Dehradun - The Pioneer

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what could turn out to be
Ithena major
security headache for
Indian security establish-
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slamist militants carrying
Ilaunched
bombs and machetes
a deadly attack on
Bangladesh's biggest Eid gathering, killing four persons
including two policemen and a
Hindu woman, nearly a week
after 22 people were slaughtered in the country's worst terror attack.
Bombs exploded near an
Eid prayer gathering in
Sholakia
in
northern
Kishoreganj district where at
least 2,00,000 people had gathered, police said.
Police said one constable
was dead and at least 13 others
were injured. A second policeman later succumbed to his
injuries on way to hospital in
neighbouring Mymensingh.
Jharna Rani Bhoumik, a
housewife, was also killed as
she was hit by a stray bullet that
penetrated her hut, officials
said.
One suspected attacker was
also killed in the exchange of
fire with police at the blast site
as roads in the area were cordoned off.
Police said that two of the
attackers have been held while
media reported the arrest of
three persons.
Machetes
were seized from the suspected assailants.
Local reports said six to
seven people led the attack with
sharp weapons on policemen
when they were frisking people
entering the Eidgah ground.
Such an attack on Eid is
said to be first time in
Bangladesh. It was not known
immediately who or which
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group launched the attack.
Kishoreganj ASP Obaidul
Hasan said the blasts spread
panic among thousands who
were beginning to gather near
the ground, but the prayers
were
not
disrupted,
bdnews24.Com reported.
“That was probably a crude
bomb. The facts are still
unclear,” he said.
Police did not reveal the
identities of the arrested attackers. No group has claimed
responsibility for the attack.
The incident comes close on
the heels of last week's deadly
attacks on a cafe in Dhaka in
which 22 people, including a
19-year-old Indian girl, were
brutally slaughtered by Islamic
State militants.
The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group on Wednesday issued
a new chilling video warning
the Bangladesh Government of
more attacks in the country and
across the world until Shariah
law is established globally, saying last week's gruesome attack
here was just “a glimpse”. The
video message believed to be
issued from Raqqa, the stronghold of the terror group in
strife-torn Syria was released
on YouTube.
Islamist gunmen stormed a
popular restaurant in Dhaka's
ndia will send a team of NSG
Iconduct
officials to Bangladesh to
post-blast investigations at the site of the bombing
at an Eid prayer gathering near
Dhaka on Thursday and the
recent terror siege at a restaurant in the upscale diplomatic
area of the Bangladesh capital.
Officials said the team of
National Security Guard (NSG)
officers have been authorised
by the Government to travel to
Dhaka after the Special Forces
establishment in Bangladesh
approved the elite Indian
counter-terror force's request to
visit the spots of the terror
attacks for a first-hand understanding of the situation.
The team, which includes
NSG experts in post-blast
Incidentally, India's radar
facility for monitoring the
Indian Ocean there is the second biggest after the US and it
is providing surveillance capacity right up to Gwadar port in
Pakistan.
In the past, many
Maldivian students who had
gone to Pakistan to study medicine were radicalised by the
Pak agencies. Many of these
students had joined terror
groups following which the
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s the Maharashtra Chief
Minister ordered a probe
against the Mumbai-based
Islamic preacher Zakir Naik,
the Union Government on
Thursday stepped up the heat
on him saying “appropriate
action” will be taken over his
speeches that were reported to
have inspired one of the Dhaka
attackers.
Backing the move, the BJP
that described Naik as “threat
to nation's security” sought
Congress party to take action
against its leader Digvijay Singh
who came under scanner for
appearing in a 2012 video along
with the Islamic preacher.
Singh, who was seen praising 50-year-old Naik in the
video, defended himself, saying
if there was any evidence
against the preacher, then the
Indian and Bangladeshi
Governments should take
action against him.
“I have appealed for communal harmony and opposed
religious fundamentalism and
terrorism by either Hindus or
Muslims,” the Congress leader
said. The video surfaced on
Thursday.
Naik's speeches are
believed to have inspired some
of the Bangladeshi militants,
who killed 22 people, mostly
foreigners, at an upscale cafe in
Dhaka last Friday.
Security personnel were
deployed outside Naik's 'Islamic
Research Foundation' office at
Dongri area in South Mumbai
as a precautionary measure in
the wake of the escalating row
over his alleged hate speeches.
“The Home Ministry will
study (his speeches). It will take
appropriate action after studying them. His speeches, as
being reported in the media,
are highly objectionable,” the
new Information and
A
posh diplomatic enclave late on
Friday killing 22 people, most
of them foreigners from Italy,
Japan, India and the US in an
attack claimed by the Islamic
State.
The IS video has gone viral
on social media among
Bangladeshis still recovering
from the shock of the brutal
slaughter of 20 hostages and
two police officers in Dhaka.
Police said a massive manhunt was underway to nab
other militants involved in
Thursday's attack.
Continued on Page 4
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ment as well as for the Maldives
Government, Pakistan is sending a team of 200 doctors to
that country ostensibly to fuel
anti-India sentiment and help
forces which are trying to
destabilise the India friendly
Government there.
Cyber profiling of these
doctors and inputs with the
agencies here suggest they have
been in regular touch with the
Pakistan's Inter-Ser vices
Intelligence (ISI) and its affiliate terror groups like the
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and Jaish-eMohammad. For the last few
months, these doctors have
been scouring the Internet to
understand the Maldivian culture in depth so as to gel well
with the local people there
and vitiate their minds. The
Pak agencies have also imparted training to these doctors on
the cultural milieu of the island
nation, sources said.
Inputs also suggest 80 per
cent of these doctors have
studied medicine at the medical institutions of the armed
forces of Pakistan and many of
them have also served for the
uniformed services.
Agencies here suspect these
doctors are being sent with an
insidious agenda to foment
anti-India sentiment in the
island nation and stage a coup
against the pro-India
Government there.
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analysis and counter-terror
operations, will study the July
1 incident where terrorists laid
siege to a bakery and killed 22
persons and also analyse
Thursday's bombings in
Kishoreganj area near Dhaka.
The NSG wanted to study
the scenario, in coordination
with their Bangladeshi counterparts, as getting an insight
into them will not only
enhance counter-terror cooperation between the two friendly-neighbours but will also
act as a repository of operational knowledge to the commando force.
NSG is the federal counterterror and counter-hijack commando action force of the
countr y that was raised
in 1984.
Continued on Page 4
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ollowing reports that the six
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Broadcasting Minister M
Venkaiah Naidu told reporters
in Delhi.
Naidu's remarks came a
day after Minister of State for
Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju hinted at action against the preacher after looking into whether
Naik through his speeches glorifies terrorist acts by Muslims.
Naik on Wednesday asserted
that his speech on Islam and
terror has been taken out of
context and claimed that he
had only said Muslims should
terrorise anti-social elements.
BJP targetted Singh and
asked Congress president Sonia
Gandhi to take action against
her party leader.
“Terrorism is enemy of
humanity. Anybody who
directly or indirectly abets it is
guilty. People like him (Naik)
are a threat to our national
security. Government agencies
should decide on action against
him under the existing legal
system. It is clear that he incited people,” party national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
Countering the BJP,
Congress chief spokesperson
Randeep Surjewala said his
senior colleague has himself
stated that he only appealed for
he game plan of BJP
national president Amit
Shah to take Uttarakhand by
storm seems to have come a
cropper. The crowd at his
rally in Haridwar on June 25
was not as impressive as
expected.
Shah was naturally
annoyed with the dismal
turnout. State BJP brass boasted that they would pull a mammoth crowd of not less than 1.5
lakh. Later, they chastened a little, saying that it would be
around one lakh. But what happened is that the turnout fell
woefully short of the target,
around 30,000 people.
Continued on Page 4
T
are being maltreated, the Delhi
Government's Forest department has issued show-cause
notices to mahouts holding
the ownership licences of the
pachyderms. They have been
told to provide all the details
about food, accommodation
and hygiene they have been
providing to their elephants. If
mahouts fail to give satisfactory reply, the Forest department
officials said, their ownership
licence will be cancelled under
the Wildlife Protection Act.
Besides, the department
has also expressed its serious
concern about the way
mahouts have been taking their
elephants out on roads without
providing prior information
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to the traffic police. As per law,
it is mandatory for mahouts to
provide prior information to
the police before bringing elephants on roads as their movement could lead to massive
traffic jams.
Sources in the Government
Maldives Government banned
its students from studying in
Pakistan. Interestingly, Pakistan
had earlier offered similar help
to Nepal during the earthquake but the Himalayan
nation had rejected the offer
outright saying the people
might not accept medical services from Pak doctors due to
cultural differences.
As many as 150 Indian
doctors are already stationed in
a country that has a population
of 10 lakh spread across 200
islands. The ratio of doctors is
well above the WHO recommendations for a male and
female doctor for a population
of one lakh and the Pak move
seems to be fishy as they will
stay there for two years and
each one of them will draw a
monthly salary of USD 2500
and the entire bill will be footed by Islamabad. The Maldives
Government has already granted them visas and they are likely to reach there after the Eid
vacations in both the countries
are over by the weekend.
“The background of the
doctors and the track record of
Pakistani agencies suggest an
armed coup is a possibility in
Maldives if they are allowed to
stay for long. Their activities
could add to the woes of the
Government there as radicalisation by the ISIS is on the rise
there,” an official said.
In the past, the ISI and its
affiliate terror groups had created a network of sympathising
groups within the Muslim sections in Sri Lanka after undertaking humanitarian works there
following the Tsunami in 2004.
Recently, the role of ISI had
also cropped up in the terror
attack on a restaurant in an
upscale area in Dhaka earlier
this month.
Counter-terrorsim expert
Dr Rituraj Mate told The
Pioneer, “While China is
undertaking String of Pearls to
encircle India in strategic
terms, Pakistan is carrying out
an operation on similar lines to
hit New Delhi's interests by furthering jehadi agenda in the
immediate neighbourhood
of India.”
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peace, harmony and brotherhood.
Surjewala said the NDA
Government should take decisive action against Naik or any
other individual or organisation found indulging in antiIndia activities.
Naik's discourse is reported to have inspired one of the
five Bangladeshi militants
involved in the recent Dhaka
carnage.
Police have been deployed
outside the city office of Naik's
'Islamic Research Foundation'
office at Dongri area in South
Mumbai run by him.
Naik, in his lecture aired on
Peace TV, an international
Islamic channel, had reportedly “urged all Muslims to be terrorists”.
The controversial Islamic
orator is banned in the UK and
Canada for his 'hate speech'
aimed at other religions. He is
among 16 banned Islamic
scholars in Malaysia.
Shiv Sena MP Arvind
Sawant on Wednesday said he
had written to the Union Home
Minister, demanding a ban on
Naik and Islamic Research
Foundation, in the country's
interest.
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said that the notices have been
given to all six licensed owners
seeking details of infrastructure
for proper living and maintenance. “If they are failed to give
satisfactorily reply about what
measures they had taken for
the upkeep of these animals.
Their licences would be cancelled,” said the sources.
However, Zakir Ali (25),
who belongs to a family that
has kept elephants for generations, denied receving any
notice from the Government.
“Keeping elephants is our
'shauk' and not a 'pesha'. It is a
costly affair to keep elephants
in the national Capital because
of strict wildlife rules and the
costs involved,” says Ali who
has two elephants known as
Heera and Laxmi, both 35
years old.
Abdul Rahim, who also
owns one elephant, said that he
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would be the last generation of
mahouts in Delhi. “Wages are
low. There are dangers
involved. It's not a respected
profession. But ours is a symbiotic relationship. We cut grass
to feed them. We sleep under
their shadow,” says Abdul
Rahim, as he dusts an elephant
with a piece of cloth.
The elephants in Delhi
belong to individuals who traditionally use them to earn
their living. The elephants face
health hazards from walking on
tar roads for long hours carrying heavy loads which lead to
cracks and blisters on their
foot pads.
In 2014, six pachyderms
had gone missing under mysterious circumstances in Delhi,
which forced the forest department to conduct census of
these animals.
Continued on Page 4
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ndia and Mozambique on
Iagricultural
Thursday agreed to fast-track
cooperation after
delegation-level discussions
headed by Prime Minister
Narendra
Modi
and
Mozambican President Filipe
Nyusi here.
The two nations signed
three agreements on security,
enhancing defence ties and
purchase of pulses from
Mozambique for India.
“Mozambique's strengths
are also the areas of India's
needs. And what Mozambique
requires is available in India,”
Modi said in a joint Press
statement with Nyusi.
Observing that Nyusi had
highlighted agricultural development as his top priority, he
said experts from both sides
have since held discussions on
how to work together to
improve agricultural infrastructure and productivity in
Mozambique.
“Today, we agreed to put
this cooperation on the fast
track,” Modi said.
As per the agreement India
will encourage greater production of pulses in
Mozambique with an assurance
that it will be purchased by
India at mutually-agreed price.
While India generally has
shortfall of pulses leading to
price rise, Mozambique grows
the commodity without much
consumption locally. The
agreement will be a “win-win”
for the two countries.
Stating that the both the
countries were strengthening
their partnership in food security, Modi said, “India's commitment to buy pulses from
Mozambique would help meet
India's requirement. It will also
facilitate long-term investments
in commercial farming, generate farm employment and raise
incomes of farmers in this
country.”
Modi also said that India
wants to build on its already
flourishing trade and investment ties with Mozambique.
Continued on Page 4
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bout 200 disaster affected
persons have remained in
A
Government relief camps more
than a week after disaster
struck Bastadi area of
Pithoragarh district. Search
and relief operations are continuing at Bastadi where an
estimated eight persons have
remained missing since the
disaster on July 1.
According to the authorities, there were no reports of
natural disaster incidence from
anywhere in the State on
Thursday though two persons
were reported to have sustained minor injury after their
jeep fell down a 100 metre
gorge near Darkot while going
from Munsyari to Madkot during the afternoon.
According to the State
authorities, search and relief
works are being continued at
Bastadi where eight persons are
still missing. Officials state
that regular sanitisation is being
undertaken in the village while
search operation is being
conducted with the use of specialised equipment including
victim locating device, life
detectors, collapsed structure
search and rescue equipment
and a dog squad.
According to information
provided by the Pithoragarh
district disaster management
centre, 100 packets of dry
5X[T_W^c^
ration, 50 carpet mats, 50 warm
blankets and 50 sheets of
plastic have been distributed
among the disaster affected
families in Didihat Tehsil while
relief box, utensils, warm
blankets and other items have
been provided to 11 seriously
disaster-affected families in
Bastadi village.
The administration avers
that so far a sum amounting to
C71,64,075 has been given as ex
gratia financial assistance to
disaster affected families in
Pithoragarh district. Along
with relief work being undertaken by the State Disaster
Response Force (SDRF), the
people are being provided
water in tankers purified with
the help of solar water
purification. Similarly, a sum of
C42,00,000 has been provided
so far to a total of 255 disaster
affected families in the Chamoli
district.
Meanwhile, the Kailash
Mansarovar Yatra through the
bridle route in Pithoragarh
district is reported to be underway in a systematic manner.
The third batch of the Kailash
Mansarovar Yatra has completed the pilgrimage and
returning towards Bundi from
Gunji.
Similarly, the fourth batch
of pilgrims is in the phase of
circumambulation of mount
Kailash, fifth batch is in the
China-controlled area, the sixth
batch had left from Bundi
towards Gunji on pilgrimage
with the seventh batch of pilgrims is progressing from
Almora towards Dharchula.
According to official data,
as on July 6, a total of 192 roads
were blocked in the State
with 19 more roads getting
blocked on July 7 with the
authorities managing to clear
61 of the blocked roads. Work
is underway for clearing the
remaining 150 blocked roads
most of which—81—are rural
roads.
All the national highways
and
main
roads
in
Uttarakhand, including the
Char Dham Yatra circuit are
open for traffic. Information
regarding status of disasterdamaged roads in the State has
been made available to the
public also on the official website of the Public Works
Department.
Till date, a total of 1185 villages/peripheral settlements
experienced disruption of electricity supply with the power
supply being restored in 1160
of these villages.
Power supply had been
disrupted to 90 disaster affected villages at Ghat in Chamoli
district with the power supply
being restored to 77 of these
villages. The officials further
state that water supply has also
been resumed in most of the
affected areas.
WKHGLVDVWHUVFHQDULR7DPWD
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rriving in Haldwani for the
first time after assuming
A
charge as the Minister of State,
Ministry of Textiles, Ajay Tamta
lambasted the Congress-led
State Government accusing it of
playing politics over the issue of
disaster. Tamta said this on
Thursday after visiting Mohan
Chandra and Neelam Bhatt who
are undergoing treatment in
the Sushila Tiwari Government
hospital for serious injuries sustained in the recent disaster in
Bastadi village in Pithoragarh.
The Lok Sabha MP from
Almora constituency met the
two disaster victims at the hospital and enquired about their
condition. During his visit,
Tamta assured that all possible
assistance will be facilitated for
the disaster affected persons
through
the
Union
Government.
Tamta alleged that the State
Government was mainly focusing on “playing politics” over the
disaster scenario which should
not be happening. The Minister
further said that the disaster
relief work being undertaken by
teams and resources of the army,
Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo
Tibetan Border Police Force
(ITBP) and National Disaster
Response Force
(NDRF) was
being facilitated
by the Central
Government.
He said,
“Instead of playing politics, the
S t a t e
Government
should
be
preparing various disasterrelated work
proposals for submission to the
Central Government for budgetary allocation. Such disasterrelated work proposals have not
been been submitted yet by the
State Government to the
Centre,” he said.
Stating that now since he
had assumed office at the
Centre, Tamta said that such
disaster related work proposals
can also be submitted through
him to the Union Government
for necessary central budgetary
allocation. However, Chief
Minister Harish Rawat has not
had even a telephonic talk
with him on the disaster,
averred Tamta.
Referring to the issue of
rehabilitation of the disaster
affected villages, Tamta said
that special arrangements will
have to be prepared for this
task. “I take the responsibility
of facilitating forest clearance
from the Central Government
for rehabilitation of the disaster affected. The State
Government only needs to
draft the proposal and submit
it to the Centre,” he said.
Accorded the position of
Union Minister of State for textiles in the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s Cabinet in the
recent Cabinet expansion,
Tamta has in the past also
served as a member of the
Uttarakhand Legislative
Assembly, from 2007 to 2012
and again from 2012 to 2014.
He has also served as a Minister
in the BJP-led Government of
Uttarakhand, as a Cabinet
Minister during 2008–2009
and as Minister of State during
2007–2008.
G_b[cX_`_^TYcQcdUbbYc[
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?=BQ 347A03D=
onsidering the conditions
resulting from the heavy
C
rain experienced recently in
Chamoli and Pithoragarh districts, Uttarakhand needs to
undertake further preparation
to tackle such scenarios in the
future. The State’s disaster management secretary Shailesh
Bagauli said this while speaking at a workshop on disaster
risk assessment of Uttarakhand
under the World Bank funded
Uttarakhand disaster recovery
project.
Aspects of floods, landslides, earthquake and industrial dangers and their social
and economic effects on the
society will be studied as part
of this project slated to be
completed in a period of 18
months. Expressing his views
on the occasion, disaster management additional secretary C
Ravishankar said that under
this project recommendations
should be made on the basis of
local geographical conditions
so that the intended benefit can
be accessed by the people of
areas vulnerable to disaster.
In the workshop, the participants had discussion on various subjects including the work
plan, the geology of the
Himalaya and risk of earthquake, effect of seismic disturbances on buildings and the dangers faced after occurrence of the
disaster. It was stated in the workshop that compiling and studying the record on occurrence of
earthquakes spanning a period
of centuries and the past few
decades, may also help in arriv-
EXSWP]BPQWPbTRdaXch^UUXRTa
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3^^]7PaXSfPaa[hcaPRZb
?=BQ 347A03D=
n a freak accident, body of
a security officer of Vidhan
Sabha/ State Secretariat
Surendra Singh Dev was found
lying on Dehradun-Haridwar
railway track in Badripur on
Thursday morning. Singh was
at present posted in Vidhan
Sabha security.
The in-charge of the
Nehru Colony Police station V
S Gusain told The Pioneer
that Singh had attended a
party in Navada Heights
thrown by one of his relative
I
on Wednesday night and was
under influence of alcohol.
On late night he proceeded to return home but probably got strayed from the path
and went on the rail way line.
His body was spotted by the
railway men in wee hours of
Thursday who reported the
matter to the police.
The deceased was a resident of the MDDA colony and
was a native of Lohaghat in
Champawat district. The
police sent the body for post
mortem and has ruled out any
foul play in the incident.
ing at a system of forecast.
Most of the damage from
earthquakes occurs due to technical shortcomings in the construction of the buildings as seen
in the case of safety standards
not being considered in construction of vehicle parking and
commercial use at the first floor
of the building whereas it is
essential for the first floor of the
building needs to be structurally strong to face earthquake.
Expressing his views on the
occasion, the disaster management deputy secretary Santosh
Badoni laid emphasis on the
importance of studying local factors considering the different
types of threats faced in various
areas due to different ecological
and other conditions.
A study should also be
conducted to ascertain which
policies should be
changed on the
basis of local factors. The communication network
also needs to be
strengthened in
order to minimise
the loss to people
and property in
case of disaster.
Additionally,
the setting up of
pre-warning system and shortening
of the response
time can also help
in preventing the
exacerbation of the
disaster scenario, it
was stated.
?=BQ 347A03D=
hief Minister Harish
Rawat said on Thursday
that rescue work was still
going on in the rain-ravaged
Bastadi village in Pithoragarh
district. He said he had visited the village and held a meeting with the officials to plug
the loopholes he had found
during his visit. He said this to
the media prsons in the presence of State Congress incharge Ambika Soni and State
PCC president Kishore
Upadhyay at Bijapur Guest
House on Thursday.
“Taking note of what
Soniji said about C1 lakh as
compensation against the completely damaged house being
too small, we have decided to
give them C1 lakh in addition
by way of compensation from
the Chief Minister’s relief
C
fund,” CM said.
Central forces along with
SDRD and Uttarkahand police
jawan are working round the
clock in the disaster affected
areas, he said. “Currently 475
personnel are busy in rescue
work. Eleven persons are still
missing. We are of the view
that these persons were
swept away by Mahakali river.
The rescue operation is being
done keeping this possibility in
view,” he said, adding that
they had disbursed C1 crore
among the people as an interim relief.
He said he has instructed
the officials to conduct the
survey of loss of lives and
properties in the next five
days. “Meanwhile, we have
started disbursing compensation against the loss of cattle
heads. In Chamoli district, 50
percent of the affected people
0__^X]c\T]c^UcTPRWTabX]
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?=BQ 347A03D=
he process of appointments
of teachers in the Model
T
schools of the State is getting
delayed by one or another
reasons. In view of the disaster like situation in many parts
of the state due to cloud bursts
and excessive rainfall the education department has released
new dates for appointment in
these schools.
The appointments of serving teachers in the State services would be made on the
vacant posts in the model
schools. The department has
earlier released a time table
according to which the process
of was to be completed by July
22 but now it has released a
revised programe according
to which the selection process
would get completed by July
26.
The interested teachers
can now submit their forms in
their respective block by July
12 while the last date up to
which the forms would be
accepted in the offices of Chief
Education Officers (CEO) is
July 14. A district level written
examination would be held on
July 18 and the date of interview of the candidates is July
23.
The appointments would
be done at the level of district
and the selection would be
done by a committee headed
by District Education Officer
(DEO) Basic.
The Secondary education
Director RK Kunwar said that
due to recent disaster like situation in many parts of the
state the process of deposition
of forms was getting affected
due to which the entire process
was extended by some days.
The selection of the teachers for the model schools
would be done by the process
of written examination and
interviews. The written part is
of 30 marks and would cover
questions of English, mathematics and general science.
The delay in the recruitment of teachers for these
schools means that the teachers would be available in these
schools in the month of August
while the new session started
on April 1. The establishment
of five model schools in every
block of state is the dream project of Chief Minister Harish
Rawat who wants to develop
these schools as centre of excellence.
Under the plan three
schools under elementary education (Primary and Upper
Primary schools) and two
schools under secondary education would be developed as
model schools. In all a total of
475 schools in the State would
be taken up under the project.
The department plans to
provide best infrastructure and
teaching facilities to the students in these. Students from
the schools having less enrollment would be shifted to these
residential model schools once
they are fully operational.
have been given compensation
and remaining 50 percent will
be given the same shortly,”
he said.
“With the addition in the
amount, those whose houses
were completely damaged
would receive C2 lakhs, including C1 lakh from the Chief
Minister’s relief fund, as compensation from the State
Government. Similar pattern
will be followed in the cases of
partially damaged houses,”
CM said.
Referring to the financial
crisis the state has been staring at , CM said things would
not be allowed to be hampered. “We would build alternative arrangements. We are in
the process to building shelter
houses for the domestic animals. I have instructed the
DMs to provide rented accommodation to the affected
instead of keeping them in
camps,” he said.
CM accepted the notion
that DIdihaat is the worst
affected area in Pithoragarh
district. “Now geographical
survey is mandatory. DM has
been asked to shift the houses in the disaster prone areas
to safer places. Taking cognisance of the lesson this year’s
disaster has given us, I have
asked the Chief Secretary to
study two aspectswhich would
be brought in the next
Cabinet meeting. We have to
think how the State can help
in case the principal bread
earner of a family dies. We
are considering whether we
would give the next of kin a
Government job on compassionate ground. CS has been
asked to study how to get rid
of all the legal hassles too,”
CM said.
Bda_aXbTRWTRZbc^RWTRZ
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n line with the Pauri district
magistrate Chandra Shekhar
IBhatt’
s instruction to the officers
concerned to launch drive to
ascertain if the employees are
attending Government offices
rightly and are found working
during the working hours; subdivisional magistrate PL Shah
made sudden inspection of five
Government offices, including
the collectorate and tehsil. He
found that 13 employees and one
officer were absent from duty
without having sought prior
permission. Notably, DM asked
the officers concerned to
embark on time to time drives to
better the State of dwindling
work culture.
Shah told The Pioneer that
he had found all present in the
election office. “However, in district Aurvedic and Unanni
department, four third grade
staffers and two fourth grade
staffers were found absent. On
the top of it, the officer was also
found absent.
In the collectorate, things
were not much better. One third
grade and four fourth grade
employees were not found on
their seats during the inspection.
When I made an unscheduled
visit to the land acquisition
office I found absenteeism too.
One third grade and one fourth
grade employee were found
absent. And in the Pauri tehsil
office, one fourth grade employee was found taking unauthorized leave,” he said.
Shah further said that he had
submitted a report to the district
magistrate with a recommendation that one day salary of such
errant employees should be
deducted.
B^]XP[[_aPXbT
U^a2<APfPc
ttarakhand Congress incharge Ambika Soni was
U
all praise for the Harish Rawat
government for having
plunged in the rescue and
relief operation just in the
nick of time after the disaster
struck.
“The Government rose
to the challenge within a few
hours after the disaster. This
is good and the state government deserves appreciation,”
she said. However, she parried questions over the
alleged squabbling between
the state government and the
party. She left the place when
quizzed repeatedly by the
media persons present.
PNS
BT]PBcPcTd]Xc
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?=BQ 347A03D=
group of Shiv Sainiks
departed from Dehradun
A
to undertake the annual
Amarnath Yatra in the state of
Jammu and Kashmir on
Thursday. As done in past
years, Shiv Sena State head
Gaurav Kumar and other State
office bearers of Shiv Sena
gave a ceremonial send off to
their peers going on the
Amarnath pilgrimage.
At a simple programme
held at the Shiv Sena State head
office, the party’s State chief
Gaurav Kumar said that multitudes of devotees from different parts of India travel to
the holy cave shrine of
Amarnath to pay obeisance to
the Lord every year.
This pilgrimage is being
undertaken with the aim of
praying for world peace and the
feeling of camaraderie in addition to which it is also aimed
at eradicating the fear of terrorism.
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70A83F0A
nion Water Resources
U
Minister Uma Bharti
averred on Thursday that her
Ministry was committed to
cleaning river Ganga. By 2018,
people would see clean and
serene Ganga, she said, adding
that a rough draft of the Act for
Ganga was also ready to be
enforced soon.
The Minister assured the
gathering of hundreds in
Rishikul grounds, wearing
white caps bearing Namami
Gange logo, that C4,000 crores
had been spent on cleaning
Ganga since 1985 and C7,000
crores more are being spent by
NMCG. The public money
being spent on the noble purpose would not be allowed to go
waste, the Minister said.
“We would show 100 percent results and fulfil the commitments made to keep the
river clean. By allotting a total
of C20,000 crores for Namami
Gange, the Modi Government
was not doing any favour to the
river which is lifeline of millions. “Rather, cleaning it is part
of the ‘Prayschit’ towards the
mother,” said the Minister.
The Minister was here to
launch 43 developmental projects related to Namami Gange
in a function organised in
Rishikul grounds. The programme was attended by the
Union Minister of Roads and
Transport Nitin Gadkari, Union
Minister for Tourism Mahesh
Sharma, Chief Minister Harish
Rawat and former CM Ramesh
Pokhariyal Nishank aside from
many other Congress and BJP
leaders. Amongst the seers present were Shankaracharya
Rajrajeshwarashram and Swami
Harichetanand of Udasin Bada
Akhara.
Notably, 250 projects have
been listed at 100 places worth
C15,000 crores across the country, including cleaning of drains,
installation of sewage treatment plants, bio-digestor toilets,
tree plantation, building of
ghats and embankments
among others.
Uma Bharti said, “Treated
water would not be allowed to
be dumped in Ganga any more
as has been the practice for a
long time on the pretext of
treated water. Even untreated
waste water was seeing its way
into the river.” She said that
closing down of STP of
Jagjeetpur was on account of
the same reason.
She made a categorical
statement, saying that the
industries will have to recycle
the waste water generated by
them and use for their own purpose and throw in Ganga after
proper treatment.
She said that Ganga was
being polluted by the people by
throwing ‘puja’ (rituals) waste
was a myth. “It was the industrial waste and sewage which
was polluting the river and not
the remains of floral or other
puja waste,” the minister said.
1000 cusecs water for
Aviral ganga
Uma Bharti said that the
Modi government was committed to the unbridled flow of
river Ganga and maintain the
1000 cusecs volume flow in the
river as was declared in agreement made by British government and freedom fighter
Madan Mohan Malviya in 1912.
Uma touches on the emotional chord of people
‘Nari aur nadi’ (woman
and river) both have been
struggling for years for their
existence, said the minister.
Do not insult them. She
expressed her desire to undertake pilgrimage (padyatra)
along the river Ganga and
spread awareness amongst the
people not to pollute the holy
river. Pointing to Gadkari, she
said, “I may be allowed to
undertake this pilgrimage from
Gangotri down the river after
the first phase of Namami
Gange is completed in October
2016.
She also questioned the
people “Would you allow your
ancestors drink polluted water?
If not you should refrain from
offering the same while performing tarpan in Ganga. The
water you are giving to your
ancestors is not fit for drinking whether be it at Varanasi
or Kanpur or Haridwar.”
“Wherever I go in the
Parliament or around Delhi,
people greet me. saying Ganga
maiya ki jai. I feel proud .”
Rawat demands projects
to be linked with Namani
Gange
In his address, Chief
Minister Harish Rawat appreciated the Union road minister
for assuring all weather roads
for char dham pilgrimage. He
said he had been impressed
over the commitment shown by
the Union water resources minister Uma Bharti towards cleaning of Ganga and assured all
support to the endeavour from
the State.
Echoing Uma, Rawat said,
“We are committed too to provide 100 percent clean and pure
water to the deities of Haridwar
Chandi Devi and Maya Devi.
We are working on a dozen and
a half sewage treatment plants
and five are ready which can be
started anytime
However, the Minister said
that assistance was needed from
Namami Gange project to
incorporate the project of making canal from Muni ki Reti
downstream to the ‘dhar area’
(plain area) of Haridwar bordering Laksar villages so that
water was released in Ganga
after getting in contact with the
soil which would act as natural filter. The CM expressed his
incapacity to tap each drain of
the city due to “wrong urbanisation”.
Rawat also asked for open
defecation free project to be
executed in all villages of the
state and not only 143 earmarked villages by Namami
Gange scheme which were
located on the banks of Ganga.
He said his aim was not just
45% of villages to be open
defecation free but all of them
should be made so. He also
demanded a clear policy involving all the states and the
Namami Gange scheme.
Sparsh Ganga project
linked with Namami Gange
The Sparsh Ganga project
started in 2010 by former CM
and BJP leader Ramesh
Pokhariyal NIshank was also
described as continuation of
the Namami Gange project.
A rosy picture of India
with cultural diversity and
progress was shown through a
multimedia presentation shown
on large screens installed in the
Rishikul grounds.
34>17>><8380AH
BD=8;:D<0A
3XOOLQJKRWHORXWRIKDW
ith the State staring at a grim financial crisis and the clearance of the State Government employees’ salaries after
W
July hanging fire, a State Minister has, as it were, pulled a rabbit out of his hat. The thing is that he has bought a hotel for
himself that is worth around C200 crore. As per the declaration he submitted to the Election Commission, his assets are
worth C10-15 crore. The acolytes of the Minister say that there
was no magic involved in the deal. The hotel incurring spiraling losses over the years, the owner had sold it at throw- away
price. However, one wonders how much low the price could
be. It is clear that the Minister is desperately making hay when
the sun shines. Nobody knows what would happen to the state
after the elections 2017. The Minister is not, however, the only
worthy from the ruling party wallowing in wealth. There are
many of his ilk, squeezing the regime to the fullest possible
extent to raise lucre. The story of the Government’s anti -corruption wings nabbing puny mortals for taking ‘paltry’ bribes
of C3,000 or C5,000 or C10,000 or even C20,000 courts applause.
But they have not the spunk even to look right at those who
are bleeding the State white. What happened recently is interesting. The anti-corruption wing had nabbed a ruling party
MLA. But once the news was flashed in the media they folded up things with alacrity and stopped short of arresting the
heavy weight accused.
+RO\ZDURYHUFROODU
he Ministers are a poor lot. Being honesty incarnate, theyT
at least most of them-are fully satisfied with whatever they
are drawing from the State Government in lieu of the hard
toil they are giving to the State. That is the reason why they
cannot afford to spend a few thousand bucks to buy medical
implements for them. Nobody denies that the hard toiling
Ministers, dreaming development days in and days out, must
be helped to remain fit to serve the blessed state. Take for an
instance a Minister who- down with neck pain- has approached
the State health department to favour him with a neck support collar which costs around C5000 in the markets.
However, the State health department has unfortunately
stopped making local purchases (LP) for VIPs (politicians and
bureaucrats), members of the Press fraternity and BPL card
holders since 2014. But the Minister is not ready to listen to
it. His annoyance is justified. If he remains afflicted with the
pain in his neck how can he serve the state to the best of his
ability? He asked the health department to manage one for him
anyhow. But the health department has its reasons not to heed.
They say that such LP request should be sent to the Vidhan
Sabha instead. For the Assembly has its separate budget that
caters to the medical requirements of the lawmakers and the
ministers. However, as things stand now, the Minister is determined to have things done through the health department. He
is fully justified to wage the holy war for the interests of the
State. Is he not?
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he festival of Eid was celebrated with customary religious fervour and gaiety in the
State capital on Thursday. The
day started with the ceremonial
Namaz in different mosques of
the city.
Eidgah near the Bindal
Bridge on Chakrata road was
the site of a huge congregation
where a mass Namaz was held
at 9.30 am with devotes urging
for universal peace and harmony. The Namazis offered
Jakat and Sadka-e- fitar- (gifts
and alms) to the poor on their
way to offer Namaz.
The Sahar Quazi (Sunni)
Molana Saiyyed Asraf Hussain
Quadari led the Namazis at
Eidgah. He appealed the people to respect all religions and
work for the welfare of humanity and said that the Eid is a gift
T
of Allah to all those who
undertook Rozas during the
holy month of Ramazan.
The Namazs were offered
in the major mosques like
Dhamwala, EC Road, Muslim
Colony, Paltan Bazar, Clement
town, Mazra and Ajabpur.
After the Namaz, Muslims visited the places where their
ancestors are buried and
offered prayers there.
After the morning Namaz
the process of extending wishes to each other on the holy day
started and it extended till late
evening. People were seen
wearing new clothes and purchasing edibles from the markets which were all decked up
for occasion.
People offered Sweets and
sewai to the visitors. For children it was an enjoyable day
they visited the homes of the
friends and relatives and got
Eidi from elders. Many youngsters thronged the cinema halls
where the latest movie ‘Sultan’
of their favorite star Salman
Khan was being screened.
However, the Shia community of the Muslims
obser ved the Eid on
Wednesday. The Shia city
Quazi Saiyyad Shehanshah
Hussain Jaidi said that top
Shia cleric Kalbe Sadik had
declared the time of celebration
of Eid.
Addressing the Namazis he
said that the true happiness of
Eid lies in extending its happiness to the poor and needy.
He appealed that one should
follow the path shown by Allah
and never engage in activities
which hurt others.
The Police had made elaborate arrangements in and
around all religious places to
ensure that no untoward incident occurs on the holy festival of Eid.
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he festival of Eid-ul-Fitr
T
was celebrated with religious fervour at Idgahs across
the district on Thursday. Eid
ul-Fitr, the ‘festival of breaking
the fast,’ marked the end of the
strict fasting observed by
Muslims over the last month of
Ramadan during which they
abstained from eating or
drinking between dawn and
dusk. An air of confusion had
prevailed regarding the date of
celebration of Eid, resulting in
the Sunni community deciding
to celebrate it on July 7 while
Shia community celebrated on
July 6. The festivities lasted till
mid night with people wishing
and greeting each other on
the pious occasion. The
holy city was drenched in the
festive spirit. The decorated
mosques added to the religious
splendor.
The Chief Minister Harish
Rawat participated in the Eid
Namaz held at 10 30 am in
Jwalapur Idgah. He greeted the
Muslims who had come to
offer their prayers.
At the Eid congregations,
special prayers were offered
for the progress, prosperity,
development, security and
stability of the country. As
many as 10,000 faithfuls gathered at Jwalapur Idgah amidst
tight security.
The SSP of Haridwar
Rajeev Swaroop said, “Ample
arrangements were made for
Eid celebrations. Regular
police patrolling and other
required security measures
were made for the festival.
Also steps were taken to
ensure smooth flow of traffic
at the crossings leading to the
mosques. For the visit of the
CM we had made arrangements for his visiting the
Jwalapur areas.”
To mark Eid-ul-Fitr, a
great deal of rush was witnessed in the markets of
Jwalapur and Haridwar for
the past two days. A majority
of the shoppers consisted of
the women and children who
showed keen interest in shopping for garments, glass bangles, artificial jewellery items.
Muslim women were seen getting henna designed on their
hands in Jwalapur. All the
Masjids in the district decorated in their full splendor witnessed the festive occasion, followed by acts of charity.
Maulana Naqvi told The
Pioneer that Ramadan focuses on self-sacrifice and devotion. The fasting during
Ramadan reminds one of the
suffering of the poor and
extends an opportunity to all
to practise self-control and
cleanse the body, mind and
spirit. Eid marked the end of
the disciplinary practice with
tens of thousands of faithfuls
from Suni community offering
‘Namaz’ at the sprawling Idgah
near the Paondhoi Idgah in
Jwalapur on Thursday while
the Shia people had already
performed Eid Namaz at
Idgah of Ahbab Nagar a day
before. Prayers were also
organised at mosques of
Sector 1 BHEL and Katehra
Bazar of Jwalapur on
Thursday.
People belonging to other
religions also participated in
Eid celebrations. Elderly people, youngsters, especially children were seen embracing
and greeting one another in
the streets of Jwalapur after
offering of Namaz.
Every house of Muslim
family had special delicacies
being cooked on the occasion,
including the traditional
sweets
‘Sewain’
and
‘Sheerkorma’. Chat pakodas
were also savoured by the visitors. Month of Ramadan or
Ramzan as it is commonly
called here is the month of forgiveness. Everyone gets a
chance to get one’s sins pardoned. We pray for the prosperity of the state and the
country on Eid-ul-fitr. In their
sermons, the religious scholars highlighted the significance and philosophy of Eidul- Fitr and the need to share
its joys with the poor, shared
one of the participants at Eid
-ul- Fitr celebrations.
Since the festival is based
on the lunar calendar, the
sighting of moon determines
the end of Ramadan. For Shia
Muslims it was a 29-day
Ramadan, and Sunis did fast
on 30th day celebrating Eid
the next day.
This festival highlights the
brighter side of Islam. The
youngsters received ‘idi’ (gift
items) from elders. People
greeted each other ‘Eid
Mubarak’, exchanged sweets
and offered ‘Zakat’ (alms) to
the poor.
]PcX^]#
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?=BQ 270=3860A7
day after Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) tendered an
A
apology for equating holy
scriptures with its manifesto
and also for publishing Golden
Temple’s picture with its party
symbol, broom, on manifesto’s
cover, the party on Thursday
said that the Badal and company are no one to reject it
summarily.
Reacting to SAD’s “refusal”
to accept AAP’s apology, the
AAP said that it has tendered
an unconditional apology to
the Sikh Sangat for inadvertently and unintentionally
hurting its religious sentiments
either by the choice of words
or by the cover design of the
youth manifesto.
“Sikh Sangat is known for
its kindheartedness and forgiveness,” said AAP spokesperson and senior leader Sukhpal
Singh Khaira and party’s Legal
Cell head Himmat Singh
Shergill, while addressing a
joint press conference.
They said: “That is why
our senior party leaders
Ashish Khetan and Kanwar
Sandhu have tendered an
unconditional apology to the
Sikh Sangat and not to the
arrogant Badals who rejected
the gesture only to politicise
the issue.”
Khaira said that in fact,
SAD leaders, who claim to be
more panthic than anyone
<^STa]9d]X^a7XVW
BRW^^[³b_aX]RX_P[
aTVXbcTaTSU^aUd]S
T\QTii[T\T]c
6?B4<F0;Q ?0DA8
he Kotwali police Srinagar
has registered a case
T
against the headmistress and
the management committee
of Modern Junior High School,
Srinagar under section 420,
467, 468 and 120 B of Indian
Penal Code regarding fund
embezzlement charges. The
police registered case on the
report of one Shiv Dutt
Baaganwal, resident of Upper
Bazar, Srinagar. The subinspector Rishiram Raturi is
investigating the case.
The Srinagar Kotwali
police told The Pioneer that on
the report lodged by the Shiv
Dutt, stating that the headmistress and management
committee of the school had
misappropriated government
funds given for the construction of the kitchen of the institution. Shiv Dutt alleged that
the expenditure bill had been
forged to hide the siphoning
off process.
Shiv Dutt said that the
constriction of the kitchen had
not been given to any working
agency. The Government had
given C1,48,200 to the school
for the construction of the
kitchen.
else, have degenerated Sikh
institutions and also committed far more blasphemous acts
during their nine and a half
year rule in Punjab and never
tendered an apology.
He recalled that during
2014 Lok Sabha polls, Akali cabinet minister Bikram Majithia in
his bid to eulogise BJP leader
Arun Jaitley wrongly recited a
‘shabad’ (couplet) from the holy
gurbani. “Though Majithia's
act not only hurt the feelings of
the Sikh masses but also created a huge controversy, the
Punjab Police did not book
Majithia under section 295A of
the Indian Penal Code (IPC),”
he said.
“If Majithia subsequently
apologised for his blasphemous act, so did Ashish
Khetan. But why Parkash
Singh Badal led Government
is adopting different yardsticks for Majithia and
Khetan,” he said.
Similarly, Badal recently
compared Prime Minister
Narendra Modi with Baba
Banda Singh Bahadur in a
function in New Delhi.
“Though Badal’s act deeply
hurt the feelings of a large section of the Sikh masses who
hold Baba Banda Singh
Bahadur in great reverence but
Punjab chief minister never
felt the need to offer an apology,” said Khaira.
Khaira said that Badal-led
Government has also exhibit-
B032>=6
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<8BC0:4)1A0A
Reacting to the controversy surrounding the AAP
youth manifesto, former MP
Jagmeet Singh Brar on
Thursday said: “It is unfortunate that an honest mistake is
being manipulated for political benefit by both the Akalis
and Congress.”
He said that the AAP’s
entire senior leadership has
apologised profusely on every
medium and “as a Sikh, I feel
the suggestion of Kanwar
Sandhu and HS Phoolka to ask
for forgiveness at Darbar Sahib
is in line with the basic gracious nature of Sikhism”.
“Those who are flaring up
the matter are themselves
guilty of subverting the highest institutions of Sikhism and
have hurt the religious sentiments of Punjab and Sikhs in
particular repeatedly for petty
political gains,” said Brar.
He added that Deputy
Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal
should resign as Home
Minister for being unable to
identify culprits of the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib
“instead of hiding his failure
behind a printing mistake”.
00?0==>D=24<4=C
A45;42CB?>>A<8=3B4C
>58CB;4034AB78?)1030;
Finally breaking is silence
on the burning controversy,
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash
Singh Badal on Thursday said
that the Aam Aadmi Party’s
announcement to equate their
election manifesto with sacred
granths has deeply bruised
the psyche of every countrymen. “This announcement of
AAP reflects the poor mindset of its leadership,” said
Badal. He said that the apology being offered by AAP leaders on this issue was of no use
as it could not undo the damage done by them.
Union Minister and SAD
MP from Bathinda Harsimrat
Kaur Badal stated that in
Punjab’s political arena, “AAP
is just a non-serious fly-bynight political outfit, which
has been hurting religious
sentiments of every religion
for the sake of votes”.
Harsimrat, while speaking
with the media in Mansa on
the sidelines of an event,
warned the people of Punjab
to beware of the destructive
agenda of this political party,
which has recently committed
a most heinous crime by affixing their political symbol of
broom on the picture of the
most revered the Golden
Temple.
“These people are just out
there to hurt the religious
sentiments of the people and
to create the religious discord
among the people of Punjab,”
she said.
8UQ\dXTU`dµc3\Qcc
9Fg_b[UbcdXbUQdU^
d_\_S[4YbUSd_bQdU
?=BQ 347A03D=
?=BQ 347A03D=
he Dehradun police have
he association of Class IV
arrested three persons for Tworkers of the health
T
murder of a contractor who was department has threatened to
missing since June 30. The body
of the missing contractor was
recovered from a Tea estate in
Vikanagar by the police team.
The
contractor,
Karamchand, was a resident of
Chaman Vihar, Niranjanpur
and was missing since 30. SSP
Sadamand Date informed newsmen in a press conference on
Thursday that the police team
have arrested Vishal, Sagar and
Suraj for murder of
Karamchand. The trio has
accepted their involvement in
the crime and on interrogation
has revealed that the
Karamchand used to take their
services for the contracts he used
to take. They claimed that
Karamchand was not paying
them a sum of C25,000 which he
owed them for a long period of
time. On the fateful they called
up the contractor on pretext of
showing a new work and strangulated him in a desolate place
in Tea Estate and disposed off
the body in a bush.
The activa of the contractor
was found in the possession of
the accused.
<T]cP[[h
?d]YPQ2^]Vc^a^_TX]?aXhP]ZPU^aRP\_PXV]
RWP[[T]VTSVXa[ ?=BQ ;D3780=0
Punjab congress president query while talking to the “tremendous” response from
Capt Amarinder Singh on reporters after an interactive the public and that party workfor her resemblance Thursday said that he would session with the party workers. ers were full of enthusiasm.
aP_TSX]7PahP]P Known
However, he added that the
The State Congress chief
with her grandmother and invite Priyanka Gandhi to
late Prime Minister Indira address election rallies in said that the party should con- final decision on contesting
6^ecW^b_XcP[
Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi may Punjab as “she is a crowd-puller test the 2017 Assembly elec- polls would be taken by the All
?=BQ 270=3860A7
mentally challenged girl
was raped allegedly by a
A
worker inside a Government
hospital in Har yana’s
Yamunanagar district.
The CCTV footage of the
Government hospital helped
the police to nab the accused.
Deputy Superintendent of
Police
(Headquarters),
Yamunanagar, Adarshdeep
Singh while talking to the mediapersons said, “The mentally
challenged girl was raped by the
youth, who is aged around 22
years and works at the
Yamunanagar Civil hospital on
contract basis as a helper.”
The assault, which took
place in the early hours on
Wednesday, came to light when
a staff nurse noticed some suspicious activity and also heard
the cries of the girl. She noticed
the accused fleeing a room and
found the girl cr ying.
Subsequently, the police was
informed.
The CCTV footage of the
hospital showed the accused
taking the girl from the room
where she was admitted to
another room.
6^ecc^\PW^dcb)
CaTPcWPPcWXPb
bPPcWX^a[^bT_Ta\Xc
From Page 1
After census, it was found
that there are only eight pachyderms left in Delhi. Out of
eight, two had been deported
to Gujarat in 2015. Presently
there are six licensed pachyderms in the national Capital
as per forest department
record. There were 24 elephants in the city till the year
2009. But their habitat near
ed double standards when
Punjab Police booked AAP’s
Delhi MLA Naresh Yadav on
the mere complaint of an
accused for desecrating holy
Quran in Malerkotla. “When
drug lord Jagdish Bhola named
Majithia as the kingpin of
multi-crore drug racket being
run in Punjab in front of the
entire media in Mohali, Badal
said how could government
act on mere allegation of an
accused,” he pointed.
Khaira said that Badals,
who claim to be panthic leaders, have been appointing
senior police officers such as
DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and
former DGP Izhar Alam at top
positions who were well
known for being anti-Sikhs
and were involved in fake
encounters of several Sikh
youths during the days of militancy in Punjab.
Khaira said that till date,
SAD president Sukhbir Badal
has not apologised for killing
two innocent Sikhs in the
Behbal Kalan police firing
and for wrongly arresting two
baptised Sikhs from Bargari
village in case of sacrilege.
Shergill said that AAP
would want Punjab officials,
especially the police officers,
not to indulge in anything illegal on the direction of the
Badals to help them fulfil
their vested political interests
as the party was keeping a
close watch on their conduct.
CWaTTPaaTbcTS
U^a\daSTa^U
=XaP]YP]_da
R^]caPRc^a
Thokar near ITO bridge got
disturbed during the 2010
Commonwealth games. As the
games village and millennium
bus depot took shape, the elephants were thrown out to far
flung Sangam Vihar colony in
the Outer Delhi area. The
pachyderms from their natural habitat of Delhi are being
'deported' in a phased manner
to neighbouring States.
tions in Punjab “on its own”.
He claimed that the
Congress was getting a
India Congress Committee
(AICC) president Sonia
Gandhi.
be seen campaigning for the
Congress in the forthcoming
Assembly polls in Punjab.
and liked by all”.
The former CM’s assertion
came in response to a media
2PabZXSb
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ZX[[TS!Wdac
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ne person died and two
injured when the car they
O
were travelling skidded off the
road and fell into a ditch near
Mohand on Saharanpur road
on Thursday morning.
The in-charge of the
Clement Town police station
Naresh Rathore who reached
the spot shortly after the accident said that the vehicle was
being driven by Jasvir Singh a
resident of Delhi, near Mohand
the car fell in a roadside ditch
25 feet deep.
The car overturned twice
and in the accident father of
Jasvir, Amarjeet Singh died on
the spot while he and his
mother got injured. The
Dehradun police ferried the
injured to the hospital and the
body of the deceased was sent
for Post mortem.
Since the accident occurred
in Uttar Pradesh (UP) the case
has
been
for warded
Saharanpur police for necessary action.
BcPcTPRR^d]cbU^a !'
^UR^d]cah´b_a^SdRcX^]
?=BQ 17D10=4BF0A
disha is the second biggest
O
producer of tiger shrimp
in India after West Bengal,
thanks to an overdrive of the
Department of Fisheries and
Animal
Resources
Development (DoFARD).
Department Secretary
Bishnupada Sethi reviewed the
programme with senior officials recently. During the year
2015-16, India’s tiger shrimp
production was 81,452 MT,
according to the reports of the
Marine Products Export
Development Authority
(MPEDA).
A majority of it – about 76
per cent or 61,998 MT – was
reported from West Bengal,
while Odisha followed it up
with 11.28 per cent or 9,191
MT.
But as far as productivity
per hectare is concerned,
Odisha is ahead of West
Bengal. Odisha’s productivity
per hectare per year is 2.01 MT
as compared to 1.23 MT in
West Bengal.
West Bengal utilizes 50,593
hectares for tiger shrimp culture as against Odisha’s 4,552
hectares. The DoFARD has
been making all efforts to popularise tiger shrimp culture in
the State to further increase the
production.
Other major tiger shrimp
producing States are Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala,
Karnataka, Maharashtra and
Gujarat. In fact, Indian seafood
business is on the verge of a
major transformation, like the
one ushered in by the exotic
vannamei shrimp, disease-free
black tiger shrimp, native to
Indian waters.
Farmers are making foray
into the sixth generation of
tiger shrimp and trial farming
in Odisha using bio-secure
enclosures, has produced good
results,” said an official of
DoFARD. He said that commercial-scale aquaculture using
genetically-improved black
tiger shrimp should be on in
about five years.
With it, black tiger shrimp
will join Atlantic salmon,
Pacific vannamei and unisex
tilapia in the roster of genetically-improved varieties. These
stocks are capable of doubling
productivity, said the official
pointing out what it meant to
the seafood export business in
the country.
Genetically improved,
farmed tilapia yield is near five
tonnes per hectare; vannamei
yield is 3.5 to five tonnes and
black tiger shrimp yield has
been three tonnes. Farmers
get Rs 300 a kg of 30-count
vannamei and the price of
tiger shrimp is higher.
Besides a surge in production, acquiring a genetic base
for aquaculture means more
eco-friendly, sustainable business, he said.
lock the State health directorate
if its demand of departmental
promotion to class IV workers
is not accepted soon.
A meeting of the association was organised at the Office
of Chief Medical Officer
(CMO) of Dehradun on
Thursday. Speaking on the
occasion the State President of
the association Manwar Singh
Negi said that the department
should get prepared for agitation of class IV workers from
July 13 if their demands are not
accepted.
He said that the department is sitting over the process
of promotions despite of the
fact that Supreme Court has
ordered for the same on
October 10, 2014. The district
President of the association
;VYRUZd
From Page 1
Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina at an Eid reception at
her residence said, “Those
who are carrying out assaults
even in Eid congregations, are
enemies of Islam and humanity”.
She urged parents and
school authorities to report to
police if their sons or students
had gone missing since the
Dhaka attack was carried out
by youths who went missing
several months ago.
“We will help you to track
them down using modern
technolog y, if required
they will be given treatment
in specialised facilities,” she
said.
Meanwhile, the imam of
the Eid congregation, who is
said to have earned the
militants' wrath by spearheading a massive antiIslamist campaign with
Islamic scholars and imams,
appealed for a “social resistance” against the militants.
Nelson Kumar Arora said that
resentment is brewing among
the class IV workers of health
department due the inordinate delay of about two years in
the process of promotion.
He said that the typing test
for the promotion should be
conducted by the department
by July 7 failing which the
employees would have no
option but to start an agitation.
He said that the association is
firm on its decision to lock the
health directorate and the
department would be solely
responsible for any problem
due to the agitation.
The association has decided that class IV workers would
wear black arm bands and
hold dharnas out the health
directorate from July 8 to 11
and would hold gherao of
directorate on July 12.
On July 13 the association
has threatened to lock the
health directorate.
=B6cTP\
From Page 1
The team will be in Dhaka
over the coming weekend and
will gather leads for “analysis and
study” of the two terror incidents,
official sources said, adding the
samples collected from the sites
will be subjected to tests in
order to analyse the latest trends
adopted by the terror groups
operating in the region.
In the past, NSG teams have
travelled to some other friendly
countries as part of their charter
to effectively prepare against
terrorist incidents.
Radical Islamists on
Thursday hurled crude bombs
and engaged in a shootout with
police in Bangladesh, leaving a
policeman and a terrorist dead
at Sholakia in northern
Kishoreganj district where at
least 2,00,000 people had gathered for Eid prayers.
The latest incident comes
after last week's deadly attacks in
Dhaka during which 22 innocent
persons were killed. The victims
were mainly foreigners including
an Indian girl.
%-3ZRQGHUDVWRZK\6KDK
UDOO\IDLOHGWRSXOOFURZG
From Page 1
The State saffron leaders
did not, however, find anything
amiss in it. They believe that
such rhetorical bluster is part
of the public life, say the
observers. However, the party
high command was not
amused. They were rather crest
fallen, said the party insiders.
“They thought that the
recently inducted leaders like
Kunwar Pranav Singh
Champion and Pradeep Batra
would bring additional crowd,
making things more impressive. However, things proved
otherwise on the ground,”
said one of the BJP insiders .
Observers say that things
would have been more humiliating for the party had not the
duo which had recently
switched to BJP from Congress
managed to pull a number of
their followers to the rally.
The high command wonders why the State leadership
failed to pull the expected volume of a crowd despite people being rallied from as many
as 21 Assembly constituencies
of the Haridwar district. It is
learnt that a veteran leader with
RSS background was sent to
assess things. The report sent
seemed to have ascribed the
lower turnout to the bickering
involving a former CM and a
legislator from Haridwar.
The party high command has
reasons to worry about what
would happen with a factionridden BJP approaching the
next Assembly election, barely six months away.
>`UZ?jfdZdafcWRc^dVTe`ceZVd
Speaking at a banquet hosted in his honour by Nyusi,
Modi said India applauded
Mozambique as one of the
fastest-growing economies of
the world in recent decades.
“Our trade and investment
ties have particularly flourished in recent years. We want
to build further on it. For this,
India remains ready and committed to share its experiences,
technology, capacity and concessional
credit
with
Mozambique, in line with your
priorities,” he said.
Mozambique is the destination of around a quarter of
India's investments in Africa
totalling around $8 billion.
The Prime Minister said
health care was another area in
which India's capacities and
Mozambican needs match well.
“India will be donating
essential medicines for the
Mozambican public health system, including medicines for
treatment of AIDS,” he said.
Modi also stressed on the
safety and security of the people of the two countries.
While talking about the
challenges, Modi said,
“President Nyusi and I recog-
nize that terrorism is the
gravest security threat facing
the world today. Mozambique
and India are no exceptions.
Terrorism impacts India and
Mozambique equally.”
His comments assume significance as these came against
the backdrop of spurt in terror
attacks in various parts of the
world. This included the second major terror attack in less
than a week in India's neighbour Bangladesh just hours
before Modi spoke.
India will also help build
capacities of Mozambique's
security forces, Modi said with
a vow to “walk every step” with
this country on its path of
development and progress.
“We will work together to
support the Mozambican
Defence forces. By building
capacities and institutions,
training of personnel, supply of
equipment, and in responding
to their other emerging needs,”
Modi said.
He said an agreement
signed between the two sides
on prevention of drug trafficking was a testimony to the
shared determination to combat the menace of terrorism
and its networks.
Modi said that with India
and Mozambique being connected by the Indian Ocean,
there were many economic
opportunities
“But, we are also aware of
the emerging strategic and
security challenges in the maritime domain. To advance our
shared security interests, the
President and I have today
agreed to strengthen our
Defence and security relationship,” he said.
Modi said that India and
Mozambique stood with each
other in the international arena
on a range of issues.
“From the reform of UN
Security Council, to the adoption of June 21 as the
International Day of Yoga. Last
year, at the COP-21 Summit in
Paris, India led a major effort
to promote solar energy as a
source of renewable energy. For
this, we formed the
International Solar Alliance to
counter climate change. The
Alliance has the support of over
120 countries and we greatly
value Mozambique's partnership in this initiative,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday, Modi
was accorded a ceremonial
welcome after his arrival in
Maputo on the first leg of his
four-nation Africa tour.
Modi, the first Indian
Prime Minister to visit
Mozambique in 34 years,
recalled the “struggles” and
“sufferings” of the two countries during the colonial days
and said India had been the
strongest supporter of
Mozambique's independence.
“Our shared struggles and
suffering under colonial
oppression brought our two
countries together. India was
one of the strongest supporters
of Mozambican independence,”
said the Prime Minister who
also visited the National
Assembly here.
He said the relationship
between
India
and
Mozambique should not
remain stuck in the past and
informed that his talks with
Nyusi had covered the aspects
like “shared vision” for a
stronger partnership in years
ahead.
“In fact, Mozambique has
already been one of the gateways for Indian investments
into Africa. About one fourth
of all Indian investments in
Africa are in Mozambique.
Our ties of commerce and
trade have continued to grow
over the last decade,” he said,
expressing confidence that
Indian investments will continue to receive a nurturing
environment in Mozambique
under Nyusi's leadership.
He said he had chosen this
country as his first stopover in
the four-nation tour that will
also include South Africa,
Tanzania and Kenya, as Nyusi
had also made India his first
stopover during his Asian tour
last year.
Modi presented to the
Mozambique President a booklet in English brought out by
the Indian High Commission
to act as a guide to the Indian
businessmen who may like to
invest in this country whose
national
language
is
Portuguese.
“We applaud Mozambique
as one of the fastest growing
economies of the world in
recent decades. Excellency, as
two developing countries we
face similar challenges. Our
development and economic
partnership, therefore, has been
an essential part of our relationship,” he said later at the
banquet.
Modi said the relationship
between the two countries is
not new as thousands of
Indian-origin people call
Mozambique their home. “I am
told that most of the Siddi community that resides in parts of
India is known to trace its
ancestry to Mozambique.
These communities are a living
testimony to age old links that
have connected our people,
their ideas and traditions, and
culture and commerce,” he
said.
Modi met President of the
Mozambique
National
Assembly Veronica Macamo.
During the meeting, they
exchanged views on the practices and procedures of their
respective Parliaments. The
Prime Minister lauded the fact
that 93 out of 250 Mozambican
parliamentarians were
women.
He alluded to the visit of a
Mozambican Parliamentary
delegation to study India's electoral system in general and
Electronic Voting Machines in
particular. He invited Macamo
to lead a delegation to India
and also called for the formation of a group of young parliamentarians from both countries.
]PcX^]$
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he Congress on Thursday
T
accused
the
Modi
Government of covering up a
telecom scam worth C45,000
crore in a bid to save top
telecommunication companies.
Congress
spokesperson
Randeep Singh Surjewala
alleged that despite the
Comptroller and Auditor
General (CAG) highlighting
that six top telecom companies
underreported their revenues
amounting to C45,000 crore for
four years, the Modi
Government did nothing to
recover that amount or penalise
these companies. He also
alleged that the scam aims to
help Modi Government’s
industrialist friends.
“A massive telecom scam of
C45,000 crore is being buried
under the carpet by Modi
Government which talks of
transparency. PM Modi who
used to say ‘na khaoonga, na
khaane doonga’ has proved to
be another false promise. The
Government is surreptitiously
taking steps to protect the
interests of six leading telecom
companies and by helping
them avoid payment of
charges,” said Surjewala.
The telecom companies
named by Surjewala are Bharti
Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance,
Idea, Tata and Aircel. He
claimed that this is a clear-cut
case of loss to the public exchequer verified by the CAG with
the sole aim of helping friendly ‘crony capitalists’.
Congress claimed the CAG
initiated an audit of the six telecom companies for four years
from 2006-07 to 2009-10 at the
instructions of the Congressled UPA Government. It specifically looked at underreporting
of income and non-uniform
method of accounting adopted
by various telecom companies
and consequent lack of obligation to pay outstanding licence
fee and Spectrum Usage
Charges (SUC). In its report
submitted this year, the CAG
found an alleged understatement/underreporting of
income by the six companies of
C46,045.75 crore in the four
years.
“Resultantly, the CAG
found that there was an
amount of C12,488.93 crore,
CWTcT[TR^\R^\_P]XTb]P\TSQh
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which remains un-recovered by
the Government. This does
not include penalty, if any, and
other relevant taxes,” Surjewala
said. He added that although
there has been considerable
increase in business, consumer
base and income, even if loss of
exchequer is calculated on the
same formula for the years
2010-11 to 2015-16, this figure
would be C45,000 crore plus.
“Instead of immediately
acting on these shocking and
startling revelations reflecting
serious loss to public exchequer, Modi Government has
opted for an alternative re-evaluation of these figures by
Telecom Ministry through
Chartered Accountants who
are empanelled with them”,
Surjewala accused.
“Firstly this is a clear
methodology of Modi
Government to inordinately
delay the process of recovery for
years together, if not, writing it
off entirely. Secondly, it reflects
the apparent mal-intent of the
Government to dilute or diminish the figures put forth by the
CAG”, the Spokesperson said.
Surjewala also tossed some
questions to the Government
saying whether such an act by
it amounts to be a “grotesque
breach of public trust” by the
BJP-led Government, which, in
the past, had made a notional
loss pegged by CAG in 2G
spectrum allocation case a
major issue of corruption. He
asked about Government plans
to recover ‘actual losses’ and
whether Government is acting
as a “willful collaborator” with
the select corporate entities in
artfully dodging recovery of
massive sums of money. “Is it
a new way to minimise fiscal
deficit”? he said sarcastically.
He asked, “Why is Modi
Government maintaining a
conspicuous silence on the
matter becoming virtually
comatose despite the mammoth size of financial sums
involved?”.
%-3KLWVEDFNVD\V&RQJUHVV
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?=BQ =4F34;78
ormer Telecommunication
Minister and now Law
F
Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad
rubbished Congress’ claims
over its allegation of a C45,000crore telecom scam terming
the statement as “utterly
bogus”. Prasad said the entire
issue is related to the period
when the UPA was in power
and
that
the
NDA
Government was making
efforts to recover the losses.
The BJP also attacked the
Congress saying “it was a case
of pot calling the kettle black”
as the underreporting had
happened during the UPA
regime and that Congress
spokespersons were putting
out “lies” in their briefings.
“Congress needs to understand that there is no underreporting case under the NDA
Government. It is a case of sin
of the Congress-led UPA
Government. The entire allegation of Congress party is
utterly bogus. It relates to peri-
of Telecommunications had
0RR^aSX]Vc^206
sought details of documents
from the CAG after its report
aT_^acbb^\T
March which was received
cT[TR^\R^\_P]XTb in
by it in June this year. “After
d]STaaT_^acTScWTXa
due assessment, all the dues
shall be recovered with penalaTeT]dTbCWT
ty. Telecom service providers
aT_^acbRP\TX]
are obliged to pay license fee
<PaRWfWXRW8P\
and spectrum usage charges
VXeT]c^d]STabcP]S on the revenue earned by
them. Any underreported revXbd]STacWT
enue shall be recovered with
TgP\X]PcX^]
penalty,” he said.
“Such allegations are
^UcWT?dQ[XR
laughable. It shows the men0RR^d]cb
tal bankruptc y of the
2^\\XccTT
Congress. No wrong happened under the NDA
¯ A0E8B70=:0A?A0B03 Government and to drag it in
a matter that happened under
od of between 2006 and 2010. the UPA is a case of pot callAccording to CAG reports ing the kettle black. Congress
some telecom companies should introspect and not
underreported their revenues. behave in an immature, childThe reports came in March, ish way. Congress party is the
which I am given to under- mother of corruption and
stand, is under the examina- misgovernance,” BJP national
tion of the Public Accounts secretary Shrikant Sharma
said in retaliation to Congress
Committee,” Prasad said.
He added the Department allegations.
?aTbXST]c?aP]PQ<dZWTaYTTaTRTXeTbVaTTcX]VbUa^\ePaX^db_T^_[T^]cWT^RRPbX^]^U4XSd[5XcaPcAPbWcaP_PcX1WPeP]X]=Tf3T[WX^]CWdabSPh
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New Delhi: Home Minister
Rajnath Singh has given an
assurance that he will look into
the recent gender crimes in
Bihar, according to a member
of the National Commission for
Women(NCW).
The Commission also
shared a report on the issue,
including on the brutal gangrape in Motihari last month,
during a meeting with Singh at
his residence on Thursday.
Sushma Sahu, a member of
the Commission who accompanied Chairperson Lalitha
Kumaramangalam at the meeting, said, “Rajnath Singh has
assured us that he will look into
the matter.”
There have been several
instances of gender crimes
recently in Bihar, including
two rape cases in Motihari, an
acid attack in Aurangabad and
a case of an acid attack survivor
committing suicide by electrocuting herself. The commission
had shared its report on the
Motihari gangrape with the
Prime Minister’s Office and
also met the President earlier
this week seeking his intervention in the issue.
PTI
7cR_TV`WWVcde`YV]a:_UZR
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=4F34;78
s Indian scientists are yet to
achieve success in indigeA
nously developing Kaveri fighter jet engine, France has offered
to collaborate in this venture.
These engines were supposed
to power Tejas fighter jets
which were inducted into the
IAF last week. The indigenously planes are now flying
with US made GE-404 engines.
Kaveri project started more
than 20 years back but given the
complexities involved in producing this world class engine
coupled with technology denial
by some countries led to delay
in this ambitious venture.
France has offered to help
India in developing the engine
as part of offsets for 36 Rafale
fighter jet deal for which negotiations are in the final stages.
The deal is pegged at more than
C65,000 crores. India will buy
these jets off the shelf and the
first jets are likely to be inducted after two years once the contract is inked.
Rafale
deal
is
a
Government to Government
contract between France and
India. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi announced this during
his visit to France last year.
Final negotiations are now on
between the French and Indian
Government officials besides
Dassault which manufactures
Rafale jets.
The deal is likely to be
signed in the later part of this
year after Cabinet Committee
on Security (CCS)headed by
the Prime Minister gives the
final nod, sources said here on
Thursday.
India and France have
reportedly agreed for 50 per
cent offsets. This offset clause
means that France will plough
back 50 per cent of the total
cost of the contract into India
to help local industry progress
and get access to world class
technology.
As part of this clause,
sources said, France has offered
to help India in developing
Kaveri engine. Under the offset agreement, which was discussed last year, the French
have made a 30 per cent offset
commitment for military aerospace research and development programmes and the rest
20 per cent for making com-
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?=BQ =4F34;78
he new HRD Minister
Prakash Javadekar has started his innings on a note that
could go a long way in ending
the atmosphere of animosity
between a section of the student
community and the Modi
Government. Himself product
of students’ agitation, Javadekar
on Thursday hailed the traits of
rebellion and exhorted the students to challenge status quo.
The Minister said that India
lacks in innovation in education
as children are discouraged to
ask questions in schools something which should not be
allowed to go on, contending
“unless you rebel, unless you
challenge the status quo, how
can you innovate anything”.
Emphasising the Modi
Government’s focus on innovation in education, the
Minister said, “Innovation is a
process of rebellion essentially.
Unless you rebel, unless you
challenge the status quo, how
can you innovate anything.”
Unlike her predecessor
Smriti Irani, who was more
interesting in preaching stu-
T
dents nationalism and taming
their spirits, Javadekar has send
the right signal by reaching out
to them in a language that is far
more accommodative.
“Why do we lack innovation
in India? Because, we don’t
allow questioning. We don’t
promote inquisitiveness. If a
child asks questions in school, he
is asked to sit down. This should
not go on. We need to promote
inquisitiveness, children should
ask questions,” the newly
appointed HRD Minister said.
The Minister was speaking
at an event, ‘Infocom 2016’,
organised by the Ananda Bazar
Patrika Group. He said Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s
mantra is sustainable development which does not impact
adversely the nature but
ensures progress of all, for
which innovation is the key.
He said the development in
IT Sector has brought a revolution in the media industry.
Transformation is the result of
new ideas. There are doomsayers, but one should always
be positive and look for innovation, he said.
Javadekar also recalled his
interaction in the 1990s with
late Steve Jobs of Apple who
had then predicted the evolution of smart phone and its varied functions.
After taking over charge of
his Ministry at spate function,
the Minister said that prime
challenge that the education
sector faces in the country is
raising the quality of education
and ensuring it reaches all,
HRD Minister Prakash
Javadekar, who took charge,
said on Thursday. “The major
challenge that is there in the
education sector is to raise the
standard. Quality education is
vital as it lays the foundation for
life and builds overall personality,” he told reporters.
His predecessor Smriti
Irani, who has been given the
charge of Textiles Ministry,
however, did not turn up for
the event.
Javadekar said she could
not join the occasion because of
“family reasons”. He had yesterday met Irani, whom he had
described as his “little sister”
and said he would carry on with
the “good initiatives” taken by
her.
rime Minister Narendra
Modi will meet Chief
P
Ministers on July 16 to discuss
a host of issues, including
inter-State relations, internal
security and atrocities on SC
and STs. Convened after a gap
of 10 years, the 11th meeting of
the Inter-State Council here
will also discuss issues concerning school education,
direct benefit scheme, Aadhaar
card, good governance and
economic and social planning,
according to the officials.
The Prime Minister is the
Chairman of the Council while
six of his senior Cabinet
Ministers — Rajnath Singh,
Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M
Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin
Gadkari, Manohar Parrikar —
were nominated by him as
members. Eleven other
Ministers are permanent invitees to the Council.
Chief Ministers of all States
and Union Territories are members of the Council where they
can express their views and raise
grievances. Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal, who is often at
loggerheads with the Central
Government, will get an opportunity to raise issues in this platform in presence of his counterparts from across the country.
The last meeting of the InterState Council was held in 2006.
The previous UPA Government
had convened just two meetings
in its 10 year tenure.
The Modi Government has
revived the Inter-State Council
structure after coming the
power in May 2014. Home
Minister Rajnath Singh had
chaired meetings of all the five
zonal councils over the last one
year in various parts of the
countr y in which Chief
Ministers of the respective
zonal councils took part.
The Inter-State Council
was established under Article
263 of the Constitution
through a Presidential Order
dated May 28, 1990.
It is a recommendatory
body with duties to investigate
and discuss the subjects of
common interest between the
Union and state(s) or among
the States, making recommendations particularly for better
coordination of policy and
action on these subjects and
deliberating upon such other
matters of general interest to
the states which may be
referred to it by its chairman.
The Council also deliberates
upon such other matters of
general interest to the states as
may be referred by the chairman to the Council.
A Standing Committee of
the Inter-State Council has been
constituted for continuous consultation and processing of matters for the consideration of the
Council. The Standing
Committee comprises of Union
Home Minister as the Chairman
and five Union Ministers of
Cabinet rank and nine Chief
Ministers as members nominated by the Chairman of the
Inter-State Council.
8`gee`W`c^aR_V]e`V]Z^Z_ReV<R]RRkRc
0A270=09H>C8Q =4F34;78
s its various attempts to
eliminate Kala-azar yet to
deliver results, the Union
Health Ministry is now in the
process of setting up a
National Commission aiming
a focused-approach to curb
the disease, which continues to
be endemic in 54 districts in
the country.
Kala-azar (KA) or Visceral
Leishmaniasis (VL) is a parasitic disease spread by sandfly.
The parasite, which spreads
between humans through the
bite of an infected sandfly,
attacks the immune system
and can kill, if not treated.
Kala-azar is the secondlargest parasitic killer after
malaria worldwide, causing an
estimated 2 lakh new infections
each year.
The disease is endemic in
Indian subcontinent in 119
districts in four countries
namely Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India and Nepal.
India alone accounts for
A
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about 50 per cent of the global burden of the disease with 33
districts in Bihar, four in
Jharkhand, eleven in West
Bengal and six districts in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Unable to eliminate the
disease by 2015, the
Government has now postponed the target date to 2020
which is also the global goal.
“It has also been decided to
set up a national Kala-azar
Commission under the chairmanship of Prof LM Nath,
former Dean, AIIMS to draw
strategy to ensure focused
approach to curb the disease.
Moreover, it also need international monitoring,” said a
?C8
senior official from National
Vector Borne Disease Control
Programme (NVBDCP) under
the Health Ministry.
He said in 2013, the cases
have declined by 38 per cent in
2011. Mortality has also
reduced from 90 deaths in
2011 to 20 in 2013. During
2015, 7720 cases were reported, a reduction of 8.8 percent
over the corresponding period
of last year.
However, while 89 per cent
of the total 625 endemic blocks
reported less than 1 case per
10,000 population, 78 blocks
still showing more than one
case per 10,000 population,
prompting the Government to
intensify the supervision by
increasing manpower and other
logistics. 100 per cent spray coverage of synthetic Pyerthroid is
also planned to cutdown vector
density of sandflies.
As there are currently no
accurate data on the burden of
Post Kala-Azar Dermal
Leishmaniasis (PKDL) and VLHIV co-infection emerging as
a serious concern there is a
strong need to establish surveillance for both the conditions, said the official.
Kala-azar is characterized
by irregular bouts of high fever,
substantial weight loss, enlargement of the spleen and liver,
and anaemia.
ponents of Rafales here. The
offsets will be carried out by
French companies Safran,
Thales, MBDA and Dassault,
all part of the Rafale project.
The Kaveri proposal by
France entails an upgraded
engine with 90 kN thrust compared to the existing 72 kN.
The negotiations on offsets
were carried out last year with
Defence Research and
Development Organisation
(DRDO) and some other agencies. After the contract for the
Rafale jets is signed, there will
be a six months window to
finalise the offset, officials said.
As regards other offset
deals mutually agreed between
the two sides, France has
offered to provide stealth, radar
and thrust vectoring for missiles technologies besides others to DRDO and domestic
defence firms.
The French are hoping
that they will have a bigger
share in the Indian Defence
market and see the Rafale contract as a great breakthrough.
They are also hoping that India
will eventually go in for more
Rafale aircraft, possibly under
the ‘Make in India’ route.
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our commission. We are not at
all satisfied with his reply for reasons which we have already
explained to him. We have issued
the fresh summons and asked
the actor before the Commission
at 4.30 pm on July 14,” MSCW
chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar
told The Pioneer in the evening.
Incidentally, 50-year-old
Salman has so far not apologised for his controversial comment — made last month during an interview given to a
website as part of the promotion of his film Sultan — that
the shooting of wrestling bouts
in the film was so gruelling that
he felt like a “raped woman”
while he would walk out of the
ring after the shoot.
In his reply sent on
Thursday to the second summons served on him by the
MSCW on June 29, Salman
alluded to the summons issued
to him by the NCW to appear
before it on July 8 (Friday) and
cited “potential” double jeopardy,
a procedural defence that forbids
a defendant from being tried
again on the same (or similar)
charges in the same case and saying that the matter relating to his
controversial comment was
before the National Commission
for Women (NCW) that the
matter cannot be taken up by the
State Commission. He also said
that his appearance before both
the MSCW and NCW would be
a “duplication” of matters.
Rejecting the stand by the
actor, the MSCW chairperson
said that the Commission had
“concurrent powers” to invoke
Section 10 (2) of Maharashtra
State Commission for Women
Act, 1993 under which it has
powers to summon a person
from any part of the State and
examine him on oath or take
recourse to any other sections to
initiate proceedings against the
person who has violated the provisions of this Act.
“We have been vested with
concurrent powers under the
Constitution to deal with issues
relating to a violation under the
State Act, even when the matter
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Kolkata: The war of nerves
between senior Congress leader
Manas Bhunia and Leader of
Opposition Abdul Mannan on
Thursday took an ugly turn, with
Bhunia accusing the latter of
insulting him and taking decisions keeping the Congress
Legislative Party in dark.
Bhunia also remained evasive whether he would resign as
Public Accounts Committee
(PAC) chairman, a post to which
his party wants to nominate
CPI(M)’s Sujan Chakraborty.
“Deliberate attempts are
being made to insult me and portray me as a villain.
When
Abdul Mannan
had asked me to
sign for the
nomination for
PAC chairman, I
had told him if
he is thinking of somebody else
in that post, I should not file
nomination, as it would be an
insult for me. I am a six-time
MLA and I cannot work under
a junior in a committee. Mannan
promised me that nothing of
such sort would be done. I filed
the nomination after his assurance,” Bhunia said.
“But Mannan deliberately
insulted me. No CLP meeting
was held after June 17. So, how
is he saying that the decision was
taken at a CLP meeting in favour
of Sujan Chakraborty? He has
even informed PCC president
Adhir Chowdhury that CLP has
taken the decision in favour of
Sujan Chakraborty, which is
absolutely false,” Bhunia alleged.
ollywood actor Salman Khan
B
on Thursday failed to turn up
before the Maharashtra State
Commission for Women
(MSCW) for the second time for
a scheduled hearing over his “felt
like a raped woman” remark, citing summons issued by the
National Commission for
Women (NCW) on the issue and
citing “potential” double jeopardy as the reason. The MSCW
rejected the actor’s stand and
directed him to appear before it
on July 14.
In a virtual repeat of what
happened at the previous hearing on June 29, Salman — who
was to have come along with his
lawyer — skipped the hearing
scheduled to take place at 4.30
pm on Thursday at the
MSCW’s Bandra office.
Instead, he sent off a legal
reply to the MSCW, citing reasons for his not wanting to
appear before the Commission.
“Despite our waiting for
him, neither the actor nor his
lawyer turned up for the hearing.
Like he did last time, the actor
sent us a letter citing reasons for
his not wanting to appear before
n what might cheer the government employees, Assam
Finance Minister Himanta
Biswa Sarma has said that the
Government has in principle
decided to pay the 7th Pay
Commission salary to all the
Government employees from
April 1 next year.
Sarma said this while
addressing a Press conference in
Guwahati on Thursday and
said this will burden the State
exchequer with over C4,500
crore. “We have asked the PP
I
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Verma Committee to submit
the report but we have on principle decided to implement the
7th pay commission from April
1 next year,” Sarma said.
He also took the criticism
of the Congress on the recent
decision of the government to
increase the VAT on 127 items
head on and said that the state
budget which will be presented soon will see lowering of
taxes in several commodities.
He assured that the increase
on one percent of VAT on
the items will not affect the
people of the state but the
State will earn C700 crore
from the exercise.
“Assam has withdrawn
partial exemption granted to
oil companies on sale of liquefied petroleum gas for
domestic use within Assam.
Withdrawal of the subsidy has
resulted in increase in prices of
LPG cylinders by C14 each.
The price of petrol increased
by 76 paise and diesel by C1.67
per liter besides VAT on 127
items were increased by one
percent,” he said.
Assuring that State
Government will have a relook
on VAT increase after March
31. Sarma said “This year is critical for us. We are expecting
that payment of underpayment
oil royalty from 2014 which
amounts to Rs 1450 Crore will
come to state in next 60 days.
The matter of under payment
of royalty is pending in the
Supreme Court. Both Assam
and Centre will file joint petition in the Supreme Court.”
“We are contemplating if
the subsidies which the State
Government is giving per
cylinder to Indian oil corporation Limited can be directly
transferred to consumer.
Similar mechanism can be followed in case of power consumers,” he said.
Sarma further said that
Assam is under severe financial
situation with the liability figure of the State Government
increasing.
is under the consideration of the
NCW. We are dealing with a
matter that relates to the State
and the person whom we are
summoning belongs to our state,”
Rahatkar said.
One of the main objectives
behind the setting up of the
MSCW is to further the fundamental rights guaranteed by
Articles, 14, 15 and 16 of the
Constitution of India with
respect to women and, to give
effect to the Directive Principle
of State Policy and in particular
those enshrined in Articles 38,
39, 39A and 42 of the
Constitution to improve the status and dignity of women in the
society, to investigate into and
take or suggest suitable remedial measures against practices
derogatory to women.
On June 22, the MSCW had
issued first summons to the
actor to appear before it on June
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29 and offer his explanation over
his “felt like a raped woman”
remark. The summons were
issued to the actor a day after the
NCW sought an explanation
from the actor.
The MSCW’s summons to
Salman had followed widespread public uproar over his
“felt like a raped woman” remark.
In an interview given to a website, the actor had said: “While
shooting, during those six hours,
there’d be so much of lifting and
thrusting on the ground
involved. That was tough for me
because if I was lifting, I’d have
to lift the same 120-kilo guy 10
times for 10 different angles. And
likewise, get thrown that many
times. This act is not repeated
that many times in real fights...
“When I used to walk out of the
ring after the shoot, I used to feel
like a raped woman. I couldn’t
walk straight,” Khan said.
$VVDP0HJKDOD\DSXWRQDOHUW
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0=D?B70A<0Q 6DF070C8
n alert has been sounded
in Garo Hills region of
A
Meghalaya and in Assam following reports of infiltration of
five suspected terrorists from
Bangladesh.
South Garo Hills district
Superintendent of Police
Anand Mishra said this on
Thursday while adding that the
police have sounded an alert in
all the police stations and outposts in the Garo Hills region
of Meghalaya, particularly considering the recent terrorist
attack in Bangladesh.
Narrating the incident, the
SP said that a police team had
gone to Kanai village located on
the Indo-Bangladesh border
in South Garo Hills after being
informed by the local people
about infiltration of some suspected terrorists into Indian
side from Bangladesh. “The villagers told us that on July 5,
seven youth with large bags
arrived in the village and asked
a few villagers about the road
that leads to Guwahati in
Assam,” he said.
“The youth’s activities led
to suspicion among the villagers and they started asking
them about their identities. As
the villagers started asking
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questions, two of the youths ran
back towards the border. The
villagers also chased them till
they disappeared in the nearby jungle,” Mishra said, while
adding that when the villagers
came back to the village, the
five other youth had also disappeared.
“The police are trying to
verify the incident. This could
be rumour also but we are not
taking any chances and an
alert has been sounded in all
the districts in Garo Hills
region of the State. We have
also alerted our counterparts in
Assam so that adequate measures can be taken up to prevent any subversive activities,”
said the SP.
Assam Director General
of Police Mukesh Sahai said
that the state police have been
put on alert, particularly after
the recent terrorist attack in
Dhaka.
“We have heard about some
incidents of infiltration of some
youth from South Garo Hills
region of Meghalaya. There is
no confirmation so far on this
and the police are trying to verify the reports,” Sahai said.
It may be mentioned here
that militant outfits like the
Ulfa, NDFB, GNLA, ANVC
and HNLC had extensively
used the thick contiguous forest in South Garo Hills district
of Meghalaya with Bangladesh
as corridor to sneak over to
Bangladesh when they used to
have camps in Bangladesh.
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274==08
ardly 24 hours after Tamil
Nadu chief minister J
Jayalalithaa describing India’s
1974 transfer of Kachatheevu
islet to Sri Lanka “unconstitutional”, the island nation retaliated by arresting 16 fishermen
from Rameswaram who were
fishing near the uninhabited
hamlet on Thursday.
The arrest of the fishermen
was announced by a
Rameshwaram based official of
the fisheries department of the
Government of Tamil Nadu.
“With the arrest of these 16 fishermen, the number of fishermen
who have been arrested since
July 3 has shot up to 44. Those
held by the Sri Lankan Navy have
been taken to Kankesanthurai,”
said the official.
He also disclosed that the
fishermen set to fishing late
Wednesday night and the Sri
Lankan Navy took them into
H
0Q^h\PZTbWXbfPhcWa^dVWU[^^STSfPcTafXcWWXbR[^cWTbWT[SPQ^eTWTPSX]P
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custody on Thursday. On
Wednesday, chioef minister J
Jayalalithaa has sent a missive to
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
in which she charged the transfer of Katchatheevu islet to Sri
Lanka by India as “unconstitutional and the root cause of all
the problems faced by Tamil
Nadu fishermen.”
As on Wednesday there
were 80 Tamil Nadu fishermen
and 101 boats under the Sri
Lankan custody and the chief
minister wanted the immediate
intervention of the Prime
Minister to get their release. The
Sri Lankan Navy also seized
three mechanised boats of the
fishermen on Thursday.
In her earlier letters to the
Prime Minister, Jayalalithaa had
categorically stated that the Tamil
Nadu government does not
accept the International
Maritime Boundary Line
between India and Sri Lanka as
a settled issue as the Kachatheevu
islet remained a bone of contention between the two countries. Jayalalithaa has approached
the apex court challenging the
constitutional legality of the ceding of the islet to Lanka
>UUbTcX]3TUT]RT_a^RdaT\T]c
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:4BCDAE0BD:8Q 14=60;DAD
efence Minister Manohar
Parrikar foresee the offset in
D
Defence procurements is set to
reach $12 to 15 billion over the
next ten years. Addressing the
seventh annual Strategic
Electronics Summit organised by
Electronics
Industries
Association of India (ELCINA)
in Bengaluru on Thursday the
Defence Minister said, with purchases coming through, their offsets to domestic industry have
normalised. “In the last two
years, 100 per cent offset obligations were achieved compared
to around 60 per cent during the
earlier five years” , he added.
“The quantum of offsets
will increase in the coming years
because deals are in the offing.
The purchase of 36 Rafale medium multi-role fighter aircraft that
is currently going through cost
negotiations will result in offsets
that will be 50 per cent of the
value of the deal”.
The Minister stressed that
Defence public sector units such
as Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.,
Bharat Electronics Ltd. and
Bharat Dynamics Ltd., which
manufacture critical products for
the Forces, should be lead integrators and make way for industry as supplier of components
and systems.
He said after the new
Defence Procurement Policy
2016, lot of changes were taking
place giving impetus to the role
of industry. “ The government
was carefully and practically
viewing the policy of banning
and penalising certain vendors.
The logic was to ensure that projects do not get stalled for many
years”, he said.
He said efforts made by his
ministry over the last two years
had already bear fruit for the
small and medium scale industries whose supplies to the
defence sector had touched
Rs.52000 crore last year up from
Rs,42,000 crore in 2014. Their
share in defence purchases had
gone up to 9 per cent last fiscal
from 4 per cent the previous year.
‘’We aim to touch 15 per cent this
year’’ he added.
He said he had sought the
Defence PSUs to be major integrators of platforms and procure
systems and components from
the private sector.
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head of the start of the
Monsoon Session of the
A
Maharashtra Legislature, Chief
Minister Devendra Fadnavis will
resort to a major expansioncum-reshuffle on Friday.
In the first-ever ministry
expansion being undertaken
after the Shiv Sena joined the
BJP-led saffron alliance
Government on December 5,
2014, Fadnavis will in all likelihood induct into his Cabinet ten
new ministers – six belonging to
the BJP, three to Shiv Sena and
one each to Raju Shetty-led
Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana
and Mahadev Jankar-headed
Rashtriya Samaj Paksha.
The Cabinet expansion has
been necessitated by the recent
resignation of senior BJP minister Eknath Khadse, who had to
quit over allegations of corruption, land-grab and links with the
Karachi-based underworld don
Dawood Ibrahim, and the fact
that the chief minister has
delayed such a re-jig of his ministry for nearly seven months.
Fadnavis had attempted a
Cabinet in December 2015 but
dropped the plan at the last
moment. Khadse had held as
many 10 portfolios, including
Revenue, Agriculture, Excise,
Relief and Rehabilitation,
Minority affairs, Waqf, Animal
husbandry, Milk production,
Fisheries and Earthquake rehabilitation. The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 9 am in
the Central Hall of Maharashtra
Legislature on Friday.
The Chief Minister held
consultations with two senior
Shiv Sena ministers, Subhash
Desai and Diwakar Raote, (who
had been deputed for the purpose by Sena President Uddhav
Thackeray, on the choice of
their party nominees to be
inducted into the Cabinet.
Informed sources in the BJP
said here on Thursday evening
that while senior party leader
Pandurang Fundkar would make
it to the Fadnavis in all probability, the other party men who
might make it to the State
Cabinet might include; Dr Sanjay
Kunte, Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar,
Jaykumar Rawal, Shivajirao Naik
and Haribhau Jawale.
cTaa^aPRcXeXcXTb
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oly month of Ramzan witnessed sudden spike in milH
itant related violence across
Jammu & Kashmir after a gap of
more than three years.
Coupled with this efforts
were also made by the militant
handlers from across the border
to trigger communal tension in
Jammu province as three incidents of temple desecration were
reported during the holy month
of Ramzan. Two incidents were
reported in Jammu and one
incident took place in the border
district of Poonch near the line
of control.
According to official sources,
“between June 6 to July 6 this
year ver one dozen major incidents of militant related violence
in the hinterland and firefight
with security forces along the line
of control were reported in the
state in which over two dozen
militants were killed/neutralised
and 10 security personnel sacrificed their lives”.Over three dozen
personnel were injured in fresh
encounters with the militants. In
2015 total number of 20 militants
were killed in June and July while
4 security personnel lost their
lives. In 2014 15 militants were
eliminated between June and July
and 6 security personnel were
killed.
Eight security personnel of
CRPF were martyred by armed
fidayeen group on the highway
stretch between Bijbehera and
Pampore on June 25.
Twenty-two CRPF jawans
were also injured in the attack
which forced the Union Home
Ministry to further review the
prevailing security scenario in
the state along with redefining
the existing Standard Operating
Procedures to prevent fresh
strike on the convoy movement
of security personnel. Security
along the 35 km stretch of the
National Highway 44 between
Bijbehera and Pampore has also
been beefed up and area domination patrols of CRPF and
army keeping a tight vigil on the
vulnerable highway.
To check the movement of
infiltrators along the North
Kashmir district of Kupwara
alert Army jawans were able to
neutralise at least 14 infiltrators
in four separate firefights on June
15, June 16, and June 23.
Six militants were eliminated by the security forces in separate encounters in Sopore,
Pulwama, Handwara and
Kupwara. The Jammu Srinagar
Highway also witnessed militant
strike near Kud on June 13 in
which one civilian also lost her
life while 4 others were injured.
During the recent security
review meetings chaired by the
Union Home Minister Rajnath
Singh in Srinagar clear instructions were given to security officers to effectively deal with the
regrouping of militants and
check radicalisation of local
youth in the absence of foreign
militants in the State. According
to these assessments over 220
militants were actively involved
in the State.
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fghan refugees, who fled
to Pakistan three decades
A
ago carrying few belongings,
are now facing an ultimatum
from the Islamabad government to return to Afghanistan,
a country that is still in the
throes of conflict.
The
war
between
Afghanistan and the then
Soviet Union (1979-1989)
forced three million Afghans to
cross the border to seek asylum
in neighbouring Pakistan,
which last week extended their
residency status for six more
months, with a warning that
after that they must leave, EFE
news reported.
Islamabad, home to the
second largest refugee population in the world and one of the
oldest, blames Afghans for the
violence afflicting the country
and for flooding the labour
market.
"My children and grandchildren were born here. They
are more Pakistani than
Afghani," says Mohamed
Zamir, one of the residents of
the Kababian refugee camp in
Peshawar, set up in 1981, housing 11,300 Afghan refugees.
Fifty-five years old Zamir,
who manages a United Nations
8b[P\PQPSW^\Tc^cWTbTR^]S[PaVTbc
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High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) school,
crossed the Pakistani border on
foot along with his parents and
nine siblings in 1981 and may
have to retrace his steps and
return to Afghanistan shortly,
with his wife, four children and
eight grandchildren.
The government of Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani has not
yet made any statement on the
future of the refugees.
Sher Ali, a second generation refugee who was born in
Pakistan 33 years ago, says he
doesn’t want to return to
Afghanistan, a country in
which he has never lived.
"I was born here, I work
here. This is the place I know,
in Afghanistan, I am like a foreigner," says Ali, whose family
came to Pakistan in 1979.
Like Ali, most of the 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees
and another million and a half
staying in Pakistan illegally,
were born in Pakistan, UNHCR
spokesperson in the country,
Duniya Aslam, told EFE.
But Pakistan does not grant
nationality to refugee children
born in the country.
Of the total number of
registered Afghan refugees, 40
per cent still live in some of the
43 UNHCR camps in the
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
province.
While Pakistan has been
asking the Afghan refugees to
leave for years, the calls for their
repatriation have grown in
recent times following the 2014
Taliban attack against a school
in Peshawar in which 125 children were killed.
A week ago, Pakistani
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
said his government, UNHCR
and the Afghan government
will begin talks in July on the
transfer of the camps in
Pakistan to the other side of the
border.
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hilippine government forces fought hundreds
of Islamic militants on two remote islands on
P
Thursday, with the military aircraft-backed campaign leaving up to 10 people dead, the army said.
The gun battles on the southern islands of Jolo
and Basilan followed orders by new President
Rodrigo Duterte for the security services to go after
the Abu Sayyaf, which recently beheaded two foreign hostages and is also blamed for the worst terror attacks in Philippine history.
The fighting was continuing late today with
more troops being rushed in, backed by military
aircraft and artillery, regional military spokesman
Major Filemon Tan told reporters. "Continuous
indirect fire support and air strikes are being done
and additional troops were deployed," he added
without giving details.
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05?Q 1067303
Baghdad bombing claimed
by the Islamic State group
killed 292 people, a minister said
today, raising the toll of one of
the deadliest single attacks in
Iraq since the US-led invasion.
A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle
in Baghdad’s Karrada neighbourhood early on Sunday,
ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday
marking the end of the holy
Muslim fasting month of
Ramadan.
Officials had previously put
at more than 250 the death toll
from the powerful blast, which
sparked infernos that gutted
nearby buildings in the popular
shopping district.
Health Minister Adila
Hamoud said the identities of
177 people killed in the bombing have yet to be determined,
while 115 bodies have been
handed over to families, according to a statement from the ministry.
The attack also wounded
200 people, Hamoud said.
The minister told AFP on
Tuesday that the process of
identifying all of the unknown
A
bodies -- which she said at the
time numbered 150 -- was
expected to take between 15 and
45 days.
People were already furious
over delays in determining the
fate of loved ones, and with the
number of unidentified bodies
now bigger, it may take even
longer.
The blast sparked widespread anger among Iraqis,
some of whom have accused the
government of failing to do
enough to protect them.
Interior
Minister
Mohammed Ghabban tendered
his resignation following the
bombing, and authorities also
announced the execution of
five convicts and the arrest of 40
jihadists in an apparent bid to
limit the fallout from the attack.
Ghabban criticised the
security system as fundamentally flawed and saying he could
no longer accept responsibility
for the consequences, calling for
a series of changes that would
ultimately increase the ministry’s power.
An official in Prime
Minister Haider al-Abadi’s office
told AFP yesterday that the
premier had accepted the min-
?C8Q 8B;0<0103
akistan on Thursday
expressed concern over
the house arrest of Kashmiri
separatist leaders on Eid and
asked the international community to take notice of the
"violations" of their "fundamental rights".
"We are deeply concerned
over
detention
of
Kashmiri leaders on this
sacred day, in violation of
their fundamental right of
religious freedom.
“We call upon the international community to take
note and urge the Indian
Government to respect the
basic rights of Kashmiris,"
Adviser to the Prime Minister
on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz
was quoted as saying in a
statement by Foreign Office.
Aziz also felicitated
Kashmiris on Eid.
Authorities in Jammu and
Kashmir had placed top separatist leaders including Syed
Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar
Farooq and Mohammad Yasin
Malik under house arrest,
fearing their presence at large
Eid gatherings could spark
violence.
P
ister’s resignation, though there
has been no official statement
from him on the matter.
The attack has overshadowed what would normally be
a joyful holiday for Iraqi
Muslims, instead turning it into
a time of mourning and sadness.
Thousands of them have
massed at the site of the bombing to mourn the dead and
express solidarity with those
stricken by the blast.
The street running between
the charred remains of buildings
burned in the attack was packed
with people yesterday night,
some carrying Iraqi flags, others holding candles.
Many wept and beat their
chests in mourning for the dead.
Some of those gathered at
the site today shouted slogans,
while others read the Koran and
left candles in front of banners
of condolence.
Army troops hunting down Abu Sayyaf units
clashed with about 130 of the gunmen near the
Jolo town of Patikul, killing a soldier and wounding six others, Tan said. Military intelligence reports
later determined that nine Abu Sayyaf members
were also killed and 13 others wounded, he added.
Meanwhile up to 200 Abu Sayyaf gunmen have
been fighting running gun battles with government
forces in three Basilan towns since late yesterday,
Tan said, but did not say if there were casualties.
The Jolo militants are believed to be holding
a Norwegian resort manager abducted elsewhere
in the south in September last year and a Dutch
birdwatcher kidnapped in 2012. Tan did not reply
when asked about the impact of the fighting on
the hostages. The Abu Sayyaf beheaded in April
and June two Canadian tourists who were kidnapped with the Norwegian, while a Filipina who
was abducted with them was freed last month.
0?Q 50;2>=74867CBDB
Minnesota officer fatally
shot a man in a car with a
A
woman and a child in the US, an
official said.
Authorities are looking into
whether the aftermath was
livestreamed in a widely shared
Facebook video, which shows a
woman in a vehicle with a man
whose shirt appears to be soaked
in blood telling the camera
"police just shot my boyfriend for
no apparent reason."
St Anthony Police interim
police chief Jon Mangseth said
the incident began when an
officer pulled over a vehicle
around 9 PM yesterday in Falcon
Heights, a St Paul suburb that
Mangseth’s department serves.
Mangseth said he did not
have details about the reason for
the traffic stop, but that at some
point shots were fired. The man
was struck but no one else was
injured, he said.
As word of the shooting and
video spread, relatives of the man
joined scores of people who
gathered at the scene of the
shooting and outside the hospital where the man died and identified him as Philando Castile of
St Paul, a 32-year-old cafeteria
supervisor at a Montessori
school.
Speaking to CNN early
today, Castile’s mother said she
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three-member team of
Dhaka Medical College
Hospital’s forensic department
has dismissed reports that all
the 20 hostages killed in the
cafe terror attack were slaughtered by slitting their throats.
Dhaka Medical College
Hospital forensic department’s
Assistant Professor Md Sohel
Mahmud, led a three-member
team to conduct the autopsies
at the Combined Military
Hospital (CMH) on Sunday,
reported bdnews24.com.
"All the deceased had sharp
weapon wounds on their heads
and necks. Some were hacked
on their throats too," said
Mahmud.
"But most of the foreign
hostages were hacked to death.
Bullets were found on the bodies of seven foreigners, who
were also hacked in their head
and neck," added Mahmud.
"One of the Italian nationals and one of the Bangladeshi
women had died from trauma
caused by a blunt force," he
said.
On last Friday evening, a
group of seven young Islamist
A
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terrorists carrying guns and
explosives entered the Holey
Artisan Bakery and O’ Kitchen
Restaurant in Gulshan diplomatic enclave and took at least
33 people hostages, of which
they brutally killed 20 through
the night.
Two police officers, who
were members of a team that
made an early attempt to end
the siege, were killed by explosions set off by the attackers.
The security forces
launched a rescue operation
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Lucknow: Two days after
Apna Dal leader Anupriya
iting the matter to be subPatel was sworn in as Minister Cjudice, Narada News editor
of State in the Union Council in chief Mathew Samuel on
80=B Q :>;:0C0
of Ministers, a faction of the
Apna Dal on Thursday said it
was "severing" ties with the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Claiming to be heading
the "real" Apna Dal, its president Krishna Patel and her
other daughter Pallavi Patel
said their party was snapping
all ties with the BJP and vowed
to "teach them a lesson".
After a party meeting in
the state capital, Krishna Patel
said she will organise a rally in
Varanasi on August 23 to
showcase her support base.
This rally, she claimed,
will be much bigger than those
of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and Bihar Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar in the past.
However, the Apna Dal
faction led by Krishna’s
younger daughter Anupriya
Patel, the MP from Mirzapur,
on Thursday said it will now
work to strengthen the BJP
and ensure their alliance
storms to power in Uttar
Pradesh in the 2017 assembly
elections.
R.K. Verma, a party legislator, said the Other Backward
Castes were indebted to Modi
and BJP president Amit Shah
for making Anupriya Patel a
Union Minister.
YLGHRLQYHVWLJDWHG
Thursday urged the Kolkata
police to withdraw the summons issued against him in
connection with the probe into
a sting operation that allegedly caught several Trinamool
Congress leaders taking bribe.
West Bengal Chief Minister
and Trinamool supremo
Mamata Banerjee had ordered
the probe to find if there was
a "conspiracy" behind the sting.
The city police subsequently
registered a case against Samuel
and summoned him for personal appearance.
"Since the matter is pending before the Calcutta High
Court, I have yet again asked
the Kolkata police to withdraw
the summons," said Samuel.
This is the second time he
has asked for withdrawing the
summons after the police
issued a fresh summons on July
1. He was summoned for the
first time on June 23 following
which he had made a similar
request.
Samuel also claimed that
he was yet to get a copy of the
complaint on the basis of which
the case against him has been
initiated.
In pursuance of a complaint filed by the wife of city
mayor and state minister Sovan
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Chatterjee, police slapped
charges of forgery, defamation
and criminal conspiracy against
the portal and Samuel.
Released in March during
the assembly polls, the sting
purportedly showed a host of
Trinamool high profile leaders
including state ministers and
former union ministers taking
wads of currency notes in
return for favour to a fictitious
company.
The Calcutta High Court
which is hearing multiple litigations seeking independent
probe into the matter, on June
24 ordered forensic examination of the footage and devices
used for conducting the sting.
codenamed
‘Operation
Thunderbolt’ on Saturday
morning and freed 13 hostages.
The 20 killed hostages
included nine Italians, seven
Japanese, one Indian and three
Bangladeshis, one of whom
was also a naturalised US citizen.
The Bangladeshi army and
the government had said that
six terrorists were killed and
another was captured alive.
Police on Monday midnight filed a case naming six
dead attackers and several
unidentified persons. One of
the terrorists has been identified as Holey Artisan Bakery
chef Saiful Islam Chowkider.
"Saiful was seen with the
group of militants," said police.
Forensic expert Mahmud
said that bullets were found in
the bodies of the six attackers.
Splinters of explosives were
also found in the bodies of
three of them.
Mahmud added that blood
for viscera test and teeth and
flesh from the bodies of the
slain terrorists were collected
and sent for Deoxyribo Nucleic
Acid (DNA) test on
Wednesday.
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suspected she would never learn
the whole truth about her son’s
death. "I think he was just black
in the wrong place," Valerie
Castile said, adding that she
had underlined to her children
to that they must do what authorities tell them to do to survive.
Police have not released details
on the ethnicity or service record
of the police officer involved but
to say he has been placed on paid
administrative leave.
"I know my son ... We know
black people have been killed ...
I always told them, whatever you
do when you get stopped by
police, comply, comply, comply."
Police use of force, particularly against minorities, has
returned to the national spotlight
since the video-recorded fatal
shooting earlier this week of 37year-old Alton Sterling by police
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The US Justice Department
yesterday launched a civil rights
investigation into the shooting,
which took place after Sterling,
who was black, scuffled with two
white police officers outside a
convenience store. Castile’s
cousin, Antonio Johnson, told
the Star Tribune that he believed
that because Philando Castile
was a black man driving in
Falcon Heights, a largely middleclass suburb, he "was immediately criminally profiled and he
lost his life over it tonight."
8aXbW_Pa[XP\T]c
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Dublin: The Irish parliament on
Thursday rejected proposed legislation to allow abortion in
Ireland in cases of fatal foetal
abnormality.
Prime Minister Enda Kenny
had instructed his Fine Gael
party members to vote against
the bill as the state’s top legal
adviser believed it contravened
the Eighth Amendment of the
Irish constitution, which recognises the equal right to life of the
unborn and the mother. "The bill
is bad for women and medically inadequate," the prime minister said earlier this week.
Fine Gael deputies were
joined by members of Fianna
Fail, the other main centre-right
party, and the bill was defeated
in a vote of 95 to 45.
Speaking ahead of the vote,
the bill’s proponent Mick
Wallace said he wanted to see
the proposals tested in the
country’s Supreme Court. "It
will add urgency to the fact that
there’s at least four or five
women every week in Ireland
having to travel out of the
country to have a fatal foetal
abnormality dealt with," he
said.
AFP
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nother Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP) leader, forA
our cadres of the Naga milmer legislator Ravindra Nath Fitant group Nationalist
Tripathi, left the party on Socialist Council of NagalimThursday while levelling serious allegations on party chief
Mayawati.
Announcing his resignation, the leader f rom
Poorvanchal, said after the
death of party founder Kanshi
Ram, Mayawati had digressed
from th path of Dalit ideology and had been blinded by
greed.
The former legislator
from Barsathi, Tripathi said
Mayawati had turned the
party into a sort of ‘Chit
Fund Company’ where in
people with moneybags were
ruling the roost.
Refusing to open up on
his future course of action, he
said he will soon sit down
with his supporters and
decide on whether to join any
other party or not. He also
claimed that very soon, many
party leaders will dump the
BSP and exit.
He is the third leader in
less that a fortnight to have
left the BSP, levelling almost
similar charges against
Mayawati. Senior party leader
Swami Prasad Maurya left
the BSP last month and
another tall leader R.K.
Chowdhary quit recently.
Reformation (NSCN-R) were
gunned down in Arunachal
Pradesh’s Tirap district early on
Thursday, the Assam Rifles
(AR) said.
Two AK-47 assault rifles
and a pistol were recovered
from the slain militants.
The gunfight occurred at
the remote Kheti village, seven
km from Khonsa, the district
headquarters of Tirap, Assam
Rifles spokesman Lt. Col.
Rahul Josan said.
The four were allegedly
involved in extortion, arms
dealing and drug peddling.
They were Captain Jano
Tekwa, Sergeant Major
Lombho Pangsa, Sergeant
Tongbai and Corporal
Mankhu Wangsa.
"Assam Rifles troopers
cordoned off the area on
Wednesday night after a tipoff. One of the three columns
came under heavy firing as it
approached the militants camp,
forcing the troopers to retaliate," the spokesman said.
In the ensuing gun battle,
the four militants were killed.
The NSCN-R is a breakaway faction of the banned
NSCN-Khaplang, a Myanmarbased rebel outfit.
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n the past two and half
decades, since the emergence of Al Qaeda, a surge
in extremist violence in
major Muslim nations of
the world, is once again bringing to the fore, the strife within
different streams of Islam.
Beyond this, the current saga of
killings, starting from the recent
brutal attack on a posh diplomatic enclave in Dhaka and
concurrent bombings in the
holiest cities of Islam in Medina,
Jeddah and in Baghdad, the
war-weary capital city of Iraq,
has brought the entire global
community to realise how
important it is for different versions of Islam to give a renewed
call for peace.
The long-drawn fight
between the two main sects of
Islam — the Shias and the Sunnis
— is devastating the Middle
East and the brunt of the clash
is borne by none other than millions of ordinary Muslims who
rightly deserve a peaceful living.
The so-called guardians of the
two prominent branches of
Islam, Iran and Saudi Arabia, by
now, must call for a political
truce, else, once known as one of
the rare cradles of human civilisation, the nations of the Middle
East will soon turn out to be a
graveyard for sure.
Referring to one of the most
controversial book to date on
Islam, Heretic: Why Islam Needs
a Reformation Now, authored by
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, it can well be
stated that Islam needs a strong
reformation to suit the cultural
clash brought by the globe-trotting waves of globalisation. The
author argues that a religious
reformation is the only way to
end terrorism, sectarian warfare
and repression of women and
minorities that each year claim
millions of life across the world.
The world has come a long
way since the destruction of the
Ottoman Empire and the
boundaries of the Middle East or
West Asia has been redrawn as
per the requirements of the
Western imperial powers, under
the historic Sykes-Picot
Agreement on May 19, 1916.
Understandably, going by the
sheer historical evidences that
followed the Agreement, we can
safely opine that this had rewritten the history of the Arabs
once again in blood for sure.
The charismatic Ali argues
that “it is foolish to insist, as our
leaders habitually do, that the violent acts of Islamist extremists can
be divorced from the religious doc-
I
trine that inspires them. Instead,
we must confront the fact that they
are driven by a political ideology
embedded in Islam itself ”.
After the ghastly terror
attack in Dhaka, controversial
Bangladeshi writer Taslima
Nasreen aired her views, asking
“whether we should call Islam as
a religion of peace?” She further
claimed that “in a society blinded by religion, brainwashing
starts right after birth”.
This augurs well for a public discourse, particularly among
the Islamic scholars and in general, by all the liberal shades of
opinion-makers around the
world. Why so much of violence
is inspired by Islam? Is there an
end to it? Who will put a stop to
this incessant clash between its
two branches of the religion?
Are the colonial masters solely
responsible for the ongoing
tragedy unleashed by the
jihadists over both the believers
and non-believers of Islam? Is it
a final war of revenge against the
West for re-taking the
boundaries of the Caliphate that
once used to be? It is time now
the world demands an
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appropriate answer.
Whether it is the Muslim
Brotherhood, Salafism, Salafi
jihadism, Rule of the Jurisprudent
and the Marjaa — they are all
fighting for their relevance and
political space. Professor Eugene
Rogan of the University of
Oxford is of the view that the fate
of the Arab world will be veering
around the constant conflicts
between the three strands of
Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood,
Salafi-Jihadism (Sunni) and finally, the Shia doctrine of the ‘Rule
of the Jurisprudent’.
As Islam holds considerable political power since the
days of the Prophet Muhammad,
hence, an obvious attempt made
by the liberal Western scholars,
to separate politics from religion
seems having not much relevance in the Arab society. Today,
what the Islamic State (IS) has
been trying to establish ie the
Caliphate, was last abolished
by the Turkish leader Kemal
Ataturk in 1924.
Though the Islamists provide
strong references to the Ottomans
now, but many of them are interested in recreating the caliphates
B>D=318C4
existed earlier: The four Rightly
Guided Caliphs who used to rule
immediately after the death of
Muhammad in the seventh century or else the Abbasid caliphate
which survived in one or the
other form, right from the ninth
to the 13th centuries.
Surprisingly, the Western
scholars have conflated these
caliphs with that of the 19th century Ottoman royal family. And
gradually, they have brought an
enduring idea of a caliph as an
institution. To be precise, the
idea of the Caliphate has waxed
and waned depending on the
conflicts and the sway of royal
families over the same. There is
no clear and well-defined
Islamic mandate behind the
idea of the revival of the 21st
century caliphate as of today.
As Nick Danforth further
argues: “It is no surprise that as,
a historical inspiration, the
Ottoman caliphate holds most
sway among Turkish Islamists,
whose nostalgia owes far more to
the way Turkish nationalists
have glorified the empire than it
does to the piety of the Sultans.
Conversely, the religious legacy
of Abd al-Wahhab's 18th century critique of the Ottoman state,
combined with the political legacy of more recent anti-Ottoman
Arab nationalism, gives plenty of
non-Turkish Islamists ample reason to prefer the precedent of an
Arab caliphate”.
Therefore, the contemporary claimants like that of the IS
to the Caliphate has the same
problem of uniting the entire
Muslims under one roof which
makes the road rather more difficult and the chances of spreading animosity between the Shias
and the Sunnis will be on the rise.
For sure, the short lived political
or military successes like the one
won by the IS, without having the
support of history and theology,
will not be able to create a single
caliphate for the entire Muslims.
But in the process, attempting to
recreate the same, will lead to
more bloodletting.
Before turning Syria, Iraq,
Libya and Yemen into an ‘empire
of graveyards’, the global governance institutions like the UN,
must act swiftly to stop all
excesses against humanity. It
must be made clear to all, particularly to the heads of warring
Governments and to their wartime allies that Middle East is
not a theatre of war anymore.
Hope, the UN takes an immediate decision and calls for lasting
peace in the region.
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Sir — This refers to the editorial,
“Team Modi’s makeover” (July 7).
It is good that Smriti Irani has
been shifted from the Human
Resource Development Ministry
to the textile Ministry. However,
it would have been better if she
had been dropped from the
Council of Ministers altogether.
Irani could not handle her portfolio well and was a constant
headache for the Prime Minister.
She gave a clean burial to the
Scheme of Interest Subsidy for
Education Loans. Thousands of
poor students were denied full
benefits of this scheme.
Krishna Prasad
Vrindavan
3_^dbQTYSdY^WfYUgc
Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Team Modi’s makeover” (July
7). Of course, a performance
appraisal may be the last factor to
be considered while undertaking
a ministerial re-shuffle, but with
an eye on the Uttar Pradesh
election, Dalit outreach and striking a regional balance, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has
described it as an expansion
rather than a re-shuffle.
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The BJP has an ambitious
plan to bring into its fold the
Dalits, who hold the key to victory in several poll-bound States
next year. Though the present
expansion still keeps the
Council tally below the maximum limit, stipulated by law, it
belies the claim of Modi about
‘minimum Government, maximum governance’.
KS Jayatheertha
Bangalore
=QhY]e]RU^UVYd
Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Team Modi’s makeover”
(July 7). Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has done well to
overhaul his Cabinet. However,
despite adding so many
Ministers in his Cabinet, the
practice of giving additional
charge to some of his Minister
still continues.
It is good that Modi did not
hide his dissatisfaction on the
performance of some of his ministerial colleagues, but it would
have been better if the Prime
Minister converted his ideal of
‘minimum Government, maximum governance’ into a reality by
adopting the recommendations of
the Administrative Reforms
Commission to limit the minis-
terial strength to a maximum of
10 per cent of the strength of the
lower House.
Madhu Agrawal
Delhi
5aeQ\dbUQd]U^d
Sir — This refers to the article,
“Who will take care of private sector?” (July 6) by Shivaji Sarkar. It
will be unfortunate if the
Government sits on the laurel of
being a model employer to its own
employees, letting those in the private and unorganised sector, to be
exploited by the market force.
The future of the citizens of
our country is being forced to
make their elders unemployed. If
child labour is replaced with
employable working force then it
will redress the problem of unemployment and labour exploitation.
The Government should be lauded for acting like a mother to its
employees but it cannot give a
step-motherly treatment to other
workers. It is a constitutional
duty of the Government to implement stringent labour laws and
welfare schemes for all workers.
Sujit De
Kolkata
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he ‘green crescent’ on the
map of Asia, which begins
directly from under the
Black Sea and till recently ended
in the Kashmir valley, poses the
single greatest threat to the Indian
deep state. Recent happenings in
Bangladesh and the rise of ultra
Islamic fundamentalism have convinced the deep state that despite
a favourable political dispensation
in our eastern neighbour, the
rampant spread of the Green
Crescent in Bangladesh’s fast coalescing socio-political-religious
sub-consciousness has far wider
dispersal, courtesy the cold pipes
that control the worldwide web.
So, India is now suddenly wedged
between a toxic ideological state —
Pakistan — and an increasingly
subversive Bangladesh.
Throw in the current ferment
in Pakistan which in the normal
course begins to display a strange
political and strategic morality on
Kashmir the moment the cauldron
boils over internally, and you have
an incendiary mix. Add an absent
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who
has had a successful open heart
surgery in London which entailed
four bypasses, and an increasingly active Army chief Raheel Sharif
powered by the return of the
immensely popular Army-backed
stalking horse, Pakistan Awami
Tehreek chair Tahir-ul-Qadri, and
you know that things don’t augur
well for India. Nature, they say
abhors a vacuum, ergo Gen Sharif
has stepped into that vacuum created by the Prime Minister’s
absence. Kashmir, unfortunately,
has become sui generis to Pakistan’s
brutalised psyche since the vivisection of East Pakistan
in 1971.
This game of thrones in
Pakistan has multiple agendas and
is split into varied targets. Almost
in parallel, a clarion call has been
given in Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir — “Modi ka jo yaar hai,
gaddar hai, gaddar hai (whoever is
Modi’s friend is a traitor)”. Nawaz
Sharif will return to Pakistan
amidst this bedlam. The July 21
election in Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir is one of the immediate
challenges he faces. While the disputed territory has traditionally
voted for federal governing parties,
T
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the Prime Minister’s Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz is facing
intense competition from the
Bhutto family front, Pakistan
People’s Party and Imran Khan’s
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.
The scenario gets more complicated with alleged non-state
actors under the aegis of Difa-ePakistan Council (Defence of
Pakistan) pumping up the volume
at a recent rally in Faisalabad
spewed quintessential venom
against India. Maulana Samiul
Haq along with Jamaat-e-Islami
ameer Sirajul Haq, Anas Noorani,
Jamaat-ud Dawa’h boss Hafiz Saeed
spoke of the Indian-American
hegemony to weaken and undermine Pakistan and wanted Panama
Leaks named Nawaz Sharif to
leave Pakistan. Almost concurrently Hafiz Saeed has been targeting Indian paramilitary and
Army convoys in Kashmir using
signature fidayeen attacks trying as
always to divert the attention of
Pakistan’s populace to the ‘jugular
vein’ rhetoric. And if all this wasn’t enough, in the complex and convoluted military-political relation-
ship akin to a hall of mirrors, a new
Army chief is to be selected later
this year. The deep-rooted distrust
between the two Sharifs is like a
maze or series of passageways
lined with mirrors, especially
curved mirrors giving distorted
reflections. A confusing or disorienting situation in which it is difficult to distinguish between truth
and illusion or between competing
versions of reality.
While it was extensively reported in January this year that General
Sharif nixed growing speculation
about an extension in his tenure
through a brief, but a sudden
statement that paved the way for
the Government to start considering his successor who will take up
the job from him in late November,
there is still no clarity in this
regard, given the Prime Minister’s
heart problems and ill health.
Gen Sharif’s said, through a
military spokesman in a terse 43
letter tweet — “I don’t believe in
extension and will retire on the due
date.” Incidentally, this statement
came even as a petition was filed
in the Supreme Court’s Lahore reg-
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nce again, there are speculations whether Congress scion
Priyanka Vadra will come to
active politics or not. This ‘will she,
won’t she’ question has been dogging
the Congress which has been facing
an existential crisis. No one should
be surprised at Priyanka Vadra’s
entry as it had always been held that
she would join politics at some time
or the other. That ‘some time’ has
finally come. The only question is:
Will the dynastic face click?
The Gandhi family has always
held Priyanka Vadra as the trump
card. It is clear that Congress vice
president Rahul Gandhi has
not clicked even after 14 years
because he is not keen on a
24/7 job. He could not prove to
be a vote-catcher and did not
find a solution to arrest the
party’s decline. However,
Priyanka Vadra might be fielded out of desperation now.
The million dollar question is: Can Priyanka Vadra
help revive the Congress? As of
now, there are talks of her stepping out of her family pocket
boroughs Amethi and Rae
Bareli to campaign for the
upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls
which is scheduled early next
year. The Congress ranks number four or five in Uttar Pradesh, and
has not ruled the State after 1989. In
the 2012 Assembly polls, it came a
cropper and in the 2014 Lok Sabha
polls it managed to get just Congress
president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul
Gandhi’s seats.
When Prashant Kishor, touted
to be the man behind the success of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (in
2014 Lok Sabha polls) and Bihar
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (in
Bihar Assembly election 2015) was
engaged by the Congress as its
strategist for Punjab and Uttar
Pradesh polls, he had suggested a
Brahmin face as the chief ministerial candidate for Uttar Pradesh —
O
either Priyanka Vadra or former
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit.
Among all social groups, the
Congress polls the highest percentage of votes from the Brahmins even
now. Hence, the talk of Priyanka
Vadra. There is urgency for these
decisions as the polls are just a few
months away. Insiders predict that in
all probability Priyanka Vadra might
take a direct plunge into electoral politics in the 2019 general election and,
as a first step, aggressively campaign
across Uttar Pradesh in next year’s
Assembly election. A large part of her
decision is also personal. The BJP’s
relentless attacks on her husband
Robert Vadra, accusing him of financial wrongdoings, too may have
forced her to take the plunge.
Whether it’s her lineage or her
connect with the people, Priyanka
Vadra seems to be the ideal choice for
the Congress, party insiders feel as it
will help cement the family’s primacy in the party and also energise the
rank and file, most of whom have
greater faith in her pugnaciousness
than her brother Rahul Gandhi. She
has seen politics discussed in the dining table since her childhood. Besides,
she also has a distinct style of personalised campaigning.
She has many plus points as she
istry seeking an extension for him.
If he does retire, he would be the
first Army chief to retire on time
in two decades. His predecessors
Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and
Gen Pervez Musharraf got extensions, while Gen Jehangir Karamat
was packed off prematurely. Over
the last two-and-a-half years, Gen
Sharif has proved that he is a wily
and consummate actor in Pakistan’s
fragile democratic set up. Most analysts reckon that he calls the shots
in today’s Pakistan and for someone who superseded two other
generals to replace the powerful
Kayani, he has done extremely well
for himself and the Fauj that he
heads, keeping it in complete control of Pakistan. His lack of intelligence and operations background
not proving a drawback.
The Dawn, writing about him
says, “The high point in his tenure
was the start of Operation Zarb-eAzb in North Waziristan against
the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in
June 2014, something from which
his predecessor shied away fearing
blowback. The operation is now in
its last stages. He is also credited for
action against militancy in Karachi
and partially restoring calm in the
city. Gen Sharif has all along been
supportive of the Government,
except for a statement at the corps
commanders’ conference last
November when he expressed
reservations over civilian administration’s governance. The comment presented the spectacle of a
row between the civilian and military leadership. He has, nevertheless, maintained strong influence
over the government’s foreign and
national security policies. Gen
Sharif was also the architect of the
reconciliation between the Taliban
and the Afghan Government,
which was suspended after it
became public that Taliban chief
Mullah Omar had died more than
two years ago, but efforts are again
under way to revive the process.”
In the eventuality that he does
go, ‘who next’ is another burning
issue for the Indian deep state. The
next four in line are: Lt Gen
Maqsood Ahmed (currently on
deputation with the UN), Lt Gen
Zubair Mehmood Hayat (Chief of
General Staff), Lt Gen Syed Wajid
Hussain (HIT Taxila) and Lt Gen
Ishfaq
Nadeem
(Corps
Commander Multan). Gen Sharif
has been proactive in dealing with
local and global issues. Pakistan
media reported that in a high-level
briefing at the Rangers
Headquarters in Karachi soon
after the killing of eminent Qawwal
Amjad Sabri, he directed all the
commanders to leave ‘no stone
unturned’ in finding the perpetrators. The Army chief ’s visit to
Karachi came days after the highprofile kidnapping of the Sindh
High Court Chief Justice’s son
Awais Shah and the assassination
of Sabri, who was gunned down in
Liaquatabad by unidentified
motorcyclists in an attack claimed
by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
Janus-faced Toxicistan remains
a dreaded adversary for India.
Despite $33 billion in American aid
and repeated attempts to reset
relations, the US remains distrustful of its duplicitous and dangerous
ways. Imagine an Islamophobe
like Donald Trump walking into
the White House later this year, and
how frail and perilous South Asia
appears from that prism.
8QGHUVWDQGLQJ,QGLD
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:0;H0=8B70=:0A
has a clean slate and comes from the
Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. She is young,
pretty, connects with people and represents today’s youth. She might
have no challengers in the party. She
looks like former Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi. She is TV savvy, can
charm the media and is articulate.
She is good in Hindi and can be a
good match to the BJP orators.
However, the minus points are
also many. First, her husband Robert
Vadra is her biggest baggage. Second,
she has had no experience in hardcore politics and has so far indulged
only in backroom politics. Third, she
is untested and untried. All
that we have seen of her is the
occasional sound bites she
provides on her forays into
the Amethi Rae Bareli.
Fourth, there is no statistical
proof that she is the votecatcher. Fifth, the Kishor
strategy is a gamble. He had
a winner when he strategised
for ‘brand Modi’, and a triedand-tested product in ‘Brand
Nitish’ in 2015.
Sixth, it is doubtful
whether the dynastic card
will work in the present day
situation when voters are
aspirational. Seventh, it is not
clear what will be Priyanka
Vadra’s role in the party. As it is, there
are two poles in the Congress and she
will become a third pole for the disgruntled elements in the party. Lastly,
is it little too late to bring her now?
How can anyone expect her to deliver with actually no organisation in the
State and no time to build it?
Despite all these, Priyanka Vadra
may become a game-changer if she
can energise the party. What the party
needs is a new face, new vision, new
ideas and new strategy. Kishor is
depending on ‘face plus base’ strategy and hopes a pairing of Rahul
Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra can help
the party. Only time will tell whether
Vadra will be a game-changer.
8]cWTPQbT]RT^UXST]cXUXPQ[TX]SXRPc^abPbcPcdbSaXeT]b^RXTch
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he projected departure of
Reserve Bank of India
(RBI)
Governor
Raghuram Rajan has received
unprecedented attention. I do
not remember signature campaigns being launched in
favour of any serving RBI
Governor who was a potential
candidate for another term.
The polarisation of such
positions is a dangerous trend
and it could have been a good
idea for our liberal thinkers to
take a position on the principles involved in such crucial
governance issues. The facts of
the case will, perhaps, forever
remain a mystery. Who instigated what and what was
the motive, remains a matter
of speculation.
Meanwhile, the media, in
its various incarnations, has
been flooded with observations. It has been suggested
that the real target of some of
the comments was Union
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
who had to rush back from his
China tour. There comes a
time in campaigns when wellorchestrated interpretations
start parading in carbs of
truth. So be it.
It may not hurt to look at
some concerns or questions.
The economy has paid its price
for high interest rates. It was
deliberate. Non-performing
assets have never been so high.
Regulatory measures contributed to the state of affairs.
The real estate sector shows
mixed profiles and it is obvious
that high interest rates did not
bring down inflation. There is
one simple truth about the
Indian economy: It is variegated and often unstructured.
When I used to say this in
my sojourn at Sussex, some
decades ago, I was called to pro-
T
duce evidence. I had to explain
how there was only partial
monetisation of assets in large
parts of rural India. Payments
for goods and services was
often in kind. One effect of this
process was throwing the statistical profile of income distribution in a tizzy. And when
the Planning Commission
chose to read this gospel, the
results which it produced, are
there for all to see.
Hence, what is good economics and who is a good
economist remains a question,
whose framework of reference
still eludes definition in the
context of Indian economy.
It is painful, but true, that
in absence of clearly identifiable indicators, a statusdriven society like India has
become brand-driven in
decision-making.
Getting a degree from
Harvard University, Yale
University,
Columbia
University, University of
Wisconsin-Madison etc or getting an employment in the
International Monetary Fund
or the World Bank becomes a
passport to not only attain
high ranks, but is also a platform to gain high attention.
There is no correlation between
the competencies of earning a
degree and practicing economics in India.
Whatever one may think
of China, especially in the
backdrop of deliberations on
the Nuclear Suppliers Group,
the truth is that this communist country has developed
operational models, rooted in
the tested wisdom of past wisdom and is indeed showcasing
it for economic purposes.
Consider how medicines from
China is packaged, exported
and respected globally.
E8=0HB78;60DC0<
What have we done to
Indian systems of healthcare, with many constantly
ridiculing what they think, it
stands for?
The Indian seamen ruled
the waves for centuries and
Rajendra Chola is merely one
symbol of our prowess in seafaring. The current effort that
is going on to put the ocean
studies on the map of Indian
psyche is not a day too soon.
In the meanwhile, China
has been busy, since March
2015, in not only projecting,
propagating, but practicing
One Belt, One Road capability, infrastructure and economic
development programme.
The new silk road echoes
Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and
the Pacific’s Asian highway.
Asian Railway and Asian
Economic Corridor fills in
the missing link connecting
China to the rest of Asia and
Europe. The maritime components as the ‘string of
pearls’ in the Indian Ocean
extends westwards to Europe
through the red sea and east
wards to South China Sea.
Ports have become the
key in such infrastructure projects. Such forces are possible
when driven and supported by
capacities, manufacturing and
measured returns, even if modest, to domestic investment.
The opportunity of funds has
to be enough to allow for
some profit and high economic risk in foreign infrastructure that can support raw
material supply and open market for manufactured goods.
Prebisch-Singer hypothesis of trade will explain this
point. It was for the RBI to
script the narrative. The
future awaits us.
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D=8>=<8=8BC4A?8HDB76>H0;
/7ZDQWVWREHµQXPEHURQH¶LQ,7EL]1DLN
=4F34;78)Ready to list Larsen
and Toubro’s ‘second baby’ in
the stock market with over
C1,200 crore IPO of L&T
Infotech, the conglomerate’s
Group Executive Chairman
AM Naik on Thursday said his
aim is to make this company
“number one” as he has
ensured in all other businesses of the group.
He also said the immediate
target for L&T Infotech, whose
public offer will open on
Monday, is to double its revenue to $2 billion (nearly
C13,500 crore) in next three
years.
L&T Infotech Ltd is the
sixth largest Indian IT services player at present with revenue of $887 million and an
employee base of over 20,000
people.
The parent L&T, a conglomerate with presence in
engineering, construction,
infrastructure among other
businesses, is already listed
with a market cap of nearly C1.5
trillion, while L&T Finance
Holdings got listed over five
years ago and commands a
market cap of about C14,000
crore.
At C705-710 per share price
band for L&T Infotech IPO, it
will fetch a market cap of over
C12,000 crore.
Asserting that his entire
focus at present is to ensure that
the IPO is a huge success,
Naik described it as the group’s
“second baby” entering the
stock market after L&T
Finance’s listing nearly fiveand-a-half years ago.
Asked about the revenue
growth potential of the marketbound company, Naik told the
news agency in an interview,
“At the moment, we are targetting doubling in three years
time... So we want to become
$2 billion.”
He, however, said many
things depend on the events
that will happen over the years
and therefore first he is looking to make it “the number-one
brand”.
Asserting that he does not
want the company to be constantly compared with the
companies like Infosys, Wipro,
Cognizant and TCS, Naik said,
“We don’t want to be compared
that way. Whatever L&T does,
it is number one and I like to
be number one.”
$21-billion L&T Group has
separated its technology businesses under two verticals -L&T Technology Services and
L&T Infotech.
Together, Naik said, the
two firms would have revenue
of $1.5 billion this year and his
aim is to make them account
for at least 10 per cent of the
group’s total revenue eventually.
Explaining the rationale
for keeping them separate,
;C8]U^²PRcXeT[h³bR^dcX]VU^aQdhbX]P]P[hcXRbR^]bd[cX]V
=4F34;78: IT company L&T
Infotech on Thursday said it
is “actively” scouting for
acquisitions to strengthen its
offerings in areas such as
analytics, consulting and
Internet of Things.
The mid-sized IT company, which will come out
with over C1,200-crore IPO
on July 11, said it would be
interested in buys in the US,
Europe or even Indian market.
“We are looking at the US
and European markets predominantly as the acquisition
has to cater to that market by
selling to our 250-plus customers. We will also look at
Naik said, “If I mix it, it will still
remain number-six and people
will say the number one company is five times bigger. So,
what do I achieve?
“Rather we will push
Infotech with its core management totally focussed on IT,
and for the other company the
core management will be totally focussed on engineering.
That way, will achieve both the
objectives.”
Naik, who has been with
the group for nearly 52 years
including 18 years as its head,
Indian companies that serve
customers in the US and
Europe,” Sanjay Jalona, CEO
and MD of Larsen and
Toubro Infotech said at a
conference.
Besides, analytics, consulting and Internet of
Things, another area of interest for the company is cloudbased infrastructure transformation. Put simply,
Internet of Things links smart
everyday objects to the net,
allowing them to send and
receive data.
“Acquisition is an integral
part of a services company as
it helps to further strengthen
the offerings. Also, innova-
tion is happening in pockets
of excellence,” he said.
The IPO comprises an
offer-for-sale of up to 1.75
crore equity shares by L&T
Ltd. It constitutes 10.3 per
cent of the post offer paid-up
equity share capital of the
company.
The IPO proceeds will
not accrue to L&T Infotech as
this is an offer for sale. The
company further said it can
utilise internal resources to
fund acquisitions, can borrow
from the market, or may
even go for a primary issue in
case of a sizable acquisition in
future.
Ashok Sonthalia, CFO of
L&T Infotech said that while
the company is “actively”
looking for buyouts, it had
not closed anything.
In October 2014, the
company acquired ISRC from
Otis Elevator Company US
and Otis Elevator Company
(India), units of United
Technologies Corporation.
ISRC was a provider of software development work for
Otis group companies.
In 2011, it acquired 100
per cent shareholding in a
company from Citigroup
Fund Services Canada. “This
company is now known as
LTIFST,” said L&T Infotech’s
Red Herring Prospectus. ?C8
said the two companies can
work together whenever the
need arises.
He started the technology
business nearly 20 years ago,
which was mainly done at that
time to keep the talent in-house
as the group, which has as
many as 82 businesses, was losing 700-800 employees a year
to the IT industry at that time.
Recalling the days before he
took over as CEO of thegroup
in April 1999, Naik said L&T
was a very “high-tech” company even from the very begin-
ning when it comes to use of
technology but it did not
thought of doing IT business
which was more about “labour
supply” at that time.
“The management may
have thought possibly that we
do not want to sell the IT services and give people to somebody else. Net result is we lost
hundreds and hundreds of
people from our IT group.
Also, whether it is Infosys or
Wipro, or anyone, they did not
have functional experts. L&T
has 82 businesses or 82
domains with such a rich experience functionally, which
made it one of the most soughtafter companies to hire talent.
“And in the process, we
must have lost 10,500 people in
the last 15 years at the rate of
700-800 every year only to IT
industry,” Naik said.
Soon after taking charge as
CEO, Naik said, his focus was
to create an entrepreneurial
professionalism and he decided to implement a five-year
strategic plan.
“I involved 750 people in
5`Ee`ZddfVC"#&!!Tc`cV
:_UZRa`ZdVUe`cR^a
fa_fT]VRcV_VcXj
dVTe`cdRjd8`jR]
=4F34;78)The Department of
Telecom will soon issue
demand notice of over C12,500
crore to six telecom operators
who were found by CAG to
have under-reported revenues
to the tune of C46,000 crore
between 2006 and 2010.
“The DoT is in the process
to issue demand notice of
over C12,500 crore to six telecom operators -- RCom, Tata
Tele, Vodafone, Airtel, Idea
and Aircel -- which the CAG
has found to have underreported revenues during the
UPA regime,” a Telecom
Ministry official said.
The Comptroller and
Auditor General of India
(CAG) in a report tabled in
Parliament in March said these
six companies under-reported
their adjusted gross revenue
(AGR) by C46,045.75 crore,
leading to a loss of C12,488.93
crore to the exchequer from
2006 to 2010.
“The report was tabled in
March and the documents on
the basis of which CAG prepared the report were received
by the DoT recently in June.
The DoT is preparing demand
ramping up nuclear energy
production in a big way with
renewed thrust on clean energy resources, Union Minister
Piyush Goyal on Thursday
said.
“Prime
Minister
Narendra Modi has given
nuclear energy a renewed
thrust. We got into nuclear
engagement with US in 2008
but from 2008 to 2014 we have
seen a hiatus... Now we are into
missile technology regime...
The amount of progress done
in the last two years is pronounced... We are poised to
enter into the nuclear age in a
big way,” Power, Coal and
Mines Minister Goyal said at
Infocom 2016 here.
Goyal said the country is
looking at “ramping up its
clean energy source significantly” without compromising
on safety of people and the
Government would ensure
that power from this source is
affordable.
“We will never compromise on safety of our people...
We will ensure power is affordable... With these two caveats
we are very keen to promote
nuclear energy in a big way. We
are able to get uranium supplies,” the minister said. ?C8
UV^R_U_`eZTVe`'eV]T`dd``_
notice to recover this amount
from telecom operators. There
is no question of letting this
revenue go,” the official said.
As per the official, CAG
has pointed out to the loss of
C12,488.93 crore but the DoT
is calculating fresh amount by
adding interest and penalties
over it.
The six telecom opera-
tors, earlier in a joint statement, had contested the CAG
findings. They said that the
definition of AGR for the purpose of calculating licence fee
is under litigation in various
judicial forums, including
TDSAT, High Courts and the
Supreme Court.
“The issues pointed out by
the CAG pertain to those dis-
putes, which have either been
settled or stayed by various
Courts. Further, we would
like to reiterate that our member companies follow the
highest standards of corporate
governance and have always
been in compliance with all
regulations,” the statement had
said.
The auditor reported
instances of under reporting of
revenue due to netting off of
discounts/waivers granted to
post-paid subscribers and
under-invoicing of roaming
revenue due to set-off of interoperator traffic discounts paid
to other operators.
Also, there was underreporting of revenue from
infrastructure sharing with
other telecom operators as
well as from forex gain.
The financial impact due
to understatement of AGR
stood at C3,728.54 crore for
Reliance Communications,
C3,215.39 crore for Tata
Teleservices, Airtel (C2,651.89
crore), Vodafone (C1,665.39
crore), Idea (C964.89 crore)
and Aircel (C262.83 crore),
the CAG said.
?C8
=4F34;78)India is looking at
?=BQ =4F34;78
hile common people wait
for Reliance Jio’s 4G service launch, Reliance Industries
has slashed the price of its
economy 4G handset, LYF
Flame, by 25 per cent to C2,999,
making it the cheapest smartphone in the segment in India.
“Four models of LYF Flame
are available for C2,999 now. It
will come with free Jio SIM,
bundled with free unlimited
data usage and voice calling.
Earlier the price was C4,000,” an
executive at Reliance Retail
store in Noida said.
Telecom player Reliance
Jio, a unit of Mukesh Ambaniled Reliance Industries, is yet
to launch services commercially, however, it has started
issuing SIMs for trails, which
are free and comes with
unlimited data and voice calling.
The company is expected
to commercially kick-start services by December.
The website of LYF hand-
W
sets shows four models of
LYF Flame priced at C2,999,
making it the the cheapest 4G
smartphone.
Reliance Jio SIM was earlier offered to about one lakh
employees of RIL group firms.
Later employees were allowed
to give referral to up to 10 people for free Jio services.
The connection comes
bundled with unlimited 4G
mobile Internet and phone
calls for 90 days.
LYF Flame comes with a
4-inch display, quad-core
processor with 1.5 gigahertz
speed, 512 MB RAM , 4GB
internal memory, expandable
memory of up to 32 GB, 5 MP
rear camera, 2 MP front camera and a 1,700 mAh battery,
which can support 4.5 hours of
talktime on 4G network.
The handsets have dual
sim slots. One slot can be used
for 4G and other for 2G connection.
Flame handsets will support voice and video calls
over 4G network.
?C8Q 14=60;DAD
Technology
Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad
Ionnformation
Thursday said he would consider India’s IT initiatives a success if its technology products are
adopted across the world, including Europe and US.
“I have seen IT evolution of
India which follows the traditional pattern - from outsourcing
to R&D and what not. They are
important. They need to be promoted.
“But I will be the happiest
and consider our IT initiative a
success if your extraordinary
potential propels products, which
are replicated and used in Asia,
South-East Asia, Latin America,
Europe and America,” he said
while addressing an event on
Internet Of Things (IoT) organised by Nasscom here.
Prasad said healthcare, education and agriculture must be
the priority areas wherein benefits could be offered to the people.
He also said as per a study,
IoT products will produce eco-
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nomic benefit of nearly $2 trillion
by 2020.
“Forbes says that we will have
25 billion IoT connections by
2020. Cisco estimates 50 billion,
and the revenue is going to be
very very exciting.
“As per Gartner, IoT will
produce economic benefit of
nearly $2 trillion by 2020 and
Cisco estimates it will be $14 trillion. Therefore even economically, IoT products are going to
be very win-win,” he said.
Prasad said he was open to
suggestions to leverage IoT
skilling and also stressed on
having higher human resource
research and training in the area.
He also laid emphasis on
using IoT for cyber security and
said it should not be allowed to
be abused by some people.
Innovators should conduct
research to develop a good
ecosystem to further strengthen
the whole architecture of cyber
security, Prasad said.
“How can by innovation
and research, we can develop a
good ecosystem to further
strengthen the whole architecture
of cyber security, that is a very
lurking area of concern, where
Y2K. At that time, everybody
wanted to go abroad and work
in the US, the UK and Australia
among other places. We started with some Y2K work and
did $35 million worth of business and then we tried to do
some dotcom work. But then
the dotcom burst.”
Naik said he was asked by
everyone why he was getting
into this business after Y2K was
done in 1999 and the dotcom
burst in 2000, but he decided
to do it and started talking to
people to get clients.
“After the Y2K had gone
and the dotcom had burst,
there was nothing in the company except one account with
about $15 million business,” he
said, while adding soon he
found some very important
accounts -- one of utilities, one
of oil and gas, one of engineering.
“Collectively, all of them
put together we became $80
million. That was in first twoand-a-half years. Now, since we
had reference, we went on
growing.
“We grew at the rate of 30
per cent up to 2007 and then
we came $350 million, then we
grew at the rate of around 18
per cent and then in the last
three years we grew at the rate
of 9 per cent because $85 billion worth of business was
transferred to technology services business,” he added. ?C8
*RYWPD\H[WHQGWD[SD\PHQW
GHDGOLQHIRUEODFNPRQH\VFKHPH
=4F 34;78) The Government
may extend the deadline for
payment of tax on black money
disclosed during the one-time
compliance window and has
accepted the industry request
for tax being paid in instalments.
“ The Government is
favourably considering to
extend the tax payment deadline as it understands the liquidity crunch around
November,” a top official told
the news agency.
“Discussions are on with
regard to the number of
months by which the payment window can be extended. We have said that they can
pay tax and penalty in instalments,” he said.
The comments follow
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s
meeting with industry associations, CAs and tax professionals late last month to
understand their concerns
around the compliance window.
The Budget for 2016-17
announced a 4-month compliance window, allowing
domestic black money holders
to declare their unaccounted
wealth, pay a tax and penalty
of 45 per cent and escape
5HOLDQFHFXWVSULFHRI* 8]SXP]8C_a^SdRcbbW^d[SQTdbTSV[^QP[[h)?aPbPS
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making of the plan so that there
was maximum acceptance. But
by the time it was done, we had
lost another 800 people
between 9-10 months.
“So I said, this won’t do,
because this was draining our
talent and we had just completed our strategic plan based
on the fact that only the companies will do well that have the
outstanding talent. The competition was not of the business,
but is that of the talent.
“I was kind of very deeply
committed to that. You can
even call it like paranoid, that
I would do anything to retain
people and retain good people.
So when this happened, I got
very worried that by the time
the ink is dry of the strategic
plan, we are not able to solve
the people problem. And then
the maximum beneficiary was
the IT industry. So we started
our own IT business,” he said.
Naik said the group had an
IT company since 1996, which
was set up primarily to retain
its IT personnels who were
leaving at three-times and fourtimes the salary.
“This was the market at
that time because the Y2K was
at the peak and the dotcom was
at the peak. So, the demand was
just outstripping the availability of resources. So, I said why
can’t we start our own IT business.
“During 90s, we did some
we have all to work collectively,”
he said. Talking about the government’s initiatives for developinginternet infrastructure,
Prasad said as many as 250,000
gram panchayats will be connected with optical fibre network.
When
the
NDA
Government came to power,
only 358 kms of optical fibre
were laid, but in close to two and
half years, as many as 1.23 lakh
kms of optical fibre have been laid
in the country and the process
is going on, the minister said.
“We had 80,000 common
service centres. Now we have
scaled up to 200,000. We are
going to scale it up to 250,000...,”
he said.
Prasad also said his ministry is digitising the post office
network. “We have 50,000
post offices in the country.
More than 25,000 already
have come under core banking
solution and we are going to
give hand-held devices to 1.30
lakh rural postmen for doing
internet banking, insurance
services and all,” he said.
prosecution and harsher punishment.
The window under the
Income Declaration Scheme
(IDS) 2016 opened on June 1
and will close on September
30. Tax and penalty on income
declared, as per the original
scheme, is to be paid by
November.
According to the memorandum to the Finance Bill
2016, the Government has the
flexibility with regard to the
closure date of the compliance
window, which opened on
June 1. Hence any change in
closure date can be made effective through a notification.
As regards the payment of
tax and penalty, neither the
Finance Act nor the Rules
with regard to IDS had stipulated such payment in instalment.
Various trade bodies however have asked for leniency in
payment of taxes and sought
extension of scheme to address
the cash flow problem around
November.
The Central Board of
Direct Taxes (CBDT) has
already issued three sets of
clarifications on the scheme in
form of frequently asked questions (FAQs).
The scheme applies to
both residents as well as nonresidents (as both these categories could have taxable
income that can be declared
under the IDS).
“We will issue more FAQs.
We are still getting queries
from people and we will
address them individually,” the
official said.
In order to make the IDS
a success, Revenue Secretary
Hasmukh Adhia has been
holding video conferencing
with senior tax officials every
week to assess the progress
made under the scheme.
In the previous set of
FAQs, the I-T department
had clarified that where a
search has already been conducted by the Income tax
authorities, the taxpayer cannot declare the undisclosed
income under the IDS until
the end of the period up to
which a notice can be issued
under the Income Tax Act.
A clarification that the
valuation report need not be
provided along with the declaration, but can be provided before the acknowledgment is issued has given
some leeway to the taxpayers
to arrange for the same. ?C8
µ1ROHJDOREVWDFOHWRKROGVHFRQG
UHIHUHQGXP RQ8.¶VH[LW¶
?C8Q ;>=3>=
here is no legal obstacle in
holding a second referendum
T
on whether Britain should exit
from European Union (EU),
according to Lord Karan
Bilimoria, who said that Article
50 cannot be triggered until
Parliament votes on it.
“The June 24 referendum
was advisory, and pro-remain
MPs outnumber leave backers in
the house of Commons by 3:1
and in the House of Lords by far
more,” Lord Bilimoria, founder
chairman of the Cobra Beers said
during a debate on the outcome
of the European Union
Referendum in the House of
Lords.
“There is now a strong legal
case, as we have heard, that
Article 50 (the process to commence Britain’s exit from EU)
cannot be triggered until
Parliament votes on it. Here is
a conundrum: with the lies, the
deceit, the treachery and the turmoil that has been caused, will a
responsible Parliament affirm
the 52:48 referendum result built
on such shaky ground?
Stating that the outcome of
the referendum should be based
on a two-thirds majority, Lord
Bilimoria said “with hindsight this point has not been brought
up by anybody - a decision as
important as this should have had
a two-thirds hurdle. Changing
the fixed-term Parliament in the
other place needs a two-thirds
majority. To change the Indian
Constitution, you need a twothirds majority. There would
then have been a definitive result.”
As for the Opposition, he
said Jeremy Corbyn, (opposition
leader) has been absolutely useless as a leader, and his role in the
referendum was pathetic.
“That could have changed
the whole picture - and now look
at the turmoil the Labour Party
is in. On top of all this, we have
4 million people signing a petition asking for a second referendum. There is no legal obstacle
to holding a second referendum
and a general election could
even be treated as a proxy second
referendum on the issue.”
\^]Th
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RUU$!<_VhRXV_edZ_7J¶"( TYWYdWb_gdXY^6Iµ!' IURPWRGD\VD\V5LQJLQJ%HOOV
?C8Q =4F34;78
KOLKATA: Maruti Suzuki
India Ltd (MSIL) on Thursday
said its double digit growth target remains on track for the
current fiscal despite production losses of 30,000 units in
June owing to fire in one of its
key vendor facilities at Manesar.
“Whatever losses we had
we will make up in the next
few months as our production
engineers are working on how
to increase the production,”
MSIL Executive Director
RS Kalsi said on the sidelines of the launch of new
platinum rated showroom
of ‘One Auto’ in Kolkata.
The production loss is
about 30,000 units for the company as the overall impact was
almost for four weeks in the
plant. Waiting period for Vitara
Brezza and Baleno has
increased to 5-7 months as
waitlist for the cars has surpassed one lakh units. Apart
from the Manesar and Gurgoan
production facilities of Maruti,
the company is coming up with
the 2.5 lakh capacity third plant
in Gujarat. “The trial run would
begin in the period of JanuaryMarch 2017 and commercial
production from the next quarter,” Kalsi said.
However, Kalsi was not
sure whether the new plant
would help bring down the
waiting period of its fast selling
cars as it would depend on lot
of other factors. The top company official did not disclose the
models to be manufactured in
the new plant.
MSIL had registered a
growth of 6.4 per cent in retail
sales in April-June period of this
financial year. Speaking about
diesel ban impact, Maruti said
so far it was not hit directly.
Asked whether Brexit had any
impact on exports, Kalsi said
there was no impact on that
account as exports to the UK is
very less. The company exports
10 per cent of its total production. 'One Auto' director
Soham Misra said it was their
second showroom in city. PTI
inging Bells, the Noidabased firm that ran into
controversy after announcing a
C251 phone five months back,
on Thursday claimed it will
start shipping the cheapest
smartphone ever, from Friday.
In February, the company
announced the Freedom 251
phone which saw a mad rush of
over 70 million people jostling
to register but when the prototype was presented to media it
turned out to be produced by
another manufacturer with its
logo covered. This led to protests
from buyers and consequent
inquiries by police and tax officials, forcing the company to
stop sale of the product and offer
refunds to those who had
booked the phone.
The Freedom 251 prototype
touts a quad-core processor, a 4inch screen and front and back
cameras, priced at an astonishingly low rate of C251. Ringing
Bells Director Mohit Goel, who
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?C8Q =4F34;78
MUMBAI: Market remained
in a phase of consolidation as
the Sensex edged up 35 points
in choppy trade on Thursday
ahead of start of earnings season next week and Monsoon
session of Parliament amid a
higher opening in Europe.
According to the just-released
US Fed minutes, policymakers decided to put rate hike
plans on hold till they get a
grip on likely consequences
of the Brexit fallout.
The earnings season is
scheduled for next week and the
Monsoon session is slated to
begin from July 18. Healthcare,
FMCG, power and banking
stocks were on the radar as buying paced up. Though the market showed plenty of resilience
after the UK vote to exit the
European Union, investors
digest implications of the development and are trying to get a
sense of the fuller impact.
HSBC in a report said
India's economy may grow at a
slightly slower pace of 7.4 per
cent this fiscal amid weaker
global demand and risk aversion, which injected a sense of
restraint. The 30-share Sensex
gave up most of its early gains
before closing at 27,201.49, a
moderate gain of 34.62 points,
or 0.13 per cent. On Tuesday,
the index had dropped 112
?C8Q=4F34;78
eliance Nippon Life Insurance,
a part of Anil Ambani-led
R
Reliance Capital, plans to add over
30,000 new agents in this fiscal as part
of its drive to grow the agency force.
With the addition, the total
agent strength would increase
to 1.6 lakh by the end of this
financial year, Reliance Nippon
Life Insurance Chief Agency
Officer Manoranjan Sahoo
said. The company plans to add
over 20,000 agents in the first
half of the fiscal and further
increase it by 10,000 in the second half, he said. The company added 47,692 agents, the
highest number of individual
agents amongst private insurers,
last year taking its total agent
counts, on net addition basis, to
1.3 lakh in 2015-16, he said.
“The recruitment drives are
being conducted in major cities and
we are seeing a good traction from
non-metro and urban areas. Our
focus, this time, is on adding maxi-
BENGALURU: The Reserve
Bank’s Central Board on
Thursday discussed macroeconomic developments and
constitution of Monetary
Policy Committee (MPC), a
broad based panel that would
determine the benchmark
interest rates.
The meeting, chaired by
RBI Governor Raghuram G
Rajan, also discussed RBI’s
budget among other issues,
and reviewed the activities of
the Board for Payment and
Settlement System for the year
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NEW DELHI: Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles (FCA) has launched
diesel variants of models -- Linea
sedan, hatchback Punto EVO and
crossover Avventura -- with more
powerful engines, priced between
C6.81 lakh and C10.47 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The models, new
Linea, Punto EVO PowerTech and
Avventura PowerTech will now be
offered with more powerful diesel
engines and a touchscreen infotainment system with navigation, across
all trims, the company said. PNS
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27845064=2H>55824A<0=>A0=90=B07>>
mum number of agents from South
and North India as we believe the
insurance penetration in these areas
are low. We are initiating aggressive
drives in these regions,” he said.
“While we are aggressively
looking at increasing the number
of agents, we are also looking to
adopt best practices with regards to
enhancing productivity, customer
services and persistency from our
partners,” he said. Nippon Life
Insurance has over 94.9 per cent
ended March 2016. Besides,
the Board which met in
Bengaluru after a gap of 7
years, discussed the draft
Annual Report for 2015-16,
RBI said in a statement. The
meeting was also attended by
Government nominee director on the Central Board,
Shaktikanta Das who is
Economic Affairs Secretary, it
said.
In a step towards operationalisation of MPC, Das
had said recently that
Government will notify the
persistency and the team has been
helping us deploy some of their
processes that have been framed,
evolved and perfected over the last
125 years experience, he added.
Reliance Nippon Life, a joint
venture between Reliance Capital
and Nippon Life Insurance of
Japan, reported a new business
premium of C1,558 crore, renewal premium of C2,840 crore, total
premium of C4,371 crore for the
year ended March 31, 2016.
rules ‘within few weeks’ and
thereafter appoint three government nominees.
Out of
the six members of MPC,
three will be from RBI —- the
governor, who will be the exofficio chairman, a deputy
governor and an executive
director. The other three
members will be appointed by
the government on recommendations of a search-cumselection committee, which
will be headed by the Cabinet
Secretary.
MPC will set interest rates by
a majority, with a casting vote for
the RBI Governor in the case of
a tie. Presently, the RBI governor
enjoys overriding powers having
a final say on monetary policy
decisions.
In addition to RBI Deputy
Governors Urjit R Patel, R
Gandhi, SS Mundra and N S
Vishwanathan, other Directors of
the Central Board present at the
meeting were Nachiket M Mor,
Damodar Acharya, Natarajan
Chandrasekaran, Bharat N
Doshi and Sudhir Mankad, the
statement said.
PTI
5%,QRWLILHVUDWHVIRU4VPDOOVDYLQJSODQV
?C8Q <D<108
eserve Bank on Thursday notified the interR
est rates for different small savings schemes
for the quarter ending September. The interest rates have been retained as they were for
the previous April-June quarter. On the basis
of the decision of the Government, interest
rates for small savings schemes, like Public
Provident Fund Scheme and Kisan Vikas
Patra, are notified on quarterly basis.
Interest rate on savings deposit is 4 per
cent, while for 5-year recurring deposit and
5-year senior citizens savings scheme is 7.4 per
cent and 8.6 per cent, respectively. Public
Provident Fund Scheme earns interest rate of
8.1 per cent and Kisan Vikas Patra 7.8 per cent
(110 months maturity period). The interest
rate on Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme
is 8.6 per cent. In another notification, RBI
said that on a review of the reporting requirements and to reduce the burden of compliance,
banks are advised to discontinue submission
of such reports with immediate effect.
“They may, however, maintain records of
such invocations and furnish the required
details to RBI whenever sought,” it added.
Meanwhile, the RBI has cancelled the
Certificate of Registration issued to 'Ceejay
Finance Limited' as Deposit Taking NonBanking Finance Company (NBFC-D). “The
company is now eligible only to operate as a
Non-Deposit Taking Non-Banking Financial
Company (NBFC-ND),’ the central bank said.
jca^l
xports of gems and jewellery grew 25.5 per cent
E
to $5.78 billion during the
first two months of the current fiscal, largely driven by
demand in India’s major markets like the US. In April-May
last year, exports from the
sector were $4.60 billion,
according to the data from
Gems and Jewellery Export
Promotion Council (GJEPC).
Gems and jewellery contribute to about 14 per cent to
the country’s overall exports.
The rise during the two-month
period was mainly supported by
silver exports at $673.60 million
up 176.18 per cent from $243.90
million a year ago. Exports of
cut and polished diamonds
increased to $3.75 billion during April-May, from $3.4 billion
a year ago. In 2015-16, the
exports dipped 11.7 per cent to
$31.98 billion.
“The decline in exports
was mainly affected by slowdown in Europe, Japan and
China. However, the US is
picking up slowly, which is
helping in registering positive
growth in the sector,” an official
said. However, shipments of
gold jewellery contracted 10 per
cent to $535 million during the
two months under review.
R
µ1HHGWRDPHQG$FWWRHIIHFW
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he recent FDI order on
increasing foreign holding of
up to 74 per cent in private security agencies has created a piquant
situation as the Act governing the
sector stipulates that the majority stake in such companies should
be held by an Indian. According
to a senior government official,
the DIPP notification on the
hike can attain validity only if the
Private Security Agencies
(Regulation) Act, 2005, is amended to suitably to incorporate the
increase in FDI.
Last month, Department of
T
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Industrial Policy and Promotion
permitted FDI of up to 49 per cent
under the automatic route and up
to 74 per cent through the
approval route. Notification to this
effect was issued by the
Department on June 24. Earlier,
only up to 49 per cent FDI under
Government approval route was
allowed in this sector.
As per the Act, however, foreign investment in private security agencies cannot have majority ownership which means that
their stake cannot be more than
49 per cent. “A company, firm or
an association of persons shall not
be considered for issue of a
licence (for security agency) under
this Act, if, it is not registered in
India, or having a proprietor or a
majority shareholder, partner or
director, who is not a citizen of
India,” as per the Act. The official
said that in a such situation,
there are two options -- one, the
Act getting amended or the original FDI position being restored.
A suitable decision would be
taken in this regard soon, he
added. Meanwhile, Central
Association of Private Security
Industry (CAPSI) has made a representation to the Government
expressing concern over increase
in FDI for the sector.
*'3GDWDFRQFHUQV >>E4e`RfTeZ`_X`]UT`]]VTeVUf_UVc8>D
VWD\,QGLDWRJURZ NEW DELHI: State-owned trad- finance ministries, sources said.
firm MMTC to e-auction the According to the proposal, a
VORZHUDW+6%& ing
precious metal collected by the minimum lot size of 5 kg gold
NEW DELHI: India’s economy may
grow at a slightly slower pace of 7.4 per
cent this fiscal amid weaker global
demand and risk aversion, says an
HSBC report, flagging ‘methodological concerns’ in computation of official
GDP data. As per HSBC , some of the
factors that are weighing on the economy include weaker global demand,
banking sector risk aversion, sluggish
domestic private investment, gradually climbing oil prices, and statistical autocorrection in growth prints.
PTI
Government under the Gold
Monetisation Scheme (GMS) in
a lots of five kg bars. The scheme,
which was announced in the
Budget 2015-16, was launched
on November 5, and a total of 2.8
tonnes of gold have so far been
collected from 105 depositors,
Finance Ministry had informed
Parliament in May.
The proposal to auction
gold was discussed in a meeting
recently by commerce and
bars would be made available
and multiple lots can be taken up
for auction, they said. Price of
gold would be the average of the
previous day of opening and
closing for the auction, they
added. The scheme is intended
to mobilise idle gold held by
households and institutions in
the country and facilitate its use
for productive purposes, and in
the long run, reduce the country's reliance on imports. PTI
8`geSRedW`ccRZdZ_X6A7@¶dZ_geZ_6E7d
?=BQ =4F34;78
abour Ministry is of the opinion that the retirement fund
L
body EPFO should increase
>=62QPVVTScWaTTcXc[TbPccWT8]SXP]2WP\QTa^U2^\\TaRT822?B44gRT[[T]RT0fPaSb! $822aTR^V]XbTS
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³4gRT[[T]RTX]ATbTPaRWP]S3TeT[^_\T]cCTRW]^[^Vh3TeT[^_\T]cP]S8]]^ePcX^]3XaTRc^a7A33<XbaPaTRTXeTS
cWTPfPaS^]QTWP[U^U>=62>=62aTRTXeTScWTPfPaSX]cWTQa^PSRPcTV^ah^U<PWPaPc]PbP]S=PeaPc]Pb
investments in the stock markets
through ETFs, as the exercise has
started giving returns. “We see the
possibility of it increasing, but we
want to discuss it with the Central
Board of Trustees (CBT). I believe
the investment in ETFs should
rise,” Labour Minister Bandaru
Dattatreya told reporters here
when asked about the issue of
increasing EPFO’s investment in
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
A meeting of EPFO apex
decision making body, CBT, is
scheduled on Friday , where the
issue of increasing investments in
ETFs is expected to be taken up.
CBT is headed by the Labour
Minister. Dattatreya, however, said
the Government will take the
issue of investments in the stock
markets ‘step by step’ and maintain
a ‘cautious approach’. The issue will
also be discussed with the CBT.
“See ETFs are performing
now. The returns are now positive
and so we feel we can increase the
investments, but this have to be
a step-by-step process,” he added.
As on March 31, 2016 the amount
invested was C6,577 crore which
gave a return of C6,601 crore, up
by 0.37 per cent. As on April 30,
2016 the amount invested was
C6,674 crore and this gave a
return of C6,786 crore, which
is up by 1.68 per cent.
CWTUXabcQPcRW^U$³5aTTS^\
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A8=68=614;;B38A42C>A<>78C6>4;
had last week stated that his company will soon start shipping
200,000 smartphones to buyers
picked by lottery, on Thursday
said deliveries will start as early as
on Friday.
“We will start delivery of
5,000 Freedom 251 phones in
the first phase from Friday,” he
told reporters at an event organised to unveil new models as
well as an LED TV priced at
C9,990. Ringing Bells had last
month stated that it will start
deliveries for 2 lakh handsets
points for the first time in six
sessions as investors booked
profits in recent gainers. The
NSE Nifty settled the day at
8,337.90, up 1.95 points, or
0.02 per cent. The market was
shut yesterday on account of
'Eid-Ul-Fitr'. IT, auto, capital
goods and metal stocks came
under pressure, which restricted the gains.
Lupin topped the Sensex
gainers' list, soaring 6.25 per
cent after the company
received
Establishment
Inspection Report from
USFDA for the Goa facility, followed by Hind Unilever 3.03
per cent. The recovery also got
support from gains in Dr
Reddy's, HDFC, HDFC Bank,
Power Grid, ITC, Cipla, NTPC,
Axis Bank and Sun Pharma, rising by up to 2.97 per cent. PTI
PRESS NOTICE
NOTICE INVITING TENDER
The Executive Engineer (E), PWD,
EPED (B-141), IIT, Sec-9, Dwarka, New
Delhi-77 invites tender on behalf of the
President of India on item rate basis
through e-procurement for the following work :
1. NIT No. 10/EE(E)/EPED(B-141)/PWD/2016-17
2. Name of Work Construction of Delhi
Institute of Pharmaceutical Science
and Research (DIPS&R) Pushp Vihar,
Delhi. (SH: Installation of Colourful
Fountain.)
3. Eligibility Specialized agencies who
deals in the field of Fountain System
having Electrical License and having
experienced in execution of similar
works
4. Estimated Cost
Rs. 37,00,953/5. Earnest Money
Rs. 74,019/6. Period of Completion 30 days
7. Date of Pre-bid meeting & Place
11/07/2016 at 11.00 AM
O/o Executive Engineer (E), EPED(B141), PWD, IIT, Sec-9, Dwarka, New
Delhi-77
8. Last date of submission of tender
15/07/2016 upto 3:00 PM
9. Date of Opening of tender 15/07/2016
at 3:30 PM
10. Tender I.D. No.
2016_PWD_109427 _1
The Notice Inviting Tender details can be seen at
website www.govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in
DIP/Shabdarth/1087/16-17
from June 30 initially, then
mentioned 10,000 devices will
be given to customers in 19
states, and has now brought it
down to 5,000 devices.
Goel said the first batch of
5,000 ‘Freedom 251’ devices will
be out for delivery from July 8
and buyers will have to pay
C291, including C40 as delivery
charges. He had previously stated that Ringing Bells faced
C930 loss on each phone, which
cost C1,180 and the parts were
imported from Taiwan.
MUMBAI: Eliciting robust
response from investors,
Reliance Jio Infocomm on
Thursday received bids worth
over C3,700 crore for its
C2,000-crore bond issue on
BSE's new platform. The
C1,500-crore bond issue with a
green shoe option of C500
crore got oversubscribed ‘within a few minutes of the issue
opening,’ BSE said. Green shoe
option allows the company to
retain a stipulated amount
from oversubscription.
The ‘BSE-Bond’ platform
for private placement of debt
securities “has created a new
record with C3,700 crore of
bids received in the bond
issuance of Reliance Jio”, the
exchange in a release. Telecom
player Reliance Jio, a subsidiary
of Mukesh Ambani-led
Reliance Industries, is preparing for the commercial roll out
of its services soon. “Today’s
issue by Reliance Jio Infocomm
Ltd generated an overwhelming
response of more than C3,700
crore,” BSE MD and CEO
Ashishkumar Chauhan said.
The platform ‘BSE BOND’ was
launched earlier this month.PTI
f^a[S !
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80=BQ F0B78=6C>=
ormer US President George
W Bush, the main promoter
F
of the Iraq war during 20032011, has said that he still hasn’t
read the Chilcot report which
raised harsh criticisms against his
former ally Tony Blair in Britain
and that he was convinced that
the world is a better place without Iraqi dictator Saddam
Hussein.
Bush’s spokesperson Freddy
Ford explained on Wednesday
that the former President hasn’t
had the chance to read the
Chilcot report and that “despite
the intelligence failures and other
mistakes he has acknowledged
previously, President Bush continues to believe the whole world
is better off without Saddam
Hussein in power.”
“He is deeply grateful for the
service and sacrifice of the US
and coalition forces in the war on
terror. And there was no stronger
ally than Britain under the leadership of Prime Minister Tony
Blair,” Efe news quoted Ford as
saying. Blair was harshly criticised in the report on the Iraq
war in 2003 for authorising the
invasion with flawed intelligence
before having exhausted all
peaceful options. Sir John
Chilcot, former Privy Counsellor
8aP`fPaSTRXbX^]YdbcXUXTS)
0dbcaP[XP³b7^fPaS
05?Q BH3=4H
ormer Australian leader
F
John Howard on Thursday
defended his decision to go to
2WX[R^c_a^QT]^cfXcWbcP]SX]V
0dbcaP[XPSTUT]Sbbd__^acX]V8aP`FPa
80=BQ 20=14AA0
ollowing the publication
of the British Chilcot report
F
which questioned the motives
behind the Iraq War of 2003,
Australian Foreign Minister
Julie Bishop on Thursday
defended her country’s participation in the conflict.
Stressing that the decision was taken based on available information, Bishop said:
“The Australian government
— both Labour and Liberal —
and the Australian parliament
would take responsibility,” Efe
news reported.
The statement came following the publication of the
report by John Chilcot — a former Privy Counsellor and civil
servant — who was tasked to
enquire into the circumstances
surrounding the March 2003
invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. The Chilcot probe found
that the invasion of Iraq claiming the existence of massdestruction weapons was car-
ried out based on faulty intelligence and before having
exhausted all peaceful options.
When questioned if former
Australian Prime Minister John
Howard should apologise to
the Australian citizens, Bishop
noted that this was his personal
decision, although she recalled
that the country’s involvement
then was backed by the Labour
party opposition.
“I recall very well at the
time Kevin Rudd urging us to
continue to support the US. So
it was a bipartisan position on
Iraq,” Bishop told local media.
On March 18, 2003, former US President George W.
Bush formally asked Howard
for Australia to participate in
a future military intervention
in Iraq and Australia later contributed at least 2,000 soldiers.
Australian Independent
MP Andrew Wilkie, a former
intelligence analyst, said
Saddam Hussein then posed
no imminent threat and asked
that both Howard and the
former Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer should be
held accountable for Australia’s
participation in the Iraq war.
7DLZDQFDQFHOVIOLJKWVDV
VXSHUW\SKRRQEHDUVGRZQ
Taipei: Taiwan cancelled more than 100 flights
and shut schools and offices today as the island
braced for a direct hit from Super Typhoon
Nepartak, the first major tropical storm of the
season.
The typhoon was packing gusts of up to 245
kilometres an hour as it rumbled towards the
eastern counties of Hualien and Taitung, where
it is expected to make landfall early tomorrow,
according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau.
At 1000 GMT, the typhoon was 210 kilometres east-southeast of Taitung.
“As the typhoon has been slowing its pace,
we now forecast it could make landfall sometime between 5:00 am and 6:00 am Friday,” an
official at the bureau told AFP.
The storm is expected to dump torrential
rain on the whole island with mountainous areas
forecast to be deluged with up to 900 millimetres, potentially triggering landslides that have
in the past claimed hundreds of lives.
Residents should “keep an eye out on possible landslides, falling rocks, flash water flooding,” the bureau said in a statement.
All fishing boats have been called back to
port as waves - as high as 14 metres, according
to TV reports - batter the eastern coast.
President Tsai Ing-wen said preventative
evacuation would play a significant role in managing fall-out from the storm, while defence
minister Feng Shih-kuan said his ministry has
“prepared for the worst”.
AFP
and former civil servant heading
the Iraq Inquiry, published an
extensive and comprehensive
report on the war after spending
seven years evaluating thousands of official documents,
interrogating witnesses and questioning politicians, although his
mission was not aimed to prosecute or recommend charges
against anybody.
Chilcot states that his purpose was to “consider the period from the summer of 2001 to
the end of July 2009, embracing
the run-up to the conflict in Iraq,
the military action and its aftermath.” In his 12-volume document, Chilcot placed the burden
of responsibility on Blair and
revealed the extent of his alliance
with the then US President
Bush, to whom he promised an
unconditional support for the
invasion of Iraq in 2002.
war with Iraq alongside the
US and Britain, saying it was
justified at the time and there
was “no lie”.
His comments follow an
inquiry into Britain’s role in
the conflict which found its
then prime minister Tony
Blair took his country into a
badly planned, woefully executed and legally questionable
conflict in Iraq in 2003.
Howard, prime minister
from 1996 to 2007 and considered with Blair to be
George W Bush’s staunchest
ally in the US-led invasion,
said he regretted the loss of life
but stood by his decision.
“I believed that the decision to go into Iraq was justified at the time and I don’t
resile from that because I
thought it was the right decision,” he told a press conference in Sydney.
Asked whether he should
offer an apology to military
families, Howard said:
+HDY\IORRGLQJLQ
&KLQDOHDYHVGHDG
0?Q 14898=6
ater levels are starting to
recede in central and
W
eastern China today following
a week of heavy downpours
that broke levees, flooded cities
and villages, halted public
transportation, and left at least
181 people dead or missing.
China Meteorological
Administration on late yesterday said the city of Wuhan,
which has 8 million residents
and sits on the Yangtze river,
had a record weekly rainfall of
57.4 centimetres.
Wuhan civil affairs officials
told state media that 14 people
were killed and one was missing. Nearly 170,000 residents
have been relocated, and more
8Vc^R_je`fXYV_dcRaV]Rh
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DB0cc^a]Th
6T]TaP[fX[[
05?Q 14A;8=
]^cUX[TRWPaVTb TheThursday
German Parliament on
passed a land“no means no” rape law,
PVPX]bc2[X]c^] mark
broadening the definition of
Washington: US Attorney
General Loretta Lynch confirmed on Wednesday that the
Department of Justice will not
file charges against presumptive
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the case
concerning her e-mails.
In a statement, Lynch said
that — after meeting on
Wednesday with FBI Director
James Comey and other agents
involved in the investigation —
“I received and accepted their
unanimous recommendation
that the thorough, year-long
investigation be closed and
that no charges be brought
against any individuals.” Thus,
Lynch brought to an end the
judicial aspect of the controversy surrounding Clinton’s
use of a private e-mail server to
handle national security matters during her 2009-2013
tenure as secretary of state, EFE
news reported.
IANS
“Obviously I am sorry for the
wounds or injuries that anybody suffered.
“But if you’re saying to me
do I apologise for the decision
that I took, the core decision?
Well, I defend that decision.
Of course I defend it.
“I don’t retreat from it. I
don’t believe, based on the
information available to me,
that it was the wrong decision.
I really don’t.”
The long-awaited British
Chilcot report found that
Blair’s decision to join the
invasion was taken before all
other options had been
exhausted and on the basis of
false intelligence.
Launched with the stated
goal of wiping out Saddam
Hussein’s stores of weapons of
mass destruction, the war
aimed to enshrine a liberal
democracy in the Middle East
but instead unleashed sectarian violence and endless political disputes. No weapons of
mass destruction were ever
found, undermining the basis
for the conflict which left
thousands of Iraqis and foreign soldiers dead.
sex crimes and making it easier to deport migrants and
refugees who commit them.
After years of anguished
discussion on the need for
tougher treatment of rape by
the German criminal justice
system, the new legislation
finally came together following
a rash of sexual assaults in
crowds on New Year’s Eve in
the western city of Cologne.
Deputies gave a standing
ovation as the law passed the
Bundestag lower house with an
overwhelming majority, following an emotional debate.
Dubbed the “no means no”
law, it explicitly covers cases in
which a victim withheld consent but did not physically
fight back. It brings what critics call woefully lax legislation
into line with that of many
other developed countries.
The law, entitled “improving the protection of sexual
34?DC84B60E40
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self-determination”, also lowers
the bar for deporting sex
offenders, classifies groping as
a sex crime and targets assaults
committed by large groups.
Justice Minister Heiko
Maas acknowledged that under
German law there were “unacceptable gaps in protection”
against sexual coercion and
assault.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
cabinet signed off on the measures in March after the attacks
in Cologne, where more than
1,000 women reported sexual
assaults and robberies on New
Year’s Eve, which were blamed
largely on Arab and North
African men.
The draft law was toughened again by the ruling leftright coalition last month.
Cologne’s police chief conceded earlier this year that
most culprits may never be
caught over the spate of
assaults, which ranged from
groping to rape and inflamed
public debate about a record
influx of refugees and migrants.
A first attempt at prosecution in May was thrown out by
a court when the alleged victim
said she could not identify the
defendant as her attacker.
A second trial began today
just as the Bundestag began its
debate, with an Iraqi and an
Algerian in the dock accused of
groping one woman’s buttocks
and crotch and licking the face
of another. Both are also
accused of attempted robbery.
Currently, victims reporting a rape to police must not
only demonstrate that they
verbally declined sex but also
that they resisted their assailant.
B^dcW:^aTP "Pbca^]PdcbQ[Pbc^UUU^a8BBX]d_VaPSTSB^hdiRaPUc
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Features of the new Soyuz
series include upgraded boostQ[PRZ[XbcX]V^U hree astronauts blasted off
ers, an improved navigation
system, strengthened shielding
on Thursday from Russia’s
T
from debris and more cells on
Cosmodrome towards
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the craft’s solar panels.
the International Space Station
05?Q 108:>=DA
Seoul: Washington’s move to
place North Korean leader Kim
Jong-Un on its sanctions blacklist for the first time was welcomed by South Korea on
Thursday, with Seoul saying it
would highlight human rights
abuses in the hermit State.
The US said Kim and 10
other top officials also blacklisted were behind widespread
abuses including extrajudicial
killings, forced labour and torture in the country’s system of
prison camps for political
detainees that has made North
Korea “among the world’s most
repressive countries”.
Seoul backed its ally
Thursday, saying it hoped the
move would shine a light on
human rights “violations” in
the North.
“The Government... Notes
with appreciation and welcomes the US announcement...
Of sanctions against human
rights abusers in North Korea”,
the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The measure is expected
to raise the international community’s awareness of the gravity of the human rights situation in North Korea, where systemic and widespread violations of human rights are being
committed, while greatly helping intensify international discussions on the issue and
strengthening relevant measures.”
Phil Robertson, Deputy
Asia Director of US-based
Human Rights Watch,
in an upgraded Soyuz spacecraft.
First-time astronauts
Kathleen Rubins of NASA and
Takuya Onishi of the Japanese
space agency set off for a fourmonth mission at the ISS with
two-time Russian cosmonaut
Anatoly Ivanishin at 0136 GMT.
“And lift-off!” said a commentator on NASA TV, which
broadcast footage of the launch
in Kazakhstan.
The trio’s launch was
delayed by over two weeks as
Russian space officials carried
out further software tests on the
modified vehicle.
CWTB^hdi56a^RZTcQ^^bcTafXcWB^hdi<Bb_PRTbWX_RPaahX]VP]TfRaTfc^cWT
8]cTa]PcX^]P[B_PRTBcPcX^]8BBU[XTbX]cWTbZhPccWTAdbbXP][TPbTS1PXZ^]da
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NASA’s Rubins will be the
first woman aboard the ISS
since Italian Samantha
Cristoforetti returned to earth
with the record for the longest
single spaceflight by a woman
(199 days) in June last year.
The molecular biologist,
accepted into the space program
in 2009, will also become the
first person to sequence DNA in
space during her mission.
Takuya Onishi, who trained
as a pilot on Japan’s largest
commercial airliner is the
eleventh Japanese national to
enter space.
than 80,000 have been placed
in shelters.
The National Ministry of
Civil Affairs said 181 people
were reported missing or dead
by yesterday along the river and
in adjacent regions.
Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang made a 30-hour tour
of the worst-hit Anhui, Hunan
and Hubei provinces, urging
local officials to fight the floods,
ensure the safety of major levees and protect local residents.
Waters in the lower parts of the
Yangtze and in some major
lakes in the region have all
reached dangerous levels.
President Xi Jinping
ordered the army and armed
police to be dispatched to help
in the disaster areas.
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ombined impacts of volcanic eruptions in India
C
and an asteroid impact in
Mexico brought about one of the
Earth’s biggest mass extinctions
that wiped out the dinosaurs 66
million years ago, confirms a
new study.
“It’s quite likely both the volcanism and the asteroid were to
blame for the ultimate mass
extinction,” said one of the
researchers, Andrea Dutton
from the University of Florida.
“The Deccan Traps weakened the ecosystems before the
asteroid slammed into the Earth
— it’s consistent with an idea
called the press-pulse hypothesis: a ‘one-two punch’ that
proved devastating for life on
Earth,” Dutton noted.
Located in India, the
Deccan Traps are one of the
largest volcanic provinces in
the world.
Dutton and her colleagues
at the University of Michigan
utilised a new technique of
analysis to reconstruct Antarctic
Ocean temperatures that support the idea that the combined
impacts of volcanic eruptions
and an asteroid impact brought
about the mass extinctions 66
million years ago.
Their research, published in
the
journal
Nature
Communications, used a recently developed technique called
the carbonate clumped isotope
paleothermometer to analyse
the chemical composition of fossil shells in the Antarctic Ocean.
This analysis showed that
ocean temperatures rose significantly.
The researchers linked these
findings to two previously documented warming events that
occurred near the end of the
Cretaceous Period - one related
to volcanic eruptions in India,
and the other, tied to the impact
of an asteroid or comet on the
Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
To create their new temperature record, which spans 3.5
million years at the end of the
Cretaceous and the start of the
Paleogene Period, the
researchers analysed the isotopic
composition of 29 remarkably
well-preserved shells of clamlike bivalves collected on
Antarctica’s Seymour Island.
The data showed two significant temperature spikes.
The first corresponds to
the eruption of the Deccan
traps flood basalts. The other
lines up exactly with the asteroid impact, which, in turn, may
have sparked a renewed phase of
volcanism in India.
Intriguingly, both events
are associated with extinction
events of nearly equal magnitude
on Seymour Island, Antarctica,
the study said.
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°0<8C017 1027270=
has been two years since Bid &
Significant Indian Art aucItiontHammer’s
in New Delhi that created quite a stir
in the art fraternity with business rivals
and art critics associated with them rancorously crying out “fakes” regarding
some of the paintings in the catalogue. For
all their noise about starting a “regulatory body for art”, “writing to the PMO” and
in case of the Husain & Raza Foundations,
avariciously proclaiming themselves to be
“sole authenticating bodies”, the campaign
was full of rhetoric and eventually withered away as most of the trade smelled
foul play and didn’t want to be part of a
propaganda by a few individuals whose
sales were being effected by Bid &
Hammer’s steady prowess. Curiously,
none of them had physically inspected the
works nor seen the provenance documents, coming as they were from notable
estates and collections of Udaychand
Mahtab (the Maharaja of Burdwan),
artist Hemendranath Mazumder, artist
Nandalal Bose, sculpturist Chandan
Malakar (an assistant of D P Roy
Chowdhury), freedom fighter Radha
Devi Goenka and former Miss India and
actress Namrata Shirodkar among others.
Commenting on the resulting media
frenzy at the time, Maher Dadha, CMD
of Bid & Hammer, said, “The articles were
alarmingly false and evidently fabricated,
written to create sensational news and
scuttle the success of our auction. We
stood by our research and the media at
the behest of competitors should not have
speculated on the unquestionable authenticity of the artworks without any verification. The real cartels and tainted individuals that pass off fakes as genuine are
the ones that need to be exposed and we
will leave no stone unturned in doing so
for the higher interest of Indian art”.
To prove the point, the auction house,
promoted by the Dadha family with a rich
business history of over 100 years, trail
blazed through the auction and subsequently initiated legal action against all
those suspected to have orchestrated and
stoked the unfounded controversy.
Those brought in the dock so far with
non-bailable arrest warrants are Dadiba
Pundole of Pundoles Auction, Vikram
Bacchawat of defunct auction portal
Emami Chisel, art restorer Ganesh Pratap
Singh, Samindranath Mazumder and
famous artist Bikash Bhattacarya’s children
Bivas and Balaka. Others against whom
legal suits have been filed include Ashish
Anand of Delhi Art Gallery, Vadehra
Gallery, Husain Foundation, Raza
Foundation and a few incongruous proponents of the Bengal School. Also, K S
Radhakrishnan, an authority on the works
of Ramkinkar Baij, has denied making
ajkumar Rao, sporting the latest “I
am the thinking-cool, bespectacled, bearded, lounge guy” look,
underplayed his national award status as
an actor. But he tried to convince us he
had not done it for effect. He genuinely doesn’t wear his pride on his sleeves.
Simply because there isn’t any.
“I feel happy when I get awards but
when I know that I haven’t done a good
job and I shouldn’t be getting appreciation for a film, it is foolish to wear tags.
As an artiste, you should be true to your
film. You should know that they all know
or will know,” he confessed on the sidelines of the Jagran Film Fest.
He still doesn’t know the definition
of a hero. “I wanted to be an actor, so I
trained myself in the craft and am getting work which I enjoy. I do films which
my heart says yes to. I have to fall in love
with the creative team and the character. I don’t analyse whether that character is driving the plot in the conventional sense or not,” he said.
His latest claims to fame, Shahid and
Aligarh, both biographical representations, were delicate as he had to interpret the characters realistically and
responsibly. “You’re answerable to lot of
people. When I did Shahid, the real life
crusader was unfortunately not around.
But his family and relatives are there. For
Shahid’s mother, I was playing her son.
Of course, I don’t want to pressure myself
as an actor but these two films taught me
that there would be comparisons with
the real personalities and I tried to know
as much about them to interpret them
honestly. They took a lot out of me but
I also grew as an actor.”
Playing the role of a journalist
Deepu in Aligarh made Rajkumar aware
of the seriousness of the media on the
other side of the lens. “I realised the
media plays an important part in every
aspect of the nation and society. It’s a very
responsible job. I feel very happy when
I see so many responsible and sensitive
journalists talking about important
issues and offering their varied points of
view. As an audience, as a reader I just
go by what I read. I make my own perception of whatever I read. But they have
distilled all opinions in the most balanced format understandable to all.
Being a journalist is a very responsible
job indeed.”
Having realised the widespread
appeal of the media, Rajkumar, however, isn’t comfortable with the pitfalls of
R
9dµcQ\\QR_ed
dXU\__[c
overexposure and film promotional
tours and strategies. “It’s too much. It
takes a toll on your mental and physical health. I find it even more challenging than shooting. I think
one should work hard on the
film instead. The content
and the trailer are what
should matter. That’s
what people like and
appreciate eventually.”
However, with the pressure of weekend sales, he
just goes with the flow
of things.
Asked about censorship and backlash
that movies face from
CBFC, he strongly
advocated maturity. “It
has been 100 years since
we’re making films. We
need to come out of our
inhibitions and look at a
larger perspective. Look at
international cinema, the
kind of subjects they are
dealing with and the evolution
of their creative freedom. Here,
we shoot a scene and immediately start conjecturing about its
fate. ‘Oh! What’s the point?
Probably it might be cut by censors.’ Even if it is relevant. Trust
me, it impedes the spirit. I see no
harm in talking openly about
important issues that impact society at large. I don’t know why some
people in CBFC think that we
need to tone down things and
assume the audience has no mind
of its own. They should just certify the film and let the audience
decide. Anyway everything is
available on the internet. So what
can we contain?” he asks.
His next project is a black
comedy titled Newton. But he
continues to get offers of biopics,
especially those of sports personalities. “I have been getting a lot
of messages probably because of
my beard. Fans are saying me and
Virat have started looking similar and I should definitely do his
biopic whenever it is made. But
honestly, as an actor, I want to
do the biopic of Major
Dhyanchand.” This actor
believes in the workshop of the
human mind.
ats are strange pets;
C
they are not affectionate in the way dogs are.
Most cats are on their
own trip, can disappear
for days on end and don’t
care a damn. In the
recent past, I have heard
two stories of the same
cat adopting multiple
owners; please note that
cats adopt their owners
and not the other way
around. So despite all this,
why are there still cat people
in the world? Possibly because
cats are individualistic and
the extension of a personality
in the way that dogs can never
be? That is the only reason that
makes sense to me.
And it made much more
sense when I drove the Jaguar
XE. The first thing you notice
about the XE is just the “wow”
factor. Forget words like “pretty” and “good-looking”, this car
has serious sex appeal. This
car has a “come hither” look
that no other car in the executive sedan segment has. That
is not to say that the BMW 3series or the Mercedes CClass don’t look nice, they are
good-looking cars, but the
XE says “come inside me now.”
I know that sounds weird but
Jaguar Chief Designer Ian
Callum has done an outstanding job.
And it is rather nice inside
as well. The continuous ridge
that comes in from the front
doors and wraps around the
dashboard actually gives an
airline cockpit feel to the car.
The windsor leather seats
wrap you in comfort and you
notice the small things — the
fact that the air-conditioning
louvres have Jaguar embossed
on them. The Meridian audio
system is also quite nice with
good sound quality even
though the Burmeister systems
on some Mercedes and
Porsche cars have truly spoiled
me.
Jaguar is not exactly on
top of the game when it comes
to the information systems,
where Audi has stolen a clear
lead on everyone with their
“Virtual Cockpit”, but the system on the XE (also the forthcoming F-Type) is a marked
improvement on the past.
While the the rotary-gear system looked rather nice when
it first came in JLR cars, turning a dial still does not have the
same feel as moving a stick,
even if it is an automatic stick.
And since one is nit-picking,
the paddle-shifters have a very
small gap between themselves
and their steering which led to
a couple of accidental shifts.
And rear leg-room is not quite
as much as one would expect,
and the new and larger Audi
A4 entering the game soon,
this is a weak spot.
So the driving experience? Let me put it like this.
Recently a newspaper tried to
cook up a controversy because
Madam Speaker Sumitra
Mahajan acquired a Jaguar XE
Portfolio edition. This two-litre
petrol engine is the top-of-theline version of the XE, and has
230 horsepower. The only
controversy about the Lok
Sabha Secretariat buying this
car should not be the price but
the fact that Madam Speaker
is unlikely to drive this,
because my god, it is fun to
drive.
The XE reminds you why
petrol cars are so much more
:DB70= <8CA0
fun to drive. And it also
reminds you that you don’t
need to have a snorting crazy
beast of a car such as the BMW
M3 to have fun with a petrol
car. On the GurgaonFaridabad highway, where
there is a mix of twisty sections, long stretches of straight
road as well as a couple of horror spots, the XE was a wonderful drive. The test car did
have a slight rattle at higher
speeds which was probably
due to poor wheel-balancing.
Stuff like that happens with
press cars due to the hard lives
they lead.
But that brings us to the
biggest problem with this car.
No not that rear-legroom
thing, although that is a problem. Or the fuel economy,
which according to the car’s
onboard computer was actually quite respectable. The
biggest problem is that the XE
costs a bomb. The Portfolio
edition costs Rs 47.99 lakh.
There are two other trim levels on the car, the basic “Pure,”
which costs Rs 39.99 lakh and
the “Prestige,” which is for Rs
43.69 lakh (all prices ex-showroom New Delhi) but they
have a downrated engine with
“only” 190 horsepower; which
is still pretty good and better
for fuel economy. But as noted
automotive sage Jeremy
Clarkson says “Powerrrrrr…,”
more is always nice.
Don’t buy the XE if you
worry about fuel economy,
don’t buy the XE if you just
want a luxury badge to get you
from A to B. Don’t buy the XE
because you’re a “Dog Person.”
Buy the XE because you like
sexy, you like nice things and
you like having fun.
real
picture
The
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observations on the catalogued watercolour as was fictitiously reported by the
media. So has NGMA director Rajeev
Lochan with regard to the Nandalal Bose’s
painting titled Woman Sitting Under A
Tree. Even artist KK Hebbar’s daughters
Rekha Rao and Rajani Prasanna are
wholeheartedly supporting the cause of Bid
& Hammer.
Kaali Sudheer of Muse Art Gallery
said, “No company would put their reputation at stake by offering fakes in an open
public auction and certainly not Bid &
Hammer with their background and formidable knowledge. It’s high time that
these self-anointed authenticators of art
realise that it is them that are being subject to a public undressing as has been
demonstrated in the court proceedings”.
Bid & Hammer’s landmark victory in the
Ravi Varma Jatayu Vadha (Ravana carrying Sita) painting authenticity case against
Kiran Nadar, wife of HCL Technologies
founder Shiv Nadar, further proved that
the country’s pioneer multi-category auction house has the most robust vetting and
authentication process and it is the true
crusader against the menace of fakes in the
Indian market.
It is precisely why the cloud shrouding the authenticity of Francis Newton
Souza’s iconic Mary Magdalene painting
(from the November 2010 auction catalogue) also seems to have disappeared as
it emerges that works combining three or
even four different composite pictures were
indeed a unique part of the artist’s oeuvre.
An example being a work titled Birth, with
a ditto theme, incidentally bought by Kiran
Nadar a few months ago at a record-breaking price.
When requested to elaborate on the
authentication process that is followed by
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the auction house, Maher Dadha said,
“There are certain basic principles and procedures that need to be adhered to before
determining whether a work is genuine or
counterfeit. The level of the expert’s
knowledge and competence and his ability to justify his opinion is important. The
problem arises when two equally qualified
experts have diametrically opposing views
on the same subject or artist, in which case
a committee approach and provenance
becomes all-important.”
As the fight against fakes continues,
it is business as usual at the auction house
with the team working on the upcoming
auction, private treaty sales and the
recently launched B&H SHOP
(www.bnhshop.com) — an online store
for affordable art, antiques, jewellery,
prints, furniture, home décor, exciting
gifts and collectibles. Ankush Dadha,
director of Bid & Hammer, said, “In
between auctions, we are continuing to
engage our patrons and catering to a new
collector base through this venture that
does not involve the formalities of an auction. No bids, no registration, the works are
available at a flat price and you don’t lose the
advantage of buying through us”.
The stakes at Bid & Hammer’s
upcoming auction are huge, having sourced
rare oils by Manjit Bawa, NS Bendre, MF
Husain, SH Raza, Jehangir Sabavala, Bhupen
Khakhar, VS Gaitonde, GR Santosh, Amrita
Shergil and also Ravi Varma from major
collectors, both in India and abroad, who
continue to support the auction house.
Charu Sharma, board member of Bid &
Hammer and one of India’s most popular
auctioneers, stated, “With this lineup of
artists and superlative quality of the masterpieces our next auction is undoubtedly
going to be a path-breaking one.”
eP[[TheXePRXch #
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here is no doubt that we are seeing a
change in the status of women. Women are
gaining entry in various fields that were
taboo for the fair gender not so long ago and the
barriers are breaking. However, the road is not
free of challenges and stumbling blocks and a little supportive nudge can make all the difference.
“We in India need to encourage women to take
up roles as entrepreneurs at levels big or small,
for economic empowerment is an essential precursor of social emancipation,” feels Roma
Arora, the organiser of Pehnawa, a two-day exhibition to promote women entrepreneurs held in
Doon recently.
In an interview with Valley Vivacity, Arora
spoke her mind on women’s issues in India and
the contemporary relevance of the “Make in
India” campaign.
“There is a disturbing trend in India towards
buying foreign products even if it is all Chinese
and inferior in quality to indigenous products.
Small-scale entrepreneurs in the country are the
worst hit. India’s economy will get destabilised
if native industries do not get a fillip. A citizen
in the productive age group, who has the
capacity but is not able to earn is a liability to
our nation. We need to wake up to this reality
and this is also the philosophy behind my professional venture,” she said.
Arora scouts for women who have some talent or skill that can be turned into an entrepreneurial project. She provides them infrastructural, marketing and psychological support and sells
their products under her company. Calling it a
win-win situation, she explained, “So the one eligibility criterion for exhibiting at Pehnawa is that
the women entrepreneur should be doing her
own manufacturing and not merely retailing
imported products.”
Today, small entrepreneurs in India are losing their identity to foreign goods. And with this
are also dying the artistic and cultural traditions
of India. Our grandmothers used to make beautiful crafts and clothes with leftover materials
with a basic sewing machine. “Where have all
those gone now?,”she remarked.
As the conversation delved into the current
socio-economic status of women in India,
Arora commented, “Today’s woman has many
roles to play and she is not even acknowledged
for her efforts. We are somewhere in the middle where we don’t know which side is ours. On
any of my clients, especially bridesM
to-be come up with airbrush
queries. I assure my clients that I shall
have it soon. And I have been really
wanting to learn it but I cannot go out
of Dehradun as I have to look after my
salon too,” said Preeti, an ambitious,
young woman who runs a modest salon
in town but has dreams of making it big.
“I want to have a beauty salon that
matches the big brand names in Delhi
and Mumbai,” she shared as she waited
very eagerly to finally get her first
exposure of applying airbrush make-up.
Preeti was one of the many local beauty professionals who gathered in an
upmarket hotel of Doon recently to learn
the basics of the make-up technique that
has taken international fashion stage by
storm.
The workshop was organised by
localite Neha Gaur, who runs Maya’s
Glam Den Salon, in collaboration with
high-end American brand Temptu,
famous for providing make-up to
Hollywood and has launched airbrush
make-up in the world. Ahead of the session, Valley Vivacity caught up with the
<0H06A>D?>5
2>;;464B
Maya Group of Colleges
successfully conducted an open
pool campus drive recently.
Besides the students of Maya
Group of Colleges, students
from various colleges of
Dehradun such as Alpine
College, Renaissance College
participated in the drive.
Companies like Four PointsDelhi, Radisson BlueHaridwar, Golden TulipBhiwadi, Seyfert Sarovar
Portico-Jaipur & Dehradun,
Grille restaurant & ClubDehradun were present during
the occasion. Forty-two students got placement in various
companies. They have been
offered a package in the range
of INR 1.2 to 2.5 lakh per
annum.
D?4B
University of Petroleum
and Energy Studies (UPES)
recently announced that it has
1HC40<E0;;4HE8E028CH
are few things that match the euphoria of a long drive on
a rainy day in the picturesque Doon valley, our fourwheeled companions deserve extra care against the vagaries
of nature during the current season in the city. Take good
care of your cars this monsoon by following expert advice.
Prashant Chaudhary, General Manager of Divine Honda,
Dehradun, gives us useful tips to help you get your car sail
through the rains.
Wiper Blades: These can be the most important feature in your car in a downpour. Check your wiper blades
to ensure that they are working properly and check the
quality of rubber as one depends on them for visibility.
Get a wiper washing liquid to keep your windshield clean.
Underbody Coating: The most exposed part during
the one hand we are assured of our rights and
on the other we are seen fighting for our rights
and law enforcementon a daily basis. Women
want to work, they want to create their identity and pursue their passion. But there are still
sundry households where women are not supported to work. Bigger than the financial challenges are often the family-barriers they face.
And even though there are many schemes of the
Indian Government to develop women-entrepreneurs, there is a major gap in the awareness about
these and the capacity to benefit from them.” A
case in point is Payal Bhartia from Kanpur who
had put up Kanha Kriti, a stall of intricate handmade jewellery that she crafts herself. Behind this
confident, smiling face is a story of struggle and
despondency. “I have always loved making jew-
ellery but my in-laws did not allow me to work.
They believed that the woman of the house
should only be concerned with household
chores. It was very difficult for me to convince
them to let me start work on a very small scale
only to pursue my passion and then in a quirky
turn of events, my husband and father-in-law
failed in their business and we lost our source
of income. I then emerged as the bread-winner for my family and my husband joined my
work, as he needed a career. Things changed
for the better since then and now I run my business along with my husband. But not everyone
is as lucky as I have been. There are many
women who are never able to live their
dreams.”
A stall that attracted a crowd at Pehnawa
was of hand-made scrubs under the brand
name of Beleza. Its owner was Doonite Nidhi
Arora, a mother of two. Her seven-monthsold baby girl was sleeping inside the stall as she
attended to customers while helping her elder
daughter simultaneously with her homework.
On the balance between work and family, she
told Valley Vivacity, “Being a mother of kids
and an entrepreneur at the same time is difficult. There are times when I’m manufacturing
these scrubs and my younger one gets hungry.
I have to leave everything and feed her first and
I can never complain. I am passionate about
what I do and I really want to deliver good
products to people. If one wants to make it happen, it will. But yes, a little help from others
doesn’t hurt!”
2Ube^gQibUQTi
3^^]VTcbXcbUXabcX]cTa]PcX^]P[PXaQadbW\PZTd_caPX]X]VPRPST\h
team behind-the-scenes. “Airbrush is the
next big thing in make-up around the
world but in Dehradun hardly anyone
knows this technique. But now, makeup artists in Doon can learn it from
experts right here. Maya’s Glam Den has
been officially certified as an Academy
Partner for the world-renowned airbrush
makeup brand Temptu.We are the first
international academy in Uttarakhand
wherein we would carry out certification
courses on Temptu’s revolutionary silicone based Airbrush makeup,” shared
Rajesh Gaur, co-owner of Maya’s Glam
Den Salon.
“While there is a huge demand for
it, beauty professionals in Dehradun lack
awareness and skills in this revolutionary development in makeup. We aim to
bridge this gap. On successful completion of training, participants will be
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The students of SGRR
Public School being run under
SGRR Education Mission set
records of excellence at various
competitions across the country. 175 of these were honoured
with 'Gaurav Samman' for their
performances in the fields of
medical examination, sports,
education and other competitions. Student Swati Joshi selected for AIIMS, Rohit Gusain
selected in national under 14
football team, Ankit Jain topper
of SGRR Education Mission's
CBSE XII exams were honoured with letters of commendation and promotional
amount of Rs 51,000 each.
Cultural programmes were also
organized on the occasion.
i_ebSQb
he monsoon, on the one hand, brings respite from heat
but on the other is symptomatic of traffic jams, waterT
clogged slippery roads and swampy pits And while there
T
1H=8C8:0170A3F09
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rains and otherwise of our cars is the under body. It gets
dirty and rusty with all the mud and accumulates moisture, as it is wet most of the times in the monsoon. People
can go for underbody coating as it will prevent water from
going into the parts below and will prevent it from all the
dust, mud and rusting.
Brakes: Due to wetness and moisture, the car brakes
tend to become loose and weak. It is very important to
check the brakes before, between and at the end of the season, as there is a greater risk of a road traffic accident during rains. Ensure that the brake liners are lubricated as they
can snap due to friction. Make sure that an authorized person performs the entire checkup.
Tyres: A car’s tyres need to be in good and proper
condition. Change them as soon as possible if they are worn
out.
3A8E8=63>B0=33>=´CB
OAvoid
in working condition.
ODo not cover or drape your car as it might cause the car’s
body to rust. It is advisable to park your car under a roof
or in garage where there is enough ventilation.
lKeep your car clean. Wash off the dust and mud from
its body as soon as possible.
lWhile passing through a flooded zone, drive slowly
and rev the engine to prevent water from entering the tail
pipe.
awarded an international certification by
Temptu that will be valid globally. This
will be quite a credential boost for local
salon professionals and will open a
window of opportunity for them to work
in big salons in India and abroad,” he
added.
As the workshop began amidst an
excited audience, the Director of Temptu
India, Rahul Khandelwal gave a detailed
practical demo class on how to use airbrush with a live model and about basic
techniques. He provided technical
insight into the airbrush makeup world
and how it stands above other techniques.
“This demo class was organised to
give interested people an insight or a
sneak peep into the art of airbrush makeup. The course that will be taught here
has been designed in New York. The
academy in Doon will have an intake of
only seven trainees at a time to ensure
quality,” Khandelwal told Valley Vivacity.
Asked what makes airbrush makeup the current rage, he stated, “The
biggest reason for its huge popularity is
the flawless finish it provides. Through
this one can achieve HD makeup that
reflects extra light from the flash of a
and faculty members of UPES
participated in this unique challenge by the American
Aerospace giant and were
declared co-winners in March
2016 during an award ceremony in New Delhi.
Out of five teams that participated in the challenge-
UPES, IIT- Madras, IIT- Delhi,
Delhi Technological University
and BITS Pilani- GOA Campus.
UPES and IIT- Madras won the
challenge. UPES will receive a
research grant of $40,000 from
Lockheed Martin to develop a
prototype.
Central School for Tibetans
(CST)
Central School for Tibetans
(CST) Mussoorie, under the
banner of 'World Substance
Abuse Day 2016' staged various
activities to create awareness on
the menace of substance abuse.
A film based on drug 'Manas'
and few clippings from the
recently released film 'Udta
Punjab' were screened for students and teachers. During the
morning assembly of the
school, a speech contest on
'Substance Abuse and Its Effect
On Schools' was held.
Senior students presented a
skit named 'Drug ek meetha
jahar'. The presentation conveyed a message of the consequences of drugs in the lives of
students. There was also an
essay writing contest on
'Substance Abuse and Its
Influence in Schools' and onthe- spot painting competition.
camera and will make one’s face look
more natural and smooth. It is a siliconebased makeup that does not melt in hot,
humid or wet climate. It is thus an allweather makeup revolution. It is temperature-versatile and stays the same for 24
hours. Also, airbrush make-up has been
tested thoroughly by qualified dermatologists to ensure that it is hypoallergenic i.e.
it is relatively unlikely to cause an allergic
reaction on sensitive skin.”
The only downside to it is the time
taken in its application. It takes around two
minutes for every layer to dry and settle
down that makes it times consuming for
customers. The entire process requires
clients to stay still for around 15 minutes.
“Doon has a big demand and supply gap. As a result of there being very
few professionals in the city who know
airbrush make-up, it is currently very
expensive and limited to celebrities and
the elite. But there is a craze among the
women in Doon in general for this
make-up. By providing training, we
can cover this gap and bring down the
prices of airbrush make-up here,” commented Gaur.
So, dear ladies guess being runway
ready is soon going to be a lot easier!
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entered the third and final
phase of Lockheed Martin
Indian University Roll On/Roll
off Mission Systems Design
Challenge to manufacture payload prototype for military aircraft C-130 J Super Hercules.
The inter-university challenge
was to propose an idea and subsequently design a Payload that
'should be transportable on the
C130 Aircraft oriented towards
improved Humanitarian Aid
Support, Disaster Relief
Operations,
Medical
Evacuation and Environmental/
Weather missions'.
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taking clogged roads
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05?Q ;>=3>=
enus Williams’ deepest
Grand Slam run in a halfdozen years ended one victory short of what would have been yet
another Wimbledon title match
against her sister Serena.
Unable to replicate the sort of
turn-back-time performance that
carried her to the semifinals at the All
England Club, Venus was broken in
her first four service games Thursday
and lost to No. 4-seeded
Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-4.
The 36-year-old
Venus was the oldest
Slam semifinalist since
Martina Navratilova
was 37 at Wimbledon
in 1994. Venus is a
five-time champion
at the grass-court
tournament, but she
hadn’t made it this far
since at Wimbledon since
2009, or at any major since the
2010 US Open.
So now, instead of an allWilliams final on Saturday, it will be
Kerber against No. 1 Serena in a
rematch of the Australian Open
final won by the German in January.
That was Kerber’s first Grand
Slam title, and prevented Serena
from collecting her record-equaling
22nd. Now Serena is once again so
close to that number.
In control from start to finish
in Thursday’s first semifinal, Serena
needed all of 48 minutes to overwhelm Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-0 in
what felt like a training session.
Except Serena probably gets
V
more of a workout when she practices.
“You have to admit she was just better. She was stronger, faster,” Vesnina
said. “I couldn’t do anything today.”
Serena’s serve was in fine form,
reaching 123 mph and producing 11
aces against the 50th-ranked Vesnina,
who was making her major semifinal
debut. Serena won 28 of 31 points that
she served, including the last 17, and
compiled a 28-9 edge in total winners.
Since winning her sixth
Wimbledon trophy a year ago to raise
her career count to 21 majors, Serena
has come quite close to tying Steffi
Graf with 22, the most in the Open
era, which began in 1968 (Margaret
Court holds the all-time mark of 24).
But Serena was surprisingly beaten
by Roberta Vinci in the U.S. Open
semifinals last September, then by
Kerber in Melbourne, and by
Garbine Muguruza in the French
Open final last month.
“I mean, I think for anyone else
in this whole planet, it would be a
wonderful accomplishment,” Serena
said about reaching her third Grand
Slam final of the year. “For me, it’s
about, obviously, holding the trophy
and winning, which would make it
a better accomplishment for me. For
me, it’s not enough. But I think that’s
what makes me different. That’s
what makes me Serena.”
Except rather than a fifth
Williams vs. Williams final at
Wimbledon, and ninth at a major, it
will be Serena vs. Kerber.
Serena has won five of their previous seven matches.
The left-handed Kerber dropped
to her knees at the baseline and tossed
aside her racket after a running
cross-court forehand winner capped
the 19-stroke exchange that ended her
semifinal against Venus.
Venus once rivaled her sister for
the most feared serve in women’s tennis, but it took her 32 minutes and
five tries to simply earn a hold.
Perhaps the accumulated court time
during this fortnight simply took a
toll on Venus, who revealed in
2011 that she had been diagnosed
with Sjongren’s syndrome, which
can cause fatigue and joint pain.
She was a half-step slow to
some balls, was breathing heavily
after longer points, and wound up
with 21 unforced errors, 10 more
than Kerber. Still, Kerber was
hardly at her best at the outset,
either: The match began in
ragged fashion, with five consecutive breaks of serve. The question at that point was which
woman would break the pattern.
Turned out to be Kerber, who
held for a for a 4-2 lead then, after
getting broken the first time she
served for the opening set, held
again to take it when Venus netted
a forehand.
Earlier on Centre Court, Serena
never gave Vesnina a chance to pull
off the sort of semifinal stunner that
Vinci did last year in New York, stopping Williams from completing the
first calendar-year Grand Slam since
Graf did it in 1988.
Jumping out to a big lead right
away and never relenting, Serena had
Vesnina looking defeated after all of
12 points. That’s when, after sprinting for a forehand that landed in the
net, the Russian leaned over, sighed
and slumped her shoulders.
0XUUD\VXUYLYHVILYHVHWWKULOOHU BP]XP<PacX]PZ]^RZTS^dc
05?Q ;>=3>=
ndy Murray survived a five-set rollerA
coaster to defeat battling Frenchman
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (12/10), 6-1, 3-6,
4-6, 6-1 and reach his seventh Wimbledon
semi-final.
Second seed Murray, the 2013 champion at the All England Club, goes on to
face Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych on
Friday in what will be his 20th semi-final
at the majors.
It was 29-year-old Murray’s 13th win
in 15 match-ups with 12th seeded Tsonga
and his 100th career grass court win.
But like Roger Federer, who came back
from two sets down to beat Marin Cilic
earlier in the day on Centre Court, Murray
did it the hard way.
Having looked in cruise control after
two sets, he lost his way against the bigserving Tsonga, who was chasing a third
appearance in the semi-finals.
Murray rallied impressively in the
decider, screaming out to his box ‘there’s
no way I’m losing this match’ before making good on his rallying call.
“It was a tough match. Tsonga is one
of the best grass-court players in the world
and he came up with some great shots at
big moments,” Murray said.
“At the beginning you try to work your
way through and play good tennis but now
you are trying to get through matches and
play as well as possible and I am happy to
get into the semis.”
Murray’s first problem of the quarter-
final was to get grit out of his right eye.
It wasn’t too much of a distraction as
he broke for 3-2 before Tsonga returned
the favour for 4-4.
Both men wasted three set points
apiece in the ensuing tie-break before
Murray pocketed it, just about fair reward
for his high-speed scrambling.
The second set went by in a flash with
Murray easing through in 26 minutes, a
whole 50 minutes quicker than the
marathon opener.
Tsonga, 31, looked down and out but
suddenly called on a new source of energy to secure the third set courtesy of a
break in the seventh game.
Murray ranted with himself and
umpire Fergus Murphy as he went completely off the boil and Tsonga levelled an
increasingly tense quarter-final.
But buoyed by his own passionate war
cry, Murray raced to a 5-0 lead in the decider
before sealing victory with a 15th ace after
four hours of breathless ups and downs.
Murray has an 8-6 record vs Berdych
who made the 2010 final at Wimbledon. But
they have never played on grass.
064=284BQ F8<1;43>=
ndia’s tennis star Sania Mirza and her
IMartina
women’s doubles partner Switzerland’s
Hingis suffered a shock defeat
in the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon
tennis tournament here on Thursday.
The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair was
knocked out by fifth seeds Hungary’s
Timea Babos and Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava
Shvedova 2-6, 4-6.
The Hungarian-Kazakhstani pair
got off to a positive start, winning 13 of
the 17 first serve points and winning two
out of two break points to put the top
seeds on the back foot.
Also, two doubles faults served by the
Indo-Swiss pair in the opening set
proved costly as the duo went down 26 to hand Timea-Yaroslava the advantage
right at the start.
In the second set, Sania-Martina
began the game well and aggressively. But
powerful backhand and collective play by
the fifth seeds saw them gather another
13 vital first serve points out of 27.
The second set was going in a see-
80=BQ =4F34;78
ndia’s limited-overs cricket skipper
Mahendra Singh Dhoni celebrated his 35th
Ibirthday
on Thursday, with many of his team-
saw manner but once Timea-Yaroslava
won two break points there was no way
back for the Indo-Swiss pair.
Despite breaking their opponents
once in the set, Sania-Martina failed to
hold on eventually missing a cut to yet
another semi-finals as they lost the second set 4-6 to go crashing out.
The fifth seeded Hungarian and
Kazakhstani pair will next face tenth
seeded United States’ pairing of Raquel
Atawo and Abigail Spears in semifinals.h
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05?Q ;>=3>=
ndian cricket team, led by
skipper Virat Kohli, on
IThursday
reached St Kitts to
ngland’s all-time leading wickettaker James Anderson was ruled
E
out of a 12-man squad announced on
play a four-Test bilateral series
against the West Indies starting
with the opening match at
Antigua on July 21.
New head coach Anil
Kumble posted a photograph of
the team in his twitter handle
and wrote: “Reached St. Kitts...
long flight..@cheteshwar1
@klrahul11 @y_umesh Tour
begins @BCCI.”
West Indies Cricket Board
(WICB) also shared a picture
of the Indian team after they
reached St.Kitts.
“India led by @imVkohli
arrived in #StKitts to prepare
for the 4 Tests in #Antigua,
#Jamaica, #StLucia, #Trinidad,”
the WICB tweeted.
India and West Indies are
scheduled to play a four-match
Test series, starting July 21 at
Antigua, in what would be
Kumble’s first assignment as the
chief coach of the team and
Virat Kohli’s first tour to the
Thursday for next week’s first Test
against Pakistan at Lord’s.
Anderson has not recovered
from a right shoulder injury sustained in the third Test against Sri
Lanka last month — a three-match
series England won 2-0.
The Lancashire paceman’s place
in the squad has been taken by
uncapped Toby Roland-Jones.
He will now pushing for a Test
debut on his Lord’s home ground
alongside Nottinghamshire quick
Jake Ball, in the squad for the Sri
Lanka series but also yet to make his
maiden Test appearance.
“Jimmy has been touch and go
for a while, he is making really good
progress but it is the selectors’ view
that he just won’t be quite ready for
that first Test, hopefully for the second,” said England captain Alastair
Cook at a Lord’s press conference
on Thursday.
With struggling number three
Nick Compton having taken time
out of cricket, the selectors have
Caribbean as Test captain.
India will play a couple of
warm-up matches against West
Indies Cricket Board
President’s XI on July 9-10
and July 14-16 at Warner Park,
Basseterre here.
The series comprises four
Tests starting with the opening
match at Sir Vivian Richards
Stadium in Antigua from July
21 to 25, followed by 2nd Test
at Kingston from July 30 to Aug
3, 3rd Test at Gros Islet from
Aug 9 to 13 and fourth Test at
Trinidad on Aug 18 to 22.
recalled Yorkshire’s Gary Ballance
for the first of a four-Test series
starting on July 14.
But they opted against including one-day wicket-keeper Jos
Buttler in the Test squad and playing all-rounder Ben Stokes, not fit
for bowling following a knee injury,
as a specialist batsman.
Roland-Jones, 28, has been in
fine form for Middlesex this season,
with 30 County Championship
wickets at under 30 apiece.
This week he scored 132 in the
first innings against Middlesex at
Scarborough.
England national selector James
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Whitaker said: “Building on the success of the Test series win against Sri
Lanka last month, we have maintained our objective of retaining a
balanced squad.
“With an injury to James
Anderson, there is an opportunity for
Toby Roland-Jones who has been a
consistent performer in the County
Championship over the last few
years and deserves his chance.”
Former England batsman
Whitaker added: “Gary Ballance is
recalled to the Test squad for the
first time since the winter series in
South Africa and could play his first
Test for England in 12 months.
“He has been in recent form
with the bat for Yorkshire in the
Championship.
“Gary is mentally strong and we
feel that he will add quality and experience to England’s middle-order.
“Pakistan will give us a stiff
challenge during this series and we
can expect some fantastic cricket
from both sides over the next couple
of months.”
This will be England’s first
home series against Pakistan since
the infamous 2010 campaign.
That year’s Lord’s Test saw
Pakistan seamers Mohammad Amir
and Mohammad Asif, together with
captain Salman Butt, given five-year
bans and jail terms for deliberately
bowling no-balls as part of a newspaper sting operation.
Left-arm fast bowler Amir
returned to international cricket earlier this year and the 24-year-old
could now make his Test comeback
at Lord’s.
Amir took an impressive three
for 36, swinging the ball steeply at
sharp pace, in Pakistan’s drawn
tour-opener against Somerset earlier this week. Pakistan have one
more three-day game, against Sussex
at Hove starting on Friday, before the
first Test.
England squad
Alastair Cook (Essex, capt),
Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny
Bairstow (Yorkshire, wkt), Gary
Ballance (Yorkshire), Jake Ball
(Nottinghamshire), Stuart Broad
(Nottinghamshire), Steven Finn
(Middlesex),
Alex
Hales
(Nottinghamshire), Joe Root
(Yorkshire), Toby Roland-Jones
(Middlesex), James Vince
(Hampshire), Chris Woakes
(Warwickshire).
mates and other prominent figures wishing
him on social networking site Twitter.
From Board of Control for Cricket in
India (BCCI) President Anurag Thakur to
his former teammates Sachin Tendulkar,
Virender Sehwag and V.V.S. Laxman to
Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan to
Shushant Singh Rajput, who is essaying
Dhoni’s character in his biopic, Twitter was
flooded with wishes.
“Happy Birthday @msdhoni .. Have a
wonderful and blessed year ahead!!” Sachin
tweeted.
Thakur also wished Dhoni lots of success: “#HappyBirthday @msdhoni wish
you a great day & ‘tons’ of success!”.
Sehwag wished the Ranchi stumper in
his trademark witty style and called for
declaring July 7 as ‘National Helicopter Day’.
“Happy Birthday @msdhoni. May you
keep
doing
Anhoni
ko
Honi.#NationalHelicopterDay,” Viru tweeted.
The International Cricket Council’s
(ICC) official handle read: “Happy Birthday
to one of the greatest captains of all time,
as well as an exceptional batsman and WK,
@msdhoni!”.
Star batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who is in
the West Indies for the four-match Test series
wrote, “Wish you a very happy birthday
mahi bhai @msdhoni God bless you”.
Middle order batsman Suresh Raina also
took to Twitter to wish the wicketkeeperbatsman, “Happy Birthday @msdhoni! The
more the candles the more the light that will
shine in your life wish you all the best”.
Team India opener Shikhar Dhawan
also wished the skipper, “Indian limited
overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni turns
35 today. Happy birthday captain!”.
“Wishing u a happy birthday mahi bhai.
Stay fit n healthy forever,” all-rounder
Ravindra Jadeja wrote.
Senior Bachchan wrote, “Happy birthday MS.”
Calling him a “selfless cricketer”, Rajput
tweeted, “HappyBirthday Captain.A totally
Selfless cricketer &a wonderfully amazing person..Respect. #HappyBirthdayCaptainCool.”
Veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher,
who is playing his father in the biopic on Dhoni
released a poster of the upcoming movie, “On
his birthday Presenting the new poster of
#NeerajPandey’s #MSDhoniTheUntoldStory.
Happy Birthday @msdhoni”.
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his week holds a very special
significance for the people of
Doon Valley. For July 4, 2016
marked the 226th birth anniversary
of Sir George Everest —the legendary
Surveyor General of India who
supervised the Great Arc — the
longest measurement of the Earth’s
surface ever to have been attempted.
For an age, the contribution of this
heroic man has gone unrecognised
year after year. This year, the
Uttarakhand government paid mere
lip service by celebrating the occasion
as Sir George Everest Day.
The commemoration function
comprised a mountain biking expedition from Rajpur Road, Dehradun,
to Everest House, starting at 6.30 am
and a long heritage walk from Sir
George Everest House to Lambee
dhaar. The same evening, the Chief
Minister felicitated winners of the
mountain biking event at his New
Cantt Road residence. A photo exhibition was also organised. But for
many years, the Government has
only been harping upon a massive
restoration and making a museum at
the estate of the first Surveyor
General of India after whom the
Mount Everest was named but these
claims have not been honoured.
The time is opportune to remember
his intrepid exploits.
A few minutes trek from Library
in Mussoorie is Park Estate, the 173acre heritage site that houses Sir
George Everest’ 19th century home
and laboratory. Hailed as “the most
significant contribution to the
advancement of science in the 19th
centur y” by the noted Royal
Geographical Society of the United
Kingdom, the Great Arc was the
longest measurement of the Earth’s
surface ever to have been attempted.
According to development-issues
writer Lalita Sridhar, “It was also one
of the most perilous endeavours
undertaken by humankind…With
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1H=8C8:0170A3F09
ttarakhand has a wide variety of sports and
games being played now. But it may be
U
unknown to many that football is the State game
instruments weighing half a ton, their
observations were often conducted
from flimsy platforms 90 feet above
ground or from mountain peaks
enveloped in blizzards. Malaria
wiped out whole survey parties,
while tigers, dacoits, tropical diseases,
snakebites, local resistance, battles
and scorpions also took their toll.”
As chronicled by Doon based
anthropologist and cultural activist
Lokesh Ohri, “The Great Arc, as this
survey was known, took nearly 50
years of work, claimed more lives
than most contemporary wars,
involved equations more complex
than any in the pre-computer age and
resulted in the first accurate measurement of the height of the Himalayas,
also leading to the acknowledgement
of the Himalayas as the tallest mountain range. Most importantly, it
helped significantly advance the
knowledge of the exact shape of our
planet.”
Not only did the survey give
India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand,
Tibet and Nepal their maps but also
the first accurate measurement of
the Himalayas, a triumph acknowledged by naming the world’s highest peak in honour of Sir George
Everest as Mount Everest.
Begun in 1800, it continues to
be the most minutely accurate land
measurement on record. Toiling for
years, Sir George Everest gifted us
the foundation of India’s infrastructural planning. As documented by Ohri, “Though the Survey was
to be located at Calcutta, Everest
insisted on locating the Survey at
Dehra Dun since it had good recuperative potential for the surveyors
and a salubrious monsoon climate.
Though he was the patriarch at
Dehra Dun, Everest himself stayed
at Hathipaon House near
Mussoorie.”
However, Park Estate, the building where he lived and worked on
this survey from 1830 to 1843, has
suffered neglect. From Sir George
Everest, the estate is known to
have passed on to the Skinners in
Mussoorie followed by John
Mackinnon, who died in 1870 leaving the property to his sons. Having
been in the purview of the State
Government for long, the historic
structure is dilapidated.
As aptly said by Conrad Birch,
organiser of the Great Arc Rally, in
which vintage cars from 15 different countries drove to the heritage
site in 2003, “The Government
could and should do more to maintain the Everest House. After all, it
was here where the calculations of
the Great Arc Survey were undertaken with George Everest and
William Lambton.”
of Uttarakhand.
Football was declared as our State Game in
2011, after 10 years of Uttarakhand's formation.
What took it so long? “Bureaucrats and politicians
were too busy doing other important stuff,”
replied V.S. Rawat, president of the Dehradun
Football Association.
Though it has not seen that kind of public
matches within the State in recent years,
Uttarakhand has a rich history of football. “There
was a period in the 60s and 70s when nine players in the national team were from the state.They
used to play at the first level. I myself have seen a
craze for football in this region. As it does not
involve expensive equipment or complex technique,
people took to it. The reason why only football was
chosen and declared as the state game is because
it runs in our blood,” he went on to say.
Till the mid-80s, Uttarakhand played an
important role and gave Amar Bahadur Gurung,
Shivi Thapa and many other international level
players to national football. But after it, there was
a slump and the association fell victim to politics.
In the following years, many good players, who
could have represented Uttarakhand at the national level, moved to other states and countries.
Avinash Rahul, a football player shared his
plight. “I can only tell that as a player, the facilities are still not good. I have been to other states.
For example, our state football association is doing
nothing. We have training institutes but lack qualified coaches.”
The Pioneer contacted the Uttarakhand State
Football Association many times for their reply but
there was no response.
While Rawat kept on blaming the association
for not being active and spoiling the future of the
players, he claimed that the association existed only
on paper. “It has been 16 years and the secretary
hasn’t changed. No player was promoted, no referee coaching and no coach training camps have
been organised by the association. As far as the
coaches are concerned, our abilities should not be
questioned as our only aim is to train our best and
we do that. We produce results,” said Praveen
Rawat, a local football coach.
However, players had a different story to tell.
“Ground availability is a major issue for players
here. The politics and corruption going on in the
association are ruining our careers and lives. No
proper kits and regular training drills are organized.
We don’t have qualified coaches. We are not provided with facilities we need,” said a player who
wished to remain anonymous.
In this backdrop, hopes are pinned on the
upcoming Uttarakhand Super League in promoting football However, will USL rise above glamour and commercial interests to work in the interest of the players is to be seen.
,DLPWRFUHDWHDVWDWHERZOLQJDVVRFLDWLRQDQGWHDPV9LQD\DN$JJDUZDO
1H=8C8:0170A3F09
ith a vision to make a distinct
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bowling team that represents
Uttarakhand in state-level competitions along with a state-level Bowling
Association, Vinayak Aggarwal, a
professional bowling champion,
supervised the city’s first bowling
tournament at Hi Jinks this week. He
is also one among a handful of bowling technicians in India.
“Uttarakhand has a lot of potential players for this game. A team
does not require more than threefour players and I aim to set up at
least six such teams in the State,” he
told The Pioneer.
Based on the ten-pin bowling
game, the tournament was divided
into ten rounds called frames. Each
player was given two opportunities
to knock down the pins. But not
many people turned up at the venue.
Commenting on the status of
bowling as a serious competitive
sport in the country, Aggarwal said,
“Throwing at least 200 balls everyday in a practice session is a must.
And because not everyone can
afford paying the high charges at
bowling centres, very few people take
Through tournaments like these, I
want to spread awareness about the
sport and develop public interest.”
Giving instructions to the participating players at Hi Jinks,
Aggarwal explained, “One needs to
have strong shoulders and legs in
order to play the game. Comfortable
clothing and good shoes are essentials. Also it is one of those games
where strategic planning is required
big-time. The technique to the hold
the ball is what will make you win.”
Talking about the challenges
this game poses, he went on to
explain, “Knee and shoulder injuries
it up.There is no national level in our
country. We have no associations
except for one in Delhi. There is no
state association for bowling in
India. Other than Delhi, only
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu play this
as a competitive sport. There is no
Indian team as such and that is why
we call ourselves professional players and not national-level players.”
That most people don’t know
that it is a serious sport like cricket
and not just a recreational game disheartens him. “Masses think it’s
only entertainment because this is
what is portrayed in movies.
³=^6^ecbd__^acc^aTVX^]P[RX]T\P´
emembering her childhood days, Geeta
Uniyal said, “I was an active student in
R
school and would participate enthusiasti-
cally in theatre. By class XII, I had figured
that acting indeed was my calling in life. I
was lucky to have supportive parents.
Around 15 years ago, I found an opportunity through a newspaper to work in a
music video album called Laturi. During
those days, music video albums were a big
hit in Uttarakhand and were being produced in large numbers.”
Having worked in 12 Garhwali movies
since then, she has earned popularity for
her acting in films like Phyoli Jawan Hwegi
directed by Mahesh Prakash, Peeda by
Sushila Rawat, Meru Gaun by Padam
Gusain, Dukh Ka Kaanta Sukh Ka Phool by
Mahesh Prakash, Bagchat by Hemant
Sharma, Meri Sagwari by Hemant Sharma
and Chora Chapar by Padam Gusain. She
also won the Young Uttarakhand Cine
Awards for Best Supporting Actress for the
film Peeda in 2010 and Parvatiya Hillywood
Samman in 2009.
Despite coming from a Garhwali family, she did not know the language well.
“Language was a barrier because we speak
Hindi at home. However, I worked hard and
polished my language skills by watching a
lot of Garhwali music and films.” She
laughed as she recounted, “The character
that I played in my first film Phyoli Jawan
Hwegi was of a girl from a city who couldn’t speak Garhwali. So it was not difficult
for me to portray the conflict. But on a serious note, not knowing Garhwali is not a big
problem as long as one is ready to learn. I
have worked for Kumaoni and Jaunsari
albums too.”
She married in 2012 and her husband
encourages her. Uniyal also said that she
had not faced any exploitation in her career
yet and that it was safe to work in regional cinema.
On the scope of Garhwali movies for
youngsters, she advised, “People should def-
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initely come forward and work in this
industry. We have people of different cultural backgrounds working with us and
they are doing well. Yes, this field doesn’t
have enough glamour but it has the meaning a true ‘actor’ looks for.”
She further expressed, “It is disappointing that neither common people, nor the
government and media support regional
cinema in Uttarakhand. While other states
proudly promote their films, culture and
language, we still continue to undervalue
ourselves.”
After Bhuli E Bhuli was released, it was
a tough task to convince even hall owners
to screen it. Their answer was, “It doesn’t
sell. Why should we put it up?” Somehow
the team managed to buy the slot for two
weeks in Dehradun.
Uniyal agreed that this industry calls for
attention. Lack of interest and funding were
the main challenges that she pointed out.
Most of the time producers do not have
enough money or a shoe-string budget.
“There have been times I have worked free
or without getting paid,” rued Uniyal.
On the comment that Garhwali films
are not entertaining enough, she replied,
“Garhwali movies are more family-centric
but they do not lack entertainment appeal.
The industry has good production equipment and talent. The music, songs, locations and costumes are thought upon very
seriously and they are good. What Garhwali
filmmakers and artists lack is confidence.
We need to be more proud of our culture
and movies. People living overseas love to
see Garhwali albums and movies as they feel
close to their home-town but within the
state there are very few takers.”
are one of the many challenges that
I as a player face and they are severe.
Other than that, the equipment
comes with very high maintenance.
The lane has to be washed and
cleaned with shampoo oil every
day. The pins need to be submerged
in water for some hours as they have
specific weights and are made of
wood. The set-up is expensive and
the machine, pins and balls are not
easy to find. A technician for this
game is again very hard to find and
there are only around four technicians across India. Only two companies manufacture balls globally.”
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