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Congress president RahulGandhi on Monday set

aside all speculations about aCongress-AAP alliance in thenational Capital by urging theparty workers to work hard to“win all the seven Lok Sabhaseats in Delhi”.

“There will be no tie-upand the Congress will go italone on all seven Lok Sabhaseats in Delhi. You shouldwork hard to win all the sevenseats of Delhi,” said Rahulwhile addressing the party’sbooth workers in the nationalCapital.

It seems the Congress istaking a long term view of itsprospect in Delhi, where it wasa force to reckon with fordecades. But the arrival ofAAP wiped out the Congressfrom the scene. In 2004 LSpolls, the Congress won six outof seven seats and in 2009 itwon all seven seats. But afterAAP turned the 2014 polls intotriangular contest, the BJPswept Delhi winning all theseven seats. The Congress hadbeen in power for three con-secutive terms spanning 15years from 1998-2013.

Last week, after a meetingwith UPA chairperson SoniaGandhi and Rahul, ShielaDikshit said the Congress had“no alliance yet” in Delhi. Themeeting and the commentboth came after AAP leadersurged Rahul for a rethink, say-ing it should be his decisionand not the State Congress’ dik-tat.

At a recent meeting withthe Congress chief , the DelhiCongress-led by Dikshit had

unanimously refused analliance with AAP.

Congress has been underpressure from the TMC toenter a tie up with AAP. ArvindKejriwal too has been keen ona tie-up, saying it would stopthe split of non-BJP votes.

As the Opposition startedrecalibrating its campaign afterthe Pulwama terror attack andthe subsequent air strikes,Rahul held a meeting withleaders of the Delhi Congressto discuss the issue.

After the Congress refusalthen, Kejriwal had tweeted,“At a time when the wholecountry wants to defeat Modi-Shah duo, Cong is helping BJPby splitting anti-BJP vote.

Rumours are that Congresshas some secret understandingwith BJP. Delhi is ready to fightagainst Cong-BJP alliance.People will defeat this unholyalliance.”

AAP leader Gopal Rai tooon Monday said his party is notin talks with the Congress foran alliance in Delhi and it willcontest all seven seats in theupcoming Lok Sabha electionson its own.

Rai said Kejriwal will holda meeting with all State unitchiefs of the party and MLAsto discuss the strategy for theparliamentary polls. “The partyis not in talks with theCongress for an alliance inDelhi and it will contest all the

seats on its own,” the AAP’sDelhi unit convener said.

In an all out attack againstPrime Minister NarendraModi, the Congress presidentflayed him on a host of issuessuch as the Rafale deal, employ-ment generation, national secu-rity and alleged agrarian dis-tress.

He also said the choice isbetween Mahatma Gandhi’sIndia or Godse’s India with loveon one hand and hate on theother.

“You have to decide, youwant Gandhi’s India or Godse’sIndia. On the one hand thereis love, brotherhood, on theother is hate, fear. Gandhiji wasfearless, stayed in jail for years,

but spoke with the British withlove, while (Veer) Savarkarwrote letters to Britishers apol-ogising and asking to be let off,”he said.

He said Modi keeps talkingabout Make in India, but hisshirt, shoes and phone, withwhich he takes selfies, aremade in China.

Rahul said 40 CRPF per-sonnel were killed in thePulwama terror attack carriedout by the Jaish-e-Mohammedwhose chief Masood Azharwas released from jail by theBJP.

“Two of our PrimeMinisters were martyred. Wedon’t bow before anyone,” hesaid.

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The Election Commission(EC) on Monday acted

swiftly to nip in the bud a con-troversy generated by leaders ofthe Trinamool Congress(TMC) and the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) over scheduling ofpoll dates during Ramzan.

The EC clarified that themain festival (June 4) andFridays (falling in the holymonth) have been excludedfrom the polling dates. Thecommission also said the LokSabha polls are being con-ducted during the Ramzanbecause a full month cannot beexcluded.

The BJP accusedOpposition parties of creatinga deliberate controversy overvoting during Ramzan sayingHindus too would be observ-ing ‘Navratra’ fast when pollprocess would be underwaynext month.

Earlier, leaders of TMCand AAP alleged that thepolling schedule was designedin a way that most of the con-stituencies go to polls duringRamzan so that Muslims can-not go out and exercise theirfranchise.

They claimed that duringRamzan, it will inconvenienceto Muslims and help the BJP asthe community is largely seento be backing the Opposition

parties against the rulingalliance.

The Ramzan, which is amonth of rigorous fasting forthe Muslims, will begin on May5 which co-incides with thepolling schedule in States.Ramzan will end on June 4.

After the announcement ofpoll schedule by the EC, AAPleader Amanatullah Khantweeted on Sunday that elec-tions will be held in Delhi onMay 12, when Muslims will beobserving Ramzan. “There willbe less polling among Muslims,and it will directly benefit theBJP,” he had said. Some lead-ers of the ruling TrinamoolCongress in West Bengal hadalso spoke on similar lines.

Kolkata Mayor FirhadHakim said the seven-phaseelection will be highly incon-venient for the minority pop-ulation in the States of Bihar,Uttar Pradesh and West Bengalas the election dates coincidewith the month of Ramzan.

“Election Commission is aConstitutional body and werespect them. We don’t want tosay anything against them. Butseven-phase election will betough for people in Bihar, UttarPradesh and West Bengal,”Hakim said, while expressing

his displeasure over the EC’sdecision.

Criticising the Opposition,BJP spokesperson ShahnawazHussain pointed out thatNavratas, when many Hindusobserve fast, will also fall dur-ing the elections. “Muslims donot observe roza by not doingtheir work. Islam also does notask us to stop our work forworship. It is not that peoplewho have jobs do not attendthem during Ramzan. Theykeep roza and do their work aswell. Creating such a contro-versy is unfortunate,” he said.

Hyderabad MP AsaduddinOwaisi said that he welcomesthe conduct of the election dur-ing Ramzan.

“As a Muslim I welcomethe election in Ramzan.Muslims are more devotionalin that month,” he said.Owaisi, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief, alsosaid those who are making acontroversy around the pollsdates, don’t understand Islam.

According to EC, LokSabha elections will begin onApril 11 and continue for overa month till May 19 acrossseven phases. The last threephases of polling — on May 6,12, and 19 respectively - wouldtake place during Ramzan.

Polling for a total of 169Lok Sabha seats (i.e. 31.12% ofthe 543 seats) will take place.The polling for 41 parliamen-tary seats in Uttar Pradesh; 21seats in Bihar; 24 seats in WestBengal; seven in Delhi will beheld during Ramzan. As percensus, Muslim population inBihar is 17 per cent; 20 per centin Uttar Pradesh and 27 percent in West Bengal.

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Ajoint team of securityforces achieved a major

success on Monday when theyeliminated one of the “mainconspirators” of the February26 Pulwama terror attack on aCRPF convoy.

Jaish-e-Mohammed localcommander Mudasir Khan,alias Mohd Bhai, a low profiletrained electrician, was elimi-nated in a fierce gunfight in theTral area of South Kashmir’sPulwama late on Sunday.

Addressing a hurriedlycalled Press conference inSrinagar, GoC 15 Chinar CorpsLt Gen KJS Dhillon, accompa-nied by IG Kashmir SP Paniand IG CRPF Zulfiqar Hussainsaid Mudasir Khan has beeneliminated in the encounter.

He said Mudasir was the“main conspirator” of the attackon the CRPF convoy inPulwama. His elimination hascaused a major dent to the Jaishleadership in the Valley.

Claiming that the securityforces are pulling out all stopsto prevent Pulwama repeat, LtGen Dhillon said, “We havereally gone behind JeM acrossKashmi.” In the last threeweeks, “We have eliminated 18terrorists, out of which 14 wereJeM cadre, including 6 topcommanders,” he added.

“Operations against for-eign mercenaries and JeM ter-

rorists will continue till we killall of them,” he added.

The fierce gunfight, whichlasted several hours in Pinglisharea of Tral, erupted soon afterjoint teams of security forceshad cordoned off the area inTral after receiving a specificinput about the presence of JeMterrorists in the area on Sunday.

The security forces elimi-nated two Jaish-e-Mohammadterrorists without suffering anycollateral damage.

The bodies of the two ter-rorists, charred beyond recog-nition, were recovered from theencounter site, on Mondaymorning.

The identity of the slainterrorist was established withthe help of his family members.

Official sources claimedthat 23-year-old Mudasir, anelectrician with a graduatedegree and a resident ofPulwama, reportedly arrangedthe vehicle and explosives usedin the terror strike”.

A resident of Mir Mohallaof Tral, Mudasir joined the JeMin 2017 as an overgroundworker and was later drawninto the terror outfit by NoorMohammed Tantrey, alias‘Noor Trali’, who is believed tohave helped the terror group’srevival in Kashmir.

After Tantray was killed inDecember 2017, Mudasir dis-appeared from his home onJanuary 14, 2018, and has been

active since then.Suicide attacker Adil

Ahmed Dar, who rammed hisexplosive-laden vehicle into abus in the CRPF convoy onFebruary 14, had been in con-stant contact with Mudasir,officials said.

IG Kashmir SP Pani saidone of the terrorists killed hasbeen identified as “CodeKhalid”, believed to be aPakistani.

Zulfiqar Hussain, IG CRPF,said the Tral encounter couldnot be called an “avenge” of thePulwama terror attack as theCRPF had lost several men. Hesaid, “Our job is still not done.All those people who had sup-plied explosives, providedlogistics and radicalised youthwould be dealt with.”

According to the policerecords, both the slain terror-ists were affiliated with JeM and

were wanted for their com-plicity in terror crimes.

A police spokesman said,“Both terrorists were involvedin planning and executing sev-eral terror attacks. Mudasirwas involved in attack on aCRPF camp in Lethpora lastyear.”

The National InvestigationAgency, which is probing thePulwama attack, had raidedMudasir’s residence.

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Much to the relief of con-servationists, a Central

green panel has rejected theNational Highway Authority ofIndia’s �2,196 crore proposalfor the construction of 240.12km road stretching fromGopalpur Port to Ratnapur inOdisha on the ground that itwill threaten the habitat ofendangered olive ridley turtles,migratory birds, and disturbthe flow of at least 13 rivers,and affect floodplains. Theproposal also involved felling ofaround 24,596 trees.

The NHAI had proposedthe construction of newNational Highway 516-A pass-ing near the BhitarkanikaWildlife Sanctuary - country’ssecond largest mangrove forestsafter Sunderban - and furtherdividing Balukhand KonarkWildlife Sanctuary and Chilika(Nalaban) Wildlife Sanctuaryin the State. It is an importantbird area and winter home formigratory birds from the Arcticand sub-Arctic regions duringtheir onward and return migra-tion along the east coast.Balukhand Konark is a nestingsite for Olive Ridley sea turtles.

The Expert AppraisalCommittee (EAC) for projectsrelated to infrastructure devel-opment under the UnionEnvironment Ministry in ameeting in January asked theNHAI to explore alternateroute which does not affect thewildlife and wetlands.

Sources in the Ministrysaid the proposal involved con-struction of 2/4 laning withpaved shoulder starting fromGopalpur Port in Ganjam dis-trict and passing throughSatapada, Konark, Astarang,Naugaon, Paradip Port to endat Ratanpur.

The NHAI had proposedacquiring 996 hactres of land,including 33.6 forest land, forthe purpose which involvedfelling of 24,596 trees. However,the fact that at least 13 streamcrossings namely Rushikulyariver, Chilika Lake,Kushabhadra river, Kadua river,Prachi, Baradianadi, Borwan,Saunlia, Harhua, Gobari river,NuaNai river, Devi river andMahanadi river were to beeffected did not go down wellwith the EAC.

However, justifying theproposed highway with newalignment, the NHAI at the

meeting of the EAC said that it“has been envisaged throughan area which shall have theadvantage of simultaneousdevelopment as well as shallresult in a shorter distance totravel.

“The junctions with exist-ing road will be planned in theform of interchanges and fly-over to ensure uninterruptedflow of traffic diversion. Theproposed road would act as theprime artery for the economicflow to this region,” said theproject proponent.

It also pointed out that itwill “enhance economic devel-

opment, provide employmentopportunities to locals,strengthen tourist develop-ment, ensure road safety, andprovide better transportationfacilities and other facilitiessuch as wayside amenities.Vehicle operating cost will alsobe reduced due to improvedroad quality.”

However, the EAC mem-bers were not impressed as theyalso noted that the pillars forthe highways will also passthrough Rushikulya and Deviriver mouths which are hometo tens of thousands of oliveridley.

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Chhattisgarh BJP hit out atChief Minister Bhupesh

Baghel on Monday for seekingreport card of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s five-year longperformance, saying theCongress leader should firstassess the 60 years of his party’srule in the country.

BJP State spokespersonShrichand Sunderani saidBaghel’s 60 days performancein the State would have nobearing in the Lok Sabha elec-tions, indicating that the saf-fron party would prefer tohighlight broader nationalissues in the elections in thestate where the Congress reg-istered an impressive victory inassembly polls in November.

“It is the ModiGovernment which started thetradition of accountabilitytowards the people by placingreport card of Government’sworks before the people. So, itis good that same is being doneby Bhupesh Baghel after com-pleting 60 days,” the BJP leaderremarked.

“The Congress ruled thecountry for 60 years withoutbeing accountable towardspublic. In a democracy, it is theresponsibility of theGovernment to make itself

accountable to the people. BJPand Modi began this tradition.It is a worthy tradition. Peoplenow seeks such report from theGovernment and based on itsgive befitting reply (to non-per-forming Government),”Sunderani said.

Sunderani, however, didnot miss the opportunity totake a dig at the alleged dete-rioration of law and order inthe state.

“In the last 60 days, the lawand order has broken down inthe State and crime graph hasshot up. The situation hasreached such a phase thatunder the patronage of theGovernment, those breakinglaws are openly using threatand even physically assaultingpolice personnel,” he went onto add.

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New Delhi: A former DGP ofUttar Pradesh and an environ-mentalist have urged theSupreme Court to direct theElection Commission (EC) toban roadshows and bike ralliesduring polls, saying they violateEC’s instructions and causedamage to the environment.

The plea, filed by formerdirector general of policeVikram Singh and environ-mentalist Shaivika Agrawal,was mentioned for urgent list-ing on Monday before a benchcomprising Chief Justice RanjanGogoi and Justices DeepakGupta and Sanjiv Khanna.

The Bench, however,refused to accord urgent listing.

In their plea, the petition-ers have said roadshows andbike rallies during electionperiod cause air and noise pol-lution and traffic jams whichresult in inconvenience to thegeneral public.

The plea, drawn by advo-cate Virag Gupta, said instruc-tions issued by the EC withregard to roadshows and polit-ical processions mandate thatvehicles must be registered

and a convoy cannot havemore than ten vehicles.

As per EC’s instructions, itadded, two convoys mustmaintain a distance of at least200 metres, more than half theroad cannot be covered and thenumber of vehicles and personsjoining the roadshow has to beintimated to authorities inadvance. PTI

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The Centre has allowed StateGovernments to take some

enemy properties for publicuse. The move comes amid theCentral Government’s efforts tosell more than 9,400 enemyproperties, worth over �1 lakhcrore, and �3,000 crore worthof enemy shares.

The guidelines for dispos-al of the Enemy PropertyOrder, 2018 have been amend-ed to facilitate “usages of enemyproperty by the StateGovernment exclusively forpublic use”, according to arecent notification issued by theHome Ministry.

Enemy properties are thoseproperties that were left behindby the people who took citi-zenship of Pakistan and China.There are 9,280 such propertiesleft behind by Pakistani nation-als and 126 by Chinese nation-als, an official of the Ministrysaid. Of the total properties leftbehind by those who tookPakistani citizenship, 4,991 arelocated in Uttar Pradesh, thehighest in the country. WestBengal has 2,735 such estates

and Delhi 487. The highestnumber of properties left byChinese nationals is inMeghalaya (57).West Bengalhas 29 such properties andAssam seven.

“The estimated value of allenemy properties is approxi-mately �1 lakh crore,” UnionMinister of State for HomeHansraj Gangaram Ahir hadtold the Rajya Sabha last year.The Central Government lastmonth had constituted a high-level committee to recommendthe quantum and price or priceband for sale of enemy shares,worth �3,000 crore.

A total 6,50,75,877 sharesin 996 companies of 20,323shareholders are under thecustody of the Custodian ofEnemy Property for India,another official said. Of thesecompanies, 588 are functionalor active companies, 139 ofthese are listed and the remain-ing are unlisted.

The act was amended in2017 to ensure that the suc-cessors of those who migratedto Pakistan and China willhave no claim over the prop-erties left behind in India.

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India and the UK will discussthe entire range of maritime

co-operation during Navy chiefAdmiral Sunil Lanba’s four-dayvisit to London startingTuesday. The two navies havetraditional links and Lanbaduring his talks with UK Navycounterparts will explore newavenues to further strengthenthe Defence ties.

The relations between thetwo Navies have come a longway since institutionalisation ofvarious Defence forums forenhancing bilateral relationshipbetween the two countries.With the constitution of theIndia-UK Defence ConsultativeGroup (DCG) and the MilitarySub Group (MSG) in 1995, atwo-tier structure of coopera-tion was established to progressvarious areas of defence coop-eration, Navy officials said onMonday while explaining thesignificance of Lanba’s visit.

In September 2004, thetwo countries inked a pact toembark upon a strategic part-nership in which Defencecooperation figured promi-nently. The ‘Service-level StaffTalks’ forum, officially referredto as ‘Executive Steering Group’is the primary mechanism ofenhancing cooperationbetween the two Armed Forces.

Indian Navy and Royal Navyare partners in the Indian OceanNaval Symposium (IONS), amaritime co-operation constructconceptualised and pioneered byIndian Navy in 2008. The RoyalNavy participated in the 10thanniversary celebrations of IONSat Kochi in November 2018. Thebilateral naval exercise Konkanis a significant operational linkbetween the two navies and isheld every year, alternately off thecoast of India and the UK. Thetwo navies also interact on a hostof issues like training, doctrinalconcepts and maritime domainawareness.

During the visit, Lanba isscheduled to hold discussionswith the Chief of Defence Staff,UK in London and the First SeaLord and Chief of the NavalStaff of the Royal Navy atPortsmouth.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Monday said it has attachedassets worth �5.83 crore inFrance of Valerie Michel, ex-wife of middleman ChristianMichel who had receivedProceeds of Crime from theaccused who is an Europeanmiddleman who is facingmoney laundering charges inconnection with theAgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam.

The attached property inFrance is in the name of a firmSCI Solaime situated at 45Avenue Victor Hugo, Parisbelonging to his ex-wifeValerie, officials said.

Christian Michel Jameswas extradited from UAE toIndia in December 2018. Hewas arrested on December 22,2018, under Section 19 ofPrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) andwas subjected to custodialinterrogation by in ED.

The ED probe has revealedthat Michel is a middlemanwho received kickbacks fromthe VVIP Chopper deal to thetune of Euro 42 million. Duringthe course of investigation, itwas revealed that funds weretransferred from Dubai-basedcompanies to various entities.

The ED investigation alsorevealed that Michel had trans-ferred the amount received askickbacks to various entities,including Euro 922185.76equivalent to �5,83,40,422 tohis ex-wife Valerie, and subse-quently to SCI Solaime forinvestment in purchase of theattached property.

The agency would soonsend the attachment order to itsFrench counterpart and theasset would be seized and heldwith a competent court inFrance till the case was finalisedand the accused convicted inIndia, the officials added.

Further investigations toidentify the remainingProceeds of Crime are underprogress, the officials added.

Meanwhile, a Delhi courton Monday sought a responsefrom Tihar Jail authorities onthe ED’s plea to interrogate

Michel in connectionwith the AgustaWestlandchopper case inside theprison.

The court has directed thejail authority to submit itsresponse to the ED’s plea byTuesday.

Special Judge ArvindKumar also issued a productionwarrant for Tuesday againstMichel after his lawyer allegedmental torture inside jail.

The court had earlier lam-basted the jail authorities forfailing to justify the shifting ofMichel to a high-security cell inisolation, saying it will start anenquiry if it does not get aproper response.

Michel is among the threeEuropean alleged middlemenunder the probe of the CBI andthe Enforcement Directorate(ED) with the two others beingGuido Haschke and CarloGerosa.

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The number of people eli-gible to vote in the Lok

Sabha polls beginning nextmonth has increased by 8.4crore as compared to the 2014general election, and thisincludes 1.5 crore “young vot-ers” who are in the 18-19 agegroup and will exercise theirfranchise for the first time. Thetotal electorate in the countrythis year has increased toapproximately 90 crore com-pared to 81.5 crore in 2014.

According to the ElectionCommission (EC) these“young voters” constitute 1.66per cent of the total electors.

The EC had allowed enrol-ment of “transgender persons”with gender mentioned as“Others” in the electoral rollssince 2012. The number of vot-ers enrolled in this category is38,325. The EC will set upnearly 10.35 lakh polling sta-tions in the country, as com-pared to nearly 9.28 lakh set upduring 2014 polls. This marksan increase of 10.1 per cent.

“The increase is largelydue to rationalisation of pollingstations, which theCommission undertook in therecent years,” the EC said.

Nearly 39.6 lakh electron-ic voting machines and 17.4lakh paper trail or voter verifi-able paper trail machines wouldbe used in these polling stations.These include reserves. Onecontrol unit and at least one bal-lot unit where buttons areplaced constitutes EVM.

This time, the visuallyimpaired and blind voters willbe provided with braille voterslips to cast their vote. Brailleis a script with raised dots thatcan be read with fingers bypeople who are blind or whohave low vision. It is a tactilereading and writing systemused by blind and visuallyimpaired people who cannotaccess print material.

As part of its strategyframework for ‘accessible elec-tions’, the Commission hastold all chief electoral officersto issue accessible photo voterslips with braille to voters whoare visually impaired or blind.

The braille enabled slipswere used in recently heldassembly elections too. EVMsalready have the braille feature.The ballot paper pasted on themachine with name and symbolof candidates is braille-enabled.The EC also plans to providebraille election photo identitycards to visually challengedvoters across the country.

The Lok Sabha electionswill begin on April 11 and con-tinue for over a month till May19 across seven phases. Thecounting of votes will be heldon May 23, the ElectionCommission announced onSunday, kick-starting a megaelectoral battle.

New Delhi: In a real life plotresembling the Sanjay Duttstarrer film Munna Bhai MBBS,a medical college in Bhopalallegedly admitted fake andghost patients to comply withminimum requirements ofMedical Council of India, a CBIenquiry has found.

On the basis of the findingsof the agency, the SupremeCourt has barred RKDFMedical College Hospital andResearch Centre from admis-sions in its first year MBBScourse for the next two years2018-19 and 2019-20.

The apex court has alsodirected its Secretary Generalto initiate prosecution againstthe Dean of the college SSKushwaha and imposed apenalty of �5 crore for playingfraud on it.

The apex court has direct-ed the college to refund the feepaid by the students for the aca-demic year 2017-19 along witha compensation of �1 lakh toeach student.

The enquiry found that thecollege misled the SupremeCourt by manipulating and fil-ing of fabricated records. “Theassertion made by the college

regarding the genuineness of thepatients in the hospital turnedout to be false in the enquiryconducted by the Committeewhich was comprised of theofficers of the CBI and medicalexperts,” an official said.

The Central Governmentand Medical Council of Indiahad highlighted before theSupreme Court gross mal-practices in the college andinadequate infrastructure andpatients to impart education to

MBBS students. This was con-tested by the college which hadchallenged the report of theGovernment and the MCI.

In order to verify the alle-gations against the college, theSupreme Court in 2017 hadconstituted a committee head-ed by a senior officer deputed bythe CBI Director and two doc-tors of the AIIMS recommend-ed by the AIIMS Director. TheCBI registered a preliminaryenquiry and submitted its reportbefore the Supreme Court lastyear which included opinion ofAIIMS doctors.

“The Committee exposesthe evil design of the college inresorting to deceitful methodsto cheat the authorities con-cerned and this court to securepermission for admission ofstudents. Apart from the pros-ecution of the Dean, the collegeis liable to be suitably punishedfor committing perjury,” thecourt said.

The MCI in its inspectionin 2015 had found that the col-lege, for the purpose of grant-ing admission for 2014-15,admitted fake patients andothers who were without anysignificant illness. PTI

New Delhi: The ED hasattached assets worth �8.46crore of Delhi-based lawyerGautam Khaitan, an accused inthe �3,600 crore VVIP chopperscam case, as part of a secondcriminal probe against him forallegedly possessing undis-closed foreign accounts. TheED has provisionally attachedproperties of Khaitan.

While the book value ofthese properties is �8.46 crore,the present market value ofthese properties is much high-er. The attached properties arelocated in Delhi, Haryana andUttarakhand and have beenattached under the Preventionof Money Laundering Act(PMLA), the agency said in astatement.

The ED initiated investi-gation under the provisions ofPMLA on the basis of a casebooked by Income TaxDepartment under the BlackMoney (Undisclosed ForeignIncome and Assets) AndImposition of Tax Act, 2015,against Khaitan.

“Accused has held the ben-eficial interest/ownership inforeign assets/company/accountand had failed to disclose thesame in his return of incomefiled before the Income TaxAuthorities. It was also revealedduring investigation that hehad been found launderingmoney in various personal andcompanies’ bank accounts inSingapore and Mauritius andthat he willfully did not disclosethe relevant information relat-ed to the foreign bank accountsand companies which are ben-eficially owned by him,” theagency added. PNS

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The Enforcement Directorate(ED) has filed a fresh

chargesheet against Nirav Modiunder the anti-money laun-dering law in connection withthe �14,000 crore PNB scam.

The chargesheet or theprosecution complaint in EDparlance against Modi has beenfiled before a special Preventionof Money Laundering Act(PMLA) court in Mumbai,officials said.

This is a supplementarychargesheet against the dia-mantaire and few others andthe agency has recorded addi-tional evidences gathered in the case and attachmentsmade during the ongoingprobe, they said.

The development comestwo days after a British dailyreported that Nirav Modi,accused in the $2-billionPunjab National Bank (PNB)scam, is living in a swanky 8-million pound apartment inLondon’s West End and is nowinvolved in a new diamondbusiness.

In the wake of the reporton Modi’s presence in the UK,the Government is nowmulling to send a joint team ofthe CBI and the ED to expeditethe extradition proceedings inthe relevant court in the UK,sources said.

The ED had said onSaturday that the UnitedKingdom’s Home Secretary hasrecently referred India’s requestfor extraditing the tainted busi-nessman to a court for initiat-ing legal proceedings againsthim.

The ED had filed the firstchargesheet in this case in Maylast year.

The agency and the CBIare investigating Nirav Modi,his uncle Mehul Choksi andothers for alleged money laun-

dering and corruption forallegedly defrauding BradyHouse branch of the PNB inMumbai through illegal lettersof credit.

The agency had alsoattached his assets worth�1,873.08 crore under thePMLA and has seized assetslinked to him and his familyworth �489.75 crore during theongoing probe.

Nirav Modi, 48, is currentlyliving in a three-bedroom flatoccupying half of a floor of thelandmark Centre Point towerblock in London, where rent isestimated to be 17,000 poundsa month, The Telegraph of theUK had reported.

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� ��D��#��The Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora will hold meeting with Jammu & Kashmir admin-istration to discuss modalities for Assembly polls in the State. The EC’s decision not to holdAssembly polls in J&K along with the Lok Sabha polls drew strong criticism from the Oppositionleaders, including leaders of the Valley.

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Asserting that theOpposition represents a

bagful of contradictory partiesrivaling each other at State-lev-els, Union Minister ArunJaitley on Monday said thechoice before the people in2019 Lok Sabha poll isbetween “Modi or chaos”.

“What was promised to be‘Mahagathbandhan’ is turningout to be a ‘gathbandhan’ ofseveral conflicting gathband-hans. It is a self-destructive‘coalition of rivals’. The BSPand the SP will contest againstthe Congress but eventuallyjoin hands. So will theTrinamool and the Congress-Left alliance in West Bengal.However, in Kerala, theCongress and the Left willcontest against each other,”

Jaitley said.Writing in his blog, the

Finance Minister said the PDPand the National Conferencetried to form the Governmenttogether with the support of the Congress in Jammu & Kashmir.

“Today they are rivals inan election and on the dan-gerous agenda of either ‘auton-omy’ or ‘pre-1953 status’ butcould join hands with thegathbandhan,” he said.

Coming hard on Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi on theleadership issue, Jaitley saidRahul “is a inadequate leader.He is tried, tested and failed.His lack of understanding ofissues is frightening. He aspiresto be the leader of this chaot-ic pack.”

On the other, MamataDidi, he said is positioningherself as the ‘sutradhar’ of thisalliance. “She won’t concede asingle seat either to theCongress or the Left in WestBengal but will want them tobe her pillion riders if she dri-ves the vehicle. Her instinctivecomments on policy issues areretrograde.”

The senior BJP leader fur-ther said the Oppositionalliance is unclear and isabsolutely fragile.

“None of the political par-ties is capable of any signifi-cant number of seats. Thealliance will not have a stablenucleus. It has a set of highlyambitious, self-centred andmaverick leaders.

“Barring the Congress andthe Left, most of them havedone political business withthe BJP in the past. Their ide-ologies and commitment to

their constituents are widelydifferent,” he added.

On the other, Jaitley saidwithin the NDA there are noleadership issues.

“There is absolute clarity.Shri Narendra Modi leads theNDA and will be the PrimeMinister in the event of theNDA victory. His leadership isnationally accepted, his ratingsare very high. His track recordspeaks for itself,” Jaitley added.

The Finance Minister fur-ther said the contest in theforthcoming Lok Sabha elec-tion is between a trusted leaderModi and secure, and opposi-tion parties coalition with noprojected leader.

“There are multiple lead-ers (in the opposition), eachtrying to outwit the other.They can only promise a tem-porary Government if we goby the past precedents. Onecan be certain of chaos.

“The choice is clear - it iseither Modi or chaos,” headded. Jaitley said Modi hasproved to the world that Indiacan be administered withintegrity and honesty andIndia is capable of tough deci-sions in order to ensuregrowth to enable India tosecure itself.

“The contest is between aleader in whose hand thecountry is developing andsecure. He is trusted. Againsthim it is no one projectedleader. There are multipleleaders, each trying to outwitthe other. They can onlypromise a temporaryGovernment if we go by thepast precedents. One can becertain of chaos,” the BJPleader maintained.

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chhattisgarh 03RAIPUR | TUESDAY | MARCH 12, 2019

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chief Minister Bhupesh BaghelMonday said that Congress

has nothing to lose in the upcom-ing Lok Sabha elections as it hadwon only one Durg seat in the lastparliamentary elections.

This time the party wouldperform well, he predicted.

Baghel was talking to mediapersons at party’s stateheadquarters Rajiv Bhawan hereon Monday evening after a train-ing workshop of partyspokespersons.

He further stated that thistime there would be direct fightbetween the Congress and the BJPin the state as there was no scope

for any third force in the nationalelections.

Talking about his party’s strat-egy, , Baghel said the Congresswould remind the people aboutthe non-fulfilled poll promisesmade by BJP during 2014 generalelections.

He further said that all theschemes of Modi governmentwere proved to be a failure.

The demonetization andenforcement of Goods andServices Tax (GST) inflicted painon the people, he said.

The anti-people policies of theModi government would beexposed before the people, he fur-ther added.

Direct fight betweenCongress and BJP: CM


ARailway Protection Force (RPF)inspector allegedly shot her hus-

band in Balodabazar-Bhatapara dis-trict, police said on Monday.

The man has been admitted to DrBR Ambedkar Memorial Hospital,Raipur with gunshot injury. Theinspector was arrested later, policesaid.

The couple got married two yearsago. But their relationship soured asthe inspector’s husband started sus-pecting her of having an extra-maritalaffair, police said.

The accused RPF Inspector SunitaMinj, (39) posted in Bhatapara railwaystation was on duty when her husbandDeepak Shrivastava (42) who is also arailway employee reached the policestation, on the intervening night ofSunday and Monday.

The couple reportedly had quarrelover the issue again when Minj pulled

out her revolver and fired a shot in theair. When Shrivastava tried to runaway, Minj opened fire at him.

"He took a hit on the hips and wasrushed to a nearby hospital from wherehe was shifted to a medical facility in

Raipur. Doctors have said he is cur-rently out of danger," the officialadded.

Minj has been arrested and furtherprobe into the incident is underway, headded.


Apolice sub-inspector and aschool teacher were abduct-

ed by Naxals in the insurgencyhit-Dantewada district of Bastarregion, police said on Monday.

“Sub Inspector (SI) LalitKashyap and contractual schoolteacher Jaisingh Kumeti aremissing from hyper-sensitivevillage Rewali under Aranpurpolice station limits,”Superintendent of Police (SP)Dantewada Abhishek Pallavsaid.

The place of occurrence is360 kms south of state capitalRaipur.

The SI was posted in Samelicamp of 111th battalion CRPFalong with five others for coor-dinating between police and theparamilitary forces, the SP

added.On Sunday, the SI without

informing officials slipped out ofthe camp and met Kashyap.They reportedly went to nearbyvillage for consuming liquorfrom where they were abducted,the SP said.

“We are conducting inquiryas to how the SI managed to slipout of the camp, the police offi-cer added.

Police inspector,school teacherabducted by Naxals


All the officers and employeesdeputed for elections under sec-

tion 28-A of the Representation of thePeople Act, 1951 will be considered ason the deputation of the ElectionCommission of India, saidChhattisgarh Chief Electoral OfficerSubrat Sahoo. Elaborating further hesaid, “All the officers and any policeofficer designated for the time beingby the state government, for conductof poll shall be deemed to be on dep-utation of the ECI for the periodcommencing on and from the date ofthe notification calling for the polland ending with the date of declara-tion of the results of poll. During thisperiod, all offices and employees willbe considered under control, superin-tendence and discipline of the ECI.”

“No officer or employee is

allowed to accompany ministers intheir programme except for securitypersonnel involved in maintaininglaw and order or monitoring theevent. They will also not participatein any political agitation or contributefor it,” he said.

Meanwhile, the respective districtelectoral officers and returning offi-cers have issued the directive to all thegovernment, semi-government, pri-vate, contract and on collector rateworking officers and employeesregarding ban on all types of leave.

The directive states that if any oneviolates it, action would be takenunder section 134. In case of emer-gency the application has to be sub-mitted before the district committeebut with recommendation of con-cerned department head throughproper channel.

All employees deputed forpolls are under ECI: CEO

RPF inspector arrested after shootinghusband over domestic quarrel


Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister and Pradesh

Congress president BhupeshBaghel on Monday demandedof the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to give areport card of his govern-ment’s performance in thepast 60 months, setting thetone for ruling Congress’scampaign in the state.

Baghel in a tweet claimedthat Modi government’s per-formance sheet drew a blank,adding that he (Baghel) hadpresented a report card of hisgovernment’s performance inthe past 60 days at a recentpress conference. “Now, it’sModi’s turn to do so,” the

Chief Minister tweeted, mak-ing clear that Congress wouldgo to the poll in the state

highlighting welfare meas-ures, like farm loan waiversBaghel’s government

announced after assumingoffice early this year, to show-case that unlike Modi-led dis-pensation, the Congress gov-ernment in the state kept itspoll promises.

The morale of theCongress is high inChhattisgarh after an impres-sive victory with 2/3rd major-ity in the state assembly elec-tions. The party is now mak-ing efforts to repeat the per-formance in the Lok Sabhaelections.

The Congress had wonthe lone Durg parliamentaryseat in the 2014 Lok Sabhaelections. Chief Minister,hoped this time the partywould win all the 11 seats.

Baghel seeks performancereport from PM Modi


Chhattisgarh BJP presidentVikram Usendi Monday

appealed to party leaders and work-ers to set a target to win state’s all the11 Lok Sabha seats in April elections.

“Everyone will have to stay unit-ed and work hard with the mantra‘NaMo Again’so that Narendra Modican become Prime Minister onceagain,” Usendi told a party meetingheld at BJP divisional office ‘EkatmaParisar.’

It was his maiden meeting afterassuming the responsibility of partypresident. He was accorded welcomeby senior party leaders and workers.

Usendi, giving tips to BJP lead-ers, said soon all the Lok Sabha levelheads should hold central meeting aspart of the party’s poll preparations.

“Modi government in last fiveyears had implemented several wel-fare schemes, from which the last

man in the society has benefitted. Sowe can seek votes to make Modi asPM once more. Workers have taken apledge for the Modi so that it is nat-ural that he will once again becomethe Prime Minister,” the BJP statepresident said.

The meeting decided to holdseries of meeting at Lok Sabha aswell as assembly levels as part of thepoll preparations. Next three days,Lok Sabha level meetings will be heldfollowed by assembly level meetingsfrom March 15 to 25.

BJP party meetings will havebooth level committees to be partici-pated by all the frontal organisationsoffice bearers and party office bear-ers. A list of speakers’ panel will beprepared and the poll strategy will beworked out. National general secre-tary and Chhattisgarh in-charge AnilJain will visit Bastar and Sarguja divi-sions. BJP national vice president DrRaman Singh, leader of theOpposition Dharamlal Kaushik,MPs, MLAs, former ministers andothers were present in the meeting.


Aday-long training pro-gramme to hone commu-

nication skills of theCongress spokespersonsacross the state was held atRajiv Bhawan, the partyheadquarters, here onMonday.

The training ahead of theLok Sabha polls assumes sig-nificance as with prolifera-tion of social media and otherdigital media outlets, elec-tions in India are increasinglybecoming battles of percep-tion, where the partyspokespersons play a vitalrole in setting narratives.

Chief Minister andPradesh Congress presidentBhupesh Baghel, Agricultureand Water Resource MinisterRavindra Chaubey and chair-

man, party’s communicationwing Shailesh Nitin Trivedialso participated in the pro-

gramme.Along with experts who

came from national capital,

the local leaders also gave tipsto the spokesperson in theworkshop.

In the workshop,Congress office bearers andspokespersons were trainedon how to speak before themedia to expose “wrong poli-cies” of the Centre and tohighlight ideology of theCongress party.

Training was imparted tothe spokespersons of stateand district Congress com-mittees as well as the frontalorganizations.

Suggestions were given tothem to improve their publicspeaking style.

Hundreds of selected offi-cial spokespersons across thestate participated in the pro-gramme and got benefittedwith the suggestions ofexperts and senior leaders ofthe party.

Cong spokespersons hone communication skills before LS polls


Raipur district has total of20,96,463 electors, includ-

ing 16,64,865 males, 10,31,334females and 264 transgenders.The number of service voter is607. The total number of elec-tors in 18-91 age categories is34097 while gender ration is960 and EP Ration is 58.30, saidRaipur district electoral officerand district collectorBasavaraju S.

He was briefing media onpreparedness for 2019 LokSabha polls in Raipur district.

“Baloda Bazar has 262038voters, Bhatapara 235145 vot-ers, Dharsiwa 215508, RaipurRural 293102, Raipur City West254405, Raipur City North186832, Raipur City South244,120 electors, Arang

207,668 and Abhanpur 197654voters. All the preparation forpolls has been completed asRaipur will witness polling inthird phase on April 23,” hesaid.

DEO adds, “Raipur has a

total of 2339 polling stations-1169 in rural areas 1160 inurban areas and eight auxiliarypolling stations. Few selectedpolling stations are PWD 08,especially Female centres 34,identified for webcasting 468

and number of model pollingstation is 51. The district has175 sensitive polling stationsand three critical polling cen-tres.” Raipur DEO pointed outthat all the mobile apps andservices, mainly ‘Cvigil’,‘Suvidha’, ‘Samadhan’ and oth-ers have been made functional.The district-level control roomhas started its work where gen-eral and expenditure relatedcomplaints can be lodged bydialing number 1950.

“As per the scheduleannounced by CEI, notificationfor third phase of polls will beon March 28, last date for filingnomination April 4, scrutiny ofnomination April 5, withdraw-al of nomination April 8,polling is scheduled on April 23and counting on May 23.

Some key electoral factsabout Raipur district

Make sure BJP wins 11seats this time: Usendi

On Sunday, the SI withoutinforming officials slippedout of the camp and metKashyap. They reportedlywent to nearby village forconsuming liquor fromwhere they wereabducted, the SP said.

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Asection of the dominant Jatcommunity has

announced to boycott the rul-ing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)in Lok Sabha polls 2019.

Upset with the BJP overtheir long-pending demandsincluding reservation, someJat outfits have announced notto support the BJP and vote infavor of other political partiesin the polls.

Among the claimants of Jatvote bank in Haryana are polit-ical parties including Congress,Indian National Lok Dal(INLD) and Jannayak JantaParty (JJP).

Though Jats in Haryanadon’t traditionally vote for theBJP, the community’s consoli-dation behind the Congress orany other political party mayupset BJP’s political fortunes inJatland- Haryana, having 10Lok Sabha seats, which goes tovote on May 12.

The Jats constitute nearly29 percent of Haryana’s popu-lation (25 percent electorate).Barring northern Haryana, theJats have strongholds every-where across the state.

Their strength is particu-larly high in central Haryana,which includes Rohtak LokSabha constituency seat. Thecommunity also has a signifi-cant presence in Hisar,Bhiwani- Mahendragarh andSonepat parliamentary seats.

There is resentment amongthe influential Jat communityagainst the BJP over theirunfulfilled demands of reser-vation in educational institu-tions and government jobs,release of youths arrested dur-ing quota stir 2016 and with-drawal of cases registeredagainst them.

“The Jats will boycott theBJP in Haryana as well asother states across the country.We will support mahagath-bandhan and Congress in 2019Lok Sabha polls,” said YashpalMalik, the president of All-India Jat Aarakshan SangharshSamiti (AIJASS), while talkingto The Pioneer.

Malik, who is spearheadingthe Jat quota agitation inHaryana, said that Bhaicharayatras are being held in variousvillages of Haryana to apprize

people about the betrayal ofBJP to the Jat community. Thiscampaign will continue duringnext two months, he said.

We have decided to sup-port SP, BSP and Congress inUttar Pradesh and Congressparty in Rajasthan, he said.

When asked about AIJASSsupport to a political party inHaryana, Malik said, we willdecide this after the announce-ment of candidates. Congressand INLD have assured us tofulfill our demands while JJP isyet to make its stand clear onour demands, the Jat leadersaid.

The Jats, an upper caste areusually seen as playing a keyrole in electing or overthrow-ing Jat leaders in the polls. Inthe past three decades, thedominant Jat community isstated to have always polarizedbehind a favoured Jat leader inthe maze of Haryana politics.

This time, Haryana will bewitnessing a multi-corneredpolitical battle with BJP,Congress, INLD, JJP of HisarMP Dushyant Chautala, AamAadmi Party and BahujanSamaj Party (BSP)- LoktantraSuraksha Party (LSP) combinein the fray.

Hawa Singh Sangwan, whois heading another faction ofthe AIJASS in Haryana allegedthat the BJP is attempting toconsolidate the non-Jat votebank in their favor for generalpolls. The ruling BJP is awareof resentment among the Jatcommunity and relying on Jatvs non-Jat divide to win thepolls now, he said.

Sangwan said, “Even aftergiving assurances to the Jatcommunity to fulfill theirdemands, the BJP has betrayedthem. We have decided to boy-cott the BJP in the elections, hesaid.

We will hold meetings invillages and run a campaign on

social media to make an appealto the Jat community to voteagainst the BJP in the polls, headded.

According to the politicalanalysts, the caste politics willplay a key role during generalelections, with the state ofHaryana, bitterly divided oncaste lines following the violentJat quota agitation 2016.

They also say that with thedominant Jat communityunhappy with the ruling partydue to their unfulfilleddemands, the BJP will be focus-ing on cobbling together othercastes including Dalits,Brahmins, Ahirs, Gujjars,Baniyas among others to winthe polls in Haryana.

The violent Jat reservationstir in 2016 and unfulfilleddemands of the Jat communi-ty is also seen as a key electionissue. 31 people had diedwhile more than 200 wereinjured during the Jat agitation2016 in the state.

Apart from the unfulfilleddemands, the BJP’s bold deci-sion of having a non-Jat ChiefMinister Manohar Lal contin-ues to upset the Jat communi-ty in the state.

Notably, aiming to mendfences with the Jat communi-ty ahead of polls, the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi had inOctober last year unveiled thestatue of venerated Jat farmerleader Deenbandhu Sir ChhotuRam in Jat heartland of Rohtakand had also addressed‘Deenbandhu Samriti Rally’where he had lauded the con-tribution of the peasant leaderfor empowering poor andfarmers in pre-Independenceera.

However, the ruling BJPhas failed to appease the Jatcommunity so far. The assem-bly polls in Haryana are alsodue to be held in October thisyear.

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With the announcement ofschedule of general elec-

tions 2019, speculations havestarted on the possible namesof candidates to be fielded on10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.

Among the 10 seats, a sur-prise may be in store for KarnalLok Sabha seat as the rulingBJP is looking to field a polit-ical heavyweight from the con-stituency.

The names of UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitleyand Union Women and ChildDevelopment Minister ManekaSanjay Gandhi are doing therounds from the seat.

Karnal Lok Sabha con-stituency is seen as a safest betfor the BJP with Manohar Lalbeing an MLA from the Karnalassembly seat.

The saffron party is look-ing for a winning candidate inthe constituency currently rep-resented by media baronAshwini Kumar Chopra.

BJP’s rebel AshwiniChopra’s differences with the

Chief Minister is well knownand the former’s article in anewspaper showering praise onthe Congress followingPriyanka Gandhi’s entry intopolitics, had also upset theBJP leadership.

Political experts feel, “WithKarnal being Chief MinisterManohar Lal’s hometurf, theparliamentary seat is likely towitness a prestige battle in theLok Sabha polls and the CMwill play a key role in decidingthe party’s candidate fromthere.”

“Manohar Lal is keen tofield a political heavyweightespecially a current UnionMinister, having enough cloutin the Central Government aswell as central BJP leadership.If a political heavyweight winsfrom his constituency, thiswould be helpful for the ChiefMinister as well as his state inthe future,” political expertssay.

The state party leadershipis learnt to have requestedUnion Minister Arun Jaitley tocontest from the Karnal seatand also gave assurance of his

victory from the seat.Jaitley had unsuccessfully

contested from Amritsar LokSabha seat in the 2014 elec-tions, being among the fewheavyweights who had lostdespite the “Modi wave” in thecountry. In the keenly-watchedcontest, Jaitley had lost hisfirst parliamentary electionagainst current Punjab’s ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh and is currently a RajyaSabha MP from Uttar Pradesh.

On the other hand, UnionMinister Maneka Gandhi, theseven-time BJP MP hasexpressed interest to contestfrom Karnal constituency. Shecurrently represents PilibhitLok Sabha constituency inUttar Pradesh.

Some party leaders havealso proposed the name ofSwami Gyananand, founder ofShri Krishan Kripa SewaSamiti from the parliamentaryseat. Swami Gyananand isstated to be close to the ChiefMinister.

Interestingly, the voters inKarnal have elected “parachutecandidates” in the past many

elections. BJP’s Ashwini KumarChopra, Congress’ ArvindKumar Sharma, Congress’Chiranji Lal Sharma amongothers were tagged “outsiders”and had yet managed to regis-ter victory from Karnal.

In 2014 polls, BJP’sAshwini Kumar Chopra whileriding high on Modi-wave hadwon the Karnal seat by a mar-gin of more than 3.6 lakh votesdefeating his closest rivalCongress’ Arvind KumarSharma.

“The party is looking tofield a political heavyweightfrom the Karnal parliamentaryseat. In initial discussions,names of Union MinistersArun Jaitley, Maneka Gandhiand Swami Gyananand havebeen suggested by the partyleaders,” said a senior partyleader.

The party is yet to finalizethe list of probable candidates,he added.

The Karnal parliamentaryconstituency has nine assemblysegments including Nilokheri(SC), Indri, Karnal, Gharaunda,Assandh, Panipat (rural),

Panipat city, Israna (SC) andSamalkha. At present, Karnal,Nilokheri (SC), Indri,Gharaunda, Asandh, Panipatcity, Panipat (rural) and Israna(reserved) are represented byBJP MLAs while Samalkha isrepresented by independentMLA.

Notably, the Karnal par-liamentary constituency hasseen fierce electoral battleswith several heavyweight can-didates ending up on the los-ing side in the past.

Union External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj, whobelongs to Haryana state, hadunsuccessfully contested theLok Sabha elections fromKarnal thrice. The BJP heavy-weight Sushma Swaraj, wasdefeated by Congress’Chiranji Lal Sharma in theLok Sabha elections in 1980,1984, and 1989.

Former Haryana ChiefMinister Bhajan Lal had alsofaced defeat for the first time inhis political career in 1999when he had lost the Karnal seat to his BJP rival IDSwami.

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Former Har yanaChief Minister

Bhupinder Singh Hoodaon Monday metCongress chief RahulGandhi to discuss thepolitical scenario in thestate.

While the scheduleof Lok Sabha polls hasbeen announced, theC ongress i s yet toannounce election com-mittees for the state.The delay is stated to bedue to the factionalismin Haryana Congressand continuous demandof replacement of statepar ty chief AshokTanwar.

12 Har yanaCongress MLAs, owingallegiance to Hoodahad in January metparty’s incharge forHaryana, Ghulam NabiAzad and demandedchange in party stateleadership. These 12MLAs and other seniorpar ty leaders havebeen demandingouster of Tanwar fromthe state leadershipsince long.

Among 10 LokSabha seats in Haryana,Congress had won onlyone seat in 2014 polls.

Two-time formerCM Hooda, while talk-ing to the mediaper-sons that discussion oncurrent political sce-nario was held duringhis meeting with theparty chief.

On a question relat-ed to factionalism in

the state party unit,Hooda said that there isno infighting in

H a r y a n aC ongress andthe party willunitedly contestthe Lok Sabhapolls.

N o t a b l y ,Rohtak MPD e e p e n d e rHooda, son ofB h u p i n d e rSingh Hooda,and former MPS h r u t iC h o u d h r y ,daughter of CLPleader KiranChoudhry, arel ikely to bagCongress nomi-nat ions f romRohtak andB h i w a n i -Mahendragarhrespectively for2019 generalelections.

A m o n gother con-tenders, AshokTanwar is fron-trunner for Sirsaseat , R ajyaSabha MPKumari Selja forAmbala, formerMP NaveenJindal f romKurukshetra.

Meanwhile,Har yana BJPminor ity ce l lincharge EkbalJai ldar along-with his sup-porters joinedthe Congress onMonday in thepresence of

Bhupinder Singh Hoodaand Deepender Hoodain New Delhi.

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Himachal GovernorAchar ya Devvrat on

Monday presided over theconcluding ceremony of theweek-long internationalShivratri fair here on Mondayurging the people to protectthe rich cultural heritage andtraditions.

He said, "Shiva is an indi-cator of the welfare and well-being of humanity and thisfestival in the name of Shivadepicts our faith in mankind,"adding that God is one but isworshiped in various formsbecause of his virtues.

The Governor said fairsand festivals of HimachalPradesh are unique in theirown way and are meant forcelebrating the rich culturalheritage of the State. The fairsand festivals provide newenergy to people and theyshould ensure active partici-

pation in these celebrations. The Governor also called

the people to come forwardagainst the evil of drug addic-tion so that the future gener-ation could be saved. He alsohonoured the winners of var-ious events organized by theMela Committee during thisfestival.

A colourful cultural pro-gramme was performed by thestudents on the occasion.

Earlier, Acharya Devvratpaid obeisance at Madho Raitemple, the chief Deity of thetown and participated in theJaleb Shobha Yatra from tem-ple to Paddal Mela ground.The followers carrying palan-quins of their Deities partici-pated in the event. A hugecrowd turned up with full zealand vigour to witness theevent despite heavy rains.

The locals draped in thecolourful attires thronged theprocession carrying along the

palanquins of the local deitiestowards the Paddal Melaground.

Deputy CommissionerMandi and Chairman MelaCommittee, Rugved Thakur

gave details of various activi-ties undertaken during thefestival. He said this time onlyfour cultural nights were orga-nized and the amount of twocultural evenings has been

released to the martyr's fam-ilies.

Besides, one cultural nightwas dedicated to the armypersonnel in the name of"Sainik Shaurya".

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The EU’s chief Brexit nego-tiator Michel Barnier told

AFP on Monday that negotia-tions to break a deadlock on adeal to leave the bloc are nowbetween British Prime MinisterTheresa May and members ofher parliament.

“We held talks over theweekend and the negotiationsnow are between the govern-ment in London and the par-liament in London,” Barniersaid as he arrived at EU head-quarters in Brussels to discussBritain’s exit from the blocwith envoys from the other 27member states.

Hopes had been high thatMay would come to Brussels tofinalise a deal with the EU onMonday, but a European sourcethese plans had been shelveddue to a lack of progress.

With time running out,May had hoped for a signalfrom Brussels to help get aBrexit deal over the line in time

for Britain’s looming departurefrom the European Union —scheduled for March 29.

Instead, she spoke toEuropean Commission chiefJean-Claude Junkcer lateSunday by phone, with both

sides agreeing to stay in touch.“No further meetings at

political level are scheduled, butboth sides will remain in closecontact this week,” Juncker’sspokesman Margaritis Schinassaid.

“We are committed to rat-ifying this deal before March29. It is now for the House ofCommons to take an importantset of decisions this week,” headded. British MPs over-whelmingly rejected the deal

when it was first put to them inJanuary — with many citing thecontroversial Irish “backstop”clause. A second parliamentaryvote will take place on Tuesday.

The backstop would keepthe whole of the UK in a cus-

toms union with the EU inorder to keep the land borderbetween the British province ofNorthern Ireland and theRepublic of Ireland free-flowing.

A European source said theembattled May had failed to

convince her Cabinet over theweekend and that talks with theEU could go no further.

Barnier said his teams hadoffered all they could, includ-ing a last-minute proposal thatBritain could leave the bloc’scustoms union after thedivorce.

But this offer would notinclude Northern Ireland,which infuriated Barnier’sBritish counterparts who calledit a “rerun of old arguments”.

The Europeans have alsoproposed to sign a legallybacked “joint interpretativedocument” of the Irish back-stop. This would reiterate waysBritain could attempt to sus-pend the backstop if Londonwere to request a suspension ofsome of its obligations.

To assess the document,British MPs are awaiting theopinion of Attorney GeneralGeoffrey Cox, the MayGovernment’s top lawyer whotook a lead role in the negoti-ations with Barnier last week.

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)�6� � ��)�� (�)��London: British PrimeMinister Theresa May is fight-ing to save her European Uniondivorce deal with the negotia-tions deadlocked a day beforeParliament is scheduled to voteon the plan.

May promised lawmakerstwo weeks ago they would geta second vote on the deal byMarch 12, but hard-line Brexitsupporters are warning sheshould postpone the vote ratherthan risk another crushingdefeat. The House of

Commons overwhelminglyrejected the deal in January, pri-marily because of concernsover arrangements for the Irishborder.

“Technical” talks aimed atsecuring concessions from theEU failed to secure a break-through over the weekend.

Former chief whip AndrewMitchell told the Times ofLondon that “anything thatavoids what looks like a mas-sive defeat on Tuesday is worthconsidering.” AP

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Bangladesh Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina on Monday

assured her Indian counterpartNarendra Modi that her gov-ernment would never allow thecountry’s soil to be used by anyterrorist organisation underits “zero tolerance policy”.

Dhaka was firmly com-mitted to stamp out terrorismfrom the South Asian regionthrough bilateral, regional andmultilateral cooperation, shesaid after jointly inauguratingfour projects in Bangladeshwith Prime Minister Modithrough video-conferencing.

Terming the spread of rad-icalism as a “grave threat” notonly to the two countries but tothe entire region, India andBangladesh last year resolved tostep up anti-terror cooperation.

“We remain steadfast inour resolve to root out thescourge of terrorism from ourregion and beyond throughbilateral, regional and multi-lateral cooperation,” Hasinasaid.

The Bangladesh premiersaid her government wouldnever allow Bangladesh soil tobe used by any terrorist organ-isation under its “zero tolerancepolicy” against terrorism “in allits forms and manifestations”.

Hasina also expressed her“utmost sympathy” for thefamily members of the Indianparamilitary police personnelwho were killed in last month’sterror attack in Pulwama inKashmir.

“We reiterate our strongcondemnation of this dastard-ly act,” she said.

A suicide bomber of

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed killed 40 CRPFpersonnel in Kashmir’sPulwama district on February14, the incident led to flaringup of tensions between Indiaand Pakistan.

Hasina said that the rela-tions between Dhaka and NewDelhi is now a “role model” ofgood neighbours for the rest ofthe world as a result of multi-faceted and multi-dimension-al cooperation.

“I strongly believe thismomentum will continue,” shesaid.

The Bangladesh premiersaid over the last decade, twocountries have witnessedremarkable progress on coop-eration in different conven-tional and unconventionalareas like security, power, tradeand commerce, energy, con-nectivity, infrastructure devel-opment, environment, renew-able energy, education, cul-ture, people-to-people contactand health.

She said at the same time,the two countries have expand-ed cooperation in new areaslike blue economy and mar-itime cooperation, peacefuluses of the nuclear energy,cooperation in outer space,internet bandwidth sharing,cyber security etc.

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China’s civil aviation regula-tor on Monday ordered

domestic carriers to groundnearly 100 Boeing 737 MAX 8planes, citing flight safety, a dayafter an aircraft of similarmodel operated by EthiopianAirlines crashed in AddisAbaba killing all 157 passengersand crew, including fourIndians.

The crash of EthiopianAirlines plane came fivemonths after another Boeing737 MAX 8 of Lion Air crashedin Indonesia that killed 189passengers and crew.

Apart from China,Indonesia and Ethiopia havealso ordered airlines to groundtheir Boeing 737 MAX 8planes. There were similaritiesbetween the two mishaps, sincethey both occurred duringtake-off, involving new air-craft that had just been deliv-ered, the Hong Kong-basedSouth China Morning Postreported quoting a statementby the Civil Aviation Authorityof China (CAAC).

“In accordance with theCAAC’s management principleof zero tolerance for safety

hazards, the authority hasinstructed all domestic carriersto temporarily halt operationsinvolving the aircraft modelbefore 6pm (local time) onMarch 11,” the Post quoted theCAAC statement as saying.

The grounding of the air-craft is likely to affect morethan a dozen Chinese carriers,which have taken delivery ofclose to 100 of the latest single-aisle plane from the US aircraftmaker, it said.

CNN, quoting state-runmedia, said Chinese carriershave 97 Boeing 737 MAX 8planes. As many as 246 Chinesedomestic routes and 355domestic flights were sched-uled on Monday for the 737MAX 8 planes, excluding inter-national services, the reportsaid quoting Chinese flightdata provider VariFlight.

As many as 29 flights havealready been cancelled, while259 fights were replaced byother aircraft.

China Southern Airlines,Air China, China EasternAirlines, Hainan Airlines areamong the carriers that fly theaircraft, which can carrybetween 138 to 230 passengersdepending on their configura-

tions, the report said. Meanwhile, the Chicago-

based Boeing said it did notintend to issue any new guid-ance to its customers and acompany’s technical team willbe travelling to the crash site toprovide technical assistance toEthiopian and US investigators.

“Boeing is deeply saddenedto learn of the passing of thepassengers and crew onEthiopian Airlines Flight 302,a 737 MAX 8 airplane. Weextend our heartfelt sympathiesto the families and loved onesof the passengers and crew onboard and stand ready to sup-port the Ethiopian Airlinesteam.

“A Boeing technical teamwill be travelling to the crashsite to provide technical assis-tance under the direction of theEthiopia Accident InvestigationBureau and US NationalTransportation Safety Board,”the statement from the com-pany said.

The 737 is the best-sellingairliner in history. Its newestversion 737 MAX 8 has morefuel-efficient engines. The air-craft is a central part ofBoeing’s strategy to competewith its European rival Airbus.

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Ethiopian Airlines hasgrounded all of its Boeing

737 Max 8 aircraft as “an extrasafety precaution” followingthe crash of one of its planes inwhich 157 people were killed,a spokesman said Monday, asEthiopia marked a day ofmourning and the plane’s dam-aged “black box” of data wasfound. Although it wasn’t yetknown what caused the crashof the new plane in clear weath-er outside Addis Ababa onSunday, the airline decided toground its remaining four 737Max 8s until further notice,spokesman Asrat Begashawsaid. Ethiopian Airlines hadbeen using five of the planesand awaiting delivery of 25more.

Some other airlines aroundthe world were deciding to dothe same. Aviation authoritiesin China and Indonesia alongwith Caribbean carrierCayman Airways temporarilygrounded their Max 8s.

Red Cross workers slowlypicked through the widely scat-tered debris near the blackenedcrash crater, looking for the

remains of 157 lives. A shred-ded book. A battered passport.Business cards in multiple lan-guages.

Heavy machinery dug forlarger pieces of the plane.

The plane’s “black box” offlight data and cockpit voicerecorder had been found,Ethiopian Airlines said. Anairline official, however, toldThe Associated Press that thebox was partially damaged and“we will see what we canretrieve from it.” The officialspoke on condition ofanonymity for lack of autho-rization to speak to the media.

Forensic experts fromIsrael had arrived to help withthe investigation, saidEthiopian Airlines’ spokesmanAsrat. Ethiopian authoritieslead the investigation into thecrash, assisted by the U.S.,Kenya and others.

“These kinds of things taketime,” Kenya’s transport min-ister, James Macharia, toldreporters. People from 35countries died in the Sundaymorning crash six minutesafter the plane took off fromEthiopia’s capital en route toNairobi.

Ethiopian Airlines said thesenior pilot issued a distress calland was told to return but allcontact was lost shortly after-ward. The plane plowed intothe ground at Hejere nearBishoftu.

“I heard this big noise,” onelocal resident, Tsegaye Reta,told the AP on Monday.

“The villagers said that itwas a plane crash, and werushed to the site. There was ahuge smoke that we couldn’teven see the plane. The parts ofthe plane were falling apart.”Kenya lost 32 people, morethan any country. Relatives of25 of the victims had been con-tacted, Macharia said, and tak-ing care of their welfare was ofutmost importance.

“Some of them, as youknow, they are very distressed,”he said. “They are in shock likewe are. They are grieving.”Canada, Ethiopia, the U.S.,China, Italy, France, Britain,Egypt, Germany, India andSlovakia all lost four or morecitizens. Leaders of the UnitedNations, the UN Refugeeagency and the World FoodProgram announced that col-leagues had been on the plane.

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Iran’s President HassanRouhani hit back on Monday

against pressure from the“aggressor” United States onIraq to limit ties with its neigh-bour, during his first officialvisit to Baghdad.

Shiite-majority Iraq iswalking a fine line to maintaingood relations with its keypartners Iran and the UnitedStates which themselves arearch-foes.

It has been under pressurefrom Washington not to get tooclose to the Islamic republicnext door, particularly after theUnited States last year with-drew from the 2015 nucleardeal with Iran and hit Tehranwith sanctions.

Baghdad was given limitedwaivers to continue buyingelectricity and natural gas fromIran, but Washington has urgedIraq to partner with US com-panies to become energy inde-pendent.

Rouhani, who is on his firsttrip to Iraq since becoming

president in 2013, hailed hiscountry’s “special” ties with itsneighbour.

These relations could notbe compared to Iraq’s ties “withan aggressor country likeAmerica”, he said before flyingMonday to Baghdad for thethree-day visit.

“America is despised inthe region. The bombs that theAmericans dropped on Iraqis,Syrian people and other coun-tries cannot be forgotten,” headded. Iran is always ready tohelp its neighbours, he said, ina nod to the role Tehran playedto help Iraq battle the IslamicState group (IS).

Iraq’s President BarhamSaleh, at a joint news confer-ence with Rouhani in Baghdad,thanked Iran for its “support”and said he was “lucky” to haveit as a neighbour, without mak-ing any reference to the US.

Rouhani, who is heading alarge political and economicdelegation, said relationsbetween the two countriesshould be further “reinforcedand developed”.

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An Indonesian womanaccused of assassinating

the North Korean leader’s half-brother was freed on Mondayafter Malaysian prosecutorsdropped a murder chargeagainst her, in a shock decisiona year and a half after she wenton trial.

Siti Aisyah smiled as shewas ushered through a pack ofjournalists and into a car out-side the court, where she hadbeen on trial alongside aVietnamese woman for themurder of Kim Jong Nam atKuala Lumpur airport inFebruary 2017.

“I feel happy. I did notknow this will happen. I did notexpect it,” said Aisyah, who waswearing a red headscarf.

It was a surprise move asthe Shah Alam High Court,outside Kuala Lumpur, hadbeen due only to hear Huong’stestimony on Monday. Herlawyers said they were seekingan adjournment.

The women, in their 20s,had always denied murder,saying they believed they were

taking part in a prank and weretricked by North Korean agentsinto carrying out the ColdWar-style hit using VX nerveagent.

Their lawyers had present-ed them as scapegoats, sayingthat authorities were unable tocatch the real killers.

Four North Koreans —formally accused of the murderalongside the women — fledMalaysia shortly after the mur-der. The trial, which began inOctober 2017, was due to

resume Monday with thedefence stage of proceedingsafter a break of several months.

But at the start of the hear-ing, prosecutor MuhammadIskandar Ahmad requestedthat the murder charge againstAisyah be withdrawn and thatshe be given a discharge.

He gave no reason for therequest.

“Siti Aisyah is freed,” judgeAzmin Ariffin told the court, ashe approved a request. “She canleave now.” Indonesian ambas-

sador to Malaysia Rusdi Kiranatold reporters outside court:“We are pleased with the courtdecision. We will try to fly Sitiback to Indonesia today or assoon as possible.” Prosecutorshad presented their case in thefirst stage of the trial. Witnessesdescribed how the victim —the estranged half-brother ofKim Jong Un and once seen asheir apparent to the NorthKorean leadership — died inagony shortly after beingattacked.

In August, a judge ruledthere was sufficient evidencethe suspects had engaged in a“well-planned conspiracy” withthe four North Koreans tomurder Kim, and ordered thatthe trial continue to the defencestage.

South Korea has accusedthe North of ordering the hit,which Pyongyang denies.

A murder conviction car-ries a mandatory penalty ofdeath in Malaysia.

The Government hasvowed to abolish capital pun-ishment for all crimes, althoughParliament still needs to voteon changing the law.

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Democratic presidentialhopeful Tulsi Gabbard, the

first Hindu lawmaker in the USCongress, has said she is unsurewhether Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad is a war criminal.

Gabbard, who met Assadin 2017, has previously drawncriticism for voicing skepticismthat his regime was behind thechemical weapons attacks oncivilian people.

“I think that the evidenceneeds to be gathered and, as I

have said before, if there is evi-dence that he has committedwar crimes, he should be prosecuted as such,”Gabbard said at a CNN townhall on Sunday.

Gabbard also said lastmonth that Assad is “not theenemy of the United Statesbecause Syria does not pose adirect threat to the US”.

Asked if she is unsurewhether Assad is a war crimi-nal, Gabbard said, “Everythingthat I have said requires that wetake action based on evidence.(If) the evidence is there, there

should be accountability”.She said there had been

reports showing that chemicalweapons have been used inSyria, both by the Syrian gov-ernment as well as different ter-rorist groups on the ground inthe war-torn country.

Gabbard cited her experi-ence serving in Iraq as inform-ing her approach to Syria.

“I served in a war in Iraq,a war that was launched basedon lies, and a war that waslaunched without evidence.And so the American peoplewere duped,” she said.

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The Russian military hascommissioned more than

1,000 new aircraft and thou-sands of tanks in the past fewyears in a massive modernisa-tion effort amid tensions withthe West, the nation’s defenseminister said on Monday.

Sergei Shoigu boasted ofthe military’s achievements inhis six years on the job, sayingin a speech to lawmakers thatthe armed forces have turnedinto a highly mobile forcecapable of projecting power to

distant areas. Shoigu notedthat the military received morethan 1,000 warplanes and com-bat helicopters and over 3,700tanks in 2012-2018.

He added that the armedforces have received 109ground-based intercontinentalballistic missiles and 108 sub-marine-launched ICBMs andformed 10 brigades armed withstate-of-the-art short-rangeIskander missiles. Shoigu saidthat the campaign in Syria thatRussia has waged since 2015showcases its military might andallowed the military to test its

new weapons in combat, includ-ing shipborne and air-launchedlong-range cruise missiles.

He noted that the militaryalso has seen a quick expansionin the number of drones, laser-guided artillery projectiles andother precision weapons.

The defense ministeremphasised that the 1-million-strong military has nearly4,00,000 professional enlistedpersonnel and non-commis-sioned officers, a major shift forthe armed forces that in therecent past relied exclusively onthe draft.

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The Supreme Court’s recent deci-sion to appoint three mediatorsto attempt a solution through dis-cussion of the vexed RamJanmabhoomi issue in Ayodhya

could be the last opportunity available to allparties to attempt an amicable out-of-court resolution of the vexed dispute thathas been the perennial source of socialdisharmony. This mediation process will bea court-appointed and court monitoredexercise which will be conducted outsidemedia glare “with utmost confidentiality”.

The idea of a mediated settlement in theRam Janmabhoomi Case is not new. Twoyears ago in March, 2017, the then ChiefJustice of the Supreme Court, J S Kehar hadsuggested a negotiated settlement and hadoffered himself as a mediator. However, thisproposal did not find favour with the AllIndia Muslim Personal Law Board (AIM-PLB) and the Babri Masjid ActionCommittee.

This time around, objections if any aremuted, probably because of the court’s deter-mination to get all parties to the negotiat-ing table.

The Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjiddispute has taken a torturous course, butsome of the milestones in recent times arenotable. The first of these was the SupremeCourt’s judgement in Dr M Ismail Faruquiand others vs Union of India and others inOctober, 1994. In that case, the constitution-al validity of the Acquisition of Certain Areasof Ayodhya Act, 1993 was challenged. Thecourt upheld the Act but declared itsSection 4(3) to be invalid. This judgmentresulted in the revival of all pending suitsbefore the Allahabad High Court.

The second milestone is the sovereigncommitment given by the Government ofIndia in September, 1994, before theSupreme Court that if it was established thata Hindu temple or religious structure exist-ed before the Babri Masjid, it would handover the site to the Hindus. The UnionGovernment had made a PresidentialReference under Article 143(1) of theConstitution in which it asked the SupremeCourt “Whether a Hindu temple or anyHindu religious structure existed prior to theconstruction of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid (including the premises of theinner and outer courtyards of such struc-ture) in the area on which the structurestood”.

The Presidential Reference said the gov-ernment proposed to settle the dispute afterobtaining the opinion of the SupremeCourt. In the course of the arguments whensome litigants representing Muslims’ inter-ests said the reference would serve no pur-pose, the court asked the Solicitor-Generalto respond. The Solicitor-General made awritten submission on behalf of the UnionGovernment in response to the court’s queryand what was said therein on behalf of thegovernment is significant. The government

said it was committed to theconstruction of a Ram templeand a mosque, but their actuallocation will be determinedonly after the Supreme Courtrenders its opinion in thePresidential Reference.

The government made thefollowing commitments beforethe apex court in that submis-sion: That it would treat thefinding of the Supreme Courton the question of fact referredto it in the PresidentialReference as a verdict which isfinal and binding; that consis-tent with the court’s opinion itwould make efforts to resolvethe controversy by a process ofnegotiation; that if a negotiatedsettlement is not possible, itwould be committed to enforcea solution based on the court’sopinion. It further said that “Ifthe question referred isanswered in the affirmative,namely, that a Hindutemple/structure did exist priorto the construction of thedemolished structure, govern-ment action will be in supportof the wishes of the Hindu com-munity. If, on the other hand,the question is answered in thenegative, namely, that no suchHindu temple/structure existedat the relevant time, then thegovernment action will be insupport of the wishes of theMuslim community”.

Why did the UnionGovernment put this questionto the Supreme Court. A whitepaper published by the Centreafter the demolition of theBabri Masjid provides a clue. Itsaid that during negotiationsaimed at finding an amicable

settlement, one issue that cameto the fore was whether a Hindutemple existed on the site andwhether it was demolished tobuilt the masjid. Muslim organ-isations claimed that there wasno evidence to prove this.Muslim leaders also assertedthat if this was proved, “theMuslims would voluntarilyhand over the disputed shrineto the Hindus”.

The Supreme Courtdeclined to answer this ques-tion. The five-judge Benchwhich gave its verdict in theFaruqui Case in October, 1994simultaneously disposed off thePresidential Reference. It saidthe reference was ‘superfluousand unnecessary and does notrequire to be answered”.However, the UnionGovernment’s desire to securean answer to the million dollarquestion was met when theAllahabad High Court, thepending suits before which gotrevived as a result of theSupreme Court’s order in theFaruqui Case, ordered theArchaeological Survey of India(ASI) to excavate the site and seewhat lay beneath the disputedstructure.

The ASI, after extensiveexcavations, informed the courtthat there was evidence of amassive structure below thedisputed one which had “dis-tinctive features found associat-ed with the temples of NorthIndia”. Based on this finding, allthe three judges on theLucknow Bench of theAllahabad High Court con-cluded that a Hindu templeexisted below the disputed

structure. The Supreme Courthas stayed this judgement afterit was challenged by several par-ties to the dispute.

It is not unusual for courtsto suggest mediation. This isoften suggested by courts inmany civil matters becausethere are no winners and loserswhen issues are resolvedthrough mediation. However, ifmediation fails, the court willhave to hear the matter andarrive at a conclusion, whichmay or may not please all par-ties in a dispute.

Meanwhile, what will theUnion Government do? It hascommitted itself to initially tryand settle the dispute throughnegotiations once it heardfrom the Supreme Court onthe question of fact it had putbefore it in the PresidentialReference. The court howeverdeclined to answer that ques-tion, but the observationsmade in the white paper andthe ASI’s substantive report tothe Allahabad High Courtcannot be wished away.

The three mediatorsappointed by the SupremeCourt — Justice Fakkir IbrahimKalifulla, Sri Sri Ravi Shankarand Sriram Panchu — will haveall this material before themwhen they begin negotiations insearch of an amicable settle-ment. All parties to the disputewill need to join this effort with-out hesitation in order to resolvethe matter through mutual giveand take. They must give medi-ation a chance.

(The writer is Chairman,Prasar Bharati)��

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�� From the Paris Fashion Weekcomes a piece of money wastingsilliness, and it's not a dress. Afashion water bottle, if there issuch a thing, created by Evianand others went on sale for $67(US $47, £42) and suddenlythere were 4,000 people on awaiting list for it.

Even the branding of 'rain-bow inside' seems odd given thatthe cleanest water is clear andgenerally any colour is a sign ofpollution.

There is no rule that peoplecan't waste their money on anystupid item and given some ofthe recent purchases in the artworld there seems to be nolimit as to how much can bespent. A question arises as tohow could the money be spentmore sensibly or even given tocharities.

The real concern is not justwasting money on a water bot-tle but how water is undervaluedgiven that it truly is a vital needin l ife, more than any other. There are so many peoplewho have little access to waterand especially to clean potablewater.

A quick check online gives

a list of charities that buildwater projects in Africa. The firstone mentioned, the water pro-ject, can supply water to twopeople for $68 (US $47, £42), aconvenient value for compari-son. Surely this is the best wayto spend the money rather thanfor a vanity plastic bottle.

Let’s supply water to thosethat need it rather than thosewho think they will look better

carrying it around.Dennis Fitzgerald

Australia

��Sir — The Chief ElectionCommission has nowannounced the general elec-tions schedule for two months inseven phases across all the states.It has also made the announce-

ment that the poll results wouldbe declared on May 23. It is amammoth exercise in one of thelargest democracies in the worldwhich is now poised to witnesshistoric elections amidst thetough political competitionamongst grand old alliance par-ties and the emerging trend ofnew regional parties.

The EC should further spec-ify regulations related to social

media aimed to be enforcedprior to the elections, as thedecision for the same is alsounder review by the Hon’bleStanding Committee onInformation Technology (IT).The challenge to smartly tacklethe menace of the possiblespread of fake news over thesocial media also remains one ofthe key challenges during theelections which would lead tothe constitution of the 17th LokSabha. This poses a huge chal-lenge to free and fair elections.

Further the ElectionCommission should also lookinto implementing a strategy toenable the launch of peoplecentric projects without muchpolitical intervention, if any,during the model code of con-duct.

The move will perhaps onlyenable the voter to avail the ben-efits of schemes and projects ina seamless and hassle free man-ner without waiting for anymajor kick-off campaign duringthe enforcement ensuing ofmodel code of conduct.

Varun SDBengaluru

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It is now universally acknowledged thatIndia has shown spectacular performance infinancial inclusion and is now a candlelight

for the developing world. Most international sur-veys and studies vouch for this. They also high-light the impressive gains for women.

According to the World Bank’s GlobalFindex Survey (2017), 80 per cent Indian adultsnow have a bank account — 27 points higherthan the 53 per cent estimated in Findex 2014round. In respect of women, 77 per cent nowown a bank account against respective 43 percent and 26 per cent in 2014 and 2011. On thisbasic measure of financial inclusion, females aremore financially included than before. India hascut its gender gap in financial access from 19.8percentage points in 2014 to 6.4 in 2017.

However, a more granular analysis showsthat gender gaps is still worrying. While morewomen have been enrolled for bank accounts,a larger gender gap persists in their usage. Andbeyond account ownership, in terms of creditand insurance usage, the gender gap remainshigh. For example, female account ownersshow an 11-percentage-point gap against menin terms of account usage; 54 per cent of womenwith an account made no deposit or withdraw-al in a year as compared to 43 per cent of men.The credit gender gap is still more stark.Distribution of outstanding credit in small bor-rower accounts shows 24.5 per cent share offemale account owners against 72 per cent bymen as on March 2017.

Women often face several barriers whichlimit their financial inclusion, other than the uni-versal constraints that low-income communitiesface: limited access to mobile phones, lower lit-eracy levels, less confidence in using technolo-gy and restrictions on travel or social interac-tion. We need to address them through behav-ioural and reformist approaches, instead of theusual hardware-based approach, so that demandand supply-side barriers that women face inaccessing finance are eliminated.

Women’s participation in the financial sys-tem can have significant benefits in terms of eco-nomic growth, greater equality and societal well-being. When women are empowered as econom-ic actors, the benefits touch everyone. They havemore child-centered preferences than men.Access and usage of financial services arelevers for increasing women's participation inthe economy. They enhance their self-confidenceand place financial decision-making power intheir hands resulting in large development pay-offs.

Women are a low-revenue segment butprove to be loyal and profitable clients whentreated with respect and served with appropri-ately-designed products. Women are more risk-aware than men and take longer to make deci-sions but they make firm decisions and whenthey do, they tend to be more trustworthy andreliable customers than men. Financial service-providers need to ensure that the fees arenot prohibitive and the design tools which areused make their engagement with financial ser-vice-providers friendly, safe, affordable and con-venient.

Professionals and practitioners have distilled

some salient features of financial prod-ucts and services that foster women’sactive participation in formal finance.They find that women don’t have astraight financial journey and havemore interruptions and life-stages intheir financial lives due to withdraw-al from employment during pregnan-cy and in medical emergencies fornursing sick family members. Theymay remain active users of the accountsduring these periods. Women shouldbe able to reactivate their accountswithout much hassles or penalties.They are also more price-point sensi-tive and expect affordable fees.

The single best way to increaseaccount use would be to more fullydigitise government transfers. Womenwithout accounts frequently interactwith governmental offices to make pay-ments (P2G) or to receive paymentsfrom them (G2P). Fees paid to accesspublic services and payments for pub-lic utilities are still made mostly in cashin the developing world, and if pay-ment was required to be made throughelectronic means it could help a firstinteraction with a digital payments sys-tem. Many state governments in Indiahave adopted the default savingsoptions by mandatorily delivering allwages to participants of governmentschemes and programmes throughformal saving accounts. For example,the Mahatma Gandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Act (MNRE-GA) states that at least one-third of itsbeneficiaries should be women andtheir payments should be delivered viaelectronic transfers to bank accounts

Providers will need to deepentheir understanding of the uniqueneeds of women consumers and devel-op products and customer experi-ences tailored to these needs. Thisdoesn’t sound like rocket science andit isn’t, except that the financial prod-ucts currently available to women areclones of regular products and do notmatch their distinct income, expendi-ture and savings patterns. For example,income, which is mostly from theircasual employment, tends to be moreirregular and unpredictable, often cob-bled together from various sources.Savings are limited; often taking the

form of small amounts saved daily thatneed to be banked quickly to preventthem from being spent. Formal cred-it histories are virtually non-existent.There is heavy reliance on informalnetworks like friends and family forfinancing big-ticket needs.

Women clients, particularly inrural areas, find interacting with malestaff at banks an intimidating experi-ence and may not trust banks as theyare not considered part of their trust-ed service-providers. To overcomesuch psychological barriers, financialinstitutions can increase women staff,and appoint dedicated ones to servefemale customers because most ofthem have a preference for a non-intimidating environment. Womencustomers are likelier to entrust sucha retailer with their finances. They lookfor a consistently high-quality experi-ence, and the qualities they look for inthese experiences include ‘trustworthi-ness’, ‘understanding’, ‘dependability’and ‘accessibility’. In failing to developclient experiences rooted in men andwomen’s fundamentally different per-spectives on finance, monetary servicesinstitutions are missing a very signif-icant business opportunity.

Employing more women as banktellers or mobile money agents canmake it easier for more from the sexto board financial services. Womenwant financial services delivered tothem by someone who is experiencingthe same issues as them. The countryhas only five per cent women asBusiness Correspondents (BCs). Indiahas 8.7 million Self-Help Groups(SHGs) comprising more than 100 mil-lion women members. The number ofSHGs in the BC space needs to bestepped up.

To make financial inclusion forwomen more relevant and meaningful,we also need to sensitise men to thepeculiarities and needs of their femalegender. The inadequacies of focussingon women in isolation have long beenrecognised: women live in communi-ties, they live in families, and they livewith men. Abstracting women fromtheir social realities distorts our under-standing of the relational nature of gen-dered power and the interdependen-

cy of women and men, and that has astrong bearing on women's motiva-tions, choices and possibilities.

At the same time, gender disaggre-gated data is extremely essential fordesigning of suitable financial productsthat can appropriately address women'sneeds. We can use time series data to bet-ter understand women's lives and theirneeds, and accordingly address supplyside disparities to create customised,affordable, convenient, and reliable finan-cial products for women.

Greater women's financial inclu-sion doesn't necessarily require gender-specific policies or making finance pink,but rather policies that work for women.Some banks ‘feminise’ the name orbrand colour of the product. These salestactics may not work. We need anenabling environment that incorporateswomen’s perspectives. They are differentfrom men, due to their gender-diverse lifecycle needs and associated risks, result-ing from constraints imposed by societyand laws and biological differences.Women spend, invest, borrow, manageand protect money differently than men.They prioritise services based on prefer-ences including safety, security, easyaccess, low cost, privacy from friends andfamily and husbands and trust inproviders.

Similarly, the insurance needs ofwomen are different from those of menas they are more at risk of losing theirincome because of pregnancy, divorce orseparation, as well as cultural norms andsocio-economic patterns. The insuranceindustry can play a major role in increas-ing financial protection for womenthrough approaches that target their spe-cific needs, particularly coverage fortheir illness, pregnancy, various life-cycle transitions, while protecting theirsavings to cope with financial chal-lenges.

In short, what is needed for a broad-er, deeper and more relevant and mean-ingful financial inclusion is a nuancedapproach that tackles the underlying,interconnected barriers that women facein accessing and using financial services.

(The writer is Member, NITIAayog's National Committee on

Financial Literacy and Inclusion forWomen)

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With increasing penetrationof internet, surging mid-dle-class and focus on cus-

tomer convenience and affordablepricing, online retail commerce inIndia has grown at a phenomenal 70per cent during the last five yearsreaching about US $40 billion dur-ing 2017. This is projected toincrease five-fold to US $200 billionby 2026.

Much of the growth has beendriven by foreign majors such asAmazon,Walmart/Flipkart and so onunder a policy notified in 2016-17which allowed 100 per cent foreigndirect investment (FDI) in the mar-ketplace model of e-commerce.

The marketplace is an electron-ic platform on which vendors sell

their products to consumers. Theplatform owner can only providesupport services viz. warehousing,logistics, order fulfillment and so onto the vendor but not undertakedirect selling. Vide a circular datedDecember 26, 2018, it was furtherclarified that the owner [or its groupcompany] can neither hold equitynor control the inventory of the ven-dor.

In the process of conductingtheir businesses, these companiesgenerate data of millions of cus-tomers. Advanced techniques suchas Artificial Intelligence (AI), dataanalytics, cloud computing andmore can be used to track consumerbehavior/history and target poten-tial consumers with customisedmarketing content. The data mayalso be susceptible to misuse and itraises privacy concerns.

In this backdrop, a draft policyon e-commerce — put up by theDepartment for Promotion ofIndustry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)for public comments — focusses onprotection of such data, restrictionson its cross-border movement and

sharing of ‘sensitive’ data with thirdparties (including foreign govern-ments) even when the consumerconsents to such storage. The poli-cy requires foreign companies to setup domestic data storage; mandato-rily register business locally and havea representative; give the govern-ment access to source code and algo-rithms of AI systems.

The draft proposes continuationof the extant policy on FDI in mar-ketplace and stresses the need forgiving access of these platforms tosmall traders and retailers andensures their running in a ‘transpar-ent’ and ‘non-discriminatory’ man-ner. It moots setting up of e-con-sumer courts to consider and redressgrievances. It suggests taxation ofelectronic transactions.

It does not recommend settingup of a regulator for the e-commercesector; instead, a standing group ofsecretaries is mandated to addressthe regulatory issues. The policyneeds to be evaluated on three mainplanks viz. (i) promoting business-es to catapult Indian economy to ahigh growth trajectory; (ii) protect

the fundamental rights of citizens toprivacy; (iii) safeguard nationalsecurity.

Even as the policy is expected tostrike a fine balance between thethree objectives, looking at the pro-posals, one gets a sense that there isdisproportionate emphasis on pro-tection of the data. Indeed, this isbeing pushed to a point whereby thismight even stifle innovation, dis-courage foreign investment andaffect growth.

The requirement for foreignplayers to mandatorily register theentity locally and have a represen-tative in India will dissuade themfrom investing here as the cost andhassles of running businesses andmeeting regulatory requirementsincrease. The insistence on havingtheir physical presence locally is outof sync with the underlying philos-ophy of digital transactions germaneto e-commerce.

Similarly, the cost and hasslesassociated with asking foreign com-panies to set up server/data collec-tion centre has to be weighed againstthe objective of preventing misuse

and minimising security risk. Theinsistence on access to source codeand algorithms of AI systemsappears to be too stringent a require-ment which is bound to be resistedby the foreign majors.

Instead of going for suchextreme steps, the government mayconsider a ‘pragmatic’ and ‘flexible’arrangement to address the concernson protection of ‘sensitive’ data. Itsapproach should be one of riskassessment, identification of misuseand timely pre-emptive action takenin collaboration with the foreigncompanies. The latter should extendfull cooperation to the former.

Let this be understood in noambiguous terms that merely by tak-ing possession of the ‘data key’(read: source code and algorithms ofAI systems), the state agencies won'tget anywhere. So, it can let the keyremain with the company whichshould ensure that all necessarymeasures are in place to protect thedata and address security concerns.If need be, penalty may be imposedfor non-compliance. There is anurgent need to set up a regulator.

This approach guided by thephilosophy of mutual trust andaccommodation will also help incapturing all the digital transactionsneeded for garnering tax revenue —indirect and direct — from thevendors as well as the marketplaceowner.

There are loopholes in the extantpolicy on FDI in e-commerce mar-ketplace which are being exploited byforeign majors to get into direct sell-ing. The December 26, 2018 circularhas not helped much. In a scenarioof their being completely barredfrom B2C on ground zero (unlikelyas we don’t even have a regulator),they would simply pack up. So, theway forward is to allow 100 per centFDI in retail in both ‘online’ and‘offline’ — without any riders. Thiswill create level playing field and ben-efit all stakeholders including smalltraders and retailers. The governmentneeds to rehash the policy draftshunning its overly rigid and protec-tionist stance and instead build on‘flexibility’ and ‘trust’ to maximise thedeliverables.

(The writer is a policy analyst)

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The Trinamool Congress isall set to release its candi-

dates” list in a couple of days,party sources said adding “itcould even be published asearly as tomorrow (Tuesday).”

Confident of winning allthe 42 seats, the party is readywith its candidates” list whichmay include some surprisessources said. With ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeealready announcing her targetof “42 out of 42” seats, seniorparty leader and a Ministerfrom North 24 Parganas said“we are working in that direc-tion and the party will ensurethat campaigns begin early.”Incidentally, a Bengal televisionchannel on Tuesday predicted34 seats for the ruling party“should the elections are heldtoday.” The channel has pre-dicted 8 wins for the BJPwhereas one, mighty Left Frontand its probable ally Congresswill draw a blank.

The channel has predicteda total of 42 percent votes forthe TMC, 34 percent votes forthe BJP and a paltry 15 percentvotes for the Left Front. The

Congress is likely to get amicroscopic 8 percent. Thesurvey was however conduct-ed before the alliance wasstruck between the Left and theCongress.

Currently the TMC has 34seats, the Congress has fourseats while the Left and the BJPhave 2 seats each.

Reacting to the Sunday”spredictions the Minister saidwho is also known for hisorganisational capacity said,“we will win all the seats. Thecurrent upswing in (PrimeMinister) Narendra Modi”sfavour is because of bombing inPakistan. But that fervor will goin a month”s time as the cam-paigns intensify and the peoplewill soon come back to reality

giving a second thought. Therethey will find that it is theTrinamool and the BJP whichremains by their side through-out the year. So we will win allthe 42 seats. The BJP will losethe existing two seats even.”

Apart from the TMC theBJP is also likely to announceits candidate-list by the end ofthis week. According to sourcesthree senior Bengal leadersDilip Ghosh, Rahul Sinha andMukul Roy were currently inDelhi to hold discussion withparty president Amit Shah.After the meeting with Shahthe party will draw the final listwhich will be declared thisweek, insiders said.

The CPI(M) on the otherhas already declared a list of 15

candidates. The names ofremaining 10 candidates will bedeclared by the end of this weekfollowing discussions with theCongress leadership, insiderssaid. The two parties are goingfor a seat-adjustment this timeround.

The Congress will declareits seat following discussionswith the Left, PCC sources saidadding former PCC presidentAdhir Chowdhury will contestfrom Behrampore, AbhijeetMukherjee son of former pres-ident Pranab Mukherjee willcontest from Jangipur and AbuHasem Khan Chowdhury willfight from Malda South seat.Isha Khan Chowdhury a localMLA and the nephew of lateBengal Congress patriarchABA Ghani Khan Chowdhuryis likely to contest from MaldaNorth, sources said. Son ofPCC president may contestagainst TMC MP and MamataBanerjee”s nephew AbhishekBanerjee from DiamondHarbour sources said.

Meanwhile, the TMC onMonday questioned the logicbehind conducting seven-phase polling in Bengal charg-ing the Election Commission of

India for showing “lack of sen-sitivity” towards the commonpeople of the State.

Questioning the “virtuebehind such long-phase elec-tion” party all-India generalsecretary and senior MinisterPartho Chatterjee said “this isunprecedented measure. Noone knows the reason behindconducting a 7-phase election.No one but the common peo-ple will face hardship due tothis decision of the ECI.”

Attacking the Commissionfor leaving “gray areas” in itsdirections regarding advertise-ments in the media about theabsconding people with non-bailable charges, the Ministersaid “they have said that suchadvertisement has to be givenin three newspapers or televi-sion channels but it is notclear as to which newspapershould be selected for purringsuch advertisements.

The BJP and the Left onthe other hand met the ChiefElectoral Officer and demand-ed the removal of posters andhordings of Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee and hernephew Abhishek from streetscorners.

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With the AIADMK and theDMDK signing the deal

on late Sunday night at Chennai,the battle lines for the 2019 LokSabha elections have been drawnin Tamil Nadu. The DMK-ledfront will take on the AIADMK-led front in the 39 constituenciesfrom Tamil Nadu and the loneconstituency in the UnionTerritory of Puducherry in thepoll to be held on April 18.

The AIADMK has allocat-ed the DMDK four parliamen-tary constituencies in the elec-tion. Though Vijayakanth, thefounder of the DMDK hasinsisted that his party should beallocated seven Lok Sabha seatsand a Rajya Sabha seat (thepackage which was given by theAIADMK to the PMK), the rul-ing party in the State stood itsground. The DMDK was furtherembarrassed when the DMKleadership told the media thatthe former was holding parallelparley with them for a betterdeal.

According to the deal signedby Chief Minister Edappadi

Palaniswamy and DMDKfounder Vijayakanth in a cityhotel, the DMDK would beallocated four seats in return forthe support of the party for theAIADMK-led front in the LokSabha election. The DMDKwould extent support to theAIADMK candidates in the by-election to be held from the 21Assembly constituencies in theState.

It was announced by theElection Commission that 18Assembly constituencies wouldgo to the poll on April 18 whilethe bypoll to the three con-stituencies would be held later asthe High Court is hearing peti-

tions filed by various parties withrespect to these constituencies.

The AIADMK led front hasPMK, BJP, DMDK, All IndiaNRC, Puthiya Tamilakam andIndian Justice Party in its line–up while the DMK-led UPAhas the Congress, the CPI(M),the CPI, Muslim League, VCK,Kongunadu Jananayaka Katchi,Indian Democratic Party andthe Manithaneya Makkal Katchias its constituents.

As on Monday evening, theAIADMK has been left with 21Lok Sabha constituencies.Sources in the AIADMK and theBJP told The Pioneer that thereis a possibility of the G K Vasan-led Tamil Manila Congresspitching itself in the AIADMKfront. “Please wait for one or twodays. We will give you somegood news,” said EdappaduPalaniswamy when asked aboutthe possibility of Vasan (son offormer Congress leader late G KMoopanar ) joining the front.

The AIADMK allocating18 seats to alliance partnersmean that 19 party MPs who had won the 2014 LokSabha election may not get seatsthis time.

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Aday ahead of the CongressWorking Committee

meeting here, Jamnagar(Rural) MLA VallabhDharaviya on Monday quitthe party, tendered his resig-nation from the GujaratAssembly and joined the BJP.

Dharaviya’s is the thirdresignation of a Congress MLAin the past four days.

“Dharaviya has resigned asJamnagar (Rural) MLA. Hetold me he is resigning volun-tarily,” Speaker RajendraTrivedi confirmed.

It was a homecoming forDharaviya who was with theBJP earlier before switchingover to the Congress ahead ofthe 2017 Assembly polls andwinning on the Oppositionparty’s ticket.

“I am originally a BJP sol-dier. I had worked under PMModi and BJP president AmitShah earlier. I am leaving

Congress because of infighting.I have realised that only BJPcan ensure people’s well-being,”he said after joining the party.

“After the recent (February26) air strikes on Pakistan(terror camp), I have realisedthat Modi must be re-electedas Prime Minister. TheCongress does not have suchleadership,” he further said.

Dharaviya belongs to theSathwara community, part ofthe Other Backward Classes,which has a strong electoralpresence in Jamnagar district.

A little while beforeDharaviya quit Monday after-noon, his former party col-league Parsotam Sabariya, whohad resigned as DhrangadhraMLA on March 8, joined theruling BJP in the presence of itssenior leaders IK Jadeja andKC Patel.

Sabariya was arrested inOctober last year in connectionwith an irrigation scam andwas granted bail by the Gujarat

High Court in February.Sabariya said he was not

under pressure to join the BJPand claimed he was making theswitch to develop his con-stituency.

“I am joining the BJP todevelop my constituency. Iwas not under any pressureand have resigned from theCongress voluntarily. As far asthe FIR is concerned, the lawwill take its own course. TheBJP has to do nothing about it.I am not joining BJP to get anypost or for other benefits,” hetold reporters.

On March 8, JawaharChavda, Congress MLA fromManavadar, too had resignedfrom the Assembly and waspromptly inducted into the BJP.

He was made a CabinetMinister in the Vijay RupaniGovernment on March 9.

The total number of deser-tions of MLAs from GujaratCongress ranks in the past fewmonths now stands at five.

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Itanagar: A Congress MLA inArunachal Pradesh defectedto the BJP on Monday, a dayafter the Election Commissionannounced simultaneous LokSabha and Assembly polls inthe state on April 11.

Markio Tado representedTali constituency in Kra Daadidistrict of the BJP-ruled State.

Tado said he submittedhis resignation letter to stateCongress president TakamSanjoy and joined the BJP.

“The Congress has novision for the future of the State.So I joined the BJP in the larg-er interest of the State and thepeople of my constituency,” hetold a press conference.

The State has witnessedrapid development under thePema Khandu Government,he claimed.

Tado had won from Tali asa Peoples’ Party of Arunachalcandidate in the 2009 Assemblyelections and as a Congressnominee in the 2014 polls. PTI

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Chennai: The DMK on Mondayurged the Election Commissionto hold bypolls to three morevacant Assembly seats besidesthe 18 segments for whichbyelections have been scheduledon April 18 alongside Lok Sabhapolls in Tamil Nadu.

At a meeting of its districtsecretaries, MPs, and MLAshere, the main Opposition partyadopted a resolution which saidnot holding bypolls to the threeAssembly constituencies was“anti-democratic.”

Tamil Nadu Chief ElectoralOfficer Satyabrata Sahoo had onSunday said bypolls were notscheduled forT i r u p a r a n k u n d r a m ,Ottapidaram and Aravakurichiconstituencies, which are alsovacant, since election petitionswere pending in the MadrasHigh Court.

To this, the DMK meetsaid, “It is noteworthy that theElection Commission was not

restrained from holding bypollsto the three constituencies by thecourt.”

The resolution, hence,demanded that the EC holdbypolls to these three con-stituencies.

DMK president M K Stalinsaid his party’s Rajya SabhaMPs Tiruchy Siva and TKSElangovan would submit amemorandum to the ElectionCommission seeking holdingbypolls to these constituencies.

If the party’s request was notheeded, “We have decided toapproach the High Court and if

necessary the Supreme Court,”so that bypolls could be held inthese three seats, he said.

On bypolls, he said onlyDMK candidates would be field-ed in all the 18 constituencies.

To a question, he said hisparty’s election manifesto wouldbe released in two to three days.

While Ottapidaram andAravakurichi were representedby disqualified AIADMK MLAsSundararaj and Senthil Balaji (heis now with the DMK),Tiruparankudram legislator AKBose died last year.

Petitions challenging theirelections are pending in theMadras High Court.

Meanwhile, DMK’s losingcandidate S Saravanan, who haschallenged the victory of Bose inthe bypoll held on November 19,2016, Monday filed a petition inthe High Court, saying he want-ed to withdraw his election pleaover which the court had alreadyreserved its orders. PTI

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena onMonday said patriotism is notthe monopoly of a single partyand falsely calling people “anti-national” just because they arepolitical opponents is nothingbut suppression of freedom ofexpression.

The party’s remarks comeamid a row over politicisation ofthe air strike.

“Patriotism is not themonopoly of a single party...Wewonder when politicians willunderstand that the action (airstrike) was part of duty (of sol-diers) and not a task asked to becarried out,” the UddhavThackeray-led party said in aneditorial in its mouthpiece“Saamana”.

Those demanding proof ofthe air strike and the ones seek-ing votes donning militaryfatigues are equally wrong, theSena said, referring to Delhi BJPchief Manoj Tiwari who woremilitary fatigues at a recentrally.

The Sena said it was aninsult to the soldiers and theircourage.

“Why act frivolously bywearing soldiers” uniformswhich they have obtained afterrigorous training and hardwork? It supports the allegationsof the Opposition that the BJPis politicising the air strike,” saidthe Sena, an ally of the BJP at theCentre and in Maharashtra.

The terror attack inPulwama in which 40 CRPFsoldiers were killed was moreserious than the air strike andimages of the carnage inKashmir could be used by theOpposition to corner those inpower, the editorial in “Saamna”said.

“We have basically failed toprevent the casualties of our sol-diers, but some wear the cam-ouflage (outfits) and campaignfor political reasons. It doesn’tlook good when the ElectionCommission has to interveneand ask the political parties notto use images of jawans in polit-ical campaigns,” it said. PTI

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Mumbai: The MaharashtraGovernment on Monday toldthe Bombay High Court that itsdecision of granting reservationto the Maratha community waslegal and valid.

The Government conclud-ed its arguments before a divi-sion bench of Justices RanjitMore and Bharati Dangre, whichis hearing a bunch of petitionschallenging the quota decision.

On November 30 last year,the Maharashtra Legislaturepassed a Bill proposing 16 percent reservation in educationand Government jobs for theMarathas, declared socially andeducationally backward classby the Government.

“The quantum of reserva-tion granted to the Marathacommunity is valid and legaland the petitioners have failed to

make out a case to show that theGovernment’s decision wasmalafide and dishonest,”Government Counsel AnilSakhare argued Monday.

The petitioners, in theirpleas challenging the quota, hadsaid that no State Governmentcould exceed the 50 per centmark in reservations.

At present, the percentage ofreservation in Maharashtrastands at 68 per cent.

Sakhare told the court onMonday that as per the govern-ment, the Maratha communitywas socially and educationallybackward and hence it decidedto grant them reservation. “TheGovernment felt this was a spe-cial and extraordinary situa-tion and hence we should bepermitted to exceed the 50 percent mark,” Sakhare said. PTI

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Itanagar: Around 3,000 dif-ferently abled voters ofArunachal Pradesh will be pro-vided with special vehicles toreach polling booths in hillyareas and ramps in plains.

State Chief ElectoralOfficer Kaling Tayeng Mondaysaid the Election Commissionwould build ramps in booths inthe plains for voters with dis-abilities.

In hilly and difficult areas,the authorities would arrangefor special vehicles and otherlogistics if those voters makesuch a request, he said.

These special vehicleswould bring the differentlyabled voters from home to thepolling stations and take themback.

The CEO lamented that hedoes not have the exact num-ber of voters with disabilities inthe state.

“Many of the physicallychallenged voters in the statedid not like to register as dis-abled voters during enrolment.For this, we face difficulty ingetting the record of the exactnumber of such voters,” hetold a press conference here.

Arunachal Pradesh will gofor simultaneous Parliamentaryand Assembly elections onApril 11 this year along withother three states.

To a question on how totackle flood and landslides asmonsoon rain will begin inApril, Tayeng said helicopterwould be deployed to transportelection materials and person-nel to remote areas in case ofrain and flood.

Back-up teams would beput on place to transport menand materials in case of land-slides, he said.

“We have successfully con-ducted several elections in thestate during monsoon earlier. Idon’t think there will be anyproblem this year too withmost of the places in the stateare now well connected withall-weather roads,” Tayengadded.

Asked about use of moneyby political parties to influencevoters, Tayeng said voters alsoneed to be ethical and reject themoney culture. PTI

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A33-year old unemployedyouth, hailing from

Kalakote area of Rajouri, wasarrested by police in Poonchahead of recruitment rallyorganised by the TerritorialArmy in Surankote area ofPoonch on Monday.

Since early morning largenumber of aspirants had turnedup outside the venue of the rally.

Before gaining entry insidethe venue of the rally the localarmy authorities were carryingout frisking of the candidates.

During the same exercise, atraining grenade C-90, UBGLgrenade and detonator were

recovered from the possession ofa 33 year old Rajinder Singh S/OKrishan Lal R/O Kalakote inRajouri.

After preliminary interro-gation the army authoritieshanded him over to the Poonchpolice. Later addressing mediapersons SSP, Poonch RameshKumar Angral said, “Duringfrisking at the venue of therecruitment rally in Surankotearea, a Training Grenade C-90,UBGL grenade, and a detonatorwas recovered from his posses-sion”. SSP Poonch said, after theregistration of FIR in the case theyouth has been shifted toSurankote police station for fur-ther questioning.

Aizawl: A 36-year-old manbelonging to the Chakma com-munity was severely injured onMonday after he wandered intoMyanmar and stepped on alandmine, official sources insouth Mizoram’s Lawngtlai dis-trict said.

The incident occurred at ajungle in the neighbouringcountry near the Indo-Myanmarborder’s boundary pillar numbertwo, the sources said.

The man along with twoothers, all residents ofBangdukbanga village, wan-dered into Myanmar while look-ing for food.

He was severely injuredwhen a landmine exploded afterhe accidentally stepped on it, thesources said, adding, the 36-year-old man lost his right leg inthe blast. The two others accom-panying him escaped unhurt,the sources said. The injured,identified as Berona, was takento the Assam Rifles camp atParva village, they said. PTI

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Prime Minister NarendraModi and his Bangladesh

counterpart Sheikh Hasina onMonday jointly unveiled e-plaques for development pro-jects in Bangladesh throughvideo conference.

They unveiled e-plaques forsupply of buses and trucks,inauguration of 36 communityclinics, 11 water treatment plantsand extension of NationalKnowledge Network toBangladesh, a statement fromthe Ministry of External Affairssaid. Speaking on the occasion,Modi said this is his sixth videoconference with Hasina. He saidPM Hasina’s vision is the biggestinspiration for stronger con-nectivity between India andBangladesh. PTI

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Monday dismissed aplea by Karnataka Governmentseeking vacation of stay on theproposal to pump secondarytreated water from its sewagetreatment plants (STPs) inBengaluru into irrigation tanksin Kolar district for rechargingthe ground water table.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi expressedits displeasure that the stateGovernment has not men-tioned requisite details in itsapplication seeking vacationof the apex court’s stay order ofJanuary 7 this year.

“Are you playing aroundwith the court? There are nodetails in your application. It isa bland application,” the bench,which also comprised justicesDeepak Gupta and SanjivKhanna, said. PTI

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Mumbai: Veteran journalistand lawyer S Balakrishnan hassought a police inquiry intoMaharashtra Navnirman Sena(MNS) chief Raj Thackeray”sclaim of another “Pulwama-like” terror attack before theLok Sabha polls.

Balakrishnan Sunday sub-mitted a written complaint tothe Chembur police station,demanding an inquiry underrelevant laws into the claimmade by the MNS chief abouta possible terror attack in thecountry, police said Monday.

Citing media reports,Balakrishnan said Thackerayhad said, “Mark my wordsthere will be yet anotherPulwama- like incident in thecountry”.

According to the applica-tion, Thackeray is a senior andresponsible politician, whosestatements should be takenseriously.

He appears to be certain ofa repeat of the Pulwama- typeterror attack that took place onFebruary 14 and resulted in thekilling of 40 CRPF jawans inJammu and Kashmir, the jour-nalist-lawyer said.

The police should recordThackeray”s statement andinquire into his claim, saidBalakrishnan.

“We have received theapplication of the journalist inconnection with the remarks ofMNS president Raj Thackeray,”said an official of the Chemburpolice station. PTI

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Amonth after he indicatedthat he would contest from

Madha Lok Sabha constituen-cy in western Maharashtra,NCP chief Sharad Pawar onMonday backed out of thecontest, setting the stage of theentry of his grandson ParthPawar into electoral politics.

Seventy-eight-year-oldPawar, who had earlier beenpersuaded by his party leadersto contest from Madha con-stituency, announced that hehad decided not to contest theLok Sabha polls to pave way forthe younger generation.

Parth (28) is the son ofPawar’s nephew andMaharashtra’s former deputyChief Minister Ajit Pawar. Heis the third generation Pawar tomake debut in electoral politics.

Pawar will contest fromMaval Lok Sabha constituency,a seat in Pune district that iscurrently held by the ShivSena. He will take on the sittingSena MP Gajanan Babar in thepolls.

Pawar’s announcementcame after he met the partyoffice bearers from Solapur inwestern Maharashtra — atwhich he urged his party work-ers to support the NCP’s sitting

MP Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil,who will re-contest the LokSabha polls from Madha con-stituency.

Making the most of Pawar’sdecision not to the contest theLok Sabha polls, MahsarashtraChief Minister DevendraFadnavis termed the develop-ment as a “big victory” for theBJP-Shiv Sena alliance.“Pawar’s decision is indicator ofthe fact that Modi’s popularityis increasing in Maharashtraand across the country. Modihad once said that Pawar quick-ly gauges the changing politi-cal mood in the country. Sincehe has backed out of the LokSabha contest, Pawar musthave taken stock of the politi-cal mood in the country,”Fadnavis said.

Earlier in the afternoon,

Pawar had made it clear that hisdecision not to contest theLok Sabha polls was in no wayindication of the fact that heapprehended defeat in the polls.“Till today, I have contested 14elections. I have not beendefeated even once. That beingmy track record, the questionof nursing fear to contest thepolls does not arise”.

Without mentioningModi’s name, Pawar said thatthere was absolutely no wave inthe country. “At this juncture,there is no wave in the coun-try. There is a need for changein Government in the country.I have absolutely no fear to con-test the polls. There has to bea limit on the number of peo-ple contesting the polls fromone family. Like in the two pre-vious elections, my daughterSupriya Sule will contest fromBaramati constituency.Everyone in the party wantedmy grandson to contest fromMawal constituency. That’s whyI have decided to back out ofthe contest,” the NCP chief said.

It may be recalled that onFebruary 8, Pawar had said thathe was considering a request byhis senior party’s leaders tocontest from Madha Lok Sabhaconstituency.

“I am not interested in

contesting the Lok Sabha polls.Since all my party colleagues,including Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil (who is the sitting MPfrom Madha constituency)have insisted that I contest thepolls this time, I may considertheir request,” the NCP chiefhad said.

The Madha Lok Sabhaconstituency, from wherePawar may contest, came intobeing on February 19, 2008 asa part of the delimitation exer-cise carried on the basis of rec-ommendations made by theDelimitation Commission ofIndia constituted in July 2012.It comprises Assembly seg-ments of Madha, Karmala,Sangole, Malshrias, all fromSolapur district and Phaltanand Maan from Satara district.

In the 2009 Lok Sabhaelections — held for the firsttime after the formation of thisconstituency, Pawar won thisseat by trouncing the BJP can-didate Subhash Deshmukh bymassive margin of 3.14 lakhvotes. Pawar, however, chosenot to contest the 2014 LokSabha polls. In his place, theNCP filed local heavy VijaysinhMohite-Patil, who managed towin the seat in the 2014 LokSabha polls.

Bengaluru: Former KarnatakaChiefMinister SM Krishna onMonday said he believes thatNarendra Modi becoming thePrime Minister once again was“inevitable”.

The former External AffairsMinister also said he wouldcampaign for the BJP inKarnataka in the Lok Sabhapolls to ensure that more num-ber of party candidates winfrom the State and Modibecomes Prime Minister onceagain.

“I believe in the principlethat Narendra Modi becomingthe Prime Minister of thiscountry once again isinevitable,” Krishna said.

Speaking to reporters here,he said “For this reason, I willvisit as many constituencies aspossible and thereby ensurethat more number of BJP can-didates win from Karnatakaand Narendra Modi becomesPrime Minister once again.

With this one vision we areall putting our efforts together,”he said.

Senior State BJP leader RAshoka Monday met Krishnato discuss about the prepara-tions for the Lok Sabha polls

and requested him to campaignfor the party candidates.

Krishna, a former Congressveteran, quit the grand oldparty and joined the BJP in2017.

Krishna had served as theKarnataka Chief Ministerbetween 1999 and 2004.

He had also served as theMaharashtra Governor andeven had a stint as ExternalAffairs Minister during theUPA Government.

The BJP is likely to useKrishna’s charisma to garnermore votes in Bengaluru andnearby areas as he is widelycredited for the growth of thecity as a global IT hub.

The party is also likely toutilise him for campaigning inthe districts where Vokkaligasare dominant- like in oldMysuru region, where the BJPis weak, as Krishna belongs tothe community.

To a question on how hispresence would help BJP inBengaluru, with reports aboutformer Prime Minister HDDeve Gowda contesting as theJD(S) candidate from BangaloreNorth, Krishna said the saffronparty has strong ground in the

city and people have not for-gotten his good work as ChiefMinister.

“I’m of the feeling that thepeople of Bengaluru have not-forgotten the good work that hashappened in the three con-stituencies of Bengaluru duringmy administration in Bangalorenorth, south and central- so inall the three constituencies, BJPhas strong ground and presence.

So the BJP can face thiselection with much courage,excitement and aspiration,” hesaid.

Asked whether Gowdacontesting would have anyimpact, Krishna said individu-als would not be that important,but ideology is.

“The ideology to whichBJP is committed to, on thebasis of that ideology we willask for votes. Naturally, who allhave worked for the develop-ment of Bengaluru will be inpeople’s minds. So based on thatprinciple, we will fight thise-lection, not on the basis of per-sonality. But the only exceptioninthis is Narendra Modi shouldbecome Prime Minister onceagain, this is our strong wish,”he added. PTI

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AStudents’ Federation ofIndia (SFI) leader was

attacked allegedly by BJP work-ers at Parassala in the district,police said on Monday.

The SFI leader sustainedserious injuries in the lateSunday night attack, they added.

Two Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) activists were arrested inconnection with the incident onMonday, the police said.

Four activists of the rulingCommunist Party of India(Marxist) in Kerala, includingthe SFI leader, and three BJPworkers have been hospitalisedafter political violence erupted atParassala, the border area ofThiruvananthapuram district.

Abu Thahir, a district com-mittee member of the SFI, washacked, leading to head injuries.The SFI is the students’ wing ofthe CPI(M). “Santhosh Kumar(36) and Girikumar (38) are thetwo who have been arrested inthe case. They will be producedbefore a court on Monday.Further investigation is on,” apolice official told PTI.

Srinagar: National Conference(NC) president FarooqAbdullah on Monday madeserious allegations against theBJP-led Centre, saying itordered the air strike inPakistan’s Balakot with the “solepurpose” of winning Lok Sabhaelections.

The Srinagar MP allegedthe BJP has “failed” on allfronts and it was apprehendedthat there would be a fight orskirmish with Pakistan beforethe polls so that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi becomes somekind of an “avatar” withoutwhom India cannot survive.

“This surgical strike (airstrike) was done only for thepurpose of election...Totally forthe election. We lost an aircraftworth crores of rupees. Bethankful that the IAF pilot(Wing CommanderAbhinandan Varthaman) sur-vived and returned fromPakistan with respect,”Abdullah told reporters here.

In a predawn exercise onFebruary 26, the Indian AirForce pounded Jaish-e-Mohammed’s biggest trainingcamp in Balakot. The air strikecame in response to a terroristattack in Pulwama on February14, in which 40 CRPF jawanswere killed.

Abdullah said Monday, “Inthe Parliament, we knew theyhave failed on all other thingsand that there would be a fightor a skirmish with Pakistan inKashmir so that he (PrimeMinister Narendra Modi)becomes some kind of an‘avatar’ without whom Indiacannot survive. But I want totell him that whether he or I liveor not, India will live and moveforward,” .

The NC president said anatmosphere of fear was beingcreated to help the BJP in thepolls.

“They want to create anatmosphere of fear. Therewould be no war. The wholeworld is watching. This gov-ernment is only using the seniorofficer for winning the election,the officer whom they got bysuperseding many others andwho is now dancing to theirtunes. Otherwise, there is nodanger,” he said, without nam-ing the “officer”.

“This atmosphere of fearthat they have created in thecountry that without him any-thing will happen, I want to tellhim that you were neither aGod and never will be,” he said.

Abdullah said there is noother way than to talk toPakistan over the Kashmirissue.

“They (New Delhi) havebrought this (Kashmir) intointernational limelight. Severalcountries are now involved inmaking India and Pakistan totalk over Kashmir and they willhave to engage themselves as itis the only way forward,” hesaid.

Asked about the ElectionCommission of India’s decisionto delay the assembly polls inthe state, Abdullah said hefeared some “mischief ” by theCentre in J&K.

“I think they must havethought of doing some mis-chief, that’s why they delayedthe polls. I do not understandthat when thousands of peopletook part in the Panchayat andmunicipal polls, what dangerthey think there is now whenforces are present in largernumber than they were. Andthey are present in every nookand corner of the state,” he said.

The NC president said allparties are in favour of holdingsimultaneous Lok Sabha andAssembly polls and now thepublic should understand whattheir motive is.

“If we unite, their designswill fail. We should prepare forthat..For not giving a chance tothe Centre for destruction. So,we all should stand to confrontthem...Where is the mightygovernment of India whichcannot conduct an electionhere? If this is not surrender,what is,” he said. PTI

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Thiruvananthapuram: TheElection Commission onMonday warned political partiesin Kerala not to use theSabarimala temple matter as acampaign issue.

Kerala Chief ElectoralOfficer Teeka Ram Meena toldthe media here that “citing orinvoking” religious propagandaon the “Sabarimala issue” wouldbe a clear violation of the modelcode of conduct.

“Inviting religious feelings,using any kind of SupremeCourt judgement, invoking orsoliciting the votes in the nameof religion or by inciting religiousfeelings is a clear violation of themodel code of conduct,” hesaid. The CEO also said thecommission would not allowany kind of violation that putsa particular political party at anadvantage over another.

“Citing or invoking or doingsomething of religious propa-ganda on the Sabarimala issueby invoking the name of SabariGod, etc., will be a clear viola-tion of the model code of con-

duct,” Meena said.He added that the

Sabarimala issue was a contro-versial matter as far as Keralawas concerned and politicalparties “need to draw a line towhat extent they have to use it”.

“Tomorrow, I am holding ameeting with political parties inthis regard and I will be request-ing them not to unnecessarilyuse this religious feeling or reli-gious traditions to solicit votesas this may create some religioustensions among people.

If that happens, action willbe taken against those respon-sible,” Meena said.

Kerala witnessed wide-spread violence by devotees andright-wing activists after thestate government decided toimplement the Supreme Court’sSeptember 28, 2018 verdictallowing women of all ages intothe Sabarimala temple.

The BJP has already pinnedits hopes on the Sabarimalaissue as it believes that it was ableto create a momentum amongits workers. PTI

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In a major setback for RajThackeray-led MNS, its lone

MLA Sharad Sonavane fromJunnar in Pune district of west-ern Maharashtra on Mondayjoined the Shiv Sena.

An erstwhile Shiv Sainik,Sonvane joined the Sena in thepresence of party presidentUddhav Thackeray.

Sonavane’s entry to the ShivSena comes one and a half yearsafter six MNS corporatorsjoined the ruling Sena in theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC).

Talking to media persons ,Sonavane said: “It’s homecom-ing for me. Raj Thackeray andhis wife Sharmila have given me

a lot of love. I have nothingagainst the MNS. It was myintense desire to return homethat prompted me to join theShiv Sena. Junnar is one of theAssembly constituencies fallingunder the Shirur Lok Sabhaconstituency, a seat currentlyheld by the Shiv Sena’sShivajirao Adhalarao Patil.

There had been consider-able resistance from the ShivSena workers in Junnar talukaof Pune district. The local Senaoffice bearers had threatened toquit the party in the event ofthe party taking Sonavane intoits fold. However, the Senaleadership has persuaded theaggrieved party workers not tomake an issue of Sonavane’sentry to the party.

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Dr Sujay Vikhe-Patil, the sonof senior Congressman and

Leader of MaharashtraLegislative AssemblyRadhakrishna-Vikhe Patil, isset to join the BJP.

Sujay’s decision to quit theCongress stems from inability tocontest the Lok Sabha polls theAhmednagar Lok Sabha seat,which falls in the NCP quota.

In the past, Shrad Pawarhad offered the seat to Sujay onthe condition that he shouldcontest the seat on NCP ticket.

Sujay wants to switch overto the BJP in the hope that thenew party will nominate him tocontest the polls from LokSabha constituency.

There is uncertainty onwhether the BJP will field himas its candidate fromAhmednagar. No wonder thaton Monday, the supporters ofsitting BJP MP from DilipGandhi staged a demonstrationin front of the Maharashtra BJPheadquarters in south Mumbai,demanding Gandhi’s re-nomi-nation as the party candidate tocontest the Lok Sabha polls.

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Mumbai: Security was beefedup at suburban Khar railwaystation on Sunday evening,after an unidentified callerfrom North America claimedthat a bomb was planted there,police said on Monday.

However, the call turnedout to be a hoax.

An unidentified personcalled on the landline numberof Khar police station Sundayevening, claiming that a bombwas planted at the railway sta-tion, which comes underWestern Railway, an officialsaid. PTI

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Equity benchmark Sensexon Monday spurted about

383 points to close at a near six-month high of 37,052, triggeredby broad-based buying onexpectations that the incum-bent NDA Government will getthe second term.

Besides, investor sentimentwere lifted by sustained foreignfund inflows and positive glob-al cues.

The 30-share Sensex start-ed off on a strong footing andreclaimed the 37,000 mark onwidespread buying byinvestors, and ended at37,054.10, up by 382.67 points,or 1.04 per cent.

This is the highest closinglevel since September 19 lastyear when it had closed at37,121.22.

The gauge had settled53.99 points, or 0.15 per cent,lower at 36,671.43 on Friday.

The NSE Nifty, after climb-ing to 11,172.40 - its highestsince September 26 last year -closed at 11,168.05 points, up132.65 points, or 1.20 per cent.

Experts see this as a pre-poll rally following theannouncement of 2019 gener-al election dates.

J a g a n n a d h a mThunuguntla, Sr. VP and Headof Research (Wealth),

Centrum Broking Limited,said, “The sentiment on Indianmarket has made dramaticcomeback with mid-caps andsmall-caps have seen stellar

two weeks. The market hasseen broad-based robustnesswith buying interest visibleacross the sectors.”

Foreign investors have con-tinued their relentless aggres-sive buying triggering pre-elec-tion rally, he said adding thatas border tensions appearing tohave cooled-off, and globalcentral bankers turned pro-liq-uidity, Indian markets are in“risk-on mood”.

Power, oil and gas, PSU,metal, banking, auto, capitalgoods, infrastructure andhealthcare sector stocks wit-nessed heavy buying throughthe session.

Bharti Airtel emerged bestperformers among Sensex con-stituents by surging 8.08 percent, followed by PowerGrid by3.90 per cent.

Other prominent gainersincluded Coal India, RIL,Vedanta, Tata Steel, AsianPaint, Hero MotoCorp, SBI,ONGC, Yes Bank, Bajaj Auto,ICICI Bank, M&M, MarutiSuzuki, Kotak Bank, SunPharma, Bajaj Finance, HUL,HDFC, L&T, ITC, Tata Motors,Axis Bank and HDFC Bank,rising up to 3.80 per cent.

However, TCS, HCL Tech,NTPC, IndusInd Bank andInfosys ended in the negativezone with fall of up to 0.41 percent.

Barring IT, all the BSE sec-toral indices ended in thegreen, with oil and gas indexrising 2.85 per cent, metal 2.50per cent, consumer durables

2.32 per cent, PSU 2.30 percent, auto 2.24 per cent, power2.04 per cent, infrastructure1.75 per cent, healthcare 1.54per cent, capital goods 1.19 per-cent, FMCG 1.05 per cent,realty 0.93 per cent, capitalgoods 0.95 per cent, bankex0.92 per cent, FMCG 0.74 percent and teck 0.53 per cent.

The broader markets toodisplayed a firm trend with theBSE mid-cap index surging1.96 per cent and the small-capsindex rising 1.61 per cent asinvestors accumulated recent-ly beaten down stocks availableat prevailing attractive levels.

According to experts, pre-vailing geopolitical concerns inthe wake of recent India-Pakistan military conflicts willbe a key factor in the upcom-ing general elections that mayhelp incumbent NDAGovernment at the centre, theysaid.

Lok Sabha elections willbegin on April 11 and will beheld over seven phases followedby counting of votes on May 23,the Election Commissionannounced on Sunday.

Meanwhile, on a net basis,foreign institutional investors(FIIs) bought shares worth�1,095.06 crore, while domesticinstitutional investors (DIIs) soldshares worth �470.7 crore onFriday, provisional data showed.

The Indian rupee Mondayadvanced by 25 paise to closeat 69.89 against the US dollarin line with a strong rally indomestic equities.

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Civil Aviation MinisterSuresh Prabhu has asked

aviation watchdog DGCA toundertake safety assessmentof Boeing 737 MAX planesoperated by domestic airlines.

Besides, the regulator isundertaking a detailed technicalevaluation and consulting withsafety regulators around theworld. The latest moves come aday after a 737 MAX aircraft,operated by Ethiopian Airlines,crashed killing 157 people.

Jet Airways and SpiceJethave 737 MAX aircraft in theirfleet.

In a tweet on Monday,Prabhu said he has directed offi-cials of the Directorate Generalof Civil Aviation (DGCA) toundertake “safety assessment” ofBoeing 737-MAX planes beingflown by domestic carriers.

“Safety of the passengers isour utmost concern. DirectedSecretary and DGCA to takeappropriate action immediate-ly,” Prabhu said in a tweet.

In a separate tweet,Minister of State for CivilAviation Jayant Sinha said theDGCA is undertaking adetailed technical evaluationand consulting with safety reg-ulators around the world.

The incident on Sundaywas the second time in lessthan five months that a 737MAX 8 plane crashed. InOctober 2018, an aircraft oper-ated by Lion Air crashed killingover 180 people in Indonesia.

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Cash-strapped Jet Airwayssaid on Monday it is not

operating any of the five Boeing737 MAX in its fleet.

The statement of the air-line, which has grounded asignificant number of planes,

comes amid aviation regulatorbeing asked to undertake asafety assessment of 737 MAXaircraft following the crash ofsuch a plane in Ethiopia onSunday.

Jet Airways and SpiceJetare the only two domesticcarriers that have 737 MAXplanes in their fleet.

In a statement, Jet Airwayssaid it has five Boeing 737MAX planes in its fleet “but iscurrently not flying any ofthese aircraft”.

“The airline is in contactwith the manufacturer andthe regulator in context of thisdevelopment, and remainscommitted to implementingall directives or advisories thatmay be published by thoseauthorised,” the airline said inthe context of the crash inEthiopia that killed 157 people.

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As part of a joint initiativeundertaken by Satya

MicroCapital, an Indian MFIcompany, and Sa-Dhan (Self-Regulatory Organisation),supported by HSBC, theDigital Financing LiteracyTraining was hosted. Multipleworkshops were held acrossf ive locations, namelySangrur, Dhuri, BhawanigarhMandi, Sunam Mandi andChintawala regions of Punjab,and attended by people from25 villages.

The aim of the joint projectwas to impart digital financialliteracy to approx. 500 womenclients in Punjab.

At the five-day DigitalFinancing Literacy Traininghosted in mid-February,S at y a d e ve l op e d anadvanced structure of con-t e nt an d i n n ov at ivemethodology of communi-cation as part of its educa-tional strategy to teach itsclients about digital financ-ing in an easy-to-under-stand manner.

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Former Nissan chief CarlosGhosn is seeking court per-

mission to attend a boardmeeting at the Japaneseautomaker while out on bail,his lawyer told reportersMonday.

“(Ghosn) has a duty toattend the board meeting as amember of the board, so if heis allowed, he wants to attend,”Junichiro Hironaka said incomments carried on Japan’sNTV televsion station.

Nissan is scheduled to holda board meeting Tuesday after-noon at the company’s head-quarters in the city ofYokohama.

The firm said it could notconfirm that Ghosn was seek-ing to attend the meeting butthat it would be “for the courtto decide” whether its formerchief could be present.

Nissan removed Ghosn aschief shortly after his shockNovember 19 arrest, but hecannot be officially removed

from his seaton the boardwithout as h are h ol d e rmeeting.

The com-pany hasscheduled onefor April 8, butGhosn retainsthe right toattend boardmeetings untilthen.

But hemust alsoobtain thecourt’s approval, which mayprove challenging given thestringent measures that governhis release on bail.

Under the terms of hisrelease, he is forbidden fromcontacting people who couldbe involved in his case, includ-ing Nissan executives likely toattend board meetings, such asCEO Hiroto Saikawa.

Ghosn, who paid nearly $9million in bail money, mustalso live in a residence that is

monitored from the outside bycamera, and can only access anon-internet connected com-puter at his lawyer’s office.

The 65-year-old wasreleased on bail on March 6after more than 100 days indetention.

He faces three charges offinancial misconduct over alle-gations he under-reported hiscompensation and sought totransfer personal losses toNissan’s books.

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To ensure faster implemen-tation of electronic toll col-

lection, Indian HighwaysManagement Company Ltd(IHMCL) has inked a pactwith CSC e-GovernanceServices for issuance ofFASTags through common ser-vice centres, according to anNHAI official.

Promoted by the NationalHighways Authority of India(NHAI), IHMCL has beenmandated to implement theNational Electronic TollCollection (NETC) pro-gramme under the brand name’FASTag’.

“In a major fillip to ensureeasy availability of FASTags,IHMCL, a company promotedby NHAI, has signed a mem-orandum of understanding(MoU) with CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd,a special purpose vehicle, set up

by the Ministry of Electronics& IT, for issuance of IHMCLFASTag through common ser-vice centres (CSC),” the NHAIofficial said.

The collaboration aimsat making FASTags availableto citizens through an exten-sive network of over 1 lakhCSC outlets across the coun-try.

The FASTag programme isan initiative by the NHAI andthe Ministry of Road Transportand Highways (MoRTH) toenable road users to pay the tollelectronically without stoppingby at toll plazas and thus reduc-ing congestion.

The programme waslaunched in April 2016.

Currently, it is operationalat over 480 toll plazas alongthe national highways andselect state toll plazas. Tilldate, more than 4.3 millionFASTags have been issued,the official said.

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IT company IBM on Mondaysaid it will collaborate with

with Central and StateGovernments to upskill aroundone million female students inscience technology, engineeringand maths fields over a periodof three years.

“We can see 100 per centjobs are going to change. Youneed more women in workforce.We are announcing for 200,000from grade eight to twelve, weare going to prepare them forSTEM over a three year period,”IBM Chairman, President andCEO Ginni Rometty said at acompany event.

She said the program is notabout conducting technicaltraining session, but to focus onbasics of critical thinking, lifeskills, among others.

“All of us are capable ofteaching our employees sort ofhardskills. It is softskill, intechnology world that we haveto learn. Collectively our pro-grams are doing one million innumbers and helping four mil-lion teachers,” Rometty said.

The company will collabo-rate with seven StateGovernments across India toprepare over 200,000 girls andwomen in Government schoolsover the next three years for“new collar” jobs through theexploration and study of STEM

subjects in classrooms andonline, a company official said.

As part of its ongoingengagement with theGovernment, around 4,000mentors and 6 lakh menteeswill benefit from IBM’s AI-powered mentor platformwhich will include 5 lakhwomen students.

Rometty announced IBM’scollaboration with KendriyaVidyalaya school network tosupport maths teachers acrossIndia with its artificial intelli-gence platform ’TeacherAdvisor With Watson’ that willcater to around 3 lakh femalestudents.

IBM also announced atwo-year Advanced DiplomaProgramme in emerging tech-nologies created in collabora-tion with the Ministry of SkillDevelopment andEntrepreneurship which will beavailable to 100 IndustrialTraining Institutes (ITI),including 50 all-women ITIs,over the next three years.

The company will alsooffer internships of up to fivemonths to some students underthe program.

Under the skills and edu-cational program, IBM willoffer science training resourcesto four million teachers in theIndian Open EducationalResources community forSTEM.

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Markets watchdog Sebi haslevied a penalty of �25

lakh on Indus Portfolio for car-rying out reversal of trades inthe illiquid stock options seg-ment on the BSE.

Sebi conducted a probebetween April 2014 andSeptember 2015 after observ-ing large-scale reversal of tradesin the stock options segment onthe bourse which led to the cre-ation of artificial volume.

The firm had indulged inexecution of reversal trades withthe same counter parties duringthe same day at substantial pricedifference, Sebi noted in anorder dated March 8.

Such trades are non-gen-uine as they are not executed innormal course of trading, lackbasic trading rationale, and leadto creation of artificial volume.

“Trades of the noticee werenon-genuine and have createdfalse or misleading appearanceof trading in terms of artificialvolume in stock options and,therefore, manipulative anddeceptive in nature,” Sebi said.

Further, the regulator saidthat “the scheme, plan, deviceand artifice employed by thenoticee in this case of execut-ing reversal trades in illiquidstock options contracts at irra-tional, unrealistic and unrea-sonable prices, tantamount tofraud on the securities market.”

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Buoyed by the winning bidfor Lanco's Teesta VI,

State-owned NHPC will bidfor Jal Power Corporation'sRangit hydro project inSikkim, which is undergoinginsolvency proceedings,NHPC Chairman and MDBalraj Joshi said. The RangitStage IV 120 MW project is astressed asset and is undergo-ing insolvency proceedingsin the National Company LawTribunal (NCLT).

Earlier this month, theCCEA approved NHPC's pro-posed acquisition of LancoTeesta Hydro Power in Sikkimat a bid out price of �907 crore.The total investment approvalfor the project is �5,748.04crore which includes �907crore bid amount.

"We are also looking atanother project which is alsoin Sikkim again. We are justwaiting for the (commercialbid to open). This is a JalPower project. This is also atthe same status as Teesta VI.They are yet to call for EoI(expression of interest). NCLTwill hear the case on March15," Joshi told reporters in apress conference.

NHPC Director FinanceM K Mittal said this is the firsttime a public sector firm isbuying a private entitythrough NCLT. "We havebeen a frontrunner in buyingone project through NCLT.No other PSU has been able to

do so. We have been veryaggressive," Mittal said.

Sikkim Government hadawarded Rangit project to JalPower on November 1, 2004.An agreement for setting up ofRangit Stage-IV was inkedwith the state on December 9,2005 on build, own, operateand transfer (BOOT) basis.The project envisages instal-lation of three units of 40 MWeach (3X40).

These proposed acquisi-tions by NHPC assume sig-nificance in view of its plansto achieve 10 GW installedgeneration capacity by 2022,up from 7071.2 MW at pre-sent.

Talking about the perfor-mance of NHPC, Joshi said thecumulative generation from

all power stations for the cur-rent fiscal stands at 23,057 mil-lion units (MUs) (as on March10, 2019) and shall surpass pre-vious record of 23,404 MUs.

Joshi also told reportersthat NHPC has been appoint-ed as an aggregator underPilot Scheme-II for procure-ment of aggregated power of2500 MW for 3 years throughPFC Consultancy Ltd, whichis a nodal agency for that.Now the process is for engag-ing generators to supplypower under the scheme. Thescheme shall involve transac-tion of electricity of around18,615 MUs at 85 per centplant load factor (capacityutilisation) of 2500 MW andturnover of more than of�7,000 crore on yearly basis.

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Two-time winner SainaNehwal and defending

champion Sameer Verma will look to shrug offtheir All England disappointment when theyspearhead India's campaign at the Swiss Open,starting with the qualifiers on Tuesday.

For Sameer, this event started his journey thatculminated into a World Tour Final semifinal fin-ish last year and a career-high ranking of 11. Hehad defeated newly-crowned All EnglandChampion Kento Momota in the quarterfinals, afew months before the Japanese went on to becomethe world No 1 and world champion last year.

World No 14 Sameer will be opening his cam-paign in $150,000 event against a qualifier afterhis elder brother Sourabh, who had also battledinjuries on his way to becoming the SeniorNational Champion last month at Guwahati,pulled out of the tournament.

Sameer might face fellow Indian B SaiPraneeth in the second round and a favourableresult is likely to hand him over the chance to set-tle scores with former world No 1 Viktor Axelsen,who had defeated him in the first round of AllEngland Championships in Birmingham last week.

The BWF World Tour Super 300 event willbe Saina's fourth outing this season, having wonthe Indonesia Masters before losing in the semi-finals and quarterfinals at Malaysia Masters andAll England Championship respectively.

She begins her campaign against a qualifier,eying to secure her third title at Swiss. She had wonthe event in 2011 and 2012 in the past.

Seeded third, Saina is expected to face secondseeded He Bingjiao of China in the semifinals ifthe results fall in her favour.

Among other Indians in fray, ParupalliKashyap, a former Commonwealth Games cham-pion, will face a qualifier, Praneeth will meetEngland's Rajiv Ouseph and Subhankar Dey willalso take on a qualifier in first round.

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World number two Rafael Nadalraced into the third round of

the ATP Indian Wells Masters asRoger Federer made a less speedy butstill successful start to his quest for asixth title on Sunday.

Nadal, a three-time Indian Wellswinner, needed just 72 minutes to getpast overmatched Jared Donaldson,6-1, 6-1.

Federer, who is seeking to breakout of a tie with top seed NovakDjokovic for most titles in theCalifornia desert, looked set for a sim-ilarly easy time of it, but had to turnback a second-set challenge fromGerman Peter Gojowczyk in a 6-1, 7-5 win.

Fourth-seeded Federer said hewas relieved not to go to a second-settiebreaker after falling behind 3-1 tothe free-swinging German, who isranked 85th in the world.

The Swiss regained the break and,after saving four break points to makeit 4-4, cruised home.

"I struggled a little bit with myserving in that second set and thatgave him chances. Because he wasserving better, he started to swingmore freely and then it was tough,"Federer said.

"I'm really happy I found a wayin that second set."

Federer next faces compatriotStan Wawrinka, a three-time GrandSlam champion currently unseeded ashe continues his return from injury.

Wawrinka won a taut thrilleragainst 29th-seeded HungarianMarton Fucsovics, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, finally sealing it on his fifth matchpoint after three hours and 24 min-utes when Fucsovics lofted a lob long.

Nadal, playing his third tourna-ment of a year that started with a

crushing loss to Djokovic in theAustralian Open final and includedan early exit in Acapulco, convertedfive of his six break chances againstDonaldson and never faced a breakpoint himself.

He next faces DiegoSchwartzman, who beat Spain'sRoberto Carballes, 6-3, 6-1. Nadal is6-0 against the Argentine.

In other early matches, sixth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan sur-vived a scare in a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4)victory over France's AdrianMannarino.

Nishikori next faces67th-ranked HubertHurkacz of Poland, whodefeated France's LucasPouille, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

E i g h t h - s e e d e dAmerican John Isner routedAustralian qualifier Alexei Popyrin, 6-0, 6-2, the most lopsided win of Isner'scareer.

He'll play Guido Pella, who wonhis first title at Sao Paulo last week.Pella ended the hopes of anotherAussie qualifier, Alex Bolt, 7-6 (7/5),2-6, 6-3.

Tenth-seeded Croatian MarinCilic downed Serbian Dusan Lajovic,6-3, 6-4 to book a meeting with 19-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov,the 24th seed who beat AmericanSteve Johnson, 6-3, 6-4.

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Serena Williams's first tour-nament since the

Australian Open came to anabrupt end on Sunday as theailing 23-time Grand Slamchampion retired from herthird-round WTA matchagainst Garbine Muguruza atIndian Wells.

Muguruza was leading 6-3, 1-0 whenWilliams called it a day in the battle of formerworld number ones because of a viral illness.

"Before the match, I did not feel great,and then it just got worse with every sec-ond; extreme dizziness and extremefatigue," Williams said in commentsreleased via tournament organizers.

The 10th-seeded American, contin-uing to work her way back up the rank-

ings in the wake of time off to have a baby, hadmade a strong start, winning the first threegames.

But she called for the trainer after droppingsix straight.

After a long talk with medical personnelWilliams took the court for the second set, butafter Muguruza held serve at love Williams calleda halt.

"By the score, it might have looked like Istarted well, but I was not feeling at all well phys-ically," Williams said. "I will focus on getting bet-ter and start preparing for Miami."

It was the sixth meeting between Muguruzaand Williams, all five prior coming in Grand

Slams.The Spaniard, who advanced to a fourth-

round clash with seventh-seeded Kiki Bertensof the Netherlands, a 7-6 (12/10), 6-4 winner overBritain's Johanna Konta.

World number two Simona Halep had herhands full with Ukrainian qualifier KaterynaKozlova but emerged with a 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 vic-tory in her first meeting with the 114th-rankedplayer.

Halep next faces 61st-ranked Czech MarketaVondrousova, who followed up her win over2018 finalist Daria Kasatkina with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over 22nd seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.

Sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina also advanced,holding of Australian Daria Gavrilova 7-5, 6-4.

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Juventus's Champions League hopes arehanging on Cristiano Ronaldo pullingoff another sensational comeback as the

Italians trail 2-0 to defensive specialistsAtletico Madrid going into the last 16,second-leg tie in Turin on Tuesday.

"We didn't expect to lose the firstleg 2-0, but anything can happen, andwe want to give a great response inour home, in front of our fans,"Ronaldo told Juventus TV ahead ofthe game in the Allianz Stadium.

"These are the great nights,the fantastic ones: theChampions League nights," hecontinued.

"The team is confidentof playing a great game andI am too. To the fans I say:think positive, let'sbelieve.

"Get ready to comeback!"

The seven-timereigning Italianchampions boughtRonaldo last summerfrom Real Madrid for100 million euros ($117 million) to endtheir Champions League heartbreak goingback 23 years.

The 34-year-old's stunning overheadkick for Real in the quarter-finals in Turinlast April had dumped Juventus out of thetournament once again.

Expectations are high that he canreproduce his improbable hat-trick whichlifted Real Madrid past Wolfsburg in April2016 with the Spaniards 2-0 down to theGermans after the first leg.

Juventus have come from behind inthe elite European competition eighttimes — including in the 1996 quarter-finals against Real Madrid on their way towinning the title.

They also lifted the European trophyin 1985, but have finished runners-up fivetimes since their last success, includingtwice in the past four years.

#��$��"CR7 is here for that," wrote Italian

sports daily Corriere dello Sport, of "a gameCristiano cannot get wrong."

"He wasn't signed to win the Scudettoor to boost merchandising, Juve are wait-ing to end years of disappointments."

Ronaldo won five Champions Leaguetitles with Manchester United and RealMadrid and has scored a record 121 goalsof which 57 have proved decisive.

The top scorer in the Champions

League for the last six seasons, he has how-ever scored just once in this year's competi-tion, delivering a performance far belowexpectations in Madrid.

Since the Madrid game he has not scoredin the league and has been overtaken as thetop Serie A scorer by Sampdoria's FabioQuagliarella, who has 20 goals to Ronaldo's19.

The problem for Juventus is they need toscore at least twice against a team that spe-cialises in defence.

Diego Simeone's Atletico — second in LaLiga — have not conceded a goal for fivegames.

"Everyone knows that they are a strongteam, they defend very well, they don't takea lot of risks and they play on the counter-attack, but we are ready, and we will do every-thing we can to beat them," said Ronaldo, whohas scored 22 goals against Atletico.

"The fine details will make the difference,and we want to win and qualify for the quar-ter-finals."

��!��Former-Wolfsburg manager Dieter

Hecking believes Ronaldo can make a differ-ence.

"Ronaldo is capable of everything, he canalso score three goals again as he did againstmy Wolfsburg. Of course he can," Hecking toldGazzetta Dello Sport.

"Atletico have the best defence in Europeand an excellent attack: without Ronaldo, whocan invent goals in any way, it would be impos-sible.

"If I said that Ronaldo is not the strongestplayer I have ever met, I would lie.

"I remember that night I told the team thatwe should not be afraid neither of him nor theBernabeu, but at 17 minutes we were already2-0 with a double by CR7, it was monstrous."

Allegri's future at the club he has won 10trophies with since 2014 will likely hinge onthis game. The Juventus coach knows thestakes are high.

"I think expectations have been raised fartoo much and it has become an obsession,"said the 51 year-old.

"Since I arrived, the Champions Leaguehas always been an objective, but if people saythat it's a failure if Juventus go out, that is notright."

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Manchester City managerPep Guardiola has again

cast doubt on the PremierLeague champions' readiness towin the Champions League forthe first time despite beingfavourites for the competition.

City host Bundesliga strug-glers Schalke on Tuesday witha 3-2 first leg lead in their last16 tie hoping to avoid the pit-falls that did for Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid inChampions League shocks lastweek.

Guardiola admitted even hewas taken aback by ManchesterUnited's stunning 3-1 win inParis and holders Madrid'scapitulation to a talented youngAjax team, but refuted sugges-tions their elimination hadcleared the way for City to final-ly conquer Europe.

"We are teenagers in thiscompetition that's my feeling.It's not excuses, of course wewant to win it," said the Catalancoach on Monday.

"You have to dream andpoint as high as possible but inthe same time you have toaccept there are other teamsthinking the same with a lot ofquality and lot of talent."

Guardiola was annoyed byCity's mistakes in concedingtwo penalties and havingNicolas Otamendi sent off 22minutes from time inGelsenkirchen three weeks agodespite turning around a 2-1deficit with 10 men through lategoals from Leroy Sane andRaheem Sterling.

And he used that experi-ence to warn his players againstany complacency.

"In domestic competitionthere is another game, in thiscompetition there is not anoth-er game. It is something unique,the focus is incredible andwhen you make somethingwrong they (the opponent)punish it," he added.

"Schalke had two shots ontarget and scored two goals. Weplayed 23 minutes 10 v 11when we could avoid that sec-ond yellow card from Nico.

"We are lucky today we arehere 3-2 up when we could be3-1 or 4-1 down. That's the real-ity in this competition. (Thereis) work to do, be calm andfocused."

Along with the suspendedOtamendi, Fernandinho willagain miss out through injury,but the Brazilian's absence hasnot been felt as badly as firstfeared due to Ilkay Gundogan's

form.The German has deputised

ably in the holding midfieldrole.

�� !�!��Schalke travel to

Manchester City for last 16second leg with head coachDomenico Tedesco barely hang-ing onto his job and confidenceat rock bottom.

Schalke's fortunes havenose-dived since first leg defeatafter leading at break, leaking 11goals in three heavy defeats toleave them four points from theBundesliga relegation places.

Tedesco, 33, has been toldhe has two games to prove him-self.

Schalke's new sportingdirector Jochen Schneider saysonly good performances at Cityand home to third-placed RBLeipzig next Saturday can saveTedesco.

Man City have won theirlast nine games at the EtihadStadium, but the Schalke squadare hoping for an unlikely awayvictory and want Tedesco to stayon.

"Of course we do — no one

has ever said anything different,"said striker Guido Burgstaller.

Morale in the Schalkesquad is so low after Friday'sdefeat that all the talk was onavoiding relegation, with theprospect of facing the PremierLeague leaders in their ownbackyard barely registering.

"This is not a pleasure trip,"says Schneider.

"The anticipation is over-shadowed by the situation in theBundesliga."

To compound their prob-lems, Schalke's playmakerDaniel Caligiuri misses the tripto Manchester, sidelined forthe next four weeks by a leginjury.

Likewise, striker Mark Uthand midfielder Amine Harit,who were dropped for thedefeat at Bremen, have also beenleft out of the squad forManchester for disciplinary rea-sons, but full-back HamzaMendyl has been added.

It's all a far cry from last sea-son when the Royal Blues fin-ished second in the Bundesligato qualify for the ChampionsLeague in Tedesco's first season.

Despite qualifying for theknockout stages in Europe, theyhave been no higher than 11thin the Bundesliga this cam-paign.

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Zinedine Zidane will make ashock return as coach of Real

Madrid after the club decided onMonday to sack Santiago Solari, sayreports in the Spanish press.

Madrid president FlorentinoPerez has reportedly met with theboard and resolved to dismissSolari, with Zidane set to be hisreplacement, nine months after thehe resigned at the end of last sea-son.

Zidane could take training asearly as Tuesday and be in chargefor Madrid's La Liga game at

home to Celta Vigo onSaturday.

His priority will beto secure Madrid's placein the top four after aturbulent fortnight thathas seen them lose twiceto Barcelona and knocked out byAjax in the Champions League.

Zidane won that tournamentin each of his three seasons incharge at the Santiago Bernabeu, aswell as La Liga in 2016-17, whileenjoying a strong relationship withthe majority of the players.

Gareth Bale was one of the fewnot to see eye-to-eye with the

Frenchman and Bale's future willbecome even more uncertain,should Zidane's appointment beconfirmed.

Sergio Ramos had said earlieron Monday he accepts blame forthe club's "deeply disappointing"season but insists the players haveno say on the coaching situation.

Ramos posed a series of ques-tions to himself on social mediaafter Madrid beat Real Valladolid4-1 in La Liga on Sunday night.

"As footballers we like to doour talking on the pitch but thisseason is not turning out that way,"Ramos wrote.

"Recent events have been dis-astrous and I'm not hiding. We arenot hiding. We the players are pri-marily responsible and I, as captain,more than anyone." On Solari'sposition, Ramos said: "It's a deci-sion that's not ours to make and inwhich we never interfere. We haveenormous respect for the positionand we always support the RealMadrid coach.

"These reflections are, withoutdoubt, the result of a deeply disap-pointing season but if success did-n't stop us, we're not going to letdefeat stop us. It's our obligation tocarry on, to work and to evolve."

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David Willey spearheadedanother rout of an indis-

ciplined West Indies battingline-up as England completeda 3-0 sweep of the series withan eight-wicket victory in thethird and final T20International at Warner Parkin St Kitts.

Medium-pacer Willeyknocked over the top-order infinishing with career-bestT20I figures of four for sevenfrom three overs to take theman of the match award as thehosts were demolished for 71off just 13 overs on Sunday.

Willey's teammate andfellow all-rounder ChrisJordan was named man of theseries.

Jonny Bairstow, man ofthe match in the first fixturein St Lucia five days earlier,then sped the visitors towardtheir target with 37 (31 balls,two sixes, four fours) as thewhitewash was completedwith almost ten overs to spare.

Bairstow fell to DevendraBishoo with victory in sightleaving captain Eoin Morganto cart the leg-spinner for a sixand a four off successive deliv-eries to seal the comprehen-sive result.

Fast bowler Mark Wood,playing his first game of the

T20 series in place of the fast-medium Liam Plunkett, main-tained the pressure afterWilley's early successes in

taking three for nine whileleg-spinner Adil Rashid fin-ished off another pitiful bat-ting effort by the world cham-pion Caribbean side with twowickets in two overs.

Dismantled for their low-est T20 total ever, 45, on theway to a 137-run thrashing inthe second match two daysearlier at the same venue,Jason Holder's decision to batfirst on winning the toss madeno difference with Shai Hopefalling to the very first ball ofthe match from Willey to setthe tone for another collapse.

Hope's opening partner,John Campbell, making hisT20I debut in place of the rest-ed Chris Gayle, was one offour players to get into double-figures — twice as many as onFriday — although it made nomeaningful difference to theinnings.

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Ace gymnast DipaKarmakar is set

to represent India inthe upcoming WorldCups at Baku,Azerbaijan and Doha,Qatar. She says forher, every competi-tion is very tough butshe doesn't feel pressurised.

Ahead of the competitions that will startfrom March 14, Karmakar said: "Training hasbeen going well. I was training in Agartala allthis while. I will try my best to do well there."

For her, all the championships are thesame.

"We are always on the field. Whether itis Olympics or any world championship, allare the same. For us, every competition is verytough," said the young sports star.

But she maintains that there is no pres-sure.

"The performance of players either goesup or down. It has always been like that. Forinstance, I didn't do well at the Asian Games...whatever was the reason," she said referringto her disappointing fifth spot in the women'sbalance beam final at the 18th Asian Gameslast year.

"But I have no pressure. I have to do mybest, I need to feel satisfied myself first," addedKarmakar, who bagged the Gold in thewomen's vault event at the Artistic GymnasticsWorld Challenge Cup in Mersin in Turkey in2018.

Like her competitors from Russia and theUS, her aim is to get good scores that can lifther to a podium finish.

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Adouble ton from Ross Taylorand three quick Bangladesh

wickets put New Zealand in aprime position to pull off anexceptional victory in the rain-shortened second Test inWellington on Monday.

At stumps on day four atBasin Reserve, where the firsttwo days were washed out,Bangladesh were 80 for three,still 141 from making NewZealand bat again. Taylor,dropped twice on 20, proceededto punish the Bangladesh attackwith a rollicking 200 from 212balls before New Zealanddeclared at 432 for six.

With 23 overs left in the day,Bangladesh had a disastrousstart to their second inningswhen Tamim Iqbal was bowledin the first over.

After innings of 126 and 74twice so far in the series,Bangladesh's leading run-scorerwas out for four.

Mominul Haque followedfor 10 and Shadman Islam for 29leaving Mohammad Mithun on25 with Soumya Sarkar not out12.

New Zealand resumed theday at 38 for two and piled on394 runs in 73 overs beforesending Bangladesh back in.

Taylor, after surviving thetwo early chances, madeBangladesh pay a high price fortheir fielding errors.

He clouted Taijul Islam forsix over the long-on boundary tobring up his century which tookhim past his mentor, the lateMartin Crowe, to become NewZealand's second most prolificcentury-maker with 18, twobehind Kane Williamson.

He put on 172 withWilliamson for the third wicketand then 216 with Henr y

Nicholls for the fourth in aninnings which included 19 foursand four sixes.

But after reaching 200 for thethird time in his career, and rais-

ing his bat in salute, he was dis-missed from the next ball hefaced, caught behind offMustafizur. Williamson, whobatted with a painful shoulder

injury, made it through to 74before he was dismissed andtaken for a scan which provedinconclusive.

Nicholls swept Taijul Islam to

the boundary to bring up hisfifth century in the second overafter tea, but only faced anotherseven deliveries before Taijulbowled him for 107.

�� 15.�2�

Shikhar Dhawan has the knackof bouncing back just when

his detractors write him off andthe Indian batsman says he man-ages to stay afloat in the tough-est of times by shutting out thecriticism that comes with leanpatches.

Without an internationalhundred for the past six months,Dhawan announced his come-back with a career-best 143against Australia, albeit in a los-ing cause, in the fourth one-dayer on Sunday.

Asked how he reacts to crit-icism, the happy-go-lucky crick-eter said living in his own bub-ble helps him keep it calm in themind.

"First of all, I don't read newspapers andI don't take information which I don't wantto. So I don't know what's happening around

me and I live in my own world.So, I decide in which directionmy thoughts are going," saidthe 33-year-old after the match.

Dhawan offered a sympa-thetic view on his junior state-mate Rishabh Pant, who had aterrible day behind the stumps.The youngster, who replacedMahendra Singh Dhoni forthe last two games, was shod-dy with his glovework andalso missed an easy stumpingchance.

"Like any other youngbloke, you have to give himtime too. I mean Dhoni bhaihas played so many games andfor how many years. You sim-ply can't compare.

"Yes, had he effected thestumping, may be the game could havechanged but then it slipped quickly out of ourhands and for that, dew played a big role.That's what it was," he signed off.

On personal front,Handscomb termed Australia'sfour-wicket victory in thefourth ODI against India as the"best match of his career",something that will give themmomentum ahead of WorldCup in England.

"It is a lovely feeling. I haveno words to describe my feel-ing. This was the best match ofmy career so far. This win willgive us a great momentum forthe decider and then the WorldCup in England. I am just gladthat I contributed in the victo-ry," Handscomb said after thematch.

On his maiden century, hesaid: "I am happy, I did notknow I was going to play ODIagain and it's funny how thingschange. It's nice to get oppor-tunity to play for Australiaand take it. The faith of selec-tors to keep me in that was nice.To get it today was pretty spe-cial."

Handscomb was alsohappy with the fact that theyhave been able to chase downbig totals in the tour irrespec-tive of formats.

"High scoring chase isalways special. It just gives youso much competition. Wechased down 189 in Bengaluru(in second T20 International)and today we proved that itwasn't a fluke," he said.

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A"Shane Warne like drift"makes Kuldeep Yadav a

more difficult bowler to facecompared to YuzvendraChahal, feels former Australiaopener Matthew Hayden, whosays wrist spinners like the twoIndians are becoming more rel-evant because of finger spin-ners' lack of "courage".

Kuldeep and Chahal, thetwo Indian wrist spinners, havetroubled the world's best bats-men in the shorter formats.

So what makes them spe-cial?

"Leg spinners provideoption and variety. In particu-lar, if you look at Kuldeep, his

strength is not how far he turnsthe ball but his strength is howthe ball just like Shane Warne'sdeliveries arrives at the bats-man. It has a distinct curve inthe air," Hayden said.

Chahal can, however, benegotiated, feels Hayden, whowas hugely successful againstHarbhajan Singh and AnilKumble at their peak.

"Chahal is a differentbowler. He is a very stump-to-stump. He bowls much flatterand straighter. He doesn't getthe drift. If I was a player, Iwould prefer facing Chahalbecause he doesn't get thedrift," said Hayden, who has8000-plus Test and 6000 plusODI runs for Australia.

The finger spinners are notmuch in demand in the 50-over format and Haydenblames it on the restrictiveapproach which has been theirundoing.

"What has happened isthat off-spinners have learnt theart to contain batsmen, whichhad kept them in play for a cer-tain period of time.

"But now, the players have

got used to the flatter trajecto-ry of the off-spinners. Off-spin-ners have lost the art of beingable to get the pace to drop(vary pace)," said Hayden.

Working as an analyst dur-ing the ongoing series, Haydenwas seen working with thejunior members of theAustralian team, especially,Ashton Turner, who has nowbecome an overnight sensationwinning the fourth ODI witha scintillating knock.

"It's not my doing," Haydensaid with a lot of modesty.

"The boys have workedvery hard on their game andthat created the change. I havebeen working more withyounger boys like AshtonTurner," he added.

The veteran of 103 Testsand 161 ODIs is happy thatAustralians have been able toforce Kedar Jadhav to bowl adifferent line.

The part-time off-spinner,with an unconventional side-arm action, was taken to taskby Aaron Finch in Ranchi andthe duo of Usman Khawaja andPeter Handscomb in Mohali.

�� 4.,.�52�

Pakistan's Shahid Afridi onMonday criticised the nation-

al selectors for resting six seniorplayers, including skipper SarfarazAhmed, for the upcoming ODIseries against Australia, saying agood outing would have boostedtheir confidence ahead of theWorld Cup.

In a surprising move, theselectors picked young speedsterMohammad Hasnain in the one-day squad although he hasappeared in just two first-classgames, played for the Pakistanjuniors and did well in the ongo-ing Pakistan Super League.

"I don't know but we must firstgive chances to the establishedbowlers like Junaid Khan, WahabRiaz etc. First look and give prop-er chance to the established play-ers because after all we are playingin the World Cup," Afridi said.

The all-rounder was also crit-ical of the decision to rest Sarfarazand other key players for the'home' series, slated to be held inthe UAE.

"Look if we had been playingagainst a weak side than it madesense to try new players but this isa series against a big team and Idon't think it was right time to restplayers after all it is not as if theyhave been playing for some 10 or

15 years." "I would think that if our main

players played against a team likeAustralia and did well it wouldboost their confidence for theWorld Cup."

Afridi, who is playing for histhird franchise (Multan) in thePSL, dismissed talks about himfinally taking retirement from allcricket.

"I haven't had a very good timein this PSL but let's see which fran-chise picks me next season or I staywith Multan," he said.

�� ;<�&;�52�

The International CricketCouncil (ICC) on Monday said

India was granted permission towear camouflage military caps inthe third ODI against Australia asa tribute to the country's armedforces, a gesture which Pakistan hasobjected to.

In the third ODI in Ranchi onMarch 8, the Indian team sported

military caps as a mark of respectto the CRPF personnel who werekilled in the Pulwama terror attackand donated its match fee to theNational Defence Fund.

"The BCCI sought permissionfrom the ICC to wear the caps aspart of a fundraising drive and inmemory of fallen soldiers whohave died, which was granted,"ICC's General Manager StrategicCommunications Claire Furlong

said in a statement.The Pakistan Cricket Board

had sent a strongly-worded letterto the ICC, calling for actionagainst India for wearing thecaps.

"They took permission fromICC for some other purpose andused it to do something else,which is not acceptable," PCBChairman Ehsan Mani said onSunday in Karachi.

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Ross Taylor whispered aprayer and an apology to the

late Martin Crowe Monday ashe overtook his mentor's centu-ry tally during an exceptionalinnings of 200 that put NewZealand in a strong position inthe second Test.

The number four's sterlingeffort was his third Test doublehundred and achieved his long-held ambition to fulfil Crowe'sprophecy that Taylor would

one day overtake the late greatbatsman's mark.

"I told Hogan (Crowe) 'myapologies' for taking so long toget there," said Taylor whoscored his 17th century in 2017,nearly two years after Crowedied from cancer.

In the course of his innings,Taylor also passed Crowe'srecord for the most runs scoredat the Basin Reserve "so he'sprobably a bit annoyed with thatone," the batting mainstayquipped.

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Peter Handscomb, one of thearchitects of Australia's recordbreaking run-chase against

India in the fourth ODI, wasconfident that youngAshton Turner could repli-cate his big-hitting exploitsin domestic cricket at theinternational stage.

Turner on Sunday smashedunbeaten 84 off 43 balls as Australiachased down a mammoth target of359 with four wickets in hand and13 balls to spare to level the five-match series 2-2.

The series-deciding fifth andfinal ODI will be played in NewDelhi on Wednesday.

"Ashton (Turner) is an amaz-ing player. We have seen what hehas done in the Big Bash League(for Perth Scorchers) for the pastcouple of years. We knew he can getthe job done. The way he operat-ed against Bumrah was quite amaz-ing. This knock will give him somuch confidence going forward,"Handscomb said after the famouswin on Sunday night.

He said that once Turner start-ed hitting, everyone in the dressingroom became superstitious.

"That was awesome. No onewas moving around with all thosesuperstitions coming into play.That's incredible. To see him comein at international stage and play aninnings of this kind is phenomenal."

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