English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in ......2019/09/04 · Jammu & Kashmir will...

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The stock market on Tuesdaytreated with scorn the megamerger of banks announced byFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman and took cues froma host of dismal numbers,including sub-par GDP data.The rupee also saw massivesell-off falling 97 paise to toucha nine-month low of 72.39 tothe US dollar.

Sensex and Nifty postedtheir biggest single-day fallsince July 8 and investor lostnearly �2.5 lakh crore onTuesday. Sensex closed 770points down to settle at 36,563and Nifty 50 slumped 225points to close at 10,798.

The ferocity with which thebear took grip of the marketfrom the opening bell sawacross the board selling, led bypublic sector banks. The PSUbank index lost nearly 5 percent and dragged down evenprivate sector banks, triggeringa massive panic that saw sup-port levels falling like skittles.

The Government attemptsto revive the market senti-ments by withdrawing sur-charge on foreign portfolioinvestment (FPI) and othermeasures have mattered pret-ty little to change the gloom-and-doom scenario. After theFinance Minister on August 23announced rollback ofenhanced surcharge on foreignportfolio investors levied in theBudget, foreign investor con-tinued to dump their shares inthe India market. Their sell fig-

ure stood at around �6,000 crfor this period. During the lasttwo months, foreign institu-tional investors sold nearly�20 crore worth of share.

Both the Indian indicesand rupee continued to under-perform the globe in a clearindication that while the glob-al economy is going through abumpy ride, India’s problemsare also endemic. On Tuesday,bourses in China, Japan and

Malaysia were in green, whileEurope was in red — butnowhere near the two per centfall witnessed by the Indianmarket.

The Indian currency hasalso become the worst per-forming Asian currency. Therupee dropped sharply by 97paise to more than nine-monthlow of 72.39 against the US dol-lar as heavy sell-off in thedomestic equity market, weak

macro environment and astronger greenback keptinvestors edgy. The rupeeopened lower at 72 to the USdollar at the interbank foreignexchange market and lost fur-ther ground to touch a low of72.40 against the dollar.

The market had to dealwith a slew of factors, includ-ing collapse of the GDP for theApril-June quarter to 5 percent, escalation of US-China

trade war, depressing auto salesnumber, and massive decline incore sector growth. The mar-ket, which rallied on Friday inthe second half in anticipationof banks’ merger plan, wasdisappointed by the outcome.

Experts fear that weakerbanks will adversely impact thebooks of the anchor banks ashappened in the case of themerger of Dena Bank andVijaya Bank with Bank ofBaroda in the past. Experts fearthat given the gloomy businessenvironment and slump indemand and consumption, themerger of banks is unlikely torevive the credit flow.

After an extended week-end, markets opened onTuesday sharply lower plung-ing 867 points during the day,the 30-share index ended769.88 points, or 2.06 per cent,lower at 36,562.91. The broad-er Nifty too sank 225.35 points,or 2.04 per cent, to settle at10,797.90.

Top losers in the Sensexpack included ICICI Bank,Tata Steel, Vedanta, HDFC,IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors,RIL and ONGC — falling up to4.45 per cent. Only two ITstocks — TechM, HCL Tech —ended with mild gains, track-ing weaker rupee.

All sectoral indices endedin the red, with BSE metal,energy, consumer durables,telecom, bankex, finance, oiland gas, realty and capitalgoods indices settled 3.23 percent lower. BSE midcap andsmall cap indices too closed up

to 1.65 per cent lower.“The sharp fall in the Q1

GDP growth to 5 per cent andthe weak core sector growth arethe key factors that have causeda fall in the markets as itopened after a long weekend.The continuing negative glob-al cues, the raging tariff warbetween the US and China, andthe likely sluggishness in theeconomic fortunes ofeconomies around the worldhave been behind the rot in themarkets here as well as else-where,” Joseph Thomas, Headof Research — Emkay WealthManagement told PTI.

Weak domestic consump-tion especially in rural areas hasresulted mainly from lowemployment levels and non-availability of finance, whichare issues that call for imme-diate measures to salvage thesituation, Thomas said.

Despite several efforts bythe Government to boost theeconomy, market sentimenttook a hit on account of weakmacroeconomic data and dou-ble-digit decline in auto sales inAugust as the sector continuedto reel under one of the worstslowdowns in its history.

The country’s manufac-turing sector activity declinedto its 15-month low in August,owing to slower increases insales, output and employment,the IHS Markit IndiaManufacturing PurchasingManagers’ Index showed.

Growth of eight coreindustries dropped to 2.1 percent in July.

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Union Home Minister AmitShah on Tuesday assuredfull security and insurancecoverage of �2 lakh each to allpanchayat members and villageheads of vulnerable areas inKashmir. The Home Ministerwas discussing with the dele-gation of panchs and sarpanchafrom the Jammu & Kashmirhere and also assured that atleast five youths from each vil-lage will be given Governmentjobs in the coming months.

Shah also said increasingthe honorarium of the panchand sarpanch will be consid-ered and restoration of com-munication facilities will startin two-three weeks.

“We have requested theHome Minister to provide ussecurity and he has assured usthat the administration willprovide us security,” said Mir

Junaid, a sarpanch fromKupwara. The security will begiven to panchayat memberswith high threat perception.

Another sarpanch, ZuberNishad Bhat, who is fromHarvan in Srinagar district,said the Home Minister assuredthem that insurance coverageof �2 lakh will be provided toevery panch and sarpanch.

He said Shah told the del-egation that mobile phone ser-vices in the State will berestored in the next 15-20 days.

Junaid, a former presidentof Kashmir University StudentsUnion, said the Home Ministertold the panchs and sarpanchsthat as promised on the floor ofParliament, the statehood ofJammu & Kashmir will berestored when the situationbecomes normal. Panchayatelections in the State were heldlast year after a gap of six years.More than 35,096 panchs andsarpanchs were elected to 4,490panchayats.

Junaid said Shah assuredthem that the election to theBlock Development Councilswill be held within two months.There are 316 blocks in Jammu& Kashmir.

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The orbit of Chandrayaan-2’slanding module “Vikram”was successfully lowered for thefirst time on Tuesday and onefinal manoeuvre remained forIndia to pull off a historic soft-landing on the moon in theearly hours of Saturday.

The 4-second de-orbitingoperation was undertaken aday after the indigenouslydeveloped lander was separat-ed from Chandrayaan-2’sorbiter in a major milestonepushing India’s second lunarmission into its last and mostcrucial leg — a controlled,soft-landing on the Moon.

The propulsion system on-board the lander was fired forthe first time to lower its orbitafter it started orbiting themoon independently, said theISRO.

So far, all operations in thejourney to the moon were car-ried out by the main orbiter ofChandrayaan-2 spacecraft thatwas launched into the earth’sorbit on July 22 by theGeosynchronous SatelliteLaunch Vehicle MkIII-M1.

Continued on Page 4

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In protest against an order ofa Supreme Court Bench ledby Justice R Banumathi fordirecting the trial court not tosend former Finance MinisterP Chidambaram to judicialcustody, the CBI filed an affi-davit before the apex court urg-ing it not to entertain such peti-tions against bail/remandorders passed by the specialcourts. September 5 will be acrucial day for Chidambaramwhose 15-day CBI remandordered by the Special Judgecomes to an end.

The CBI cited the judg-ment of the SC in the BiharLegal Support Society vs CJI tobuttress its arguments againstsuch practice wherein the apexcourt is directly entertainingthe bail/remand issue ofChidambaram. In the BiharLegal Support Society vs CJI,the SC had held that the HighCourt is the final arbiter inbail/anticipatory bail matters.

“Generally, all SLPs chal-lenging the bail/anticipatorybail are not allowed to be list-ed on mentioning before theCJI unless extraordinary andspecial reasons are shown,” theCBI said in its affidavit.

The probe agency soughtdismissal of Chidambaram'splea and said all similarlyplaced accused would comedirectly to the top court, chal-lenging the remand orders ofthe trial court “as liberty ofother citizen would not be lessimportant than of petitioner (PChidambaram)”.

However, Chidambaramgot a reprieve from the SC inskirting the prospect of beingsent to Tihar jail till Thursdayafter the CBI was ordered tokeep him in custody despite itsinsistence that the custodialinterrogation was no longerrequired in the INX case.

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In a tragic incident, a 42-year-old man and his 8-year-olddaughter out for an ice-creamtreat were killed after a speed-ing dumper truck rammed intothree auto-rickshaws and ascooter on Man Singh Roadnear India Gate early onTuesday. Two pedestrians werealso hurt. The driver has beenarrested and his vehicle seized.

The deceased have beenidentified as Kewal Diwan andhis daughter Manya, residentsof Geeta Colony.

Three TSRs were alsofound in accidental condition,while a scooty was foundcrushed under dumper.

According to a seniorpolice official, a call wasreceived by PCR around 12.20am regarding the accident.

Continued on Page 4

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Two days after the amendedMotor Vehicle Act cameinto effect, a Delhi resident, rid-ing a scooter on Saturday mid-night was fined �23,000 by theGurugram Police for variousoffences, the official statementsaid on Tuesday.

The Gurugram TrafficPolice identified the personprosecuted on multiple countsas Dinesh Madan, a resident ofGeeta Colony in East Delhi.

He was challaned for dri-ving without a valid drivinglicence, not wearing a helmet,driving without a registration

certificate, driving withoutthird party insurance and vio-lating air pollution norms.

As per the challan receipt,Madan was riding without hislicence for which he was fined�5,000, �5,000 for not produc-ing his Registration Certificate,�10,000 for violating air pollu-

tion, �2,000 for not havingthird-party insurance, and�1,000 for not wearing a helmet.

Madan was issued the chal-lan opposite the district courtin Gurugram.

Reacting to the fines,Madan said, “I am shocked asit is not a small amount but a

very huge amount. I was notcarrying the documents withme they (police) asked me toproduce the documents in 10minutes, I told them that thedocuments are at home.

“I informed police that I ama resident of Delhi so it is notpossible to produce the docu-ments within 10 minutes. Laterpolice asked for my keys andsaid my two-wheeler is going tobe impounded,” he said.

A traffic police official said,“As Madan was not wearing hishelmet, he was stopped by theon-duty traffic personnel. Hewas unable to produce his doc-uments when asked. Hence,the traffic police fined him.”

Under the amended MotorVehicles (Amendment) Act,2019, coming into effect fromSeptember 1, traffic violationssuch as drunken driving, dri-ving without helmet, drivingwithout seat belts, overloadingand underage driving attractheavy fines.

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London : British PrimeMinister Boris Johnson onTuesday lost his already wafer-thin working majority of one inParliament as one of theConservative Party MPs defect-ed to the anti-Brexit LiberalDemocrat party over an ongo-ing showdown over his strate-gy for the country’s impendingexit from the European Union.

“The party I joined in 1992is not the party I am leavingtoday,” Philip Lee said, accus-ing Johnson of “manipulation,bullying and lies”. See P12

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The EnforcementDirectorate on Tuesdaynight arrested senior KarnatakaCongress leader DKShivakumar, who was one ofthe pillars of the erstwhileCongress-JD(S) Government.He was arrested in connectionwith a money laundering case.

The ED had summonedShivakumar to Delhi onThursday and since then hasbeen questioning him.

Shivakumar was the oneCongress leader who madeseveral attempts to bring backthe party rebels when theywere staying put in a posh hotelin Mumbai and who subse-quently plotted the fall of theHD Kumaraswamy-led coali-tion regime on July 13.

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The much-awaited Wi-Fischeme of Aam AadmiParty (AAP) Government willsoon be a reality as the PublicWorks Department (PWD) —the implementing agency hasgot the financial approval forproviding free Wi-Fi, one ofAAP's main poll promises. TheWi-Fi will be provided at bigpublic parks, Mohalla clinicsand bus stops. An amount of�99,50, 38, 560 have been sanc-tioned for the project. The freeWi-Fi services will be provid-ed at 100 hotspots in eachassembly constituencies.Further, it will cover about4000 bus stops.

As per the officials, thePWD will adopt rental modelof Wi-Fi scheme for providingfree internet to the public anda fixed amount will be paid perhotspot every month.

The free internet hotspotservices will be provided atplaces with large number offootfalls such as public parks,metro stations, public parks,Mohalla clinics, bus stops andvarious other spots with hugefootfall. Data limit of 15 GB peruser at a speed of 200 Mbps

having coverage at a radius of50 metres and limiting up to150-200 users.

"The hotspot at bus stopswill be installed on the existinginfrastructure bus stops andpower supply for the hotspotsshall be taken by the conces-sionaire. Further, the responsi-

bility of the entire project viz.provision for a Router, Fibrecable connectivity, ControlSwitch, Poles, Electricity, datacharges, maintenance of the sys-tem, permission for 'Right ofWay' lies with theConcessionaire. Ownership ofinstallations will also rest with

the Concessionaire," said a gov-ernment official.

The estimated budget of thefree internet project for the cit-izens of national Capital is �99,50, 38, 5600.

As per the officials, the freeWi-Fi will be installed by endof the AAP Government'stenure once the tender will beawarded. "The project is run-ning on an 'Opex Model (oper-ating expense) Service model'.The entire capital investment insetting up the infrastructure willbe made by the vendor. But thegovernment will bear the oper-ating cost of approximately�100 crore per annum for pro-viding 15 GB free WiFi permonth for all users," PWDminister Satyendar Jain hadsaid earlier.

Besides, the PWD has gotthe official sanction for installa-tion of 1.4 lakh additional CCTVcameras as Phase II of the pro-ject. The estimated budget forinstallations, supplying, testingand commission of CCTV cam-eras is cost of �613.53 crore andcapital cost of 355.59 crore plusmaintenance cost of �257.94crore. These CCTV cameraswill be installed at ResidentWelfare Association (RWA).

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Ensuring basic fundamentalright of education and smartcareer growth for every studentof Delhi, Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Tuesday announcedthe Cabinet approval of expan-sion of Jai Bhim MukhyamantriPratibha Vikas Yojna. Now, anystudent having passed Class Xand XII from Delhi and whosefamily income is less than �8lakh per year will be eligible forthis scheme.

Kejriwal said poor studentsare also intelligent but do notget opportunity due to lack offinancial isues. "Our scheme isfor each and every student ofDelhi and they will not bedeprived of higher educationdue to lack of resources," CMsaid. "Our Government is giv-ing maximum attention to edu-cation. It is our aim to ensurethat no child born in Delhishould be bereft of good edu-cation in this age of stiff com-petition due to poverty or lackof resources. To achieve thisgoal we have taken many steps."

"On the one hand we havemade education completelyfree till Class XII and on theother hand we have complete-ly changed the picture of gov-ernment schools, these used tobe in very bad condition earli-er, and now these schoolsshine," Kejriwal added.

Recalling Baba SahebAmbedkar, Kejriwal said that itwas his dream to see that poor

and needy children get goodquality education.

"Till now this scheme wasonly for students of ScheduledCastes category and maximumfinancial assistance was�40,000. Today the cabinet hasdecided to expand this schemein scope and duration," he saidfurther.

Under this scheme, stu-dents from SC, ST, OBC andEWS category who are residingin Delhi and who passed theirmatriculation and higher sec-ondary from Delhi schools areeligible to get financial aidfrom Government.

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenerof Delhi unit Gopal Rai on Tuesday invited Delhi BJPleaders to participate in party's'Jan Samvad Yatra' and sharetheir views on subsidised elec-tricity and free water supply forthe people in the nationalCapital.

The party is also launching a campaign "I LoveKejriwal" for those who wish tomake Arvind Kejriwal theChief Minister of Delhi again,he said.

"After the 'Jan Samvad',we are distributing pamphletsdetailing the works and ratio-nale to make Arvind Kejriwalthe chief minister again.

We are appointing boothlevel in-charges in every con-stituency in Delhi. It will be hisor her responsibility to ensurethat 'I Love Kejriwal' cam-paign and the pamphlets reachevery galli and mohalla," hesaid.

He also announced amobile number 9871010101for those who want to partici-pate in the campaign.

Rai said the three BJP leaders who aspire to becomethe chief minister of Delhishould participate in the cam-paign and share their point ofview on the matter.

"I invite Manoj Tiwari,Vijender Gupta and Vijay Goelto attend the Jan Samvad andtell us what they think about

subsidised electricity and freewater supply," the senior AAPleader said.

The 'Jan Samvad' cam-paign has been launched by theAam Aadmi Party to holddirect dialogue with the publicabout its work.

Rai had launched 'Jansamwad Yatra' from theSeptember 1st to take theparty's message to the people inthe run up to Delhi's assemblyelection.

"In last two days, there has been enthusiasticparticipation of the people inthese meetings. The Yatra con-cludes on the 3rd of October,"he said.

Highlighting the motiveto hold 'Jan Samvad Yatra', hesaid "Usually in political cam-paigns, leaders speak and peo-ple listen but this Yatra will bean open platform where peoplecan discuss various issues anddevelopment works done bythe AAP led Delhi govern-ment."

The party organised thisyatra in Rohini, Rithala, Narelaand Badli AssemblyConstituency.

"We are elated by overwhelming response of thepublic, Rai said,” adding thatthe mainly 11 questions arebeing discussed in this cam-paign.

Giving detail about thequestion being asked by people,he said that many people askedquestions related to water andelectricity.

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A50-year-old passerby waskilled by a bullet which wasfired by some criminals at policepersonnel in his bid to flee fromNand Nagri area of North EastDelhi on late Monday night.The deceased has been identi-fied as Raju, a resident of HarshVihar.

According to Atul KumarThakur, the DCP, North EastDistrict, on Monday night ataround 11.39 PM when con-stable Ajay who is posted inNand Nagri police station waspassing through Tanga standNand nagri area he saw somesuspicious persons sitting in aSwift Desire car."

"On seeing police, the per-

sons sittig in the car tried to ranaway but were chased by theconstable. During the chase, aman from the car opened firedat the constable but the bullet hitone passerby and they managedto flee away," said the DCP.

"The victim was immedi-ately rushed to GTB Hospitalwhere he was declared boughtdead by the doctors. Later on,the deceased was identified asRaju," said Thakur.

"Police have registered acase under section 302 ofIndian Penal Code (IPC) andteams have been formed to nabthe accused. Police teams arelooking for CCTV footage inthe area to trace the criminals,"said the DCP adding that fur-ther investigation is going on.

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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh onTuesday met the Union HomeMinister Amit Shah to discussissues of national and Statesecurity, besides urging him totake up with Pakistan the caseof forcible conversion of a Sikhgirl to Islam.

“The Government of Indiashould take up the issue at thehighest level with the Pakauthorities,” Capt Amarindertold media persons after hismeeting with the Union HomeMinister.

The Chief Minister said, inresponse to a question, that hehad even made a public state-ment seeking the personalintervention of Pakistan PrimeMinister Imran Khan to takestern action against the culprits.

Asked to comment on thespate of such incidents inPakistan, the Chief Ministersaid that he had not comeacross any such report expectthis incident that happened inNankana Sahib city where thedaughter of granthi (headpriest) was abducted and con-verted to Islam.

Capt Amarinder, a daybefore, had offered help to theSikh girl, who was allegedlyabducted and forced to convertto Islam in Pakistan, to comeand settle in India.

“Even after so many days,(Pakistan Prime Minister)Imran Khan has failed to helpout Jagjit Kaur, forcibly con-verted and married against herwishes,” the Chief Ministertweeted on late Monday night.

“I would like to extend myfull support to the young girland will be happy to have herand her family to settle downin Punjab and provide anyhelp if needed,” he added.

Kaur, who went missing fordays, was found on Thursdayafter she was forcibly convert-ed to Islam and made to marrya Muslim man. The 19-year-oldgirl is the daughter of a ‘granthi’(priest) at Gurudwara TambuSahib and was converted toIslam at gunpoint.

There were reports thatthe girl had been sent back toher parents and Pakistan’sPunjab province NankanaSahib Police had arrested eightpersons in connection withthe case. The Governor ofPunjab province in Pakistan,had also met the father of thegirl.

Earlier, Capt Amarinderlambasted Khan for not help-ing the girl. He also urgedExternal Affairs Minister SJaishankar to take up the issuewith his Pakistani counterpartat the earliest.

On the issue of Kartarpur

corridor, the Chief Ministersaid that he was fully satisfiedwith the progress of the project,which was being executed asper schedule, with officers ofboth countries scheduled tomeet again within a couple ofdays.

PUNJAB CS IN TALKSWITH HARYANA COUN-TERPART FOR AMICABLESYL SOLUTION

On being asked to com-ment on the extension of time-line for another four months toPunjab, Haryana and theCentre by the Supreme Courtfor a negotiated settlement inthe contentious Sutlej-YamunaLink (SYL) canal issue, theChief Minister Capt AmarinderSingh said that the Apex Courthad already ordered both thegovernments of Punjab andHaryana to nominate theirofficers to find an amicablesolution through talks.

“Punjab Chief Secretary isalready in talks with hisHaryana counterpart to resolvethe issue in the best possibleway,” he said.

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India and Maldives onTuesday signed a treaty onmutual legal assistance in crim-inal matters as External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar and hisMaldivian counterpart AbdullaShahid discussed ongoingcooperation in various fieldsand ways to further strength-en the bilateral ties.

Jaishankar, who is in theMaldives to attend the 4th edi-tion of the Indian OceanConference (IOC), met Shahidat Paradise Island Resort. This ishis first visit to the country sinceassuming the office in May.

"During the meeting, thetwo ministers discussed ongo-ing cooperation in variousavenues and expanding coop-eration in new areas," said astatement issued by the

Maldives Foreign Ministry.The two sides signed the

treaty on Mutual LegalAssistance in criminal matters.The treaty aims to enhanceeffectiveness of both the coun-tries in investigation and pros-ecution of crime, throughcooperation and mutual legalassistance in criminal matters.

"This is the first MLATsigned by the Maldives.Through the Treaty both coun-tries agreed to extend assistanceand support in investigatingand prosecuting criminal mat-ters," the Maldives ForeignMinistry said.

In the context of transna-tional crime and its linkages toterrorism, the treaty will providea broad legal framework forbilateral cooperation withMaldives in investigation andprosecution of crime as well as

in tracing, restraint and confis-cation of proceeds, and instru-ments of crime as well as fundsmeant to finance terrorist acts.

An MLAT is an agreementbetween two or more countriesfor the purpose of gatheringand exchanging information inan effort to enforce public lawsor criminal laws.

"Both Ministers expressedtheir commitment to continu-ing the high level of engage-ment, within the framework setout during the summit meet-ings between PresidentIbrahim Mohamed Solih andPrime Minister Narendra Modiin December 2018, and July2019, respectively," the state-ment added.

Jaishankar will also call onPresident Solih and the Speakerof Parliament MohamedNasheed.

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Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu on Tuesday can-celled a planned day-long visitto India on September 9 tomeet his counterpart NarendraModi, citing scheduling issuesdue to an unprecedented repeatpolls in Israel.

Informed sources saidNetanyahu spoke to PrimeMinister Modi earlier Tuesdayand both of them agreed tocancel their scheduled meetingin New Delhi on September 9due to the repeat polls in Israelon September 17.

This is the second time thisyear that the Israeli leader hascancelled a planned visit toIndia, doing so earlier beforethe April elections.

Netanyahu's planned visitwas widely seen in Israel as aneffort by him to project hisacceptance worldwide andprop up his campaign just daysbefore the September 17 repeatpolls.

In July, Netanyahu's LikudParty put banners featuring hispictures with Modi, USPresident Donald Trump andRussian President VladimirPutin to lure support by pre-senting him in a "differentleague".

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Kartarpur is the"Madina" andNankana Sahib is the"Makkah" of the Sikhcommunity, PakistanPrime MinisterImran Khan has saidand assured that hisGovernment will issue multipleand on-arrival visas to Sikh pil-grims coming from India andother countries, according tomedia reports on Tuesday.

Khan said the governmentwill provide Sikh pilgrims max-imum possible facilities duringtheir pilgrimage to the holysites in Pakistan, the NewsInternational reported.

Addressing theInternational Sikh Conventionat the Governor House here onMonday, the prime ministersaid, "I assure that you will beissued multiple visas...This isour responsibility. We will giveyou visas at the airport."

Pakistan has decided tocomplete the process ofissuance of visas to Sikh pil-grims by September 30 to facil-itate their participation at the550th birth anniversary ofGuru Nanak Dev in NankanaSahib on November 12. Thevisa process started onSeptember 1.

The move is not a favour,it was Pakistan's obligation, theSaama TV quoted Khan as say-ing.

"Kartarpur is your Madinaand Nankana Sahib is yourMakkah. We (Muslims) can'teven imagine someone keepingus away from Makkah orMadina. This is a new visa

regime so there maysome obstacles ini-tially, but we willfacilitate you fully,"he said.

The conventionwas attended byPunjab GovernorChaudhry Sarwar,

federal and provincial cabinetmembers, and Sikh pilgrimsfrom the UK, the US, Canada,Europe and other countries.

New Delhi and Islamabadhave agreed that Pakistanwould allow 5,000 Sikh visitorsper day into the countrythrough the proposedKartarpur Corridor.

The corridor will connectDarbar Sahib in Kartarpurwith Dera Baba Nanak shrinein Gurdaspur district and facil-itate visa-free movement ofIndian Sikh pilgrims, who willhave to just obtain a permit tovisit Kartarpur Sahib, whichwas established in 1522 bySikh faith founder Guru NanakDev.

Kartarpur will also be thefirst visa-free corridor betweenthe two neighbours since theirindependence in 1947.

Pakistan is building thecorridor from the Indian bor-der to the Gurdwara DarbarSahib, the final resting place ofGuru Nanak, while the otherpart from Dera Baba Nanak upto the border will be con-structed by India.

Pakistan has repeatedlysaid that the opening of the cor-ridor will not be hit by the cur-rent tension with India that hasescalated after New Delhirevoked Jammu and Kashmir'sspecial status.

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From Page 1The Bench led by Justice

Banumathi also includedJustice AS Bopanna.

During the apex courthearing in the INX Media cor-ruption case, the CBI said itdoes not require Chidambaramfor further interrogation butthe apex court ordered “statusquo” that will make him remainin the agency’s custody tillThursday.

“The present status quowill continue till then. CBI’scustody will be extended tillday after tomorrow (September5),” said a Bench of justices RBanumathi and AS Bopanna.

“You should not press theinterim bail application tillSeptember 5,” the SC Benchtold Chidambaram’s counselsKapil Sibal and Abhishek ManuSinghvi.

Solicitor General TusharMehta, appearing for the CBI,told the top court that anaccused cannot say that hedoes not want to go to jailunder judicial custody andsaid, “We (CBI) do not need hiscustody”.

“One person does not wantto go to jail (under judicial cus-tody),” Mehta said, adding, “Ifwe don’t take his custody thenthe law must take its course.”

Following the apex courtdirective, the Special Courtextended Chidambaram’s CBIcustody till September 5.

The apex court simultane-ously asked Chidambaram notto press for the interim bail plea

filed before the trial court tillThursday. The plea was filed onMonday and was to be taken upduring the day.

Just an hour after the apexcourt ordered thatChidambaram will continue tobe in the CBI custody tillThursday, he was produced bythe agency before the trial court.

Thursday will be a crucialday for Chidambaram whose15-day CBI remand ordered bythe Special Judge in five spellscomes to an end.

The SC said it would hearon Thursday Chidambaram’splea in which he has challengedthe non-bailable warrant(NBW) issued against him aswell as the subsequent trialcourt orders remanding him tothe CBI custody in the case. Ina related matter, the apex courtnoted it would pronounce itsorder on Thursday onChidambaram’s separate plea inwhich he has challenged theAugust 20 verdict of the DelhiHigh Court denying him antic-ipatory bail in the INX Mediamoney laundering case lodgedby the EnforcementDirectorate(ED).

Chidambaram was arrest-ed on the night of August 21and produced before the trialcourt the next day.

On Thursday, Special JudgeOP Saini is also expected topronounce his order on theanticipatory bail pleas ofChidambaram and his sonKarti in the Aircel-Maxis caseslodged by the CBI and ED.

From Page 1Shivakumar had also

played host to Congress MLAfrom Gujarat before the 2017Rajya Sabha polls to keep the‘poachers’ at bay.

The former CabinetMinister and sitting MLA fromKanakapura seat appearedbefore the agency for the fourthtime for questioning onTuesday. He was placed underarrest under provisions of thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA),sources said.

The Congress leader needsto be put through custodialinterrogation and hence wasarrested, they said. Shivakumarwill be produced before a courthere on Wednesday by theEnforcement Directorate forseeking his custody.

The Central agency had inSeptember last year registereda money laundering caseagainst Shivakumar,Haumanthaiah, an employee atKarnataka Bhavan in NewDelhi, and others.

From Page 1“People are happy due to the

abrogation of Article 370 as theywere intimidated by Muftis andAbdullah in the past,” he said.

Union Minister for PMOJitendra Singh, who attendedthe meeting said a new leader-ship, free from any dynasty, isemerging at the grassroot leveland they are happy about theabrogation of the special statusgiven to Jammu & Kashmir andthe Central funds will reachthem directly now. “The dele-gation of panch and sarpanchhas assured full cooperation inimplementing the Governmentdevelopment projects and inreturn the panchayats will getadequate funds under variousschemes,” he said.

Singh, who is an MP fromUdhampur, said at least five jobswill be given to youths fromeach village on basis of meritand they were assured thattheir concerns will be addressed.The Minister said the HomeMinister has assured the dele-gation that the restrictionsimposed in J&K will be restoredgradually with the improve-ment of the ground situation.

Nazir Ahmed, a sarpanchfrom Ganderbal district, saidthere is complete normalcy inrural areas. Manoj Pandita, asarpanch from Pulwama, saidthe Home Minister told themthat they should visit each villageand each household and conveythe benefits of removing Article370. Ali Mohammad, a sarpanchfrom Srinagar district, said theywere keen to carry forward

development work but neededuninterrupted funds. Similarsentiment was expressed byBobita Bhat, a sarpanch fromPulwama. Neelam Kaul, asarpanch of Kulgam, said she hasurged the Home Minister toincrease the honorarium of�2,500 given to each panch andsarpanch and Shah assured thathe would consider it.

Later Shah met former J&KGovernor Jagmohan. BJP work-ing president JP Nadda andUnion Minister DharmendraPradhan were also present in themeeting, which was part of theparty’s ‘Sampark Abhiyan’ toreach out to people includingthe eminent individuals to putacross BJP’s views on abolitionof Article 370.

Beginning September, BJPhas started its month-long exer-cise to mobilise public opinionfor the ‘historic decisions’ to setaside Article 370 and Article35A which is about resident sta-tus in the State, by a vote in theParliament on August 6. TheModi-Government bifurcatedJ&K in two Union Territorieswhich includes Jammu andKashmir with a legislativeAssembly and Ladakh (includesKargil) without one. Both theregions are now to be governedby the Centre, to be effectivefrom October 30.

All BJP Central and StateMinisters, CMs, MPs, MLAs,among others, are told to holdmeetings across their respectiveconstituencies and inform peo-ple about the implications of themajor decisions having decisiveimpact on J&K’s relationshipwith the rest of India. Accordingto the Modi Government, neu-tralising Article 370, a tempo-rary provision, has ‘completelyintegrated’ J&K in the ‘main-stream’ of the country.

From Page 1The ISRO will perform

one more de-orbiting manoeu-vre on Wednesday, before thepowered descent of ‘Vikram’ onSeptember 7 for its landing inthe lunar south pole.

A successful landing willmake India the fourth countryafter Russia, the US and Chinato achieve a soft landing on themoon. But it will be the first tolaunch a mission to the unex-plored south pole of the Moon.

“The first de-orbitingmanoeuvre for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was performedsuccessfully today (September03, 2019) beginning at 0850 hrsIST as planned, using theonboard propulsion system.The duration of the manoeuvrewas 4 seconds,” the ISRO saidgiving the latest update on theRs 978 crore Chandrayaan-2mission.

“The orbit of ‘Vikram’Lander is 104 km x 128 km.Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter con-tinues to orbit the Moon in theexisting orbit and both theOrbiter and Lander arehealthy,” it said, adding that thesecond and final manoeuvre tofurther lower the orbit isscheduled on September 4between 3.30 and 4.30 am IST.

‘Vikram’ (with rover‘Pragyan’ housed inside) isexpected to touch down on thesurface of the moon on

September 7, between 1.30 and2.30 am.

ISRO Chairman K Sivanhas said the proposed soft-landing on the Moon is goingto be a “terrifying” moment asit is something the spaceagency has not done beforewhile the Lunar OrbitInsertion(LOI)manoeuvre wassuccessfully carried out duringthe previous Chandrayaan-1mission.

Following the landing, therover ‘Pragyan’ will roll outfrom the lander between 5.30and 6.30 am on September 7,and carry out experiments onthe lunar surface for a periodof one lunar day, which isequal to 14 earth days.

The mission life of thelander is also one lunar day,while the orbiter will continueits mission for a year.

Chandrayaan-2 satellitehad began its journey towardsthe moon leaving the earth’sorbit in the dark hours onAugust 14, after a crucialmanoeuvre called Trans LunarInsertion (TLI) that was carriedout by ISRO to place the space-craft on “Lunar TransferTrajectory.”

In a major milestone, thespacecraft had successfullyentered the lunar orbit onAugust 20 by performing theLOI operation.

The health of the spacecraft

is being continuously moni-tored from the MissionOperations Complex (MOX) atISRO Telemetry, Tracking andCommand Network (ISTRAC)in Bengaluru with supportfrom Indian Deep SpaceNetwork (IDSN) antennas atBylalu, near Bengaluru, thespace agency has said.

The orbiter carries eightscientific payloads for mappingthe lunar surface and studyingthe exosphere (outer atmos-phere) of the Moon while thelander carries three scientificpayloads to conduct surfaceand subsurface science exper-iments.

The rover carries two pay-loads to enhance the under-standing of the lunar surface.

According to the ISRO,the objective of the mission isto develop and demonstrate thekey technologies for end-to-end lunar mission capability,including soft-landing and rov-ing on the lunar surface.

On the science front, thismission aims to further expandknowledge about the moonthrough a detailed study of itstopography, mineralogy, sur-face chemical composition,thermo-physical characteris-tics and atmosphere, leading toa better understanding of theorigin and evolution of themoon, the space agency hadsaid.

From Page 1“A police team rushed to

the spot and found that onedumper had entered Rajpathlawns (south side) after hittingseveral vehicles and crossingover the footpath,” the officialadded.

“A man aged about 42years was also found lyingnear the rear side of dumper.Immediately, he was shifted tohospital where he was declaredbrought dead.

Three injured persons werealso taken by PCR van to hospi-tal and out of them one girl wasdeclared brought dead,” said thepolice offixial. “The accused dri-ver of dumper identified asRaman (24), resident of Badarpurwas nabbed from spot. Ramanhad also received a facture in righthand. He has been sent for med-ical to LNJP hospital, where he isundergoing treatment and will betested for alcohol. A case underrelevant sections of the law hasbeen registered in this case,” saidthe police official. “The injuredDeepak Kumar and Ram Singhare undergoing treatment,” thepolice official added. Locals toldpolice the dumper first hit thedivider after which it hit the autosand pedestrians standing near thefootpath.

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Four persons, including threeCISF jawans, were killed andthree others injured when a mas-sive fire broke out in storm waterdrainage at the Uran plant of theOil and Natural GasCommission (ONGC) in neigh-bouring Raigad district onTuesday.

Following the mishap, thedomestic, industrial and com-mercial gas supply made to thecity gas station of MessrsMahanagar Gas Ltd at Wadala innorth-central Mumbai wasseverely affected.

Announcing fatalities in themishap, ONGC tweeted: “We rextremely sad to hv lost 4 pre-cious lives — 3 CISF jawans anda senior ONGC officer in theunfortunate fire incident inUran Plant 2day in spite ofvaliant efforts made to containblaze in less than 2 hrs time.#ONGC expresses its heartfeltcondolence to bereaved families”.

The three CISF jawans ofthe Fire Wing (ONGC Unit)killed in the mishap were iden-tified as Eranna Nayaka,Mahendra Kumar Paswan andSatish Prasad Kushwaha. TheONGC identified the seniorofficial killed in the mishap as itsResidential Chief PlantSupervisor C N Rao (50).

“CISF salutes the supreme

sacrifice of HC Eranna Nayaka,CT Mahendra Kumar, CT SatishPrasad who attained martyrdomduring fire fighting operation at#ONGC Uran, Navi Mumbai.#CISF will be indebted for theirbravery & commitment. Ourdeepest condolences to thebereaved families,” the CISFstated in a tweet.

Meanwhile, ONGC saidthat there was no impact on oilprocessing and that the gas wasdiverted to its Hazira plant nearSurat, Gujarat.

The fire broke out at around6.45 am. “Fire broke out in stormwater drainage in Uran Plantearly morning successfullydoused within two hours by firefighting team. The ONGC’srobust crisis mitigation pre-paredness helped put off thismajor fire in a very short time,”an ONGC spokesperson said.

Official sources attributedthe fire to a gas leak detectednear the LPG plant. Before long,the officials plugged the gas leak.“We were trying to ascertain ifthere were more leaks.Meanwhile, there was aa blastfollowed by huge fire,” sourcessaid. Though there was no offi-cial confirmation about theinjuries in the mishap, the NaviMumbai police said that threepersons were injured in themishap. The injured personswere rushed to a nearby hospi-tal, a senior police official said.

Apart from the ONGC'sown fire services and crisismanagement teams, fire-fightersfrom Uran, JNPT, Navi Mumbaiand surroundings battled withthe fire and brought it undercontrol in two hours. In all, 22fire tenders belonging to variousagencies were at the spot.

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Ayodhya: Iqbal Ansari, one ofthe main litigants in the BabriMasjid dispute, was on Tuesdayallegedly physically assaulted athis house here by two peoplewho, he claimed, threatened tokill him if he did not withdrawthe case.

His security personnelintervened and saved him fromthe attackers who weredetained by police.

Ansari told PTI that onTuesday afternoon, a man anda woman reached his resi-dence.

"The woman introducedherself as Vartika Singh andclaimed that she was an inter-national shooter. They askedme to withdraw my claim fromthe dispute, threatening thatshe would otherwise shootme," he said.

"They then attacked me butI was saved by my security per-sonnel," Ansari said, adding

that he did not sustain anyinjuries in the attack.

Talking to PTI, FaizabadSuperintendent of Police (City)Vijay Pal Singh said, "We havedetained them."

When asked whether thepolice have filed an FIR, hesaid, "I will let you know".

The Supreme Court onTuesday sought responses fromtwo persons for allegedlythreatening senior advocateRajeev Dhavan for taking upthe case on behalf of the SunniWaqf Board and other Muslimparties in the RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjidland dispute matter.

Dhavan had filed con-tempt petition against twopersons, N Shanmugam, aretired education officer, and aRajasthan resident, SanjayKalal Bajrangi, for allegedlythreatening him for appearingfor Muslim parties. PTI

Lucknow/Mirzapur (UP): TheUttar Pradesh Government onTuesday said it would examinethe FIR against the journalistwho recorded a video ofschoolchildren being servedsalt and roti as midday meal lastmonth, amid growing resent-ment over the case against him.

"Action has been initiatedagainst all those found primafacie guilty in the entire matter,"state government spokespersonShrikant Sharma said. "As far asthe FIR is concerned, we aregetting it examined."

The energy minister wasresponding to questions inLucknow after a briefing of thecabinet meeting chaired byChief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The video of students ofbeing served salt and roti intheir midday meal at a govern-ment-run primary school inMirzapur district had goneviral on social media on August22, triggering widespread out-rage and leading to the sus-

pension of two teachers.The police had lodged a

case on Monday against jour-nalist Pawan Kumar Jaiswaland a representative of a villagehead, Rajkumar Pal, for alleged-ly conspiring and deliberatelyrecording the video in a well-planned manner to malign thestate government.

Jaiswal and Pal have beenbooked under sections 120B(criminal conspiracy), 186(obstructing public servant indischarging duty), 193 (falseevidence) and 420 (cheating) of

the Indian Penal Code, thepolice had said.

In Mirzapur, media personsheld a protest at the district col-lectorate on Tuesday over lodg-ing of the first informationreport (FIR). A delegation ofaround 25 reporters also metVindhyachal DivisionalCommissioner Anand KumarSingh and demanded that thecase against the journalist bewithdrawn.

"We want that the entireepisode be investigated. Thedivisional commissioner said he

will seek a report in this regardfrom the district magistrateand act accordingly," MirzapurPress Club secretary AjayShankar Gupta said.

Meanwhile, when con-fronted by reporters, DistrictMagistrate Anurag Patel said itwas not the way to report thesalt-roti incident, adding thatthe reporter, who works in theprint media, could have takena photograph instead of record-ing the video.

"One person was callinganother and saying, 'I am mak-ing a video (and) I will make itviral. You help me in makingthis video go viral'.

"You are a print-mediajournalist. You could haveclicked a photograph if you hadfelt that something wrong istaking place and publish it," theofficial said. "But he did not dothis, and hence, his role seemsto be suspicious."

Patel said it seemed that thejournalist was involved in crim-

inal conspiracy and, therefore,a case was registered againsthim.

Basic Education MinisterSatish Dwivedi had said onMonday that the action againstthe journalist for merely expos-ing corruption and highlightingreality should not have beentaken.

The complaint stated thatPal was aware that only rotiswere cooked and vegetable wasnot cooked in the Siur prima-ry school in Jamalpur block.

But "instead of arrangingit", Pal called Jaiswal and"pressed him to run it" on theelectronic media, according tothe complaint lodged byMirzapur block education offi-cer Prem Shankar Ram at theAhraura police station onSaturday. Jaiswal, however,had denied the allegations."This is against journalism.You can see the news and ver-ify it," he had told a televisionchannel. PTI

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Over 29,000 youth fromthe frontier and hilly dis-tricts of Rajouri, Poonch,Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban,Reasi and Udhampur havegiven 'thumps up' to the firstrecruitment rally organisedafter the abrogation of Article370 and Article 35-A lastmonth.

According to off icialsources, "over 29,000 youthhave registered themselves forthe recruitment rally beingorganised between September3-9 by the Counter InsurgencyForce (Uniform) of the IndianArmy at Subsidiary TrainingCentre of J&K Police atTalwara in Reasi district".

The main objective behindthis rally is to provide employ-ment to youth from sevendistricts of Doda, Kishtwar,

Rajouri, Poonch, Udhampur,Ramban and Reasi.

On the first day of therally, more than 2,500 candi-dates from districts ofKishtwar and Ramban con-verged for the physical fitnesstests. Full of enthusiasm theyouth participated in the rallyand competed with each other.

The vacancies are open forsix categories which areSoldier General Duty, SoldierTechnical, Soldier TechnicalNursing Assistance (AMC)/Soldier Technical NursingAssistance Veterinary, Soldier

Clerk, Store Keeper Technicaland Soldier Tradesman.

Defence PRO in Jammu,"Lt-Col Devender Anand said,"the recruitment process isdivided into several categoriesand rounds which includephysical fitness test, medicaltest and written test".

He said, " Selected candi-dates will be inducted into thevarious arms and services ofthe Army. "The response, asseen in the Recruitment Rally,is an indicator of the desire ofthe youth of J&K to opt forpeace and progress", he added.

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During Amarnath land row,the pilgrim traffic to MataVaishno Devi Shrine had record-ed lowest ever turnout of 2.71lakh pilgrims in the month ofAugust 2008.

Now after a gap of 11 years,revocation of Article 370 andprevailing security situation inJammu & Kashmir has onceagain impacted the pilgrim traf-fic to the most revered shrinesin North India.

The State Government advi-sory, circulated on August 2,which clearly directed theAmarnath pilgrims and touriststo leave the State immediatelyadversely impacted the pilgrimtraffic and tourism industry inthe State.

Simrandeep Singh, ChiefExecutive Officer, Shri MataVaishno Devi Shrine Board toldThe Pioneer, "in the month ofAugust this year a total numberof 6.02 lakh pilgrims visited the

shrine". Compared to previousyears, this is the lowest foot fallin the month of August.

The pilgrim traffic in 2011had crossed mile stone of 10lakhs, recording highest evernumber of 10.50 lakh pilgrims.

In August 2018, around6.90 lakh pilgrims visited MataVaishno Devi shrine nestled inTrikuta hills while 6.31 lakh pil-grims paid obeisance insidesanctum sanctorum in 2017.

In 2012, 9.84 lakhs pilgrims

offered prayers and in 20148.90 pilgrims visited Katraenroute cave shrine.

In the last one month,Kashmir valley has not seenfresh arrivals. Almost all thetourist hotspots in Kashmir val-ley including scenic Gulmargand Pahalgam are staring at ableak future in the absence oftourists.

Empty hotels and desertedstreets present the picture ofghost towns with most of thehoteliers facing cash crunchand struggling to even paysalaries to their support staff.

In Jammu region, thoughnormalcy has been restoredacross other district head-quarters of Jammu region butin the absence of mobile inter-net facilities the student andbusiness communities are fac-ing lot of hardships in their dayto day lives.

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6#��%�4�$��+��/?#��'��!�$��$��$��!�� Mumbai: An environmentalactivist approached the Bombay

High Court on Tuesday againstthe Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation's (BMC) approvalfor felling and transplantingover 2,600 trees in and from theAarey area in the metropolis.

In his petition, activist ZoruBathena said the decision of theBMC's Tree Authority, taken onAugust 29 this year, approvingthe felling of trees to make wayfor a metro car shed was not inaccordance with a previousorder of the High Court.

The petitioner said the TreeAuthority did not follow the dueprocess while approving thefelling of trees and urged the HCto direct the BMC to submit alldetails of the Tree Authority'smeeting in which the decisionwas taken.

He also urged the court tostay the Tree Authority's reso-lution approving the felling ofsuch trees until further orders.

The plea is likely to betaken up for hearing by a bench

led by Chief Justice PradeepNandrajog in the next few days.

As per the petition, onAugust 29, the Tree Authoritytabled and approved a propos-al made by the Mumbai MetroRail Corporation to cut sometrees in the Aarey area to makeway for a car shed for theMumbai Metro III project.

The authority approved thefelling of 2,185 trees and trans-planting (uprooting trees fromthe original spot and replantingthem at an alternate spot) of 461trees from the area.

An approval from the TreeAuthority is mandatory forfelling more than 20 trees at atime at any place in the city.

The authority has 19 mem-bers at present, including theBMC commissioner. Of these,five are independent expertsnominated by the BMC as perits own rules and the HC's pre-vious orders.

As per the petition, theproposal was approved by an 8:6majority. Two members, who are

corporators, walked out over dif-ferences with the decision, andtwo independent expert mem-bers were absent from the meet-ing, it said.

Besides, there was "no dis-cussion on why six membersdisagreed with the proposal tofell the trees", the plea contend-ed.

The BMC did not discussthe opposition and objectionsraised by hundreds of citizenswho wrote to it before the pro-posal was approved, it said.

Besides, "three of the fiveexperts, namely Dr DeepakApte, Dr SashirekhaSureshkumar and DrChandrakant Salunkhe", hadon a previous occasion saidthat they did not have adequatetime to examine all the trees thatwere to be felled, Bathena saidin his plea. PTI

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On World Environment Day2018, the United NationsEnvironment Programme(UNEP) brought out an infor-mative publication along withother partners where it said: “Our planet isdrowning in plastic pollution.” It stated thatwhile plastic has many valuable uses, we havebecome addicted to single-use or disposableplastic despite severe environmental conse-quences. For instance, around the world, onemillion plastic drinking bottles are purchasedevery minute, while up to five trillion single-use plastic bags are used worldwide everyyear.

Overall, half of all the plastic bags pro-duced are designed to be used only once andthen just thrown away. Between the 1950sand the 70s, only a small quantity of plasticwas produced. Hence, the problem was large-ly manageable but by the 1990s, plastic wastegeneration more than tripled in two decadesfollowing a similar rise in plastic production.And in the early 2000s, our output of plas-tic waste grew more in a single decade thanit had in the previous 40 years. As a result,the world is producing about 300 milliontonnes of plastic waste every year, which,according to UNEP, is nearly equivalent tothe weight of the entire human population(which in any case has become obese). Theestimate is that more than 8.3 billion tonnesof plastic have been produced since the early1950s and about 60 per cent of that quanti-ty has ended up in either a landfill or the nat-ural environment. It has also been observedthat the rate of plastic production has grownfaster than that of any other material, witha shift away from durable plastic towards sin-gle-use plastic applications.

Recently, Prime Minister NarendraModi called for a mass movement. OnOctober 2 this year, when we celebrateMahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary,we should lay the foundation of a new rev-olution against plastic by people themselvesthroughout the country. He appealed to allstrata of society to celebrate Gandhi Jayantithis year as a day to make “Mother India plas-tic-free.” This, of course, would requiremunicipalities, municipal corporations, dis-trict administrations, gram panchayats as wellas Government and non-governmental bod-ies to work towards ensuring adequatearrangements for collection and storage ofplastic waste and most importantly drastical-ly reducing the consumption of single-useplastic.

There are some societies where plasticwaste has been managed with some changesin policies and market instruments. An exam-ple lies in Britain’s supermarkets cutting downon plastic bags for shopping but of course,much more needs to be done. According toGreenpeace, the 10 largest supermarkets areadding 810,000 tonnes of single-use plasticto the world every year. There is a charge offive pennies for plastic bags in Britain’s super-markets, which has resulted in significant

progress but two billion of thesebags were still sold to the coun-try’s shoppers in the last year byMorrisons, a major supermarketchain.

There are NGOs in severalcountries which are also respon-sible for programmes which tar-get single-use plastic. A brotherand sister, Carter Ries and OliviaRies, established an NGO at theages of 8.5 and seven yearsrespectively in 2009. This NGO,‘One More Generation’, haslaunched a major programmecalled “One Less Straw.”According to the website of OneLess Straw, each year 100,000marine animals and over a mil-lion sea birds die from ingestingplastic. And consumers in the USuse 500,000,000 straws every day.According to the authors, that’senough straws to fill 46,400large school buses per year. It alsoput forward data that dailyAmerican consumption is equalto enough plastic straws to wraparound earth’s circumference2.5 times. Yet, almost everyrestaurant in the US servesdrinks in glasses with a strawplaced inside, whether the con-sumer wants it or not.

In India, the entire issue ofsolid waste management, includ-ing efforts to eliminate single-useplastic, requires transformativechange. First, the use of plasticbottles for drinking water is aproblem that can be eliminatedif municipal water supply was toconform to the standards for

drinking purposes. Many citiesin the world have achieved thisoutcome, including the city ofParis, well over a decade ago.

There is need for a compre-hensive plan of action that wouldrequire initiatives on a decen-tralised basis by which single-useplastic can be reduced rapidlyand then eliminated within a def-inite time period beginning onthe Mahatma’s birth anniversaryon October 2. The country hasseen several efforts by gaurak-shaks and others to prevent theslaughter of cows. However, it iswell-known that a large numberof cows suffer physically becausethey consume large quantities ofplastic available on roads, drainsand public places. Plastic in thestomach of a cow causes acutepain, physical problems andmortality. It would be very use-ful if those interested in welfareof cows would work together toeliminate single-use plastic frompublic places.

The solution to the mount-ing problem of single-use plas-tic is not simple. The answer liesin creating consciousness andaction for overall solid wastemanagement because particular-ly with urbanisation, the volumesof solid waste have grown sub-stantially. Till even 10 to 15 yearsago, the quantity of solid wastefound beside railway tracks wassignificantly lower and now thisis an ugly eye sore. Sadly, thereare also dumping sites in themountains where solid waste

continues to be thrown in largequantities.

Unfortunately, a large part ofsingle-use plastic waste goesinto the streams and rivers,which then carry it to the oceans,apart from ruining the quality ofwater in the rivers themselves.Among the 10 rivers identifiedacross the world, the Indus andGanga rank among the top.Overall, the time has come forIndia to pursue a pattern ofdevelopment, which is distinct-ly different from the practices fol-lowed in developed countries,which have produced huge neg-ative externalities. The patternwhich we develop will hold use-ful lessons for the rest of theworld as well.

Unfortunately, even wherewe have specified sustainablepractices with adequate lawsand regulation, enforcementremains extremely weak.

With the Prime Ministernow bearing in on this issue, itis to be hoped that regulatoryinstitutions and law enforce-ment agencies will perform effec-tively in this area. And onMahatma Gandhi’s birthanniversary, we must recall hiswords “ …I make it bold to saythat the Europeans will have toremodel their outlook, if they arenot to perish under the weightof the comforts to which they arebecoming slaves.”

(The writer is former chair-man, Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change, 2002-15)

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English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in ......2019/09/04 · Jammu & Kashmir will...

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