ˆ# $ˆ ˛ˇ ˜ ˆ - English News | Breaking News | Latest News in … ly known as Bains brothers....

16
G iving a jolt to both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress, who were willing to co-opt him ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday sprang a major surprise by floating a political outfit along with former hockey Captain Pargat Singh. Awaaz-e-Punjab was formed just about six months before the Punjab Assembly polls. With this, the politics in the State took a spin, providing the voters with yet another alternative, marking a clear cut departure from two-party politics in Punjab. This will perhaps be the first time that four political parties will slug it out on the electoral battlefield instead of the traditional rivals — the Congress and the SAD- BJP combine. The leadership crisis and turmoil within the Punjab unit of the AAP is being seen as one of the major contributory fac- tor towards the emergence of the fourth front which also include the Olympian and “sus- pended” Akali MLA Pargat Singh, and sitting MLAs Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjit Singh Bains, popular- ly known as Bains brothers. Even as the formal announcement for the new front is expected to be made sometime next week, Pargat Singh and Simarjit Bains have confirmed the development. It has been learnt that former AAP member and Swaraj Abhiyaan chief Yogendra Yadav floated the move. The news broke soon as the Indian hockey team’s former captain shared a poster on his official Facebook page announcing the new front car- rying the picture of all four lead- ers standing together arms-in- arms. The same was later shared by Sidhu’s MLA wife Navjot Kaur. “Our battle is against such forces that ruined Punjab,” read the poster in Punjabi. Playing defensive ever since he stepped down as a Rajya Sabha member in July, Sidhu’s reverse sweep of float- ing a new party knocked the AAP for six, which was expect- ing that the former cricketer would join the party and give a much-needed push to its ‘Mission Punjab’. The develop- ment came at a time when the party is facing unrest and is expected to split vertically fol- lowing the removal of its Punjab convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur over the allega- tions of bribery, coupled with a series of other controversies. Sidhu, who was reported- ly in talks with the AAP from the day he resigned, decided to float the new outfit along with like-minded leaders after the talks failed. Reportedly, Sidhu had asked the AAP for a posi- tion no less than the Punjab Chief Minister but the party was not willing to concede to his demand. However, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had maintained that Sidhu has not put any pre-conditions on join- ing the AAP and needs time to think over the issue. As per another theory, some of the State and national leaders scuttled Sidhu’s entry in the party. Reacting to the news, AAP’s Punjab in-charge Sanjay Singh said, “We have learnt that Sidhu has formed a political front. It is up to him to com- ment whether they will launch a party or not.” AAP’s senior leader and Punjab unit’s legal cell head Himmat Singh Shergill said that forming a political outfit is a personal decision of Sidhu. Asked whether it would hurt AAP’s prospects in next year’s Assembly election, Shergill said, “AAP is based on an ide- ology and not on an individual. People are with us.” Continued on Page 4 P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday con- demned violence against Dalits and accused the “thekedars’ of the community of giving polit- ical colour to the social prob- lem to create tensions. Asking politicians to avoid making irresponsible statements on these issues, he said he was committed to the welfare of Dalits and other oppressed sections of the society. While asserting that he “never opened file to settle political score”, Modi said that the BJP will fight UP elections on development plank. Claiming that some people cannot digest that “Modi is pro- Dalit,” the PM said, “Ever since I celebrated the 125th birth anniver- sary of B R Ambedkar... Many people felt that Modi is Ambedkar’s fol- lower. They started having problems.” He condemned the inci- dents of violence against Dalits, saying it did not suit any civilised society. “I want to tell politicians, including the leaders of my own party, that there should be no irre- sponsible statements against any person or community. The country’s unity, social unity and equality should not be affected. We should be extra cautious,” said Modi. Noting that there are many Dalits who are BJP MPs and MLAs in the country, he said, “Those, who consider them- selves as “thekedar” (self-app- ointed champions) of some spe- cial section and want to create tension in the society, could not digest that Modi is pro-Dalit...” Insisting that he was com- mitted to the welfare of Dalits, victims, oppressed, deprived, tribals and women, the Prime Minister said, “Those facing trouble because of this are cre- ating problems and levelling baseless charges against me.” Talking to Network18’s Group Editor Rahul Joshi, Prime MInister said, “Those who have poisoned this coun- try in the name of casteism, they should stop giving politi- cal colour to a social problem.” The Prime Minister said there should never be any vio- lence against Dalits and added that the country has full faith that “our agenda is development only”. “There is no confusion among people of the country. But those who never wanted that such a Government is formed, those who never wanted that previous government should go, their problems are going on.” Continued on Page 4 T he legislature alone should decide on the validity of Muslim personal laws and the judiciary should keep out of it. This is All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIM- PLB)’s stand before the Supreme Court on Friday on issues like triple talaq, polygamy, mainte- nance under Sharia law. Responding to petitions by Muslim women and a suo moto petition initiated by the apex court, the Board said, “the issue of Muslim Personal Laws is a cultural issue which is inextri- cably interwoven with religion of Islam…practices in each reli- gion are peculiar to only that religion and these practices have been cloaked with the protection under Articles 25, 26 and 29 (relating to freedom to practice and propagate religion).” Referring to the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986 which pro- vides for rights in matters of divorce and maintenance, the affidavit went on to state, “In view of such clear provisions, if this court frames fresh provi- sions, it will amount to judicial legislation and will be violative of the doctrine of separation of powers.” The Muslim women petitioners contended that the Sharia law gave freedom to men to annul their marriage by pronouncing ‘talaq’ three times and the wife’s consent is imma- terial. The Board said that it is ‘sin’ under Islam to pronounce divorce until there exists com- pelling grounds where both husband and wife are unable to fulfil their marital obligations. However, the unilateral right given to men in this regard was explained interestingly by the Board. The affidavit said, “Sharia grants the right to divorce to husband because men have greater power of decision making. They are more likely to control emotions and not to take a hasty decision.” It explained that talaq is not that bad if one was to under- stand its advantage compared to a divorce decree given by a court of law. The affidavit, filed by advocate Ejaz Maqbool and settled by two senior advo- cates, said, “Apart from being more economical, a divorce within the parameters of Muslim personal law does not only guarantee speedy relief but also secures privacy of the par- ties which is often lost in judi- cial hearing before courts. This is one of the primary reasons why Muslims prefer to resort to their own personal law in mat- ters of marriage and divorce.” On the other contentious issue of polygamy, the Board said, “If polygamy is not per- mitted, women will be forced into leading a spinster’s life. Polygamy is not for gratifying men’s lust; it is a social need.” Pointing to court’s recent inter- ventions in extending rights of maintenance, residence to women in a live-in relationship outside marriage, the affidavit failed to understand why polygamy was bad in eyes of law. “It is rather strange that a law that recognises live-in relationship worthy of protection should frown upon a relationship which is formalised by the sanctity of marriage as immoral.” R ailway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday said that he is looking forward to have a railway network in India where it should not take more than 12 hours by train to trav- el from one part of the coun- try to the other. He said the national transporter is in the process of acquiring ultra high speed technology. “Technological inventions are transforming transporta- tion. The average speed of all Indian Railways’ trains should increase. Now we are dream- ing of an India where it does- n’t take more than 12 hours to travel from one part of the country to the other,” Prabhu said at the International Conference on Technology for Ultra High-Speed Rolling Stock for operation of trains at maximum speed of 500 kmph and above. He said railways want to reduce travel time by running high speed trains and was in favour of developing ultra high- speed technology under Make in India programme. The conference evoked interest from all majors in the field of ultra high speed. Leaders like HyperLoop Transport Technology, USA, Quadralev USA, Talgo, Spain, RTRI Japan, Siemens Germany, Knorr Bremse, Germany, Prose Switzerland are taking part in the day-long meet. As part of ‘Make in India’ initiatives, the Railway Minister invited all major global players to become partner and help India put on hyper speed trains, a step ahead of high speed which includes the ambitious Bullet Train between Mumbai Ahemdabad. Continued on Page 4 G ujarat Governor OP Kohli will be taking the addi- tional charge of Madhya Pradesh on September 8, a day after 89-year old Ram Naresh Yadav demits his office. Madhya Pradesh Chief Justice Rajendra Menon will administer the oath of office to Kohli, on September 8, a Raj Bhawan official said. Yadav, a UPA appointee, had come under the scanner after he was accused of rigging a forest guard recruitment test conducted by the infamous Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal (Vyapam) in 2015. MP Special Task Force ear- lier probing Vyapam scam had booked the Governor for fraud and under other sections of the IPC. Thereafter, he moved the MP High Court for quashing the FIR against him. In May 2015, the High Court quashed the FIR against him, holding that he enjoyed immunity against prosecution while in office. A total of 10,089 complaints were registered against police personnel in Madhya Pradesh last year. This was revealed in data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recently. This suggests an average 27 com- plaints per day. Notable in this regard is a recent incident where a con- stable from Ashoknagar district allegedly kidnapped and raped a 17-year-old school girl three days back. Of the total complaints received against policemen in MP last year, nearly 6,189 were rejected as false or unsubstan- tiated after initial inquiry, according to NCRB’s latest data, apparently suggesting that MP police was soft in taking action against their brethren. Continued on Page 4 RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008 C M Y K C M Y K

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Giving a jolt to both theAam Aadmi Party (AAP)

and the Congress, who werewilling to co-opt him ahead ofthe Punjab Assembly polls,cricketer-turned-politicianNavjot Singh Sidhu on Fridaysprang a major surprise byfloating a political outfit alongwith former hockey CaptainPargat Singh. Awaaz-e-Punjabwas formed just about sixmonths before the PunjabAssembly polls.

With this, the politics inthe State took a spin, providingthe voters with yet anotheralternative, marking a clearcut departure from two-partypolitics in Punjab. This willperhaps be the first time thatfour political parties will slug itout on the electoral battlefieldinstead of the traditional rivals— the Congress and the SAD-BJP combine.

The leadership crisis andturmoil within the Punjab unitof the AAP is being seen as oneof the major contributory fac-tor towards the emergence ofthe fourth front which alsoinclude the Olympian and “sus-pended” Akali MLA PargatSingh, and sitting MLAsBalwinder Singh Bains andSimarjit Singh Bains, popular-ly known as Bains brothers.

Even as the formalannouncement for the newfront is expected to be madesometime next week, PargatSingh and Simarjit Bains haveconfirmed the development. Ithas been learnt that formerAAP member and SwarajAbhiyaan chief Yogendra Yadavfloated the move.

The news broke soon as theIndian hockey team’s formercaptain shared a poster on his

official Facebook pageannouncing the new front car-rying the picture of all four lead-ers standing together arms-in-arms. The same was later sharedby Sidhu’s MLA wife NavjotKaur. “Our battle is againstsuch forces that ruined Punjab,”read the poster in Punjabi.

Playing defensive eversince he stepped down as aRajya Sabha member in July,Sidhu’s reverse sweep of float-

ing a new party knocked theAAP for six, which was expect-ing that the former cricketerwould join the party and givea much-needed push to its‘Mission Punjab’. The develop-ment came at a time when theparty is facing unrest and isexpected to split vertically fol-lowing the removal of itsPunjab convener Sucha SinghChhotepur over the allega-tions of bribery, coupled with

a series of other controversies. Sidhu, who was reported-

ly in talks with the AAP fromthe day he resigned, decided tofloat the new outfit along withlike-minded leaders after thetalks failed. Reportedly, Sidhuhad asked the AAP for a posi-tion no less than the PunjabChief Minister but the partywas not willing to concede tohis demand.

However, Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal hadmaintained that Sidhu has notput any pre-conditions on join-ing the AAP and needs time tothink over the issue.

As per another theory,some of the State and nationalleaders scuttled Sidhu’s entry inthe party. Reacting to the news,AAP’s Punjab in-charge SanjaySingh said, “We have learnt thatSidhu has formed a politicalfront. It is up to him to com-ment whether they will launcha party or not.”

AAP’s senior leader andPunjab unit’s legal cell headHimmat Singh Shergill saidthat forming a political outfit isa personal decision of Sidhu.Asked whether it would hurtAAP’s prospects in next year’sAssembly election, Shergillsaid, “AAP is based on an ide-ology and not on an individual.People are with us.”

Continued on Page 4

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday con-

demned violence against Dalitsand accused the “thekedars’ ofthe community of giving polit-ical colour to the social prob-lem to create tensions. Askingpoliticians to avoid makingirresponsible statements onthese issues, he said he wascommitted to the welfare ofDalits and other oppressedsections of the society.

While asserting that he“never opened file to settlepolitical score”, Modi said thatthe BJP will fight UP electionson development plank.

Claiming that some peoplecannot digest that “Modi is pro-Dalit,” the PM said, “Ever sinceI celebratedthe 125thb i r t hanniver-sary ofB R

Ambedkar... Many people feltthat Modi is Ambedkar’s fol-lower. They started havingproblems.”

He condemned the inci-dents of violence againstDalits, saying it did not suitany civilised society. “I wantto tell politicians, includingthe leaders of my own party,that there should be no irre-sponsible statements against

any person or community. Thecountry’s unity, social unity andequality should not be affected.We should be extra cautious,”said Modi.

Noting that there are manyDalits who are BJP MPs andMLAs in the country, he said,“Those, who consider them-selves as “thekedar” (self-app-ointed champions) of some spe-cial section and want to createtension in the society, could notdigest that Modi is pro-Dalit...”

Insisting that he was com-mitted to the welfare of Dalits,victims, oppressed, deprived,tribals and women, the PrimeMinister said, “Those facingtrouble because of this are cre-ating problems and levellingbaseless charges against me.”

Talking to Network18’sGroup Editor Rahul Joshi,Prime MInister said, “Thosewho have poisoned this coun-try in the name of casteism,they should stop giving politi-cal colour to a social problem.”

The Prime Minister saidthere should never be any vio-lence against Dalits and addedthat the country has full faith that“our agenda is development only”.“There is no confusion amongpeople of the country. But thosewho never wanted that such aGovernment is formed, thosewho never wanted that previousgovernment should go, theirproblems are going on.”

Continued on Page 4

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The legislature alone shoulddecide on the validity of

Muslim personal laws and thejudiciary should keep out of it.This is All India MuslimPersonal Law Board (AIM-PLB)’s stand before the SupremeCourt on Friday on issues liketriple talaq, polygamy, mainte-nance under Sharia law.

Responding to petitions byMuslim women and a suo motopetition initiated by the apexcourt, the Board said, “the issueof Muslim Personal Laws is acultural issue which is inextri-cably interwoven with religionof Islam…practices in each reli-gion are peculiar to only thatreligion and these practices havebeen cloaked with the protectionunder Articles 25, 26 and 29(relating to freedom to practiceand propagate religion).”

Referring to the MuslimWomen (Protection of Rights onDivorce) Act 1986 which pro-vides for rights in matters ofdivorce and maintenance, theaffidavit went on to state, “Inview of such clear provisions, ifthis court frames fresh provi-sions, it will amount to judiciallegislation and will be violativeof the doctrine of separation of

powers.” The Muslim womenpetitioners contended that theSharia law gave freedom tomen to annul their marriage bypronouncing ‘talaq’ three timesand the wife’s consent is imma-terial. The Board said that it is‘sin’ under Islam to pronouncedivorce until there exists com-pelling grounds where bothhusband and wife are unable tofulfil their marital obligations.

However, the unilateralright given to men in this regardwas explained interestingly bythe Board. The affidavit said,“Sharia grants the right to

divorce to husband becausemen have greater power ofdecision making. They are morelikely to control emotions andnot to take a hasty decision.”

It explained that talaq is notthat bad if one was to under-stand its advantage comparedto a divorce decree given by acourt of law. The affidavit,filed by advocate Ejaz Maqbooland settled by two senior advo-cates, said, “Apart from beingmore economical, a divorcewithin the parameters ofMuslim personal law does notonly guarantee speedy relief butalso secures privacy of the par-ties which is often lost in judi-cial hearing before courts. Thisis one of the primary reasonswhy Muslims prefer to resort to

their own personal law in mat-ters of marriage and divorce.”

On the other contentiousissue of polygamy, the Boardsaid, “If polygamy is not per-mitted, women will be forcedinto leading a spinster’s life.Polygamy is not for gratifyingmen’s lust; it is a social need.”Pointing to court’s recent inter-ventions in extending rights ofmaintenance, residence towomen in a live-in relationshipoutside marriage, the affidavitfailed to understand whypolygamy was bad in eyes of law.“It is rather strange that a law thatrecognises live-in relationshipworthy of protection shouldfrown upon a relationship whichis formalised by the sanctity ofmarriage as immoral.”

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Railway Minister SureshPrabhu on Friday said that

he is looking forward to havea railway network in Indiawhere it should not take morethan 12 hours by train to trav-el from one part of the coun-try to the other. He said thenational transporter is in theprocess of acquiring ultra highspeed technology.

“Technological inventionsare transforming transporta-tion. The average speed of allIndian Railways’ trains shouldincrease. Now we are dream-ing of an India where it does-n’t take more than 12 hours totravel from one part of thecountry to the other,” Prabhusaid at the InternationalConference on Technologyfor Ultra High-Speed RollingStock for operation of trainsat maximum speed of 500kmph and above.

He said railways want toreduce travel time by runninghigh speed trains and was infavour of developing ultra high-speed technology under Makein India programme.

The conference evokedinterest from all majors in thefield of ultra high speed.Leaders l ike HyperLoopTransport Technology, USA,Quadralev USA, Talgo, Spain, RTRI Japan, Siemens Germany, KnorrBremse, Germany, ProseSwitzerland are taking part inthe day-long meet.

As part of ‘Make in India’initiatives, the Railway Ministerinvited all major global playersto become partner and helpIndia put on hyper speed trains,a step ahead of high speedwhich includes the ambitiousBullet Train between MumbaiAhemdabad.

Continued on Page 4

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Gujarat Governor OP Kohliwill be taking the addi-

tional charge of MadhyaPradesh on September 8, aday after 89-year old RamNaresh Yadav demits his office.

Madhya Pradesh ChiefJustice Rajendra Menon willadminister the oath of office toKohli, on September 8, a RajBhawan official said.

Yadav, a UPA appointee,had come under the scannerafter he was accused of rigginga forest guard recruitment testconducted by the infamousVyavsayik Pariksha Mandal(Vyapam) in 2015.

MP Special Task Force ear-lier probing Vyapam scam hadbooked the Governor for fraudand under other sections of theIPC. Thereafter, he moved theMP High Court for quashingthe FIR against him.

In May 2015, the HighCourt quashed the FIR againsthim, holding that he enjoyedimmunity against prosecutionwhile in office.

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Atotal of 10,089 complaintswere registered against

police personnel in MadhyaPradesh last year. This wasrevealed in data released by theNational Crime RecordsBureau (NCRB) recently. Thissuggests an average 27 com-plaints per day.

Notable in this regard is arecent incident where a con-stable from Ashoknagar districtallegedly kidnapped and rapeda 17-year-old school girl threedays back.

Of the total complaintsreceived against policemen inMP last year, nearly 6,189 wererejected as false or unsubstan-tiated after initial inquiry,according to NCRB’s latestdata, apparently suggesting thatMP police was soft in takingaction against their brethren.

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A26-year-old woman whohad attempted suicide by

hanging at her residence inHarshwardhan Nagar underTT Nagar police station area onWednesday, died on Friday.

According to the police, thedeceased Bhawna Bajaj wasfound hanging and was rushedto a nearby hospital where shewas declared dead. Thedeceased committed suicideon August 31 and was rushed

to a nearby hospital where shedied while undergoing treat-ment on Thursday.

Police were informed andon the receipt of the informa-tion a police team reached thespot and started investigation.Police have not recovered anysuicide note which could revealthe reason behind the suicide.

After the preliminaryinvestigation the body was sentfor the post mortem and thepolice have registered a caseunder section 174 of the CrPC

and have started further inves-tigation. The deceased waspreparing for competitionexaminations and used to taketuitions.

Family members andacquaintances would be ques-tioned regarding the suicideand nothing could be ascer-tained at the moment about thedeath as the post mortemreport is awaited which couldhelp in the investigation saidpolice.

Details from the coaching

class she used to visit would becollected. Her friends would bequestioned and the mobilephone details of calls made bythe deceased would besearched.

In the initial investigationfamily members expressedignorance over the reason ofthe reason but details of thedeceased were yet to beobtained with the family mem-bers which could help inrevealing the reason, said thepolice.

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In compliance to the direc-tives of Minister for Home

and Transport BhupendraSingh, a special campaign tocheck passenger buses has beenlaunched in the State fromSeptember 1. Revenue amountover �18.50 lakh was collectedafter surprise checking of 3,204passenger buses and fitnesspermit of 140 vehicles werecancelled at the first day of thecampaign.

As per the directives of theMinister Singh and under theguidance of CommissionerTransport ShailendraShrivastava, the special cam-paign is being carried out tillSeptember 15 in all the districtsof the State against those whoare violating provisions ofMotor Vehicle Act and playingwith lives of passengers.

At the first day of the cam-paign, 3,204 vehicles werechecked in all the 51 districtsof the State. Penalty of Rs 3.57

lakh and 200 was collectedfrom 262 vehicles for over-loading. Whereas, fitness of3,113 vehicles were checkedand fitness certificate of 140vehicles were cancelled onaccount unfitness.

Similarly, pressure horns of309 vehicles were removed and

reflectors were put up in 242vehicles. Also, windows werefixed in 183 vehicles foundwithout emergency windows.As many as 149 vehicles with-out PUC were penalised with�3.48 lakh. Similarly, 63 unin-sured vehicles were penalised of�54 thousand and speed

Governors were fixed in 63school vans. Also action wastaken against 226 vehiclesfound without two doors by thetransport team under theMotor Vehicle Act.

Commissioner TransportShailendra Shrivastava saidthat bus owner is responsiblefor protection of lives of pas-sengers. Passenger vehicles areregistered under the MotorVehicle Act. Hence, duty toadhere to the instructionsunder the provisions of theMotor Vehicle Act is theresponsibility of the ownersand their employees.

Keeping in account com-plaints received by the depart-ment as regard to violation ofthe Act, the campaign is beingunder taken. All the transportofficers with their subordi-nates are conducting surprisechecking of passenger busesand action is ensured againstthose who are violating the pro-visions of the Act.

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Member of ParliamentAnup Mishra, Mayor

Vivek Shejwalkar, SADA pres-ident Rakesh Jadon, MunicipalCorporation Chairman RakeshMahaur flagged off the linkexpress here on Friday.

This train will be helpfulfor the passengers of Etawa.Jhansi-Gwalior-Bhind-Etawa(11801/11802) link express hasbeen sanctioned by RailwayMinister Suresh Prabhu andCentral Minister Uma Bhartifrom Delhi to Gwalior throughvideo conferencing and shownthe green flag .

The train arrived atGwalior Railway station 4:27pm and later, this link expresswith eight coaches departed byshowing green flag. On thisoccasion, area manager AnilSharma, Station master PPChaube , Deputy SS Rajeshshukla, RPF TI TK Agnihotri, GRP TI Prakash Sen were alsopresent . Four coaches of will

be removed from link expresswill at Gwalior Railway Stationand connect it to IntercityIndore.

Apart from Gwalior linkexpress will start off fromJhansi at 17.25 hours. Thistrain will reach to datia by17.49 hours, dabra18.13 hours,Gwalior 19.75 hours, Bhind21.50 hours and Etawa 22.45hour. The link express willreturn from Etawa early morn-ing at 4:30, will reach respec-tive stations Bhind at 5.15hours, Gwalior 7.50 hours,Dabra 8.57 hours, Datia 9.25hours and Jhansi 10.06 hours.

DRM SK Agarwal hasassured that DRC train willstart again between Gwalior toSheopur. City congress repre-sentatives discussed about therailway related problems withAgarwal. In the discussion citycongress representatives havedemanded to bring theAhmedabad express to Gwaliorwhich at present runs onlyupto Agra.

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Noted painter of BhopalManish Pushkale would

represent India in the ‘NamasteFrance’ festival in France fromSeptember 5, 2016.

The festivals would start onSeptember 15 inboth the countries.The India festival‘Namaste France’would be orga-nized in manyprovinces ofFrance. Similarly,the France festival‘Bonjour India’would be organised in manyStates of India.

Union Minister of ExternalAffairs Sushma Swaraj willinaugurate the ‘NamasteFrance’ festival on September15 in Paris. These festivals arebeing organized for the friend-ly ties and to consolidate themutual relations of both thecountries.

Ministry of ExternalAffairs of India and IndianCouncil for Cultural Relationsselected Manish Pushkale torepresent the country in thefestival in France.

Under this festival, a paint-

ing exhibition of ManishPushkale would be organised inGuthrie Museum of Biarritz city.

A joint exhibition of SyedHaider Raza and ManishPushkale would also be organ-ised in Boduan Lambo Galleryof Paris on October 15.

P u s h k a l ewould represent thec o n t e m p o r a r ypainting of India inFrance. IndianA m b a s s a d o rMohan Kumar willinaugurate thepainting exhibitionof Pushkale titled as

‘the painter of light’ onSeptember 10.

Indian AmbassadorMohan Kumar, former PrimeMinister of France Jean MarkArnold and the Mayor of ParisAnne Hidalgo would be pre-sent during the book release ofPushkale’s book based on art.

Pushkale has created a spe-cial image of himself in Indianart world. The heat ofPushkale’s paintings takes itsbirth from his cultural con-sciousness and on the otherhand the contemporary spe-cialty of the painting makes itmodern globally.

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Bring changes in the syllabusof technical education as

per the latest need otherwisewe will be left behind. Ministerof State for Technical Education(Independent Charge), Schooland Labour Deepak Joshi saidthis in the workshop held tobring changes in the technicaleducation syllabus. Workshopwas organised by the TechnicalDirectorate and Association ofTechnical Professional Institute,Bhopal.

Joshi said that drawbacks inthe syllabus should be rectifiedfirst. Every possible help will beprovided by the state govern-ment for the development oftechnical institutions and forqualitative improvement. Hefurther said that scheme shouldbe formulated to train the fac-ulty. Joint efforts should betaken to make our technicalinstitutes of national level.

Principal Secretary ofTechnical Education KalpanaShrivastava said that the work-shop was meaningful. She saidthat serious deliberation will bemade on the suggestionreceived at workshop. Jointefforts should be made forSkilling Madhya Pradesh and

Transforming India.Vice Chancellor of Rajeev

Gandhi Technology University

Prof Piyush Trivedi said that thesyllabus should be prepared onthe basis of job market. He

informed that RGPV is the firstuniversity which has imple-mented choice based credit

system. Arrangements as regardto faculty training can be madein the university, he added.

Director TechnicalEducation Ashish Dongrementioned that syllabus is thebase for development of edu-cation. MoU will be signedwith TCS and NAASCOM forfaculty training. Their supportwill be taken to bring changesin the syllabus, he added.

Vice President NAAS-COM. Sandhya Chintala saidthat change in syllabus is mustkeeping in view the globalchange. Technology is expand-ing, she added. Syllabus shouldbe prepared on the basis of out-come. Chintala further saidthat eighth pass student repairsmobile and laptop but BEElectronics couldn’t.Deliberation should be madeon this.

Member Secretary ofAICTE AP Mittal informedthat new policy is being formedfor skill development. Teacher’sknowledge should reach stu-dents. Chairman of ATPI JNChowksey and Secretary BSYadav said that there is a needfor cooperation for develop-ment of private institutions.They emphasized for the train-ing of the faculty. Many repre-sentatives of directors of tech-nical institutes were present onthis occasion.

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Mahaveer Foundation hascalled for nominations

from Madhya Pradesh for itsprestigious 20th MahaveerAwards. The awardees will beselected by a panel of eminentpersonalities representing dif-ferent domains and headed byJustice MN Venkatachaliah,Former Chief Justice of India.

Bhagwan MahaveerFoundation, since 1995, hasbeen bestowing the prestigiousMahaveer Awards on out-standing personalities andorganisations in recognitionof their excellence in propaga-tion of `Non-violence andVegetarianism’, `Education’,`Medicine’ and `Communityand Social service’. The Awardin each category carries a cashprize of Rs 10 lakh, a com-mendatory citation and amemento, which will be pre-sented to the Recipient at agrand function. The awards arepresented by eminent person-

alities such as President ofIndia, Vice-President of India,Governors and Ministers.

The nomination form isdownloadable atwww.bmfawards.org. The lastdate for receipt of the nomi-nations is September 30, 2016.

TS Krishnamurthy, FormerChief Election Commissioner ofIndia; Justice GS Singhvi,Former Judge, Supreme Courtof India; Prof MS Swaminathan,Chairman Emeritus, MSSwaminathan ResearchFoundation, Chennai; Prof BMHegde, Former Vice Chancellor,Manipal university, ChairmanBharatiya Vidya Bhavan,Mangalore; S Gurumurthy,Journalist and writer; DRMehta, Former Chairman ofSecurities and Exchange Boardof India; Prabhat Kumar,Former Cabinet Secretary ofGovernment of India andAcharya Chandanaji Maharaj,an eminent Sanyasini and aSocial reformer are the mem-bers of the Selection Jury.

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The Chief Secretary hasinstructed the District

Panchayat CEOs, CMOs andthe Janpad CEOs to get theconsent letter for sharing theAadhaar number of the bene-ficiaries of various schemesincluding food security, pen-sion and scholarship and tolink the Aadhaar number tosavings account number of thebeneficiaries. These worksshould be executed byDecember 2016 compulsorily.

To link the Aadhaar num-ber of the beneficiaries withsavings account number NICMadhya Pradesh has providedtwo different forms for everybeneficiary on Samagra portalfor the editing of any workrelated to sharing the Aadhaarnumber. User of Ward level andGram Panchayat level coulddownload these forms from theSamagra portal.

The Chief Secretary direct-ed the officials to rectify the

wrong information registeredon the form by red ink and tofill information, which is notregistered in the form.

Chief Secretary furtherinstructed to assure that therectified information is regis-tered in the Samagra portal andto create coordination withthe branch of the bank inorder to link the Aadhar num-ber to the savings accountnumber.

He also directed the offi-cials to understand the impor-tance of the work and share theAadhar number of all the ben-eficiaries to the Governmentand link the mobile numberand Aadhar number to the sav-ings account number. He saidthat time limit should also bechecked by the officials in exe-cuting the works.

District InformationScience Officer, NationalInformatics Centre (NIC)would provide the necessarytechnical help and guidance tothe officials.

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Students of Delhi PublicSchool and Billabong School

made eco-friendly Ganesh underthe Green Ganesh Worshop ofEPCO on Friday. Enthusiasmamong the students was so highthat the entire atmosphere trans-formed into real old IndianCulture. Children made Ganeshidols from clay with devotion,passion and creativity.

They also get themselvesapprised of the ill effects of POPon environment and took pledgenot to use POP in future. It hasbeen proved time again that theold rituals of Indian culture areenvironment friendly. Studentswere extremely excited to takethe Ganesh Idols prepared bythem to their homes.

Head of the DepartmentDPS Art Faculty Suchita Rai

praised the workshop and saidthat such workshop should beorganized every year in 2-3phases and 8 to 10 days beforethe Ganesh Chaturthi to enablestudents to take part in largenumber. Teacher Smt. NamrataSharma said that the workshopwill help students strengtheningtheir culture besides creativity.

Principal of BillabongSchool Ashish Agarwal andteacher Malvika Joshi mentionedthat this kind of step to protectenvironment is good and willincrease the creativity in the chil-dren. Further, she said that thestudents came to know about theimportance of clay where as POPis insoluble and hazardous to theenvironment.

Large number of peopletook part in the workshop atMandakini Ground, Kolar Road.People of all ages learned to

make Ganesh Idols with enthu-siasm and took the idols home.One of the elderly persons saidthat there are no words to praiseGreen Ganesha. I have wit-nessed people in such a largenumber first time who are mak-ing and taking self made Ganeshto their homes. Shubhrata Guhasaid that the effort is praise-worthy and creativity by ourown hands is pleasing.

Green Ganesha workshopwill be conducted onSeptember 3 at GovernmentNaveen Higher SecondarySchool (old Campion) AreraColony from 11.00 a.m. to 12noon followed by DushheraGround Bittan Market from3.00 to 6.00 p.m. CommissionerAnupam Rajan has appealed tothe people to attend the work-shop in large number in orderto derive benefit.

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The Secretary of the Auqaf-e-Shahi, Bhopal, Azam

Tirmizi refuted the allegationsleveled by the All India MuslimTehwar Committee (AIMTC)and said that the Committee ismisleading the communityover the issue.

Tirmizi in a statement hereon Friday said, “It is understood, some self-styledpresident of a purportedAIMTC addressed representa-tion to Rajya Sabha Secretariatdemanding that the 5,000 Hajpilgrims from MP from all thefifty-one districts should beaccommodated in the Rubats atMecca and Medina, which areunder the Management ofAuqaf-e-Shahi Bhopal, claimingthat contributions running intoseveral lakhs of rupees from allthe districts of Madhya Pradesh

have been utilised in the con-struction of said Rubats. Therepresentation also claims thatby collecting �97,000 from eachpilgrim crores of rupees arebeing siphoned illegally by Haj Committee and that thepilgrims are being denied their constitutional rights. Thesaid representation was fo ward-ed by Rajya Sabha Secretariat toChief Secretary MP for com-ments and action if any.”

Tirmizi further said thatwithout entering into creden-tials of the AIMTC it is here-by clarified that none of thestatements made, grievancesadvanced and pleas raised arefactually correct and legallytenable. The said Rubats inMecca and Medina were givenin trust endowment about hun-dred years back by the erstwhileRulers of Bhopal and KulsumJahan Begum. The Waqf Deeds

clearly outlined the beneficia-ries to be the pilgrims visitingfrom State of Bhopal.

Accordingly both accord-ing to India and Saudi Law thebenefits of the waqf cannot beextended in contravention tothe specified wishes of thetrustees. Pilgrims other than

from erstwhile state of Bhopalcannot provide free accom-modation therein, he added.

He said the specifications ofthe accommodation for Haj pil-grims at Mecca and Medina arelaid down by the Government ofSaudi Arabia according to whichthe capacity in number of per-

sons to be accommodated at anytime is fixed for Mecca, that isaround 200 pilgrims and beyondthis not a single person can beallowed to stay.

Accordingly leave aside4,000 and odd pilgrims ofMadhya Pradesh from otherthan erstwhile State of Bhopal,even pilgrims visiting fromBhopal are not possible to beaccommodated in the MeccaRubat; though Medina Rubat isprovided to all since the peri-od and date of stay is regulat-ed by Saudi Government byrotation. Allotment of limitedseats in Mecca Rubat is held bylottery openly and transpar-ently every year in Moti Masjidin presence of Qazi Shahar andMufti, he added.

He said obviously there isno violation of constitutionalrights of any Haj pilgrim visit-ing from MP since none has

any right entrenched in con-stitution or in any law to stayfree of cost either at Mecca andMedina.

It is for the Haj Committeeof MP and India to commentupon the purported allegationof loot of �97,000/- from eachpilgrim and about crores ofrupees being frittered awayillegally.

The President AIMTC isalso wholly incorrect in claim-ing that Rajya Sabha Secretariatdirected the Chief Secretary ofthe State for taking any actionin regard to transferring themanagement and control ofRubats to Haj Committee.

The representation wasmerely forwarded to ChiefSecretary for comments andreporting back any actiontaken. Since none was war-ranted as such none was takenand rightly so, he added.

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State Bharatiya Janata Partyhas claimed that the five day

New York visit of CM ShivrajSingh Chouhan would turn outto be a milestone in the indus-trial development of State.

BJP State president andMP Nandkumar SinghChouhan in a statement hereon Friday said, “The five dayNew York visit of ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChouhan would turn out to bea milestone in the industrialdevelopment of State. Duringhis stay in USA, CM met theCEOs and presidents of vari-ous companies working in thefield of education, Informationand Technology, public service,agriculture, health, higher edu-

cation, solar energy andinformed them of his contri-bution in the development ofstate and invited them for theGlobal Investment Summit tobe held in Indore.”

Chouhan further said thatMadhya Pradesh is moving onthe path of comprehensivedevelopment under the lead-ership of chief minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan. He hasensured strong industrial infra-structure and better facilitiesfor the investors that has result-ed industrial growth rate ofMadhya Pradesh over 8 percent. Due to the liberal policiesof the Madhya PradeshGovernment the state hasbecome favorite destinationof investors, he added.

He said that Modi

Government’s innovativeschemes like Make in India,Skill India, Clean India, DigitalIndia, Stand Up and Start UPhave been effectively imple-mented in Madhya Pradesh.

In order to fulfill dream ofthe son of poor families tobecome industrialist, CM hassuccessfully implementedYoung Entrepreneur Scheme,Chief Minister Self EmploymentScheme and Chief MinisterEconomic Welfare Scheme, headded.

The BJP State presidentsaid that CM hold meetingswith various companies duringhis foreign visit and it is surethat this foreign tour wouldprovide momentum to theindustrial development ofState.

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Police should take the oppor-tunity to work for providing

relief to the victims affected bycaste based social evils prevail-ing in the society, said PrincipalSecretary of Law and LegislativeAffairs Department VirendraSingh.

He was speaking on the firstday of the two-day seminar on‘Sensitisation towards ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes’organised by Adim Jati Kalyan(AJK) wing of the State PoliceHeadquarters at Hotel Palash onFriday.

Singh further said thatinvestigating officer shouldinvestigate with sensitisationfor both accused and victim andnothing should be done due topre-occupied notion and inves-tigation should be done follow-ing law and wisdom of justice.

He said that investigatingofficer is eye, ear and nose of thecourt and investigation decidesthat justice is met to the needy.

In cases of minor offenceswhich do not require interven-tion of court for those casesother mediums like Lok Adalat,intervention and pre-litigationshould be considered.

At the start of the seminarAddl DG (AJK) SL Thousensaid that police are responsibleto shoulder their duty accord-ing to the law and order forscheduled classes.

He said that with theinvolvement of these classes inPanchyat institutions their socialand political consciousness hasincreased. Police requires beingcareful and sensitive while han-dling cases against these class-es and initiate to provide reliefthe victim under the laws.

Police officials across thestate have participated in theseminar. On the first day of theseminar amendments, mistakesand precautions during theinvestigations and role of policein eradicating the social evilfrom the society were discussedin detail.

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An international research pro-ject featuring Indian and

Australian biotechnology scien-tists is underway to develop a vari-ety of salt tolerant rice seed whichis expected to address issues likeglobal warming, sea level increaseand nutrition deficiency.

MS Swaminathan ResearchFoundation and University ofTasmania in Australia (UTAS)inked a deal on Thursday for a jointventure research to develop a salttolerant seed which according to sci-entists could play a significant rolein food and nutrition security.

The rice variety, capable ofstanding up to salt water incursionsand sea water rise due to climatechange, was developed by theagronomists and biotechnologists

in MSSRF led by Prof Ajay Paridain 2010. But due to oppositionfrom self-styled activists and envi-ronmentalists, the field trials of thisgenetically-modified seeds couldnot be taken up in India andhence the development work wasin state of limbo.

“Though initial experimentswere successful we could not takeup the project further because ofopposition from a section of peo-ple,” Prof Parida told The Pioneer.This salt and drought resistant vari-ety assumes importance in thebackdrop of water shortage ruiningpaddy crops and salt water incur-sion into paddy fields because of cli-mate change, said the professor.

He said the seed was developedfrom wild variety of rice which hadmany desirable and undesirabletraits. “The undesirable traits such

as grain shattering, poor planttype, poor grain characteristics, andlow seed yield were removed fromthe seed. To achieve precise trans-fer of genes from wild species,strategies involving a combinationof conventional plant breedingmethods along with otherapproaches such as tissue cultureand molecular approaches havebecome important. That’s why weare collaborating with University ofTasmania,” said Prof Parida.

The three-year project is beingdone in the University of Tasmaniaagricultural fields and has beentitled “Developing salt tolerancerice for food security in Australiaand India. The research work issupported by Australia-IndiaStrategic Research Fund.

“We need to produce as muchfood in the next 50 years as we didin the entire 10,000 year history ofagriculture. This is the reasonwhy we need these kinds of pro-jects,” said Holger Meinke,Director, School of Land andFood, University of Tasmania,Hobart, who was the signatory onbehalf of UTAS.

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Samsung will halt sales of itslatest flagship smartphone

and recall millions of units, itsaid today, after faulty batter-ies caused some handsets toexplode in a massive blow tothe South Korean electronicsgiant’s reputation. Users beganposting photos and videos onsocial media late last monthshowing the charred GalaxyNote 7 with part of its 5.7-inchtouchscreen burnt and melted,saying it suddenly caught fire.

Meanwhile, Samsung Indiasaid that it is delaying selling ofGalaxy Note7 in India. Samsunghad launched the Galaxy Note7in August in India at a price tagof Rs 59,900. The device was tobe made available in the Indianmarket from September 2.“Because our customers’ safetyis an absolute priority atSamsung, we have delayed salesof the Galaxy Note7 in India,” aSamsung India spokespersonsaid in a statement.

Samsung, the world’s largestsmartphone maker, said itwould recall 2.5 million unitsshipped globally to countriesincluding the US and SouthKorea, and offer new devices to

existing users. It is the first large-scale recall of one of Samsung’stop of the range phones.

“We have received severalreports of battery explosions onthe Note 7 that was officiallylaunched on August 19... And ithas been confirmed that it wasa battery cell problem,” KohDong-Jin, president of Samsung’smobile business, told reporters.“We are deeply sorry for causingconcern... And causing incon-venience among our users.”

He said the faulty rateamounted to 24 handsets pereach million sold and that itwould take about two weeks toprepare replacements.

The company has also beenforced to delay the handset’splanned release this month inseveral European countriesincluding France. The newscomes as Samsung’s archrivalApple is due to unveil itsiPhone 7 on Wednesday. Themobile division accounts forthe lion’s share of Samsung’sbusiness, but has been increas-ingly squeezed by competi-tion both from Apple’s iPhoneand by lower-end devices fromChinese rivals such as Huawei.

The latest recall is expect-ed to hurt its bid to outsell the

iPhone 7, said Lee Jang-Gyoon,researcher at the economicthink tank Hyundai ResearchInstitute. “Samsung releasedthe Note 7 early to secure aleading position in the marketin advance, but now the impactof the move will be blunted,” hesaid.

Samsung currently usesbatteries made by a number ofdifferent companies, includingits sister firm Samsung SDI.Koh refused to name the sup-plier of the faulty battery butsaid sales in China, where ituses a different supplier, will beunaffected. Sales in China start-ed on Thursday.

Samsung, South Korea’slargest firm by value, posted abetter-than-expected gain innet profit for the second quar-ter, boosted by solid sales of itshigh-end Galaxy S7 and S7Edge phones and aggressivecost-cutting.

Today, shares were up 0.6per cent after falling for twodays in a row and afterinvestors shaved USD 7 billionoff the market value of thecompany on Thursday amidconcerns about how the explo-sions would impact the firm’sreputation.

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From Page 1“The issue of development

is our agenda and it will remainour agenda. It is not a politicalagenda. It is my conviction.”

“If country wants to get ridof poverty, then there needs tobe development. We need toempower poor people of thecountry,” said Modi.

Speaking of the forthcom-ing Uttar Pradesh elections, thePrime Minister said votershave to choose between theBJP’s development agenda andthe Opposition’s caste and com-munity led vote bank politics.

“The poison of casteismand communal vote bank hascaused enough damage in ourcountry. The biggest obstacleto strengthening our democ-racy is the vote-bank politics.There was no atmosphere ofvote-bank politics in last gen-eral elections, there was theatmosphere of developmentof politics. After 30 years peo-ple of section of our societyunitedly voted for a majorityGovernment. An entire sectionof our society has made ashift. It’s possible that the peo-ple of UP will do a similarthing for betterment of UP,they will vote keeping devel-opment in their mind.”

The Prime Minister said hehas never nurtured thoughts ofcarrying out vendetta againsthis political opponents. “First,from a political standpoint, Ihave neither thought aboutthis nor will I do so in thefuture. I have been a State CMfor 14 years. And history is tes-timony that I have neveropened any file due to politi-cal considerations. I have neverbeen accused of this either. Ithas been over two years heretoo, the Government has givenno instruction to open any file.The law will take its owncourse. I have no right toindulge in any cover up. Yousaying that we haven’t sparedany dynasty isn’t correct.Second point, the first decisionof my first Cabinet immedi-ately after assuming office...amatter stuck for four years inthe previous regime... a matterthat was raised by the SCalso...the matter of setting upan SIT on the issue of blackmoney. We have constitutedthe SIT, it is doing its work also.The SC is monitoring theprogress also. Another impor-tant work that we have done isto have such a strong blackmoney law that no one daresend black money abroad. So

this is a job that we have done.No new black money.”

Referring to reports of dif-ferences between the executiveand the judiciary, Modidescribes it as a “totally wrongperception”.

On his commitment tothe judiciary, Modi says, “ThisGovernment goes by rules,law and the Constitution.There is no scope for any con-frontation or tension with anyconstitutional institution.There must be as muchwarmth with judiciary as need-ed for constitutional decorum.I try my best to maintain asmuch decorum as possible.”

On the economic front, thePrime Minister is enthused bythe passage of the Goods andServices Tax (GST) Bill,terming it as “the biggest taxreform”. “This reform willbring a big change in India.Very few people in the coun-try pay taxes. Some people paytaxes because they are patriot-ic, they want to do somethingfor the country. Some paytaxes because they don’t wantto break the law. Some pay toavoid any trouble. But mostdon’t pay because the processis so complicated, they thinkthey might get stuck and won’t

be able to come out. GST willsimplify tax payments so muchthat anyone who wants to con-tribute to the country willcome forward. Secondly, todayif you go and eat at a hotel, thebill will come with this cess,that cess... And people send onWhatsapp, so much bill and somuch cess... all this will end.”

Modi said when he cameto power, there was a negativeatmosphere and that had anecho effect. The country’straders and industrialists hadstarted looking out. “Therewas a paralysis in Government.On one hand it was this situ-ation, and on the other we hadto face two successivedroughts. Third, there was aslowdown in the global econ-omy. So there were a series ofchallenges,” he said.

The Prime Minister out-lined a series of steps to revivethe economy: “First of all, inour country, whatever is talkedabout is seen to be reform. Ifit isn’t talked about, it isn’t seenas reform. It shows our igno-rance. Actually, reform totransform. I say in myGovernment: Reform, Performand Transform. And since I amsitting for an interview, I wouldsay Reform, Perform,

Transform and Inform.”Modi said he wanted to

place a White Paper on thecountry’s economy before pre-senting his Government’s firstBudget but he did not do sobecause it could have hit thestock market and paintedgloomy scenario about Indianeconomy at the global level.

The Prime Minister said heprefers the full route over ashort-cut to economic revival.

The Prime Ministerperked up when asked how hesaw himself portrayed inIndia’s history: “Why shouldthe person who loves to live inhis present worry about histo-ry? One must not make thatmistake in one’s life.Unfortunately, in our country,Governments, political par-ties, leaders always tried hardto make their own image.What if we had dedicated tobuild the image of our coun-try rather than our own? Imageof this country is the unendinglegacy of 1.25 billion people.Modi is just one of those 1.25billion Indians, nothing more.Modi’s identity must get lostamong those 1.25 billion peo-ple. There will be no greater joyif Modi is lost in the pages ofhistory.”

From Page 1Sources informed The

Pioneer that a meeting betweenPargat Singh, Simarjit Bainsand Sidhu was held two-daysback at New Delhi, in whichthe decision to form a newfront was taken. At the sametime, BJP MLA Navjot Kaurmade it clear that she was nota part of the new outfit, and noteven aware about it. “Sidhu willclear the air next week onSeptember 8 before mediaabout his future political planfor the wellbeing of Punjab andits people,” said Navjot Kaur,while addressing the media atAmritsar.

Regarding the new front,she said that she has just seenthe poster of Sidhu standingwith Bains brothers and formerhockey Olympian Pargat Singhon WhatsApp and posted thesame on her Facebook and sheknew nothing more about it.

Confirming the formationof new political front, Pargat

Singh said, “We all met at NewDelhi and finalised the forma-tion of a new political front inthe days to come…The formalannouncement of the frontwould be made on September8 or 9 by Sidhu himself.”

Hockey-player-turned-politician, who had also givenindications of joining the AAPwhen he was suspended by theSAD, said that all like-mindedparties and politicians wereinvited to join the front and inthe days to come, many wouldjoin it. Younger of the Bainsbrothers, Simarjit, said that‘Aawaz-e-Punjab’ is a platformfor the people with honesthearts and with an aim toserve the country by endingcorruption.

“It is a party by honestmen for the honest Punjabis.They deserve better gover-nance and with a vision. Wewon’t be there for only politics,we would be here to bringabout a change in the politics,”

he said. Both Simarjit and Pargat

said that they were in talks withthe other “like-minded peoplewho want to save Punjab andPunjabiyat”.

The new development hadalso left the Congress highand dry which was wooing andexpecting to rope in Sidhuand Pargat Singh ahead 2017polls. Punjab Congress chiefCapt Amarinder Singh hadseveral times welcomed the twoleaders to join the party, sayingthat Sidhu has Congress in hisDNA, as his father happened tobe a Congressman.

Available information sug-gests that the new front is con-sidering to rope in AAP’s sus-pended MP DharamviraGandhi, and Chhotepur. It hasalso been learnt thatChhotepur, and his supporters,including former AAP leaderHS Kingra and six zonal headsof AAP, too will move to thefront.

From Page 1Only 127 policemen were

charge-sheeted and 88 arrest-ed last year in connection withoffences against them, as perthe data thus reflecting slowprosecution of law enforcers.

Besides, a total 2,473departmental enquiries wereconducted on complaintsagainst policemen, while onlytwo judicial inquiries were car-ried out, but no magisterialinquiry was done against thelaw enforcers in MP, the NCRBreport said.

In contrast, Kerala wasway ahead in taking actionagainst its policemen last year.The southern State received4,634 complaints against

policemen in 2015. Of them,only 599 were rejected as falseor unsubstantiated, the reportsaid. In Kerala, 2,903 depart-mental, 55 judicial and sevenmagisterial inquiries were car-ried out on complaints againstpolicemen, it said.

However, Madhya Pradeshpolice claims they take promptaction on complaints againstcops. "We acknowledge eachand every complaint whether itis against police or anybody.We also take prompt action,"Madhya Pradesh Director-General of Police, Rishi KumarShukla said. The State policewelcome complaints againstits men rather than discourag-ing them, he said.

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ABritish era monument,standing tall and recapping

the memory of pre indepen-dence education system here atcoastal Kendrapara district, islying in dilapidated condition.

Thanks to the districtadministration and the politicalleaders of the district, not a sin-gle step has been taken to pre-serve the monument for pos-terity. The 129-year-old school,Fraser Girl’s School, situated atOld Bus stand, the heart ofKendrapada town, was estab-lished during the pre indepen-dence era. When woman edu-cation was a far cry at that time,the then SDO of KendrapadaSub Division had set up a schoolon the name of his wife “Fraser”in 1887. With the passing oftime, the premier institution inthe district has started decayingfast due to lack of proper main-tenance and conservation.

The School and MassEducation Department, morethan a decade back, had declaredthe building to be unsafe andstopped classroom teaching inthe building. Though later theEducation Department has con-structed a two storied buildingto run the school at the backsideof the century-old dilapidatedbuilding, but the renovationwork was not carried out.

Meanwhile, the roof of thebuilding has been damaged.Most of the walls are in dilapi-dated condition, with big cracksshowing up while the doors andwindows are too damaged.Weeds and small bushes havegrown in most part of the build-ing, alleged Ashis Senapati, anintellectual person.

It is purely an irony that theBritish era monument, that islocated just behind the districtCollector’s office, remains indilapidated condition since long.When the State Government has

been taking steps for the refur-bishment of 100-year-old struc-tures having historic impor-tance, it has shut its eyes to the

British era school building, saidintellectual masses.

When contacted, DistrictTourist Officer Bijay Kumar

Mohanty stated that a proposalwould be sent to the StateGovernment for taking steps torenovate the building.

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In a big step toward promotingfilmmaking in the State and

providing local talents a globalcanvas, Chief Minister RaghubarDas on Friday announced thatthe State would host NationalFilm Festival next year. He alsodirected officials to start con-struction of Film City, which isproposed at Patratu, on war foot-ing.

“If everything moves in aplanned way, the National FilmFestival will be held in March-April, 2017 in Ranchi, orJamshedpur,” said a senior offi-cial of Information and PublicRelations Department. Headded that a meeting regardingthis had already taken place withNFDC.

While meeting with newlyformed Jharkhand FilmTechnical Advisory Committee(JFTAC) Chairman and veteran

actor Anupam Kher on Friday,the CM also assured that hewould speak to Central author-ities for starting a direct flight onMumbai-Ranchi-Mumbai route,a request made by Kher. Das alsoassured Kher to renovate all oldtheatres in the city and across theState and to develop necessaryinfrastructure for film making.

Elaborating more onNational Film Festival, IPRDDirector Awadhesh KumarPandey said that the idea wasfloated with National FilmDevelopment Corporation ofIndia Limited (NFDC), a sub-sidiary of Central Informationand Broadcasting Ministry, onwhich the latter agreed to takethings forward. “Now it is all onNDFC about the format andscale of the event,” he added.

Earlier, Kher presided overfirst meeting of JFTAC andtook some concrete decisions totake things forward.

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Asignature campaign againstKentucky Fried Chicken

(KFC) products was launchedin Madhya Pradesh capital onFriday urging the Governmentto take action against the multi-national brand for fraud.

The organisers alleged thatthe company cheats commonpeople by not telling themtruth about their food prod-ucts. They said that nearly35,000 signatures had beencollected till 3.30 pm.

The charge was that theKFC claims that it serves halalmeat but the certificate shownis from another place for a sep-arate company, and that it wascheating consumers. The com-mon grievance was that theemployees at the local KFCoutlets didn't clarify doubts.

Apart from Muslims,Hindu activists were on thespot, demanding action onKFC for allegedly using beef inthe products. Local leaders ofCongress, BJP and other par-ties were present on the spot,with their banners against KFC.

BJP's Saurabh Gupta,Congress' Danish Baig,AIMIM's Mujhaid Khan,members of Dalit community,Ansari Samaj and other com-munities joined the campaignthat gave a call to boycott KFCbecause of its questionablepractices. In view of the crowd,police personnel were deployedat Iqbal Madian, the venue.

Danish Baig a Congressleader and one of the organiz-er of the campaign said, “Thecompany should clearly tell ifthe chicken is halal or jhatka sothat consumers aren't cheated.

It should be mentioned.Everyone Hindu, Muslim, Sikhor Jain has the right to knowwhat they are being served andthey should not be offered foodthat is not in accordance withhis religious beliefs, you can'tgive non-vegetarian food to avegetarian, by wrongly claimingthat it is vegetarian. This isunethical.” "The mufti who hadsigned it, says clearly that it wasmeant for a slaughterhouse inMaharashtra, in the past, andnot for KFC", Baig added.

The signatures would behanded over to CM and theState police chief, demandingaction. The Shahar Qazi,Bhopal has given his assent tothe campaign. Already, com-plaint has been made to thepolice though FIR has notbeen registered by the police asyet.

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Adding the privacy angle tothe debate over beef ban,

the Supreme Court on Fridayissued notice on a petitionfiled by several organisationsand activists who questionedthe ban on consumption andimport of beef on the groundthat citizens have a funda-mental right to eat food oftheir choice.

This question is signifi-cant since in the past, beef banhas been challenged by mem-bers of the butcher commu-nity who challenged the ban asviolation of their right topractice their profession ortrade. Following a law enact-ed by the MaharashtraGovernment making con-sumption or importing ofbeef a punishable offence,activists approached the apexcourt against a Bombay HighCourt, which upheld the ban

on slaughter of cows, bulls andbullocks while permitting themeat to be imported into theState for consumption.

Leading the argument foractivists, senior advocateIndira Jaising submittedbefore a Bench of Justices AKSikri and DY Chandrachudthat the ban was against theright to live protected underArticle 21 of the Constitution.Every citizen, according toher, living in any part of thecountry, had right to choose,which food to eat and beefsupplies an “essential protein”for the body.

The petition submitted,“No person can be compelledto eat what he or she does notwish to eat as an alternatesource of food since the rightto eat food of one’s choice ispart of the fundamental rightto life guaranteed underArticle 21 of the Constitution.”Jaising argued that any inter-

vention by the Government incitizens’ private life by askingthem to change their foodhabits also amounted to a vio-lation of their right to live asfood habits are formed overcenturies and right to conservefood cultures is also containedwithin the ambit of Article 21.

Already, the court hadentertained petitions bybutchers association and otherindividuals from the State onthe issue. Besides, a separatepetition filed by the AkhilBhartiya Krishi Goseva Sanghhas challenged that part of theBombay HC judgment allow-ing importing beef from otherStates into Maharashtra forconsumption or sale.

The Bench directed theCentre and the MaharashtraGovernment to respond onthe petition within six weeksand decided to club hearing ofall petitions related to theissue.

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Former Finance Minister PChidambaram on Friday

blamed the EnforcementDirectorate for spreading “canardto discredit him” and harass hisson Karti. He was responding tothe media reports that Karti wasnot cooperating with the ED inthe Aircel-Maxis scam probe andfailed to appear before the agencydespite being summoned thrice.Chidambaram in a statementeven claimed that his son wasready to cooperate with ED andthe agencies summons werevague in nature.

“A canard is being spreadthat my son Karti has refused toappear before ED. That is nottrue. The canard is intended todiscredit me and harass themembers of my family,” saidChidambaram claiming the ED

was not responding to his son’sletters seeking clarifications.

“I repeat that he (Karti) willanswer all questions provided heis told the offence that is beinginvestigated,” he added.Chidambaram also said ED didnot inform Karti about theoffence being investigated.

ED officials rubbishedChidambaram’s claims sayingthe five-page summons noticedetails the entire irregularity ofKarti’s companies and money

trail with Maxis and Aircel. InJuly, ED asked Karti to submit allhis accounts of his companies. Italso asked him to provide thefinancial statements of receipt oftwo lakh dollars from Maxis,soon after his father as FinanceMinister cleared the FPIBapproval to Maxis to take overAircel. Maxis payments wererouted to Karti’s company ChessManagement Services limited.

The agency has alreadyunearthed Karti’s huge invest-ments and real estate in 14countries. It is widely reportedthat ED may arrest Karti, as hehad failed to appear before it afterthe third notice, which askedhim to present himself on August31. The CBI and the ED havealready mentioned in thechargesheet that the FIPBapproval given by Chidambaramwas totally illegal.

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With its action plan ready,the Government is hop-

ing to make the surroundingsof 10 iconic places in thecountry including Taj Mahal,Vaishno Devi temple andAjmer Sharif spic and spanwithin a year under theSwachchh Bharat Mission.

Akshay Rout, OSD in theUnion Water and SanitationMinistry, said separate actionplan for each ten identifiedtourists hotspots were finalisedlast week, aiming to ensureinternational standards forcleanliness.

Each plan has a timeline oftwo, six, nine and 12 months,

and, the Ministry hopes thatresults will be distinctly visi-ble as the plan progresses.The plan has been framedafter intensive consultationwith the State representativesand consultants from theinternational bodies likeWorld Bank in keeping theregion requirement.

Focus will be majorly onthe exterior of the hotspots,which witness huge footfallsevery year.

The coverage area forcleanliness including sanita-tion has been kept flexible,depending on the limitations,Rout said on the sidelines of abriefing on Swachchh BharatPakhwada (fortnight)

observed by Ministries ofInformation and Broadcastingand Youth Affairs and Sportshere on Friday.

For instance, Rout saidthat in the case of Taj Mahalin Agra, cleanliness drive willbe undertaken on Agra

Westgate to Fatehpur Sikriroute where focus will be onsolid waste management whilein Vaishno Devi temple, Katrawill be covered, being accesspoint to the temple. The regionis also facing sanitation prob-lem due to excessive mule

dung that litters the path to thetemple.

Apart from Vaishno Devitemple, Taj Mahal, and AjmerSharif, Tirupati temple inAndhra Pradesh, GoldenTemple in Punjab, Jagannathtemple in Orissa, Chhatrapati

Shivaji Terminus inMaharashtra, ManikarnikaGhat in Uttar Pradesh,Meenakshi Temple in TamilNadu and Kamakhya Templein Assam have been selectedfor cleanliness drive.

The off icial said theMinistry is also in the processof selecting 90 other iconicplaces for cleaning under thePrime Minister NarendraModi’s flagship scheme andmost will be either tourist orreligious spots.

Major part of funds will becoming from corporate spon-sorship and various pro-grammes and schemes of theCentre like Hriday and respec-tive State Government.

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In the run up to the first everBRICS Film festival on

Friday, delegates from the fivemember nations called forleveraging culture, filmingtechniques and market of theBRICS Nations as the primefocus of the festival. SpecialFilm Panchayats would beorganised on the occasion tofacilitate the above.

Speaking at the Press-meet, delegates from BRICScountries said that films madein a country connect to atleast one of the other nations.The films for the festival havebeen specially selected to show-case culture, art and history ofthe countries they are made in,said Hugo Lorenzetti Netofrom Brazil. Others who werepresent include C Senthil Rajan(India), Kirill Razligov(Russia), Zhou Jiandong andMonica Newton (SouthAfrica).

According to KirillRazligov , discussions made atthe BRICS Film Festival willhelp in better understanding ofthe complexities and art of filmmaking by the membernations. “We all need to workin cooperation and create filmstogether to bring people clos-er,” he said.

Beginning from Saturday,the film festival will have spe-

cial meets with the cast andcrew from the 5 nations, moviescreenings and FilmPanchayats, panel discussionswith renowned personalities on

the topics ranging fromCinema and Nation building,Women in BRICS Cinema,BRICS coproduction,Opportunities and Challenges.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday said India

will engage constructively onall pressing international pri-orities and challenges withworld leaders as he is looks for-ward to “a productive andoutcome oriented” G20Summit in China’s Hangzhouthat begins from Sunday.

The Prime Minister, whowill travel to Vietnam thisevening before heading forChina on Saturday, said hisGovernment attaches a highpriority to bilateral relationswith Vietnam and the partner-ship between the two countrieswill benefit Asia and the rest ofthe world.

“Today evening, I will reachHanoi in Vietnam, marking thestart of a very important visitthat will further cement the closebond between India andVietnam,” Modi said.

“We wish to forge a strongeconomic relationship withVietnam that can mutually ben-efit our citizens. Strengtheningthe people-to-people ties willalso be an my endeavour duringthe Vietnam visit,” he said in a

facebook post.Modi said he will have an

opportunity to engage withother world leaders on pressinginternational priorities and chal-lenges during the G20 Summit.

“We will discuss puttingthe global economy on the trackof sustainable steady growthand responding to emergingand entrenched social, securityand economic challenges.

“India will engage con-structively on all the issuesbefore us and work towardsfinding solutions and takingforward the agenda for a robust,inclusive and sustainable inter-national economic order thatuplifts the socio-economic con-ditions of people across theworld, especially those whoneed it most in developingcountries,” the Prime Ministersaid. Modi said he looks forward“to a productive and outcomeoriented Summit”.

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The Union Health Ministryhas asked its counterpart

External Affairs Ministry toinform it if any of the 13Indians, who have tested pos-itive for Zika virus inSingapore, decide to return toIndia so that appropriate mea-sures can be taken.

“We are regularly screeningand we have requested that ifthese 13 people travel to India,do inform us so that they canbe examined,” Health secretaryC K Mishra said.

He said the request wasmade to the MEA after thereport of 13 affected Indianscame to the forefront.

External Affairs MinistrySpokesperson Vikas Swaruphad yesterday said IndianEmbassy in Singapore hasreported that 13 Indians havebeen affected by Zika virus.

He said as per Singapore’sMinistry of Health, the affect-ed Indians were showing “mildsymptoms” and have eitherrecovered or are recovering. “Their recovery process isbeing monitored closely. Due topatient confidentiality, theSingapore authorities areunable to share details of these

patients without their consent.The cases seem to be localisedin a defined area,” Swarup hadsaid.

The Indian Mission is in“constant close touch” with theMinistry of Health of Singaporeand will continue to follow upto ensure that Indian Nationalsreceive full medical support.

The Union HealthMinistry in February this year,had issued detailed guidelinesfor combating the disease,including a travel advisory thatasked pregnant women toeither defer or cancel theirtravel to the affected areas.

The ministry had saidthat all international airportsand ports will display signagewith information on the dis-ease and travellers will beasked to report to customs ifthey are returning from affect-ed countries and sufferingfrom febrile illness.

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Terming the Singur landacquisition for Tata a mis-

take, the CPI on Friday blamedCPI(M) for it and said this ledto the surge of MamataBanerjee in West Bengal.Singur episode created a “neg-ative impression” of the LeftFront’s attitude towards farm-ers and Trinamool Congresssupremo Mamata Banerjee,now West Bengal ChiefMinister, took “full advantage”of it politically, said CPI generalsecretary S Sudhakar Reddy.

He was responding tomedia in Hyderabad to querieson the Supreme Court verdictwhich, quashed the entire landacquisition process carried outby the erstwhile Left Frontgovernment in West Bengal.Soon in the evening the partyin New Delhi also issued state-ment putting blame onCPI(M), which was the bigbrother in the Left coalition inWest Bengal. However CPI(M)not yet responded to CPI’scriticism.

“She (Mamata Banerjee)

was successful in creating anegative impression about theLeft but on the whole, Bengallost (a big industry). I believethat even in the coming peri-od, there will be a negativeimpact (on industrial invest-ment),” said Reddy.

“Though the governmenthad taken over the land withthe good intention of bringingin a big industry which wouldhave provided employmentand revenue to the state, but themethod adopted was not cor-rect. They (the Left govern-ment) should have convincedthe peasants. Those who didnot want (to give land), shouldhave been given alternativelands and more compensation(should have been paid) and allthat. Unfortunately, the gov-ernment there made a mistake,”he said.

“The Left Front could havedealt the issue in a better wayby providing reasonable com-pensation and alternate land.The method adopted was notcorrect and put the Left inentire country in embarrass-ment. The credibility of the Leftsuffered. Trinmool Congress

took advantage of the mistakesand a political agitation waslaunched. The whole deal cost-ed Left Front and lost the elec-tion also,” said CPI in a state-ment in New Delhi, soon after

the party general secretaryblamed the CPI(M) controlledLeft coalition for the mess inSingur land acquisition forTata’s controversial Nano Carproject.

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The Supreme Court onFriday asked Karnataka to

shed its indifference to thewoes faced by Tamil Naduover non-sharing of Cauveryriver water and agree to sharesome water bearing in mindthe “live and let live” principle.

Tamil Nadu hadapproached the Supreme Courtagainst Karnataka for not hon-ouring the formula of watersharing proposed by an Awardby the Inter-state Water DisputeTribunal. Under this arrange-ment, considering the monthsof deficit monsoons and goodmonsoons, Tamil Nadu was toreceive 134 thousand millioncubic (TMC) feet of waterbetween June and September.However, till date, there is adeficit of 60 TMC waterreceived from Karnataka.

With farmers in TamilNadu coming out in protest fol-lowing non-supply of water fortheir crops, senior advocate

Shekhar Naphade appearingfor TN said that the situationwas precarious since Karnatakawas not willing to budge. Eventhe Supervisory Committeethat is to monitor implemen-tation of the Tribunal’s Awardmeets once in a while giving nohope to the State for an earlyresolution of the prevailingimpasse.

The Bench of JusticesDipak Misra and UU Lalit feltthat the Constitution providesfor harmonious existence ofStates. It said, “Due to non-

supply of water, industry, busi-ness and everything else getsaffected.” It asked senior advo-cate Fali S Nariman appearingfor Karnataka whether he canimpress upon the authorities inthe State for a solution whichcould be expeditious.

The Bench said, “We arenot asking you to compensatefor the deficit created fromJune-August, but at lease live upto the formula prescribedunder the Award. The princi-ple of live and let live has to beapplied in this situation.”

Nariman told the courtthat the formula under theAward was unworkable. Hesaid that Karnataka itself wasreeling under deficit monsoonsthis year. It showed a chartexplaining that its reservoirscurrently has about 47 TMCwater, even as Tamil Nadu isclaiming a share of 60 TMCmore from the State for the pastthree months. Nariman furtherobserved that the Award doesnot envisage a formula fordeficit rainfall months.

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New Delhi: The CPI(M) onFriday defended the ongoingday-long nationwide strikecalled by 10 central trade unions(CTUs) over issues includingGovernment’s “anti-labour”reforms, saying the protest is for“each one of us” and that work-ers’ rights are “no charity”.

“Today’s #All IndiaStrike isfor workers (organised andunorganised), farmers, unem-ployed and for each one of us.

“#AllIndiaStrike #Today#Workers #Dignity #Livelihood# RightsNotCharity,” partyGeneral Secretary SitaramYechury said in a series oftweets.

The Marxist leader also

reiterated one of the 12 keydemands put forth by the CTUsthat the minimum wage forworkers from both organisedand unorganised sectors mustbe at least �18,000 per month(approximately �692 per day).

In one of his posts, the RSmember also sought to knowwhy there is a ceiling on bonus,provident fund and gratuitywhen there are “no limits onprofits” of employers.

All unions, except RSS-associated Bhartiya MazdoorSangh, joined the strike call,protesting against “anti-worker”changes in labour laws and theCentre’s “indifference” to theirdemands for better wages. PTI

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The security threats Indiafaces from Pakistan andChina have been dis-cussed at length.Islamabad’s strategic

doctrine of balkanising India tocounter this country’s militarysuperiority over it and salience inthe world is well-known. While itsmain focus is currently on stirringup trouble in Jammu & Kashmirby orchestrating street violence,and stepping up cross-border ter-rorist strikes, in the State, North-East India has from the beginningbeen very much under its gaze.

China’s goals are different. Atone level it seeks the resolution ofits claims on Indian territory inLadakh in the north-west, andsouth of the McMahon line, whichmarks the border between the twocountries in the East and theNorth-East, on its terms. At anoth-er, it wants to keep India fromemerging as a power that can rivalits own role as a super power.

A Government in Dhaka thatis hostile to India and ready to assistin Pakistan and China’s designs, willpose serious problems for India.Bangladesh, either on its own or onbehalf of Pakistan and China, canthreaten India or become thespringboard of threats to India, inseveral ways. The first is cutting offIndia’s links with its north-easternStates through the Siliguri-IslampurCorridor or the Siliguri Corridor,which is about 200 kilometreslong and between 20 and 60 kilo-metres wide, and is often referredto as the “Chicken’s Neck”.

It is unlikely to attack Chicken’sNeck on its own. It can, however,try such an adventure in a situa-tion in which India is engaged ina war with Pakistan in the west andChina in the north and North-East.And even if it does not move mil-itarily, it may sponsor terroriststrikes to hinder the movement oftroops, arms and supplies, throughthe corridor. That this is not a merehypothetical speculation becameclear during the Kargil War whena blast occurred in a train in northJalpaiguri station on June 24, 1999.It was directed at a group ofjawans travelling to north-westernIndia in connection with the oper-ations. Two jawans were killed and16 injured. The Inter-ServicesIntelligence (ISI), which has beenactive in the area since the early1950s when Bangladesh was eastPakistan, was strongly suspected tohave been behind the incident aswell as several others aimed at dis-rupting the movement of troopsand equipment from north-easternto north-western India.

Besides, it can — as it had been

doing in the past — provide sanc-tuary and assistance to North-EastIndia’s rebel groups like the UnitedLiberation Front of Asom, theNational-Socialist Council ofNagaland, the People’s LiberationArmy of Kangleipak in Manipur,the All-Tripura Tiger Force (initial-ly formed as All-Tripura TribalForce), and the NationalDemocratic Front of Bodoland. Inaddition, either the BangladeshGovernment or terrorist groupssupported by it, or too powerful tobe curbed by it, may send money,arms and terrorists across thelong and porous border betweenthe two countries to stage terrorstrikes in India.

As for the movement of terror-ists to India, there is the exampleof what happened in January,1999, when Delhi police arrestedSyed Abu Nasir, a Bangladeshi,who had crossed over fromBangladesh to bomb the USEmbassy in Delhi and ConsulateGeneral in Chennai. He revealedduring interrogation that he andhis team of nine — six of whomhad come via Bangladesh, gatheredin Calcutta in December, 1998.From there, the three Indian mem-

bers had been sent to Siliguri toestablish a support base in collab-oration with ISI agents stationedthere, while the six ‘Afghans’ — ageneric term used to signifyAfghans as well as various Araband other terrorists trained inAfghanistan by the Al Qaeda —went to Chennai. The three Indianswho went to Siliguri were subse-quently arrested while the six‘Afghans’ managed to disappear.

Bangladesh not only providedsanctuary, assistance and trainingto North-East India’s rebel groups,but mocked at detailed informa-tion India provided about thelocation of training camps. Major-General Mohammad JahangirAlam Khan Chowdhuri, Director-General of the Bangladesh Rifles(now Bangladesh Border Guards),visiting India for talks with hiscounterpart in the Border SecurityForce, Ajay Raj Sharma, referred tothe list of insurgent camps provid-ed by the Border Security Force(BSF) and said, “There is not a sin-gle camp in Bangladesh. We lookedfor the camps’ locations given inthe BSF list. Some of the address-es were of our cantonment areaand our headquarters…. Some

addresses even pertained to theBay of Bengal.”

Bangladesh’s awareness of itsability to threaten North-EasternIndia was starkly demonstratedwhen its Foreign Minister,Morshed Khan, stated while inau-gurating an India-BangladeshDialogue of Young Journalists inDhaka on September 7, 2004,“Bangladesh is India-locked. ButDelhi has also to remember thatthe seven North-Eastern IndianStates are Bangladesh-locked.”Khan further raised the pitch of hisminatory statement when, refer-ring to what he described as India’srestrictions on the import of goodsfrom Bangladesh, he said, he could“end India’s three billion dollar (sic)trade here by issuing an StatutoryRegulating Order (SRO) on allIndian goods entering Bangladesh.”

Khan was Foreign Minister inthe coalition Government com-prising the Bangladesh NationalistParty and Jamaat-e-IslamiBangladesh, which was in officefrom 2001 to 2006 with BegumKhaleda Zia as Prime Minister. Itmade no bones about its hostilityto India. Major-General KhanChowdhuri, headed the BDR inthe same period. In fact, exceptthose headed by Sheikh Hasina, allGovernments of Bangladesh sincethe murder of Sheikh MujiburRahman in 1975 have been hostileto India and pro-Pakistan. TheAwami League Government, head-ed by Sheikh Hasina, which is nowin power, is friendly to India. It isworking closely with this country.

It has not only closed downthe camps of the North-EasternIndia’s insurgent groups but madeit impossible for these to operatefrom Bangladesh. It has clampeddown hard on fundamentalist ter-rorist Islamist organisations likeAnsar-al-Islam (pro-Al Qaeda)and Islamic State (or New Jamaat-ul Mujaheedin Bangladesh)whose name indicates its alle-giance, as well as other elementsassociated with the BangladeshNationalist Party (BNP) andJamaat that are implacably hostileboth to Sheikh Hasina and India.In fact, India-Bangladesh rela-tions are now more cordial thanperhaps even when SheikhMujibur Rahman headed theGovernment in Dhaka.

The return of the BNP-Jamaat coalition to power willmean the re-establishment of theascendance of anti-India forcesin Bangladesh which will revertto being the happy huntingground of Pakistan’s ISI. This issomething that India must try toprevent at all cost.�

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Bad precedent in Bengal”(September 2). The SupremeCourt’s judgement on Nano landmay bring cheers to theMamata-led Government ingeneral and the affected familiesin particular. But the question is:Will the land, so handed over tothe farmers, be as fertile as it waswhen it was taken over by theTatas 10 years back?

The editorial has rightly saidthat this land re-acquisition by theBengal Government may prove tobe a personal victory for Didi, butultimately, it will be the State whichwill lose in the long-run as there willbe no investment, either by the ver-nacular or foreign entity in the State.The State will further go downtowards south in development.

The Bengal Government,instead of dislodging the Tatasfrom Singur, could have negotiat-ed a better deal with them to haveat least one person from each ofthe affected farmers’ familiesemployed in their plant so estab-lished, but Didi wanted to have herbete noire, the Left Government,humiliated, leaving the interest ofaffected farmers at bay.

Sagar SinghNew Delhi

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“The rise of violence” (September1). The ‘Crime in India Report’released by the National CrimesRecord Bureau is alarming. It is truethat no economy is growing as fastas India’s. However, it is also a bit-ter truth that the rate of crime inIndia has been growing with sameugliness and intensity and some ofthe most heinous crimes like rapeand murder are shaming India.

Delay in delivery of justice andleniency in executing punishmentdue to inexorably unholy nexusbetween the police and powerfulmoneyed-class, coupled with fallingsocial values and moral degradationhave led to exponential rise ofcrimes. The sooner these and manysuch other gaps and loopholes arechecked and remedial steps taken,the better it will be for our country.

Manzar Imam Delhi

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“The rise of violence” (September1). Pornography is one cause thatinstigates sexual offences. It shouldbe banned. We are influenced bywhat we read or see. Good litera-

ture and theatre can inculcaterespect for women. Presentation ofwomen as consumer object infilms and advertisements shouldend. One cannot treat women as anobject of commodity and pleasureand at the same time have respectfor them. More the openness, morethe sexual offence.

Ashutosh Dube Via web

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Throwing money at bar dancersagainst dignity: SC” (August 31).The apex court’s ban on showeringmoney on bar girls is welcome, butcan this order bring a change in theattitude of the people? Rather, it isexpected that most of the peoplewho have seen this report willremain indifferent. It is not the caseof equality or inequality, liberty orno liberty. Women in bars are los-ing respect not because they arewomen. Showing disrespect to thepeople in hospitality service hasbecome a fashion. Barring few,respect in any human society isreserved for people in authority.

PP SenDelhi

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Revised pay scales recommend-ed by Seventh Pay Commissionhave been implemented and

arrears disbursed, bringing about asense of general wellbeing among thelarge fraternity of Government offi-cials. But a few issues remain to beresolved. While the bone of con-tention is a relatively small matterconcerning two-year edge enjoyed byIAS officials in pay and promotionsover other All India and CentralGovernment Services, more funda-mental issues at stake concern gov-ernance structure suited for ourcountry at this stage of our develop-mental needs. In fact, this hasreopened the debate in the countryon “generalists vs technocrats”.

Panel Chairman Justice AshokMathur has emphatically argued forpay parity and functional autonomyamong all Group A services. He iscritical of the IAS cadre for havingarrogated to itself all powers of gov-ernance and for “relegating all otherservices to secondary position”despite various services “dischargingdistinct and valuable functions in theoverall governance” of the country.He has advocated that subjectdomain should be the criterion forsenior appointments in theGovernment instead of those jobsbeing routinely earmarked for gen-eralists from the IAS. Rather thangracefully accepting these recom-mendations, IAS associations choseto rubbish the “beaten down argu-ment of parity between different ser-vices.” Describing IAS as “permanentexecutive”, they have sought theretention of their narrow advantagesin pay and promotion by arguing thatthe role and responsibilities of theservice had multiplied manifold andthat it provided the “steel frame” forgovernance of the country. Mootpoint is whether we need to perpet-uate this dreaded colonial legacy.

Super elite administrators fromBritain initially constituted ICS, theprecursor to IAS, whose sole mandatewas to “protect” the interests of thecolonial power and to ensure unin-terrupted revenue collection in com-plete disregard of the welfare of ourpeople and the country’s develop-mental needs. Surely our governancestructure today needs to be respon-sive to the needs and aspirations ofour masses by remaining connectedwith people rather than adopting thestance of distanced elitism.

A commentary in the BusinessStandard last year highlighted the illsof our overdependence on a gener-alist civil service. It noted thatbureaucrats in India suffered from“complete and utter ignorance of theissues at hand” since despite provenintelligence the administrators justwere not able to handle the transi-tion from one department to anoth-er seamlessly. Someone having todeal with the potential foreigninvestors today may have been deal-ing with maintenance of law andorder or water harvesting earlier!Can we afford “on-the-job train-ing/familiarisation” for senior offi-cials who are charged with theresponsibility of policy formulationand implementation of key pro-grammes?

Echoing similar sentiments andfrustration, founder of InfosysNarayan Murthy has called for abo-

lition of IAS and the system of gen-eralist administrators and replacingthat with cadre of specialists to dealwith complex and highly technicalgovernance issues. He laments thatIndian bureaucrats are trapped in acolonial mindset, which makes thegovernance system antiquated.Murthy epitomises the enterprise anddynamism of a rising India and hisadvice cannot be dismissed lightly.

IAS had probably outlived itsutility on the day we becameIndependent. Indeed it is a queerirony that it was allowed to contin-ue unchanged because of the obses-sive and perhaps misguided concernof our leadership then to ensure aseamless transition from the Britishrule. In my view and with the ben-efit of hindsight, we should haveoverhauled the prevailing gover-nance structure at that time itself byrooting it to the ground to facilitate

inclusive development. We neededhelpful empathic administrators andnot the “steel frame”.

In the developed countries, themerit model with focus on domainknowledge is in vogue. In somecountries senior positions are held byparty members or politicians, but thatis fully understandable since in ademocratic dispensation, people’srepresentatives must remain closelyconnected with the governanceprocess and provide requisite guid-ance and direction at all levels. Whatis not acceptable, however, is thatthese political functions are arrogat-ed by a super elite service. Politicalleadership needs to be directly sup-ported by professional and technicallysound inputs. Positioning of IAS inbetween these two layers is at bestsuperfluous.

In these times when we arecompeting on the world stage

because of rapid globalisation wehave no option but to adopt inter-national best practices designed topropel our country to the next level.Only the very best would do — notruck with mediocrity and “muddlethrough” attitude please!

We should begin with suitabledownsizing of the IAS cadre and cre-ation of separate specialised cadre ofprofessionals to deal with specific tech-nical issues such as power/energy,mining, agriculture, public health,highways, infrastructure developmentand renewables. Each of these areas iscritical for our economic growth andwellbeing of our population. We haveprofessional cadres to service our rail-ways and tax collection; we have welltrained professional armed forceswhich can match with the best in theworld and which have made Indiaproud by their contribution to the UNpeacekeeping operations; and, we

have a professional diplomatic servicewhich is rated among the best in theworld. We can create new cadres alongthese lines by requisite training fortechnical inputs and constant exposureto the subject domain.

But the IAS lobby continues tohanker after preservation of status quowhich guarantees them a privilegedposition in the country’s governance.Several well meaning intellectualshave called for doing away with thesystem of hierarchy in Governmentservices and bringing about parity inevery respect; we do not need anypecking order. Members of specialisedcadre must be enabled to reach thehighest positions in their respectivefields without any undue interferenceor imposition from any quarter for thesake of their empowerment. All ser-vices perform equally important func-tions and should be accorded equaltreatment in terms of perks andopportunities. What we need is tobuild up the morale of our technicalprofessionals in order to motivatethem to deliver optimum output.

I have seen too many young peo-ple waiting for years to join the gen-eralist civil services, particularlyIAS. Many with professional degreesfrom IITs and reputed medical col-leges leave lucrative high paying jobsto prepare for the civil servicesexams. It is a pity that they do notconsider it worthwhile to pursue thetechnical jobs for which they havetrained for years. Why should youngpeople not pursue careers suited totheir respective aptitudes and fieldsof expertise? IAS is perceived to bethe superior elite service affordinghigher status in the society and anyyoung man would want to join thatservice. It is not his fault if he wantsto be a generalist administrator afteracquiring engineering or medicaldegree at considerable cost to theGovernment because of subsidisedhigher education. The Governmentneeds to fix this problem urgently.There is need for a systemic correc-tion which can only be brought aboutby ensuring a complete level playingfield between different services andexpanding the role and responsibil-ity of the specialised cadre in the gov-ernance of the country.

(The writer retired from theIndian Foreign Service recently. Heserved as Indian ambassador to sev-eral countries, including South Africa)

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Vietnam has come a long wayin the last four decades. Andover the next few years, a less

hobbled society added by a slew ofmassive foreign direct investmentwill probably reshape the destiny ofAsia’s “Other Tiger”. With the adventof the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP), Vietnam’s clout in interna-tional trade is expected to change.The fledgling economy of the coun-try, sleeping in the garb of the dev-astations of the war till recently, isnow in the middle of a big revolu-tion — huge capital flow is the trade-mark of the new beginning. Thenominally Communist nation isadvancing closer towards its formerarch enemy, America, and this willhelp the country become a com-petitor to China. Obviously with anappealing market for foreign invest-ment and trade with massive eco-nomic growth, it is today registeringthe fastest growth in Asia. Vietnamhas displayed to the world that triedand tested models of developmentcan work wonders. It symbolises acounter to techno-pessimism. LikeChina, Vietnam is clear-minded andknows what direction it must take tograb the opportunities thrown openby the global economy.

So far, the signs of developmentare positive. However, with end of thefirst quarter of 2016, Vietnam hadaimed for a GDP growth of 6.7 percent, but this period showed only5.46 per cent economic growth. Themassive climate change gave a dis-astrous blow to the economy of thecountry which mostly relies on agri-cultural sector. Can Van Luc, aneconomist with the Bank forInvestment and Development ofVietnam, rightly argues that thedrought and the intrusion of seawater into the agricultural land hashurt major farmlands in the MekongDelta region. As the Mekong Deltais the highest rice producing area, thecountry suffered losses in the begin-ning of the year. Though the agri-cultural output has declined, theindustrial production, retail sales ofgoods and services grew as expect-ed, and even more compared to thelast year. But it seems it is too earlyto predict the growth of Vietnam’seconomy which normally movesupward only at the end of the year.

Vietnam’s economy witnessed amajor leap after the country’s growthfell to as low as 5.25 per cent in 2012.The nation has largely benefited froma slow, but steady rise in investmentfrom foreign investors who are try-ing to cash in on the benefits of mostof the free trade agreements, includ-ing the TPP. Being a middle incomegroup nation in the 12-nation TPP,Vietnam stands out because TPPtogether accounts for more than 40per cent of global output. Sensing themega impact of the TPP on Vietnam,Hanoi-based World Bank economistSandeep Mahajan predicted inOctober last year, “The question ishow much benefit they can derivefrom the TPP; it is not whether theycan derive benefit. We have estimateswhich would show that cumulative-

ly by 2030 it would add about eightper cent to Vietnam’s GDP.”

Why Vietnam will factor in somuch in comparison to other Asiancountries like China? It is because ofthe rising costs of labour and otherservices that will force many of theforeign brands to move to Vietnam.Among the key industries to gainfrom the TPP membership includeVietnam’s textiles and garments andglobal supply chain operators liketelecommunications which are mak-ing fast strides as it is closer to China.But Vietnam’s agricultural sectorwill face strong competition frommajor commodity exporting coun-tries like that of Australia for sure.Apart from other areas of growth,Vietnam’s exports have been doingexceptionally well. Its market is dri-

ven more by foreign manufacturersthan the local ones for a number ofreasons. Many international labourlaw experts say that Vietnam offersa set of excellent set of labour lawsunlike even some other democraticnations like that of India in Asia.Beyond this, it has a very less heav-ily regulated business environmentwherein the multi-national corpo-rations do not have to encounterbureaucratic hassles quite often. It issad that despite having widely preva-lent democratic systems startingfrom the grass-roots to Parliament,today India is crippled by the rem-nants of an overwhelmingly colonialbureaucratic set up. Therefore, unlikeChina and India, Vietnam offers anexcellent opportunity to the foreigninvestors for a free environment

where the ease of doing business isthe rule of the day.

Being branded as one of the fewbright spots in Asia where econom-ic growth has accelerated beyond sixper cent in recent years, Vietnam willdefinitely pose a potential threat tothe Middle Kingdom sooner or later.China may come up with numerousproblems starting from terrorism inXinjiang, unrest in Hong Kong,problem with Tibet, a growing mid-dle class who aspires for more free-dom than money, brewing internalpolitical fights arising from variouslayers of the elite and finally its evergreater expansionist tendency in themost controversial zone of SouthChina Sea. These may help Vietnamin the coming years. China’s ambi-tions have no limit, but Vietnam is a

country that has limited enemiesunlike the former and it has no hid-den agenda.

Vietnam’s stable political envi-ronment contributes positively forthe growth of the nation. Thoughthere are contests for the top job i.e.Secretary General of the CommunistParty, it is not so complicated that itmay destabilise the national politi-cal environment. Vietnam is ruled bythe Communist Party and it is themost powerful organ of the country.Today, Nguyen Phu Trong, who is theSecretary General of the CommunistParty, virtually controls all affairs ofthe State. Indeed he secured a secondterm in the 12th party Congress thisyear where there was a tough battlefor the top job between him and thenPrime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung,but the latter failed. Though brand-ed as maverick and charismatic bymany, Dung’s own legacy invited hisdownfall. He was known widely asa great reformer, but in reality he isnot so. Undoubtedly, he built up apowerful patronage networkthroughout his rule. His reformshave helped well-placed personsand foreign investors for sure. He wasprojected as only one leader inVietnam, who espoused for moreopen and democratic Vietnam, butto be precise, the critics always dis-missed such expectations from him.Dung was succeeded by a less charis-matic Nguyen Xuan Phuc as thePrime Minister in April 2016. Phucis known as a team player and a tech-nocrat, ready to adhere to the partyline. It is critical for any Vietnameseleader to respect and work as per thesetting standards of the CommunistParty as it is the DNA of this east-ern-most country of the Indo-Chinapeninsula. Whatsoever it may be,barring political differences withinthe party, the country is forgingahead and it will rise above the hor-rors of the war. Vietnam has set itssights on becoming a developednation by 2020. Let’s wait and watchhow the communist country willwade through the troubles comingfrom both within and outside whilecompeting with the neighbouringgiant China.

(The writer is Senior Editor, The Pioneer)

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The general strike on Friday,called by central trade

unions to protest against whatthey called the anti-peoplepolicies of the Centre, virtual-ly turned into a hartal in Keralathrowing normal life out ofgear while it evoked only luke-warm response in other partsof the country. Tension pre-vailed in several parts of Keralaon Friday morning as agitatorsblocked employees from enter-ing industrial establishmentsfor work.

The strike affected theoperation of the ISRO inThiruvananthapuram for thefirst time in the State’s historyeven as vehicles kept off theroads, industrial units andoffices — both in theGovernment and private sectors— recorded skeletal attendanceand educational institutions,shops and commercial estab-lishments remained closed.

Several minor incidentslike smashing of the wind-shield of a Uber cab in Kochi,blocking of vehicles in severalareas and stone-pelting onvehicles in some places werereported. Even private vehicleswere seen only rarely on theroads though the unions hadassured that vehicles wouldnot be blocked.

Hundreds of passengerswere trapped at railway stationsin the absence of cabs andautorikshaws. The strike alsoaffected several tourists. “Ihave to reach Fort Kochi. Thereis nothing. No cab, no restau-rant... It seems I will have towalk all the way to my hotel onan empty stomach,” said a

Spanish tourist at ErnakulamSouth Railway Station.

The strike hit, though par-tially, the operations at thethree ISRO units inThiruvananthapuram —Thumba, Vattiyoorkavu andValiamala — as over 300 vehi-cles of the institution meant fortransporting employees couldnot be put into operation onFriday morning after agitatorslaid siege to the garage atMarappalam in the city.

Tension prevailed for sometime on Friday morning atThiruvananthapuram city’smain railway station atThampanoor following heatedarguments between the agita-tors and a group of autorikshawdrivers — said to be membersof the BMS which was not par-ticipating in the strike — whohad come prepared to take pas-sengers.

Agitators blocked a groupof employees, who had comeprepared to work on the day ofthe general strike, at the gatesof a public sector industrial unitin Kalamassery near Kochi.The incident led to some ten-sion in the area. “We have aright not to strike just like they(the unionists) have their rightto strike,” said one of theemployees.

Tension prevailed for sometime also at the gates of theApollo Tyres unit at Perambra,Chalakkudy in Thrissur districtas several employees whoarrived there with willingnessto work were blocked by theagitators. The issue was settledwith the intervention of thepolice who helped the employ-ees to enter the factory.

In Kochi, Kerala’s com-

mercial capital, all the tradeestablishments remained closedwhile the attendance levelsrecorded at several institutionswere skeletal. The Cochin PortTrust claimed an attendancelevel of 51 per cent. Operationsof IT facility Infopark and thespecial economic zone offKochi also were hit by thestrike.

The strike evoked totalresponse in Malabar, the north-ern region of Kerala.Commercial establishments,schools trading houses, etcremained closed on Friday inMalappuram, Kozhikode,Kannur and Kasaragod.Reports said that hundreds ofvehicles were lying trapped atthe Manjeswaram inter-stateborder check post inKasaragod.

However, the strike didnot affect the works of MarxistChief Minister PinarayiVijayan, who had got into acontroversy by giving a call toall to make the strike a success,and several Ministers. Pinarayiattended a meeting at theCPI(M)’s State headquarters,and later went to theThiruvananthapuram airportin his official vehicle to boarda flight to Delhi.

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Perhaps for the first time inthe history of Bengal a

bandh called by a prominentpolitical outfit evoked so littleresponse as it did in Kolkata onFriday when most of the vehi-cles plied, most offices remainedopen and most people joinedwork almost showing no regardfor the Bharat Bandh called bycentral trade unions particularlythe Left Front.

In remaining parts of theState the bandh evoked mixedresponse with life comingalmost to a standstill in Siliguri,Coochbehar, Malda,

Behrampore and Jalpaiguri inNorth Bengal. In South Bengaltoo the districts like Purulia,Bankura and Burdwanremained partially closed.

Thanks to measures takenby Chief Minister MamataBanerjee who on Friday took aflight to Rome to attendMother Teresa’s beatificationceremony Kolkata the erst-while city of bandhs remainedalmost normal throughout theday save some stray clashesbetween bandh-supporters andTrinamool men and occasion-al road-jams.

Unlike in the past mostpublic and private transportswere visible on the streetsthough many of them ran half-filled. State Transport MinisterSuvendu Adhikary said over2,000 buses and 99 trams pliedon the roads. “Even the revenuegenerated by the transportdepartment was higher thanthe usual days.”

Banerjee who left for Rometold the media at the airportthat she would “personallymonitor the situation fromDubai where I will reach by 2pm. Till not the city is normaland things will continue to beso throughout the day as thepeople have rejected the bandhcompletely.”

The attendance sheetshowed near 95 per cent atten-dance at Government officessave Vikash Bhawan. Mostschools were closed but thoseremaining open saw limitedattendance. Local train ser-vices were normal while long-route trains were blockaded atvarious places. Air servicesremained normal.

The CPI(M) andTrinamool members clashedwith each other at Behala andthe police resorted to lathi-charge. The two sides had afaceoff at Lake Market andother areas too causing thepolice to intervene.

In the North police arrest-ed Siliguri Mayor AsokBhattacharya and 70 othersfor trying to enforced bandh.Bengal’s third city witnessed anear-total bandh.

More than a hundred peo-ple were arrested and about 15vehicles were damaged at var-ious places the police said.

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The dusk to dawn strike called by thetrade unions on Friday has evoked

either lukewarm or mixed response inKarnataka affecting normal life as theState-run transport corporation hadwithdrawn its services across the State.

'Bharat Bandh' called by varioustrade unions in protest against allegedanti-worker policy of the Centre passedoff peacefully in Karnataka howeverwith mixed response. While it was totalin parts of the State including IT City,the Bandh evoked lukewarm responsein Mumbai-Karnataka and Hyderabad-Karnataka regions.

The bus services, which were sus-pended since morning, resumed in theafternoon and travelling public, whofaced hardship in reaching their desti-nation, heaved a sigh of relief as BMTCand KSRTC started running the services.

Members of various Trade Unionstook out rallies in various parts of thestate and raised slogans against allegedanti-labour policy of the Centre anddemanded hike in daily wage from�18,000 to �25,000 per month.

According to police no untowardincident reported from any part of thestate as the bandh passed off peaceful-ly. While schools and colleges weredeclared holiday as a precautionarymeasure, a number of shops and estab-lishments were open in many parts ofBengaluru.

In IT city Bengaluru Banks,Government Offices both State andCentral, LIC and others did not functionas workers have joined the Strike.

However, Hotels, Petrol pumps wereopen. Schools and Colleges were declaredholiday in many parts of the State andexaminations scheduled for Friday were

postponed in view of Bandh.The transport of passengers from

Bengaluru International Airport wasnot affected as Airport taxi operations

remained normal. Members ofConfederation of Central GovernmentEmployees and Workers of KarnatakaState took out a huge procession on themain roads to Freedom Park whereleaders addressed them condemning thecentral government for its alleged anti-workers policy.

In Mysuru the Bandh called by 11central trade unions evoked a goodresponse. The KSRTC withdrew theinter-city services from Mysuru fol-lowing protest by the trade union lead-ers. However, urban services were seenoperating. In Hyderabad-Karnatakaregion the Bandh did not affect normallife, while there was mixed response inKoppal and Ballari Districts.

The State run transport services wasoff the road and shops, markets, banksand factories were shut, private buses,taxis and autos kept off the roads left thepeople struggle for commuting.

However shops, establishments,markets and hotels functioned normally.Though some auto and cab unions hadannounced their support for the bandh,their movement was by and large nor-mal in Bengaluru.

The strike did not affect IT andbiotech firms in Bengaluru, Mysuru,Mangaluru and Hubblli.

In spite of the State Government'soffices remaining open, attendancewas thin in the first hour in the absenceof alternative transport for commutingfrom their houses in many parts of theState.

Barring the Bharat Mazdoor Sangh,all central and State level trade unionstook part in the bandh.

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Massive protests erupted inKashmir on Friday even as

the authorities had re-imposedcurfew in most parts of capitalSrinagar and sensitive townsacross the Valley to thwart sep-aratists’ call for post-Friday-prayers’ protests. Sources saidthat around 80 people wereinjured in the clashes across theValley, many with bullets andpellets fired by the securitypersonnel to quell protests. Thiswas the straight eighth Fridaywhen massive clashes eruptedacross the Valley.

A police spokesman saidthat 35 stone pelting incidentswere reported from Srinagar,Sopore, Anantnag, Pulwama,Shopian, Baramulla, Bandipora,Kulgam and Kupwara till thelast reports came in. “Lastevening some unknown per-sons set ablaze a VocationalTraining Center (VTC) atWatergam in the jurisdiction ofPolice Station Dangiwacha,Sopore, resulting in completedamage to the structure,” apolice spokesman said.

Thousands of people tookto streets in Palpora village on

the outskirts of Srinagar afterthe body of 12-year schoolboyDanish Sultan Haroon wasfished out from River Jhelum.Haroon, people allege, waschased by security forces lead-ing to his drowning. Threemore youngsters swam to theshore and saved their lives.

With the death of minorDanish Sultan, the civiliandeath toll reached 69.

At least 12 persons sus-tained injuries when the funer-al procession was allegedly inter-cepted by the police and secu-rity forces leading to clashes.

Several pro-azaadi protestrallies were held at Palhallan,

Bandipora Nad and other areas.Over 30 persons were reportedinjured during clashes in northKashmir’s Bandipora district.Clashes were reported fromHajin area with reports of at least6 persons receiving injuries. Atleast 16 persons were injured inclashes in Beerwah area of cen-tral Kashmir’s Budgam district.Reports said three womenreceived pellet injuries afterthey resisted the alleged ran-sacking of the houses andexcesses by security forces inHassanabad Mohalla ofBeerwah. Clashes broke outbetween security forces andprotesters near Hospital Road

Shopian in south Kashmir’sShopian district. Reports saidfour persons sustained bulletand pellet injuries. One youthidentified as Omar has been hitin both the eyes by the pelletsand is said to be in a critical State.

Reports said hundreds ofyouths participated in protestrallies in Srinagar’s Barzulla,Soura, Rainawari, Kaka Saraiand Shivpora areas. Theauthorities disallowed prayersat Jamia Masjid Srinagar on the8th consecutive Friday sinceJuly 9. Several people wereinjured in clashes acrossSrinagar city.

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Dasrath Manjhi, rightlynamed as Mountain Man,

of Gehlaur village in Gaya dis-trict impressed many during hislifetime and after death. Thosewho were highly impressed bythe poor Mahadalit manincluded Chief Minister NitishKumar, who vacated his chairfor Manjhi in order to show hisrespect, actor Aamir Khan whovisited his village and dedicat-ed the first episode of his showSatyamev Jayate to him and filmdirector Ketan Mehta made abiopic with NawazuddinSiddiqui playing role of theMountain Man.

The list is long. The newadmirer of Manjhi is RailwayMinister Suresh Prabhu whoannounced to conduct a surveyfor laying railway line up toGehlaur and open a stationthere and name it after the leg-endary man who hand chiseleda path through a mountainafter 22 years of hard work..

Prabhu at a programmeorganised by Akshar SansarFoundation in New Delhiannounced on Wednesday thathe would speak to the railwayofficials for laying rail line upto Mountain Man’s villageGehalur. “Soon a survey will beconducted. The station atGehlaur will be named after

Baba Dasrath Manjhi,” theRailway Minister announced.When this news reachedGehlaur under Wazirganjblock, the villagers jumped inexcitement and gave credit forthis to Baba.

East Central Railway(ECR) general manger DKGayen said, “The ECR willsoon initiate all procedures onthis project. To take rail line upto Dasrath Manjhi’s village willbe matter or pride for the rail-ways.”

Expressing happiness overPrabhu’s promise, senior BJPleader Nand Kishore Yadavcongratulated the Railway

Minister and hoped that thesurvey and other process wouldbe completed soon and work becompleted before Manjhi’stenth death anniversary.

Manjhi, who died onAugust 17, 2007, was so poorthat could not afford to buy arailway ticket and the TT thewithout ticket Manjhi to getdown from a Delhi boundtrain. What Manjhi did wasunthinkable. He decided to goto Delhi on foot and startingfrom Gaya he walked along therailway tracks and reached thenational capital after months oftrekking. He wanted to meetthen Prime Minister IndiraGandhi but failed.

This was before he took upa hammer and chisel and start-ed cutting the Gehlaur hillocksand aftr 22 years of hard workhe shortened the distancebetween Atri and Wazirganjblocks from 55 km to 15 km bycutting a 360 feet long and 25feet wide road through the hills.

Ketan Mehta’s biopic theMountain Man, which wasreleased in August last year, wasa big hit in Bihar as the StateGovernment waived the enter-tainment tax. A good part ofthe film had been shot inGehlaur village itself.

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Three days after one Armyjawan was killed in firing

from across the Line of Controlanother incident of ceasefireviolation was reported in theAkhnoor sector of Jammu onFriday.

According to reports, thesmall arms firing which start-ed around 11.45 am continuedtill 4.00 pm.

Following unprovoked fir-ing in the forward area panicgripped forward villages espe-cially among farming commu-nity as their free movementcould be curtailed.

Defence PRO in Jammu

claimed,“Pakistani soldiers ini-tiated indiscriminate firing ataround 11.45 am on IndianArmy posts along the Line ofControl (LC) in Akhnoor sec-tor on Friday.”

The Indian Army respond-ed appropriately in a controlledand measured manner, he said,adding the “intermittent firingis presently on”.

There has been no loss oflife or injury to anyone on theIndian side of the border, theofficer added.

On August 30 an Armyjawan was killed and anotherinjured as troops foiled infiltration attempt by the mil-itants in Jogma area ofAkhnoor sector.

Patna: The toll in Bihar floodson Friday mounted to 179with seven more deaths report-ed in the State, even as waterlevel of the swollen Ganga hasstarted receding in many parts.

The seven fresh deaths havebeen reported from Vaishali,Samastipur and Khagaria.

Vaishali alone accountedfor the highest number ofdeaths at five, followed bySamastipur and Khagaria withone death each, a statement bythe Disaster ManagementDepartment said.

The overall death toll infloods in Bihar has risen to 179,the statement said.

The flood has been causedmainly by swollen Ganga apartfrom other rain-fed rivers suchas Sone, Punpun, Burhi

Gandak, Ghaghra,Kosi and has affected41.40 lakh people in

2,173 villages under 613 pan-chayats of 77 blocks of 12 dis-tricts in the state, it said.

A total of 6.56 lakh peoplehave been evacuated so farfrom the 12 flood-affected dis-tricts of Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna,Vaishali, Saran, Begusarai,Samastipur, Lakhisarai,Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpurand Katihar, the statement said.

According to WaterResources Department, Gangais witnessing a receding trendat Digha ghat, Gandhi ghat andHathidah in Patna while it isreceding in Buxar and Munger.

But its water is still flowingabove the danger mark at twoplaces — Bhagalpur andKahalgaon — in Bhagalpurdistrict, it said.

The water level was record-

ed below danger mark at GandhiGhat and Digha Ghat for secondconsecutive day, thus bringingmuch needed relief for Patnaiteswho were facing the threat offlood waters entering the city atone point of time.

Budhi Gandak was flowingabove red mark in Khagaria, itadded.

The Government hasdeployed 2,944 boats for evac-uation while national and statedisaster response forces havealready been deployed in theaffected districts.

A total of 696 relief campsare being run in the flood-hitareas in which 4.08 lakh peo-ple have taken shelter. They arebeing provided medical ser-vices by 574 teams.

A total of 210 camps arebeing operated for cattle affect-ed by flooding of households.

PTI

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Representatives and activistsof several women’s and civil

society organisations on Fridayurged the Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare not tobring about any amendmentsto the Pre-Conception andPre-Natal DiagnosticTechniques (PC-PNDT) Act in1994, as such amendmentswould not only weaken the leg-islation but also defeat thevery purpose the Centre’s flag-ship programme — ‘BetiBachao Beti Padhao’ (BBBP).

Opposing the nation-widestrike launched by sonologistsand radiologists from fromThursday to press for amend-ments in the PCPNDT Act, theactivists said, “Amendments tothe law at this stage will not onlyweaken the PC-PNDT Act butalso defeat the purpose of BetiBachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)”that was launched in January2015. The amendments beingpushed by the medicalAssociations would allow tens ofthousands of medical profes-sionals to continue profiteeringfrom gender-biased sex selectionand escape criminal prosecution”.

According to variouswomen and civil society organ-

siations and activists, the ChildSex Ratio (CSR) in the agegroup 0-6 years has been con-tinuously declining since 1981.According to one estimate, onan average 4.56 lakh girls wentmissing at birth every yearduring the period 2001-12.

The Sample RegistrationSurvey (SRS) Statistical Report-2013 released by the Census ofIndia in 2015 shows the sameadverse trend at birth for mostof the States. The Sex Ratio atBirth (SRB) was found to be864 for Haryana, 867 forPunjab, 902 for J&K, 893 forRajasthan, 911 for Gujarat, 902for Maharashtra, and 878 forUttar Pradesh (2011-13).

The signatories to the jointstatement included — AkhilBharatiya Janwadi MahilaSanghatana, MASUM, BharatiyaMahila Federation, Forumagainst Sex Selection, ChetnaMahila Vikas Manch,Abhivyakti, Streevani, KagadKach Patra Kashtkari Panchayat,Bhatke Vimukt Mahila AdhikarAndolan, Shramik Mukti DalLokshahiwadi and activists likeKiran Moghe, Dr. ManishaGupte, Adv . Kamayani BaliMahabal, Purnima Chikkarma-ne and Sanyogita Dhamdhere.

The organisations and

activists said that though theCentre passed the PC-PNDT Actin 1994 to contain gender-biasedsex selection but its implemen-tation remained on paper forseveral years. It was only after theSupreme Court’s interventionin 2001 that the implantationstarted and the registration ofultrasound centres began.

They said that the recentCensus had clearly highlightedthe fact that gender-biased sexselection was still rampant andthe situation demanded strin-gent and more accountableimplementation of the PC-PNDT Act. “The present Act isadequate to create deterrenceand deal with the crime of gen-der-biased sex selection as is evi-dent in the states of Maharashtraand Haryana where medicalpr0fessionals are being bookedfor illegal and unethical practiceof gender-biased sex selection,”the activists said.,

The activists said that “pow-erful medical lobby was push-ing to undermine the PC-PNDTAct. Pressure is also being builtby the professional medicalAssociations on the Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfare,Government of India to dilutethe strong provisions of the pre-sent Act,” they said.

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In a big relief to AndhraPradesh Chief Minister N

Chandrababu Naidu, theHyderabad High Court onFriday stayed the orders ofTelangana Special Court to theState Anti Corruption Bureaufor fresh probe into the cash-for-vote scam.

Hearing the petition filedby Chandrababu Naidu, JusticeRaja Elango directed the ACBto file its counter for the fullhearing of the case after 8weeks.

In his petitionChandrababu Naidu hadsought the quashing of theorders of the ACB Court thatthe Anti Corruption Bureaushould register a fresh FIRand re-investigate the case inwhich a Telugu Desam MLA ARevanth Reddy was caught redhanded offering bribe to aTelangana legislator Stephan tovote for the TDP in LegislativeCouncil Elections.

While the counsel for thepetitioner argued that the YSRCongress MLA A RamakrishnaReddy had approached theACB court againstChandrababu Naidu with apolitical motive, the counsel forthe ACB told the judge that theBureau’s investigation was con-tinuing in the cash for vote

scam. The ACB has alsoinformed the lower court aboutit, the counsel said.

After hearing the argu-ments of both the sides, JusticeElango asked the counsel forACB to file a detailed counterand adjourned the hearing ofthe petition for 8 weeks.

Naidu in his petition filedon Thursday had questionedthe locus standi of a YSRCPMLA A Ramakrishna Reddy inapproaching the TelanganaACB court seeking a freshprobe in to the case.

The ACB Court hasordered the ACB to re-investi-gate the case and file its reportby September 29. The ACB inits memo filed before thePrincipal Judge of the ACBcourt said that there was noneed for any fresh investiga-tions as the probe on the basisof the first FIR was continuing.

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In a startling move,Telangana Chief Minister K

Chandrasekhar Rao hasremoved his favourite IPS offi-cer from the key post of theState Intelligence Chief BShivadhar Reddy and replacedhim with Naveen Chand whowas recently appointed theCommissioner of Police,Cyberabad West.

Shivadhar Reddy, who isthe first key officer to bepicked up KCR soon after he

took over as the first ChiefMinister of Telangana in June2014, was recently in the newsfor planning and executing theelimination of notorious gang-ster Nayeemuddin.

Shivadhar Reddy’sremoval is part of a significantoverhaul of the police depart-ment at the top level in whichthe number two in the StateIntelligence N Siva ShankarReddy was also removed andposted to the state CrimeInvestigation Department(CID).

What has perplexed manyin the administration and thepolitical circles was the factthat Shivadhar Reddy has nowbeen given the insignificantpost of Inspector GeneralPersonnel indicating that hehas indeed fallen from thegrace. So far he was seen as atrusted official of the ChiefMinister as his input was givenutmost value in taking crucialdecisions.

The reason behind themove was still a matter of con-jecture and the only man who

can shed some light — theofficer concerned — was asusual silent.

T Prabhakar Rao, DIG ofWarangal Range is the newDIG Intelligence whileSandeep Shandaliya, IGPPersonnel, is the newCommissioner of CyberabadWest.

DIG CID Ravi Verma wastransferred as DIG WarangalRange and SP CID K RameshNaidu has been transferredand posted as DCP Traffic,Rachakonda.

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Patna: BJP leader leader SushilKumar Modi on Friday allegedthat the Nitish KumarGovernment has failed to effec-tively implement prohibition inBihar as indicated by the richhaul of alcohol during seizureoperations.

"The Government hastotally failed in effectivelyimplementing prohibition," hesaid in a statement here.

"Though as per official sta-tistics, around 14,000 peoplehave been arrested so far for

violation of the new Excise law,the way foreign brand beer andcountry spirit have been seizedduring the last five months ofprohibition, it proves that ille-gal trade in alcohol is rampant,"Sushil Modi said.

Officials of the state Excisedepartment had on Thursdaybriefed that 11,679 litre ofIndian Made Foreign Liquor(IMFL) and 92,291.47 litre ofcountry liquor were seizedfrom April to August this year.

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���#���� Private companiessaw their profits rise last fis-cal despite contraction insales, a first in the last 15years, according to theReserve Bank data of nearly3,000 firms.

At the aggregate level,operating profit grew by 10.2per cent in 2015-16 com-pared with 5.3 per cent in theprevious year, boosted main-ly on account of sharp con-traction in raw materialexpenses.

“Net profit grew by 9.3 percent in 2015-16 as against Y-o-Y contraction of 0.7 per centin the previous year mainly onaccount of higher operatingprofits and lower tax provi-sions growth. Y-o-Y growth innet profits improved across allsectors,” RBI said.

Overall sales totalled�29,898 billion (over �29.98lakh crore) last fiscal, asagainst �31,191 billion in2014-15. Net profits, on theother hand, were up at �1,966

billion (over �1.96 lakh crore)as against �1,825 billion.

“Boost in profits and prof-itability despite contraction insales performance of the pri-vate corporate business sectorduring 2015-16,” the centralbank said while releasing thedata today.

The data relates to 2,932companies. RBI compiles andreleases data based onabridged financial results oflisted non-government non-financial listed companiesquarterly and annually.

Sales of the private cor-porate business sector con-tracted in 2015-16 both at theaggregate level and for man-ufacturing sector.Performance of the manufac-turing sector was affected bythe fall in global commodityprices.

However, operating prof-it growth was boosted main-ly on account of fall in rawmaterial expenses, whichrecorded higher contraction

than that in the value of pro-duction.

In 2015-16, cost of rawmaterials (CRM) to sales andstaff cost to sales reachedtheir minimum and maxi-mum levels over the last fif-teen years, respectively, RBIsaid.

As per the data on theperformance of non-finan-cial private corporate businesssector during 2015-16, salescontracted by 1.6 per cent and

3.7 per cent at the aggregatelevel and for the manufactur-ing sector, respectively.

“This contraction wasobserved for the first time inthe last fifteen years,” it said.However, sales growthimproved for services (non-IT) and IT sector in 2015-16year-on-year. Pricing powermeasured by operating profitmarginimproved significant-ly for the manufacturing sec-tor and services (non-IT) sec-

tor. Net profit marginimproved across all sectors.

Further, year-on-year (Y-o-Y) interest expenses mod-erated for the manufacturingsector, while it increased sig-nificantly for the services(non-IT) sector on the back ofcontraction in the previousyear. Within the services(non-IT) sector,‘Telecommunications’ indus-try showed a significantincrease in interest expenseson account of large borrow-ings.

RBI said that at the aggre-gate level and for the manu-facturing sector, contractionin expenses on raw materialwas significantly higher thanthe previous year.

Y-o-Y growth rate of staffcost increased significantlyfor the IT sector.

The cost of raw materialsto sales ratio declined sig-nificantly at the aggregatelevel and for the manufac-turing sector.

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�����#���� UnionGovernment has made a pro-vision to the tune of �32,000crore for skill development innext three years, Minister ofState for Skill Developmentand Entrepreneurship RajivPratap Rudy said here onFriday.

“By next three years, theGovernment of India is com-mitted to a total amount inskilling...The provision made isto the tune of �32,000 crore.Never ever in the history ofindependent India, this largeallocation has been done andthis has been done at theinstance of the Prime Minister(Narendra Modi) himself,”Rudy told reporters.

“The challenge today is tosee how this money has to beutilised and...The formulationwhether between the ITIs andPMKVY (Pradhan MantriKaushal Vikas Yojana) orthrough the ApprenticeshipScheme which has been com-pletely revised,” he said.

Rudy recalled that Centralgovernment through Cabinetdecision for the PMKVY hasgiven the ministry �12,000crore.

Under the World Bankscheme of strengthening the

institutions of state and centralgovernments, a loan of $1.5 bil-lion was committed. Andrecently under apprenticeshipScheme another �12,000 crorewas given, he said.

Out of the �12,000 croresanctioned for Pradhan MantriKaushal Vikas Yojana(PMKVY), 25 per cent of thismoney will go directly to thestates, Rudy said.

“The guidelines for thestate Governments are beingprepared and once the guide-lines are ready they will be sentto the states in the next 15 daysand the State Governmentswill have to send their propos-als, and then we will sanctionthem,” the minister said.

Rudy said model centresfor skills will be establishedunder PMKVY across thecountry.

“There are 2,500 blocks inthe country which do not haveITIs, and Government of Indiais planning to set up in eachand every unserviced block ofthis country the multi-skilltraining institutes,” he said.

Rudy said that across theworld, training is not restrict-ed to classrooms. “In China, anestimated three crore studentsare being trained on factoryfloors, in Japan it is 1 crore andin Germany 40 lakh students.To make training successfulafter classroom teaching it hasto be connected to the institu-tion of industry.

“Yesterday, theAmbassador of India to Japanmet me and said if we can give10,000 boys who are skilled, theJapan government is ready totake them. There is not only ashortage of trained workforcewithin the country, the wholeworld is looking towards Indiafor a trained manpower. But,unfortunately the ecosystem ofskilling was compromised (ear-lier),” Rudy said.

He said the industry want-ed a trained manpower but thesystem cannot provide and thechallenge before the SkillDevelopment Ministry is tocreate that environment.

���#���� As an excellent lis-tener and communicator, theoutgoing RBI GovernorRaghuram Rajan used all themodes of communication tostop the market from runningahead and got it open-mouthedinstead, says a report.

Rajan will demit office onSeptember 6, and will return toteaching.

His three-year tenure hasseen many ups and downs interms of macro-challenges,policy choices and managingfiscal and monetary flanks ofthe stabilisation policy.

“Rajan is an excellent lis-tener and his policy decisionsreflect his careful listening ofthe bankers’ opinions. Being awonderful listener universallymakes him an excellent com-municator,” SBI ChiefEconomist SoumyakantiGhosh said in the ecowrapreport on Friday.

“Rajan during his tenurehas literally championed bothconventional and unconven-tional modes of communica-tion and not allowed the mar-ket to run ahead, instead openmouthed the market,” he said.

Such communication hadthe desired impact on move-ments in the exchange rate andin the term structure of inter-est rates being entirely consis-tent with the RBI’s monetary

policy stance, the report said.“Thanks to Rajan we are an

inflation-targeting countrynow. The primary definingcharacteristics of inflation tar-geting, symmetry, forward-looking nature and flexibility,require disciplined communi-cation efforts for monetarypolicy to be credible and effec-tive.

“Rajan has ensuredthrough his judicious com-munication that inflation tar-geting is now well-entrenchedin the psyche of each andevery stakeholder in the finan-cial sector space,” the reportsays.

Under Rajan’s leadership,RBI has delivered on all aspectsof banking to develop a soundand efficient financial system,which will contribute to thegrowth process of the country,it said.

Some of his major achieve-ments are: New policy frame-work, formation of monetarypolicy framework, implemen-tation of asset quality review toclean balance sheets of PSBs,new banking licence in privatesector and licensing small andpayment banks, universal pay-ment interface for integratedmobile banking system and lastbut not the least the trans-parency in public disclosures ofRBI.When Rajan took the

charge on September 4, 2013,the rupeewas trading at 63.8and is today at 66.9. After a yearof him assuming the officerupee had gained 4.5 per centto 60.9 in September 2014.

Before Rajan took over,the rupee had fallen to itsrecord low of 68.85 on August28, 2013.

In his three-year tenure,the foreign exchange reservesincreased by $91 billion from$276 billion to $367 billion,which is a record high, thereport notes.

Higher reserves helped thecountry increase its importcover from 8.1 months inSeptember 2013 to 12.4 monthsnow.

Under him, RBI has takena number of steps to managethe system liquidity in a betterway. It narrowed LAF corridorand introduced MCLR for abetter transmission of policyrate.

On financial inclusion, RBIhas issued two banking licencesin the private sector and intro-duced innovative banking interms of small finance banksand payment banks.

Rajan’s tenure saw two newuniversal banks, IDFC Bankand Bandhan Bank, startedtheir operations.

The RBI gave in-principlelicense to 10 entities for small

finance banks and 11 for pay-ment banks.

The central bank took anumber of steps to reduceNPAs in the banking system.The signs of rising stress in thebanking system, measured bygross NPA, increased to 8.7 percent in June 2016 from 4.2 percent in September 2013.However, the pace of formationof fresh NPA moderated, thereport said.

The stressed assets (GNPAand restructured standardassets) for the banking systemas a whole, which stood at 11.5per cent as at the end ofSeptember 2013, moved upsharply to 14.5 per cent at theend of December 2015.

“The rising stressed assetsrefrain banks to lend credit, bywhich credit growth slowed tosingle digit from a robustgrowth of 17-18 per cent in2013 and before,” the reportsaid.

Deposits growth has alsoreduced significantly to sub-9per cent from a double digitgrowth.

Rajan had cut rates fivetimes and increased three timesin the last three years.

“On a lighter note, Rajanappears to be a dove, comparedto YV Reddy and D Subbaraowhen their rate cuts/hike areanalysed,” the report said.

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Supreme Court on Fridayasked the Sahara Group

to come clean by disclosingits sources from where ithad raised �25,000 croreand paid its investors incash, observing that it is“difficult to digest” as sucha huge amount “cannot fallfrom the heavens.”

“You (Sahara Group) tellus what is the source of thismoney? Did you get themoney from other compa-nies or other schemes to thetune of �24,000 crore?Withdrew it f rom bankaccounts? Or sold propertyto get it? It should be any oft he t h re e a l te r nat ive s .Money did not fall fromthe heavens. You have toshow from where you havegot the money.

“Though we don’t doubtthe capacity of your client topay crores of money to

investors, that too in cash intwo months. But the entireexplanation of the episode isdifficult to digest. Tell us thesource of the cash and therewill be no need to open thepandora box,” a bench head-ed by Chief Just ice TSThakur said.

The bench, also com-prising Justices AR Daveand AK Sikri, which will

hear the matter on the issueagain on September 16, said“you start the hearing onthat date by disclosing fromwhere you got the money.”

“Show us the do cu-ments. How the money waslying in other schemes,” thebench said af ter seniora dvo c ate Kapi l S ib a l ,appearing for Sahara ChiefSubrata Roy, submitted that

the group had raised moneyand paid to its investors incash and the market regula-tor SEBI was running awayfrom finding out crores ofinvestors.

“This is your (Sahara’s)claim. SEBI has a very sim-ple question.

Please tell us from whereyou got the money. You tellus and we will close the

case. You tell us how youraised �25,000 crore incash,” the bench said.

Sibal said the group wasopen for any probe and evenassuming that there is anapprehension that it is acase of blackmoney, thegroup can be investigatedbut “if it’s black money, whois SEBI to investigate? It ism atte r of Inc om e Ta x(Department).”

However, the bench saidthe onus was on the businesshouse to reveal the source ofthe money, whether it isaccounted money or unac-counted money.

“Was it lying in yourbank account or you got itfrom schemes floated byyou,” the bench said as Sibaltried to convince that theGroup drew money fromothers schemes in whichthe investment was made.

“I have already filed anaffidavit,” Sibal said.

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���� �� ���� Hours after theSupreme Court asked it to dis-close the source of its money, theSahara Group on Friday said themoney collected throughoptionally fully- convertibledebentures (OFCD) were invest-ed in various assets and thegroup companies made themoney available when the needarose for making repayments tothe investors.

The group’s statement,

which came after the apex courtasked the company to disclosethe source of money to the tuneof �25,000 crore that wasarranged, said, “it is relevant tomention that Sahara operatesfrom around 5000 branchesacross the country and all thepayments were made throughthose branches only.

“It is this pan-India net-work of Sahara’s branches,which made the company to

refund money.”The group, through its

lawyer, further said that all thedocuments pertaining to theserepayments have been handedover to SEBI in original, alongwith the original bond certifi-cates surrendered by theinvestors. It said that all the doc-uments pertaining to the pay-ments made to the investorshave already been placed beforethe apex court.

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The UK has retained its posi-tion as Europe’s top invest-

ment destination. The UK’sDepartment for InternationalTrade (DIT), has released newinward investment results for thetax year 2015 to 2016 showingthat a record number of inwardinvestment projects by interna-tional companies has createdthe second highest number ofnew jobs since records began.

Dr Liam Fox, Secretary ofState for International Trade,who was on a three day visit toIndia said: “These impressiveresults show the UK continues tobe the place to do business.”

“We’ve broadened our reachwith emerging markets across theworld to cement our position asthe number one destination inEurope for investment. This con-tinued vote of confidence in theUK will help attract foreigninvestment to create jobs, secu-rity and opportunities for peopleacross the UK,” Fox added.

India has emerged as thesecond largest job creator in theUK by creating 7,105 new jobsover the period, and retained itsposition as the third largestinvestor in Britain second timein a row providing 140 projects.India closely follows China(which includes Hong Kong)with 156. The USA remainedthe UK’s largest source ofinward investment providing570 projects.

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Donald Trump’s fiery immi-gration rhetoric and his

unveiling of a tough ten-pointagenda in Phoenix onWednesday may have enthusedhis hardcore Republican baseno end, but he is up against afierce Hispanic backlash thatcould mar his presidential bid.

Without a fair amount ofsupport from the burgeoningHispanic community that happens to be America’s largest

ethnic minority, Trump’s WhiteHouse campaign could simplyunravel — just as it happenedto Mitt Romney in the 2012 race against President BarackObama.

At least two members ofTrump’s recently-constitutedHispanic Advisory Councilquit the panel in a huff and twoothers publicly attacked hisimmigration proposals,terming them “awful” and “dis-appointing”. CBS News report-ed that as many as 15 of 24members of the panel had

either resigned or were plan-ning to.

“I gave Donald Trump aplan that would improve bordersecurity, remove hardened crim-inal aliens and most importantlygive work authority to the mil-lions of honest, hardworkingimmigrants in the US,” Texasattorney Jacob Monty, a keymember of the panel, wrote onFacebook, adding, “He rejectedthat tonight and so I mustreject him.”

Another member, RamiroPena, a pastor, also pulled out,commenting, “I am so sorrybut I believe Trump lost theelection tonight.” The panelitself seemed to be “simply foroptics”, he said, adding, “I do

not have the time or energy fora scam.”

“I think he’s done for withthe Hispanic community. He’snever going to see the WhiteHouse if he doesn’t get a sig-nificant portion of the Hispanicvote,” said US HispanicChamber of Commerce

President Javier Palamarez.In his Phoenix address,

Trump not only outlined hisplan for deportation of sometwo million criminal aliens, butalso made it clear that all 11 mil-lion illegal immigrants wouldhave to go back to their respec-tive countries and seek re-entry

to the US through the legalimmigration route. The bulk ofthese illegal immigrants areHispanics from Mexico.

Although Trump did signalthat his immediate priority asPresident would be to get rid ofthe criminal aliens and beginwork on the wall, his refusal toprovide any path to legalizationto the rest within the US itself hasdisappointed some key membersof his panel and angered theHispanic community as a whole.

A poll released in Julyshowed that only 19 per cent ofHispanic voters support Trump— even lower than the 27 percent who backed Romney in2012. With African-Americanssupporting his Democratic

rival Hillary Clinton virtuallyen bloc, Trump was widelyexpected to court moreHispanics with a softer immi-gration pitch, but he apparent-ly abandoned the plan in orderto keep his predominantlywhite voters’ base intact.

A Washington Post analysisestimated that at least 5 millionto as many as 6.5 million illegalimmigrants could be targetedunder the deportation prioritiesoutlined by Trump. WhileTrump himself pegged the tar-get at two million criminalaliens, the Post analysis has alsotaken into account his other list-ed priority of removing allthose who have become illegalby overstaying their visas.

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Moadimayet Al-Sham (Syria): More than 300 Syrians living ina rebel held town near Damascus were evacuated on Friday undera deal with the Government, state media reported.

The agreement between the regime and the rebels had alreadyseen thousands of civilians and opposition fighters leave the townof Daraya, southwest of the capital, after a four-year Governmentsiege. Civilians evacuated today from nearby Moadimayet al-Shamhad been living there for around three years after fleeing fight-ing in Daraya. Moadimayet al-Sham is also under Governmentsiege, but after a truce deal signed in late 2013 has been sparedthe heavy fighting that has ravaged other rebel-held areas aroundthe capital. Negotiations are underway to secure a deal underwhich rebel fighters in the town will also leave, though civilianswill reportedly remain, parties to the talks told AFP.

The evacuees walked to the edge of Moadimayet al-Sham,where eight buses were waiting to take them to reception cen-tres elsewhere in Damascus province, an AFP photographerreported.

Vatican City: Pope Francishas accepted the resignation ofan Italian bishop who wel-comed into his diocese priestsaccused of, and in some casesconvicted of, sexual abuse,homicide and other crimes.

The Vatican didn’t say whyBishop Mario Olivieri resignedtwo years before the regularretirement age of 75. Usually,the Vatican announces earlyretirements by saying they weredue to a “grave” reason that

made the bishop unfit foroffice. In Olivieri’s case, theVatican didn’t even providethat information on Thursday.

Italian newspapers haveidentified a handful of priestsaccused or convicted of crimeswho were accepted by the tra-dition-minded Olivieri intohis Albenga-Imperia dioceses.

In a letter, Olivieri said hewas pained to leave because heloved the dioceses “and aboveall its priests.” AP

Colombo: UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday said the Sri LankanGovernment needs to do much more to redress the “wrongs of the past”and to restore the “legitimacy and accountability” of key institutionssuch as the judiciary and security services after decades of bloodshedwith the LTTE. The UN secretary-general, however, welcomed the effortsmade by the Government of President Maithripala Sirisena, who hadcome to power on a pledge of reconciliation and reform after defeat-ing Sinhala-strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2015.

Ban welcomed the symbolic steps taken by the government to buildbridges among communities, including the decision to sing the nation-al anthem in Sinhala and Tamil on Independence Day in February thisyear for the first time since the 1950s.

PTI

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Istanbul: Turkey on Fridayclaimed that Uzbekistan’s ailingPresident Islam Karimov, whohas ruled the ex-Soviet nationfor over two decades, had diedbut there was no confirmationfrom Uzbek authorities.

“Uzbek President IslamKarimov has died. May Allahrest him in peace,” PrimeMinister Binali Yildirim saidduring a televised cabinetmeeting. “As the Turkishrepublic, we share the sorrowof the Uzbek people,” he added.

An Uzbek Governmentstatement on Friday haddescribed him as being in crit-ical condition, saying his healthhad worsened “sharply” fol-lowing a stroke.

Rumours have swirled over

the president’s condition sinceUzbek officials first said lastSunday that he had been hospi-talised, with opposition mediabased outside the very tightly-controlled Central Asian nationclaiming he had already died.

Long criticised by rightsgroups for brutally crushingdissent, Karimov has ruledUzbekistan with an iron fistsince before it gained inde-pendence from the SovietUnion in 1991. AFP

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0G� ���� ������� ��� ���������!� G����� ��Moscow: Uzbekistan appeared to be preparing for a State funer-al after saying on Friday that the country’s President is criti-cally ill. Islam Karimov has run an authoritarian Governmentin the Central Asian nation since 1989, and cultivated no appar-ent successor.

Karimov, 78, hasn’t been seen in public since mid-August,but his Government admitted only last weekend that he wasill.

His daughter Lola said he had suffered a brain hemorrhage,and a swarm of unofficial reports have placed him close to deathor even dead. AFP

��� ���������%��'�����5��$�������������������� Davao (Philippines): President Rodrigo Duterte said on Fridaythe Philippine coast guard has observed Chinese barges at a dis-puted shoal in the South China Sea, possibly indicating that Beijingis planning new construction that could ratchet up tensions.

Still, Duterte said he wouldn’t raise the territorial disputeat an Asian summit in Laos next week that will be attended byseveral world leaders, including China. “The coast guard madesome little trips near them and there are a lot of barges. ... Whatis the purpose of a barge?” Duterte said in a speech in south-ern Panabo city in Davao del Norte province, adding that theintelligence report “was unsettling.”

Duterte said the barges were sighted in Bajo de Masinloc,the Filipino name for Scarborough Shoal off the northwesternPhilippines that Chinese Government ships seized in 2012 fol-lowing a standoff with Philippine vessels. PTI

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London: Almost a third ofdogs checked at random acrossthe UK were found to be car-rying a tick, researchers said onFriday after carrying out thelargest survey of ticks in dogs.

Researchers also found thatthe risk of an animal picking upa tick is as great in urban areasas in rural ones. Ticks can carrya range of diseases includingLyme disease, and also a para-site discovered in the UK forthe first time earlier this yearthat is potentially fatal to dogs,the BBC reported.

Lyme disease has thepotential to cause serioushealth problems, such asmeningitis and heart failure. Inthe most serious cases, it can befatal. Almost 15,000 dogs fromacross the UK were examinedin the study, which was carriedout by Bristol University lastyear, the report said.

Just under a third (31 percent) of these dogs checked atrandom during a visit to the vetwere found to be carrying atick. The researchers foundthat the arachnids are presentright across the UK, with thehighest risk areas beingScotland, East Anglia and theSouth West. There can be justas many in urban areas as inrural areas.

The species, life-cycle stage,sex and location of origin andwhether it was carrying anypathogens were recorded. PTI

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It is hard to avoid television if you are a kid.In some homes, the television is perpetually"on" even without anyone watching. It is com-

mon for parents and caregivers to use TV as a sub-stitute babysitter. Also, many parents buy videosthat they think can make their kids smart. Buthow does watching TV really affect children?

TV viewing takes away the time that yourchild needs to develop important skills like lan-guage, creativity, motor and social skills. Theseskills are developed in the kids' first two years (acritical time for brain development) through play,exploration, and conversation. Your kid's lan-guage skills, for example, do not improve by pas-sively listening to the TV. It is developed by inter-acting with people, when talking and listening isused in the context of real life.

TV viewing numbs your kid's mind as it pre-vents your child from exercising initiative, beingintellectually challenged, thinking analytically, andusing his imagination.

Kids who watch a lot of TV have trouble pay-ing attention to teachers because they are accus-tomed to the fast-paced visual stimulation on TV.Kids who watch TV more than they talk to theirfamily have a difficult time adjusting from beingvisual learners to aural learners. They also haveshorter attention spans.

School kids who watch too much TV also tendto work less on their homework. When doing

homework with TV on the background, kids tendto retain less skill and information. When theylose sleep because of TV, they become less alertduring the day, and these results in poor schoolperformance.

TV exposes your kid to negative influences,and promotes negative behaviour. TV shows andcommercials usually show violence, alcohol,drug use and sex in a positive light. The mindof your kid is like clay.

Kids who watch too much TV are usuallyoverweight as they often snack on junk food whilewatching TV. They are also influenced by com-mercials to consume unhealthy food. Also, theyare not running, jumping or doing activities thatburn calories and increase metabolism. Obesekids, unless they change their habits, tend to beobese when they become adults.

TV watching also affects a child's health andathletic ability.

The more television a child watches, even inthe first years of life, the more likely he is to beobese and less muscularly fit, according to a studyby the University of Montreal. Even though yourkid does not aspire to be a football star, his ath-letic abilities are important not only for physicalhealth, but predicting how physically active he willbe as an adult.

On the other side of the coin cartoon has greatsource of fun and entertainment for children.

Children are fond of cartoons because of manyreasons. As they found human in cartoon formwith cute or weird shape and dress with colour-ful attire. Child at 3 to 9 years age usually startsto watch cartoons. But at this age kids have grow-ing mind and with curiosity and fast learningcapability by observing things. And that's why car-toons directly make an impact on their minds andnature as well.

Children have a mind which is full of curios-ity and always finding something to learn. In real-ity they usually spend time in home, school andin some cases with baby sitter. Means they did-n't see any unusual or funny stuff in surround-ing.

And while at home they watch Television,always prefer to watch cartoons because here kidsfound all the funny and entertaining stuff.

However, the cartoons are only imaginary ani-mated character but a kid does not have enoughmature mind to understand that. And watchingcartoon consistently placed an effect on their mind

and definitely affects their behavior. Doctors andpsychological experts always suggest parents toallow kids to watch cartoons.

Of course, cartoon characters are fictional andexactly their lives and actions do not exist in realbut apart from that, the message and intentionhidden behind every cartoon character is basedon reality and facts of life.

Laughing keeps the production of endorphinin our body and that's important for the heart andmind. Consequently, it keeps our body disease freeand also many more positive effects work on ourhealth. In this hectic life, may be everyone has var-ious source for reducing stress and watching car-toon characters is one of them.

Scientifically it has been proved that our mindis more active when it comes to visual learningrather than other learning methods. That's whymany institutes suggest seminars and lectures asvideo tutorials.

Kids usually don't love to read book usually,as a book does not have anything interesting orfunny according to them. But a child can easilycatch the message by watching.

In cartoons there are families and friends.There a cartoon character always loyal with itsloved ones and always speak the truth. And if achild watching such kid cartoon on television itwill definitely affect the kid's mind. It has beenproven that the child starts learning to always

speak the truth to parents. Cartoons are usually dancing and singing in

the show and that's the moment where a childespecially found it more funny and interesting andfor a kid this is a new unusual thing to learn andof course they are in learning period of life.Finally by watching their favorite cartoon singingor dancing kids also try dancing and singing insame way.

Kids actually learn by watching and in car-toon show their hero or favorite characterbehaves respectfully with his family. This tendsa kid to do it in same way. And the child startsgiving respect to its elder brother and sister infamily. In other words, we can say that the childis making his/her behavior good and appreciable.

One of the most effective and positive effectis that children learn not only the mother-tonguebut also the foreign language. Many of cartoonseries are in different languages as depend oncountry where the show has to be air. Thisenhances the learning of language a child andcause to speak in proper way.

Actually this is parent's take and responsibil-ity to decide the cartoon as children do not haveany idea that there is no real spider man who canjump over building or there is no superman withsupernatural powers. Experts suggest that by chil-dren's psychological behavior parents decide car-toon show for kids.

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Despite high aptitude, womenartistes were toned down asmere nautch girls in the pages

of performing arts' history, whiletheir male counterparts continue toearn recognition as Ustads. Manjarithrough her heart-warming perfor-mance questions the stigma attachedto it.

Recently the capital recalled thebygone era of kathak throughManjari’s performance. The Courtesan- An Enigma by Manjari at SteinAuditorium with graceful perfor-mance of darbari kathak wooed theaudience. It was well complimented bythe narration of anecdotes and storiesby actress Neesha Singh. She mes-merised the audience with her stun-ning voice and her elegant style. Sheshed light upon pre-conceived notionsabout courtesans, often misconstrued,such as their sensibilities and dispo-sition.

On the notes of Neesha Singh,Manjari performed darbari kathak'which is a more embellished form ofKathak.. Her expressive and gracefuldance performance made the ancienttexts alive on stage. The performancerelive the music and dance of royalcourts, the deep knowledge in poet-ry, dance and music, the exorbitantapparel of the courtesans studded withexpensive gems.

This concert was conceptualizedand created by Manjari. “This is anunusual subject, a subject that hasalways been brushed away as it hasmany social stigmas attached to it”,the danseuse said. This concert is partof a research project of Manjari, on the‘The Lost Songs of the Courtesans’.“Under this series we archive anddocument the artform. Our efforts areto remove the social stigmas associ-ated with the courtesan, and give themdue respect as artists par excellence”,she added. All this was done andtalked about while the audienceswere entertained by beautifully chore-ographed dance sequences, and sto-ries told, which would prompt themto think why history shortchangedthese women who were great per-formers.

The life and times of Gauhar Jaan,

who was born of Armenian parents,Chanda Bibi, Rasoolan Bai, Jaddan Baiand Zarina Begum was retold byNeesha. And the poetry by BehzadLakhnavi, Wajid Ali Shah, ArzooLakhnavi and others were also usedin the performance. “Neesha is play-ing a part in my production as a storyteller and encating the larger than lifecharacter of Gauhar jaan, the famouscourtesan from Calcutta”, Manjarisaid.

“Courtesans were woman artistes,classically trained, who danced andsang with panache. The y were thestyle icons of their times and theyeven customised the clothes and thejewellery for them”, she said.

“They entertained at a time whenthere were no films, no television andno multimedia. These women, hence,had the same status of the film starsof the current time”, she asserted.

For Manjari among her variousdocumentation projects, this projectis most difficult. “This is an archivaldocumentation project. At the same

time a performing art should beshared with the audiences to keep italive. Its difficult because it involvesa social stigma of ‘fallen women' dis-carded by society , simply because ofa mindset that hasn't been thought of,questioned, discussed, debated as anartform. Till date we do not have anyvideos of the mujra performances bythe erstwhile courtesans, everythingis available only as a bollywood ver-sion, or as hearsay, and we all knowhow far moved that would be from theoriginal. More so because our imageof a courtesan is largely that of whathas been depicted in our films”, shesaid.

While talking about the era of dar-bari kathak and its negligence, shesaid, “The performing art of thecourtesan, darbari kathak' is one thathas been destroyed by public neglect.As a remnant from the British Raj, ananglicised class of Indians frownedupon the ways of these women whoseart was dominated by the thought ofshringar and romance”, she said.

Darbari Kathak has also beenbrought alive, by Manjari ‘s endeav-our. “Darbari kathak relies heavily andvividly on the hands and the face forexpression and also the dancer mustbe exquisitely costumed. The cos-tumes have been designed with refer-ences from the erstwhile rare paint-ings and very few pictures availableof the courtesans from the 18th-20thcentury,” said Manjari.

The repertoire used poetry of the19th and 20th century poets keepingin tune with the era that was of thecourtesns. “The compositions havebeen specially selected and arrangedby me to represent the era. They arebeautifully sung by Radhika Chopra”,the dancer said. The courtesan, thepoetry, with the interlacing of Persianand Awadhi language influence thattouched the soul, the music - ghazals,dadra and thumri gayaki, where eachnote resonated the singer’s emotions,never failed to captivate the audience.

On the scenario of darbari kathak,Manjari commented strongly that,“The current generations of the erst-while male court dancers talk aboutthe family lineage with a sense of prideextolling the greatness of their fore-fathers as dancers in the royal courts.At the same time the generations ofthe women court dancers live with asense of shame never disclosing theirlineage or any connection with theerstwhile courts. Somewhere the gen-der discrimination in the field of artshad existed and had never beenaddressed, consequently this sect ofwomen were always ostracised fromthe society and considered lesserthan their contemporary men. Thedisdain and apathy of a callous soci-ety had subjected them to a life ofobscurity. Not having given them anopportunity to showcase their art, ithad also dissuaded them to train theirsucceeding generations in these forms.As a result, these rare treasures, grad-ually lost forever. It is high time for usto question this. Today most peoplewould invite a film actress to theirforum with pride and at the same timean erstwhile courtesan will be consid-ered inappropriate, why this inequal-ity for performing artists”, she asked.

Shariq Mustafa carries a stamp ofFarukhabad gharana, which produce

great performers of HindustaniClassical music including his fatherUstad Rashid Mustafa Thirakwa and thelegendary Ustad Ahmad Jaan ThirakwaKhan. He started obtaining informaltraining at his father's behest withouthaving any plans to pursue his careerin music. “I was initiated into Tablaplaying at the tender age of four. Therewas also a desire to opt for administra-tive services at the back of my mind, butthat suddenly took a backseat,, hesays. Besides being inclined towardsClassical, he is also passionate aboutfusion. He further says, “I am highlyadaptable to change. Fusion challengesme to come out of my comfort zone. I

would say in fusion there is no confu-sion”.

He has been the part of many fusionprojects and has worked jointly withmany great artists like Patsy Ried fromScotland. Apart from being an amaz-ing solo percussionist, Shariq is the leadvocalist of Mystique Sufi, a band creat-ed a few years ago which plays instru-ments like the base guitar, electronicguitar, keyboard and percussion instru-ments like tabla, darbuka and drums.“I sing both Sufi Compositions by UstadNusrat Fateh Ali Khan and other SufiQawwals and Bollywood music in theband”, he adds. He is also well-versedin playing instruments like cajon, dar-buka, and djembe.

Besides his father standing behindhim, his mother has also been support-ive throughout. He goes ahead saying,“My mother used to bribe me intolearning tabla. She has been an excel-lent guru, apart from an amazingmother.

This nurturship has shaped his atti-tude for women He believes thatwomen is the strong pillar of society.And what more ? He has started work-ing on his latest project called TablaNaari, in which the focus is women.

Shariq Mustafa , who recently pre-sented a solo performance at UstadAhmadjan Thirakwa Music Festival inthe capital city, says, “There are manythought provoking questions which goon my mind before I get on stage for myperformance. Everytime what happenson stage is contrary to what I hadplanned. Music is not just about the per-formance,,it is beyond that. What I wantis to see the smiling faces of my audi-ence after watching my performance”,he smiles.

Artists are simply artists.They have nothing to do

with Pakistan or India. And,they should be kept out of allthis mess which they aredragged into”, said Aamir Ali,son of Ustad Ghulam AliKhan. Aamir Ghulam Ali andhis father maestro UstadGhulam Ali Khan were in thetown for the launch of Aamir’shis latest single Nahin Milna.Sharing his disgust on the pastevents of concert cessation,Aamir said, “There are someelements in our society whocreate this nuisance. There isno need to divide art orartists. What we do is pureand simple.”

As a youngster dabblingin a genere of music that isconsidered ‘slow and unhip’among the youth today,Aamir, unlike his father, hashis work cut out for him. “Ifind today’s youth is unable toconnect with my father’s ghaz-al. I’m trying to do my bit forchanging this. I try contempo-rise those ghazals-some ofwhich are 20 years old-sothat it can connect withtoday’s audience”, said Aamir.

Why Indian artists do not getdue respect in Pakistan as thePakistani artists get in India?“I do not believe in that.Great artists from India arewell recieved in Pakistan.Same happens in India as

well”, he said.Agreeing that there’s a

responsibility that comes withbeing the heir of an icon,Aamir said, “I would nevercompare myself with myfather. There is no way that Ican become like him ever.”“But I also feel that everyartist is unique”, he adds. Forhis new launch, however,Aamir promised a blend ofmodernistic visuals with con-temporary ghazal to meet theexpectations of the presentday audience. Further talkingabout the changing face ofmusic, he said, “My father hasalways said that no music isbad. Provided that it makesyou feel good.” “I feel sad thatat present a singer pops out ofnowhere, sings anything anddegrade the taste of music forthe public. People deserve tolisten to good music to feel thecore of it. Lyrics should makesense atleast.”

At the end, Aamir is opti-mistic that the golden days ofghazals will be back and peo-ple will someday get to hear,what it is called as ‘goodmusic’.

Looks like the heat in the B-town has gone up once

again. Controversies at thetime of clash releases is noth-ing new. But this time it hasreally gone ugly between AjayDevgn and Karan Johar. Withthe clash of their forthcomingmovies Shivaay and Ae DilHai Mushkil respectively,another controversy has cometo light. Ajay has accusedKaran Johar of bribingthe ‘self proclaimed’film critic KRK.

Lately, an audioclip leaked with

Kamaal R Khanrevealing that he hasbeen paid Rs 25 lacsby Karan Joharto praiseA D H M ' st e a s e r .Apparently,the audio clipis doingrounds overthe internet.In the audiotape, KumarMangat, pro-ducer ofShivaay, canbe heard talk-ing to KRK.Further in thetape, KRKi n d i r e c t l ypoints out atKJo for brib-ing him 25 lacsfor praisingADHM. Post theleak of audio clip,Devgn sent out anofficial statementwhere he hasexpressed his dis-pleasure over whatjust happened. Hesaid, “I have been apart of the Indianfilm industry for thepast 25 years andhave been associat-ed with over 100films. My fatherwas a profes-sional action director

and I have an emotional con-nection with this industry. Ittherefore pains me to see thatpeople like Kamaal R Khanare holding the film industryto ransom by spreading neg-ativity about films to extortmoney from producers. It isvery sad that people from ourown industry are supportingsuch elements and spoilingthe ethos of the film industry.I would strongly demand thatthis be thoroughly investigat-ed by competent authoritiesto clarify if Karan Johar wasindeed involved in this.”Soon after getting informa-tion about this shocking

statement actress Kajolalso expressed her

distress.According tothe reports,Ajay Devgnhas demand-ed an inves-t i g a t i o na g a i n s tKaran, whoa l l e g e d l y

p a i dKamaal R

Khan Rs 25lakhs to post pos-

itive reviews abouthis next film ‘Ae Dil

Hai Mushkil’ andgive negative reviewsof Devgn’s f i lm‘Shivaay’. KJo, onthe other hand, hasthanked his fans forgiving enormouslove to the teaser ofADHM.

As soon as thecontroversy came

to light, KRK tookto his social mediaaccount and post-ed that he hasn'theard any audioclip being talkedabout and hencereserve his com-ments upon any-thing. Karan, onthe other hand,has kept hissilence till now.

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�What was your first impression of your co-starJohnny Knoxville?

He's an extremely funny guy like a Chris Tucker mixedwith Owen Wilson.

�Can you talk about you and your co-star performingyour own stunts?

Johnny expressed to me that he wanted to perform hisown stunts. I have to protect all the actors from gettinginjured. A small mishap and the whole production haults,so my major concern was protecting the actors and mak-ing sure they're safe. When I perform a stunt personally,I know even if I get hurt, I'll be okay. I've worked with manyactresses and actors who prefer using a stunt double, whichI do encourage in some cases. Johnny particularly was veryadamant about doing the stunts himself and impressed mewith his ability to bounce back after doing complicatedsetups. Very few actors can do that while having a smileon their face.

�You worked with Fan Bingbing in Skiptrace,So how is to work with one of the mostbeautiful women for you?

I actually was very popularamong girls ever since I wasyoung. After I became astuntman, I would go tonightclubs with my seniorfellow apprentice. Afterbecoming rich andfamous, girls wouldcome to me like butter-flies. Actually, I've beennumb after so manyyears. I have seen toomany beautiful girls, fromChinese to foreigner thatnow I don't think anyone isparticularly beautiful.

�Describe your character's jour-ney in the film.

I'm the uncle of Fan Bingbing's charac-ter, who is my niece. Johnny's character is a scumbag. Heis always cheating people, hustling and gambling. He's ona blacklist around the world, except in Macau. I help Fan'scharacter chase Johnny's character from Russia back toHong Kong. During this chase, we're not able to travel theusual ways of trains, planes or cars. Our means of trans-portation including riding horses or donkeys, walking,taking boats down rivers, mountain climbing, and otherunusual ways of getting from point A to point B.It’s crazy.

�What are you hoping audiencestake away from the film?

A lot of time people ask mehow good a movie is but Inever will talk about a filmin that way. In my opin-ion, you don't need topromote great movies.One should watch themovie and tell me if

he/she likes it or not!

�Your movies always have a moral to it in spite of beingaction packed movies, how so?

I love action, but I hate violence. There is so much vio-lence in the world, from video games and from othermovies. I want my movies to have a message of peace, andhelping each other.

�How is acting different from directing for you?When I direct, the film is like my baby. I have to make

sure that there is comedy but no dirty comedy, and a pos-itive message. I like people to believe the stunts are real- it's not like Spider-Man or Iron Man where a 20-minutescene can be pure CGI. I only use a tiny bit of specialeffects. I want it to be believable, so where I used to doa triple kick, I now just do one. Eventually, there will beno kicks. There has to be plenty of action, but not vio-lence.

�Do you ever think of taking a break from the enter-tainment industry?

I've wanted to retire for a long, long time!But people keep offering me good scripts

although not for romance films andI think myself lucky as I am

working.

Iwas more interested in Sciencesthan anything else, I wanted a

career that gave me my Sciencewithout being a doctor or an engi-neer” Karishma said.

Having studied Viticulture andEnology at the University ofCalifornia, Karishma is the firstwell-known qualified woman tobe a part of winemaking industry.And is a spur for a lot of womenwho aspire to be wine makers. “Idon’t think about being a woman inthis industry. The first time it everstruck me was when people askedabout being a woman in this maledominated field. I love what I do,”she told us.

Robed in a beautiful blackdress, when asked about a thing thatwine makers should always do, shesaid, “Drink drink and drink,” andlaughed. She said, “The more youtaste, the better it is. More of otherpeoples’ and less of your own.”

Talking about her work, shesaid, “My work is not typical at all,which is why I like it. I travel a fairbit between our wineries in Nasikand Bangalore. From January toMay is harvest time, when we aremaking the wine and then from

September to December the highsale period, so there is a lot of bot-tling. So, the year is broken up intodifferent jobs for me.”

About her favourite wine,Karishma was quick and said “Eachone from our portfolio. I cannotchoose one. It actually depends onthe day and my mood”.

Taking about her passion, shesaid “I found my passion so youngin life that if not a wine maker, Ihave no idea what else I would havebeen”.

“It’s awful to balance work andhome. But I love my work so muchthat I don’t realise that a wholemonth has gone and I haven’t metanybody. It’s easy to say that youshould take out time for yourselfand things should be balanced butwhen you are really passionateabout your work, you don’t realisethat you are missing other things.And I think that’s the journey”.

To the women who aspire towork in this field, she said, “Beinga woman should never hold youback from doing anything. And youcan always call me”. The daughterof Kapil Grover she is the associ-ate wine-make at Grover vineyard.Grover Zampa vineyard hosted anexclusive La Reserve Wine Dinnerprepared by chef Vikramjit Roypaired with India’s finest reservewine at ITC Maurya in the capital.

“I grew up with wines. It wasmy grandfather who started GroverZampa, along with my father, so Iam the third generation.” “We havebeen working very hard to improvesmall things that are non-exciting.It’s a lot of grunt work and we arefinally beginning to see the resultnow with the awards we got”,Karishma said.

We all have been watchingsaas bahu sagas on televi-

sion sets with the melodramasand typical home made khich-di. But if you are willing to takea break, then Badho Bahu couldbe a better option. This roman-tic drama revolves around aHaryanavi girl Komal a.k.aBadho, who is tad plumpy,played by Rytasha Rathore andHaryana’s star wrestler LuckySingh Ahlawat, played byPrince Narula.

“It’s great that mainstreamIndian TV is writing such inter-esting characters. I am justhappy to be part of somethingthat’s challenging the statusquo,” says Rytasha, whose char-acter is being pitched as adaughter-in-law weighing 94kg. Her character has a childlikeinnocence and is very vocalabout her thoughts and herbumbling ways make her standout. “I relate with Badhobecause she is brave and strong,doesn’t take nonsense fromanybody. Also she is happy andbubbly. But in terms of differ-ence from her, I am not as kindand patient as she is. I have gota bit of mean side in me”,shared Rytasha.

While Badho is well knownfor her ‘bigness’, Lucky SinghAhlawat is the most celebratedwrestler in the town. “This willbe my first attempt at dailysoap, so I wanted to take up ashow that had unique contentwhich is different from whatyou see on television thesedays”, said Prince. I am playinga very challenging characterwho holds a gold medal inwrestling. Rytasha and I will beseen as the television's uncon-ventional couple and I hope theaudience appreciates ourefforts”, he added.

Narula, who has remaineda known face of reality showson Indian television, seemedquite excited about his role. Hesaid, “I’m the most eligiblebachelor in the whole village,and dream of having a girl likeKatrina Kaif in my life butBadho becomes the reality. Andfrom here the story takes turn.”

For Rytasha who have been

doing theatre, this role came asa great opportunity but at thesame place the transition fromtheatre to TV came as a chal-lenge for her. As she shares,

“The transition from theatre toTV was of course a challenge.This is because the number ofworking hours and also actingfor camera is different than act-

ing on stage. This is gettingmore of technical sense in yourattitude. I have recently startedshooting for the show, so I amstill preparing for the role. I amstill in the process of learning.Every day I learn somethingnew and interesting.”

Talking about the chal-lenges he faced, Narula said,“Language is the biggest prob-lem. I worked really hard to getthat Haryanvi accent. Moreover,to play the role of a wrestler Ihad to focus on my body. Itinvolved three months training,regular exercise, gym and prop-er diet. I took lot of inspirationfrom Salman Khan’s role inSultan and tried to create thesame magic on small screen.”

The actors had a greatworking experience togetherand were all praise about eachother. “She is very talented andsweet. It is easy to work withher” said Narula. “It didn’tseem like I am working withhim for the first time. He is verychilled out. And this makeseverybody around him com-fortable. Prince is total fun. Ilove him”, Rytasha said.

On sharing about somememorable moments from theset, Rytasha replies, “There is ascene where I had to play witha buffalo. I have never playedwith the buffalo before. I usedto get very scared in the begin-ning as I have never touchedany farm animals. But the buf-falo was very cute and later Ienjoyed it”, she chuckled. WhilePrince shared that, “I enjoyedevery moment. It all came asnew experience for me.”

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Is it the return of the curves? Well,high-cheekboned, slim-waisted,

young, waif-like models might haveruled the ramp. But gradually, thisobsession is fading. A voluptuousmodel is the new trendsetter, a bodytype which is timeless and at the sametime fit.

This was evident in the 'getno-ticed' female and male model audi-tions for FDCI's Amazon IndiaFashion Week where more than thezero size figure and height, confidenceand a well fit body were observed asa win-win criteria for the jury ofjudges which involved prominentfaces from the fashion industry likeHemant J Khendilwal, Asha Kochhar,Ashish Soni, JJ Valaya, Vidyun Singh,Rohit Gandhi and Ritu Dhaka.

"Walk and confidence in the eyesare the two crucial elements I amfocusing at", said Antonia Juric, anNRI model. She further added, "Onecan see a variety of models in differ-ent sizes here and the best part is theyknow how to carry it."

Indian woman is known for hercurviness and nowadays, Indiandesigners are looking for models

who look realistic and could be con-nected than merely being hangers."Dark skinned or fair skinned is nota concern when you are happy with-in yourself and moreover physicallyand mentally healthy. What con-cerns us is not the size but the beau-ty inside. Every woman is beautiful inher own self. The only problem inIndia is, we under estimate ourselvesand try to fit in someone else'sshoes", told Radhika Bopaiah, anaspiring model, when asked about theactual size a model should be in.

Last year France banned skinnymodels and this led to the path forcurvaceous body. "A perfect waist isconsidered the most attractive featureamong the female models, a body inwhich almost every garment fits in.And this is well carried by Indianmodels. As a man, I'd rather go for afuller body", said a male model par-ticipant in the audition.

Around hundred of female mod-els participated in the audition, whichwas a nation-wide hunt for the 28thedition of the event which will be heldin the month of October.

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Maybe Serena Williams sim-ply wanted to put on a bet-ter show for her pal

Beyonce.Looking rather displeased with

herself at times, including when sheshook her head and smirked on theway to the net for a post-victoryhandshake Thursday night, Williamsstill managed to tie MartinaNavratilova's professional-erawomen's record with her 306th careervictory in Grand Slam matches.

Williams beat Vania King 6-3, 6-3 to reach the US Open's thirdround. "I just think it should havebeen a different scoreline for me. Ifeel like I made a lot of errors,"Williams said. "But, you know,there's nothing I can do about thatnow. What really matters is I got thewin. Hopefully I'll just get better."

Really? This performance didn'tseem OK? After all, Williams deliv-ered 13 aces with serves that reached121 mph. She compiled a 38-4 edgein winners. She only dropped sixgames and needed all of 65 minutesto win.

"I just didn't have a great day,"was her assessment.

Yes, there were problems. The 28unforced errors The return game:She won only 13 of 40 points onKing's first serves. Williams did,however, smack one backhandreturn winner in the final game.

Music power couple Beyonceand Jay Z sat behind Williams'coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, in theplayer's guest box Thursday.

"It's always good," Williams said

casually, "to have Beyonce and Jay inthe box."

King noticed Williams' negativebody language as she headed to thenet. "I think Serena's a perfectionist.She always wants to play her best. ...If she doesn't play really well, she'salways a little bit hard on herself,"King said.

Delivering 13 aces with the roofclosed at Arthur Ashe Stadium, andshowing no signs of a sore rightshoulder that she said requires "con-stant" treatment, Williams improvedto 306-42 in matches at major tour-naments, a winning percentage of.879. Navratilova retired with a 306-49 mark.

Only Roger Federer, with 307,has won more Grand Slam matchesthan Williams in the Open era,which dates to 1968 — and he won'tadd to that total during this tourna-ment because he is out for the sea-son as he rehabs his surgicallyrepaired left knee. Williams canequal Federer's total by beating47th-ranked Johanna Larsson ofSweden on Saturday.

"Would like to take one morestep," Williams said while discussingher Slam win total. After a pause, sheadded: "several more steps."

That's because it'll take fivemore victories to win the champi-onship, which would be her seventhat the US Open and 23rd overall atmajors, breaking Steffi Graf 's Open-era record in that category.

Never one to shy away fromnon-tennis interests, Williamsrecently appeared in one of Beyonce'smusic videos and introduced a per-formance by her at the MTV VideoMusic Awards in Manhattan onSunday night.

"Usually when people are there,I try to play better, especially ifthey're famous and they're doing sogreat at their job," Williams said. "It'slike I want to show them that I'mgood at my job, too."

Williams' older sister, seven-time major champion Venus, beatJulia Goerges 6-2, 6-3, 2011 US Openwinner Sam Stosur lost 6-3, 6-3 toZhang Shuai of China, and No 5Simona Halep eliminated LucieSafarova 6-3, 6-4 in a meetingbetween past French Open finaliststhat was the first contest playedentirely with the roof closed (it wasshut for the first time during a matchmidway through Rafael Nadal's vic-tory Wednesday).

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When heavy rain beganpelting the closed roof at

Arthur Ashe Stadium, AndyMurray couldn't pick up theusual sounds of a tennis match.

Most importantly, he said,the thwack of a ball coming offhis opponent's racket strings —or his own, for that matter —was completely indiscernibleduring a 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 second-round victory over MarcelGranollers at the US Open onThursday.

As it is, the new $150 mil-lion retractable cover makes thetournament's main stadiumlouder because the structure,even when open, traps thesounds of spectators chatting inthe stands.

When it's shut, as was thecase on Wednesday because ofshowers that delayed play on allother courts for hours at a time,

the roof amplifies all of thatambient noise.

And when the drops camedown early in Murray's secondset, well, it was loud as can be.

"You can't hear anything,really," 2012 US Open champi-on Murray said. "I mean, youcould hear the line calls."

But that was about it.As Murray and Granollers

played, there was a constant dinduring points, an amalgam ofthe downpour bouncing off theoutside of the roof and themurmur of the crowd bounc-ing off the inside. From a seatin the 10th row parallel to abaseline, the racket-ball impactwas rendered silent by a loud-er version of what you hearwhen you hold a seashell toyour ear.

It's not simply that it's anunfamiliar soundtrack for aGrand Slam match. It affectsthe competition.

"We use our ears when weplay. It's not just the eyes. (Thesound) helps us pick up thespeed of the ball, the spinthat's on the ball, how hardsomeone's hitting it. If weplayed with our ears covered orwith headphones on, it wouldbe a big advantage if youropponent wasn't wearingthem," explained Murray,whose next opponent is 40th-ranked Paolo Lorenzi. "It'stricky. You can still do it, but it'sharder, for sure."

Because of Thursday's wetweather, action around thegrounds was limited until earlyevening — but matches keptcoming under the roof in Ashe.

Men advancing included2009 champion Juan Martindel Potro, No 3 Stan Wawrinka,No 6 Kei Nishikori, No 8Dominic Thiem, No 14 NickKyrgios and No 22 GrigorDimitrov.

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He is expected to play animportant role in the

upcoming 13 Test matches athome but Ajinkya Rahane does-n't want to look too far ahead asit can clutter one's mind.

"I know I have a job at handbut I never set targets before-hand. I believe setting targetstakes you too much into future.Looking too far ahead can clut-ter your mind. Instead I like tak-ing each day as it comes. Rightnow, the focus will be on NewZealand series," Rahane said.

Rahane has always empha-sised on doing homeworkagainst particular oppositionsand it would not be any differ-ent this time also when NewZealand visit India for a three-Test and five-ODI series.

"I always discuss my battingwith my childhood coachPraveen Amre. It won't be anydifferent this time also.Obviously the preparations foreach series is slightly different.

But obviously you never revealyour strategy before the seriesstarts. The key is to alwaysremain three steps ahead of theopposition," Rahane said.

Talking about using of batswith different weight, Rahanesaid he always uses bats of sameweight.

"Whether it's Melbourne orMumbai, I have never tinkeredwith weight of my bats. It'salways been same irrespective ofbounce in various pitches acrossthe globe." He scored 243 runsincluding a century and a halfcentury in the recently con-cluded series vs the West Indies.

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Resolute half-centuries by Ben Stokesand Jonny Bairstow led England to

a four-wicket victory against Pakistanand a 4-0 lead in the five-match one-day international series on Thursday.

Stokes stroked a nearly run-a-ball69 and Bairstow, included at the lastminute in place of the injured JosButtler, made 61 as England chaseddown Pakistan's 247-8.

Moeen Ali, 45 not out, hit a winningsix off Pakistan captain Azhar Ali asEnglandposted 252-6 at Headingley.

Pakistan's top order struggledagainst spinners Adil Rashid, who took3-47, and Moeen, 2-39, before captainAzhar Ali's 80 and Imad Wasim'squickfire late unbeaten 57 off 41 ballsgave the visitors a competitive total.

Earlier, after winning the toss andopting to bat, Pakistan struggled to paceits innings around Azhar's half-centu-ry against some good England bowling.

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India's national football coachStephen Constantine on Friday

anointed towering goalkeeperGurpreet Singh Sandhu as captainfor Saturday's international friend-ly against higher-ranked PuertoRico at the suburban AndheriSports Complex ground here.

"Gurpreet Singh Sandhu willcaptain the team tomorrow againstPuerto Rico," Constantineannounced at the fag end of thepre-match media conference to givea huge boost to the 24-year-old, oneof the youngest players to lead thenational football team.

The elevation of Gurpreet, theonly Indian playing professionalfootball in Europe with Stabaek FCin Norway, in place of regularleader and ace striker Sunil Chhetri,means senior custodian Subrata

Paul, who recently won the Arjunaaward, would have to sit out.

The game against the CONCA-CAF rivals, the first football inter-national to be held in this megapo-lis since the India versus USSRmatch way back in 1955, gives achance to the national side seek toclimb the FIFA ranking.

Currently India are 152 ascompared to Puerto Rico's 114 andthis would be the national team'sfifth international game this year.

Puerto Rico squad missed theirconnecting flight and are to reachonly this evening, it wasannounced, but coach Constantinebrushed aside any extra advantagefor India due to this late arrival ofthe opponents.

"They are a good side withmany good players. Yeah, one maymention about their landing tim-ing in Mumbai but you cannot take

away their quality. Can you? PuertoRico were one of the best moversin the FIFA Rankings. They are avery organised side," saidConstantine.

"They love to keep the ball andplay it around. They are technical-ly very good. Once they are aroundthe box they are very dangerous.Against USA they split open therival defence with three touches,"said the national coach.

However, he also praised thenew-look Indian side, 13 of whomare under the age of 23.

"We are trying to build a poolof players who would representIndia for the next 6-7 years. In fact,we already have built a sizeablegroup but there will be additions,"Constantine said, adding, "Todaythere is a healthy competition foreach of the slots."LIVE: 8 pm at TEN NETWORK.

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Roberto Martinez's Belgium wasbooed off the pitch against

Spain. Gian Piero Ventura watchedItaly's error-prone defense gift goalsto France.

It was a night to forget for twocoaches on their national teamdebuts in Thursday's friendlies.

And the future of Netherlandmanager Danny Blind looks bleak-er after barely a year in the job afterhis team collapsed to Greece aheadof World Cup qualifying beginning.

But Julen Lopetegui enjoyed the

perfect introduction to internation-al football coaching with Spain — atMartinez's expense — as the recent-ly deposed European champion beattop-ranked Belgium. David Silvascored both goals as Spain out-classed Belgium, highlighting the sizeof the task facing former Evertonmanager Martinez to mold his talent-packed squad into a team capable ofliving up to its potential.

Elsewhere, Defender GiorgioChiellini was to blame for AnthonyMartial and Olivier Giroud scoringin the first half. On his Italy debut,17-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi

Donnarumma also failed to protecthis near post to allow LayvinKurzawa to find the net after thebreak. Graziano Pelle scored Italy'sonly goal, initially canceling outMartial's first international goal.

The Netherlands was con-demned to a fifth straight home lossfor the first time since 1933, high-lighting the depths the team hassunk to since reaching the semifi-nals at the 2014 World Cup.

Georginio Wijnaldum put theDutch in front, but the confidenceebbed out of Blind's team andKonstantinos Mitroglou headed in

Greece's equaliser. IoannisGianniotas netted Greece's winnerin the second half.

Nani seized the limelight inCristiano Ronaldo's absence withtwo goals in Portugal's first matchsince beating France in theEuropean Championship final inJuly for its first major football titleto beat Gibraltar 5-0.

Meanwhile, Lionel Messi markedhis return from short-lived interna-tional retirement with the only goalas 10-man Argentina defeatedUruguay 1-0 to score a crucial 2018World Cup qualifying victory.

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