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ecurity at all strategic points,
vital installations and places
with high footfall has been
beefed up in Delhi, Jammu &
Kashmir, Gujarat and areas
bordering these States following Intelligence about ten Jaishe-Mohammed (JeM) and
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) terrorists having sneaked into
the country through the western State for a strike on Maha
Shivaratri. The Centre has
rushed to Gujarat four teams
of the National Security Guard
(NSG), one of which will
specifically guard the famed
Somnath Temple, where a cultural programme scheduled
for the day has also been
cancelled.
Security was also beefed up
at Kolkata’s NSC Bose
International Airport following
an email threat to the airport
manager saying it would be
blown up within 24 hours.
The email came early on
Sunday and is claimed to have
been sent from Germany. Alert
has also been sounded in other
metros and Jammu & Kashmir.
With the possibility of the
terrorists sneaking into the
national Capital too not being
ruled out, the Delhi Police has
increased vigil near important
buildings and military installations while security arrangements have been stepped up
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top-ranking militant of
pro-Pakistan Hizbul
Mujahideen outfit was killed
in a brief encounter with
security forces in a south
Kashmir village after security
forces cordoned off the area.
Local residents reportedly
pelted stones on the security
forces when the siege was
being laid around the village.
Sources said that the gunfight erupted in Buchroo
Village of south Kashmir’s
Continued on Page 2
S
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near prominent malls, hospitals, schools and colleges. The
police are also ensuring that
CCTV cameras at all places
with high footfall, like popular
markets in the city and metro
stations are functional.
Patrolling across the city too
has been intensified.
Meanwhile, one man was
detained by the police at
Panagarh Air Base in Burdwan
district for loitering near the
Air Force camp, sources said.
“The villagers alerted the Air
Force Police when they saw two
strangers loitering in the area
aimlessly,” police sources said
adding one person was picked
up and handed over to the
police by the villagers, while
there was a hunt on for the
other person.
Continued on Page 2
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ombings by terrorists may
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be a routine feature across
trouble-torn countries worldwide, but India tops the list
globally in bearing the brunt of
IED explosions. As many as
268 IED explosions were
reported in the country in
2015 leaving 117 persons dead
and 457 injured. India accounted for about 20.5 per cent of all
the IED explosions reported in
68 countries last year.
In fact, 2015 saw a 41 per
cent increase in IED blasts in
India in comparison to 2014.
And the resultant casualties
increased by 55 per cent. Over
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a period of 10 years (20062015), there has been an average of 280 blasts with 270 fatalities and 850 non-fatal casualties.
Pakistan follows India with
k
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208 IED blasts. The neighbouring country, however, had
1,308 blasts in 2015. Iraq (170),
Bangladesh (167), Afghanistan
(121), Nigeria (91) and Egypt
(87) were the other nations
most hit by the IED explosions.
Syria, hit by ISIS violence,
reported 41 explosions last
year, according to data compiled by the National Bomb
Data Centre of the elite
counter-terror force National
Security Guard (NSG).
Philippines reported 39
IED blasts followed by 37 in
Yemen, 32 in Turkey, 30 in
Thailand, 28 in Somalia and 22
in Ukraine.
Continued on Page 2
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fter faring poorly in the first
A
year of Swachchh Bharat
Mission, Jharkhand is now eyeing to pick up the pace in the
campaign, so much so that the
State will achieve the goal of
becoming a completely clean one
by 2018, claimed Chief Minister
Raghubar Das.
Addressing the inaugural
session of a nationwide cleanliness drive by Shri Kalki Manav
Seva Samiti on Sunday, Das said
that the State will achieve all the
parameters of cleanliness one
year before the stipulated time
limit of 2019 set by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
Urging present volunteers
to expand the motive of the
cleanliness drive to their localities, Das said, “Cities of
Jharkhand were placed in the
bottom half of the list of clean
cities in India after completion
of one year of Swachchh Bharat
Mission. This is a blot on our
name which has to be cleared.
Once you go back, endeavour to
clean your cities as well as add
more people to this initiative.”
He further said, “The attitude of assigning all responsibilities to the Government has to
be done away with. The
Government can assist and support but the society has to take
initiative first. Society is greater
than any regime or political
party. People have to come forward to bring about a change.”
Maintaining standards of
cleanliness will also be helpful on
the economic front too for pub-
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lic and Government both, said
the CM. “If our neighbourhoods
remain clean, the spread of diseases can be checked to a great
extent. This will help to cut down
the medical expenses we have to
bear because of these diseases.
The Government will find some
breathing room while drafting
the Budget for the health sector
and use the surplus funds on other developmental projects for
the benefit of the people,” he said.
Lauding the participation
registered in Swachchh Bharat
Mission, Das said, “As Mahatma
Gandhi aptly suggested, political
movement cannot bring about a
change, there has to be some creative work accompanying it.
Through the Swachchh Bharat
Mission, PM of the nation provided an opportunity for creative
work to the nation, and it
received positive response too.
Especially, the enthusiasm exhibited by non-government organisations is commendable.”
“Unless we clean ourselves
first, we have no right to preach
others to maintain hygiene
either. Here we litter without a
thought, but then maintain
cleanliness while visiting other
cleaner cities in India or abroad.
So if we can follow hygienic
practises outside our nation and
State, then why not here too,”
said Naveen Jaiswal, Member of
Legislative Assembly (MLA)
from Hatia constituency.
“Spreading awareness is
key in maintaining cleanliness.
We need to remember that
cleaning our houses and dumping the trash in others houses
is not going to help make a
cleaner society,” said Kanke
MLA Jeetu Charan Ram.
The CM and MLAs also
took brooms to clean the streets
in Bariatu. Residents of an apartment nearby informed him of
drain water flowing in their
campus, to which he assured that
apt action will be taken.
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nion Finance Minister
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Arun Jaitley on Sunday
stepped up his party’s offensive
against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for voicing
“sympathies” for “those who
raised slogans for breaking up
India”. Jaitley said it was the
Congress vice-president’s “ideological hollowness” that he did
something that the likes of
Indira and Rajiv Gandhi never
did nor any Congress leader
preceding them.
In his valedictory address
to a convention of Bharatiya
Janata Yuva Morcha, BJP’s
youth wing, Jaitley said it was
the country’s “misfortune” that
the Congress vice-president
sympathised with the actions of
a “small group of Jihadists and
a bigger group of Maoists”.
The senior BJP leader also
described JNUSU leader
Kanhaiya Kumar’s speech, delivered following his release on
bail, a “victory for us”, saying he
had gone to jail for raising
anti-India slogans but came
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Bengaluru: The Debt Recovery
Tribunal (DRT) will on
Monday
pass orders
on the stateowned SBI’s
application
seeking the
lenders’ first
right on the
$75-million
payout from
Diageo to UB Group promoter Vijay Mallya under a recent
sweetheart deal.
DRT had reserved its order
after hearing the submissions
made by both parties —
bankers and Mallya — on
March 4.
George Joseph, a counsel
for bankers, said orders will be
passed on Monday.
SBI had filed three other
applications, including one
seeking Mallya’s arrest and
impounding of his passport, as
the bank approached DRT
seeking action against him for
defaulting on loans. DRT had
taken up, on a priority basis, the
application for securing the
first right on the $75 million
severance package.
The tribunal had said it
would hear the other three applications at a later date.
PTI
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xternal Affairs Minister
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Sushma Swaraj on Sunday
said that India will make all
back to speak amid slogans of
‘Jai Hind’ and hoisting of the
Tricolour.
Jaitley defended the party’s
aggressive stand on the JNU
row and asked BJP workers to
take the “ideological battle forward” while talking about the
Government’s achievements
with pride. “We will definitely
win,” he said.
Maintaining that a change
was happening across the
country, Jaitley said the Modi
Government was voted to fulfil three responsibilities -- to rid
the country of dynasty, corruption and hunger and poverty. Jaitley said “dysnastic parties” suffered a big defeat in the
2014 Lok Sabha poll.
Lashing out at Rahul, the
BJP leader said Congress in
the past had always been
against those wanting to break
up the country through the
last 100 years of struggle
between nationalist and antinational forces.
“A new trend has started.
Some people want to hold an
event to commemorate Yakub
Memon and some to commemorate Afzal Guru. These
people used to comprise a
small section of jihadists and a
big group of Maoists.
“Slogans were raised for
breaking up the country and it
was the country’s misfortune
that a leader of Congress,
which has been in the mainstream so far, went there to
express sympathies with those
who did so. Mahatma Gandhi
never did it, neither did
Ambedkar. Jawaharlal Nehru,
Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandbhi
never did it but he did....It was
ideological hollowness,” he said.
The BJP fulfilled its
“national responsibility and
emerged victorious”, he said,
referring to Kanhaiya’s speech
without naming the JNU
Students’ Union president.
In a similar vein, Jaitley
said while the Left has had a
“historical tradition” of speaking against the national interest, the Congress was always
against the conspiracy to break
the countr y except for
Emergency when it was supported by the CPI, Jaitley said.
Continued on Page 2
efforts to rescue Father Tom
Uzhunnalil, who went missing
in Yemen after ISIS militants
attacked a care home run by
late
Mother
Teresa’s
Missionaries of Charity.
“Yemen is a conflict zone.
We do not have an Embassy
there. But we will spare no
efforts to rescue Father Tom
Uzhunnalil,” Sushma tweeted.
The Minister noted that though
there was no Indian Embassy
in Yemen, there was a camp
office in Djibouti. She also
said that the number of Indians
killed in the attack was one, not
four as was reported earlier.
Gunmen stormed the
refuge for the elderly on Friday,
killing a Yemeni guard before
tying up and shooting 15 other
employees. Four foreign nuns,
including an Indian, working as
nurses were among those killed
in the attack and the gunmen
tied the arms and hands of the
priest and took him with them.
The Indian nun killed in
the attack has been identified as
Sister M Anseleme, 57, from
Jharkhand. Of the other three
nuns, two were from Rwanda
and another from Kenya.
Sushma has also appealed
to all Indians in such danger
zones to return home. “I appeal
to all Indians in such danger
zones to please come back to
India,” the Minister had tweeted on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief
Minister Oomen Chandy said
on Sunday that the Indian
Government will also shift,
out of Yemen, the Indian
Mother Superior of the aid
home in Aden.
Continued on Page 2
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he Indian coast is a gold
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mine of clean and green
offshore wind energy, says a latest study by scientists of the
Union Government’s Indian
National Centre for Ocean
Information
Ser vices
(INCOIS), Hyderabad. The
southern coast of Tamil Nadu
and the Maharashtra-Gujarat
coasts could be India’s major
power houses, according to
these scientists.
The southern coast off
Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu
has high wind power density.
“We found that the area has six
meters per sec wind for more
than 300 days in a year. For 200
days in a year, the area has wind
blowing at a speed of eight
meters per second,” Dr
Balakrishnan Nair, senior scientist and Head ISG, INCOIS,
told The Pioneer.
The team of researchers Dr
R Harikumar, Dr Balakrishnan
Nair, Dr SSC Shenoi and L
Sabique analysing 10 years of
offshore wind data also found
that the Maharashtra-Gujarat
coast has six meters per second
wind for 300 days in a year.
“If we could install wind
turbines of 80 meter rotor
diameter at a distance up to 25
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km from the southern Tamil
Nadu coast, each turbine has
the potential to generate 4.6
GWh (4600 MWh) per year.
This area has high wind power
density for more than 300 days
in a year,” said Dr Nair. He said
an offshore wind farm in this
region with 100 turbines could
generate 4,60,000 MW power
during these windy days.
Dhanushkodi is known for its
windy coast and beaches.
But what stands out in the
“offshore wind farm advisory
module” developed by these
oceanographers which will help
prospective wind power gen-
erators in the country in microplanning for wind farm site
selection and also to sharply
forecast availability of wind
seven days in advance. “This
was done in association with
National Centre for Medium
Range Weather Forecast, New
Delhi. We also carried out
studies with the data provided
by a sea wind sensor on board
QuickSCAT, a NASA satellite
and also by moored water
buoys installed along the
Indian coast,” said Harikumar.
The innovation by the
INCOIS scientists has come as
a shot in the arm for the wind
energy industry. “This is exciting information. Till now we
were dependent on the 24 hour
forecasts issued by the National
Institute of Wind Energy. The
achievement by the INCOIS
scientists will electrify the wind
energy
sector,”
said
Madhusudan Khemka, managing director, ReGen Power
Tech, a leading wind power
company with operations in
Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
Continued on Page 2
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ver 2,000 fishermen of
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about 300 families of
Baliput,
Kamaladiha,
Ranibhuin, Managaon village
under Narsinghpur block and
Badamulabechiasahi
of
Nayagarh have lost their traditional occupation of fishing
from the Mahanadi along the
Satkosia and Athagarh Forest
Division area, especially from
the gorges.
This happened after the
Satkosia Wildlife Division
authority put an order of pro-
hibition on fishing in the area
about seven months ago. As
compensation, the authority
assured the affected fishermen
of facilitating pisciculture and
similar occupations by providing them several ponds and
plots meant for the purpose.
However, it has hardly made up
for the loss suffered by the fishers and their plight is far from
over.
According to sources, 65
fishermen families of Baliput,
35 of Kamaladiha, 50 of
Ranibhuin, over 100 of
Managaon and 50 of
Badamulabechiasahi have been
victimised by this prohibitory
order. They used to sell about
four to five quintal of the fish
catch in Athagarh, Nayagarh,
Narsinghpur and Badamba
areas everyday and maintained
their livelihood. These affected families after loss of their
traditional business, pleaded
with the forest and wildlife
authorities, including the office
of the PCCF, for compensation
but when they got nothing,
they opted to work as bonded
labourers outside the State.
Pravakar Behera, Naresh
Sahoo, Manash Behera,
Santosh Behera, Naveen
Behera, Akash Behera, Bharat
Behera, Dipak Sitha, Bita Sitha
and over hundred others of
their ilk have already left their
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ighty two pieces of leopard
bones were recovered by the
forest department on information provided to them and
three people, including two
juveniles were arrested. After
reportedly having confessed
to having poached leopards, the
trio was presented in the court
of the chief judicial magistrate
on the weekend from where
from Tripalisain resident
Sunder Singh was sent to judicial remand while the juveniles
managed to secure bail. The
three have been booked under
the Wildlife Protection Act.
Earlier on January 26, a
record-seizure of seven leopard
pelts and bones was made and
four people were arrested by
the Kotdwar police and special
operation group team. The
four men were caught near
Lalpani along the PauriKotdwar highway after which
both the police and forest
department have been investigating the case at their levels.
The Pauri district superintendent of police Rajeev
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From Page 1
Israel reported 11 blasts,
Lebanon registered seven
explosions followed by nine in
Saudi Arabia.
In 2015, the most preferred targets in India were
public areas and security forces.
There was a 17 per cent
increase in targeting of public
areas in 2015 in contrast to
2014. Likewise, there was a 16
per cent decrease in targeting
of security forces in 2015.
“This shift to soft targets is an
indication of better handling of
IED threat by Security Forces,”
the NSG pointed out.
While 268 IED blasts were
reported in 2015, the number
was 190 in 2014, 212 in 2013,
241 in 2012 and 172 in 2011.
The number of casualties
reported in 2014 was 75, 130 in
2013, 113 in 2012 and 157 in
2011.
Naxal-affected areas
reported the most number of
IED blasts with 131 explosions in 2015 followed by the
North-East with 72 blasts, 14 in
Jammu & Kashmir and 51 in
rest of the country. The figures
in 2014 was 98 in Naxal-affected States, 61 in North-East, 19
in Jammu & Kashmir and 12 in
other parts of the country.
The Naxal-hit States
accounted for 49 per cent of
total IED incidents last year.
West Bengal (39 blasts),
Chhattisgarh 39, Jharkhand 15
and Odisha (15) were the worst
affected States in 2015.
However, fatalities in NorthEast were higher with 52 casualties (42 per cent of total
casualties) as against 46 deaths
in Naxal areas last year.
Apart from the traditional
insurgency-hit North-East and
Naxal areas and terror-hit
Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar
Pradesh with 20 IED blasts in
2015 in the Rest of India category was the worst affected.
“The higher fatalities ratio
in North-East States is indicative of better training and resoluteness of the terror outfits
operating there. There is a
need to impart more training
and better equipping of the
security forces engaged in the
North-East,” a senior official
said.
Swaroop had deputed appointed SHO Narendra Gahlawat as
investigating officer in this
case. In the due course of
investigation the police caught
the three persons who then
pointed out locations where
they had hidden leopard bones.
Garhwal forest sub divisional officer Subodh Kala said
that forest department team and
police team are conducting separate investigations in the case.
On the information
revealed, 42 leopard bone
pieces were recovered from
where they were hidden in the
woods about one and a half
kilometer from Tripalisain
while 40 more leopard bone
pieces were recovered in the
forest about three kilometres
from Bangali village.
The SDO further informed
that under interrogation, Singh
had admitted that he had killed
two leopards by administering
poison while the juveniles confessing to having fatally electrocuted one leopard. The investigation of this case is continuing.
Considering the recent
cases of human-leopard conflict on the one hand and incidence of poaching and smuggling of wildlife contraband on
the other hand, observers point
out that these indicate the fail-
ure of the State authorities in
mitigating the rising humanwildlife conflict which is being
exploited by those in the illegal wildlife trade.
Considering the general
principle that contraband
seizures made by the authorities amount to about 10 per
cent of the total contraband
trade in wildlife, the State of
wildlife security in Uttarakhand
appears to have varied gaps
which have given it the dubious distinction of being a hub
in northern India for poaching
and trade of leopard pelts,
bones and related wildlife contraband.
village for distress migration.
Maschhyajibi Sangha president Dinabandhu Khatua, secretary Madan Mohan Sitha,
Birabar Behera, Arakhita
Behera, Bijaya Behera, Bidesi
Dei and Jugal Singh have
demanded the authority to
allow them for fishing or
engage in alternative livelihood.
Contacted, Angul DFO
SMDT
Rehman
said,
“Sanctuary rules forbid on netting in gorges of the river that
flow along the forest area which
causes fall in fish, crab, crocodile population in large scale.
However, the administration
has offered to provide the
affected fishers tents and other
related items for developing
eco-tourism site here. But, they
have turned it down.”
C^_7XiQd[d[caP
From Page 1
Kulgam district, around
60 km from here, when acting
on specific information about
the presence of militants, the
joint party of Army and police
cordoned off the area and
launched a search operation.
They said some shots were
heard in the open mustard
fields between Brazloo and
Buchroo villages.
After the exchange of fire,
the body of Dawood Ahmad
Sheikh was found in the fields.
Sheikh was a locally-trained
militant from Qaimoh Village
of the district who had joined
militant ranks in 2014. His pictures donning army fatigues
and brandishing automatic
weapons along-with Hizb
"Divisional Commander"
Burhan Muzaffar Wani had
gone viral in Kashmir last year.
Superintendent of Police
Kulgam Mumtaz Ahmad said
that Dawood was killed in the
initial round of gunfire
between the militants and security forces. He said Dawood
was among the most wanted
militants in south Kashmir.
The area remained cordoned off till late in the night.
A094B7:D<0AQ =4F34;78
ollowing students’ protest Y]`QSd
F
against the retrospective fee
hike in colleges affiliated to Gu- Lines to his residence. Protests
ru Gobind Singh Indraprastha
University, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday
promised to roll back the hike.
In his series of tweets, the
Chief Minister said, “Learnt
that fees of all IP University colleges have been hiked. Students
agitated. My dear students, pl
don’t worry. I hv asked Edu
dept to roll it back. Study well.
Best wishes 4 ur exams,”
The students’ protest followed The Pioneer’s report on
Saturday regarding the
Government’s notification in
midway of courses to increase
the fees of IP University-affiliated colleges by up to 25 per
cent retrospectively.
After the report was published, Leader of the
Opposition in the Delhi
Assembly Vijender Gupta on
Saturday demanded that the
hike should be rolled back as
it was bound to affect lakhs of
students across the city. He
also
threatened
the
Government to launch a massive agitation if the hike was
not rolled back.
A group of students staged
a protest march from Civil
CRZafcTYfcTYgR_UR]ZdVUj`feYdUVeRZ_VU
BC055A4?>AC4AQ A08?DA
group of miscreants on
A
Sunday stormed into a
Church located in Kachna village
on the outskirts of Raipur city
and vandalised furniture in the
premises.
The attackers also reportedly
misbehaved with a few women
in the premises. According to
eyewitnesses, some persons present in the Church were also
beaten up by the miscreants.
“Some chairs and drums
kept in the Church were damaged by the miscreants who
might be numbering between 15
to 20, Superintendent of Police
(SP), Raipur, BN Meena said
adding, police is trying to trace
the miscreants on the basis of a
few motorbikes left behind at the
spot. Meanwhile, police also
raised the suspicion that some
land dispute could be the possible reason behind the incident.
“The residents of the village
have informed that the Church
was built on encroached land.
We are also looking into that
angle,”
Additional
Superintendent of Police (ASP)
(City) Neeraj Chandrakar told
The Pioneer. Some youths had
been detained and are being
interrogated, he said.
President of Chhattisgarh's
Christian Forum Arun Pannalal
claimed that it was fourth attack
on the religious premises of
Christian community during
the past few months in the State.
“Around 15 to 20 men
entered the Church while
Sunday prayer was underway at
around noon time and started
vandalizing the premises,”
Pannalal said.
They even did not spare
women and tore up their clothes
while beating them up. A twoyear-old child was also roughed
up by the miscreants, he claimed.
Rejecting the charges of religious conversion, Pannalal said,
VSRWVWREHGHYHORSHG
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s many as 21 spots of
Janjgir-Champa district will
A
be developed as Oxy-Zones.
The purpose behind
preparing the action plan is to
maintain the ecological balance
with the help of industrial units
set up in this district.
Notably, The Chhattisgarh
µ,QGLDQ
From Page 1
Interestingly, the findings
of INCOIS scientists come at
a time when the scientists of
National
C entre
for
Sustainable
C oastal
State Forest Developement
Corporation is targetting to
plant around 3.20 lakh plant
varieties on 266 hectares area,
stated officials.
Notably, Janjgir-Champa
has the lowest forest cover.
Necessary directions regarding
the plan were recently passed
by Forest Department Principal
Secretary RP Mandal.
Plants like sesame, neem and
berry are to be planted here.
Officials are further mulling to
develop a park to provide income
avenues for the villagers.
Forest Development
Corporation Divisional
Manager Raju Agasmani said
the sites were selected through
Global Positioning System
(GPS) survey. The plantation is
likely to be done by the months
of June-July, Agasmani said.
Management, under the
Union
Ministr y
of
Environment and Forests, has
found that offshore regions
along the Indian coasts has a
total capacity to generate
4,21,000 MW power.
The Journal of Applied
Energy, an internationally
respected scientific journal will
soon come out with the
research paper entitled
“Assessment of Wind Energy
Potential Along the Indian
Coast using satellite, Model and
in-situ data for offshore Wind
Farm Advisories” authored by
these scientists.
a group of 40-50 people from
down-trodden families in the village had themselves set up the
Church under a Tin shed where
they perform prayers on every
Sunday. “If someone is levelling
the charge, then they should
prove it ” he challenged.
He also appreciated the
prompt police action and
remarked, “we are thankful to
the police that they immediately reached the village (Kachna)
after getting information about
the attack and took necessary
action.”
Based on the complaint of
victims, a case has been registered under Sections 452
(House-trespass after preparation for hurt), 295 (Injuring or
defiling place of worship with
intent to insult the religion of
any class), 147 (Tioting) and
427 of Indian Penal Code
(IPC), police said.
B08;2WPXa\P]
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K Singh, new Chairman of
Steel Authority of India
P
Limited met CM Raghubar
Das on Sunday to discuss
expansion of PSU’s plant in
Bokaro and permission for
setting up plants on vacant
lands. CM assured that government will take necessary
steps for renewing the lease of
iron ore mines.
Das also appreciated the
works of social welfare conducted by SAIL under its
Corporate Social Responsibility
activities.
`Y_^UUb
From Page 1
Speaking to reporters
Chandy said that after he spoke
to External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj on Saturday
night, Indian officials from
Djibouti have established contacts with Sister Sally, the
Mother Superior who hails
from Kerala.
“I managed to speak to
Sister Sally a while ago and she
said that she has been contacted by Indian Embassy officials from Djibouti who are
expected to come to take her
with them on Monday. She
said that things are not that
smooth where she is and there
is no information about Father
Tom Uzhunnalil, who hails
from Kottayam district and
was taken away by the gunmen,” he said.
Chandy added that Sister
Sally was lucky to escape the
attackers as she, along with a
few locals, saved herself, by hiding when the gunmen created
mayhem.
were also staged by students in
various IPU colleges against the
retrospective fee hike.
A notification, issued in the
name of Lieutenant-Governor
Najeeb Jung by Director
(Higher Education) Shiv
Kumar last month, had said,
“The Government has decided
that the fee proposed for 201316 by the State Fee Regulatory
Committee be notified for the
period 2014-17. And for the
courses having duration of
four years and five years, the fee
notified by the Government
will be applicable for the entire
duration of the course.”
The new fee structure is
based on the recommendations of the State Fee
Regulatory Committee, set
up by the Delhi Government
on February 1, 2013, to
determine fee for pursuing
courses in privately managed
institutions offering different courses in the national
Capital and to perform the
functions assigned in the
Delhi Professional Colleges or
Institutions (Prohibition of
Capitation Fee, Regulation of
Admission, Fixation of Non-
:_UZRdRgUYRR_
From Page 1
“The man is being interrogated. The base is absolutely safe,” the sources said, thanking the villagers for their alertness particularly after the
Pathankot incident.
In Gujarat, DGP PC
Thakur said the NSG squads
have been deployed in the
State following a terror alert.
“Of the four NSG teams, three
would be kept on standby
mode in Ahmedabad and one
has been positioned at the
famous Somnath Temple in the
wake of the Maha Shivaratri
festival (on Monday), said the
State police chief.
Gujarat has been on high
alert from late Saturday evening
following National Security
Adviser (NSA) of Pakistan,
NK Janjua’s input to his Indian
counterpart Ajit Doval on JeM
and LeT militants’ possible
entr y into Gujarat. The
Intelligence report revealed
that these are fidayeen militants
and their purpose is to attack
some of the strategic locations
in the State.
Of these ten terrorists, a few
might have entered the State
through the Kutch border. This
comes in the backdrop of five
Pakistani boats being found
abandoned at the Sir Creek area
since December last year. In
fact, the fifth boat was traced by
a patrolling team of Border
Security Force (BSF) on
Saturday itself near Koteshwar
coast in the Arabian Sea. An
emergency meeting of the top
officials of security agencies
including Army, Navy, Air
Force, BSF, Coast Guards and
Gujarat Police was held in
Gandhinagar soon after the
alert. District police chiefs from
border and coastal districts
were involved in this meeting
through video conferencing.
Exploitative Fee and Other
Measures to Ensure Equity
and Excellence) Act, 2007.
The notification is based on
a report by the Governmentappointed eight-member panel
re-constituted on February 13,
2013, headed by former Delhi
chief secretary Ramesh Narayan
Swamy to determine the fee for
courses in privately-managed
institutions under the IP
University in Delhi and NCR.
The committee was asked
to suggest within three months
the fee structure of 106 privately-owned colleges affiliated to IP University for the period of 2013 and 2016
The revised fees structure
and subsequent notices by colleges to students to clear “the
due fees’ had sent shock waves
among the student community who felt that the steep hike
in their fees structure was a
direct attempt by the city
Government to help institutions earn more money to
meet their business interests.
Thakur too responded
quickly and cancelled all leave
of the State police force with
immediate effect by issuing a
circular on Saturday evening.
As per the circular those who
are already on leave have also
been ordered to report back to
their respective headquarters as
soon as possible.
Sources in the Indian Navy
said the Navy and Coast Guard
are in a high state of alert and
readiness. The patrolling on the
high sea has been intensified.
“Gujarat police have intensified patrolling on highways
coupled with combing operations across locations. We are
on high alert and prepared to
deal any situation. Ahmedabad
Crime Branch has formed
teams following terror alert
and Maha Shivratri festival,” he
said, adding that police had to
fire one round at a car in
Central Gujarat as the driver
refused to stop at a checking
point near Mahudha. Due to
police firing one person was
injured and taken to a hospital
in Vadodara, he informed.
Special Operation Group
(SOG) personnel held two off
Porbander coast, said the police,
adding that one of the two persons is Canadian citizen and
police are investigating their
credentials. Vigil at bordering
Kutch and Banaskantha district
has been intensified. Besides
inter-state border points with
Maharashtra, Rajasthan and
Madhya Pradesh have been
put under surveillance by multiple security agencies.
Defence bases in the state,
petroleum refineries Jamnagar and Koyali near
Vadodara, important religious
places like Dwarka, Somnath,
Dakor, Akshardham in
Gandhinagar,
Sardar
Sarovardam and ONGC establishments have been put under
high checking.
³APWd[aTeTP[bXST^[^VXRP[W^[[^f]Tbb´
From Page 1
The JNU row and the
Opposition attack on the Modi
Government and the BJP was
at the centre of the two-day
BJYM conclave with party chief
Amit Shah, Chief Ministers
and a number of Union
Ministers raising the national-
ist pitch and attacking
Congress, especially Rahul.
Jaitley also said in last 100
years nationalist forces and
communists have clashed and
the latter believed in using
violence to break up the countr y when it became
Independent.
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nabated robbery, kidnapU
ping and even killings in the
capital finally evoked reactions
from the State Government.
Information coming out suggests
that Chief Minister Raghubar
Das has taken cognisance of the
matter and on Sunday, directed
police officials to bust gangs
behind the criminal acts.
The step has come since a
series of incidents, especially of
robberies took place in last 48
hours. The CM was also approached by a group of women from
a residential apartment in Bariatu
with requests to restore law and
order in the capital.
Even as the residents of the
apartment brought their grievances to the CM, he advised
owners of the apartments and
7^\T\PZTab\TTc2WXTU<X]XbcTaAPVWdQPa3Pb^]Bd]SPhc^QaX]VWXbPccT]cX^]c^cWTRaX\X]P[X]RXST]cbcPZX]V_[PRTX]
AP]RWX
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others to put up additional
mechanism in their premises.
Unchecked crime also bagged
attention of Minister Saryu
Roy who reportedly assured
people that he will raise the
matter with CM to secure people’s lives and belongings.
“CM advised them to
install CCTVs in their premises, be more alert and immediately inform police about any
suspicious movement,” said
Kanke MLA, Jitu Charan Ram
“people need to become more
responsible. CM asked people
of the apartment to find loopholes in the security. I have also
decided to interact with residential societies on the issue”.
As the matter reached the
CM, police swung into action
and decided to develop standard operating procedure for
security guards of apartments
and prepare a comprehensive
list of security guards stationed
in such multi-storey buildings.
“All police stations have
been asked to convene meeting
with security guards and one of
the purpose is to create a database of security guards,” confided Hatia ASP, Prashant Anand.
Meanwhile, never before
Police would have been embarrassed by thieves and criminals
outwitting the intelligence network police professes very
much in place to assist proactive policing and taking preventive measures to reduce
incidents of crime in the city.
As the news of burglary and
murder is popping up randomly from various parts of the
city, unsolved cases and rising
incidents on the contrary, need
for a potent intelligence network is being felt even more.
Around 19 incidents of theft
have been reported from different localities in just over a fortnight besides two incidents of
murder and abduction, which
also resulted in the execution of
the abducted person, have been
reported in the span of 17 days.
“Police cannot work without
intelligence network. We have a
network but it needs to be
strengthened more. Apart from
that detection of gangs is also
something we need to work on,”
said City SP Kishor Kaushal.
Although police have
admitted that few burglaries
occurred after culprits recced
the residential areas mostly
apartments, police’s intelligence fell woefully short of
keeping an eye on people on
recognisance to pick houses
for stealing objects.
Notably, March 4 thieves
had barged into three houses in
Bariatu PS area; on March 1 a
theft in Anandpur locality
under Chutia PS area was
reported and on February 29
three incidents of thefts in
shops situated at BIT Mesra
chowk shocked the area besides
simultaneous heist in four
houses on March 5 in
Jagannathpur that added to
the tally of house robbery.
Surprisingly, most of the
incidents were reportedly happened in residential apartments however no one has
been arrested. Police rue indifferent society make matters
worse for them.
“We are not denying what
we have to do. But we need
cooperation from people as
well. Most of the incidents of
theft have happened during day
time in apartments where no
guard has been hired or the
guard is doing nothing, either
there is no CCTV in some
apartments or it is not working,” maintained the City SP.
Nonetheless, the recent spurt
in crime is likely to be addressed
with long term measures which
include detecting people
involved earlier in burglary and
working on the intelligence front
by hiring more informers.
Incidentally, two people
have been arrested in connection with the murder of abducted Ranchi based marble trader, Raju Mandal. The arrest was
made from Badgaon in Tandwa
PS area in Chatra. The marble
trader’s dead body had been
recovered from Pattharchatta
forest in Tandwa. Mandal was
abducted on February 29 and
a ransom of C1-crore was
demanded by abductors to set
him free. Police also arrested six
people in connection with a
snatching incident that happened in Pandra on Saturday.
(VVHO,QIUDVXEPLWV'35IRU ³=TeTabcPacP]h]Tfc^_XRQTU^aTTgP\´
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olid waste management plans for the
State capital has started to take the right
Scourse
after initial delays. The Detailed
Project Report (DPR) for the project has
been received by Ranchi Municipal
Corporation and will soon be tabled
before its Board for thorough deliberation.
In the DPR, Essel Infraprojects, the
Mumbai-based agency with the responsibility to execute the solid water management in Ranchi, shared their working
methods for waste collection around the
city and plans for the proposed ‘waste to
energy plant’ at Jhiri. As decided earlier,
the report will now be considered by the
Ward Councillors for devising an action
plan for realising these strategies.
“We received the DPR for the project
and enumerating details of the waste collection within city limits, the manpower and equipments to be involved in the
procedure. Decision on its approval will
be taken after it is assessed by the ward
councillors on its merit,” stated Mayor
Asha Lakra.
For implementing the SWM project,
all the 55 wards of Ranchi have been divided in four zones. Ward 1 to 12 and 49
falling under Zone 1, Ward 13 to 27 under
Zone 2, Ward 28 to 38 under Zone 3 and
Ward 39 to 55 in Zone 4. The project will
begin with the 13 wards in the first zone
and then expanded to the rest of the city.
Upgrading door to door waste collection, 400 mini pickup trucks will
replace the cycle carts used to gather
trash from all over the city. These new
trucks will be equipped with Global
Positioning System (GPS), enabling civic
guardians to monitor their movements
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from a control room to be set up in the
offices of the urban local body.
The plans also include a waste to energy plant where the collected trash will be
converted into electricity. The plant, with
the production capacity of 11.5 MW, is to
be constructed in a 12 acre expanse near
the RMC garbage dump in Jhiri.
“As the piece of land already belongs
to RMC, there are no hindrances as to finding one or acquiring it. Now the construction will be started by Essel
Infraprojects once they get the green signal,” said Lakra.
The plant will convert waste into
electricity, some of which will be used by
the plant for internal use of the plant and
the rest will be retailed for revenue. The
ash produced in the production process
will be used for making fly ash bricks and
similar items.
“We are waiting for the final nod from
the RMC Board. Waste collection around
the city and construction work on the
waste to energy plant will begin once the
DPR is approved by the ward councillors,”
stated Arun Kumar Singh, Manager of
Ranchi unit of Essel Infraprojects.
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water crisis problem in
all likelihood would hit city
Sparksevere
badly in the days to
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fter the atrocious incident
which took place about a
A
month back at the Sapphire
International School, the district
administration has woken up. In
the meeting conducted recently
under the supervision of Ranchi
DC, Manoj Kumar with the
District Education Officers
(DEO), District Superintendents
of Education (DSE) and police
personnel, it has been unanimously decided to analysis and
strengthen the security at all the
schools to ensure safety of school
children studying both in residential and day schools.
Committee has been formed
to check the security grumbles at
schools. “10 members committee have been formed to monitor the status of safety regulations
at schools. The members include
Officer-In-Charge (OC) of all the
concerned police stations,
Medical Officer In-charge, Block
Education Officers and DSE.
The members will regularly
monitor the status of school
security especially the residential
schools and will present the
report, highlighting pros and
cons keeping the track record of
schools,” informed Ranchi DC
Manoj Kumar.
A letter focusing on vital
security aspects have already
A@DED2AA9:C6>6DD
been circulated to all the residential schools functioning in the
state capital, after the immediate
orders issued by the Ranchi DC
and Ranchi SSP, Kuldeep
Dwivedi. “With utmost seriousness and immediate effect all the
school managements have been
clarified to maintain high level
security on campus premises.
The circular also reveals that
monthly inspection will be made
during night hours to check the
preparedness and ensure security
at schools including the human
resources deployed to combat
any mishaps,” added Kumar.
Provisions like hostel timing, wardens activity, tie-up
with hospitals to tackle emergency situation, institutional
structure, CCTV setups, number of security incharge including the bio-data verification of
all the staffs and teachers at the
nearest police station are listed
in the circular for proper management and upgradation of
security at schools.
“Internal reviews and
monthly meetings will be held
with all the concerned persons
at regular interval on the status
of security. The security audit
stipulation has been made keeping the legal aspects in mind too,”
Kumar pointed out.
The guideline also mentions that it is mandatory to
install CCTV cameras at every
nook in all the day schools to
keep close watch on the campus activities.
come. According to MET
experts, there are chances of
early and relatively long summer this time, which would
prove detrimental for the
greenery around.
Water rationing has already
been initiated at few major
locations, reminding the
denizens to curtail the use of
water as much as possible. At
few major locations like
Bariatu, Harmu, Kanke,
Morabadi, Ratu Road undulation effects of the prevailing
water scarcity in city can be
witnessed.
The crisis is expected to
affect major city parks especially those stretched in more
than 10 acres. Watering of
plants and maintaining green
paddocks is the major challenge for Ranchi Municipal
Corporation (RMC) looking at
the present situation.
Aware of the present
weather condition, RMC official too believes that alternate
sources are required to maintain the depleting green
resources and to tackle the
water paucity.
“Major city parks have
been handed over to private
parties for maintenance
which also involves watering
plants. The corporation has
also approached the Public
Work Department for preserving plants embedded on
road dividers. The corporation has also done deep water
boring near Harmu power
station to combat water crisis,” added RMC, PRO,
Naresh Kumar Sinha.
0eXTf^U=PgPcaPEP]?PaZ]TPaAPY
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Approximately, 10 major
parks are listed under RMC
covering mammoth space
which requires proper watering
and maintenance especially in
the scorching summer. Taking
into account the area covered
by major parks in the city,
Nakshatra Van covers approximately 7.5 acres while Sidhu
Kanhu parks is stretched in an
area of 9.5 acres, lush green
beauty of Ramdayal Munda
parks wraps 1.5 acres giving the
denizens more breathing space
in the congested city whereas
Sri Krishna Park, another green
lung situated in the heart of city,
covers major space and have
been rejuvenated at the whopping cost C1.76 crore. Apart,
major green squares, there are
several small green pockets
which requires proper care
and maintenance.
Approximately, 1.5 lakh
litre water is required for the
maintenance of parks across
city. “Tube well supply also
caters the need to an extent.
Presently, there is sufficient
water at Nagar Nigam store,
Bakri Bazaar store and
Doranda Store. Undisrupted
water supply provisions have
been made by the RMC. Water
tankers will be supplying water
at parks in time of crisis,”
Sinha pointed out.
Any tips for candidates, which must be
pursued during the board exam?
Apart studies, kids must give
equal time in continuing their
hobbies, if any. Children should take up
sports activity or even regular break during the studies helps in rejuvenating
candidates mind.
Candidate must take adequate
sleep and should concentrate on
the diet they take during the board
exams.
ith few days for CBSE 10th
exams to begin, The Pioneer brings
you vital tips from experts to tackle
examination pressure and keep students motivated for their first public
examination.
Having served for more than a
decade in education sector, Dr Manohar
Lal suggests few tips to score well in
board exam. Excerpts:
How children can deal with immense
pressure during the board exam?
Children should avoid studying
new topics and must keep revising the
topics which have already been
covered by the candidates. Kids should
never concentrate on distractive
activities like social networking sites and
must focus on studies. Children
must prepare timetable and devote sufficient time on different subjects to
score well.
Suggest few points for parents to deal
with kid during the board exams?
Parents must keep their children
Is counselling mandatory to keep students motivated?
Yes, counselling is important for
every kid in this competitive era.
Regular counseling not only keeps student motivated but also combat their
examination phobia.
motivated throughout board exams and
must avoid discussing about the studies
everytime. Parents should never compare
their respective wards with other children performance.
How candidates can overcome all hurdles and succeed in examination?
In this age not just hard work matters but smart work is required to
achieve desirable goals. Students should
just concentrate on study rather than setting targets. Concepts of the subject must
be clear to every student.
YWPaZWP]S#
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olice at Pandwa More, 17
to 18 kilometers away
from Daltonganj, fired more
than 50 rounds in air to disperse a violent mob of nearly
10,000 people on NHs 75 and
98. The police said the firing
was resorted to following the
stubbornness of the mob,
which had laid seize on the
two highways.
Heavy reinforcements have
been rushed to Pandwa. Forces
of six police stations have taken
position at Pandwa where the
situation is most tense. SI of
police and OC of Daltonganj
police station Sanjay Kumar
Malviya said one brick kiln
owner Sadan Mehta was murdered and crowd was agitating
over the incident. The person
was the younger brother of
Rajan Mehta, a political face of
the area.
Following this murder, a
strong mob of more than
10,000 people gathered at the
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ome Science studies draw
girl students from UP to
Shanker Pratap Dev Degree
college of Palamu. The college
situated at Nagar Untari is
affiliated to Nilamber
Pitamber Universiy’s (NPU).
Border of Uttar Pradesh starts
only 9 kms from Nagar Untari
and the nearest railway station
is Wyndhamganj.
Secretar y of Shanker
Pratap Dev Degree college Raj
Rajender Pratap Dev said students
f rom
UP's
Wyndhamganj, Dudhdhee,
Renukoot areas have taken
admission in the Nagar Untari
based two affiliated degree
colleges. The colleges at Nagar
Untari are well connected to
UP by NH 75 also.
In arts faculty, there are a
few practical subjects like
home science, psychology and
geography which the students
opt more often.
Raj Rajender Pratap Dev
said efforts are on to set up
degree college at Dhurki,
barely two kms away
from UP villages across the
Kanhar river.
H
0B78BB8=70Q 1>:0A>
espite the tall claims of
police, crime graph is
D
increasing in Bokaro. A day after
0VXcPcTS\^QbTcbPUXaTcWaTTeTWXR[TbX]?P[P\db?P]SfP
roads and set afire three
Government vehicles, pelted
stones. Sensing the situation to
further worsen, the police fired
more than 50 rounds of fire in
air to restore normalcy, which
was most elusive. The blockade
at NHs 75 and 98 cut off
Palamu from Bihar and UP that
resulted into huge traffic jam.
The agitated mob wanted
Commissioner and DIG to be
there with them to explain the
worsening law and order situation in Palamu.
Till the report last came in
the situation is tense but under
control now with mob waiting
for ex gratia relief and arrest of
the killer. Motive behind the
murder is yet to be ascertained
said police. From DIG to SP to
DSP none is taking the call of
the news men.
a massive robbery at BokaroDhanbad road, hefty extortion
money was demanded from at
least 12 local businessmen under
City police station.
The extortion money of
C10 lakh from each were
demanded through an SMS.
The criminal introduced himself
as Amit landed in Chas jail,
police said.
“For extortion money, the
criminal used mobile no.
720925681 and sent SMS to the
businessmen and contractors,”
said a police official.
Besides Jaleshwar Saw,
Jitender Kumar, Ajay Gupta
and Surender Kumar and a few
others are on the radar of the
criminal. According to the
police, Amit is inside the
Chas jail on kidnapping charge
since 2013.
Earlier on November 11,
2015, Amit had given a extortion call demanding C20 lakh
from five businessmen through
SMS. “Then mobile no.
9102967595 was used for ransom. That SIM card which
was used for ransom was issued
on fake ID of an Army man,”
added the official.
In that case, the police had
arrested Bhupendra Singh alias
Dakua, a resident of Bansgora
of Siwandih with the help of
technical cell. During interrogation, he had given vital information to the police.
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he Department of Anthropology of Vinoba Bhave UniT
versity (VBU) Hazaribagh is all
set to hold one-day seminar focusing on ‘Superstition and Human Values’ at Vivekanand Auditorium, Hazaribagh on March 17.
The seminar especially
focuses on the problems, superstitions, witchcraft, law, role of
media, magic and black magic,
marketing and management of
superstition in Jharkhand,
informed Dr Ganga Nath Jha
HOD of the Department of
Anthropology VBU.
“Seminar would also draw
attention on the elimination of
superstitions, responsibility
of society, media as well as
mass. Our aim is to strongly
focus on law and superstitions,” Jha added.
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?=BQ 90<B743?DA
he ninth session of the
T
year for XLRI Leadership
Series, an exclusive initiative
by the General Management
program of XLRI, Jamshedpur
was held on Sunday with
Manish Jain, director, business
advisory services, in leading
financial consultancy firm.
Talking to a packed house,
comprising of students at XLRI,
Jain shared his personal experiences on evaluation of young
leaders for consulting jobs as
well as latest industry trends.
He personally advised students
during one to one interaction
on how to make transition
from industrial background to
consulting. He started the session with a witty problem solving exercise looking for out of
the box thinkers and design
solutions. Using this example,
he explained what value proposition young students like those
in the audience bring to the
industry and how to best capitalise on it.
He explained the key challenges faced during a career in
Consulting and shared honest
insights as to how to best tackle them. Finally he concluded
AABA8E0BC0E0Q 70I0A81067
he election process for
selection of new officeT
bearers of Hazaribagh Bar
his presentation with 5 key differences an industry-oriented
role has vis-à-vis a consulting/advisory role.
“Key takeaways from the
session was what all skills are
required to make a career in
consulting, reality behind the
glamourous field of consulting
and latest trends like design
thinking and disruptive innovation.” said Nitish Bhardwaj,
PR & Branding Manager
PGDM-GM 2016 Batch, XLRI.
Jain has well over two
decades of successful track
record of business transformation & IT consulting experience
spread across 70+ countries
for more than 100 Clients. In
his current role, he is responsible for advisory services for
upcoming Payment Banks &
Mobile Wallet implementation.
Association has begun. After
publication of new voters roll,
process of filing of nomination, scrutiny and withdrawal of names has been concluded and now, the campaigning process is gearing up.
Returning officer Ranjeet
Kumar Rana said that 47
candidates have remained in
fray for different posts of the
bar association. 48 had filed
their nomination papers and
in scrutiny, one was cancelled
as there is no post of executive council member in our
bar and advocate Jamil
Akhtar has filed his paper for
this post.
For the prestigious post of
president of bar association
this time three candidates are
in fray. Outgoing president
Vikram Sen is not contesting
this time. The three candidates for this post are Kishori
Mohan Prasad, Mithilesh
Kumar Sinha Manne and
Sashi Bhushan Lal. For the
post of general secretary
advocate Hira Lal is in the
field against last two times
post holder advocate Raj
Kumar Raju.
For the post of Vice
President advocate Arun
Prabhat Sinha, Vinod Kumar
Singh, Shiv Kumar Shibu and
Suman Kumar Singh are contesting the election.
Advocate Ehsaan Khan,
Mahavir Prasad, Prabhat
Kumar Prasad and Sanjay
Kumar are in fray for the post
of treasurer while Kali Das
Pandey, Rajendra Prasad
Singh, Santosh Kumar
Thakur and Sunil Kumar are
fighting for the post of assistant treasurer.
For the post of joint secretary administration Dev
Deep Kumar Jaiswal, Gautam
Chakravorty, Raj Prakash and
Shambhu Kumar are in field
while for the post of joint secretary library Bakshi Naresh
Prasad, Kauleshwar Prasad
Kushwaha, Mamta Kumari
and Manoj Kumar Yadav are
in the fray.
For ten posts of executive
committee member 22 advocates are in the run. They are
Anuj Kumar Rai, Ashish
Kumar Dubey, Ashok Kumar
Yadav,
Bishnu
Dayal
Kushwaha, Dharmendra
Kumar Chaudhary, Ena Sahay,
Gopal Upadhayay, Gauri
Shankar Prasad, Manish
Kumar Sinha, Manjeet Kumar
Singh, Manoj Kumar(6), Md.
Shah Faizal Khan, Meera
Kumari, Mudashar Nazar,
Naresh Prasad, Pramod
Kumar Singh, Rajesh Kumar,
Rakesh Kumar Bakshi, Suresh
Kumar Verma and Uttam
kumar Singh.
RO RK Rana and his associates informed that voting
will take place on 15th of
March from 10 am to 4 pm and
counting will start from 6 pm
in the library room of the bar.
Results will be declared on
15th late night. The advocates
involved in election process
have made an appeal to all the
candidates to not adhere their
posters on the walls and to
keep the campus clean during
their campaigning.
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?=BQ 90<B743?DA
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ases of thefts and burglaries are on the rise with inciC
dents becoming a regular affair
in the city. Only in FebruaryMarch, about 15 cases of theft
and burglary have been reported in and around the city.
Close on the heels of a gang
of robbers swooping on a residential flat at New Baradwari
posing as courier boys a week
ago, another gang of armed
robbers pretended themselves
to be cops and fled with cash
and jewellery worth over C15
lakh from a residential flat at
Sonari last night.
The robbery at Sonari took
place in the apartment located
at Adarsh Nagar housing
colony VIIth phase on
Saturday. The house where the
criminals swooped is on the
third floor and belongs to
Tapan Chatterjee, a retired
Tata Steel employee.
“We are in state of shock.
As we opened the door, the
man with the police cap said
they have a search warrant as
they have the information that
we have given shelter to a
criminal known as Jitendra
Singh. But the moment we
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asked to show the search warrant and his I-card, three more
men, all between 40 to 30
years age group, entered into
the house and bolted the door
from inside,” narrated wife
Sushama.
Sushama, who retired from
Tata Main Hospital said “all the
four men took out pistols from
their trousers and took both of
us under control, threatening to
fire if argue about their search
any further. Then one of the
robbers moved around the flat,
saying where we have kept
Jitendra and after returning to
the hall, he demanded to open
the almirah, claiming that we
have hidden Jitenrdra's pistol in
it,” said the elderly woman.
The woman said the robbers stayed at their house for
over 45 minutes and fled the
scene at quarter to 10. She said
then somehow they managed
to untie their hands and
informed a neighbour who
immediately inform the police.
Officer-in-charge, Sonari
police station, Suman Anand
was the first to arrive at the
spot. Then SP (City) Chandan
Jha, senior SP Anoop T
Mathew, and deputy superintendents of police, Amar
Pandey and KN Mishra also
reached there for inspection.
At the time, the robbery
took place, a private security
guard was posted at the gate of
the Adarsh Nagar Phase VII,
but he could not get any hint of
the crime.
Deputy superintendent of
police (headquarters-II), Amar
Pandey claimed that behind the
robbery committed at Sonari is
the same gang which had
struck at New Baradwari on
February 29.
“The probe is on. We have
picked up two-three men suspected to be involved in the
robbery at Adarsh Nagar. So far
no concrete clue has been
established, but we are hopeful
that the gang will be busted
soon,” said Pandey.
ata Motors will roll-out its
4th nationwide Mega
T
Service Camp for its passenger
vehicle customers, starting
from March 8 to 14. This free
comprehensive vehicle health
check up camp will be organised across all Tata Motors
Dealerships and Authorised
Service Centers (TASC’s) across
India. Celebrating International
Women’s Day, Tata Motors will
also offer a special discount of
20 per cent on the Road Side
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assistance (RSA) policy, to all
women customers on March 8.
In continuation of its commitment to provide best-in-
class services, Tata Motors has
syndicated with multiple suppliers to offer discount up to 10
per cent on oils and lubricants
along with various value added
services and genuine accessories. These will be accompanied with discounts of up to 20
per cent on Tata Motors original parts and labour charges
and other special offers.
Commenting on the initiative, Dinesh Bhasin, headcustomer support, passenger
vehicle business unit, Tata
Motors said, “We at Tata Motors
aim to provide consistent quality service backed by new technologies to ensure our customers have a pleasant after
sales experience at all our touch
points. In 2015, we jumped to
3rd rank in the JD Power CSI
Index and this is testament to
our commitment. We have serviced over 1 Lakh customers at
every Service Camp and the
response has been phenomenon. With initiatives like the
Mega Service Camp, we look
forward to offer our customers
an enhanced service experience
at a convenient location with
attractive offers. We aim to turn
our satisfied customer into
brand custodians.”
2^dac^aSTabc^
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he court of fourth district and
session special judge has passed
T
the order to attach the property of
Hazaribagh deputy commissioner
office on Saturday evening. The
court has given this order in a case
which is related to delay in the payment of land acquisition by district
administration.
This case was filed by the villagers of Revali village of
Hazaribagh in 2003-04. The land
Acquisition officer of Hazaribagh
acquired the land of villagers for
proposed railways line of
Hazaribagh-Shivpur- Tori. The payment which was paid by the office
not satisfied the villagers.
The villagers went to the court
for sufficient payment of their
land. The court heard the plea of
the villagers and related departments and passed the order that the
villagers should get the three times
more than the compensation decided earlier. The District Acquisition
Officer did not pay the ordered
amount to the villagers.
In 2015, the villagers again went
to the court. The court issued the
notice to the district administration
but no one appeared in the court.
Court thus passed the order to
attach the property of the
Hazaribagh deputy commissioner
office. The next hearing of this case
is on March 10.
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he District Bar Association members
protested against the brutal murder
T
of Nitesh Kumar, a lawyer of Bokaro civil
court. The lawyers were wearing black
ribbon to register their anger.
President of District Bar Association
Pramod Pujari said that the protest is for
quick arrest of the murderers. “All the
members of the association protested by
tying black ribbon. We are demanding
for prompt police action.”
Lawyers Amindra Singh, Hemant
Kumar Sinha, Pramod Prasad, Narendra
Minz, Munindra Prasad, Tarun
Deogharia, Manoj Prasad, Nawal Kishor,
Praveen Bharti, Mithilesh Kumar, Sanjay
Kumar, Kismanti Minz, Surila Devi,
Kumar Chandrashekhar and many others were present.
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rime Minister Narendra
Modi on Sunday advised
women to empower technologically to become effective as
people’s representatives and
develop an independent image
of their own since merely
changes in the system would
not suffice. He, however,
remained silent on the women’s
reservation bill for which the
President and the Vice
President had made a strong
pitch on Saturday.
Addressing the National
Conference of Women
Legislators here, the Prime
Minister insisted that “mere
change in system” would not
suffice, he said “some changes
in structure keep on happening” and stressed the need for
women leaders to empower
themselves technologically and
make effective interventions.
“You will have to make
yourself effective. You will have
to present issues with facts
and figures. Merely changes in
the system will not suffice.
Some or the other change keep
happening in the structure...In
order to establish your leadership, you should have the
knowledge of subjects.
“...Try to develop your
independent image as a public
representative. Make an attempt
that you have your own image
in your region. Once the image
of your working style and your
views is established among
people, it will last for long. You
will see people accepting your
ideas once you are thus established,” Modi said on the second
P
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and concluding day of the conference which was inaugurated
by President Pranab Mukherjee
and also attended by VicePresident Hamid Ansari on
Saturday.
The Prime Minister said
“we must think beyond
women’s development” and
move towards “women-led
development.”
“There is a need to change
this mental state about women
empowerment. Empowerment
is done for those who are not
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?=BQ =4F34;78
fter a week-long silence
over The Pioneer’s expose
on his son’s massive assets in 14
countries unearthed by ED-IT
raids, former Union Finance
Minister P Chidambaram on
Sunday said Karti is being targeted only because “he is my
son” and “the real target is me”.
Chidambaram also said
that if the Government is of the
view that Karti has undisclosed assets he would ask it to
make a list in this regard and
his son will voluntarily execute
any document necessary to
transfer such assets to it for a
nominal consideration of
Rupee 1.
“A few days ago, a news
report was published containing wild and reckless allegations against my son, Karti
Chidambaram, and by implication against me. It was obvious to everyone that it was a
planted story.
“If the Government is of
the view that Mr Karti
Chidambaram has undisclosed
assets, I would ask the
Government to make a list of
such alleged undisclosed assets.
Karti Chidambaram will voluntarily execute any document
necessary to transfer those
assets (allegedly undisclosed) to
the Government for a nominal
consideration of Rupee 1. Let
the Government become the
owner of the alleged undisclosed
assets,”
said
Chidambaram in a statement.
The Pioneer had, on
February 29, reported about
the ED-IT findings about
Karti-controlled company
Advantage Strategic Ltd’s massive assets and financial transactions in 14 countries. The ED
and IT raids in connection with
the Aircel-Maxis scam had
unearthed that the firm had
A
properties and investments in
London, Dubai, South Africa,
Philippines,
Thailand,
Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka,
British Virgin Island, France,
USA, Switzerland, Greece and
Spain.
The properties include an
88-acre farm house in the UK,
three vineyards and one stud
farm in South Africa, three
resorts in Sri Lanka and a
four-acre tennis academy with
11 tennis courts in Spain.
“I am issuing this statement
on behalf of all the members of
my family. We know that Karti
is being targeted only because
he is my son and the real target is me. I understand the
political motive behind the
accusations and the timing of
the story. I have nothing but
pity for those who make these
false accusations. Ultimately,
truth will prevail,” said
Chidambaram.
He said Karti runs a legitimate business, apart from
managing inherited property
and has been an income tax
assessee for many years.
Chidambaram also said that
Karti has duly and regularly
filed his income tax returns,
including a statement of assets
and liabilities, every year and
that the assessments have been
completed upto Assessment
Year 2013-14 by the IncomeTax department.
“All his (Karti) assets and
liabilities have been duly disclosed in his tax returns. He
has no undisclosed asset anywhere. He and his business are
fully compliant with the laws
and regulations of the IncomeTax department and of all
other regulatory authorities
concerned. The allegation that
he has undisclosed assets is
preposterous, malicious and
totally false,” Chidambaram
said.
empowered. What does the
empowerment of those who are
already powerful mean?”, the
Prime Minister said adding
women have much more inherent strength than men.
On the first day of the conference, Mukherjee had
pitched for 33 per cent reservation for women in elected
bodies saying it was a “sad
commentary” that so far the
country has not been able to
achieve over 12 per cent representation for women in
Parliament’s total membership.
Ansari had also asked parties to voluntarily increase the
nomination of women candidates in elections till the legislation is enacted.
The Prime Minister,
though, on Sunday did not
make any mention of the bill
but advocated increasing positive assertion from women
and called upon women leaders to groom female leadership
down the rung, overcoming
“jealousy” due to competition.
“..Rather if you allow others to come up, you will go
high. A kind of pyramid-like
structure comes up then,” the
Prime Minister said.
Applauding the ability of
women to rise if given an
opportunity, he said, “we had
had many a Foreign Minister in
last so many years but we do
not even remember their
names. Everybody knows
about the outstanding work of
Sushma Swaraj.
He also asked whether the
two Houses of Parliament could
have an e-platform for women
members to exchange views.
Modi asked the women
MPs whether they have
empowered other women public representatives under them.
“Can you do any such exercise in your Parliamentary or
Assembly seat what the Speaker
has done here? There should be
no politics in it. Members of all
parties are here. The Committee
set up by the Speaker for this
programme has members from
all parties,” he said.
The conference passed a
resolution to work for trans-
3cRZ_de`c^Z_XdVddZ`_
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he Congress top leadership
and political strategist
T
Prashant Kishor will have a
brainstorming session on
March 12 to discuss the
Assembly polls strategy for
Punjab. The meeting will also
be attended by Congress Vice
President Rahul Gandhi besides
other senior party leaders.
Kishore has been roped in
by Congress to help the party
win Uttar Pradesh Assembly
polls next year. But the party is
now looking at using Kishor’s
expertise for Punjab and
Gujarat polls as well. The
Congress party has been out of
power in all three States for a
long time now and according
to party sources, Rahul wants
the “bad patch” to end.
Rahul wants to hold
threadbare discussion with
Punjab leaders to devise a winning strategy after two succes-
sive losses in the State where
this time apart from the ruling
SAD-BJP combine, the party
faces a spirited challenge from
Aam Aadmi Party. It is learnt
that the Punjab Congress is taking AAP leader Ar vind
Kejriwal’s aggressive campaign
and strategy of targeting voters
through a vast army of volunteers very seriously and wants
Kishor’s help to counter him
effectively. It is learnt Kishor
has already conducted preliminary surveys for Punjab.
parent, accountable and inclusive governance and to contribute to the task of building
a Resurgent India, strive for
social and financial inclusion
with a view to ensuring equal
opportunities to all.
The meet with the theme,
‘Role of Women Legislators in
Nation Building organised by
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra
Mahajan was attended by
women MPs and MLAs from
across the country.
Former President Pratibha
Patil, the first woman President
of India, said women in legislature should fight “money and
muscle power” in the biggest
democracy in the world.
The conference saw a suggestion to organise a similar
conference at the Asia level.
6A0?4E8=4
%\HE\H$PE\
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mbassador cars, the grand symbol of
Government
authority, are being
phased out in the
CRPF. Brand new
Maruti Suzuki
Ciaz cars have
been procured for
officials of
the rank of
Inspector
General and
above. The Director
General of the force who used to travel in
Ambassador earlier is also using the recently
procured Ciaz. Officials below the IG rank are
now using Toyota Innova and Maruti Suzuki
Ertiga. The newly procured Ciaz cars with red
beacon light atop them now line up the porch
of the CRPF headquarters building during the
week days.
oreign diplomats are often chased by media
for controversial statements but some of
F
them have mastered the art of getting away
A
o deliberate on how to shape
a gender-friendly future that
T
benefits all, over 250 leaders
from various sectors across the
world will gather at the two-day
Global Women’s International
Networking (WIN) Conference
to be held from March 17 in the
national capital.
This is the second conference to be held in India after
2013 where speakers such as
Anjali Raina, Executive
Director, Harvard Business
School India Research
Center(Facilitator) Yasmin
Hilton, Executive DirectorFoods of Hindustan Unilever
Limited Geetu Verma and
many international achievers
from various sectors spoke
their mind to inspire the
empowerment of more women
across the globe.
Through world-class plenary sessions, practical workshops, benchmarking forums
and coaching - WIN
Conference is one of the largest
global women’s network providing communities, companies and individual leaders the
possibility to grow and contribute to a world in which we
all flourish, said Kristin Engvig,
founder and director of WIN.
The participants at the
India WINConference will
hear from women achievers
whose careers stand out and
discover how their courage,
perseverance and feminine
touch have helped them move
ahead, paving the way for others, said a statement here.
$JH1R%DU
hief Justice of India TS Thakur last week
told BCCI that they should not have any
member on the Governing Board who is above
70 years. “People who are 70, should sit at home
and watch TV.” Little did the Court realize that
the lawyer representing the cricket body was
the 85-year-old veteran KK Venugopal who
simply refuses to age with time. The CJI told
Venugopal, “For
the past 30 years
you have not
changed a bit. How
is it possible?”
Venugopal replied,
“Seventy years is
nothing. Better
health amenities
allow you to
remain healthy even at my age.” With this, he
also scored a legal point that age cannot be a
bar to restrict Board membership.
ustainable development is not
possible without rule of law. Peace
and harmony are essential conditions,
said Union Home Minister Rajnath
Singh on Sunday. He was delivering
the valedictory address at the conclusion of the three-day International
Conference on Rule of Law for
Supporting 2030 Development
Agenda. It was organised by the
National Green Tribunal (NGT),
Ministry of Environment, Ministry of
Water Resources and United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP).
The Home Minister further said
that the global community has noted
the need to reduce violence in all
forms and promote rule of law at
both, the national and intern
ational level.
He reminded that the United
Nations’ 2030 Agenda and Sustainable
Development Goals adopted by more
than 190 nations in September last
year are complex and enormous to
achieve. But the world today feels the
need for an ever more proactive,
responsive, innovative and inclusive
approach towards development,
he added.
Environment Minister Prakash
Javadekar, highlighted the need to take
policy-based decisions and not
indulging in discrimination. He said
that processes will be transparent and
aimed at ensuring compliance. The
Minister said that the judiciary can be
a guiding force and can ensure compliance. He added that the executive and
judiciary must work together to ensure
sustainable development. The Minister
emphasised that poverty eradication is
the goal, both for the judiciary and the
executive and pointed out that the
iving police chiefs the right to
choose their officer for probG
ing specific crime cases in their
State, the Supreme Court in a
recent judgment removed the legal
bar of jurisdiction that often prevented State DGPs and
Commissioners from exercising
this choice.
The judgment came on a case
from Kerala where the State DGP
had passed orders appointing an
Assistant Commissioner of Police
(ACP) in charge of investigating a
matrimonial dispute. The case was
originally lodged at Pettah police
station in Trivandrum in 2011.
Almost a year later, on January 24,
2012, the DGP addressed a letter to
the DCP of the Trivandrum City
asking him to assign the case to
ACP, Cantonment posted at
Trivandrum.
This decision to transfer the
investigating officer midway
through the case was challenged by
the accused before the Kerala High
Court which decided against the
police chief. The HC relied on the
legal bar under Section 36 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure
(CrPC). This provision prescribed
that police officers superior to an
officer in charge of a police station
may exercise their powers throughout the local area to which they are
appointed similar to the power
exercised by officer incharge of the
police station within the limits of
his station.
5DKXO·VIOLSIORSV
utting across party lines, Elders backed
uring his speech in Lok Sabha on the
C
Motion of Thanks to the
JD(U) MP Kahkashan Perween last week D
Presidential address on
when
she
raised the
issue of parents pocketing
fees earned by child
artistes in films and advertisements. Posing a question
to Labour Minister Bandaru
Dattatreya in the Rajya
Sabha, she asked him
whether kids working in
advertisements were
also bracketed as Child
Labour and their parents getting paid. Jaya
Bachchan(SP) and members from other parties including the treasury supported Perween’s
contention. The Minister said he will look into
the issue.
nation needs both — environmental
protection, as well as growth.
Minister of State (Independent
Charge) of Coal, Power and Non
Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal said
that the Government remains committed towards making the nation
energy-efficient in a sustainable manner. He reiterated the Govt’s commitment to ensure safety and protection
of environment, even as the
Government moves towards ending
poverty and achieving 24x7 power for
everyone. The Minister said that the
cess of C400 per tonne on clean coal
is being used for ‘Namami Gange’ and
for encouraging the use of renewable
energy.
The apex bench of Justices
Ranjan Gogoi and PC Pant
reversed the finding given by HC
and upheld the order of the state
police chief. It said, “The High
Court, in our considered view, was
not right in reading the constraints
imposed by Section 36 of the
CrPC on the powers of the State
Police Chief to appoint a suitable
and competent officer to investigate
a case irrespective of the limits of
local jurisdiction of such officer, if
such a course of action is required.”
he Union Health Ministry’s bid to hold a
Press conference on Budget 2016-17 on
T
Saturday drew flak from many beat reporters.
(OGHUVIRU.LGV
ith Press information flowing in a “cenW
tralised” manner for some time now, the
Government is keen to shut down some of its
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nodal Press Information Bureau (PIB) offices
at some places across the country. Grapevine
has it that PIB headquarters has sought reports
of certain PIB offices in other States regarding
viability of its existence. To begin with Kanpur,
Indore, Kota and Madurai PIB Centres may
face the shutdown owing to reasons like staff
shortage for several years.
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Tiger Speak”, a cartoon exhibition to promote
big cat conservation, Javadekar admitted that
despite his busy and hectic schedules he managed to steal some time off to watch television
channels like Animal Planet and Discovery.
“Watching stories and visuals on wildlife after
a tiring day’s work is so rejuvenating,” he said.
On an emotional note, the Minister also commended the naturalists and wildlife scientists
of the country for tirelessly trying to protect
the rare endangered species in the remote
forests and islands. “They are no less than the
brave Indian soldiers who safeguard our country’s frontiers on tough terrains and challenging
situations,” he said.
Some rued that being an ‘off ’ day, it was difficult for them to attend the event. Some others pointed out that they would be busy with
the conference organised by the Speaker.
Initially, determined to hold the interaction on
Saturday, the officials, however, had to finally
postpone it following lots of brickbats from the
journalists on the WhatsApp group formed by
the Ministry for beat reporters. The Ministry
is now working out a fresh date for the interaction. Incidentally, earlier too, the Health officials had to postpone the conference twice; first
due to reasons known best to them and second time due to the untimely death of former
Speaker PA Sangma on Friday.
CecdQY^QR\UTUfU\_`]U^d^_d`_ccYR\U
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¶:LOG·,QWHUHVW
ildlife seems to fascinate Environment
W
Minister Prakash Javadekar. Recently,
while inaugurating a programme called “The
C
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smartly. At a recent lecture on “Indo-US strategic relations: Present status and future trends,”
the US Ambassador to India Richard Verma
was asked the tricky question on the sedition
law and freedom of speech. He was put this
question in different ways and
forms but the envoy dribbled
his way out each time
smartly. “I always tell my
wife, I am only one Press
conference away from
being sent back or called
back,” Verma told quizzing
journalists.
Going through the case record,
the bench was convinced that the
new officer was chosen because the
victim had demanded a “neutral”
and “impartial” police officer to
conduct the probe in a “fair and
unbiased manner”. At the same
time, the Court held that even
though the State police chief has
been given a free hand to transfer
the probe officer of a case, the same
would be open to judicial review
where there is reason to show
malafide in decision-making.
March 2, Congress Vice
President Rahul Gandhi first
addressed the Chair as
‘Madame’ though Dr P
Venugopal was occupying
the Speaker’s seat. Rahul
slipped again when he said,
“I heard Mr Jaitley yesterday”
though the budget was presented a day before on
February 29. He also quoted the oil prices in
Indian currency instead of the US dollar.
Constantly prompted by Jyotiraditya Scindia,
sitting next to him, Rahul, however, did give
back one strongly as the Opposition taunted
him: “Haan, hum galtiyaan karte hain…aapke
tarah sab nahin jante hain.”
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New Delhi: To encourage officers to contribute to the success of the ‘Swachh Bharat
Mission’ and ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan
Yojana’, the Government will confer bureaucrats from both the Centre and the States with
the Prime Minister’s award for excellence in
implementing NDA Government’s two priority programmes.
The awards will be presented to the
officers on April 21, observed as Civil
Services’ Day.
Usually, the Central Government gives
away “Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence
in Public Administration” on the Civil
Services Day.
The award, which carries a citation and
cash prize, is to recognise and reward the
extraordinary and innovative works done by
officers of the central and State Governments.
All officers of Central and State Governments,
individually or as a group or as organisations
are eligible for consideration.
However, from this year onwards, the civil
servants will get Prime Minister’s Awards for
Excellence in Implementation of Priority
Programme—Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
(Gramin), Swachh Vidyalaya, Pradhan Mantri
Jan Dhan Yojana and Soil Health Card.
Minister of State in Prime Minister’s
Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh said it is necessary to encourage bureaucrats doing good
work as the effective implementation of the
Government’s key initiatives by them is
essential for good governance.
“All programmes like Clean India
Mission, especially for rural areas, Jan Dhan
Yojana for financial inclusion and Clean
Schools are very important to ensure welfare
of common people and country. That is why
bureaucrats are being encouraged to ensure
their effective implementation and their
good work can be awarded.
“Their way of implementing these programmes can also act as guidance for other
states and union territories to implement
other pro-people measures,” he said. PNS
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he one member judicial
T
commission headed by
Justice (retd) Vishnu Sahay,
which probed into the worst
ever communal riots in
Muzaffarnagar has given
clean chit to the political
leaders, while holding the
then SSP of Muzaffarnagar
Subash Chandra Dube and
the intelligence inspector
responsible for the 2013 riots
which had claimed more than
68 lives and rendered over
50,000 people homeless.
The commission has
given clean chit to the
Akhilesh Yadav Government.
The brief of the commission
was `to ascertain facts regarding the communal riot in
Muzaffarnagar and the causes which led to the incidents
in question.
The commission listing
the 14 causes of riots has also
held the print media and social
media responsible for the riots.
Both the mediums carried
unconfirmed, unsubstantiated
and exaggagarated inflammatory reports and also spread
rumours which snowballed
into communal inferno.
The probe and the action
taken report by the
Samajwadi Party Government
was tabled in the State assembly on Sunday. The actual
report of the commission is of
700, pages. The commission
also termed the local authorities as incompetence leading
to the riots but in later part of
the report also praised for
controlling the riots.
The report said the transfer of the then district magistrate Surendra Singh and
SSP Manjil Saini on the day
two when Jat youth Sachin
and Gaurav were murdered
on August 27, 2013, enraged
the Jat community which ultimately triggered the communal riots. Commission said
not 8 but 14 persons arrested
in connection with the murder of 2 Jat youth were let off.
They were neither named
in the FIR nor were they suspects. But letting them off by
the police sent the message
that the administration was
partisan and was working
under the pressure of the
muslim community. This
caused deep resentment in the
Jat community.
The Government in its
action taken report has
ordered initiating of departmental probe into the lapses
of Subhash Chandra Dubey in
the Muzaffarnagar riots. An
explanation has been called
f rom the Intelligence
Inspector Prabal Pratap Singh
over his role and lapses.
The Government has also
sought explanation from the
then District Magistrate
Kaushal Raj Sharma on two
points—why he could not
assess the crowd at the mahapachayat and why no video
recording was made of the
inflammatory speeches made
by the political and religious
leaders during the panchyat.
On the role of the BJP
ML A Sangeet S om for
allegedly uploading the
inflammatory video clip on
YouTube, the Commission
said, “FIR under Section 153
A , 120 B and IT Act has
already been lodged against
Sangeet Som and 229 others,
so no further action can be
taken against these persons as
per the constitution.”
Also as far as Muslim
panchayat of August 30, 2013
is concerned a case against
politicians Kadir Rana, Noor
Salim Rana, Rashid Siddique,
Ehsan Qureshi and others
has been already registered
and hence no further action
can be taken. Similarly on
September 7, 2013, the Hindu
Mahapanchayat was held. It
has been alleged that hate
speeches were made but since
no video recording was done
hence no one can be directly
held responsible for hate
speeches.
In most cases of the panchayat, local intelligence
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failed to estimate the turnout
of the people. The commission said that media’s role in
the riots that spread to
Muzaf farnagar, Shamli,
Baghpat, Saharanpur and
Meerut was questionable but
no specific media organisation has been identified in the
report.
The one member Sahay
Commission had submitted
its final report comprising of
700 pages and in six parts, in
September last year to the
State Government.
BJP MLA Sangeet Singh
Som, who was booked under
National Security Act (NSA)
along with another party
MLA Suresh Rana for the
riots, had already questioned
the probe report terming it as
``biased report’’and said it
was a probe done by the
Samajwadi Party. “When we
were not given an oppopurtunity by the Commission to
place before it our side of the
story then how can it blame
us for the riots,” he alleged
while charging that it was a
one-sided probe meant to
save the ruling party.
The one-man judicial
commission was set up on
September 9, 2013, 13 days
after the riots broke out, and
it took over two years to submit its report after six extensions. The commission crossexamined 377 people, including 100 senior officials, during the course of inquiry.
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B0D60AB4=6D?C0Q :>;:0C0
ith demand for tickets
going far above the actuW
al supply banners of revolt
have unfurled in Trinamool
Congress throughout Bengal.
Local party satraps from
Coochbehar in North Bengal to
South 24 Parganas down the
South have threatened to proceed alone if Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee did not revise
her candidate list for the
upcoming Assembly elections.
Angry party men were taking out rallies, blocking roads
and even raiding district and
State party headquarters in
Kolkata to press-gang Banerjee
to change her decision.
Workers of Sitalkuchi constituency in Coochbehar on
Sunday took out a massive
rally to protest the re-nomination of Trinamool candidate
Hiten Burman who had won
2011 polls by a margin of 256
votes only. “Though he has
done nothing for the region
party has re-nonimated him. If
his candidature is not withdrawn then we will have to
think otherwise,” a section of
district workers said. “All the
members of five local panchayats and district board
members will resign if the candidate is not changed” one of
the rebel leaders said.
Further
south
at
Mayureshwar in Birbhum district supporters of the sitting
Trinamool MLA raided the
block party office and even
jammed the National High
way for hours to demand his
re-nomination. The MLA has
been dropped this time round.
In Bhatar constituency of
neighbouring Burdwan district
thousands of party men revolted as sitting MLA Banamali
Hazra had failed to land a ticket this time round. Buses loads
of workers raided the
Trinamnool Bhavan in Kolkata
demanding a rethink on the
candidate list. “We control 11
out of 13 panchayat samities all
of which are loyal to Hazra. If
he does not get a ticket then we
will not work for in the elections,” threatened party men
who came to Kolkata but failed
to meet any senior leader.
In neighbouring North 24
Parganas party men protested
the nomination of a outsider
and demanded “only a bhoomi
putra will be considered by us,”
while in Kharagpur in West
Midnapore disgruntled party
men protested against the
nomination of a candidate
“who is only a money spinner
and not a party man.” Similar
rebellions were witnessed in
Panskura in East Midnapore. In
Singur which played the cata-
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lyst for 2011 Parivartan thousands of local party men staged
a rally against re-nomination of
sitting MLA and face of
Trinamool’s anti-Nano movement
Rabindranath
Bhattacharya. “He never visits
the region and so we want him
changed” shouted posters.
With the Mamata Banerjee
having failed to fulfil her commitment of returning the
acquired land to the farmers
Singur had of late showing
signs of dissension.
Rebellions were more pronounced in Howrah and South
24 Parganas. Supporters of South
Howrah Trinamool labour
leader Masood Khan blocked
roads, and even stopped work at
petrol depot threatening fuel
supply in parts of Kolkata.
7,66RSHQVFHQWUHLQ3DWQD BdbWX[<^SX`dTbcX^]b=XcXbW´b CUSebYdi`Ubc_^^U\QccYW^UT
508I0=07<03Q ?0C=0
fter a long wait the Tata
Institute of Social Sciences
A
(TISS) opened its centre here
on Sunday, thanks to the initiatives taken by Takshila
Educational Society (TES).
Named as Centre for
Development Practice &
Research (CDPR), this will
work towards strengthening
developmental initiatives by
Bihar State, civil society and
other stakeholders through
cutting edge teaching, research,
field action projects and short
term teaching and learning
programmes.
The inaugural programme
of the collaboration of TISS
with TES held at DPS, Patna
was attended by policy makers,
development workers and representatives from bureaucracy,
academia and civil society.
“The CDPR will establish collaboration
with
the
Government of Bihar, universities and institutions and civil
society organisations,” said
TISS director Prof S
Parasuraman.
TES, the promoters of DPS
Patna, Ludhiana, Pune and
Coimbatore will provide infrastructural support and associated facilities to the Centre, said
TES secretary Sanjeev Kumar.
TISS is a premier social science
university with the second
highest NAAC rating in the
country. Kumar said, “TES
vision behind bringing TISS to
Bihar is to provide research
scholars from the State the
same quality and level of
resource and faculty that TISS
is known for and towards crystallization of this vision.”
The Centre, said in-charge
of TISS Patna Centre
Pushpendra Kumar, will invite
PhD research scholars and
post doctoral scholars on fellowship to pursue research in
the priority areas and disseminate research output in the
form of publication. The key
research areas are likely to
migration and development,
rural employment and livelihood, elementary education,
so0cial welfare and public
health. He said the centre will
also organize summer and win-
³UaTTS^\^UTg_aTbbX^]´\^ST[ \QhY^dXUYbTedi*1^^Q
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enior BJP leader Sushil
Kumar Modi said that the
Nitish Kumar-led Government
exhibited its intolerance
towards freedom of expression by not permitting the
show of Bhojpuri film `Deswa’
during the Patna Film Festival.
He said the film exhibited jungle raj during the 15 years
regime of Lalu Prasad and
Rabri Devi and CM Nitish
Kumar praised the film. But
now under the pressure of
Lalu’s sons, the film was
banned.
Modi further recalled that
in 2003 filmmaker Prakash
Jha had faced stiff resistance
from Lalu and his party during
the making of Gangaajal, which
showcased the political interference in police working.
“Now Nitish and Lalu are trying to become champions of
freedom of expression, but not
allowing the showing of the
films made on the misdeeds of
their Government,” he said.
³CW^bTcPbZTS
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S
ter schools on the thrust areas
of of its research. To begin with
it will hold a winter school on
migration, a major problem in
Bihar. The course will address
conceptual and methodological issues in migration studies.
Prof Parasurman, who specially flew in from Mumbai to
attend the inaugural function
was impressed with Bihar saying it has made amazing
progress in one decade. He said
the centre will provide certificate, degree and diploma programmes. Bihar principal secretar y of education D S
Gangwar who also addressed
the gathering expressed happiness over the opening of the
TISS centre.
The former Deputy CM
said that during the Durga
Puja festivities, political cartoons and caricatures are displayed at the Puja pandals as a
tradition, through which artists
showcase their views and opinions. But the State Government
has banned such exhibitions, he
added.
“Nitish talks about freedom
of expression and on the other
hand, supports Left parties,
which are known for crushing
other ideologies. He should tell
if in JNU only Left have the
freedom of expression. Why L
K Advani and Baba Ramdev
were not allowed in the campus,” asked Modi.
activist Anna Hazare,
who has been given Z catSegoryocial
security cover, today
alleged that the security personnel assigned to him were
lax in their duty.
At the same time, he said
that the Government need
not upgrade his security and
that he won’t blame it if something untoward were to happen to him.
Hazare also said it was not
easy to support a retinue of
nine bodyguards and 28 police
personnel at Ralegan Siddhi
village (in Maharashtra’s
Ahmednagar district), which
has a population of around
2,500 people. The activist said
many a times, those tasked
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he ruling Samajwadi Party
has sweeped the UP
T
Legislative Council polls by win-
EXRT?aTbXST]c7P\XS0]bPaXQTX]VUT[XRXcPcTSQhCT[P]VP]P2WTXU<X]XbcTa:2WP]STaPbWTZPaAP^Pb6^eTa]^a^UCT[P]VP]P
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with his security aren’t there or
come late when he is doing his
morning yoga exercise.
“They are also engrossed
in their mobile phones and
busy chatting. They won’t even
realise if someone were to
walk in and kill me,” he said.
“I faced death in
Khemkaran sector during the
Indo-Pak war. What I have got
is a bonus. I will serve the
country and society till I die,”
said the former soldier in
Indian Army.
The anti-corruption crusader said increasing his security will put a financial burden
on the State.
“The financial situation
of the State is poor and
increasing my security will
pose an additional financial
burden on it,” Hazare said in
a statement.
Hazare’s statement comes
amid several threat letters sent
to him last year warning that
he will be killed. The activist
at present has ‘Z’ security.
ning 31 out of the total 36 seats
with 8 being elected unopposed.
The polling for 28 seats, were
held on March 3 where around
97.22 per cent of voters exercised
their franchise among around
one lakh voters.
The counting of votes started this morning at 8 am and as
per the Election Commission
the ruling Samajwadi Party candidates won in 31 seats including 8 unopposed. BSP candidates retained the Jaunpur and
Muzaffarnagar-Saharanpur seats
while the Congress retained the
Rae Bareli seats, which is represented by party president Sonia
Gandhi in the Parliament. The
?=BQ 274==08
BJP surprisingly, drew blank in
the elections even as their candidates were runners up in most
of the places.
Interestingly, mafia don
Brajesh Singh won the prestigious Varanasi seat as an
Independent candidate from
jail by defeating the SP candidate
by a huge margin. BJP had not
fielded any candidate from
Varanasi, even as the seat is represented by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi in the Lok
Sabha.
In Ghazipur seat too an
Independent Vishal Singh was
declared elected after as he
defeated SP’s Sanad Kumar
Singh by slender margin of just
65 votes. In GorakhpurMaharajganj seat, CP Chand, the
Samajwadi party rebel candidate
who was expelled from the
party has won the seat defeating
the SP’s official candidate
Jaiprakash Yadav.
The SP has won the seats of
Lucknow- Unnao, Sitapur,
Pratapgarh, Banda-Hamirpur,
Agra-Firozabad Mathura-EtahMainpuri Etah (two seats) and
Meerut-Ghaziabad.
In the
polling held on March 3, the SP
candidates have won the seats of
Moradabad-Bijnor , RampurBareilly, Budaun,PilibhitShahjahanpur, Hardoi , Kheri ,
Sultanpur , Barabanki, Bahraich,
Gonda, Faizabad, BastiSiddharth Nagar, GorakhpurMaharajganj
,Deoria
,Azamgarh-Mau , Ballia,
Mirzapur-Sonbhadra,
Allahabad, Jhansi-JalaunLalitpur,
KanpurFatehpur,Etawah-Farrukhabad,
Aligarh and Bulandshahar .
he Sri Lankan Navy on
Sunday arrested 31 fishermen
T
from Tamil Nadu for allegedly
poaching in the territorial waters
of the island nation. The fishermen, 22 from Thoothukudi and
nine from Rameswaram, were
taken into custody along with
their three country boats and a
mechanised vessel early Sunday
morning.
The number of fishermen in
Sri Lankan custody has gone up
to 66 with Sunday’s arrest. Last
Thursday saw the Lankan Navy
arresting eight fishermen and
seizing two boats for fishing in
the territorial waters of Sri Lanka.
Following Thursday’s arrest,
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had
shot off a letter to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi seeking his personal intervention to release the
35 fishermen and 73 fishing
boats of Tamil Nadu in Sri
Lankan custody and also sought
steps to find a permanent solution to the recurring detentions.
According to Issac
Jeyakumar, assistant director of
fisheries, Thoothukudi, the fishermen from his district were fishing near Kalpity near Sri Lankan
coast when they were arrested on
Sunday.
Gopinathan, a fishing
department
official
at
Rameswaram said fishermen set
out to sea in 641 boats on Sunday
morning and many of them
returned without good catch.
Nine of them were arrested while
fishing near Thalaimannar, he
said. Sri Lankan naval men also
allegedly caused extensive damage to the fishing nets of some of
the fishermen, he said, adding,
they were accused of using a
banned fishing net and poaching
in Lankan waters.
Reddy said that Susheel and the
driver, Ramesh, appeared
before police in the early hours
of today after notices were
served to them and were arrested following their examination.
They were yesterday booked
under sections 354 (assault or
criminal force to woman with
intent to outrage her modesty)
and 509 (word, gesture or act
intended to insult the modesty
of a woman) of IPC.
The complainant had
alleged that a car with ‘MLA’
sticker followed her when she
was passing through Road
No.13 while on her way to
school on Thursday evening.
The driver of the car and another occupant, who were drunk,
passed remarks and asked her
to come inside the car while one
person with a tattoo on his
hand tried to pull her inside the
vehicle, she had alleged.
When there was an
attempt to pull her inside the
vehicle, the woman raised an
alarm following which her
husband, who was nearby, and
some locals gathered at the
spot and beat up Susheel and
Ramesh. On Friday, the
woman also claimed to have
identified the photo of the
Minister’s son as the one who
held her hand and tried to pull
her inside the car.
While Susheel claimed
innocence and alleged that the
case was “politically motivated”,
his father said police probe will
reveal the truth and he will “not
interfere” in the matter.
Hitting out at Kishore
Babu, YSR Congress Party’s
Deputy Floor Leader U
Kalpana said, “Even as the
minister’s son was caught on
camera misbehaving with a
woman, the minister tried to
blame it on Leader of
Opposition (Y S Jagan Mohan
Reddy) for the incident. We
demand the minister should be
dropped from the Cabinet and
let law take its own course.
“The allegations against my
son are false...They are fabricated, they are politically motivated, concocted. It is nothing but
a conspiracy being hatched by
Jaganmohan Reddy and his
party,” Kishore Babu alleged.
“He is innocent and he will
come out clean,” Kishore Babu
told mediapersons.”I’m telling
Jagamohan Reddy...Politically
fight with Kishore Babu, but
don’t fight indirectly...Involving
with the career of my son,” he
said. The misbehaviour was
well recorded and the AP
Government has been trying to
wriggle out of the situation by
levelling baseless allegations
and putting up concocted versions that the footage was morphed, which shows the sick
mind of TDP Government and
leaders, she alleged, in a release.
“We demand immediate
action against the minister and
an assurance from the
Government for women’s safety ahead of the International
Women’s Day,” she said.
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ocals in city’s Masson de
Amorin area were taken
L
for a surprise today after
Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar walked into a restaurant to enjoy the Sunday morning tea. Taking out time from
his busy schedule, Parrikar
cast his vote for Corporation of
City of Panaji (CCP) polls here
this morning and then walked
into a roadside restaurant.
He was among early voters
who had queued up for voting
at the booth 12. After voting,
Parrikar stopped by a nearby
restaurant even as the plainclothed security personnel
remained clueless about his
move. The crowd inside the
restaurant was astonished to
see the defence minister walking without any security in the
restaurant, which is a common
place for Christians in the city
to have breakfast on Sunday after
weekly mass at the Immaculate
Conception Church.
“It was a surprise to see
Defence minister walking in.
But it is not much of a surprise
for people of Panaji who know
his simplicity. We felt good that
despite being in such a high
position he has still retained the
low profile,” said Zito Gomes,
a parishioner of Immaculate
Conception Church.
Earlier, speaking to
reporters outside the booth,
Parrikar said the BJP-led panel
will win the election.
?C8 Q 7H34A0103
ndhra Pradesh Social
Welfare Minister Ravela
A
Kishore Babu’s son Ravela
“For a smart city you need
smart council and BJP will give
it to the people,” he said.
The polling for the civic
body began at 8 AM and will
end at 5 PM.
BJP has fielded its candidates in all the 30 wards who
will face tough fight from nominees under the panel fielded by
expelled Congress legislator
Atanasio
Monserratte.
Congress nominees are also
contesting from all the wards.
Susheel was toon Sunday arrested for allegedly misbehaving
with a young woman teacher,
triggering demands by the
Opposition that he be sacked.
Kishore Babu on his part
alleged a “political conspiracy”
by Opposition YSR Congress
leader Jaganmohan Reddy
behind the arrest of Susheel,
who was held along with his
driver. He rejected the allegations against his son as “false
and fabricated”.
Assistant Commissioner
of Police (Banjara Hills
Division) D Uday Kumar
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truck bomb exploded at a
crowded checkpoint outA
side the city of Hilla, south of
0?Q :01D;
Baghdad, today, killing at least
47 people, officials and medical
sources said.
Faleh al-Radhi, the head of
the security committee at Babil
provincial council, said “the
attack was carried against a
checkpoint at the northern
entrance to Hilla.” A doctor at
Hilla hospital put the number
of people killed by the blast at
47, including around 20 members of the security forces, and
said at least 72 people were also
wounded.
Radhi and police officers
confirmed the casualty toll,
the heaviest from any car bomb
attack in Iraq this year. Officials
said the vehicle was a truck
packed with explosives and
was detonated after being
pulled over by checkpoint security as it tried to enter Hilla.
Pictures posted on social
media showed vast destruction
around the checkpoint, where
cars are usually bumper-tobumper at that time of day,
queueing to be checked by security personnel. A doctor at Hilla
hospital said at least 11 of the
wounded were in a very serious
condition. The Islamic State
group, which carries out nearly
all such attacks, has not had fixed
positions south of Baghdad
since security forces and allied
militias began their fightback
against the jihadists in late 2014.
A March 2014 suicide
bombing at a checkpoint on the
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United Nations agency
in Afghanistan plans to
A
stop publishing photographs
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0?
outskirts of Hilla, 80 kilometres
(50 miles) south of the capital,
killed 50 people and wounded
more than 150.
When Iraqi forces began
their counter-offensive against
IS in late 2014, securing the
Shiite shrine cities of Najaf and
Karbala, south of Baghdad,
was a priority.
on its website to highlight the
plight of Afghan women
ahead of International
Women’s Day on March 8, a
UN official said today.
The move aims to bring
about attention to the fear
many Afghan women have of
the potential consequences
of appearing in public view or
having their photographs
published, said Rob Few, chief
of communications for the
UN Development Program
in Kabul.
Photographs already on the
UNDP’s Afghanistan website
would be blacked out starting
today, and replaced with the
hashtag #WhereAreTheWomen,
Few said. Original captions
would remain, so visitors to the
site know what they are missing,
and no new photographs would
be posted, he said.
The campaign will last
about a week, he added. In
conservative Afghanistan,
Prime Minister says
onsumption of foods with
Ithesrael’s
that the upcoming visit of Ca high glycemic index such
US Vice President Joe as white bread, bagels, corn
Biden proves the strong ties
between the close allies.
B enjamin Netanyahu on
Sunday called Biden a
“friend” and his visit a reflection of close ties. He said,
“those who have predicted the
collapse of these relations”
have been proven wrong.
Netanyahu has had a
rocky relationship with
President Barack Obama, particularly over Netanyahu’s
fierce objection to a nuclear
deal with Iran. Biden’s previous official visit in 2010 was
marred by an Israeli
announcement of a new West
Bank settlement project that
angered the White House,
which declared it damaging to
peace prospects.
Biden, who arrives in
Israel on Tuesday, will also
visit Jordan and the United
Arab Emirates during his
swing through the region.
flakes and puffed rice may be
associated with an increased
risk of developing lung cancer,
a new study has warned.
The study by scientists
from the University of Texas in
US is the largest to investigate
potential links between
glycemic index (GI) and lung
cancer. The findings also unveil
for the first time that GI was
more significantly associated
with lung cancer risk in particular subgroups, such as
never-smokers and those diagnosed with the squamous cell
carcinoma (SCC) subtype of
lung cancer, researchers said.
In US, lung cancer is the
second most common cancer in
both men and women, but is by
far the leading cause of cancer
mortality. Accumulating evidence suggests that dietary factors may modulate lung cancer
risk, researchers said. Diets high
in fruits and vegetables may
1aPX]_a^RTbbTbQXVP]Sb\P[[
]d\QTab^]SXUUTaT]cbXSTb
“Diets high in glycemic
index result in higher levels of
blood glucose and insulin,
which promote perturbations
in the insulin-like growth factors (IGFs),” said Stephanie
Melkonian from University of
Texas.To clarify the associations
between GI, GL and lung cancer risk, researchers surveyed
1,905 patients newly diagnosed
with lung cancer and 2,413
healthy individuals.
Participants self-reported
past dietary habits and health
histories. Dietary GI and GL was
determined using published food
GI values, and subjects were
divided into five equal groups,
based on their GI and GL values.
,QGLDQILVKHUPHQ
UHOHDVHGE\3DNLVWDQ
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mall numbers are processed
in the right side of the brain,
Swhile
large numbers are
n a goodwill gesture, Pakistan
on Sunday released 87 Indian
Ifishermen
arrested for alleged-
processed in the left side, a new
study suggests.
The findings offer new
insights into the mystery of how
our brains handle numbers,
researchers said. The results
could help to tailor rehabilitation techniques for patients
who have suffered brain damage, such as stroke patients, and
inform treatments for conditions such as dyscalculia, which
causes difficulty in processing
numbers, they said.
The brain is divided into
two halves - the left side controls the right half of the body,
and vice versa. Generally, one
side of the brain is more dominant than the other. For example, people who are right-
ly violating its territorial waters
and would free 86 others later
this month.
The fishermen, who had
been languishing in prison for
the last two and half years, were
released from Landhi Jail and
will be handed over to Indian
authorities at the Wagah border.
Faisal Edhi, who heads private
charity the Edhi Foundation,
arranged the train journey for
the fishermen on Sunday and
gave them gifts and some cash.
Jail superintendent of
Landhi Jail Shakir Shah told
PTI that 86 more Indian fishermen would be released on
March 20. He said a total of
around 536 Indian fishermen
were in jail, serving varying
handed tend to have more
activity in the left side of their
brains, researchers said.
“In our new study, in which
we used healthy volunteers, we
found the left side processes
large numbers, and the right
processes small numbers,” said
Qadeer Arshad from Imperial
College London. “So for
instance if you were looking at
a clock, the numbers one to six
would be processed on the
right side of the brain, and six
to twelve would be processed
on the left,” said Arshad.
terms for violation of Pakistani
territorial waters. Fishermen
are frequently arrested along
with their boats by both India
and Pakistan as the maritime
border in the Arabian Sea is
poorly defined, and many fishing boats lack the technology
needed to be certain of their
precise location.
Some of them spend years in
jail before being repatriated. In
the past the two nations have
released each other’s fishermen
as goodwill gestures. Although in
December, India and Pakistan
had agreed to revive the dialogue
process when External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj visited
Islamabad for a summit, but the
same month 66 Indian fishermen were arrested by Pakistan.
In January, another 45 Indian
fishermen were arrested for
allegedly violating Pakistan’s territorial waters.
""\^UVVa`TVR_deZ]]R_`Zdja]RTV
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cientists have eavesdropped
on the deepest part of the
world’s oceans and instead of
finding a sea of silence, they
discovered a cacophony of
sounds both natural and caused
by humans. For three weeks, a
titanium-encased hydrophone
recorded ambient noise from
the ocean floor at a depth of
more than 36,000 feet in a
trough known as Challenger
Deep in the fabled Mariana
Trench near Micronesia.
“You would think that the
deepest part of the ocean would
be one of the quietest places on
Earth,” said Robert Dziak, a
National Oceanic and
S
Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) research oceanographer and chief scientist on the
project.
“Yet there really is almost
constant noise from both natural and man-made sources.
The ambient sound field at
Challenger Deep is dominated
by the sound of earthquakes,
both near and far was well as
the distinct moans of baleen
whales and the overwhelming
clamour of a category 4
typhoon that just happened to
pass overhead,” he said.
“There was also a lot of noise
from ship traffic, identifiable by
the clear sound pattern the ship
propellers make when they
pass by,” added Dziak.
women are often subject to
abuse, forced into arranged
marriages, and even traded to
settle disputes. Domestic violence is endemic.
High-profile women have
been murdered. As a result, few
women work outside the home
or are active in public life,
despite constitutional guarantees of their safety.
Few said the UNDP’s decision came after an Afghan
woman helped by the agency to
escape an abusive forced marriage said she was too afraid to
have her photo published
alongside a report about her
experience.
“Walk down any street, or
into any Government office, or
into any hospital, police station,
business or university, and you
have to ask yourself, ‘Where are
the women?’ Few said.
“We’ve come a long way
since 2001, but we need to do
more to make women safer and
to allow them to take part in
economic and public life.”
As
the
Afghan
Government moves toward a
dialogue with the Taliban to
end the war, now in its 15th
year, many women fear that
hard-won legal rights will be
sacrificed for peace.
ormer Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa
F
on Sunday cautioned the
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t least 50 British children are living under
A
Islamic State (ISIS) rule in war zones of
Syria and Iraq and are in danger of becoming
round 1,000 websites and
social media accounts linked
A
to the Islamic State are being shut
decrease risk, while increased
consumption of red meat, saturated fats and dairy products
have been shown to increase
lung cancer risk, they said.
Glycemic index is a measure of the quality of dietary
carbohydrates, defined by how
quickly blood sugar levels are
raised following a meal.
Examples of low GI foods
include whole-wheat or
pumpernickel bread, rolled or
steel-cut oatmeal and pasta.
Previous studies have
showed associations between
GI and glycemic load (GL), a
related measure of carbohydrate quantity, and risk of
numerous other cancers.
The project was designed to
establish a baseline for ambient
noise in the deepest part of the
Pacific Ocean.
Human-caused noise has
increased steadily over the past
several decades and getting
these first recordings will allow
scientists in the future to determine if the noise levels are
growing. The bottom of the
Challenger Deep trough is
roughly 11 km below the ocean’s
surface. In fact, you could put
the world’s tallest peak —Mount
Everest — in the trench and its
top would still be more than a
mile from the surface.
The pressure at that depth
is incredible, said Haru
Matsumoto, an Oregon State
University ocean engineer who
along with NOAA engineer
Chris Meinig helped to develop a hydrophone capable of
withstanding such pressure.
In average person’s home or
office, the atmospheric pressure
is about 14.7 pounds per square
inch; at the bottom of the
Mariana Trench, it is more than
16,000 PSI. Partnering with the
US Coast Guard, the researchers
deployed the hydrophone from
the Guam-based cutter Sequoia
in July, last year.
For the past several
months, Dziak and his colleagues have been analysing the
sounds and differentiating natural sounds from ships and
other human activities.
while leaving the specifics to
be worked out later. “It is
important that Sri Lanka
should have a robust trade
relationship with India. A
trade agreement should be
entered into only after a proper study of the possible problems and impediments that
could arise. We must learn
from our experiences with
the 1998 Free Trade
Agreement with India
which ran into many problems in implementation,” he
said. Issues such as ports of
entry, product certification,
down every week in the UK as
part of the Government’s efforts
to counter the terrorist group’s
propaganda to entice new
recruits from the West to war
zones in Syria and Iraq.
Websites, Facebook and
Twitter accounts are frequently
used by ISIS to promote its propaganda and entice new young
recruits from the West to war
zones in Syria and Iraq.
According to the Star on Sunday,
latest figures show 55,000 sites
hosting extremist material were
taken down in 2015.
The Counter Terrorism
Internet Referral Unit – a
police squad run by Scotland
Yard which fights online
extremism – has removed
140,000 items of propaganda in
the past five years and the vast
majority was linked to Islamic
extremism.
Government on entering into
the proposed Economic and
Technology Cooperation
Agreement (ETCA) with
India saying it should take the
nation into confidence before
signing the deal.
In a statement, Rajapaksa
said that not enough information has been made available by the Government on
the proposed pact.
“The Government has
indicated that they intend to
sign an Economic and
Technological Cooperation
Agreement with India this
month.
Neither
the
Parliament, nor the general
public have been officially
informed about the contents
of this proposed agreement,”
he said.
“We gather that the proposed ETCA is not a detailed
document but only a framework agreement which would
leave the specific details on the
trade in goods and services
and investment to be worked
out later,” the statement said.
He
warned
that
Government should not rush
into signing open agreements
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mutual recognition of standards, Indian State laws governing trade and the caps
imposed on certain export
items from Sri Lanka all
became issues that prevented
Sri Lanka from achieving its
full export potential to the
Indian market, the statement
added.
Rajapaksa’s comments
came as the Indian High
?C8 Q ;>=3>=
“future terrorists”, a London-based think tank
said on Sunday. Researchers for Quilliam
found in their study, to be presented in the
British Parliament on Wednesday, that the children are at risk of being indoctrinated by ISIS
to become suicide bombers or killers.
The report, endorsed by the United Nations,
states: “The organisation focuses a large number of its efforts on indoctrinating children
through an extremism-based education curriculum, and fostering them to become future
terrorists. “The current generation of fighters sees
these children as better and more lethal fighters than themselves, because rather than being
converted into radical ideologies they have been
indoctrinated into these extreme values from
birth. “The aim is to prepare a new, stronger, second generation of mujahideen, conditioned and
taught to be a future resource for the group.”
According to the ‘Observer’, the report titled
‘Children of Islamic State’ goes onto state that
ISIS have studied the Nazis, who created the
Hitler Youth movement to brainwash children.
“The area of most concern is that Islamic State
is preparing its army by indoctrinating young
children in its schools and normalising them to
violence through witnessing public executions,
Commissioner here had
expressed his surprise at the
reaction of the opposition
and Rajapaksa to the proposed
ETCA.
Sri Lankan trade unions
and professional groups have
expressed vehement opposition to the deal saying it
would endanger the employment opportunities for Sri
Lankans.
watching Islamic State videos in media centres
and giving children toy weapons to play with,”
the reports says. Researchers for Quilliam
found that children were used extensively in ISIS
propaganda – between 1 August last year and
9 February this year they identified a total of 254
events or statements featuring images of children – to help project the impression of Statebuilding. ISIS also uses children to try to normalise brutality, with the group encouraging
children to hold up decapitated heads or play
football with them.
In the past six months Islamic State propaganda has depicted 12 child killers. ISIS has been
quick to seize control of the education system
in Syria and Iraq, with indoctrination beginning
in schools and intensifying in training camps.
In the camps, children between the ages of 10
and 15 are instructed in Sharia, de-sensitised to
violence, and taught specific skills needed to
serve the State and take up jihad.
Boys learn a rigid ISIS curriculum, from
which drawing, philosophy and social studies –
described as the “methodology of atheism” – have
been removed, while girls, known as the “pearls
of the caliphate”, are veiled, hidden, confined to
the home and taught to look after the men, it said.
The report’s authors recommend the creation of a commission to protect future generations from radical violence and to help monitor and reintegrate children within the European
Union who are at risk of radicalisation.
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t least 18 people drowned
off the Turkish coast while
A
trying to reach Greece today,
while Macedonian authorities
imposed further restrictions
on refugees trying to cross the
Greek border.
The Turkish coast guard
launched a search-and-rescue
mission for other migrants
believed to be missing from the
accident, the State-run
Anadolu Agency reported. The
coast guard rescued 15 other
migrants off the Aegean Sea
resort of Didim, it added.
The dead included three
children, according to private
Dogan
news
agency.
Meanwhile, Greek police officials said Macedonian authorities are only allowing those
from cities they consider to be
at war to cross the Idomeni bor-
der crossing from Greece. That
means people from cities such
as Aleppo in Syria, for example,
can enter, but those from the
Syrian capital of Damascus or
the Iraqi capital of Baghdad are
being stopped. The two officials
spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to speak on the record.
The developments come a
day ahead of a summit between
the European Union and
Turkey to discuss the crisis.
Nearly all refugees and other
migrants who enter the EU
have been doing so by taking
small inflatable dinghies from
the Turkish coast to the nearby Greek islands. With thousands of kilometres of coastline,
Greece says it cannot staunch
the flow unless Turkey stops the
boats from leaving its shores.
Athens has also criticized
Europe for not sticking to
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agreements to take in refugees
in a relocation scheme that
never really got off the ground.
“While Idomeni is closed
for refugees and the flows from
the islands, from the Turkish
shores to the islands, remain, it
must be perfectly clear that the
immediate start of a reliable
process of relocation of
refugees from our country to
0?
other countries of the European
Union is a matter of complete
urgency,” Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras said Sunday during a
speech to his party.
“And this is exactly what we
will seek in the summit on
Monday. Not just the wording
that this is urgent, but that it will
begin immediately and with a
large number,” Tsipras said.
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n our country, some sections of the media thrive
by criticising every move
of the Government — no
matter what the latter
does. The latest case involves the
sedition charges filed against
some students of Jawaharlal
Nehru University including its
student union president
Kanhaiya Kumar for some
offensive sloganeering.
Section 124A of the Indian
Penal Code says that, “Whoever
by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings
or attempts to bring into hatred
or contempt, or excites or
attempts to excite disaffection
towards the Government established by law in India, shall be
punished with imprisonment
for life, to which fine may be
added, or with imprisonment
which may extend to three years,
to which fine may be added, or
with fine”.
The section further explains
that, “The expression ‘disaffection’, includes disloyalty and all
feelings of enmity” and clarifies
that, “Comments expressing disapprobation of the administrative or other action of the
Government without exciting or
attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not
constitute an offence under
this section”.
The so-called thinkers and
self-labelled intellectuals do not
always know about the situation
is many parts of the country and,
hence, pontificate that the IPC,
drafted in the colonial period,
needs to be changed to accommodate the liberal democratic
ideas of the modern era.
Most of whose who rant
against the nation are publicity
seekers, whose words are blown
out of proportion by the media,
to increase its own TRP ratings.
Otherwise, it makes little sense
as to why persons who have
made minimal contribution to
the country, and do little else but
talk, should be given so much
media attention. For some sections of the media, it is blasphemy to quote any point of view
that goes against their own ideological leanings.
Recently, a particular paper
has quoted a judge who had
delivered a verdict on sedition in
1995. According to the judge, the
case against Mr Kumar “does not
amount to sedition.” Now, there
is nothing sacrosanct about one
judgement on sedition and it
must be viewed in the context of
I
other judgements delivered.
In the landmark 1962 case of
Kedar Nath Singh vs State of
Bihar, the Supreme Court said,
“Section 124A of the Indian
Penal Code which makes sedition an offence is constitutionally valid. Though the section
imposes restrictions on the fundamental freedom of speech
and expression, the restrictions
are in the interest of public
order and are within the ambit
of permissible legislative interference with the fundamental
right. Keeping in mind the reasons for the introduction of
Section 124A and the history of
sedition, the section must be so
construed as to limit its application to acts involving intention
or tendency to create disorder,
or disturbance of law and order;
or incitement to violence.” Even
former Chief Justice of India
Justice HL Dattu said, “All judgements, or taking a view on any
case, is judge-centric.”
If one is to go by news
reports, the JNU meeting held to
eulogise Afzal Guru, the mastermind of the Parliament attack,
was nothing short of treason.
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Also, even though university
officials had given permission
for this meeting, the organisers
were not clear in stating their
actual purpose.
Moreover, it may be alright
to theorise about Afzal Guru and
others of his ilk, in the safe airconditioned offices of Delhi or
in the well-protected campus of
JNU, but the Army and the
paramilitary work under entirely different circumstances.
For example, successive
Governments, irrespective of
the party in power, have been
trying to end terrorism in
Kashmir, as had been previously done in Punjab, but haven’t
been fully successful. Recently,
there was a terror attack
in Pampore, Kashmir.
And according to media
reports, as soldiers fought terrorists, mosques in the vicinity
hailed the mujahideens.
Throughout the day, as fighting
continued between soldiers and
terrorists, the mosques in
Frestabal, Drangbal, Kadlabal
and Sempora played recordings
eulogising terrorists, praising
Pakistan and demanding azadi.
B>D=318C4
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A large group of youngsters
also assembled close to the
encounter site to physically prevent the security forces from
launching combat operations.
One of the reasons for such
radicalisation has been that
Kashmir has been ethnically
cleansed of minorities (with the
Government of India as a mute
spectator). As a result, terrorists
and their local friends are now
ruling the roost.
Also, many terrorists have
been pampered in the hope that
they will change their ways;
many were even welcomed back
into this country after having
fought against India from across
the border.
The Government in Jammu
& Kashmir, in a misguided bid
to bring the terrorists into the
mainstream, has even been providing financial assistance to the
family members of slain militants. The children, widows and
parents of such militants receive
aid from the rehabilitation council of the State’s Social Welfare
Department. It nothing but
yielding to them. The
Government’s logic is that the
children of militants shouldn’t
suffer since they are not at fault.
The Government doesn’t
realise that it is opening
Pandora’s box — those who
have deserted India and have
sought to destroy the country
deserve severe punishment.
Moreover, the financial is taxpayer money and deserves to be
better utilised.
As per the recommendations of 14th Finance
Commission, which have been
“in-principle” accepted by the
Government, Jammu & Kashmir
will get the maximum grant,
among the 11 revenue-deficit
States, of about C60,000 crore,
for the five-year period ending
March 2020.
A Kashmiri reportedly gets
eight times more money from
the Union Government than
citizens from other States. While
per capita assistance to other
States moved from C576.24 in
1992-1993 to C1,137 in 20002001, for J&K, that figure went
from C3,197 to C8,092.
The Government of India is
well aware of how terrorism was
contained in Punjab and West
Bengal. Still, it is applying double standards in Kashmir and
spending Indian tax-payer
money on appeasing terrorists,
some of whom have high positions of power and influence in
the State.
9VdXUi`_\YdYSQ\bYfQ\c
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Sir — This refers to the editorial, “They deserve no mercy”
(March 5). I fully agree with the
views expressed in the editorial
that the Government must ensure
that the killers of former Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi are not
spared. They should pay the full
price for the crime they committed. Also, if they are released, it
will send the wrong message to
other criminals, who too will
demand pardon. A good decision
on part of the Union Government
is expected in this regard.
Sravana Ramachandran
Chennai
5^T\_WZQ]
Sir — This refers to the article,
“Shifting the focus from campaign
to policy” (March 4) by Kalvakuntla
Kavitha. The success of the Make
in India campaign hinges not only
on an active campaign to attract
foreign investment for our manufacturing sector, along with the
implementation of various policies,
but also on the passage of key legislations which includes the Goods
and Services Tax Bill.
Dhruv Bhardwaj
Noida
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WTTgRT[[TSPbB_TPZTa^UcWT;^ZBPQWPCWa^dVWWXbVaPRX^dbb\X[TWd\X[
XchfXcWd\^daaTb_TRcU^abT]X^a_^[XcXRXP]bP]ScWT^RRPbX^]P[aTQdZTc^SXb
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:PYP[2WPccTaYTT
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9^c`YbY^WQSd_b
Sir — Veteran actor-director
Manoj Kumar has been rightly
rewarded with the Dadasaheb
Phalke award for his immense
contribution to Hindi cinema.
He deserves full credit for converting celluloid patriotism into
a profitable box-office strategy.
Today, he remains one of the
most prominent figures of
Indian film industry. He has
been a cult artist and an
inspiration for many generations
of actors.
Vinod C Dixit
Ahmedabad
4YcWbQSUVe\S_^TeSd
Sir — This refers to the report,
“Kanhaiya’s bail rider ‘defang
your thought’” (March 3).
Students at Jawaharlal Nehru
University were celebrating the
bail, granted by the Delhi High
Court, to their role model and
students’ union president
Kanhaiya Kumar.
These students in general,
and the Afzal Guru-friendly
gang in particular, should not be
ecstatic as the bail is not only
interim and conditional, but
also carries some caveats.
One of such caveats is that
Mr Kumar has been ordered to
stay away from anti-national
activities and must ensure that
no seditious activity takes place
on campus.
The concerned judge has
rightly lambasted such students
who enjoy the liberty of raising
anti-national slogans and celebrating the martyrdom of
Parliament attack mastermind
Afzal Guru, without realising
that they are safe only because
of our security forces who are
guarding our borders.
If the released student has
even an iota of shame over his
misadventure, he should resign
from the presidentship of the
students’ union. But we know
that this will not happen.
Sagar Singh
Delhi
3_bbUSdY_^
Sir — This refers to the editorial, “They deserve no mercy”
(March 5). Rajiv Gandhi was
referred to as the sitting Prime
Minister of India when assassinated. He was a former Prime
Minister at that time.
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he nation was recently witness
to an extraordinary and stunning revelation by a top-ranking former bureaucrat, of how
the previous United
Progressive Alliance Government compromised the country’s security in 2009,
just to defame and besmirch the image
of Mr Narendra Modi after it dawned
that its leaders were absolutely no match
to his growing popularity.
While it is well-known that the
Congress was always hard on nationalists
and soft on terrorists, it is unimaginable
that it would go the extent of jeopardising the nation’s security for targeting a single individual and even misleading the
judiciary in the process. This foul and diabolical gameplan of the UPA regime was
exposed by none other than former
Home Secretary, GK Pillai, who revealed
that the affidavit describing Ishrat Jahan
and Javed Ghulam Sheikh as terrorists was
changed after a decision to that effect was
taken at the highest political level.
However, this wicked deed of the
Congress-led UPA Government got
drowned in the cacophony of other
developments, with the media in general also not giving the importance it
deserved in view of the grave implications
for the nation’s security and the misuse of
independent investigating agencies like the
Central Bureau of Investigation and the
Intelligence Bureau for political ends.
Terrorism has no religion, but the
Congress always believed in and practised vote-bank politics and showed no
qualms in weakening the essential pillars of a democratic polity like an independent judiciary and various constitutional bodies. History is replete with
instances — be it the Shah Bano case,
abolition of the Terrorist and Disruptive
Activities (Prevention) Act or the man-
T
ner in which JS Bhindranwale was initially encouraged and supported and later
condemned, forcing the Government to
send the Army into the Golden Temple.
Just to jog one’s memory, it is worth
pointing out that the IB in 2004 had
unravelled a diabolical plot hatched by
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba to create havoc in the
country by killing important leaders. The
terrorist organisation also planned to
assassinate Mr Modi, who was the Chief
Minister of Gujarat at that time. It was
confirmed by the IB and the Crime
Branch that four of those behind the plot
were terrorists.
Subsequently, the Union Home
Ministry in an affidavit filed in 2009 submitted that Ishrat Jahan and Javed
Ghulam Sheikh were terrorists, even as the
LeT website claimed the former to be a
martyr. Two months later, another affidavit was filed contradicting the previous
stand and a charge-sheet was filed
through CBI against the Gujarat police
and the IB.
In the wake of former Home
Secretary’s exposure of the sinister conspiracy executed during the UPA
regime, the statement of the Mumbai
blast accused David Coleman Headley
that Ishrat was a terrorist clearly
acquires greater credibility.
This certainly was not the only
instance when the Congress acted in a
manner detrimental to national interest and compromised the nation’s security for vote-bank politics. Soon after
the Batla encounter in which one
inspector was martyred and two terrorists were killed, the Congress went to
town saying it was a fake encounter till
the Delhi High Court justified it.
However, four years later, Congress
leader Salman Khurshid was again at it
and tried to use the incident to garner
votes of the minorities by saying that
Congress president Sonia Gandhi was
saddened by the encounter.
And falling into the pattern of the
Congress’ divisive politics is the latest
statement of former Minister for Home
Affairs P Chidambaram, who faulted
the hanging of Parliament attack
accused Afzal Guru and virtually questioned the wisdom of the Supreme
Court by saying …”perhaps Afzal
Guru’s hanging was not correctly decided” and that there were grave doubts
over the extent of his involvement.
Mr Chidambaram had the gumption to make such an illogical observation after the highest court of the land
found the incident to be rarest of the
rare in nature. The verdict of the
Supreme Court reads,… “The gravity
of the crime… is something which cannot be described in words. The incident, which resulted in heavy casualties, had shaken the entire nation and
the collective conscience of the society
will only be satisfied if the capital punishment is awarded to the offender. The
challenge to the unity, integrity and sovereignty of India…can only be compensated by giving the maximum punishment…The appellant, who is a surrendered militant and who was bent upon
repeating the acts of treason against the
nation, is a menace to the society and
his life should become extinct.
Accordingly, we uphold the death sentence”. It might not be out of context to
mention here that eminent jurist, Mr
Soli Sorabjee had stated that the next
logical course after the rejection of
mercy petition had been taken in the
aftermath of Afzal Guru’s hanging.
In fact, another former Home
Secretary, Mr RK Singh, pointed out that
Mr Chidambaram never recommended
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t’s not only jugaad. The people of India have developed
some serious technologies,
policies and programmes that
could find merit in other developing countries faced with similar issues. In keeping with the
challenges of implementing the
16 ambitious yet non-negotiable
sustainable development goals,
concerted knowledge exchange
between countries could mark a
refreshing chapter in the Make in
India story. The Millennium
Development Goals and now the
SDGs have focused on the need
for partnerships. The MDG balance-sheet revealed that, while
progress was made, much more
was needed, and hence the ambitious SDGs.
There is widespread recognition that existing approaches
have not delivered change at the
pace and scale required in global development. The report card
on partnerships in the MDGs
was downright poor.
I
New and stronger partnerships are required to share ideas
and work together effectively,
thus, the SDGs cannot be
ignored. Non-governmental
agencies in India are often
approached to share knowledge.
Some efforts fail while others succeed. What really makes partnerships tick? Is there a formula?
Catchy phrase aside, SouthSouth learning does offer an
opportunity for cross-learning
and development at low cost.
India makes for a curious
partner for knowledge exchange.
In terms of depravation, poverty, anemia in women, undernutrition and lack of sanitation,
the country has some of the
largest numbers. Yet it has some
of the largest Government-funded programmes in the world —
in sanitation for example. Civil
society and research institutions
have addressed several challenges. Women self-help groups
are successfully managing small
enterprises and villagers are getting into some serious water budgeting, its conservation and judicious use. Three of the
Stockholm Water awardees are
Indian. The diversity and complexity makes India a good candidate for knowledge exchange.
Learning from previous experiences of knowledge partnerships can create a blueprint.
The starting point is
demand, which is the key.
Knowledge to be shared should
be strictly on need-basis and not
shoved down the throats of
unwilling countries.
Establish credibility: Identify
key and performing partners
on both sides, one the provider
and the other, the user. If the
provider is not capable, the effort
will result in loss of face and a
waste of effort. Similarly, if the
partner who is interested in
absorbing the knowledge, is not
capable of absorbing and using
the knowledge, the exercise will
be fruitless.
Establish contact and engage:
This is critical. Establish contact
with all stakeholders so that the
requisite knowledge is accepted,
piloted and absorbed into policy and widespread practice.
Engaging with the Government
for programme and policy formulation, and with industry that
may need to change practices as
a result of technology and policy shift, is important. If the
change has financial implications,
industry may turn hostile to the
technology. Involving them
becomes important.
Be realistic to avoid red
faces: Promising the moon,
that too in unrealistic timeframes, leads to bad blood, distrust and knowledge rejection.
This damages reputations as
well as the partnership concept,
and must be avoided.
Be focused but flexible:
Whether over exchanges on policies and programmes or technol-
ogy transfer, the visualised
smooth transfer is often a bumpy
ride. Unexpected challenges crop
up, and need to be addressed.
Changes may have to be incorporated, and time-frames altered
to suit the purpose.
Have a plan. It is important
to be clear-headed on how to
move forward, on what is being
offered on the plate, what the
results and their measurement
will be.
Demonstrate. Nothing works
like a good old ‘demo’. Bring the
folks over to show what you have
and then demonstrate a pilot on
their lands under their conditions
and with their people. Peer-topeer interaction helps. Build
capacity and be part of the
implementation journey, even for
a bit beyond to trouble-shoot.
Find a local home. Being
pilots, the knowledge-exchange
effort needs to find an institutional home so that it can be contextualised and scaled-up.
clemency to Afzal Guru as he never saw
scope for it. On the other hand, he
approved the file and sent it to the
President of India. The former Home
Secretary averred that Mr Chidambaram
should have made a mention on the file
if he had entertained any doubts at that
point of time. Mr Singh said, who took
over as Home Secretary after Mr Pillai,
told to a news channel: “When the
Intelligence Bureau has told you about
her background and you file an affidavit,
then what was the need to change the
affidavit? That mean you are playing politics with anti-terror operations.”
Apparently, Mr Chidambaram is
trying to be the champion of minorities by resorting to cheap political gimmicks with scant respect to judiciary.
The Congress leader’s statement that
minorities were unsafe in the country
shows that the Congress was back to its
old game and was acting in a systematic manner to create fear psychosis
among minorities. Such statements by
a former Home Minister and other
Congress leaders would embolden antinational elements and destroy the social
fabric of the country. The time has come
for Mr Chidambaram and his ilk to
realise that it was the Congress which was
facing an existential crisis and feeling
insecure and not the minorities.
Finally, the Congress owes an explanation and apology to the nation on the
issues of Ishrat Jahan and Afzal Guru,
especially in the light of the damming
revelations and the uncharitable and
highly irresponsible remarks of Mr
Chidambaram. The people of the country have a right to know the true stand
of the Congress on the two issues.
(The writer is Union Urban
Development and Parliamentary
Affairs Minister)
WKLQN
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8=38A0:7DA0=0
Have a sustainability and exit
plan: Institutionalising and integrating into policy are some
options for ensuring sustainability. Don’t let your livelihood
depend on your presence there.
Lastly, remember the meaning of partnership and base your
relationship on principles of
equity. Listen carefully and treat
others with respect. Just because
you have something to share does
not make you any better.
These are lessons learned
somewhat the hard way in sectors such as watershed development and water conservation,
drinking water and sanitation,
renewable energy, green technologies, enterprise and entrepreneurship development. India’s
work in these and other sectors
is in demand. This could just be
your guide to get it right.
(The writer is Policy Lead:
Food Security, Resource Scarcity
and Climate Change with
IPE Global)
6
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03780
8`geTR_¶ehRZgVeRi`_G`URW`_V4RZc_+2UYZR
=4F 34;78) Government
cannot waive the multi- billion dollar tax liabilities that
Vodafone and Cairn Energy
face, although it has done
the most it could in offering
to re move i nte re st and
penalty if the principal is
paid, Revenue Secretar y
Hasmukh Adhia has said.
In an interview to the
news agency, Adhia said the
Government had earlier
indicated to companies facing taxes owing to enactment of a law that retrospectively taxed their business, to waive interest and
penalty upon payment of
principal amount as means
to settle the tax dispute outof-court.
The Budget for 2016-17
now makes the offer more
formal and puts it on statue,
he said. “The Government
has defined its limits. This is
how far we can go.”
He added: “Earlier, it
was only the signal that we
were giving. Now it has
come in the statute. The
Government has now said
that this is how far we can
go... The Government has
shown that this is the best
7XUQHGGRZQE\)OLSNDUW
,,7LDQIORRGHGZLWKMRERIIHUV
=4F 34;78) IITian Akash
Mittal may not have measured up to the expectations of Flipkart, but the
product listing-like presentation of his resume on
the e-commerce platform
has made many start-ups sit
up, take notice and flood
him with concrete job
offers.
The unorthodox style
pitchforked the 23-yearold into limelight last week
after he uploaded a screenshot of his profile on the
Flipkart website -- just like
the way a product is listed
-- which went viral on the
social media.
Pursuing t he f i na l
semester of his five-year
i nte g r ate d
O c e an
Engineering programme at
IIT Kharagpur, Akash is
now examining all the
offers before him, which
include one of chief technology officer.
This innovative idea of
resume presentation was
born after Flipkart came
calling to the campus for
recruitment, but Akash did
not make the cut out of
1,500 applicants.
“Being a six-pointer
(CGPA), I knew I will never
get through. So, I tried
something innovative,” he
told the news agency while
explaining the chain of
events that led to the listinglike uploading of t he
resume.
“I then made a screenshot of a Flipkart listing
page with information
about myself on photoshop
and uploaded it on the website’s career page,” he said.
Akash, w ho was
broug ht up in D elhi,
claimed that he has been
receiving many job offers
after the screenshot went
viral. “After this thing got
viral, I have received a number of offers, including that
of chief product manager
and chief technology officer. I am studying the offers
and will pick up the best
one after my course ends at
IIT,” he said.
While Flipkart declined
to comment on the matter,
Akash said he expects the ecommerce major to at least
“appreciate his efforts”, but has
not received any call so far.
Iron i c a l l y, A k a s h’s
book ‘It Wasn’t Her Fault’,
written last year, is on sale
on Flipkart as well as
Amazon.
?C8
we can do and that’s why we
are putting it in the statute.”
E x p l a i n i n g w hy t h e
Government could not completely waive the tax
demands raised against the
MNCs, he said retrospective
amendment to Income Tax
Act was brought in by the
previous Government and
the current Government
cannot undo it completely.
“Retrospective law was
n ot
d on e
by
this
Government, it was done
by previous Government.
Now for this Government to
waive the entire thing looks
little odd. So this is why the
Government has said that
this is how far we can go,”
Adhia said.
UK oil explorer Cairn
Energ y is facing a tax
demand of C10,247 crore on
a 2006 business reorganisation it carried out in its
India unit before getting it
listed.
The company says it has
paid all taxes due and there
was no unpaid liability. It
invoked India-UK BIPA to
take the government to arbitration over the issue.
British telecom giant
Vodafone is also facing tax
liability over its $11-billion
acquisition of 67 per cent
stake in the mobile-phone
bu s i n e s s
ow n e d
by
Hutchison Whampoa in
2007.
While the UK telecom
group says it does not owe
any tax as the transaction was
conducted offshore, the
Income Tax Department is
seeking taxes on the deal
because it involved assets in
this country. Arbitration has
been initiated on this issue as
well.
To a query, what if the
6HELWRGU\IXQGUDLVLQJ
WDSVIRUZLOIXOORDQGHIDXOWHUV
=4F 34;78) Putting its weight
behind the RBI and the government in their fight against
bad loans, regulator Sebi plans
to make it tougher for ‘wilful
defaulters’ and their companies
to raise funds from the capital
markets.
The proposed move, likely
to be discussed by the board of
Sebi in its next meeting, aims to
dry the fund-raising taps for the
wilful defaulters of bank loans
and also safeguard the interest of
small investors.
Some entities tend to tap
equity and debt markets for
funds after banks stop giving
credit for willfully defaulting on
their existing loans, but small
investors get trapped due to lack
of information about their
‘defaulter’ status.
However, there is a counterview that a complete fund- raising ban on ‘wilful defaulters’
could come in way of the promoters of a listed company
seeking to infuse fresh funds,
which may hurt the interest of
minority shareholders.
Seeking to strike a balance,
the Securities and Exchange
Board of India (Sebi) is mulling
putting curbs on IPOs and
FPOs by such entities where
funds are raised from the public.
However, they can be
allowed to tap existing shareholders including promoters by
way of rights issue, private
placement or preferential allotment, a senior official said.
An individual or a company is declared ‘wilful defaulter’
for deliberate non-payment of
the dues despite adequate cash
flow and good net worth and for
siphoning off funds to the
detriment of the defaulting unit.
Other factors leading to
such declaration by banks
include assets not being purchased as per the financing
conditions or proceedings being
misutilised.
An entity can also be
declared wilful defaulter for
misrepresentation or falsification
of records, for disposal or
removal of securities without
bank’s knowledge and for fraudulent deals.
RBI had initially approached
Sebi to put curbs on fund-raising activities of wilful defaulters,
after which the capital markets
regulator had started a process of
seeking inputs from all the stakeholders for such a move.
',3$01,7,KROGILUVWPHHWLQJIRUVHOHFWLQJ368VIRUVDOH
=4F 34;78) Setting the ball
rolling on strategic sale of
state-owned companies,
DIPAM and NITI Aayog have
started discussions to identify
the PSUs that can be sold outright during the next fiscal.
“We want to plan early so
that these sales can be staggered
through next fiscal. DIPAM
Secretary and senior officials of
NITI Aayog have held the first
meeting for identification of
PSUs,” a Government official
told the news agency.
Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley had said in the Union
Budget 2016-17 speech that
NITI Aayog will identify Public
Sector Units that would be eligible for strategic sale.
“The meeting discussed
some of the possible candidates
for outright sale and more
meetings would be held for taking it further. We do not want
to wait for next fiscal to begin
the process,” the official said.
In order to revive strategic
stake sale of PSUs, the
Department of Disinvestment,
which was carved out of the
Finance Ministry in 1999, has
been renamed as the
Department of Investment and
Public Asset Management
(DIPAM).
The Government has budgeted to raise C20,500 crore
through strategic stake sale in
PSUs.
With no strategic stake
companies, which have been
contesting the tax demands,
end up not accepting the
offer to pay the principal
amount, Adhia said: “It is for
them to take it or not. But the
Government’s sovereign right
to recover will remain”.
“In order to give an
opportunity to the past cases
which are ongoing under the
retrospective amendment, I
propose a one-time scheme
of Dispute Resolution for
them,” Jaitley had said while
presenting Budget for 201617 in Parliament on February
29.
?C8
sale policy being in place, the
Government could not in the
current fiscal privatise any
PSU. But now a Core Group of
Secretaries on Disinvestment or
CGD on strategic sale has been
set up.
Further, the Government is
in the process of appointing
Independent
External
Monitors (IEM) to oversee the
strategic disinvestment process
and also settle grievances, if
any.
The Government last week
came out with a policy for
strategic sale of PSUs wherein
a Cabinet Secretary-headed
inter-ministerial panel will look
into the recommendations
made by the NITI Aayog and
advice the Cabinet on mode
and quantum of disinvestment.
It would also lay down
guidelines for evaluation by
Evaluation Committee as well
as recommend the terms and
conditions of sale including
transaction document, the price
of sale and the strategic partner.
It would also supervise and
monitor the process of implementation of CCEA decisions
on strategic disinvestment.
Appointment of intermediaries such as merchant
bankers and legal advisors for
the disinvestment would be
done by an inter-ministerial
group with DIPAM Secretary as
its head.
?C8
Another proposal seeks to
bar a wilful defaulter from taking control of any other listed
company.
However, such companies or
individuals can be allowed to
make a counter offer in case of
a hostile bid from another entity, as such capital market dealings would involve outgo of
funds, rather than raising of capital by a ‘wilful defaulter’.
Sebi has already relaxed its
norms for banks to take control
of the companies that have failed
to clear their dues despite going
through a corporate debt restructuring process.
The decision follows discussions between various regulators and government departments to tighten the regulatory
noose on wilful defaulters, especially in the wake of many such
cases coming to fore in recent
months.
Some of the entities that
have been declared ‘wilful
defaulters’ in the recent past
include those associated with
Vijay Mallya-led UB Group after
collapse of its aviation venture
Kingfisher Airlines.
?C8
5HWURVSHFWLYHWD[DWLRQLV
DQRUP9RGDIRQHVKRXOG
SD\WD[ZLWKLQWHUHVW
<0=>9608A>;0
etrospective taxation is a
practice followed all over
R
the world. There was no need
for Finance Minister Arun
Jaitely to announce, in his
Budget speech, any dispute
resolution scheme for companies that have avoided paying
legitimate taxes.
Mr Jaitley said that the
companies would get waiver of
interest and penalty provided
they withdraw all appeals
against the Government in all
judicial forums, including international arbitration.
Retrospective taxation was
brought in by the UPA regime,
thanks to a Supreme Court
judgement favouring Vodafone.
After the judgement, the Indian
Government had no option
but to follow international practice in such cases, ie, brining in
retrospective legislation.
In the UK, where Vodafone
is headquartered, the
Government brought in retrospective legislation in 2012 that
forced Barclays Bank to pay 500
million pounds tax and stop its
‘tax avoidance’ schemes.
Vodafone case is very simple. It is a case of tax avoidance
when it bought Hutchison’s
share in the Telco. When the
Indian authorities raised tax
demands, the company went to
the courts and got favourable
judgement.
The Supreme Court
Judgment said that the way the
deal was structured resulted in
a tax avoidance situation and
not evasion. There is a statement in the judgment that sug-
gests we simply “look at” but
not dissect and “look through”
the facts.
It means that it is the
Government’s duty to shut
down all loopholes in the legislation and not that of the
Courts. So the Government
brought in the legislation.
Vodafone case is very simple. It bought Hutchison’s equity in Hutchison Essar Limited
in 2007. It didn’t pay any capital gain tax to Indian government. Vodafone claims that it
has not made any capital gains.
It is right.
Primarily, the tax is not due
from Vodafone (the buyer),
but from the seller (Hutchison).
Vodafone’s crime is that it
should have withheld the capital gains tax and paid it to the
Government. Whether or not
Vodafone withheld the amount
can be found out by going
through their books for provisions they must have made
against such possible liabilities.
It is highly naïve to assume
that Vodafone would not have
withheld the capital gains tax
amount, sillier to have assumed
that none was payable.
Now the question is why
Vodafone did not raise hue and
cry when the Government in its
own country was bringing in
retrospective taxation. Why it
is creating scene in India? Is it
because of maligned reputation
of India being a banana republic that has a corrupt system and
anyone can play around with it?
If India wants to attract
FDI, it should not offer any ‘dispute resolution’ scheme to tax
defaulters. It should be firm in
its action and should not give
a signal that India is a banana
republic and anyone can play
with its tax system.
Investors and foreign companies like stable regulatory and
taxation regime and not a corrupt regime where it can survive without paying taxes.
(The writer is a Senior
Journalist)
µ1HZ,UGDLQRUPVWRHQVXUH
IDVWHUJURZWKRIJHQHUDOLQVXUHUV¶
<D<108) The C84,000-crore
general insurance industry feels
that the ‘use and file’ norms
unveiled recently by Irdai will
ensure faster growth in the
industry, though the regulations
may lead to price rise of such
products.
The new norms, coming
into force from April 1, will
allow marketing of corporate
products even before the regulatory approval.
“The new system would
enable insurers to adapt faster to
the requirements of commercial
entities. All of these changes are
positive, indeed path breaking,” ICICI Lombard General
Insurance managing director
and chief executive Bhargav
Dasgupta told the news agency.
“We have asked the industry body General Insurance
Council (GIC) to prepare the
common wordings while
designing covers for the corporates,” New India Assurance
CMD G Srinivasan, who is also
the chairman of GIC, said.
“A price rise across the
segments is very much expected”, he said without divulging
any further details.
According to Srinivasan,
the new norms will bring in a
great deal of discipline in the
general insurance industry
improving the financials of the
industry.
“With the stipulation that
the general insurers have to
operate under 100 per cent
combined ratio, the industry
should see rate hardening
which over a period of time
would ensure underwriting
profits,” SBI General senior
vice president, marketing and
product development Gunjan
Ghai said.
?C8
1LVVDQKLWVDQRWKHU-9EXPSHURQ,QGLDQURDGV
=4F 34;78) When it comes to
joint ventures, India has again
proved to be a difficult terrain for
Japan’s $100-billion auto giant
Nissan, with partner Ashok
Leyland dragging it to court
alleging violation of local licensing conditions and breach of
partnership agreement.
While Nissan’s Leyland JV
has hit a roadblock after eight
years of togetherness, its muchpublicised proposed partnership
with Bajaj Auto to make ultra-low
cost cars could never take off and
had to be shelved eventually.
Besides, Nissan’s global
alliance partner Renault also
had to face partnership blues in
India when its tie-up with
Mahindra and Mahindra ran into
rough weather and the Indian
auto giant bought out the foreign
partner from their JV here.
Another tie-up that broke in
India was Nissan’s marketing
partnership with Hover
Automotive, which was promoted as a master franchise
concept in the country and
ended up as yet another unravelling of various partnerships
sewed or proposed by RenaultNissan’s global chief Carlos
Ghosn, who has always been
known to be bullish on the India
growth story.
When asked about numerous JV failures, Nissan India put
up a brave face and said that its
“joint ventures with Ashok
Leyland are the only joint ventures Nissan have in India” and
the assumption that it had multiple JVs was incorrect.
“The alliance between
Nissan and Renault is the most
enduring and successful in the
history of the auto industry. Our
growth worldwide has been has
built on long-term partnerships.
“In case of Ashok Leyland,
we are disappointed they walked
away from negotiations and took
the most serious option of legal
action, which we maintain is
unwarranted. Nissan wants an
amicable solution so we can
concentrate on building great
vehicles for our customers,” a
Nissan India spokesperson told
the news agency in reply to
queries about problems with the
JVs.
While an Ashok Leyland
spokesperson declined to comment on queries regarding the
problems in the company’s partnership with Nissan, the tie-up is
headed for a break-up with both
the sides having served notices
and counter-notices to each
other.
The Indian partner has
dragged Renault Nissan
Automotive India Pvt Ltd
(RNAIPL) to the court over
alleged violations of contract
agreement and flouting of Export
Promotion Capital Goods
(EPCG) scheme regulations.
In May 2008, Ashok Leyland
and Nissan had formed three JVs
-- Ashok Leyland Nissan Vehicles
Ltd (ALNVL) for vehicles manufacturing, Nissan Ashok
Leyland Power Train Ltd
(NALPT) for making power
trains, and a technology JV
Nissan Ashok Leyland
Technologies Ltd (NALT).
The partners have invested
about C1,000 crore as equity
between then.
Adding to the troubled relations, Nissan has served a termination notice for the technology joint venture and the differences continue to grow between
the partners.
Ashok Leyland, a 51 per cent
shareholder in its joint venture
with Japan’s Nissan Motor, has
filed the suit to “protect and safeguard the interest” of the JV company, Ashok Leyland Nissan
Vehicles Ltd, saying it was not getting the necessary cooperation
from the members of the board
representing the remaining 49
per cent shareholding.
Ashok Leyland is engaged in
the business of manufacturing
and selling commercial vehicles
for the last 65 years and had a
turnover of $2.2 billion in 2014-
15 with present across 50 countries. Ashok Leyland had entered
into various JV understandingswith Japan’s Nissan Motor
Company to commence light
commercial vehicles business.
This included a JV agreement for
formation of Ashok Leyland
Nissan Vehicles Ltd for the specific purpose of manufacturing
and selling certain vehicles.
The JV was to draw upon the
expertise and strength of Nissan
and its associate Renault Nissan.
It was also agreed that Renault
Nissan Automotive India Ltd
may manufacture its own branded vehicles, without conflicting
with the requirement under the
agreement between Ashok
Leyland and Nissan.
The JV company was set up
to manufacture various light and
medium commercial vehicles
and passenger vehicles and it also
imported various high value
machinery, equipment and tooling worth C334 crore for the purpose of manufacturing two vehi-
cles -- Stile and Evalia which were
to be made by Renault Nissan
Automotive India under a specific contract.
While importing specific
plant parts and tools for the production of the two vehicles, the
JV availed of ‘Export Promotion
Capital Goods Scheme’ by specifically mentioning the name of
location to which they were to be
imported.
Out of the items imported
under this scheme worth C334
crore, items worth C117 crore
were installed and placed at the
manufacturing facility of
Renault Nissan. Rest of the
imported items were installed
at the location of other vendors,
suppliers and contract manufacturers.
The licence conditions prohibited removal of all imported items from the place mentioned in the licence.
Ashok Leyland said certain
interested parties decided to
impair the production of the
two vehicles during May 2015,
after which Directorate General
of Central Excise Intelligence
raised a claim on the JV for the
payment of duties which were
waived off at the time of availing EPCG scheme.
DCGEI also observed certain wrongful use or diversion
of certain assets supplied by the
JV company in the premises of
Renault Nissan and alleged
that Renault Nissan was wrongfully using certain items
imported by the JV under
EPCG licence.
Nissan however assured
that there was no misuse of the
EPCG assets and tried to persuade Leyland to allow Renault
Nissan to purchase the said
assets from the JV.
Ashok Leyland has now
alleged that Nissan was “only
looking out for ways and means
of saving Renault Nissan India
and is attempting to waive the
breach committed by Renault
Nissan India to forego the loss-
es caused due to the wrongful
use of the items without any
authority and/or permission
an also in violation of law and
the undertakings given by the
Renault Nissan India”.
Ashok Leyland said it is
interested in taking appropriate
action to salvage the situation,
but Nissan is not extending the
necessary cooperation and is
“only interested in compelling
and arm-twisting” it to agree to
its terms relating to regularising the breach committed by
Renault Nissan India.
In another complaint,
Ashok Leyland said Nissan
Motor on February 12, 2016
abruptly issued a termination
notice, terminating Technology
Transfer
and
License
Agreement with respect to a 5050 technology JV on account of
certain alleged non-payment of
royalty amounting to C2.34
crore without giving any
reminder or notice for the said
royalty payment.
?C8
\^]Th
A0=278k<>=30H k<0A27&! %
?Z_VT`dXVeDVSZ_`UW`c:A@
Wf_UcRZdZ_X^RjYZeC$!!!Tc
=4F34;78) As many as nine
firms, including Ujjivan
Financial S er vices and
Equit as Holding, have
received markets regulator
Sebi’s approval in the first two
months of 2016 to launch
their IPOs to fund business
expansion and meet working
capital requirements.
New Delhi Centre for
Sig ht,
Thyro care
Te chnologies, Ni hi lent
Techonologies, GVR Infra
Projects, Mahanagar Gas,
GNA Axles and Maini
Precision Products too have
got green signal from Sebi to
float their respective initial
share-s ale programme,
according to a data compiled.
Together, these companies are expected to raise at
least C3,315 crore, sources
said.
Most of these companies
plan to utilise IPO (initial
public offering) proceeds for
business expansion as well as
working capital requirements.
Besides, the firms are
taking the IPO route to
achieve the benefits of listing
the equity shares on the
bourses.
Some of the firms believe
the listing of the equity shares
will enhance their brand
name and provide liquidity to
the existing shareholders.
All the nine firms, which
had filed their draft papers
with the S ecurities and
Exchange Board of India
(Sebi) between SeptemberDecember 2015, received
clearance from the regulator
in January and February,
infor mat ion wit h S ebi
showed.
Quantum AMC Director
I V Subramaniam said: “IPO
market will depend on the
equity markets scenario.
Besides, pricing will play a
crucial role.”
The IPO market is
expected to see flurry of
activity in 2016 as there are
20 companies that have
a lre ady s e c ure d S ebi’s
approval to raise C7,315
crore, with 11 still on wait-list
to mop up C5,445 crore,
Prime Database Managing
Director Pranav Haldea had
said.
Besides, many more filings are expected in the near
future, he had added.
Since the beginning of
2016, four companies -- HPL
Electric & Power, Dilip
Buildcon, Quess Corp and
Advanced
Enzyme
Te chnologies -- have
approached Sebi to float their
IPOs, while three firms -Quick Heal Technologies,
TeamLease Ser vices and
Precision Camshafts -- have
already hit the Dalal Street.
In 2015, there were as
many as 20 main-board IPOs,
which together pocketed
about C15,000 crore, making
it the best period in the past
few years in terms of fund
raising through such plans.
In comparison, six IPOs
had hit the market in 2014
and garnered just C1,261
crore, while three firms had
launched their public issues in
2013 to mobilise C1,284 crore.
Individually, Ujjivan’s IPO
comprises fresh issue of equity shares worth up to C650
crore and an offer for sale of
up to 2,49,68,332 scrips by the
existing shareholders.
Last month, Ujjivan had
raised C300 crore from a
clutch of investors in a preIPO placement. Since the
pre-IPO placement is completed, the number of equity shares issued will be
reduced from the fresh issue,
s u bj e c t t o re g u l at or y
requirements, the company
had said.
Equitas Holding’s IPO
consists of fresh issue of
shares to the tune of C600
crore and an equal amount
by selling shares to existing
shareholders, according to
sources.
?C8
CFUJDVVXEVLG\DXFWLRQ
IRU*:SODQWVRQ0DUFK
=4F 34;78) State-owned
NTPC, Essar Power, GMR and
Tata Power are among the
power producers in fray to get
C1,600 crore of Government
subsidy for buying costlier
imported gas for their stranded units.
Third reverse e-auction for
subsidy support for buying 10
million standard cubic meters
per day of gas, which can support 24 gigawatt of generation,
will be held on March 15.
“State-run MSTC Ltd will
conduct third reverse e-auction
to provide a total subsidy of
C1,600 crore for purchasing
RLNG (R-Liquefied Natural
Gas) imported by GAIL on
March 15, 2016,” a senior official told the news agency.
According to the bid document, the auction of stranded gas-based power projects
(SGP) and domestic gas-based
power projects (DGP) will be
held on the same day on March
15 and letter of awards to successful bidder will be issued on
March 18, 2016.
While the Government will
offer C1,400 crore subsidy for
SGPs, the DGPs will be offered
C200 crore to buy imported gas
to run their plants.
A total of 10 MMSCMD of
R-LNG will be imported to run
SGPs as well as DGPs from
April 1, 2016 to September 30,
2016. The expensive 8.9
MMSCMD of gas will be
imported for SGPs whereas
1.1 MMSCMD will be allocated to DGPs for the six month
period, as per the bid document.
This gas subsidy is being
provided under the Power
System Development Fund
(PSDF), a scheme which was
started by the government last
year to revive the gas-based
capacity of 24,150 MW including 14,305 MW of SGPs and
9,845 MW of DGPs.
The companies including
NTPC, Essar, GMR, Lanco,
GVK, Tata Power, Torrent
Power, GSEC, RGPL, RGPPL
(Dabhol), CLP India. As many
31 SGPs and 24 DGPs will participate in the auction.
Every company will participate in auction for each
plant separately to get gas subsidy for running the unit.
Earlier last year, the Centre
had introduced a PSDF scheme
for importing spot RLNG for
the stranded gas and partly
stranded gas-based plants
selected through a reverse ebidding process.
The scheme provides for
financial support from PSDF.
The outlay for the support
from PSDF was fixed at C7,500
crore (C3,500 crore and C4,000
crore for the year 2015-16 and
2016-17 respectively).
Auctions for the 1st phase
(June 1 to September 30, 2015)
of PSDF Support to gas-based
power plants was held in the
months of May 2015.
A combined total of 10,270
MW plants were able to secure
gas allocation. The entire
process was completed in less
than a month and gas supply by
GAIL started on June 1, 2015.
Auctions for 2nd Phase
(October 1, 2015 to March 31,
2016) were held in the month
of September 2015 and helped
in revival of gas-based generation plants with installed capacity of 11,717.72 MW. Total
incremental electricity expected to be generated under phase
II is 12,472.6 million units. ?C8
(QJLQHHULQJH[SRUWVWR 8:40c^^_T] bc8]SXPbc^aTPc7hSTaPQPSX]! &
QDWLRQVGLSVKDUSO\((3&
=4F 34;78) Indicating the
severity of global economic
environment, engineering
exports to as many as 19 out of
India’s top 25 destinations have
seen a sharp dip, with Malaysia
alone recording a plunge of
about 90 per cent.
Engineering
Export
Promotion Council (EEPC)
said that decline in the growth
of exports to key destinations
has fallen by more than 50 per
cent in January.
Engineering exports plummeted 28 per cent in January
to $4.82 billion from $6.70 billion in the year-ago period.
“The exports are getting
quite bad. Look at Malaysia,
one of the top 25 destinations
for our exports. For January the
shipments there plummeted to
$78.22 million from $830.88
million a year ago.
When close to a billion
dollar disappears from a single
market in just one of the sec-
tors, the depth of the problems
can be gauged,” EEPC
Chairman TS Bhasin said.
Engineering exports to
UAE, the second largest market destination after the US,
dropped by more than half to
$484.12 million in January,
EEPC said in a release.
Similar is the case in other
important destinations including the Middle East and West
Asia region.
“The worst thing is that
such a drop has come about on
a low base created by almost a
similar drop in the same month
last year,” Bhasin said.
China which was considered an engine of global economic growth and a major
consumer of the global metals
and products gave Indian engineering exporters a much
lower market at $124 million in
January, as against $195 million
a year ago.
In the products category, a
major fall was witnessed in iron
and steel which dropped by
almost 50 per cent to $355 million from $709 million y-o-y.
Likewise, the fall in copper
and products was over 47 per
cent from $306 million to $ 160
million, EEPC India said.
India’s overall exports
dipped for the 14th month in
a row, down 13.6 per cent in
January to $21 billion due to
fall in shipments of petroleum
and engineering goods,
although trade deficit showed
improvement.
?C8
=4F34;78) Swedish furniture
retailing giant IKEA will open
its first store in India at
Hyderabad in the second half
of 2017 even as it scouts for
more sites in Delhi-NCR,
Mumbai and Bengaluru.
The company, which
received Government approval
in 2013 for its C10,500 crore
proposal to open retail stores
under 100 per cent FDI, plans
to open 25 stores by 2025 in
nine Indian cities.
“We will open our first
store in Hyderabad in later half
of 2017. Digging for construction of our first store in India
started this week,” IKEA Asia
Pacific Retail President Mikael
Palmquist told the news agency.
IKEA’s first store in
Hyderabad will be a massive 4
lakh square feet in size and will
include all features of a global
IKEA store, including restaurant and play and development
area, he added.
In July last year, the company had announced purchase
of 13 acre land close to the IT
hub in Hyderabad’s HITEC
city.
Bullish on the Indian market, Palmquist said IKEA
expects its stores in the country to be among “the most visited stores in the world” and
hence the company has prepared for it by planning bigger
restaurants and more seating
capacity to suit high visitation
stores.
Elaborating on IKEA’s
expansion plans in India, he
said: “After Hyderabad, in the
first phase of growth, we plan
:_eVcVdecReVdVeeZ_X>A4e`deRce`aVcReZ`_dRc`f_UDVa
=4F 34;78) A new monetary
policy committee that will
move interest rate setting powers from RBI Governor to a
broader panel is likely to start
functioning by the third quarter, a top finance ministry official said.
The six-member panel,
which will include RBI
Governor and three nominees
of the Government, will set
interest rates to bring consumer or CPI inflation to preset targets.
Setting up of Monetary
Policy Committee (MPC) is
being done by amending the
Reserve Bank of India Act,
1934, through the Finance Bill
2016, Economic Affairs
Secretary Shaktikanta Das told
the news agency in an interview here.
“So once the Bill is passed
(in May), the monetary policy
committee will be set up thereafter and I would expect
around second or third quarter it (MPC) would get operational,” he said.
Three members of the
MPC will be nominated by the
government, he said adding
these would be eminent persons from outside. “No they
won’t be Government officials,” he said.
The remaining three members would be from RBI with
the Governor being the ex
officio Chairperson. Deputy
Governor of RBI in charge of
the monetary policy will be a
member, so will an Executive
Director of the Central bank.
Each member shall have
one vote and in case of a tie, the
Governor shall have a second
or casting vote, he said.
Another official said the
governor will not have a veto
power and can only be deciding factor in case of a tie.
Presently, the Governor has
overriding powers to accept or
reject the recommendation of
RBI’s panel on monetary policy.
The Government nominees to the MPC will be selected by a Search-cum-Selection
Committee under Cabinet
Secretary with RBI Governor
and Economic Affairs
Secretary and three experts in
'/)OHDVHVODNKVTIWRIILFH
VSDFHLQ*XUJDRQWR6DPVXQJ
=4F 34;78) Realty major
DLF has leased about 3.5
lakh sq ft of office space to
Samsung India Electronics in
its commercial complex at
Gurgaon that has been constructed at an estimated cost
of over C400 crore.
DLF, the country’s largest
realty firm, has completed its
premium office complex
‘Two Horizon Center’ comprising 11 lakh sq ft area.
The office space is being
offered both on lease and
sale model.
According to sources,
Samsung India Electronics
has leased about 3.5 lakh sq
ft in this office building for
its India headquarters.
DLF has leased about 1
lakh sq ft office space to
s om e ot h e r c omp an i e s ,
i n clu d i ng i n E xe c ut ive
Centre and Corporate Edge
office facilities, they added.
That apart, the company
has sold about 2 lakh sq ft of
area to corporates for their
end use.
DLF is exp ec ting to
lease/sale the remaining 4.5
lakh sq ft area in the next six
months, sources said.
The company had started to lease office building at
C140 per sq ft rental and the
same has now inched up to
C165 per sq ft a month.
This office complex, a
US Green Building Council
LEED Platinum pre-certified building with occupancy certificate in place, is
designed by American architecture firm Robert AM
Stern Architects and Hafeez
Contractor.
Two Horizon Center is
part of the 12-acre Horizon
Center complex that also
houses the One Horizon
Center -- a joint venture of
Hi ne s and DL F, t h e
American Express Building
and a proposed super luxury mall ‘The Emporio’.
One Horizon Centre has
been fully leased.
DLF has rental assets of
about 30 million sq ft with
an annual rental income of
about C2,700 crore.
Recently, the company
gave an about C800 crore
contract to L&T for construction of its new office
complex in Gurgaon.
DL F h a s d e c i d e d to
develop a new office complex as its office stock has
almost exhausted.
Meanwhile, DLF’s promoters have decided to sell
40 per cent stake in rental
ar m DL F Cy b e r C it y
Developers Ltd (DCCDL) to
monetise commercial assets
and remove conflict of interest.
DLF owns remaining 60
per cent stake in DCCDL,
which holds the bulk of its
office and retail complexes.
The deal, estimated to be
of about C12,000 crore, is
expected to be completed by
July this year. Promoters will
re-invest a significant part of
the amount realised from
the sale into DLF.
The company has a land
bank of 281 million sq ft, of
which 37 million sq ft is
under construction.
?C8
the field of economics or banking or finance or monetary policy as its members.
Asked whether the
Government nominee would
be a bureaucrat, Das said:
“Government nominees would
be drawn from outside. They
won’t be serving government
officers. They would be outside
experts”.
Members of the MPC will
be appointed for a period of
four years and shall not be eligible for reappointment.
After the Finance Bill 2016
is approved by Parliament, the
Government will set an inflation target in terms of the
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
once in every five years, he said.
The inflation target will be
decided in consultation with
RBI and notified in Official
Gazette.
MPC will meet at least
four times in a year and the
government may, if it considers necessary, convey its views
in writing to the MPC from
time to time.
RBI will every six months
publish Monetar y Policy
Report explaining the sources
of inflation and the forecasts of
inflation for the period
between six to 18 months.
If RBI fails to meet the
inflation target, it shall in the
report give reasons for failure,
remedial actions as well as
estimated time within which
the inflation target shall be
achieved.
?C8
to open stores in Delhi,
Mumbai and Bangalore. We are
searching for land in these
cities. We want to open more
than one stores in locations
where our stores come up.”
The company said that it
will showcase its products from
its global portfolio in India
based on the taste and requirements of the regions where its
stores are located.
On the pace of expansion
in India, Palmquist said compared to China where it has
been there for 15 years and
opening at a rate of 3 stores a
year only now, here IKEA will
be looking at a much faster
growth.
“In India I want us to be
there earlier, within five years,
we should have capability to
open three stores a year to hit
the 25 (stores),” he added.
When asked about the concerns IKEA had with respect to
sourcing norms, Palmquist
said: “Start date has changed
from first investment from
date of store opening.”
In November last year
IKEA had sought relaxation
from the Government for five
years over mandatory 30 per
cent local sourcing norms from
opening of its first store in India
rather than first investment.
The company said it needs
some time “to build a sustainable and long-term sourcing
solutions” to source raw material, find local entrepreneurs
and to create industrial set
ups.
“If we were to open our
first store today, our sourcing
from India would be less than
5 per cent. Main challenges in
meeting sourcing norms is
availability of raw material and
identifying right entrepreneurs
we can work with.”
At present, IKEA sources
products worth Euro 300 million for its global operations
from India.
Palmquist said there is a
need for harmonisation of laws
related to composition of raw
materials in India with Europe
so that more exports can happen from here.
?C8
([WUDPDUNV(GXFDWLRQWLHV
XSZLWK,QWHO(GXFDWLRQ
?=BQ =4F34;78
ountry’s leading education
C
service provider Extramarks
Education and Intel Education, a
worldwide leader in education
technology solutions, have come
together in a unique strategic collaboration to provide industry
leading learning solutions aimed
at transforming teaching and
learning experiences in India.
“Extramarks will offer
industry leading educational
solutions optimised for Intel
Architecture, providing students
with an enhanced learning experience,” said a statement from the
company.
Extramarks Education India
Pvt Ltd Founder, Chairman and
Managing Director Atul
Kulshrestha
said:
“At
Extramarks, we are thrilled to
collaborate with Intel Education
to offer solutions that enhance
the students’ learning outcomes.
We believe that through this
strategic collaboration we can
identify and work on opportunities in the education space in
India and transform the learning experience of students across
private and Government education institutes.”
Intel Asia Pacific and Japan
Director-Education Sales, Sam
Al Schamma said:” Intel is collaborating with Extramarks to
deliver leading educational solutions that are focused on
improving the learning outcomes of students in India. Intel
believes in creating technology
that is relevant to the learning
needs of students to complement
their growth and development.
Our engineers at Intel Education
have been working closely with
their
counterparts
at
Extramarks, sharing know-how
and
helping
optimize
Extramarks’ solutions for Intel
Architecture.”
,QGLDNHHQWRERRVWHFRQRPLF
FRRSHUDWLRQZLWK(J\SW(QYR\
?C8Q 208A>
ndia is keen on ramping up
economic cooperation with
IEgypt,
focussing on trade and
investment, the Indian envoy
here has said while underlining
the need for “transparency and
predictability” to woo more
Indian businesses to this key
Middle East country.
“Trade between India and
Egypt increased by about 60 per
cent over the last five years and
this is really remarkable because
you will notice that trade
between many other countries
has actually stagnated or even
gone down and global trade
itself is stagnating so this is a
remarkable development,”
India’s Ambassador to Egypt
Sanjay Bhattacharyya told the
news agency.
With the participation of
about 20 leading Indian companies, the third round of the
Egyptian-Indian Business
Council will be held on March
10 to discuss ways of boosting
cooperation and investments
between both countries especially in the fields of chemicals,
leather, furniture and medicine.
The round will be held on
the sidelines of the joint trade
committee, which will begin its
meeting on March 9.
Speaking about economic
cooperation opportunities
between India and Egypt,
Bhattacharyya said economic
issues should be viewed in
totality.
“For us it means that we
must have more trade, we must
have more investment flows, we
must have more technology
flows, we must have greater
cooperation in developing skills
and sharing each other’s experience and we will continue to
work on all these together,”
Bhattacharyya said.
“Along with a joint trade
committee we have also a meet-
ing with a joint business council, which will look at the possibilities of investments in different parts of Egypt including
the Suez Canal Zone,” he said.
“Business will always flow
where there is an opportunity
for profit and if you can provide
an environment for profit business will come,” Bhattacharyya
said.
However, there are also at
the same time several macro
issues that every business
propositions will look at, he
said.
“These are particularly pertaining to the foreign exchange
situation, the ease of repatriation, the regulations on the
investment laws and their
implementation. So once there
is transparency and predictability on these fronts and
they are implemented in an easy
manner there will be great
opportunities,” Bhattacharyya
said.
“I have travelled to many of
the governorates of Egypt. Twothirds of Indian investments are
already along the Suez Canal in
other words Indian investors
had long ago realised the huge
potential of the Sue Canal area
as a hub and I’ve been to Port
Said and Ismalia and Ain
Soukhna, where there are
Indian investments and I found
that the local authorities over
there have been very very helpful in many instances to Indian
investors,”
he
added.
Bhattacharyya said the joint
trade committee will discussdifferent issues including ways to
increase trade between both
countries.
“I think the potential is
much greater because there are
other countries in the region
around Egypt who have much
higher trade with India so what
is it that prevents us from having even greater trade,” he
added.
The envoy said that in
order to enhance trading cooperation between the two countries, a number of things need
to be looked at.
“I think we need to look at
the tariff structure, also we
need to look at are there any
barriers to trade, we also need
to see as to how we can promote
complementarities; for instance
agriculture products have been
increasing in Egypt’s exports to
India we are buying much more
of agriculture products from
Egypt may be this is an area in
which the growth can be even
greater,” he said.
“On investments, I think
the picture, in a sense, is very
good because we have about
50 Indian enterprises in Egypt
with a total investment of
about $3 billion and if you
look at it in terms of the nonhydrocarbon sector it is a very
large investment,” the
Ambassador said.
?C8
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he battle for the Republican
presidential nomination
T
has intensified with firebrand
conservative Ted Cruz slowing
down front-runner Donald
Trump’s momentum over the
weekend. Although the two
squared off by grabbing two
States each, Cruz walked away
with more delegates because of
his better victory margin.
On a day when the
Republican establishment’s
favourite, Senator Marco Rubio,
came a cropper with a poor
overall tally, Cruz won Kansas
and Maine even as Trump
pricked up Louisiana and
Kentucky. Overall, Trump has
won 12 States so far, with Cruz
bagging six and Rubio just one.
In the delegate count that
will matter in the final analysis, Senator Cruz has narrowed
the gap. While Trump leads
with 378 delegates, Cruz now
has 295, Rubio 123 and John
Kasich 34.
On the Democratic side,
Senator Bernie Sanders kept up
pressure on Hillary Clinton,
winning two States (Kansas and
Nebraska). Clinton, who picked
up Louisiana, enjoys a huge
overall lead in the delegate count.
While she has 1,121 delegates,
Sanders trails badly with just 479.
Saturday’s Republican contests made it clear that it’s essentially going to be a two-man race
from now on, with Cruz having
emerged as the undisputed
challenger to Trump.
For all the noise that the
Rubio camp has been making in
recent weeks, the Senator from
Florida had his worst performance on Saturday. He might
have impressed many by locking
horns with Trump in the last two
debates, but it is clearly Cruz
who has emerged the net gainer from the billionaire’s woes.
Little wonder, Trump lost
little time on Saturday night,
demanding that Rubio quit the
race and make way for a one-onone battle between him and
Cruz. Rubio, however, promptly rejected the demand. Kasich,
the fourth player in the race, has
indicated that he would drop out
in case he fails to carry his home
State of Ohio on March 15.
Cruz termed his latest victories “a manifestation of a real
shift in momentum”, saying:
“What we’re seeing is conservatives coming together.”
0\TaXRP]f^\P]
cTbcb_^bXcXeTU^aIXZP
PUcTa?WX[X__X]TcaX_
Cf^bTRdaXch_Tab^]]T[$
\X[XcP]cbZX[[TSX]4Vh_c
Manila: An American woman
who visited the Philippines in
January has tested positive for
the Zika virus in the United
States, the Philippines’ top
health official said on Sunday.
Health Secretary Janette
Garin said her department was
coordinating with the US
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention to get more
information about the woman
and find out where she stayed
during her January 2-28 visit to
the Philippines.
Garin also stressed that
there have been no reports of
an outbreak.
AP
Cairo: Eight people, including
two security personnel and
five militants, were killed in an
exchange of fire, followed by a
bomb attack on a military convoy, in Egypt’s restive North
Sinai province on Sunday.
The exchange of fire at
Shiekh Zwayed city killed five
militants, Army spokesperson
Brigadier General Mohamed
Samir said in a statement.
The firing was followed by
a road side bomb attack on a
military convoy in the same
city in late afternoon, that
killed two security personnel
and injured one another, police
officials said.
A medical staff was later
killed while trying to transfer
the injured, when unknown
militants opened fire on the
ambulance, the officials said.
“When the ambulance
rushed to the place of the explosion, it was targeted by militants
who opened fire on it killing the
first-aid man,” they said.
Security forces have cordoned off the area and were
looking for the attackers.
Egypt’s North Sinai has
witnessed many violent attacks
by militants since the January,
2011, revolution that toppled
the ex-President Hosni
Mubarak.
The attacks targeting police
and military increased after the
ouster of Islamist ex-President
Mohamed Morsi in 2013 by
military following massive
protests against his rule.
Over 700 security personnel have been reported killed
since then.
The military has launched
security campaigns in the area,
arrested suspects and demolished houses that belong to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the
Gaza Strip.
PTI
86PRYHVWRILQDOLVH)GHDOZLWK3DN
Islamabad:
The
US
Government has formally notified the intended sale of eight
F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan,
taking a major step towards
finalising the deal, the media
reported on Sunday.
“This proposed sale contributes to US foreign policy
objectives and national security goals by helping to improve
the security of a strategic partner in South Asia,” said the
notification published in the
US Federal Register.
“We are grateful to the US
administration and members
of Congress for their acknowledgment of Pakistan’s decisive
actions against extremists and
terrorists and of the effective role
the F-16a play in our counterterrorism efforts,” Dawn online
reported citing Ambassador Jalil
Abbas Jilani as saying.
The notification estimates
the total cost of the deal to be
nearly $700 million.
However, the Indian
Government and some US
lawmakers have criticised
Washington’s rationale that
such an arms transfer will help
combat terrorism. They claim
the fighter jets will change the
military balance in South Asia
and will ultimately be used
against India.
In a policy justification,
posted on the Federal Register,
the US administration rejected
this assertion.
?^_TRP[[b]d]bZX[[TSX]
HT\T]\^STa]SPh\Pachab
Vatican City: Pope Francis
says the four nuns killed in an
attack on a home for the elderly in Yemen are modern-day
martyrs and victims of indifference.
Francis told the faithful
today that the nuns “gave their
blood for the Church” and
that they were not only victims
of the attackers but also of “this
indifference of globalisation.”
The nuns were among 16
people killed on Friday by
gunmen who stormed a retirement home run by a charity
established by Mother Teresa.
The pope also praised an
ecumenical project to fly
refugees to Europe as “a concrete sign of the commitment
for peace and life.” Around 100
refugees arrived in Rome last
month, the first wave of the
planned transfer of 1,000 par-
?^_T5aP]RXbRT[TQaPcTbcWT0]VT[db
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ticularly vulnerable refugees
from camps in Lebanon,
Morocco and Ethiopia. AP
“The proposed sale of this
equipment and support will not
alter the basic military balance in
the region,” it said, adding that
the aircraft would improve
“Pakistan’s capability to meet current and future security threats”.
The administration also
noted that the additional F-16
aircraft would facilitate operations in non-daylight environments and “enhance Pakistan’s
ability to conduct counterinsurgency and counter-ter-
:dcRV]ZA>+3ZUV_
gZdZedY`hdFD
cV]ReZ`_ddec`_X
Jerusalem: Israel’s Prime
Minister says the upcoming
visit of US Vice-President Joe
Biden proves the strong ties
between the close allies.
Benjamin Netanyahu on
Sunday called Biden a “friend”
and his visit a reflection of close
ties. He said, “those who have
predicted the collapse of these
relations” have been proven
wrong.
Netanyahu has had a rocky
relationship with President
Barack Obama, particularly
over Netanyahu’s fierce objection to a nuclear deal with Iran.
Biden’s previous official visit in
2010 was marred by an Israeli
announcement of a new West
Bank settlement project that
angered the White House,
which declared it damaging to
peace prospects.
AP
5aTTSW^bcPVTbaTcda]c^8cP[hUa^\;XQhP 1HSDOL&RQJVHWWRHOHFWQHZOHDGHUVKLS
Kathmandu: The Nepali
Congress, the largest party in
the Parliament, is all set to elect
the new leadership today for the
next five years, including its
president who will succeed late
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala.
The 13th general convention of the party is set to conclude on Sunday evening. Some
3,200 representatives caste their
votes on the final day of the
general convention which started on Thursday.
The convention will elect
the party’s new leader to succeed 79-year-old Koirala, who
passed away last month. Three
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Rome: Two Italians kidnapped
last July in Libya returned to
Italy on Sunday to a mute
homecoming, amid questions
over why two others snatched
with them were killed.
Gino Pollicardo, 55, and
Filippo Calcagno, 65, were met
by relieved relatives at Rome’s
Ciampino airport in the early
hours and were whisked away
to be debriefed by Italy’s
Foreign Ministr y and
Intelligence services.
They were among four
employees of Italian construction company Bonatti
who were kidnapped in the
Mellitah region west of Tripoli
in July. Italian media reports
suggested all four had been
close to being freed, before
plans went awry.
On Thursday, the day
before Pollicardo and
Calcagno’s liberation, Italy said
the other two, Salvatore Failla,
47, and Fausto Piano, 60, had
likely been killed in clashes
between jehadists and local
militiamen.
“The Italian state has failed.
The liberation of the two
hostages was paid for with my
husband’s blood,” Failla’s widow
Rosalba said Saturday,
demanding her late husband’s
body be returned to Italy as
soon as possible.
Italian media reports said
Piano and Failla, who had
been separated from Pollicardo
and Calcagno, had been in an
Islamic State group convoy
that was attacked by militiamen
from Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn),
the armed wing of the nonrecognised Government based
in Tripoli.
While the murders
increased pressure in Italy for
the country to send special
forces to Libya, Prime Minister
Matteo Renzi cautioned that
any intervention would first
need parliament’s approval,
and Rome would not be
rushed — a sentiment echoed
Sunday by Foreign Minister
Paolo Gentiloni.
AFP
candidates were in the fray for
the post of party president.
Former Prime Minister
Sher Bahadur Deuba, Nepali
Congress acting president
Ramchandra Poudyal and general secretary Krishna Prasad
Canberra: Australian Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull backed away from a
pledge by one of his senior Ministers on
Sunday that the
Government would hold
a public vote on samesex marriage later this
year if it is reelected.
A spokeswoman for
Turnbull said the government was committed
to holding a plebiscite, or
public vote, as soon as
possible after the election but had not committed further to the timing.
Attorney-General George Brandis had
earlier said the vote would occur before the
end of the year and that the legislation
would immediately be pushed through
parliament if the public voted in favor of
same-sex marriage.
“We will be going to the election
promising a plebiscite before the end of the
year,” Brandis told Sky News.
The confusion adds to perceived
instability in Turnbull’s
conservative Coalition
Government, just days
after Deputy Prime
Minister Barnaby Joyce
called for Government
unity.
Turnbull, who
became leader in a
party room coup in
late 2015, is under pressure on several policy fronts including tax and climate issues
as his opinion poll ratings plummet ahead
of the election and a critical budget.
Some of the party instability has been
blamed on the man he toppled, former
prime minister Tony Abbott, who remains
powerful within the conservative faction
of the Government.
Agencies
3\__^UicR__cdcUSebYdiQVdUb
1]Q\bUSUYfUcTUQdXdXbUQdc/
London: Hollywood superstar
George Clooney has reportedly upped security at his UK
home after his lawyer wife
Amal received death threats.
The international human
rights lawyer is currently representing jailed former
President of the Maldives,
Mohamed Nasheed, and it is
thought that the 38-year-old
now has full-time security after
receiving the worrying messages, even when she visits local
restaurants just 300 yards from
her house, reported Metro.
South Oxfordshire district
councillor Paul Harrison has
been involved in George’s plans
to up his security following the
risk. He’s also been in negotia-
gets, it’s quite serious,” he added.
The cameras were rejected
after they were considered a
‘potential infringement of the
privacy of neighbouring properties’ but Mr Harrison added
that they “have now been
reduced from six to three meters,
so we’re happy with that.”
Nasheed was the country’s
first democratically-elected
President in 2008 however he
claims that he was ousted at
gunpoint in 2012.
He was later jailed for 13
years last year under anti-terror laws but was given leave to
visit the UK for spinal surgery
early in 2016. Reps for George
and Amal have been contacted for comment.
PTI
Berkshire home were denied.
“Security isn’t so much for
him but for her,” said Harrison.
“From George’s point of view,
the high-level legal work she
does and the death threats she
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AcVdZUV_e`WeYV>R]UZgVd Tehran: Iran’s billionaire
>`YR^VU?RdYVVU tycoon Babak Zanjani has been
tions with George and the village
after George’s plans to put up
cameras, which could face any
direction including into neighbouring properties, on varying
poles around his Grade II listed
Sitaula are vying for the posts.
Sashanka Koirala, son of
first elected Prime minister of
Nepal BP Koirala, Arjun
Narsingh K and youth leader
Gagan Thapa are in the race for
the post of general secretary.
In the election, 65 of the total
85 member Central Working
Committee (CWC) members
are being elected through direct
voting and remaining 20 will be
nominated by the new President.
Any candidate wishing to
get elected as president should
get more than 50 per cent votes.
If no one gets required
number of votes then second
round of voting will be held
between the two candidates
receiving highest number of
votes to decide the winner.
The result is expected to be
announced tonight or Monday
morning.
PTI
rorism operations”.
The Obama administration also explained that the sale
would increase the number of
aircraft available to the Pakistan
Air Force to sustain operations,
meet monthly training requirements, and support transition
training for pilots new to the
Block-52, F-16 aircraft.
Implementation of the proposed sale would not require
the assignment of any additional US government or contractor representatives to
Pakistan. There would be no
adverse impact on US defence
readiness either, it said.
The administration also
assured Congress that Pakistan
“can provide the same degree of
protection for the sensitive
technology being released as
the US government”.
The 30-day notice period
for the Congress expires on
March 11, after which the deal
will be final.
IANS
PbR^d]cah³b^UUXRXP[aT[XVX^]
Dhaka: Islam could be dropped as
Bangladesh’s official religion following a number of attacks in the country against people of other faiths.
Christians,
Hindus and Muslim
minority Shiites
have recently faced
attacks that are
believed to have
been carried out by
Islamic extremists.
The country’s Supreme Court is
currently hearing arguments in
favour of removing Islam as the official religion of Bangladesh, the
Daily Mail reported.
Islam has been the country’s
official religion since 1988, but the
battle to overturn this — which is
being supported by many minority
religious leaders — will argue that
the decision to designate Islam the
official religion was illegal.
However it is
unclear how much
widespread the support
the move would have in
the country, where 90
per cent of the population is Muslim, 8 per
cent are Hindu and 2 per cent is
made up of other minority religions.
In the past month, a Hindu
priest was hacked to death at a temple in Panchgarh district in which two
Hindu followers were also injured,
while in the past year several prominent religious minority bloggers have
been murdered.
Agencies
:cR_SZ]]Z`_RZcVKR_[R_ZdV_eV_TVUe`UVReY
sentenced to death for corruption, a judicial official said on
Sunday, after a long trial in
which he was accused of fraudulently pocketing $2.8 billion.
Zanjani became notorious
during the era of president
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, finding ways to channel hard currency from oil sales to Tehran
despite financial sanctions
imposed on the Islamic republic’s banks as punishment for its
nuclear programme.
The 41-year-old was convicted of fraud and economic
crimes and as well as facing the
death penalty he must repay
money to the state, judiciary
spokesman Gholam Hossein
Mohseni-Ejeie said at his weekly Press conference.
The trial was held in public, a rarity for such a major case
in Iran, and two other accused
were also convicted of “corruption on earth”, the most serious offence under the country’s
criminal code, meaning they
too will face the death penalty.
“The preliminary court has
sentenced these three defendants to be executed, as well as
paying restitution to the plain-
tiff,” Mohseni-Ejeie said, adding
that that was the Oil Ministry.
They must also pay a “fine
equal to one fourth of the
money that was laundered”, the
spokesman said, without specifying the sum.
Zanjani, who can appeal,
had denied any wrongdoing,
insisting that the only reason
the money had not been paid to
the oil ministry was that sanc-
tions had prevented a planned
transfer from taking place.
However, the case follows
repeated declarations from the
current Government of
President Hassan Rouhani that
corruption and the payment of
illegal commissions thrived
under Ahmadinejad’s rule.
Other trials are ongoing.
Zanjani had said in interviews that in return for commissions paid by Ahmadinejad’s
Government he was tasked
with circumventing sanctions to
get money back to Iran.
In October last year, however, Rouhani’s Oil Minister
Bijan Zanganeh signalled the
shifting political balance in Iran,
hitting out at the use of middlemen such as Zanjani, who before
being arrested had boasted of his
personal wealth.
AFP
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e has worked in more than 300
movies. Rocky S understands
not only what his celebrities
want, but also what his common man
desires. He can play with the vision of
a director and can style a movie star
keeping their personality in mind.
Needless, to say, when he launched his
RS by Rocky Star, he reached out to a
larger audience and bridged the gap
between fashion designers and the
local man. During his recent visit to the
Capital, the ace designer took some time
off from his busy schedule and chatted
with us about his Autumn/Winter’16
collection at London Fashion Week, his
fascination with black, and on styling
Thalaivaa, Rajinikanth.
Excerpts from the interaction:
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QWhat was the inspiration for
your collection that you showcased at
London Fashion Week?
It was difficult for me to do this collection because it was all handcrafted
and I had to start everything from the
scratch and wrap up in 15 days. The collection was called Nomadic Love and it
was inspired from my travels all across
the world. I love travelling. I enjoy life,
meeting new people and looking at new
places, and also picking up things from
all these places like colours, moods and
handicrafts. Mostly, the inspiration is
from India. It is a very special collection
for me because it is something about
which I felt complete. I focussed more
on the prints in the collection. We had
taken very vintage prints and re-created a new fabric. The collection is for a
woman who loves to travel. One who
enjoys life, feels relaxed but at the same
time, is very glamorous. There is a lot
of embroidery that we have done in the
collection.
QWhat were the hues that you
played with?
Lot of dual colours and lot of deep
maroons, olives. We have taken a lot of
gold, beige and there is black, of course.
It is one of my signature colours, so there
is an incorporation of darkness in the
collection.
QDid you showcase the same collection at Blenders Fashion Week in
the Capital?
At Blenders, I showcased a completely different collection. Here, I have
showcased a red carpet collection again
— mostly reds, blacks and greys. But, it
is all red carpet gowns that I am showcasing. A lot of pieces are handcrafted.
We have also worked with sequins.
QWhat is the fascination with
black?
I think people associate me with
black and it has become my signature
colour. I think it is a very special colour
for me. I love it because it is one colour
which is always very classic, you can wear
it throughout the year and it never goes
out of fashion. It is very flattening to anybody who wears it and it also gives you
the whole dark mysterious feel which
I always like to keep in my collection.
QYou are one of the first designers who have worked with Bollywood
celebrities as well as the common
man.What do you keep in mind
while styling each of them?
I think my experience with
Bollywood has taught me a lot. I have
done 300 movies and understanding
Bollywood celebrities is a completely different ballgame. I have been
designing keeping the director’s
vision in mind, actors’ personality, and how to combine everything together. But, when it
comes to fashion shows
and creating clothes
for your stores, it
is always an
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inspiration of what you want to showcase to the crowd, what you want to
showcase to the world. But again, like
when we launched RS by Rocky Star, we
opened 60 stores and it has been doing
fabulously well because I could understand what real people wanted. The USP
of this line was that everything was
below C2,000. It was real affordable fashion going from a designer to the country. That is very rare besides, and it is
high time that designers reach out to
maximum people.
QYou have worked with both the
markets, you understand the fashion
worldwide as well on the local ground.
How do you compare and contrast the
two?
I think fashion in India is still very
glamorous. It is more about who is going
to walk for your show. It is more about
grabbing attention from everybody. I
don’t blame the designers
because our country is
completely different in
every manner. I think we
get excited with celebrities.
We get excited with actors
more than anywhere in the
world. They know if they get
a celebrity walking the ramp
for them, then they would be
immediately picked up by the
media. And I think, that
change is required because
designers need to focus more
on their creativity rather than
who is going to be walking for
the show. I think that is also a
difference that I find, worldwide, it is very professional. They are
business shows rather than just being
entertainment shows. It is a pressure for
a designer because if you are not ending your show with a celebrity then your
show doesn’t get picked up by the media.
This is one thing that is very important
to change. People who are in the industry, they should be strict about it and
make it a professional business rather
than an entertainment show.
QDo we lack in generating creative
ideas?
Creatively, I think we are super talented. As I said, I showcased my collection in London only after 15 days
and it was well accepted by the UK
press and celebrities. I don’t think we
lack in talent, we have a lot of history,
textile and culture that we need to
showcase worldwide and people are
very excited about India and we are at
par with them so I don’t think lack of
creativity is a problem. The problem is
we don’t get great support from the
investors to make it a brand out of us
and that is what is required to be
changed.
QYou are styling Rajinikanth for
his next...
Yes, I have styled him for his next,
Robot 2. It was like sitting next to a legend, he is so down to earth. I loved the
whole experience, though I cannot
elaborate on the look right now but it
is a movie made on robots, so you can
imagine.
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t a time when most boys fuss over
possessing the latest play station
A
and cool gadgets or look for ways to juggle studies, hobbies and a bunch of
other things, Oded Kafri from Israel
knew what he wanted to become — one
of the greatest drummers of the world.
Such was his determination that he let
nothing come in his way. Even at times,
when he felt defeated, beaten and lost
all hope, something miraculous happened to turn things around and
helped him look at things in a positive light.
With over a million views on
YouTube, several shows across the
world and fans all over, it is a rare feat
if you get to meet Kafri in person. And
he is as lively in person as he is on the
online videos.
Many would assume that since he
is a drummer, drums were the first
instrument he learnt. But he was introduced to drums when he was 10-yearsold. His first tryst with music was with
the violin when he was four. “The
drums saved me because I was a very
restless kid and would get really competitive. Then with drums I found a way
to express myself and the competitions
did not matter,” he explained before his
performance at the World Percussion
Festival in Nehru Park.
It was during a summer camp
when he was 14-years-old that he had
decided to become a drummer. So he
channelised all his dreams and energy
into this and even joined a music
school. At 16, his family relocated to
Paris, France where his vision cleared
out — he wanted to become the world’s
famous drummer. “It was clear and I
knew at that age where I needed to focus
my energy on. My biggest fear in life is
to not being able to focus and be someone whose life is not that focussed,” he
pointed out.
But there were obstacles in the way
and he recalled how on June 21, celebrated as fete de la musique (the day of
celebration of music) no one had asked
him to play. His self- esteem dropped
and he doubted his talent as a musician.
“It was 4pm and although I was on the
verge of crying, I decided to play on the
streets,” he said and added, “It was a
magical night. It was definitely the night
that passed the quickest in my life.”
That was first of the many hurdles
that he overcame, keeping his chin up.
Looking back, he said
that at 21, he was exhausted of trying to make his way
as a musician in Paris so he
went back to Israel “feeling
pretty much defeated.” “Then in
Israel, I started to study classical
percussion and paved my way
into the local music industry but I
was not happy as a a session player.
I wanted to play drums,” he said.
Eventually he put his all into it and,
since then, he has never looked back.
From touring with Israeli singer David
D’Or on his world tour to playing with
artistes like Hanoch, Yossi Fine,
the Idan Reichel Project — he
has done it all. Just not that, he
even shifted to London in 2009
from Tel Aviv where he played the
drums for the Koby Israelite group performing in High prestige venues such
as the Royal Albert Hall and Koko,
London.
His whole life has been about beats
and rhythms and he told us that the two
dominant culture of rhythm is in India
and Africa. He elaborated, “India is said
to be more academic and profound in
being able to be taught than the
African. What’s amazing is that
Indians were able to develop the
vowels and syllables to express the
rhythm and they went very far.”
Kafri told us that the drums are
evolving amazingly quick. But he
does feel the need for the musician to
come to the front of the stage —
something he has been trying to do for
quite some time now. It was a tough job
and he needed to break the set routine
for it. He reminded us of the saying ‘a
band is as good as its drummer’ and
said, “I wanted to play drums in the
front. I am a frontman and a drummer.
It was a hard task because people call
you for work as a drummer to accompany them but I wanted more.”
But things are changing and drummers are not only taking centre stage but
are also performing while standing up.
And he could not be more happy about
it. According to him, “Sitting behind the
seat is too cursive. To play drums
while standing is the future. We sit
because we need to control the pedal but
the energy is blocked when you are sitting. It is one of the many reasons I start
to dance and animate is because I
realised that you cannot conquer the
world by sitting. You need to stand up.
So the drums have evolved a lot and will
not cease to evolve.”
If he had his way, he would prefer
playing on the streets rather than a
polite environment where he feels he
cannot reach people. “No matter how
bad I feel, I always come back feeling
good after performing in the streets,”
smiled the drummer who currently lives
in Hamburg in Germany.
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espite being a British
lady, Irena Murray
admires the work of
Indian architect, Charles
Correa. She said that she developed an interest in Correa’s
work ever since she got to know
about him. “I was asked to
organise an exhibition in 2013
at the Royal Institute of British
Architects, London, to celebrate
his work. That was the time
when I got to know about him
and after that, I read about his
architecture in depth and I have
developed an interest in his
work since then,” said Murray
with a smile on her face.
Murray used to work at
The Royal Institute of British
Architects as the director of
British Architectural Library.
Considered to be one of the
world’s leading experts in her
field, she voluntarily took
retirement so that she could
concentrate and focus on her
personal architectural research
projects.
In 2014, Murray was
among the nine champions of
architecture for honorary fellowships by Portland Place. It
is a prestigious accolade awarded to people who have made a
contribution to the advancement of architecture, sustainable communities and the education of future generations.
Recently, at the British
Council, she delivered a lecture
on the work of Charles Correa.
“I particularly talked about the
way by which he combines the
traditional architecture with
his love for the modern and
contemporary architecture,”
said Murray.
Charles Correa was one of
the most renowned contemporary architectures in the world.
With his extraordinary and
inspiring designs, he played a
pivotal role in the creation of
architectures in India. All of his
work — from the carefully
detailed Mahatma Gandhi
Memorial Museum at
Sabarmati Ashram in
Ahmedabad to Kanchanjunga
Apartment tower in Mumbai
— has a special place in the
architectural field.
She shared with us that
during the exhibition, she had
worked
with
Correa and
e v e n
D
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he Constitution of India not only
T
grants equality to women but also
empowers the State to adopt measures
after that, she received an
opportunity to work with him
on a project for which she
retired. “I hope that the project
will help to build a bridge
between the Indian and British
architectures,” she said.
“Correa gifted certain
papers, which are part of his
drawings or works, to the Royal
Institute of British Architects,
with a hope that we will be able
to preserve those papers that
have been damaged,” she said.
Murray also added that she
is happy that all of the papers
of the architect has been preserved by the digital library
which is at Correa’s office and
at the Charles Correa
Foundation, Goa. “It is more
useable and it can be preserved for a longer period of
time,” she said. Adding to this,
❝
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Murray said, “I see this as a
kind of an opportunity for
both countries to preserve and
restore those papers as they are
incredible and are important
for future reference.”
During the conversation
she explained to us the difference between International
and
transitional
architecture.“International
architecture means the work
which is done globally, apart
from where you belong.
Whereas transitional architecture means to share your experience of working in your
country with another. And not
only that but, also to gain an
experience from other countries,” she elaborated.
Murray told us that Correa
built both international and
transitional architecture. “He
worked in most part of India
but he also designed some
absolutely phenomenal projects in US, Europe and other
places,” she informed us and
added, “Correa kept his work
traditional but with the modern architectural design and
that is what made him distinctive from others.”
She said that since India is
a densely populated country,
there is less space for making
an architecture on a large scale.
“The demographic plays a
tremendous role because the
population is vast and we need
to have house spaces, provide
work spaces and other infrastructure facilities. With all
these specific details, it is difficult for the architect to bring
the old charm back in the
country.” she concluded.
of positive discrimination in favour of
women for neutralising the cumulative
socio economic, education and political disadvantages faced by them. In spite
of such a powerful protective tool, yet
we find women at the receiving end,
finding it hard to survive on their own.
Why is it so that our society is still
afflicted with the disease of gender
inequality? It has taken us years of
struggle to reach a developed stage and
yet our core thinking hasn’t changed as
far as gender equality is concerned.
The reason behind this is because
since ages it was believed that the different characteristics, roles and status
accorded to women and men in society are determined by sex, that they are
natural and therefore not changeable.
Hence, gender is seen closely related to
the roles and behavior assigned to
women and men based on their sexual differences. So, from the very
moment a child is born, families and
society begin the process of gendering.
This is quite visible to all of us that how
the birth of the son is celebrated and
the birth of a daughter is filled with
pain. While growing up boys are
encouraged to be tough and outgoing;
whereas girls are encouraged to be
homebound and shy. In short, all
these differences are gender differences
and they are created by society of which
we all are a part.
In this whole stupidity we fail to
realise that it is not compulsory for men
and women to have opposite interests
and antagnostic attitudes, instead they
need to play complementary roles to
maintain proper balance. We should remember one
important thing that the human soul, whether it
be in a male or a female body, can simultaneously or equally have the male qualities of courage, hard
work and strong willed action as well as female
qualities of compassion, caring, nurturing and giving sustenance. The innate, inherent or core qualities of the soul in the male or female body are the
same and the qualities which people generally relate
to gender, are acquired qualities which can be
acquired by both.
Hence it is possible to have these
kinds of qualities and further use them
in human development by a shift in consciousness — by being soul conscious
instead of having body consciousness and
connecting the self with the supreme
source who is the most powerful entity.
It is this spiritual connection between
soul and supreme that really leads to right
type of empowerment,for not only does
it restore self-respect, self confidence and
self reliance but it also leads to holistic
development of the individual who
would now have both types of qualities
(male-female) and have honesty, humility and respect for others as also respect
for the self. But, if one who fails to conC748==0C4
nect self with the Supreme Power, he/she
8=74A4=C>A would end up having half development
because we should understand a fact
2>A4
@D0;8C84B>5 mentioned in our scriptures that
‘Almighty’ has both the types of qualities
C74B>D;8=
and hence by linking self to him one gets
C74<0;4>A both the types of divine qualities.
However identification of the self
54<0;41>3H
with
the male or female body may
0A4C74
deprive a person of half of these and
B0<40=3
hence spirituality becomes a pre-reqC74
uisite to facilitate this union between
soul and supreme because it ends hos@D0;8C84B
tility, antagonism and clash of interests
F7827
and divisionism in the society, and
?4>?;4
brings integration, strength and solidarity. It opens the third eye of wisdom and
64=4A0;;H
enables us to reach our inner,inexA4;0C4C>
source of power and purity
64=34A0A4 haustible
that leads to strengthening of will.
02@D8A43
So, the ultimate solution for gender inequality does not lies in replac@D0;8C84B
ing the male chauvinism by female
chauvinism, but by liberating both the
halves of the society from gender bias,
based on body consciousness.
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As the award night started,
Bollywood actors dazzled at the Red
Carpet of Zee Cine awards. In their
designer outfits, they posed for the
paparazzi. Fashionista Sonam
Kapoor never disappoints her fans
when it comes to making an appearance. On the award night, she wore
a Vionett dress and looked beautiful, as always. While Sonakshi Sinha
chose to wear blue shimmershine
gown by Nadine Hody, Kriti Sanon
picked up a blue colour gown by
Hamdaal Fahim. Parineeti Chopra,
on the other hand, looked quite elegant in her Tarek Sinno gown.
If we talk about actors, then,
Ranveer Singh this time kept it simple yet appeared extremely stylish.
Dabangg star Salman Khan was just
being him in his tuxedo and managed to keep himself distinguished
from others. While everyone tried
to look different from others, Arjun
Kapoor stunned everyone but not
with his outfit but with his shoes.
Yes, the actor was seen wearing red
“high heels” on the red carpet to promote his forthcoming film Ki & Ka.
:DONRIIDPH
Kajol was seen in a green anarkali
accompanying her father-in-law,
Veeru Devgan.
0=4F1468==8=6
After a gap of an year, Zee Cine
was back with something new and
better. This time, regional cinema
were also honoured for their contribution to Indian cinema. The night
started with Bangla films and was
followed by Telugu films. This segment was hosted by the actors of
respective industries. The actors of
Marathi films were also honoured by
the beautiful Divya Dutta.
?0H8=66A0C8CD34
When it came to honour the
outstanding contribution to the
Indian cinema, it was given none
other than the most famous
Bollywood action director — Veeru
Devgan. Actress Kajol joined him on
the stage while director Rohit Shetty
honoured him with the award.
Shetty said that it was an honour to
give an award to his guru from
whom he had learnt to direct an
action scene. Present on the stage,
Kajol said that Devgan was feeling
shy as he can not express his feelings.
She also shared that on their way to
the award venue, when she asked
him that what he would say in his
acceptance speech, he replied that I’ll
just say thank you.
B70:4H>DA;46
No Bollywood award ceremony can wrap up without dance.
Parineeti Chopra opened the night,
followed by Kriti Sanon’s debut
performance at Zee Cine. Anil
Kapoor set fire on the stage with his
high voltage performance. He performed live on an event after several years.
Arjun Kapoor, too, went on to
give a special performance and was
joined by his Gunday co-star
Ranveer Singh in the end. To add to
the revelry, the hosts, Shahid Kapoor
and Karan Johar, presented a silver
stiletto to Ranveer, who then shook
a leg to High Heels with Arjun.
Actor Sushant Singh Rajput
payed tribute to his ideal and
Badshah of bollywood, Shah Rukh
Khan. He performed on the songs of
Khan and after his performance he
said that the reason for him behind
becoming an actor was Khan.
0BC4?5>AF0A3
Akshay Kumar’s open letter in
support for the stuntmen who are the
real heroes shook the industry. To
make his heartfelt appeal a reality of
supporting those who risk their lives
to make an actor a hero, Kumar took
a historic initiative to honour and
felicitates stuntmen of India who
have lost their lives performing
risky action sequences. The first
stunt man to be felicitated was
Raju who lost his life while on the
job. Kumar personally gave a cheque
of C11 lakh to Raju’s family, which
was accepted by his wife. Raju died
during the shoot of Kumar’s film,
Jaanwaar when he lost control of a
car during an action sequence.
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Novak Djokovic-led Serbia
A
surprisingly fell behind 2-1 at
home to Kazakhstan in the Davis
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ayern Munich took another
small step toward an unprecedented fourth successive
Bundesliga title with a hard-fought
scoreless draw at closest rival Borussia
Dortmund on Saturday.
Bayern, which had a healthy
eight-point lead before Wednesday's
shock home defeat to Mainz, preserved the five-point gap with nine
games remaining.
Bayern midfielder Arturo Vidal
came closest to scoring for either side
in the 65th minute when Dortmund
'keeper Roman Buerki produced a
fine reflex save to deflect his shot onto
the crossbar.
Buerki conceded the title was less
likely with Dortmund having failed
to narrow the deficit and now needing two slip-ups from Bayern.
The visitors had 17 efforts at goal,
compared to Dortmund's 11. League
top-scorer Robert Lewandowski was
quiet on his return to his former club,
while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
was unable to seriously trouble
Manuel Neuer at the other end.
It was the first 0-0 draw in 26
competitive meetings between the
rivals.
Thomas Mueller missed the first
big chance in the fifth minute when
he fired high and wide after Buerki
failed to deal properly with Costa's
cross. Neuer denied Aubameyang on
a quick break at the other end minutes later and the tone was set for the
game, with both sides' high tempo
creating chances at either end.
Vidal had another good chance
before Erik Durm hit the side-netting
with Dortmund's next opportunity.
The outstanding Joshua
Kimmich, filling in for Bayern's
defense, made a brilliant last-ditch
tackle to deny Marco Reus before
Buerki thwarted Costa.
Bayern grew stronger as the
game progressed but Buerki shut the
door with his reflex save.
"Nil-nil is definitely a result we
can live with. I'd like to have seen our
efforts rewarded with a 1-0 win," said
Mueller, who said the league wasn't
won yet. "It stays exciting. We're still
Kenan Karaman pulled one back
but Pizarro set up Theodor Gebre
Selassie in the 56th. Zlatko Junuzovic
sealed it.
Defeat piles the pressure on former Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf,
now in charge of Hannover and eight
points from safety.
Also, Schalke won 3-1 at Cologne
to move to fourth, going ahead on a
second-minute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
penalty and 23rd-minute Max Meyer
strike. Leonardo Bittencourt pulled
one back 10 minutes later but Franco
Di Santo headed Schalke's winner in
the 76th.
Wolfsburg defeated Borussia
Moenchengladbach 2-1, Stuttgart
routed Hoffenheim 5-1, and
Eintracht Frankfurt drew 1-1 with
Ingolstadt, which finished with 10
men after Pascal Gross' 74th-minute
sending off.
B
;8E4A?>>;140C?0;024
under pressure for the remaining
games."
Earlier, Claudio Pizarro scored
his 100th Bundesliga goal for Werder
Bremen in a 4-1 win over last-place
Hannover and Bayer Leverkusen
came from three goals down to
draw 3-3 at Augsburg.
South Korea midfielder Koo Jacheol's hat trick wasn't enough for
Augsburg as Hakan Calhanoglu's
injury-time penalty earned
Leverkusen an unlikely draw and prevented the team from slumping to its
fourth straight defeat.
Jeffrey Gouweleeuw was sent off
for conceding the hand-ball penalty
in the 92nd minute, 12 minutes after
Paul Verhaegh's own goal put
Leverkusen in touching distance.
=P_^[XQTPc
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apoli came from behind to beat Chievo Verona 3-1 and
move provisionally level with Juventus at the top of the
N
Serie A table on Saturday.
Nicola Rigoni gave Chievo a surprise lead in the second
minute but Gonzalo Higuain leveled four minutes later. Vlad
Chiriches and Jose Callejon secured its first win in six matches in all competitions.
Juventus visits Atalanta on Sunday.
"We have had so many good games recently but we haven't
managed to win," Callejon said. "Today it was important to beat
Chievo to return to the top: If we play like this we can stay where
we are.
"The dream (of the league title) is still there, these fans are
with us, they want to win, we want to win but you can't always."
Earlier, Sampdoria boosted its chances of avoiding relegation by defeating bottom club Hellas Verona 3-0. Sampdoria
10H4A=703 &
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Karim Bellarabi started the comeback
with a half-hour remaining.
Leverkusen coach Roger
Schmidt wasn't in the stadium to
see any of it after leaving for Spain
to watch Europa League opponent
Villarreal in action against Las
Palmas.
Veteran Peru striker Pizarro
scored one goal - his 11th of the season and fifth in three games - and
set up another to boost Bremen's
hopes of avoiding the drop.
Fin Bartels opened the scoring
before Pizarro made it 2-0 with a
brilliant strike in the 26th. The 37year-old lifted the ball over two
Hannover defenders with his right
boot and smacked it past the goalkeeper with his left.
Christian Benteke won and converted a coolly taken penalty deep
into injury time to earn 10-man
Liverpool a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace
on Sunday, boosting his team's faint
hopes of finishing in the Premier
League's European places.
On as a late substitute, Benteke
fell to the ground under the slightest of touches from Palace defender
Damien Delaney, who pulled out of
a tackle in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
The referee awarded a penalty on the advice of his assistant and
Benteke took the kick himself,
halting midway through his runup before slotting it home into the
corner.
Palace, without a win since
Dec. 19, led through Joe Ledley in
the 48th minute and appeared to be
in control after James Milner's
sending-off for a second yellow card
in the 62nd.
Liverpool looked more dangerous when down to 10 men and
equalized when Roberto Firmino
pounced on a mis-hit clearance
from Palace goalkeeper Alex
McCarthy, drove forward and slotted a finish past McCarthy in the
72nd.
8cP[h5aP]RTP]SDB0
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Cup first round after he lost in doubles on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Italy and France
were first through to the quarterfinals after beating weakened visitors Switzerland and Canada
respectively.
Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic
fell to Andrey Golubev and
Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-3, 7-6 (3),
7-5 before a full house in Belgrade.
It was the second notable cup win
for Golubev and Nedovyesov, who
beat Roger Federer and Stan
Wawrinka in doubles in 2014.
For Serbia not to lose a third
time at home in four ties, Djokovic
must beat Mikhail Kukushkin in
the first reverse singles on Sunday,
then hope 23rd-ranked Viktor
Troicki, who lost to Kukushkin on
Friday, beats 200th-ranked
Nedovyesov in the last rubber.
Andy Murray won his second
point for Britain when he and
brother Jamie won in straight sets
to lead Japan 2-1, giving Murray a
chance to clinch the tie on Sunday
against Kei Nishikori. Murray leads
their head-to-heads 5-1, but
Nishikori won their only indoor
match.
Italy took nearly eight hours to
win the opening singles on Friday
in Pesaro, so captain Corrado
Barazzutti decided to give his best
pair a chance to clinch the tie
instead of giving a debut to Marco
Cecchinato.
Simone Bolelli and Andreas
Seppi, who won the Dubai title last
week, beat tired singles players
Marco Chiudinelli and Henri
Laaksonen 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 in less than
two hours on the indoor clay court
to help Italy reach its third quarterfinal in four years. With an unbeatable 3-0 lead, they awaited
Argentina or Poland.
The Swiss were without Federer
and Wawrinka.
France paired unused singles
players Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and
Richard Gasquet for a third time in
the cup to seal victory against
Vasek Pospisil and Philip Bester 76 (4), 6-1, 7-6 (4) in Guadeloupe.
Canada couldn't make up for
the absence of Milos Raonic and
Daniel Nestor.
Poland, making its debut in the
World Group, prevented Argentina
from winning their tie when
Lukasz Kubot and Marcin
Matkowski beat Carlos Berlocq
and Renzo Olivo 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Argentina, still leading 2-1 after
winning both singles in straight
sets, is heavily favored to clinch on
Sunday and reach the quarterfinals
for the 14th time in 15 years.
14A3H27F8C73A0FB
Philipp Kohlschreiber was
leading 6-3, 7-5 when Tomas
Berdych withdrew as Germany
drew level 2-2 with the Czech
Republic before the final rubber in
their Davis Cup first-round tie
Sunday.
Berdych, 7th ranked in the
world, retired after 1 hour, 41
minutes against Germany's top
player due to an apparent thigh
injury. Kohlschreiber converted
three of his five break points while
Berdych failed on any of his eight
chances.
DB8=C>@D0AC4A58=0;B
John Isner defeated Australia's
Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4)
on Sunday to clinch a 3-1 victory
in the World Group first-round tie
on grass at Kooyong.
µ=VZTVdeVccVRUjW`ceZe]VWZXYe¶
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eicester City football club's head
L
coach Claudio Ranieri says his
side will continue to fight after a 10 English Premier League (EPL)
away win against Watford sent them
five points clear at the top of the table.
It was a strike from Riyad Mahrez
early in the second half on Saturday
that proved to be the difference at
Vicarage Road stadium — a stunning
left footed effort that curled beautifully beyond Heurelho Gomes in the
Watford goal.
The win was welcome news for
Lecester fans, who had seen second
placed Tottenham Hotspur and third
placed Arsenal battle to a 2-2 draw
earlier in the afternoon, giving their
team an opportunity to stretch the
gap at the summit.
It was a chance they grasped with
both hands, but they were made to
battle all over the park against one of
the football league's toughest sides,
and afterwards Ranieri insisted that
there's still plenty of fight left in his
team.
"It was a difficult match but now
every match will be difficult, not only
for us, but all the teams. For us it was
important to give this kind of answer
to everybody," Ranieri told his club's
official website.
"We want to fight. I don't know
what we will do, but we will fight
every match. We want to continue
with this concentration, with this
ability to be strong and so close to
each other," the veteran coach added.
"I want just to see my players
fight and play as well as tonight. Now
my focus is on Newcastle (next
week) because it will be a really tough
match."
A0=84A834=84B<07A4I8=9DAH
Leicester City head coach Claudio
Ranieri has said he had no concerns over
the fitness of match-winner Riyad
Mahrez, despite his late withdrawal during the 1-0 win at Watford in the English
Premier League (EPL).
Mahrez, whose brilliant 56thminute goal on Saturday sent the
Foxes five points clear at the top of
the EPL, halted a breakaway clutching the back of his leg later in the second half, before being replaced by
Daniel Amartey five minutes from
time.
But City boss Ranieri said his
Algerian forward was simply suffering
from fatigue after a typically hardworking shift, sprinkled with magic.
"It's not an injury, just a little
cramp, but his job was done and I prefer to change him," Claudio told
Leicester's official website.
"It was nothing. He wanted to continue, but I thought his job was done.
We had to be solid in defence."
Mahrez's 15th goal of the season
—a stunning left-foot finish from the
edge of the box — was enough to settle a tight encounter at the Vicarage
Road stadium, where the Foxes once
again showed the steel to match their
undeniable style.
And Ranieri's feelings on his
goalscorer perfectly summed up the
approach of his relentless team.
"Riyad has such good skills, but he
knows he must also work very hard for
the team," Claudio said.
"In the position he plays, he can
get on the ball and be very dangerous
for the opposition, but he can also help
his teammates."
)DLQW2O\PSLFFKDQFHIRU3URER[HUV
?C8Q =4F34;78
he International Boxing Association (AIBA)
may have thrown the Olympic door open for
T
professional boxers but it is unlikely that Indian
moved provisionally eight points clear of the relegation zone.
Verona remained nine points from safety.
Napoli was looking to keep up the pressure on Juventus
but got off to the worst possible start as it gifted Chievo an early
lead as Chiriches was robbed by Nicola Rigoni, who burst clear
and blasted past Pepe Reina.
Its advantage lasted just four minutes before Faouzi
Ghoulam was released on the left and he crossed for Higuain
to roll in.
Chiriches atoned for his error by heading Napoli in front
seven minutes from halftime with his first goal in Serie A.
Higuain nearly doubled his tally but Chievo goalkeeper
Albano Bizzarri just did enough to fingertip his effort onto the
crossbar.
Napoli did get a third three minutes later as Callejon slotted Allan's through ball into the bottom left corner.
star Vijender Singh would be able to grab the
opportunity even though he is keen to make it.
Professional boxers would be allowed to
compete in the Olympic Games in August in Rio
de Janeiro provided the decision is ratified at the
AIBA Extraordinary Congress on June 1 when the
proposal would be put to vote.
The plan is to allow pro boxers qualify for Rio
via the AIBA-affiliated World Series of Boxing
(WSB) and AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) event. Both
these events, originally scheduled for May, could
be pushed back to last week of June to give national federations enough time to send their entries.
"If given a chance, I would definitely try to
qualify for the Olympics. Who would want to miss
an opportunity if it is there," Vijender told PTI from
Manchester where he is training for his next pro
fight on March 12 in Liverpool.
However, the question is whether there is any
realistic opportunity for him to give it a shot.
The 30-year-old middleweight's schedule is
sorted till June 11 when he will make his pro debut
in India by fighting for his maiden title -- the WBO
Asia belt.
That India does not even have a national fed-
eration as of now is also an important factor given
that the nominations for boxers in WSB and APB
will be left to respective national bodies. And if
India fails to put together a federation by March
31, there is a real chance of the country's boxers
being barred from the Olympics altogether.
Assuming that the situation would be resolved,
what would be the scenario if India's middleweight slot is booked by any other boxer —
Vikas Krishan being a top contender — in the
Asian Olympic Qualifiers later this month.
It would be interesting to see if Vijender
would be game to compete in any other category even if he were to make space for a WSB
or APB appearance. Together, the WSB and
APB have 26 Olympic quota places on offer.
Indian Boxing Council (IBC) President
Brig. P K Muralidharan Raja feels the decision
to let pro boxers into the Olympic fold will
show results primarily in the 2020 Games.
"Right now, the Olympics is less than six
months away, so I am not sure how AIBA would
be able to put things together and ensure participation of top pro guys," he said.This decision to allow pro boxers in the Olympics is
something that will have a bearing on 2020
Olympics," he said.
Interestingly, top pro bodies such as the
World Boxing Council (WBC) have already
slammed AIBA for the move.
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ahmudullah produced some
lower order fireworks as
Bangladesh posted 125/5 in 15
overs in the Asia Cup final against India
at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium
here on Sunday evening.
Walking in with Bangladesh in
trouble at 75/5, the right-hander proceeded to hit two boundaries and an
equal number of sixes in his 13-ball
innings to remain unbeaten on 32.
Sabbir Rahman gave him crucial
support from the other end with 32 runs
from 29 balls. The duo produced a 45run partnership to help the hosts to a
competitive total.
Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah (1/13)
and Ashish Nehra (1/33) made good use
of the seam friendly conditions to
remove the Bangladesh opener early on.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin,
who opened the Indian bowling, had figures of 1/14 while left-arm spinner
Ravindra Jadeja (1/25) also bagged a
wicket. Bangladesh had a decent start
with 11 runs in the first two overs before
Bumrah pegged back the run rate with
just three runs in the third over.
The Bangladesh openers tried to
push up rate with Soumya Sarkar smashing two boundaries in the next over. But
Nehra struck back immediately as Sarkar
mistimed the last ball of the over while
playing across the line to offer an easy
catch to Hardik Pandya at mid-off.
Bumrah then piled on the pressure
by trapping Tamim Iqbal leg before.
With both openers gone, Shakib al
Hasan and Sabbir Rahman set about trying to rebuild the innings.
They were cautious in the initial
stages before trying to break the shackles with some big hits. The duo added
34 runs between them before Shakib was
caught by Bumrah at short fine leg while
trying to sweep Ashwin.
Bangladesh suffered back to back
jolts in the 12th over when Mushfiqur
Rahim was found short of his crease
while attempting a second run, while
Mashrafe Mortaza holed out to deep
M
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midwicket in the very next ball as
Bangladesh reeled at 75/5.
Mahmudullah then provided the
crucial big hits later on to help the hosts
to a strong finish.
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Visas have been issued to two
Pakistani officials to visit India for
assessing the security arrangements for
the national team ahead of World
Twenty20.
The Indian high commission on
Sunday issued the visas according to a statement from the Pakistan interior ministry.
"All arrangements are complete for
the security team to leave for India on
Monday," the ministry said in the statement. "Director FIA Usman Anwar and
Col. Azam from the Ministry of Interior
will leave from Pakistan while the third
member will join them from the
Pakistan high commission in New
Delhi," the ministry said.
Col Azam is also the general manager of security and anti-corruption unit
in the Pakistan board.
"The team will meet the Chief
Minister Himachal Pradesh and the state
police chief and will prepare a report
which will be sent to the Pakistan
Cricket Board (PCB) and Federal
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar," the
statement added.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on
Saturday that the PCBoard has been told
to wait and not send the team to India
until the security delegation gives clearance.
Nisar had also insisted that the
Indian government was responsible for
ensuring security of the Pakistan team.
The Pakistan security delegation will
meet with officials of the Board of
Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and
also meet senior Indian security officials
to assess the security cover for the
Pakistan team.
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he International Cricket
Council has put in place
T
checks and balances to eliminate
he ever-improving Indian women cricketers could get a chance to become houseT
hold names such as tennis star Sania Mirza and
corruption during the upcoming World T20 Championship
starting in two days' time in the
country, said the world governing body's Anti-Corruption
Unit's chairman, Sir Ronnie
Flanagan, on Sunday.
Saying that like in the past
major ICC events, a 24-hour
tournament-specific hotline has
been set up to report on "corrupt approaches" by the players
and others, Sir Flanagan also
cautioned that due to human
nature it may not be entirely
possible to root out the menace.
"There are 58 games, for
men and women in the World
T20 Championships which, we
hope, will be an unforgettable
experience. My priority is that
at the end of the tournament we
will be talking about cricket and
the unforgettable experience
and not, I hope, about corruption," said the ICC official at a
media conference here.
"Our activity is designed to
prevent corruption, to disrupt
activities of those who try to
corrupt the game. We engage in
shuttle queen Saina Nehwal provided their
matches are regularly televised, feels national team captain Mithali Raj.
The Indian women's team has been on a
roll in recent months. After a historic T20
series win in Australia, they have continued
their impressive form at home by whitewashing Sri Lanka in both the ODI and T20 series.
Asked if the profile of women cricketers
can hope to reach the level of Sania and Saina,
Mithali said, "It should, and there is a possibility if our matches are televised. That
attracts a lot of brands and corporate sponsorships for individual players. If only a few
games are televised and you don't have a follow-up, like no live coverage of the Sri Lanka
series after the Australia series, where we did
so well, things will not improve."
Mithali said the upcoming World T20 will
be a good opportunity to promote women's
cricket in India.
"Since we have done well against Australia
and Sri Lanka, the people's expectations have
risen, and it is important that we use this platform to promote women's cricket in India,
because it is the best opportunity," she was
quoted as saying by 'ESPNcricinfo'. "The team
has good momentum and all the players are
confident, so it is the right time for us to play
a good brand of cricket for people to appreciate in India and to market the sport."
education programme for players, support staff, match officials (etcetera) and tell them
they must report any suspicious
approach made to them and
that if they fail to report such
approaches to them they commit an offence within the parameters of the ICC's AntiCorruption code.
"Human nature is such
that it may not be possible to
totally eliminate these corrupters. What we seek to do is
to make cricket a very difficult
environment to corrupt," said
Sir Flanagan.
On the hotline set up by the
ICC, Sir Flanagan said, "I am
talking about two different hotlines...There is a hotline for this
tournament (ICC World T20)
which is a mobile phone of one
of anti-corruption officers and
he has been directed that phone
will be on 24x7 and that's something we did at the last World
Cup (2015 WC in Australia
and NZ) and that's something
we do at major tournaments.
"In addition to that, we
have a hotline that goes back to
the office in Dubai. So when the
tournament is over and somebody comes by some information they like to pass on, there
this is the hotline they can dial
on our website. We give it to all
the players, support staff, officials. They carry it in wallets
just like cards. Even if the
office in Dubai is not manned,
there would be a recorded message," he explained.
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ustralia chased down
204 in a thrilling lastA
ball victory over South
captain Aditya Tare (38*) continued to
make full use of a good batting track to
pile on the agony for the Rest bowlers
with an unfinished partnership of 114
for the fourth wicket.
The Rest attack was hardly impressive barring the first hour when left
arm quick Jaydev Unadkat troubled
Herwadkar, who hit a few streaky
shots to the boundary.
Bista, who was dropped for the
team's semi final and final after playing
in the quarters, was the pick of the batsmen, stroking the ball fluently with flicks,
cuts and drives — to the off. He struck
off spinner Jayant Yadav, who looked
below par, for three fours in an over.
Brief Scores
Mumbai: 386 for 3 (A Herwadkar 90,
J Bista 104, S Iyer 55, S Yadav not out
88, A Tare not out 38) vs Rest of India.
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2774CA83>D1;4BCA8:4B0E4B152
engal left-arm spinner Pragyan
Ojha has made himself
B
unavailable for the World
Twenty20 warm up match against
Pakistan on March 12.
"He has made himself unavailable for the match as he has some
personal commitments. He has
conveyed his unavailability to the
CAB president Sourav Ganguly,"
a Bengal selector said.
Manoj Tiwary will lead the
side that will have the promising Ritwik Roychowdhury and
Ishan Porel.
"It will be a huge experience
for us as we will be playing against
the likes of Shahid Afridi and
Mohammad Amir," Tiwary said.
F0A<D?60<4BB785C43
The three men's warm-up
games of the ICC World T20, originally scheduled at the Mumbai
Cricket Association's Bandra
Kurla Complex ground, have been
shifted to the Wankhede Stadium
and Cricket Club of India's
Brabourne Stadium.
"There are no warm-up games
at BKC. One game on the 12th has
been shifted to the Wankhede
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the CCI," Nitin Dalal, treasurer of
Mumbai Cricket Association, told
PTI on Sunday.
New Zealand will face
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the Wankhede Stadium on March
12 before India clash with South
Africa at the same venue.
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New Zealand will face Sri Lanka
at the Wankhede Stadium on
March 10.
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at the Brabourne Stadium, on
March 14 and 15, would feature
England and South Africa respectively against local sides.
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ropped from the Ranji Trophy
squad, opener Jay Bista slammed
D
his maiden first class ton to lead Ranji
Trophy champions to a strong 386 for
3 on day one of the five-day Irani Cup
game against Rest of India on Sunday.
At stumps the 41-time national
champions were sailing along merrily by riding on the bespectacled opener's 104, Akhil Herwadkar's 90 and
half centuries from in-form Shreyas
Iyer (55) and Suryakumar Yadav (not
out 88) after choosing to bat first at the
Brabourne Stadium here.
Bista, who impressed with his
strokes on both sides of the wicket in
his chanceless knock that came off 90
balls with 15 fours and a six, and lefthanded Herwadka put on a solid foundation with a partnership of 193.
Both departed within a short
span of each other, Bista trapped leg
before by Krishna Das while flicking
and Herwadkar edged to slip off
Ankit Rajpoot after facing 148 balls
and striking 15 boundaries.
But Rest were then frustrated by
the attacking Iyer, who cracked 10
fours in his 49-ball cameo, and Yadav
as the third wicket duo put on a quick
69 before the former was caught cutting off Stuart Binny.
Yadav, who has struck 15 fours and
a six in his 125-ball unbeaten knock, and
B8=6;4B
Africa in the second
Twenty20 international on
Sunday to level the threegame series at 1-1.
Australia's chase was
powered by a brilliant partnership of 161 between
David Warner, who made 77
off 40 balls, and Glenn
Maxwell, who got 75 off 43.
The pair took Australia from
32-3 to 193-4.
Maxwell fell in the
penultimate over and
Warner was out first ball of
the last over, leaving new
batsmen Mitchell Marsh
and James Faulkner to get
11 off the final five balls to
win.
Chris Morris had
Maxwell caught on the
cover boundary with the
fifth ball of the penultimate
over to leave Rabada 11 to
defend. Rabada started with
a full straight delivery which
Warner missed as he cleared
the front leg to swing across
the line, bowling him off his
pad to put South Africa in
the pound seat.
Then a message came
from the dugout, which
seemed to instruct Rabada
to bowl outside off stump
but he went too wide.
The extra ball cost two
runs as Faulkner drove
down the ground and the
boundary was saved. Rabada
tried that line again but was
again too wide and again the
follow up went for two.
Helped by two wides in
that last over from Kagiso
Rabada, the Australians
scrambled home to 205-5,
running two off the last
delivery to clinch a victory
that appeared way out of
their reach at 32-3 in the
sixth over.
Rabada's joy at bowling
Warner with a yorker to
start the last over quickly
disappeared as he lost his
radar. Marsh and Faulkner
scrambled two-runs and singles — helped by the two
extra balls — before Marsh
lobbed the last ball down the
ground and Faulkner sped
back to the danger end to
complete a second run, and
send the series to a deciding
game in Cape Town.
Put in to bat by
Australia at the Wanderers,
a ground which is highscoring and often good to
chase on, South Africa
posted a big score of 204-7.
Captain Faf du Plessis
top-scored with 79 off 41
balls, opener Quinton de
Kock got 44 at the top of the
innings, and David Miller
clubbed a quick 33 off 18 in
the middle order.
Faulkner, on his recall
to the team, was Australia's
best bowler with 3-28. He
also won the game with the
bat. Warner and Maxwell
came together with
Australia well behind following the loss of Aaron
Finch for two in the first
over, Shane Watson for nine
and captain Steven Smith
for 19.
Even at the halfway
stage of the innings, the
Aussies still needed 12 an
over for the last 10 overs.
But Warner and
Maxwell accelerated dramatically, with Warner
eventually clattering five
sixes and six fours. Maxwell
clubbed three over the
ropes, including one that hit
the top of the giant scoreboard at square leg and
continued on its way out of
the stadium.
They appeared to be
taking Australia home
before Chris Morris, who
had taken some punishment, finally got Maxwell to
mistime one in the secondlast over and AB de Villiers
took the catch at deep
cover.
Warner was beaten by
Rabada to open the last
over, but Marsh and
Faulkner kept their nerves as
young fast bowler Rabada
appeared to lose his.
Brief Scores
Australia: 205/5 in 20 overs
(David Warner 77, Glenn
Maxwell 75; Kagiso Rabada
2-25, Dale Steyn 2-32) beat
South Africa: 204-5 in 20
overs (Plessis 79, Quinton
de Kock 44; James Faulkner
3-28) by five wickets.