ˇ...2019/03/30  · tanker on the yamuna expressway in greater noida on friday around 5 am. the bus...

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A mid hectic political engagements in Uttar Pradesh, Congress general sec- retary Priyanka Gandhi on Friday fuelled speculation about the possibility of her con- testing Lok Sabha polls from Varanasi from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking re-election. While addressing a gath- ering in Ayodhya, Priyanka made a scathing attack on Modi accusing him of neglect- ing his Varanasi constituency and highlighted the lack of development work done there during the last five years. Priyanka told the media, “If the party asks me, I will fight from anywhere.” When a party worker asked her to contest from Rae Bareli, she said, “Shouldn’t I fight from Varanasi?” The Congress incharge of eastern UP has asked party workers to inform the people about the alleged unfulfilled promises of the Modi Government, particularly the problems in Varanasi. While Congress sources too indicated that this could be a surprise last minute decision, party president Rahul Gandhi provided grist to the mill by telling news agency PTI in an interview that it was up to Priyanka to decide if she wants to contest election or not. Referring to her recent visit to Varanasi, Priyanka said she was told about the road from the airport to the city when she asked about “devel- opment” in the area. She claimed only 15 km of a 150- km road sanctioned by the pre- vious Congress Government has been built there, and when people drive away from the air- port it is full of potholes. Claiming Modi did not care about Varanasi, she said, “I was told that in the past five years he has not visited even a single village in his con- stituency though he has been travelling all over the country and abroad.” Priyanka visited the Hanuman Garhi temple in Ayodhya, but kept away from the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site. She said, “The Government’s focus is only on helping the rich, making the rich, richer. They have money for the businessmen, but not for the poor.” Claiming that Modi retained the MGNREGA scheme on coming to power despite criticising it, Priyanka said, “But funds are not being given to the scheme for six months. They are giving the money to contractors... They want to close the scheme.” Priyanaka accused the Modi Government of trying to destroy democracy and con- stitutional institutions. “I have seen the truth in the leaking roofs of the weavers’ houses, in the eyes of the farmer who said that only the rich have a chowkidar (watchman),” she said in an indirect reference to Modi’s “I am a chowkidar too’ campaign. F ormer cricketer Kirti Azad, a sitting MP from Darbhanga, who recently joined the Congress does not figure in the list of grand alliance candidates from Bihar after the RJD refused to give up its claim on the contentious seat of Darbhanga in the heart of the Mithilanchal region. Following this, sulking Congress leaders kept away from the joint Press conference addressed by RJD leader Tejashwai Yadav in Patna to announce the candidate of the Mahagathbandhan. The Congress has announced the name of eight of the nine candidates who will be in the fray from Bihar. Kirti still has a chance of contesting from the State if he is nomi- nated from the Valmiki Nagar seat, which is in the Congress’ kitty and for which the party has not named its candidate. It was clear that despite being in jail, RJD chief Lalu Prasad called the shots in the distribution of seats and nom- ination of the candidates of the grand alliance. The denial of ticket to Kirti Azad is a per- sonal setback for Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is reported to have assured Kirti Azad that he would be fielded from Darbhanga. As per the seat-sharing formula, the RJD has got 20 seats, out of which it is giving up one for the ultra-Left party; the Congress has nine, followed by five for Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP and three each for Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and Mukesh Sahni’s VIP. The announcement of the grand alliance candidates was made by Tejashwi, but absence of senior Congress leaders on the occasion showed the party’s displeasure over arm-twisting by the RJD. RLSP leader and former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha too is reported to be sulking because the RJD wants him to accommodate at least one RJD nominee from his quota. Tejashwi, announced the candidature of his sister Misa Bharti from Pataliputra, Congress’ Meira Kumar from Sasaram and RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui from Darbhanga. Siddiqui is a senior leader and has held important Ministries besides having served as Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly. Also in the con- tention for the seat was Md Ashraf Fatmi, a RJD strongman and a close associate Lalu. Fatmi, who represented Darbhanga in the past, was runner-up in 2014. Tejashwi also announced that the RJD would be fielding Tanveer Hassan in Begusarai, the party candidate who came in second in 2014, a decision that may queer the pitch for CPI’s Kanhaiya Kumar, who is taking on firebrand BJP leader Giriraj Singh. N early a month after India's air strikes on terror camps in Balakot, the Pakistan Army for the first time conducted a media tour to Balakot in an apparent attempt to refute the news of the strikes that caused substantial damage and casu- alties to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The nearly five-hour tour on Thursday saw a team of eight Pakistani journalists shooting videos of the site, which was partially covered by tarpaulin sheets. Sources said the visit was delayed for nearly a month in an attempt to change the nar- rative about damage and casu- alties by repairing the infra- structure there as a cover-up. The team was flown in a special military helicopter. The media persons interacted with nearly 300 children staying in a madrasa run by JeM there. The group had claimed respon- sibility for carrying out a sui- cide attack in Pulwama in Kashmir on February 14 killing 40 CRPF personnel. Sources said here on Friday the site was heavily guarded by the troops of Frontier Corps, a paramilitary unit of Pakistan. The Balakot camp is locat- ed at the tri-junction of Pakistan Punjab, Balochistan and North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). The IAF carried out air strikes reportedly destroying the JeM’s biggest training camp in Balakot on February 26 and Pakistan retaliated the next day by intruding into India in Rajouri sector in an attempt to target military installations there. An aerial combat ensued wherein Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman flying a MIG-21 shot down F-16 jet of Pakistan Air Force. However, his jet was also shot down by Pakistan air defence and he ejected in POK. Abhinandan was captured by Pakistan and released two days later as a “peace gesture”. I n a tragic incident, eight passengers, including a minor and two women, were killed while 30 others sus- tained injuries after a private- ly-operated bus rammed into a tanker on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida on Friday around 5 am. The bus was heading to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district when the inci- dent under the jurisdiction of Rabupura police station. The deceased have been identified as bus driver Mahesh Kumar (48), helper Bandu (25), pas- sengers Vineeta (32), Arun (42), Asad (12), Suman (35) and Vishwanath Tiwari (75). The passengers were from Jalaun, while the driver and helper hailed from Dhaulpur in Rajasthan. Three women and three children were among the 30 injured who hailed from Auraiya, Jalaun, Phaphund and Noida. “Eight people were killed and 30 injured in the incident. The victims were rushed to nearby Kailash Hospital in Jewar. The speeding bus rammed into a tanker which was moving relatively slow,” said Sharat Chandra Sharma, the Circle Officer (CO) of Jewar sub-division. “The exact cause of the incident is yet to be confirmed, but prima facie it appears the driver was a bit drowsy. The tanker was moving slowly and the speeding bus could have comfortably overtaken it, but instead rammed into it,” said Sharma. Condoling the deaths, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tweeted, “I am saddened by the demise of eight people in a bus accident in Greater Noida today. Praying for the peace of the departed souls and strength to their families. Also wishing speedy recovery to the passengers injured in the accident.” Earlier, an official spokesperson in Lucknow said the CM had taken prompt cognisance of the accident and issued directions to top officials to provide immediate relief to the victims. T he Election Commission (EC) on Friday seized 100 kg heroin worth 500 crore from Gujarat. Sources in the EC said Gujarat ATS arrested nine Iranian nationals carrying 100 kg heroin from Gujarat coast. Preliminary enquiry revealed that the consignment was loaded at Pakistan’s Gwadar port by one Pakistani national Hamid Malek. The total seizure of nar- cotics in Gujarat was only 6 crore till Wednesday. The Pioneer had reported earlier that heroin, opium, brown sugar, anti-depressant drugs, other narcotics like opium, ganja, cocaine, denato- nium benzoate, methamphet- amine, heroin, tablets of anti- depressants Alprazolam and Tramadol are being smuggled to influence voters. The arrested Iranians have been identified as Mohammad Aslam Abdil (39), Amin Mohammad (28), Ishak Dilshad (38), Ayub Baloch (39), Wahid Baloch (26), Umid Iranka (20), Tahir Raza (34), Sajid Umar (20), and Dhor Mohammad Nakib Raisi (65). According to the EC, enforcement agencies have seized 255 kg drugs and nar- cotics worth 3,23 crore from Maharashtra; 252 kg from Madhya Pradeesh; 221 kg from Nagaland; 143 kg from Karnataka and 17 kg from Bihar. It has seized drugs worth 103 crore from Punjab; 19 crore from Uttar Pradesh. As per data updated till March 29, authorities have seized 250.18 crore of unac- counted cash from 29 States and UT. As per data, as many as 56.96 lakh litre liquor worth 122.33 crore; precious metals, gold and silver jewellery worth 183.09 crore and other free- bies worth of 22.22 crore have been seized across the country. A n environment panel on Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) has called for a study on likely impact of the vibration of the proposed Ahmedabad- Mumbai Bullet train on the mudflats and adjoining man- groves in Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary, which hosts over 1 lakh flamingoes (Lesser and Greater Flamingo) every year. An Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) in its meet- ing on March 18 sought a study while giving condition- al clearance to the proposed 1,08,000-crore project of the National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRC). The standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) in January had given a go-ahead for the diversion of over 100 hectares from around and three acres from the Thane Creek Flamingo Wildlife Sanctuary, over 110 hectares (forest/non forest land) from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, and over five hectares from the Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary. The mudflats near Thane Creek Flamingos Sanctuary are a rich feeding ground for the Flamingos who arrive in droves from Kutch. There are concerns that the intense vibra- tion due to the Bullet train will disturb ecosystem of the mud- flats which also supports a large number of birds includ- ing stints, grey herons, black- headed ibis, sandpipers, plovers and egrets, who feed on a vari- ety of marine life. The panel headed by Deepak Arun Apte noted that the area is already under stress due to the construction of Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) and Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) and other ongoing projects. Part of the Railway Ministry’s “Indian Railway Vision 2020” that aims at mod- ernisation of the existing con- ventional lines, enhancing capacity and developing high speed railway lines, the Bullet train project involves a dedi- cated track of about 508 kilo- metres including 155.6 kms in Maharashtra, 348.2 kms in Gujarat and 4.3 kms in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The high- speed train corridor was inau- gurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad in September, 2017. It is expect- ed to be ready by 2022. The EAC refused to give in to the NHSRC contention that “there are no studies known and is not possible to predict the impact of vibrations till the work starts.” The Committee also observed that the conservation and management plan for Thane Creek Flamingo pre- pared by Zoological Survey of India is inadequate to highlight the impact of vibration on mudflats and flamingoes. It requires major revision, it noted even as it appreciated the project proponent move to take tunnel route to avoid direct destruction of mudflat or mangrove in the Thane Creek region. However, it disagreed their view that “impacts cannot be studied”. C ongress leader Hardik Patel’s plans to contest Lok Sabha election hit a roadblock on Friday as the Gujarat High Court rejected his plea seeking a stay to his conviction in the 2015 Vispur rioting case. As the last date for filing of nominations is April 4, the Patidar leader has a little time to approach the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling. Patel had started prepara- tions to contest from Jamnagar on a Congress ticket after join- ing the party on March 12. Polling for 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will be held on April 23. Detailed report on P6

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Page 1: ˇ...2019/03/30  · tanker on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida on Friday around 5 am. The bus was heading to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district when the inci-dent

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Amid hectic politicalengagements in Uttar

Pradesh, Congress general sec-retary Priyanka Gandhi onFriday fuelled speculationabout the possibility of her con-testing Lok Sabha polls fromVaranasi from where PrimeMinister Narendra Modi isseeking re-election.

While addressing a gath-ering in Ayodhya, Priyankamade a scathing attack onModi accusing him of neglect-ing his Varanasi constituencyand highlighted the lack ofdevelopment work done thereduring the last five years.

Priyanka told the media, “Ifthe party asks me, I will fightfrom anywhere.”

When a party worker askedher to contest from Rae Bareli,she said, “Shouldn’t I fightfrom Varanasi?”

The Congress incharge ofeastern UP has asked partyworkers to inform the peopleabout the alleged unfulfilledpromises of the ModiGovernment, particularly theproblems in Varanasi.

While Congress sourcestoo indicated that this could bea surprise last minute decision,party president Rahul Gandhiprovided grist to the mill bytelling news agency PTI in aninterview that it was up toPriyanka to decide if she wantsto contest election or not.

Referring to her recentvisit to Varanasi, Priyanka saidshe was told about the roadfrom the airport to the city

when she asked about “devel-opment” in the area. Sheclaimed only 15 km of a 150-km road sanctioned by the pre-vious Congress Governmenthas been built there, and whenpeople drive away from the air-port it is full of potholes.

Claiming Modi did notcare about Varanasi, she said, “Iwas told that in the past fiveyears he has not visited even a

single village in his con-stituency though he has beentravelling all over the countryand abroad.”

Priyanka visited theHanuman Garhi temple inAyodhya, but kept away fromthe Ram Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid site.

She said, “TheGovernment’s focus is only onhelping the rich, making the

rich, richer. They have moneyfor the businessmen, but notfor the poor.”

Claiming that Modiretained the MGNREGAscheme on coming to powerdespite criticising it, Priyankasaid, “But funds are not beinggiven to the scheme for sixmonths. They are giving themoney to contractors... Theywant to close the scheme.”

Priyanaka accused theModi Government of trying todestroy democracy and con-stitutional institutions. “I haveseen the truth in the leakingroofs of the weavers’ houses, inthe eyes of the farmer who saidthat only the rich have achowkidar (watchman),” shesaid in an indirect reference toModi’s “I am a chowkidar too’campaign.

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Former cricketer Kirti Azad,a sitting MP from

Darbhanga, who recentlyjoined the Congress does notfigure in the list of grandalliance candidates from Biharafter the RJD refused to give upits claim on the contentious seatof Darbhanga in the heart ofthe Mithilanchal region.

Following this, sulkingCongress leaders kept awayfrom the joint Press conferenceaddressed by RJD leaderTejashwai Yadav in Patna toannounce the candidate of theMahagathbandhan.

The Congress hasannounced the name of eightof the nine candidates who willbe in the fray from Bihar. Kirtistill has a chance of contestingfrom the State if he is nomi-nated from the Valmiki Nagarseat, which is in the Congress’kitty and for which the party has not named itscandidate.

It was clear that despitebeing in jail, RJD chief LaluPrasad called the shots in thedistribution of seats and nom-ination of the candidates of thegrand alliance. The denial ofticket to Kirti Azad is a per-

sonal setback for Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi, whois reported to have assured KirtiAzad that he would be fieldedfrom Darbhanga.

As per the seat-sharingformula, the RJD has got 20seats, out of which it is givingup one for the ultra-Left party;the Congress has nine, followedby five for Upendra Kushwaha’sRLSP and three each for JitanRam Manjhi’s HAM andMukesh Sahni’s VIP.

The announcement of thegrand alliance candidates wasmade by Tejashwi, but absenceof senior Congress leaders onthe occasion showed the party’sdispleasure over arm-twistingby the RJD.

RLSP leader and formerUnion Minister UpendraKushwaha too is reported to besulking because the RJD wantshim to accommodate at leastone RJD nominee from his

quota.Tejashwi, announced the

candidature of his sister MisaBharti from Pataliputra,Congress’ Meira Kumar fromSasaram and RJD leader AbdulBari Siddiqui from Darbhanga.Siddiqui is a senior leader andhas held important Ministriesbesides having served as Leaderof Opposition in the StateAssembly. Also in the con-tention for the seat was MdAshraf Fatmi, a RJD strongmanand a close associate Lalu.Fatmi, who representedDarbhanga in the past, wasrunner-up in 2014.

Tejashwi also announcedthat the RJD would be fieldingTanveer Hassan in Begusarai,the party candidate who camein second in 2014, a decisionthat may queer the pitch forCPI’s Kanhaiya Kumar, who istaking on firebrand BJP leaderGiriraj Singh.

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Nearly a month after India'sair strikes on terror camps

in Balakot, the Pakistan Armyfor the first time conducted amedia tour to Balakot in anapparent attempt to refute thenews of the strikes that causedsubstantial damage and casu-alties to Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM). The nearly five-hourtour on Thursday saw a teamof eight Pakistani journalistsshooting videos of the site,which was partially covered bytarpaulin sheets.

Sources said the visit wasdelayed for nearly a month inan attempt to change the nar-rative about damage and casu-alties by repairing the infra-structure there as a cover-up.

The team was flown in aspecial military helicopter. Themedia persons interacted withnearly 300 children staying ina madrasa run by JeM there.The group had claimed respon-sibility for carrying out a sui-cide attack in Pulwama inKashmir on February 14 killing40 CRPF personnel.

Sources said here on Fridaythe site was heavily guarded by

the troops of Frontier Corps, aparamilitary unit of Pakistan.

The Balakot camp is locat-ed at the tri-junction ofPakistan Punjab, Balochistanand North-West FrontierProvince (NWFP).

The IAF carried out airstrikes reportedly destroyingthe JeM’s biggest training campin Balakot on February 26 andPakistan retaliated the nextday by intruding into India inRajouri sector in an attempt totarget military installationsthere. An aerial combat ensuedwherein Wing CommanderAbhinandan Varthaman flyinga MIG-21 shot down F-16 jetof Pakistan Air Force. However,his jet was also shot down byPakistan air defence and heejected in POK. Abhinandanwas captured by Pakistan andreleased two days later as a“peace gesture”.

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In a tragic incident, eightpassengers, including a

minor and two women, werekilled while 30 others sus-tained injuries after a private-ly-operated bus rammed into atanker on the YamunaExpressway in Greater Noidaon Friday around 5 am.

The bus was heading toDelhi from Uttar Pradesh’sJalaun district when the inci-dent under the jurisdiction ofRabupura police station. Thedeceased have been identifiedas bus driver Mahesh Kumar(48), helper Bandu (25), pas-sengers Vineeta (32), Arun(42), Asad (12), Suman (35)and Vishwanath Tiwari (75).The passengers were fromJalaun, while the driver andhelper hailed from Dhaulpur inRajasthan. Three women andthree children were among the30 injured who hailed fromAuraiya, Jalaun, Phaphund andNoida.

“Eight people were killedand 30 injured in the incident.The victims were rushed tonearby Kailash Hospital inJewar. The speeding busrammed into a tanker whichwas moving relatively slow,”

said Sharat Chandra Sharma,the Circle Officer (CO) ofJewar sub-division.

“The exact cause of theincident is yet to be confirmed,but prima facie it appears thedriver was a bit drowsy. Thetanker was moving slowly andthe speeding bus could havecomfortably overtaken it, butinstead rammed into it,” saidSharma.

Condoling the deaths,Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath tweeted, “I am

saddened by the demise ofeight people in a bus accidentin Greater Noida today. Prayingfor the peace of the departedsouls and strength to theirfamilies. Also wishing speedyrecovery to the passengersinjured in the accident.”

Earlier, an officialspokesperson in Lucknow saidthe CM had taken promptcognisance of the accident andissued directions to top officialsto provide immediate relief tothe victims.

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The Election Commission(EC) on Friday seized 100

kg heroin worth �500 crorefrom Gujarat.

Sources in the EC saidGujarat ATS arrested nineIranian nationals carrying 100kg heroin from Gujarat coast.

Preliminary enquiryrevealed that the consignmentwas loaded at Pakistan’sGwadar port by one Pakistaninational Hamid Malek.

The total seizure of nar-cotics in Gujarat was only �6crore till Wednesday.

The Pioneer had reportedearlier that heroin, opium,brown sugar, anti-depressantdrugs, other narcotics likeopium, ganja, cocaine, denato-nium benzoate, methamphet-amine, heroin, tablets of anti-depressants Alprazolam andTramadol are being smuggledto influence voters.

The arrested Iranians havebeen identified as MohammadAslam Abdil (39), AminMohammad (28), IshakDilshad (38), Ayub Baloch(39), Wahid Baloch (26), Umid

Iranka (20), Tahir Raza (34),Sajid Umar (20), and DhorMohammad Nakib Raisi (65).

According to the EC,enforcement agencies haveseized 255 kg drugs and nar-cotics worth �3,23 crore fromMaharashtra; 252 kg fromMadhya Pradeesh; 221 kg fromNagaland; 143 kg fromKarnataka and 17 kg fromBihar. It has seized drugs worth�103 crore from Punjab; �19crore from Uttar Pradesh.

As per data updated tillMarch 29, authorities haveseized �250.18 crore of unac-counted cash from 29 Statesand UT. As per data, as manyas 56.96 lakh litre liquor worth�122.33 crore; precious metals,gold and silver jewellery worth�183.09 crore and other free-bies worth of �22.22 crorehave been seized across thecountry.

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An environment panel onCoastal Regulation Zone

(CRZ) has called for a study onlikely impact of the vibration ofthe proposed Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet train on themudflats and adjoining man-groves in Thane CreekFlamingo Sanctuary, whichhosts over 1 lakh flamingoes(Lesser and Greater Flamingo)every year.

An Expert AppraisalCommittee (EAC) in its meet-ing on March 18 sought astudy while giving condition-al clearance to the proposed�1,08,000-crore project of theNational High Speed RailCorporation Ltd (NHSRC).

The standing committee ofthe National Board of Wildlife(NBWL) in January had given

a go-ahead for the diversion ofover 100 hectares from aroundand three acres from the ThaneCreek Flamingo WildlifeSanctuary, over 110 hectares(forest/non forest land) fromthe Sanjay Gandhi NationalPark, and over five hectaresfrom the TungareshwarWildlife Sanctuary.

The mudflats near ThaneCreek Flamingos Sanctuaryare a rich feeding ground forthe Flamingos who arrive indroves from Kutch. There areconcerns that the intense vibra-tion due to the Bullet train willdisturb ecosystem of the mud-flats which also supports alarge number of birds includ-ing stints, grey herons, black-headed ibis, sandpipers, ploversand egrets, who feed on a vari-ety of marine life.

The panel headed by

Deepak Arun Apte noted thatthe area is already under stressdue to the construction ofMumbai Trans Harbour Link(MTHL) and Navi MumbaiInternational Airport (NMIA)and other ongoing projects.

Part of the RailwayMinistry’s “Indian RailwayVision 2020” that aims at mod-ernisation of the existing con-ventional lines, enhancingcapacity and developing highspeed railway lines, the Bullettrain project involves a dedi-cated track of about 508 kilo-metres including 155.6 kms inMaharashtra, 348.2 kms inGujarat and 4.3 kms in Dadraand Nagar Haveli. The high-speed train corridor was inau-gurated by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and hisJapanese counterpart ShinzoAbe in Ahmedabad in

September, 2017. It is expect-ed to be ready by 2022.

The EAC refused to give into the NHSRC contention that“there are no studies knownand is not possible to predictthe impact of vibrations till thework starts.”

The Committee alsoobserved that the conservationand management plan forThane Creek Flamingo pre-pared by Zoological Survey ofIndia is inadequate to highlightthe impact of vibration onmudflats and flamingoes. Itrequires major revision, itnoted even as it appreciated theproject proponent move totake tunnel route to avoiddirect destruction of mudflat ormangrove in the Thane Creekregion. However, it disagreedtheir view that “impacts cannotbe studied”.

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Congress leader HardikPatel’s plans to contest Lok

Sabha election hit a roadblockon Friday as the Gujarat HighCourt rejected his plea seekinga stay to his conviction in the2015 Vispur rioting case.

As the last date for filing ofnominations is April 4, thePatidar leader has a little timeto approach the Supreme Courtto challenge the ruling.

Patel had started prepara-tions to contest from Jamnagaron a Congress ticket after join-ing the party on March 12.Polling for 26 Lok Sabha seatsin Gujarat will be held onApril 23.

Detailed report on P6

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Campaigning for BJP candi-date and sitting MP from

Hamirpur, Anurag Thakur,Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Friday accusedthe former Congress govern-ment of cheating the youth onthe issue of Unemploymentallowance.

Addressing a gatheringorganized by the youth wing ofBJP at Barsar constituency of

Hamirpur, the Chief Ministersaid the BJP government at thecentre and the state have start-ed a lot of social and upliftmentschemes for the youth.

He said the state govern-ment has started ChiefMinister Swablambanscheme, in which 60 lacrupees loan can be obtain

with 30 per cent subsidy, notonly this in the skill develop-ment programme for theyouth a 100 crore budgetallotment for the next finan-cial year has been done.

Thakur said the efforts putin by the workers of BJP willnot fail and party will win allfour seats.

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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on

Friday directed the statepolice chief to ensure speedyprobe into the killing of NehaShorie, who was posted asZonal Licensing Authority with the Drug andFood Chemical LaboratoryKharar.

Expressing concern overthe murder, the ChiefMinister ordered promptinvestigation into the matterto get to the bottom of thecase and besides ensuringexemplary punishment to theaccused.

The Chief Minister madeit clear that no one would beallowed to interfere or intim-idate any public servant in thedischarge of their duties.

It may be pointed outthat around 11:40 am onFriday, Shorie was shot deadby one Balwinder Singh,Morinda-resident, with hislicensed revolver.

The accused went to thevictim’s office and fired tworounds. Thereafter, he tried torun away and was nabbed andshot himself.

Kharar DSP, who reachedthe spot immediately, took theaccused into custody.

He was currently under-going treatment at PGI.

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The Delhi High Court Fridayasked the Lieutenant

Governor to take a decision byApril 12 on the plea for pre-mature release of formerHaryana chief minister O PChautala, who is serving a 10-year jail term in the JBT teach-ers' recruitment scam.

A bench of Justices HimaKohli and Vinod Goel askedthe Tihar Jail Superintendent tocommunicate the LG's decisionto Chautala by April 12 and dis-posed of his application for pre-

mature release.The direction came after

Delhi government's standingcounsel (criminal) RahulMehra and advocate ChaitanyaGosain, appearing for theHome department, said thepolitician's case has been con-sidered by an expert commit-tee whose recommendationshave been sent to the LG forfinal decision.

The order was passed onChautala's application claimingthat the Delhi government hasnot complied with the highcourt's February 20 direction todecide his representation forpremature release within fourweeks.

Chautala, represented bysenior advocate N Hariharanand advocate Amit Sahni, hassought that he be releasedfrom prison in accordancewith the Centre's policy forgrant of special remission toprisoners.

According to a central gov-ernment notification of July 18,2018, the special remission hasto be given to women andtransgender convicts of 55years of age who have com-pleted half of their actual jailterm as also male convicts of 60years of age who have com-pleted half of their sentenceperiod.

The relief has to be given to

physically challenged or dif-ferently-abled prisoners with 70per cent disability and moreand who have completed halfof their actual jail term, thosewho are terminally ill and theconvicts who have completedtwo-third of their jail term, itsaid.

However, the special remis-sion will not be given to thoseconvicted for heinous offencesor under POTA, UAPA, TADA,POCSO Act, PMLA, FEMA,NDPS and Prevention ofCorruption Act.

Chautala (83), in his plea,has contended that he shouldbe considered for prematurerelease considering his age and

disability as also the period ofseven years, with remission,already undergone by him injail.

Chautala, his son AjayChautala and 53 others, includ-ing IAS officer Sanjiv Kumar,were convicted and sentencedin the case of illegal recruit-ment of 3,206 junior basicteachers (JBT) in 2000.

All of them were sentencedto varying jail terms in the caseby a special CBI court inJanuary, 2013.

Kumar, the then director ofprimary education in Haryana,had initially exposed the scamafter he had filed a plea in theSupreme Court. Later, he was

also found to be involved in thescam during a CBI probe.

Chautala's former officeron special duty Vidya Dhar andpolitical advisor to thenHaryana chief minister SherSingh Badshami were alsogiven 10-year jail terms.

The others who were given10-year jail terms are MadanLal Kalra, Durga Dutt Pradhan,Bani Singh, Ram Singh andDaya Saini.

Apart from them, one con-vict was handed a five-year jailsentence and the remaining 44were given four years of impris-onment.

Among the 55 convicts, 16were women officials.

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After scaling Mount Everest, MountKilimanjaro in Africa and Mount Elbrus in

Europe, Haryana DSP Mamta Sodha has addedanother feature to her cap having successfullyclimbed Mt. Carstensz Pyramid, the highestmountain in Oceania.

Her expedition was completed on March 22,2019.

Mamta said, it was a great feeling hoistingthe tri-colour at Mount Carstensz. Now my aimis to conquer the tallest peaks in the remainingcontinents.

One of the highest peaks of the world,Carstensz Pyramid, is situated at 4,884 metresaltitude located in Indonesia's extremely remoteand rugged West Papua region. The peak is alsoknown as the highest point between theHimalayas and the Andes, better known as'island peak' in the world.

Prior to this achievement, she also scaled Mt.Everest in 2010, Mt. Elbrus in 2012 and Mt.Kilimanjaro in year 2013. She also participatedin Aconcagua, highest peak of South Americain 2013.

I have scaled the tallest peaks in Asia, Africa,Europe and Oceania and now I want to climbseven summits of the world, she added.

She also thanked the Haryana Police as wellas the State Government for always supportingher in the mountaineering expedition.

Mamta Sodha is an Indian sportsperson,known for her successful 2010 attempt to scalehighest peak Mount Everest. She was honouredby the Government of India, in 2014, bybestowing on her the Padma Shri, the fourthhighest civilian award, for her services to the fieldof mountaineering sport.

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Congress president RahulGandhi on Friday launched

a scathing attack on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi sayingthe PM protects only the richwhile his party will do justice tothe poorest of citizens throughits NYAY scheme.

“The idea for a minimumincome guarantee scheme forthe poorest of poor came fromPrime Minister NarendraModi’s ‘Rs 15 lakh promise’made ahead of the 2014 LokSabha polls,” said Rahul whileaddressing a public rally inHaryana’s Yamunanagar.

Asserting that the 2019polls is a fight between two ide-ologies, the Congress chief said,“On one hand are the BJP, theRSS and Narendra Modi and onthe other is the Congress.”

The Congress chief heldthree public meetings and road-show from Jagadhri(Yamunanagar) to Karnal via(Ladwa, Kurukshetra) duringhis one day tour on Friday togive a big boost to the party’sprospects in Haryana, where theparty had won only one LokSabha seat out of 10 in 2014polls.

Rahul joined the party’songoing ‘Parivartan Yatra’ dur-ing the fourth day in the stateand greeted the party support-ers during the roadshow. SeniorCongress leader Ghulam NabiAzad, who is party’s incharge forHaryana, former Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hooda, stateparty chief Ashok Tanwar, CLPleader Kiran Choudhry, RajyaSabha MP Kumari Selja, MPDeepender Hooda, senior lead-ers Randeep Surjewala, KuldeepBishnoi among others accom-panied him during the road-show.

The Gandhi scion, in the

election rally at Jagadhri, saidunlike the BJP, his party keepsits promise and referred to'Nyay' programme which theCongress plans to introduce ifit forms the government.

He said, his idea for a min-imum income guaranteescheme came from NarendraModi’s ‘Rs 15 lakh promise’made during 2014 polls.

The Congress chief hadearlier this week, promised thatthe Congress, if voted to powerin the Lok Sabha elections, willimplement a minimum incomeguarantee scheme for the poor-est 20 per cent of Indian house-holds. Named as NYAY, thescheme is aimed at providingcash support to 5 crore familiesor 25 crore individuals.

“I watched Narendra Modi’sspeech in which he promised togive Rs 15 lakh to every Indian.He said it two-three times...15lakh, 15 lakh...I thought he issaying the right thing. The idea

is correct that money must gothe bank account of the poor. Igrabbed this idea,” he said.

“After having discussed itfor six months, we have now aplan, NYAY (Nyuntam AayYojana) under which Rs 72,000will be deposited in the bankaccounts of the poorest people,”he said.

The Congress president saidthe NYAY is so powerful that ithas shaken Narendra Modi.

Accusing the PrimeMinister of helping certainindustrialists, Rahul said heprotects the rich while refrain-ing from helping out the debt-ridden farmers, adding “this'Chowkidar' is a thief ”.

“In the last five years, he(PM) had waived off Rs 3.5 lakhcrore of 15 people (industrial-ists) only. Farmers work daylong in harsh weather but whenthey ask for loan waiver, ArunJaitley (Finance Minister) saysthat they won't do it as it is not

their policy,” he said.Continuing his tirade

against the Prime Minister,Rahul said, “He (Modi)promised putting Rs 15 lakhinto every Indian’s bankaccount. Did anyone get any-thing?”

Modi spoke lies aboutputting Rs 15 lakh into everyIndian's bank account. Insteadwhat he did was to do injusticewith farmers, hit small shop-keepers with demonetisation,and brought Gabbar Singh Tax(GST), he said.

The Congress president wasreferring to PM Modi’s 2014election speech when as theBJP’s Prime Ministerial candi-date he promised to bring backblack money stashed in foreignbanks within 100 days of com-ing to power. Modi had also saidthat if all the black money wasbrought back to the country, itwould be enough to deposit Rs15 lakh in every poor person’s

bank account.Rahul also accused Modi

and BJP of spreading hatred andanger and putting real issues onthe backburner.

He also attacked Modi onthe Rafale deal issue allegingirregularities in the procure-ment of jet fighters.

“Narendra Modi’s Make inIndia is such that Rafale contractwas taken from the youth ofIndia. This high technologyaircraft would have been man-ufactured in India by HAL. Itsparts should have been made indifferent states giving employ-ment to lakhs. But NarendraModi said, Made in Franceinstead of Make in India," Rahulalleged.

He also asked party work-ers to fan out in every nook andcorner to apprise the peopleabout the minimum incomeguarantee scheme.

Taking a dig at BJP for itsChowkidar campaign, he said,

“In 2014, Prime Minister Modiused to say I do not want tobecome Pradhan Mantri and Iwant to become Chowkidar. Heused to say ‘Achhe din ayenge’.These days a new slogan is run-ning. ‘Chowkidar chor hai’(watchman is a thief).”

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Rahul Gandhi’s visit inHaryana came at a time whenthe state party leaders are under-taking six-day ‘Parivartan Yatra’to iron out differences and con-nect with the voters ahead ofpolling day on May 12 in thestate.

This was Rahul Gandhi’sfirst visit to Haryana aftertaking over as the president ofthe Congress in December2017.

With Rahul Gandhionboard, the ‘Parivartan Yatra’on its fourth day touched threeLok Sabha constituencies —

Ambala, Kurukshetra andKarnal. All the three parlia-mentary constituencies werebagged by BJP in 2014 pollswith party nominees, RatanLal Kataria (Ambala), RajKumar Saini (Kurukshetra) andAshwini Kumar (Karnal) elect-ed to the Lok Sabha in 2014.

Gandhi addressed threepublic meetings, visited ShriGhantakarna MahavirDevasthan in Karnal and enroute Indri, he had a brief haltat Kamboj Dhaba during theroadshow from Jagadhri toKarnal.

His state visit concludedwith his public address atKarnal, the home turf of ChiefMinister Manohar Lal on Fridayevening.

The voting to 10 Lok Sabhaseats in Haryana will be held ina single phase on May 12.

To put an end to the fac-tionalism in Haryana Congressunit, senior party leaders of fac-

tion-ridden Haryana Congresshad on Tuesday embarked on asix-day ‘Parivartan Yatra’ in aspecially designed bus. Theyatra which began on March 26from Gurugram will concludeat Faridabad on March 31.

Notably, the Congress couldretain only one Lok Sabha seatout of 10 in Lok Sabha polls2014. In assembly polls heldlater that year, the party wasreduced to 15 seats only. Thenumber of Congress MLAs hadlater increased to 17 afterKuldeep Bishnoi’s HJC’s merg-er in the party in 2016.

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After giving a miss to vari-ous party events, Congressleader Kuldeep Bishnoi finallyshowed up on Friday to joinparty’s ‘Parivartan Yatra’.

Bishnoi, son of formerChief Minister Bhajan Lal alsodenied reports of joining theBJP.

While talking to the medi-apersons, Adampur MLAKuldeep Bishnoi said, “I am aCongressman and have said ittime and again.”

“Jaha Rahul honge, wahimain honga, Jaha Rahul nhi,waha main nhi,” he added.

Bishnoi had last weekstayed away from the meetingof coordination committee ofthe Congress under former CMBhupinder Singh Hooda andparty’s workers meeting in NewDelhi. Later, he also stayedaway from party’s ‘ParivartanYatra’ and only showed up dur-ing Rahul Gandhi’s visit onFriday.

Bishnoi had in the pastserved as Hisar MP and is seenas a frontrunner for a Congress’ticket from the parliamentaryseat.

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The three aspirants of BJPticket from Chandigarh—

actress-turned-politician MPKirron Kher, city party chiefSanjay Tandon and former MPSatya Pal Jain –came togetheron a dais on Friday toannounce the commencementof ‘Mein Bhi Chowkidar’ cam-paign.

Eyeing party’s ticket fromthe city to contest the ensuingLok Sabha polls, the three big-shots of city BJP unit have beenholding separate public meet-ings and events to reach out tothe voters ahead of pollingday on May 18 here.

While addressing a jointpress conference, the trio, how-ever, maintained that there areno infighting in the city partyunit and all leaders are work-ing to strengthen the party inChandigarh.

On the occasion, MPKirron Kher officially kickedoff ‘Mein Bhi Chowkidar’ cam-

paign by putting on a specialcampaign cap on party leaderHari Shankar Mishra.

The campaign will be

begin on March 31Kher said people of

Chandigarh have elected herChowkidar and she stands by

every citizen for their securityand welfare.

Lashing out at theCongress, she said, it is ironi-

cal that leaders of oppositionwho are out on bail themselvesuse derogatory language tofalsely accuse our PrimeMinster.

It shows there frustrationbecause they cannot afford tohave such a Prime Ministerwho is vigilant against corrup-tion and works hard for thedevelopment of the country,she added.

Chandigarh BJP chiefSanjay Tandon informed thatBJP is a starting a nationwidecampaign ‘Mein BhiChowkidar’ to convey to thenation that each and every cit-izen of the country who wantsto protect this nation is a‘Chowkidar’.

As part of the programPrime Minister Modi will havea virtual conference on March31. The conference will be dig-itally broadcasted to at least 500places across the nation, ofthese 16 locations will haveinteractive facilities where thepeople will be able to interact

with the Prime Minister live, hesaid.

During this campaign, BJPChandigarh will be holding asmany as 10 programs with dif-ferent sections of society andprofessionals.

These programs willinclude chartered accountants,company secretaries accoun-tants who are ‘Chowkidars’against black money, Doctorswho are ‘Chowkidars’ againstfemale foeticide and makingsure everyone gets best medicalfacilities, Teachers who are‘Chowkidars’ against illiteracyand ensure right to educationfor everyone, Lawyers who are‘Chowkidars’ against the cor-rupt and the criminal. Veteransand ex Servicemen who are‘Chowkidars’ to protect coun-try’s borders, he added.

Tandon further said thatthe campaign will include sev-eral initiatives like candlemarches, Nukkad Nataks andsuch programs to generateawareness among people.

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Lambasting Punjab Congresspresident Sunil Jakhar for

making “irresponsible” state-

ments divorced from reality,SAD’s senior vice-presidentDaljeet Singh Cheema on Fridaysaid that Akali Dal had alwayscautiously drafted its manifestoand had implemented it in letterand spirit.

Jakhar had reportedly con-tested the statement of SADpatriarch Parkash Singh Badalthat it should be legally bindingon the political parties to imple-ment the party manifesto on theirreturn to power. Jakhar had stat-ed that the statement had cometoo late in the day and he shouldhimself have implemented theSAD party manifesto.

Pooh-poohing Jakhar’sadvice, Cheema said that Badalhad promised free power andShagun scheme for Dalit girlsway back in 1997 assembly pollmanifesto and implemented boththe major promises withinmonths of coming to power

notwithstanding financial impli-cation, especially when the out-going Congress had left state’s cof-fers empty.

“Ten years later, SAD again

promised highly subsidized attaand dal to all below poverty line(BPL) families and the schemeunfolded within a couple ofmonths and continued till 2017when the party was voted out,” hesaid.

Cheema pointed that theCongress too had promised todisburse subsidized atta and dalalong with cooking oil to BPLfamilies in its manifesto of 2017assembly polls, but it has sub-stantially curtailed disbursal ofatta and dal too forget about theadditional cooking oil.

SAD leader said that hisparty always ensured that the pollpromised are honoured whetherit is legally mandatory or not.“The Senior Badal has soughtmandatory implementation onlybecause the Congress record onthis account is dismal and it for-gets its promises one coming topower,” he said.

!� �� '3��24.�-3

Raised alarm over worseningsituation of underground

water level in Punjab, thePunjab Ekta Party (PEP) pres-ident and joint candidate ofPunjab Democratic Alliance(PDA) from Bathinda Lok

Sabha seat Sukhpal SinghKhaira on Friday warned thatstate is heading for a life threat-ening water crisis “thanks topoor political leadership”.

Khaira, addressing series of

rallies in several villages ofKhadoor Sahib in support of itsLok Sabha candidate from theseat Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra,said that it was a matter of graveconcern that 18 out of totalblocks of Punjab have beendeclared dark zones whichmeans, the level of under-ground water has gone belowthe desired limit or under-ground water has become unfitfor human consumption.

He added that the UnderGround Water Board has noti-fied that no tube well connec-tions could be installed now. All18 blocks belong to Malwa andDoaba region which alsoreported highest number ofsuicides in last decade, he said.

Excessive use of under-ground water for irrigation andmassive use of pesticides inPunjab were basic reasons butthe political parties like

Congress and SAD, who ruledthe state turn by turn were sole-ly responsible for allowing thesituation to deteriorate.“Former Chief MinisterParkash Singh Badal and pre-sent incumbent CaptAmarinder Singh have failed tosave waters of Punjab both atpolitical and administrativelevel,” he said.

Khaira said that Congressgovernment at Centre wasinstrumental in giving water toRajasthan and Haryana fromPunjab's share in an arbitrarymanner and SAD-BJP govern-ment which was in power forcontinuously 10 years had failedto protect the Punjab's interesteven though SAD and BJPwere partner in BJP-run NDAgovernment and BJP had itsgovernments in Haryana andRajasthan as well.

“Capt Amarinder has

taken no steps to implement aresolution passed by Punjabassembly on November 16,2016, to demands charges forriver waters flowing to thenon-riparian states of Haryana,Rajasthan and Delhi,” headded.

He said that on adminis-trative side, the Congress andSAD governments had failed toimplement crop diversificationand water saving irrigationtechniques promised in thebudget from time to time.

Khaira called upon thepeople of Punjab to defeat thetraditional parties — Congressand SAD-BJP alliance — in LokSabha elections to register theirstrong protest against failedpolitical leadership. “Punjabneeds a strong leadership whichcan fight for state's right with-out compromising for vestedinterests,” he said.

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Liquor and cash amounting toRs 2,80,89,499 (Rs 2.80 cr)

has been seized by the HaryanaPolice and Excise and IncomeTax Department after theannouncement of general elec-tions 2019.

Haryana Joint ChiefElectoral Officer, Inder Jeet onFriday said that the police hasso far recovered cash amount ofRs 75,02,415. Apart from this,

the Income Tax Department hasso far recovered cash amount ofRs 24,05,600.

He said that the police hasso far recovered 62,114 litresliquor, which is worth over Rs1,23,17,754. Similarly, the ExciseDepartment has so far recov-ered 5,724 litres of liquor, whichis worth Rs 7.79 lakh. Thus, atotal of 67,838 litres of liquor hasbeen seized by the Excise andPolice Departments, which costsRs 1,30,96,754, he said.

He further said that 52,999license arms have so far beendeposited by the Haryana Policein order to maintain law andorder in the state. Apart fromthis, the police has seized 143illegal weapons.

He said that the police haslaid nakas at 327 places in thestate to maintain law and orderduring the elections.

Inder Jeet said that thepolice has recovered 57,106bottles of country made liquor,

35,999 bottles of English liquor,6170 bottles of beer, 583 bot-tles of illicit liquor, 839.85 kghemp, 550.38 kg poppy husk,822.15 g heroin, 1.27 kg opium,233.43 gm smack, 670 kglahan, 18 bottles syrup, 1200capsules, 16,114 tablets, 6.24 kgcharas, 1.16 kg sulfa, 119.35 kggreen opium, 17 kg cocainedoda.

He added that fake curren-cy notes of Rs 11,700 have alsobeen seized by the police.

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Page 4: ˇ...2019/03/30  · tanker on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida on Friday around 5 am. The bus was heading to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district when the inci-dent

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) onFriday demanded that the

Punjab Government shouldappoint a regulatory body tocheck the “open loot” by thestate’s private schools, failingwhich the party would take tothe streets the issue with the sup-port of the affected parents.

Raising the issue, AAP’sJagraon MLA Sarvjit KaurManuke came down heavily onthe subsequent StateGovernments’ non-seriousstance about school education,saying that it was all set to go intoprivate hands sooner than laterif something was not done at thispoint in time.

Expressing her grave con-cern over the mushrooming ofprivate schools in various partsof the state due to the lopsidedpolicies of the governments, shealleged that it was a well thought-out design of the government toderail the system.

“The dispensation failed toprovide better facilities and infra-structure in government-runschools which has led to thesorry state of affairs. The non-serious stance of the governmenthas not only contributed to thesteady fall in student enrolmentin government-run schools inthe state, but has brought thestandard of education to thebrink,” Manuke said.

She alleged that since therewas no government regulatory

body to put a check on them,they were charging exorbitantfees with an hike every year. Sheadded that the books prescribedby the CBSE and even copies andother stationery items left a bighole in their parents’ pockets.

Manuke, through a writtencommunication to the ChiefMinister Capt Amarinder Singhand state Education Minister OPSoni, pointed out how privateschool managements wereindulging in open ‘loot’ withimpunity. “Certain privateschools have made it obligatoryfor the parents to send theirwards in school van only insteadof by other modes of transportciting safety and security reasonof their wards under the SafeSchool Vahan scheme,” she saidadding that written instructions

in this regard had been issued tothe parents, stating that the stu-dents not using school vanswould not be allowed entry intothe school.

They were charging heftyfares for ferrying the studentswhich now stood at Rs 1200 permonth as against the previous-ly Rs 500 and Rs 700 only.

She demanded that the StateGovernment should appoint aregulatory body to monitor theprivate school managements’dictatorial decisions sooner thanlater so that the hassled parentswere not allowed to suffer insilence. “If the government failedto check the open ‘loot’ by pri-vate schools, AAP would becompelled to take to roads,along with the affected parents,”she said.

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New Delhi: The Aam AadmiParty (AAP) on Friday com-plained to the ElectionCommission (EC) alleging thatPrime Minister NarendraModi's reference to an AirForce officer in an interviewwas in violation of the modelcode of conduct.

In a letter to the EC,Mohammed Irsad from theAAP legal cell alleged thatModi's use of the name ofWing CommanderAbhinandan Varthaman, whowas captured in Pakistan "in arecent interview with an inten-tion to obtain political gain isin complete violation of theModel Code of Conduct."

"I would urge the EC totake cognisance of the violationby the highest public func-tionary of the country, thePrime Minister himself, andtake appropriate action as perlaw," the letter said.

The letter said that the EChad given specific instructionsagainst the use of photographsof defence personnel or any ref-erence to the Armed Forcesduring the election campaignor otherwise.

In another letter, AAP can-didate and party NationalSecretary Pankaj Gupta wroteto the EC over the problemsfaced by the party while cam-paigning in Delhi.

"For the last seven days,we've not been able get theCEO's permission for an e-rickshaw with LCD displayand loudspeaker," Gupta wrote.

He asked the EC to namea single point contact person toresolve permission-relatedissues in the state. IANS

��� �� �&1�2&*34

Aminor boy who was play-ing near his house was

crushed to death on Fridayafter a speeding van ran overhim in Delhi, police said,adding that the accused wasarrested with the help ofCCTV footage.

The accident occurredaround 3 p.m. near KausharMasjid in Sangam Vihar andsome commuters informedthe police that a four-year-oldboy was run over by a speed-ing white van.

"The police took the boylater identif ied as AjamAnsari to AIIMS trauma cen-tre where doctors declaredhim brought dead," DeputyCommissioner of Police VijayKumar said.

"The accident was cap-tured in a CCTV footageinstalled near the spot thathelped police to trace thevehicle from its number,"Kumar said, adding that itnabbed driver Sushant KumarMajumdar from his residencein Nangloi.

Ansari was the only son ofYusaf Khan who stays with hisfamily in L-block of SangamVihar.

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Gurugram: A Muslim fami-ly that was attacked by a mobin Bhoop Singh Nagar here onHoli (March 21) has decidedto leave Gurugram and moveto Delhi due to "immense pressure, fear andthreats".

"We are living underimmense fear and traumasince the incident. The fami-lies of the alleged youthsinvolved in brutal assault arenow putting pressure on us towithdraw the FIR and settlethe case, or face conse-quences," said Mohammad Akhtar, who waspresent in the house at thet ime of attack, said on Friday.

Akhtar also alleged thatsome people of Bhup SinghNagar and adjoining Bhondsivillage were visiting theirhome threatening them withdire consequences and mak-ing lewd comments on the

women members, all in thepresence of police personnel.

"Local MLA Tej PalTanwar also visited our houseand ensured action againstthe culprits, but these aremere verbal assurances," hesaid, alleging that the attackon them was pre-planned toprovoke the minority com-munity.

He also said the policehad registered a counter FIRagainst two of their familymembers for assaulting them.

"We had constructed thehouse some three years ago tol ive here in a peaceful manner. Now, thesituation is such that we arenot even sending our kids toschool," said Saveena Begum, another family mem-ber.

"The decision to migratefrom Gurugram is not as perthe wishes of our family. Theyhave not left us with any

choice," Begum said.At least 35-40 people of

Bhup Singh Nagar attackedthe family on March 21 andbrutally assaulted four youthof the family.

The incident drew moreattention after a video shot onmobile phone went viral onsocial platform.

Following the altercationover playing cricket, onegroup barged into the houseof Mohammed Dilshad aliasShamshad with batons, hock-ey sticks and iron rods whileothers pelted the family withstones from outside, policesaid.

"We have arrested 10 peo-ple involved in the assault andefforts are on to nab otherstoo. The police are not favour-ing any side," said Subhash Bokan, the PublicRelations Off icer ofGurugram Police.

IANS

New Delhi: Khargone city inMadhya Pradesh was thehottest place in the countryon Friday with the mercuryrising to 44.5 degrees Celsiuswhile Delhi recorded 36.9degrees Celsius, almost fivenotches above the season'saverage -- the reason beingwarmer air being brought bywesterly winds.

On Thursday, Barmer inRajasthan was tagged as thehottest place in the countrywith the day temperaturebeing 42.2 degrees Celsiuswhile the maximum temper-ature in the national capitalhad touched 35.5 degreesCelsius.

However, there could belight rain and thunderstormin the northern parts for a dayor two before the temperatures start risingagain.

Meanwhile, heat waveconditions are "very likely" insome parts of Rajasthan,Maharashtra, Gujarat and

Madhya Pradesh in the nexttwo days while the maximumtemperatures are likely to riseby 2-3 degrees Celsius overparts of eastern India, said theIndian MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD).

Mahesh Palawat, theDirector of private weatheragency Skymet, said in Delhisummer ideally starts by thesecond week of March but it started late thisyear due to rain and snowfal l in theHimalayas.

"The northerly windsfrom Kashmir had kept tem-perature in Delhi and sur-rounding areas low. However,the temperature soared rapid-ly with winds starting fromwest in last few days," saidPalawat.

"Now, there will be rainand thunderstorm for a day ortwo due to western distur-bance and formation ofcyclonic circulation overRajasthan. Subsequently, tem-

perature will start risingagain."

The IndianMeteorological Department(IMD) said thunderstorms accompaniedby gusty winds and lightningis expected at isolated placesin Jammu and Kashmir,Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha,Telangana, West Bengal andSikkim.

In the first week of April,the maximum temperatures will increase by2-3 degrees Celsius in north-west and east India whilethere will be no significantchange in the maximum temperatures in the remaining parts of thecountry.

It said the temperaturewill hover around 38-40degrees Celsius over theplains of northwest India and central and northpeninsular parts of the country.

IANS

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Bhopal: Actor and former Congress MP Govinda on Friday metMadhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath at the Secretariathere, triggering speculation in political circles.

Govinda said he was in Bhopal on personal work and want-ed to greet his former colleague.

The Congress is planning to field a popular face from Indorein Madhya Pradesh and there were rumours of the partyapproaching actor Salman Khan. As Khan has said he is not inter-ested in politics, Govinda could be the party's next choice,Congress sources say. IANS

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Congress presi-dent Rahul

Gandhi has notruled out contest-ing the Lok Sabhae l e c t i o nfrom acon-

stituency other than Amethi,saying many party leadershave fought elections frommore than one seat in the pastand a decision on the issue willbe taken by the party soon.

Referring to demands fromparty leaders that his sisterPriyanka Gandhi Vadra shouldcontest, Rahul told PTI in aninterview that she will have totake a call on whether to fightthe polls or not.

Speculation about thenewly appointed Congressgeneral secretary contest-ing grew after she askedpeople in Varanasi onThursday whether sheshould fight the polls fromthe temple town, the con-stituency from wherePrime Minister NarendraModi will seek a re-elec-tion.

Amethi is his “karmab-hoomi” (place where you are

destined to work) and willremain so, Rahul Gandhi said,keeping his options open on

fighting the election from asecond seat amid demandsfrom party units in Kerala andKarnataka that he should befielded from their States.

“Amethi is my ‘karmab-hoomi’ and shall alwaysremain so. I am deeply grate-ful for the love, affection andthe sentiments expressed byour party workers inKarnataka, Tamil Nadu andKerala who have asked me tocontest a second seat fromtheir States,” the Congresschief told PTI in response to aquestion on the speculationover him contesting fromWayanad in Kerala.

“In the past, too, manyleaders from the Congress andother parties, including MrModi himself, have contestedelections from more than oneseat. The Congress party willtake a decision on this issue atthe earliest,” he said.

In 2014, Rahul Gandhidefeated BJP’s Smriti Irani bya margin of over one lakhvotes. Both are pitted againsteach other again from Amethi.Asked about Priyanka Gandhicontesting the election, theCongress chief said candidateselection is an ongoing processand the party has announced

over 300 candidates so far.“As far as Priyanka is con-

cerned, it is up to her to decideif she wants to contest the elec-tion or not,” he said. Onwhether party veterans will befielded by the Congress to putup a strong fight, Gandhi saidthe party has a system of iden-tifying candidates and it goesthrough various processes.

“I have looked at young aswell as experienced candidatesequally because I have believedthat Congress party needsboth. Seniors are fighting elec-tions. We also have many newfaces who will be fighting theirfirst election,” he said.

There has been a clamouramong Congress leaders fromthe south for Rahul Gandhi tocontest from Kerala as well asKarnataka and the State unitshave already passed resolutionson the issue. His mother, for-mer Congress president SoniaGandhi, earlier contested fromthe Bellary seat in Karnatakawhile his grandmother, formerPrime Minister Indira Gandhi,had contested fromChikamangalur in Karnataka.Process of nominations inKerala, which goes to polls onApril 23, started on Thursdayand will end on April 4.

!���� �&1�2&*34

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday expressed

confidence that the BJP willreturn to power with “absolutemajority” after the April-MayLok Sabha election, saying thepeople have made up theirmind to ensure victory of theNational Democratic Alliancein 300-plus seats.

He also said people havealready decided in favour of theBJP and are, therefore, notsearching for a “competingface”. In an interview to‘Republic Bharat’ news channel,he also said the timing of thelaunch of the anti-satellite mis-sile was based on “open space”available to carry out the test.

“Call it an adventure or aninitiative, they don’t happensuddenly. You need to tell theglobal community that youwant space at a particulartime in (outer) space to ensurethere is no space traffic or col-lision, you need to ask for anopen space, you need to fixthat space. It is a long process,”he explained.

Modi rejected sugges-tions that the index of oppo-sition unity is high as com-pared to 2014. “If you go

granular, you will find theopposition more scattered nowthan in 2014. Tell me, has therebeen any agreement in Andhra(Pradesh), (West) Bengal? Hasthere been any (agreement)with Communist parties? Hasit happened in Kerala, Odisha,”he said.

He also rejected possibil-ity of opposition joining handsafter elections, saying, “Todaythey are leaving no stoneunturned to put each otherdown. You look at all theirstatements.” He also said thatopposition joining hands postpolls can happen only if peo-ple give fewer seats to him.

“When the people of thiscountry have made up theirmind to give highest numberof seats to Narendra Modi,then what can happen? Theresults are certain. There is nodoubt about that. The peopleof the country have decided tobring in a Government thatenjoys absolute majority. Theyhave made up their mind togive NDA a mandate for a 300-plus Government,” he asserted.

Responding to a questionon ‘Modi Vs who’ in the LokSabha polls, he said the questionmight arise in 2024. “But thereis no such chance in 2019. The

people of this country havemade up their mind about oneside. That is why the people ofthe country are not in search fora competing face. Not at all.”

He said for TRP, newschannels rake up such questions.“It is important for youbecause...See in 2014 you hadManmohan Singh ji. You couldnot have gained TRP by pittinghim against me. So you had toget (Arvind) Kejriwal who didnot have a single MLA, a singlecorporator. But you had to pitchhim as a future Prime Ministerto run your shops,” hequipped.

To a question onunemployment and theopposition’s attack on thegovernment, the PMsaid he is trying tomake new institutionsso that there is a “per-fect system”.

He pointed out thatwhen Atal Bihari Vajpayeewas the Prime Minister, theOpposition had also raised theissue of unemployment.

“After Atal ji’s tenure, therewere statistics that proved thatthere were 6 crore jobs in Atalji’s tenure. And during UPA,there were only 1.5 crore jobsand yet they maligned Atalji’s

Government. The Lutyens’(Delhi) ecosystem kept beatingthe drums,” he said. Referringto efforts by his government togenerate employment, he saidfour crore people have takenmoney from banks via theMudra scheme.

“Four crore people havetaken money for the first time.They must have started someemployment, they must haveemployed somebody. Whatdo I tell you? The registrationsat EPFO, more than 1 crorepeople have registered. Money

has to be givenfor this, it isnot for free,”he said.

!� �� �&1�2&*34

The Election Commission(EC) on Friday rejected the

plea by 21 Opposition partiesseeking 50 per cent samplematching of the EVMs with thecorresponding Voter VerifiablePaper Audit Trails (VVPATs),and said it should be allowed tocontinue with the present system.

Seeking the dismissal of theplea by the 21 Opposition par-ties, the Election Commissionin its response said the plea“does not raise any ground orbase for altering” the existingsystem of sample checking andurged the court that the “pre-sent system ... for the imminentelections be continued ...”

The EC said this inresponse to a notice by the topcourt on the Opposition partiesplea for increasing the sample

matching of the EVMs with thecorresponding VVPATs.

The top court had soughtthe EC’s response on March 25when it had slammed the pollpanel for insisting that there wasno need for increasing the sam-ple matching of the EVMs withthe corresponding VVPATs.

Referring to the grievancesraised by the opposition partiesand the relief sought, the pollpanel has said that “after duestudies and tests it has arrived atthe conclusion that the methodas presently adopted has beenfound to be most suitable”.

The EC has said that it wasopen to any other suggestionthat it might not have consid-ered for the future elections asthe conduct of free and fairelections was the ultimate goal.

Finding nothing new inthe plea by the 21 oppositionparties, the poll panel in itsresponse has said: “...issuesraised in the instant petitions arematters that have already beenconsidered, studied and deter-mined by the ElectionCommission and have since cul-minated in adopting the courseof conduct of the imminentelections in the present manner.”

Pointing to the advantage ofusing EVMs, the EC has said that“EVMs have completely elimi-nated the problem of invalidvotes, which were in many casesmore than the winning marginin the constituency.”

��� ����)"����� �&1�2&*34�

Endemic to the Himalayas,Kutki (Picrorhiza kurrooa

Royle ex. Benth), a perennialIndian wild medicinal herbcommonly used for treatment ofliver diseases including jaundice,is facing threat from a fungal dis-ease, powdery mildew. The plantis already on the endangered listbecause of over-exploitation forcommercial usage.

“If fungus is not containedin time, this might have adverseimpact on its medicinal prop-erties,” scientists from HNBUniversity have raised red-flags. They noted that this is forthe first time such ever reportof powdery mildew caused byPodosphaera fuliginea on theendemic medicinal plantPicrorhiza kurroa has beenrecorded from India.

The study is published inthe latest edition of reputed sci-ence journal, Current Science.

“A powdery mildew diseasewas observed by the scientistson its aerial parts under poly-house conditions in alpine fieldresearch station at Tungnathand under cultivated condi-tions at Pothivasa, Rudraprayagdistrict, Uttarakhand during

May-September 2016-2018,”said the study.

The disease symptomswere observed on the adaxialsurface as white powdery masswhich later turned brown, andthe plants withered and ulti-mately died. Poor floweringand low seed setting wereobserved in the infected plantsand most of them also with-ered, noted the team of scien-tists, including Ankit Singhand MC Nautiyal from

Uttarakhand’s HNB GarwalUniversity and AK Gautamfrom Abhilashi University,Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

Increasing demand formedicinal herbs in India as inthe world has prompted theGovernment organisations andNGOs in high-altitude villagesin Uttarakhand and farmers toreap benefit from its cultivationand conservation.

“Although the crop is in theinitial stage of commercial cul-

tivation in the high-altitude vil-lages of Uttarakhand, appear-ance of powdery mildew caus-es damage to the crop and dueto this, farmers are getting dis-couraged,” said the study.

The disease needs to becontrolled by fungicides ofbiological origin so that themedicinal properties of theplant are not affected. Researchcan also be initiated to devel-op disease-resistant varieties ofthis plant in near future for theconservation of this valuablespecies for sustainable use, theresearchers suggested.

Grown naturally on rocksand moist slopes in the alpineand subalpine regions between3,000 and 4,500 metres, Kutkihas been used for many cen-turies in various medicinalcultures across India, Greeceand Arabia as a febrifuge,coolant, blood purifier andhepato-protective.

According to ayurvedaexperts, Kutki is most widelyrecognised for its protectiveand regenerative effects uponthe liver, protecting againstlong-term damage and bacte-rial infection that can be influ-enced by chronic drug con-sumption or abuse.

!� �� �&1�2&*34

The main investigating offi-cer (IO), Satyabrata Kumar,

of Enforcement Directorate(ED) probing the fugitive bil-lionaries Nirav Modi and VijayMallya cases was re-instated asJoint Director soon after he wasrelieved of his charges while hewas in London.

Sources said realising thegoof-up, the Mumbai zone ED,revoked its orders. Kumar is inLondon to attend the NiravModi extradition case pro-ceedings and simultaneouslyprobing the Mallya case.

According to ED order,Satyabrata Kumar shall con-tinue to look after the charge ofMumbai zonal office-I, untilfurther orders of the Directorof Enforcement. The order wassigned by Deputy Director(establishment) Rohit Anand.The order was marked to EDdirector; Joint Secretary ofDepartment of Personnel andTraining, Joint Secretary ofDepartment of Revenue andother senior officials of direc-torate.

The order divesting JointDirector Satyabrat Kumar ofthe charge of Mumbai zonalunit-I of the ED was issued byits top officer in the westernzone, Special Director VineetAgarwal, on Friday. As soon asthe news came out, sourcessaid, ED Director SanjayKumar Mishra cancelled theorder in Delhi and restored thecharge to Kumar.

Kumar, an Indian RevenueService officer of the Customsand Indirect Taxes service, wasdivested of his charge byAgarwal on the technicalground and rule that no IO cancontinue at one post beyondfive years and no order for hiscontinuation was issued by theED headquarters.

Special Director Agarwal,in his signed order, relievedKumar from all the investiga-tions, including the USD 2-bil-lion PNB Bank fraud caseagainst Nirav Modi, and hand-ed over the additional charge ofKumar to his immediate supe-rior authority of AdditionalDirector (western region), whoalso sits in Mumbai.

The order, however,allowed Kumar to continueprobing coal blocks allocationcases as he was appointed IO inthis case by the Supreme Courtand no officer can be changedwithout the apex court’s per-mission.

Sensing the controversybeing generated over the abruptremoval of the IO in this cru-cial case being monitored at thetop level of the government, theED headquarters cancelled theorder immediately.

This cancellation will befollowed by an approval ofextension of tenure of Kumarwhich has already been sent forclearance to the Department ofRevenue under the UnionFinance Ministry and theDepartment of Personnel andTraining (DoPT), the sourcessaid. The ED also issued a clar-ification through its Twitterhandle. “Certain media reportshave been appearing that JointDirector supervising investi-gation in the case of NiravModi has been relieved. Thisreport is not correct anddenied,” it said.

!� �� �&1�2&*34

The Amma MakkalMunnetra Kazhagam

(AMMK)-led by TTVDhinakaran has been allottedthe ‘Gift Box’ as the symbolfor its candidates in fray for atotal of 40 parliamentary and19 Assembly seats in theforthcoming by-polls and LokSabha elections of Tamil Naduand Puducherry.

This comes after theSupreme Court on Tuesdayrefused to direct the ElectionCommission (EC) to issue‘pressure cooker’ as a com-mon symbol to candidates

contesting under the AMMKbanner for the upcoming elec-tions. A Bench headed byChief Justice Ranjan Gogoihad instead asked the EC togive them a common electionsymbol from among the freesymbols available.

Post J Jayalathilaa’s death inDecember 2016, the AIADMKhad split with the group led byPalaniswami and Panneerse-lvam joining hands againstDhinakaran and VK Sasikala.Palaniswami and his trusteddeputy O Panneerselvam wereallocated the ‘two leaves’ sym-bol to the faction headed by theEC in November 2017.

New Delhi: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s address tothe nation on the successfultest-firing of an anti-satellitemissile did not violate themodel code of conduct, theElection Commission said onFriday night.

The EC took the decisionbased on the report of a com-mittee of officers which found that the Prime Ministerdid not violate the provisionof ‘party in power’ in the poll code.

“The committee has,therefore, reached the con-clusion that the MCC provi-sion regarding misuse of offi-cial mass media...Is not attract-ed in the instant case,” thecommission said, citing thereport of the committee con-

stituted to look into the case. Model code of conduct is

in place for the April-May par-liamentary election and someState polls. India shot downone of its satellites in space onWednesday with an anti-satel-lite missile to demonstratethis complex capability, PrimeMinister Narendra Modiannounced, making it only thefourth country to have usedsuch a weapon.

Declaring India has estab-lished itself as a global spacepower after the success of theoperation ‘Mission Shakti’,Modi said the missile hit a livesatellite flying in a Low EarthOrbit after it traversed a dis-tance of almost 300 km fromearth within three minutes ofits launch. PTI

!� �� �&1�2&*34

BJP’s Etawah MP AshokKumar Dohrey joined the

Congress on Friday aftermeeting party president RahulGandhi and within hours hewas fielded by the Oppositionparty from the constituency.Dohrey joined the Congressfold days after he was denieda BJP ticket from the EtawahLok Sabha constituency, fromwhere the ruling party hasdeclared former Union min-ister Ram Shankar Katheria.

The 48-year-old Dalitleader met Rahul Gandhi atthe latter’s residence here andwas welcomed in the party.Within hours of joining,Dohrey was nominated bythe opposition party as a can-didate from his constituencyHe had won the Etawah seaton a BJP ticket in 2014.

He was earlier in theBahujan Samaj Party and was

an MLA between 2007 to2012. He also served as aCabinet minister in theMayawati Government. BJP’s

MP from Uttar Pradesh’sBharaich Sadhvi Savitri BaiPhule had also joined theCongress a few days ago.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Friday issued noticeto the Centre and the ElectionCommission on a plea seekinginitiation of contempt pro-ceedings for alleged violation ofthe apex court’s judgmentdirecting all candidates todeclare their criminalantecedents to the poll panelbefore contesting elections.

A Bench comprisingJustices RF Nariman andVineet Saran also soughtresponse from the three deputyelection commissioners, lawsecretary and the cabinet sec-retary for not complying with

its judgment dated September25, 2018. The court was hear-ing a plea filed by lawyerAshwini Kumar Upadhyay.

In September last year, afive-judge Constitution benchunanimously held all candi-dates will have to declare theircriminal antecedents to theEC before contesting polls andhad called for wider publicity,through print and electronicmedia about the antecedents ofcandidates.

On October 10 last year, theEC had issued notificationregarding the amended Form-26, and directions to political

parties and candidates for pub-lication of criminal antecedents.

However, the plea filed byUpadhyay had alleged that theEC neither amended theElection Symbol Order, 1968nor the model code of conduct(MCC) so the said notificationhas no legal sanction.

“On October 10, 2018, theECI issued direction to politi-cal parties and candidates forpublication of criminalantecedents without amendingthe Election Symbol Order &Model Code of Conduct so thedirection has no legal sanction,”the plea had said. PTI

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Page 6: ˇ...2019/03/30  · tanker on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida on Friday around 5 am. The bus was heading to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district when the inci-dent

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In a second major offensiveagainst the ‘active’ terrorists

in the last one week, the jointteams of security forces haveagain eliminated six terroristsin the last 24 hours in differ-ent encounters acrossKashmir valley.

After eliminating four ter-rorists in two separate encoun-ters in Shopian and Handwaraon Thursday, two more terror-ists were gunned down by thesecurity forces in Nowgam areaon the outskirts of Srinagar onFriday.

At least five soldiers werealso injured in the gunfight.

According to policespokesman," both the terroristskilled in the operation havebeen identified as Pakistaninationals Ali and Idrees (codenames)". From the incriminat-ing material recovered it isunderstood that they were affil-iated with proscribed terroroutfit Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM). Police had also recoveredarms and ammunition from thesite of gunfight.

Earlier, eight terrorists wereeliminated by the security forcesin four different encounters inBandipora, Baramulla, Shopianand Sopore gun battles betweenMarch 21-22. The securityforces achieved major success-es in the recent days on the basis

of pin pointed informationabout the presence of terroristsin the civilian areas. The mainobjective behind these sus-tained operations is eliminationof maximum number of ter-rorists active in North andSouth Kashmir districts to cre-ate conducive atmosphere forpeaceful polls in the State.

At present the poll cam-paign for the first phase ofpolling is going on smoothly inSrinagar and Baramulla areaswith political rallies of differentpolitical parties attractinghealthy turn out of supporters.

On its part the State policehas also issued a separate advi-sory to the leaders of differentpolitical parties to refrain fromtaking out road shows andorganising public meetingswithout proper sanitisation ofvenues by the security forces.

Meanwhile, in Jammu, Lt

Gen. Ranbir Singh, NorthernArmy Commander, metGovernor Satya Pal Malik at RajBhavan and briefed him aboutthe present security situation inthe State.

Governor and the ArmyCommander discussed certainimportant issues relating toeffective internal security man-agement. In another relateddevelopment, Pakistan Armyviolated ceasefire agreementalong the line of control inMankote and Krishna Ghatisectors of Poonch.

According to Defencespokesman in Jammu, "Pakistanarmy initiated unprovokedceasefire violation by shellingwith mortars and small arms fir-ing from 7.30 a.m". In responseto the fresh provocation, Indianarmy also retaliated strongly andeffectively, Defence spokesmanadded.

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Ahmedabad: Congress leaderHardik Patel's plans to contestLok Sabha election hit a road-block on Friday as the GujaratHigh Court rejected his pleaseeking a stay to his convictionin the 2015 Vispur rioting case.

As the last date for filing ofnominations is April 4, thePatidar leader has little time toapproach the Supreme Court tochallenge the ruling.

Patel had started prepara-tions to contest from Jamnagaron a Congress ticket after join-ing the party on March 12.Polling for 26 Lok Sabha seatsin Gujarat will be held on April

23.Under the Representation

of the People Act and a relatedSupreme Court ruling, a convictfacing a jail term of two years ormore cannot stand for electionunless the conviction is stayed.

Opposing Patel's plea beforeJustice A G Uraizee, the stategovernment had pointed out

that Patel is facing 17 FIRs,including two sedition com-plaints.

He was known for makinginflammatory speeches, the BJPgovernment told the court.

Hardik's lawyers had said ifthe conviction was not stayed,it will cause "irreparable dam-age" as he intended to contestthe Lok Sabha election.

No one had seen Patel beingon the spot of rioting and thetrial court did not examine anyindependent witnesses, theysaid.

After Friday's ruling, Patel'slawyers said they would study itand decide whether to approachthe Apex Court.

In the order, the high courtnoted that a conviction can bestayed only in rare andexcep-

tional cases, and Patel's case didnot fall into that category.

The court noted the gov-ernment's submission that hewas facing 17 FIRs, and said thatlooking at this criminal back-ground, no relief can be grant-ed.

The sessions court atVisnagar in Mehsana districtsentenced Patel to two years'imprisonment last July for riot-ing and arson in Visnagar townin 2015 during the Patidarquota stir which he led.

The high court in August2018 suspended the sentencebut not the conviction.

Patel, expected to be a starcampaigner for the Congress,said in a statement that he wel-comed the judgement.

"I welcome Gujarat High

Court's decision. Elections comeand go. But the BJP is workingagainst Constitutional princi-ples. Why a 25-year-oldCongress leader is beingstopped from contesting polls?

"Many BJP leaders werealso convicted. But it seems thatall the laws are meant only forus (opposition)," he said.

He said he will campaignfor Congress across the countryincluding Gujarat. "My onlyfault is that I did not bow downto the BJP. This is the result offighting against the power," headded.

Gujarat Congressspokesperson Manish Doshialleged the ruling party wasdoing everything to stop theyoung leader from contestingpolls as it was afraid of him. PTI

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Srinagar: An Army jawan waskilled in a landslide when he waspatrolling along the Line ofControl (LoC) in Jammu &Kashmir’s Baramulla district,Army officials said on Friday.

Naik Parvej was leading anoperational patrolling team inBaramulla when a landslidestruck on Thursday, the officialssaid.

They said the soldier fellinto a deep stream flowingalong the route and sustainedgrievous injuries. Parvej wasevacuated to 92 Base Hospitalhere for medical treatmentwhere he died later.

The Army Friday paid trib-ute to Naik Parvej, with CorpsCommander KJS Dhillon lead-ing all ranks in paying homageto him.

"In a show of solidarity,representatives from other secu-rity agencies also paid their lastrespects to the martyr," an Armyspokesman said.

The 29-year-old hailed fromShekhawas village of Rajasthanand he had joined the Army in2009. He is survived by his wife,a son and a daughter, he said.

"The mortal remains of themartyr were flown for last ritesto his native place, where hewould be laid to rest with fullmilitary honours. In this hour ofgrief, the Army stands in soli-darity with the bereaved familyand remains committed to theirdignity and well being," headded. PTI

Bengaluru: In a big relief toJD(S) patriarch and formerPrime Minister HD DeveGowda, Congress sitting MPfrom Tumkur SPMuddahanumegowda on Fridaypulled out of the contest as therebel candidate against him.

Gowda is the joint nomineeof Karnataka's Congress-JD(S)ruling alliance, which was wor-ried over his electoral prospectsafter Muddahanumegowdajumped into the fray defying theunderstanding under which theseat was allotted to the JD(S).

"Angry" at being denied theticket, Muddahanumegowdahad filed his papers both as partycandidate and as an independentbut finally yielded to persuasionfrom the party leadership.

The leadership made sever-al attempts to pacifyMuddahanumegowda, withCongress president RahulGandhi and AICC general sec-retary KC Venugopal interven-ing finally.

Muddahanumegowda toldPTI that he has withdrawn hisnomination, respecting the "per-suasion" made by the Congresshigh command.

"Rahul Gandhi himselfspoke to me (Thursday morn-ing), K C Venugopal spoke tome several times, also our KPCCpresident, deputy chief minister

and also CLP leaderSiddaramaiah started persuad-ing me and said the coalition isat stakebecause of my nomina-tion as rebel," he said.

"Though my people did notagree for withdrawing nomina-tion, somehow I had to, as I did-n't want to become reasonforanything going wrong betweentwo parties," he added.

Muddahanumegowda saidhe was "angry" and "furious" forthereason that the sitting MPwas deprived of contesting elec-tion.

He said he had filed thenomination as constituencyleaders and workers insisted onhis contesting, after his requestto coalition leaders to reconsid-er the decision and field him, didnot yield result.

The Congress leader said hehad gone through "agony andmental torture" after beingdenied ticket despite being"active and performing mem-ber."

Asked about campaigningfor Gowda, he said, "I'm a sen-sitive politician..I will thinkover..I will need some time."

Muddahanumegowda, whohad worked as a judicial officerin the past is the only memberamong ten sitting Congress MPsfrom the State denied ticket, cit-ing coalition compulsions. PTI

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After considerable dilly-dal-lying, the BJP on Friday

nominated former Congressleader, Ranjeetsinh Naik-Nimbalkar, as its candidate forMadha Lok Sabha constituency,after ignoring the claims for aparty ticket made by newentrant to the party from theNCP, Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil.

Five days after Naik-Nimbalkar joined its fold, theBJP preferred him overRanjitsinh Mohite-Patil as itscandidate from Madha con-stituency in westernMaharashtra.

Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil –son of Nationalist CongressParty (NCP) MP and formerDeputy Chief MinisterVijaysinh Mohite-Patil – hadquit the NCP and joined the BJPon March 20 in the hope that hewould be nominated as a can-didate from Madha constituen-cy.

However, after Naik-Nimbalkar joined its fold onMarch 25, the BJP began recon-sidering its earlier decision tonominate Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil as its candidate fromMadha.

What prompted the BJP toweigh its options betweenRanjitsinh Mohite-Patil and

Naik-Nimbalkar was the NCP’sdecision to field Sanjay Shinde,who is the president of SolapurZilla Parishad and brother ofMLA Baban Shinde, as its can-didate. Under the circum-stances, Shinde is really morepolitically influential than sittingNCP MP Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, whom the NCP wanted tore-nominate in the initial stages.

Shinde had recently quit theNCP to contest against BJPcandidate Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil, as he had no hopes of get-ting nominated as a candidateby the Sharad Pawar-led party.Till recently, he was beingwooed by the BJP into its fold.However, Shinde returned to theNCP after persuasion by partychief Sharad Pawar himself.

After considerable deliber-ations, the BJP nominatedNaik-Nimbalkar as its candidatefrom Madha. Miffed with hisparty leadership for its failure tonominate his son Rajeetsinh,sitting NCP MP VijaysinhMohite-Patil has declared thathe would work for whoever theBJP nominates as its candidate.

It may be recalled that on March 11, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had backed out of the contest, setting thestage of the entry of his grandnephew Parth Pawar into elec-toral politics.

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It may not be possible for thecandidates contesting the Lok

Sabha election to visit all thehouseholds in their con-stituencies to solicit votes. Butthe Ettppalli village in Hossurtown that falls underKrishnagiri parliamentary con-stituency in Tamil Nadu is anexception. The candidates inthe fray for the Assembly as wellas Lok Sabha elections havemade the remote villageEttppalli their first port of callduring the campaign.

There are 80 families in thevillage and 270 registered vot-ers. But more than the village,what is important for the can-didates is the residence ofGunde Gowde, the head of ajoint family in Ettppalli whichhas 40 registered voters. This isan address which no politiciansworth his/her salt could ignore.

“There are 60 members inthis family and 40 voters.Twenty members of the familyare of below the age of 18 andare not in the voting age,” saidGowde, (65), a farmer whoheads the family which own 150acres of farming land.

He said six members of thefamily are outside the village.“But all of us take part in theelection and cast our votes

without fail. The members whoare working at places likeBangalore, Mysore andChennai reach here two days inadvance and we make it a realfestival of democracy,” saidGowde.

The single house couldaccommodate all the familymembers that include Gowde’sfive brothers, their childrenand grandchildren, according to

Krishnamma, Gowde’s wife.“When all the family membersare here, I need 10 kg rice and5 kg flour per day,” said the ladyof the house.

The Gowdes do not haveany specific political leanings.“Kindness , compassion andconcern for the welfare of thesociety are r priorities,” saidGowde who disclosed that thefamily members would take a

decision on whom to elect dur-ing the dinner served on April17. “Hossur goes to the poll onApril 18,” said Gunde Gowde.

Munusamy (39), youngerbrother, who accompanies hisbrother like a shadow, saidfarming was no more profitable.“ We cultivate paddy, vegetablesand fruits. Prices of crops liketomato are always crashingwhich cause considerable finan-cial loss. The Government hasbeen not helpful,” saidMunusamy.

“What makes the Gowdefamily unique is the concept ofthe joint family system whichworks on the principle ‘one forall and all for one’. No wonder,even KP Munusamy, theAIADMK strongman who con-tests from the Krishnagiri LokSabha constituency maintainscordial ties with Gowde and hisfamily members,” said Jesuraj,a journalist-cum-social activistin Hossur.

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)*���������#�����������������+�#����� � ���Thodupuzha (Ker): A seven-year-old boy was left with acracked skull and is on venti-lator support after allegedlybeing assaulted by his mother'spartner here, police said onFriday.

The accused, Arun Anand,36, who was arrested, has atleast four cases against him,they said.

Various IPC sections,including 303 (attempt to mur-der), and Juvenile Justice Acthave been slapped against him,a police official said.

The boy, who suffered crit-ical head injuries and bruises allover, is battling for life.

A doctor treating him at aprivate medical college hospi-tal in Ernakulam district, saidthe boy was on ventilator sup-port and there was no responsefrom him.

Doctors are monitoringhis situation and he is underobservation for 48 hours,according to hospital sources.

The boy has a youngerbrother who is four years old.

Police have registered thestatement of the child's moth-er, whose husband died 10months ago after which theaccused began staying withthem.

On Wednesday, theaccused, woke up the boy at 3am, and started kicking andbeating him as a punishmentfor bed wetting by the youngersibling.

The accused allegedlyhurled the child on the groundsmashing his head on an almi-rah and used a walking stick tobeat him up.

Though an emergencysurgery was performed at aprivate medical college hospi-tal at Kolenchery inErnakulam district, his con-dition continues to be criticial,hospital sources said. "His lifeis sustained completely onventilator support now. Thenext 48 hours is critical... As

per the latest scan report, theblood circulation to the brainseems to have stopped," a doc-tor said.

The boy has suffered skullfracture, internal bleeding andlung injury, besides cuts andbruises all over his body.

The incident came to lightafter police and Child Helplineauthorities here received infor-mation about the child's wors-ening health condition from ahospital here, where he was ini-tially taken.

The boy was later shifted tothe hospital in Ernakulam foremergency surgery.

Police said besides the vic-tim, a second standard student,his 4-year-old brother also sus-tained injuries all over hisbody. The younger sibling'sstatement has been recorded.

Meanwhile, Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan Friday soughtan immediate report from theIdukki district authorities onthe incident. PTI

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Bengaluru: Karnataka PWDMinister and JD(S) leader H DRevanna besides local Congressleaders were left red-faced onFriday when Congress workersstraightaway refused to supporthis son Prajwal Revanna in theLok Sabha polls at an event inHassan.

Prajwal, grandson of JDSpatriarch and former primeminister H D Deve Gowda, isthe candidate of the rulingalliance for Hassan, whichGowda was representing.

The embarrassing incidentoccurred in front of Revannawho had come to seek supportfrom Congress workers at a

public event.An ardent believer in astrol-

ogy, Revanna had arrived at thevenue holding seven to eightlemons in his hand to ward offbad omen that could eclipse hisson's political prospects.

Usually Revanna carries atleast one lemon with him.

As soon as he took his seaton the dais holding lemons, theCongress workers created a dinshouting that they would prefervoting for the BJP rather thansupporting the JD(S).

The compere's repeatedpleas to stay silent were in vainas the rebel Congress workerscreated a noisy scene. PTI

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Gorakhpur/Lucknow: In a joltto the SP-BSP-RLD'Mahagathbandhan' in UttarPradesh, the Nishad Party onFriday parted ways with thefledgling anti-BJP alliance andsaid it could "look for otheroptions".

"The Nishad Party is nomore in alliance with theSamajwadi Party," NikkyNishad alias Riteash Nishad,media in-charge, Nishad Party,told PTI in Gorakhpur.

"There was conflictbetween the two parties onMaharajganj seat as NishadParty wanted to contest with itsown party symbol where asSamajwadi Party was not readyfor it," he added.

The party workers were notwilling to contest on the SP

symbol and many of thembegan quitting, he said.

"So, our national presidentSanjay Nishad ji went toLucknow and on late Thursdayit was confirmed that theNishad Party is no more a partof the alliance," he added.

When asked whetherPravin Nishad, MP, will alsoquit Samajwadi Party, he said,"I don't know about it."

The Nishad Party is head-ed by Sanjay Nishad, the fatherof Pravin Nishad who hadwon the Gorakhpur parlia-mentary seat on an SP ticket inthe 2018 by-polls.

The win had been remark-able, as Gorakhpur was con-sidered a bastion of UP CMYogi Adityanath, who had rep-resented the parliamentary

constituency several timesbefore.

A Nishad Party insidersaid that though SP chiefAkhilesh Yadav had said he willmake announcement on seatsfor the party, "They did not putour name on poster/letter oranything. Our party workers,authorities, core committeewere upset."

"So, the Nishad Party hastaken a decision today that weare not with the 'gathbandhan',we are free, can fight electionsindependently and can look forother options as well. Theparty is free now," he said.

When contacted, SPnational spokesman RajendraChowdhury told PTI that hehas no information of any suchdecision of the Nishad Party.

It was just three days backthat the Nishad (Nirbal IndianShoshit Hamara Aam Dal)Party in a press conference inLucknow on Tuesday hadannounced that it will be join-ing the grand Oppositionalliance in the State.

The day the Nishad Partyannounced its decision to jointhe alliance, Sanjay Nishad hadsaid at a press conference that,“Our constitution, youth andfarmers' futures are in gravedanger. People voted for a'jumlebaz' party cause of theirfalse promises. Modi and Yogipromised many things forNishad community but noth-ing was done. The Nishad

community will now givefull support to the SP-BSPalliance in all the State.” PTI

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Chennai: The ElectionCommission has allotted 'giftpack' as symbol for candidatesof the TTV Dhinakaran-ledAmma Makkal MunnetraKazagham for the coming LokSabha elections and assemblybypolls, the AMMK said onFriday.

In a tweet, the party leaderTTV Dhinakaran thanked thepoll panel and termed the sym-bol "wonderful". "Thanks tothe Election Commission ofIndia for allocating the won-derful symbol "gift pack" for all

the 59 candidates as per theorder of the Hon'ble SupremeCourt of India," he tweeted.

While campaigning inArakkonam constituency,Dhinakaran said "Till yes-terday we were sitting at SC'sdoorstep for symbol. Only afterthe SC instructed, EC sent a listof 36 symbols. In that, all the 35were not worth picking,"Dhinakaran said addressing thecrowd. Only one— 'gift pack'—was impressive, and immedi-ately I picked it so as to ensurenot to lose it, he added. PTI

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Page 7: ˇ...2019/03/30  · tanker on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida on Friday around 5 am. The bus was heading to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district when the inci-dent

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With the first round ofelections just about two

weeks away, BJP presidentAmit Shah on Friday wentback on the “infiltrators-get-out” plank, telling a huge crowdat Alipurduar in North Bengalthat his party would invoke the‘Citizenship Bill’ if it came topower in Bengal and throw outall the illegal immigrants fromthe State.

Addressing his first elec-tion rally after the polls wereannounced early this month,Shah said his party wouldbring National Register of

Citizens, like in Assam, tothrow out the infiltrators sothat they cannot influence elec-tions in this country.

Like in Assam, “we willintroduce NRC in Bengal oncewe come to power in thisState,” Shah said adding hisparty was determined to get theCitizens’ Bill passed inParliament to settle the infil-trators issue once and for all.

A large section ofAlipurduar electorate comesfrom santhali and Nepali pop-ulation who work in the teagardens. Traditionally theyvoted for the Left but thingsstarted changing after 2011with most TMC making aforced entry into these areasbreaking the traditional votingpattern.

Subsequently the Leftistvoters beaten by an aggressiveTMC shifted rightwards to

swell the BJP which currentlyenjoys a sizeable voting per-centage in this Terrain con-stituency bordering Bangladeshand Assam.

The BJP has fielded triballeader John Burla fromAlipurduar seat.

Shah who was promptlyattacked by the seniorTrinamool Congress leadersfor trying to create a commu-nal divide among the localpopulation without knowingthe secular Bengali culture,however said his statementswere not directed at the “gen-uine (read Hindu) refugees.”

He said that his partywould ensure that the “genuinerefugees who had been forcedto leave other countries to takeshelter in India are not harassedin the process. These people arevery much a part of our pop-ulation.”

Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee has for longbeen fighting against the intro-duction of NRC in Assam that

according to her put the secu-rity and citizenship of morethan 40 lakh of Bengali popu-lation in jeopardy.

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Come April 2, Bengal ChiefMinister will embark on a

long campaign addressing, atleast, 80 rallies in about 40 days.

The Trinamool Congressleaders said the number ofrallies might even cross 100 ifshe decided to concentrate onconstituencies where the BJPwas likely to do well.

Incidentally, April 2 is the

day before Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s twin rallies:one in Siliguri and the other atBrigade Parade Grounds inCalcutta are expected to takeplace.

“She will address abouttwo or three rallies a day in thecoming about one and a halfmonth,” a senior party leadersaid adding the TMC chief willconcentrate more on the newlyemerging saffron belts.

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Aurangabad (Bihar): BJPpresident Amit Shah on Fridaylambasted Lalu Prasads RJDfor giving a ticket to the wifeof mafia don-turned-politi-cian Mohd Shahabuddin,claiming that it showed thepartys intention to bring backthe era of jungle raj to Bihar.

Shah’s hard-hitting com-ment against the RJD camewhile addressing an electionrally here.

Sitting BJP MP SushilKumar Singh is pitted againstMahagathbandhan candidatefrom Hindustani AwamMorcha party Upendra Prasadat Aurangabad seat popularlycalled “Chittorgarh of Bihar”due to overwhelming popula-tion of the Rajputs.

“What did Lalu give toBihar during his long political

career. He gives a ticket to thewife of Shahabuddin, who hasoppressed so many peoplebefore finally going behindbars.

“The development hasmade clear the RJDs inten-tionwhich is to bring back theera of jungle raj. In the eventof the Mahagathbandhancoming to power”, Shah said athis maiden rally in the stateupon announcement of theLok Sabha polls.

The 15 year rule of RJDfrom 1990 to 2005 in Biharhad drawn the moniker “jun-gle raj” on account of large-scale incidents of crime.

A several-term MP fromSiwan from where the candi-dature of his wife HeenaShahab was announced earli-er in the day, Mohd

Shahabuddin has beenaccused of involvement inseveral criminal cases includ-ing the killing of former JNUstudents union presidentChandrashekhar and journal-ist Rajdeo Ranjan.

He is at present serving lifesentence awarded for the mur-der of two Siwan residentsboth of them brothers whowere killed by being dousedwith acid. Another brother ofthe duo, who was an eyewit-ness in the case, was bumpedoff later.

Notably, the BJP candidateOm Prakash Yadav had defeat-ed Heena Shahab in the 2014Lok Sabha polls, which herhusband could not contestsince he had been disqualifiedon account of conviction in themurder case. PTI

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Lucknow: In a major relief tothousands of ‘siksha mitras’ whoappeared for the AssistantTeacher Recruitment Exam 2019,the Lucknow bench of AllahabadHigh court on Friday quashed aGovernment notification fixing65 and 60 per cent as qualifyingmarks for general and reservedcategory candidates respectively.

The order paves the way forthe selection of more ‘siksha

mitras’ due to a 2017 SupremeCourt direction, asking to givethem 25 per cent weightage in thenext two consecutive selectionprocesses. Passing the order, thecourt directed the ExaminationRegulatory Authority (ERA) sec-retary to declare the result of the2019 exam in terms of theGovernment Order of December1, 2018 and an advertisement ofDecember 5, 2018. PTI

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Page 8: ˇ...2019/03/30  · tanker on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida on Friday around 5 am. The bus was heading to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district when the inci-dent

One of the main features of thecampaign for the forthcomingLok Sabha elections is thedeafening silence of all politi-cal parties on the issues of ani-

mal rights and justice. And this despite thefact that a vast array of non-human livingbeings, ranging from neighbourhood dogsand cats and stray cattle roaming thestreets, to the birds seen on nearby trees, areregularly visible to us. Though less frequent-ly seen directly, wildlife in forest and wastelands and the fish in streams and ponds,have become familiar through films, videos,print and electronic media, folklore and dis-cursive, and fictional writings. And, ofcourse, many consume animals as food.

One reason for this silence is that we seenon-human living beings without integratingthem into our moral, emotional and intellec-tual consciousness. We view them like thelamp post, hydrants, two-wheelers, cars andbuses we encounter on the roads, avoidingrunning into — or being run over by — themas we go our own ways. The nature of our livesis partly to blame for this. The rat races werun by choice or under compulsion, the con-sumption dreams and ideals we pursue andthe amusements and pleasures we seek tocompensate for the emotional void within us,leave little time for, and interest in, with any-thing that does not directly concern us.

Also to blame is the nature of the hap-piness we seek. As Erich Fromm points outin The Art of Loving, “Our whole culture isbased on the appetite for buying. Modernman’s happiness consists in the thrill of look-ing at the shop windows, and in buying allthat he can afford to buy, on the idea ofmutually favourable exchange. He (or she)looks at people in a similar way. For the manan attractive girl — and for the woman anattractive man — are the prizes they are after.‘Attractive’ usually means a nice package ofqualities which are popular and sought afteron the personality market.”

Fromm was perhaps over-generalising.There are in our time people who do notbehave like the “modern man” he mentioned,but a majority — if not an overwhelmingmajority — do, and the culture to which theybelong is increasingly defined by the market.To a very great extent, the happiness of a per-son steeped in this culture consists of shop-window voyeurism, possessing, consuming,and fair exchange in romantic relationshipsin terms of desirable attributes. There is noelement of giving and emotional connect.

This is seen in a major way in the sphereof people’s attitude to “man’s best friend”, thedog. The majority — if not the overwhelm-ing majority — of those, who claim to be doglovers, prefer to keep as pets pedigreed dogsagainst Indian street mongrels who, accord-ing to many who know, perhaps constitute themost intelligent, loving and brave breed ofcanines in the world. Anyone, who has hadthem as friends or family members, wouldvouch for this.

Things are changing. InDecember 2008, four stray dogsgraduated from a nine-monthImprovised Explosive Devices(IED) detection course from theCounter Terrorism and JungleWarfare College (CTJWC) inKanker district, Chhattisgarh.These were found capable ofdetecting explosives up to sixinches below the surface and tobe tougher, harder, sharper andmore active than pedigreed dogs— generally Labradors andAlsatians — during the trainingperiod.

In Barrackpore, near Kolkatain West Bengal, Asha, rescued bythe staff of the West BengalPolice Training Academy whenshe was a three-month-old,harassed and ill-treated by localresidents, began to be trained asa sniffer dog. She, too, turned outto be as good, if not better, thanthe foreign pedigreed breeds,including Dobermanns, invari-ably chosen for training. Turningout to be an expert sniffer, shewas far faster and more agile thanthe other canines under trainingand capable of clearing hurdlesabout six feet high, that mostother groupmates could not.

They, however, are excep-tions that may or may notbecome the rule. Besides, theireminence has not preventedother animals, including straydogs, from being ignored. Thisis not just because of our self-absorbed, consumption-orientedlife but also of our conscious andsub-conscious awareness that

our entire existence rests on thekind of exploitation and abuse ofanimals that has no parallel evenin the history of perhaps the mostinhuman colonisers.

Besides consuming them,we subject them to incrediblepain and suffering for medical— and even cosmetics — test-ing. This is an utter shame, par-ticularly since alternatives areavailable. Computer models areused in Britain in physical sci-ences education to show thebiophysical properties of normaland diseased mammalian cells.They use these single-cell mod-els to manufacture anatomical-ly-precise three-dimensionalorgan models, which can accu-rately predict the effect of drugtherapies for a variety of dis-eases. The United States hasbanned the use of live animalsfor medical training. More thanhalf of the medical schools inthat country, including those atHarvard, Stanford, Columbia,Yale and Duke, have adoptedmore humane and superiormethods. Harvard MedicalSchool, for example, brings stu-dents directly into human oper-ation theatres to learn by watch-ing surgeons, anaesthetists andothers performing actual car-dio-vascular bypass surgeries.Devices have been found thatenable students to navigatethrough respiratory cardio-vas-cular and renal physiology andexperiments into differentmajor parameters in a trulyinteractive programme. Medical

education in the West usesmany alternatives like interac-tive videos and computer sim-ulations, in-vitro cell cultures,slaughter-house material anddead animals fromhumane/ethical sources.

Things have improved inIndia but not sufficiently. Theshocking use of animals inunnecessary experiments con-tinues. People often treat ani-mals with horrendous savagery.Jallikattu, which causes intensesuffering to bulls and leads toinjury, and even deaths, amonganimals and people, continuesto be staged. Draught animalsare poorly fed and looked afterand made to carry uncon-scionably heavy loads. Theconstant encroachment intowildlife habitats by roads andother infrastructural projectsand illegal human settlementshas led to rapidly-growingman-animal conflicts that canonly lead to the exterminationof most species of the latter.

Those, who do not want thisto happen, must remember thatelections are, in the last analysis,about numbers. Animals have novotes; animal lovers are not suf-ficiently numerous to matter.To be heard, they must ensure arapid growth in their numbers,which can only be done bylaunching and sustaining a pow-erful movement for animal rightsand justice.

(The writer is ConsultantEditor, The Pioneer, and anauthor)

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “US move on Azhar” (March29). The problem with China isthat it wants to have its cake andeat it too. On the one hand,Beijing wants to contain Indiaand, thus, stand with Pakistanfor the sake of hegemony in theAsian region. On the other, it hasto also withstand the onslaughtof Islamic expansionism in itsown country — an area where itis not on the same page asPakistan.

It is interesting that at leastfor once, a country like China isin the line of fire of human rights’organisations. With the UnitedStates drafting a resolution toblacklist Masood Azhar, it looksalmost certain that it will getthrough with an overwhelmingsupport from other countries,even on the face of veto by oneof the five permanent membersof the Security Council. On thewhole, the development is amoral victory for India.

While it may blowing off thepresent crisis created by theChinese embargo, the worldbody will have to take stock ofthe matter so that such situations

do not occur in the future,where a single country is able tonullify any well-meaning com-bined effort of a large number ofnations. It is in this directionthat it appears essential for theworld body to review its struc-ture in view of the changedworld scenario where somecountries, other than the perma-nent f ive members of theSecurity Council, have also

emerged as world power. Thesooner it is done, the better itwill be for world peace.

BP SrivastavaNoida

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Opp berates PM for Sarab anal-ogy” (March 29). Coming close

on the heels of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s abuse on thenational television channel toappropriate the stupendous sci-entific achievement of theDefence Research andDevelopment Organisation, aninstitution formed and nurturedby his bete noire , PanditJawaharlal Nehru, the new lowin wordplay is disturbing to saythe least. A change in the nature

of political discourse is urgent-ly needed before election cam-paigns get further reduced tocalling opponents cats, dogsand rats.

Appearing at a conferencerecently in Salt Lake City,Kolkata, former US PresidentBarack Obama remarked:“Things like rule of law, democ-racy and, you know, competenceand facts; those things are notpartisan but they also don’t hap-pen automatically”.

He added, “There has to becitizens who insist on it and par-ticipate to make sure it happens”.One can’t help but agree withObama, “Democracy is a gardenthat has to be tended”.

Haridasan Rajan Kozhikode

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Sir — In an article titled,“Contextualising terror” (March29), the name of the writer wasinadvertently credited to PrafullGoradia. Actually, it was writtenby Bhopinder Singh. The erroris deeply regretted.

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Perceived as the league of like-mindeddemocracies converging across theIndian and Pacific Oceans, the Quad,comprising the US, Japan, India andAustralia, is symbiotically linked with

the geopolitically ascending region — theIndo-Pacific. However, there are more questionsthan answers regarding the Quad’s structure,intentions and goals, making it difficult for eachmember to align their combined vision of thegrouping with that of their individual vision ofthe Indo-Pacific. This has led to a debate aboutthe need to re-purpose the Quad. In fact, stop-gap, sub-unions and disengagements at variouslevels in the group have raised questions as towhether it can transcend into a productive mini-lateral arrangement from a forum of inhibition.The other issue is whether the Quad is capa-ble of creating a potent security framework inthe region and if so, then what would such astructure look like?

These questions have primarily cropped upbecause of two reasons. First, while the nationshave committed themselves to the idea of a “Freeand Open Indo-Pacific", the cohesion is stillloosely arranged and has not yet been formalisedat the Ministerial level. One way of looking atit would be that even though the states have aconceptual consensus on the primary ideabehind the Quad, their individual politico-secu-rity considerations in the region vis-a-vis otherplayers subtly vary. Second, while all memberstates in the Quad have a robust strengtheningnetwork of ties with implications in the maritimedomain, including security dialogues and mil-itary exercises, as a unit, the Quad has failed todeliver substantively in terms of achievementsand commitments towards laying a bedrock ofa strong security arrangement in the Indo-Pacificregion. As such, informal promises, somemembers’ increasing apprehension aproposChina and dithering regional resolve fromWashington under President Donald Trumphave not produced the required joint resolve forconcrete deliverables.

India has distinctively carved a space withan emphasis on the principle of freedom of nav-igation and respect for the laws of sea, findingresonance with the central ideas of the Quad.However, India’s increasing tangible cooperationwith the Quad nations, its reservations about amore formalised security structure in the region,while still balancing at home, and its desire toavoid being identified with any particular groupwith regional security implications at the inter-national stage, are compounding complicationsin its vision of the Indo-Pacific and of the Quad.India’s de-hyphenation of the Indo-Pacific andthe Quad not only eclipses clarity but underscoresthe need for a regional security architecture thatemphasises on a strategic continuum rather thangeopolitical fragmentation.

Decoupling the Quad and the Indo-Pacific: While India has engaged with the Quadstates actively in the past couple of years sincethe organisation’s resurrection in 2017 after adecade, it has also subtly emphasised on decou-pling of the purpose of the group with its visionof the Indo-Pacific. New Delhi has drawn con-

ceptual and structural policy demarcationsbetween the Quad and the Indo-Pacific throughactions, inhibitors and statements, that were out-lined in some ways by Ambassador Pankaj Saran.

In the aftermath of two important informalsummits at Wuhan and Sochi with China andRussia respectively, India’s enthusiasm towardsthe Quad appeared to have faded. As such, NewDelhi seeks to place the Quad as one of the manymultilateral frameworks operating in the Indo-Pacific region, not as the regionally consequen-tial one. Enumerating its Indo-Pacific strategyin largely “plurilateral formats”, India not onlyseeks to avoid restricting its Indo-Pacific strat-egy to the Quad at its helm, but also to main-tain its long-cherished principle of strategicautonomy by keeping its options open toengage with Russia in the region, as also by mak-ing conscious decisions to not provoke China.

New Delhi seeks to ensure a nimble-foot-ed balance in the Indo-Pacific between align-ment and autonomy. While it separates the Quadwith the Indo-Pacific in its emerging dis-course, it risks the loss of an opportunity to cre-ate a strategic continuum, in favour of a region-ally fragmented vision. A positive rationale toIndia’s purpose in the Quad is the need to viewthe Indo-Pacific region as a strategic continu-um rather than an assemblage of sub-regional-ly divided goals, partnerships and alignments.The Quad provides India the opportunity to useits geographic centrality in the region to con-nect with the strategic ends on either side of thepeninsula, to enhance its security vision in theIndo-Pacific region, extending from the Gulf tothe other side of the Strait of Malacca.

Inclusivity and minilateralism: At theShangri-La Dialogue in 2018, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi clarified India’s position on theIndo-Pacific by saying that, “India does not seethe Indo-Pacific region as a strategy or as a clubof limited members. Nor as a grouping that seeksto dominate. And by no means do we consid-er it as directed against any country.” While the

Prime Minister made it clear that India’s Indo-Pacific strategy is not about cornering or side-lining China in the region, it also stands for apositive vision of the Indo-Pacific that harps onAsean centrality and emphasises inclusivity withSouth-East Asia as a core area in the region. InIndia’s definition of the Indo-Pacific, it “standsfor a free, open, inclusive region, whichembraces us all in a common pursuit ofprogress and prosperity. It includes all nationsin this geography as also others beyond who havea stake in it.” India has deliberatively marked adefinitive and conceptual distinction in defin-ing the regional scope of the Indo-Pacific, pri-marily through a semantic spin in the word“inclusive.” India’s definitive of “all” stakehold-ers in its Indo-Pacific purpose somewhat dilutesthe Quad’s anti-China purpose. This is, perhaps,both intended and desired by New Delhi as ithelps create comfortable navigating space in theregion to hedge against major powers while stillavoid antagonism.

The Quad is essentially rejuvenated againstthe backdrop of an emerging narrative for a freeand open Indo-Pacific and not much for a pan-regional inclusiveness. This narrative is presum-ably aimed against China as its heavy militari-sation and territorial claims in the South ChinaSea along with its strategic naval outposts in theIndian Ocean region are being primarily heldas the main disrupting force in the region. Whileas a unit, the Quad seeks to balance China insome ways, India has not drawn a clear line vis-à-vis China in the Indo-Pacific. Presently, it ispart of the Quad, which emphasises on balanc-ing Chinese aggression in the region by seek-ing a rules-based order, and at the same time,it is talking of an inclusive region which is notaimed against any particular country.

As such, the limits of “inclusivity” are leftundefined in India’s Indo-Pacific discourse.This narrative establishes the notion that India’svision of the Indo-Pacific isn’t about balanc-ing or restricting China. Rather, the tilt

towards the Quad is only a commitment undershared principles and values. The other issuein India’s Indo-Pacific discourse is an inher-ent dichotomy. India’s vision of the Indo-Pacificand its distinctive inclusiveness in the regionis against the premise of minilateralism thatthe Quad presupposes. Then, the puzzlingquestion is whether a certain degree of inclu-sivity, as sought by India, would make theQuad’s minilateralism powerless? In effect,India’s Indo-Pacific vision has added furtheruncertainty in the regional discourse aroundgrouping and partnerships. And it is the lackof clarity which is largely rendering the Quadunproductive.

Need for a security architecture vision:New Delhi should visualise the Indo-Pacific asa springboard to connect the ends of the twooceans across the maritime expanse of theIndo-Pacific. As New Delhi gradually seeks tobolster its presence in the region and take upthe role of a net security provider, it needs toshed its reluctance to move up to the strait ofHormuz and beyond the Strait of Malacca.While the Quad can be converted into a vehi-cle to provide the much-needed security archi-tecture in the region, its effectiveness woulddepend upon how much clarity India adds vis-a-vis its own regional minilateral engagementsin the Indo-Pacific. India needs to outline aclear stance with respect to its engagements oneither side of the spectrum; the rest of the Quadmembers as well as China. As such, answers toa few questions that could bring clarity to India’soperational strategy in the Indo-Pacific aremuch-needed and in order. Should India con-tinue its strategy of perceiving the Quad andthe Indo-Pacific as decoupled or see the twoas symbiotic? And, to what extent is India’sIndo-Pacific strategy “inclusive”?

(Vivek Mishra is Assistant Professor ofInternational Relations, Netaji Institute for AsianStudies and Udayan Das is Doctoral Candidatein International Relations at Jadavpur University)

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The meteoric rise of China andits assertive influence in theIndo-Pacific region have meant

that India is strengthening its nego-tiating space by forging economic andstrategic ties with the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN).This has been particularly necessitat-ed by the gradual decline in the USposturing in the region while Chinahas been multiplying its dominancewith the creation of an artificialisland in the South China Sea, theunilateral establishment of AirDefence Identification Zone (ADIZ)in the East China Sea and the Belt andRoad Initiative (BRI) connectingAsia to Africa to name a few. This,therefore, makes it imperative upon

the Indian military establishment topitch for the expansion of Quad —the quadrilateral regional alliance ofIndia, Australia, Japan and the UnitedStates — with the objective of coun-tering Chinese supremacy and ensur-ing autonomy over territorial waters.

Why is the Indo-Pacific regionemerging as the new strategic hub?Several trade routes criss-cross thechoppy waters. Experts say morethan 40 per cent of the global sea-borne trade pass through the vitalStraits of Malacca. Moreover, 15.5million barrels of global oil trade passthrough the Gulf of Hormuz; and 11million barrels of oil pass throughMalacca and the Singapore Straits. Sothe tussle is over freedom of naviga-tion, territorial rights, explorationand use of marine resources anddeployment of military forces in theregion by each country to protect itsinterests and resource base.

As top Navy officials of India,US, Japan, Australia and Franceassembled at the Raisina Dialogue inNew Delhi, Indian Navy chief SunilLanba argued for greater coopera-tion by citing the rapid expansion of

the Chinese naval presence in recentyears, particularly in the IndianOcean Region (IOR). Lanba said noNavy had grown so rapidly in the last200 years as the Chinese one and thatat any given time, there are aroundeight Chinese Navy ships in thenorthern part of the Indian Ocean.

Keeping the best interests of allcountries in mind as per the UnitedNations Convention on the Law ofthe Sea (UNCLOS), the Quad’sresponsibility is building a rule-based order to keep an eye onChina’s increasing footprint in theSouth China Sea. The Quad allianceemphasises on improving inter-operability and evolving a commonmaritime awareness template collec-tively with timely Naval exercises.Malabar is seen as a counter toChina’s expansion in this respect. ButChina cleverly cancelled Australia’sbid to join the Malabar naval exer-cise in 2017-18, confining it to anobserver status only.

While the Malabar naval exercisebetween India and the US has beenan annual exercise since 1992, Quadbecame a reality in 2007. However,

it began evolving since 2004, whenthe “tsunami” in the Indian Oceanregion brought together Australia,Japan and the US to launchHumanitarian Assistance andDisaster Relief (HADR)operationswith us.

Over time, navies of the Quadcountries have primed themselves tofight different maritime challengeslike boat terrorism, piracy, drugtrafficking and weapons smugglingand is now moving together tocheck China’s territorial ambitions onwaters by simply developing portsand islands belonging to smallercountries as part of its Belt and RoadInitiative. The Australian ForeignMinister, Marise Payne, too, hasechoed these concerns as she stressedon the expansion of the Quadalliance and called for a strategicpartnership with India, supporting itsrole as a strategic anchor in theregion. She quoted Indian PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s Shangri Ladialogue about India’s Act East pol-icy of stepped-up activity with Aseanand bridging south and SoutheastAsia, highlighting bilateral ties with

Australia. Underlining the need for the cre-

ation of an Indian Ocean RegionalArchitecture (IORA), Payne assuredthat Australia would also supportmulti-lateral mechanisms to safe-guard peace in the Indo-Pacificregion. During his keynote addressat the 2018 Shangri La Dialogue,Modi underscored the global impor-tance of the Indo-Pacific region as acollaborative space when he empha-sised that “India does not see theIndo-Pacific region as a strategy oras a club of limited members. Nor asa grouping that seeks to dominate.And by no means do we consider itas directed against any country.”

Pertinently, in September 2018,India and United States released ajoint statement as part of their 2+2dialogue: “Indo-Pacific is a free, openand inclusive concept, with Aseancentrality at the core and defined bya common rules-based order.”

Given that China is heavingover this concept, the Quad’s chal-lenges with regard to China are tomaintain international law, ensurepeaceful settlement of disputes and

freedom of navigation and allowcommerce in the region, includingthe South China sea, according toglobal practices.

Chinese Foreign Minister WangYi has derided the idea of Quad asnothing but sea foam but Chinashould not underestimate the emerg-ing power equation with the US’ new-found determination to restore a bal-ance of power in the Indo-Pacificregion and further isolate China fol-lowing their trade wars. The US isnow even compelling China todeclare why it is averse to taking astand on global terrorist MasoodAzhar at the UN Security Council. Itis pulling out the worst of China’shuman rights records. In this context,Quad is being viewed as the 21st cen-tury’s security alliance against anaggressive China which now sees theUS as spearheading a new version ofthe Cold War. However, as per topnaval officials, the main objective ofQuad is to maintain a free and openIndo-Pacific region which serves thebest interest of all countries.

(The writer is PrincipalCorrespondent, The Pioneer)

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If the country has to be dis-ruptor to occupy its place

among other developed coun-tries, it has to follow a cultureof ensuring debtors honourcontracts with banks and finan-cial institutions, chief eco-nomic adviser DrKrishnamurthy Subramaniansaid Friday.

“It is extremely importantto respect the moral dimen-sions of the debt contract,” hesaid while delivering hisaddress at the annual regionalmeeting and summit on‘Industry Future Forward’organised here by the tradebody CII.

The debt contract in itselfhas moral essence with theequity holder and the busi-nessman keeps all the goodsand repays the obligations tothe banks. But if things go bad,it is beholden to that contrac-tual obligation, he said.

So far, the country hasbeen having a situation inwhich private profits and loss-es were getting socialisedthrough banks, he said.

This was because whatappears in the deposits are thetax payers’ money, he said.

“So this important changein culture is absolutely para-mount if the nation has to bea disruptor,” he said.

He said the country hastaken an unprecedented step byintroducing bankruptcy there-by ensuring smaller and larg-er borrowers were broughtunder it.

“By ensuring rather thanlooking at who is that man onwhom the rule is being applied,the bankruptcy rule is appliedequally well. But, there is stillsome progress we have to makehere”, he said.

Subramanian, whoassumed office three monthsago, said though the 7.5 percent average GDP growthrecorded in the last five years,it happened primarily becauseof the increase in consumptionin domestic economy.

“Our growth has happenedbased on domestic consump-tion and it makes us moreimmune to sort of some of theshocks that we may experienceand that is a good aspect wemust definitely keep in mind,”

he said.Pointing to the inflation

rates which were in excess of 10per cent between 2014-15,Subramanian said, “Over the lastfive years, the average rate ofinflation has been about 4.5 percent which is a significant changecompared to 10 per cent- plusinflations that prevailed.”

He said the change in infla-tion can be attributed to thestructural change by makingthe Reserve Bank of India aninflation targeter and ensuringthat the rate of inflation is inthe band of four per cent plus-minus two per cent.

“As we continue to debateabout inflation etc, to my mind,at least monetary frameworkhas been an important frame-work in lowering the inflation”,he said.

On the implementation ofGoods and Services Tax whichcame into effect in July 2017, hesaid based on research no path-breaking change achieves per-fection “immediately”.

“In a country like ours,which is large and diverse, it ismore important for us to be tol-erant to the fact that we will notbe able to hit perfection withpolicy changes immediately.But, let’s recognise that GST isan important change which atleast creates India as one mar-ket and not 30- odd markets”,he said.

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The Finance Ministry onFriday said the

Government will borrow �4.42lakh crore in the first half of thefiscal 2019-20.

As per the Union Budget,the gross borrowing waspegged at �7.1 lakh crore for2019-20, higher than �5.71lakh crore estimated for theongoing fiscal.

Briefing reporters on theborrowing programme for2019-20, Economic AffairsSecretary Subhash ChandraGarg said gross borrowing willbe �4.42 lakh crore duringApril-September 2019-20.

Net borrowing would be Rs3.4 lakh crore in the first halfof the next fiscal.

Gross borrowing includesrepayments of past loans.Garg also said the Governmentwill stick to the fiscal deficit tar-get of 3.4 per cent of the GDPfor the current fiscal.

The Government raisesfunds from the market to fundits fiscal deficit through datedsecurities and treasury bills.

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GAIL (India) Limited andBharat Heavy Electricals

Limited (BHEL) have inkeda Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) inNew Delhi for cooperationin development of solarbased p ower projec ts .Santanu Roy, Execut iveDirec tor (Bus inessDevelopment), GAIL and SS eetharaman, Genera lManager (Renewable Energy& Water Business), BHELsigned the MoU in presenceof Manoj Jain, Director(Business Development)GAIL and S BalakrishnanDirector (IS&P) BHEL

GAIL shall be the projectdeveloper and BHEL shallac t as an Engineer ing ,Procurement, Constructionand Project ManagementContractor. BHEL shall alsoprovide Op erat ion &Maintenance services duringthe init ia l per iod uponbecoming successful bidder.

)����2������������� �� ������������7�&9"������ �������������������� ���������� ��������������������� � ��� ��&���� ����7�&&��� ����./01$./.0��������������$��������5�������� ����7�&&'��� ���4����������� ��������� �������������� ������������� ��������������� ����������&������ �� � �96+������������� �� �����+���� ������������7�&

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The Reserve Bank on Fridayset the average base rate to

be charged from borrowers bynon-banking financial com-panies (NBFCs) and micro-finance institutions (MFIs) at9.21 per cent for the first quar-ter of the next fiscal.

The applicable average baserate to be charged by Non-Banking Financial Company –Micro Finance Institutions(NBFC-MFIs) to their bor-

rowers for the quarter begin-ning April 01, 2019 will be 9.21per cent, the RBI said in a noti-fication. The regulator inFebruary 2014 had issueddirections to NBFC-MFIsregarding pricing of credit.

The RBI, on the last workingday of every quarter, comes outwith the average of the base ratesof the five largest commercialbanks for the purpose of arrivingat the interest rates to be chargedby NBFC-MFIs to its borrowersin the ensuing quarter.

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More Hypermarket waslaunched in the Omaxe

Connaught Place, GreaterNoida, a property of OmaxeLtd on Friday.

The newly opened MoreMegastore at will offer grocery,fresh food, home and apparel.More Hypermarket comes witha retail space of around 45,824square foot.

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The country’s currentaccount deficit widened to

2.5 per cent of GDP in the thirdquarter of the current fiscalfrom 2.1 per cent a year ago,primarily on account of a high-er trade deficit though the for-eign exchange reserves con-tinued to soar.

Meanwhile, the datareleased by the ControllerGeneral of Accounts (CGA)revealed that the centralGovernment’s fiscal deficit —gap between expenditure andrevenue receipts — had crossed134 per cent of the whole yearof the revised budget estimates(RE) at February-end.

Releasing the data on bal-ance of payments, the ReserveBank said that in absoluteterms, the CAD or the gapbetween inflow and outflow offoreign exchange in the currentaccount was USD 16.9 billionin October-December 2018,up from USD 13.7 billion in theyear-ago period.

The deficit, however, hadmoderated to USD 19.1 billionor 2.9 per cent of GDP in thepreceding quarter (July-September).

“The widening of the CAD(current account deficit) on ayear-on-year basis was pri-marily on account of a highertrade deficit at USD 49.5 billionas compared with USD 44.0billion a year ago,” the RBI saidin a statement.

CAD increased to 2.6 percent of GDP during the April-December 2018 period, from1.8 per cent in April-December2017 on the back of widening

of the trade deficit. Portfolio investment

recorded net outflow of USD2.1 billion in third quarter of2018-19 – as compared with aninflow of USD 5.3 billion incorresponding period of lastyear – on account of net sale inthe equity market, the RBIsaid.

Another set of RBI datashowed India’s foreignexchange reserves continued tosurge for the third week in arow, adding USD 1.029 billionat USD 406.667 billion in theweek to March 22.

Forex reserves hadincreased by USD 3.6 billion toUSD 405.6 billion in the pre-vious reporting week driven byan increase in foreign curren-cy assets.

For the reporting week,foreign currency assets — amajor component of the over-all reserves — increased byUSD 1.031 billion to USD378.805 billion, the RBI saidFriday.

Expressed in the green-backs, foreign currency assetsinclude the effect of apprecia-tion/depreciation of non-US

units like the euro, pound andthe yen held in the reserves.

The reserves had toucheda life-time high of USD 426.028billion in the week to April 13,2018. Since then, the reservekitty has been sliding as therupee came under pressure.

But since March this yearit has been increasing on theback of rising foreign investors’play in domestic equities.

As regards the fiscal deficitdata for April-February 2018-19, the CGA said it stood at Rs8.51 lakh crore as against therevised estimate (RE) of Rs 6.34lakh crore for the entire year.

In percentage terms, thedeficit was 134.2 per cent of thefull-year RE. Revenue receiptsof the central government were�12.65 lakh crore or 73.2 percent of the revised budgetaryestimate (BE) at February end.In the same period last fiscal,the revenue collection was 78.2per cent of the estimates.

The government’s tax rev-enue stood at �10.94 lakh croreand non-tax revenue was Rs 1.7lakh crore.

Total expenditure incurredby the Government during

April-February 2018-19 wasRs 21.88 lakh crore (89.08 percent of RE), of which �19.15lakh crore was on revenueaccount and �2.73 lakh croreon capital account.

While there are apprehen-sions that the government maybreach the fiscal deficit target,Economic Affairs SecretarySubhash Chandra Garg exud-ed confidence that target of 3.4per cent of the GDP for thecurrent fiscal would be met.

Commenting on the CGAdata, Devendra Kumar Pant,Chief Economist, India Ratingsand Research said slow pace oftax collection would keep pres-sure on fiscal deficit.

A higher GDP numberthan the one used in budgetwill help government movecloser to FY19 fiscal deficit at3.4 per cent of GDP, he added.

The finance ministry alsoannounced the government’smarket borrowing programmethrough dated securities andtreasury bills for the first halfof the next fiscal beginningApril 1.

Gross borrowing in thefirst half of the 2019-20 fiscalhas been pegged at �4.42 lakhcrore.

The remaining �2.68 lakhcrore or 37.7 per cent of thetotal gross borrowing would beraised from the markets byfloating government bonds andtreasury bills during October-March period.

The net borrowing in thefirst half (April-September)would be �3.40 lakh crore.The second half net borrowingwould �1.33 lakh crore due toa buyback of �50,000 crore.

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The National Company LawAppellate Tribunal

(NCLAT) on Friday asked thegovernment and the debt-rid-den IL&FS to submit details ofassets and liabilities of 13 enti-ties of the group.

A two-member benchheaded by Chairman Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya asked theIL&FS group to submit thedetails of four ‘amber’ entities— Hazribagh RanchiExpressway Ltd, JharkhandRoad Project ImplementationCompany Ltd, MoradabadBareily Expressway Ltd andWest Gujarat Expressway Ltd.

It also asked IL&FS to pre-pare a similar list for the restnine ‘amber’ entities of thegroup.

Under its resolution plan,the government has categorisedIL&FS group companies intogreen, amber and red categoriesbased on their respective finan-cial positions.

Companies classified as

‘green’ would continue to meettheir payment obligations,while ‘amber’ category firmscan meet only operationalpayment obligations to seniorsecured financial creditors.

Red category entities arethose which cannot meet theirpayment obligations towardseven senior secured financialcreditors.

In its order Friday, theNCLAT bench said, “Union ofIndia and ILFS Ltd are allowedto submit details of assets andliabilities of each of aforesaidfour entities, including theamount payable to one or otherfinancial creditor and opera-tional creditor.”

The matter with regard tothese four amber entities will betaken up on the next date ofhearing, which is April 8.

“However, in the mean-time, with regard to rest of thenine Amber entities, similarstatus report be prepared andkept ready for taking up theirmatter subsequently,” the ordersaid.

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The Commerce Ministry onFriday underlined the need

for realising huge untappedtrade potential with Europeanand Oceania countries thathave emerged as the majorsources of investment.

India has made efforts inthe recent past to take eco-nomic ties to the next level andthere is a need to take theseefforts to a logical conclusion,it said in a statement.

Quoting CommerceSecretary Anup Wadhawan, itsaid that like most trade nego-tiations between developingand developed countries, tradetalks with the European Unionand Oceania have been pro-tracted.

“India is a developingcountry and EU and Oceaniacountries are predominantlydeveloped and because of this,our ambitions, aspirations andsensitivities are at divergence insome specific areas,” he said.

India and the EU are nego-

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tiating a comprehensive free-trade agreement but no majormovement as happened sinceMay 2013.

He also emphasised on theneed to appreciate each other’sconstraints and try to find away forward which is doablefor all stakeholders.

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Page 11: ˇ...2019/03/30  · tanker on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida on Friday around 5 am. The bus was heading to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district when the inci-dent

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Rising for the secondstraight day, the BSESensex vaulted over 127

points while the NSE Nifty fin-ished above the 11,600-markon Friday on heavy buying inauto and metal stocks amidrobust foreign fund inflowsand positive global leads.

The 30-share Sensex start-ed off on a strong footing at38,675 points and touched ahigh of 38,748.54 before wind-ing up at 38,672.91, recording arise of 127.19, or 0.33%.

The 50-share NSE Niftyclosed at 11,623.90, higher by53.90 points, or 0.47%, afterhovering between 11,630.35and 11,570.15.

On a weekly basis, theSensex advanced over 508points, or 1.33%, while theNifty gained 167 points or1.45%.

Analysts attributed the con-tinuing market rally to robustinvestor sentiment driven byforeign fund inflows, strongerrupee and a likely positive out-come of the US-China tradetalks.

In the Sensex pack, Vedantarallied 3.20% on Friday, fol-lowed by Tata Steel, M&M,Tata Motors, ONGC, HindustanUnilever, Maruti, HeroMotoCorp, HDFC, Bajaj

Finance, SBI, HDFC Bank, HCLTech, Coal India, Sun Pharma,Infosys, Reliance and BhartiAirtel, rising up to 2.69%.

On the other hand,IndusInd Bank emerged as thetop loser, dropping 2.08%.

Other major laggards wereITC, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank,Axis Bank, Asian Paints,PowerGrid, NTPC, Kotak Bankand L&T, shedding up to 1.10%.

“Market continued theupward movement supportedby global cues, which rallied inexpectation of US-China tradedeal. However, the market is fac-ing resistance while nearingthe all-time high.

“Investors are lookingahead to get cues from generalelection during which earn-ings growth in Q4 will beinevitable to support the rally,”said Vinod Nair, head ofresearch at Geojit FinancialServices.

Sectorally, the BSE metalindex gained the most at 2.33%,followed by basic materials(2.10%), healthcare (1.37%) andauto (1.22%). FMCG, utilitiesand bankex indices closed in thered, losing up to 0/14%.

Meanwhile, foreign institu-tional investors (FIIs) boughtshares worth a net �3,594.51crore on Thursday, whiledomestic institutional investorswere sellers to the tune of

�2,080.22 crore, provisionaldata available with BSE showed.

The rupee appreciated by 16paise on Friday to close at 69.14against the US dollar on per-sistent foreign fund inflows andheavy buying in domestic equi-ties.

At the Interbank ForeignExchange (forex) market, thedomestic unit opened strong at69.20 but surrendered the gainsto slip to a low of 69.32.However, it clawed back lostground and finally ended at69.14, up 16 paise over its pre-vious close. On Thursday, therupee had slumped 42 paise toend at 69.30.

On the global front, USPresident Donald Trump saidtrade talks with China were pro-gressing “very well”, as topnegotiators from the two coun-tries on Thursday began anoth-er round of meetings to resolvetheir tariff dispute.

Elsewhere in Asia, HongKong’s Hang Seng rose 0.96%,Shanghai Composite Index wassoared 3.20%, Korea’s Kospigained 0.59% and Japan’s Nikkeiended 0.82% higher. In theEurozone, Frankfurt’s DAXgained 0.37%, Paris CAC 40rose 0.61% and London’s FTSEwas up 0.58% in early deals.

Global oil benchmark Brentcrude futures rose 0.44% toUSD 68.12 per barrel.

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Infrastructure giant Larsen& Toubro (L&T) on Friday

announced a new initiative,L&T-Nxt, to focus on new-agetechnologies like artificialintelligence and cybersecurity.

L&T-Nxt will focus on theareas of artificial intelligence,internet of things (IoT), virtualreality, augmented reality,geospatial solutions as well ascybersecurity and leverage theexperience that L&T has gar-nered over the decades.

“Larsen & Toubro hasannounced a new strategic ini-tiative, L&T-Nxt, to define thefuture of the organisation froma fresh perspective. It has beenidentified as a select initiative inL&T’s five-year strategic plan,”the company said in a statement.

The company said it wasideally placed to capitalise onthese huge emerging opportu-nities with its large palette span-ning software to hardcore engi-neering, backed by a strongtechnology base.

The company has deployedIoT, analytics and AI in theindustrial sector by convertingmost operational matters onlinelike finance, human resources,labour, plant, material etc. intosmart, affordable and efficientsolutions.“Disruption hasbecome the new order and as weembrace new and frontier tech-nologies, our businesses areleapfrogging into entirely new

realms powered by the tremen-dous benefits of digitalisationand analytics,” said SNSubrahmanyan, CEO and man-aging director of Larsen &Toubro. Subrahmanyan furthersaid “we are committing signif-icant investments and talentinto this strategic effort and areconfident that this will be anenabler for business”.

Capability development insome of these select verticals hasbeen in the works under a long-term strategic plan and L&T’smanagement is focused on incu-bating and scaling these busi-ness, mapping the landscape,formulating the road ahead,and achieving the stated goalwith go to market solutions, thecompany said.

JD Patil, senior executivevice-president (defence busi-ness) and member of the boardfeels that the era of cyber-phys-ical systems is just beginning.“With the lines between thephysical and digital blurring,Industry 4.0 is being founded,”he commented and added: “Wesee new technology businessesand sunrise enterprises as primeconstituents with the latentupside for rapid and substantialvalue creation.”

Larsen & Toubro is anIndian multinational engaged intechnology, engineering, con-struction, manufacturing andfinancial services with over USD18 billion in revenue. It operatesin over 30 countries worldwide.

New Delhi (PTI): Investors’wealth zoomed �8.83 lakh croreduring 2018-19 fiscal driven bya rally in the broader marketwhere the BSE benchmarkjumped over 17%. The 30-shareSensex advanced 5,704.23points or 17.30% during 2018-19. It rose 127.19 points to fin-ish at 38,672.91 on Friday, thelast trading day of the financialyear. During this time, theindex touched an all-time highof 38,989.65 on August 29,2018.

Led by the rally in stocks,the market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listed companiesrose by �8,83,714.01 crore to�1,51,08,711.01 crore. Investors’wealth had surged �20.70 lakhcrore during 2017-18 fiscal.

“Since the dawn of 2019,Nifty has managed to overcomemultiple hurdles (Indo-Pak ten-sion, concerns of slowdown inglobal economy and risingcrude oil prices),” said PriteshMehta, senior vice president(research) at YES Securities(India) Limited.

March saw Nifty breakingout from a three-month con-solidation period between10,600-11,100, Mehta added.

“Investors are lookingahead to get cues from generalelection during which earninggrowth in Q4 will be inevitableto support the rally,” said VinodNair, head of research at GeojitFinancial Services.

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New Delhi: Online grocery platform BigBasket has raisedabout USD 150 million from South Korea’s Mirae AssetManagement, UK’s CDC Group, and existing investor Alibaba,according to regulatory filings. Bigbasket had raised USD 300million in February last year from Alibaba and others. InNovember, it had said it was looking at raising fresh funds of upto USD 200 million. Mirae has pumped in about USD 60 mil-lion, while CDC and Alibaba have infused USD 40 million andUSD 50 million, respectively, according to documents filed withthe corporate affairs ministry. The grocery segment accounts fora significant portion of the unorganised retail segment in thecountry. With people becoming comfortable buying even milkand bread online, the online grocery market is projected to wit-ness a strong growth over the next few years in India. BigBasket’scompetitors include SoftBank-backed Grofers, Walmart-backedFlipkart, Amazon and a host of smaller players.

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Mumbai: India Inc’s borrowings from foreign markets fell toUSD 2.81 billion in February, down by 9% as compared to theyear-ago month, data from the Reserve Bank of India showed onFriday. The domestic firms had raised as much as USD 3.1 bil-lion through the external commercial borrowing (ECB) route inthe corresponding month of 2018. No firm tapped the rupee-denominated bonds route to borrow capital from foreign mar-kets during February. The entire fund mop-up during the monthwas done through the automatic route of ECB, showed the RBIdata. Among the major borrowers were Oil India Ltd (USD 550million for overseas investment), Indian Oil Corporation (USD400 million as working capital loan), Shriram Transport FinanceCompany (USD 400 million for sub-lending) and Mahindra &Mahindra Financial Services (USD 300 million for sub-lending).Tata Capital Housing Finance raised USD 200 million for on-lend-ing, HPCL Rajasthan Refinery USD 140.71 million for new pro-ject investment, and Barclays Global Services Centre Pvt Ltd USD130.11 million for new project.

)������������ ���� � ��� ���������New Delhi: Drug firm Jubilant Life Sciences on Friday said

its subsidiary had redeemed the outstanding loan of Washington-based International Finance Corporation (IFC) with a one-timesettlement of USD 135 million (over �900 crore). PTI

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Script Open High Low LTPSUZLON 6.51 6.59 6.02 6.15

JPASSOCIAT 5.33 5.56 5.26 5.50

SBILIFE 616.00 616.00 577.50 579.55

IBULHSGFIN 823.80 864.75 806.05 857.20

RPOWER 10.77 11.63 10.75 11.36

IDEA 17.85 20.45 17.85 18.15

YESBANK 277.50 281.30 273.30 275.05

IDBI 45.40 47.35 44.75 46.65

DHFL 150.20 154.40 149.35 150.50

JINDALSTEL 166.00 181.25 166.00 179.55

IBVENTURES 318.05 343.95 312.05 325.35

SBIN 320.20 322.95 316.70 320.80

MARUTI 6632.60 6771.30 6570.00 6671.70

SPICEJET 98.95 99.75 96.75 97.75

PNB 95.70 97.45 94.60 95.40

BANKBARODA 131.00 133.10 127.80 128.80

RELINFRA 135.15 140.10 135.15 136.70

BHEL 71.80 75.40 71.80 74.90

TATAMOTORS 171.00 177.10 171.00 174.30

DLF 196.00 206.55 194.00 201.60

TRIDENT 68.50 74.00 68.50 71.80

ICICIBANK 401.00 402.70 395.15 398.85

RELIANCE 1366.00 1376.00 1356.10 1363.05

JETAIRWAYS 275.00 280.00 266.60 269.35

GRAPHITE 448.00 469.00 444.50 446.85

DABUR 413.10 413.60 406.65 409.05

TATASTEEL 511.00 524.95 509.00 520.85

RELCAPITAL 204.65 207.85 202.60 204.20

VEDL 178.10 185.20 178.10 183.75

PCJEWELLER 82.30 84.80 81.95 82.50

HEG 2121.00 2200.85 2082.40 2094.15

ASHOKLEY 89.45 92.20 88.60 91.30

INFY* 742.00 747.65 740.00 742.30

TCS 2017.90 2024.90 1986.75 2000.40

BEML 1010.00 1029.40 1003.40 1013.35

RBLBANK 685.00 692.10 677.75 681.35

LT 1389.30 1405.00 1380.00 1384.05

FEDERALBNK 94.10 97.95 93.80 96.40

BEL 94.90 96.10 92.90 93.30

INDIACEM 102.35 109.00 102.00 108.20

SAIL 51.00 54.40 51.00 53.70

ZEEL 444.25 453.45 437.25 444.30

HDFCLIFE 373.70 384.30 369.50 378.50

MOTHERSUMI 145.50 150.10 144.60 149.25

SUNPHARMA 478.80 482.90 472.80 479.25

M&M 660.00 675.00 658.40 671.80

ONGC 155.40 161.35 155.40 159.55

IDFCFIRSTB 54.95 55.60 54.50 55.20

BAJFINANCE 2997.20 3035.00 2967.70 3024.85

PETRONET 246.00 252.40 244.90 250.50

AXISBANK 778.95 780.95 768.15 776.10

HINDPETRO 275.10 285.85 275.00 283.50

ITC 301.05 302.95 295.80 296.70

IPCALAB 965.00 1042.00 959.35 982.60

RECLTD 149.00 153.25 148.55 152.85

PFC 118.05 124.20 117.70 123.00

HEROMOTOCO 2540.00 2578.00 2528.00 2555.25

CANBK 295.10 297.55 289.00 291.95

NTPC 136.50 140.35 132.85 135.35

WOCKPHARMA 432.00 450.00 432.00 443.00

APOLLOHOSP 1192.60 1250.00 1190.85 1220.95

SIEMENS 1100.00 1139.10 1100.00 1127.95

JSWSTEEL 290.00 298.00 289.00 292.85

JUBILANT 659.10 673.00 659.00 664.20

LAKSHVILAS 64.10 70.50 64.10 70.50

SUNTV 606.30 638.25 606.30 627.05

AUROPHARMA 770.60 802.00 770.60 786.00

IBREALEST 91.85 93.25 90.55 92.20

PEL 2710.00 2767.75 2710.00 2754.70

HDFCBANK 2305.95 2321.80 2294.50 2316.50

HINDUNILVR 1688.60 1710.00 1688.60 1707.80

ADANIPOWER 47.40 50.30 46.90 48.20

NATIONALUM 53.20 55.95 53.20 55.40

PNBHOUSING 834.40 870.00 833.00 865.70

L&TFH 153.30 153.30 150.55 152.45

NBCC 65.90 66.60 65.50 66.30

HDFC 1949.95 1972.00 1936.35 1967.30

WIPRO 257.95 259.60 254.35 254.75

INDUSINDBK 1812.00 1813.65 1773.00 1782.10

BOMDYEING 138.60 139.30 134.15 135.05

BANKINDIA 106.00 106.90 103.25 104.30

IOC 162.90 165.10 162.20 162.70

LTI 1700.00 1718.00 1639.70 1684.20

KOTAKBANK 1354.00 1354.00 1331.15 1335.75

EDELWEISS 195.95 198.40 192.75 197.00

UNIONBANK 97.00 98.25 94.80 95.50

JUSTDIAL 619.90 621.05 601.50 603.75

UJJIVAN 343.00 352.30 337.10 347.95

ABCAPITAL 98.85 99.75 96.40 97.65

ESCORTS 804.00 807.55 789.40 796.85

TATAPOWER 72.40 74.55 72.10 73.80

BAJAJ-AUTO 2950.00 2951.00 2895.15 2915.05

WABCOINDIA 6750.00 7082.65 6546.90 6664.85

ICICIGI 1006.50 1037.00 994.45 1032.85

GRUH 274.95 279.00 267.00 276.00

GAIL 357.85 360.00 344.10 347.30

BRITANNIA 3117.90 3124.00 3052.00 3081.95

BPCL 386.10 398.20 386.10 396.35

BANDHANBNK 524.10 528.70 514.00 524.95

LUPIN 736.70 745.00 730.00 739.10

SYNDIBANK 43.35 43.80 42.50 43.05

IFCI 13.64 14.09 13.60 13.77

GMRINFRA 20.05 20.35 19.65 19.80

ADVENZYMES 172.00 185.00 171.30 182.90

INDIANB 280.25 286.60 274.40 278.50

NMDC 102.85 105.75 102.20 104.15

COALINDIA 237.00 238.90 233.75 236.80

BAJAJFINSV 6992.00 7064.95 6940.05 7035.45

INDOSTAR 386.80 426.55 383.80 419.15

SCHNEIDER 104.20 117.50 104.10 112.15

BALKRISIND 982.05 1023.00 982.05 994.55

EXIDEIND 221.40 223.70 217.95 218.65

GODREJPROP 852.00 874.30 802.25 814.35

TAKE 144.05 151.20 144.05 149.75

INDIGO 1435.00 1450.00 1422.20 1427.10

ACC 1612.20 1675.00 1602.40 1661.00

UPL 935.00 958.90 925.95 956.00

ICICIPRULI 351.70 355.95 347.50 349.50

HCLTECH 1090.00 1099.00 1069.00 1088.00

TITAN 1127.00 1146.00 1112.65 1137.50

HINDALCO 204.00 207.80 204.00 205.35

JAICORPLTD 118.20 118.50 115.00 115.45

BAJAJHLDNG 3604.30 3610.40 3316.80 3418.05

ORIENTBANK 114.00 116.35 113.15 115.70

CENTRALBK 35.30 36.95 35.30 36.50

DISHTV 39.50 39.65 38.20 38.85

TECHM 778.00 782.50 771.15 776.20

TVSMOTOR 473.10 480.50 470.05 474.45

GRASIM 842.85 860.10 829.20 858.20

RAIN 102.30 104.40 100.95 102.50

AVANTI 420.95 423.75 405.00 407.85

PHILIPCARB 178.65 181.30 175.20 176.65

UFLEX 216.00 232.25 215.25 227.20

DELTACORP 262.05 265.00 253.10 254.70

HAVELLS 762.00 779.60 762.00 770.95

TATAGLOBAL 199.70 206.00 199.55 203.15

ADANIPORTS 382.70 385.90 375.80 378.00

SRF 2454.00 2466.60 2353.10 2404.10

UNITEDBNK 11.30 11.43 11.01 11.06

ALBK 54.75 55.80 54.40 54.65

APOLLOTYRE 218.75 223.30 217.90 221.75

BHARATFORG 492.00 516.65 492.00 511.60

LTTS 1550.20 1592.85 1522.60 1571.10

AJANTPHARM 1006.05 1062.25 1006.05 1030.40

GODREJCP 698.20 698.20 681.60 687.15

STRTECH 220.00 221.90 217.25 218.60

AMBUJACEM 232.80 236.00 230.55 235.05

PIDILITIND 1245.90 1248.85 1227.50 1242.35

M&MFIN 432.50 435.00 419.80 420.95

GLENMARK 651.00 667.00 643.05 645.55

STAR 467.70 479.25 465.25 471.65

JSWENERGY 69.80 73.25 69.05 72.60

NOCIL 149.45 149.45 145.60 147.15

MERCK 3599.00 3700.00 3580.05 3673.65

CANFINHOME 346.00 356.15 346.00 348.55

IDFC 46.60 48.05 46.20 46.40

BHARTIARTL 331.60 336.00 328.95 332.90

ADANITRANS 216.90 227.80 215.85 217.90

JAGRAN 119.95 128.00 116.55 123.45

MGL 1039.50 1057.20 1030.40 1046.90

CADILAHC 337.95 349.00 337.00 346.60

GUJGAS 146.30 152.30 144.85 148.25

BATAINDIA 1413.00 1423.70 1402.50 1408.50

GNFC 314.95 315.90 305.90 306.90

ADANIGREEN 36.00 38.40 35.50 37.25

INFIBEAM 42.55 44.15 42.35 42.95

RAYMOND 800.00 815.65 799.75 809.45

ABB 1327.95 1328.00 1310.00 1319.85

MUTHOOTFIN 614.00 624.70 611.00 615.70

RAMCOCEM 717.80 739.50 705.60 736.30

RCOM 4.14 4.14 4.14 4.14

JINDALSAW 86.00 89.20 86.00 86.55

FORCEMOT 1707.00 1734.00 1690.00 1700.05

BIOCON 610.00 618.90 607.00 611.00

KAJARIACER 578.55 597.65 578.50 590.70

WELCORP 133.00 136.55 133.00 135.65

CIPLA 529.00 531.50 524.35 529.30

UBL 1385.00 1401.95 1375.95 1395.15

SOUTHBANK 16.60 16.78 16.45 16.54

TTKPRESTIG 8640.00 8960.00 8555.00 8696.05

CEATLTD 1094.60 1130.00 1091.30 1124.25

CONCOR 515.25 528.75 511.00 524.65

JUBLFOOD 1459.35 1460.00 1434.00 1442.90

CENTURYTEX 911.75 935.00 908.10 932.55

SRTRANSFIN 1276.50 1288.35 1253.30 1273.40

SPARC 196.40 196.85 190.50 192.00

NESTLEIND 11040.00 11225.00 10800.00 10994.25

DMART 1480.00 1487.40 1461.05 1470.10

ASIANPAINT 1500.70 1507.95 1485.00 1491.90

INFRATEL 317.90 317.90 310.95 313.45

SOBHA 485.00 523.40 483.00 512.95

GODFRYPHLP 1141.25 1176.50 1129.50 1159.55

TATAMTRDVR 85.25 87.25 84.70 85.80

NCC 111.00 113.70 111.00 112.60

MANAPPURAM 126.60 128.60 124.00 124.60

DRREDDY 2740.00 2780.00 2733.85 2774.15

EICHERMOT 20800.00 20800.00 20448.00 20538.10

ABFRL 223.00 223.90 218.00 220.95

VIPIND 485.00 495.00 477.00 486.10

HEXAWARE 337.10 346.65 337.10 344.55

HFCL 23.00 23.40 22.50 22.80

DEEPAKNI 279.00 282.70 273.40 274.60

MARICO 340.00 346.95 337.00 345.25

OIL 184.60 187.90 182.05 185.35

LICHSGFIN 536.25 540.20 528.00 533.45

CGPOWER 43.40 44.30 42.35 42.75

PERSISTENT* 636.00 650.00 631.10 633.15

DIVISLAB 1673.30 1714.70 1673.30 1703.20

LALPATHLAB 1075.00 1080.00 1040.00 1054.50

JAMNAAUTO 60.20 63.25 59.75 62.75

JMFINANCIL 94.95 96.40 92.50 93.95

TATAMETALI 655.00 669.00 646.10 648.95

EQUITAS 136.50 139.25 135.85 136.70

VENKYS 2320.00 2335.05 2245.25 2257.65

RNAM 204.45 211.75 204.40 210.05

JKTYRE 90.50 92.90 90.05 91.75

J&KBANK 55.00 55.50 53.00 53.75

HUDCO 44.50 45.85 44.30 44.95

MANPASAND 120.00 121.90 114.00 116.95

INOXLEISUR 332.55 334.95 323.95 328.80

MINDTREE 946.00 952.00 942.00 943.95

OBEROIRLTY 530.00 542.00 521.00 527.30

JISLJALEQS 58.40 59.50 58.25 58.95

GSPL 187.50 191.35 182.10 189.25

CROMPTON 218.00 229.50 209.70 225.65

TORNTPOWER 251.05 258.00 251.05 257.20

REDINGTON 97.10 103.25 96.70 102.35

CARBORUNIV 392.00 415.25 380.40 406.15

POWERGRID 198.00 200.40 197.10 198.10

SADBHAV 246.85 251.00 246.65 249.15

DBL 660.00 665.00 640.00 643.45

FCONSUMER 45.15 45.35 44.75 45.10

VBL 818.75 878.50 818.75 865.15

THERMAX 991.75 994.30 968.50 972.25

SFL 1234.00 1270.95 1231.00 1258.30

TATAELXSI 964.00 970.75 958.85 963.25

MCX 804.05 816.85 792.50 806.75

TATACHEM 587.00 593.40 580.00 587.50

IRB 144.55 147.40 142.25 145.30

CUMMINSIND 745.55 757.00 740.00 745.05

ULTRACEMCO 3934.00 4018.20 3916.60 3999.05

CHOLAFIN 1460.00 1473.20 1441.25 1447.50

VOLTAS 634.95 634.95 627.10 630.45

NHPC 24.60 24.90 24.60 24.75

OMAXE 207.95 207.95 205.30 206.35

WESTLIFE 437.60 440.00 425.20 428.70

ITI 96.85 97.60 95.10 95.70

BLISSGVS 178.30 181.00 176.25 179.95

WABAG 328.00 341.35 326.85 331.65

NAVKARCORP 40.10 40.60 39.00 39.15

MPHASIS 964.00 1000.00 952.45 988.85

FSL 48.45 48.45 46.75 47.05

JSLHISAR 91.60 94.40 91.50 93.75

AARTIIND 1570.00 1595.55 1558.55 1573.10

GODREJIND 538.20 539.80 528.65 536.05

NIITTECH 1325.00 1351.95 1322.00 1325.05

KEC 306.00 306.00 298.00 299.60

IGL 309.90 310.00 303.60 304.50

INTELLECT 207.50 210.70 202.95 203.60

ENGINERSIN 116.10 117.80 115.80 117.00

DCBBANK 205.15 208.50 204.00 204.35

CHENNPETRO 269.80 275.00 269.80 272.75

NBVENTURES 103.00 121.00 102.40 111.75

BAJAJELEC 562.25 563.60 552.40 558.85

PAGEIND 24700.00 25000.00 24538.00 24897.35

MEGH 62.10 62.35 61.10 61.30

THOMASCOOK 248.00 259.00 244.00 252.70

PVR 1642.00 1671.95 1640.00 1644.15

TV18BRDCST 35.20 35.80 34.90 35.50

RALLIS 161.00 167.35 159.00 165.10

CASTROLIND 165.00 167.55 164.35 166.50

SHRIRAMCIT 1803.90 1900.00 1803.90 1859.65

HIMATSEIDE 217.00 223.00 208.40 218.15

HINDCOPPER 48.90 49.60 48.65 48.95

COLPAL 1259.70 1264.50 1251.10 1258.45

BBTC 1318.00 1318.00 1275.30 1302.40

SUNTECK 463.20 464.95 453.55 460.65

JSL 39.70 41.55 39.50 40.55

PRSMJOHNSN 95.00 96.60 92.00 95.85

INDHOTEL 151.00 155.75 149.50 154.35

KTKBANK 131.10 134.55 131.10 133.45

GDL 132.20 140.00 129.00 132.55

ASTRAZEN 1976.40 2070.00 1970.95 1998.30

RAJESHEXPO 698.00 698.00 663.00 666.15

COROMANDEL 495.25 506.00 492.25 499.30

APLLTD 518.05 548.30 509.00 530.55

PARAGMILK 256.70 264.50 255.40 261.50

AUBANK 586.00 604.90 573.90 593.30

PIIND 1022.05 1038.00 1015.10 1031.30

CENTRUM 32.65 32.80 27.00 32.30

GSFC 101.95 104.55 101.95 104.25

DEEPAKFERT 135.55 136.20 132.00 132.85

CUB 201.00 205.65 197.35 204.20

HINDZINC 278.60 278.60 274.95 276.40

NLCINDIA 69.60 70.10 68.35 69.55

KSCL 458.60 465.00 456.25 459.15

ANDHRABANK 28.00 28.50 28.00 28.10

KANSAINER 449.00 469.90 445.70 457.25

MMTC 28.60 28.85 27.85 28.00

MOIL 158.40 161.00 157.65 159.00

WELSPUNIND 59.45 60.65 59.25 59.65

ISGEC 580.00 622.00 560.00 605.00

TRENT 366.00 369.40 357.40 359.85

RADICO 401.60 401.70 394.50 395.25

PFIZER 3292.00 3348.45 3277.00 3320.60

SUVEN 264.55 266.90 260.00 260.90

RCF 58.85 59.15 58.10 58.50

MINDAIND 336.00 337.80 325.00 326.65

MFSL 439.55 440.40 431.00 434.80

MRF 56666.00 58250.00 56115.50 58056.30

AMARAJABAT 717.00 724.00 717.00 718.95

TORNTPHARM 1934.50 1964.00 1932.05 1952.20

GICHSGFIN 271.00 276.20 268.65 270.20

LAURUSLABS 412.00 412.00 396.10 399.75

SUNDRMFAST 569.55 571.55 552.65 565.95

GUJFLUORO 1082.30 1111.00 1064.25 1104.70

COCHINSHIP 398.00 402.00 389.95 393.95

ASTRAL 1160.80 1172.05 1127.75 1158.30

HEIDELBERG 181.00 183.05 179.00 180.90

BHARATFIN 1137.05 1148.70 1115.15 1131.80

GRANULES 115.55 117.20 114.00 114.30

PTC 74.15 74.15 73.00 73.55

VGUARD 224.05 224.95 219.70 221.40

KALPATPOWR 499.00 499.00 465.50 469.50

NATCOPHARM* 570.00 578.85 566.25 571.60

BOSCHLTD 18050.00 18256.45 17651.00 18165.55

COFFEEDAY 298.00 298.00 287.00 289.05

GHCL 240.60 249.90 240.60 247.05

NIACL 191.00 197.00 190.00 190.75

KEI 423.10 428.55 420.10 425.60

ASHOKA 131.05 131.10 127.70 128.90

SCI 37.55 38.40 37.55 37.95

GULFOILLUB 834.45 854.00 824.95 828.80

SHREECEM 18250.00 18888.00 17686.95 18634.65

HAL 716.30 722.95 706.35 709.80

BERGEPAINT 324.35 326.60 322.05 323.65

SWANENERGY 108.05 108.20 105.00 107.40

INOXWIND 66.75 67.90 66.25 66.90

GUJALKALI 499.00 500.25 489.40 493.70

BAJAJCON 314.95 315.00 309.00 310.10

AEGISLOG 200.30 204.65 198.45 202.95

ISEC 242.75 246.25 240.20 242.50

CENTURYPLY 199.40 211.10 198.35 207.80

CERA 2732.55 3180.00 2730.00 3026.75

BAYERCROP 4350.00 4415.00 4325.75 4384.40

LUXIND 1345.75 1396.70 1337.85 1376.15

FINCABLES 484.05 488.00 473.75 477.35

TATACOMM 612.00 617.75 607.65 614.35

HSIL 247.00 252.20 245.00 249.95

TEJASNET 171.00 173.50 168.00 171.20

DCAL 211.00 213.05 207.05 209.40

SHANKARA 415.10 417.70 398.00 408.65

IFBIND 959.05 986.50 959.05 977.30

REPCOHOME 472.65 479.20 460.10 465.55

MRPL 74.50 75.45 74.15 74.50

EVEREADY 199.70 199.80 192.00 192.65

NAUKRI 1872.00 1878.35 1827.20 1842.85

MOTILALOFS 600.60 608.60 591.85 600.10

NESCO 493.00 494.00 472.40 482.00

CYIENT* 670.00 670.00 642.10 647.95

DCMSHRIRAM 413.00 420.00 411.20 415.95

BDL 282.00 290.00 281.10 283.65

SREINFRA 29.45 29.90 29.00 29.80

SYNGENE 595.00 596.20 585.00 587.95

GODREJAGRO 512.00 512.00 505.00 509.20

VINATIORGA 1640.00 1674.00 1613.80 1643.90

LAXMIMACH 6028.00 6154.00 5975.00 6093.05

UCOBANK 19.05 19.10 18.55 18.75

GET&D 276.00 282.00 274.00 274.60

OFSS 3400.00 3445.00 3381.10 3387.40

GICRE 235.60 243.85 235.60 242.60

KNRCON 258.10 267.45 257.70 260.25

EIHOTEL 204.00 208.00 198.95 202.55

MAGMA 119.50 120.00 115.50 117.50

EIDPARRY 204.00 207.00 203.60 205.80

PRESTIGE 252.05 254.75 246.00 251.55

TATACOFFEE 89.75 91.25 89.70 90.25

ECLERX 1150.95 1157.00 1142.60 1151.45

EMAMILTD 401.00 402.20 399.00 400.00

GSKCONS 7160.00 7274.45 7115.00 7212.60

MAXINDIA 71.00 71.00 64.60 66.50

TIINDIA 379.60 387.00 376.40 382.10

HSCL 117.80 117.90 116.10 117.15

FORBESCO 2200.05 2230.00 2175.60 2197.25

PNCINFRA 149.35 154.75 148.50 152.45

SUDARSCHEM 349.85 351.00 340.50 344.95

ALLCARGO 116.50 117.80 114.00 114.55

AIAENG 1836.00 1836.00 1781.00 1789.90

TATAINVEST 828.75 840.70 826.25 837.30

ZENSARTECH 234.85 235.50 226.00 231.65

KRBL 342.10 345.70 336.55 337.95

JKCEMENT 830.45 868.95 816.10 861.05

IOB 14.27 14.69 14.27 14.42

ENDURANCE 1149.95 1165.00 1145.80 1159.55

GREENPLY 152.00 157.50 151.45 155.35

SONATSOFTW 340.00 340.90 335.45 338.20

MHRIL 253.00 253.00 238.00 240.05

FLFL 489.10 499.90 481.30 485.75

ALKEM 1755.00 1764.50 1735.00 1751.80

LEMONTREE 81.80 82.30 80.20 80.45

MAHINDCIE 233.55 235.00 231.90 233.90

TIMKEN 566.00 596.90 566.00 590.05

FORTIS 136.25 137.40 135.50 135.80

SYMPHONY 1417.00 1417.00 1371.00 1383.95

FINOLEXIND 505.00 509.00 486.00 501.40

TIMETECHNO 105.90 105.90 102.00 102.80

CHAMBLFERT 169.15 170.00 164.35 166.50

GRINDWELL 581.00 595.00 575.00 593.45

GILLETTE 6695.75 6695.75 6535.00 6564.65

MAHABANK 13.98 13.98 13.60 13.69

CORPBANK 29.05 29.45 28.55 28.75

GREAVESCOT 141.00 142.00 138.95 139.65

LAOPALA 220.00 220.10 213.30 216.35

IEX 162.50 167.00 160.25 164.40

PGHH 10877.95 10950.00 10617.00 10745.90

SKFINDIA 1960.00 2050.00 1960.00 2017.85

SUPREMEIND 1097.50 1123.00 1090.00 1113.85

FRETAIL 456.85 461.25 452.00 453.60

SOMANYCERA 418.00 424.00 411.75 421.70

PHOENIXLTD 650.00 667.85 640.20 662.70

ATUL 3526.40 3625.00 3500.60 3572.90

SJVN 24.15 24.30 23.90 24.20

LINDEINDIA 486.00 494.50 485.45 487.95

NILKAMAL 1420.50 1444.00 1407.00 1432.00

BLUEDART 3600.00 3650.00 3560.00 3582.60

SHK 152.95 154.25 151.05 153.45

JBCHEPHARM 360.00 362.95 353.60 359.60

RELAXO 762.00 780.00 762.00 774.95

GLAXO 1300.00 1300.05 1293.05 1299.85

SUPRAJIT 243.00 245.00 238.15 243.75

GESHIP 281.50 288.80 281.10 282.95

NAVINFLUOR 727.25 727.25 704.30 711.15

CRISIL 1451.40 1465.00 1450.00 1460.00

ORIENTCEM 81.75 83.95 79.25 80.05

MAHLOG 513.95 527.00 506.10 522.95

QUESS 745.05 759.45 743.00 748.45

VTL 1086.70 1106.00 1061.65 1078.80

VMART 2706.00 2747.95 2682.00 2695.15

GPPL 100.90 100.95 98.55 99.65

SUPPETRO 228.95 231.50 217.00 224.05

TVTODAY 319.40 320.00 312.00 314.95

CCL 287.85 288.05 284.00 284.50

CARERATING 1000.00 1000.00 985.00 988.40

TRITURBINE 107.35 109.70 106.90 107.40

BALMLAWRIE 187.00 187.05 184.80 185.65

3MINDIA 24000.00 24300.00 23801.00 24067.90

WHIRLPOOL 1511.80 1545.00 1504.25 1522.15

JYOTHYLAB 185.20 185.90 182.00 182.50

JKLAKSHMI 352.90 354.05 345.20 347.65

NETWORK18 34.55 35.75 34.55 35.65

ASTERDM 152.50 155.90 152.50 154.55

BIRLACORPN 520.00 527.00 520.00 525.05

SHILPAMED 348.95 349.90 339.00 340.20

BLUESTARCO 673.45 682.70 670.00 678.20

DHANUKA 404.20 408.00 388.50 392.90

SANOFI 5801.60 5909.00 5755.00 5835.15

TNPL 209.35 209.95 205.10 205.95

SUNCLAYLTD 2813.05 2925.00 2762.95 2897.85

APLAPOLLO 1433.25 1450.00 1419.00 1439.70

SHOPERSTOP 466.00 478.90 463.00 471.30

GAYAPROJ 160.15 163.00 154.40 159.55

GMDCLTD 81.70 81.95 81.30 81.50

MAHLIFE 360.00 365.75 358.50 359.35

SOLARINDS 1060.00 1088.00 1034.90 1076.30

ITDC 282.05 283.50 278.35 280.05

AKZOINDIA 1785.35 1810.00 1760.00 1788.25

JCHAC 2001.05 2090.00 2000.00 2050.25

DBCORP 190.55 190.55 185.50 187.45

ITDCEM 131.00 132.95 130.20 131.55

BASF 1466.45 1495.00 1445.90 1473.75

THYROCARE 520.05 533.00 520.05 530.50

HERITGFOOD 537.65 549.00 535.55 544.65

ESSELPRO 113.00 117.90 113.00 116.75

CAPPL 402.00 408.80 400.10 402.35

MINDACORP 138.95 139.50 133.40 136.25

MAHSCOOTER 3500.00 3550.00 3496.35 3520.65

ABBOTINDIA 7300.00 7336.95 7275.75 7296.85

GALAXYSURF 1065.00 1077.00 1052.55 1068.70

TEAMLEASE 2990.00 3037.80 2950.00 3002.05

ZYDUSWELL 1289.00 1313.80 1289.00 1298.45

ERIS 625.60 645.00 625.60 644.05

FDC 166.70 168.25 165.55 167.50

TVSSRICHAK 2231.00 2287.00 2170.00 2195.60

SCHAEFFLER 5393.00 5560.00 5386.40 5506.70

APARINDS 669.45 675.30 658.05 674.05

KPRMILL 579.65 579.65 567.35 573.75

SHARDACROP 374.00 378.95 360.80 372.35

MONSANTO 2594.60 2600.05 2581.00 2599.90

KIOCL 139.65 142.60 139.60 141.65

ASAHIINDIA 258.30 262.95 256.40 261.60

NAVNETEDUL 108.30 109.20 108.00 108.65

ELGIEQUIP 244.00 245.00 241.75 244.45

RATNAMANI 904.95 904.95 885.00 894.15

STARCEMENT 100.00 100.00 98.45 98.75

HONAUT 22151.05 22412.90 22151.05 22248.90

NH 214.10 215.90 210.40 213.75

SIS 851.00 863.30 845.00 845.85

IBULISL 307.65 307.65 307.65 307.65

GEPIL 809.65 814.85 806.00 810.80

TIFHL 481.00 481.00 476.00 479.00

HATSUN 718.85 718.85 703.10 704.65

�������

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11625.45 11630.35 11570.15 11623.90 53.90

IBULHSGFIN 824.30 867.30 805.70 860.70 49.55

VEDL 178.60 185.40 178.55 184.80 6.75

GRASIM 838.80 861.00 828.25 860.00 29.85

UPL 930.10 962.90 926.05 958.00 28.95

BPCL 387.90 398.90 387.00 397.80 11.95

M&M 659.60 675.75 657.75 675.00 19.05

TATASTEEL 510.00 525.00 508.05 520.65 14.35

ONGC 157.00 162.30 155.50 160.00 4.10

DRREDDY 2739.70 2787.95 2733.20 2782.00 64.80

ULTRACEMCO 3934.70 4010.00 3913.00 3998.70 89.75

TATAMOTORS 171.15 177.05 171.00 173.90 3.35

JSWSTEEL 290.30 297.95 288.75 292.90 4.65

HINDUNILVR 1695.30 1712.85 1691.90 1706.50 22.60

HINDALCO 205.85 207.90 204.45 204.90 2.55

BAJAJFINSV 7001.00 7060.00 6941.00 7035.00 82.45

MARUTI 6610.00 6775.00 6565.10 6672.00 75.75

HEROMOTOCO 2540.00 2577.75 2526.20 2552.10 26.35

HDFC 1950.05 1972.25 1936.05 1964.00 19.55

TITAN 1134.05 1152.00 1112.00 1145.10 10.85

IOC 163.00 165.10 162.20 162.85 1.55

BAJFINANCE 3010.00 3034.95 2965.60 3020.50 24.65

TECHM 778.95 781.95 771.00 776.40 4.70

INFY 743.90 747.95 740.00 742.15 4.35

HDFCBANK 2304.60 2325.00 2294.00 2316.00 13.20

SBIN 321.10 323.00 316.25 320.55 1.55

SUNPHARMA 475.55 482.95 472.30 477.80 2.35

BHARTIARTL 331.00 336.35 329.00 331.55 1.60

HCLTECH 1090.00 1098.45 1067.65 1087.00 4.10

CIPLA 525.75 530.70 524.00 527.45 1.85

RELIANCE 1370.05 1376.85 1355.10 1363.05 3.05

COALINDIA 236.50 239.30 233.50 236.45 0.35

ZEEL 443.50 453.80 437.10 443.30 0.50

WIPRO 257.10 259.60 254.35 254.80 0.05

TCS 2019.00 2024.90 1983.55 2000.00 -0.30

POWERGRID 198.00 200.60 196.75 197.70 -0.55

LT 1394.90 1405.00 1380.50 1381.85 -4.85

ICICIBANK 402.15 402.40 395.10 399.10 -1.45

NTPC 137.15 140.55 132.70 135.25 -0.50

ADANIPORTS 383.30 385.90 375.50 379.80 -1.50

BRITANNIA 3120.00 3139.00 3045.00 3083.85 -12.70

ASIANPAINT 1503.10 1508.65 1485.00 1490.00 -7.00

KOTAKBANK 1350.00 1352.00 1329.10 1334.50 -6.25

YESBANK 277.90 281.50 273.55 274.50 -1.60

AXISBANK 777.00 781.35 767.60 775.20 -5.50

ITC 302.00 303.00 295.45 296.55 -3.45

INFRATEL 317.50 319.15 310.85 312.60 -4.50

BAJAJ-AUTO 2953.00 2953.00 2891.55 2897.00 -51.80

EICHERMOT 20795.00 20800.00 20498.00 20516.00 -383.00

INDUSINDBK 1812.90 1814.95 1770.35 1781.00 -40.10

GAIL 359.05 360.70 344.00 350.00 -8.30

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28019.90 28307.05 27980.25 28281.90 408.85

SAIL 51.00 54.35 51.00 53.80 3.10

BHEL 71.70 76.35 71.65 75.00 3.45

MCDOWELL-N 536.00 558.00 536.00 558.00 25.60

HINDPETRO 275.10 286.00 274.80 283.70 11.25

DLF 195.95 206.40 193.80 201.80 7.75

SIEMENS 1104.00 1137.00 1102.10 1130.00 41.95

NMDC 102.40 105.85 102.30 105.00 3.85

DIVISLAB 1661.00 1714.90 1661.00 1709.00 54.45

ACC 1623.00 1679.85 1601.20 1671.00 53.20

PAGEIND 24605.05 25059.45 24511.05 24998.95 751.00

MARICO 339.00 347.80 336.45 347.50 9.90

CONCOR 513.10 535.00 513.10 526.00 14.80

MRF 56300.10 58175.00 56300.10 57900.00 1603.05

ASHOKLEY 89.20 92.20 88.60 91.10 2.50

MOTHERSUMI 145.00 150.25 144.50 149.80 4.05

CADILAHC 337.65 349.20 336.25 345.20 9.25

SHREECEM 18160.50 18949.00 17930.00 18750.00 481.15

IDEA 17.95 20.45 17.75 17.95 0.45

PETRONET 246.70 253.00 244.80 250.50 6.05

AUROPHARMA 774.00 802.55 774.00 786.50 17.25

PEL 2725.00 2772.65 2715.00 2754.05 60.40

ICICIGI 1011.00 1034.95 992.35 1025.45 20.15

LUPIN 731.00 745.45 730.00 738.95 14.10

PIDILITIND 1234.00 1250.00 1226.50 1248.50 22.55

BOSCHLTD 17997.60 18277.10 17629.75 18200.00 313.85

HDFCLIFE 372.75 384.25 369.30 377.80 6.25

HAVELLS 765.00 780.00 764.55 773.00 12.45

UBL 1383.25 1398.85 1376.05 1396.80 21.90

AMBUJACEM 234.90 236.20 230.40 235.25 3.40

GICRE 239.00 244.75 239.00 242.10 3.40

BIOCON 611.50 619.00 606.10 612.00 5.05

OFSS 3372.00 3447.05 3365.00 3390.00 27.10

HDFCAMC 1520.00 1542.60 1512.00 1533.00 10.35

BANDHANBNK 525.00 529.50 514.00 525.60 3.25

NHPC 24.60 24.90 24.60 24.75 0.15

COLPAL 1252.50 1265.00 1250.70 1258.90 7.00

HINDZINC 278.90 278.90 274.65 277.00 1.20

ABB 1329.80 1330.00 1310.10 1314.00 -0.90

DMART 1479.80 1489.50 1465.00 1469.00 -3.50

SRTRANSFIN 1286.20 1289.40 1253.00 1274.95 -3.30

PGHH 10829.00 10999.00 10555.15 10799.00 -44.95

DABUR 414.30 414.50 407.00 409.00 -1.95

ICICIPRULI 351.10 355.55 347.40 350.20 -2.20

INDIGO 1433.00 1449.95 1421.50 1427.20 -11.30

L&TFH 153.05 153.60 150.50 152.35 -1.25

NIACL 191.95 197.25 188.60 190.00 -1.70

BANKBARODA 130.95 133.10 127.65 128.75 -1.35

GODREJCP 701.85 701.85 680.50 684.30 -9.20

BAJAJHLDNG 3570.00 3730.00 3352.10 3402.30 -191.35

SBILIFE 614.00 614.00 581.60 582.90 -33.30

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Pope Francis on Fridayissued sweeping new sex

abuse legislation for Vaticanpersonnel and Holy See diplo-mats that requires the imme-diate reporting of abuse alle-gations to Vatican prosecu-tors, a policy shift aimed atbeing a model for the CatholicChurch worldwide.

The mandatory reportingprovision of the legislationmarks the first time the Vaticanhas put into law requirementsfor Catholic officials to reportallegations of sex crimes topolice or face fines.

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Turkey’s Foreign Ministersaid on Friday his country

is committed to a deal to pur-chase advanced Russian sur-face-to-air missile defence sys-tem, despite warnings fromWashington that the deal couldput the NATO member coun-try’s participation in the US F-35 fighter aircraft program atrisk.

Turkey’s decision to pur-chase the S-400 air defence sys-tems from Russia has increasedalready tense ties between thetwo NATO allies, includingover the war in Syria.

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British lawmakers on Fridayrejected the Brexit deal pro-

posed by embattled PrimeMinister Theresa May inParliament for the third time,throwing the UK’s divorceplans with the EU into furtherdisarray.

MPs voted in the House ofCommons against the terms ofBritain’s so-called divorce fromthe European Union (EU) by344 to 286.

An approval would havegiven the British parliamenttime until May 22 to get all theaccompanying legislationpassed. The key vote took placeon the day Britain was earlierscheduled to exit the bloc,until the EU leaders grantedmore time.

According to the EU, theUK must present an alternativeproposal to leave the bloc byApril 12.

As the MPs rejected herdeal again, the prime minister,who had offered to resign if herBrexit plan was passed, mustset out a new plan by April 12.

Commenting on the out-come, May told MPs: “Theimplications of the house’sdecision are grave. I fear we arereaching the limits of thisprocess in this house. Thisgovernment will continue topress for the orderly Brexit thatthe result of the referendumdemands”.

She said that MPs woulddebate alternatives next week.

Meanwhile responding tothe vote outcome, European

Council President Donald Tusktweeted: “In view of the rejec-tion of the WithdrawalAgreement by the House ofCommons, I have decided tocall a European Council on 10April.”

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Defending its repeatedattempts to block the list-

ing of Pakistan-based JeM chiefMasood Azhar as a ‘global ter-rorist’ by the UN, China onFriday refuted the US allegationthat Beijing’s action amountedto protecting violent Islamicgroups from sanctions.

US Secretary of State MikePompeo on Wednesdaydenounced China of its“shameful hypocrisy” towardMuslims, saying China abusesmore than a million Muslims athome, but on the other it pro-tects violent Islamic terroristgroups from sanctions at theUN.” Pompeo said it in anapparent reference to China’sfourth move to block India’sproposal at the United Nationsto designate Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Azharas a global terrorist.

Reacting to this, ChineseForeign Ministry spokesmanGeng Shuang told a mediabriefing here that if that is the

case, the country that had putmost holds in the 1267 AlQaeda Sanctions Committee ofthe Security Council shouldhave been sheltering more ter-rorists. At the UN SanctionsCommittee, the practice ofputting technical hold is in linewith the rules of theCommittee, he asserted.

Without directly referringto the US, Geng said, “If a cer-tain country accuses China ofsheltering terrorists by puttingtechnical hold, does that meanall the countries that put suchholds are sheltering terrorists?If this makes sense then shallwe say the country that putmost hold is the biggest shelterof terrorists?”

China has so far blockedthe move four times in recentyears. It recently blocked aUS, UK and France resolutionin the counter terrorism 1267committee with “technicalhold” saying that it providestime and space for the relevantparties to hold talks after thePulwama terrorist attack.

�������������-����������*�������-�����������(���������������"�����Washington: Chinese projectsaround the world, including itsOne-Belt-One-Road (OBOR)initiative, have an element of“national security” and are less

of an economic offer, accord-ing to US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo.

OBOR, also called the Beltand Road Initiative (BRI), is a

multi-billion dollar projectfocused on improving con-nectivity and cooperationamong Asian countries, Africa,China and Europe. PTI

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He swore on primetime tele-vision. He boasted. He

told jokes. He made promises.And the crowd loved him.

President Donald Trumpwas back.

In his first rally since theend of special prosecutorRobert Mueller’s two-yearRussia collusion probe, Trumptook off the gloves to attackopponents, while pushing analmost mythical picture of hisown achievements in office.

The packed arena in GrandRapids, Michigan, where manywore red Trump campaign

baseball caps, responded withchants of “Trump, Trump,”and “four more years!” Trumpbeamed and gave them more.

Over about an hour and ahalf, he questioned whetheropposition Democrats wouldcontinue with “ridiculous bull-shit.”

He claimed that his sur-prise 2016 election win waspossibly the most extraordinaryevent in human experience:“They’ve never seen anythinglike it and nobody has in thiscountry’s history and in mostcountries’ histories.” He citedGod. He warned against social-ists.

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Abipartisan group of fivepowerful US Senators have

introduced a legislation tostrengthen the country’s lead-ership in space, arguing it wasessential in view of the aggres-sive and dangerous Chinesedesigns.

The Space Frontier Act,that was introduced onThursday, would secure fund-ing to continue operations forthe International Space Station(ISS) through 2030, eliminateoverreaching regulations tosupport further development ofthe commercial space sector.

Brussels: The European Unionon Friday, summoned leadersto an extraordinary summit,warning that Britain is now“likely” to crash out of the blocon April 12 without a Brexitdeal.

“In view of the rejection ofthe Withdrawal Agreement bythe House of Commons, I havedecided to call a EuropeanCouncil on 10 April,” tweetedDonald Tusk, the head of theEuropean Council. AFP

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We all have pictured orassociated a certain ani-mal with a particularnation. These animals arelike a trademark that rep-

resents the country. For instance, kanga-roos and Australia, bears and Russia,eagles and Germany, bulls and Spain,tigers and India, and the list goes on. Well,for director Chuck Russell, elephants havealways been associated with India. Hischildhood has been full of elephant sto-ries and fantasies. His house was full ofartefacts and photographs from India,

most of which had elements of elephantsas his mother was a travel agent whoadored the country.

The American director, who is knownfor his several genre films like The Mask, TheScorpion King, Girls Just Want to Have Fun,Arabian Nights, and many more, has grownup reading Tarzan stories and fantasising

about jungles. He watched films like Flaherty’sElephant Boy, and read Rudyar Kipling’s Toomai

of the Elephants. He recalled that such films andbooks made him fantasize about “a child having anelephant as his best friend.”

Russell’s Junglee is the director’s first stint at cre-ating a Hindi, Bollywood film, which not onlyattempts to highlight an important issue, but alsocompletes the director’s childhood fantasies. He wassurprised when he first received the call to create anIndian film. However, he said, “I am always look-ing forward to making something for the globalaudience which is not just restricted to the nation-al viewers. And with India, came only one aspectto my mind — elephants and immense culturalbeauty,” he said (laughs).

For him, it was also about defending thenature, rather than “saving it.” It was opportuni-ty for him to “represent both man and naturetogether. Hence, it is a 100 per cent true Indianstory, with very inspiring and irresistible charac-ters.”

After working with legends like DwayneJohnson and Arnold Schwarzenegger, he realisedthat the audience loves watching valiance, vulner-ability and humour in the hero. “And Vidyut

(Jammwal) was a perfect actor to show that. I justhad to keep his character’s fun part intact. He, Ifelt, is a kind of performer whom I can bring to

the global level. He is very charismat-ic and a brilliant marshal artist. Hereally inspired the characters wespecifically we developed the screen-play for,” he said.

While this was his first stint atmaking a Bollywood film, were therecertain things that challenged himduring the process? He said, “Notmuch.” Well, not even the languagebarriers? He replied, “I had to under-stand the language but I love explor-ing accents and different languages.With my travel, the one thing Iexplore the most are the linguistic dif-ferences and how they shape the eth-nicity of people. It’s fun for me. I justhear them and they somehow makesense to me, no matter how differentthey are. This was opportunity tolearn Hindi as well. We wrote thescript in English, and got them trans-lated to take the script to the nextlevel. Well, this was the most excitingpart about the whole experience ofmaking the film.”

However, he explained that in away, he never really had to learn thelanguage completely to make thefilm. He said, “Since I knew all thedialogues in English, so whenever aparticular scene was being shot, Iknew what was going on (laughs).And the crew was bilingual, so I neverfelt one-sided in terms of the lan-guage.”

Talking about the differencesbetween Hollywood and Bollywoodfilms that he spot during the shoot, helaughingly said, “If this were aHollywood film, there would be CGI(Clinton Global Initiative) elephants,or some Western actor saving them inIndia. If it would have been in English,it wouldn’t have been as entertaining.”

He explained that a film, shot withanimals, seems to convey to peoplethat they have been brought from acertain circus or conservation organ-isation. However, here, they usedreal elephants from a natural habitat

of elephants in Thailand, “and notthose trained elephants from somecircus. We didn’t get any Hollywoodelephant trainers, but just the care tak-ers animal behaviourists. We actual-ly learned the animal behaviour. Weslept and woke according to their tim-ings and observed them.And shotaccording to their moods, didn’tmake them change their schedules atall.”

Well, this was also one of Russell’spersonal accomplishments — captur-ing elephants in their natural habitats,and giving the people a story that theycould take home. “It conveys a mes-sage. People hardly pay attention towhat the nature has to offer. Whenyou go on a holiday, listen to thewhistling trees, adore the fallen,

colourful leaves, look at how differ-ent kinds of species communicatewith each other. Sit and observe. Thisfilm will make them want to relooknature, and as well highlight animportant issue of conservation ofsuch a beautiful creature in India.Why poach elephants for ivory? I amproud that I’m best friends with anelephant rather than being proud ofkilling it and getting its tusk hung onmy wall,” he said.

This film, he said, is much beyondthe ones in which elephants are usedas mere props or for some funny ele-ment. “I wanted to capture personalmoments with them rather than justusing them as objects to pose with,”he said.

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One of the most popularshows, Game of Thronesreturns for its final sea-

son, stoking flames of excite-ment to new heights. This isnot just the time when fans ofthe show are ecstatic, but alsowhen non-fans are surround-ed with Game of Thrones con-versation — at office, home, onsocial media, among friendsand just about everywhere.

If you are already a GOTfan or are a new addition to thatlist, catch-up spree before theseason 8 premieres.

Here is a list of some of themost notable plot twists that leftthe audience baffled: Viserion along with Drogon and

Rhaegal was among the three dragonsthat came to life after Daenerys burnsDrogo’s body along with herself and thethree dragon eggs. Born inthe wastelands and com-manded by QueenDaenerys Targaryen, hewas named after herbrother – ViserysTargaryen. In season 7,Viserion accompanies hismother and brothers asthey embark on a journeyto rescue Jon Snow fromthe White Walkers and thearmy of the dead at theWight Hunt beyond theWall.

While Viserion and his brothersburnt down many of the wights, it was-n’t long before the Night King hurled

an ice spear at him. The helpless drag-on crashed into the frozen lake andsank in water. The spear that hadpierced through his neck did not only

cause a lot of blood andfire to rupture from it butalso became the death ofhim! Or so did the view-ers thought.

Later, his corpse washeaved up from the lakefor the Night King to res-urrect Viserion as an IceDragon with glowing,tinted blue eyes as that ofthe White Walkers –changing everything!

The season endedwith Viserion blasting the

Wall with blue fire, allowing the Armyof the dead and make way into theSeven Kingdoms.

The Red Wedding was a mas-sacre orchestrated by WalderFrey during the War of theFive Kings in season 3. Hefirst skillfully provided RobbStark with a false sense ofsecurity by formally eating outof the same bowl as his guestonly to eventually avenge theviolation of the marriage pactbetween House Stark andHouse Frey. The Starks wereaware of Walder’s intentionsbut to break guest right andstoop so low seemed to be toosacred a pact to be broken,even for him!

During the massacre,Robb, his wife — Talisa, his

mother — Catelyn and most oftheir men were brutally mur-dered. Walder then proudlyrestored the marriage pact bymarrying Edmure Tully andRoslin Frey followed by a feast.

“The Lannisters sendtheir regards.” — RooseBolton to Robb Stark, as hedrove a dagger right throughhis heart.

The fact that TywinLannister was the real master-mind behind the RedWedding who conspired withFrey for him to betray theNorthern Army, while break-ing of the marriage pact wasmerely a cover.

Even though not as infamousas the Red Wedding, thePurple Wedding was one ofthe major plot twists of season4 that the series has to offer.The Lion and the Rose was aceremonial celebration ofKing Joffrey Baratheon’s wed-ding feast to his new queenMargaery Tyrell. The longawaited royal wedding tragi-cally ended with Joffrey’sdeath after drinking poisonedwine at the reception, orches-trated by the Tyrells and PetyrBaelish. The color of Joffrey’sface turned to purple after hisdemise, after which the cere-mony takes its name.

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Melisandre is regarded as a beautifulwoman by many – copper hair, paleunblemished skin and graceful. She isalways dressed in long robes of red fab-ric making her famous as a Redpriestess. Melisandre with the use ofmagic craft preserved her youth andbeauty while the gold choker necklacecontaining a ruby, fitting tightlyaround her neck channeled it. Due toher ability to see visions in the flamesthat she even served Jon Snow as anadviser until she was later banished.

It was only in season 6 thatMelisandre undresses herself, removes

her necklace and reveals her trueidentity of an elderly, fragile woman –many centuries old! While everyoneknew, the role magic played in her pre-serving her vanity but up to such anextent was unforeseen.

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How does Ivar’s disability con-tribute to both the good and badof his character?

Andersen: Ivar has been livinga life with no boundaries, except hisphysical ones. His Mom suffocatedhim with too much love when hewas little since his dad, who ends upbeing the most famous Viking toever live, was not there in his life. He’scrippled in a society and in a timewhere no one really comprehendedwhat was wrong with him or had anytime to help him regardless of hisfamous family name. He wasbrought up by Floki, who was hismentor, which doesn’t add to the“good”, but he’s still figuring out whatmorality means to him. At the endof season four, he goes out on theroad with the boys and with his dad,which is a very valuable experiencefor him. He fights with the brothersabout taking over the army becausehe is always trying to prove himself,which is something that makes hischaracter stand out. Floki also raisedhim to believe in the gods, so he triesto prove himself to them, as well.Ivar’s goal is getting into Valhalla. Hisdisability sets him back physicallyand is a challenge in any goal he setsso he is constantly trying to over-come it.

How long do you think Ivar willsurvive on the show?

Andersen: That’s up to MichaelHirst, our sole writer of the series.We try to stick to history as muchas possible, but we also have to keepin mind that this is a TV show andMichael must keep the drama highto captivate the audience. There area lot of theories about “Ivar theBoneless” and how he got his lastname. Some say it has nothingto do with his brittle bonedisease and some say it isbecause he is super flex-ible, which I favour. Inreality, Ivar would havestruggled to survive, soI try to keep that mind-set in every scene. He’sgetting stronger, butI have to keepthe ele-

ments of the disease front and cen-ter so the audience doesn’t lose sightof his daily struggle. I think Ivar’s dis-ability keeps him balanced in a waybecause without it, he becomesaverage and not as likeable as a char-acter.

During your audition, can yourecall how you showed the painwith your eyes without doing any-thing else?

Andersen: I originally had beenauditioning for Ubbe, Sigurd andHvitserk. All of a sudden they want-ed me to read for Ivar, so I was sit-ting there, trying to learn the linesfor Ivar’s scene, sweating. I remem-ber screwing everything up the firsttwo or three times I read. And theneventually I got it and was offered thepart. I remember asking Michaelabout Ivar and who he was as a char-acter. Michael explained, “Well, he’sin a lot of pain.” And I said, “has hebeen living with this pain for hisentire life?” And Michael said “Ithink so. I think that’s at least whatthe disease is like, you’re born withit.” So in my mind I thought I shoulduse the pain to show the character’sdepth and I did that through myfacial expressions, which was unlikeother actors auditioning for theparty.

In the beginning of seasonfive, you both team up andform an alliance. Can youtalk about how that pro-gresses through the rest ofthe season?

Franzén: They bothknow and understand thatthey lie to one another. But,

they try to balance this out byplotting to kill and scheme

against each other. Andersen: It’s a game

that they both love andagree to play. There’s

a mutual respect forone another inthis madness. It’sa great pleasure

to get to work with Peter. He’s a verytalented performer. Franzén: Whenever we work togeth-er it’s always fun.

Now that Floki is gone, is Haraldgoing to become a mentor to Ivar?

Andersen: I think they’re on thesame team, but in different ways. Ivarwould never accept Harald as a men-tor. Ivar has already proven himselfto everyone and strongly believesthat he is the leader of the GreatHeathen army once he took it overfrom Ubbe. Peter, do you thinkHarald would be my mentor?

Franzén: No. They’re just tryingto make good of each other’s com-pany, and whatever fame Ivar bringsto Harald is welcomed.

How is Rollo coming back going toaffect the dynamic between Ivarand Harald?

Andersen: Rollo’s coming back,that’s the only thing Ivar knows atthis stage. Harald and Ivar made a

deal with Rollo. Rollo leant out hisFrench warriors so they could win.Ivar knows that Rollo needs some-thing in return for this favour, soRollo’s return was to be expected.That will be a tough pill for Ivar toswallow since he is currently sittingon the throne now. It’ll definitely beinteresting to see their dynamicplay out.

How much did you know about theViking period before coming onthe show? What are some goodthings that you see in the Vikingculture?

Andersen: What I’m experienc-ing is that people are changing theirviews of Vikings as more of a progres-sive group. Women were more equalthan a lot of other cultures of thattime. They were also really phenom-enal farmers who expanded andeventually created massive tradingstations around Denmark andScandinavia.

Franzén: I think the Vikings are

about the birth of our tribe. Therewere a lot of kings that took refugefrom Finland because of the skir-mishes in Sweden and Norway, so alot of Viking kings established theirkingdoms in Finland. They musthave mixed blood, and of course it’spart of our nature and heritage aswell. When I see the series, I can real-ly identify with what is going onright now in the world. Historyrepeats itself and we find ourselvesas human beings never learningfrom our mistakes. People disappearand emerge with other cultures, andso forth, so we tend to forget the pastlessons that have been told.

How did this show change you asa person in your real lives?

Franzén: I haven’t been home inthree years so it does change thingswith my family. My son has grown.But as an artist, and as a person whowants to do this as a career, it’s anhonor to be a part of one of thebiggest shows in the world.

Andersen: It’s more about whoI’ve become as a person and how Iput myself into my character. WhatI’m experiencing verses the charac-ter’s experiences. It depends on howyou show up to work and how youwork. It’s difficult because I think it’sultimately about being able to por-tray and become the character. Andonce you go home for the day, hope-fully you can remove yourself fromyour character and go back to beingyourself. We have creative bound-aries in a different way because weare on a tight schedule, and I thinkthat really helps with you walking upto set and being able to just do yourthing. I’m doing my thing verytechnically, and I look at my work asa carpenter. I show up and the moreI know about the cameras and allthese technical things, the better atit I will be. Your true self is alwaysgoing to be a little bit more or lessin the character you portray.

Franzén: I’ve been in the busi-ness for twenty five years and donea lot of different kinds of charactersin movies, and on stage, and ofcourse you bring something withyou all the time. After doing thesecharacters for three years, theyevolve and they go through a vari-ety of emotions. I think at somepoint this begins to affect you as aperson and you get the idea of whatthe character is actually goingthrough. It becomes easy to portraythose real feelings. If you make a

movie, and you have six months ormaybe less time to prepare, that willrapidly affect you and can scar you.Sometimes it hurts to remove your-self from that because it’s so abruptin the effect that it leaves on you.

Have you thought about movingyour families closer to set? Do theycome and visit?

Franzén: Well I’m in a good spotbecause I live in Europe. But a lotof our actors and their families, theylive in Canada, or the United States,and of course it’s a bit harder forthem to visit their loved ones. I canat least go home for a weekend, butwe’re not allowed to go home unlesswe have three days off.

Andersen: I haven’t been homesince the middle of July. Sometimesyou get maybe a week off, and you’reallowed to go home for five days orso. It’s definitely a sacrifice. But itcomes with a price to do what youlove. Luckily friends and family areable to come visit and I have had alot of lovely visits here.

What is your favorite thing aboutcoming on set?

Franzén: Getting to work withthese wonderful people every day. It’san amazing family environment.

Andersen: We have to work inrough conditions sometimes and Ithink that just brings people closertogether naturally. We go throughthe trenches together. Also workinglong hours and memorising lines canbe hard, so you spend a lot of timewith these phenomenal people andcolleagues. That’s the one thing I loveabout being on this show. Getting towork with people inspire me.

As an actor, how does it feel por-traying a great character likeHarald?

Franzén: Harald is a terribleperson in a lot of ways. He’s por-trayed as a ruthless and brutal guy.But, he also has a sensitive side thathe wants to present to the love of hislife, one day. Harald’s character hasbecome this person of release forme. Through him, I am able toshowcase a variety of strong emo-tions. Playing Harald, it’s oftenhorrible to be reminded of some ofthe events that happened duringthis time in history. But as actors,it is our duty to remain true to thecharacter even if it’s not always apleasant outcome.

(The series airs on AXN.)

Actor Ranveer Singh, whoearned plaudits for his

rapping skills with Gully Boy,has come out with his inde-pendent music record label —IncInk.

The actor has teamed upwith filmmaker Navzar Eraneeto launch the label.

“We are first starting withlaunching some really raw,immensely talented, new rapand hip-hop artists who webelieve they will be the nextsuperstars of the scene. Rapand hip-hop are the biggestthing happening in Indianmusic today,” he said.

“We at IncInk want tobring out the real poets of ourgeneration. It literally meanswriting your own story andI’m inspired and thrilled to bestarting this passion projectwhich aims to affect a socialchange. I hope that we canpresent some of the strongest,boldest voices of Indian youthto the world,” added Ranveer,who has become a globalentrepreneur with his musicventure.

Ranveer also took to socialmedia to share the news. Hehas collaborated with rappersKaam Bhaari, Slow Cheetaand Spitfire for the musicventure.

Calling the label as his“passion project”, the 33-year-old wrote, “My passion pro-ject. A manifestation of a cer-

tain vibe. It is an independentrecord label formed by artistesfor artistes to discover, nurtureand promote exciting talentsfrom across India.

“Presenting Kaam Bhaari,Spitfire and Slow Cheeta fromthe different hoods of ourcountry. Let’s show these boyssome love.”

Along with the post, heshared two photographs. Inone of the photographs,Ranveer can be seen posingwith the other rappers and inthe second one, he introducedthe label’s logo to his follow-ers.

“Inclusive. Independent.This is the soul of IncInk,”Ranveer wrote.

His wife and actressDeepika Padukone is “proud”of him. “The sleepless nights...the hours of debate to witnessyour dream become a reality.You have no idea how proudI am of the both of you. Sorry,I cannot be with you all todaybut know that I am with youwith all my heart and in spir-it today and forever,” she said.

Ranveer’s Gully Boy co-star Alia Bhatt also comment-ed on the post, saying “Tutu,epic this is.”

On the acting front,Ranveer will next be seen inKabir Khan’s 83, which isbased on India’s iconic win atthe 1983 Cricket World Cup.

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Is it possible to fall in love withsomeone you have never met?Someone you’ve only knownthrough words but neverheard them in person? Well, actress Pranutan Bahl,

who makes her debut in Bollywoodwith the film, Notebook, feels thatlove is a powerful emotion forwhich there is no wrong definitionas it suits each person differently.

“Kabir (played by Zaheer Iqbal)and Firdaus (played by Pranutan)fall in love through words, withoutmeeting each other, and just througha notebook,” says the grand-daugh-ter of the legendary actress Nutan.

As Notebook tells a story thatdares to be pure and sublime,Pranutan apprises us on her take on

modern relationships and their por-trayal in Bollywood. She says, “Everylove story is amazing in its own way.I don’t want to categorise it asmodern or how it used to be inolden times. Love is an emotion thathas to be felt. It doesn’t matterwhether we say it on whatsapp orthrough letters.”

Ask her about the pressure thatshe might be feeling as the film isproduced under Salman KhanFilms, she responds by saying a bold“no.” She says, “There’s no pressurefrom him but as you know, it’s obvi-ous if such a huge superstar islaunching you in the industry, youfeel like giving your best so that youdon’t let him down in any manner.And because you have got every-

thing working in your favour, youought to give your 100 per cent toit. You cannot afford to fall short atany cost.”

Pranutan, a double-graduate inlaw, has always wanted to be anactor. It has been a part of her child-hood. However, she says, “I didn’tbelieve in not completing my edu-cation. I didn’t want to just finish mygraduation quickly. Instead, I want-ed to be a very educated personbefore starting to act. I thought I canstart my acting career even at the ageof 22 or may be at 25? Why to giveup on your education for that?There’s no need to hurry. I did lawbecause I think it is something thatshapes you inside-out. It makesone confident and know certain

things which are must for every ini-dividual to learn about.”

Pranutan says that she used tospend a lot of time on film sets afterher school. It was like her co-curric-ular activity. “Subconsciously, some-things always influence you. Theydraw you towards themselves. Itmight be because of spending somuch time on film sets that Iaspired to be an actor. Well, actingis in my genes,” she laughs as shesays.

Pranutan tells us that she fellinto the lake from a shikara whileshooting for the film. She says, “Idon’t even know how to swim andIt was two degrees out there.Shikara’s are very dama dol. I was inthe narrowest portion and was get-ting down, the whole shikara tiltedand I fell in the lake. It was damntraumatic.”

The actress says that it was hergrandfather who kept her name asPranutan. “He actually wanted tokeep my name as Nutan but my dad(Monish Bahl) said it’s very awkwardfor me to call out my mom’s namelike that. So he kind of made thisname — Pranutan, which meansnew life.”

Pranutan is a firm believerwhen it comes to destiny and luck.She says, “Everybody has got talentbut somewhere I strongly feel thateverything has been pre written andit’s all destined.”

She feels no competition withother debutantes as she believes incelebrating individuality. She says,“Every one of us, whether its Sara (AliKhan), Janhvi (Kapoor) or Ananya(Pandey), we are so unique in eachand every manner. What you bringto the table, I can’t. So it’s not just thatbecause Deepika (Padukone) is a tallbeautiful girl she suited for Padmavat.She has got inherently those Deepikaqualities in her which the directorneeded for Padmavat. If a filmmak-er wants to cast me for a role, he’ll dothat because I bring somethingunique to the character that he envi-sions. And if anybody can be cast forthat particular role then that’s not thework I want to do anyway. It wouldsimply not excite me.”

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Aconstant presence at thecoach's chair during wife

Saina Nehwal's matches, Indianshuttler Parupalli Kashyap sayshe is eager to take up full timecoaching once he retires fromthe game.

But, he said retirement is thelast thing he is thinking rightnow.

A former world number 6,Kashyap has set a target ofqualifying for the TokyoOlympics, though many wouldfeel a tough task for him.

Currently ranked 55,Kashyap on Friday reached asemifinal of a top-tier tourna-ment (Super series or Super 500)

for the first time in close to fouryears by claiming a 21-16, 21-11win over Chinese Taipei's WangTzu Wei.

"I enjoy coaching and wouldlove to take it forward in future,"Kashyap said after recording hisfourth win, a sublime 21-11, 21-13 triumph, over Thailand'sTanongsak Saensomboonsuk toenter the quarterfinals of IndiaOpen.

"But I am not done yet (asa player). I want to perform thisyear and make it to theOlympics again. So, don't countme out of Olympics. I want tobe in contention of a medal andnot just participate," said theHyderabadi, who had reachedthe London Olympics last 8.

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Former champions P V Sindhu andKidambi Srikanth stayed on courseto reclaim titles while a vintage

Parupalli Kashyap too regained someform, sealing his place in the men's sin-gles semifinals of the $350,000 IndiaOpen here on Friday.

Sindhu, a 2017 champion and 2016finalist, edged out Denmark's eighthseed Mia Blichfeldt 21-19, 22-20 in aclosely-fought contest to set up a clashwith China's He Bingjiao on Saturday.

"I should have finished it earlier. Imade too many errors. He Bingjiao andshe is a tricky player. I have to be morepatient," Sindhu said.

Srikanth finally snapped his seriesof quarterfinal finishes, outwittingcompatriot B Sai Praneeth 21-23, 21-11,21-19 in a 62 minute pulsating contest,while Kashyap entered his first semifi-nals of a top-tier event (World TourSuper 500 or Superseries) in almost fouryears, beating Chinese Taipei's WangTzu Wei 21-16, 21-11.

Srikanth will face China's HuangYuxiang, while Kashyap takes on formerworld champion and former world No1 Viktor Axelsen.

H S Prannoy couldn't match upwith the second seeded Axelsen, goingdown 10-21, 16-21 in a match that hadsome tight fights in the second game.

Srikanth had made eight quarter-final finishes in last nine tournamentsand the Indian didn't look to make thelast 8 after he lost the opening game nar-rowly and lagged 1-7 in the second.

But a gritty Srikanth saved fivegame points, fighting back from 16-20down before Praneeth staved off thechallenge to take the opening game.

Praneeth managed to grab a 7-1lead to raise hopes of an upset butSrikanth came back strongly and tookthe match to the decider.

In the third game, the GopichandAcademy colleagues split the initial 14points before Praneeth edged ahead to11-8 lead. But a fighting Srikanth againdrew parity at 13-13 and eventuallymanaged to produce those two pointsat 19-19 to seal a semifinal place.

"The turning point of the match wasin the second game when I was 1-7down and I fought back. From there,things changed. At 19-19 in the decider

it could have gone either way. ButI played well in the crucial points.So happy with my performance,"Srikanth said.

On the adjacent court,Kashyap made a confident start,leading 6-3 early on but three suc-cessive returns at the forehandcorner of Wang going out allowedhis opponent to keep pace withthe Indian who enjoyed an 11-8lead at the break.

Wang made it 16-16 withKashyap committing a few mis-takes at the net but hit flat jabs andpunches to the back of the court,pocketing the opening game.

Kashyap took control of thenet and retrieved everything,while Wang looked erratic withhis smashes. Kashyap led 6-3again in the second game.

Wang again clawed back at 8-8 but Kashyap managed to keephis nose ahead at 11-9 at interval.

The Indian marched ahead,varying the pace with his strokes,using angles and measuredreturns, cramming his opponentfor space.

He led 18-11. A smash anddrop took Kashyap closer to sealthe match and he celebrated after

Wang hit one long."I feel good. I didn't think

about semifinal. I had a gooddraw and a good run and I am justhappy. I have fitness issues but Idon't know why my body is feel-ing at ease," said Kashyap, whohad reached the finals at 2017 USOpen and won the 2018 AustrianOpen.

"He is a tricky player. He hasgood skills at the net. He takesrisks and hits some good halfsmashes. I kept retrieving theshuttle and could attack andcounter his strokes."

Men's doubles sixth seedsManu Attri and Sumeeth Reddyeffortlessly won an all-Indianquarter-final clash with PranaavJerry Chopra and Shivam Sharma21-10, 21-12.

They are the last Indian pairstanding at this prestigious tour-nament after the 10-21, 18-21defeat of Ashwini Ponnappa andSikki Reddy to top seeds GreysiaPolii and Apriyani Rahayu.

India's Aparna Balan andSruthi KP too lost 8-21, 11-21 tosecond seeds JongkolphanKititharakul and RawindaPrajongjai.

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Ican't afford my coach trav-elling with me," says India

Open defending championZhang Beiwen, who had toswitch her nationality twice topursue her badmintondreams.

Zhang originally hailsfrom Liaoning, China butchanged nationality to becomea Singaporean at the age of 13and went on to win a teamBronze at the 2009 SoutheastAsian Games.

After a fallout withSingapore authorities, sheadopted US nationality in2013 and has been playing forthat country in international

circuit ever since.However, she said she has

not got any help from the USnational badminton federation

and has to rely on self-fund-ing and prize money fromcompetitions.

"I have just one sponsorfrom Hong Kong who pays formy coach's salary," said Zhangwho is currently ranked 12 inthe world. She was in top-10last year.

The 28-year-old, who hadto crowd-fund her trip toWorld Championship lastyear, said she does not getenough training in US wherebadminton is not a big sport.

"The best choice for me istraining in Singapore butsometimes I am out of choice.I don't get time to train much,may be I train for one and halfhour every day when I am in

Singapore and sometimeseven less."

Despite all the constrains,Zhang has done reasonablywell last year by winning theIndia Open, which is a WorldTour Super 500 event, reach-ing the finals at the KoreaOpen and US Open. She alsoqualified for the World TourFinals.

So what is her expectationfrom the tournament.

"Last year I was in samesituation. When I came to thistournament, I didn't expectmuch from myself. I don'tthink I can go to the final anddefend the title as women'ssingles is so competitive,"Zhang signed off.

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Roger Federer will makeDenis Shapovalov's dream

come true on Friday after theSwiss booked a Miami Opensemi-final against the Canadianstarlet with a ruthless 6-0, 6-4destruction of Kevin Anderson.

Shapovalov, who beat fel-low young gun Frances Tiafoe6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-2 to reach histhird ATP Masters semi-final,grew up idolising and studyingthe 20 time Slam-winning Swisslegend who once again rolledback the years with a sublimeshow at Hard Rock Stadium.

This will be their first meet-ing and one the Canadian,who will break into the top 20when the rankings are releasednext week, cannot wait for.

"It's a match up I have beenlooking forward to my wholelife, a high stakes match againstyour idol. It's just a dream cometrue," said Shapovalov.

"I will try and approach itlike any other game, try andenjoy it, give it my all. It will bea difficult match but I am justhappy to have a chance to playhim."

Federer may have been the19-year-old's hero but he'sattempted to learn from Rafael

Nadal and Novak Djokovictoo.

"With Roger, I was alwayslooking at his backhand andtried to copy him and build mygame like his - aggressive,always coming in," said thenumber 20 seed.

With Shapovalov takingon Federer and long time friendand compatriot Felix Auger-Aliassime, 18, facing defendingchampion John Isner in thesemis, the tennis stars of tomor-row are beginning to provetheir worth on the biggest ofstages.

"It's crazy for me and Felixto both have reached the semi-finals," Shapovalov said, whileFederer called the clash of gen-erations "exciting".

"It's an exciting draw, forJohn and for myself here, play-ing these young guys," Federersaid. "They are not just young,but they are very good, as well.

"I practiced with Denisway back, he might have been16, 17. He was just hitting big.I was, like, 'Wow, it's unbeliev-able. How old is he? How goodis he going to get? It's going tobe tough against him."

The Swiss came into thematch with Anderson knowingthe world number seven's huge

serve could be the difference,just as it was in a dramatic fiveset, last eight encounter atWimbledon won by the SouthAfrican last summer.

Yet after a whirlwind firstset, Federer had broken theAnderson serve three timesand "bageled" his opponent,much to the delight of a packedhouse on center court whocame to show their appreciationfor the evergreen 37 year-old ashe chases a fourth Miami titlewhich would take his careertally to 101.

It was the first timeAnderson, 32, has ever lost afirst set at ATP level to love andalthough the second was fartighter, Federer was always incontrol.

Shapovalov, meanwhile,crashed home 40 winners in anentertaining tussle withAmerican Tiafoe on a raininterrupted day in SouthFlorida.

The weather certainlycould have badly affectedAshleigh Barty's attempt toreach her biggest WTA finalwith a four hour delay puttingher charge on hold.

The Australian had playedjust four games with Estonia'sAnett Kontaveit before the

rains came although once playresumed, the 22-year-old, whowill break into the top 10 off theback of this excellent run toSaturday's final, took advantage

of her error prone opponent towin 6-3 6-3.

"It was a very long day. Iknow we had to wait aroundbut it was an opportunity to

drink some coffee and watchthe golf so I was relaxed," saidBarty who took time out of thegame in 2015 to play cricketbefore returning in 2016.

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Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma feelspace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and flamboy-

ant all-rounder Hardik Pandya keep raising thebar for excellence with every game they play.

Sharma was lavish in his praise for Bumrah,who picked up three wickets, and Pandya, whoscored 32 off 14 deliveries to help Mumbai securefirst win in this year’s tournament.

"I think Bumrah is more than mature now.Yes, his performance keeps growing everyday. Heis a very dedicated individual and takes his gamevery seriously. He is quite regular with his workethics," he toldreporters in thepost-match pressconference here.

B u m r a h ' sthree wicketscame off 20 runswhich provedcucial in restrict-ing RCB six shortof the 187 runsput up byMumbai Indians.

Sharma saidBumrah gave acrucial break-through by send-ing back RCBcaptain Virat Kohli, who was going great gunsalong with AB De Villiers at one point of thematch.

"Bumrah is very smart. We know the class ofVirat and AB (De Villiers) and hence we wantedto break the partnership when they were goingstrong. It (De Villiers) was a crucial wicket at thatpoint of time of the game," he said.

On Hardik Pandya's unbeaten knock towardsthe end of Mumbai innings, Sharma said thoseruns made the difference and such an innings wasneeded from him as he didn't do well in the lastgame against Delhi Capitals.

"...Obviously there was a hunger out there togo and do well. He came out and got those cru-cial runs in the end. He also bowled well in themiddle even though he went for few runs. It wasa much improved performance from last game.He is also stepping up that ladder," he said.

Sharma also said Pandya's form is veryimportant for the team.

"He (Pandya) was out for a bit and didn't playa lot of games. So, he needs time to get into thegroove. He is a crucial member of the team andvery flexible. His form is very important to us,which will do good for us," he said.

Asked about Lasith Malinga, Sharma said hisrole is to cramp batsmen by bowling bouncers andyorkers, besides taking wickets in the middle.

“We expect him to come up here and deliv-er the goods and take wickets, bowl fast, bowlbouncers and yorkers," he added.

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Afurious India and RoyalChallengers Bangalore cap-

tain Virat Kohli asked umpiresofficiating in the IPL to keeptheir "eyes open" after a "ridicu-lous" no-ball howler cost hisside dearly, something whichwas also acknowledged by rivalMumbai Indians captain RohitSharma.

Both Kohli and Rohit crit-icised the umpiring standardduring the match which waswon by Mumbai Indians by sixruns on Thursday.

RCB needed seven to winthe match and Lasith Malinga'sdelivery to Shivam Dube — afull toss- was a no-ball whichwas missed by the on-field

umpire S Ravi.The TV replay showed that

the bowler had overstepped anda free hit should have beenawarded. Had it been a free-hit,AB de Villiers, batting on 70,would have faced it and the

RCB could have won the match."We are playing at the IPL

level. It's not club level, theumpires should have their eyesopen. That was a big no-ball.That is a ridiculous call (lastball). If it is a game of margins,I don't know what is happening.They should have been moresharp and careful out there," alivid Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Incidentally, Ravi is theonly Indian umpire in ICC'sElite Panel for a number ofyears now as none of the oth-ers have been good enough tobe elevated.

Rohit was also critical ofthe umpiring standard duringthe match.

"Honestly, I just go to

know after crossing the ropethat it was a no-ball. Thesekind of mistakes aren't goodfor the game. Wining andlosing does not matter. It(mistake) is not good for thegame of cricket, as simple asthat," the MI captain said.

"Those sort of mistakeshave to be avoided. If we(players) make mistakes, wepay for it. So, it is not good forthe game. Eventually, thegame will start moving indifferent direction if thesethings (umpiring mistakes)keep happening," he said atthe post-match press confer-ence.

He urged the umpires tobe more careful about thesekind of decisions in future.

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Royal ChallengersBangalore spinner

Yuzvendra Chahal said hefelt like Stuart Broad whenMumbai Indians' veteranswashbuckler Yuvraj Singhsmashed three sixes in one ofhis overs.

Yuvraj struck Chahal forconsecutive sixes in the 14thover of the match whichMumbai won by six runs.

"When he (Yuvraj) hitthree sixes, I felt like StuartBroad," Chahal said referringto the six consecutive max-imums in the 2007 T20World Cup that Yuvraj hadhit off Englishman Broad.

However, Chahal man-aged to get Yuvraj off thefourth delivery of his over,caught by Mohammad Sirajin the deep after he hadscored a quick-fire 23 off 12balls.

"You know he is a legendbatsman and I backedmyself. I had to bowl a bit up,might be a chance to get himout because it is a smallerground. So that time, I

thought of bowling my bestdelivery and he got sixes.That you cannot help andhence I bowled a wider goo-gly," he told reporters inpost-match session.

On September 19, 2007,in a World T20 match inDurban, Yuvraj had scripteda carnage by walloping sixsixes off Broad in an overduring a 16-ball 58.

Speaking about thewicket, Chahal said since itwas good for batting, hevaried his pace, especially forthe big-hitting KieronPollard.

"The wicket was notturning. It was good for bat-ting. So, the plan was to varymy pace, like bowling slow-er ones and sometimes slid-ers too," he said.

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Acontroversy-laden firsttwo games at their back,

Kings XI Punjab will look toexploit familiar conditions intheir first home match of theIPL when they take onMumbai Indians here onSaturday.

It has been a roller-coast-er ride for KXIP, having toendure a controversy involvingtheir captain RavichandranAshwin who 'Mankaded'Rajasthan Royals batsman JosButtler in their first match.

In their second gameagainst Kolkata Knight Riders,Ashwin's team was penalisedfor not keeping four men inthe 30-yard circle and AndreRussell made full use of thereprieve to take the gameaway from KXIP.

Ashwin and Co will nowlook to forget al l theseunsavoury happenings of thefirst two games and startafresh in their first match atthe PCA Stadium on Saturday.

With the tournament stillin its early stages and the twoteams having won a gameeach, the balance is not tiltedin anyone's favour and theSaturday's tie is expected to bea keenly fought one.

The two rival sides boastof some star players in theirline-up and each team willhope to its best when it mat-ters.

KXIP, who are yet to winan IPL title, opened their cam-paign this season on a winningnote against Rajasthan Royals.But, the match caught theheadlines more for Ashwin's'Mankading' of Buttler thattriggered a dramatic collapsefor the Royals.

Against KKR, the KXIPlost by 28 runs after chasing amammoth 219 for victoryeven though MayankAggarwal and David Millerimpressed with their batting.

Andre Russell's sensation-al 17-ball 48 and Robin

Uthappa's 67 not out andNitish Rana's 63 left KXIPbowlers in a daze. Even thelikes of Ashwin and speedsterMohammed Shami did nothave an answer to KKR'sblitzkrieg.

For KXIP, opener LokeshRahul is yet to hit his top form,managing just five runs fromprevious two outings, and hewill be hoping to get back tohis best in Mohali.

On the other hand,Mumbai Indians have comeinto this match, havingnotched up a 6-run win overRoyal Challengers Bangalore,with India pace spearheadJasprit Bumrah stamping hisclass.

For Mumbai, RohitSharma (48 of 33) and HardikPandya's 14-ball 32 stood outas they set up a target of 188for RCB to chase.

Bumrah impressed in thegame against RCB, returningwith figures of 4-0-20-3, some-thing most bowlers will envyin this format of the game.

Yuvraj Singh, who startedthe season on a classy note byhitting a sublime half-centuryagainst Delhi Capitals andmanaging 23 against RCB,will be eager to make a markin Mohali, which happens tobe his 'home ground'.

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Sanju Samson smashed the first cen-tury of the ongoing Indian Premier

League and together with skipperAjinkya Rahane stitched a century

stand to guide Rajasthan Royals to amammoth 198 for two againstSunrisers Hyderabad here on Friday.

Samson didn't spare a singleSunrisers' bowler and remainedunbeaten on 102 that came off just 55

balls with the help of 10 fours and fourhits over the fence.

It was Samson's second IPL ton.His first century in the T20 tourna-ment came in 2017.

Opening the batting after winningthe toss, Rahane led from the frontwith 49-ball 70 and together withSamson shared 119 runs for the sec-ond wicket to set the base for the totalafter the early dismissal of Jos Buttler.

Introduced into the attack in thefourth over, Rashid Khan (1/24) struckwith only his second ball, cleaning updangerman Buttler around his legs.

Rajasthan's decision to bat firstdidn't go according to plan, at least, inthe powerplay as the visitors struggledagainst Sunrisers' disciplined bowlingto garner just 35 runs in the first sixovers.

After Buttler's dismissal, skipperRahane was joined at the crease bySamson and the duo played cautious-ly without taking any undue risk totake Rajasthan forward.

While Rahane played the anchor'srole, Samson opened up his arms soonand smashed two sixes in consecutiveovers of Shabaz Nadeem and SiddharthKaul to give some momentum toRajasthan's innings.

Rahane soon joined his junior col-league and clobbered Nadeem straight

over his head as Rajasthan reached 75for one at the halfway stage.

After a slow start, Rahane steppedon the accelerator and welcomed VijayShankar with six over deep square legboundary.

Both Rahane and Samson pacedtheir innings to perfection, as afterplaying cautiously initially, they broketheir shackles when needed andnotched up the team's 100 in 11.5overs.

Rahane registered his first fifty ofthe ongoing IPL in 38 balls whileSamson brought up his half-century in34 deliveries as the duo raised 100-runstand for the second wicket in 65 balls.

Rahane finally departed in the 16thover bowled by Nadeem, holed out byManish Pandey at long-on as he wentfor a big shot. He struck four bound-aries and three sixes during his knock.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar's torrid timeat the death overs continued. If it wasAndre Russell in the last match, it wasSamson Friday as the young Keralabatsman too the senior pacer to clean-ers, hitting him for four boundariesand one six to pick up 24 runs from the18th over.

As if that was not enough,Bhuvneshwar witnessed yet anotherforgettable day as he leaked 21 runs inthe last over.

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Delhi Capitals will be playing on theirhome turf but there is a possibility

that the conditions may turn out to befavourable for the visiting KolkataKnight Riders when the two teams clashin an IPL match here on Saturday.

In the last match too, it was Chennaiwho exploited the slow conditions atKotla better than the home side withtheir spinners taking full advantage ofthe track on which batting became chal-lenging as the game wore on.

KKR also have a world-class spinbowling attack led by India's premierbowler Kuldeep Yadav. The wily SunilNarine, along with Piyush Chawla,makes it a very potent attack.

Both Shikhar Dhawan and RishabhPant have been in good form but itremains to be seen if the Feroz ShahKotla track and the KKR spin trio allowthem to free their arms.

Pant has made aninspiring start this seasonwith blistering knocks (78and 25) in the first twogames and Dhawan too hasbeen in good nick. Both ofthem know the conditionswell and would require touse their knowledge insuitably planning their batting.

But more than anything, the Delhispinners — Axar Patel, Rahul Tewatiyaand Amit Mishra — will have to be ontop form while dealing with the in-formKKR batsmen.

Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, RobinUthappa and Shubhman Gill are allamong runs. Russell, with his incredi-ble power-hitting ability, is the most dan-gerous batsman.

KKR owe both their wins to the

burly West Indian, whohas smacked the bowlersaround. Taming him willbe the key and that is thechallenge for Patel andMishra.

Rana has beenimpressive as an opener

and in the middle order too in the firsttwo games. The performance of youngGill will be watched keenly since he istipped to be a future India star.

Apart from Delhi's spinners, youngSouth African pacer Kagiso Rabada willalso have to take the load of stoppingruns in the beginning.

It will be interesting to see what kindof track Delhi opts for in the remainderof the home matches with the BCCIcurator said to have been withdrawn.

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�#�� ���Delhi Capitals (DC) all-rounder Chris Morris is expected totake on his Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) counterpart Andre Russell intheir Indian Premier League (IPL)game at the Feroz Shah Kotla onSaturday and the South African saidthat he is up for the challenge.

"He (Russell) is an absolute genius.It will be a case of 'if he misses, I hit'.I won't give away too many secrets. Imight look like a duck, but my brainis working overtime and I will look totrust my train-ing.

"We havegot similarroles. He bats alittle higher.Our job is tohit sixes andpick up wick-ets. But maybehe has a littlemore responsi-bility as a batsman than me," Morrissaid on the eve of the match.

Asked if he would take the new ballor bowl at the death, Morris said: "Ihaven't spoken about my role, but I willtake up the all-rounder's role. I don'tthink I will take the new ball, and willprobably bowl at the death. I like tobring a little energy to the squad. I'mreally looking forward to get onto thepark." IANS

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