Delhiand the pressure from theJamat-e-Islami were to thedetriment of anti-separatistspolicy,” Jaitley said.

The Finance Minister alsosaid the BJP-led Government,both at the Centre and inChhattisgarh, had a consis-tently strong position againstthe Left wing extremism.

“From JNU toChhattisgarh, the Congress hasstruck a deal with them. Thereare increasing instances of Leftwing extremists activelyencouraging the KashmiriJehadis in the Kashmir valley.

“The Congress does notoppose the idea of a pro-activeapproach in destroying terror atits point of origin. It is disturbedwith regard to the political fall-out of this pro-active approachon the image of PM,” he said.

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Following the implementa-tion of the model code of

conduct, several Governmentwebsites, including that of thePrime Minister’s Office, havetaken down pictures of thePrime Minister and otherUnion Ministers, but someMinistries are yet to comply.The Election Commission alsowrote to all Ministries, depart-ments and Chief Secretaries ofall States and Union Territoriesthat all references of Ministersor political parties or politiciansavailable on the Centre andState websites should beremoved.

The EC also made it clearthat rest house, dak bungalowand other government accom-modations in the States/UTswhere election have beenannounced or are taking placecan be given to the politicisa-tions having “Z” plus or abovecategory of security. This shallbe subject to condition thatsuch accommodation is notalready allotted or occupied bythe election observers.

The Lok Sabha electionswill begin from April 11 andthe announcement of the date

for polling means the modelcode of conduct comes intoimmediate effect. It remainsoperational till the process isconcluded.

The MCC states that theparty in power — whether atthe Centre or in the States —should ensure that it does notuse its official position forcampaigning.

Ministers and otherGovernment authorities cannotannounce financial grants inany form. No project or schemewhich may have the effect ofinfluencing the voter in favourof the party in power can beannounced, and ministers can-not use official machinery forcampaign purposes.

In a letter written to theCabinet Secretary and chiefsecretaries of states, the EChad asked them to ensurethat photographs of “politicalfunctionaries” on official web-sites are removed or hiddenimmediately. The PMO web-site took down pictures ofPrime Minister NarendraModi and so did the site ofPress Information Bureauwhich disseminatesGovernment information tothe media.

But the website of the LawMinistry still carries the pic-tures of Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad, his juniorminister PP Chaudhury and alink to PM’s ‘Mann ki Baat’

monthly radio address.Similar is the case with the

website of Ministry ofMinority Affairs where pic-tures of minister MukhtarAbbas Naqvi and his juniorminister Virendra Kumar aredisplayed.

Central and respective stateGovernments have been askedto remove all unauthorisedpolitical advertisements in theform of writings on walls,posters, hoardings, bannersand flags from public proper-ty and public spaces such as air-ports, railway stations, busstands, municipal buildings,government offices and buseswithin three days of announce-ment of poll dates.

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All India Anna DravidaMunnetra Kazhagam

(AIADMK) has accusedPuducherry Chief Minister VNarayanasamy of violating themodel code of conduct (MCC)by extending freebies to publicin form of pre-dated chequesfrom Chief Minister’s relief fund.

In a letter addressed to EC,AIADMK MLA VaiyapuriManikandan alleged that thoughthere are no adequate funds inthe account, bank authoritieshave been instructed to notbounce the cheques and wait forthe account to be credited.

Manikandan has allegedthat even though there are noadequate funds in the bankaccount, the bank authoritieshave been instructed not tobounce the cheques and keepthem waiting until sufficientamount is credited. “The bank

authorities release payments asand when the account is re-filled.The pending amount will bereleased soon after the receipt offunds, without catching the eyesof anybody,” reads the letter.

Since the money transfer istaking place in a phased man-ner, no one could blame thechief minister for violating theMCC, Manikandan said,adding that Narayanswamyhad been misappropriating theCM relief fund.

The AIADMK MLA fur-ther requested the ECI to inter-

vene and stop the funds’ trans-fer from the CM relief funduntil the completion of the LokSabha polls.

Elections to 39 Lok Sabhaseats in Tamil Nadu and thelone Puducherry segment willbe held on April 18, the secondof the seven phases of pollingacross the country for a total of543 seats. The AIADMK isheading the NDA in TamilNadu, whose constituents arethe BJP, PMK, DMDK, PuthiyaTamizhagam and PuthiyaNeethi Katchi.

The party has allottedseven seats to PMK, five to theBJP, four to the Vijayakanth-ledDMDK, and one each toPuthiya Tamizhagam andPuthiya Neethi Katchi in thestate, thus leaving 21 for itselfas of now. The lone Puducherryseat has been allotted toAINRC, headed by formerchief minister N Rangasamy.

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Allaying the fears of over 40lakh persons whose names

were not included in the draftAssam NRC, the ElectionCommission of India (ECI) onTuesday told the SupremeCourt that exclusion will notaffect their voting rights in theupcoming Lok Sabha pollsprovided their names feature inthe electoral rolls.

The top court asked theECI to clarify what action it willtake if a person’s name is notincluded in the final AssamNational Register of Citizens(NRC) to be published on July31, but it features in the elec-toral rolls.

A bench of Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi and JusticesDepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanaasked the ECI to provide it thedata by March 28 about theaddition and deletion of namesfrom voters’ list as revised inJanuary for 2017, 2018 and2019.

At the outset, the benchasked the ECI secretary, whohad been summoned by thecourt, what will be the status ofthe persons whose names donot feature in the draft NRCbut feature in the electoralrolls.

On March 8, the apex courthad asked the poll panel sec-retary to appear before it forTuesday’s hearing in connec-tion with a PIL alleging thatseveral categories of persons inAssam have been deprived ofvoting rights ahead of the LokSabha polls.

The secretary replied that

exclusion will not have anybearing on the voting rights ofsuch individuals.

Senior advocate VikasSingh, appearing for the ECI,said it had already been statedthis in 2014.

He pointed out that thecourt should not entertain thispetition filed by Gopal Seth andSusanta Sen, residents ofAssam, as contrary to theirclaims, their names were neverdeleted from the electoral rollsin the past three years.

Any observation from thecourt in this kind of petitionwould amount to huge adversepublicity for the ECI as if itwere doing something wrong,Singh said.

The bench said it wouldfurther hear the matter onMarch 28.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Tuesday asked theCentre to explain in two weekswhy it has not set up a perma-nent mechanism to monitorthe undue accretion of assets byelected representatives asdirected by it last year.

On Feb 16 last year, the apexcourt had said the undue accre-tion of assets by lawmakers wasa “sure indicator” of the beginningof a failing democracy, which ifleft unattended, would lead to thedestruction of democracy andpave way for “rule of mafia”.

It had then asked for a per-manent mechanism to monitorthe undue accretion of wealthby lawmakers.

On Tuesday, hearing a con-tempt plea filed by NGO ‘LokPrahari’, it said it was not issu-ing any notice but seeking areply from the secretary of leg-islative department of the Unionof India why the court’s direc-tions were not complied with.

The NGO has claimed thatcertain directions issued bythe court on Feb 16 last yearhave not been complied with.

The court also asked thesecretary to explain what hisdepartment has done withrespect to non-disclosure orpart disclosure of assets whichwould amount to “undue influ-ence” under the Representationof People’s (RP) Act.

A bench of Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi and justicesDeepak Gupta and SanjivKhanna asked the secretary toexplain why Form 26, whichevery candidate is required tofill during his nomination,does not contain a declarationon whether he or she has suf-fered any kind of disqualifica-tion under the RP Act. PTI

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The Supreme Court onTuesday observed that the

people seemed to be “runningafter” firecracker industries andautomobiles were perhaps “big-ger” contributor to pollution.

It also asked the Centrewhether there was any compar-ative study on pollution causedby vehicles and firecrackers.

While expressing seriousconcern over loss of jobs ofpeople involved in manufactureand sale of firecrackers, a benchof Justices SA Bobde and SANazeer said, “We do not wishto generate unemployment.”

“Is there any comparativestudy on what proportion ofpollution is caused by fire-crackers and what proportionis caused by automobiles? Itseems you are running afterfirecrackers, but bigger pollu-tion contributor is perhapsvehicles,” the bench toldAdditional Solicitor GeneralANS Nadkarni, who wasappearing for the Centre.

The top court said, “Youmust tell us some way of pre-venting unemployment also. Wecannot have people unemployedand hungry. There are areaswhere firecrackers can be used.”

“We cannot give them(those who have lost jobs)money. We cannot supporttheir families. Unemploymentis there,” the bench said.

The bench also raised aquestion as to how manufac-ture of firecrackers could bestopped if the trade is legal andpeople have licence to carry outthe business.

“Nobody has tested this inrelation to Article 19 (whichsays all citizens shall have theright to practise any profession,or to carry on any occupation,trade or business). If the tradeis legal and you have the licencefor this, then how can you stopthis? How can you leave peo-ple unemployed?” the benchobserved.

The court was hearing a pleawhich has sought a completeban on use of firecrackers acrossthe country on the ground thatit gives rise to pollution.

The apex court had lastyear said people in the countrycan burst firecrackers onlyfrom 8 pm to 10 pm on Diwaliand other festivals, and hadallowed the manufacture andsale of only “green crackers”which have low emission oflight, sound and harmfulchemicals.

During the hearing onTuesday, the ASG told thebench that the Petroleum andExplosives Safety Organisation(PESO) and other expert agen-cies were experimenting andthey have come up with com-position of “green crackers”.

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The Centre on Tuesday jus-tified in Supreme Court its

recent law granting 10-per centquota for Economically WeakerSections (EWSs), saying it wasbrought in to promote “socialequality” by providing “equalopportunities in higher educa-tion and employment to thosewho have been excluded byvirtue of their economic status”.

The Government said thenew law will not be covered bythe Indra Sawhney versusUnion of India (popularlycalled Mandal Commissionverdict) of 1992 as provision forreservation was made afteramending the Constitution.

“That the ConstitutionAmendment (103rd) Act 2019was necessitated to benefit theeconomically weaker sectionsof the society who were notcovered within the existingschemes of reservation, whichas per statistics, constituted aconsiderably large segment ofthe Indian population,” an affi-davit filed by the Centre said.

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Against the backdrop ofPrime Minister Narendra

Modi’s clarion call to the sci-entists to find a ‘concrete solu-tion’ to deal with the problemof stubble burning, the coun-try’s premier research agency,Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research (CSIR) haspitched in for conversion ofpaddy biomass into green ‘bio-coal’ to be used in thermalpower plants as one of the pos-sible environment-friendlysteps to check the menacewhich chokes Delhi and NCRregion, particularly during win-ters.

Scientists from one of theCSIR’s labs, National PhysicalLaboratory (NPL) in a studypublished in the latest editionof The Current Science, saidthis conversion of paddy stub-ble into green product biocoalthrough torrefaction processwould also help farmers toearn money using the agricul-ture residue.

They maintained that thebiocoal which has the calorif-ic value equivalent to that ofbituminous coal can be used asan alternative fuel in thermalpower plants. By optimizingthe processing parameters oftorrefaction process, desiredcalorific value of torrefiedproduct has been archived, asper the study conducted inHaryana. It also pointed outthat 10 per cent use of torrefiedproduct with coal can consume140 million tonnes of ricestraw and as a consequence, itreduces the consumption offossil fuels.

If adopted, the technologywhich is already in vogue in thewestern countries can helpreduce not only consumptionof fossil fuels, but also cutdown the environmental pol-lution and greenhouse gas(GHG) emission. Similarly,residue of other crops likewheat, sugarcane, oilseed,maize and cotton which isestimated to be around 500million tonnes in the country,

can be used as biocoal in ther-mal plants after torrefaction.

The suggestion holdsimportance given that present-ly, to dispose the rice straw formaking field ready for nextcrop, farmers are burning it inthe fields itself particularly inStates like Punjab, Haryana,Uttar Pradesh, Jammu Kashmirand Uttarakhand posing lot ofenvironmental, health and eco-nomic issues.. This despiteState Governments’ offers suchas subsidy, machines as well aswarning to impose penalty incase of violation.

However, the team of sci-entists comprising of SRDhakate, Abhishek K Pathak,Prateek Jain, Mandeep Singh, BP Singh, KM Subhedar, SSSharda and RK Seth, said that“once farmers get monetaryincentive for the waste, burn-ing can be stopped in the fieldsand it can be used as a sourceof renewable energy and thecountry can become self-reliantfor energy generation.”

Modi had last December

while addressing the farmers’conclave “Krishi Kumbha” inLucknow through video con-ferencing too raised his con-cerns on increasing smogcaused by stubble burning as heurged scientists to find concretesolution to stubble burning.

Being agriculture-basedcountry, India generates morethan 600 million tonnes ofbiomass waste from differentcrops and produces 140 milliontonnes of rice straw aloneannually.

Most of the stubble burn-ing takes place over three weeksin October-November, releas-ing particulates and smog-forming carbon monoxide andnitrogen oxide, which driftfrom the fields over almost theentire Indo-Gangetic plain.This pollution contributesaround 12-60 per cent of par-ticulate concentrations depend-ing on the generation of otherpollutants in different loca-tions, winds, temperature andother local factors, according toreports.

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The DMK on Tuesday urgedthe Election Commission

to hold byelections to threevacant assembly seats alongwith the voting for 18 othersegments scheduled on April18, claiming there was “nolegally sustainable reason toomit them”.

A memorandum to thiseffect was submitted to ChiefElection Commissioner SunilArora at the ElectionCommission office in NewDelhi by a DMK delegationheaded by party Rajya SabhaMP Tiruchi Siva, party sourcessaid here.

“In all the three cases,there are no orders from anycourt restraining the ECI fromconduction by-elections to theassembly constituencies. Merependency of an election peti-tion is not a bar under law forconducting by-elections,” DMKpresident M K Stalin said in thememorandum.

On March 10, the EC hasannounced the schedule for theLok Sabha elections and bypollsto 18 assembly seats in TamilNadu, leaving out the three seg-ments which are also vacant.

State Chief ElectoralOfficer Satyabrata Sahoo hadsaid bypolls were not scheduledfor the seats as election peti-tions related to them werepending in the Madras HighCourt.

The DMK memorandum,a copy of which was released tomedia here, said the EC hadconducted bypolls in the past

despite pending election peti-tions.

“There is no legally sus-tainable reason as to why threeconstituencies alone have beenomitted,” it said.

At a meeting of its districtsecretaries, MPs, and MLAshere Monday, the DMK hadadopted a resolution whichsaid not holding bypolls to thethree assembly constituencieswas “anti-democratic.”

While Ottapidaram andAravakurichi were representedby disqualified AIADMKMLAs Sundararaj and SenthilBalaji (he is now with theDMK), Tiruparankudram leg-islator A K Bose died last year.

Petitions challenging theirelections are pending in theMadras High Court.

The byelection to the 18seats are crucial for rulingAIADMK which has 114MLAs excluding the Speaker inthe 234-member assembly with21 vacancies. Opposition DMK(88) and its allies together have97 members.

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The Opposition GrandAlliance in Bihar appeared

under strain on Tuesday whena senior Congress leader assert-ed his party was not dependenton allies in the State, drawingsharp reactions from the RJD,which questioned the nation-al party’s commitment todefeating the BJP in the LokSabha election.

Congress Legislature Partyleader Sadanand Singh, also amember of the recently con-stituted State election com-mittee, said, “The party hasemerged stronger under theleadership of Rahul Gandhi. Ifseat-sharing does not workout, there will be no problem.Hum kisi ke bhi mohtaj nahinhain (we are not dependent onanybody).”

Singh cited the example ofUttar Pradesh, where theCongress is gearing up to go italone after being dumped bythe Bahujan Samaj Party andthe Samajwadi Party, arch-rivals who have buried thehatchet and formed an allianceto take on the BJP.

“Rahul Gandhi had said inthe context of UP that the partywill be playing on the frontfoot. We are game for that inBihar as well,” Singh added.

Reacting to the Congressleader’s comments, RJD nation-al vice-president ShivanandTiwary said, “The grand oldparty must make up its mindon whom it wants to fight.Does it want to defeat the BJP

or engage in a fight againstthose who are committed tothwarting the saffron party.

“Our party has the biggestjanadhar (support base) inBihar. The Congress can belit-tle us at its own peril. Moreover,it will also have to answer thevoters who wish to get rid ofthe BJP.”

A senior Congress leadercamping in New Delhi, mean-while, told PTI over phone thatthe two parties could not reacha consensus over seat alloca-tion. “We had initially sought15 seats out of 40 seats in Bihar.But RJD supremo Lalu Prasadinsisted that we contest only 10.Our party leadership couldhave agreed to make conces-sion for one or two seats, but itis not possible for us to forgofive,” he said on the conditionof anonymity.

“He (Prasad) is taking it for

granted that Yadavs andMuslims are going to vote enmasse for the RJD and our rolewould be limited to cutting intoupper caste votes. That is toosimplistic a calculation,” thesenior leader said.

“Prasad does not under-stand that the Congress is themain choice of Muslims andnot the RJD in many con-stituencies. He is also giving toomuch importance to birds ofpassage like UpendraKushwaha (RLSP), Jitan RamManjhi (HAM) and MukeshSahni (VIP), without realizingthat they cannot be reliedupon,” he claimed.

“If our allies do not showa sense of proportion, then wemay have to go it alone eventhough we do not want such athing to happen. It should beclear in the next couple of days,”he added.

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Hitting out at critics opposinghis actor son Nikhil

Kumaraswamy contesting fromMandya in the Lok Sabha elec-tions, Chief Minister HDKumaraswamy on Tuesday said“systematic” campaign was beingrun against his candidacy.

Facing flak for promotinghis son, Kumaraswamy saidthose posting on social mediaare not voters. The real votersare in villages and it is they whowill decide, he added.

Claiming that there was a“systematic” campaign againstNikhil’s candidature, he saidseveral top political leaders,including Yeddyurappa andhimself, were born somewhere,while their political activitiesare elsewhere.

“Pro and contra views willbe everywhere. Several leaderswho were born somewhere,have won from elsewhere andhave become members (ofParliament and Assembly),”

Kumaraswamy said to a queryabout the opposition to Nikhil’scandidacy.

Speaking to reporters here,Kumaraswamy said UnionMinister Sadanada Gowda,who was born in Mangaluru,has become an MP fromBangalore North, Yeddyurappa,born in Mandya, was doingpolitics from Shivamogga, andhe, born in Hassan, was doingpolitics in Ramanagara.

“Anyone can contest fromanywhere. I can understandwhat all is happening system-atically as though there wasopposition in Mandya (toNikhil’s candidacy),” he said.

Lucknow: Uttar PradeshDeputy Chief Minister DineshSharma on Tuesday accusedthe Opposition parties of usingthe Ramzan as an alibi to jus-tify their imminent defeat inthe Lok Sabha polls.

“Most of the Hindusobserve fast on Tuesdays, whilethe Muslims hold special‘jumma’ (prayer) on Friday.Does that mean there should beno voting on Tuesdays andFridays? Sharma asked.

“Elections are also a typeof ‘ibadat’ (worship). It is a typeof puja. And it is the ‘ibaadat’and ‘aradhana’ (worship) ofthe ‘rashtra’ (nation). If the elec-tions are held in the period of

Ramzan, then people will goout to vote with a pure mindand heart,” the BJP leader said.

Sharma’s statement comesagainst the backdrop of theTMC and the AAP claimingholding elections duringRamzan will inconvenienceMuslims and help the BJP as thecommunity is largely seen to bebacking the Opposition partiesagainst ruling alliance. “This isa political stunt of some peoplewho have started searchinggrounds and possible reasons fortheir imminent defeat in the LokSabha elections. Now they can-not blame EVMs for defeats, sothey are resorting to this (logic),”Sharma said. PTI

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Rahul Gandhi’s “chowkidarchor hai” jibe against Prime

Minister Narendra Modi hasmiffed the security guards asso-ciation, which has askedMumbai police to file a caseagainst the Congress presi-dent, police said.

The Maharashtra RajyaSuraksha Rakshak Union sub-mitted an application at theBandra-Kurla Complex (BKC)police station here Monday,claiming the remark was an“insult” to security guards, apolice official said on Tuesday.

The association has

claimed that during his rally at the MMRDA groundshere earlier this month, Gandhisaid that “chowkidar chor hai”(the guard is the thief ), police said.

The Union presidentSandeep Ghuge said policeshould register an offenceagainst Gandhi to stop “suchkind of slogans insulting thesecurity guards.”

Gandhi has been repeat-edly hurling the “chowkidarchor hai” jibe at Modi to claim irregularities andfavouritism in the Rafale deal,a charge the BJP-ledGovernment has rejected.

Pune: A day after NationalistCongress Party (NCP) presi-dent Sharad Pawar opted out ofthe Lok Sabha elections, freshpressures mounted on him toreconsider his decision onTuesday.

This time it was anothergrand-nephew Rohit Pawar,who publicly appealed to Pawarto enter the electoral fray.

Rohit Pawar, son of busi-nessman Rajendra Pawar,penned a short post on hissocial media accounts, appeal-ing to his grand-uncle to fightthe ensuing Lok Sabha elec-tions, saying that “it is thedesire of lakhs of party work-ers also”.

However, top NCP sourcesclaim that this time, Pawar maynot relent and would choose tokeep himself free to campaign for the Congress-NCP in Maharashtra and forthe Opposition parties else-where in the country to counterthe Bharatiya Janata Party.

PTI

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The Bhaujan Samaj Party issticking to old-fashioned

electioneering, shunning fancyraths and holograms, and keep-ing public relations companiesthat offer such high-tech optionsat bay, a party leader said.Instead, the party will bank onpublic meetings by supremoMayawati and booth-level cam-paigning by its workers.

In a seat-sharing pact withthe SP and the RLD in UP, theparty will contest from 38 con-stituencies in the state in thecoming Lok Sabha elections.

A party leader said somepublic relations agencies hadapproached the BSP office here,

hoping to make presentationsbefore Mayawati.

But they were told no’ as theparty believes in the traditionalmode of campaigning,” thesenior BSP leader said. Mayawatilaunched her Twitter accountonly on February 6. Party lead-ers also said instructions havebeen issued on the layout of elec-tion hoardings and banners.

The candidate’s photoshould not be bigger than thoseof the party founder KanshiRam or Mayawati. Kanshi Ram’sphoto or a picture of the BSPpoll symbol, the elephant, shouldbe put next to Mayawati’s on theposter, potential candidates havebeen advised.

The top portion of the

banner or the poster shouldhave the photographs of emi-nent personalities of the ̀ bahu-jan samaj’. The bottom portionwill have the photograph of theperson putting up the poster,”a party leader said.

The posters would bebrought out only after gettingpermission from the party.

Among the UP seats theBSP is contesting areSaharanpur, Bijnor, Amroha,Meerut, Gautam Buddh Nagar,Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Agra,Fatehpur Sikri, Shahjahanpur,Sitapur, Sultanpur, Farrukhbad,Akbarpur, Jalaun, Hamirpur,Fatehpur, Ambedkarnagar,Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar andDeoria.

Thiruvananthapuram: A dayafter the poll authority heregagged parties from raisingthe Sabarimala issue in the runup to the elections, a politicalslugfest appeared to loom overKerala’s political horizon withthe BJP and Congress oppos-ing the move and rulingCPI(M) backing it.

Senior BJP leaderKummanam Rajasekharan, whoarrived here on Monday to arousing reception after resign-ing as Mizoram Governor, saidthe matter was about beliefs andadded that the BJP wouldapproach the Chief ElectionCommissioner on this issue.

“The directive not to use

the Sabarimala issue during thetime of elections is baseless.

The issue being raised hereis that of freedom of religion...It is the issue of freedom ofworship and about rituals andbeliefs,” he told reporters here.

The senior saffron partyleader, who was at the helm ofseveral campaigns in the pastlike a drive against an interna-

tional airport at Aranmula,said the matter was not con-fined to the hill shrine alone,indicating his party was notprepared to immediately toethe poll authority’s diktat.

However, the rulingCPI(M) has backed the ChiefElectoral Officer’s stand. TheOpposition Congress, whichhad extended support to Lord

Ayyappa devotees at the time ofthe Sabarimala agitation, cameout against state Chief ElectoralOfficer Teeka Ram Meena’sdirective, asking how such agrave issue should not be raisedduring the elections.

Meena on Tuesday saidwhether it was the Sabarimalatemple, a church or mosque,these should not be used tosolicit votes as it would be aviolation of the model code ofconduct. Reacting to the direc-tive, BJP state general secretaryK Surendran had already saidMonday the state government’sstand on the Sabarimala issuewould surely be an electionissue. PTI

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UPA chairperson SoniaGandhi on Tuesday

accused Prime MinisterNarendra Modi of playing the“victim card” as she said peo-ple of the country were the vic-tims of his “wrong policies”.

She was speaking at theCongress Working Committee(CWC) meeting at the SardarPatel National Memorial here.

According to sources, thesenior Congress leader in heraddress lashed out at the ModiGovernment for ‘politicising’issues related to national inter-est. She also called for high-lighting the achievements ofthe previous UPA Governmentalong with emphasising on theneed to move forward in pro-viding a new vision for thecountry.

Former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh, who also

addressed the meeting, talkedabout the agrarian crisis, ham-pered industrial growth andunemployment under the pre-sent regime at the Centre.

The meeting started with atwo-minute silence in memo-ry of the victims of Pulwamaterror attack.

The top Congress leader-ship paid their respects toMahatma Gandhi at theSabarmati Ashram here.

The day also marks theanniversary of the famous‘Dandi March’ started byMahatma Gandhi fromSabarmati Ashram on March12, 1930.

The CWC meeting is beingheld in Gujarat after a gap of 58years. It was last held in the Stateat Bhavnagar in 1961. The partywill also hold a public meetingin Adalaj in Gandhinagar dis-trict of Gujarat with the sloganof ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’.

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�� �������4�:�����#��� �������Ahmedabad: UPA chairpersonSonia Gandhi and Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi onTuesday visited the museum atthe Sabarmati Ashram hereand termed the place as “veryinspiring”.

After attending a prayermeet at the ashram to pay theirrespects to Mahatma Gandhi,both the leaders visited themuseum in the premises andwrote their remarks in the vis-itors’ book.

“It is most inspiring for meto visit this museum... We areinspired by him (MahatmaGandhi), his life, his sacrifice,”Sonia Gandhi wrote in the

book. Rahul Gandhi lauded themuseum authorities for keep-ing the essence of the Father ofthe Nation alive at the place.

“A very inspiring place.Thank you for keeping theflame of our leader alive,” hewrote in the visitors’ book.

Senior Congress leaderswere at the ashram to attend anall-religion prayer meet aheadof the party’s working com-mittee meet and a public rally.

The party leaders sought togive a symbolic message to thepeople of the country byremembering Mahatma andhis ideals of non-violence andtolerance. PTI

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Chennai: Congress PresidentRahul Gandhi on Wednesdaywill begin the campaign for theLok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadufrom Nagercoil.

Leaders of Congress alliesincluding DMK President M.K.Stalin and others will share thedais with Gandhi at Nagercoil

in Kanyakumari district.The Congress will fight

the elections as part of DMK-led front that includes MDMK,CPI, CPI-M, VCK, IUML, IJKand KDMK.

It may be recalled Stalinhad proposed Gandhi’s name asthe Prime Ministerial candi-

date.The Congress has got nine

Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Naduand the lone seat inPuducherry.

Arriving here in the morn-ing, Gandhi will interact withthe students of Stella MarisCollege for Women. PTI

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After weeks of intense spec-ulation, Dr Sujay Vikhe-

Patil, son of the leader of theOpposition in the MaharashtraAssembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, finally joined the rulingBJP on Tuesday, thus causingconsiderable embarrassment tothe Congress in general and SrVikhe-Patil in particular.

Sujay, whose entry to theBJP had become a mere for-mality, joined the principal rul-ing party in the presence ofMaharashtra Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis and stateparty president RaosahebDanve-Patil.

A neurosurgeon by pro-

fession, Sujay is the grandsonof late Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil,who was a Minister in the AtalBihari Vajpayee Government.

The BJP has decided tofield Sujay as its candidatefrom Ahmednagar Lok Sabhaconstituency in place of itstwo-time MP Dilip KumarGandhi. Gandhi’s supportershave already registered aprotest in front of the State BJPheadquarters on Mondayagainst Sujay’s entry to theBJP. It remains to be seen as tohow Gandhi will react to thedenial of party ticket to him.

Sujay’s decision to join theBJP stems from his inability tocontest the Lok Sabha polls theAhmednagar Lok Sabha seat

on a Congress ticket.In the seat-sharing arrange-

ment between the Congressand NCP, Ahmednagar LokSabha seat falls in the quota ofthe Sharad Pawar-led party.However, Pawar was in nomood to lose the politicallyinfluential Ahmednagar seat tothe Congress.

As a political strategy ofsorts, Sharad Pawar had offeredthe Ahmednagar seat to Sujay onthe condition that he should con-test the seat on NCP ticket.Incidentally, Pawar and Sujay’sgrandfather Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil were bitter political enemies.

Notwithstanding his brew-ing desire to quit the Congress,the BJP had been trying to wooSujay for the past two monthsinto its fold. It had entrustedState BJP leader and ministerGirish Mahajan with the task ofholding talks with Sujay andluring him to switch sides byoffering him party ticket tocontest the Lok Sabha polls.

Apart from the fact that hecomes from the Vikhe-Patilfamily and he is the son ofleader of the Opposition in theState Assembly RadhakrishnaVikhe-Patil, Sujay does notbring anything extraordinary tothe table in terms of politicalinfluence and connect withthe people in Ahmednagar. Ifanything, the BJP is using Sujayas a trophy — of being the sonof the leader of the Oppositionin the State Assembly — toscore brownie points over the

Congress.Talking to mediapersons

after his entry to the BJP, Sujaysaid he would be happy underthe leaderships of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, BJPnational president Amit Shah,Fadnavis and Danve-Patil.

Describing the decision to

join the BJP was a “personalone” taken as an individual,Sujay said: “It is my personaldecision (to join the BJP). Ihave taken the decision in myindividual capacity.....My fatheris unhappy with my decision.But I will try and make myfamily proud”.

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In an insinuation linking PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s

western frontier policy to upcom-ing general elections Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee onTuesday warned there could beyet “another strike” before thestretched out electoral processcould conclude.

She would not howeverexpand the term “strike” saying, “Iam not going into details of thatstrike and it is for you to assumewhat kind of strike it could be.”

She insisted the deliberately“prolonged electoral processwould provide another opportu-nity to the NDA Government togo in for yet another strike,” so asinfluence the public mind, before“appealing to the right-thinkingmedia who have not beencoerced into submission toremain impartial and presentthe news in perspective.”

Banerjee who went all gunsblazing against the ModiGovernment Banerjee said thedispensation that was loudlybragging about its patriotic fer-vor and alertness should firstexplain the theft of crucial doc-uments pertaining to the Rafaleaircraft deals.

“How can a Governmentwhich cannot secure its defencedocuments, will secure the coun-try’s borders?” She asked won-dering “what if they would have

stolen any crucial strategic mapfor the purpose of the enemy.”

Banerjee was speaking at aPress conference moments beforereleasing the TrinamoolCongress’ candidates’ list for theupcomingparliamentary elec-tions. Vouching to throw Modiout of power she said “these elec-tions we will hammer the last pinon his coffin” the Chief Ministertended to drop a short glimpse ofher party’s election manifestothat could include employment,peace and Jammu & Kashmiramong other things.

When asked as to whether shewas sure of hammering out a solu-tion for the terror-torn StateBanerjee said “why not. If we canbring in peace in Darjeeling, if wecan bring peace in Jangal Mahalonce ruled by the Maoists whycannot we bring peace in Jammuand Kashmir. For finding a solu-tion you have to deal with yourheart. You have to extend love andnot spared hatred in that State.”

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Having called off his seat-adjustments talks with the

Congress, Bharipa BahujanMahsangh (BBM) presidentPrakash Ambedkar on Tuesdayannounced that his partywould contest all the 48 LokSabha seats in Maharashtra.

Talking to mediapersons atAkola in eastern Maharashtra,Ambedkar said that there wasno point to continuing to holdnegotiations with the Congressas the talks would not result inany outcome.

“The Congress has beentelling us that we must fight theLok Sabha polls as an alliance.I told them they have alreadynamed 22 candidates. Theydid not want to give us any rep-resentation. We have decided tofield candidates from all 48constituencies in the State,”Ambedkar said.

Ambedkar, who is thegrandson of late BR Ambedkar,has tied up with AsaduddinOwaisi-led AIMIM. Together,the BBM and AIMIM havelaunched “Vanchit BahujanAghadi”, which has severalDalit, tribal, Muslim, Dhangar,Koli and Agri community lead-ers as members.

During his talks with theCongress-NCP alliance,Ambedkar had staked claim for 12 seats. However, theCongress-NCP alliance had committed agreed to givefour seats.

Ambedkar himself is plan-ning to contest from veteranCongress leader Sushil KumarShinde’s home constituency ofSolapur, from where the latter is re-contesting the LokSabha polls.

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With just a month remaining for the Lok sabha election from theState, the ruling AIADMK has been put on the defensive by

various Opposition parties following a sex scandal erupting out ofPollachi in south west Tamil Nadu. A district level office-bearer ofthe AIADMK figured among the four persons arrested by Tamil NaduPolice on Monday even as the DMK, the principal opposition party,alleged that there was a move to save the predators in what it describedas ‘serial sexual assault case’.

A Nagaraj, office-bearer of Amma Peravai, a feeder organisa-tion of the AIADMK along with three others were arrested by thepolice following a complaint by one of the victims, a girl from Pollachi.The police held the four persons including Nagaraj on Monday oncharges of physically assaulting the brother of the victim as she “dared”to make a complaint to the police against the predators.

The modus operandi of the predators was in this line. They willbefriend girls and women through social media and lure them withoffers of love and marriage. The gullible and innocent victims hail-ing from rural Tamil Nadu were taken for a ride by the predatorswho would film them in compromising positions and later black-mail them for money as well as sexual favours.

A senior police officer I Coimbatore district said that more than50 women and girls have fallen victims to the gang members whohave made this as a money spinning profession. “Most of the vic-tims chose not to complaint for fear of social stigma and the impactit would have on their family. We have assured the victims total secre-cy of they prefer to file complaints,” said the officer.

In a related development on Tuesday, the Government of TamilNadu transferred the case to the Crime Branch-Crininal InvestigationDepartment of the State Police for speedy investigation. Those whowere arrested in connection with the case have been slapped withcharges like Goondas Act which means that they would not get bailfor one year. What began as an isolated case on February 25 hasexploded into a major sexual scam in which more than 25 to 30 menhave been listed as accused.

Guwahati: Two months aftersevering ties with the rulingBJP over the contentiousCitizenship (Amendment) Bill,the Asom Gana Parishad(AGP) is weighing its optionsto return to the NDA fold forthe Lok Sabha elections.

According to sources in theAGP, the party is divided overthe issue of tying up with theBJP again, fearing backlashfrom ground-level workers.

A senior BJP leader hasalso admitted that the processof forging a coalition betweenthe former allies have gainedmomentum in the last coupleof days, but nothing has beenfixed as yet.

The AGP legislature partyis scheduled to hold a meetinglater in the evening to take acall on the matter, a legislatorof the party told PTI on con-dition of anonymity.

On Monday night, too,AGP MLAs held a discussionover realigning with the BJP,but the meeting remainedinconclusive, he said.

“We have been summonedfor a meeting. It will start at 9pm. The alliance issue will bediscussed at the meet,” thesenior AGP member said. “Lastnight’s meeting remainedinconclusive. We discussed atlength about the pros and consof joining the BJP. But there wasno unanimity,” he said. PTI

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Senior State Congress leaderRadhakrishna Vikhe-Patil

of the Congress said onTuesday that he would notquit his post as the Leader ofthe Opposition in theMaharashtra Assembly, in thewake of his son Sujay joiningthe BJP.

Talking to mediapersons,Radhakrishna decision takenby his son Sujay was an “indi-vidual one” and it had nothingto do with him.

“I have explained my posi-tion party president RahulGandhi and senior party lead-ers. The question of my resign-ing as the leader of theOpposition in the StateAssembly does not arise. All thesame, I will accept whatever theresponsibility that my partyleadership vests with me,”

Radhakrishna said.Radhakrishna said his

party wanted to contest the LokSabha polls on a Congressticket. “Though Pawar hadoffered the Ahmednagar seat tomy son on a condition that heshould contest the polls on anNCP ticket, Sujay was not pre-pared to contest the polls on theNCP ticket. It is Sujay’s indi-vidual call to join the BJP”.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Senainvited Radhakrishna to join itsfold. “Since his son has joinedthe BJP, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil can now join the ShivSena,” Sena MP and partyspokesperson Sanjay Raut said.

In a related development,Maharashtra Congress presi-dent Ashok Chavan said thatSujay Vikhe-Patil’s decision tojoin was the result of the poli-tics of “saam, daam, dand,bhed” practised by the BJP.

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Aplethora of sweeping phraseol-ogy — “game-changer,” “para-digm shift” and even “callingPakistan’s nuclear bluff ” — hasentered the strategic discourse

post-Balakot, signalling a turning point inIndia-Pakistan military balance. Like thesurface surgical strikes, the aerial pulveri-sation of Balakot deep inside Pakistan mayturn out to be a one-off also. However, nei-ther the solitary surgical strikes nor theBalakot bombing will end cross-border ter-rorism. It will curb the menace and lead todiplomatic dividends to prevent Indiafrom repeating a military action that theinternational community fears could trig-ger the nuclear threshold.

Continuing its 30-year-long counterinsurgency campaign, India must frame asustained strategy based on the political aimof destroying/degrading Pakistan’s terror-ist infrastructure while fully sanitising itsown side against terrorist strikes. Israelis callthis mowing the grass. The strategy mustintroduce covert capacities for clandestineoperations to hurt Pakistan’s militarythough India will find it easier to disincen-tivise Pakistan from its fatal attraction toterrorism as an instrument of state policydiplomatically than militarily. Not onecountry criticised India for the defensivecross-border counter terrorism operationswhile Pakistan was censured by severalcountries with even its all-weather allyChina merely mentioning “respect forsovereignty.”

Two things are clear: Pakistan cannotbe completely isolated diplomatically; ter-rorist organisations are Pakistan’s strategicassets and military equaliser and while theymay lie low for some time, they cannot bewished away.

Pakistan’s decision to releaseAbhinandan as a peace gesture was the but-ton for de-escalation. A Pakistani delega-tion will arrive tomorrow for KartarpurCorridor conversations. It will soon be busi-ness as usual as India begins to fight bit-ter electoral battles for the next eight weeksto determine whether Balakot will givePrime Minister Narendra Modi the deci-sive majority for another term. Public moodat present is overwhelmingly for his returnto power. The imponderable is what willModi do if there is another mass casualtyterrorist attack in the run up to electionswhose footprint cannot be traced toPakistan. Or there is a dramatic Rafaleexposure pointing at him.

In the first case, air strikes might appearto be the most appropriate instrument ofresponse once the signature on the enve-lope is deciphered. The IAF has consistent-ly complained that the inherent flexibilityand non-escalatory character of air powerhas not been recognised (this has to betaken with a grain of salt). It recalls the his-toric folly of Nehru not employing the IAF

in 1962. Former Air ChiefMarshal Fali Major this monthat the India Today conclaveadvocated the use of helicoptergunships in support of Army ineliminating terrorists inKashmir — many of whom arePakistanis. I have been sayingthis for over a decade: usearmed helicopters to give quickclosure to hostile engagementsin Kashmir. Air strikes inPoK/Pakistan may not workagain as Pakistan Air Force willnot be caught napping. Further,Pakistan’s strategic assets will bere-located close to populationcentres, some even embeddedclose to cantonments. IAF mayhave opened a strategic windowbut another air strike will befraught with risks of attritionand escalation.

What stood out duringBalakot is that India, while win-ning the air battle lost the bat-tle of narratives. Pakistan’s DGISPR, Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor,started his campaign of fakenews within minutes of the airstrikes against our own disor-ganised presentations 14 hourslater. Foreign Secretary VijayGokhale’s terse statement withno questions taken left multi-ple doubts after Ghafoor hadbelittled the damage caused byour air strikes. Similarly MEAspokesperson accompanied byan IAF officer, who did notutter a word, also appearedwithout anything new or use-ful to add. Later, at a chaotic tri-service briefing, some picture

emerged about the air battles,prospects for escalation (Indiawill respond only if Pakistanescalates) and likely damageassessment — targets that weredesignated had been destroyed.This was reiterated by the AirChief who added that IAFdoes not make any estimate ofcasualties and it is for the gov-ernment to give out details of

damage and casualties.In Pakistan, not just

Ghafoor but both PrimeMinister Khan and ForeignMinister Qureshi were address-ing domestic as well as theinternational audience. NoIndian minister said a word atany formal interaction withthe media. The military com-pletely lost the media plot,having done impressive dailymedia briefings during Kargil.Not for nothing is the interna-tional media challenging India’sclaims of damage and casual-ties.The government says ithas the data but will not put itout as the enemy will find outIAF’s technology advantage.In the perception battle,Pakistan has won hands down.

The rush and race to brandthe landmark air strikes as thenew normal will be premature.Twenty-four-year-old Ashutosh— a proficient professional cardriver — was highly wound upduring Balakot. He told me,“Why can’t we send armedHindu fighters (RSS) into PoKto take the battle to the otherside.” He said he was ready togo to the border to fightPakistan. I thought he would doa great job. He also said for thenext five years, the governmentshould spend all-out on themilitary instead of developmentand welfare schemes to makethe armed forces big andstrong. If only governmentshad invested 2.5 to 3 per centon defence for the last 10 years

Pakistan would dare not havecontinued its proxy war. Indiahas spent peanuts on defenceand modernisation in the fiveyears of this government. BJPpresident Amit Shah is militar-ily so illiterate when he claimsthat crossing the �3 lakh croremark in defence is a bigachievement when it is only 1.5per cent of GDP and funds formodernisation are next tonothing after inflation andcommitted liabilities. PrimeMinister Modi constantly rais-es the OROP flag, which is awelfare measure and not aforce multiplier.

Yet both were the first topoliticise the Army, milkingfirst the surgical strikes andnow going to town over Balakotair-strikes; this time Modi evenclaiming “Modi ne mara hai.”The IAF, which carried out theair strikes, is forgotten. Crasspoliticisation of the military isthis government’s way of per-petuating cardinal sin. TheElection Commission must gobeyond banning militarisedbanners to outlawing mentionof military operations. But whocares for the sanctity of an apo-litical, professional and seculararmed forces as long as elec-tions are won piggy-backingthem.

(The writer is a retiredMajor General of the IndianArmy and founder member ofthe Defence Planning Staff, cur-rently the revamped IntegratedDefence Staff)

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����������� ����Sir — While the Australians, totheir credit, didn’t give in to thescoreboard pressure, despite hav-ing lost two wickets for 12 runs,it was a series of missteps that ledto India’s demise while UsmanKhawaja and Peter Handscombwent about rebuilding theinnings. Both players saw out thepacers and then they startedpicking runs off YuzvendraChahal and Kuldeep Yadav. Inthat time, the batsmen crossedtheir individual half centuries andthe partnership between themswelled beyond the 100-runmark. I think the next match willbe very interesting and Indianplayers will show their powerfulsmashes to telling effect.

Mohd IntekhabVia email

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Sir — This is with reference toyour editorial, “Olive branchseason” (March 11). It is quiteright that the Congress party hasto make adjustments withregional parties since its perfor-mance in 2014 was far below sat-isfactory. It won only 44 seats

and could not even get the sta-tus of the Opposition party.The party cannot take credit forthe win in three states in theHindi belt as it won on anti-incumbency and local issues.The Rafale charges against Modiring hollow. During the time itwas in power, the Congress didnot taken action against terror-ist. This has had a negativeimpact in the long run besides

paving the way for the growth ofhome-grown terror. The partydid not introspect over its fail-ures during the last five years. Itis proceeding with the singularaim of dislodging the presentgovernment.

Prime Minister NarendraModi’s decisive, instant andtough response to Pakistan afterthe Pulwama strike has not onlyimproved India’s image but there

is a surge in his popularity in thecountry. Modi seems to be adecisive leader and the party hasa roadmap for national issuesunlike the coalition governmentby the UPA I and II where cor-ruption reigned. Despite someshortcomings, hopefully Modiwill come back for a secondterm.

Sravana RamachandranChennai

������������Sir— This refers to the editorial,“Ayodhya breather” (March 9). In2010, the 2-1 majority verdict of aSpecial Full Bench of the AllahabadHigh Court ruled that the disput-ed land in Ayodhya, where theBabri Masjid stood until December6, 1992, shall be divided into threeequal parts and given to each of thethree plaintiffs. The Bench assert-ed that the place where the idol ofRam Lalla had been kept in amakeshift temple was the birthplaceof Lord Rama “as per faith andbelief of the Hindus.” It took 10years for the Supreme Court to starthearing the petitions filed by the lit-igants. The court has sent thematter to a mediation panel admit-ting that primarily it wasn’t aboutland but religious sentiments.However, it is unlikely to bear fruit,nor will a court decision settle theissue once for all. The only solutionis that all the parties should take apractical stand. No court order canremove the makeshift temple ofRam Lalla and construct a Masjidthere or in its vicinity.

MC JoshiLucknow

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India has a huge railway network — its full tracklength can circle the equator one-and-a-halftimes while the total distance it covers daily

equals three and half times the distance to themoon! It carries more than 25 million passengersevery day, more than the entire population ofAustralia. It is also the world’s ninth largest employ-er, serving even the farthest locations in India.However, the Railways incurred a loss of �4,000crore in the last three years. Does that mean it isnot valuable as an organisation and does not addto the GDP and growth of our economy? Theanswer is no. It is, in fact, a very valuable compa-ny but the worth is not reflected in the reporting.Here comes the significance of IntegratedReporting (IR), which brings about improved cohe-sion and efficiency in the corporate reportingprocess as it allows a business to incorporate itsvalue creation in a holistic manner, the outcomeof which is efficient and productive allocation ofcapital.

Integrated Reporting is able to bring in thevalue generated by a business by integrating thefinancial and non-financial performance of a com-pany in a single report. This helps in providing agreater context to the non-financial data such ashow the company performs on environmental,social and governance (ESG) parameters, how sus-tainability is embedded in the core business strat-egy and so on. It is important to note that IntegratedReporting doesn’t only mean merging financial andsustainability reports into one report. Its true mean-ing is to link sustainability strategy to business strat-egy and help the company and its stakeholdersidentify the non-financial priority areas.

For some years now, the limitations of the cur-rent reporting practices have been felt by both theinvestors and other stakeholders and there has beena significant drive towards more transparent, rel-evant and comprehensive reporting practices. InIndia, the Companies Act 2013, Corporate SocialResponsibility Legislation, SEBI ListingRequirements, Business Responsibility Reportingand so on are some of the key regulatory devel-opments that are focussed on improving the qual-ity of disclosures and increasing business account-ability towards societal issues.

SEBI has taken a step forward in this direc-tion by its circular dated February 2017, where ithas encouraged the top 500 companies to adoptthe Integrated Reporting framework. The circu-lar delivers on the IOSCO Principle 16 that states,“There should be full, accurate and timely disclo-sure of financial results, risks and other informa-tion that is material to investors’ decisions.” SEBIrecommends that Integrated Reporting may beadopted on a voluntary basis from the financial year2017-18 by the top 500 companies, which arerequired to prepare Business Responsibility Report(BRR). The information may be provided in theannual report separately or by incorporating inManagement Discussion & Analysis or by prepar-ing a separate report (annual report preparedaccording to framework). Subsequently in 2017,SEBI formed the Kotak committee to help improvecorporate governance in listed companies.

Apart from regulators, corporates have alsostarted to understand the importance of the changein reporting practices to not only focus on finan-cial capital but to demonstrate the value created

by the entity while operating within itseconomic, social and environmentalsystem. The intended change requires anin-depth understanding of all the build-ing blocks of the value creation processof business to enable corporates todevelop a reporting model, which givesan insightful picture of its performanceand is considered sufficient to assess thequality and sustainability of their perfor-mance. In India, information on emis-sions management, water conservation,energy reduction, human rights and sim-ilar topics are included in the annualreport or published in a separateSustainability Report (SR). The transitionfrom CSR to SR focussed on movingfrom philanthropic social impact tostating the impact on natural and humancapital. This is inclusive of all material-ly relevant capital, connecting them tobusiness risks, decisions and outcomesin the short, medium and long-term.

Drivers for adoption of IntegratedReporting comprise both pull and pushfactors. Stakeholder groups such asinvestors, customers and so on candemand greater level of disclosure. Onthe other hand, regulations and compli-ance standards such as those by stockexchanges, government regulatory bod-ies and so on can act as another driverfor adoption of Integrated Reporting.

The International IntegratedReporting Council (IIRC), the globalcoalition of regulators, investors, compa-nies, standard setters, the accounting pro-fession and NGOs, has given a series ofsix principles and content elements forpreparing an integrated report:

1. Organisational overview andbusiness model: What is the businessmodel of an organisation and how doesit create and sustain value in the short,medium and long-term?

2. Operating context, includingrisks and opportunities: What are thecircumstances under which the organi-sation operates, including the keyresources and relationships on which itdepends and the key risks and opportu-

nities that it faces?3. Strategic objectives and strategies

to achieve those objectives: Where is thestrategic orientation of an organisation,and how is it going to achieve it?

4. Governance and remuneration:What is the organisation’s governancestructure and how does it support thestrategic objectives of the organisationand relate to its approach to remunera-tion?

5. Performance: How has the organ-isation performed against its strategicobjectives and related strategies?

6. Future outlook: What opportu-nities, challenges and uncertainties is theorganisation likely to encounter inachieving its strategic objectives, andwhat are the resulting implications for itsstrategies and future performance?

The creating and sustaining thebusiness model of an organisation, in theshort, medium and long-term, requiresthe businesses to interact with externalfactors, its relationships and use ofresources.

In doing so, businesses consider sixcapitals: financial capital, which is thepool of funds available to the organisa-tion; manufactured capital, manufacturedphysical objects, as distinct from natur-al physical objects; intellectual capital,which is the intangibles that providecompetitive advantage; natural capitalthat includes water, land, minerals andforests and biodiversity and ecosystemhealth; and social capital, which is therelationship established within andbetween each community, group ofstakeholders and other networks toenhance individual and collective well-being. It also includes an organisation'ssocial licence to operate, in addition tothe human capital.

This Integrated Reporting, then,will include a lot more information abouthow the company fits within the envi-ronment and society and how it createslong-term value. The focus will movefrom being merely concerned withreporting the past in financial terms to

considering the past and short, mediumand long-term futures in a connectedstrategic manner. It will be tailored to thereporting entity’s specific circumstancesand likely have a greater degree oftransparency.

According to IIRC, the integratedreports can be developed on the basis ofcertain guiding principles. 1. Strategic focus: An Integrated Reportprovides insight into the organisation’sstrategic objectives, and how thoseobjectives relate to its ability to create andsustain value over time and the resourcesand relationships on which it depends.2. Connectivity of information:Connections between the different com-ponents of the organisation’s businessmodel and external factors. 3. Future orientation: Assessment ofexpectations and prospects. 4. Responsiveness and stakeholderinclusiveness: Insight into the organisa-tion’s relationships with its key stakehold-ers and how it responds to their needs.5. Conciseness, reliability and materi-ality: It provides concise, reliable infor-mation that is material to assessing theorganisation’s ability to create and sus-tain value in the short, medium and long-term.

We have the responsibility to leavea better future to the next generationwhen we are witnessing a transition toa sustainable society from a consumerone, where there is a requirement forcompanies to determine their strategieswithin the framework of the develop-ment criteria.

The management should monitorand manage both financial and non-financial elements across the wholevalue chain (from design and supplychain to operation and from consumerpurchases to the end of the product life-cycle) rather than focussing on financialperformance only. The goal is to ensurethat financial and non-financial data areintegrated.

(The writer is Assistant Professor,Amity University)

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All set to win her sixth Lok Sabhaelection since 1999, the 72-year-old Congress matriarch Sonia

Gandhi is far from her long speculat-ed retirement. Rumours have beendoing the rounds for the past year thatshe was ready to hang up her bootsfrom active politics due to her ill healthand also to give space to her son. It wassaid that since she has handed over thebaton to her son Rahul Gandhi andalso inducted her daughter PriyankaGandhi Vadra in active politics, thetime was ripe for her to bow out.

Sonia herself indicated her retire-ment as early as December 2017when she declared, “My role is toretire.” Though she has been keepinga low profile since then and taking a

back seat, her role, as the final arbitra-tor in case of any dispute in the party,remains unquestioned. Many expect-ed her not to contest the Lok Sabhaelections this time. Contrary to this,her name was in the first list of can-didates from Uttar Pradesh. Her can-didature from Rae Bareli proves thatthe Congress cannot do without Soniafor some more time, as the partybelieves that she can still pull the votes.

Sonia has been toying with theidea of complete retirement frompolitics since she turned 70 in 2016.She is said to have shared her planswith those close to her. However, theparty kept pressuring her and delay-ing her plans until Rahul Gandhi sta-bilised himself as the party chief. Forthe past year and more, she hasstopped meeting party leaders anddirected those who called on her toRahul. Her public appearances havereduced drastically over the past year.She did not campaign in the fiveAssembly polls last year. Her last elec-tion rally was in Hyderabad before theTelangana Assembly polls inDecember. She has withdrawn herselfcompletely from day-to-day party

activities. However, the post Pulwamaand Balakot airstrikes and the currentpolitical situation have forced her tochange her plans of retirement andhence her re-nomination from RaeBareli.

Sonia Gandhi has grown from thepolitical novice that she was in 1998,when she took over the party, tobecome the party matriarch today. Shehas emerged as one of the tallestnational leaders and has found aniche for herself in the party as well

as in the national scene. She has beenthe longest party president for 19 years.The party won the Lok Sabha electionsin 2004 and 2009 under her leadership.She is seen as the binding force to keepthe party united. The Congress isbanking on her experience and matureguidance to keep a balance betweenits young and old guard. The pressurefrom the old guard was also one of thereasons for Sonia’s contesting electionsas the latter is still not comfortable withthe new set-up. Though Rahul has

accommodated the old guard, they feelthat a new group, consisting of SamPitroda, the party’s data analysisdepartment chairman PraveenChakravarty and Jairam Ramesh,have taken over decision-makingleaving them to watch helplessly. Theold guard is aghast at their tall claimslike training seven lakh booth levelworkers in about three weeks.

Sonia’s retirement plans werenever final. Even at the time of hand-ing over the party in December 2017,Congress chief spokesperson RandeepSurjewala said that Sonia would onlyretire from her role as party presidentand not from politics. “Her blessings,wisdom and innate commitment toCongress ideology shall always be ourguiding light,” Surjewala posted onTwitter.

Second, her role in dealing withother Opposition parties is importantas leaders like Sharad Pawar, MamataBanerjee, Sitaram Yechury and othersstill respect her. Many alliance partnersand prospective allies would prefer tonegotiate with her rather than RahulGandhi. Her ability to put together theUPA in 2004 and 2009 are proof of her

negotiating skills. Therefore the partywould like her to play the role ofcementing alliances, before as well asafter the ensuing elections, given herequation with senior leaders of sever-al parties and her political stature.

Third, she has just launched herdaughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra inactive politics. Her dramatic entry wasinterrupted after the Pulwama andBalakot airstrikes. Though there wererumours that Sonia would retire andPriyanka would contest from RaeBareli, it now appears that Priyankawould only work for the campaign andbuild up the party. Priyanka also needsthe support of her mother until shestabilises. It is Sonia’s objective toensure that her two children work intandem and take the party forward.

Therefore, Sonia continues to bethe party mentor and the queenmother as also the Leader of theCongress Parliamentary Party and theUPA chairperson. The Congress needsher now more than ever as every voteand every seat matters.

(The writer is a senior politicalcommentator and syndicated colum-nist)

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The media and entertain-ment (M&E) industry is

expected to cross the �2.35-lakh-crore mark (around $33.6billion) by 2021, clipping at 11.6percent annually, says a report.

According to a Ficci-EYreport, the industry stood at�1.67 lakh crore ($23.9 billion)in 2018, growing 13.4 percentover 2017.

“While TV will remain thelargest segment,growth isexpected to come from digitalthat will overtake filmed enter-tainment in 2019 and the printby 2021,” says the report releasedat the annual industry summitFicci Frames on Tuesday.

Of the 570 million Internetusers, around 2.5 million useonly digital media and eschewthe traditional media, accord-ing to the report which fore-casts that this digital-only cus-tomer base is slated to doubleto 5 million by 2021.

“Digital consumption willgrow,and monetisation avenueswill see innovation to meet cus-tomer demands and one biggrowth driver will be OTTplayers on the back of telcosbundling their offerings withdata. Already advertisinggrowth has outpaced subscrip-tion growth and is expected tocomprise 52 percent of the totalpie by 2021,” says the report.

TV industry grew from�66,000 crore to �74,000 crorein 2018, a growth of 12 percent,of which advertising grew 14percent to �30,500 crore and

subscription grew 11 percent to�43,500 crore. Television view-ing households rose to 197 mil-lion, a 7.5 percent rise over 2016.

Television can reach�95,500 crore by 2021, withadvertising growing at 10 per-cent and subscription at 8 per-cent, it said.

The print, though is thesecond largest medium grow-ing a tepid 0.7 percent, hasreached �30,550 crore in 2018,of this ad revenue was �21,700crore and subscription rev-enue was �8,830 crore, up amarginal 1.2 percent.

Significantly, newspaperadvertising degrew 1 percent,and magazine advertising fell10 percent in the year.

“The fall in advertising isdue to both lower volumes aswell as pressure on effectiverates.Hindi dailies continued tolead with 37 percent of total advolume, followed by English at25 percent. Rising newsprintprices and the rupee fall put pres-sure on their margins,” it said.

Regional advertising out-paced national growth on theback of national brands spend-ing more to develop non-metromarkets where GST created alevel playing field for both.

The report notes thatbroadcasters have started sell-ing ads combined across OTTand linear platforms to enablebetter monetisation of marqueeproperties and increased util-isation of digital inventory.

The impact of the Trai tar-iff order can have implications ontotal viewership, free television

uptake, channel rates and ad rev-enue. However, 2019 promisesfurther growth due to the elec-tions and the cricket world cup.

The year also saw a 26 per-cent growth in digital newsconsumers over 2017 when222 million people consumednews online. Page views grew59 percent over 2017 and theaverage time spent almost dou-bled to 8 minutes a day.

On the contrary, digitalmedia clipped past 42 percentto reach �16,900 crore in 2018.Of this, ad revenue stood at�15,400 crore, grew 34 percentand subscription stood at �1,400crore, registering a growth of262 percent. This makes the dig-ital ad pie around 21 percent ofthe total ad market.

Video subscription rev-enue almost grew three timesto reach �1.340 crore, thanks torising smartphones penetrationon the back of almost free data,regional content, and livestreaming of major cricketproperties. Main reason forthe growth in digital subscrip-tion that touched �1,400 croreis telcos bundling content withtheir data plans.

The film segment grew12.2 percent to reach �17,450crore driven by growth in dig-ital/OTT rights and overseastheatricals. Of this, domesticfilm revenue crossed �10,000crore (Hindi — �3,250 crore,the highest ever and overseasgrew to �3,000 crore from�2,500 crore in 2017) whereChina is the largest interna-tional market.

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Retail inflation jumped to afour-month high of 2.57

per cent in February due tocostlier food articles, accordingto official data releasedTuesday.

The Consumer PriceIndex-based inflation forJanuary was revised down to a19-month low of 1.97 per centfrom earlier estimate of 2.05per cent.

The retail inflation numberfor February 2019 is the high-est since October 2018 when itstood at 3.38 per cent, the datareleased by the CentralStatistics Office under theMinistry of Statistics andProgramme Implementation(MoSPI) showed.

Food inflation was lower at(-) 0.66 per cent in Februaryagainst 3.26 per cent in thesame month last year. Theretail inflation in February2018 was at 4.44 per cent.

On monthly basis, con-sumer food price index movedup by 0.15 per cent in Februaryagainst January 2019.

Protein-rich items such asmeat & fish and eggs wit-

nessed a quick rise prices at5.92 per cent and 0.86 per centrespectively in February. Pricesof cereal and products went upat 1.32 per cent.

Prices of fruits (-4.62 percent) and vegetables (- 7.69 percent) continued to decline inFebruary. In January, the pricesdeclined 4.18 per cent and13.32 per cent respectively.

In fuel and light category,the rate of price rise slowed to1.24 per cent from 2.20 per centin January.

“With the headline infla-tion reading at 2.57 per centand industrial production sur-prising on the downside at 1.7per cent, there clearly is a caseand space for one more rate cutof 25 bps by RBI in April tosupport growth,” said RajniThakur, Economist, RBL Bank.

Core inflation numbers,however, remain sticky at above5 per cent and prices for mostservices are rising at above 6per cent, reflecting pickup indemand conditions and pricingpower, particularly in urbaneconomy, she said.

B Prasanna, Head, GlobalMarkets Group, ICICI Bank said,“Headline inflation for Februarymoved upwards to 2.57 per centas per our expectations.

“The upward movementwas driven primarily by asequential rise seen in variousfood groups, except in vegeta-bles. Core inflation moveddown slightly as expected,reflecting easing of input costs,pricing powers and growingslack in the economy.”

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Malaysia Airlines may besold or shut down,

Malaysia’s leader said onTuesday, the latest bad news fora carrier that has been in cri-sis since suffering the loss oftwo planes.

The 71-year-old airlinehas been on the ropes since2014 when Flight MH370disappeared and MH17 wasshot down by a Russian-mademissi le over war-tornUkraine.

With the carrier teeteringon the brink of bankruptcy,sovereign wealth fundKhazanah stepped in to take itover several years ago andmajor reforms were instituted,including cutting thousandsof staff.

But it has continued to farepoorly and its performancewas blamed in large part for aset of poor financial resultsreleased by Khazanah last

week.Responding

to questionsabout the air-line’s future,Prime MinisterM a h a t h i rMohamad toldreporters in par-liament: “I thinkit is a very seri-ous matter, toshut down thenational airline.

“We will nevertheless bestudying and investigating as towhether we should shut itdown or we should sell it off orwe should refinance it.”

Official news agencyBernama reported thatKhazanah last week posted apre-tax loss of 6.3 billion ring-git ($1.54 billion) for 2018,compared with a pre-tax prof-it of 2.9 billion ringgit the yearbefore.

Mahathir, 93 and in hissecond stint as premier, is

seeking to reduce a mammothnational debt inherited fromthe previous, corruption-plagued regime.

Malaysia Airlines said in astatement it had been “workingclosely” with Khazanah on thenext phase of its turnaroundplan since September.

The disappearance ofFlight MH370, which was car-rying 239 people, remains oneof the world’s greatest aviationmysteries, and successivesearches have failed to find theplane.

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Honda isrecalling

about 1.2 mil-lion vehiclesin North andC e n t r a lA m e r i c abecause theirTakata air baginflators canexplode andsend shrapnelinto the pas-senger com-partment.

The recall covers manyHonda and Acura models from2001 through 2016.

Takata used ammoniumnitrate to inflate air bags.

But the chemical can dete-riorate when exposed to hightemperatures and humidity,blowing apart a metal canisterand hurling shrapnel.

At least 23 people have

been killed worldwide becauseof the defect.

The inflators covered bythis recall were used as replace-ment parts in recalls that beganin 2014.

They contained a moisture-absorbing chemical and previ-ously were believed to be safe.

The January explosioninjured the arm of a person dri-ving a 2004 Honda Odyssey.

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The Government hasdeferred by one month the

last date for bidding for the 14oil and gas exploration blocksoffered in the second round ofOpen Acreage Licensing Policy(OALP).

Bids for the 14 blocksoffered in OALP-II bid round,covering an area of 29,333square kilometres, were to closeTuesday.

“Bid submission closingdate for OALP Bid Round-IIstands extended up to April 10,2019,” the Directorate Generalof Hydrocarbon (DGH) said ina brief notice.

It did not give reasons forextending the deadline.

The last date of biddingcoincides with the bid deadlinefor the 23 oil and gas and coal-bed methane (CBM) blocksoffered in the third round ofOALP, which was launched onFebruary 10.

OALP-II bid round wasdelayed at six months and itslaunch came barely a monthbefore the third round.

Officials said OALP-II andOALP-III will run concurrent-ly.

Oil Minister DharmendraPradhan had at the time oflaunch of OALP-II bid roundon January 7 stated that aninvestment of about �40,000crore is expected in theprospecting of oil and gas inblocks offered.

In the first round of OALPlast year, as much as �60,000

crore was committed in theexploration of oil and gas in 55blocks or areas.

In the third round, thegovernment is expecting up to$700 million (about �49,000crore) of investment that ithopes will help raise domesticoutput and cut imports.

India had in July 2017allowed companies to carve outblocks of their choice with aview to bringing about 2.8million sq km of unexploredarea in the country underexploration.

Under this policy, calledopen acreage licensing policy orOALP, companies are allowedto put in an expression of inter-est (EoI) for prospecting of oiland gas in any area that ispresently not under any pro-duction or exploration licence.The EoIs can be put in at anytime of the year but they areaccumulated twice annually.

The blocks or areas thatreceive EoIs at the end of acycle are put up for auctionwith the originator or the firmthat originally selected the areagetting a 5-mark advantage.

The two window of accu-mulating EoIs end on May 15and November 15 every year.EoIs accumulated till May 15are supposed to be put onauction by June 30 and those inthe second window byDecember 31.

The first OALP round waslaunched in 2017 and bidscame in by May 2018. EoIs forsecond round closed on May15, 2018, and the blocks were

supposed to be put for auctionby June but the round was forreasons unknown delayed.OALP-II was finally launchedon January 7.

In the meanwhile, EoIs inthe third window also closedon November 15, 2018 with asmany as 18 blocks and fiveCBM blocks, measuring 31,722sq km, being sought for. OALP-III bid round was launched onFebruary 10 with April 10 asthe last date for bidding.

Officials said the 14 blocksin OALP-II are estimated tohold in-place resource of12,609 million tonne oil and oilequivalent gas.

In OALP-1, mining mogulAnil Agarwal-led Vedanta Ltdwalked away with 41 out of 55blocks bid out. State-owned OilIndia Ltd won nine blockswhile Oil and Natural GasCorp (ONGC) managed towin just two.

State gas utility GAIL,upstream arm of BharatPetroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL)and Hindustan Oil ExplorationCo (HOEC) won one blockeach.

The 55 blocks have a totalarea of 59,282 sq km. Thiscompares to about 1,02,000 sqkm being under explorationprior to OALP.

Blocks are awarded to thecompany which offers thehighest share of oil and gas tothe government as well as com-mits to doing maximum explo-ration work by way of shooting2D and 3D seismic survey anddrilling exploration wells.

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Assets worth over �36 croreof a Madhya Pradesh-

based company have beenattached by the ED in connec-tion with a coal blocks alloca-tion scam case, the agencysaid on Tuesday.

It said a provisional orderfor attachment of propertieslike land, plant, machinery,office and factory buildings ofKamal Sponge and Steel PowerLtd (KSSPL), located inRajasthan’s Jaipur and Satna inMadhya Pradesh, and its direc-tor Pawan Kumar Ahluwaliawas issued by it on Mondayunder the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act.

The agency said its probehad found that the company“had got the coal block allotted(to it) by mis-representing itsnet worth and productioncapacity and also by not sub-mitting the requisite docu-ments in order to embellish theclaim for allocation of theThesgora-B/Rudrapuri coalblock by the ministry of coal toit”.

It added that a specialcourt in Delhi, dealing with thecoal scam cases, had earlierconvicted KSSPL, Ahluwaliaand three government officialsin a criminal case probed inthis instance by the CBI.

“The probe revealed thatthe firm, as part of a criminalconspiracy, and on the groundthat it had a very high proba-bility of getting the coal blockallotted, gained undue benefitsamounting to �69.02 crore onaccount of issue of shares on avery high premium of �900 pershare by alluring the per-sons/companies for filing appli-cation for allotment of shares,whereas the net worth of thecompany was very low duringthe select period.

“Moreover, KSSPL did notallot shares for an amount of�36.85 crore to the investorsand also did not refund theamount to the investors,” theEnforcement Directorate (ED)said.

Therefore, the propertiesacquired by KSSPL and othersvalued at �36.85 crore wereattached, it added.

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International Women’s Day2019 was celebrated in NLC

India Limited by the Forum ofWomen in Public Sector(WIPS) at the L&DCAuditorium.

Uma Mohan, SeniorProgramme Co-ordinator, AllIndia Radio, Puducherry, theguest of honour, in her speechinsisted that developed womenshould take care of the underprivileged women in society.

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New Delhi: Social media platform Facebook Tuesday launched 'FacebookHubs', an initiative to foster innovation and offer support for budding entre-preneurs. Facebook Hubs will extend support for startup community by host-ing mentor hours and conducting trainings, workshops, discussions across 20locations. The locations would be in Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Bengaluru, Mumbai,Hyderabad, Pune, Navi Mumbai and in Goa, it said in a statement. The socialmedia platform said it has partnered with 91springboard for a year-long pro-gramme to help startups and entrepreneurs scale their businesses. The initia-tive includes co-working community hosting, planning and organising structuredactivities like learning and skill development programmes for budding entre-preneurs. “We have already worked with hundreds of startups through our var-ious programmes and by teaming up with 91springboard we hope to reach outto more, to fuel India's startup ecosystem with a vision to build businesses oftomorrow,” Satyajeet Singh, Head of Product Partnerships, Facebook India andSouth Asia said. Facebook Hubs will be part of a global network for training andmentoring facilities for startups, developers, small and medium businesses, cre-ators, and job seekers, the statement added.

������������-����������������#����New Delhi: Yatra Online Inc, the parent company of Gurugram-based online

travel firm Yatra.com, said Tuesday it has received a proposal from Ebix Inc toacquire all of its outstanding shares and will review the offer. US-based softwarefirm Ebix Inc on Monday announced that it had offered to acquire Yatra OnlineInc for USD 336 million (over Rs 2,345 crore). “Consistent with its fiduciary duties,and in consultation with its independent legal and financial advisors, the com-pany's Board of Directors will review and consider the proposal to determinethe course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the company and allof its shareholders,” Yatra Online Inc said in a statement. Company sharehold-ers do not need to take any action at this time, it added. “Citi Group Global MarketsInc is acting as financial advisor to the Company and Goodwin Procter LLP isacting as legal counsel,” the statement said. Ebix Inc has sent a letter to the Boardof Yatra Online, Inc outlining offer to acquire 100 per cent of the outstandingstock of Yatra Online for USD 7 per share on a debt-free basis, the US basedsoftware firm had said in a statement.

�����#��#�����������������������������������New Delhi: Markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday withdrew the 20 per cent

limit on investments by Foreign Portfolio Investors in corporate bonds of an enti-ty. In a notification, the regulator said the restriction is being withdrawn in accor-dance with a circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In June last year,the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had mandated that no ForeignPortfolio Investors (FPIs) shall have an exposure of more than 20 per cent of itscorporate bond portfolio to a single corporate. However, the central bank inFebruary lifted the restriction in view of market feedback.

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The BSE benchmark SensexTuesday soared over 481

points on intense buying main-ly in financial, energy and tele-com stocks amid strong foreignfund inflows and positive glob-al cues.

The 30-share BSE gaugesettled 481.56 points, or 1.30per cent, higher at 37,535.66.The broader NSE Niftyreclaimed the psychological11,300-level and closed withgains of 133.15 points, or 1.19per cent, at 11,301.20.

In the Sensex pack, BhartiAirtel was the top performer,surging 4.61 per cent. Other gainers included ICICI

Bank, IndusInd Bank, L&T,Sun Pharma, RIL, HDFC duo,Tata Motors and M&M --climbing up to 3.69 per cent.

Bucking the overall trend,Bajaj Finance, Infosys, ONGC,NTPC, Coal India, Yes Bank,Bajaj Auto, SBI, HeroMotoCorp and TCS fell asmuch as 1.13 per cent.

Sectorally, the BSE realtyindex topped the chart, surging2.60 per cent, followed by tele-com, bankex, healthcare andfinance indices.

The market has been mov-ing from strength to strength inthe last couple of weeks withimpressive performances acrossmarket breadth on the back ofreduced political uncertainty,"

Devang Mehta, Head-EquityAdvisory, Centrum WealthManagement, said.

The much awaited flows ofmoney from the foreign insti-tutional investors seem to havestarted at least for the timebeing, which is a prominentfactor leading to this pre-elec-tion rally, he added.

On a net basis, foreigninstitutional investors (FIIs)bought shares worth a net of Rs3,810.60 crore on Monday,provisional data available withBSE showed.

On the global front, mostcentral banks have been adopt-ing a softer stance and with lowinflation and declining interestrate scenario in India and an

expected earnings recovery onthe cards, there is an expecta-tion that Indian equities receivereasonable foreign money allo-cations, Mehta added.

In Asia, Hong Kong's HangSeng jumped 1.46 per cent,Shanghai Composite Index1.10 per cent and Korea's Kospigained 0.89 per cent. Japan'sNikkei ended 1.79 per centhigher.

In the Eurozone,Frankfurt's DAX was up 0.28per cent and Paris CAC 40 rose0.28 per cent. London's FTSEfell 0.32 per cent in early deals.

Global crude benchmarkBrent crude futures rose 0.98per cent to USD 67.23 per bar-rel.

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New Delhi: The GST Network Tuesday saidbusinesses registered under GST can now com-pare the tax liability declared as well as input taxcredit claimed in their final and summary salesreturns forms. The GSTN, which handles thetechnology backbone for the new indirect tax, hasprovided a facility to the taxpayers to view anddownload a report on tax liability as declared intheir form GSTR- 1 (final sales return) and asdeclared and paid in their return filed in formGSTR-3B (summary sales return). While GSTR-1 for a month is filed by the 11th day of the suc-ceeding month, GSTR-3B is filed and taxes paidby the 20th day of the succeeding month.

GSTN, in a statement said, since GSTR-1 andGSTR-3B are filed independent of each other, aneed was felt to provide facility to view liabilitydeclared in both the forms at one place.

The new facility enables the taxpayers to viewthese two liabilities in one table for each returnperiod at one place, which can be compared. Thiswill enable taxpayers to make good of any dif-ferences between the two forms filed by them onGST portal, GSTN said.

Further, the GSTN has also provided tax-payers information regarding data of Input taxcredit (ITC) as claimed in their form GSTR 3Band as accrued in form GSTR 2A, based on thereturn uploaded by the supplier. This function-ality has been provided in Returns dashboard onthe GST Portal to taxpayers under the headings“Comparison of liability declared and ITCclaimed”. “This facility will help taxpayers in rec-onciling their liability and ITC details quickly.They can view the monthly comparison as wellas cumulative comparison upto the month, onthe GST Portal in the tables provided. This willhelp them in taking corrective steps," GSTN CEOPrakash Kumar said.

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Start-up Resolver IndiaTuesday launched a portal to

help in speedier resolution ofconsumer complaints.

Speaking at the launch here,Resolver India co-founder andChief Executive Officer (CEO)Pratyush Singh said the com-pany's goal is to break down thewalls between consumers andbusinesses by building trust andunderstanding through a speedyand jargon-free process.

“Resolver.in is powered bymachine learning and artificialintelligence (AI) which guidesconsumers and supports organ-

isations by making recommen-dations on what their next stepsshould be and when to takethem,” Singh said.

Resolver said it has a proventrack record and is the preferredresolution tool of millions ofconsumers in the UK with over3 million case files closed and acustomer satisfaction rate of

over 98 per cent in the UK.Resolver India (previously

known as Expertily), which is anIndian start-up, has receivedfunding from Resolver GroupUK."With India leading to growinto one of the top-3 consumermarkets in the world from USD1.5 trillion at present to nearlyUSD 6 trillion by 2030, we see

India as a tremendous oppor-tunity," said James Walker, CEOand founder, Resolver GroupUK.

The British HighCommissioner to India SirDominic Asquith said the busi-ness promises to help both con-sumers and businesses all acrossIndia resolve all manner ofcomplaints more effectively.

"I hope to see it soonbecome a household name inIndia," Asquith said.

Resolver India said itexpects to initially receive themajority of complaints related totravel, banking, insurance, tele-com and real estate.

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Script Open High Low LTPRCOM 5.50 5.54 5.09 5.12SUZLON 7.54 7.60 7.00 7.17LT 1352.00 1402.80 1352.00 1389.10BOMDYEING 117.00 134.30 117.00 129.40RELIANCE 1317.10 1333.00 1315.50 1329.85JETAIRWAYS 253.40 254.70 240.00 245.65ICICIBANK 378.50 389.00 377.15 388.20DHFL 134.00 135.75 128.50 128.90HDFCLIFE 368.80 377.30 368.80 371.45IBREALEST 77.50 84.85 77.50 81.35JPASSOCIAT 6.60 7.00 6.57 6.71BHARTIARTL 333.00 354.00 329.10 350.80AVANTI 451.00 486.90 444.55 448.65SPICEJET 83.75 84.40 78.40 78.80CGPOWER 39.10 43.20 37.45 42.45ESCORTS 750.00 806.00 746.90 798.05GRAPHITE 458.90 482.40 458.90 471.40SBIN 289.00 289.75 285.30 286.50ASHOKLEY 94.00 95.50 92.65 93.10DLF 179.00 187.95 177.50 187.15IFCI 14.03 14.16 13.70 13.84YESBANK 237.10 239.15 235.00 235.70INFY 709.90 714.75 705.70 706.90NBCC 59.80 62.90 59.75 61.15RPOWER 12.02 12.29 11.84 11.92SOUTHBANK 15.70 15.81 15.22 15.30CUMMINSIND 751.50 767.90 740.00 746.30SUNPHARMA 462.50 471.60 462.05 470.10TATAMOTORS 184.00 186.00 183.80 184.75RELCAPITAL 192.90 195.25 188.30 189.70INDUSINDBK 1518.00 1585.50 1511.50 1571.00IBULHSGFIN 728.00 732.50 713.20 719.30MARUTI 7104.00 7229.00 7102.00 7153.95KEC 275.15 291.85 274.45 288.90ZEEL 456.00 472.35 453.40 463.65RELINFRA 134.00 135.30 129.80 131.25NTPC 150.90 156.50 150.30 151.10TATASTEEL 523.30 530.00 519.95 524.15MANPASAND 104.85 121.50 104.85 120.20HEG 2220.00 2284.60 2205.00 2220.90JINDALSTEL 172.00 173.75 169.40 171.15KOTAKBANK 1257.95 1272.00 1252.00 1262.60PNB 86.35 87.20 84.80 85.35M&M 685.00 693.05 684.00 688.40AXISBANK 739.35 749.15 737.85 742.25AUROPHARMA 752.90 785.55 743.80 772.65IDEA 34.65 34.85 33.55 34.25EDELWEISS 174.90 181.00 172.10 178.70HAVELLS 746.55 780.35 746.40 766.90HINDPETRO 265.00 272.20 260.70 261.70DBL 605.50 630.00 604.15 620.90

CANFINHOME 312.80 325.25 310.25 315.95FORCEMOT 1834.00 1863.00 1773.00 1783.25TITAN 1074.60 1096.25 1070.80 1083.30GODFRYPHLP 1032.50 1079.80 1020.65 1050.50INFIBEAM 44.90 46.35 43.80 44.30BAJFINANCE 2815.00 2815.00 2745.00 2753.75WOCKPHARMA 443.70 450.20 434.40 438.55JAICORPLTD 110.30 115.25 109.95 112.75GUJGAS 143.00 153.50 143.00 152.30BPCL 387.00 394.40 384.35 389.95SUNTV 623.90 625.80 614.10 618.40UNIONBANK 83.95 85.90 82.00 82.55HINDUNILVR 1722.00 1739.00 1715.65 1734.10JKTYRE 93.15 97.30 93.00 96.25RAIN 107.55 114.95 107.40 111.45DMART 1489.95 1523.80 1482.00 1506.20ITC 293.05 295.55 293.05 294.55NCC 103.70 104.95 101.65 103.30INDIANB 270.05 275.65 266.50 269.10PRSMJOHNSN 97.25 104.00 97.25 99.25VEDL 178.70 180.20 177.45 178.25POWERGRID 196.00 202.00 194.30 196.05HDFCBANK 2145.00 2174.90 2137.45 2170.60WIPRO 261.50 263.30 260.40 261.25L&TFH 146.70 148.60 145.75 146.85BANKINDIA 93.50 94.60 91.40 92.45INFRATEL 319.00 322.55 309.35 316.60RADICO 399.00 408.00 395.85 403.25TCS 2018.00 2024.90 2003.35 2012.55ONGC 155.00 155.80 151.20 152.20FEDERALBNK 92.40 92.60 90.00 90.30NIACL 224.00 224.00 199.20 206.55BEL 92.50 93.65 90.70 91.15ADANIPOWER 51.90 53.25 51.35 52.30IOC 154.90 156.40 153.00 154.00TECHM 810.00 813.25 801.55 804.75

TRIDENT 67.65 71.85 67.40 70.90GRUH 281.60 286.25 267.75 271.65ANDHRABANK 27.25 27.80 26.90 27.10AJANTPHARM 986.00 1057.65 986.00 1042.55BIOCON 626.05 640.95 625.05 634.80UJJIVAN 338.90 342.60 333.40 335.60IDFCFIRSTB 50.90 50.90 49.05 49.80BBTC 1298.80 1373.25 1291.00 1363.50GNFC 299.80 309.75 299.00 308.20VENKYS 2345.00 2389.00 2295.00 2310.80SPARC 196.00 202.80 195.30 196.70MOTHERSUMI 173.00 175.50 165.90 167.90IBVENTURES 290.90 300.00 285.25 287.20EXIDEIND 227.65 232.60 224.95 230.45ADANIPORTS 353.40 364.90 352.45 360.85ABFRL 226.00 236.45 225.30 226.90JSWSTEEL 294.20 298.00 290.00 292.10HINDALCO 203.60 206.70 202.05 203.25ADANIGREEN 36.50 40.70 36.40 39.15PCJEWELLER 80.95 81.90 79.70 80.25PEL 2684.00 2707.55 2601.05 2637.00KEI 399.45 440.00 399.45 432.10VOLTAS 630.00 630.95 617.00 621.60RNAM 203.75 209.45 199.50 200.70GODREJCP 730.00 735.00 715.55 722.95EICHERMOT 23100.00 23341.15 22336.00 22482.95JUBILANT 851.00 856.00 828.00 834.55ICICIPRULI 340.50 353.60 340.05 342.00DABUR 444.00 454.50 444.00 446.05BANKBARODA 116.55 117.85 114.30 115.30ULTRACEMCO 4060.00 4145.65 4050.65 4098.55MCX 735.50 778.70 735.50 773.30ICICIGI 997.70 997.70 965.50 981.95INDHOTEL 145.50 152.00 144.00 150.95BATAINDIA 1341.00 1374.00 1341.00 1368.95GLENMARK 618.00 640.00 617.80 633.55ADVENZYMES 192.20 193.50 183.25 186.40COALINDIA 244.35 246.35 241.45 242.70HFCL 24.35 25.20 24.05 24.50LUPIN 796.70 810.55 794.70 800.85OIL 180.00 181.35 178.65 180.80JUBLFOOD 1377.00 1382.10 1343.60 1349.45VIPIND 447.50 452.25 440.00 442.50RECLTD 134.85 137.10 132.50 133.05BAJAJCON 349.75 367.00 314.80 316.65STRTECH 274.40 279.25 273.00 276.90HEROMOTOCO 2830.00 2840.00 2794.00 2811.90SUNTECK 425.00 451.25 425.00 434.80TATAPOWER 72.05 73.90 72.00 73.35BANDHANBNK 513.10 525.00 504.60 521.05SAIL 55.20 55.95 54.75 55.10HDFC 1910.00 1936.00 1900.60 1931.95PNBHOUSING 884.95 935.00 870.00 886.10ASIANPAINT 1418.50 1444.35 1418.50 1427.25BAJAJFINSV 6818.00 6879.00 6783.45 6836.40BRITANNIA 3174.00 3179.30 3125.00 3133.70ACC 1610.00 1628.00 1585.70 1591.20KAJARIACER 567.20 595.85 567.20 586.80KTKBANK 125.80 128.05 123.05 124.90ALBK 57.00 58.40 54.15 54.95GICRE 257.95 277.50 255.30 259.45BHEL 70.50 71.35 69.60 69.85INDIACEM 105.00 105.50 102.50 102.95AMBUJACEM 233.00 236.90 231.00 233.35RBLBANK 638.00 642.70 630.60 632.70IDBI 46.00 46.00 44.45 44.75PHILIPCARB 178.70 182.75 178.10 179.15NATIONALUM 54.65 55.45 54.00 54.45PVR 1544.95 1640.00 1544.95 1634.70HUDCO 45.50 47.50 45.50 46.05KSCL 438.95 447.70 433.80 436.95GICHSGFIN 259.00 277.40 256.65 268.60TVSMOTOR 510.00 510.65 494.30 497.50RCF 59.95 61.40 59.10 59.30INDIGO 1300.00 1305.00 1264.80 1274.60STAR 446.00 453.10 442.25 446.05CADILAHC 332.60 342.95 332.60 336.35WELCORP 127.75 127.75 121.40 122.95CENTURYTEX 885.00 907.55 881.00 902.05CHOLAFIN 1374.95 1389.90 1344.50 1368.80ISEC 245.05 254.00 245.00 252.70APOLLOHOSP 1208.50 1211.00 1137.05 1155.15LICHSGFIN 508.00 512.05 500.00 503.85GMDCLTD 92.00 94.25 91.05 91.60TATACHEM 593.15 594.95 583.00 584.95NAUKRI 1806.75 1864.00 1786.90 1833.90TATAGLOBAL 203.60 206.20 203.10 204.95BALKRISIND 911.00 941.95 909.55 934.00SIEMENS 1062.00 1064.80 1048.80 1051.90SBILIFE 601.10 634.00 601.10 619.40HEXAWARE 338.60 341.40 335.10 339.55BLISSGVS 172.00 179.00 169.10 175.80DEEPAKNI 261.00 265.80 260.20 264.20BAJAJ-AUTO 3025.00 3025.00 2982.95 2991.35M&MFIN 444.50 452.65 437.00 438.45BEML 920.00 925.80 902.50 906.30DISHTV 39.00 39.75 38.25 38.80GUJALKALI 533.00 542.05 525.00 526.70ORIENTBANK 97.80 99.05 95.30 97.00DIVISLAB 1699.00 1728.35 1693.95 1699.15BHARATFORG 536.90 536.95 526.95 529.30MUTHOOTFIN 599.00 605.00 589.15 592.35JUSTDIAL 553.70 561.45 550.60 555.50PARAGMILK 258.90 262.70 254.90 256.45PFC 112.00 113.90 110.10 110.75CANBK 262.00 263.30 255.20 256.40NMDC 111.00 113.00 110.70 112.00INTELLECT 192.85 201.30 192.85 198.10ENGINERSIN 116.00 116.80 113.20 113.80

MEGH 65.65 67.55 65.15 65.50NOCIL 141.20 144.00 139.40 140.65GAIL 354.90 357.20 349.10 353.65WHIRLPOOL 1602.75 1633.00 1571.00 1589.70LEMONTREE 88.00 88.00 82.80 83.15REPCOHOME 467.00 473.15 455.25 458.80CHAMBLFERT 171.00 171.00 168.95 169.65ITI 97.10 100.20 96.60 97.15TATAELXSI 965.15 971.50 956.20 960.25HCLTECH 1005.10 1018.75 1005.00 1012.50NAVKARCORP 48.25 48.70 45.25 45.55MARICO 349.95 353.20 348.90 350.85CONCOR 495.00 506.85 490.00 501.70EIHOTEL 203.90 207.00 200.95 201.45FSL 46.30 46.60 45.45 45.65PETRONET 240.00 243.40 237.10 239.15FCONSUMER 51.70 51.70 48.60 49.35JISLJALEQS 63.50 63.90 61.45 62.75TATAMTRDVR 94.00 94.30 92.30 93.10WESTLIFE 376.90 390.70 372.15 389.05IPCALAB 931.00 940.80 917.65 923.55CIPLA 541.00 543.50 537.60 539.10CASTROLIND 164.05 168.65 163.55 166.95ASHOKA 138.90 149.80 138.90 142.35UPL 895.00 907.00 893.60 898.70MRPL 71.55 73.85 71.55 73.15SHANKARA 469.00 487.00 465.00 470.75MANAPPURAM 118.50 121.05 118.25 119.20ABCAPITAL 100.30 100.75 98.25 99.00GRANULES 113.30 115.50 111.65 113.50NATCOPHARM* 575.00 597.00 575.00 585.20EQUITAS 132.50 134.65 130.50 134.05REDINGTON 96.40 100.85 96.40 99.30THERMAX 1028.95 1078.00 1010.50 1047.00WELSPUNIND 63.65 66.05 62.50 65.20MOIL 165.20 168.55 164.00 164.60JSWENERGY 69.85 71.20 68.75 69.70OBEROIRLTY 480.85 494.50 480.85 484.20SRF 2379.00 2402.55 2355.20 2374.35GRASIM 828.95 837.45 823.20 830.00MINDTREE 929.70 936.00 911.85 916.50CEATLTD 1154.80 1168.55 1145.30 1153.55NESTLEIND 10299.90 10500.00 10271.00 10435.85LINDEINDIA 524.85 524.85 501.20 506.30DRREDDY 2647.00 2676.30 2638.30 2666.65DELTACORP 259.00 260.00 252.70 254.05BAJAJHLDNG 3300.00 3385.20 3300.00 3349.65NIITTECH 1330.00 1341.60 1318.90 1322.85ITDCEM 138.00 143.40 134.20 135.10SCI 38.85 39.65 37.90 38.35MGL 896.00 913.25 893.00 904.80GODREJIND 545.00 545.00 503.95 530.80UBL 1382.70 1405.00 1382.70 1397.85APOLLOTYRE 218.00 228.00 218.00 226.65OMAXE 206.75 206.75 205.55 205.65EMAMILTD 398.30 406.90 398.00 400.10HINDCOPPER 50.50 51.25 50.00 50.30LTI 1654.80 1656.95 1625.00 1636.75IRB 154.50 157.00 150.00 151.10IDFC 41.70 42.30 41.40 42.05KNRCON 241.40 255.00 238.75 245.65JMFINANCIL 87.00 87.35 77.55 81.65SRTRANSFIN 1270.00 1283.00 1263.00 1271.85HINDZINC 272.50 277.25 272.45 274.35COLPAL 1277.20 1300.50 1274.30 1282.60MAHINDCIE 241.60 246.80 236.05 240.05PERSISTENT* 676.00 691.00 670.10 677.45GSFC 102.20 105.30 102.20 104.40TORNTPOWER 256.30 260.35 255.10 256.80ADANITRANS 217.70 217.80 213.20 214.25TORNTPHARM 1794.90 1855.50 1789.30 1845.60BAJAJELEC 506.00 510.00 497.20 507.55DCAL 212.00 218.70 204.20 206.75GMRINFRA 17.40 17.60 17.05 17.20J&KBANK 46.80 47.00 45.90 46.35BERGEPAINT 307.40 312.95 306.10 308.90RAYMOND 813.00 828.05 810.40 816.20DCBBANK 201.85 204.00 199.15 200.20SUVEN 269.75 270.00 258.00 261.00COCHINSHIP 387.00 397.00 381.50 389.65GODREJPROP 710.95 729.00 706.10 712.75CHENNPETRO 263.75 268.65 261.50 262.80TRENT 343.15 363.80 339.05 359.45ALLCARGO 107.85 111.40 107.00 108.80HIMATSEIDE 204.80 206.35 196.60 198.05PIDILITIND 1144.95 1147.55 1125.00 1130.25LAURUSLABS 371.85 371.95 360.00 363.55HSCL 124.35 125.50 123.45 124.05IGL 303.00 303.00 293.55 297.40VINATIORGA 1700.00 1740.00 1680.60 1699.20SADBHAV 236.00 247.40 236.00 245.85PAGEIND 23955.00 24299.00 23900.00 24144.35JAMNAAUTO 63.65 63.90 62.60 63.05RALLIS 165.80 166.15 161.55 164.45BHARATFIN 958.35 997.10 954.40 987.75FRETAIL 445.65 454.50 443.40 446.60DCMSHRIRAM 457.25 460.75 450.85 452.10GUJFLUORO 1039.75 1061.00 1039.75 1054.30MHRIL 237.00 247.90 229.40 244.20MPHASIS 1000.00 1001.50 979.00 988.85BIRLACORPN 533.10 547.70 532.00 543.15IOB 15.50 15.68 15.06 15.22KANSAINER 478.00 487.50 470.00 473.25JINDALSAW 93.80 95.70 93.40 93.95SYMPHONY 1365.50 1380.00 1325.50 1336.90VGUARD 219.80 224.00 219.80 221.50CROMPTON 229.00 238.10 228.85 229.55PNCINFRA 151.50 158.20 150.50 157.35NAVINFLUOR 652.85 675.95 650.10 673.45

AUBANK 592.60 597.70 581.00 586.85SYNDIBANK 39.00 39.30 38.05 38.50DEEPAKFERT 140.90 141.65 138.30 139.25SOMANYCERA 370.15 390.85 359.00 386.20COROMANDEL 519.90 519.90 477.20 484.95ASTRAL 1229.00 1264.00 1229.00 1241.25PRESTIGE 204.00 211.30 203.90 205.55GREAVESCOT 136.05 136.90 132.00 132.90SOBHA 443.00 457.00 443.00 447.35TAKE 137.00 142.00 135.30 138.35NHPC 25.40 25.65 24.95 25.00BDL 282.30 290.00 280.60 286.00FORTIS 135.95 142.65 135.90 141.65TATACOMM 611.20 623.70 610.00 620.35UFLEX 227.00 230.10 223.70 225.95WABAG 333.00 339.90 326.00 329.05RELAXO 764.25 764.25 743.30 754.45HSIL 248.90 259.80 247.00 257.90GESHIP 294.40 306.00 287.80 301.65IBULISL 348.00 350.00 329.15 336.40GODREJAGRO 520.00 525.00 518.00 521.95LTTS 1555.00 1560.00 1535.60 1547.60MOTILALOFS 603.70 618.65 602.25 607.45TATAMETALI 675.45 688.95 670.00 674.30RAMCOCEM 737.05 749.00 734.10 738.90MFSL 430.30 438.20 427.00 430.40GSPL 173.85 181.90 173.85 180.10PIIND 1015.00 1036.95 992.65 1008.60MINDAIND 347.05 354.00 344.00 350.65GPPL 90.90 93.30 90.90 92.15KPRMILL 598.55 609.75 585.00 606.50GHCL 247.95 249.50 242.10 243.15HEIDELBERG 181.00 182.50 177.60 181.50CENTURYPLY 193.60 200.50 193.50 196.50EIDPARRY 212.00 218.00 211.65 215.25MMTC 29.05 29.45 28.50 28.70SYNGENE 591.50 596.55 590.10 592.95SREINFRA 33.80 33.80 32.05 32.30ABB 1271.00 1280.10 1250.00 1256.65AARTIIND 1496.75 1505.00 1470.00 1475.15LAKSHVILAS 73.55 74.60 69.15 70.15KALPATPOWR 416.00 428.00 416.00 426.05RAJESHEXPO 604.75 613.75 601.75 603.00TV18BRDCST 37.30 37.50 36.30 36.60AEGISLOG 208.55 212.00 203.55 205.70JKLAKSHMI 345.60 360.75 344.15 355.55TATACOFFEE 93.55 94.75 92.80 93.10MAXINDIA 63.50 65.15 63.05 63.35EVEREADY 208.95 209.70 205.00 205.30NLCINDIA 70.65 72.90 70.65 72.10ENDURANCE 1175.00 1182.00 1160.00 1167.95MAHLIFE 376.95 393.50 376.95 382.50CENTRALBK 34.80 35.00 34.00 34.40JAGRAN 110.00 113.10 109.10 112.20INOXLEISUR 309.00 315.00 303.70 308.25CORPBANK 29.80 30.65 29.75 29.85PTC 81.15 81.55 80.00 80.40MRF 58100.00 58223.95 56900.00 57210.55AIAENG 1811.25 1811.25 1731.20 1743.80MAGMA 118.20 121.35 116.25 117.30LAXMIMACH 6349.95 6395.10 6215.00 6242.80ZENSARTECH 226.00 226.00 214.10 223.30GLAXO 1320.00 1331.00 1279.00 1316.35FINCABLES 456.00 472.50 455.00 465.90IEX 161.55 164.30 160.30 161.70HERITGFOOD 521.70 532.00 512.50 525.70SHK 155.40 158.45 153.30 154.35OFSS 3450.00 3490.75 3435.60 3459.15SUNDRMFAST 527.00 530.35 518.10 526.75ITDC 301.30 303.70 290.25 293.70COFFEEDAY 291.80 291.95 286.80 287.50FORBESCO 2494.40 2494.40 2310.05 2331.60KRBL 372.90 376.95 365.30 371.35JSLHISAR 95.40 97.30 94.90 95.60TEJASNET 179.45 184.95 177.65 180.60BOSCHLTD 19233.65 19422.55 19001.60 19068.00NH 224.00 224.95 214.60 216.15GREENPLY 152.20 154.15 151.15 153.25PFIZER 3214.20 3247.40 3190.00 3217.55SJVN 24.65 24.85 24.30 24.40CENTRUM 35.65 36.10 34.50 35.15JSL 43.50 44.00 42.70 42.95TTKPRESTIG 9000.00 9255.00 9000.00 9122.75BAYERCROP 4303.00 4344.90 4280.00 4324.65HAL 694.50 700.00 690.00 693.10LUXIND 1320.00 1341.00 1302.05 1323.35AMARAJABAT 749.65 752.30 743.00 746.05BALMLAWRIE 191.90 193.00 187.45 189.60BASF 1440.00 1445.00 1417.20 1430.55FDC 178.85 187.00 178.55 181.40SCHNEIDER 103.90 106.20 102.20 105.40NBVENTURES 106.90 109.40 104.50 105.35ISGEC 5255.00 5547.95 5255.00 5361.25TNPL 221.75 224.20 218.60 218.95VBL 817.70 825.30 811.00 815.55CARERATING 1008.00 1011.60 989.05 1009.55PHOENIXLTD 639.95 656.60 620.00 633.25MERCK 3550.00 3550.00 3458.15 3465.65NILKAMAL 1405.00 1437.00 1405.00 1417.60CRISIL 1437.15 1515.00 1437.15 1493.20ASTRAZEN 2004.00 2025.00 1933.00 1938.75SONATSOFTW 335.00 338.25 330.20 332.50LALPATHLAB 1049.90 1069.15 1049.05 1056.70ORIENTCEM 89.00 92.00 87.50 88.60ALKEM 1741.00 1763.00 1735.00 1740.70TIMETECHNO 103.75 107.40 100.00 104.45SUPREMEIND 1140.00 1150.00 1127.25 1139.95SHARDACROP 383.40 389.90 378.00 387.00QUESS 784.75 796.00 782.50 789.10

APLAPOLLO 1394.20 1400.00 1370.00 1379.20CYIENT* 683.00 691.90 683.00 688.15LAOPALA 216.90 219.50 211.10 213.60VMART 2829.95 2830.00 2771.50 2791.20SANOFI 5625.00 5840.00 5625.00 5737.50TIFHL 508.80 523.15 488.70 493.65SUPRAJIT 225.00 229.00 220.40 225.05UCOBANK 19.45 19.65 19.15 19.25KIOCL 153.25 157.85 146.55 149.50THYROCARE 533.45 540.55 528.00 533.45CAPPL 412.95 414.00 397.00 406.90THOMASCOOK 223.00 224.15 221.35 222.45NAVNETEDUL 110.10 111.10 108.00 109.60TVSSRICHAK 2285.05 2347.75 2260.00 2282.05ATUL 3360.00 3360.00 3303.00 3313.15DBCORP 208.90 208.90 197.30 199.15SHRIRAMCIT 1708.60 1746.25 1655.30 1718.95CUB 188.30 189.35 187.50 188.40SUDARSCHEM 347.60 355.00 343.00 348.25PGHH 10309.20 10568.60 10239.20 10468.10BLUESTARCO 658.00 672.45 658.00 664.30MAHABANK 13.91 13.91 13.41 13.48INDOSTAR 358.80 358.80 350.10 353.25ABBOTINDIA 7390.75 7490.00 7321.00 7352.00MINDACORP 145.35 148.90 145.35 146.50VTL 1093.80 1100.60 1077.05 1082.80JBCHEPHARM 342.75 342.75 335.65 336.60ZYDUSWELL 1313.70 1326.00 1285.20 1304.25JYOTHYLAB 190.60 191.35 188.50 189.65NETWORK18 35.30 36.00 35.15 35.80GDL 129.60 130.65 126.00 127.05ELGIEQUIP 259.95 260.00 250.00 253.35SUNCLAYLTD 3050.00 3260.00 2971.55 3141.90SUPPETRO 218.00 224.05 215.35 221.15GSKCONS 7179.95 7220.00 7164.10 7191.70TATAINVEST 842.05 852.70 842.00 847.25INOXWIND 76.60 76.60 74.25 76.20FLFL 439.25 448.40 439.20 441.75MAHLOG 502.55 505.15 490.00 497.15FINOLEXIND 547.00 547.00 536.25 541.75TIINDIA 384.00 385.80 376.65 382.45HATSUN 699.90 717.00 697.15 703.35APLLTD 555.25 555.55 550.00 550.40CCL 298.00 300.40 295.90 299.45SWANENERGY 110.00 112.00 108.90 110.80JKCEMENT 831.00 850.00 831.00 844.20CARBORUNIV 391.05 391.20 384.00 386.70WABCOINDIA 6330.00 6438.65 6310.30 6375.503MINDIA 24800.00 24897.00 24445.55 24467.10ASTERDM 153.20 156.90 153.20 154.25SHREECEM 18248.20 18248.20 17900.00 18006.55TIMKEN 586.00 595.00 585.00 586.80MONSANTO 2660.00 2660.00 2619.10 2653.80GET&D 289.95 291.50 284.15 287.60SKFINDIA 1960.00 1980.00 1935.00 1957.50ECLERX 1113.00 1113.00 1091.50 1093.15TVTODAY 340.00 350.00 336.60 341.30HONAUT 22185.75 22788.00 22185.75 22640.70UNITEDBNK 11.26 11.49 11.20 11.25IFBIND 936.20 950.00 923.20 938.40GAYAPROJ 170.00 172.50 168.20 170.05GRINDWELL 600.00 600.00 585.05 589.20AKZOINDIA 1738.00 1796.55 1737.95 1783.05TEAMLEASE 3025.00 3030.00 2950.85 2994.15GILLETTE 6513.05 6526.75 6481.10 6514.85GALAXYSURF 1107.15 1131.00 1107.15 1126.05GEPIL 848.35 855.00 846.00 854.05SCHAEFFLER 5500.00 5500.00 5377.00 5410.75ASAHIINDIA 269.55 273.10 268.00 270.05SHOPERSTOP 472.50 484.05 472.50 482.25DHANUKA 440.95 445.75 433.30 438.10CERA 2648.90 2648.90 2579.25 2598.65GULFOILLUB 869.00 869.00 850.00 854.20NESCO 455.00 466.80 454.20 460.95TRITURBINE 113.85 118.90 113.00 117.85JCHAC 1990.00 2039.35 1969.15 2012.95MAHSCOOTER 3305.75 3388.00 3305.75 3376.30ESSELPRO 111.95 113.90 111.00 111.15BLUEDART 3256.40 3295.00 3227.00 3247.55SHILPAMED 378.65 380.80 375.00 376.35ERIS 659.85 661.95 654.00 656.95SIS 835.90 860.25 830.00 859.30STARCEMENT 101.40 102.00 100.20 100.35APARINDS 669.20 669.25 658.00 661.50SFL 1385.00 1422.00 1375.40 1383.30RATNAMANI 894.85 894.85 882.05 889.90SOLARINDS 1045.70 1045.70 1028.20 1033.30

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11231.35 11320.40 11227.00 11301.20 133.15BHARTIARTL 332.80 354.00 329.35 350.50 16.70ICICIBANK 378.00 389.00 377.35 388.70 12.85INDUSINDBK 1526.00 1585.00 1510.75 1563.70 49.10LT 1355.00 1403.00 1355.00 1389.00 42.45ADANIPORTS 352.55 365.15 351.60 361.30 10.00SUNPHARMA 463.00 471.65 462.00 471.00 11.55RELIANCE 1316.90 1334.00 1314.25 1330.85 26.75HDFCBANK 2147.00 2175.00 2137.00 2168.00 39.55ZEEL 458.00 472.65 453.10 461.05 8.05HDFC 1914.90 1936.65 1900.10 1926.25 28.70TATAMOTORS 184.40 186.00 183.55 184.45 2.60DRREDDY 2647.00 2676.00 2638.00 2663.00 36.85HINDUNILVR 1718.90 1739.00 1718.80 1736.00 21.05HINDALCO 203.00 206.90 202.10 203.50 2.45POWERGRID 194.65 202.00 194.65 196.60 2.30ULTRACEMCO 4063.90 4147.95 4050.50 4095.00 45.85BAJAJFINSV 6858.00 6891.00 6791.80 6860.00 76.40AXISBANK 738.70 749.00 738.55 742.60 8.10TITAN 1074.95 1095.95 1072.00 1080.25 11.05KOTAKBANK 1260.45 1272.00 1253.10 1262.00 12.45HCLTECH 1007.10 1019.50 1000.05 1014.00 9.60VEDL 178.90 180.35 177.30 178.30 1.20MARUTI 7097.00 7232.00 7096.00 7130.30 48.40ASIANPAINT 1422.00 1445.35 1421.20 1428.00 8.20ITC 294.00 295.65 293.15 294.50 1.55M&M 686.90 693.10 683.35 684.40 3.35WIPRO 261.00 263.35 260.15 260.95 1.20BPCL 388.40 394.40 384.30 388.80 1.75TATASTEEL 524.40 530.50 521.00 523.00 2.35UPL 900.00 906.90 893.65 898.00 1.30NTPC 150.80 156.35 150.20 151.40 0.00GRASIM 831.90 838.60 826.20 827.30 -0.20SBIN 289.20 289.90 285.75 287.30 -0.05GAIL 354.40 357.50 349.10 351.45 -0.30COALINDIA 245.00 246.90 241.20 243.10 -0.30BAJAJ-AUTO 3012.00 3020.80 2981.35 2997.00 -3.55IOC 155.00 156.45 153.00 153.50 -0.20TECHM 811.00 813.75 801.15 805.70 -1.45IBULHSGFIN 729.50 732.90 715.20 717.00 -1.95TCS 2014.05 2024.80 2003.00 2009.10 -5.70CIPLA 541.90 543.65 537.30 538.00 -2.10HEROMOTOCO 2840.00 2849.40 2790.10 2802.85 -11.90YESBANK 238.00 239.20 235.00 235.10 -1.20INFY 709.00 714.95 705.60 706.75 -4.50ONGC 154.00 155.60 151.10 151.80 -1.20JSWSTEEL 294.05 298.00 290.05 290.10 -2.55HINDPETRO 265.90 272.60 260.60 261.00 -2.40INFRATEL 319.50 322.70 309.00 316.00 -3.70BAJFINANCE 2808.80 2816.65 2745.50 2753.00 -38.05EICHERMOT 23001.00 23355.00 22272.90 22369.90 -602.55

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28261.15 28427.35 28156.40 28208.30 120.75DLF 179.00 188.70 177.60 187.10 10.25PGHH 10274.00 10610.00 10248.50 10600.00 412.40GICRE 256.50 277.00 256.50 261.00 10.10AUROPHARMA 759.80 785.90 742.85 775.50 24.75HAVELLS 748.70 769.90 746.60 764.95 22.35BANDHANBNK 513.90 526.50 504.00 525.00 13.70BIOCON 625.00 641.95 624.00 638.00 15.00CONCOR 496.05 507.00 489.70 502.05 8.55OIL 179.95 181.30 178.50 180.55 2.80DMART 1490.00 1522.70 1483.00 1504.30 22.10L&TFH 146.50 148.85 145.65 146.70 2.00CADILAHC 333.30 342.80 333.30 336.35 3.50SRTRANSFIN 1270.00 1285.00 1261.20 1272.50 13.05COLPAL 1279.00 1303.20 1275.00 1285.50 13.15GODREJCP 728.90 734.80 721.25 729.00 6.25HINDZINC 273.00 277.50 272.55 273.50 2.25OFSS 3463.90 3499.00 3432.75 3469.90 27.50MCDOWELL-N 579.90 588.40 576.30 578.70 4.50NMDC 111.25 113.10 110.60 111.65 0.85ICICIGI 987.00 996.90 973.05 987.00 7.35DABUR 448.00 454.70 444.70 445.35 3.05LUPIN 794.55 810.80 794.55 800.70 5.40MARICO 351.40 353.00 348.55 349.95 2.15IDEA 34.50 34.75 33.65 34.35 0.15SHREECEM 18101.00 18216.95 17960.50 18005.00 29.95LICHSGFIN 505.00 512.70 501.00 502.00 0.15SIEMENS 1064.00 1066.00 1050.40 1055.00 -1.35SBILIFE 623.00 634.90 612.00 621.50 -0.95ASHOKLEY 94.05 95.50 92.60 92.90 -0.15AMBUJACEM 233.75 237.10 232.35 232.75 -0.55BOSCHLTD 19150.00 19421.95 19005.10 19048.00 -52.30BRITANNIA 3165.90 3178.80 3120.90 3125.05 -8.40SUNTV 618.55 625.75 613.30 615.00 -1.85PETRONET 242.00 243.70 237.40 238.40 -0.80SAIL 55.65 56.00 54.65 54.85 -0.20BHEL 70.45 71.35 69.55 69.75 -0.30PIDILITIND 1145.15 1149.40 1128.00 1132.00 -6.15ABCAPITAL 100.85 100.90 98.35 99.25 -0.70BANKBARODA 116.95 117.80 114.45 115.05 -1.00BEL 92.20 93.70 90.70 90.85 -0.80ACC 1612.50 1626.85 1587.70 1590.20 -14.05ICICIPRULI 344.70 353.95 340.10 341.00 -3.35ABB 1273.70 1281.00 1244.00 1251.95 -14.25NIACL 210.00 219.00 197.20 203.00 -2.40MRF 58100.00 58253.65 56801.00 57030.20 -678.10NHPC 25.50 25.70 24.90 25.00 -0.35PEL 2682.00 2707.00 2607.55 2617.00 -38.30MOTHERSUMI 172.95 175.60 165.65 168.00 -4.00INDIGO 1305.00 1308.35 1261.65 1267.25 -34.70HDFCLIFE 367.55 376.85 367.55 370.50 -20.00

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British Prime MinisterTheresa May claimed to

have secured the breakthroughrequired to get her Brexit with-drawal agreement through acrunch vote in Parliament onTuesday evening.

However, it was receivedwith caution by British MPsunsure of the legal ramifica-tions, leaving Britain’s exit fromthe European Union (EU) stillprecariously poised ahead ofthe March 29 Brexit deadline.In a last-minute dash to theEuropean Parliament inStrasbourg, France, on Mondaynight, May emerged alongsideEuropean CommissionPresident Jean Claude-Junckerto declare that the UK and EUhave agreed “legally binding”

changes to the controversialIrish backstop clause to ensureany such arrangement wouldnot be permanent.

The move is aimed ataddressing the concerns ofhard-Brexiteers in her ownConservative Party and theNorthern Irish DemocraticUnionist Party (DUP), whichprovides her government withits majority in the House ofCommons.

“MPs were clear that legalchanges were needed to thebackstop. Today we havesecured legal changes. Now isthe time to come together toback this improved Brexit deal,”May said at a joint press con-ference with Juncker.

The EU said it had madesignificant concessions as twoadditional documents were

agreed to back up the with-drawal agreement struck inDecember last year – a jointlegally binding instrument

which the UK could use to starta “formal dispute” against theEU if it tried to keep the UKtied into the backstop indefi-

nitely and a joint statementcommitting both sides to findan alternative to the backstopby the end of the Brexit tran-sition period of December2020.

“In politics, sometimes youget a second chance. There willbe no third chance… it is thisdeal or Brexit might not hap-pen at all,” Juncker said, issu-ing a stark warning to Britain’sMPs over the importance of theparliamentary vote in the UKon Tuesday. Ireland’s Indian-origin Prime Minister, LeoVaradkar, also stressed thatthe new agreements were an“unambiguous statement” ofboth sides’ “good faith andintentions” even if they did not“undermine” the principle ofthe backstop or how it mightcome into force.

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Pakistan has assured the USthat it will deal “firmly”

with all terrorists operatingfrom the country and takesteps to de-escalate tensionswith India, according toNational Security Adviser JohnBolton.

The assurance was given byPakistan Foreign Minister ShahMehmood Qureshi during aphone call on Monday, Bolton said on a day whenForeign Secretary VijayGokhale called on US Secretaryof State Mike Pompeo here anddiscussed the need to bringingthose responsible for thePulwama attack to justice andthe urgency of Pakistan takingmeaningful action against ter-rorist groups operating on itssoil.

“Spoke with Pakistani FMQureshi to encourage mean-ingful steps against JeM andother terrorist groups operat-ing from Pakistan,” Bolton saidin a tweet.

“The FM assured me thatPakistan would deal firmlywith all terrorists and will con-tinue steps to de-escalate ten-sions with India,” he said.

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AChinese official onTuesday rejected interna-

tional criticism of internmentcamps in the restive Xinjiangregion, calling them job train-ing centres that will “gradual-ly disappear” if “one day soci-ety no longer needs it”.

Nearly one million Uighursand other mostly MuslimTurkic minorities are beingheld in detention centres inXinjiang, according to esti-mates cited by a UN panel.

A US official describedthe situation in Xinjiang as“horrific”.

But Beijing has denied theaccusations, saying people areattending “vocational educa-tion centres” to rid them of anyextremist thoughts in a regionthat was hit by deadly riots andattacks in recent years.

“Our education and train-ing centres have been set up

according to our needs. Thestudents that come in to learn,it’s a dynamic number thatchanges,” Shohrat Zakir, thechairman of Xinjiang’sGovernment, told journalists onthe sidelines of China’s annualparliamentary meeting.

“As a whole, the number ofpeople in the education centresshould be less and less, and ifone day society no longerneeds it, these education cen-tres can gradually disappear,” hesaid, without providing thenumber of people at the facil-ities. Former inmates have saidthey found themselves incar-cerated for transgressions suchas wearing long beards and faceveils or sharing Islamic holidaygreetings on social media.

Critics allege Uighurs inthe camps are being brain-washed in a massive campaignto enforce conformity withChinese society and the aban-donment of Islam.

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The European Unionexpanded its tax haven

blacklist by 10 countries onTuesday, adding the UnitedArab Emirates and Bermudadespite the objections of pow-erful member states such asItaly. The list, now 15 countrieslong, was first drawn up in2017 in the wake of severalscandals, including the PanamaPapers and LuxLeaks, thatpushed the EU into doingmore to fight tax evasion bymultinationals and the rich.

Seven countries are to bemoved back from a grey listbecause reform commitmentshad not been met. These areAruba, Belize, Bermuda, Fiji,Oman, Vanuatu and Dominica,an EU statement said.

They are joined by threeother countries whose tax poli-cies have grown more aggressivein the past months. They areBarbados, the United ArabEmirates and the MarshallIslands. Italy long resisted theaddition of the UAE. TheMiddle East powerhouse hasrecently made significant invest-ments in the economically trou-bled European country.

Rome had wanted to keepthe Emirates on the so-calledgrey list of countries that havemade pledges to get their taxlaws in order with a standardset by Brussels.

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Berlin: German ChancellorAngela Merkel said Tuesdaythat the latest EU offer onBrexit was “clear and far-reach-ing”, hours before the Britishparliament was set to vote on it.

“Today is an importantday,” Merkel said at a Berlinjoint press conference withBelgian Prime MinisterCharles Michel.

“I think that the 27 mem-ber states, represented by(European Commission chief)Jean-Claude Juncker and (EUchief negotiator) MichelBarnier, have again made clearand far-reaching proposals

that take into account the con-cerns of Great Britain and tofind answers for them.

“We want to get along welland we want an orderly exit byBritain, and now it’s the task ofthe British parliament to reachdecisions, and we’ll be follow-ing closely what happens today,tomorrow and the day after inBritain.” Merkel added that“it’s now up to the British par-liament, so let’s wait and see”.

Michel called the latestEU offer “an outstretchedhand” and voiced hope thatBritish lawmakers would reacha “sensible” decision. AFP

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London: A group of Brexit-supporting MPs asked by theircolleagues to examine changesto Britain’s EU divorce deal rec-ommended that parliamentreject it in a vote on Tuesday.

“In the light of our ownlegal analysis and others we donot recommend accepting thegovernment’s motion today,”Conservative MP Bill Cashsaid on behalf of the group.

They include one lawyer,six Conservative MPs plusNigel Dodds, deputy leader ofthe Northern Ireland’sDemocratic Unionist Party(DUP). AFP

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The United States will with-draw all remaining diplo-

matic personnel from itsembassy in Caracas as the cri-sis in Venezuela deepens,Secretary of State MikePompeo has said.

The move worsens alreadytattered relations, withPresident Donald Trump hav-ing said he rules out no optionsincluding military interven-tion to oust President NicolasMaduro as Washington mon-itors rapidly unfolding events inthe oil-rich but crippled SouthAmerican nation supported by

Russia and China.The US has already

imposed sanctions designedto choke off Venezuelan oilsales, the lifeblood of the left-ist government in Caracas.

Much of Venezuela hasbeen without electricity forgoing on five days now due toa power outage that the gov-ernment blames on what it callssabotage encouraged by the US.

Venezuela is in the grips ofan acute economic crisis thathas fueled the rise of oppositionleader Juan Guaido, the nation-al assembly speaker who in lateJanuary declared himself to bethe interim leader.

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Colombo: Sri Lanka is onceagain under international pres-sure to implement fully themeasures identified by theUNHRC in 2015 to addresshuman rights concerns afterthe United Kingdom andGermany on Tuesday tabled aresolution at the UN body inGeneva.

The UN rights office callsfor international investigationsinto alleged war crimes andencourages member states toprosecute Sri Lankans sus-pected of war crimes in accor-dance with universal jurisdic-tion principles.

Titled “Promoting recon-ciliation, accountability andhuman rights in Sri Lanka”, therollover resolution requests theOffice of the HighCommissioner to continue toassess progress on the imple-mentation of its recommenda-tions. PTI

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Iran’s Foreign Ministrywarned the UK on Tuesday

that giving diplomatic protec-tion to a British-Iranian moth-er jailed in Tehran would notmake the situation “easier”,state news agency IRNAreported.

Britain on Friday extendedthe status to Nazanin Zaghari-

Ratcliffe, who was arrested inTehran in 2016.

“What is certain is that theBritish government’s movelacks goodwill and is in no wayconstructive or positive,” saidministry spokesman BahramGhasemi on Tuesday.

“If it does not make the sit-uation more complicated, it will surely not make thingseasier.”

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Unrest at a highly sensitiveJerusalem holy site led

Israeli police to shut off accessto it on Tuesday after severalweeks of tension at the location.

Police said they evacuatedthe Al-Aqsa mosque com-pound, known to Jews as theTemple Mount, after a Molotovcocktail damaged a police post.

Video spread online ofscuffles between police andPalestinians before the site wascleared.

More than 10 people werearrested, police said, includingtwo minors allegedly linked tothe firebomb attack who will bebrought to a court for a remandhearing on Wednesday.

The Palestinian RedCrescent reported two peoplehurt, while police said an offi-cer suffered from smokeinhalation.

Police said they found anumber of firecrackers andMolotov cocktails in searches ofthe site.

Residents said police werealso restricting Palestinianaccess to Jerusalem’s Old City,where the site is located.

Worshippers later prayedoutside the locked gates of the

site in protest. Jordan, the cus-todian of the site, condemnedits closure as “unacceptable”.

Israeli police laterannounced that the site wouldreopen “to worshippers andvisitors” on Wednesday morn-ing. Abdul Nasser Abul al-Basal, Jordanian minister ofIslamic affairs, told state-runAl-Mamlaka TV that the clo-sure was an “attack on religiousfreedom”.

The compound is thethird-holiest site in Islam anda focus of Palestinian aspira-tions for statehood.

It is also the location ofJudaism’s most sacred spot,revered as the site of the twobiblical-era Jewish temples.

Jews are allowed to visit butcannot pray there and it is a fre-quent scene of tension.

It is located in eastJerusalem, occupied by Israel inthe 1967 Six-Day War andlater annexed in a move neverrecognised by the internation-al community.

Recent weeks have seenscuffles over a side building atthe site known as the GoldenGate. Palestinian worshippershave been entering the sitedespite an Israeli order that itshould stay closed.

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Former US Vice-PresidentJoe Biden dropped teasing

hints on Tuesday that he couldsoon announce a 2020 WhiteHouse campaign, telling anenthusiastic crowd that he mayneed their energy “in a fewweeks.” The Democratic elderstatesman has been mulling achallenge against PresidentDonald Trump for months.

While he tops nearly allearly polls for the Democraticnominations race, strategistsand election observers havestressed that he is under pres-sure to enter the crowded fieldsoon, or bow out.

Biden, a consensus-build-ing pragmatist and Washingtonestablishment fixture, is almostcertain to jump in, with acampaign kickoff expected bymid-April, sources recentlytold The New York Times.

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The simple meaning of wordpharmacovigilance is to keepwatch on drug’s fate. WHO

(World Health Organisation) sayspharmacovigilance is the scienceand activities relating to the detec-tion, assessment, understanding andprevention of adverse effects or anyother drug-related problem.Essentially making the field ofPharmacovigilance a science relatedto drug safety with regards to theadverse effects it can result in.

Today, pharmacovigilance takescenter stage whenever a new drug isdeveloped. These professionals keepa close eye on new drugs during itsclinical trials and even test medica-tions already on the market. A lot ofdrugs are either withdrawn from themarket or never allowed into themarket thanks to pharmacovigi-lance. It is thanks to these profes-sionals that the medications that thegeneral public consume are generallysafe.

Therefore, we can conclude thatthe main aim of pharmacovigilanceis to:� Improve patient safety� Enhance patient care in terms of

medicines used� Contribute to the evaluation of

advantages, applications, sideeffects, harm, effectiveness, andrisk of medicines

� Encourage safe, balanced andeffective use of various medicines

The next question is how dopharmacovigilance professionalswork?

Let’s imagine for a moment, thatpeople have started reporting seriousside-effects after consuming a drugnamed XYZ. When such side-effectsare reported, pharmacovigilanceprofessionals step in to collect theright data by recording the side-effects of medication and talking tothe patients and healthcare profes-sionals in this situation. Then theycreate a report and send this reportto the right regulatory authorities orbodies.

Since the necessary introductionof pharmacovigilance has been done,let’s dive deeper into this career pathand evaluate what a professional canexpect in this field.

According to Business World,India is one of the third largest pro-ducers of pharmaceuticals. The phar-maceutical industry in India isexpected to reach $55 billion by2020. Therefore, it’s easy to see whypharmacovigilance professionals inIndia have a bright career ahead ofthem. People that have studiedpharmacovigilance can find employ-ment in various organisations like:� Pharmaceutical Companies

(MNCs & the Indian ones) &Biotech companies

� Contract Research Organisations(CROs)

� Regulatory Authorities such as

DCG, FDA & CDSCO� Clinical Research Organisations� Pharmacovigilance Units in

Medical Colleges & Hospitals� KPOs (Knowledge Process

Outsourcing) such as Accenture,Cognizant, SciformixCorporation, iGATE etc.According to Career India, some

of the top pharmaceutical companiesrecruiting pharmacovigilance pro-fessionals are — Dr Reddy’s lab,Cipla, Ranbaxy Laboratories,Johnson & Johnson, MatrixLaboratories Ltd, Pfizer, Ranbaxy,Asian Clinical Trials , Merck,Clinigene, Novartis.

Initially, the remuneration that afresher may receive depends on hisacademic background. Therefore, adegree from a reputed university isimportant. As a fresher who hasstudied pharmacy or life science, youwill be involved in creating a casewhen required, and reviewing med-ications for minimum safety infor-mation.

After two to three years you willhave built various skill sets likemedical coding, narrative and sci-entific writing, a good understand-ing of medical terms, understandingof various regulatory affairs, andmore. These skill sets will allow youto move up to becoming a DSS(Drug Safety Scientist)

You could also, after learninghow to be a good narrative writer

choose to pursue a career as a writeror PSUR (Periodic Safety UpdateReport) and PADER (PeriodicAdverse Drug Experience Reports).Furthermore, you could also chooseto become an Aggregate ReportScientist.

After about seven to ten years ofexperience, you can also work as ateam lead or manager depending onthe organisation you work for. Lastly,with a background of nine to tenyears, you can also acquire positionslike Director or Vice-President in anorganisation. �How to pursue a career in phar-macovigilance: Aspirants who havegraduated from life sciences degreelike pharmaceutical sciences, med-ical, biotechnology, microbiology,biochemistry, genetics and others areeligible to pursue a course in phar-macovigilance. You can also chooseto pursue a diploma course in phar-macovigilance after your graduation.However, the duration of thesecourses can vary.

In conclusion, pharmacovigi-lance is a fantastic career opportu-nity for pharmacy, medical, and lifescience graduates. You will spendyour career researching drugs thatcan be potentially harmful to thegeneral public. Thereby, you will bea person saving lives from behind thecurtains.

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The Bihar Education Project Council(BEPC), Government of Bihar, and

CorStone announced a next phase partner-ship that will benefit over 100,000 school-children in the state of Bihar.

Together, the BEPC and CorStone willwork to expand CorStone’s Youth First andGirls First resilience programmes acrossGovernment middle schools and KasturbaGandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) in all ninedivisions of the state over the next three years.

CorStone’s Youth First and Girls First pro-grammes center around a unique compre-hensive resilience and adolescent healthtraining curriculum delivered through aninnovative teacher-facilitated peer group

model. The programme integrates evidence-based practices from the fields of emotionalresilience, positive psychology, social-emo-tional learning, and conflict resolution withadolescent health training to improve men-tal and physical well-being, school engage-ment, self-advocacy, social skills and rela-tionships among youth.

“The new Bihar is eager to progress.Weassure all possible support to CorStone forundertaking these resilience programmes, andalso for scaling up this programme to includemore schools when required. Considering theexcellent work they have done in the past sixyears, the Government of Bihar is ready tosupport CorStone in their mission,” saysKrishna Nandan Prasad Verma, StateEducation Minister, Government of Bihar.

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The Star Network hasannounced the third edition

of its bespoke Star WritersProgramme, #TheWriteMove,which represents a unique andperhaps most significant oppor-tunity in India for aspiring writ-ers alike to make a career in cre-ative writing for television.

They will be trained andnurtured to become the futurestorytellers for television in Indiaby some of the best experts,under the aegis of Star India.

Gaurav Banerjee, President,

and Head, Hindi GEC at StarIndia, said: “Writing is at theheart of great television, which,to take the next big leap, needsthe best set of potentially greatwriters. However, there exists animmense training gap in India,and hence the Star WritersProgram is our attempt to iden-tify the next set of truly talent-ed writers and arm them with theart and craft of television screen-writing.”

Star Writers Program is aseven-month, full-time courseand internship in televisionscreenwriting, and open to both

-aspiring and experienced writ-ers. The shortlisted candidates,selected after a rigorous selectionprogram, will undergo trainingand an internship and willreceive a monthly stipendthroughout the course.Successful completion of theprogram will be followed by atwo-year writing contract withStar.

Alumni writers from theStar Writers Program have beenpart of the writers’ rooms forshows like Kaal Bhairav, NimkiMukhiya and Nazar from theStar Network.

�������.</?������������4E����� �������� ���� �:�������The Former President of

India, Pranab Mukherjeewas the chief guest of the event,held at Paintal MemorialGolden Jubilee Auditorium,Vallabhbhai Patel ChestInstitute, North CampusUniversity of Delhi.

Dr Kavita Sharma, Headand Dean, Department ofCommerce, DU, DK Aggarwal,Senior Vice President, PHDC-CI, Ajay Shankar, FormerSecretary, DIPP and RamananRamanathan, Mission Director,Atal Innovation Mission, NitiAayog were also present andshared their insights on role of

disruptive innovations andentrepreneurship.

Pranab Mukherjee said: “Asuccessful business and anentrepreneur not only brings anew product and concept in themarket but improves all marketefficiency. I believe job creationand growth of economy mustgo hand in hand, otherwisedemocratic dividend will not beable to provide job to ourneedy unemployed youth. Weneed to encourage our youngentrepreneurs to come up withtheir disruptive innovations tosolve the problem of unem-ployment.

���� ����������The Manav Rachna

University is inviting appli-cations for its ComputerScience & Engineering pro-grammes for the session 2019.

Duration: Four years forBTech Computer Science andEngineering and two years forMTech ComputerEngineering.

Eligiblity: Pass in ClassXII examination with at least60 per cent marks in aggregatein five subjects for BTechComputer Science andEngineering and minimum50 per cent marks or equiva-lent CGPA in BE/BTech inComputer Science &E n g i n e e r i n g / C o m p u t e rTechnolog y/InformationTechnology/MCA or equiva-lent for MTech ComputerEngineering.

How to apply: Log on tomanavrachna.edu.in.

Last date to apply: April17, 2019.

������������������The XLRI — Xavier

School of Management invitesapplications for PostgraduateDiploma in Management(PGDM) for working execu-tives & business owners forthe batch 2019 to 2022.

This programme isdesigned with the objective toimpart high-quality of man-agement education and pro-vide general managementperspective to the partici-pants.

The programme struc-ture comprises mainly week-end classes to help them-maintain balance betweentheir work, personal life andlearning rigor to the bestextent feasible.

Duration: Three yearsweekend programme.

Eligiblity: Candidateshaving three years bachelor’sdegree or equivalent in anydiscipline recognised by auniversity or a deemed uni-versity and a minimum workexperience of two years inmanagerial/supervisory/exec-utive/ownership role.

Fees: �10.72 lakhLast date to apply: March

31, 2019.

���� ����������The Delhi Paramedical andManagement Institute(DPMI) announces the com-mencement of admissions forits one year full time Diplomain Front Office Operations(DFO), Food & Beverage(DFB), and House Keeping(DHK). This course provides syllabusthat combines theory andpractice of Hotel Industry.

Duration: Three years forBSc programme and two yearsfor MSc programme.

Eligiblity: Candidateswho have recently passedClass XII from any recognisedboard and wants to work inhotel management industrycan enroll for these courses.

How to Apply: The appli-cation forms may be obtainedfrom admission office of DelhiParamedical and ManagementInstitute, New Ashok Nagar,Delhi.

Last date to apply: March13, 2019.

�����������������The Manav Rachna

International Institute ofResearch and Studies invitesapplications for its BScInterior Design programmefor the session 2019-20.

Duration: Three years Eligiblity: Pass in Class

XII examination/equivalentexamination with at least 50per cent marks in aggregate inf ive subjects includingEnglish as compulsory subjectalong with four subjects withthe highest score out of theremaining subjects.

How to Apply :Candidates can apply onlineby visit ingmanavrachna.edu.in or offlineby visiting the admissionsoffice.

Last date to apply: April17, 2019.

Once you are done with yourMBA entrance exam, it’s

common that you will be calledfor the next rounds — groupdiscussion and personal inter-view. These rounds are designedto assess your interpersonalskills, mental aptitude, and yourability to communicate yourthoughts clearly.

Here are a few tips that canhelp you make an impressionduring your group discussion:�Improve your general andcurrent affairs knowledge: Mostof the topics you’ll be asked tospeak about during your groupdiscussion will surround a cur-rent national or international sit-uation. To avoid being dumb-struck during the group discus-sion, it’s necessary that you areaware of all the current eventshappening around you and inthe world.�Take the lead: The panel eval-uating the group discussionremembers the first person whospeaks. Be that person. Introduceyourself, other people in yourteam, and then assert your pointof view. However, don’t take aninitiative if you aren’t well versedwith the topic. If you aren’t con-fident and familiarised with thetopic, the panel will pick up onyour lack of awareness.�Be open to listening: If some-

one else presents a fair point, youmust agree with them.Remember, it’s not about havingthe most to say; it’s about show-casing your leadership skills. Agood leader is someone who isopen to listening to others anddoes not hesitate to modify theirviews when required. You mustbear in mind that others inyour GD team are just as com-petent as you are, if not more.�Dress suitably: Avoid dressingin casuals during your group dis-cussion round. Dressing up casu-ally gives the perception that youare not earnest about being apart of the business school.�Read a lot: While you arepreparing for your group dis-cussion and subsequent rounds,

assure that you read as much aspossible. Read the newspaperevery day and learn about cur-rent issues in the world. This willhelp you stay prepared andupdated for the group discus-sion.

Now, let’s take a look at howyou can ace your personal inter-view. The most important thingto prepare for is how you willdeliver your answers. Here are afew common questions that youmay be asked during your inter-view. �Tell us about yourself.

This question isn’t an open-ing for you to share your entireeducation and life history. It’s anopportunity to talk briefly aboutyour relevant background, expe-

rience, accomplishments, andanything else that is importantand relevant to the school or pro-gram you have applied for.Remember to limit your answerto only two to three minutes. �Why do you desire to pursuean MBA?

This question is the perfectopportunity to explain yourmotivations behind seeking anMBA degree and how this degreecan benefit your career. You canhighlight the skills you want togain during the two-year MBAprogramme. �Why are you drawn to thisprogramme?

Summarise all the reasonsbehind why you think a partic-ular business school is fitting foryou and your aspirations. Talkabout other important factorslike location, faculty, culture, cur-riculum, industry exposure, andplacements. You can also speci-fy any additional aspect of theinstitution and program thatmakes it an ideal fit for yourcareer goals.

In conclusion, it is importantyou remember that group dis-cussions and personal inter-views are intended to showcaseyour managerial skills. Stay com-posed, confident and honest.

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Arecent economic survey mentionedthat agriculture sector is set to

grow by 2.1 per cent in the current fis-cal year and the growth rate is sus-pected to become even better in the fol-lowing years.

Remote-controlled drones, pow-erful exposing cameras, and severalother technologies used to controlbiomass development and fertilisa-tion standing of the crops have givena new definition to farm management.These devices are even helpful inunderstanding the health of crops andcollect data from time to time to cal-culate their growth.

Unlike the previous years, agri-culture in coming years is no longergoing to be viewed as only growingcrops or even animal husbandry. It willalso include a discipline that empha-sises on the areas such as entrepre-neurship, geography, social scienceand conservation.

Students from different parts of thecountry are taking an active interest inthe future of agriculture and how theycan be a part of it.

Agriculture economy or Agronomy

is a discipline that focuses on plant andsoil sciences, helping agencies to lookout for ways in which they can get bet-ter and faster yields by sustainably opti-mising the farm. Working with busi-ness to finds ways to both optimisingyields and foster sustainable farming.It also make use of applied economicswith precise research and explore waysto maximise the utilisation of naturalresources in the fields.

Among many emerging careeropportunities that can benefit the stu-dents as well as the sectoral scenario ofIndia, is Data Scientist. Since data existseverywhere, in agriculture a data sci-entist is required to understand processbehavior and buyers’ behavior to cre-ate patterns that can help improve busi-ness operations.

Another breaking-through pro-fession is Robotic Programming. Asrobots are already taking over thehuman machines in order to performmedical procedures, modern errands,

research space, defuse bombs, andmore unreasonable and risky tasks, itis imperative to have them on lands.Not just the usual robots, buthumanoid robots that can walk, talk,and express feelings like us are mak-ing their way to fields. With this fieldmoving towards agriculture havingincredible potential, there is a demandfor practitioners to manufacture andprogram them. Robotics engineering,hence, gives the information of hard-ware building, machine learning, neur-al systems, PC programming, com-puterised reasoning, mechanicaldesigning, to make a specialist.

In countries where land producecover the major source of revenue, anundergraduate-level understanding ofagriculture is as important as the landitself. And when these rich lands movetowards modernity and sustainability,the industry is bound to grow.

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The Faculty of Scienceat the University ofStrathclyde, Glasgow isoffering scholarshipstowards course tuition feesin each year of study of afull-time undergraduateprogramme. Value: £2000per year

Eligibility: To applyfor a scholarship, candi-dates must: Be available tocommence their academicstudies in the UK by thestart of the academic yearin September-October2019. Hold an offer ofstudy on an UG course inthe Faculty of Science,University of Strathclyde.Be paying full internation-al fees. Subject —Chemistry, Computer andInformation Sciences,Mathematics and Statistics,Pharmacy and BiomedicalSciences, Physics, ForensicScience.

For more informationvisit: [email protected]

Application deadline:The last date to aply isSeptember 16, 2019.

The University ofMelbourne invites appli-cations for theInternational GraduateMerit Scholarships for allinternational students whoapply to a coursework pro-

gramme with-in the Faculty of

Business & Economics,to receive a 25 per cent to50 per cent fee waivers forthe duration of the course.

Eligible Course orSubjects: Commerce, eco-nomics, and managementcourses are eligible for thisscholarship.

Eligibility: Must:Applicants must be aninternational student.

How to apply: You willbe automatically consid-ered for this award if youare applying to a course-work programme withinthe Faculty of Business andEconomic.

Application deadline:Open for 2019

Applications are invit-ed for British Council-IELTS Award to study atan undergraduate or post-graduate level at an institu-tion of higher education inGermany. Internationalstudents are eligible toapply for this award.

How to apply: Takethe IELTS test at a BritishCouncil authorised centrein Germany and receive anofficial Test Report Form(TRF) dated between June2, 2018 and May 28, 2019issued by the BritishCouncil in Germany.

Application deadline:The last date to submit thecompleted online applica-tion form by 14:00(German time) on June 10,2019.

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�What is the programme about?We are one of the largest poverty

alleviation programmes in India. Wehave impacted more than 10 lakh chil-dren and young people in the last 20years. The Childhood to Livelihoodprogramme works with children andyoung people living in poverty, in India,taking them from a childhood full ofchallenges to a life with meaningfullivelihoods. We equip children andyoung people in the age group of 12 to18, with the skills and knowledge theyneed to grow up and move out ofpoverty.

Through our sports activity-basedcurriculum, we equip children with lifeskills, making them confident, resilient.Our youth-centred livelihoods pro-gramme connects the aspirations andpotential of young people to availablemarket opportunities. We build theiremployability skills and map job poten-tial based on individual strengths andmobility.�What is the impact it has had?

There was a 28% point’s increase inthose attending school regularly, with81 per cent reporting attending schoolfive days a week at end line, as com-pared to 63% at baseline. In the pro-gramme, less than 5% of girls drop outof school by Class 8 (age 14). In India,40% of girls drop out of school by Class8 (age 14), 95% girls do not get mar-ried before the age of 18. In India, 30%of women were married before the ageof 18, 79% of young people trained inthe Magic Bus Livelihoods Programmeare placed in salaried work with anaverage income of �9700�What are the challenges the youthface?

The challenges faced by young peo-ple today are lack of a quality educa-tion and a lack of job opportunities.Lack of proper sanitation in schoolsalso leads to many girl children to dropoff from the education system.�What is the importance of activity-based curriculum today?

A sports activity based curriculumis important to equip children andyoung people with life skills they needto help them fight challenges in thecommunities they live in or to help

them earn a better livelihood. Througha sports activity based programme,engaging children becomes easier.They are able to understand how topractically impart these skills in theirreal life situations. �What role can parents play?

The most important roles areplayed by the parents as they are theimmediate support structures of thechildren. To ensure the change broughtto each child is transformational, par-ents are the biggest participants in theprogramme. �This not be balanced with theoret-ical studies as well?

It is indeed very important forevery child to have strong academics.We can then be assured that the childis engaged in class, is productive andwilling to regularly attend school andcomplete her secondary education.The Magic Bus programme ensures allparticipants complete their secondaryschooling. �What are some of the sectors wherethese kids find jobs?

Some of the sectors where theyoung people on our programme havebeen placed are: IT enabled Services;Retail; Quick Service Restaurants;Hospitality; Banking, Financial Servicesand Insurance and Healthcare.

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This year, over 15 lakh aspiringstudents have registered forthe NEET 2019 exam, which

will be held on the May 5, 2019. Thisis a record-breaking number andalmost 2 lakh more than last yearitself.

At present, the Governmentand private colleges in most Stateschoose their MBBS and BDS can-didates based on NEET score. Theexam is an extremely tough examwith its vast syllabus, tricky ques-tions, and negative marking schemefor incorrect answers.

In spite of this, the number ofapplicants has constantly been onthe rise. Why the sudden jump inthe number of applicants? There aretwo reasons for this 14 per cent risein applicants.

Hours before the applicationdeadline for the exam closed, theSupreme Court announced thatstudents above 25 years of age areeligible to take the exam. To helpthese students complete their appli-cation forms.

The second reason is, that

NEET is now a mandatory exam forall students who want to pursuetheir MBBS and BDS coursesabroad.

With this sudden rise in appli-cants, the number of students com-peting for a single rank has alsoincreased. This means, that studentswill have to learn better, aim high-er, and attempt as many questionsas they can while maintaining a highpercentage of accuracy. Practice isthe key to a high score. s a NEETaspirant, you only have two monthsbefore your final exam. Spend asmuch time practising as you can.

�Prioritise the chapters thatyou practice based on the weightagethat exam authorities have given inthe past.

�Download an app that givesyou adaptive practice. In simplerwords, these apps create uniquelearning paths for every studentdepending on their unique needs.If your basics are weak, it will cre-ate questions that build your fun-damentals. As you improve, it willkeep raising the level of questions

until you ace the tricky ones.�Take a mock test every day for

at least a month.�In the last month before your

exam, you should start taking mocktests at the same time of the day asyour final exam.

�Ensure that you take it in atime-bound, exam like environment

�Develop answer strategies -Which subject will you attempt first?What is the most amount of timethat you should spend answering aquestion?

�Keep evaluating your incor-rect answers. Make a note of con-cepts that you keep getting wrong.Moreover, categorise your incorrectanswers.

�Did you start solving it cor-rectly and then get confused?

�Did you have no idea how tosolve the question?

This will help you prioritiseyour revision. Since NEET hasnegative marking, accuracy is asimportant as volume.

�Make short notes and flash-cards of formulae, diagrams, and

other concepts that you keep gettingwrong. Have a look at these duringyour last minute revision.

�Ensure that you understandthe concepts instead of rote learn-ing them. There's no room fordoubts!

�Clarify your doubts immedi-ately.

�When you just have about 60days left before an extremely criti-cal exam, you cannot wait for yourteachers to free up time so that youcan clarify your doubts.

�Get your doubts solvedimmediately, or else you will keeprepeating the same mistakes inevery mock test that you take.

�You can download a doubtson chat app to clarify your doubtsinstantly, 24X7.

�Here, you can chat withexperts at any time of the day ornight and they will answer yourquestions.

�Keep your mind calm, stayfocused, and give it your best shot.

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World number one and defend-ing champion Naomi Osakapowered past American

Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-2 on Monday tobook a fourth-round meeting with resur-gent Swiss Belinda Bencic at Indian Wells.

Japan's Osaka, whose second straightGrand Slam title at the Australian Openpropelled her to the top of the rankings,win first career title came at this presti-gious WTA premier mandatory event lastyear, advanced to a meeting with Bencic,the 23rd seed who defeated RussianEkaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2.

Bencic stunned two-timeWimbledon champion Petra Kvitova inthe final at Dubai last month to captureher first WTA title in four years.

She won the WTA title in Torontoin 2015 before a series of back and wristinjuries saw her slide down the rankings.

In other third-round action, three-time Grand Slam champion AngeliqueKerber came from a set down to beatRussian qualifier Natalia Vikhlyantseva3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

��� �������She'll be doing the same in the

round of 16 against Aryna Sabalenka,the ninth seed from Belarus who defeat-ed Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 7-5.

Seven-time Grand Slam winnerVenus Williams also found it tricky fac-ing fellow American Christina McHalefor the first time, but she pulled backearly breaks in each set to win 6-2, 7-5.

She'll fight for a quarter-final berthagainst Mona Barthel, a 7-5, 1-6, 6-4winner over Julia Goerges in an all-German contest.

Fifth-seeded Czech KarolinaPliskova relied on a solid service gamein a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Belgian qual-ifier Ysaline Bonaventure.

She next faces Estonian AnettKontaveit, who was leading 5-0 against11th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova whenthe Latvian retired from their match.

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Ailing world number threeAlexander Zverev crashed out of

the ATP Indian Wells Masters, whereNovak Djokovic's third round matchwas suspended by rain with onegame completed.

Jan-Lennard Struff, ranked 55thin the world, notched his firstvictory over Zverev in five tries,breaking him once in the first setand three times in the second for a6-3, 6-1 victory.

Zverev, the owner of threeMasters 1000 titles who has nevermade it to the quarter-finals atIndian Wells, said he would nowfocus on recuperating and preparingfor the Miami Masters, where he'llbe hoping to improve on his runner-up finish to John Isner last year.

Struff next faces 13th-seededCanadian Milos Raonic, who ralliedfrom 4-1 down in the third set tobeat US qualifier Marcos Giron 4-6,6-4, 6-4.

World number one NovakDjokovic, playing his firsttournament since grabbing a recordseventh Australian Open title inJanuary, completed just one gameagainst unseeded German PhilippKohlschreiber before rain sweptacross the California desert.

The winner will face in-formFrenchman Gael Monfils, whorolled past Albert Ramos Vinolas 6-0, 6-3.

Monfils won his eighth career

title at Rotterdam in February,followed up that performance with arun to the semi-finals in Dubai.

Lucky loser MiomirKecmanovic of Serbia continued tomake the most of his unexpectedopportunity, beating fellow SerbianLaslo Djere, the 30th seed, 6-2, 7-6(7/3).

���A���������Prajnesh Gunneswaran's terrific

run at the Indian Wells Masters cameto an end following a straight setdefeat against big-serving Ivo Karloviceven as the left-handed Indian is con-fident of replicating success at the bigstage consistently.

The Indian qualifier fought hardbefore losing 3-6 6-7(4) to the tallCroat, who fired 16 aces in the one

hour and 13-minute contest."It was very difficult to return his

big serve. I had some chances, I didnot take them and that's pretty muchwhat decided the match," Prajnesh,ranked 97, said as he could not con-vert any of the two break chances.

It was Prajnesh's maiden appear-ance at an ATP Masters event and hebagged 61 ranking points with his stu-pendous effort, which will catapulthim to new career-best rank of 82.

"Overall, it was very good run. Iam confident I will be able to do thisagain. Obviously time will tell. Overa period of time I should be able todeliver such results consistently. I amnot sure if it will always be at theMasters, or a 250 (tournament) or aGrand Slam. I hope it happens at thebigger events."

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Jurgen Klopp bringsLiverpool to Germany toresume their battle against

Bayern Munich with the hostsbilling on Wednesday'sChampions League last 16return leg as an all or nothingshowdown.

After a goalless draw atAnfield in the first leg threeweeks ago, everything is to playfor at Munich's Allianz Arena.

Klopp knows what awaitshis Reds in the highly-chargedarena where Bayern tend to raisetheir game and away teams facea barricade of whistles whenev-er they touch the ball.

"The four goals are all welland good," said Klopp afterLiverpool's 4-2 win on Sunday

at Burnley, with RobertoFirmino and Sadio Mane bothscoring twice. "But what doesthat have to do with Munich? Itwill not be so easy to score fourgoals there as well."

The 51-year-old has a mod-est record of nine wins, fivedraws and 16 defeats in 30games against the Bavarians —as coach of either Liverpool orformer clubs Mainz andDortmund — dat-ing back to 2004.

However, in hisseven seasons withD o r t m u n d ,between 2008 and2015, Klopp managed animpressive four wins, plus adraw and four defeats, from ninegames in Munich.

He tasted victory on his last

visit to the Allianz Arena in April2015 when Dortmund beatBayern on penalties in the semi-final of the German Cup.

Klopp knows that his team

must walk tall at Bayern's home."It's a much more positive

moment for Bayern. They aretop of the table and winninggames comfortably again,"

Klopp told Liverpool's website.Bayern have hit form, win-

ning their last three games witha goal ratio of 12-1 since thefirst-leg draw.

"But if we are at our best, wecan be exceptional."

Liverpool fans hope Reds'striker Mo Salah has a red-let-ter day in Munich after just onegoal in his last eight games.

His lack of goals has notstopped Liverpool staying incontention for the PremierLeague title as Mane andFirmino have filled the breach.

The Liverpool match is seenas a season-defining tie for theGerman champions.

The five-time winners lastfailed to get through the last 16stage in 2011 and confidence ishigh after they moved into top

spot in the Bundesliga at theweekend for the first time sinceSeptember.

Bayern will be without thesuspended Thomas Mueller, butJames Rodriguez will slot seam-lessly into the attacking midfieldrole.

The tie needs no addedspice, but Jerome Boateng andMats Hummels are still smart-ing after Germany coachJoachim Loew told them, alongwith Mueller, that their interna-tional careers are over.

The centre-backs will havea point to prove againstLiverpool.

At the other end, the Reds'Dutch defender Virgil van Dijkwill have to subdue Rodriguezand Bayern's record-breakingstriker Robert Lewandowski.

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This series was billed asthe last chance forIndia to experimentwith their ODI squadbefore going into the

2019 World Cup in England,starting May 30. But coming intothe last game of the series at theFerozeshah Kotla againstAustralia on Wednesday, ViratKohli and boys will also havepride at stake with the serieslevel at 2-2.

Losing an ODI series athome will definitely not be idealpreparation for a team touted asone of the favourites to win theWorld Cup.

The series started with thehome team showing completedomination in the first twogames, before Aaron Finch and

boys made a comeback with aquality win in Ranchi. But notdone with registering just a win,the Aussies showed that they arehere to make a statement as theychased down India's total of358 with 4 wickets in their kitty.

Ashton Turner was the star

of the show for sure as he hit anunbeaten 84 off just 43 balls totake the visitors home at thePCA Stadium on Sunday. Butmore than the loss to Australia,it was the inability to defend 358that will give Kohli sleeplessnights. Yes, there was due on the

outfield under lights and thatmade bowling difficult forIndia's wrist spinners, but then,they are professionals and mustcope with conditions on offer.

While the bowling left a lotto be desired, the opening part-nership between Rohit Sharmaand Shikhar Dhawan augurswell for the team going into theshowpiece event. While the twohad looked a little out of sync inthe previous games, Rohit (95)and Dhawan (143) showed thatthe top-order is in for business.

But the question mark overthe No 4 slot remains unsolvedand former India skipper SouravGanguly rightly said that thespot is still up for grabs asAmbati Rayudu failed to drivehome the advantage this series.

The Mohali ODI can't becounted as the top two batted till

the 31st over and after that it wasmore about swinging the bat toglory. But it will be interesting tosee if Kohli continues to push KLRahul in at No 3 and comes inhimself at the fourth spot. Themove didn't work in the fourthODI as the platform was set forthe batsmen to go for the kill andit was more about smashing theball than building an innings.

Another area that needs tobe looked at is the spot of thewicket-keeper. While all is goodtill MS Dhoni is around, RishabhPant left a lot to be desired withhis glovework in Mohali. Twostumpings that should have beencompleted with utmost easewere missed, let alone Pant's fail-ure to handle the low bounce attimes. While it is no worry atpresent as Dhoni is only restingfor these two games, it is a mat-ter that will need immediateattention if Dhoni indeed walksinto sunset post the World Cup.

The pace bowling depart-ment might enjoy some littlemovement upfront with somerain in the air in the Capital. Buteven without that, the fast bowl-ing department has done its joband they will once again look tohold fort at the Kotla.

The Indians decided to givetraining a miss on Tuesday andthat shouldn't be too much of aworry as the boys have beenplaying non-stop. The wicket atthe Kotla is once again expect-ed to be a high scoring one withturn coming into the game in thesecond half.

For the Australians, it will beabout once again showing theworld that this team hasregrouped well and mean busi-ness going into the World Cup.With the likes of Steve Smith,David Warner and Mitchell Starcnot even part of the squad, thisis ominous signs.

To come down to India andchallenge the Men in Blue inalmost every game is no meanfeat and they will once againlook to sign off on a highbecause after all, the Indians aretouted as one of the favourites towin the trophy.

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Excited by Australia's remarkablechange of fate in the five-match ODIseries against India, vice-captain

Alex Carey on Tuesday said they(Australia) is "really confident" of enter-ing the ICC World Cup with a squad goodenough to play like defending champions.

The five-match series is evenly poisedat 2-2, thanks to Australia's back-to-backwins after falling short in the opening twogames.

"As a player in the Australian cricketside we have been working hard in the last12-18 months. Some success has startedto come our way. We are really confidentmoving with the squad we take to theWorld Cup," Clarey said during prematch conference ahead of final ODI.

Australian vice captain said it will onlyadd to the strength of the side when SteveSmith and David Warner rejoin the sideafter serving out their bans.

"Those (Smith and Warner) are def-initely some big names that might comeback into the line. The guys that are in theside are performing well, so it's onlyhealthy for Australian cricket that the guysin the side are playing well and these guysthat have done really well in the past havedefinitely put their hand up for selectionwhen they are available."

He said he was not surprised by theway the Aussie batsmen tackled India'swrist spin duo of Chahal and Kuldeep,who have tormented batters with theirguile in recent times.

"There has probably been a fair bit ofmedia (analysis) about Australia playingagainst spin in the past. We have workedreally hard on playing spin bowling in thenets over 12-18 months. I guess to see

some reward, again it's no surprise, but theguys are doing so much hard work off thefield," said Carey.

The match will be played on a Kotlawicket which may assist slow bowlers.Carey, though, said they are capable ofhandling whatever is thrown at them.

"We played some local Indian bowlersthat we tried in the nets, so I guess it's real-ly a good experience. Guys getting outthere in the middle to have the confidenceto take on their spinners got to be a greatconfidence tomorrow (on Wednesday)."

He believes that the strength ofAustralian team at the moment is that theyhave plenty of options for each position.

"We take a lot of confidence that wetrust the batters to perform their role.When Ashton did that the other night hedid really well. Indians are world classbowlers and I am sure they want to bounceback and it's up to our batters to have agame plan to negate that. We trust theplayers to perform their role and take onthe best bowlers in the world and do agood job."

Carey said it will be a contest to watchfor since they have the momentum andIndia would be keen to bounce back aftertwo defeats.

"We were out under pressure early inthe series. Some games were really closeand now we have the series level at 2-2. Itis obviously exciting going into tomorrowwith the series on the line. Obviously (wewill) take some momentum from the lastgame. The boys are felling confident.

"India are going to bounce backquickly but I guess for us we thought weplayed some pretty good cricket in the firsttwo games and we just fell short so to havethe series at 2-2, really excited. I am real-ly looking forward to and so are the guys."

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In spring, east Yunnan’s Luoping County enters its most beautiful season in a year as more than16,000 acres of rapeseed flowers are blooming. Under the blue sky, the golden flowers stretchseveral kilometres, forming an expansive flower sea.

Adding charms to the stunning scenery, the Jiangdi—Zhaokua Express Highway winds throughthe flower sea. It must be a beautiful journey to dive on such an amazing road.

The express highway runs from Jiangdi, Luoping to Zhaokua of Luliang County and is 108.037kilometers long. It is a four-lane road, with a designed maximum driving speed of 80 km per hour.

Jiangdi—Zhaokua Express Highway is a part of the national road network. It connects otherhighways to Guizhou Province in the east, and links with the Shilin-Kunming highway in the west

(Text and Photos from Wechat public account: Top Yunnan)