€¦ · used apex institution’s name for misguiding the people on twitter in...

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With fear of terror attackslurking in the air, the

State police has already issueda security advisory asking cam-paigners and contestants ofthe Lok Sabha polls to avoidholding road-shows and attendpublic rallies only after propersecurity clearance.

The advisory comes as thecampaign is gathering momen-tum in Jammu & Kashmir andrival political parties have start-ed carpet bombing to woo theelectorate. The security adviso-ry was issued to the candidatesand different political parties onthe basis of recent assessmentreports prepared by the variousintelligence agencies.

According to these reports,“three terror outfits Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) and Al Badr areplanning attacks to disruptongoing poll process in thestate”. The main objectivebehind issuing such an elabo-rate advisory is to prevent anyterrorist strike on any contest-ing candidate during electionrallies. In a span of last 10 days,more than fifteen terroristshave been eliminated acrossSouth Kashmir and NorthKashmir districts by the joint

teams of security forces. Despite eliminating large

number of terrorists in SouthKashmir districts, the situationremains grim on ground zero.

The senior State policeofficers are not taking anychances either. They have beenregularly monitoring theground situation, especially inareas prone to terrorist strikes,and issuing advance warningsto political parties whether togo ahead with their crowdmobilisation activities onaccount of electioneering or notin the wake of prevailing secu-rity situation.

According to police advi-sory, “the political parties havebeen advised to inform theconcerned deputy commis-sioners and senior superin-tendents of police beforeembarking on a road journeyor choosing a place for a pub-lic convention”.

Meanwhile, security forcesremained on tenterhooks onSaturday as three different inci-dents of violence were report-ed from three different placesof Kashmir valley.

First of all, a mysterious carblast was reported along theJammu-Srinagar NationalHighway, 8 kms from Banihalnear Tethar.

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With the proscribed ter-rorist group Jaish-e-

Mohammad (JeM) flexing itsmuscles in Jammu andKashmir in the past fewmonths and carrying out sui-cide attack in Pulwama onFebruary 14 killing 44 Central Reserve Police Force

(CRPF), the security forces aregoing all out to neutralise thefighting capabilities of thisgroup.

The determined action hasseen at least 17 JeM cadreskilled in encounters sincePulwama incident.

The overall figure of ter-rorists killed since then standsat 21.

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Nishad Party has severed itsnascent tie with the SP-

BSP-RLD combine promptingthe Samajwadi Party onSaturday to announceRambhual Nishad as its candi-date from the high-profileGorakhpur seat in UttarPradesh. Apart fromGorakhpur, the SP fielded RamKumar from the Kanpur seatand ST Hasan from Moradabadreplacing Nasir Qureshi.

Ram Bhual Nishad, whowas earlier with the BSP, is atwo-time MLA from KaudiramAssembly seat which he lost in2012. He was also a Minister inthe Mayawati Government andhandled the fisheries depart-ment. Nishad comes fromBadhalganj, Gorakhpur andwields considerable influencein the Nishad community.

The Nishad Party is now intalks with the BJP for analliance and party chief SanjayNishad met Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath in Lucknow

on Friday. Ironically, his sonPravin Nishad is an incumbentSamajwadi Party MP fromGorakhpur and had defeatedthe BJP candidate in 2018 UPby-elections with a victorymargin of 21,000 votes.Gorakhpur has been the hometurf of the UP CM and since19898 the party had been win-ning from this seat.

“Nishad Party is now themember of the NationalDemocratic Alliance and I amtechnically still the MP of theSamajwadi Party,” said PravinNishad, adding so far nothingis final and decision about mycandidature from GorakhpurLok Sabha seat would be takenshortly.

Earlier this week on March25, the Nishad Party had joinedthe SP-BSP-RLD alliance and itwas believed that sitting MPPravin Nishad would onceagain be the alliance candidatefrom Gorakhpur.

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The EnforcementDirectorate on Saturday

attached hotel Holiday Inn,valued at �120 crore, located inthe upscale Aerocity area in thenational Capital, in connectionwith a money laundering caseagainst alleged aviation lobby-ist Deepak Talwar.

Talwar, who was deportedfrom Dubai in January thisyear and arrested by the agency,“beneficially owned” a compa-ny, Wave Hospitality PrivateLimited, that, the ED alleged,used tainted money to construct the hotel, next to theIndira Gandhi InternationalAirport.

The multi-storeyed plushhotel boasts of some of themost expensive boarding anddining facilities in the Aerocitycomplex that was constructedfew years ago for internation-al and domestic air passengerscoming to Delhi.

The agency said a provi-sional order for attaching theproperty was issued by it underthe Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA).

The ED is probing Talwarin a criminal case of moneylaundering.

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Ahead of the Lok Sabhaelections, the Aam Aadmi

Party (AAP) is all set to launch“Metro campaign” fromSunday for full Delhi Statehoodsupport from Delhiites.

AAP Delhi convenerGopal Rai said the MahilaMorcha will launch the cam-paign at Rajiv Chowk MetroStation. “Sixteen teams, com-prising four women in each,will be at all eight gates of thestation. These workers willdistribute the letters on “fullStatehood” to passengers,” saidRai, referring to AAP’sStatehood campaign for gen-eral elections.

Accusing his opponent,Delhi BJP unit president ManojTiwari, of allegedly lying aboutfull Statehood, Rai said, “Tiwariused apex institution’s name formisguiding the people onTwitter in “#Twitterchaupal.”

Referring to Tiwari’s recentstatement on Supreme Court’sverdict about full Statehood,Rai questioned the BJP forgiving false and misleadingstatements.

“It could only be done byamendment of the Constitutionin Parliament”, added Rai quot-ing the verdicts of the court.Challenging BJP on fullStatehood, Rai said the AAPwill not allow the BJP to mis-lead Delhiites.

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Voters in Tamil Nadu havebeen surprised by the

aggressive campaigninglaunched by Chief MinisterEdappadi Palniswamy who isknown for his reticent natureand little public exposure.Palaniswamy, who hit the cam-paign trail from Chennai sinceWednesday, has taken the warto the enemy camp by openlychallenging Leader of theOpposition MK Stalin, whoheads the DMK, for an opendebate on which the latterattacks him day in and day out.

Palaniswamy has takenover from where Jayalalithaaleft. Though he is miles awayfrom the charisma and exu-berance of the late leader,Palaniswamy minces no wordswhile attacking the Oppositionclaims that his Governmentwas a failure on all fronts.

“Let Stalin and the DMKtell who got the Cauvery WaterDispute Tribunal award incor-porated in India Gazette.Though the Tribunal deliv-ered the award in 2007, it wasour honourable Amma who

got it published in the IndiaGovernment Gazette. TheDMK which was enjoying thefruits of power in New Delhifrom 1998 to 2013 did nothingfor getting the tribunal awardgazetted. The party was squab-

bling for money spinning min-istries at the Centre,” thunderedPalaniswamy.

At Villupuram where hecampaigned for the PMK can-didate, Palaniswamy was at hisbest interacting with the crowd

asking them questions. “Pleasetell me an instance where thisGovernment has failed in pro-tecting and preserving therights of the people of TamilNadu. Do you think there isany material in the allegationslevelled against us by theDMK?” asked the ChiefMinister to which the crowdroared back with a big no.

Edappadi Palaniswamyhails from Salem and was aMinister in the JayalalithaaCabinet for long before hebecame the Chief Minister fol-lowing the Supreme Courtupholding the conviction andsentencing of Sasikala in thedisproportionate assets case.Since then he has come of ageand has consolidated his posi-tion, said author and com-mentator T Ramakrishnan,who was watching his performance for the last threedays.

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�� How did Kumkum Bhagyahappen?

It was pure luck. I had noclue that it is going to be happen.I gave an audition for BalajiProductions and then I went onfor Roadies Real Heroes. One dayI got a message saying ‘Will yoube interested in KumkumBhagya’ and that time I couldn’trespond because I was already apart of the Roadies journey.

Fortunately or unfortunatelyI got eliminated from Roadies.Then, I responded to themessage and my timing was justright. They told me that theywere just about to cast someoneelse for the role because theythought that I was doing Roadiesand it would take time. But myrejection came at the right time,I suppose. This is how I got theshow.�Tell us about your character.

I play Ranbir. A youngcollege goer. He is a charming, confidentand has attitude. He has got a lot of energyaround him. He is good at almosteverything and that gives him an edgeover others. He is not a love them leavethem kind of a person but enjoys healthyflirting.�What all preparations did you do tobecome an actor?

I always wanted to be an actor. I usedto take part in all of my school plays.When I was in Class XII, I started doingads. During my college, I joined a theatregroup — Shri Ram in Delhi. I did it fora couple of months. Then, after mycollege, I shifted to Mumbai and I startedgiving auditions everywhere. I got selectedfor a webseries —Puncch Beat and that ishow it all began.�How supportive were your parents?

My parents wanted me to become anengineer. When I told them that I wantto be an actor they thought that I wasdrunk. (laughs). They never thoughtthat there is a profession in acting fornormal people. But they never forced meto do anything. They were scepticalabout acting as a career, like any otherparent. It is obvious for them to beanxious about me and my career. Becauseacting is not a secure field when it comesto your future. �What challenges did you face?

When you are in college you feel youare the best. But it is like you are justandhon mein kaana raja. The momentyou step out of that world and come toMumbai you realise that you are not theonly one. Noida mein jaisey Krishna haitoh Mumbai mein aesey hazaron Krishnahain. Then, you realise where do you

stand and what this realisation does toyou, depends on you. Whether youdecide to work harder or get demotivatedand give up. This is the time when youneed to join the dots and find out whereare you lacking. Once you startunderstanding where are you lacking,then you need to start working on it. InMumbai, there is a lot of competition andpeople are very hardworking and good attheir job.

Second, you should be open torejections. I have been rejected so manytimes. Kabhi kabhi lagta hai ki areyismey toh selection ho jayega ismey tohmere jaisa hi character chahaiye par aisanahin hota hai. You will go for anaudition and give your best, but they willnot even call you back. So, I made up

mind to be ready to facerejections. You need to make surethat you give an audition andforget about it. Don’t wait for it,if it has to happen, it will happenand if not, then it’s not just meantto happen. Third, you can’t relax.Life is fast-paced here, if you stopeven for a second, there arehundred others who are waitingfor that role. The struggle isconstant and it does not end.Even if you have got a role thenyou have to struggle tounderstand the character. �Did you ever think ofquitting?

Yes, there was a time when ina month I got rejected manytimes. I thought of giving upbecause nothing was crackingand nothing was working out forme. But then I got selected to playa negative lead in Puncch Beatand then I realised that there issome potential in me.

�As a newcomer, do you have to workharder to prove yourself?

Yes. I have to work hard because I amsharing the screen with people who aremuch more experienced than me — SritiJha and Shabir Ahluwalia. But, they arevery welcoming and very supporting.They won’t make you feel uncomfortableor nervous. On day one of my shoot, theymade me so comfortable — that whateverI was doing is good. They create a verypositive and pleasant environment for mewhich helps a lot. �How were your two shows different?

Both Puncch Beat and Roadies RealHeroes, were very different and meant fora particular set of audience. But, now Ihave got a wider audience. People whowatch TV are very attached to the showand the character they like. I have theresponsibility that people who watchRanbir like him. They have to feelconnected to him. It puts me into asituation, where I have to understand thecharacter even more and learn how toportray him correctly.�Who has been your inspiration?When I grew up, I realised that there isso much nepotism in the industry and itis hard for a normal boy like me to makea place for myself. During this time, I gotinspired by Shah Rukh Khan.

I realised that this boy was also fromDelhi. He also had a dream, he also hadno one in the industry to look after himand eventually he went there, struggledand today he has reached where hewanted to be. This inspired me a lot. Ithought may be there are fewer chancesfor me to get into the industry but thereare chances and I can try my luck.

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Ever since Jadoo ruled the big screen,the concept of aliens is no longer an

alienated subject including those on TV.Shows like Badi Door Se Aaye Hain wasthe first one to introduce aliens on thesmall screen. The concept was muchappreciated and accepted by the audience.Then came robots — Karishma KaaKarishma — which again was a freshserve for the audience.

Taking this legacy further &tv islaunching its new show Shaadi Ke Siyapewhich showcases alien turned humans ina new light. The weekend dramedy serieswill go on air from March 16, 2019. Thestory revolves around all the siyapas thathappen in a typical Indian shaadi becauseindian weddings are incomplete withoutsiyapas.

The show stars Alka Badola Kaushalas Fancy Aunty who owns a marriagehallalong with her uniquely gifted squadof alien turned humans. Tarak Mehta KaOoltah Chashma fame Bhavya Gandhiwill play Nanku — a techno expert chef,the role of Bijli — a gossip lovingnachaniya cum make-up artist will beessayed by Sheen Dass, the role of a classyDJ — DJ Virat will be played by MishkatVarma and actor Rahul Singh will play apandit in the show.

Kaushal says that her character hailsfrom Delhi. “Her husband is a scientistbut Fancy Aunty is an independentwoman who runs her business. She is funloving, organised, disciplined and a goodhearted person The character is full ofdifferent emotions. She pretends to bestrong, but there are moments when shegets anxious and worried about thingsand then cries in a corner. Sab kesaamney toh voh bolti hai ki haanji sab hojayega ji par akele mein sochti hai ki vahatoh bol aayi ki ho jayega par sab kuch hogakese.”

Kaushal says that it has been agessince she is getting to play a positivecharacter on small screen. “It’s been agessince I am getting to play a positivecharacter on television. Though in filmsI played those sweet mummyji walecharacters but on TV even if I got a

positive role eventually show ke khatamhotey hotey it used to become a greycharacter. So, I am veryxcited to playFancy Aunty,” she tells you adding thatthe show is situational comedy along withsome real life inspired shaadi ke siyapethat occur in almost every wedding.

She tells you that it is very difficultto shoot for the show since it is the firsttime she is being part of such a show. “Itwas very difficult to shoot for the showbecause maine kabhi aisey shows kiyenahin hain jahan VFX involved hain. Itis difficult both in terms of cost and timeand it is difficult for a producer also totake up this job,” Kaushal tells you whois an actor turned producer.

Kaushal feels it is not very difficult tobring connectivity with the audiencethrough such shows. “Audience willconnect to such shows and it is not thatdifficult because agar hum dinosaurdikha kar audience ko impress kar sakteyhain jo ki kisiney nahin dekhe ki voh existkartey they ya nahin toh aliens ke sath bhisame hai. The first thing is just toconvince your audience in the right waythat it is possible and aliens do exist andonce you have successfully convincedyour audience then they will be able torelate and connect with it.

“As far as I am concerned, I amconvinced and I believe that there is lifeon other planets too. The other reasonwhy people will be able to connect morewith the show is each one of us hasexperience some siyaapa in a weddingkahin phupaji naraaz ho jatey to kahintaya ji, har koi khush nahin reh sakta andwe have shown same stories in the show.In my own wedding a siyapa happened,the electricity got cut off but thankfullywe had a generator so my shaadi took

place with the generator running,” shetells you.

Sonali Jaffer who is the producer ofthe show, says that the reason theyintroduced this concept in the show wasbecause it is believed that various planetsare involved in a shaadi.

“For me this alien concept connectedbecause in Indian culture we believe thatthe planets are responsible for a shaadiand plays a key role in all the siyapas thathappen. So, that is why we came up withthe concept of aliens coming from adifferent planet and trying to help Fancyaunty in resolving the problems,” she tellsyou.

Jaffer said that VFX is a challenge inmaking these type of shows. “Thechallenge in such shows is to add specialeffects and play with it. The otherchallenge is to make it smooth andmake it look real. Also shooting alsobecomes a bit difficult because say youfirst you shoot a plate and then you addspecial effects and put food on the plate,so yes it is both time consuming and atedious process. Also since it is a weekender so we have to shoot everything ina limited time and that just adds to thelist of challenges,” she tells you adding thatthe theme of the show is even when allthe planets come together will they beable to make the shaadi happen in asmooth way and this is the reason whythe audience will be able to connect withthe show more.

To keep the interest factor alive theshow is weekly. “We are giving it in a verylimited and balanced quantity. Also therewill not be a single storyline, everyepisode will showcase a different story ofa different marriage so that the audiencewill not get bored of it,” Jaffer says.

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�What attracted you to play Kalyani?What attracted me the most was that there

are a lot of different shades to Kalyani. She goesthrough a lot of different situations and the wayshe handles them inspired me. The way shechanges because of the circumstance is thereason I fell in love with the character.�Is there anything you don’t like about yourcharacter?

The thing I dislike the most is sheis very aggressive and impulsive.She takes decisions withoutthinking too much. In real life,I am just opposite. I take mydecisions after weighing thepros and cons.�Which role was themost challenging foryou?

I would say playingKalyani is the mostchallenging one. Ihave tounderstand thedepth of thecharacter to bringthat to realitywhen I performon screen. Since,there are a lot ofdifferent shadesof Kalyani, itbecomes a bitdif f icult toportray themthe right waybut I wil lalways give mybest to eachrole that I havep l a y e d .Kalyani will beno different.�From Devito Tujhse HaiRaabta, howhas yourj o u r n e ybeen?

It hasbeen awonderfuland a

memorable one. I have learnt a lot and thereis more to learn in life. It’s all because of theblessings of my parents and the audience, whohave constantly given me their love. I hope theykeep on loving me. All the co-actors I haveworked with, have been very supportive andvery nice to me. I remember each one of them.From Deepali Pansare, who played mymother’s role in Neer Bhare Tere Naina Devito Purva Gokhale, who is at present playing

my mother in Tujhse Hai Raabta, to SehbanAzim (playing her husband) and ShagunPandey, they all have been a part of myjourney.�A role that you would say no to.

I would not say no to any until I haveunderstood it completely. I feel any rolecan prove to be life-changing for you.�What about doing a reality show?

Yes. I would love to be a part of JhalakDikhlaa Jaa. Though I am a terrible

dancer, but I like dancing. (laughs)�What is the new rule of

channel pricing all about.How will it benefit the

audience?The new pricing

regime by TRAI givesthe consumers the

power to choosethe channelsthey wish towatch. It is af lexible andfamily-friendlyoption. You getto opt forchannels andbouquets thatyou love and payonly for thoseand not wastemoney on others.It has beencreated to ensurea uniform pricingmodel.

It will bring inu n i f o r m i t y ,transparency andpricing parityacross all serviceproviders for thebenefit of ourconsumers.

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The race for party nomina-tion from Congress has

entered the last phases inHaryana with senior Congressleaders and their kin jostlingfor party tickets in the statehaving 10 seats.

At the moment, there is onecertainty—Deepender SinghHooda, who was the soleCongress leader to win a seat inthe state in the 2014 Lok Sabhaelections. He holds the Rohtakparliamentary constituency —a traditional stronghold of theHooda family.

While the BJP had wonseven seats and the Indian

National Lok Dal bagged theremaining two.

Other leaders who arelikely to contest includeKumari Selja from Ambalaand state unit chief AshokTanwar from Sirsa. BothAmbala and Sirsa are reservedconstituencies and have beenrepresented by Selja andTanwar, respectively, in thepast.

Ajay Singh Yadav, NaveenJindal and Karan Singh Dalalare also eyeing tickets fromGurgaon, Kurukshetra andFaridabad, respectively.

Dalal is likely to facecompetition from formerCongress MP from Faridabad,

Avtar Singh Bhadana, whorecently returned to the partyfold after quitting the BJP.

Former chief minister andsitting MLA from GarhiSampla Kiloi, BhupinderSingh Hooda, could spring asurprise by entering the frayfrom Sonipat parliamentaryconstituency, sources closeto the senior Congress leadersaid.

Like Rohtak, the adjoin-ing Sonipat parliamentaryconstituency, which has asizeable number of Jat voters,is considered a bastion ofHooda Senior, a four-timeMP.

If B S Hooda, who was

recently appointed chairmanof Har yana CongressCoordination Committee,wins from Sonipat and his sonmanages to retain Rohtak, itcould make the former astrong contender for the chiefministerial post, the sourcessaid.

Assembly elections inHaryana are scheduled to beheld in October this year.

Besides DeependerHooda, daughter of CongressLegislature Party leader KiranChoudhar y, ShrutiChoudhary, is also amongthe ticket hopefuls. Shruti iseyeing the party ticket fromBhiwani-Mahendergarh Lok

Sabha constituency.Senior Congress MLA

Kuldeep Bishnoi is likely topush for the candidature ofhis son, Bhavya, from Hisarseat.

Amid infighting in thestate unit, the Congress highcommand has planned bustours across Haryana to pre-sent a united face ahead of thepolls.

B S Hooda, however,rejected the claims of infight-ing and exuded confidencethat the party would win witha comfortable margin.

"The entire Congress isone and united under theleadership of our party pres-

ident Rahul Gandhi," he said.The Congress leader also

hit out at Prime MinisterNarendra Modi-led govern-ment at the Centre and ChiefMinister M L Khattar-ledstate government, allegingthat they had failed on to ful-fil people's expectations.

B S Hooda also allegedthat the Centre and the stategovernment had not deliveredon promises made to farmers,youths, traders, and othersections.

Voting will be held inHaryana in the sixth round ofseven-phase Lok Sabha pollson May 12. Results will beannounced on May 23.

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From virtually being a crewmember with the Congress

party in Punjab to first officerwith the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) and now captain of hisown ship, Sukhpal SinghKhaira has faced many a roughseas. But his will to succeedand grit has almost alwayskept him afloat. As he cooks upa storm by floating a new out-fit — Punjabi Ekta Party (PEP),two-time MLA Khaira seemsto have found his true calling.

Punjab’s firebrand and can-did politician, Khaira has takenupon himself “to fight againstthe fountainheads of corrup-tion" in the State. Debuting inhis first parliamentary electoralcontest from the Badals' bas-tion — Bathinda, Khairadeclares to fight against the“Badal clan”. The Pioneer talksto Bholath legislator as hisparty, contesting in alliancewith five other outfits underthe banner of PunjabDemocratic Allinace (PDA),tries to be not at sea during theforthcoming parliamentarypolls. Excerpts from the inter-view:

You were with theCongress during 2014 parlia-mentary polls, you contested2017 state assembly electionsas AAP leader, and now in2019, you have floated yourown front. How do you justi-fy the “shifts” to the people?

I spent two decades in theCongress. And AAP didn’tthrow me, I left the party afterthe way they unceremonious-ly removed me as the Leader of

Opposition (in Vidhan Sabha),and the way (AAP nationalconvener) Arvind Kejriwal hasadopted...I don’t think anymeaningful person can staywith them. See, Alka Lambahas left them. (HS) Phoolkahas left them whether it iswhatever way. And upwardtill Parshant Bhushan...nobodyis with him at all. I have toform my own party becausenow, there is no political partyor entity which is talking aboutsafeguarding the interests ofPunjab. Congress has alwaysbeen anti-Punjab, BJP is anational party and Akali Dalhas given up its agenda, AAPhas different talks on the riverwaters…when in Haryana,they talk differently. So, I was

forced to form the regionalforce and we will ensure thatthe interests of Punjab areprotected strongly. That’s whythe switches and the new party.

What are the strong pointsof PDA over other outfits?

We are going to tell peoplethat here we are with an alter-native to the corrupt tradi-tional parties of Congress andAkali Dal. They have, over theperiod of time, not onlydestroyed Punjab but havemonopolized most of the nat-ural resources and major tradeof the State. They are all undercontrol of political families. Forexample, transport. (SAD pres-ident) Sukhbir Singh Badal,(Congress MLA Kushaldeep

Singh) Kiki Dhillon, (CongressMLA) Avtar Henry, so on andso forth. Ninety percent of thetransport is controlled by polit-ical families. So is the case ofmining. Congress has got itsfront-men across the State,earlier Akalis used to havethese front-men. So we have toliberate Punjab from theclutches of these corrupt par-ties. In such a scenario, thestate exchequer is the loser, andis causing lot of unemploymentin the State. So we are going toexpose these people beforethe electorates during the elec-tions.

What would be the mainpoints of your manifesto?

We are coming up with acommon minimum pro-gramme within a week.Because it is a Lok Sabha

election and we are sixparties involved in it. So wewill come up with a CMP. Andfor the state elections, we willgive a vision document well inadvance for 2022 which will beunlike the false promises of theCongress and Akali Dal.

What would be the chal-lenges for the PDA, and PEPin particular?

We have all got together.Our goal is common, we are onsame page, all of us, mostly. Sowe are going to affect the votesof both the Akali Dal and anti-

incumbency against theCongress, as well as the AAP.Because AAP has literally lostface in the State because of thekind of politics Kejriwal hasadopted by surrendering toBikram Majithia (SAD leader).So, we are looking at the spacevacated by the AAP, the declineof the Akali Dal in Punjabbecause SAD has slipped invote share from 34 percent to26 percent in the VidhanSabha. We feel that they willshed another eight to 10 per-cent votes this time. So weshould be the gainers if wecampaign appropriately and ifgive confidence to the peoplethat we can deliver, I think thevoters should vote for the thirdalternative.

What would be yourcampaign strategy?

We would go infor smaller village orlocal level meetings.We are short offunds, we don’t havethe resources like the

traditional parties.Our campaign would

be to reach out most of thepeople and of course, createvisibility of our candidates inthe state. That is our focusimmediately.

AAP MLA KanwarSandhu has always been onyour side when you were in theparty. What is preventing himto join you?

After I formed the newparty, we have purposelydefended these people (readAAP’s rebel MLAs) or askedthem to stay behind the scene.

Because otherwise the AAPpeople are very chicken-heart-ed, they will make a complaintto the (Vidhan Sabha) Speakerand get them disqualified. Wedon’t want our colleagues to bedisqualified or to force by-elec-tions in the State. They are allwith us, but working frombehind the scenes.

You have appealed to theTaksalis to withdraw theircandidate in favour of PDAcandidate Bibi ParamjeetKaur Khalra who would befacing SAD’s Bibi Jagir Kaurin Khadoor Sahib. Why?

The appeal is not becauseof Jagir Kaur. This appeal is inlarger interest of the State, sothat we would be able to defeatthese anti-Punjab forces inKhadoor Sahib, and she standsa very good chance becauseher contribution or the fightfor human rights and the wayshe lost her husband, and theyhave been consistently fightingfor human rights. She isextremely very good candidateand a panthic candidate aswell. So our appeal to the SAD(Taksalis) is why you are divid-ing votes. On one hand, theTaksalis say that it is a panth-ic party, on the other, they sayMajha, Khadoor Sahib is apanthic area...then why arethey opposing Khalra who isa panthic candidate?Somebody. who has con-tributed so much, should notbe opposed. What General JJSingh has to do in KhadoorSahib...Nothing! That’s whythe appeal. It is not because ofBibi Jagir Kaur as she is noentity there.

This is going to be yourfirst Lok Sabha election. Whatis your strategy?

In Bathinda, I would beexposing the mischiefs andcorruption by the Badal fam-ily. Of course, issues of drugs,farmers’ suicides, unemploy-ment — these will dominatethe political discussion...andalso Guru Granth Sahib’s bead-bi (desecration) and the BehbalKalan killings. And I holdboth these families — CaptAmarinder Singh and theBadals — responsible becausethey have ruled the State turnby turn. Since Dr (Dharamvir)Gandhi (sitting Patiala MPand PDA’s candidate from theseat) is already opposing onemain family in Punjab, that’swhy I opted for Bathinda.Whether a win or lose that’sanother matter. I opted tofight against the fountainheadsof corruption in Punjab.

Are you targeting SAD’ssitting MP from BathindaHarsimrat Badal or the entireBadal family?

Badal clan as such. BecauseI consider them as fountain-heads of corruption. Theyneed to be destroyed, demol-ished so that Punjab canbreathe easy. Otherwise, theywill eat away everything. Theyhave already eaten away every-thing.

You talked about sacrilegeand related firing incidents. Isthe issue still relevant?

Very much relevant,because Akalis are in the dock,they are the culprits. After all,

two boys have been killed inBehbal Kalan and culprits needto be held responsible. I can-not believe that the firingcould have been taken placewithout the order of the ChiefMinister or the Deputy ChiefMinister.

What you have to sayabout the ongoing credit-warbetween the Congress andBJP-Akalis over KatarpurSahib corridor?

This is absolutely wrongon the part of political partiesbecause this is purely to dowith the sentiments of thepeople. If the credit at all goesto anybody, it is the sangatwhich has been praying fromlast many decades to have anaccess to all the shrines whichare not in India now.

SAD Taksali presidentRanjit Singh Brahmpuraadvised you and your allyLok Insaaf Party presidentSimarjeet Bains to “go slow”,while questioning your way offunctioning and dubbing youas inexperienced. How do yourespond?

This is an alibi, actually.We all respect our elders andBrahmpura ji. He fell outbecause of his own failures.Like by unilaterally announc-ing (candidates from) SriAnandpur Sahib and KhadoorSahib, so now, in order tocover-up his mistake, he ismaking this frivolous allega-tion against us. We are notinexperienced. I have foughtfive elections, and have beentwo-time MLA. This is allcock and bull story.

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Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP)Punjab unit chief and MP

from Sangrur, BhagwantMann on Saturday said thatunion minister HarsimratKaur Badal and former PunjabFinance Minister ParminderSungh Dhindsa should notspread rumors about his quit-ting the AAP and joiningsome other political outfit.Terming these gimmicks as amere figment of their imagi-nation, Mann dared them toface the reality on the groundin the upcoming Lok Sabhaelections.

The AAP MP said that hisparty was the only one thathad emerged out of manystruggles, unlike the othertraditional parties, whichgroomed their blue-eyed boysto ensure that the power didnot go out of their hands.

Mann reiterated that hehad during his speeches, saidthat the biggest threat to theintegrity of the country and itsdemocratic tradi-tions was theModi-Shah duoand that AAP wasready to make thebiggest sacrificeto oust themfrom power cor-ridor.

Mann daredSAD PresidentSukhbir SinghBadal throughHarsimrat KaurBadal to contestfrom the SangrurParliamentary constituencyopposite him.

Mann said Harsimratshould focus more on herseat and Dhindsa should,instead of giving unsolicitedadvisories, follow the advice ofhis father.

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With Congress fielding formerUnion minister Sukhram's

grandson and youth leader AshraySharma from Mandi, the political

temperature in the hill state has heat-ed up and it is seen as an advantagefor the Congress.

Former MP and former stateminister Col Dhani Ram Shandil isthe othe candidate declared byCongress from Shimla (SC) seat. Theparty is yet to declare its candidates

on the remaining two (Hamirpurand Kangra) of the total four seats inthis hilly state.

The BJP declared its candidatesfor all the parliamentary constituen-cies in the state on March 23.

In the Lok Sabha elections,Debutant Aashray Sharma, 33, willtake on sitting BJP MP RamswaroopSharma on the Mandi seat. FormerHimachal Pradesh minister and for-mer MP Col Dhani Ram Shandil willfight against Pachhad BJP MLASuresh Kashyap on Shimla (SC) seat.

Aashray Sharma, along with hisgrandfather Sukh Ram, rejoined theCongress on March 25.

Interestingly, Sukh Ram's son andAashray's father, Anil Sharma, is cur-rently the Power minister in Jai Ram

Thakur-led BJP government in thestate.

Anil Sharma is elected MLA fromthe Mandi assembly segment whichfalls under the Mandi parliamentaryseat. Anil Sharma has already declaredhe would remain in the BJP.

It remains to be seen whether Anil

Sharma campaigns against his sonAashray and in support of BJP can-didate Ramswaroop Sharma in theelections.

Col Shandil, 78, was elected MPfrom Shimla seat in 1999 and 2004 onHimachal Vikas Party and Congresstickets, respectively. He was also MLAfrom Solan and remained SocialJustice minister in Himachal.

The Congress has replaced itscandidates on both the seats.

Former chief minister VirbhadraSingh's wife Pratibha Singh was theCongress nominee from Mandi in2014 and was defeated with a marginof 39,856 votes by present BJP candi-date Ramswaroop Sharma.

Similarly, the Congress fieldedRohru MLA Mohan Lal Brakta fromShimla during the last Lok Sabha elections but BJP's VirenderKashyap defeated him by 84,187votes.

New faces from both the Congressand the BJP will take on each other onthe Shimla seat as the saffron partyalso changed its candidate this timeand fielded Pachhad BJP MLA SureshKashyap.

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Haryana unit of the BJPwill join the Main Bhi

Chowkidar programmewhich will be addressed byPrime Minister NarendarModi through VideoConferencing on Sunday.

State BJP President,Subhash Barala sid that theMain Bhi Chowkidar pro-gramme will be launched byholding 11 programmes in allthe 10 Lok Sabha constituen-cies which will be addressedby State Ministers and partyleaders.

In Gurgaon two pro-grammes will be held, he saidadding that the speech of thePrime Minister wil l be telecast on large screens at allthe places at around 4.30 pm.

Barala said said that since

past many decades Congresshas been continuing withGaribi Hatao and reduceprices of essential commodities, but the assur-

ances had remained mere slo-gans so far.

Asked about declarationof candidates for the 10 LokSabha seats, he said that the

State unit has sent the rec-ommendations to the CentralElection Committee whichwill take a final decision.

Chief Minister Manohar

Lal will preside over the func-tion with Minister Rao NarbirSingh at Gurugram.

The Second function atGurugram will have UnionMinister Rao Inderjeet Singh.Other ministers have beenassigned different Lok Sabhaconstituencies.

In Faridabad Barala willbe present with Union Minister Krishan PalGurjjar and state MinisterVipul Goel.

Anil Vij will be present atAmbala, Central MinisterBirendar Singh and OmParkash Dhankar, ManishGrover at Rohtak, Ram BilasSharma at Mahendargarh,Karan Dev Kamboj at Sirsa,Krishan Bedi at Kurukshetra,Krishan Panwar and NayabSaini at Karnal, CaptainAbhimanyu at Hissar andKavita Jain at Sonipat.

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Election Commission ofIndia (ECI), on Saturday,

cleared the name of 1986batch IAS officer Dr. DKTiwari for the post of newChief Secretary of Jharkhand.

With 1985 batch IAS offi-cer Sudhir Tripathi retiringfrom the post of CS onSunday Dr. Tiwari would nowhold the topmost bureaucrat-ic post in the State. Tiwari iscurrent ly posted as theDevelopment Commissionerof Jharkhand.

Born in 1960 in Mahoba,a town situated inBundelkhand region of UttarPradesh, Tiwari holds adegree in MBBS and LLBalong with a master’s degreein economics.

After completing hisschool education fromMahoba and then Lalitpur inUP, Tiwari took admission inMBBS course at KingGeorge's Medical College,

Lucknow in the batch 1977-82. This was followed by himgetting an LLB degree fromChhotanagpur Law College inRanchi and then a Masters ofArts in Economics fromUniversity of Manchester,

United Kingdom in the batch1998-99.

After cracking the UnionPublic Service Commission(UPSC) examination in 1986,he was selected for IndianAdministrative Service andjoined as an officer in theundivided State of Bihar. Hecontinued ser ving inJharkhand after the divisionof Bihar in 2000.

In his journey as an IASofficer for over three decades,Tiwari has served on variousimportant bureaucratic postsin Bihar and Jharkhand.

He served as the sub divi-sional magistrate at Masaurhi(Patna) from 1988 to 1990 fol-lowed by the post of addi-tional district magistrate inRanchi in the year 1990 to1992.

Tiwari was then posted inKishanganj, Bihar in the year1992-94 as DM and Collector.From 1994 to 1999, he servedas the project director ofBPDP, a World Bank Project

for area development ofSouthern Plateau area ofBihar.

In the year 1998-99,Tiwari went to Manchester toget his Masters in Economicsand returned in 2000 to joinas the DM and Collector inChhapra, Bihar.

After formation ofJharkhand, Tiwari serves asExcise Commissioner and IGRegistration and special sec-retary in Home Departmentfrom the year 2001 to 2003.

From 2003 to 2007 he wasposted as secretary, buildingconstruction department, in2008-09 he serves as secretarywater resource departmentand secretary excise depart-ment, followed by becomingsecretary, health, medicaleducation and family welfaredepartment in 200-10.

Tiwari served as principalsecretar y to the ChiefMinister from 2010 to 2013and then principal secretary,human resource department

and planning department in2013-14.

He became the PrincipalResident Commissioner ofJharkhand Bhavan in NewDelhi in 2014 and continuedtill 2017 before being postedas additional chief secretary,labour and water resourcesdepartment, where he servedtill May 2018.

He was posted asDevelopment Commissioneron June 7, 2018.

Dr. Tiwari's wife AlkaTiwari is also an IAS officer of1988 batch and is presentlyposted as Addit ionalSecretary and Financial advi-sor in the Ministr y ofChemicals & Fertilizers,Government of India. He hasa daughter who is a lawyerand a son who is working ina multinational company inBoston, U.S.A.

Tiwari also has two broth-ers, both of whom are seniorIAS officers in UP and Punjabrespectively.

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Chief Minister RaghubarDas on Saturday said that

the people of Santhal Parganamust now support BharatiyaJanata Party’s (BJP) candi-dates since Jharkhand MuktiMorcha (JMM) supremoShibu Soren was ageing.

“You have supportedShibu Soren since a long timeand he deserved that support.But now, he is ageing and youall must render your supportto Sunil Soren in Dumka andHemlal Murmu in Rajmahal,”said Das.

The blessings that peopleof Santhal Pargana bestowupon the BJP’s candidates willempower Prime MinisterNarendra Modi at the centreand result in holistic develop-ment of the state as well as thecountry, he added.

Das was in Dumka onSaturday to address partyworkers.

He counted the Sahibganjbridge and construction ofharbour in the district asachievements of the rulingGovernment and said thatsuch developmental works will

take Santhal Pargana to newheights in the days to come.

“The construction of theharbour will be complete with-in three to four months. Theconstruction work for thebridge too will begin verysoon,” said Das, adding thatthe harbour will boost busi-ness in the region and bringdevelopment through indus-trial boom.

He also paid tribute to thefreedom fighters of Santhal

Pargana and called the regiona land of bravehearts.

“It is our priority to workfor the development of thedescendants of Sidhu Kanho and Chand Bhairav,” hesaid.

The BJP won 12 of 14 LokSabha seats in Jharkhand dur-ing the 16th General Electionsin 2014. However, the JMM,which has its roots in SanthalPargana, won the Dumka andRajmahal seats.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi’s ‘Main Bhi

Chowkidar’ programme, inwhich he will address citizens ofthe country through videocon-ferencing in over 500 locationsacross India, will be webcast ongiant screens in 15 locationsacross Jharkhand on Sunday, theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saidon Saturday.

Party workers and com-moners in Jharkhand will beable to attend the videoconfer-encing in all the 14 Lok Sabhaconstituencies here. TheJamshedpur constituency, dueto its higher population andarea, will have two venues forthe event, the BJP told themedia.

Addressing the media at theparty’s state headquarters inRanchi, Urban DevelopmentMinister CP Singh said thatevery citizen of the country is aChowkidar and is performinghis or her duty by protectingand safeguarding the country insome way or the other.

“The Prime Minister hasalready addressed over 25 lakhChowkidars by now. Over 30lakh people in the country haveadded prefix Chowkidar totheir names in social media and#MainBhiChowkidar is one ofthe most trending hash tags onTwitter lately,” said Singh.

He added that Modi’saddress to the people of thecountry through the Main BhiChowkidar event will furtherincrease the sense of pridemany Indians take in beingsecurity guards of the countryat different levels.

Taking a jibe at CongressPresident Rahul Gandhi, Singhsaid that Gandhi’s ChowkidarHi Chor Hai remark demeansthe integrity of all securityguards in the country.

“Though some people lookdown upon Chowkidars, ourPM believes that Chowkidarsare the safety providers and pro-tectors of our country,” he said.

The Main Bhi Chowkidarevents in Jharkhand will beattended by all the BJP bigwigshere. Right from UnionMinister Jayant Sinha to StateBJP President Laxman Giluaand local MLAs to State minis-ters, every venue in Jharkhandwill have at least one senior BJPleader during the PM’s address.

The Main Bhi Chowkidarwar cry of the BJP startedtrending on social media afterModi added prefix Chowkidarto his Twitter handle. The devel-opments happened in reactionto Rahul Gandhi’s repeated jibesat Modi, in which he referred toModi as Chowkidar and popu-larized the slogan, ‘ChowkidarHi Chor Hai’ (security guard isa thief) among the Congresscadre.

Soon after Modi made thechange on his Twitter handle,

BJP President Amit Shah andother party stalwarts followedthe pattern. Social media playeda pivotal role in BJP’s 2014 land-slide victory, and with the 2019

General Elections around thecorner, the Main BhiChowkidar trend on socialmedia may give the party a fil-lip in the polls.

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The Jharkhand MuktiMorcha (JMM) on Sunday

accused the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) of influencing aca-demicians in educational insti-tutions and using top police offi-cials in the State for politicalbenefits.

JMM’s General SecretarySupriyo Bhattaracharya onSunday expressed discontent-ment over Ranchi University’sVice Chancellor RameshPandey’s “Chowkidar Bano”remark at the convocation cer-emony of the varsity onSaturday and accused him oftrying to politically influence

students before the elections.“The incident shows how

the BJP is trying to take controlover educational institutionsand create political opinions. Wehave lodged a complaint forModel Code of Conduct(MCC) violation against theVice Chancellor,” he said.

Bhattacharya also accusedthe BJP of reducing postgrad-uate and graduate students to“Chowkidars”. “At a time whensecurity guards of the Statehave not received their salary forthe past four months, the ViceChancellor of a university is ask-ing his students to becomeChowkidar. This is dishearten-ing,” he said.

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All is not going well in oppo-sition party’s recently

formed Grand Alliance as for-mer Chief Minister of BiharLalu Prasad-led Rashtriya JanataDal (RJD) on Saturday reiterat-ed that there was no question ofretreating from its stand ofcontesting the Chatra parlia-mentary seat here. BesidesChatra, the party will contestPalamu.

Former Deputy ChiefMinister of Bihar, TejashwiYadav will visit Jharkhand onApril, 5 to take part in RJD can-didate’s nomination programmein Chatra, said RJD’s State pres-ident Gautam Sagar Rana.

According to the seat shar-ing agreement of the GrandAlliance, out of total 14 LokSabha seats in Jharkhand, theCongress will contest sevenseats, the JMM will contestfour seats while the JVM-Pwill contest from two seats andRJD from one seat.

Congress will field its can-didates for Ranchi, Khunti,Hazaribagh, Dhanbad,Chaibasa, Lohardaga andChatra, while JMM will contestfrom Dumka, Rajmahal, Giridihand Jamshedpur and JVM willcontest from Koderma andGodda.

Just three days earlier, defy-ing the seat sharing formula ofthe alliance, former Bihar ChiefMinister Rabri Devi gave theChatra ticket to Subhash Yadavin Patna.

The State unit of the partycalled its working committeemeeting today to show solidar-ity after renouncement of for-mer party State presidentsAnnapurna Devi and GirinathSingh. After the renouncementof Devi the party has nominat-ed Gautam Sagar Rana as theState unit president.

“As our vote base in Palamuand Chatra is very strong weinsisted before the time ofinception of the alliance that theparty will contest from both theseats. We have given the partysymbol to the party workerSubhash Yadav so there is noquestion to revert the deci-sion,” said Rana..

The party convened theworking committee meeting tochalk out future strategy inupcoming general election.

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The Aligarh district magis-trate has submitted "evi-

dence" to the ElectionCommission regardingRajasthan Governor KalyanSingh's reported remarks sup-porting the return of NarendraModi as Prime Minister.

The Election Commissionis examining his reportedremarks in the light of possibleviolation of the Model Code ofConduct, as holding a consti-tutional post makes the gover-nor "apolitical".

The sources said detailsand clip of the comments weresubmitted to the Uttar Pradeshchief electoral officer Friday.

Addressing BJP workers athis Aligarh residence on March23, Singh had reportedly said,"All of us are BJP workers andwe want the party to win. Wewant Modiji to become theprime minister."

Singh, a former UttarPradesh Chief Minister, report-edly made these remarks to pla-cate some agitated BJP mem-bers who had gathered outsidehis house over ticket distribu-tion.

In the 1990s, the ElectionCommission had expresseddispleasure over HimachalPradesh Governor GulsherAhmed campaigning for his son in elections. He hadlater quit.

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Congress on Saturdayalleged mismanagement

of the economy by theGovernment and that it hassuffered due to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's "reckless"decisions. The party also hitout at for announcing thatIndia had demonstrated anti-satellite missile capability, say-ing only a "foolishGovernment" would makesuch a disclosure and "betray"a defence secret.

Congress claimed thatModi has to be held account-able for destroying tens of mil-lions of jobs by demonetisation.While former Union MinisterAnand Sharma said that in thepast five years, India's econo-my is "gasping" instead of "gal-loping", former FinanceMinister P Chidambaramsought answers from the primeminister on high unemploy-ment rate and job losses, citingdata from the National SampleSurvey Office (NSSO).

"The government isdestroying the credibility ofIndian data by embellishing thedata, fudging numbers andinflating figures. The fact is thatthere has been an monumen-tal mismanagement of Indianeconomy under his watch. It isnot galloping economy but a

gasping economy, a strugglingeconomy which has also suf-fered because of the recklessdecision of Prime MinisterModi," he said at AICC brief-ing.

Sharma said the fourengines of the Indian economy— investment, manufactur-ing, exports and capital for-mation — were down. "He hasto answer for a hasty imposi-tion of a flawed GST modelwhich he claimed to be 'onenation, one tax', but it is onenation, f ive taxes whichexcludes 45 per cent of the rev-enue, making Indian GST themost burdensome most com-plex," he said.

Sharma also alleged thatthe country has played with thecredibility of the country's data."Fudging of the data is notgoing to help. NITI Aayog's jobis not meant to embellish num-bers and fudge the country'sdata. The prime minister andhis government has playedwith the credibility of the coun-try's data. They have dented thecredibility," he said.

Senior Congress leader PChidambaram hit out at PrimeMinister for announcing thatIndia had demonstrated anti-satellite missile capability, say-ing only a "foolish govern-ment" would make such a dis-closure and "betray" a defencesecret.

Slamming the announce-ment by of A-SAT by primeminister, senior Congressleader P Chidambaram questioned the motive of thegovernment in making theannouncement. "The capabili-ty to shoot down a satellite hasexisted for many years. A wisegovernment will keep the capa-bility secret. Only a foolish gov-ernment will disclose it andbetray a defence secret. Besides,why was it done now in themiddle of an election cam-paign? Only to boost the sag-ging fortunes of the BJP,"Chidambaram claimed.

Following the prime min-ister's speech, severalOpposition parties had com-plained to the ElectionCommission alleging violationof the model code of conduct.The Election Commission,however, said on Friday nightthat Modi's address to thenation on the successful test-firing of an anti-satellite missiledid not violate the model codeof conduct.

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An analysis of self-declaredaffidavits of outgoing Lok

Sabha MPs shows that 19 fromAndhra Pradesh have an aver-age annual self-income of�1.05 crore, the highest amongall MPs in the country. The fig-ures also reveal an inverserelationship between educa-tional qualification and income— 106 or 22 per cent of MPswho are graduates have anaverage annual self income of�41.28 lakh while six MPswho have declared their edu-cational qualification as Class5 pass have an average annualself-income of �1.41 crore.The analysis by the Associationof Democratic Rights (ADR)and National Election Watch(NEW) of the affidavits of 479Lok Sabha MPs submittedbefore the 2014 general elec-tions also reveals that Odisha,one of the poorest States, sendssome of the richest MPs toParliament.

The ADR-NEW figuresshow that after AndhraPradesh, the State's 15 MPshave the second highest aver-age annual self-income of �68.8lakh. Other States and MPswho figure in the top 10 in thiscategory comprising states andunion territories are Gujarat's

24 MPs (�59.5 lakh), Punjab's13 MPs (�51.4 lakh), Haryana's10 MPs (�42.6 lakh),Jharkhand's 14 MPs (�39.07lakh), Assam's 13 MPs (�32.7lakh), Uttar Pradesh's 72 MPs(�32.03 lakh), Rajasthan's 20MPs (�30.7 lakh) andTelangana's 14 MPs (�30.6lakh). BJP's Kirron Kher, thelone MP from Chandigarh,declared an annual self-incomeof �1.72 crore.

The ADR and NEW haveanalysed the self-declared affi-davits of 479 out of the 521 sit-ting Lok Sabha MPs, whichwere submitted in 2014, priorto the general elections. 42MPs did not declare theirincome and hence have notbeen included in the report.

According to report,98(20%) out of 479 MPs havedeclared business as their pro-fession, and 91(19%) MPs as anagriculturist/ farmer. 16(3%)MPs who have declared theirprofession asActor/Filmmaker/ Singer havethe highest average annual self-income of �106.81 lakh.

As far as the other south-ern states are concerned,Telangana's 14 MPs have aver-age annual income of �30.6lakh, Karnataka's 27 MPs have�26.4 lakh, Kerala's 17 MPshave �10.6 lakh and Tamil

Nadu's 33 MPs have annualaverage income of �7.2 lakh.Two MPs analysed of Goahave the lowest average annu-al self-income of �5.3 lakh, fol-lowed by 33 MPs analysed ofTamil Nadu with average annu-al self-income of �7.2 lakh.

Out of 479 MPs analysed,5 (2%) MPs have not giventheir profession in their affi-davit. The report said that 40(8%) MPs who have declaredtheir profession as agricultureand business, have the secondhighest average annual self-income of �75.24 lakh. Asmany as 106 (22%) MPs havedeclared their educational qual-ification as graduate. The aver-age annual self-income of theseMPs is �41.28 lakh.There are 6MPs who have declared theireducational qualification as5th pass. The average annualself-income of these 6 MPs is�1.41 crore.

It further stated that asmany as 150 MPs aged between46-55 years, have average annu-al self-income of �40.54 lakhwhereas 54 MPs aged 66-75years, have average annual selfincome of �16.72 lakh.Only 58(12%) MPs are women. On anaverage a male MP's annualself- income is �30.54 lakh,whereas for a female MP, it is�28.46 lakh.

�� -0,��012�

In a first of its kind initiative,the Election Commission

(EC) has reached out to over150 Community Radio stationsfrom across the country to helpeducate and inform the voters.According to EC, the commu-nity radio is one the best medi-um to reach the last voter ofthe country.

Addressing an eventorganised by IndiaInternational Institute forDemocracy and ElectoralManagement (IIIDEM), inpartnership with SeekingModern Applications for RealTransformation (SMART), atIIIDEM, Dwarka, DeputyElection CommissionerUmesh Sinha saidCommunity Radio can play avital role in motivating andmobilising the voters, enlistingthe underserved voters into theelectoral roll, mobilising themto go to the polling booth, edu-cating them about their rightsand responsibilities, and mak-ing them an informed andeducated voter.

He emphasised that everyvoter is the first representativeof the country, they are the sol-

diers and play an importantrole in protecting democracy.

" Elections provide a levelplaying field as each vote hasthe same power, no matter whocasts it -the richest of the richor the poorest of the poor.Community Radio can play animportant role in strengthen-ing democracy by developingcontent in their local dialectsand deepening the process ofvoter education and awarenessupto the grass root levels. Heassured that CommunityRadio Stations will nowbecome an integral part of thevoter education programme.

The workshop was inau-gurated by Mr ChandraBhushan Kumar, DeputyElection Commissioner & DG,IIIDEM on March 25, whoiterated that CommunityRadios can play a pivotal rolein increasing voter enrolmentand participation in the"Festival of Democracy". Hesaid that the tag line of 'Novoter to be left behind' was toensure that each and every eli-gible voter irrespective of his orher economic status, class,caste or profession under-stands the importance of his orher vote.

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For those downing a peg ortwo daily, it is sure to be a

dampener due to dry daysdeclared by the ElectionCommission (EC) prior 48hours on polling day across thecountry. During 48 hoursbefore the end of polling in anyconstituency, sale and distrib-ution of spirit based liquor;intoxicant or any substance ofthe same nature will be pro-hibited in hotels, restaurants,bars, clubs, shops and anyother public and private placeon dry days declared by thecommission. Even, non pro-prietary clubs, star hotels,restaurants should also not bepermitted to serve liquor onthese days even if they areissued different categories oflicenses for possession andsupply of liquor.

Besides, storage of liquorby individuals should be cur-tailed during dry days.Interestingly, more dry daysand stringent checks on carry-ing liquor have left revelersdispirited. In fact Uttar

Pradesh, Bihar and WestBengal will go for voting in allseven phase which means moredry day for tipplers. As per ECdata, 61.29 lakh litre liquorworth �129.86 crore has beenseized across the country tillMarch 30 after the impositionof model code of conduct.

Officials said that in Delhi,there will be seven dry days tillMay 23. In April, there arethree official dry days — RamNavami (on April 14), MahavirJayanti (April 17) and GoodFriday (April 19) during whichthe sale of liquor will be pro-hibited. The sale of liquor willbe banned 48 hours before thenational capital goes to poll andso, no liquor shop will be openfrom 6 pm onwards on May 10and the ban will go on till 6 pm

on May 12. Besides, May 23(the counting day of Lok Sabhapolls) will be also observed asdry day.

Officials of excise depart-ment said that there are 800liquor shops in Delhi and anaverage per day sale is esti-mated over �10-14 crore. TheState Government has set up 14excise team to keep a close eyeon the sale of liquor.

Due to polls, there will befive dry days In Maharashtra.Maharashtra will go to poll infour phases, which means thatdifferent cities in the state willobserve dry days on differentdates. According to EC officials.the rules state that alcohol saleshould be banned in 5 kmperiphery if the elections arebeing held in the neighbouringstate. However, no such rule isapplicable if a neighbouringdistrict is going to poll.

Liquor shops in Mumbaiwill be shut on April 27 (6 pmonwards), on April 28th thesale of alcohol will be bannedfor the whole day due to elec-tions. April 29th will see aliquor sale ban till 6 pm

approximately. The first day ofMay will be a dry day as it'll bea state holiday due toMaharashtra Diwas.Additionally, May 23, electioncounting day, will also beobserved as a dry day.

There will be three drydays in Goa as the state will goon poll on April 23 which willbe observed as a dry day whilethere April 21 and 22 will bedry days. The liquor shopswill be closed on May 23rd asthe election results will beannounced.

"The EC has directed forstrict compliance of legal pro-visions. This system will also befollowed on counting day as itis also declared dry day underthe laws. During the countingday, sale and serving of liquorwill not be permitted in shops,hotels, restaurants and clubs,"the EC said in its directive tostates.

Punjab will go on poll onMay 19 and there will be com-plete ban on sale of liquor onMay 17 and 18. However, thishas already hit the big, fatwedding plans in the State.

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The EnforcementDirectorate on Saturday

attached hotel Holiday Inn,valued at �120 crore, locatedin the upscale Aerocity area inthe national Capital, in con-nection with a money laun-dering case against allegedaviation lobbyist DeepakTalwar. Talwar, who wasdeported from Dubai inJanuary this year and arrest-ed by the agency, "beneficial-ly owned" a company, WaveHospitality Private Limited,that, the ED alleged, usedtainted money to constructthe hotel, next to the IndiraGandhi International Airport.

The multi-storeyed plushhotel boasts of some of the

most expensive boarding anddining facil it ies in theAerocity complex that wasconstructed few years ago forinternational and domesticair passengers coming to

Delhi.The agency said a provi-

sional order for attaching theproperty was issued by itunder the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA). The ED is probingTalwar in a criminal case ofmoney laundering. Theagency alleged that he "ille-gally engaged inliasoning/lobbying with politi-cians, ministers and otherpublic servants and officials ofthe Ministry of Civil Aviationfor airlines such as Emirates,Air Arabia and Qatar Airwaysfor securing undue benefitsfor them" during the tenure ofthe UPA Government.

"He (Talwar) illegallymanaged to secure favourabletraffic rights for these airlines

during 2008-09 at the cost ofnational carrier, Air India," theagency said in a statement.Investigation revealed that inlieu of securing favourabletraffic rights, these airlinesmade payments to the tune ofRs 272 crore to Talwar during2008-09, it said.

"It has been revealed thatTalwar created a web of entities owned by him and his family members in Indiaand international offshorehavens to launder proceeds ofcrime of �272 crore receivedfrom foreign airlines," thestatement said. "Part of thesepayments were made to anaccount in Bank of Singapore,belonging to a companyAsiafield Limited registered inthe British Virgin Islands and

beneficially owned by DeepakTalwar," it added.

These proceeds were "layered" through a series ofinternational money trans-fers, to finally integrate inIndia in Wave HospitalityPrivate Limited, a companybeneficially owned and con-trolled by Talwar and his fam-ily members, in the name ofhis son, Aditya Talwar, the EDalleged. "These crime pro-ceeds were then utilised in theconstruction of hotel HolidayInn in Aerocity, New Delhi,"it said.

Talwar is in judicial cus-tody at present and the agencyis expected to file its firstcharge sheet against himbefore a special PMLA courton Saturday.

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IEEE, the world's largest pro-fessional organisation

advancing technologyforhumanity, signed an agreementwith the Common ServicesCenters (CSC), an initiative ofthe Ministry of Electronics andIT (MeitY) to help upskill awider base of learners across thecountry in core technologiesthrough its Blended LearningProgram (BLP) certificate pro-grams.

Under this agreement,IEEE will work through CSCsacross the country to train theyoung professionals in skillsthat align with the Digital Indiainitiative of the Government ofIndia, which in turn will createjobs in the emerging fields ofbuilding/managing data net-

works, Internet of Things (IoT)and help connect the nationdigitally. "The aim of this agree-ment is to jointly create jobs andbridge the digital divide", saidHarish Mysore, Senior DirectorIEEE India Operations.

CEO, CSC Dr. DineshTyagi said, "Through this part-nership with IEEE we look tostrengthen our offering in theeLearning space for learnersacross the country, who will allbenefit from our last mile reach.With the skills attained throughthese programs we expect thatthe learners will be able toimprove their chances of gettinghired in the respective new agedomains of technology."Common Services Centers(CSCs) are a strategic corner-stone of the Digital India pro-gramme.

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New Delhi: Slamming RahulGandhi for his remarks that theCongress, if voted to power,would scrap the NITI Aayog,senior BJP leader MukhtarAbbas Naqvi alleged onSaturday that the Oppositionparty was "threatening anddefaming" constitutional insti-tutions.

The Union MinorityAffairs Minister's remarkscame a day after Congresspresident Gandhi said his partywould replace NITI Aayogwith a "lean" PlanningCommission.

The "shehzada" is speakingunder the influence of his"arrogance of feudal mentality",

Naqvi said in an apparent ref-erence to Gandhi.

When the Congress was inpower, "the anarchy and arro-gance of the feudal family"was at its peak in "criminal mis-use" of constitutional institu-tions and now in theOpposition, they are "threat-ening and defaming" theseconstitutional institutions, healleged.

For the past five years, theCongress has tried to threatenand defame various constitu-tional institutions such as theElection Commission, theCentral Vigilance Commissionand now the NITI Aayog, hetold reporters. PTI

New Delhi: CPI(M) GeneralSecretary Sitaram Yechury onSaturday wrote to the ElectionCommission insisting PrimeMinister Narendra Modi'saddress to nation over the ASATlaunch was "a gross violation" ofthe MCC because after hisspeech the PM claimed he wasa "chowkidar not only on landand air but also in outer space".

Yechury's letter to the ChiefElection Commissioner comesa day after an election commis-sion team declared that Modi'saddress on the successful test-fir-ing of an anti-satellite missile didnot violate provisions of themodel code of conduct.

The poll panel had consti-tuted the committee to look intothe PM's speech upon complaintby Yechury and other opposition

parties. A copy of the EC'sFriday report was also sent toYechury.

In his Saturday letter,Yechury said the EC made a"narrow interpretation" of hiscomplaint.

"Since the ECI has confineditself exclusively to the issue of'misuse of official media' I wouldrequest the ECI to direct the offi-cial media to treatspeeches/statements made byleaders of recognized nationalparties in a similar manner asthey have treated this speech ofthe Prime Minister," he said.

The larger issue, he said, wasthat the PM as a candidate in theelections is "using" the office ofthe Prime Minister to convey adevelopment achieved by sci-entists. "This constitutes a gross

misuse of the office for further-ing electoral objectives," Yechuryargued.

He said that soon after thespeech, the Prime Minister is onrecord to claim that he is a"chowkidar (watchman) notonly on land and air but also inouter space". The Prime Ministerhas often called himself achowkidar (watchman) to high-light his fight against corruptionand his strong stand on nation-al security. "The Prime Ministerand other leaders of the BJP areactively campaigning saying thatthis Government has shownthe guts which previous gov-ernments did not. What elsedoes this mean but a gross mis-use of the office of the PrimeMinister for seeking electoralgains," Yechury said. PTI

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In the face of increased threat to ‘BlueHelmets’, India has strongly under-

scored the need of well trained peace-keepers in UN missions, saying that theirimportance cannot be overemphasised.

India’s remarks came after UNSecretary General António Guterres onFriday stressed on the need to makepeacekeeping missions “stronger andsafer” during the 2019 United NationsPeacekeeping Ministerial here.

Ministers of defence, foreign affairsand high-level officials from more than130 member states and intergovern-mental organisations gathered at theUnited Nations headquarters for the min-isterial to discuss and generate the spe-cialised capabilities necessary for con-temporary peacekeeping, with a specif-ic focus on performance, protection ofcivilians and women, peace, and securi-ty.

“India is a signatory to A4P (Actionfor Peacekeeping) declaration and isready to play an active role in collective-ly achieving the shared commitmentsidentified in the declaration. With

increased threat to the Blue Helmets, theimportance of well trained boots onground cannot be overemphasised,”Additional Secretary in the Ministry ofDefence Mala Dutt said at the minister-ial.

He said as a responsible TroopContributing Country, India will con-tinue to deploy professional troops in themissions and work towards capacitybuilding of UN missions.

Addressing the Training andCapacity Building session in the UNGeneral Assembly hall, Dutt said since theimplementation of the UN PeacekeepingCapability Readiness System (UNPCRS),India has pledged and deployed units andenablers as required by UN.

Presently, India has committed anInfantry Battalion as a RapidlyDeployable Battalion, one Engineer andSignal Company, Force Military PolicePlatoon and three Formed Police Unitsin UNPCRS.

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Threatening drastic actionagainst Mexico, President

Donald Trump declared he islikely to shut down America’ssouthern border next weekunless Mexican authoritiesimmediately halt all illegalimmigration.

Such a severe move couldhit the economies of bothcountries, but the presidentemphasised, “I am not kiddingaround.”

“It could mean all trade”with Mexico, Trump said whenquestioned Friday by reportersin Florida. “We will close it fora long time.”

Trump has been promisingfor more than two years tobuild a long, impenetrable wallalong the border to stop illegalimmigration, though Congresshas been reluctant to providethe money he needs.

In the meantime, he has

repeatedly threatened to closethe border, but this time, witha new surge of migrants head-ing north, he gave a definitetimetable.

A substantial closure couldhave an especially heavy impacton cross-border communitiesfrom San Diego to South Texas,as well as supermarkets thatsell Mexican produce, factoriesthat rely on imported parts,and other businesses across theUS.

The US and Mexico tradeabout USD 1.7 billion in goods

daily, according to the USChamber of Commerce, whichsaid closing the border wouldbe “an unmitigated economicdebacle” that would threaten 5million American jobs.

Trump tweeted Fridaymorning, “If Mexico doesn’timmediately stop ALL illegalimmigration coming into theUnited States through ourSouthern Border, I will beCLOSING the Border, or largesections of the Border, nextweek.”

He didn’t qualify his threatwith “or large sections,” stating:“There is a very good likeli-hood I’ll be closing the bordernext week, and that is just finewith me.”

He said several times thatit would be “so easy” forMexican authorities to stopimmigrants passing throughtheir country and trying toenter the US illegally, “but theyjust take our money and ‘talk.’”

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Flash floods caused by heavyrains have killed at least 35

people in Afghanistan, washingaway houses and cutting offaccess to remote villages acrossparts of the country, officialssaid on Saturday.

Heavy flooding that start-ed early on Friday killed at least12 people in the northernprovince of Faryab and 10people in the western provinceof Herat, said HashmatBahaduri, a spokesman forAfghanistan’s National DisasterManagement Authority(ANDMA).

Eight people were killed inBadghis province in the westand five in Balkh province inthe north, Bahaduri told AFP,

adding that more than 3,000houses had been destroyed.

In Herat, 10 districts andsome parts of Herat city wereimpacted, said Jailani Farhad,spokesman for the province’sgovernor.

“Hundreds of houses havebeen destroyed and thousandsdisplaced,” he said. MirGulabuddin Miri, director ofthe Afghan Red Crescent inHerat, said access to some

areas had been cut off, pre-venting teams from reachingaffected people.

“The destruction is huge.Over 12 areas in the provincehave been badly hit, peoplehave lost their houses. We’veonly been able to provide themwith some food and blankets sofar,” he said.

Aid workers in the north-ern provinces of Faryab andBalkh have also been strug-gling to deliver humanitarianassistance to affected families.

“We have dispatched ourfood and non-food assistancefor the affected families, butthe scale of the disaster is mas-sive. We need more humani-tarian assistance,” an ANDMAspokesman in northernAfghanistan told AFP.

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Bangladesh security forcesstopped 29 people, mostly

Rohingya Muslims, from beingsmuggled to Malaysia in ricketyfishing boats, officials saidSaturday, the latest group pre-vented from leaving squalidrefugee camps.

Lieutenant CommanderMahmud Hasan saidBangladesh Coast Guard forcesfound 16 women, seven chil-dren and six men waiting for theboat along the coast of thesouthern Saint Martin’s Islandearly Saturday. “Among them 22are Rohingya refugees from theCox’s Bazar camps and the restare Bangladeshis. We have alsoarrested three human traffick-ers with a boat,” Hasan toldreporters.

The official said they havehanded over the traffickers tothe police and sent the refugeesback to Kutupalong, the largestrefugee camp in the world.

About 740,000 of theMuslim minority fled Myanmarfor Bangladesh, escaping amilitary crackdown in theBuddhist-majority nation inAugust 2017, and joining some300,000 Rohingya already living

in the overcrowded camps.Saturday’s operation

marked the sixth time sinceNovember that Rohingya havebeen intercepted attempting toget a boat to Malaysia, a moreprosperous Muslim-majoritynation.

Bangladesh security forceslast month stopped more than100 people -- mostly Rohingyarefugees -- from making thedangerous journey.

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ATaliban assault on a policecheckpoint led to the

deaths of four students onSaturday in eastern Ghazniprovince, a provincial officialsaid.

Arif Noori, a spokesmanfor provincial governor, saidthat 17 others, including 15students and two teachers,were wounded when an explo-sion, likely caused by rocketfire, hit the school in Andar dis-trict. The spokesman addedthat the students killed arebetween 10 and 16 years old.

He said that provincialofficials are investigating whofired the projectile hitting theschool during the standoffbetween security forces andTaliban.

No one immediately

claimed responsibility for theattack.

Taliban insurgents havestepped up their attacks againstAfghan security targets inrecent months.

In a separate incident innortheastern Badakhshanprovince, Taliban insurgentsoverran a district headquarterslate Friday, said NekMohammad Nazari, aspokesman for the provincialgovernor. “Afghan securityforces retreated from theArghanj Khowa district head-quarters to avoid civiliancausalities,” said Nazari.Reinforcements have beendispatched to repel the Taliban,he added.

The Taliban assault beganThursday night, killing fourpolice and wounding five oth-ers, according to officials.

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Alunch between the twoleaders was cancelled the

same day. While neither sidehas presented a completeaccount of why the summit col-lapsed, the document may helpexplain it.

On the day that their talksin Hanoi collapsed last month,US President Donald Trumphanded North Korean leaderKim Jong Un a piece of paperthat included a blunt call for thetransfer of Pyongyang’s nuclearweapons and bomb fuel to theUnited States, according to thedocument seen by Reuters.

Trump gave Kim bothKorean and English-languageversions of the US position atHanoi’s Metropole hotel onFebruary 28, according to asource familiar with the dis-cussions, speaking on condi-tion of anonymity. It was thefirst time that Trump himselfhad explicitly defined what hemeant by denuclearisation

directly to Kim, the source said.A lunch between the two

leaders was cancelled the sameday. While neither side has pre-sented a complete account ofwhy the summit collapsed, thedocument may help explain it.

The document’s existencewas first mentioned by WhiteHouse national security advis-er John Bolton in televisioninterviews he gave after thetwo-day summit. Bolton didnot disclose in those interviewsthe pivotal U.S. expectationcontained in the documentthat North Korea should trans-fer its nuclear weapons and fis-sile material to the UnitedStates.

The document appeared torepresent Bolton’s long-heldand hardline “Libya model” ofdenuclearization that NorthKorea has rejected repeatedly.It probably would have beenseen by Kim as insulting andprovocative, analysts said.

Trump had previously dis-tanced himself in public com-

ments from Bolton’s approachand said a “Libya model” wouldbe employed only if a dealcould not be reached.

idea of North Korea hand-ing over its weapons was firstproposed by Bolton in 2004. Herevived the proposal last yearwhen Trump named him asnational security adviser.

The document was meantto provide the North Koreanswith a clear and concise defi-nition of what the United States

meant by “final, fully verifiable,denuclearization,” the sourcefamiliar with discussions said.

The White House did notimmediately respond to arequest for comment. The StateDepartment declined to com-ment on what would be a clas-sified document. After thesummit, a North Korean offi-cial accused Bolton andSecretary of State MikePompeo of “gangster-like”demands, saying Pyongyang

was considering suspendingtalks with the United States andmay rethink its self-imposedban on missile and nucleartests.

The English version of thedocument, seen by Reuters,called for “fully dismantlingNorth Korea’s nuclear infra-structure, chemical and bio-logical warfare program andrelated dual-use capabilities;and ballistic missiles, launchers,and associated facilities.”

Aside from the call for thetransfer of Pyongyang’s nuclearweapons and bomb fuel, thedocument had four other keypoints. It called on North Koreato provide a comprehensivedeclaration of its nuclear pro-gram and full access to U.S. andinternational inspectors; to haltall related activities and con-struction of any new facilities;to eliminate all nuclear infra-structure; and to transition allnuclear program scientists andtechnicians to commercialactivities.

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An explosion caused by a gas leak rippedthrough a factory in China’s Shandong

Province, killing five persons and injuring threeothers, the second such incident in about aweek.

The explosion happened at 9:35 pm (localtime) on Friday in a workshop of a perlite fac-tory in the city of Qingzhou.

Five persons were killed and three wereslightly injured outside the workshop, state-runXinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

The private factory owner was held by thelocal police. Initial investigation showed theaccident was caused by a leak in a liquefied gastank. Further investigation is underway.

The incident happened barely a week afterone of China’s worst recent industrial blast, inwhich 78 people were killed and 600 others wereinjured from a chemical plant explosion in thefertilizer factory in Jiangsu province.

Following the accident, the ChineseGovernment has ordered nationwide inspec-tion of chemical industries to prevent large scalefactory explosions.

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A5.3-magnitude quake jolted centralGreece on Saturday, the national

observatory said, with no immediatereports of damage.

The quake had a depth of around 14kilometres (8.6 miles) and an epicentrein the Gulf of Corinth, some 200 kilo-metres (320 miles) northwest of theGreek capital, the observatory said.

“It was a strong earthquake felt in thegeneral area and in Athens as well,”Efthymios Lekkas, head of Greece’searthquake planning and protectionagency, told state TV ERT.

“The situation is under control andwe are monitoring it. There are manyfault lines in the Gulf of Corinth,” he said.

Greece lies on major fault lines andis regularly hit by earthquakes, but theyrarely cause casualties.

In July 2017 a 6.7-magnitude earth-quake killed two people on the islandof Kos in the Aegean sea, causing sig-nificant damage.

In 1999, a 5.9-magnitude quakekilled 143 people in Athens and theregion northwest of the capital.

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ANew York county whichdeclared a state of emer-

gency over a measles outbreakis on the “right path” afteradministering hundreds of vac-cinations in two days, the chiefof the US district said onFriday.

Under the emergency,Rockland County banned non-vaccinated minors from pub-lic places in a bid to prevent theonce-eliminated disease fromspreading.

Planned for 30 days frommidnight Wednesday, theemergency comes during a USsurge in measles cases, linkedto an anti-vaccination move-ment.

“We have already seen over

500 (new vaccinations) in thelast couple of days,” RocklandCounty Executive Ed Day saidon CNBC TV.

“People simply understandnow that we are serious aboutthis,” added Day, whose districtis 25 miles (40 kilometers)north of downtown New York.

“We believe we are on aright path now to get at least a93 percent immunization ratewith the first shot,” close to thelevel considered necessary toend the outbreak.

Although measles wasdeclared officially eliminatedfrom the United States in2000, outbreaks have occurredin five states this year, accord-ing to the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention(CDC).

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Six baby elephants separated from their parents andtrapped in a muddy pit for days have been rescued

by park rangers in rural Thailand, officials said onSaturday.

Patrolling rangers chanced upon the struggling herdin a national park east of Bangkok on Wednesday after-noon, park superintendent Prawatsart Chantheap toldAFP.

Once the rangers realised the calves, aged betweenone and four years old, could not climb out of the dirtywatering hole, some left the forest to bring back dig-ging tools while others stayed overnight to keep watchover the frightened creatures.

“Our team arrived with hoes (on Thursday morn-ing). And we began to dig around the rim (of the mudpit) to make it less steep,” he said.

After three hours of digging to build a makeshiftramp, the mud-covered babies managed to stumbleout of the pit one-by-one as the rangers cheered themon. “Go, go, follow each other!” the rangers yelled ina video recorded by the national parks department.“Go, children, go!” Prawatsart said the rangers hadobserved a herd of 30 adult elephants nearby andbelieved the young calves must have been separatedfrom them. “We believe they were stuck there for atleast two days because after they got out their legs wereweak,” he said.

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Beijing: Chinese banks haveposted profits for 2018 butwarned that domestic andglobal uncertainties could putdownward pressure on the sec-tor in the coming year.

Bank of China (BOC)posted a profit of 192.44 billionyuan (USD28.67 billion), upfour per cent from the previousyear, which the company cred-ited to a stable economy and“prudent monetary policy”from the Chinese government.

But the sector “will face acomplicated operating envi-ronment in 2019”, BOC said in

its annual report filed to theHong Kong Stock Exchangelate Friday.

“The growth drivers of theglobal economy will weaken,international financial mar-kets will remain at risk of fluc-tuation, and the functioning ofthe economy will be subject toa number of uncertainties.”

The Industrial &

Commercial Bank of China(ICBC) -- the country's largestbank -- posted a net profit of297.68 billion yuan in 2018, a4.1 percent increase.

China's second largestlender by assets, ChinaConstruction Bank, posted anet profit of 254.66 billionyuan for 2018, a gain of 5.11per cent. AFP

New Delhi: Capital marketsregulator Sebi slapped Rs 94.5lakh penalty on 17 entities forindulging in fraudulent tradepractices in illiquid stockoptions segment on the BSE.

The regulator, during thecourse of investigation betweenApril 2015 and September 2015,found that 81.38 per cent of allthe trades executed in the stockoptions segment involved rever-sal of buy and sell positions bythe clients and counter-partiesin a contract on the same day.

These entities were amongthose “whose reversal tradesinvolved squaring off transac-tions with significant differencein sell value and buy value ofthe transactions,” Sebi said insimilarly worded separateorders on Friday.

It further said trades of theentities are non-genuine as

they are not executed in normalcourse of trading, lack basictrading rationale, lead to mis-leading appearance of tradingin terms of generation of arti-ficial volumes, and are hencedeceptive & manipulative.

By indulging in such trades,the entities have violated theProhibition of Fraudulent andUnfair Trade Practices(PFUTP) norms, Sebi said.

Accordingly, a fine of �9 lakhon Makers Casting, and �8 lakhon Ashok Investors Trust hasbeen levied by Sebi. Others havebeen fined in the range of �5 lakhto �6 lakh. The orders are inaccordance with the Securitiesand Exchange Board of India'sannouncement in April 2018 ontaking action in a phased man-ner against 14,720 entities forfraudulent trade in the illiquidstock options segment.

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Tax offices, for both incometax and GST, will remain

open on Sunday as the depart-ments race against time tomeet the revenue collection tar-gets.

“As per past practice, allfield offices of CBIC (CentralBoard of Indirect Taxes andCustoms) will remain openduring the last weekend of thecurrent financial year alsoMarch 30 and March 31, 2019,for assisting the taxpayers in allmatters,” CBIC said in an officememorandum.

In an office order, theCentral Board of Direct Taxes(CBDT) asked its field officesto facilitate filing of tax-returnsby the taxpayers by openingadditional receipt counters,wherever required, on March30 and 31.

“The last date for filingbelated/revised tax-returns forassessment year 2018-19 isMarch 31, 2019. The financialyear 2018-19 also closes on(March) 31. In view of theclosed holidays March 30 and

31, being Saturday and Sunday,Income Tax Offices throughoutIndia (including the ASKCentres), shall remain open onMarch 30 and 31 during normaloffice hours,” the CBDT said.

The Government haspegged goods and services tax(GST) collection target at�11.47 lakh crore in the currentfiscal, while the same for directtax mop up is �12 lakh crore.

GST collections in the cur-rent fiscal till February totalled�10.70 lakh crore.

With regard to direct taxes,the CBDT had collected only�10.21 lakh crore as on March

23, which is 85.1 per cent of therevised estimate of �12 lakhcrore. The apex policy makingbody for income and corporatetaxes has asked its field officesto “take all possible actions” toachieve the collection targets.

The Reserve Bank of Indiahas also asked banks keep theirbranches open on March 31, sothat all government transac-tions for financial year 2018-19are accounted for within thesame financial year. All elec-tronic transactions, includingRTGS and NEFT, will contin-ue for the extended time onMarch 30 and March 31, 2019.

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India has offered USD 100million credit to Bolivia after

President Ram Nath Kovindheld productive and extensivetalks with his Bolivian coun-terpart Evo Morales here.

Kovind is on a three-dayvisit to Bolivia, the first high-level visit from India to the LatinAmerican country since theestablishment of diplomatic ties.

President Kovind heldwide-ranging talks with hisBolivian counterpart Moraleson a number of bilateral issuessuch as economy, space and IT.

The two leaders also reaf-firmed their commitment tostrengthen political and eco-nomic engagement.

“India offered 100 million

US Dollar Line of Credit toBolivia for financing develop-ment projects,” according to anofficial statement.

Both countries also agreedon the need for reform of theUN Security Council to make itreflective of contemporary real-ities, the statement said.

The two sides also signedeight MoUs in various fields,including academics, space andmedicine .

“We are happy to haveBolivia as a partner in theInternational Solar Alliance andwelcome the signing of theframework agreement estab-lishing the bond,” Kovind saidin a statement.

In addition, the two coun-tries signed MoUs in the fieldsof culture, visa waiver arrange-

ment for diplomats, theexchange between diplomaticacademies, mining, tradition-al medicine, establishment ofcentre of excellence in IT and bi-oceanic railway project, accord-ing to an official statement.

“The two countries agreedto further expand business tiesin pharmaceuticals and healthcare; automobiles and engi-neering; machinery and textile;and metals and minerals,” it said.

President Kovind alsoaddressed the India-BoliviaBusiness Forum on Friday andsaid that the two countries havetheir own economic strengthsand they can complement eachother in the mutual quest forgrowth and prosperity.

“Our joint participationspeaks of our deep mutual

commitment to strengtheningbusiness ties. The task ahead forus is clearly cut out. Our polit-ical ties are strong and growing,but we have to work a lot more,hand-in-hand to bring our eco-nomic partnership to the levelof our mutual understanding,”he said.

The event was partnered byBolivian Chamber and Industrygroups and the Federation ofIndian Chamber of Commerceand Industry and theConfederation of IndianIndustry.

The Indian president isaccompanied by top executivesof 30 Indian companies repre-senting different sectors, includ-ing gold, mining, infrastructure,IT, automobile and energy.

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The Government has againextended its deadline to

impose retaliatory customsduties on 29 US products,including almond, walnut andpulses, till May 2.

A notification of theFinance Ministry said thatimplementation of increasedcustoms duty on specifiedimports originating in the UShas been postponed from April1, 2019 to May 2, this year.

The government hasextended this deadline over halfa dozen times since June 2018,when it decided to imposethese duties in retaliation to amove by the US to impose highcustoms duties on certain steeland aluminium products.

India is pushing the datesas both sides are negotiating atrade package to boost bilater-al commerce. But earlier thismonth, the US decided towithdraw export incentivesbeing provided by them toIndian exporters for certaingoods under GeneralisedSystem of Preferences (GSP)programme.

Extension of these benefitswere part of the negotiationsbetween India and the US

among other issues. Theseincentives are expected to bewithdrawn from May 2.Domestic exporters are jitteryover US' decision to withdrawthese incentives as they exportgoods worth USD 5.6 billionunder GSP programme. About1,900 items including fromchemicals and engineering sec-tors avail these sops.

The government is con-sidering to send a delegation tothe US earlier next month tohold discussions on ways toresolve all trade-related issues.

Both sides were holdingtwo-track discussions toincrease trade in short andmedium term, and identifylong-term trade potentials.

India is pressing forexemption from high duty

imposed by the US on certainsteel and aluminium products,resumption of export benefitsto certain domestic productsunder their GSP programme,greater market access for itsproducts from agriculture,automobile, automobile com-ponents and engineering sec-tors.

On the other hand, the USis demanding greater marketaccess through cut in importduties for its agriculture goods,dairy products, medicaldevices, IT and communicationitems. India has stated that itwould be difficult for them tocut duties on IT products.

As part of the imposition ofhigher import duties, NewDelhi has notified higher tar-iffs on several products. Whileimport duty on walnut hasbeen hiked to 120 per centfrom 30 per cent currently, dutyon chickpeas, Bengal gram(chana) and masur dal will beraised to 70 per cent, from 30per cent currently. Levy onlentils will be increased to 40per cent, from 30 per cent.

India's exports to the US in2017-18 stood at USD 47.9 bil-lion, while imports were USD26.7 billion. The trade balanceis in favour of India.

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KL Rahul played the roleof a sheet anchor to per-fection as Kings XI

Punjab returned to winningways with a comfortable eight-wicket victory over MumbaiIndians in an IPL encounterhere on Saturday.

The talented Rahul wasunbeaten on 71 off 57 balls withKXIP reaching the 177-runtarget in only 18.4 overs. Thiswas KXIP's second win in threegames while MI lost their sec-ond game.

The India international hitsix fours and a six but whatstood out was the manner inwhich he paced his innings.

He played second fiddle toperfection till the dashing ChrisGayle and the flamboyantMayank Agarwal were at thecrease but upped the ante whenit was required.

The 15th over bowled byHardik Pandya swung thematch decisively in KXIP'sfavour with 19 runs coming offit.

Once the pressure was off,Rahul hit the ever-dependableJasprit Bumrah for successivefours to literally close thematch.

Gayle (40, 24 balls) battedin a manner only he can as hecleared his front leg and hitthose towering sixes beforePandya brothers joined handsto send him back to the dug-outafter an opening stand of 53.

Gayle failed to get requiredelevation off a Krunal deliveryand Hardik caught him in thedeep. Rahul was barely intodouble figures when Gayle gotout.

The next partnership wasequally interesting as Agarwal(43, 21 balls) was in great nickduring the 64 runs that headded with his close buddy

Rahul in only 6.1 overs.Pandya brothers had a dis-

mal day with the ball as Krunalgave away 43 runs in his fourovers and Hardik 39 runs inthree overs.

While he was a disappoint-ment with the ball, Hardikonce again provided the finalflourish after yet another mid-

dle-order collapse as MumbaiIndians managed 176 for 7 afterbeing put into bat.

Quinton de Kock with a 39-ball-60 created a platform whichthe middle-order unfortunatelydidn't make full use of beforeHardik smashed 31 off 19 balls toenable MI get past 175-run mark.

While De Kock hit six

boundaries and two sixes in hisinnings, Pandya hit three bound-aries and a six off MohammedShami.

Skipper Rohit Sharma alsolooked good during his briefstay at the crease, scoring 32 off18 balls with five fours. He added51 for the opening stand with DeKock.

For the home team, it was thelesser known Ashwin —Murugan, who emerged as themost successful bowler with fig-ures of 2 for 25 from his fourovers.

Skipper RavichandranAshwin didn't get any wickets butgave away only 26 runs in his fourovers.

The pace troika of Shami(2/40 in 4 overs), Andrew Tye(1/40 in 4 overs) and HardusViljoen (2/40 in 4 overs) wereamong wickets but bowled a lotof loose deliveries, giving away 13fours and three sixes.

MI were off to a great startafter Shami was hit for a coupleof boundaries by Rohit and onefrom De Kock in the very secondover.

In the fifth over, Rohit hitAndrew Tye for three more foursbut Viljoen dismissed him in thevery next over when he tried toplay across the line.

Suryakumar Yadav (11) wascaught plumb in-front byMurugan but De Kock found hisways to get boundaries off boththe Ashwins.

For a good measure he pulledShami for a six behind square andbrought up his fifty with a bound-ary off Murugan.

In between Yuvraj Singhbecame Murugan's second victimand once De Kock was trappedleg before by Shami, MI were ina spot of bother.

Once Pollard was gone, MIslumped to 146 for five from 120for two but Hardik ensured a safetotal for the visitors.

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Andre Russell's third consecutivequick and impactful innings under

pressure helps Kolkata Knight Ridersovercome poor start and post 185 runsagainst Delhi Capitals in the IndianPremier League clash here at Feroz ShahKotla stadium on Saturday.

Batting first after losing toss, Delhilost half his side for just 61 runs in 9.1overs but then 95 runs partnershipbetween Andre Russell (62 of 28 balls,4 fours and 6 sixes) and skipper DineshKarthik (50 of 36 balls, 5 fours and 2sixes) completely changed the complex-ion of the game and help Knight Ridersride on Delhi bowlers to take KKR toa match winning total at slow track ofKotla.

Especially Russell was once againthe star for Kolkata for the third con-secutive time and the West Indian allrounder single handedly fought againstDelhi to give KKR an upper hand.

He was ably supported by Karthik,who played a role of the anchor whileRussell took the opposition bowlers intocleaners hitting huge sixes and enter-taining thousands of fans gathered atKotla.

This came after Delhi Capitalsskipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss andelected to field first. Delhi made fourchanges in the line up bringing ChrisMorris, Hanuma Vihari, SandeepLamichhane and Harshal Patel in placeof Keemo Paul, Rahul Tewatia, AxarPatel and Ishant Sharma. While, KolkataKnight include Nikhil Naik in place ofinjured Sunil Narine.

Coming to bat first, debutant NikhilNaik started his Indian Premier Leaguecampaign with a four on the very firstball he faced of KKR innings. And hisopening partner Chris Lynn also did-n't took long to open his account, hesmashed Rabada for four and KKRcompiled 12 runs of the first over.

But in the next two overs the bats-men struggled to find runs and justmanaged three runs which build on thepressure, and Sandeep Lamichhanegot the benefit of it, as the 18-year oldfrom Nepal dismissed Nikhil (7 of 16balls) lbw.

After an early setback at the start ofthe innings, Robin Uthappa comes tobat at three and the veteran started hisinnings with a four of the very first ballhe faced.

But he also couldn't last for longand was sent back to the pavilion by

Harshal Patel for just 11 runs in the lastball of sixth over.

He was also out lbw. And by the endof first power play, KKR scoreboard wasreading 36-2.

KKR's problem continue to rollafter power play too, as first KagisoRabada got rid of big hitting Chris Lynn(20 of 18 balls) in the second last ballof seventh over. He was out afterRishabh Pant took a terrific catch.

And two balls later, Harshal Patelgot the price wicket of in-form NitishRana (1 of 2 balls). The local Delhi ladplaying for Kolkata could not contin-ue his rich form and was out afterRabada's brilliant catch near the bound-ary line. At the time of Rana's dismissal,KKR was struggling at 44-4 in 7.1 overs.

Next up at 6 was Shubman Gill (4of 5 balls) but the next generationsuperstar also couldn't do much he wasrun out in the first ball after strategictimeout.

And when it was looking like Delhiwill get successful in restricting KnightRiders for a low total Andre Russellcame into the picture and the giantJamaican changed the entire scenario ofthe game by his superb hitting.

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David Warner will be keen tocontinue the good show on his

road to redemption when a confi-dent Sunrisers Hyderabad take ona struggling Royal ChallengersBangalore (RCB) in an IPL gamehere on Sunday.

Despite Sanju Samson scoringan unbeaten 102 not out, Warner(69 off 37 balls) helped Sunriserschase down a mammoth 199-runtarget for an impressive five-wick-et win, their first of the season, hereon Friday night in a high-scoringcontest against Rajasthan Royals.

After the match, Warnerclaimed that it wasn't the easiest ofwickets to bat on and praisedSamson for his efforts. He, howev-er, said the conditions could be dif-ferent on Sunday as it would be an

afternoon start.The Aussie opener would be

looking to make the most of theearly start and put runs on theboard again.

Besides Warner, JonnyBairstow (45 off 28) and VijayShankar (35 off 15) batted well too.After Warner and Bairstow set upan ideal platform by adding 110 in

the first 10 overs, Shankar contin-ued in the same vein, not letting themomentum slip even once duringthe run chase. In the end, RashidKhan hit a four and a six off JofraArcher's successive balls to takeSunrisers home in 19 overs.

And come Sunday, Sunrisersbatting unit would like to repeat theshow against a low on confidenceRCB. RCB are yet to register a winfrom their two outings so far andthey would be desperate to turn

things around. But it won't be easyfor them as the Sunrisers will havethe home advantage.

While RCB were all out for 70in the first game against ChennaiSuper Kings, they failed to chasedown 187 against Mumbai Indiansat home. And if they want to dowell, the RCB would need to lookbeyond captain Virat Kohli and ABde Villiers.

De Villiers single-handedlykept the game alive till the last overagainst Mumbai Indians, scoring abrilliant 70 off 41 balls, but lack ofsupport at the other end hamperedthe team's chances.

After Kohli's dismissal for 46,no other batsmen chipped in tosupport de Villers.

RCB must click as a battingunit if they want to post their firstwin of the season on Sunday.

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Sanju Samson's magnificent ton was over-shadowed by David Warner's blistering half-

century and the Indian batsman conceded thatthe Aussie spoilt his party.

Samson's (102 not out) ton went in vain asWarner (69 off 37 balls) helped SunrisersHyderabad chase down a mammoth 199-runtarget to beat Rajasthan Royals by five wicketsin an IPL match here on Friday night.

After the match, Warner interviewedSamson, who said probably a total of 250 mighthave saved the Royals from losing the game.

"You destroyed my day. My 100 was notenough because of the way you batted. The wayyou started the innings we lost the game in thepowerplay. We needed some 250 on the boardwith someone like you in the opposition. It wasspecial," Samson told Warner.

The 32-year-old Australian cricketer wasall praise for Samson, saying he showed the wayto bat on a tricky surface.

"We didn't get off to a good start, a seri-ous innings from Sanju and full credit to him.He came out and played really well. Heallowed himself time and the wicket got bet-ter. Actually, I didn't think it was a 200 wick-et. We have played on similar wickets where ifyou bowl that hard length it is tough to getunder. He showed us how to go about it," saidWarner.

Warner and Jonny Bairstow (45 off 28) setup the platform for the Sunrisers as they added110 in the first 10 overs for the opening wick-et.

"We know this ground pretty well. Weknow the dimensions well. There has been abreeze from one side for the last two days buttonight it wasn't there. You have to be calcu-lative with your batting," he said.

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The focus will be on the pitch, whichcame in for severe criticism after the

IPL opener, when Chennai Super Kingstake on Rajasthan Royals in their secondhome game here on Sunday.

The tournament opener saw RoyalChallengers Bangalore being shot out for70, a target that CSK achieved in the 18thover to win by seven wickets. But the slow-

ness of the track drew criticism from boththe captains — Mahendra Singh Dhoniand Virat Kohli.

It will interesting to see how the pitchbehaves tomorrow.

Meanwhile, CSK has started the sea-son with two straight wins and will lookto keep the momentum going.

After beating Bangalore, they rode ona team effort to prevail over Delhi Capitalsin their second outing.

Not known to make too manychanges to the playing XI, it remains tobe seen if CSK continue to play with just

three overseas players, therebykeeping South Africa captainFaf du Plessis in the reserves.

The Super Kings bowlershave delivered on both theoccasions so far but same can't

be said about the batting line-up and skip-per Dhoni, who shone with the batagainst DC, will hope that the rest of thebatsmen step up.

Veterans Harbhajan Singh, ImranTahir and Dwayne Bravo came up withimpressive performances and will look todo continue the good work.

In contrast, the Rajasthan have lostboth their matches so far and would needto step up if they aim to breach the reign-ing champions' fortress.

Rajasthan skipper Ajinkya Rahane

would be happy with the batting butexpect his bowlers to up the ante. The onuswould be on the bowlers to find ways tocontain a mighty CSK batting unit if theRoyals want to see a reversal of fortunes.

It will be a contest between Rajasthan'sformidable batting line-up comprisingRahane, Buttler, Steve Smith, Ben Stokesand Samson versus a spin-heavy CSKbowling.

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On May 26, 1877, SurendranathBanerjea embarked upon a railtour of northern India. He wasthe first Indian political leader totake advantage of an expanding

railway network. His tour revealed how a newpublic life was unfolding in North-WesternProvinces (the present day Uttar Pradesh),two decades after the 1857 uprising hadmauled its plains. His immediate objectivewas to popularise the protest against loweringof maximum age limit in civil services exami-nation. The Secretary of State’s decision wasaimed at practically excluding Indian aspi-rants from the civil services. A resolutionagainst the move had been adopted at a largepublic meeting of Indian Association at TownHall of Calcutta on March 24, 1877. Banerjeawas selected to represent the cause in north-ern India. It was his idea to take the civil ser-vices agitation beyond Bengal. He felt thecause had potential to unite Indians political-ly. The tour vindicated his expectations.

Banerjea’s journey over the spine of theEast Indian Railways took him till Lahore, theCapital of undivided Punjab. He addressed atleast two crowded public meetings there. Healso helped establish a Lahore IndianAssociation. It was closely modelled upon theoriginal Indian Association, founded byBanerjea and Ananda Mohan Bose in 1876.Downstream, he halted at Amritsar, Meerut,Delhi, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad,and Varanasi. Wherever he went, he addressedcrowded public meetings and interacted withthe budding intelligentsia. He also catalysedthe formation of several political groups onthe lines of the Indian Association. The civilservice memorandum was endorsed every-where. But, more importantly, the tourrevealed possibilities of civilian politics.

Banerjea’s tour was path-breaking. It pre-saged the synergy between the railways andthe civilian leadership. The railways liberatedthe orators from their provincial limits, andcatapulted them on the national stage. The

railroads facilitated the civilian leadership tocome together and exchange notes. In 1878,Banerjea travelled to Bombay and Madraspresidencies in pursuit of civil service memo-randum. He met Vishwanath Mandlik, KTTelang, and Pherozeshah Mehta in Bombay. InPoona, he was the guest of Justice MGRanade. In Madras, he met Dr DhanaketuRaju, Chensal Rao, and Humayan Jan Bahaduretc. He met the leading men of the city atPacheappa Hall in a conclave. The nucleus ofIndian leadership was thus being created.

The railroads also took the leaders to newaudiences. A Bengali could find an avid listen-er in Punjab; a Parsi could enthrall the audi-ence in Calcutta; an orator from Andhra couldcharm the audience in Amraoti. This was hownew national heroes emerged towards the endof the 19th century. The heroes of this era didnot come on horseback with flaming swords.They travelled mainly by train and wielded themicrophone, figuratively speaking.

The Indian National Congress could nothave materialised without the benefit of therailways. In the circular notifying the firstCongress at Poona between December 25 and31, 1885, the delegates were advised to reachPoona railway station. The Poona SarvajanikSabha, organiser of the Congress, madearrangements from the railway station to thevenue, Peshwa’s garden near Parbati Hill. Thesudden outbreak of cholera, however, pre-vented the gathering in Poona. The Congresshad to be shifted to Bombay.

The railway, by its very nature, promoted acivil society. In the pre-railway era, horse wasthe fastest means of travelling. But the bulk ofthose beasts were employed in aristocraticoccupations like warfare, pageantry, riding,and hunting. The demand was so great thatMughals had to import Arab and Persian hors-es from the Middle East. The animal was hard-ly open to regular civilian or commercial use.

The Turks had subjugated India rapidly ondint of cavalry. Conversant with the use ofstirrup, they unleashed the true potential of

cavalry warfare in India. From being anassault wing of the army, horses had become aconstituent of the power structure. The powerpyramid of the Mughal Empire was built onthe horses. The rank and pay of commanderswas consummate with the number of horsesthey commanded. Bernier speaks of Omrahs— or power elites — holding titles like hazary,douhazary, dehhazary, which meant lord of1,000, 2,000, and 10,000 horses respectively.

Cavalry predominated in the Marathaarmy under the Peshwas. From Shivaji, who employed mostly infantry, the composi-tion tilted heavily in favour of cavalry (withsupportive artillery) under the Peshwas inthe 18th century. It was a definite sign of theMarathas going expansionists. No wonderthey rapidly conquered territories from theMughals, who were in terminal decline. Thegreat era of cavalry was put to an end by theBritish in the Third-Anglo Martha War in1818. The British crushed the freebooterscalled Pindaris, who acted as the irregularcavalry of the Marathas.

The horse-borne empires in India hadretained speed as an exclusive domain of themilitary. Public life, consequently, was crip-pled and stunted throughout the medieval age.A commoner in India was largely a pedestrian.He might occasionally ride the bullock cart orpalanquin. Both were symbols of tardiness.Planned journeys over longer distance werenot possible. Travellers often sojourned forweeks, months and even years together at alocation. The normal business of their life thusremained suspended for that long.

The railway came as Promethean Fire forthe lesser mortals. It delivered speed to thecivilian population. The poor were found lin-ing up for cheap tickets of third class. Thetrains ran as per a notified time table. Thismade planned travels the new norm. Postand telegraph services aided the process. Let’s say Banerjea, sitting in Calcutta, couldapprise his hosts in Lucknow or Poona aboutthe date and time of his arrival there. The

schedule of his speech could thus be con-firmed accordingly. He could leave the sta-tion on the morrow of addressing a publicspeech there. Perhaps in 10 days altogether,he could return to Calcutta from another endof India after addressing a few public meet-ings. One could travel without seriously dis-turbing the normal business of life.

The year-on-year growth in human andcargo traffic was phenomenal since the mid-1850s when the railway began its operations.By the late 1870s, the network had attaineda critical mass. By the end of 1879, or 25years after the railways being introduced inIndia, some 6,128 miles of railway trackshad been constructed by the companies atan expense of nearly £97,872,000.

Banerjea was fully conscious of the impor-tance of the railways in unifying India. Hearticulated it in a speech at Calcutta’s TownHall in March, 1878. “The distance betweenCalcutta and Delhi is not 1,400 miles but onlya question of 44 hours. The distance betweenCalcutta and Lahore is not 1,600 miles butonly a question 52 hours. The distancebetween Calcutta and Bombay is not 1,900miles, only a question of 61 hours.” Naturally,with the advent of diesel and electricityengines, the duration of travel reduced. ButBanerjea could still cover enormous politicalground with the aid of steam engines. Ithelped consolidate the Indian public life.

Statistics was another factor that enrichedoratory. Figures invaded the domain of factsin the speeches and writings by Indians inthe 1870s. Dadabhai Naoroji was the pioneerin the field. In his paper titled ‘England’sDuties to India’ read before a predominantlyBritish audience at East India Association,London, on May 2, 1867, he accused Britainof exploiting India economically. He built hiscase on a wealth of data. An excerpt from thepaper illustrates the point.

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In the shape of ‘home charges’alone, there has been a trans-fer of about 100 millions of

pounds sterling, exclusive ofinterest on public debt, from thewealth of India to that ofEngland since 1829, during thelast 36 years only. The total terri-torial charges in India since 1829have been about 820 millions.Supposing that out of the lattersum, only one-eighth representsthe sum remitted to England byEuropeans in Government ser-vice for maintenance of relativesand families, for education ofchildren, for savings made at thetime of retiring, the sumsexpended by them for purchasesof English articles for their ownconsumption, and also sumspaid in India for Governmentstores of English produce andmanufacturers — there is thenanother 100 millions added tothe wealth of England. In princi-pal alone, therefore, there is 200millions, which at the ordinaryinterest of 5 per cent, will now

make above 450 millions, not tosay anything of the far betteraccount to which an energeticpeople like the English haveturned this tide of wealth. Thisin addition to the wealth ofEngland of 450 millions is onlythat of the last 37 years. Nowwith regard to the long period ofBritish Connexion before 1829,the total territorial charges inIndia from 1787 to 1829amounts to about 600 million.Taking only one-tenth of thisremittance for the purpose men-tioned above, there is about 60million in principal, which withinterest to the present day, addedto the acquisitions previous to1787, may fairly be put down for1,150 millions.”

Did it sound like a mathe-

matical dissertation to his audi-ence? They should have knownthat Dadabhai was previously aprofessor of mathematics. Heturned trade, economics, andfinance into important factors ofpolitical discourse. But where-from he might have sourcedthese figures? Actually, he left theanswer in the speech itself. Heattached four appendices of tabu-lated data to his paper. Thesewere based on ParliamentaryReturns of Indian Accounts. Healso relied upon the SecondCustoms Report, 1858.

In his speech at the BombayPresidency Association held onSeptember 29, 1885, Dadabhaisaid: “Here are a few figureswhich will tell their tale. Theincome of the United Kingdom

may be roughly taken at£1,200,000,000 and its gross rev-enue about £87,000,000 giving aproportion of 7½ per cent of theincome. Of British India, theincome is hardly £400,000,000and its gross revenue about£70,000,000 giving 17½ per centof the income, and yet Sir Jamestells the English people that thepeople of India are not heavilytaxed, though paying out thiswretched income, gross revenueof more than double the propor-tion of what the people of theenormously rich England pay fortheir gross revenue.

“They do not understand yetthat their greatest interest is inincreasing the ability of theIndians to buy their manufactur-ers. That if India were to buy apound worth their cotton manu-facturers per head per annum,that would given then a trade of£250,000,000 a year instead ofthe present poor imports intoIndia of £25,000,000 of cottonyarn and manufacturers from all

foreign countries of the world.”Dadabhai was gifted in the

matter of figures. He leavenedhis speeches with statistics. Butthey were not classroom lectures.They were actually lucent withhis political humanism. Hisessays and correspondences,however, were heavily statistical.This was perhaps done con-sciously. A listener might loseinterest in a heavily statisticalspeech, but a reader could revisitand re-examine the statistics atleisure. Dadabhai turned pricerise, wages, taxation, tariff, rents,lending rates, agricultural out-put, industrial production data,import and export figures, andcurrency exchange rates intopolitical talking points. Hisexposure to British politicaldebates, besides his pedagogicalbackground, made him ideallysuited for the purpose.

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Sleep is the most crucial part of the day.Many factors play an important role inmaking you sleep better. Humans have an‘internal body clock’ that controls whenyou are awake and when you are ready

to sleep. This clock typically has a 24-hour repeat-ing rhythm. For every hour that you are a awake,the need to sleep builds. This drive reaches a peakin the late evening when you feel exhausted andwant to sleep. The second process involves aninternal body process. This clock is in sync withother external factors, such as light, darkness andother environmental cues that determine whenyou feel awake and when you feel drowsy. To elab-orate, light signals received through eyes tell yourbrain that it is daytime. This area of your brainsignals your body with periods of day and night.Your body releases chemicals in a rhythm,which your body clock controls.

This can be disturbed with a change inlifestyle or external cues. One should be carefulabout environmental factors such as lights, tem-perature, noises, etc. Humans spend about a thirdof their lives sleeping. It is incredibly importantfor us to sleep properly in order to functionsmoothly. Peaceful sleep is extremely necessary forhealthy minds. The Journal of Neuroscience foundthat 24 hours of sleep deprivation can cause hal-lucinations and Schizophrenia-like symptoms inhumans. It is imperative to understand what helpspeople sleep peacefully and properly. A right mat-tress and pillow play an important role with respectto the quality of sleep you receive.

The market is loaded with various types ofmattresses like memory foam, spring, coir, cotton,latex etc. Buying a mattress can be stressful becausethey play a vital role in getting a decent sleep, butsince they are purchased once a decade, we don’treally think much about them. As a result, oncewe do need a new mattress, we are overwhelmedwith a plethora of choices and decisions, none ofwhich we are an expert on. Once the right mat-tress is bought, we can continue living our lives,with hopes of better sleep for the next 8-12 years.

On the other hand, a bad mattress can leave youdissatisfied and may increase the stress levels andcause further health problems.

Let’s break down the different kinds of mat-tresses and the materials they are made of.Memory foam is soft and enveloping that makesyour body sink into the mattress. This means thatonce you are settled, it is hard to move. This is nota good option for people who prefer a little bit offreedom at night. A big drawback of memory foammattresses is that it retains body heat, due to itsclosed cellular structure. So all the sweat and heathave no escape; this can especially effect those ofus sleeping in warmer climates. Sleeping hot canbe uncomfortable as it is associated with disturbedsleep. Also, the mattresses could have a bad odour,which can cause headaches.

Spring mattresses push back against thebody with the same force as the weight is apply-ing to the mattress. It lacks the proper supportbecause the body weight does not push downevenly, meaning areas that carry more weight willpush down into the mattress more than others.This results in uneven support which does notrelease the pressure points. These pressure pointslead to poor blood circulation, tossing and turn-ing, aches and pain in the joints. Spring mattressloses about 16 per cent of the support in the firstyear alone and also do not provide proper backsupport. The spring mattress makes a firm sur-face that does not contour around the body anddoes not give us enough rest. Additionally, thefluffy polyester top and the empty space betweenthe springs creates a perfect home for dust, mite,and molds. Spring mattresses are a good choiceonly for the most price conscious of us.

Coir mattresses are obtained by processingcoconut fiber. They do not provide high resilienceas coir does not have the ability to conform to thebody. It is highly firm compared to any other mat-tress. The material has the tendency to sag easi-ly, which results in short lifespan of the mattress.Since the natural material is used in the mattress,extra care needs to be taken. Once a mattress is

wet in any way, it results in permanent damageto the mattress. Additionally, the mattress doesnot conform around the body to provide rest tothe muscles and keep the spine aligned as peo-ple lie down on it. The mattress has low ventila-tion as the moisture gets absorbed in the mattressand the less spacing available in the mattress doesnot let the air pass out. The increased humiditylevel inside the mattress results in dust, mite, andmold. The mattress has low resilience ie it makesit really hard to toss and turn it around.

Talalay latex, on the other hand, is made withthe natural material ie sap of the rubber tree. Itcontours around the body by taking the shape ofthe natural curve, all the while allowing freedomof movement while we sleep. This helps the bodyrelax and rest properly. Talalay latex has an opencellular structure that increases the ventilation andbreathability in the mattress. This porous struc-ture of the mattress is essential for its hygienic char-acteristics. The lower the moisture, the less suit-able the environment is for bacteria and dust mites.Additionally, the mattress is recognised for its pres-sure-relieving quality. It contours around the bodyby distributing the weight evenly and contouringitself to your body, resulting in a healthy and com-fortable sleep that allows your spine to be straight.

Talalay latex has no motion transfer, mean-ing it absorbs the motion and does not let it trav-el to the other side of the mattress. So if you liketo move about in your sleep, you will not disturbyour partner. The climate regulating propertiesmake it ideal for any sleeping environment. Yousleep warm in the winters and cool in the sum-mers. Talalay latex is recognised as one of the mostefficient technologies that aid good sleep. It is usedin the mattress to provide a delightful soft feelwhile relieving and supporting the entire body.It ensures maximum breathability and optimumsupport due to its open cellular structure.

To identify a good mattress, one should lookinto whether the mattress is supporting the bodyproperly and evenly. A hallmark of healthy sleepis if your spine remains straight, no matter the

position you sleep in. Sleeping on a less than idealmattress can cause more harm than good, sinceit can wreak havoc on your posture. It is impor-tant to have a pressure relieving mattress that issupportive and comfortable. While buying amattress, make sure that it has low hysteresis; itshould allow you to move freely at night withoutlowering down the blood circulation level.Additionally, the mattress should have highresilience, that means the mattress will alwaysspring back to its original shape. It stops the mat-tress from aging before time.

The material used in the mattress and pillowsshould have climate control. This ensures that thesleeping surface remains warm in the winters andcool in the summers. The mattress and pillowsshould be Oeko Tex Certified, meaning they aresafe for sensitive skin. It is important to use ortho-pedic mattresses and pillows because it is a long-term investment and we should not risk our back,shoulders, and postures. Hence, it is imperativeto do our research about the orthopedic mattress-es and not fall for any marketing gimmickspromised by many companies.

Usually, mattresses are made in bulk and soldto the customers. However, each body is differentand so are our sleeping positions. It is recommend-ed to get a mattress customised as per your weightand height. There are companies that sell mattress-es as per the requirements, so look up online tocheck if you can arrange a call back from a mat-tress company. It is incredibly important tochoose a mattress that is produced with comfort-able material, made with the right technology andfor your needs. The wrong mattress could leaveyou sleep deprived. It directly affects your phys-ical appearance and activities. Sleep deficiency cancause dark circles, may make you age faster anddull your glow. Similarly, it will make you feelexhausted, tired and hamper your productivity atwork or home. So make sure you inform yourselfand get a mattress that is exactly right for you,ensuring healthy sleep and a better life.

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Author Raamesh Koirala is arenowned cardiac surgeon inNepal. He successfully treated

Charles Sobhraj’s precarious heartcondition in 2017. This was 14 yearsafter Sobhraj was first arrested andjailed in Kathmandu in 2003. And ashe replaced a number of the valves inSobhraj’s heart, Koirala became fasci-nated enough with the master crimi-nal to write this book.

Much of what Koirala writes aboutSobhraj is on his “criminal psycholo-gy”, his utter lack of remorse, his nar-cissism as a psychopath. And the longtrail of alleged murders in severalcountries without apparent motive. Herevisits some of the alleged murdersand disappearances in other countriesto establish how Sobhraj sometimesstole both the passports and identitiesof his victims. He then believed that hewas whoever he became.

Sobhraj got away with many of hisalleged murders because of circum-stantial evidence, lack of witnesses, andhis clear-eyed and well-presented pro-fessions of innocence in court. Sobhrajalso took great interest in the lawwherever he was accused, reading upon it, and guided his lawyers on theconduct of his trials. However, inNepal, in the later days, he seems tohave met his match. The big questionthat Koirala asks Sobhraj in this book,however, is: Why did he return toNepal at all where murder chargesawaited him, even after three decades?It earned him a life sentence for a mur-der going back to 1975, and more caseswere framed as the time went on.

Koirala writes: “In 2003, there werenearly 190 countries in the world.Charles Sobhraj was free and living ahappy life in France. He was a celebrity,believed to be making a hefty sum ofmoney from interviews and photo ses-sions. He even had a million dollar con-tract with an Indian filmmaker whowanted to make his biopic. His jail termin India was over; the Thai police hadclosed the cases of the murders. Only

one country in the world had activecases of murder against him — Nepal.”

A would-be biopic on Sobhraj isprobably less interesting, despite thealleged multiple druggings, murders,and robberies on the hippie trail of theSeventies, in India, Thailand, Nepal —than what is revealed in this book.

Sobhraj tells all, quite casually, butKoirala frames the revelations in a

fantasy sequence that he calls a“dream” about a TV interview he con-ducts with the master criminal.Wisely perhaps, because what Sobhrajputs out is uncorroborated.

He says the real reason Sobhrajhad come to Nepal — he insisted forthe first time in 2003, in Sobhraj’s ownwords — was because: “I wanted toorganise an undercover business meet-

ing of some guys from the Taliban witha Chinese heroin producer in theGolden Triads. And second one was ameeting with top brass from India.”

He claims he knew Masood Azhar,the man much discussed today as themastermind of the JeM, from theirtime in Tihar together: “He introducedme to all the Taliban leaders. That’sactually why I visited Afghanistan sev-

eral times.” He further tells Koirala, “I had good relations with the Talibanand the Al Qaeda. You know, I evenhad a nuclear deal with SaddamHussein… Yes I had a business con-tract to supply red mercury to Iraq andhad already made a deal with a Russiangroup. But then 2003 happened.”

Koirala was hard-pressed to deter-mine if Sobhraj meant the “attack onIraq by the USA” or his own 2003arrest in Nepal. Sobhraj claimed tohave also been in touch with the CIA,warning them about the possibility of9/11. And that he was in Nepal tomeet with India’s Intelligence Bureau(IB), with which he was on goodterms since “it was me who facilitatedthe return of that hijacked IndianAirlines plane from Kandahar”.

And to heap more preposterous-ness on the gullible, Sobhraj says:“Advani escaped an assassination dueto my tip.” Koirala who mixes the talewith medical talk, a little politics, andhis love of trekking in the mountains,does not think Charles Sobhraj willever be released from jail in Nepal.

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Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisiis a book that is meant tobe savoured leisurely,much like its subject mat-ter — the ghazal. In spite

of being a popular form in its heydays,the ghazal has now become associatedwith connoisseurs of art and a nicheaudience and has consequently movedaway from the masses. The politickingaround languages, which were the cup-bearers of the poetic form, has done lit-tle to ameliorate the situation. Thisbook, however, has made the subjectaccessible for lay readers without com-promising on the nuances and complex-ities of the poetic form.

Prof Anisur Rahman, who I had thegood fortune of having as my teacher,has translated each ghazal into Englishwith an air of effortless ease that beliesthe meticulous attention to detailinvolved in such a task. The book hasbeen prefaced with a detailed introduc-tion which delineates the simultaneouslyexciting as well as turbulent historicaljourney of the ghazal all over Eurasia.

Originating in Arabia, the ghazalgained popularity in countries like Spain

and even Germany, where philosophersand writers, including Friedrich Schlegaland Wolfgang Goethe, wrote variousvolumes of German ghazals. The con-versational tone of the editor transportsthe reader across historical epochs,almost seamlessly. The book inculcatesan appreciation of the literary form inthe readers without being heavy-handedor launching into effusive praise aboutthe ghazal — as many other books onthe subject matter tend to do.

The book has been divided into var-ious sections, namely: ‘MetaphysicalBeginnings’, ‘Towards Enlightenment’,‘Advent of Modernism’ and ‘BeyondNew Poetics’, in order to elucidate thechanging dynamics at the socio-culturallevel and the corresponding shifts in thethematic preoccupations of the practi-tioners of the form. Thus, various poetshave appropriated the form according totheir own context and personal predilec-tions. Prof Rahman has maintained hislucid style even when explaining thetechnicalities of the ghazal such as itsrefrain (radeef), rhyming words (qaafia)and other structural details.

Rather than being an intensive

study of the form, as it flourished in oneage or under a particular poet,Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi gives abroad overview of the thematic and his-torical trajectory of the ghazal, begin-ning from the time of Muhammad QuliShah, a poet of the 5th century, to thelate 20th and early 21st century, where a‘New Poetics’ is being threshed by con-temporary poets, such as Farhat Ehsasand Ishrat Afreen, to name a few.

This means that the uninitiatedreader can appreciate the thematic flexi-bility and historical resilience of theghazal. The ghazal has persisted in spiteof political and/or religious hostilities,massive changes in power structures andeven formal innovations as well as intru-sions. But it has managed to consistentlyfind readers and listeners across theglobe from the time of its inception inArabia, in the early 8th century, till date.

Although today it is most common-ly identified with love poetry (after all,the word ‘ghazal’ means ‘talking to thelady love’), owing largely to its represen-tation in popular culture, especially cin-ema, the ghazal is far from being apolit-ical. The perception of ghazal gather-

ings as being only about the hobnob-bing of wine-drinking elitists is rathermisleading, if not entirely false. Theghazal has more to offer, the book tellsus, than just laments of lovelornbohemians. It can accommodate con-temporary and polemical subject mat-ters. The increasing resistance bywomen writers in developing societiesagainst the perennial problem of gen-dered violence born out of patriarchaloppression has been captured in theghazal, “Ladkiyaan maaon jaise muqad-dar kyu rakhti hain?” (“Why do girlsshare fates with their mothers?”) byAfreen. It is a poignant rendering of thesexual and physical violence womenhave to bear. The following sher is note-worthy: “Auratein apne dukh ki virasatkisko dengi/Sandook mein bund yezewar kyu rakhti hain?” (“Who wouldthese women make the lasting heirs oftheir pain/Why do they keep gems andjewels hidden in a vault?”)

It speaks to women across theglobe, irrespective of political bound-aries, and is as true of India as it mightbe of anywhere else in the world wherea large section of society has to battle on

an everyday basis in order to get equalopportunities. It is heartening to see awoman appropriate the ghazal — whichhas long been the purview of male poetslike Ghalib and Mir — to register herdissent against gender politics.

The English translation of each ofthe ghazals maintains the layered textureof the original. Prof Rahman hasretained the formal brevity and com-pactness of the ghazals while also beingable to maintain the multiple meaningsof each verse through the use of allu-sions and imagery. The titular sher, byAsadullah Khan Ghalib, is a perfectexample of the same: “Hazaaronkhwahishein aisi ke har khwahish pardam nikle/Bahut nikle mere armaan lekinphir bhi kam nikle.” Prof Rahman trans-lates it as: “Desires in thousands I had,for each I would die/With many I hadluck, for many I would sigh.”

The painstaking attention to detailmakes him a good translator and a com-mendable poet. Prof Rahman excelsboth as a translator and trans-creator.This is a book for all seasons and allmoods — be it pensive and ruminativeor effervescent and buoyant.

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The North Atlantic TreatyOrganization (NATO) that

was founded on April 4, 1949is completing 70 years nextmonth. Unlike many otherglobal alliances and treaties, theNATO’s coming of age needs tobe saluted despite all its inter-nal squabbles and externalthreats. The organisation has29 members as of today, butwith all the possibilities of theRepublic of North Macedoniaentering the bloc, its tally may rise up to 30. NATO’smembership is open to “anyother European State in a posi-tion to further the principles ofthis Treaty (i.e. North AtlanticTreaty) and to contribute to the security of the NorthAtlantic area”.

NATO’s primary aim is toprovide a guarantee of securi-ty which is considered the keyto the well-being of all themembers. Further, its purposeis to offer freedom and securi-ty of its members throughpolitical and military means.But then how to achieve suchpolitical means for guarantee-ing freedom to its constituentsis the moot point. When itcomes to political means,NATO promotes democraticvalues and enables members toconsult and cooperate ondefence and security relatedissues to solve problems, buildtrust, and in the long run pre-vent conflict. While offeringmilitary means, the organisa-tion’s basic premises say that itis committed to the peacefulresolution of disputes. If diplo-matic efforts fail, the alliancehas the consolidated militarypower to undertake crisis-management operations tosafeguard its member states. Inthe event of such emergencies,the operations are carried outunder the collective defenceclause of NATO’s foundingtreaty i.e. Article 5 of theWashington Treaty or under aUN mandate, alone or in coop-eration with other countriesand respective global organi-sations.

Now, when NATO is turn-ing 70, the Secretary-General ofthe NATO, Jens Stoltenberg,proudly proclaims, “NATO isthe strongest, most successfulalliance in history, because wehave been able to change.”

Though his pronounce-ments are too high, the alliancehas demonstrated its survivalskill since the post-World War

II through the breakdown ofthe USSR, the end of the ColdWar. Beyond the Cold War,NATO has been successful inprojecting the US, one of itsprime members, as the centreof the unipolar world. It hasexpanded from 12 membercountries to a tally of 29 as oftoday. Whereas, the Warsaw Pact, NATO’s primerival, showed its signs ofdemise too early.

In fact, seven of its eightfounding members eventuallyhave joined NATO after thebreakdown of the USSR. Thus,NATO has adjusted itself to thedemands of changing times.

A research study on “63prominent military alliances”over the last five centuriesconducted by the Washington-based Brookings Institution in2010 shows that only 10 ofthem survived beyond 40 years.And most importantly, theaverage lifespan of such col-lective defence alliances was amere one and a half decade. Inthat case, NATO has come ofage with its own capacity toreinvent itself through decades.

Precisely, today NATO’sbiggest single challenge is theabsence of a concerted leader-ship at the helm of affairs in theUS. With an unpredictableleader like Donald Trump, nosingle organisation whereinAmerica has its stake is safeunder him. He himself is high-ly confused as he is not beenable to steer the country ahead.Simply put, NATO leadershipdemands a fundamental shiftin its thinking to rework itsalignment with the rest of theworld, especially with the ris-ing powers such as India,China, and Brazil.

Currently, all big players atthe top of NATO leadership areplagued with their own domes-tic issues: an America largelydisturbed by Trump’s “makeAmerica great again” and avastly divided Republicans andDemocrats in the Congressand outside, Britain by itslooming Brexit crisis withPrime Minister Theresa Mayshortly leaving, France byGilets Janunes protests andEmmanuel Macron movingalmost nowhere with his grandvision of the remaking ofEurope, Germany with anaging and retiring AngelaMerkel, Italy by populists andeconomic showdown, andfinally, Turkey under the auto-

cratic strangleholds of RecepTayyip Erdogan.

Another catastrophe thatmay soon (already) influencethe strategic vision of theNATO is the resurgence ofVladimir Putin in Russia. Hisambitions and the grand pro-ject of reviving Russia mayobviously disturb NATO’salignments in the entireEurope. And also, a decayingISIS and Russia’s hyper-activewar game in the West Asianregion demands NATO’s newline of thinking both to offer asafety umbrella to its memberstates around and to redesignits geo-political skills to con-vince its allies that it’s a relevantforce and can strike back hardwhen required.

Much more than all these,there are other two criticalissues that currently deservesattention from NATO leader-ship: first is an ever-risingChina under Xi Jinping, andsecond is a fast emerging insti-tutional decay of global liber-al democracies and in publicdiscourse, a strong approval forauthoritarian populists acrossthe globe. With China stretch-

ing its economic leveragesaround, Washington has start-ed turning its attention towardsthe Pacific and to the East; cer-tainly its sincerity towards thetransatlantic alliance wouldsuffer in the days to come.Trump is too busy with a recal-citrant Kim in Pyongyang tosee that finally peace isachieved in the Korean penin-sula and war clouds of anuclear power comes to an end.But then, more than Trumpengaging with Kim, his entireadministration is busy in amega crisis borne out of a pro-tracted trade war with Beijing.It’s not only about pushingChina towards a sanctionregime, but also about alertingthe whole West about its secretgames around the far-reaching5G technology. Only time willtell, how to stop a rising Chinawith its imperial designs and toreadjust America’s prioritieswhile staying in on the NATO.

Are all its members hope-ful about a TrumpAdministration that mayrestore faith on the NATO andits constituents at this juncture?It seems problematic for prag-

matists, brushing aside thenew world of NATO painted bythe rest. Trump is the first USPresident who viewed the EUas an economic competitorrather than a critical partner ofAmerica and the NATO. Histroubling anti-NATO and theanti-Europe antics have forcedthe European nations to ques-tion the credibility of Americaas the pioneer of the West forthe first time since the SecondWorld War.

Today, the confidence levelof the European public over theUS leadership is at its historiclow. The reasons behind aresimple: earlier all AmericanPresidents used to encourage alongstanding relationship andbond of unity between the USand Europe. Only Trump hasdiverted from this historicjourney and as long as heremains in power, he may evendamage the alliance further. Hepublicly claims that the NATOallies are taking advantage ofthe US. But he must rememberthat these are the same oldallies that came up to thedefence of America after 9/11terror attack, lost thousands of

soldiers in the battlefields ofAfghanistan since 2003, arefighting the monstrous ISISand global terror around theworld together and in the pastshared the burden of bringingpeace in the Balkans. What dis-turbs most of the NATO alliesin Europe is Trump’s publicambivalence about NATO’svalue to the US and his ques-tioning of America’s commit-ment towards Article 5 of theoriginal charter of the alliance.But there are good reasons forwhich the NATO would sur-vive Trump. It has seen ups anddowns throughout its longspan of life.

What plagues the NATO isthat all its member countriesare not equally bothered byeither the rise of China, anuclear Pyongyang and adecaying ISIS. Hence, theremust come up a “new transat-lantic bargain” between theUS and NATO’s Europeanallies as Stephen Walt ofHarvard Kennedy School ofGovernment argues. And inthis, “America agrees to stay onin Europe, but at a reducedlevel of engagement; the

Europeans agree to up theirgame in their own region andtake on board America’s con-cerns over China on trade andintellectual property”. This kindof a grand resetting in alliancebetween America andEuropean allies within theNATO may indicate both senseand sensibility for a seven-decade old organisation.Though such possibilities aretoo dim, temptations for suchreorientations are not far off.Experts say that this septuage-narian is due for a metamor-phosis, looking at the changingpolitical, economic and culturalshocks brought by aninescapable wave of globalisa-tion in a “Flat World” and formaintaining its omnipotence ina world crucially influenced bythe new realities and horrors ofan Islamic jehad. Nevertheless,despite its intricacies withinand threats ranging from out-side, the international com-munity should not underesti-mate NATO’s ability to usher ina changed world.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

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The future standard of living,economic growth and soci-

etal progress are largely depen-dent on the ability to innovate.In the words of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, it is time toredefine research and devel-opment as “research for devel-opment” of the nation. ThePrime Minister has ubiqui-tously reaffirmed his beliefthat it is prudent and impera-tive to reach the lowest rung ofthe pyramid through scienceand technology.

Established in 1986, theDepartment of Biotechnologyhas been a catalyst in spear-heading innovative solutionsfor developmental challenges.Biotechnology as a field hasbeen defined in simple wordsas “The use of biologicalprocesses, organisms, or sys-tems to manufacture productsintended to improve the qual-ity of human life”. As the fieldhas progressed, theDepartment of Biotechnologyhas made significant stridesand aided in the economic andsocial growth of the country.

From research spanningprevention and cure for majordiseases, to addressing thechallenges of improved agri-culture productivity, to devel-oping innovative solutions for

national nutrition needs and aclean environment, theDepartment is leading the wayfor pathbreaking biotechno-logical research.

Over the last three decades,the Department ofBiotechnology has created avery strong research and trans-lation ecosystem across thecountry and built strong foun-dations, leveraging the strengthof national and internationalpartnerships. With more than15,000 scientists and 800 insti-tutes and laboratories sup-ported, today nearly 10,000biotechnology research fellowsand students are supportedannually. World-class state-of-the-art infrastructure has beencreated, which through theDepartment of Biotechnology’sSAHAJ scheme has now beenmade accessible to allresearchers and start-up totake research and innovation tothe furthest corner of the coun-try. Skill Vigyan Life Scienceand biotechnology centres helpbuild an employable skilledhuman resource base.

The Department has alsomade significant contributionsto the growth of the nation byaligning its work to the nation-al growth agenda and devel-oping innovative solutions for

the national missions of SwasthBharat, Ayushman Bharat,Swachchh Bharat, PoshanAbhiyan, Start-up India, Makein India, and Skill India.

Scientists from academiaand industry have successful-

ly delivered to the country cli-mate resilient and disease andpest resistant varieties of rice,wheat and maize. Otherachievement includes the firsttechnology for fortified rice,the first indigenous Rotavirus

vaccine which is now in theuniversal immunisation pro-gramme and the first technol-ogy for 2G Ethanol from agri-culture waste that is now beingscaled up in a commercialrefinery. More than 1,000 start-

ups and entrepreneurs underBIRAC and the Department ofBiotechnology’s SIB pro-gramme have developedaffordable products, includinglow cost devices, implants anddiagnostics for healthcare.

To take scientific researchfrom the laboratory to the enduser, the Department ofBiotechnology has built anecosystem which allows forseamless movement of researchthrough translation phase tocommercialisation. 16 institu-tions, 4 bio-clusters, 2 publicsector undertakings and over5,000 extramural research pro-jects contribute to this. We haveseen a growing transition overthese years moving from singleinvestigator to multi investiga-tor projects, from single insti-tute to multi institute projects,from only academia research toindustry-academia innovationresearch and translation. Newinstitutional partnership andgovernance models haveemerged.

Priority missions onantimicrobial resistance(AMR), clean energy, genomicsand big data, vaccines, bioticand abiotic stress resistant andnutritionally enriched cropvariety development and theNational Biopharma Missionare important initiatives, con-tributing to move the biotech-nology growth trajectory for-ward. Integration of new andemerging technologies, linkingbiological science with data sci-ence, with clinical research,

with engineering sciences, isthe way forward in preparationof meeting our ambitious tar-get of achieving a USD 100 bil-lion bio-economy by 2025.

The Department ofBiotechnology has also been akey in forging strategic inter-national alliances to promoteknowledge sharing and dis-covery, with more than 25active partnerships which bringin a commitment of scientificcollaboration, researchermobility and collective effortsto address common nationaland global challenges

As we move forward, ourchallenge is not just tostrengthen the research andtranslation base but to ensuresustainability and scalability.The Department has consis-tently brought to the fore theimportance of science in allwalks of life and has integrat-ed innovation with nationaldevelopment. The Departmentof Biotechnology has promot-ed science and technology as away of thinking and envisionsto continue to do so and be acritical part of India’s growthstory.

(The writer is Secretary,Department of Biotechnology,Government of India)

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Recently, five mosques inBirmingham wereattacked with sledgeham-

mers, the latest in a string ofanti-Muslim attacks over thepast several years. The UKHome Office data shows thatthere were 94,098 hate crimesrecorded in England and Walesin 2017-18, including a 40 percent surge in religiously aggra-vated hate crime. The Muslimcommunity bore much of this,with more than half of religious-ly aggravated hate crime direct-ed towards Muslims.

It’s this anti-Muslim preju-dice that is the new drivingforce behind far-Right growth inthe UK, according to the anti-racism advocacy group, Hopenot Hate. Aside from these vio-lent crimes, polling shows thatIslamophobia is now rooted inthe wider population as well,with a quarter of the Britishpublic saying they believe Islamis a dangerous religion thatincites violence.

��$��!��$��$�� *In the run-up to Brexit, we haveseen organisations and figure-heads from the far-Right capi-talising on divisions to spreadmessages of hate and prejudice.The ‘Brexit Betrayal’ demonstra-tion in December organised byStephen Yaxley-Lennon (akaTommy Robinson) and Ukipleader Gerard Batten attracted5,000 supporters, with many ofthe speeches focused on the“threat” of Islam and Muslims“taking over Britain”.

Recent polling shows thatthese messages of anti-Muslimsentiment are starting to seepinto the wider population,where previously they were iso-lated to the extremist fringes,according to Hope not Hate.

Rosie Carter, researcher at Hopenot Hate, writes: “Anti-Muslimhatred has become increasinglymainstreamed, with the confla-tion of cultural incompatibilityand global threat — a narrativepushed by the counter jihadmovement — no longer quaran-tined to the margins.” Whenasked, almost two in five Britonssaid they see Islam as a threat tothe British way of life, a figurewhich rises to over half ofConservative voters and 57 per cent of Leave voters.

Further, authors of the 2019State of Hate report from Hopenot Hate argue that: “The con-spiracy theory known as ‘thegreat replacement’, the idea thatMuslim immigration is part of abigger plan to make Muslimsthe majority of a country’s pop-ulation, has seeped into thepublic consciousness.”

Research shows that a thirdof Britons believe that there areno-go areas in Britain whereSharia law dominates and non-Muslims cannot enter. This fig-ure rises to 47 per cent forConservative voters and as highas 49 per cent for Leave voters.

There is also a widespreadfeeling among the general publicthat the Muslim community isnot successfully integrating intothe wider British society, whilemany even believe that most oreven all British Muslims don’twant to integrate. As of January2018, 30 per cent of Britons saidthey believe that most or allMuslims do not want to inte-grate, with this figure rising to 41per cent for Conservative votersand 46 per cent for Leave voters.

��*��!��$��The co-founder of the EnglishDefence League is now a house-hold name in the UK, with arecent YouGov poll revealing thatover half of the British public

have heard of Tommy Robinson.Well known for his role in

organising anti-Muslim demon-strations and posting vitriolicinternet videos, he has even startedto make inroads into mainstreampolitics — serving as a ‘political

adviser’ to Gerard Batten’s Ukipparty. In the same YouGov poll, 47per cent of Ukip voters and 30 percent of Leave voters, who hadheard of Robinson, said theybelieve he has had a positiveimpact on fighting extremism.

In the general public as awhole, almost one in five — some17 per cent — agreed that he has apositive impact in fighting extrem-ism. He has a significant onlinepresence with more than a millionFacebook followers and over 24million views on his YouTubechannel, although Twitter recentlybanned him after it was judgedthat he was in breach of its “hate-ful conduct” policy.

The internet has increasinglybecome a platform for Right-wing extremists like Robinson toshare and propagate their views,with much of their focus target-ed towards women and Muslims,according to research from Hope

not Hate. Analysis of tweets sentin the run up to the 2017 generalelection conducted by AmnestyInternational found an increasefrom 2.5 to five per cent in thenumber of abusive mentions offemale MPs. This was despite theshocking murder of Labour MPJo Cox just 12 months previous-ly, whose killer was screaming“Britain First” as he repeatedlyshot and stabbed her.

��# $��.3�� Following the terror attacks inLondon and Manchester in 2017,there has been increased publicscrutiny of the government’s anti-radicalisation programme knownas the Prevent strategy. While 44per cent of individuals reportedto Prevent were for views relatedto Islamist extremism, almost onein five were reported for holdingviews related to Right-wingextremism and a further 11 percent were reported for otherforms of extremism.

Separately, there were 317arrests for terrorism related activ-ity in the year ending September2018. Of these, just 113 casesresulted in a charge and as ofSeptember 2018, there are cur-rently just 224 prisoners beingheld for terrorism relatedoffences. Some 13 per cent ofthose being held for terror relatedoffences were identified as hold-ing Right-wing ideologies, com-pared with 80 per cent who arebeing held for Islamist extremism.However, there were some high-profile convictions of Right-wingextremists in 2018, including 47-year-old Darren Osborne, whowas sentenced to life for killingone Muslim man and injuringseveral other people after plough-ing his van into a crowd ofMuslims at Finsbury Park.

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Eight-year-old Hamed cast acritical eye at the tent peg,raised a hammer above hishead and began thwacking itinto the hard, stony ground. It

is heavy work, and he would rather bein school. But he has little choice. “I getabout 2,000 lira for putting up onetent,” he said, using the popular termhere for Syrian pounds. “I can do threeor four a day, so that is 8,000.”

That, he said, is just about enoughto feed himself, his mother, and hernewborn baby twice a day. “But wecan’t eat all the time,” he said. “Mymother explained, we can’t spend somuch money on food because we needto buy stuff for the baby now.”

Hamed is one of about 41,000 chil-dren in al-Hol, the largest of threesprawling camps in north eastern Syriathat houses former members, children,and prisoners of the Islamic State ter-rorist group. The fate of the childrenwho emerged from Isil’s doomedcaliphate is a matter of humanitarianurgency and critical to internationalsecurity. And yet the lack of provisionmade by world governments, includingBritain’s, is striking.

The Telegraph has seen dozens ofmalnourished infants as Isil families leftBaghuz, Isil’s last bastion, in the pastfew weeks. At least 108 children havealready died en route to or soon afterarriving at the camp, mostly fromsevere acute malnutrition, pneumonia,and dehydration, according to theInternational Rescue Committee.

The vast majority of them wereunder five years old, and most of thosebabies younger than one. Many are alsocarrying serious injuries from shrapnel.The casualties included Jarrah Begum,Shamima Begum’s newborn son, whodied of a lung infection last month.Unicef has described the living condi-tions for those children who reach thecamp as “extremely dire”.

Hamed, who spoke to the Telegraphwith the permission of his Germanmother and on condition of anonymity,said he bitterly misses his old life inEurope. “If there was a school, I’d go toit,” he said, as he took a pause in histent work to speak to the Telegraph.“But there isn’t one here.”

“When I was in Germany, I waslearning, then in Doula I learnt nothing,”he said, using the Arabic word for“State” — the term many Isil families usefor the group. “They just teach theQuran... and they teach you that youhave to fight. But I said: ‘I don’t want tofight’. I don’t like to fight. I just want to

be a normal one, I just want to live in ahouse and make my job. I don’t wantto fight, I don’t want to be a warrior.”He said he had left Germany when hewas five years old, and only emergedfrom the Islamic State two months ago.The camp, he said, is a miserable andfilthy place. “Kids poop everywhere,”he said. “You have to watch where youwalk. You can’t just sit anywhere, likeyou can in Germany.”

It is not surprising. Adults in thesection of the camp where Hamed livestold the Telegraph many of the youngchildren have chronic diarrhoea. “Play”,if there is such a thing, involves pickingon one another or chucking rocks atmoving cars. “They call me a dog andthings. They think it is a joke,” saidHamed, when asked about his friends.

“My mother doesn’t like me to be likethe other children. She says maybe thereis a little baby there, like three years old,and maybe you’ll hit him. Even though Idon’t like to throw rocks,” he said. “It’snot a game. They come, they throw, theglass breaks,” he said. “In Germany, it isnot like this, you’re not hitting on cars.If you want to play you go to yourfriends, you have friends, they don’t callyou anything, you play a bit.” Most chil-dren have little time for that though.

Adults here told the Telegraph thatalmost every child from about the ageof eight upwards is a low-paid labourerin the camp’s grey economy. “They’realready entrepreneurs. I think theywake up and the first thing they thinkis: Who am I going to hit up for moneytoday?” said Lorna Henri, a 54-year-old

woman from the Seychelles, who hasbecome the de-facto guardian of twounaccompanied children in the camp.“I try to give them what I can.”

Henri said boys are generally sentby their mothers to run errands in thecamp market, which children canaccess more easily than adults, and putup tents. Girls clean or offer to cook.The market, in the larger and moreloosely regulated section of the campfor Syrian and Iraqi citizens, is crowdedwith small boys hauling hand carts for200 Syrian pounds per errand.

Such Dickensian scenes are notunusual amidst humanitarian crisis.And across the Middle East, childrenare generally expected to pull their ownweight at an earlier age than in theWest. But the prospects for these chil-

dren are bleak in more than one way.Radical Isil supporters continue to

exert influence inside al-Hol, includingby harassing women who want toremove their veils. There have beenreports of punishment tent burnings byan underground “religious police”, andseveral women from different countrieswho the Telegraph spoke to complainedabout being labelled “infidels” by theirfellow inmates. Without intervention,there is a good chance the children herewill be brought up in the same poiso-nous ideology that turned many oftheir fathers into terrorists.

The United Nations has expressed“alarm” at the situation. Henrietta Fore,the executive director of Unicef, urgedmember states “to take responsibilityfor children who are their citizens orborn to their nationals, and to takemeasures to prevent children frombecoming stateless”.

Some governments have heeded thecall. The French Government said ithad evacuated several children. ButKurdish officials have told the Telegraphthat Britain refused to take back BritishIsil members or their children in thecamps on the grounds, saying it has fullconfidence in the legal and administra-tive system of Rojava, the unrecognisedKurdish proto-state in northern Syria.

Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary,claimed that it would have been “toorisky” to send British officials to saveJarrah Begum, although he remained aBritish citizen after his mother wasstripped of her own citizenship.

However, the al-Hol camp is run bythe Syrian Democratic Forces, aKurdish-led Western-backed armedgroup that Britain is allied to.Journalists, including from theTelegraph, and aid workers visit thecamp on a regular basis, safely andwithout incident. Nor is it true, as Huntclaimed, that journalists are affordedspecial protection unavailable to theUK officials in Syria or in the camps.

In al-Hol, the foreign women con-stantly exchange rumours about whichgovernments might take Isil membersback. For their children, who commit-ted no crime, the only thing on thehorizon is more arduous work. “I’d liketo...sell stuff. Or you know, build hous-es,” shrugged Hamed, when askedwhat he would like to do when hegrows up. Those are the only careerson offer in al-Hol camp. He picked uphis hammer, and went back to hittingthe tent peg. His blows made littleimpact on the stony ground.

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Danny Boyle has confirmed thata dispute over the script was thereason he left the latest James

Bond movie. In a reply to a readerquestion in Empire magazine, Boylesaid that the screenplay he had beenworking on with regular writing part-ner John Hodge had not found favourwith producers, and that he quit theproject rather than jettison that scriptand work with another writer.

“I work in partnership with writ-ers and I am not prepared to break itup … We were working very, verywell, but they didn’t want to go downthat route with us. So we decided topart company.” He added: “WhatJohn Hodge and I were doing, Ithought, was really good. It wasn’tfinished, but it could have been reallygood … You have to believe in yourprocess and part of that is the part-nership I have with a writer.”

Boyle did not reveal any preciseareas of disagreement, saying it wouldbe “unfair” on his replacement, CaryFukunaga. Fukunaga, director ofBeasts of No Nation, was named as the

Bond 25 director in September.Rumours of contention included asuggestion that Boyle and Hodgewanted to kill off the Daniel Craig 007,and that Boyle wanted the little knownPolish actor Tomasz Kot, star of ColdWar, to play the villain.

Boyle’s exit last August played havocwith the film’s production schedule, asproducers hired new writers, includingNeal Purvis and Robert Wade and ScottZ Burns, to work on the screenplay. Asa result, the film’s release has beenpushed back to April 2020.

Disney has closed its $71bn(£54bn) acquisition of RupertMurdoch’s entertainment

business in a deal that unites fran-chises including Cinderella, TheSimpsons, and Star Wars under onecorporate roof to create a mediabehemoth of unprecedented scale.The Walt Disney Company closed itsacquisition of 21st Century Foxshortly after midnight New Yorktime on Wednesday.

As part of the deal, Disney willabsorb the Fox film and TV studios,the FX networks, NationalGeographic and the Indian TV giantStar India in a huge boost to its con-tent. It plans to launch its newstreaming service Disney Plus laterthis year as it challenges Netflix forfuture audience share.

Before the takeover, Disneyalready boasted a fearsome cata-logue of content, including its clas-sic cartoons, Star Wars and many ofthe Marvel characters.

After purchasing Fox, it will be

able to add the likes of X-Men andDeadpool to its portfolio and takeon Netflix and Amazon.

The deal also helps Disney fur-ther control TV shows and moviesfrom start to finish — from creatingthe programmes to distributingthem though television channels,cinemas, streaming services andother ways people watch entertain-ment. Disney would get valuabledata on customers and their enter-tainment-viewing habits, which itcan then use to sell advertising.

In Paris, it was Beyoncé and Jay-Z; inWashington, it was Barack andMichelle Obama; while, in London,

visitors queued to look at PabloPicasso’s erotic muse or Grayson Perry’ssummer picks. Last year the lustre ofcelebrity, whether garnered from fash-ion and entertainment or history,seemed to be the best way to attract vis-itors to museums and galleries.

The Art Newspaper’s annual inter-national survey Art’s Most Popular, tobe published later this week, confirmsthat the public are most curious aboutnames they already recognise. It also

reveals that Tate Modern has knockedthe British Museum off the top UKspot for the first time in nine years.This success is chiefly down to theappeal of its critically acclaimed exhi-bition, Picasso 1932: Love, Fame,Tragedy. The same effect was evidentat the Louvre, where a decision to dis-play Apeshit, Beyoncé and Jay-Z’smusic video, boosted annual visitornumbers by a quarter. At theSmithsonian’s National PortraitGallery in Washington a striking pairof portraits of the Obamas brought ina million more visitors.

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What if you were gover-nor of Illinois and did-

n’t have a thing to wear? Ifyou’re JB Pritzker, youlook at your daily sched-ule. During his first sixweeks in office, Pritzker’sappointment calendarincludes 70 “attire” recom-mendations for events as variedas bill signings, a state policeofficer’s funeral, a White House din-ner, surveying flood damage, andcocktails with legislators at the IllinoisGovernor’s Mansion.

Pritzker, among the nation’s 400richest people, needs sartorial sugges-tions? He’s not alone. JosephRosenfeld, a fashion and personal stylestrategist in New York who’s from theIllinois city of Buffalo Grove, maps outwardrobes with all his C-Suite execu-tives. “It comes back to one basicpremise: Relatability,” he said.

Pritzker spokeswoman JordanAbudayyeh said staff members get sug-gestions from organisers of the gover-nor’s events, but the governor ultimately

decides what to wear.Fifty-five of the recommendations

on the calendar, disclosed under theFreedom of Information Act, were sim-ply, “Business: Suit and tie.” Khakis,“button-down and pullover,” and “polo

with Columbia jacket” alsomake the mix. TheDemocrat was advised toforgo neckwear when hehosted dinner for union

leaders, but “Bringextra tie options” was

the note on Feb. 9,the day of hisofficial portrait.

Despite hisgirth, Pritzkerkeeps his ties at

a proper length,avoiding the longnecktie look that

President DonaldTrump favors.

While Pritzker oftenopts for a blazer andkhakis, they’re typicallycrisply pressed — no

disheveled “Mom jeans”like those for which for-

mer President Barack Obamawas excoriated at baseball’s2009 All-Star Game.

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Kodak says a new beer hitting themarket can be used to develop its

Super 8 movie film. Dogfish HeadCraft Brewery in Delaware created itsSuperEIGHT beer after a conversationwith people at Kodak, the upstate NewYork technology company mostfamous for its photographic roots.

Dogfish learned from Kodak thatheightened levels of acidity and vita-min C in certain beers could makethem a processing agent for film. Thatinspired the brewery to design such abeer. Kodak helped by testing it.

Dogfish founder Sam Calagionesays he’ll document his summer trav-els on Super 8 film that will be devel-oped in SuperEIGHT beer andturned into a short film. The beer,made with pear, mango, berries, kiwi,quinoa and salt, is set for nationaldistribution next month.

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Rosa Ferrigno’s new suit takesrecycling to an extreme — she

knitted it from more than 300 plas-tic grocery bags. The 75-year-old

woman from Greece in western NewYork whiled away the winter knitting askirt and jacket from filmy brown bagsscissored into thin strips that were tiedtogether to make yarn. She lined it withcotton fabric. The finished garment isquite chic, with a tweedy look fromgreen printing on the brown bags. Herdaughter, Fran Bertalli, tells theRochester Democrat and Chronicle thatFerrigno has been knitting and sewingsince her childhood in Sicily. Last sum-mer, Ferrigno saw someone’s pursemade from repurposed plastic bags andstarted her own bag projects, makingtwo purses before the suit.

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Anew challenge making waves onsocial media pokes fun at Flori-

da’s reputation for producing strangenews stories involving guns, drugs,

booze and reptiles — or some combi-nation of the four. The challengeinvites participants to run their birth-day and “Florida man” through asearch engine to find out which head-line pops up. Then they must post theresult on social media.

The “Florida Man” concept creptinto the nation’s consciousness with the@_FloridaMan Twitter account in2013. The account, with the tagline“Real-life stories of the world’sworst superhero,” has been home torecent headlines such as “FloridaMan Fire Bombs Garage ThatImpounded His Car, Hits HisOwn Vehicle” and “FloridaMan Tried to Pay forMcDonald’s With Weed.”

The less common, butno less noteworthy, “FloridaWoman” subgenre has pro-duced headlines such as “AFlorida woman was arrestedand charged with aggravatedassault without intent to killafter she reportedly ‘fartedloudly’ in a DollarStore and thenpulled a knife on a

man who complained.”“Once, it seemed as though all the

weird people and stories came fromCalifornia. But over the past decade, itshifted to Florida,” said Jim Clark, a lec-turer in the University of Central Flori-da’s history department.

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An extremely rare albino penguinhas made its debut at Gdansk

Zoo in northern Poland. The albinopenguin hatched in mid-Decem-ber and has been under veteri-nary care. In the wild, such anunusual-looking penguin wouldbe rejected by other penguinsand would have little chance ofsurvival. But in Gdansk, it has itsparents and two other friendlypenguins. The bird’s sex has notyet been determined. It weighs

over half a kg and stands 28 cmtall. Zoo director Michal Targowski

said Friday the albino penguin“would have become the very firstto be attacked by predators”.

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He’s not a man who hasever knowingly passed onan opportunity to bran-dish his socialist creden-tials. For Paul Mason, the

Left-wing commentator, broadcasterand all-round fuming ideologue, thereis no aspect of life, no object, inani-mate or otherwise, to which he canturn his attention without frothing atthe mouth. As a fog of steam shootsfrom his ears, you can usually makeout words such as “neoliberalism”,“broken economics”, “revolution”,“postcapitalism”. But as he attemptedto defend his dear leader JeremyCorbyn for walking out of a Brexit dis-cussion before it had even begun,Mason emitted an entirely differentword, not one normally associatedwith a revolutionary rant about thebourgeoisie: Cheese.

The benign foodstuff usually gets itin the neck from vegans, so how had ahumble morsel made from the pressedcurds of milk become a symbol of capi-talist oppression, a middle-classemblem of greed, a manifestation ofthe uncaring power of political elites?

By way of explanation forCorbyn’s flouncing-out of the meetingbecause of former colleague ChukaUmunna’s presence, Mason wrote onTwitter: “Finally, the elite are going torealise: Labour is an insurrectionagainst neoliberalism, not part ofyour cheese and biscuits circuit...”Because, clearly for Mason, that iswhat these appalling, privileged elitesdo. They sit in well-furnished rooms,with fascist central heating, in shinyimperialist shoes, wearing clotheswithout frays, sitting on well-uphol-stered chairs and into their smugfaces goes cheese and biscuits, thatsymbol of true oppression.

While Mason’s thinly veiled asser-tion that cheese and biscuits are poshmay surprise most sentient humans, heis also actually quite close to hitting anerve. Because while I would argue

that a generic cheese board representsneither end nor middle of the politicalspectrum, the kind of cheese that is onthe board — not to mention the bis-cuits and the accoutrements — canactually tell you a very great deal.

For, in as much as the suit or dressyou wear, the house you live in, thecar you drive and the accent you pos-sess can suggest your means and class,so the cheese you eat is a manifesta-tion of yourself. “Show me the cheese,and I will show you the man,” some-one once said. I’m not sure who. Itcould even have been me.

If cheese is political, then theTories seems happiest to trumpet theircredentials. When he wasn’t busypointing at fish counters, former PMDavid Cameron could often be foundsalivating over a cube of somethingoak-smoked in a constituency dairy, ortalking cheddar with Cotswoldscheesemaker and former Blur bassistAlex James. During the 2017 generalelection campaign, Theresa May head-ed for the British Cheese Awards inSomerset and was offered a cube ofunusually strong (and stable) cheddar— which she struggled to eat in frontof the cameras. The moment wasinevitably referred to as her “bacon-gate”. Former secretary of state forenvironment, food and rural affairs,Liz Truss made an utter internet sensa-tion of herself after she lamented, po-facedly, how Britain imports two-thirdsof its cheese: “This. Is. A. Disgrace!”

Before Mason reminded us thatcheese and biscuits equal class war, hemight have paused to consider howrenowned a cheese fan his boss is.Corbyn — a former member of the all-party Parliamentary group on cheese,no less — once confessed to being “pas-sionate” about the stuff: “The variety ofcheese in England is amazing,” he said.“It’s better than French cheese; it’ssharper, and there’s more variety. I likeSomerset Brie, it has a nice taste to it.And Shropshire Blue, the county where

I’m from. The sharper the better.” What may save Mason from being

first against the wall come the revolu-tion is how the class question becomesyet more pointed when cheese isbrought together with biscuits. For itis the cracker that changes everything.Especially today, if it’s a Bath Oliver,or a mortgage-threatening organicoatcake from Daylesford. I don’tbelieve Mason would have attackedthe concept of cheese with just bread,for that surely is one of the humblestmeals known to socialism.

Historically, cheese does have aposh edge on, say, potage; the latter,offered to the poorest as a means ofdealing with leftovers from the table ofa noble. While cheese must be manu-factured and stored, it gains a greaterprice point. But no one peering into atavern in 15th century Eastcheapwould castigate a hungry traveller andcall him a stuck-up toff because he waseating a piece of cheese with somecoarse crust and a pint of ale.

While its exact origins areunknown, it is likely to have been cre-ated by happy accident. There is evi-dence of cheesemaking in Egyptiantombs, but its creation might haveoccurred if we can imagine a nomadictraveller, sat atop his camel with milkstored by his saddle bags in a containermade of the stomach of an animal. Anenzyme in that stomach, rennet, wouldhave made the milk separate, intocurds and whey. So having left camp inthe morning with milk, he arrives athis destination with cheese, albeitsloshing around in whey.

By the time of the Roman Empire,cheese-making was rife. It was a bril-liant way of storing dairy and it couldtravel. And so cheese would have madeits way across the empire in the sameway as under-floor heating, straightroads and gladiators.

And while cheese became auniversal product for rich andpoor, the type of cheese you ate

signified your class. Analysis of fres-coes uncovered in Pompeii, that townfrozen in time by Vesuvius in AD 79,shows a humble family eating a chunkof hard-looking cheese among the likesof soup and raw beans. While on afeasting table of the rich — on rich,golden tablecloths and with slaves inattendance — is evidence of bread,honey, olives and a white cheese thatlooks a lot like a soft ricotta.

Today the proliferation of cheesemeans that the affineurs, the noses,among us can develop an obsessionwith cheese to match the finest winesnob. Cheese boards in the smartestrestaurants are as hard to fathom as thewine list. The board is wheeled up(before the pudding, by the way) andthe cheese sommelier talks throughtheir Bleu d’Auvergne, Brie de Melun,Maroilles, Crottin de Chavignol,Beaufort, Comté, Stinking Bishop,Stilton and Laguiole. And not wishingto look stupid you say, “Three of thesoft and two of the hard,” before thecheese along with a selection of delicatelittle biscuits, celery, grapes and somechutneys are presented with a flourish.

But if hard and simple is the cheesefor the humblest in society, then itmust be the seeping, gooey, stinkiestcheese that screams wealth. For surelyonly a rich, hedge-funded, capitalist-loving toff would dare brandish a pieceof taleggio on a train.

No one but a bruising Tory wouldsuggest eating a morsel of Brie deMaux, the best sort needing nerves ofsteel to cut off the thick white mouldbefore you find the cream cheesewithin, the acidity of which makesyou gag, so must be tempered with aglass of 1962 Pétrus. So cheese reallyis the new political hot potato. Andthus I present myself, your ever-so-’umble restaurant critic. None of thatposh Neufchâtel for me, guv’nor — I’ll

‘ave the cheddar. Extra mature.Straight up, no biscuits.

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Before you do that, you should beclear about the difference between agoal and a duty. Let me give the def-

initions of these two words. The word‘goal’ is defined as something you hope toachieve. And the word ‘duty’ has beendefined as something that you feel youhave to do because it is your moral orlegal responsibility. But the more appro-priate definition of the word duty will be:What is dictated by time, place, and cir-cumstances. Now an example will clarifythe difference between these two words.A student is preparing for his final examand is fully engrossed in it. However, hismother falls ill and needs a lot of atten-tion, which means spending time withher. Yes, the boy’s goal is to do well inexams in order to further his academiccareer, but his duty temporarily super-sedes his goal to a certain extent.Therefore, we can say that goal is long-term, while duty is what is required to betaken care of immediately.

As this article is about goals, let ussee what kind of goals people set forthemselves. A son of a rich man is study-ing hard to learn as much as he canbefore joining his father’s business. Hewishes to make a lot of money in life. Adaughter of a poor immigrant in theUSA is learning law. Her goal is to pur-sue legal profession in order to have both

sufficient money and respect in society.The third example is of a son of afamous cricketer. He is honing hisskills in order to become as goodand famous as his father, if not bet-ter. The last example is of an agingdoctor. Though he is making a lot ofmoney, he is not peaceful. He must,therefore, decide what his main goal is.There cannot be more than one maingoal because the main thrust can be onone only. He has to curtail his practicehours to do spiritual practices in casebecoming peaceful is paramount forhim. These must take precedence overhis professional duties. He must keep hisgoal of gaining peace uppermost in mindat all times while doing his duties. Inshort, the main goal has to be one only,while duties can be many.

Unfortunately, not everyone is clearabout his or her main goal. They pursuemany objectives. This is fine as long as

one knows whichhas the highest priority. Iwill cite my personalexample in this connec-tion. I am a businessmanbut I am not entirelypeaceful. I wish to enjoysukha or happiness, whichis possible only if I am peaceful.This enjoyment should not be entirelylimited to sense pleasures but also tomake me feel good. I am using theSanskrit word sukha, which adequatelydescribes what I am seeking. This wordhas been frequently used in the Gita.

Howam I going aboutseeking peace? Fromthe Gita, I have learned that peacecan only be obtained by having proper

consciousness. Such consciousness comesby having faith in God. So I had to devel-op faith in God, which comes by doingspiritual practices as instructed by God.In the Gita, Lord Krishna has set out ingreat detail what He expects us to do. Ibegan doing what the Lord expects andslowly realisations began to come.Meanwhile, I systematically reduced myinvolvement with my business. I madecommittees of senior employees to over-see different aspects of business and toinvolve me only when they were unableto agree upon something. This hasworked very well for me. I have plenty oftime now to pursue my spiritual goal. Mymind is gradually getting controlled. I ambeginning to become peaceful and thereare glimpses of sukha, which I treasurevery much. The key was to identify mymain goal and work on it.

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Afriend in need is a friend indeed” is an old say-ing that suggests that friends must come for-ward to help friends when the need arises. In

the same vein, can we not say that a brother in need isa brother indeed? Well, elder brother Mukesh Ambaniproved exactly this, and in no uncertain terms, bybailing out younger brother Anil Ambani. The latterwas in quite a bit of trouble after the Supreme Courthad ordered that he either pay the dues of Ericssonamounting to �580 crore, including the penalty, orface a jail sentence of three months. Senior Ambaniintervened just in time to save the younger siblingfrom the ignominy of a jail sentence. A noble gestureindeed, given the huge amount, which also proved apoint or two about the Indian tradition and value sys-tem where brothers have set examples of love andbonding time and again in history. True, there areinstances that prove otherwise but what the Ambanibrothers established was that sibling rivalry cannot begeneralised though they are to be found. Sibling rival-ry, for that matter, can be traced to the Biblical storyof Cain and Abel, the first brothers to appear on earth.From that story to the present times, sibling relation-ship has always been a mixed bag. There are cases ofenvy and hatred between brothers reaching up to adangerous level of animosity, sometimes leading to abloody feud. But there are heartening instances, too,like the present one that vindicate the spirit of thepopular and ancient proverb that blood is thicker thanwater. Familial bonds are quite strong and arouse thefeeling of being a part of the common descent. TheIndian family system has always been a subject ofcuriosity and intrigue for the Western scholars of soci-ology where deep individualism rules the roost. Ofcourse, the Indian family system has also been influ-enced by the cultural exchanges from the Westernworld, and is undergoing the disintegration owing tosocial and economic compulsions, but the emotionalbonding keeps rising at times. Intra-family rivalry,particularly between siblings, cannot be said to be amissing trait in these times but the bonding of theblood relations becomes evident in times of externalthreat. There is an interesting incident from theMahabharata when the Gandharvas attacked and cap-tured the Kauravas, including Duryodhana. ThePandavas are told of this and there was a view particu-larly from Arjun and Bhim to let them suffer. But theelder Pandava, Yudhisthira, intervened saying that it isthe question of family honour and even thoughKaurava brothers bore animosity to the Pandavas, itwas an imperative for the latter to come to the rescueof the former and fight the Gandharvas. Matters of thehead and heart, thus, are difficult to explain and emo-tions being an attribute of the heart may not be inter-preted or predicted with the help of ArtificialIntelligence. What a human being does or has beendoing, therefore, cannot be a sure shot predictor ofwhat he will do. Reasons of the heart are driven by acompletely different heuristic. The eleventh hour inter-vention of Mukesh Ambani for the younger brotherdemonstrated much more than what rationality couldexplain and showed the importance of the strength offamily values and relationships. More importantly, itmay have a lot more implications for Indian business.

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Every religion extols theimportance of giving ofone’s self for the good ofothers. There are anecdotesfrom different religions that

relate how someone has found favourwith the Lord because he or she hashelped one in need. Even if a personis not a saint or a holy one, his or herstatus is raised in the eyes of God dueto a noble gesture which leads to therelief of another’s suffering.

If we just think about our ownresponse to examples of service thatwe witness, we can get an inkling ofwhy it such an important quality. Weoften read accounts in the newspa-pers or magazines or watch stories ontelevision about people who havetaken heroic steps to help others. Weare often moved and inspired byreports of those who have risked theirlives to save someone else. We hon-our heroes who have died for theircountry. We raise to martyrdomthose who have tried to help humani-ty and have lost their lives in theprocess. Service is one of the greatacts one can do in this lifetime.

It is rare that the average personhas to face the choice of giving up hisor her life physically in order to savesomeone else. But there are numer-ous opportunities that offer them-selves to us daily in which we canhelp someone else. The sacrifice maybe of our time, of our money, of ourresources, or of our skills. But thereis no dearth of chances to give ofourselves for the good of humanity.

�$�� E�The first question that arises deals

with what selfless service is. True self-less service is an expression of love.We know that the greatest love in thisworld is a mother’s love for a child.This feeling of affection is so greattowards the child that the mother willautomatically make all kinds of sacri-fices to see that the child is comfort-able. She will wake up at all hours ofthe night to feed the child. She willgive up many of her own activities tocare for the child. The mother willspend her money on the child’s needsrather than on her own. Nobody tellsthe mother to make these sacrifices.It comes spontaneously from herheart. She does not ask for anythingin return from the child. She givesout of an innate desire to do so.

True selfless service encompasseshelping more than our own physicalfamily — it includes all humanity. Itis a high quality to have feelings oflove for all people, both those weknow and those who are strangers. Itis one of the goals of spirituality forhumanity to develop the quality oflove and service to all. The Sufis saythat God made human beings to givelove and service to others. If Hewanted devotion alone, He hadangels. But human beings are the onlyform of creation who have the godlycapacity to love and serve others. Tobecome a complete human being, weneed to have this ability.

!�� Selfless service presents to us a para-dox. To truly perform selfless service,one must act without any desire for areward or recognition. It is givenfreely, motivated by an innate desire

to help another. At the time of giving,one forgets one’s own needs andwants, as well as one’s comfort andsafety, to help someone else. Thereare even those who give their ownlives to save others. Truly selfless peo-ple do not expect anything in returnfor their deeds. The underlying para-dox of selfless service lies in the factthat while wanting no reward, selflessservice elicits the highest reward —the pleasure of the Lord.

This benefit may seem to beintangible. But for those of us whoare interested in our spiritual devel-opment, it is the highest gift we canreceive in life. One reaps the benefitswhen one sits in the silence of one’sown self and finds the inner door oflight, love, and peace open with ease.These treasures flood selfless souls,filling them with an inner joy andfulfillment beyond any we can receivefrom worldly attainments. SantDarshan Singh used to say that thebenefit one receives by performingselfless service is as great as onereceives by putting in an equalamount of time in meditation.

Leading a life of non-violence,truthfulness, purity of heart, andhumility contributes to the equanimi-ty of mind required for fruitful medi-tation experiences. But selfless serviceprovides the ingredient of grace,which helps open the inner gates.

When we help someone, ourheart expands. It reaches out toembrace another as a member of onehuman family. This act alone opensup our soul. As our love for othersflows out, God’s love for us can pourin. As this exchange takes place, our

soul currents begin to rise up to thepoint at which we can experience thedivine light within us. Our medita-tions receive a boost, and our soul,filled with peace and joy, transcendsto higher states of consciousness.Thus, it is through selfless servicethat we speed up our progresstowards the attainment of innerpeace and ecstasy.

By serving selflessly, we expandour hearts from our own self to ourfamily, to the community, our coun-try, the world, and ultimately, thecosmos. Selfless service comes froman understanding that we are allmembers of one large family of God.True selfless service encompasseshelping more than our own physicalfamily; it includes all humanity. It isa noble quality to have feelings oflove for all people, both those weknow and those who are strangers. Itis one of the goals of spirituality tohelp all humanity develop the quali-ty of love and service to all.

People who have given of them-selves have helped improve the qual-ity of life on this planet. Throughoutthe ages, some have worked tireless-ly to cure diseases or to make dis-coveries and inventions to makepeople more comfortable and safer.Others have given their lives for thefreedom and rights of others. Somehave devoted their lives for thespiritual upliftment of others. Eachof us in our own sphere can use ourGod-given talents and our knowl-edge and skills selflessly to make acontribution to make the world abetter place for all life.

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Aworried mother of an errant soncame questioning the relevance ofastrology the other day. “Seeing my

son’s chart, most of the astrologers hadpredicted that he was destined to earn aposition of public eminence and make usproud. They banked their prediction onGajakeshari yoga being formed in thelagna — conjunction of benevolent Jupiterand mind signifying Moon. Citing furtherastrological dictum, they stated that if everJupiter occupies one of the angular houses— lagna 4th, 7th, or the 10th — no harmcan be caused by any other evil planet. Hedid very well till he completed his 10th.He then forced us send him abroad forfurther studies. Thereafter, he has goneastray. He did not complete his studies.He is now demanding money to set up abusiness. He gets violent when questionedwhat can he do without acquiringrequired skill-set? The events in my son’slife so far have created a sense of distrustagainst astrology itself. But recently some-body suggested that someone envious ofthe family could have used black magic toderail him. I wish to check whether it ispossible, and if so, what remedial measurewould you suggest,” the lady submitted.

“If you were in touch with charlatanshaving half-baked knowledge of astrolo-

gy, you had to go through such frustrat-ing experiences. No wonder, they conve-niently banked on one factor that couldhave pleased you, ignoring counterinfluences exercised by other planets.Remember, planets are not doers. Andno single planet, no matter how muchbeneficious they may be perceived as,can qualify to stand as final determinant.Planets reflect different energy streamsflowing through nature. And we needthe support of all these energies in theright proportion to enjoy a successfullife with ease and comfort. Energyimbalance, if any, as reflected in a chartmay indicate adversities. So, a holisticlook of the chart is required to figure outthe personality frame-up of a person andtheir related bearing on our future life. Afractioned look will be misleading. Theirony of the whole situation is that mostof the traditional astrologers don’t careto look at the implications of Uranus,Neptune, and Pluto, as if being far dis-tant planets may not exercise any influ-ence on our life. They seem to be igno-rant of the scientifically established factthat the universe is a unified organism,where every point of the space is inimmediate connect with the rest.Evidently, the reverberations of energy

excited anywhere in the universe shalltravel far and wide. So, we can’t afford toignore the implications of energystreams identified with those distantplanets. Also, let me make it clear, theevil is there in his own mind and psyche,which requires correction without fur-ther loss of time,” I responded.

Let us now look at astrological point-ers to the young man’s personality frame-up. Lagna lord Sun, occupying the 11thhouse identified with fulfilment ofdesires, seen in isolation presents a rosypicture. But its opposition to Uranusmakes out an unconventional, eccentric,self-willed person having rebellious ten-dencies. He may take pleasure in defyingestablished societal norms. Here again,the Sun opposite mischievous Neptunemakes him stuck to his self-delusions,distanced from ground realities.

Habitually an escapist, he may notacknowledge truth on its first appearance,and continue blindly pursuing his fanci-ful dream perceptions till pushed to thewall. If that would not be enough, evenmind-signifying Moon is placed adverseto both Uranus and Neptune. This com-bination not only negates the beneficenceof Jupiter and Moon conjunction, itrather makes him a daydreamer knownfor his mercurial temperament.

What further compounded his prob-lem is that Mars and Saturn are ill-dis-posed off to each other. That makes himbad tempered, quarrelsome, vindictive,revengeful, and suspicious of all. Marsill-disposed off to Mercury makes himrestless, argumentative, hypercritical ofthose who do not come to his terms. Italso accounts for his foul mouth andlying tendency. Mars opposite Plutoaccounts for his violent temper, makeshim brutal, vindictive and cruel.

Venus opposite Uranus and Neptunemakes him a perverse character. He maywaste money on pleasure pursuits andincur heavy loss through speculativedeals. The result is there to see. In fact, heseems to have reached a stage where heneeds medical intervention. The positivesin him are no less. But the negatives haveproved heavy over him, as involuntarilythey keep playing from the front. Thepositives, on the contrary, need to beidentified, acknowledged, optimised, andconsciously used. To be continued.

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